Awesome, as always! Glad for an update!

Interesting way to close the first cycle. I really hope you'll be able to keep going with the rest of the story. Feel free to ask for help, i like to consider myself an MM guru.

I like it! I'm keeping the review short, but I liked the flash back with Skull Kid. Good job so far!

The chapter fits nicely in my opinion, so don't worry. Its minimalistic nature is what makes it work.

The Mask Salesman makes a cameo finally, just not in a way I thought he would. Still, the flashback works nicely and fleshes out some of Tael's and the Skull Kid's personalities... or at leas what it should be in SK's case.

Reading through the reviews, I too realized I never nocticed Majora's Mask had no eyeholes. Hmm...

And now, time to freeze our butts off...

I don't think I've reviewed yet, but I started reading your story a few weeks ago and I think it is great.
I really like your characterisation of Tatl and her relationship with Link. Oh and that all the cycles are going on at the same time so parts of the quests are happening in an anachronic order.
Love the fic, hope you update soon.

Yet another good chapter! Is it just me, or did tatl lie about who agreed with the skull kid about stealing majora's mask? Was she afraid of what link would think of her or something? I look forward to the next cycle! Keep it up!

I don't think I've reviewed yet, so let me start by saying that I love your take on Majora's Mask. Between the fleshing out of the characters to the confusing time travel scenarios, it truly feels like a living, breathing universe. It's especially fun seeing how you've interpreted the characters. Thus far, I haven't seen anything to contradict how I would visualize them. I'll definitely never play the game in the same way again!

I especially like what you've done with Link. Poor kid - I always imagined he'd be a little messed up in Majora's Mask seeing as how he just went through hell in Ocarina of Time. Between the flash-backs, his aversion to killing, and his running tally of kills, that really comes through.

Overall, great job with your descriptions, pacing, and action sequences. I also wanted to say that the Interlude chapter was a nice touch, and I hope you do it again for the end of the second cycle. Keep up the good work and I'm excited to read the next chapter!

I really don't think it would have been too long. Really, it seemed far too short. Perhaps it would have been good on its own, but the fact that you're just covering one cutscene makes it feel shorter than it is.

YAY :D

I guess this was a flashback chapter, huh? Good though! ^_^

*fangirl scream* U UPDATED!! AH! AH! U UPDATED! WO! WO!! YES!! YEA!! WOOT! GREAT!! this was an awesome chapter, as the others, and i love the expanded history! 432 birds?!?! or was it just 4:32 in the morning? U MUST UPDATE SOONER!! *wild look in eyes and takes out goron mask grinning crazily* mr goron will squash like bug if u no not...

Too lazy too login at the moment.

Are you kidding? I LOVE the really long chapters! Then again if you feel that the extra parts aren't working for you, then it's completely fine. Just seeing the amount of effort and every little detail put into each chapter makes the long wait worthwhile.

I'm more excited to see Link and Tatl's friendship get to the point when Link will be able to tell Tatl parts of his own past and reveal why he is how he is. :D

This is excellent.
I read it all over two days, and I have to say that this is probably the best adaptation of one of the games out there. The added details really flesh out the source material and make it seem a lot more real. The interactions between Link and Tatl are excellent.
I'm really looking forward to the next cycle now.

Ooh, I've been waiting for this.

Nice little look at Tatl. That line "I thought you were better than me" really struck a chord, I think. It was a little sad when she rejected his friend offer, though. And of course, the flashback with the Skull Kid was sufficiently creepy. (I never once even realized that mask doesn't have eyeholes... *facepalm*)

Ah, I was kind of hoping the end of this cycle would be more climactic. But oh well.

I see some of his jadedness is starting to shine through...

First things first: It seems like, in recent times, whenever I read a fanfic (or any book), the mistakes stand out to me like a sore thumb. It's gotten a bit difficult for me to enjoy reading when I'm constantly and unconsciously looking for errors.

That said, I can't find any here, aside from typos, and I've enjoyed reading this story immensely. Your dialogue flows wonderfully, very natural to read, and you use a good amount of description - enough to set the scene quite effectively without being too wordy (I've lost my handle on that balance, myself). But one particular thing that really stands out is the way you portray Link. You really do show him well as an adult (well, teenager) in a kid's body but still with a kid's view in some ways, complete with the dissonance that entails (particularly in his morality), and Tatl keeps me chuckling more often than not even if I occasionally want to break out the flyswatter. I like the way their personalities mesh...or not, as the case may be. Link here is a good example of the darkness that lurks in every Zelda game despite the apparent lightheartedness of most. (Granted, while I know Majora's Mask is darker to begin with, I haven't played very much of it myself, so I can only really speak for the others - but even so, I seldom see this kind of balance reached so well. LoZ fanfics that I've read are usually either too dark or too light, so kudos for getting it spot-on!)

Your combat scenes are descriptive without being tedious, and I liked the way you handled the temple. Other stories sometimes stick too close to the formula in ways that may make sense in games but not so much in prose, but it flowed perfectly well here. (In other words: THANK YOU for not dragging us through Link's Improbable Hunt for the Five Keys of Destiny!) You seem to find interesting ways to further character development, too, that feel completely natural. Such as Tatl asking about Navi and Link's surprise when she didn't initially press the issue, and later the way she helped in the boss fight. A far cry from some previous events, to be sure!

One thing I noticed...I like the flashbacks, but some (generally the most interesting ones, I might add) seem to refer to specific events that haven't yet been elaborated on and aren't obviously -directly- based on situations in the games. While the mystery of implication has its own intrigue, a part of me is screaming for more details. Sometimes it feels like there's a backstory we're missing. Will they be elaborated on at some point?

Finally, a bit more chapter-specific: I do like the Interlude chapters. It's interesting to see the way events impact the side characters, either in spite of or because of the fact I haven't played any decent length of the game (don't think I made it past the Deku Palace). The scene in the first with Viscen and Mutoh stood out for its...almost heroic futility, is the only way I can think of to describe it. And in the last, both the silent conversation between Kotake and Koume (unusual and very well done) and Tingle's simple, innocent logic...I think that was one of the parts that hit me the most. Tingle is suddenly in a rather different and slightly less irritating light.

Pity I doubt Nintendo will capitalize on that.

With this review now potentially longer than the chapters of some stories, I'll leave it with the note that I'm definitely looking forward to more. This is one of the most well-written and fun (delivery-wise, at least) stories I've read in a while, and as such I'll shove it down the throat of anyone I can. =P With the only problem I can see being the occasional typo, I'll gladly offer to proofread if you're interested, but the mistakes should be easily caught on a rereading regardless. Typos are annoying that way.

One last thing out of my own curiosity: Do you write straight through the story, or do you write bits and pieces here and there and connect them later? I've tried both and I'm still up in the air on which ends up being more successful.