2026 Writing Log, Part Three

[rynling]

- After doing a ton of editing, I now have solid first drafts of the first eight chapters of “The Archives of Hyrule,” a dark academia modern AU loosely based on Tears of the Kingdom. Between this week and last week, I edited the chapters to form a cohesive whole and rewrote the outline for the remainder of the story. I realized that I wasn’t interested in the primary antagonist or the contemporary urban setting, so I leveled up the secondary antagonist and restructured the plot to spend more time inside the eponymous archives and underground in the Depths. Also I made Ganon more overtly unhinged, which was fun.

- I feel like I’m racing the clock with this one, since I’m (perhaps delusionally) convinced that there’s going to be a big Legend of Zelda announcement this summer. It’s been a few years since I’ve serialized a story I haven’t yet finished, but I might take the plunge with this one if the vibes are right.

- I got started on “Bowser’s Massive Cock Challenge,” a Bowser/Luigi story that really needs a more appropriate title. Please send thoughts and prayers.

- I got started on my story for this year’s candyheartsex exchange! I feel incredibly blessed by my partner’s prompts, especially the ones that request a character whom I’ve always admired but never felt inspired to write about. But oh man. I am feeling the Spirit in this Chili’s tonight.

- I published a review on Comics Beat (here) of Pig Wife, a massive graphic novel drawn by Abbey Luck, a Hollywood animator who specializes in Adult Swim style bizarro cartoons. Pig Wife is definitely Hollywood, and it’s definitely got a Gen-X style “alternative” edge to it. Neither of these things is to my taste, usually, but I appreciate Pig Wife for what it is; namely, a gothic “weird girl” coming-of-age story set in a not-quite abandoned labyrinth of mine tunnels in Pennsyltucky. It’s a lot of fun.

- I’ve decided to devote myself to a big beautiful drawing of Ganondorf and his big beautiful bird, the Helmaroc King from Wind Waker. This is going to take some time, but my most recent progress shot is (here).

- For archival purposes, I posted my speculative Legend of Zelda minicomic “She Came from the Stars” on AO3 (here). I drew this back in 2022, but there are still two or three panels I really like. And I still maintain that the goddess Hylia is more than a little scary.

This week I drove back to Philly and returned to the warm embrace of my beloved sunlamp. I recently saw a post on Tumblr (or maybe Bluesky?) whose author was like, “Between my plants and my humidifier and my sunlamp, I realized that I’m becoming a lizard.” And honestly, no shame in that. I hope everyone reading this is staying warm and living their best and choicest terrarium life.