Fairies

Got various things to write about, I think.  Let's get to it...

I've stopped "actively" pondering over Tunic and its symbolism and lore or whatever, but I still can't shake the feeling that I get whenever listening to "Sageless".

Certain spaces in games carry a certain special energy in them.  Well, many of them carry many different sorts of energies, really.  When I wrote my remix of the Mysterious Forest theme from Link's Awakening, I wove in a bunch of cameo melodies from other "lost woods" areas in games (ALTTP, SMRPG, OoT).  I wrote in my submission:

"The whole 'lost woods' trope is ubiquitous among video games, so I thought it would be kind of cool to envision all of these forests as actually being interconnected... a place where you can get so lost that you even end up in the wrong game!"

I had a similar (unsubstantiated) thought today, listening to "Sageless" again.  There are these spaces where you can feel the energy in the air, whether it's because of the way the place looks, or the music, or what it all represents.

The gathering place in Tunic.  The lantern room in Journey.  Even the bench in Rain, perhaps.

Three drastically-different color schemes.  I guess you could argue that the tonality of the spaces is different, too.  The heater room in Journey is quiet warmth and peace.  The bench in Rain, a bit forlorn, yet with shimmering magic.  The gathering place in Tunic, somehow majestic, almost a sort of cosmic magic in a way, but by that I don't mean the sort of "infinite flowers" non-beauty that I saw at Teamlabs two years ago.

It's something that is warm, yet makes you sad.  In the same way that when Ghibli films are at their =best= they portray a sense of preciousness that hurts because it paints such an authentic feeling of untainted beauty, and we are adult enough that we know how fleeting and rare that is.  I think "nostalgia" is a loaded term, but taking it to mean "A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past." I think captures the right energy.  When we say "nostalgia" these days it can sometimes almost be a sort of marketing buzzword akin to "retro", but this dictionary definition includes the idea that nostalgia is "bittersweet".  It's sad because you're reminded of something that you loved that is no longer here with you.

From the comments I've read on "Sageless" I know I'm not alone in feeling this sentiment in it:

"This song came on while i was watching my mom tend to her flowers outside the window. I felt a lump in my throat and when the strings came in i started crying. My mom won't be around forever. And it will be moments like these that will live on in my mind when i think of her. I had to go outside and hug her because someday i know, i won't be able to anymore."

What is the meaning of these fairies?  And why is it that they have a musical theme embedded with such energy?

Some light spoilers for Tunic incoming:

I mentioned before that I think it's interesting, and perhaps confusing, that the fairies share a name with the stone fairy enemies -- the manual refers to both as "fairy".  Though this is potentially a red herring.  The stone fairies are sort of "spryte-like", but have a sort of "drone-like" behavior.  They've been theorized to help maintain and restore spaces, maybe that points to a sort of adaptable nature, their magic just happens to have been used for defense?

We gain another clue when examining the fairy "fountain" itself, we see the text "Souls Returned: __", in plain text.  Not "fairies returned", but "souls".  The manual itself refers to the fairies alternatively as "fairy souls" and "hidden fairies".  The word "soul" is used at other times in Tunic as well, your MP gauge is referred to as "the power of your soul" and it's said that some enemies "leave their souls" (referring to the MP pickups).

The fairies seem to have a little bit of an attitude or mischevious nature, their "rescue cries" translated are things like "what up lil fox" and "thank you friend" as well as "where my friends at", "you found me yay", or "finally, freedom".  Of course, part of this is probably due to the terse nature of the language, but "what up lil fox" could have easily been a different phrase such as "hi little fox", so there seems to be some intention here.  "Finally, freedom" is an interesting one, as the manual says that the fairies "lock themselves" in gold boxes.

The fairy at the fountain gives a long speech, which also givens some interesting thoughts to ponder about.  It not only breaks the fourth wall, referencing the developer of the game, but knows about the bad/good endings of the game, and says something about "either way, I'm back in the box, right?"  Which we can only understand as being a metaphorical "box" since you've just freed the fairy, obviously.  Or at least, a higher-level "box", maybe it's referencing the "damp cave" that it's now in, but I get the feeling that it's a level above that, like "still in the game of tunic" really.

Perhaps the biggest clue in that long speech is that the fairy tells you to tell the dev to "stop putting me in that box", suggesting that they "are put in the box" by the developer, contrary to what the manual tells us where they "lock themselves" in boxes.  Perhaps the manual is a little misleading here, like the fairies are locked up by the developer who then pretends to not be at fault.

Something that I totally missed is in the pages describing the holy cross -- it says to "free the souls that stayed behind to guide you and receive their gift".  Their "gift" obviously meaning either of the two rewards that you get from rescuing enough of them, but it's interesting that it refers to the fairies as "souls that stayed behind to guide you".  If they "stayed behind" that implies that others have moved forward.  What exactly does that mean?

The seeking spell also references the "small fold of local truth the fairy has created as a nest".

So the fairies obviously are in the know about "the truth", and have an assigned role in guiding ruin(s) seekers.  They are put into boxes by the creators of the game (who in my little headcanon are somewhat tied to the purple miasma / ancient civilization) and "stay behind".  Even after they are freed, even after all of them are freed they still congregate in the secret place, so it's not like even after you free them all they "move on".

Does the "staying behind" have to do with the cycles of the world in Tunic, like the "power to defy death" and all that?  So many questions...

I was convinced when I first played through the game that the power of the Fairies was needed to change fate.  In a way, they did hold a key to the "ultimate wisdom", so I guess that was true, in a sense.  But where did they get this importance and power and where did they come from?  Are they remnants of the previous heirs?  Are they the spirits of the purple fox-like creatures from the Miasma, "at peace"?  Are they a symbolic and "tangible" representation of the secrets, the little trinkets of care that the developers put into the game?

I also discovered something silly and funny today -- I have apparently never read or seen the instruction booklet for the first two Zelda games.  I knew of course, the basic design of it, the pale golden color and all that, but I honestly don't think I have ever looked inside (or maybe never even seen the manual in person).  Yeah, come to think of it, a good number of NES games I think I've never seen their manuals at all, just an artifact of happenstance I think.  It's a funny little experience, flipping through them now.......

I've dwelled on these thoughts for too long already, it's time for some rest...