Rynling R&D

So I got Sam Beck (Sam Beck!!!) to draw my trash goblin being dramatic.

Like everything the artist does, this is going to be amazing, and I am very excited.

Being able to create compositions like this is a major goal of mine. I fucking love this sort of thing. I think it's time to be real with myself and admit that all I want to draw are anime wizards casting anime magic.

This is an illustration of a scene from the sixteenth chapter of The Legend of the Princess created by Lightsintheskye, who just sent it to me this afternoon! This is the first illustration she drew without having read the chapter first, and she did a marvelous job. At this point neither the illustration nor the chapter itself has been posted... I should probably get to work on that.

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This comic is an illustration of a scene from the sixth chapter of The Legend of the Princess created in July by Lightsintheskye, whose brilliance knows no bounds.

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Although I love all of Lightsintheskye's illustrations, it was this comic that inspired me to step up my own creative efforts in writing this story. Before this, I wasn't taking the fic all that seriously, but after I saw this incredible artwork I could no longer be satisfied with my lazy 1,200-word chapters. Essentially, Lightsintheskye helped me to realize that what I was doing had the potential to become an interesting and meaningful story that's absolutely worth my time and effort. The full-size comic, optimized for Tumblr, can be found (here)!

Since I'm getting ready to write a climactic chapter of The Legend of the Princess before putting the story on hiatus for a few months, I want to put together a series of posts about the incredible illustration work Lightsintheskye has been doing for me.

So far she's completed four illustrations, and I'm going to start with the cover illustration, which she finished in July 2016.

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Lightsintheskye is amazingly talented, and it's been such a pleasure to work with her. The full piece can be found (here)!

The Small Press Expo was amazing this year. One of the highlights of the convention was that I got to say hello to Sara Goetter and Natalie Riess, and they both signed my copy of The Legend of Gay Zelda Zine.

Back in the day, I had Sara draw an illustration for Ganondorf&!, a ridiculous fic I wrote about Ganondorf and Bowser being shitty gay dads together. She remembered this drawing because how do you even forget something like that, but what surprised me was that Natalie remembered it too.

Anyway, they drew me a thing, and it is transcendent.

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Every illustration I commission is my favorite commission, and I say this with absolute sincerity. The love I feel for the artists who work with me is so pure that it would be creepy if it weren't a platonic manifestation of overwhelming goodwill. I appreciate and treasure all of my commissioned illustrations equally and infinitely. Still, this drawing from lovelylandfill may just be the brightest light in a sky full of stars.

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Lightsintheskye just sent me a comic based on a scene from the sixth chapter of my Zelda/Ganondorf fic The Legend of the Princess, and words cannot describe how fantastic it is. She also sent me a gag version, which I want to share here because it is made of gold.

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My post of her last illustration only ended up getting about three dozen notes, so I decided to ask for the artist's advice about posting this one. I understand that the attention any given post gets on Tumblr is random, but there still have to be ways to skew the odds. Is there a day of the week or time of day that gets more traffic? Is there a good set of tags to use? I know there are marketing strategies for things like this (for example, this is an interesting infographic), but I've never sat down and compared notes with another actual human being. And it never hurts to ask for advice, right?

ETA: I'm glad I asked!

I'm working with Lightsintheskye on a series of illustrations for my Zelda/Ganondorf fic The Legend of the Princess. She did the cover illustration a while ago, and yesterday afternoon I posted her illustration for the first story arc.

Despite the incredible quality of her art, the post only got 11 notes.



I was really surprised! I know that this piece will get the attention it deserves when the artist reblogs it later during the peak time for her blog, but I still can't help but wonder why so few people who follow me on Tumblr or track the fandom tags were willing to offer their support for a collaboration like this. (The people who did like or reblog the post are lovely and wonderful and have my eternal gratitude, of course.)

I think this is what it what it means to "create for yourself" - you need to have faith that what you're doing has worth and value, even if it's not something that's immediately recognized by the larger community. Despite the doubts I have regarding my own writing, the artist's talent is readily apparent. Like, what she does is really good, and I'm so lucky to be able to work with her on this project. Even if it's difficult for me to have faith in myself, I can believe in the quality of the artist's work. Along with the artist, I'm creating something interesting and unique and meaningful, and I'm gonna keep going, no matter what...

...if only because the actual process is so much fun. I mean listen, as much as it sucks to get so little positive feedback on Tumblr, I'm not going to complain about how cool it is to get to play around with concept and design sketches like this one of Zelda in fancy princess clothing.

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I was working on a drawing I promised a friend, but then my hand slipped and this happened.

I ordered a cheap set of Pigma markers, which make my lines darker and a little more stable. What I'm trying to do here is to use a thicker pen for broad shape outlines and a thinner pen for the smaller details, but I suspect they're both going look the same. If I want the pen lines to have the same weight and depth as the pencils, I'm going to have to work with something better than crappy industrial-grade photocopy paper so that I can experiment more without destroying the physical page. I ordered a pad of Bristol board, so we'll see how that goes.

Last night I went out drinking with an artist friend around my age, one of these assholes who hates Tumblr culture and avoids the site but still has 40,000 followers. I was like, "What's your secret," and she leans forward and whispers, "Bitches love yaoi."

Sooooo I ordered two posable artist figures, a little dude and a big dude. I'm going straight to hell for this, I know I am, but I figure maybe I can get off light if I draw Satan's OTPs.

Ganon: I am pure power and rage incarnate! My fury is enormous, and so is my body!
Zelda: I am sixteen and innocent, and I will endure my captivity bravely.
Ganon: I come from a matriarchal culture and would never rape you, but I will touch you all I want.
Zelda: I don't know why I'm so aroused, what is going on, did I mention I'm only fifteen?
Ganon: I will now proceed to turn into a literal animal with a dick longer and thicker than your arm.
Zelda: I don't understand how that's physically possible, but I love you and my vagina is ready!!
Ganon: I am actually a sweet and sensitive person and not a monster at all. Surprise!
Zelda: As a fourteen-year-old woman, all I have ever wanted is to have your babies.

. . . . .

This seems like it would be a very specific fantasy, but... My fault for going on FFN, I guess.

I'm not here to judge people's sexytimes (although that is totally why I'm here), but I'm considering getting back into Ganlink, a true and pure pairing that I adored back in 2010, so much so that a dear friend created this delightful illustration for me...

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