[Press A] to Let Go

About

Press [A] to Let Go is a reaction image featuring a close-up screenshot of the protagonist Link in the video game The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker along with instructions for the player to “Press [A] to let go.”

Origin

On April 10th, 2014, Redditor dogHD submitted a screenshot looking up at the character Link in the game The Wind Waker with the caption “A to let go” to /r/gaming^[6] (shown below). Before the post was archived, it garnered more than 3,500 votes (90% upvoted) and 140 comments.

Spread

On June 6th, 2014, Know Your Meme user Gippo Dudee posted the reaction image to Reaction Images photo gallery, where it received upwards of 280 upvotes and 160 favorites over the next two years. On September 21st, Twitter user @Linkstagram^[2] posted a cropped version of the reaction image with the caption “when u accidentally switch to ur front camera” (shown below). Over the next two years, the tweet gathered upwards of 8,600 likes and 6,700 retweets.

On October 11th, Redditor JamesMcSam submitted the reaction image to the /r/gaming^[3] subreddit, where it garnered upwards of 4,100 votes (89% upvoted) and 290 comments prior to being archived. In November 2015, the online retailer RedBubble^[1] began selling merchandise printed with the reaction image (shown below).

On March 19th, 2016, Instagram^[4] user nintendotho posted two screenshots of Link with the “A to Let Go” instructions with a joke about getting “upset”: about a past event (shown below). On May 8th, Redditor seakladoom reposted the image to the /r/BlackPeopleTwitter^[5] subreddit, where it gained over 6,100 votes (91% upvoted) and 70 comments in the first 24 hours.

Search Interest

Not available.

External References