#ashante-the-zero

[wrestlingisfake]

Smackdown Fake Rankings, 12/26/2022

Men's singles division - babyfaces

Drew McIntyre

Sheamus

Ricochet

Braun Strowman

Rey Mysterio

Men's singles division - heels

Roman Reigns (WWE world champion, WWE universal champion)

Gunther (WWE intercontinental champion)

Sami Zayn

Solo Sikoa

Santos Escobar

Unranked: Angel Garza

Smackdown's key storylines are a) "WHO can stop Roman Reigns?", b) "WHO can stop the Usos?", and c) "WHEN will Sami Zayn's unlikely alliance with the Bloodline collapse?" None of these questions are likely to be answered before April, and I'm not even convinced they'll be blown off in 2023 at all.

So I could argue this roster isn't doing enough to set up strong babyfaces that can dethrone the heels, but it doesn't matter because WWE has settled into a very long-term formula. Arguing that Smackdown is overdoing the Bloodline would be futile; for better or worse, that's the brand now. It'd be like saying that AEW has too many little flippy guys, or that GCW needs to cut down on light tube spots.

Men's tag team division - babyfaces

Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods (NXT tag team champions)

Top Dolla & Ashante Adonis

Ridge Holland & Butch

Men's tag team division - heels

The Usos - Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso (Raw tag team champions, Smackdown tag team champions)

Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde

Erik & Ivar

Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci

Sending Kingston and Woods to NXT is clever, but it's a bit of a kludge for a systemic problem. WWE can't think of anything for a top tag team act to do except make a run for the tag title or break up. It makes no sense to split the New Day or book them against the Usos for the hundredth time. So the only idea they have is to put the New Day in the hunt for a different tag title. Which works for now, but eventually you have to come up with compelling non-title storylines for everybody that's not on top. WWE can do this with the men's singles division but it's still too lazy to do it up and down the tag team and women's divisions.

Women's singles division - babyfaces

Raquel Rodriguez

Shotzi

Emma

Women's singles division - heels

Ronda Rousey (Smackdown women's champion)

Shayna Baszler

Sonya Deville

Xia Li

Women's tag team division - babyfaces

Liv Morgan & Tegan Nox

I'm not sure where the Smackdown women's division is headed right now, although it probably won't matter until after the Royal Rumble. Morgan and Nox have been established as a unit but they seem to be feuding with Xia Li, who cost them the tag title but doesn't have a partner yet. So maybe Morgan/Nox focuses on Li/???, or maybe Liv gets back in the hunt for Rousey's title and Nox vs. Li becomes a singles feud. It's pretty bad when your tag division is wavering between one and zero active teams.

No TV, PPV, or streaming matches in 30 days: B-Fab, Bray Wyatt, Drew Gulak, Humberto Carrillo, Jinder Mahal, Karrion Kross, LA Knight, Lacey Evans, Mace, Madcap Moss, Mansoor, Natalya, Shanky, Shinsuke Nakamura, Zelina Vega

Part-time/semi-retired: John Cena, Goldberg, Pat McAfee

Inactive

Big E (neck - C1/C6 fracture)

Charlotte Flair (storyline - wrist injury)

Naomi (suspended)

Rick Boogs (right thigh - quadraceps/patellar tendon tear)

Sasha Banks (suspended)

Banks is reportedly a free agent starting January 1, although I don't think everyone will be convinced until she's actually off WWE's roster and appearing for other promotions. I would assume Naomi is in the same boat but nobody's reported anything on her status.

I don't think Charlotte has appeared for WWE at all since Rousey "broke" her wrist on May 8. I could see them saving her return for the Royal Rumble, but for all I know she could be unavailable for other, unreported reasons. We won't know anything for sure until she's back.

The last I heard on Big E is that the doctors want to wait until March 2023 to check how his neck is healing. That probably rules out a return to the ring at Wrestlemania in April.

[deductionfreak]

Wait, if you're a puppy. Does that make me a kitten?

not a very happy one, it seems

[inprogresspokemon]

Great art you have here but I wonder, what was the hardest in progress evolution you had in terms of drawing it or design?

Thank you! I had a lot more difficulty with designs and execution when I first started (which is why I’m redoing older ones periodically), but earlier on I definitely had a harder time with the Machop line (human-like anatomy was a struggle) and I’m still mostly putting off the rest of Tyrogue’s line. Scyther’s, which I ended up liking a lot, I ended up redoing almost immediately because the first version didn’t feel right (which I never posted).

Conceptually, the Klink, Honedge, and Litwick lines were head-scratchers at first. Combusken-Blaziken and Lombre-Ludiocolo were difficult as well.

The Onix and Beldum lines (and rocky/metallic types in general) are real pains to line and color.

Out of all of them, the Dual-Type Eeveelutions probably get the most thought. I tend to mull on and sketch out (at work often, oops) their designs for a while before I’m happy with them. Kelpeon, Floreon, and Sporeon in particular existed as ideas for a long time before I settled on specifics. There’s a few other Eeveelution designs that I’ve had in mind for a while, but aren’t quite ready. But the Eeveelution designs are a bit different, since they’re more of their own Pokemon than the in-progress stages.

[bloodedgenaoto]

I don't think I've ever seen you, are you a new face around here?

Yeah, I’m Naoto Kurogane. Who are you exactly?

[earthnashes]

Hey ya’ll! For some reason I ended up thinkin’ a lot about past experiences in school and figured I’d write about a couple of ‘em. Since it might get long-ish I’ll put it all down underneath the cut, but in the meantime, unless you don’t mind me sharing my personal thoughts and stories at random here, I might make a separate blog for this stuff. We’ll see! o3o At any rate, those school stories!

I dunno if ya’ll know about this since I rarely ever mention it but I went to SCAD for college (Graduated like a year ago). And as much as I absolutely loved the majority of my time there, there were a couple of instances I don’t look back on fondly. :/

Aight so this first story was my first year in SCAD, and I was in my very first animation class. I fuckin’ loved this class, it was so much fun, we had to learn the old-fashioned way animations were made with flip-techniques and light tables and what have you. It was overall a good time. I met some good people there too, but I usually sat in the back corner and ended up talking with a group of folks the majority of the class. Keep in mind, we were allowed to have conversations while we worked.

I’ll admit I can get pretty loud; my voice just naturally carries and can raise in volume more than what’s normal, I guess. But at some point the professor decided the back corner was being too rowdy and instead of addressing everyone in that corner, she would specifically single me out. The first time or so I understood ‘cuz maybe I was being too loud and forgot to watch my voice, but the next couple days continued like that even when I wasn’t really talking and focusing more on working. It eventually lead to me just not talking all-together or keeping my answers short and low to avoid being singled out, but even then it still happened.

It eventually led to one day, before class starts and I hadn’t even set my stuff down that my teacher pulled me aside and asked if I could move to sit closer to her to “try something out”. She said it was to make sure I wasn’t “getting a rise out of my peers” or some shit like that, but I didn’t understand why she thought I was the source of it, but I complied anyway. Infuriated me and was so embarrassing to basically be made to sit in an isolated corner, so much so I remember calling my mom during class break in my car to avoid anyone seeing me upset.

Well lo-and-behold, a few days go by with me sitting in that little space and speaking to basically no one until class was over, and the corner carries on as loud and as rowdy as it had been without me. Professor can’t single me out this time, I’m not over there, so she addresses the entire corner. Eventually I’m allowed to sit wherever I want when she realizes, ya know, it isn’t me making all the noise or “getting a rise out of people”, but even after that she never singled anyone else out, or pulled anyone else aside. Didn’t even attempt to talk to the other people in the corner, just kinda. Left it at that?

Ever since that specific incident I kept to myself during class for the most part, but she had started calling specifically on me after that to share my thoughts to the class on whatever we were doing. Always said “I wanna hear what you think, Ashante’.” at some point during discussions. I don’t know why though, she hadn’t done anything like that before; maybe her strange way of apologizing or something. She eventually stopped, thank god, but it had bothered me for a while after, even after I passed the class.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another story in college that was sorta-kinda of the same vein happened I think still my first year at SCAD. This time it was in a different class, like a semester after the previous story, and it was a computer graphics class. I wasn’t very fond of this class but the teacher seemed okay, if a little boring. 

Uhhhh but anyway. We had an animation assignment and the first step of it was for everyone to do a storyboard of what we wanted to animate. I loved this project, it was the only real enjoyable one of the class, so of course I finished my storyboard and all that good stuff. The entire class turns the assignment in and we have a critique, like not one person missed this assignment and we all went up and presented what we had and we discussed. Two facts I want ya’ll to keep in mind is 1. the assignment was required to be turned in digitally so we could present it via projector, and 2. the professor participated in the critique, so he saw that literally everyone in the class did the fucking assignment and turned it in ON TIME, I need to stress that.

So, a few days pass, we’re working on our animations, and our grades are up for us to see on the online board thing; can’t remember what it was called but you were able to check whenever you want to keep tabs on your grade. So, I sit down at my computer and check my grade before class starts. I had kept a consistent high-B in this class, so imagine my complete shock when that shit was at a fucking D. My grade dropped from being like a 89 to a 69 in one week, and the only assignment that was turned in that could have affected it at that point was the storyboard one. So I look at that grade. It’s a fucking 0. I got a 0 on it. There’s no explanation, just a blank 0 staring back at me and I’m deeply confused.

That’s when my friend next to me asks “hey uh, what’d you get for your storyboard??” I told her, and she tells me she got the exact same thing. The dude next to us overhead and was like “wait, you too??? My grade dropped so low, what gives?” We end up asking the entire class and EVERYONE. GOT. A. ZERO. On this assignment. Everyone. So, we’re flabbergasted and there’s almost visible question marks above our heads, then the professor waltz in. We’re all kinda clambering for an explanation but he’s like “hold on, I need to say a piece before we start class”. After he sits his shit down he goes on to say “how disappointed he was” at us for not turning in the previous assignment and talks about how he’s never experienced having to fail an entire class like that before over one assignment. And of course everyone’s like ????????? You were there?? We had a critique?? YOU WERE ABLE TO ACCESS THEM ON YOUR COMPUTER????

And then he basically says “well, computer’s are never wrong, and as far as I see no one turned it in, so I’m afraid everyone will have to get a 0. Do better next time.″

So, we’re furious, but there isn’t a lot we can do when he kinda refuses to hear us out and starts the class. So during break, I tell my friend that I’m gonna try and talk to the professor. A few others decide to join me and about 6 of us approach him about it. I distinctly remember my friend hiding behind me when we proposed the possibility that, ohhh I dunno, the drop-box system glitched or some shit. Keep in mind that DropBox, which was a shared stashing system the professors made students use to turn their work in, is notorious for losing files. Every other professor I’ve had up to that point has warned us about it, some even barely trusted it to the point of just recommending us turning our work in via email.

He, again, refuses to hear us out because he claims “the computer doesn’t spontaneously glitch like that” DESPITE EVERYTHING. We’re arguing for a little bit before he doesn’t wanna hear it anymore and we’re told to basically drop it, and the group disperses. I’m the last one to try my luck with it, and he says if you have such a problem with it, we can talk about it sometime this week during my office hours. So I tell him absolutely, i’m not about to take a zero when I know I turned that shit in.

The day comes and I get to his office, and it isn’t just him in the office but also the Dean of that specific department. It catches me off guard a little but still, I’m thinkin’ alright, well maybe if he won’t listen the department head will. But I barely get a chance to talk, because before I really say anything the professor basically goes “so I’ve had a discussion with our dean here, and we’re both in agreement with my decision, but in case it’ll help you feel better he wanted to tell you in person.”

And the dean proceeds to say, and I quote, “Computers are not living entities who decide to delete things or have tiny little evil viruses that magically wipe away data. They do not make mistakes like people do. If the computer says you didn’t turn your assignment in, then you didn’t, and I need you to let go of the idea that something went wrong here because it didn’t. Okay sweetie?”

It’s one of the few instances I distinctly remember being spoken down to like I was a fucking idiot. He had his head tilted down and his eyebrows raised and he was kinda standing over me like he was trying to talk down a child and I hated it. The professor was off to the side just kinda nodding his head and it felt really strange to be in the office at that point. I didn’t wanna be there anymore so, I said thank you for your time, and the head just kinda smirked at me and left. I think it kinda shook me cuz I remember trying not to shake too much. The professor pulled me aside before I could leave and was apologizing for getting his supervisor involved, and said he hoped it answered any issues I may have had about the assignment problem.

I told him it did, then said “If I won’t get help from either of you, I’ll just take it to the president of the school.”

He said something along the lines of “if it makes you feel better, then okay”, and I left feeling some type of way. I hated it.

Soooo I do, I send an email to the president explaining the situation about the whole class being failed on this specific assignment, we trying to reason with the professor, him not trying to do anything about it and how the dean was equally unhelpful, and I can’t remember exactly what I said in the email but it was basically me asking her what steps I should take in order to rectify the issue. She didn’t actually reply to me, but not even two days after I sent the email the professor pulls me aside and basically says that he “gave it more thought” and made a point to say that, while he still stood by what he said about computers not being capable of glitching the way it had, he’d “give the whole class the appropriate grades” we deserved since he finally acknowledges that we did have a critique he was fucking present for.

My overall grade jumped from a 69 to a 90-something after I was given my actual grade. Everyone else’s grades came back up too. I’m almost sure i’m the only one who pursued it since he seemed to be pulling only me aside, but it’s awful convenient he changed his tune right after I emailed the president of the school, so I think she must’ve talked to him and the Dean at the very least.

I really didn’t like that professor after that.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Sooooo yeah. A couple of stories from school that really stuck in my memory despite it being years ago. I have a couple more I might share, most of them silly and fun but a few not so fun, but we’ll see! Maybe after I start a journal blog for the sole purpose of reblogging stuff and talkin’ my thoughts. I dunno, though. o3o

BUT in the meantime, feel free to share your own college/school experiences! I’m always interested to hear about how ya’ll went about school. O:

[firedragonx]

For my @ashante-the-zero She wanted me to draw Megman Zero as a dragon. Which was a lot of fun to do.

I should point out before I get ask. But request are for my beta-readers, friends and patrons. Don't ask if you're not one of those things.

________________________________________

Kofi request are opened: www.deviantart.com/firedragonx… Public Discord Server: discord.gg/5putJxU My Patreon: www.patreon.com/firedragonx

[mautadite]

september book round up

17 books this month! almost done with my goal for the year, pretty excited about that. don’t know what i’ll concentrate on after i am... probably more schmoopy romance lol. my job broke my contract for the month so i’ll be home for a while with lots of time to read hopefully. or listen, i should say. all of these (other than kaiju maximus) are audiobooks!

society of gentlemen series - k.j. charles ⭐���⭐️⭐️ victorian m/m series that deals with politics, democrats vs tories, sedition. thought provoking material in a light enough package, and the romance is the main focus. i liked all three books and all three couples, though each book had its issues. in the first, it was that one of the protags was somehow comfortable to settle into the life of luxury that he criticises, and in the third i was a little bewildered by the dynamics. the second was probably my favourite. but still, a good series.

everything between us - harper bliss ⭐️⭐️⭐️ sweet f/f romance. i liked that it dipped into feminism and fat acceptance and other topics that romance books generally just never address. really appreciated that. and i really liked the main character! i just sometimes felt like characters would speak as if they were reading from a textbook, especially when talking about sj issues. it was kinda awkward.

zero visibility - georgia beers ⭐️⭐️⭐️ f/f... not quite enemies to lovers. awkward acquaintances to lovers? and there was a lesbian ice queen who was literally an ice queen, she used to be a skiing champion lol. this was good, well written and had a nice small town romance vibe. moved pretty slowly, which i can appreciate in a romance. there were multiple povs, other than the two main characters, which i didn’t like, and there was one super biphobic character who never got taught a lesson. otherwise: pretty good!

bear, otter and the kid - t.j. klune ⭐️⭐️⭐️ very very cute romance/coming of age. guy falls in love with his best friend’s brother while taking care of his little brother after their mother abandoned them. it got very melodramatic never the end (a la misunderstandings and forced break up, it just made me annoyed) and the story was honestly very predictable. but it was funny and sweet and well written for the most part.

trapped - sally bryan ⭐️⭐️⭐️ now this is lesbian enemies to lovers... but it wasn’t great. seriously, the speed at which they went from hating each other and maligning each other to declaring their ilus was ridiculous. i know the premise is that they were in a life altering situation, but come on. :/ that said, this book was a giant ‘cuddling for warmth’ trope and i was here for it.

orlando - virginia woolf ⭐️⭐️⭐️ one of those classics that i wish i liked better than i do. and i mean i do like it. but it moved so slowly in the beginning, i was so impatient for the gender stuff and the queer stuff to start happening. things picked up when they did, and i adore virginia woolf’s writing, i did soooooo much bookmarking... but idk, just never got immersed in the story. this would benefit from a second read, but idk if i’ll ever drum up the patience to do so.

the horse mistress chronicles - r.a. steffan ⭐️⭐️⭐️ a poly romance series set in a fantasy world against the backdrop of an invasion by a larger empire. the main character is a gender fluid horse tamer who falls in love with a eunuch werewolf priest and the strongest warrior in her tribe, and the story follows the course of their triad relationship and their personal developments and the war. i feel like it had a serious pacing problem, especially near the beginning, wrt how quickly i was asked to believe that they fell in love. the world building, while good, fell flat very often. i left the series satisfied, but also kinda underwhelmed.

too bad about your girl - saranna dewylde ⭐️⭐️⭐️ short story, f/f friends to lovers. cute, and i knew what i was getting into with a short story, but as soon as it ended i wanted more. they were solid characters, and i felt like a bigger story could be told about them! but it was still cute.

the music of what happens - bill konigsberg ⭐️⭐️⭐️ m/m ya romance that made me kinda... eh. bill konigsberg is one of those ya authors who always gets recommended but idk that i’m a fan of his style of writing. this had an unbelievable premise, very little chemistry, an irritating passage against ~~~pc culture~~~ and a scene involving forced exercise that made me very uncomfortable. but it was well meaning and the characters were cute. the narrators saved this for me.

truth will out - k.c. wells ⭐️⭐️ m/m murder mystery romance that was very sweet... but a pretty bad mystery! i figured it out so fast! and as i am NOT particularly clever or any kind of sleuth... :/ yeah. it’s always a bummer when you find out whodunnit miles before it’s revealed. especially annoying in this case because the author made it obvious by having EVERYONE BE A POTENTIAL SUSPECT... except the guy who ended up doing it lol. the romance part was nice tho.

good to know - d.w. marchwell ⭐️ a romance novel about a gay cowboy adopting his nephew and falling in love with his nephew’s new teacher should be really cute, right? alas, this was bad. constant pov switching, meh writing, ridic sex scenes, entire conversations in different languages and characters who were frankly unlikable. skip this.

kaiju maximus(r) - kai ashante wilson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ a short story by one of my faaaaaaavourite writers that i read in an anthology years ago; had an urge to read it again. in a post apocalyptic world, a mighty hero and her family search out a new threat. told from the husband’s POV with kaw’s beautiful beautiful prose. always a treat.

that’s it for september. it’ll be more of the same of october probably; lots of queer romance. currently reading poison kiss by ana mardoll.

[neffi]

ridgebackrising

this is fucking gorgeous oh my god

Thank you! ^^ It’s finished now, actually~

ashante-the-zero

This is absolutely gorgeous Neffi. Love the detail you added to her/him also is it just me or does it look like a dragon version of Palutena from Kid Icarus?

Thank you! I finished it now, link’s above. I guess the colors are pretty similar, looking at it now, but it’s actually a dragon I have on Flight Rising, Sayrith.

[happypopcornprincess]

@shanti-ashant-hai wanna take this opportunity to let you know you are one of my fav blogs on this hellsite.

Keep slaying, do unhinged shit, and give zero fucks 😗🥰

Dupatta toh atka... par doorknob pe 🙂

[tsanasreads]

Hugo Novella Discussion

This post is a bit late, relative to when I stopped reading, but there was a delay between me reading the last novella that I read and realising that I wasn't going to read the last two for reasons I'll explain shortly. But at least I've managed to write something about this category as a whole before the voting deadline, so I'm calling that a win. The shortlisted stories are listed below in the order I read them with a few comments on each. The title links go to my reviews. Every Heart a Doorway, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com publishing) I loved this novella when I read it last year — it was one of my favourite reads of the year overall — and I nominated it for the Hugo shortlist. Having read the other novellas it remains my favourite, hands down. A Taste of Honey, by Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com publishing) This novella was interesting and enjoyable and kind of depressing and not exactly an easy read. The ending really made it for me but I also enjoyed the bits getting there... my feelings about it (emotionally, rather than critically) are mixed and I can't say more without spoilers. Critically, this is a strong story that certainly deserves to be shortlisted. The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, by Kij Johnson (Tor.com publishing)

This story was kind of boring. I belatedly learned that this is probably because it was written in response to a Lovecraft novella which I myself have zero interest in ever reading. The story wasn't badly written on a sentence level, but the pacing was too slow. The ending was interesting, but the slog of getting there puts this story low on the ballot for me.

Penric and the Shaman, by Lois McMaster Bujold (Spectrum Literary Agency) I have enjoyed Bujold's SF before, but this was the first time I read any of her fantasy. I actually bothered to buy and read the prequel novella before this one, and I enjoyed both. In fact, I enjoyed this second instalment more than the first and plan to read the others at some point. (That point probably being after I've finished the Vorkosigan re-read I'm in the midst of.)

~

And that brings me to the end of the novellas I actually read. I will say a few words about why I skipped the other two though. This Census-Taker, by China Miéville (Del Rey / Picador) This got skipped for two reasons: one, I haven't enjoyed Miéville very much in the past, so I was open to any excuses to skip it (and might have done so anyway), and two, this was a puppy slate nomination, giving me a valid excuse to skip it. Miéville is popular enough to have possibly made the ballot despite the puppies, but I don't really care. His fans can vote for him if they want to, but I was never going to vote him very highly. (Also, the opening couple of sentences were so off-putting). The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor LaValle (Tor.com publishing) I had fully intended to read this one until I found out it was also Lovecraftian. I am glad I saw that review before I started reading. I just. Don't care.

~

So my ranking for this category wasn't too difficult: Every Heart, Penric, A Taste of Honey, then No Award, then Dream-Quest, leaving off the two I didn't read.

Content imported from Blogger http://ift.tt/2u5u8BG. If you would like to leave a comment, please do so at the aforementioned link.

[katybudgetbooks]

Intro to Speculative Fiction by People of Color adapted from The Fantasy Inn

Classics

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Mythic Fantasy

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee

Fire Boy by Sami Shah

Urban Fantasy

The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard

Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara

Bad Blood by L.A. Banks

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

Jade City by Fonda Lee

Zero Sum Game by SL Huang

Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Kreuger

Paranormal Romance

Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

Better off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Erotic Science Fiction

The Stars Change by Mary Anne Mohanraj

Space Opera

Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Ragamuffin by Tobias S. Buckell

Science Fiction

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Want by Cindy Pon

Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany

Science Fantasy

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Star Wars: Finn’s Story by Jesse J. Holland

Gemsigns by Stephanie Saulter

Dystopian

Ink by Sabrina Vourvoulias

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

Legend by Marie Lu

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

Apocalyptic

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

Steampunk

The Sea is Ours edited by Jaymee Goh & Joyce Chng

The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

Buffalo Soldier by Maurice Broaddus

Zombie Fiction

Zone One by Colson Whitehead

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Alternate History

Lion’s Blood by Steven Barnes

Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

Historical Fantasy

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston

Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

Witchmark by C.L. Polk

Mother of the Sea by Zetta Elliot

Fantasy of Manners

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

Time Travel

Time Salvager by Wesley Chu

An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen

Comedic Science Fiction

High Aztech by Ernest Hogan

The Brothers Jetstream: Leviathan by Zig Zag Claybourne

Young Adult

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymulina

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

Middle Grade

Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi

Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano

Fairy Tale Fantasy

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Huntress by Malinda Lo

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

Dark Fantasy

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due

Mythology

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Sword & Sorcery

Imaro by Charles R. Saunders

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

Romantic Fantasy

Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

The Island of Eternal Love by Daína Chaviano

Literary

The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko

The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker

Magical Realism

Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore

So Far From God by Ana Castillo

Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis

LitRPG

Changing Faces by Sarah Lin

Epic Fantasy

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera

The Dragon Songs Saga by JC Kang

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

The Wolf of Oren-yaro by K.S. Villoso

Graphic Novels

Storm: Make it Rain by Greg Pak, Victor Ibanez, Scott Hepburn, & Matteo Buffagni

Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

Black by Kwanza Osajyefo, Jamal Igle, Robin Riggs, Tim Smith III, & Sarah Stern

Legend of the Mantamaji by Eric Dean Seaton, David Ellis Dickerson, & Brandon Palas

Webcomic

The Meek by Der-shing Helmer

Audio Drama

The Glass Appeal by Elijah Gabriel | Website

Here Be Dragons by Jordan Cobb | Website

Redwing by JV Hampton-VanSant | Website

Flyest Fables by Morgan Givens | Website

Kalila Stormfire’s Economical Magick Services by Lisette Alvarez | Website

Standalone Novel

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

Severance by Ling Ma

She Weeps Each Time You’re Born by Quan Barry

Smoketown by Tenea D. Johnson

The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

Novella

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle

The Sorcerer of Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson

Novelette

Hell is the Absence of God by Ted Chiang

Short Story 

Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar | Read for Free Now

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong | Read for Free Now

The Water That Falls On You From Nowhere by John Chu | Read for Free Now

Anthology

Futureland by Walter Mosley

Dark Matter by Sheree R. Thomas

[jordannwitt]

Books I Read and Games I Played in 2018

Last year I made a list for books and a list for video games that I read/played during the year and I did it again this year! Both lists are in the order I read/played them. I’ve written my thoughts on some of them but not all.

2017′s list here.

BOOKS - 21

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

A fantastic book to start out the year, and one I’ll definitely read again. An entire royal family was killed, except for the son that was outcast, and now he has to learn how to be a king very quickly and doesn’t know who to trust.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson

A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

This series! Is very good!! All three books have a different protagonist, but all three protagonists are in the first book so the perspective changes but isn’t entirely new. Gods were real, and then were killed, except maybe not all of them?

City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett

City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett

Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor

Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Actually four novellas but they’re all short enough to feel like one big book. A humanoid security bot hacked its system so it can watch tv in it’s downtime and not get caught.

The Enchantress by James Maxwell

The story was split between a girl learning to be an enchantress and her brother learning to be a soldier except I didn’t care about the brother at all. Oh and the book actually spent very little time focused on her actually learning magic and a seemingly infinite amount of time on her traveling and waiting for something interesting to happen to her. 

Letting in Light by Emma Davies

I got it for free and it seemed like a good slow burn romance except when it actually got to the romance it skipped over everything.

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Okay look, Alice Oseman has a webcomic called Heartstopper (it’s on tumblr, so just search the title) which is one of my favorite stories right now; I look forward to every update and even backed the kickstarter for the physical copy. That being said, I couldn’t finish Solitaire. It’s set in high school, and for better or worse it feels very high school. I know a lot of people love this book though so your tastes may be different from mine.

Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman

A novella with the same protagonists as the webcomic. Still very high school. There wouldn’t have been any problems if people had just talked to each other, and the only reason I was able to finish this is because it was so short. Again though, I LOVE the webcomic so I’m not sure why her prose isn’t clicking with me.

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett 

I’ve read all the Watch books a few times. Sam Vimes is my favorite character in all of fiction and at this point it’s very comforting to read about him going from disaster human that’s given up on the world to disaster human trying to make the world a better place.

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett

Jingo by Terry Pratchett

The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

Thud! by Terry Pratchett (currently reading)

VIDEO GAMES - 13

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

This was my fourth time playing this game. It’s one of my favorites even if it feels like it’s missing an ending.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Horizon Zero Dawn

Nier: Automata

The Wolf Among Us

Never played a Telltate game before and didn’t realize they were basically motion comics. I like Bigby but I was kind of underwhelmed.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins

Haven’t played an AC game since Black Flag and had a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to getting Odyssey sometime soon. 

Donut County

Pokemon Heart Gold

I hadn’t played gens 2, 4, and 5 so I’m fixing that.

Pokemon Let’s Go: Eevee

Infamous: Second Son

Replay. 

Celeste (currently playing)

Three Fourth’s Home

What a bummer ending.

Rime (currently playing)

What are your favorite books you’ve read or games you’ve played in the past year? I’d really like recommendations for 2019!

[deductionfreak]

*hands him some cake* Happy Birthday, hey I didn't forget it this time

hahah thanks! I appreciate it B)

[madomadotsuki]

Happy Birthday

Thanks honey!

[neffi]

here's a Happy Birthday from the Zero

Thank you!!

[wulv-exo]

HELLO

1. First impression: Another good friend I hope to hang out with on Whirled.

2. Truth is: Even if not many words were spoken between us, you’ve always had a fun personality on the inside with your interests in RPing as Zero and you’ve been a good friend still ever since. You always have my support. =]

3. How old do you look: Never seen your face before so I wouldn’t be able to tell.

4. Have you ever made me laugh: Yes. ^^

5. Have you ever made me mad: Nope.

6. Best feature: Friendliness.

7. Have I ever had a crush on you: No.

8. You’re my: Friend I support. :3

9. Name in my phone: Ashante

10. Should you post this too? Go ahead. ^^