Ookay so just, for the reference, the French text* has a very interesting different nuance here.
*(which, for the record, is absolutely amazing, I’ve no idea how close a translation it might be but it throws in puns and quirks and beautiful turns of phrases and is generally a joy to read, a lot of work and love has clearly been put into it.)
“J’ai fini par lui demander pourquoi il était toujours tellement silencieux, et j’ai bien vu que la réponse lui coûtait.”
“I finally asked him why he’s always so quiet, and it was obvious that answering took a great effort from him.” (~almost “it pained him to answer”)
“Le royaume a toujours beaucoup attendu de lui, et c’est la crainte de décevoir qui l’a finalement enfermé dans le mutisme.”
“The kingdom has always expected a lot from him, and it it’s the fear of disappointing that ended up locking him into mutism.”
“Quelle surprise ! Moi qui pensais qu’avec son talent naturel, il n’avait jamais dû connaître l’angoisse de l’échec…”
“What a surprise! Here I thought that with his natural skill, he must have never known the fear/anxiety of failure…”
please note FEAR and DISAPPOINTING and LOCKING HIM and MUTISM and FAILURE
It sounds a lot less like it was a conscious decision for Link, and much more like… selective mutism caused by stress and anxiety.
Which is why Zelda goes on to basically go “!! SAME DISORDER!!” — it’s not just the fact of being under a lot of expectations that means you’ve gotta appear strong / focus on your task: this wording sounds more like it’s literally Link’s coping mechanism in response to the stress and pressure.
“En réalité, nous avons tous nos soucis. J’étais tellement centrée sur les miens que je ne voyais rien autour de moi.”
“In truth/It turns out we all have our own issues. I was so focused on mine that I didn’t see anything around me.”
Idk if/how this is worded in the English version, but this sounds very much like she feels Link is also miserable (perhaps as much as her).
Basically, the French version goes beyond “Link is constantly dissociating” to “anxious and depressed children find each other and proceed to realize it’s ok to feel like they do and they’re not alone”.
IHOP parking lot: ridiculous. buffoonish. 3/10 Denny’s parking lot: has a certain dionysian flair. 6/10 Dunkin Donuts parking lot: lots of regional flavor. 7/10 The woods: nice and secluded, plenty of opportunities to use the terrain to your advantage. Just make sure to bring bug spray. 8/10 Any roof: dangerous, but points for style. 5/10 The top of any mountain: much like the woods, but with far more dramatic flair. Almost byronic. Loses points for being less practical than the other locations on this list, however. 7/10 A graveyard: disrespectful to the skeletons. 0/10 An abandoned warehouse: something of a cliche. 4/10 Any liminal space: This category includes town lines, entryways, borders, and crossroads. Is this a deeply symbolic, metaphorically charged fight? If it wasn’t before, it is now. 9/10 Wal-Mart parking lot: Quick question, are you shitting me right now? This is the absolute worst fight location. If you
have any respect at all for the noble art of throwing the fuck down, don’t get in a fight in a wal-mart parking lot. In fact, this also applies to wal-mart checkout lines, roofs, employee break rooms, corporate headquarters, and indeed any space at all associated with the walton family or the wal-mart corporation. Fuck wal-mart. 0/10 The parking lot of an abandoned Blockbuster Video: The cracked and faded blockbuster sign is a potent memento mori, inspiring a keen awareness of entropy and a sharp sense of loss in your opponent. As blockbuster is, so shall they one day be. Are there weedy plants growing up through cracks in the pavement? Oh man, that’s even better.
The perfect fight location.
10/10
