2026 Writing Log, Part Eight

[rynling]

- I was contacted by an editor who’s working on an essay collection about apocalyptic themes in popular media, and he asked me to contribute a piece about Breath of the Wild. I was like HELL YES and put together an abstract for him. If you’re interested, the working title of my essay is “The Postapocalyptic Green Utopia of Breath of the Wild,” and what I’m essentially going to argue is that we could all use a little Calamity Ganon in our lives. This isn’t due anytime soon, but I’m looking forward to getting started once the sun stays out past 6pm and I regain my will to live.

- I finished edits on my review of a minicomic zine for The Comics Courier. I’m used to minimal editing, so I was surprised (in a good way!) to get back a substantial set of comments. It took a while to rework the review, but the editor was 100% correct about everything she said. I feel very honored to be the recipient of such keen and careful attention tbh. Always appreciated.

- I commissioned a Final Fantasy artist who goes by Artofjax on Bluesky to create a small illustration of Zelda from Echoes of Wisdom with cool and breezy summer vibes, and she kindly gave me permission me to post the illustration on Tumblr (here). Jax was lovely to work with, and you can find her commissions page on VGen (here).

- I finished my drawing of Wind Waker Ganondorf and the Helmaroc King, and I posted it on Tumblr (here). I am forever in love with Ganondorf and his monster friends, and I had a lot of fun working on this illustration. Along with the giant bird, I especially enjoyed painting the grass and clouds.

- I finished my drawing of a knight helmet surrounded by wildflowers, and I posted it on Tumblr (here). If you’re curious, the flowers are oxeye daisies, wood anemones, and bilberry. They’re all common wildflowers in Leeds, and the helmet is modeled on one of the holdings of the city’s Royal Armories Museum. I don’t have any special connection to Leeds (save for a beloved internet friend who lives there), but I thought it would be fun if this illustration were specific to a place instead of totally generic.

The theme of this week was executive function disorder. I tried every trick in my ADHD arsenal to overcome it, but alas. The only thing that will fix me is the end of this horrible winter.