FEB 18

2024

Sunday: woke up a couple hours early so that I could play some Final Fantasy XIV, where I finally saw the second Endwalker credits sequence and posted about it on the Brontoforums. Once my work shift started, I tried to knock out all of my periodic projects and other follow-ups so that I could focus over the next few days. We've just about resigned ourselves to taking a Royal Caribbean cruise instead of Celebrity in March, so with an eye on the available itineraries, I submitted my main time-off requests for the year. Once I was done with work, Julie had chili ready in the crock pot, and thanks to those chili bricks my parents brought with them in November, it was phenomenal. I started drifting off in the middle of a Poirot episode, so I got around for bed... only to be seized by a strange mood and start in on my to-do list for my interactive fiction project. I figured out how to track some numeric data I hadn't been saving yet, and I'm pretty jazzed about it.

2023

Saturday: Julie got more groceries, and after work we went to the gym. After coming home and cleaning up, I made more of those meatballs and pasta, and it came out even better than the first time I tried this recipe. We finished the night with another uneventful game of Civ VI.

Since my work time doesn't require me to be on the phones, I've been going through a couple of different Legend of Zelda podcasts: I'm still only about a third of the way through The Hero's Path (about Breath of the Wild), and I've been replaying a few episodes from the nearly-complete The Complete Guide to Termina. The funny thing about the Termina podcast is that I loved Majora's Mask enough to call it my favorite Zelda game, but my memories of it are apparently much spottier than I realized. I think I've only played through it twice, and both times were at least 20 years ago! I mention this because the reason the game left such a powerful impression on me comes from a part of the game that the Complete Guide to Termina guys haven't even mentioned.

(Update from February 27, 2023: of course, they were saving this part for the final episode! See episode 23 on this page.)

Here's the context: the moon is going to crash into a place called Clock Town within the next three days, due to the meddling of an imp child with a powerful magical mask. Our protagonist, a young boy named Link, is stranded here, but he has a magical instrument, the Ocarina of Time, which allows him send himself back to the start of the three-day period. What ensues is a Groundhog Day-like time loop in which the player has to learn all they can, explore, solve puzzles, and then reset the cycle to play through again with additional knowledge and resources. Among the various storylines the player can involve themselves in is a courtship between two characters: the innkeeper girl Anju, and Kafei, the son of the mayor. They were engaged to be married, but the imp puts a curse on Kafei, transforming him into a child, and he's so ashamed by this development that he chooses to go into hiding. Discovering this situation and undoing the damage is not required to complete the game, but it features prominently in the in-game list of people to help, so most players will have plenty of incentive to help out. This video walks through all the steps in the process.

When I played, I wanted to see everything the game had to offer. I picked up the "Missing Persons" instructions from the Mayor's wife, I talked with Anju at the Stock Pot Inn, and I set up a clandestine meeting in the middle of the night. I was able to follow Anju's instructions to find Kafei and to slip into his hideout while he was receiving the letter I'd just on her behalf. He explained the situation, and I agreed to help. I delivered the pendant he provided, and Anju was happy.

Now, the correct way to proceed at this point is to go back to Kafei's hideout at a particular time so that his old friend, the Curiosity Shop owner, can provide you with another mask and another letter, and to tell you about the thief, Sakon, of Ikana Village. Somehow, I missed this step. I think I'd been looking at a Nintendo Player's Guide that described this quest, and I knew it was going to take me to Ikana Canyon to intercept Sakon, so I tried going there directly. Since I hadn't met the Curiosity Shop owner, though, the events in Ikana Canyon never occurred! I wasted too much time trying to get into Sakon's closed hideout, and by the time I realized what I'd done wrong, the opportunity was lost. All I could do was go back to the Stock Pot Inn. Normally, by this point almost everyone has evacuated town due to the falling moon, but by giving her the pendant, Anju's faith in Kafei was reinforced. She sat on the edge of her bed, hands folded, her wedding dress hanging beside her. She had to know that even if Kafei arrived, it would be too late for them, but she stayed anyway, waiting for him to return. I stood there with her, knowing he couldn't. I had failed them both.

The ground shook; the town's bells rang the alarm. I felt a despair that still chills me today.

It was the end of the world.