2025 Writing Log, Part 49
Dec. 13th, 2025 07:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynling- I wrote Chapter 6 of The Archives of Hyrule, a post-TotK Modern AU. In this chapter Zelda has a strange and threatening interview with Impa. She also meets Link, who is (of course) attractive and charming. Link works for Ganon, but he’s also secretly working for Impa. I love double-crossing and intrigue.
- I finished my story for Yuletide! I really enjoyed writing this, but it was a challenge. The focal character only has about six lines of speech in the source text, but they have a relatively large fandom on Tumblr that has developed multiple theories regarding their backstory. The person requesting the story has a completely blank account on AO3, so I’m not really sure where they’re coming from or what they’re looking for. I did my best, though, and I hope they like the story.
- I’m making progress on my “Year of the Horse” illustration for New Year’s. I’m really having to trust the process with this one. But it’s getting there.
- I’m continuing to translate Yoko Ogawa’s short novel How to Bury Brahman. I’m working at the (very slow) rate of a paragraph a day. I suppose I could find a PDF of the book and plug the whole thing into Google Translate, but where’s the fun in that?
- This week on my book review blog (here) I wrote about Yoko Ogawa’s most recent novel, Silent Singer. I compare it to the 2023 Haruki Murakami novel The City and Its Uncertain Walls, which I think is fair. I’m not using this review to make an argument, but I don’t think it’s mere nostalgia that so many contemporary authors are pushing back so strongly against neoliberal notions of “progress.”
- I also finished up a review of Cathy Malkasian’s newest graphic novel, Shadows of the Sea, which will be published on Comics Beat next week. This is a short review that took a long time; but, in my defense, Cathy Malkasian’s work is brilliant but very difficult to write about.
Nothing much to report this week, just wrapping up a few projects. I’m slow, but I’ll get where I’m going eventually. 🐢
- I finished my story for Yuletide! I really enjoyed writing this, but it was a challenge. The focal character only has about six lines of speech in the source text, but they have a relatively large fandom on Tumblr that has developed multiple theories regarding their backstory. The person requesting the story has a completely blank account on AO3, so I’m not really sure where they’re coming from or what they’re looking for. I did my best, though, and I hope they like the story.
- I’m making progress on my “Year of the Horse” illustration for New Year’s. I’m really having to trust the process with this one. But it’s getting there.
- I’m continuing to translate Yoko Ogawa’s short novel How to Bury Brahman. I’m working at the (very slow) rate of a paragraph a day. I suppose I could find a PDF of the book and plug the whole thing into Google Translate, but where’s the fun in that?
- This week on my book review blog (here) I wrote about Yoko Ogawa’s most recent novel, Silent Singer. I compare it to the 2023 Haruki Murakami novel The City and Its Uncertain Walls, which I think is fair. I’m not using this review to make an argument, but I don’t think it’s mere nostalgia that so many contemporary authors are pushing back so strongly against neoliberal notions of “progress.”
- I also finished up a review of Cathy Malkasian’s newest graphic novel, Shadows of the Sea, which will be published on Comics Beat next week. This is a short review that took a long time; but, in my defense, Cathy Malkasian’s work is brilliant but very difficult to write about.
Nothing much to report this week, just wrapping up a few projects. I’m slow, but I’ll get where I’m going eventually. 🐢
no subject
Date: 2025-12-15 05:24 pm (UTC)Hell yes for double crossing and intrigue.
no subject
Date: 2025-12-16 07:00 pm (UTC)I always appreciate this kind of "Game of Thrones" approach to academia. When I first made the decision to go to grad school, I knew there would be politics and backstabbing, but I had no idea how truly unhinged it was going to be. These days I'm in a nice and cozy place where I can comfortably keep my head down and not worry about such things, but I still have trauma.
If nothing else, though, the trauma makes for good storytelling. That's what I told myself when I was living through it; and now, a few years later, it's finally paying off. All according to keikaku 🍷
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Date: 2025-12-22 04:58 am (UTC)