/*SPOILER WARNING!!*/
/*If you haven't scene or played "The Phantom of the Hourglass", "Tokyo Ghoul", or "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" and intend to, you may wish to turn back. The first too have relatively minor spoilers, but I do intend to go rather in depth with Majora's Mask.*/
Also, this is somewhat verbose. I tend to avoid rereading long deep posts, least I choose not to post them.
I consider myself a mask wearer. This might be somewhat odd, seeing how much I value genuineness. But I've never really thought of masks as being fake. At least, not my masks.
When I think of my masks, there are three types that come to mind.
First, we have masks that hide.
For those familiar with "Phantom of the Opera", the Phantom wears a mask for this purpose. He wears it to his grotesque deformity. After spending years of his childhood being mocked and ridiculed for it, he's afraid to show it to anyone else. He's afraid that he can't be loved when part of him is so ugly.
For my part, I wear a mask like this. I consider myself a good person, and there isn't many parts of me that I'm afraid of being ridiculed, but there are some. Those parts are often hidden, least someone who I love sees them.
In "Tokyo Ghoul" masks are used to mask identity. But they're also used to express their wearer's character. They give identity to their wearer, without giving up what is sacred and private. I wear a mask like this. I want to be known, but I don't want to be identified. This is my way, of telling others "This is me." without telling them who I really am. I want people to have an idea of who I am, but I don't want just anyone to be able to see into the depths of my soul.
The final mask doesn't hide something. It shares something. In many ways it's an extension of the "Tokyo Ghoul" mask, but much deeper. It'd be better to give some detail about "Majora's Mask" before continuing. If your afraid of spoilers, turn back now.
/*Let it be known this is personal interpretation and may not accurately represent reality. Others are free to draw their own conclusions.*/
"Majora's Mask" is a beautiful, beautiful game. Quite possibly my favorite game. Which is saying something, because I haven't even finished it (I'm 3/4 of the way I believe). It's a game about time travel.
I love time travel. In "Majora's Mask" you have 3 days (or approximately 2 hours of real time) to make progress in the game. After 3 days, the moon crashes into the world of Terminus and everyone dies.
Thankfully you can time travel, so before your inevitable death you'd usually leap back to the start of the 3 days. But time travel does have emotional consequences. "Majora's Mask" is a very deep game, with meaningful characters you wouldn't expect to find in a normal game. It's easy to bond with those characters. And those characters have struggles and stories and hearts. Helping a character with a struggle almost feels like helping a dear friend. But after bringing happiness and peace to a father who'd lost his son, protection to a village that'd lost it's leader, comfort to a mother who'd lost her husband, or unity to a pair of estranged brothers; you're forced to return to the beginning of the 3 days. You're the only person who remembers, the only person who cares; because no one else knows. You could choose to do nothing, let the three days pass and leave everyone else to their problems; but if you did that then those rifts would never be mended.
What's the point then? You can't do everything after all. You can't heal everyone's suffering, anymore than you can save the world in a single 3 day cycle. You're not all powerful, you're just you.
But in reality, not everything is undone by turning back the clock. You remember. And I think in their own way, the people you've helped remember too.
"Majora's Mask" is a game of masks. It seems that everyone has one. And they protect their masks fiercely, through thick or thin. Because those masks embody something. They aren't a shield to hide behind. Each mask is the culmination of something precious, beautiful, and important. Even the evil masks are filled with meaning and significance. These masks are the manifestation of hearts, desires, ideals, and souls.
Even though these masks are so precious, they rarely are hidden. The dancer wants to express his vision, the postman wants to fulfill his responsibilities, and the drunkard at the bar wants to be reconciled with his family. And those peoples masks are the embodiment of these dreams.
The owners of these masks want to share their masks with others, they want someone to recognize and value what they care about and what matters to them. They want someone who connects with them and accepts and understands their heart. Maybe, just maybe, if they find someone who truly cares' they can give their mask to that person. They can trust that person with their hopes and dreams. Perhaps people give their masks too willingly or too openly. But when a person decides to share their mask, it's real. Something simple like restarting a 3 day cycle doesn't change that. They've found someone, and they've had that hole in their heart just a little bit filled. Even after you go back to the start of the cycle; you still have their mask, and that person's heart has become just a little bit lighter. Even if the world is about to be ended and their dreams finally crushed, for some reason they still have hope.
I have a mask like this, many masks even. And those masks are masks that I want to share.
/*If you haven't scene or played "The Phantom of the Hourglass", "Tokyo Ghoul", or "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" and intend to, you may wish to turn back. The first too have relatively minor spoilers, but I do intend to go rather in depth with Majora's Mask.*/
Also, this is somewhat verbose. I tend to avoid rereading long deep posts, least I choose not to post them.
I consider myself a mask wearer. This might be somewhat odd, seeing how much I value genuineness. But I've never really thought of masks as being fake. At least, not my masks.
When I think of my masks, there are three types that come to mind.
First, we have masks that hide.
For those familiar with "Phantom of the Opera", the Phantom wears a mask for this purpose. He wears it to his grotesque deformity. After spending years of his childhood being mocked and ridiculed for it, he's afraid to show it to anyone else. He's afraid that he can't be loved when part of him is so ugly.
For my part, I wear a mask like this. I consider myself a good person, and there isn't many parts of me that I'm afraid of being ridiculed, but there are some. Those parts are often hidden, least someone who I love sees them.
In "Tokyo Ghoul" masks are used to mask identity. But they're also used to express their wearer's character. They give identity to their wearer, without giving up what is sacred and private. I wear a mask like this. I want to be known, but I don't want to be identified. This is my way, of telling others "This is me." without telling them who I really am. I want people to have an idea of who I am, but I don't want just anyone to be able to see into the depths of my soul.
The final mask doesn't hide something. It shares something. In many ways it's an extension of the "Tokyo Ghoul" mask, but much deeper. It'd be better to give some detail about "Majora's Mask" before continuing. If your afraid of spoilers, turn back now.
/*Let it be known this is personal interpretation and may not accurately represent reality. Others are free to draw their own conclusions.*/
"Majora's Mask" is a beautiful, beautiful game. Quite possibly my favorite game. Which is saying something, because I haven't even finished it (I'm 3/4 of the way I believe). It's a game about time travel.
I love time travel. In "Majora's Mask" you have 3 days (or approximately 2 hours of real time) to make progress in the game. After 3 days, the moon crashes into the world of Terminus and everyone dies.
Thankfully you can time travel, so before your inevitable death you'd usually leap back to the start of the 3 days. But time travel does have emotional consequences. "Majora's Mask" is a very deep game, with meaningful characters you wouldn't expect to find in a normal game. It's easy to bond with those characters. And those characters have struggles and stories and hearts. Helping a character with a struggle almost feels like helping a dear friend. But after bringing happiness and peace to a father who'd lost his son, protection to a village that'd lost it's leader, comfort to a mother who'd lost her husband, or unity to a pair of estranged brothers; you're forced to return to the beginning of the 3 days. You're the only person who remembers, the only person who cares; because no one else knows. You could choose to do nothing, let the three days pass and leave everyone else to their problems; but if you did that then those rifts would never be mended.
What's the point then? You can't do everything after all. You can't heal everyone's suffering, anymore than you can save the world in a single 3 day cycle. You're not all powerful, you're just you.
But in reality, not everything is undone by turning back the clock. You remember. And I think in their own way, the people you've helped remember too.
"Majora's Mask" is a game of masks. It seems that everyone has one. And they protect their masks fiercely, through thick or thin. Because those masks embody something. They aren't a shield to hide behind. Each mask is the culmination of something precious, beautiful, and important. Even the evil masks are filled with meaning and significance. These masks are the manifestation of hearts, desires, ideals, and souls.
Even though these masks are so precious, they rarely are hidden. The dancer wants to express his vision, the postman wants to fulfill his responsibilities, and the drunkard at the bar wants to be reconciled with his family. And those peoples masks are the embodiment of these dreams.
The owners of these masks want to share their masks with others, they want someone to recognize and value what they care about and what matters to them. They want someone who connects with them and accepts and understands their heart. Maybe, just maybe, if they find someone who truly cares' they can give their mask to that person. They can trust that person with their hopes and dreams. Perhaps people give their masks too willingly or too openly. But when a person decides to share their mask, it's real. Something simple like restarting a 3 day cycle doesn't change that. They've found someone, and they've had that hole in their heart just a little bit filled. Even after you go back to the start of the cycle; you still have their mask, and that person's heart has become just a little bit lighter. Even if the world is about to be ended and their dreams finally crushed, for some reason they still have hope.
I have a mask like this, many masks even. And those masks are masks that I want to share.
