Tingle me!

Sometimes I get a little nostalgic. Especially when I wake up from the strangest dream where I somehow ended up in Termina (the world from Zelda: Majora’s Mask), embarking on an adventure with Tingle and all sorts of other crazy things (I’m not saying there was an orgie in a fairy fountain…but…you know…there was). MADNESS!

It makes one reminisce though. Because Zelda? Zelda has been such a major constant in my life. It’s fun, morals, story, symbols and memorabilia have consistently been a beacon of awesomeness throughout my (gaming) life. Zelda is like Disney movies – filled to the brim with wisdom that we can also apply to our own little worlds.

I was brought up on Zelda. Watching grownups play Zelda: A link to the past on the SNES and then, after doing a bit of growing up myself – venturing out into the world of Hyrule and the amazingness that was Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Oh oh oh, the times I spent fishing for that big-ass fish that swam between those two stilts of reed near that one big log at the Fishing Hole near Lake Hylia. HOURS. Seriously. HOURS. And all for a bit of rupees. The tears shed when failing to beat final Ganondorf for the 23957396845 time. The happiness found racing Epona around the tracks. I can still feel the joy course through my veins looking back.

And that wasn’t even my favorite Zelda game. Which, I realize, is blasphemy to a lot of folk – but I’m a HUGE Zelda: Majora’s Mask girl. Maybe because that’s when I was old enough to truly appreciate the intricacies of graphics, storylines AND the ambiguous jokes of the game, instead of just roaming. But Majora’s Mask? It’s shaped my love for gaming, for sure.

And when it comes to Majora’s Mask – the one true love in that game is obviously Tingle. This man-child-fairy bundle of happiness just. Loves. Life. And that made me love life, even more.

Can you imagine just hanging around, holding on to a balloon string, in tight lycra, pretending to be a fairy? Until some kid shows up and shoots you down for some fun and games? Hilarious!

His skippety hoppy happiness – contagious.

Plus, his entire character totally encompasses every possible difficulty we might also experience in life.

Tingle provides us with a mote of wisdoms and reflection of important themes of our everyday struggles:
– The desperate need of following your dreams (even if that dream is as unrealistic as being a forest fairy in need of an actual fairy).
– Potentially disappointing people around us (like a dad that isn’t too happy with a balloon toting son)
– The confusion that comes with a body that isn’t what you need it to be (whether that’s a weight thing coming from being a chubby dude in vuuuuurry tight clothing – or being an entirely different fantasy race than you actually are)
– Money issues (because damn, those rupees are hard to come by, as is cash in our day to day)
– And obviously – friendship (because..if someone keeps continuously bursting your bubbles….are they really a friend?)

Plus – judging from my dream last night…he also has other skills.

Anywhoo. I love how I’m getting to be an age where I can look back at a past and actually miss things. The ‘vroeger was het beter’ attitude (‘when I was your age everything was better….’) makes me appreciate what I’ve already had so much more, knowing that things will never return to that sort of casual easiness and happiness that came with simply playing a game.

Because as we grow older, and other demands take precedence over simplicity – life just becomes harder and harder without us even realizing it. Until we find ourselves looking back at a younger self that ‘had it all’ without even knowing it. I fucking miss Zelda days.