#wish I could play as him without getting curbstomped

[pianokantzart]

The fact that Luigi not only can do a zero-to-death combo, but is in the company of these guys as one of the only four characters whose taunts do damage...

... is one of the most character-appropriate things I've ever seen.

[dorotheian]

The Rising of a Shield Hero anime is .... interesting.

On the one hand it is VERY reminiscent of Sword Art Online and other shonen as an isekai. On the other hand, it draws on some further ideas that I think go back further to classic fantasy and 90s shoujo - like Rayearth or Inuyasha or 12 Kingdoms. This is seen in the ultra-quick transition from real world to fantasy world: Naofumi picks up a book, reads it, reaches the blank pages.... boom! Transported. No time wasted on how or why.

Like Kyoko of 12 Kingdoms, Naofumi begins his journey in a very different way from most Western portal fantasies: his entry into the new world is marked by fear, distrust, uncertainty, suspicion, and loneliness.

Dumped unceremoniously into a fantasy kingdom, drafted to fight their battles for them, he is given 3 other Japanese isekai companions assigned the same scenario - except, unlike him, they seem familiar with this strange system - and is systematically shamed, rejected, discarded, singled out, alienated, ignored, tricked, betrayed, framed, stolen from, and placed at a steep disadvantage instead of being supported, resourced, and honored as the situation called for. As a result of that series of profound miscarriages of justice (the main thrust of which is carried out by none other than the crown princess, who thought he was an easy mark and none of her actions would rebound against her), he loses all trust, optimism, wonder, and awe for the new and exciting scenario he has been thrust into and the royals he serves. It is replaced by cynicism, resentment, and a loss of zeal for life. He hides his impulse for kindness behind a thick veil of pragmatism. He doesn't fight the rumors, and lets himself be pigeonholed as a bad guy to get the job done.

I could certainly do without the slavery apologism and I wish the slave-dealer character wouldn't play into the story at all. But then, Naofumi is treated like a slave. He was lured and yanked to another world against his will to be used by people in power there; judged "not powerful enough," he was left to struggle, given free agency but no resources to grow stronger, unlike his peers. Maybe it's no coincidence that Naofumi halfway recreates his own circumstances of captivity when he buys Raphtalia from the circus slave-dealer. He then treats her with true kindness, care, protection, mentoring, and honesty that he was denied. Neither of them wants to be freed from that bond and they see their contract as a source of safety and security, relying upon it as a tool to keep themselves alive in dangerous circumstances. Despite what it is called, they treat it more like a business employee contract that contrasts with the capricious institutional authority that Naofumi's country goads him with, granting provision and yanking it back as they please. They cannot command him, but they do control him in terms of paths they force him to take. Naofumi can command Raphtalia, but does not control her. Whose actions are worse? And how is it worse? This is the question Naofumi confronts the kingdom with. The kingdom, which is clearly not truly serious about the immorality of slavery and only cares about looking moral and not acting moral, has no rebuttal prepared for him. So Naofumi shrugs and keeps his focus on survival.

(So why does the slave-seller get off scott free, while Raphtalia's enslaver-abuser get curbstomped, again?.... This really does bother me.)

Over and over, the kingdom is shown to be risking the good of the world at large for a split second of its own renown, power, control, and in-fighting, an assumption that its heroes will save the day and rise to the task no matter what support they're given. One of those heroes is expendable: the defensive one that protects the people and the other heroes. The others are favored for their thoughtless and aggressive tactics.

And then it turns out that the impinging world causing the conflict that requires the summoning of Heroes (in temporal cycles ala Pern) is in a parallel situation of dire straits. All this fighting feeds into a win-lose or lose-lose scenario.

It's all very, well, Gen Z/Millennial. There's parallels for employee struggle for wages and decent treatment; setting up the next generation for failure, but expecting them to solve world problems; capitalism built on slavery and indentured servitude; climate change/apocalyptic aversion not taken seriously by world leaders; a need to be all over the planet everywhere all the time to deal with crisis happening everywhere; betrayal and depression, rage, entreaties to be the bigger person, to grow up faster, be more mature. swallow pride, work with fools. It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair. But the work must be done.

Man. It's so fantastic but it's so damn relatable.

So.... that's how I processed this anime.

[cassyapper]

OKAY IVE ACTUALLY PLAYED TWO SESSIONS SINCE MY LAST POST SO IM GONNA COMBINE THEM HERE SORRY FOR THE LENGTH BUT,,IVE COME SO FAR I DONT WANNA STOP NOW

this is gonna be very messy cause i WILL be jumping back and forth as things come back to mind so uhh pls enjoy this absolute ramble <3

anyway. i continued playing omori and boy do i have some Thoughts

so first session; i went through the pyre(something i forgot the full name sob) forest/sprout mole village/sweetheart’s castle in one go and let me TELL YOU. DOING THAT WAS FUCKING INSANE I WENT NUTS holy shit.

so anyway.

pyre forest!!!! the lil race against the big spider coming after u for disturbing the smaller spiders mechanic was very fun i had a lot of fun figuring out the best routes to take. i know normally mechanics like that lead to ppl getting frustrated cause u have to keep retrying but i had a lot of fun!!!! sum annoyance but good natured type, th kind that just makes u try harder u know? i just enjoyed it JKFN;FN; candles in the foggy forest....now That is an aesthetic

the rare bear scared the fuckin shit out of me i remember it didn’t attack me straight away so i was like “aw (:” but then when i press x on him it takes me to a BATTLE SCREEN AND SUDDEN THAT MF IS TERRIFYING I WAS LIKE WHWHWHWHWKJDNJ. very funny i honestly wished i recorded my reaction

also omori is afraid of drowning...................................i am breathing heavily. i think whatever happened to mari is related to at least one of the things omori is scared of. so either heights, spiders, or drowning it seems. spiders doesnt seem super likely as a contributor to her death, and while falling from a height is more realistic, such a senseless way of dying doesnt seem to rlly fit ? with the vibe i get from the kiddos in the real world. which makes me think maybe drowning/otherwise suffocating is how she died...but we’ll see. also due to the forgotten library part, we know omori explicitly feared spiders/drowning before mari died so it’s also probable im jus talking out my ass here but still,,,,thoughts

also this motherfucker?

literally fucking terrifying. IT’S BODY IS MADE OF SUCC’D SPROUT MOLES...i still have no idea what exactly it was doing to them but jesus h christ!!!! evil and fucked up. do not feel bad for curbstomping it

sprout mole village!!!! very cute, im v excited to send that one dude his brother’s care package. i like how, when theyre not lost, sprout moles can be real endearing lil guys,,,theyre not my fav lil enemies but (:

also for some reason omori is the first game ive played where i really care about getting achievements ? so i literally did the back and forth on my save file just to get all the season sprout mole achievements JKDJFJ;. i ended up sticking w spring tho before moving on for real cause spring is my fav season irl (:

also i felt SO BAD for cutting down that one sprout mole’s chistmas tree he was just trying to celebrate but i wanted to see that present and coincidentally becoming a christmas ruiner was an achievement so all’s fair in love and war i suppose

ALSO. th fuckin plant monster thing under the scientist sprout mole’s room. major little shop of horror vibes from the design, absolutely adored it!!!!! originally i did  just cut the wire holding the piano over it, ending it in one go, but i was very curious abt it so i reloaded a save file to actually fight it and

i know it only spread that gas to make the kiddos happy cause being happy reduces attack i think ? it decreases attack/defense but seeing the kiddos smile so much was nice (:

however

omori...sunny....son boy.........u good ?

and now. sweetheart

the way the sprout moles completely adore and depend on sweetheart gives me such awful evil vibes and combined with such a luxurious background was fucking incredible

sweetheart herself, speaking of. bitch (sorta affectionately, certainly not derogatory)

i talked to every sprout mole in the audience before taking my seat and i literally dont know why. even when i picked up the pattern of where the unique dialogue could be found (usually the sprout moles farthest right) i still talked to all of them......just in case ? i have no idea. i dont know why i did that. i feel it’s important that i note it tho

LMAO SO WHEN SPROUT MOLE MIKE DID THE MINUTE OF SILENCE FOR YE OLD SPROUT MOLE

I LITERALLY FELT SO FUCKING BAD LMAO I WAS LIKE OH MY GOD NO!!!!!! I DID THAT!!! I KILLED HIM!!! OH MY GOD!!! I WONDER HOW AWKWARD OMORI KEL HERO AND AUBREY FELT IN THE AUDIENCE HOLY SHIT THEY HAD FRONT ROW SEATS TO SPROUT MOLE MIKE’S MOURNING!!! MY GOD FJKFN;;

also sprout mole mike describing 3′7″ inches as ”towering” was the FUNNIEST shit i have ever seen. also i have to wonder, since sweetheart made up the whole show of sweetheart’s quest for hearts in the first place, if she was seriously down to marry a sprout mole if one suited her fancy. jus v funny to me honestly. SPEAKING of sweetheart’s dating patterns I NOTICED THOSE FEM SKELETONS IN THE DUNGEON!!!!! BI SWEETHEART!!!! SHE’S JUST AS DOWN FOR GIRLS AS SHE IS BOYS

i know TECHNICALLY not everyone is in the dungeon for failing to be a good enough suitor but STILL...COME ON. THIS WAS BEFORE WE KNEW THAT. SWEETHEART BI I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL

anyway

when the lights when out and lightning struck the third contestant, i knew Immediately something was gonna go down. and when the mustache sprout mole was like “oh yes!! u!! in the striped pjs!! u absolute beast ur perfect!!!” i KNEW hero had just been selected as the replacement i was goign completely fucking nuts i was like OH MY GODNFNG; HIS HEART IS ALREADY TAKEN BY MARI!!!!!!! STOP

i ended up taking so many screenshots during this part cause i was going feral so here take a glance just cause i love, uh, hero

OUR HERO IN SHINING ARMOR DJLBH;KFJB

also GOD FUCKING DAMMIT IM SHORTER THAN HERO

hero shaking on the stage when he was introduced...oh my HEART....IM SO FOND FOR THIS BOY WTF!!!!! DKJDN;N

this is not really NEWS to me since it’s implied hero is tall but like come ON..... sorry just every time i find out a character is explicitly taller than me i need to huff about it, moving on,

HERO FUCKS

sorry i just have so many screenshorts during this aprt cause i was going fucking crazy but

literally terrifying! sweetheart bathes in that shit!! christ!

is blood good for ur skin? i imagine, so long as like...gore isnt in it and it’s solely blood it cant be BAD necessarily......but good ? regardless very fucked up. besides the fact that well, uh, BLOOD, blood is also sticky as hell. ur telling me sweetheart willinglhy bathed in that shit? disgusting. at least thin it out

anyway I HAD SO MUCH FUN DOING THE PUZZLES AT SWEETHEART’S CASTLE....FROM THE DUNGEONS TO THE KITCHENS TO THE BALLROOM TO THE LIBRARY TO THE GARDENS JUST EVERYTHING!!!! IT WAS SO FUN I ENJOYED FIGURING IT OUT SO MUCH IT WAS LITERALLY DELIGHTFUL...I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH THE GAMEPLAY IS SO FUCKING EPIC I LITERALLY HAVE SO MUJCH FUN.......OH MY GOD I JUST. INCREIDBLE!!!! FUCK

also the lil sir maximus bit.........i honestly felt really awful over having to kill them ): i think i even tried running once but it wouldnt let me...it hurt man ): they were just a family....

um but anyway,

i think it was rlly sweet how aubrey protested to the wedding cause she was worried abt sweetheart,,,like i cant rlly explain it idk how to put it into words,,like sweetheart is clearly not mentally well and having an episode, and aubrey being the only one to say “hey what ur doing is self-destructive and isolating” just mmmh. she cares a lot,,,and *i* care aubrey

also sweetheart’s battle theme fucking SLAPPED...SO GODDAMN HARD IM STILL QUAKING OVER IT....FUCKING BANGER YO!!!!!! INCREDIBLE

ah but alas

BASIL........I NOTICED THAT IT WAS HIS GHOST/SHADOW DURING THE EXIT FROM OTHERWORLD AS WELL BUT JUST FUCK

im so worried about basil ):

and it being so obvious that none of the others can see...........them asking omori if he’s okay.....oh my god. i go nuts

and then...the forgotten library part

i literally cried, again, oh my fucking god

these kids loved each other so much they ADORED the time they spent with each other and im QUAKING to know WHAT HAPPENED TO MARI......HOW DID THE FALLOUT GO. I NEED TO KNOW I NEED TO KNOW I NEED TO KNOW

i know there are multiple endings to this game and on god i am not QUITTING until i get the happiest ending there is for these kids im literally a goddamn fuckign mess oh my god

MARI SHWOING UP IN THE LIBRARY AT ONE POINT AND LEADING OMORI...........IM LTIERALLY GOIGN INSANE OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD HE LOVED HIS SISTER SO MUCH HE’S SO CLEARLY LOST WITHOUT HER I CANT FUCKING DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I NEED TO KNOW I NEED TO KNOW I NEED TO KNOW

GOD

okay sorry i just. ive said ti before but the grief in this game is so real and palpable and it aches, it aches so bad. also the white egret orchids in the library...i see u

but regardless.... session two real world electric boogaloo

LOVE that kel is like “so i need to run errands but u wanna come with me right? of course u do!” like fuck i rlly do. kel is just so delightful i would literally do anything to spend time with him

ALSO i noticed u can just refuse to open the door both times kel’s knocked now and it makes me wonder....if u could choose to ignore kel ? and then venture out urself or just ? i wonder what would even happen if u chose to not open the door. im CERTAINLY not doing it myself at the very least not this playthrough but i am curious...i bet that’s how u get a bad ending, by not talking w kel

but anyway....

aubrey and her gang not saying anything in the pizza parlor........i jus think abt that is all

ALSO!! pet rocks!!!!!!!!! LOVE this lil thing it’s so cute. jus rock paper scissors it babey

speaking of lil bits, love all the mini quests in the real world...it’s just rlly fun and builds up this cute lil town........it also makes me think that whatever happened to mari cant have been anything except an accident, bc no one comments on what a tragedy it was to omori. like if it was murder, there’s no way such a horrific situation wouldnt engulf the town for a bit and sweep over it for weeks at least, but that just doesnt seem to have happened. this is def me reading too into it tho;; point is neighbors nice (: also i got the seashell necklace and i go apeshit

ALSO......THE FUCKING...........CHURCH. I VISITED WITH KEL ON A COMPLETE WHIM CAUSE I WAS CURIOUS IF THE PASTOR WOULD TALK MORE ABT AUBREY BUT NO. INSTEAD HE TALKS ABT THE WEIRD VIBE FORM THE GRAVEYARD HE’S GETTING!!! AND THE DUDE WHO CHILLS IN THE GRAVEYARD SAYS SHIT ABT THE SPIRITS GETTING READY FOR SOMEONE TO JOIN THEM!!!! BITCH WAHT THE FUCK

THERE’S NOF UCKING WAY THIS ISNT ABOUT BASIL. THERE IS NO!!! WAY!!!! I SWEAR ON GOD IF BASIL DIES I WILL LOSE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ESP CAUSE THERE IS LITERALLY NO OTHER WAY HE COULD DIE EXCEPT SUICIDE THAT’S WHAT IT HAS BEEN IMPLYING OVER AND OVER I GO NUTS I GO APESHIT NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUCK

OKAY SORRY I JUST. HHHHHHHHHHH

baby has acquired baby

kel’s family is rlly cute,,,,v heartwarming. i trust them

i do worry abt like...the stark difference between recognizing kel’s accomplishments and hero’s...i just idk. i just keep thinking abt that bit in kel’s story abt hero’s depression when his parents focused on hero and ignored him, and i just. kel’s family is good People but i worry if kel has a good support system...i jus........): i am watching

ahh THE BASIL MISSING PART MADE MY HEART LITERALLY FUCKING DROP..I WAS SO FUCKING PANICKED I WAS LIKE OH MY GOD THIS IS IT BASIL IS DEAD

THANKFULLY HE WASNT BUT HOLY GOD HOW THAT WHOLE SITUATION PANNED OUT MADE ME GO NUTS!!!!!!! BASIL...AUBREY...HER GANG.......FUCK OH M YOGD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD

THANK G O D I SNOOPED AROUND KEL’S HOUSE BEFORE LEAVING I WOULD HAVE H A T E D TO FIGHT THEM ALL AT ONCE IM GLAD I WAS ABLE TO JUST PEPPER SPRAY THEM JESUS CHRIST

oh my god kim like asking for aubrey all concerned before deciding to trust her and leaving.....kim i diagnose u with lesbain

the whole fucking. basil almost drowning scene. i seriously feel like ive changed like as a person over it. i am thinking . i am thinking. i am only evee thinking about mari and how omori just loved her so much and how the thought of her gave him strength. th pic of her ghost holding omori’s hand in the water made me cry

MMMM BUT. HERO!!!

I DIE I DIE I DIE HE’S SO PRETTY FUCK ALSO HIM PICKING UP BASIL WOOOOOOOO THIS IS WHAT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT YEAHHHHHHHH

god i feel so bad about leaving aubrey tho. shes so clearly not okay and she so clearly did not mean to push basil in and oh my GOD I JUST...PLEASE....PLEASE CAN WE JUST TLAK TO HER I NEED TO TLAK TO HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I NEED TO FUCK

the ghosts of omori and aubrey on the swings made me cry out like i had been physically assaulted

AHH BUT THEN TAKING BASIL HOME AND WHILE HE’S IN HIS BED HE JUST SAYS “oh sunny...there’s not way out of this...is there?” I LITERALLY GO BUCKWILD APESHIT INSANE STUPDI!!!!!! BASIL YOURE PUTTING UP A LOT OF ALARMING FLAGS HERE!!! PLEASE DO NOT FUCKING DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUCK. CHRIST. HELL. SHIT. THIS GAME IS DRIVING ME FUCKING CRAZY

GOD

oh my god but the day ending with hero and kel sleeping over at omori’s house...im kdnd im jkdim im not uhm okay THEY BUILT A BLANKET FORT PLEASE..I LOVE THEM

goddd hero going into the piano room....playing sum........and then asking omori abt the song he and mari used to play on violin...and then THE TITLE SCREEN MUSIC STARTS PLAYING....HI. HI HELLO HI YOU CANT FUCKIGN DO THAT HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK YOUFBJFGJNGN;EJNE; IM GOIGN NUTS

also the name omori comes from the piano.............interesting...i wonder why sunny likes being called omori in the dreamscape...

god but omori not having a srs hallucination cause he’s w his friends and he feels safe...im gonna sob

However. i did glance into the bathroom mirror. AND INSTEAD OF THE EYE MF IT’S A DISTORTED AS HELL GHOST MARI???IM SO FUCKIGN SCARED. IM SO SCARED. WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT THE FUCK? CREEPY AS HELL!!!

ohh my god this GAME

so finally i ended up in whitespace again. do NOT like that omori is completely alone in the world!!! what the FUCK!!!!!!!! I AM SO SCARED AT ALL TIMES. im literally about to go play sum more tho after dinner so i will see what happens. god i jsut......this game is so fucking good it has me by the balls dude. SO glad i decided to play it bruh

anyway thanks for reading all of this if u did, it’s an absolute monster ik and ur a real one

[chemicalmagecraft]

The Gamer Hero, Deku Chapter 15

A/N: I'm back from the dead. Will probably update sometime next year. Have fun while it lasts.

Ultimate Pervy Sage: Yeah that happened offscreen. Figured it was implied and there wouldn't have been much else to the scene, so I didn't write the scene. Will imply that it happened, though.

jeanette9a: Bam, did it retroactively because I'm awesome like that.

Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros: First off, thank you for the multiple reviews and I really wish I thought of the W.T.F. thing. Second off, as for Hagakure and illusions? Considering the fact that it's your suggestion, you tell me.

xoxoxo

"So now you have ten elementals?" Kacchan asked as we walked. We had a day off from school because of the USJ incident, so Kacchan and I decided to go to an arcade to have some fun and play games.

I nodded. "Yeah, with the six elements I got from Duality. I did all six rituals at once, actually."

"That was probably a fucking stupid idea."

"That's what Blaise said, though with more cussing."

"No shit," Kacchan said. "Seriously, what if that put you in a fucking coma!?"

I shrugged as we started to cross the street. "I felt less tired after summoning the higher my skill level was, and even beyond that Duality raised all my-"

I was cut off by a speeding van ramming into me. It made me take a step back and I took a hit to HP, but otherwise it was the van that was broken by the collision. I pried myself from the dent I made in the car and ran to the driver's side door. "Oh my gosh, are you guys okay!?" I asked. The door opened, and the man inside punched me in the face, which surprised me more than anything, and grabbed me by the neck. "Oh," I said as I felt him hold a knife to my neck.

"Alright, nobody move or this freak gets it!" the criminal yelled. His accomplices got out and brandished knives as well, though thankfully they didn't grab any other hostages. I heard a motorcycle coming.

Kacchan laughed. "You fuckers do realize that you just took the guy who unintentionally totaled your car by getting fucking hit by it hostage?"

The motorcycle sound screeched to a stop, and Present Mic ran up. "Hey! Stop!"

"We've got a hostage, jackass!" one of the villains jeered.

"Hi, Mic-sensei!" I said, waving at him.

Mic-sensei grinned. "Hey, listener! You okay?"

"I'm fine," I said. "Hey, can I ask you something about Quirk usage laws?"

"Sure!"

"I know people are allowed to use their Quirks to get out of situations where there is a danger to themselves, but I... don't actually feel threatened at the moment, so I don't know how legal it would be."

"I'll show you threatened!" the man holding the knife to my neck shouted, then tried to stab me. I say tried because apparently I couldn't be stabbed by normal people anymore, though to be fair the man was trying really hard. I noticed a text box that was probably the reason for that. It looked like I got it when I got hit by the car and just didn't hear it over the sound of metal hitting me. "The fuck?"

"What did I fucking tell you?" Kacchan said.

"I mean, they are trying to stab you..." Present Mic said.

"And let's just say," I continued, "that in my attempt to get away from the person threatening me with a knife I 'accidentally' incapacitate all three of them, can I be arrested for that?"

Mic-sensei chuckled and said, "Technically, you're good because you're being attacked by a weapon."

I nodded, then exploded into electricity. I arced through the three villains with exactly enough voltage to knock them over without causing lasting damage and reformed next to Kacchan. "That good?"

"Great! I'll need to snag you for a couple minutes for some paperwork, though."

xoxoxo

"Okay," I said, coming back to Kacchan. "So where were we?"

He stared at me for a bit as we started walking again. "You're fucking unbelievable," he told me. "You were just hit by a fucking car, then stabbed. What the fuck?"

"Physical Endurance prestiged and I wasn't actually stressed enough for Mantra to deactivate."

"Are you okay, kero?" a familiar voice asked me. I turned to see Uraraka and Tsu walking up to us. "That looked like it hurt," Tsu said.

"Thanks, but I'm fine," I told her with a smile. "As I was explaining to Kacchan, a passive skill of mine that reduces physical damage just reached max level, which means that I now take one fourth damage from any and all physical attacks."

Uraraka whistled. "That's pretty broken."

"Plus, because it maxed out, I got a new passive, Damage Reduction."

Tsu put her finger on her lip. "I think we already have a general idea, but what does that do, Midoriya?" She asked me.

"I'll have to test it, but judging from the description it removes point-five percent of my HP from all damage, which doesn't sound like a lot, but with my VIT that's a lot, especially combined with Physical Endurance. And assuming it levels linearly, that means that at max level it'll take an attack that does more than half my HP without the skill for me to actually feel it, which is pretty good."

"Deku's Quirk is fucking broken, who would have fucking guessed?" Kacchan said.

I chuckled. "Let's talk about something else, though. I take it you like space, Uraraka?"

"How'd you know?" she asked.

Kacchan snorted. "Gee I fucking wonder." Uraraka was wearing a galaxy-print skirt, a JAXA shirt, and a moon-shaped pendant. "Where the fuck did you get that necklace anyway? No offense, but isn't your family poor?"

"This?" Uraraka asked, pointing to the pendant. "It was a birthday gift from my cousin Shōta. He doesn't visit us often, but he always sends us stuff like this." She chuckled. "Mom's always worried he's spending too much on us, though."

"Though seriously, maybe you should've seen about staying with your cousin before you decided to get your own apartment?" Tsu said. "Didn't you say he lives somewhere near here?"

"You fucking what?" Kacchan asked.

Uraraka blushed. "S-so, my parents live in Mie..." Kacchan slapped his face.

"And that's why I brought Ochako-chan home with me, kero," Tsu said with a tone of... something in her voice. Annoyance?

Uraraka blushed a little. "I-it wasn't quite like that..."

Tsu nodded. "So luckily both of our parents were visiting yesterday-"

Kacchan glared at Tsu. "What," he demanded, causing Tsu to make a startled croak.

"My parents' jobs mean they aren't home all the time," she explained, a little faster than normal. "They leave me in charge of my siblings, but at the same time literally the entire neighborhood looks out for us, so don't worry about it, kero. They didn't leave us to fend for ourselves in an unfamiliar environment with no adult supervision Ochako-chan. So I may or may not have not been in the best state at the time, so because I was clinging to Ochako-chan we decided to just have lunch at my house. At some point Ochako-chan's... living situation... came up and now she lives with us. Our parents banished us from the house while they're moving Ochako-chan's stuff into our spare room. So where are we going, kero?"

"Kacchan and I were going to go to an arcade," I said. "You don't have to come."

"Nah, that sounds pretty fun and neither of us had actual plans other than the fact that I wanted to see if I could spot Ochako-chan's cousin in the wild, kero."

Uraraka made a little noise and pressed her index fingers together. "We have several thousand yen in coins, Deku's Quirk counted. Don't fucking worry about it, Uraraka."

"Thanks..."

xoxoxo

"Damn it!" Kacchan groaned after I beat him easily yet again in the old Street Fighter game. Tsu and Uraraka went elsewhere after Kacchan challenged me. "How the fuck are you so good at this all of a sudden, Deku?"

"Sorry, Tactician keeps activating," I apologized.

"Well I'm gonna fucking beat you anyways! Let's go again!"

I opened the skill boxes for Tactician and Mantra and read them closely. "Hang on, I might be able to cheat the system."

Kacchan snorted, then put another coin in the machine. "Whatever." I took a deep breath, then chose my character. As the match started up, I reminded myself that it was just a game, and that I didn't need the boost. Even when Kacchan got me locked in a combo, I never got the same feeling of clarity and rush of information that I became accustomed to with the repeated activations of Tactician. I just barely managed to beat Kacchan, and by the time I was done Mantra and Tactician both leveled up despite the fact that Mantra wasn't that near level up and I specifically didn't use Tactician. "I'll get you next time, Deku." He put in more coins for a rematch.

"So apparently Ochako-chan's actually monstrously good at fighting games," Tsu said once we were done. It was even closer, but I still managed to beat Kacchan.

"I might have almost accidentally used my Quirk on the machine once or twice," Uraraka added, blushing slightly. "That would've been bad..."

Kacchan stared at Uraraka for a moment, then popped some coins in the machine. "Right, I wanna see this. You and me, Round Face."

I don't think Uraraka had actually played Street Fighter before. She messed around in the character selection screen for a bit before picking a character at random. When the match started, she hit random buttons and just let Kacchan get some hits on her. "Oi Round Face, you're supposed to fight back," Kacchan said after stopping. "Have you not played Street Fighter before?"

Uraraka pressed the jump button a few times. "In my defense, my family doesn't have a lot of money, so I never really went to arcades. My cousin did get me a couple Pokémon games for birthday and Christmas presents, though." She started doing some attacks.

Kacchan twitched. "'Kay, no offense, but I don't really feel like curbstomping a total newbie right now. 'Specially one I'd actually be willing to call a friend. Might feel a little bad."

"Oh, don't worry. I think I've figured it out now." Without any more warning, Uraraka launched a near-perfect series of attacks on Kacchan. To be fair, I think it was more Kacchan's sheer astonishment than anything else that made him unable to fight back, but Uraraka still wiped the floor with him.

"Yeah that was my first match with her too," Tsu told me when the round ended. "The next couple rounds are even better." As Tsu said, the next round was a close win for Kacchan, followed by a close win for Uraraka in the tiebreaker. In the rematch, Kacchan didn't even win once, even if he came close. Kacchan's really good at Street Fighter, so that was impressive.

"Damn it. 'Nother round?" Kacchan asked.

Uraraka nodded. "I'm having fun." Kacchan grumbled, but put another coin in. That time it wasn't even close.

"How the fuck are you so good?" Kacchan asked.

Uraraka shrugged. "I have no idea but I'm not complaining."

"Right, much as I hate to admit it, you're too good for me." Kacchan looked over at me and grinned. "So's Deku, so let's see how you two fight."

"I'm fine with that if you are, Deku."

I nodded. "Let's go, then." Before we started, Kacchan cackled maliciously and whispered in Uraraka's ear.

"He told her some combos, by the way," Sonia told me. Oh boy. At first I tried to keep from using Tactician to be fair to Uraraka, but after losing a somewhat short first round I changed my mind. Even with Tactician automatically giving me both characters' entire movesets and each button she pressed on the controller, it was surprisingly difficult. I think that the only thing that let me win in the end was the fact that my DEX leveled up from the frantic button pressing and the Mantra I'd been using earlier.

"That was intense," Uraraka sighed.

"I know. Even with Tactician, you almost won," I said.

Tsu smirked and pointed at something. "Hey Ochako-chan. There's a flyer for a tournament over there. Says it's a week from now and there's a cash prize, kero."

Uraraka's head snapped over to where Tsu was pointing. "Cash prize?"

"Dammit, I was gonna compete..." Kacchan sighed.

xoxoxo

Aizawa Shōta sat up in his bed. Recovery Girl would probably have scolded him for doing that if she hadn't stepped out, but between her Quirk and the healing spells Midoriya had taught her, he was mostly just sore. He reached out with his good arm to grabb his phone from where Hizashi put it and opened up his photo album to a picture that he looked at often, even if he had a framed copy back home. It was twelve years ago, a few months before his mother's accident. She'd dragged eighteen-year-old him down to Mie for his cousin's third birthday, and they decided to take a family picture. 

He sighed at the younger Shōta who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world than next to his mother. His gaze drifted over to his aunt, uncle, and cousin. His uncle was a large, burly man with light brown hair, while his aunt looked almost exactly like his mother, though her eyes were a different color and lacked the ability to erase the gravity of whatever she was looking at. Even if his mother was older, they were always mistaken for twins. And his cousin... Sweet, young Ochako already looked so much like her mother, even as a toddler. The only difference was the age and the fact that she had her father's hair. Aizawa looked at a few later photos, pictures of Ochako that his aunt and uncle sent him. He laughed at a picture of Ochako with her sixth birthday cake all over her face.

"What are you looking at?" Thirteen asked him. He always thought they looked a little odd outside of their containment suit, all thin and with pitch-black skin.

"Pictures of my cousin," he responded.

"Ah. Your cousin. You never talk about her much."

"I don't talk to most of my coworkers in general. No offense."

"None taken. So what's she like?"

Aizawa thought for a moment. He really was too secretive. Perhaps it was the concussion or the near-death experience, but he felt like he should change that. "You've met her."

"Oh? When?"

"Yesterday."

Thirteen shot up, then winced and gingerly touched the bandages on their back. "Ow... Who was it?"

"The girl who asked for your autograph."

"Ah. If you don't mind me saying, I didn't exactly... get that impression from you two, if you take my meaning."

Aizawa shrugged, then winced from the pain in his bad arm. He slowly lowered himself back down on his bed. "I see you almost every day and this is the longest we've talked, after we both nearly died. My family lives in Mie. You do the math."

"I see. I always see you with Kayama and Yamada, though."

"I've been friends with them since I was a student here and they basically adopted me with joint custody. They keep dragging me out to do things."

"So she hasn't met you?"

"No, she has. I don't visit often, though, and the last time I visited... Was it really four years ago?" Thirteen stared at him. He couldn't really tell what they were thinking, their face was too alien. "I send them money, though. My family isn't in the best of financial situations, and they don't let me spend too much money on them, but I send as much as they'll let me."

"So if they live in Mie, where exactly is your cousin staying? Mie isn't exactly a short train ride from Musutafu..."

"I... Son of a bitch."

"They told you she was fine and you bought it, didn't you?"

"Shit."

They chuckled. "I take that to be the case." Aizawa reached for his phone again. "Do it later. Hopefully she'll be fine for a day, and if not then at least she has friends, right?" Aizawa nodded. She was getting along well with Tensei's brother. "You, on the other hand, won't be fine if Shuzenji-baasan finds out you've been exacerbating your injuries by yelling at your relatives over the phone." Aizawa blanched and lowered the phone.

"Do you... drink?" he said after a while.

"I think if I didn't I'd die rather soon."

Aizawa rolled his eyes, then winced because his eye still hurt. "I meant, do you drink alcohol? Sake?"

"Ah. Hang on for one second." They sat up slightly, enough to take a sip of the water by their bedside. Then they spat it out. "Are you sure you didn't get hit too hard?"

"Ha ha," Aizawa deadpanned. "I absolutely did, though. It made me introspective. Want to get a beer sometime?"

"Absolutely, but clearly only after the both of us are out of the infirmary."

"Obviously."

"You're getting out tomorrow, yes? I mean, Shuzenji-baasan won't like it, but with her healing you'll be well enough by then and you aren't going to miss your class, are you?"

"No, I won't."

"What will you do, then?" Aizawa picked his phone back up and reopened his photo roll. Then he changed the picture because the picture of Ochako with chocolate icing on her forehead was horrible for any serious insight.

He stared at the family photo from over a decade ago. Ochako looked so young, so happy. And yesterday, she could've died. Aizawa could've, almost did die, before she even got to know him. "Learn more magic, for one thing," he decided. "I'm going to talk to Midoriya."

xoxoxo

I sneezed. Odd, it wasn't that cold and I didn't have allergies. If I was more superstitious, I'd have suspected someone was talking about me.

"How the hell did you still manage to beat me at DDR that last time?" Kacchan asked Uraraka. "You were sneezing up a fucking storm!"

Uraraka sniffled. "I habe no idea."

"Right, I should probably take Ochako-chan home," Tsu said. "It's probably going to be dinnertime by the time we get home anyway. Bye, you two."

"Oh, actually!" I said. "Before you two go, could I ask a favor?"

"What's up, Deku?" Uraraka asked as she rubbed her nose.

I pulled a scroll out of my "pocket." "This scroll contains knowledge on the Illusion Barrier and Space Invader spells. When Kacchan and I defeated each of our bosses for the first time, we got scrolls that I could use to learn a skill related to the boss. We have no idea if it's a side effect of my Quirk or not, though."

"So you want to see if that happens if we go in without you, kero?" Tsu asked.

"'Course, we didn't give it to any of our classmates because my Illusion monsters were made of fire, meaning it's entirely possible for the monsters to counter the user's element. That's not really a concern with Round Face, though. I didn't see it in person, but I heard you were fucking awesome in the USJ. Protect Tsu, won't you?"

Uraraka beamed at the compliment and saluted Kacchan. "Roger!"

"And Tsu should probably be able to do something about whatever the fuck gravity monsters Uraraka's insane magic spawns."

"I'll take that as a compliment, kero."

"Yeah most of the time Kacchan compliments people like that..." I said. "You two will do fine, though maybe Tsu should get a water elemental?"

"Yeah, I got one, kero. I was gonna show everyone tomorrow. Though if I may ask, how did you have that scroll on you?"

I chuckled. "That's actually from an elemental that I recently summoned," I said.

"One of six," Kacchan interjected. "All at the same time."

"That probably wasn't the wisest idea," Tsu said.

"I KNOW!"

"Right, so as I said," I said, then sent a mental command to Sonia. She nodded, then "materialized" a pair of floating turntable-like devices. "Huh. At least now I know who was reading Homestuck on my phone," I thought. She started fiddling with the records and gave me a very Strider-like nod. She somehow managed to mess with my BGM in addition to setting up a very subtle noise distortion field like I asked. "One of my elementals, Juniper, can control any organic material, with enough control that she can turn part of a tree into a pre-written scroll. Add that to the fact that my most recent upgrade to Summon Elemental actually granted my elementals some of the benefits of my Quirk, which includes shared Inventory when in range of me, and I was able to get that scroll for you guys from a nearby tree."

"You really play it fast and loose with Quirk usage laws, don't you, Midoriya?" Tsu said. Kacchan snickered.

"Yeah, that's fair." I had Sonia cut the field, causing me to hear a scratch that was hopefully just my Quirk before the normal BGM resumed. "Right, good luck you two."

"Try not to die," Kacchan added.

"We won't," Tsu said.

Uraraka waved at us as she started to walk away. "Bye!"

xoxoxo

A/N: By the way, JAXA, unless I am very much mistaken, is like Japanese NASA. I've seen a lot of Uraraka fanart where she's wearing NASA shirts, but I figured JAXA would be a better fit because she is Japanese.

And you can probably tell from how I wrote the Street Fighter scene that I've never actually played a Street Fighter game. Also Uraraka secretly being a genius is a concept that I find deeply amusing for some reason. It started with a tumblr post I made wherein Uraraka won the stock market...

[alteredphoenix]

We Kings of Avalon (Fairy Tail/World of Warcraft AU)

A/N: This is another WIP in the Old USB Drive, this one dated March 29, 2012. I thought No More Retries (on Fanfiction.net) was the first WoW fic I did (crossed over with Final Fantasy XIII), but this one precedes it by two and a half years.

I used to read Fairy Tail a lot, back when it was still serialized, but the uptick in heavy fanservice, Natsu stealing the spotlight, and Erza being touted as the best mage in the world without losing any of her fights (IIRC she won all but one, my memory’s fuzzy) turned me off from seeing the manga to the very end. At the time I was mostly interested in Zeref and Lucy, but no one else really interested me.

So I’m not sure what prompted We Kings of Avalon to come to be. I think Levy had my fancy at the time, and I wanted to do something with her for a fic. The details for this, however, are much more clear than in At the Valley of the End. This fic revolves around the concept of Arthas in the Main Universe Arthas dying before he could ascend the Frozen Throne as the Lich King, a pivotal moment that would leave Ner’zhul greatly weakened but still bound to peruse the Scourge for his means i.e. turning on the Legion. Since this is set before the Dragon Soul raid in Cataclysm, the bronze dragonflight would still have their powers over time; and upon seeing that Arthas met his end before it was his time, it puts them in a bind. A bind, that is, that doesn’t last long: by Anachronos’s command they decide to take matters into their own hands and search across the timeways to find another Arthas to yoink out of his universe and force him into the role of the Lich King so as to preserve MU!Azeroth’s history. (Never mind the fact they’re doing the exact same thing the Infinite dragonflight’s doing, which doesn’t go unnoticed, but this is one exception they’ll make and let slide.)

Fast forward to Levy, who - in this scene - sees a vision of Arthas cutting ties with Jaina and Uther just before he culls Stratholme. I’m uncertain as to what happens next, but Levy would eventually meet an Arthas Menethil in her universe who’s an adventurer versed in Light and Dark magic. They become friends, Arthas meets Fairy Tail, everything’s fine - and then the Fire Nation attacked the bronze dragons rip through space-time, they try to capture FT!Arthas, everyone somehow winds up on Azeroth in the WotLK era and, in the end, Levy takes up the Helm of Domination so FT!Arthas and Tirion don’t have to. FT!Arthas would eventually romance Jaina and have a son, and he would remain in MU!Azeroth to be with them in Theramore.

That would’ve been the end of that...but given the time gap between now and 2012, there would’ve been more than enough material for a sequel documenting how FT!Arthas would keep Jaina in check following Theramore’s destruction, people hating him for the things MU!Arthas did, and the political ramifications that would come with being Jaina’s consort after she succeeds Katherine in becoming Lord-Admiral. Not to mention, since the timeline is almost a 1:1 mirror of canon, this would mean Sylvanas still gets to be The Creepy Amoral Little Shit working for the Jailer and curbstomps Lich-Queen!Levy to open the way to the Shadowlands. Because in this realigned AU, Bolvar dies, the dragonfire doesn’t save him in time. Or, if he doesn’t die, he’s condemned himself to remain in Northrend, to be forgotten, for all eternity...or would have, if Sylvanas wasn’t doing Sylvanas Things and just unleashed the Scourge on Azeroth for The Second Time In A Row. Levy at least gets to help the Champions of Azeroth make their way to the Shadowlands, but she’s no longer Lich Queen, she can’t go back to Azeroth anymore, and how is she going to tell Taelia her father’s dead/an undead husk of the man he once was? Hard times ahead for everyone.

Oh, and Gajeel never gets to confess his love to Levy and sire their child (this happening the year before the Alvarez Empire Arc occurs), so he gets to languish in his own universe, alone, for the rest of his life (unless, for some reason, an Azeroth!Levy were to exist among the Kirin Tor, but the dragonflights lost their power and Anachronos isn’t about to let another star-crossed romance exist under his watch).

(Goodness, that was a lot to unpack lmao. But you get the idea.)

-

In a way, artists are like demigods.

We are messengers to those of higher station, they who observe the world with peripheral vision. We are the ones who are born with their gifts, blessed with the skills to manipulate matter and thought into shape and coax it to reality.

Not everything that’s real becomes solid. Artists are not only painters and sculptors but writers and singers. Our works can draw emotions from the depths of humanity, from person to person, and entice their interests. Our words on paper can awaken the minds and open hearts to new sights and ideas. If only one individual who has considered death to be swayed to get up and pursue the path to redemption from our art, our voice, we have played our part.

Because of this artists, even one as lowly as I, are able to commune with the transcended.

It’s an obscure branch most rarely delve into, and it’s debatable whether such communion is the result of magic or paranormal activity. Not everyone can feel the touch of the divine nor can they hear the whisper of its message, but artists are more likely to have these encounters. Their occupations have made them extremely sensitive to forces beyond our mortal ken…or so I’ve heard.

I like to think I’ve had these…experiences; after all, I am both mage and artist, a wielder of Solid Script. I wish I could believe that the dreams I have are presented as otherworldly inspiration and not concoctions of a mind drifting in the mire of waking moments. But, regardless of how many times I tell myself so, I don’t feel convinced.

I want to…but I can’t.

Still I dream and still I’m compelled to breathe life to ideas born from slumber.

Except...this dream I’m having right now…I’m not sure what to make of it.

I’m standing in the middle of the road. It transitions from rain-soaked mud to glistened cobblestone, leading up to the walled entrance of a city. A cold wind rustles through the surrounding trees and the sound they make is like the tremulous hissing of a room full of snakes. I can feel the rain battering against my skin, harsh and unrelenting, and I know – I know for sure I should be cold, shivering with the lack of adequate attire. But this is a dream, and in dreams a person cannot feel as she can when awake.

I shouldn’t be feeling the chill of a summer storm. And yet, impossibly so, I am unaffected. It’s as though I’ve been cut out and pasted on a sheet of paper sketched with inanimate activity. Like I don’t belong.

Not far ahead of me, a group of men stand at attention on both sides of the road. They are rigid with shoulders squared back and spines perfectly erect, clutching their weapons to them in the mimicry of stone-carved statues. The downpour falls upon their helmed heads and patters hollow ditties against steel spaulders.

They must be shivering beneath all that armor, I muse, especially the man with the cornflower hair and sea-green eyes. His ocean blue cape may be keeping his back warm, but the rain is coming down like judgment and the helmet that should be covering his head is held in the crook of his arm. I don’t know how long they’ve tarried here, but the longer they stand around doing nothing the more likely it is they’ll catch quite a dreadful cold.

What could they be waiting on? What were they doing out in this weather?

The sound of pounding hooves pierces the stillness. The fair-haired man turns in the direction of the source and I imitate the motion. A pair of horses decked in plated armor and navy livery plow up the road. Closer and closer they loom until they slow to a trot and stop amidst the ranks.

They don’t dismount, but I get a good look at them. One is a lady with delicate features and garbed in violet robes, a long jewel-tipped staff slung across her back. The other is a man in armor, tall and imposing and powerfully built, almost as if he was chiseled from rock.

[gamerssphere]

We already had our Wrestlemania for NXT on Friday. It is time for RAW, SmackDown and 205 Live to have theirs. We have about 7 hours or show ahead of us. Sit tight, grab a drink and enjoy the ride. This is Wrestlemania 35!

Disclaimer: this is written as the event goes on. Expect more images to be added after the article is initially published.

Pre-Show

Cruiserweight Championship

The very first match of the event is Tony Nese against Buddy Murphy. We start off with the Goliath’s of 205 Live. Of course, the WWE would always show how little they respect these superstars by playing ads about the main show during their match. I don’t even know why I keep mentioning this.

We see a really technical match between these two. Completely worth mentioning how the champion was hit in the eye rather early, getting him to bleedsince the beginning of the match. This is the kind of entertainment we are going to be getting tonight. Interestingly enough, and given how these two were friends before, Nese is the one dominating the match. He is anticipating every single move the champ is trying to throw at him.

In the end, we we have a brand new champion as Tony Nese is able to finally pin Murphy. A new era starts now for 205 Live!

Women’s Battle Royale

The second match of the night is the second annual Women’s Battle Royal, a match which started super fast with many superstars getting eliminated quickly.

The main highlights from the match come from the teamwork done by the Riott Squad. Ruby, Liv and Sarah worked together to eliminate a few superstars. This was all great until Dana Brooke countered them to the point of eliminating two of the three members of the team. We are down to the last three: Asuka, Sarah Logan and Sonya Deville. Asuka starts to attack, gets Sonya out and gets thrown out of the ring by Sarah. We all think she won, but no. She didn’t yet. Carmella was out of the ring.

In the end, Carmella eliminates Sarah to be the second ever winner of this annual match.

Raw Tag Team Championship

The last minute addition to Wrestlemania is here as The Revival defend their belts against Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder. Could this be the time when Hawkins breaks his record for most consecutive loses?

Throughout the entire match we see The Revival controlling the match. For some reason, they prefer to fight against Zack instead of Curt, though.

We finally see Hawkins coming in, he is attacking the members of The Revival, not only attacking, but dominating them. This is what wrestling fans are here for: surprises, emotions, title changes!

The Revival retakes control of the match, but the crowd start chanting “Let’s go Hawkins!” Guess what? Hawkins got the win!!! The 269 consecutive loses are done!

Andre The Giant Memmorial Battle Royal

Colin Jost and Michael Che are the special guests of this match. They seem really scared.

Braun Strowman gets into the ring and now the match becomes “everyone versus the Monster Among Men”. There are so many teams in this match that it makes no sense; however, it makes up for great entertainment.

In the end, we have Braun Strowman versus our special guests as Braun eliminated the Hardy Boyz. Braun wins, of course.

The kickoff show (or pre-show, however you want to call it) is over now. Let’s go to the main show and all those title matches!

Main Show

The Host and the Hulk

We start Wrestlemania by having the Goddess introducing Hulk Hogan only to be interrupted by Paul Heyman, who calls Brock Lesnar to the ring, saying if he isn’t main eventing, he is starting the event.

Universal Championship

Brock Lesnar comes to the ring after Paul Heyman says they will finish the business here to fly to Las Vegas where people “do appreciate” the beast. We will be having a great match, first. Seth Rollins responds with a great entrance, stating he’ll slay the beast. Oh, guess what? There’s pyro in entrances!

Without starting the match, when Rollins was about to enter the ring, he is greeted with a knee to his ribs, followed by an F-5, outside the ring. The match hasn’t even started, and Seth Rollins is being destroyed by the Beast, who finally decides to take him to the ring after throwing him to the announce table twice.

The match finally starts and Brock hits the first suplexes. Rollins can’t even stand right now. Three German Suplexes, Seth is already bleeding from the back and elbow. When Brock was about to hit anotyher F-5, Seth pushes him against the referee, who gets out of the ring. This is the opening for hitting Lesnar with a low punch followed by 3 Curbstomps. We have a new champion!

This is how you start the grandest stage of them all! Seth officially becomes the Beast Slayer!

Who built SmackDown?

Great rivalry right here. Two of the best talents from WWE facing each other for the bragging rights of calling themselves “The Man who built SmackDown”. RKO out of nowhere or Styles Clash? We’ll see who wins.

A technical match where we see both superstars working towards evading and countering each other. We almost saw an RKO a few times, but AJ was able to escape. We see a Calf Crusher as well. Randy got to the ropes. What about a Phenomenal Forearm? Well, we didn’t, but because AJ stopped when he was already on the top rope and saw Randy waiting with an RKO.

Randy gets to hit one RKO on AJ, but he kicks out! We see numerous moves and strategy changes from AJ, while Randy simply went with his favorite move. With a Phenomenal Forearm, AJ Styles gets the 3 count over Randy!

SmackDown Tag Team Penitentiary

After the Usos decided to forfeit their match against New Day during the Russian Rullette to give Kofi a chance for the WWE Championship, The Usos were sanctioned by having to defend their championships in a Fatal 4 Way match. This is it.

What we’re looking forward the most is the team of Ricochet and Aleister Black performing again, after we saw them on Friday in NXT TakeOver New York.

Now, I can’t be the only one who thinks a Fatal 4 Way Tag Team Match should have 4 superstars fighting at any given time instead of just 2. I really hate the way in which WWE perform these matches. Then again, I’d rather watch a Tornado Tag match.

The early highlight of the match? Sheamus and Cesaro working perfectly as a team. Why do I say “early”? Simple, because Ricochet is always going to be a highlight in any match; although, I’d love to see him bring the Prince Puma style into WWE.

Shinsuke and Rusev bring some amazing team chemistry to the ring, somehow. Tell me again why did the “Rusev Day” movement die? I still have my t-shirt for it…

In the end, we see a lot of great moves, but The Usos were the ones coming out of Wrestlemania as SmackDown Tag Team Champions! That’s Karma for you.

Overused Story

We all know it. Friends who become enemies. They became close, became a team, became champions. After that, they lost the belts and one betrays the other. They make it personal. This is Shane’s annual Wrestlemania match. I like Shane being a heel. He is a McMahon after all. What I can’t get used to: Miz being a babyface.

I’ll admit this: I love the way Shane throws punches. This is one of my most anticipated matches for this event and I’m sure it’ll be good, unless they do everything inside the ring.

Shane starts up taking advantage, getting into Miz’s head. Then, making him bleed out of his head. At this point, Shane is about to hit a coast to coast from the corner to the announce table, but Miz’s dad comes into the picture. Shane attacks him, and Miz starts attacking Shane.

Now that they went ringside, I see something interesting: there are empty seats ringside.

For the first time, I see the fight going to the place where the announcers in other languages. There was chaos there. They lost chairs, tables, screens…and it was super fun to watch. Then they went up to where the “expensive cameras” are. This won’t end well for one of them. Miz hits a superplex there, but both end up knocked out. Shane, though, was on top of Miz’s body, so he wins.

Women’s Tag Team Championship

I have nothing to say for this match besides that I wish Beth and Nattie win. Knowing they won’t do it, I’m not excited about this match, though.

We see a bit of every team. Nattie and Beth had the upper hand for a while, until Nia and Tamina started attacking. Then it was the Boss and Hugs team. It feels as if the belts will be changing hands. Beth hits a super move, and The Iiconics are the new champions!

Kofi-Mania!

Eleven years in the making. Eleven years waiting for this moment. Kofi Kingston is going up against Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship. He endured a grueling Gauntlet match, handicap matches. The New Day endured a Russian Rullette to get him here. This is what Wrestlemania is all about!

The match starts and we see how both are just measuring each other. Kofi is the one having the best performance this far. Backstage, we see then entire locker room cheering for him.

Unfortunately, Kofi misses and hits the announce table instead of Daniel Bryan, and after that point, it is pure dominance by the champion. I’m anxious as for some reason I’m smelling a betrayal happening during this match.

The crowd chanting “Yes! Yes! Yes!” when Kofi hits Daniel is the best feeling in the world.

Rowan finally interferes in the match, but Big E and Xavier Woods are there to help their brother. The crowd is going insane, but Daniel Bryan hits his finisher. 1, 2…Kofi kicks out! “New. Day rocks!” “New. Day rocks!”

KOFI KINGSTON DEFEATS DANIEL BRYAN!!!

Handicap Match: US Championship

Nothing will top what we just saw. It is going to be a tough thing to do now. An injured Rey Mysterio will have to take on Samoa Joe for the United States Championship. It isn’t that I don’t trust Rey. It simply is that he is injured. Joe will annihilate him.

Of course, it took it less than 5 minutes for Joe to retain his championship.

This is Someone’s Yard

This is an interesting match. I’m a Drew McIntyre fan. I’m also a Roman Reigns fan. Two forces will collide this time, and I’m cheering for Drew. He needs this push.

There’s nothing to highlight on this match. Roman Reigns wins with a Spear.

Musical Interlude

We get to see Elias with Elias and Elias. The three of them played a nice song. He got interrupted by a video showcasing Babe Ruth. Of course, this is just to announce that John Cena is entering, bringing back the “Thugonomics” persona.

There’s some slow rapping done, and an Attitude Adjustment to Elias, but under its old name: an “FU”.

The King versus the Invisible Man

Wait! Didn’t we already see a friends-turned-enemies match already? Oh, yeah, we did. Still, to have The Animal back for one match is the best thing I can imagine right now. Former Evolution members. I expect blood.

Some photos of the “most expensive entrance in WWE history”. Didn’t feel “that” expensive, though.

The match started and quickly went out of the ring. A toolbox is used against Batista, then chains, then some pliers. Batista is under a steel chair in the ring. Triple H takes the nosering away from Batista. BLOOD!!!

This is a grueling match. Outside the ring we see them throwing everythin at each other. Breaking tables. Using the steel steps. Batista hitting his finishers. Triple H has to bring his best game if he wants to keep his career. Triple H hits a powerbomb against the steel steps inside the ring, followed by a Pedigree, but Batista is able to kick out as well.

In the end, Rick Flair comes in to aid Triple H, who hits Batista with a mace and then a Pedigree. Triple H wins.

Farewell, Kurt

The match that makes no sense at all. They had a feud about being General Manager for RAW. That’s it. Nothing else. This rivalry got Corbin to fight like dressed like an idiot. Unfortunately, Baron Corbin defeats Kurt Angle. Is it a surprise? No.

Immediately after Kurt got pinned and Corbin left, Kurt just got up, gave a speech and he wasn’t even tired. No sweating. Nothing. This was disappointing. Worst “last match ever” I’ve seen.

Intercontinental Demon

This is it, we’ll finally see the Demon again. Finn has never lost a match while under his Demon King persona. Will this be his first time?

Finn Balor comes in fast and strong, attacking Lashley with everything. Lashley counters, hits a couple of spears. The Demon King is able to kick out and go back to hit the Coupe de Grace to win the title back.

Main Event

The WWE have been pushing women’s wrestling for a while. This is the best thing that could happen to the Women’s Revolution. Wrestlemania’s Main Event has RAW Women’s Champion, Ronda Rousey vs SmackDown Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair vs The Man, Becky Lynch in a “Winner Takes All” match. We need this.

Being the main event, it was only logical for Charlotte Flair to make an entrance. She got to the Met Life Stadium via helicopter. Ronda Rousey, on her end, had Joan Jett performing her entrance music, live. Becky, though, had her normal entrance. She didn’t need all that fuss.

We get to see a super dynamic match with all three women leaving everything they had in the ring. All of them are trying to make their opponents tap out just to get hit by the remaining superstar. We see Charlotte breaking a table with her body after applying two perfect spears. In the end, when Ronda was about to hit her finisher on Becky, she was able to use that momentum to get the three count on Ronda and become the new Women’s Champion for both brands.

Final Verdict

Wrestlemania 35 is one of the most entertaining and emotional events we’ve seen in recent years. From Curt Hawkins breaking his losses streak, to Kofi becoming WWE Champion, to Becky overcoming all odds and winning the Winner Takes All Main Event. This is an unforgettable event we’ll be talking about for a long time!

#Wrestlemania 35: The Grandest Stage of 2019 We already had our Wrestlemania for NXT on Friday. It is time for RAW, SmackDown and 205 Live to have theirs.