My name is Devin, and I am 16 years old. I am a Zelda fan; I've avidly played the series since the age of 6. I have beaten every Zelda game, and sport the usual traits of the die- hard Zelda fan; fond memories of staying up days at a time blazing a trail through Hyrule and its dungeons, and the usual teary reaction to the inspirational overworld theme (Why wasn't this melody featured in OoT? In my opinion, it is as important to the series as the triforce, which, come to think of it, is another thing they left out). I enjoy your site very much. It focuses a lot on the things that i like (glitches, secrets, etc.), and it also has some extremely intersting and insightful ideas you put forth. You have my respect, Gamer X, for creating such a cool and origional website. I also enjoyed the t-rex in Hyrule joke...some people really are stupid, and entertaining too.

But enough about that, I probably havn't said anything you havn't already heard a million times. The reason I'm writing you is to tell you and the patrons of "Odyssey" about a friend of mine. My interest in Zelda has made me many lasting friendships, but Ryan in particular stands out. He and I have been into the series since we were old enough to pick up a controller, and we spent a good portion of our young lives plastered to the carpet as our pre-pubescent minds contemplated such matters as where to find that damned Boss key. Ah, I remember the screen that would appear in Zelda 2 after your last heart container had been emptied, that red flashing screen with the sound of Ganon doing his low-quality but somehow strangely menacing cackle...and after playing Zelda until it was dawn, the glare of that red screen would hurt our eyes...and I remember seeing it reflected off of Ryan's glasses as he sat next to me on the floor of my room in his sleping bag. I remember he and I staring in awe as we finally found the Master Sword in the woods in A Link to the Past, only to discover with dismay that it was a fake, and then laughing and almost crying at the same time. I remember those woods, the mist-shrouded trees, the pickpocket that you couldn't kill, and most of all the music. That music holds almost as much power over me as the overworld theme. Ryan and I would go behind our housing tract to the forest and pretend we were in Hyrule, battling octorocks, looking for the Master Sword. We had so much fun on friday afternoons at 4:30, we would watch the Legend of Zelda Cartoon (which I would dearly like to see again, and if anyone out there has information on any T.V. station that may be playing reruns of it in the wee hours of the morning, I will gladly sell my soul to you in exchange for it). Ah, the memories.

I know that many of you out there consider yourselves HUGE Zelda fans, but I can guarantee that he has done something which will make you reconsider the intensity of your obsession. He has expressed his love and devotion to Zelda by having himself marked for life with the symbol of the Zelda games. You heard me right. He has a TRIFORCE TATTOO! It was not done professionally, so it's only in one color: typical tattoo-green (woudn't that be a great name for a crayola crayon?), but at least the lines are straight and it looks like a profesional tattoo. It's on the underside of his left wrist, and each side of the triangle is about 2 inches long. If my friend Mike ever stops being such a tight ass and loans me his digital camera, I can take a picture of it for you, but for now, you'll just have to take my word for it. Ha! Beat that, you so-called Zelda fans! Oh, and I'll confirm what some of you out there may have guessed; at the time he had his body-art done, his mind was "influenced" by an illegal substance...but shhhh! ;)

I had intended this letter to be a simple account of Ryan's tattoo for the enjoyment of the "Odyssey's" fans, but the act of putting into words my memories of playing Zelda as a child has stirred something within me. I guess you could call it nostalgia, but it has spurred my to write also about something more serious. People write to you about how Zelda has defined them as a person, and I can relate to that, but Zelda has played a more siginficant role in Ryan's life. Ryan is now a recovering heroin addict. He started using heroin about two years ago, and after almost dying from an overdose, he asked me to help him quit. Once again, I found myself sitting with him in front of a T.V. playing Zelda, but this time watching him deal with heroin withdrawls. He and I reverted to our old Zelda habit, staying up for days playing through all the Zelda games we owned. It was one of the hardest times in my life, watching him deal with that suffering, but we did it. I love Ryan to death, and I'm glad as hell that he quit, and Zelda partly responsible.

And to think, some see video games as something that kids use to waste their childhood, a thing that turns you into a mindless drooling zombie. That may be true with some, but I think that video games are what you make of them, just like anything else. You can use them to turn yourself into an apathetic slob, or you can have the most wonderful emotional experiences with them, like I did with Zelda. Video games helped save the life of somebody I love. And to those who say no good can come of video games, I say that's bullshit. If you believe video games are a waste of time, then you also must say that books are no good, either, becuase books are much the same as video games. Books are also a tool, when implimented correctly, that can make you feel incredible emotions. How many of you cried when Gandalf (seemingly) died in Lord of the Rings? O.K., then, How many of you got all choked up when Link saved Princess Zelda? How many of you STILL get all choked up when you hear the overworld theme? I thought so.

I've poured much of myself into this letter, and I hope that some of you will get something out of it. And hey, next time your parents say video games are worthless, write as much of this letter as you can on your hand and tell them what's up. Heheh...thanks for reading this, and Gamer X, thanks for putting up this extremely cool site. It's getting late now, and I think I hear a certain video game calling my name...