The Architecture of the Legend of Zelda
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    • Ocarina of Time >
      • The Great Deku Tree
      • Dodongo's Cavern
      • The Forest Temple
      • The Fire Temple
      • The Water Temple
      • The Shadow Temple
      • The Spirit Temple
      • Fairy Fountains of Hyrule
      • The Temple of Time
      • Ganon's Castle
    • Majora's Mask >
      • A Thematic Unmasking of Majora's Mask
      • Clock Town and the Heart of Termina
      • Woodfall and the Southern Swamp
      • Snowhead and the Lands of the North
      • Great Bay Temple and the Western Coast
      • Ikana Kingdom and the Eastern Desert
      • On Spider Houses and Greed within The Legend of Zelda
      • Majora's Mask 3Ds — An Enumeration of Changes
    • The Wind Waker >
      • Outset Island
      • Dragon Roost Island
      • The Forsaken Fortress
      • Tower of the Gods
      • The Earth Temple
      • The Wind Temple
      • Ganon's Tower
      • Ancient Hyrule Castle
    • Twilight Princess >
      • Ordona Province and the Meaning of Twilight
      • Faron Woods and the Forest Temple
      • Cultures of Eldin Province
      • Lakebed Temple and the Lands of the Zora
      • The Arbiter's Grounds
      • Snowpeak Ruins
      • Sacred Grove and the Temple of Time
      • The City in the Sky
      • The Twilight Realm and the Palace of Twilight
      • The Hylian Architectural Tradition
    • Skyward Sword >
      • Skyloft and the Provenance of Legend
      • The Sealed Grounds and Intentions of the Goddess
      • Faron Woods and Skyview Temple
      • The Earth Temple of Eldin Volcano
      • Ancient Cultures of Lanayru Desert
      • Lake Floria and the Ancient Cistern
      • The Lanayru Sand Sea
      • The Fire Sanctuary
      • Sky Keep and the Isle of Songs
    • Breath of the Wild >
      • Breath of the Wild — Review
      • Ancient Sheikah Art and Architecture
      • Kakariko Village
      • Hateno Village and the Ancient Tech Labs
      • Lurelin Village
      • Tarrey Town and Modular Hyrulean Architecture
      • Stronghold of the Yiga Clan
      • Gerudo Town and the Great Desert
      • On Stables
      • Zora's Domain
      • Goron City and Death Mountain
      • Rito Village and the Wild's Frontier
      • Great Fairy Fountains of Hyrule
    • Random Articles >
      • The Great Deku Tree: A Triumph of Aided Discovery
      • Are the Arbiter’s Grounds the Spirit Temple of Antiquity?
      • The King of Red Lions
      • A Bathhouse in Hyrule
      • The Mirror of Demise
      • To the Fishing Hole
      • The Fang & Bone — The Hunt Across Hyrule
    • Riddles >
      • A Rough Guide to Riddling
      • Simple
      • Middling
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The Riddle of the Goron & Various Updates, Etc.

7/21/2020

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A book series I cannot recommend highly enough: Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy.

Update: Well, I do promise that the next article is on its way. Everything is written, thank Hylia, and now it's just a matter of editing and organization. I've never written an article with another person before, so this has been an interesting process (and it will most certainly be an interesting read). My goal has been an article every two months, so I'm clearly about a month behind. But such is summer: a time to live actively and engage in nature. Fall and winter are the time for lucubration and navel-gazing. (At least in my mind.) Regardless, the Gorons are rolling ever closer.
Here's a riddle for you, in the meantime. I envision this as a battle-tested, Zelda-playing grandmother trying to scare her grandchildren before bedtime by recounting . . . well, see if you can guess the riddle's subject.

       "Listen, my scrubs, and I’ll tell you a tale
       Of malice perniciously wrought! 
       Of disasters and blunders aplenty,
       In search of the New and the “Hot”!
 
       Scene One: A Fledgling Leaves the Nest
 
       Wave to the left, and flap to the right,
       Swing and pretend you’re in a real fight.
       Rotate and twist and flick and then throw,
       Master, I sense that your power is low.
 
       Scene Two: An Unhappy Scribe
 
       The scribe sits alone with his stylus in hand,
       Scratching with loop, tick, and dash;
       With pain in his hand, his teeth start to gnash:
       Arthritis by curlicues fanned!
 
       Scene Three: “Blow out the candles, dear!”
 
       First, match your mouth to the color and note.
       Now hold it up to your mouth just so,
       And, just like I do, inhale and blow!
       No! Not at all! Is a frog in your throat?!
 
       Well now, my scrubs, can you guess at my tale?
       Of what do my histories speak?
       Horrors untold by the God-kings out East,
       And all in the name of the chic!"


​(If you couldn't tell, I was feeling some ever-so-slight frustration with a few of Nintendo's game-design choices.)
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The Zora Nouveau

5/23/2020

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It's a lovely, rainy day here. I hope this message finds you all well.

The newest article, on Zora's Domain, is up. As with Gerudo Town, this latest piece was a protracted Labor of Love. These things always begin so simply, but with celerity take on lives of their own, leading here and there. But, honestly, I don't think I'd have it any other way. Unhappily, I was unable to find many pictures in the public domain (or that had been licensed for reuse) for the jewelry I wished to highlight, so I'm not particularly content with the images I was able to use. To that end, I'll post a few links that you might want to look into before reading. Not everything will be immediately clear, but you'll know the pieces I mean.

Like much of society, the ever-present pandemic has disrupted even things so remote as this website, but it is still my hope that, in coming here to this place, you leave more at peace and with a greater appreciation for art, for your relationships, and for life in general.

I hope you are all safe and in good health.

Talbot

Links:

https://nasvete.com/murrle-bennett-art-nouveau-jewelry/
http://www.artnet.com/artists/levinger-bissinger/
https://www.1stdibs.com/creators/rene-lalique/jewelry/
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/101260691604784298/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/490610953130588796/
https://www.tademagallery.com/jewellery/d/karl-hermann-jugendstil-brooch/207775
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/243827767305306888/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/16747829837265565/
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"Stay on Target"

2/28/2020

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New article up under "Random Articles" entitled The Fang & Bone - The Hunt Across Hyrule. I was always highly entertained by Kilton in playing Breath of the Wild, and I've long been intrigued by hunting (and its attendant ethics) in video games (as I do not hunt in real life), so this is the outcome. I hope you enjoy it. It is rather more lighthearted than usual!

I am happy to report that I am on track thus far this year, having completed one out of six planned articles in the allotted two months. As I look to the future, I am continually gobsmacked by how many things I still need to write. Ah well. Onward and upward.
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Midnight Judges . . . I Mean Articles

12/31/2019

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Well, I managed it. While I failed rather pitifully in my initial goal to complete one article per month, I did achieve my goal to do at least six in total. So, that's one every two months, even though I completed two of them today. Nothing like a deadline, eh?

Anywho, the two articles I finished are:

1) On Stables, which talks about the stable network present in Breath of the Wild; and:

2) To the Fishing Hole, which is simply a brief appreciatory piece for one of my favorite recurring places in the series. Who doesn't like fishing in Zelda? 

I hope you enjoy reading them, and, above all, have a happy and safe New Year's Eve and Day. All the best to you and yours in this coming year.

Warmly, 
Talbot
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Gerudo Town and the Great Desert

12/7/2019

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It is done. Two more to go. 

 — Talbot
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Some Serotinal Thoughts

9/15/2019

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This tripartite tree seems rather like something out of a Zelda game, does it not? (Taken at Good Earth State Park in South Dakota, USA.)
Well, thus far I have been failing miserably at my goal to finish one article per month. I have three done at this point, and am busy working on a fourth (The Gerudo Desert, which explains why that page only has a single quote, albeit a good one), and I could not have imagined the busy-ness of this year and how unprepared I would be to sit down and work when I do manage to find free time.

With traveling, writing, reading, teaching, seeing friends, studying, and all the other things one finds oneself doing in life, at the end of the day I am rather tired, and find myself wanting to simply read or watch The Durrells on Amazon (which, though quite different from the book series, is still charming).  Oftentimes this website gets short shrift as my energy wanes. I think I'll settle for six articles — being one every two-ish months, then. Hopefully I can at least manage that.

I did finish an article on Skyward Sword
(under "Random Articles" — The Mirror of Demise) at the behest of someone who emailed me, though. So, never hesitate to write in!
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The Zelda Ethos

3/31/2019

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The new "article" was just posted under the "Home" header at the top of the screen; it's not necessarily an article in the traditional sense, but I have been wanting to write something like it for a few years now. (The article on the Gerudo Desert is still a work in progress. The region and culture are ancient and complex, so it may take a while.)

The new piece might seem a little pedantic and authoritarian in parts, but I think the message is one that's worth considering. It's called The Zelda Ethos, and explores two things:

1) What does it mean to play Zelda well? 
2) What habits and patterns of mind do we need to play Zelda successfully?

As always, I'd welcome your feedback. I'm sure I missed something. Happy reading.
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Mathoms and Personal Philosophy, Pt. I

1/23/2019

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An informal tea ceremony with a friend.
Beginning the New Year is always something that seems foregone the minute January 2nd appears, though I'm trying not to see it in such a light. I've always been of the opinion that one's practice (i.e. how one lives one's life) shouldn't be so whimsical as to change just because a calendar year shifts. But, new goals are rarely a bad thing when authentic, reasonable, and calculated, and if these require their genesis in a "Resolution", then so be it. Among my plans (read: goals) for the New Year are:

1) Publish one article per month. (This will be tricky.)
2) Find a PhD program that will accept (and ideally fund) my stupidities and further my education.
3) Attempt publication of a short story. (Another pipe-dream.)
4) Progress in older, more fundamental goals, like meditative practice, continued physical fitness, and my own human development through reading and thinking. 
Over the past months and years, really since the inception of this project, several people have inquired about a few consistent things, though perhaps not in so many words; to that end, I want to clear up the air on some related matters.

1) How do you plan on growing this thing?

I don't, honestly. Since my goals are based in personal understanding and contributing to the greater pool of human knowledge and appreciation, I have no plans to promote my work in any way. I long ago decided not to be a proselytizing force in the world, and that, if people were lucky, interested, or determined enough, they would find their way here, and hopefully take something of value away. (Or, better yet, improve upon my work and give even more unto the world.) I am deeply, deeply opposed to instant, cheap, and petty fame, and to those incentivization structures that enslave people into feeling the need to post constantly about nothing, promote sensationalized, disgusting material, or fret about how many "followers" or "friends" they have. Nothing on earth is more geared toward our baser impulses and desires than these schemes to drag user data and attention from us. If you find yourself caught in such a structure, please find a way to escape. You, and the world, will be better for it. 

This is not to say that I will deny any opportunities given to me (like my interview with Le Monde), but I have never been an attention-seeker. (Finding the golden mean between privacy and publicity is always a razor's edge.)

2) Why don't you make money from this?

I have no desire to, and why would I? This project has ever been a hobby to me. I have a full-time job in education to pay for my worldly needs, and there is no reason to monetize what I find pleasurable and meaningful. To admit money into the environment would . . . well . . . poison the thing. It would add another dimension to what I do that would ineluctably sap some of the purity of this work, and I have always been skeptical of people who seek to monetize every action they take in the world. Of course, Patreon would be a less-intrusive way to manage this aspect of things, but, again, even the approaching scent of money is enough to sour the waters of philosophy and aesthetics. Call me jaded. 

3) What is the good of this project? Why bother with it?

I'll admit, this is my question, posed to myself. I do entertain this subject at times, though I always come down on the side that: it is worth it, both to myself and to others. I have three primary virtues in life, being self-growth, mindfulness, and balance, and this website is but one canal into which I can pour the waters of my energy. I think humans are happiest when connected to larger structures of meaning, other people, and with their own deepest thoughts and ambitions. Yet, we live in an age wherein none of those things is incentivized and encouraged. We are pushed toward atomized isolation, superficiality, and frivolous plenitude, none of which is healthy. And, together, they are downright destructive. Can this website dispel those poisons? Nope. At least, not alone. But, it can act as a healthier place in an online climate -- one without ads, anger, and superficiality -- and that is all I can give in this way. 

4) Why do you write like you write? (This question has also been phrased as an insult multiple times.)

Because I can do no other. I've read a lot across a great domain, found a voice that is somewhat mine (though it can never be purely mine, and that's fine and natural), and then refined things based on my personal tastes. Sure, it's a bit "purple" as far as prose goes, but that's what I like. So, I make neither concessions nor apologies. 
 
In fine:

As I state in the About Me section, this website is but one off-shoot of my Philosophy of Life, and it is a pure one (in that it represents me truthfully and authentically) that I see perfectly in-line with my hopes for humanity and for the world. I genuinely do want to see the world made better, no matter the magnitude of that betterment. We all have our corners of the earth, and our own gifts, and to use them for the Good seems something worth doing.

One last thing:

As I look at the data for this website, one of the most frequently-visited sections is the Contact page. There appear to be several hundred hits on that page per month, yet I only get a few emails every blue moon. Consider this an invitation to reach out; there's no need to be frightened or apprehensive. I respond to each email I get, and the emails I've received thus far have only ever been lovely and heart-felt. In this life, fleeting though it is, it's always a good thing to share appreciation and warmth with others. You're welcome to my time and energy. 

Have a wonderful, meaningful day.
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Happy Belated Thanksgiving

11/24/2018

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Hyrule's symbol of gratitude.
Happy Thanksgiving, all, or to those of you who celebrate. But, even if you don't, you should always take a few moments in appreciation of where you are in life: remembering those that came before you, those that support you in this life, and even those who are living a world apart whom you will never see or know. It's an interconnected world out there, and we need to look after one another. 

The article about Tarrey Town and Modular Architecture is up, as of a few minutes ago. It was a pretty crunchy topic to think about (and also to write about), but it was worthwhile in the end, as I learned something new about architecture and about myself. (Those two things intersect more than I would ever have thought.) Anyway, happy reading, and thanks for your time and readership. 

​- Talbot
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Insights of the Encyclopedia

8/6/2018

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​The cover of The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia, published on June 19, 2018.


Quite a few hours have been dedicated to this Encyclopedia over the last month, in which I have been marking passages and quotes of interest; today, I finally sat down to update my website in light of what was revealed to us. From the cryptic and shocking revelations concerning Majora's Mask to the rather odd details concerning the waters of the Great Sea in The Wind Waker, the Encyclopedia has given fans more than a little to digest. It has been a fascinating read, and definitely the best book in the series of three; it goes a long way in our knowledge of the Zelda  universe, and I think we can finally tip our hats to Nintendo for delivering something of value and interest.
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    The universe of The Legend of Zelda is replete with multifarious architectural oddities, beautiful and resonating structures, and ineffably-mysterious temples hidden in the remote corners of the world. It is my hope to explore said places, shedding light upon some of their salient features, and fulfilling the goals laid out by the introduction, the main goal of which is to help people understand and appreciate the unspoken, yet deeply-felt, allure of these locations and structures.

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