The Curiosity Shop

[darkphantomime]

This is an article I wrote about 2 years ago on the Curiosity Shop in Majora's Mask. I hope you enjoy.


Once you really get to think about it, you realize that there is a wealth of depth within certain locales; places that evoke memory and have a strong atmosphere in their place within the game. Majora's Mask, in particular, has a great deal of memorable places, with a great deal more of memorable characters. You know, sometimes you've gotta wonder where everything goes, how things get there. The Zelda series' very own pawn shop, The Curiosity Shop is one of those memorable places that just creates a whole wealth of possibilities, so much imagination and so much atmosphere and inspiration within that small shop! Sometimes you've gotta wonder upon the path of recognition, where things lie and with such contexts.

The points of atmosphere within these fantastic and almost surreal vestiges. Look for one, at the Stay-up all night Mask. Just to get it, you have to go through an extensive quest, AND have 500 rupees. So you've gotta wonder if maybe the shop owner has had at least SOME contact with the Happy Mask Salesman. Within these masks, perchance stained with either blood or shadow, is it such that what we often perceive is little more than illusion? But then, this is little more than something exploring the depth of illusion; things we do not often see directly, but they keep hold of our gaze, swaying to and fro over the course of life and dreams. Look about the facade of Clock Town, and I think you will see it as well, even to the last moments before twilight and eventual destruction, still the atmosphere goes deep, sometimes bordering on terror, and at other times, sweet sadness. Characters But within this little shop; if dreams were like puppets, then life is a theatre. These odds and ends that we carry strewn about like any antique store, we find ourselves taking in so many things at once. Hah, but then again, I'm going about these things with only images in my head, but you'll notice these little details as well on your own. If one were to look carefully at each of the Happy Mask Salesman's masks, one would notice common themes. Images of the grotesque and faces distorted or exaggerated by dreams, hope, fear, and despair. By these extensions of human emotion, one must wonder on the layered truths that extend within people. But here we stay in 1000 splendors with 1000 festivals, and all turn into comedies where sense and fascination become like those twisted faces that haunt this shop a thousand times over. You know, I've started to draw a weird parallel between the Curiosity Shop of Termina and the Happy Mask Salesman's very own Hylian shop. Both of course, hold facilitation for the odd and the exotic… If Majora's Mask were or longer, or another game were to be made with Termina as a setting, it is doubtless that the Curiosity Shop would have been the center of even MORE side-quests. But this is simply a theory I hold, because I see so much more that can be done with it in terms of character… Sometimes these locales become ‘people' onto themselves in an abstract sense. Places move about with more life to the point where the setting itself becomes an independent living entity. Atmosphere is a very important characteristic within the Zelda series. “Under the Well”, The Shadow Temple, The Spirit Temple, And the whole of Ikana kingdom have proven that. Atmosphere is about impression, the things that take but a simple glance to take in at a moment's breadth. It is a thing akin to light, the effect it creates at various angles. It is a quality of perspective and perception with what is warm, what is cold, and whether it creates feelings of fear, sadness, or calm. Clock Town at night, especially is filled with this ambience, especially in the terror of the last few hours, as time seems to tremble and disappear like the Earth and the pulsation of the music. There is an extent notion on fantasy; within these carved boards of wood, formed into shapes of fantasy and illusion. You know, I've got to wonder what really liewithin that little shop. it seems to me that there is infinite dimension in the illusion… Perhaps the ether penetrates into one just as the night air covers oneself like this… And like this, like wandering travelers, they meet and quickly part. It is a beautiful, but weird thing, always the air of the night, especially at twilight. Where do these items of mystery come from - and an even more pressing question - where do they go?

On the moon, just as that lonely tree stands as an emblem to paradise and fantasy, so to, do those children stand as identical representations of the aspects of fantasy. Fear, innocence, loneliness and rejection. Heh, like distortions, we pass through, changing the perspective of the world around us. Atmosphere is one of the strongest and most admirable aspects of the Zelda series. With that, I conclude this article… Like thieves and like people that are real, one must wonder the truth of that little store with opened doors only at night. This fantasy, and here like shadows they travel this land in search of truth and the depths of illusion.

[Pyrgusfinn]

very well written, in my opinion. I'm not a Zelda buff, so I cannot really critique any of the content, but I like how it flows. good job.

[MagmarFire]

Ditto; it got me reading. :)

However, I do recommend splitting it into paragraphs to make it easier to read.

[Hi no Seijin]

Ditto; it got me reading. :)

However, I do recommend splitting it into paragraphs to make it easier to read.

Yeah, do that, and I might just finish reading it.  You just have it as this one massive block of text, and it's a bit discouraging, at least for me.

[darkphantomime]

Sorry. I couldn't find where I separated the paragraphs. I'll fix in a second...

[Keaton]

You know my opinion of it, I like it.  A lot.

Another thing to fix though, aside from the fact that it's a giant block, is all the "’"'s that you have instead of "'s".

[darkphantomime]

Yeah, I'm not sure how that got in there... Oh well.

[Pyrgusfinn]

You know my opinion of it, I like it.  A lot.

Another thing to fix though, aside from the fact that it's a giant block, is all the "’"'s that you have instead of "'s".

agreed *nods head*

[darkphantomime]

I just fixed it.

[Darth Wyndisis]

You did a good job with that.  You had some interesting ideas that I never would have thought of.

[Deku]

That was awesome JQ!
I agree with you on every aspect.
I also enjoyed the happy, yet deep and threatening tone of the third day. I've got it on my i-pod, and everytime my 'Shuffle' feature randomly selects it, I always listen to it. Majora's Mask would have made an amazing book. The fact that you get to be a part of such an imaginative, magnificent, and timeless story is absolutely genuine. I loved the game more than any other Zelda game to date, and I'm glad you wrote your article on the curiosity shop.