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WIP Insomnia - Legend of Zelda - T

Discussion in 'Games' started by ReverseSide, May 29, 2010.

  1. ReverseSide

    ReverseSide Slug Club Member

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2009
    Messages:
    191
    Title: Insomnia
    Author: tikitikirevenge
    Rating: T
    Fandom: Legend of Zelda (Majora's Mask)
    Link: FF.net
    Summary: Sun-dappled glades, ash-coated worlds: a retelling of Majora's Mask.

    Review:
    I generally avoid novelizations, but I'm glad I gave Insomnia a chance. It presents the events of Majora's Mask (a woefully underrepresented game) in a captivating way. Link's post OoT mindset is portrayed wonderfully, without wildly straying into angsty PTSD. Tatl's characterization is the best I've seen yet, bar none. tiki's writing is pleasant as well, striking a nice chord between horror and humour.

    The way the time-traveling is done took me by surprise, so I think I'll let you find out about that by yourselves ;).

    5/5.
     
  2. Otters

    Otters Groundskeeper ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2010
    Messages:
    367
    High Score:
    2005
    Insomnia isn't just a re-telling. It's a sharpened re-imagining of one of the best games of all time. The core mechanics of time travel follow the closed-loop model as seen in Prisoner of Azkaban: new loops do not replace the old one, but rather they all happen simultaneously. This leads to a few neat occasions where Link's past or future actions provide the material means with which to overcome obstacles.

    As a video game protagonist, Link is shown to be highly competent at many of the things he does, but in a way which is largely irrelevant to the challenges at hand. This is absolutely ideal. Rather than introduce artificial difficulty by reducing the protagonist to the level of some random schmuck, there's a clear sense of challenge coming from Link's internal journey as much as it is from clearing dungeons and fighting monsters.

    There are some neat worldbuilding moments in the background suggesting a world which is bigger than the original source, something I feel is intrinsic to the very best of fanfics, and this story is peppered with references to things from the game in the best way; non-intrusive, internally consistent scenery.

    Link spends the first cycle of three days as a Deku Scrub, just like in the game. A voiceless protagonist adds to the sense of helplessness and despair carried over from the trauma of Link's past, and the reader is taken along with Link in the journey from hopelessness to "it's just the end of the world, bitches. This is what I do."

    I'm also a big fan of the little snippets of body horror following Link's various transformations. They work perfectly as snippets of flavour text - so brief you can ignore them as easily as skipping a cutscene, yet also a thematically appropriate way of adding significance to the action of putting on a mask. See below:


    Although this fic is dead, having last updated June 2015 mid-way through Snowfall Temple, it's still a decent 200k words long. With a more mature tone than most, I'd highly recommend Insomnia for anyone who's ever played Majora's Mask. And if you haven't played the game, I highly recommend that you do that as well.

    5/5
     
  3. Knyght

    Knyght Alchemist

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2010
    Messages:
    2,349
    Location:
    England
    I did read this one a couple months back but better late than never.

    The only thing wrong with this story is the fact that it hasn't been continued. Especially when Legend of Zelda isn't exactly swimming in great fanfiction.

    A part of me would have loved to see tikitikirevenge's reimagining of Ocarina of Time simply because I've actually played that one unlike Majora's Mask. But at the same time, I doubt it'd be as interesting reading about Link's friendship with Navi as opposed to his more tenuous relationship with Tatl or without his different mask transformations and how he tries to adapt to these entirely new bodies to tackle the challenges ahead.

    I'll continue the trend with 5/5.
     
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