2026 Writing Log, Part Eleven

[rynling]

- This week I returned to The Archives of Hyrule, a Legend of Zelda Modern AU story based on Tears of the Kingdom, and I wrote the first half of Chapter 9. This chapter is a bridge between the story’s first and second acts, and it’s going to be short but sweet. And also a bit spicy. The burn is slow, but it’s cooking.

- To keep myself motivated, I went ahead and edited Chapter 1 one more time before posting it on AO3 (here). And then I added the second chapter to form a solid opening arc. This story exists for the sole purpose of making me happy, but still. I’m actually very nervous about sharing it.

- Though I don’t know why. It’s a good story.

- I’m still working on “The Deadlands,” my story for an upcoming Final Fantasy XII zine. But I’m making progress! I’m also telling myself that it’s okay if this story is relatively short. Around 1,500 words (six A5-size pages) is the perfect length for a zine fic, I think.

- I applied to “table” two of my zines at the Biggest Little Zine Fair (here), and I also donated three of my zines to the Zine Pavilion (here) at the annual American Library Association conference.

- This week’s post on my book review blog (here) is about The Tatami Galaxy, a comedy novel about a third-year college student set in four different parallel universes. Though the details of each version are different, the characters have a “we would be friends in any timeline” situation going on. The book is very silly and sweet, and it also feels like a window into college life before the pandemic. Remember the world before neoliberal enshittification really started to take hold? Remember when eating out was cheap, drinking was fun, and your life wouldn’t be completely ruined by a few bad grades and stupid mistakes? Man that was wild.

- If you’re interested, the (subtitled) anime version of The Tatami Galaxy is free to watch on YouTube (here). The animation is super creative, and the voice acting is genius, but I have to admit that both the manic energy and the visual eyestrain are beyond intense. Or maybe I just got old lmao.

- Anyway! I also drew a soft pastel picture of a fluffy little opossum, and I posted it on Tumblr (here). This was supposed to be an illustration for my “Ruins” short fiction zine, but I decided not to include the story it was paired with. The opossum is still very cute though!

- I also commissioned Mismedleym to create a pet portrait of my sweet but lazy corgi Lola. They kindly gave me permission to post the piece, which I did on Tumblr (here). This artist has a super cool and creative painterly style, and I really enjoyed working with them. Their commission info is on their Carrd site (here) if you’re interested.

- And, after taking a month off, I got back to querying my original gothic fantasy novel, An Unfound Door. To help keep myself motivated, I commissioned a Japanese fantasy artist I admire, MajoMar, to draw the novel’s heroine Agnes. They posted the illustration on Bluesky (here), and you can order one of your own via VGen (here). MajoMar is lovely to work with, and listen – if you’ve never commissioned a Japanese artist, you are in for a treat.

I’m slowly clawing my way out of a horrible pit, but I’m starting to feel the sunlight on my face. Here’s to brighter days and warmer weather ahead. Eid Mubarak! 🌿