Post by @forteller@tutoteket.no

Børge

@forteller@tutoteket.no 2 hours ago

I'm sorry, but these are surely sex workers in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link , right?

Right!?

#zelda #link #SexWorkIsWork

2 media

Old timey video game Zelda. Two thin women in brightly colorful dresses with a pretty low cut and a choker stands outside a house. Link talks with one of them, which says "Please let me help you. Come inside."

The door of the house is open, there's no one outside. The same textbox as before now says "I can restore your life"

#sexworkiswork #link #zelda

3 Replies

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Robin Adams

@robinadams@mathstodon.xyz 1 hour ago

@forteller Yes, if it wasn't for Nintendo's family-friendly reputation, nobody would have any doubt about it.

Gaming historian Mr Talida dug into this here. In an early development version of the game the healing lady says "マッカワイ" (very roughly: "You're cute") instead of "Please let me help you. Come inside."

https://bsky.app/profile/mrtalida.bsky.social/post/3mazmsfjixk2z

And the Zelda mangas of the time all play the scenes with the healing lady suggestively. Although in one, she invites Link in, the narrator points out he's only 16, and she gives him a plate of cookies instead:

https://bsky.app/profile/historyofhyrule.com/post/3mb34fx2j6c2n

Bluesky Social

History of Hyrule, Zelda Archivist (@historyofhyrule.com)

I was going to get around to scanning all my AoL material now that I'm closer to done with the Z1 publications, I think I'll try to make a thread/collection of how the healer was interpreted. Feel free to add art you've found in the past! Yuu Minazuki 1987: https://archive.org/details/comic_yuu_minazuki_1987-07

Bluesky Social

MrTalida (@mrtalida.bsky.social)

In Zelda 2, a woman appears in each town, beckoning Link into her home. They disappear inside and Link's health begins to refill. One reddit user recently asked if this scene was *intentionally* suggestive. While that seems very unlikely, I thought I'd look into it.

Børge

@forteller@tutoteket.no 49 minutes ago

@robinadams Hah, that's fantastic! Thank you so much for this great answer :)

🔥 this is fine

@agathos@mastodon.babb.no 2 hours ago

@forteller altså de feene i botw er i alle fall kodet sånn