2026 Writing Log, Part 31

[rynling]

- After more than a month of work, I finally finished Chapter 13 of The Archives of Hyrule! Since I’m going to use this chapter to prematurely cut the story off about halfway through, I also wrote a short synopsis of the originally planned plot developments to include as an endnote. I think this final chapter does a decent job of thematic resolution, and I really enjoyed writing it once I figured out what it needed to say. I'll edit it before I post it, of course, and it probably needs to sit a while first.

- I posted “Heliotropic,” a one-shot story about Flowery and Asgore in Chapter 5 of Deltarune, on AO3 (here). The relationship between these two characters is so sad and pathetic, and genuinely I feel so bad for both of them. So have some smutfic I guess!

- The three stories I wrote for the summerofhorrorexchange fic exchange are now live! I wrote a post (here) on Dreamwidth with short summaries and links if you’d like some tasty creepy snacks for Final Fantasy VII and Ocarina of Time.

- I commissioned the magical Milanomochi to create an illustration for one of these stories, and it’s very cool and very creepy. I posted the piece along with a story promo on Tumblr (here).

- I’m slowly formatting my short fiction zine about fallen knights! This is giant pain in the ass for various reasons, but I’m taking it one step at a time and slowly making progress.

- I commissioned Sacherali, an OC artist with a very colorful and distinctive style, to draw an illustration of a lady knight for this zine project, and she posted the piece on Bluesky (here). This is gorgeous art, and I feel so lucky and honored to be able to work with someone so talented.

- This week’s post on my book review blog (here) is about Vampire Hunter D, the first in a still-ongoing series of science fantasy novels illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano. For a book published in 1983, it’s not bad. The plot and narrative structure are a little too reminiscent of shonen manga for my personal taste, but I love the underlying tone of gothic darkness.

- I also posted a review on my public-facing blog (here) about Evelyn: A Gothic Tale, a casual and atmospheric exploration-focused platformer created as a solo project by the Italian artist Frankiesbugs. This is just a demo of a larger game still in development, but it’s very polished and a lot of fun to play!

- I had a feeling at the beginning of 2026 that this wasn’t going to be my year, and (to my dismay) I was not wrong. But maybe next year will be better! 2027 is going to be the Year of the Earth Sheep; and, to get in on the good energy early, I drew an illustration (on Tumblr here) of a happy goat chilling out in the grass on a warm summer day.

Last week I had ADHD, and this week I’ve had ADHD and anxiety. Fun times! There’s nothing special going on in my life, just brain chemistry acting up on an inconvenient schedule. I’m thinking that I’d really like some good news, or maybe for something good to happen, but it’s not up to me. In the meantime, I’ve been playing a lot of video games. Thank you video games. 💛

Comments

[lassarina]

Congrats on the things you finished! Alas for brain chemistry being inconvenient.

[rynling]

Thank you so much!

And I think, for the brain chemistry, I'm going to pull out the big guns: ordering a pizza and watching a Studio Ghibli movie. Hopefully Howl and his moving castle will fix me.