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ohthehypocrisy · 2 years ago

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Hariyama for Pokemon Unite!

Season 1

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It is a common misconception that any and all Fighting type Pokemon are these well built, able bodied, muscular creatures that can snap a regular man like a twig. It’s true that the essence of being a Fighting Type means reaching the pinnacle of physique and strength, mastering both body and mind with discipline and training.

And then there are the chunky boys. Very rare, but there are Fighting Types that have a lot of flab on their bodies, and they aren’t ashamed of it. Pangoro, Emboar, Throh maybe, and of course, Hariyama, the mold breaker of the Fighting Type gold standard. Rather than shedding that weight, Hariyama uses it to its advantage, holding onto all that mass to make it harder to knock away and knock down. I would dare say that it makes for a very effective bodyguard in some aspect.

But how well would it do in Pokemon Unite? Let’s find out!

Right away, Hariyama’s most impressive stats are its monstrously high HP and Attack. Such a high HP value is very rare, and the only pokemon in Unite that have more fat on them than Hariyama is Blissey and Snorlax. Wigglytuff actually has slightly less HP, but it uses that stat to support the team rather than to take hits. The high Attack is also a great plus, as it can use the HP to tank a hit and then retaliate with a bone breaking slap. Unfortunately, the rest of its stats are incredibly low, lacking in Sp. Atk, Speed, and defenses. It seems that Hariyama relies on its massive HP to block most of the attacks aimed its way and uses the opening created afterwards for a counterattack. The ability to take hits and deal heavy blows in exchange is one of the hallmark strategies notable of a...

Defender

Basic Attack - Melee/Attack

A stomp with one foot followed by another. The basic attack becomes boosted afterward. Delivers a two handed strike that shoves enemies backwards.

The attack is used 3 times in quick succession and cannot be retained. Before the final hit, you can still turn and aim the attack.

X Attack and other modifiers can increase the speed of the overall attack.

If the attack is stifled by a hindrance, the attack starts over.

With a mighty set of stomps, Hariyama holds its ground and is ready to play rough. This attack resembles the foot stomps sumo wrestlers do before a match begins. Of course, it’s kind of odd for Hariyama to stunt this move when the match started a couple minutes ago. Never too late to honorably stomp your enemies face in, I suppose.

This basic attack is great at keeping enemies away, but it does very little to engage them actively. You can’t really chase after an enemy since the basic attack only shoves at the end of the move, and there is just enough time for an enemy to run away from you when you start stomping. For what it’s worth, the ability to shove enemies without needing to use a move is a pretty notable boon for a Defender to have. It just comes at the cost of limited range and application.

What’s worse is that it lacks any protection. Getting stifled by a hindrance forces the attack to start over, which makes it difficult for Hariyama to challenge a lane push. You have about half a second to turn and aim where the final hit goes, though, so if you’re propped up in an Ally Goal Zone you can knock enemies away trying to score.

While the attack goes through all 3 hits automatically, it is still classified as a boosted basic attack in order to activate some items and effects. Speaking of which, modifiers make the attack come out faster or slower, so it might be worth it to pop an X Attack in order to speed up the motions of the basic attack and shove enemies away for free. Most of the time though, Full Heal is the better option, as the basic attack comes out quickly, and being free of hindrances for the short duration provided by Full Heal can make or break a defensive play.

As if enemies would want to get near Hariyama, though. It’s got a pretty nifty ability that makes it really hard to approach.

Ability: Thick Fat

When the pokemon receives damage from a Dash Attack Move, the move is cancelled and the attacker is bounced backwards. This ability goes on cooldown afterwards. The cooldown is reduced by 1 second when the pokemon deals damage with a move. In addition, the ability halves the distance of Shove hindrances it receives.

Thick Fat goes on cooldown for 10 seconds after it is activated. The ability icon is displayed by your HP bar

Thick Fat does not stop the pokemon from receiving damage, hindrances, or debuffs.

All attackers are bounced back the same distance and are stunned for 0.5 seconds. Thick Fat inflicts a hindrance on attackers so it can be blocked by Full Heal or other hindrance protection. If this happens, Thick Fat will still go on cooldown.

The ability to halve Shove distance affects Hariyama even when Thick Fat is activated and on cooldown.

In martial arts, weight is power. And that couldn’t be more true for a pokemon that weighs as much as 560 lbs like Hariyama.

All that weight and fat is backed up by a wall of muscle, so not only is it thicker than a sandbag, it hits back just as hard. When an enemy dives in to attack Hariyama with a Dash Attack, the attack will be cancelled and immediately go on cooldown. It doesn’t stop Hariyama from receiving the effects of damage, hindrances, or buffs or debuffs, but it keeps some pokemon from using their moves effectively. For example, Absol’s Night Slash is a two part attack that requires an enemy to get hit by the first cut before becoming the much more powerful slash attack it is. If Hariyama intercepts that first attack, it forces Absol to rebound and locks them out from the other half of the move, depriving them of that burst damage.

It will do this to all pokemon moves classified as Dash Attacks. Basically, if you can’t use it within an opposing Clefable’s Gravity, assume that it would bounce off of Hariyama as well. There are a few exceptions to this rule, and that is that Thick Fat activates when it receives damage from a Dash Attack move. While Dragonite cannot use Dragon Dance within Clefable’s Gravity, Hariyama’s Thick Fat would not block Dragon Dance from being activated, even if Dragonite where to Dash directly into Hariyama while Thick Fat is active. That is because Dragon Dance is not a damaging move. Similar exceptions include Greninja’s Double Team/Smokescreen and Sylveon’s Mystical Fire. While these moves do buff the pokemon, the Dash portion of the moves do not deal damage and will not activate Thick Fat if they dash into Hariyama.

Speaking of which, Thick Fat has a cooldown when it does block an attack. Unfortunately, it takes 10 seconds before the ability is ready to block another attack, which is more time than it takes for that same Dash Attack to come off of cooldown. You can alleviate this by dealing damage with your moves though, but this does little to help you when multiple enemies are challenging you and your Goal Zone. More enemies will make it easier to reduce the cooldown of Thick Fat by hitting them all with your moves, but keep in mind that the ability does not stop Dash Attacks from dealing damage and inflicting hindrances. Having an ally around can lighten the load for you and can even take advantage of the opening provided by Thick Fat bouncing an enemy back.

In addition, Thick Fat also grants you reduced Shove distance, making it harder for opposing Defenders to swat you away. All that sumo training really benefits Hariyama in helping it stay in the fight. How about that?

At the start of the game, Hariyama will start out as Makuhita. You can choose between Fake Out or Smelling Salts as your first move. By Level 3, you will have learned both.

Move 1: Fake Out

Charges forward quickly and delivers a stunning clap, damaging and stunning enemies caught at the end of the move. 6.5s cooldown.

If Fake Out hits an enemy near the end of the move, they are stunned for 1.5 seconds.

Enemies hit near the beginning of the move will receive damage but will not be stunned.

Dash moves are very valuable for Defenders, as they allow the pokemon to cover distance and can help them defend a wider area. Fake Out comes with a great Stun effect if you hit an enemy in the sweet spot. It also comes with a relatively low cooldown, making it very effective at closing the distance repeatedly.

The sweet spot requires proper positioning and predicting, though. If you manage to hit an enemy at the very end of the move, you’ll have a very long 1.5 seconds of Stun to work with, which can turn into an easy KO against opposing Attackers. The more agile enemies will be harder to hit, and that low 6.5 seconds of cooldown will feel like an eternity as you watch your target dash further and further away from you.

Luckily, Makuhita learns another move that combos well with Fake Out.

Move 2: Smelling Salts

Put your hands together and clap loudly, dealing damage to enemies close by. Damaging an enemy that is stunned causes this move to deal double damage. 8s cooldown.

The attack hits all enemies within a half circle radius in front of Makuhita/Hariyama. Damaging a stunned enemy deals double damage.

Smelling Salts will also deal double damage to enemies incapacitated, bound, thrown, or frozen.

The range is deceptively small, but Smelling Salts is a powerful move if you manage to combo a successful Fake Out into the move. Hit a stunned enemy with Smelling Salts before the stun wears off and you’ll deal double damage.

You don’t even have to inflict the stun yourself, as it will deal double damage if the enemy is hindered by stun inflicted by an ally. Not only that, it’ll also work on enemies struck with incapacitation, freeze, or bound. Thrown enemies receive double damage as well, but because of how short the hindrance is, you’ll be lucky to land the attack in time.

If you don’t recognize the move Smelling Salts, it’s the signature move of the Hariyama line. Or, at least, it was, before the move got removed from all future games past Generation 7. I mean, I’m not too miffed about the move as I was about Beedrill losing Twineedle in the transition, but it always sucks when a signature move gets deleted from the game.

In Pokemon Unite, these moves are remembered and honored, and, let’s be honest, way more useful here than in the traditional games.

At Level 5, Makuhita will evolve into Hariyama. At the same time, Fake Out becomes either Arm Thrust or Force Palm.

Move 1a: Arm Thrust

Deliver a short ranged open palm thrust that pushes you forward a little. Enemies caught in the attack will be pushed back and stunned briefly, as well as receive damage. Destroys enemy ranged basic attacks as the move is used. The move can be used up to 5 times before going on cooldown. 11s cooldown.

At Level 11, Arm Thrust becomes Arm Thrust+.

Becomes resistant to hindrances while attacking. The last hit of Arm Thrust+ deals more stun.

You have 0.75 seconds to use the attack again before it goes on cooldown. During this time, you can aim the attack.

Enemies are shoved a little bit, keeping them in range for the next hit of Arm Thrust.

Intercepting ranged attacks with this move also blocks the damage of those moves.

Arm Thrust stuns enemies for 0.5 seconds with each hit. Arm Thrust+ deals 1 second of stun with the last hit.

Now we’re getting somewhere. When Makuhita evolves into Hariyama, its hands massively increase in surface area. Those hands can hold a lot of things, but they can also hit a lot of things too, and really hard.

By thrusting its arms out, those hands deliver an open palm strike that stuns enemies and knocks them back a bit. If you’re quick enough, you can use the attack again to deliver a followup slap forward. Hariyama moves a bit as they attack with Arm Thrust, so you are able to cancel the attack by not attacking in order to avoid overextending and rushing into enemy territory.

However, Arm Thrust grants Hariyama a lot of impunity when engaging the enemy team. It has the effect of destroying ranged basic attacks that it crosses with as it is using the move, making it difficult for ranged attackers to deal damage safely from afar. Melee attacks will damage Hariyama just fine, but the exponential risk of being pushed back by Arm Thrust is simply not worth it. Arm Thrust+ also grants you hindrance resistance, making it even harder for Hariyama to be stopped by the enemy when it gets going.

Here’s something I haven’t touched on. Each hit of Arm Thrust lowers the cooldown of Thick Fat after it is activated, and the cooldown lowers for each separate enemy. Fake Out can also hit multiple enemies, but it’s best used with proper positioning for the stun effect. Arm Thrust improves on Fake Out in every single way in that you can shove and stun enemies repeatedly as you move about while using the move, and each hit can speed up Thick Fat’s cooldown. If you manage to hit multiple enemies, you’ll even get Thick Fat reactivated in the middle of the attack, greatly compounding your defensive utility.

The long cooldown of the move is its only downside. Other than that, you’re practically invincible while using Arm Thrust. However, you also aren’t very speedy and the opposing team can simply back off and wait for you to exhaust all 5 slaps before the move has to go on cooldown. You’ll be in trouble then, as your only other move at this point would be Smelling Salts, and you’ll likely want to use the move immediately after Arm Thrust stuns the enemy.

If you want to be a little faster, Force Palm is another alternative.

Move 1b: Force Palm

A charging thrust attack with an open palm, stunning all enemies caught in the attack. The stun effect increases the further away the enemy is. 10s cooldown.

At Level 11, Force Palm becomes Force Palm+.

A followup attack can be used where a second strike greatly shoves an enemy away.

Stuns all enemies caught in the attack. The further the attack travels the greater the stun. The minimum stun is 0.25 seconds near the beginning of the move. The maximum stun is 1.75 seconds near the end of the dash attack.

Force Palm+ has a followup attack where enemies are shoved very far away. You have 0.25 seconds to use it before the move goes on cooldown. The second strike of Force Palm+ has 0.75 seconds of windup before the attack comes out.

Force Palm covers more distance than Fake Out, and yet it improves upon the move in every way by stunning all enemies caught in the attack, no matter where they were. However, the stun effect increases with proper spacing and prediction, delivering a powerful 1.75 seconds of cooldown if you sweet spot the attack at the end of the move.

Dealing a successful stun with Force Palm allows you and your teammates to follow up with just about any move, but at this point, you’ll most likely deliver a Smelling Salts to tack on the damage. Smelling Salts delivers only damage and provides no other effect, so it’s a great plus to the combination and is even likely to KO an unfortunate Attacker. Force Palm by itself helps you cover a lot of distance in one go and can even halt an enemy’s scoring efforts if you manage to get the positioning right.

While it doesn’t offer the same sort of damage soaking ability as Arm Thrust, Force Palm has a surprising combo with Thick Fat. See, all enemies that activate Thick Fat are stunned and knocked back the same amount of distance. It’s like kicking a ball into a wall, rebounding backwards, except the attacker is the ball and Hariyama with an active Thick Fat is the wall. In the short amount of time you have to counter an enemy knocked backwards by Thick Fat, you can reposition yourself and aim for the sweet spot with Force Palm, turning their aggression back on them and locking the enemy down long enough for you and your teammates to finish the job. It requires having Thick Fat ready to use, but Force Palm also has 10 seconds of cooldown, allowing both to possibly be ready at the same time (barring cooldown manipulation emblems and Thick Fat’s ability to reduce its own cooldown and stuff...)

Force Palm+ tacks on a second hit that can be used after dashing with the move, delivering a second mighty slap that stuns and knocks enemies away. You’ll have forgotten Smelling Salts when you get this upgrade, so don’t worry about delivering that combo. Speaking of Smelling Salts, it becomes a much more reliable move at Level 7.

At Level 7, Smelling Salts becomes either Wake-Up Slap or Vital Throw.

Move 2a: Wake-Up Slap

A wide ranged slap that damages all enemies in front of you. If you damage a stunned enemy, deal double damage and resets the cooldown of your other move. 10s cooldown.

At Level 13, Wake-Up Slap becomes Wake-Up Slap+.

Deals more damage and pierces shields on stunned enemies.

Wake-Up Slap damages all enemies in a wide conical area in front of you.

Wake-Up Slap+ deals 2.75x more damage to stunned enemies and will also deal pierce damage.

Wake-Up Slap deals boosted damage to enemies that are also incapacitated, bound, asleep, or frozen.

Wake-Up Slap deals damage in a wider area than Smelling Salts, but only because Hariyama’s hands are much bigger. That said, the extra damage effect is much stronger when you hit an enemy under the right conditions.

After using Arm Thrust or Force Palm, Wake-Up Slap will deal double the damage to an enemy stunned by those moves. Same as Smelling Salts, but it has a little more range and has the extra effect of resetting the cooldown of that other move. The ability to reset the cooldown of either Arm Thrust or Force Palm vastly improves your defending abilities and makes it much easier to reactivate Thick Fat. You can expect to utilize Thick Fat repeatedly in the middle of a team fight by using the combo of Move 1, Wake-Up Slap, and then Move 1 again. Hitting multiple enemies in one go repeatedly greatly increases the effectiveness of your ability to defend.

Wake-Up Slap+ deals even more damage and can deliver piercing damage to enemies with shields. It’s really unfortunate that shields don’t protect you from hindrances, barring Blissey’s Safeguard, but this upgrade greatly improves Hariyama’s match-up against sturdy All-Rounders and Defenders that really on their shields to tank burst damage. you can even use the shield piercing effect to challenge enemies on their own Goal Zones, using your shove effects to push them out and away and giving your team some space. The upgrade comes a little late though, but for the most part, Wake-Up Slap is a very effective tool you have at your disposal to defend.

However, let’s not forget that Hariyama is a sumo wrestler. And what do sumo wrestlers do? They throw people, hard.

Move 2b: Vital Throw

Raise one foot and bring it down, throwing all enemies nearby. Target a nearby enemy and the pokemon will rush in and grab them before throwing them in a chosen direction. The enemy becomes a projectile that shoves and damages any other enemy caught in the attack. If you KO an enemy with this move, resets the cooldown of your other move. 11s cooldown.

At Level 13, Vital Throw becomes Vital Throw+.

Increases damage dealt to both the thrown enemy and the receiving enemy. Also deals piercing damage.

After Vital Throw deals damage, you have 0.75 seconds to target an enemy. After targeting, Hariyama will dash towards and grab the enemy and throws them in a given direction. If no direction is chosen, Hariyama throws the pokemon in the same direction they dashed.

Vital Throw will fail if the chosen enemy has hindrance protection. Hariyama will not dash towards any enemy that aren’t in range after the first hit of Vital Throw.

Vital Throw will still fail if an enemy that was hit by the first part of the move is taken out of range of the follow up grab.

The thrown enemy becomes a projectile and will shove all other enemies caught in the attack in the same direction.

The thrown enemy will only receive damage if they collide with an opposing pokemon.

If you don’t aim, the move will automatically target an enemy to grab and aim at the nearest viable target.

Sumo Wrestling is all about the three G’s; Girth, Grit, and Gains. Gotta have Girth to stand with the best of them, gotta have Grit to stay there, and you gotta Gain a lot of power and weight to throw around as well. If you lack any of these G’s, you can expect to be thrown out of the ring unceremoniously with Vital Throw.

The first stomp weeds out the weaklings from the heavy hitters, throwing them up into the air and at your mercy. Afterwards, you can target any one of these poor saps to grab and throw in your desired direction. You’ve only got a small amount of time to pick and choose who you’re gonna throw, but once you’got your hands them, you’ll send them flying. You can even throw the target at another enemy to really rack up the damage and send two enemies flying for the price of one.

Vital Throw is an extremely effective move to use in crowds as you can halt all offensive and scoring efforts and just grab and throw somebody. Being able to completely stuff a lane push is Vital Throw’s most valuable ability over Wake-Up Slap, but it has its own downsides.

While Vital Throw is also able to reset the cooldown of Move 1, just like Wake-Up Slap, it requires scoring a KO for that to happen. Now don’t get me wrong, getting KO’s as a Defender is easy, but not the most important thing for a Defender to do. Your main objective is to stop the enemy from going any further within your territory. Getting a KO is one way of doing it, but it should never be done so at the cost of losing a Goal Zone. That said, it is slightly easier to pull this off with Vital Throw, as you can damage two enemies at once, either of which could be a frail Attacker or Speedster, especially if they’ve been weakened with some prior hits.

Vital Throw+ makes that easier by dealing extra damage overall, and makes it piercing damage dealt to both the thrown enemy and the receiving enemy. Of course, it all depends on getting that shot lined up nice and easy. Most frail Attackers and Speedsters have mobility options they can use to get themselves out of a sticky situation, so not only is it possible for them to evade getting hit by a thrown enemy, but also avoid getting hit by the grab altogether. Vital Throw will only connect if it manages to knock an enemy up into the air, allowing that enemy to be targeted by the follow up grab. However, if the enemy has protections against hindrances or can evade the attack by becoming invulnerable, Vital Throw won’t connect the grab. If you miss, there’s an agonizingly long 11 second wait time before you can try again.

But if you manage to connect all the hits and even get a KO out of the interaction, your ability to defend greatly increases as refreshing the cooldown of your other move means you’ll have less enemies to defend against. Ain’t no one gonna get past this hulking handler unscathed.

Unite Move: Ring King

A large rope ring is established around Hariyama. For 10 seconds, any opposing pokemon that is Shoved out of the ring will be instantly warped back to their home base. If an enemy was KO’d while within the ring, their respawn timer is extended.

Enemies will only be warped back to their base if they were shoved out of the ring, not shoved into it.

Only Hariyama can send enemies away with their shove effects. The extended respawn timer effect can be activated by any ally that KOs an enemy pokemon.

Thick Fat can send an enemy back to base if they are Shoved out of the ring by its effect.

A KO’d enemy will have their respawn timer extended by 1.2x seconds.

Hariyama throws a fistful of salt into the air when the Unite Move is used as the ring appears. This is solely a visual effect.

Either go big or go home, that’s Hariyama’s motto, having trained its body to its massive size and has developed the Unite Move in order to send its enemies home literally.

By setting up a sumo ring in the middle of the match, Hariyama plays a not so friendly game of wrestling with the enemy. If an enemy enters the ring, they are liable to get knocked back so hard they are warped back to their home base. That’s not an appealing prospect, but Hariyama can throw down anywhere, any time with this Unite Move.

As the user of the move, only Hariyama can send enemies back to base with its Shove effects. That makes it detrimental for its allies to join in on the pushing game, but that just means they can use their own hindrances to either shove enemies into the ring or even keep them from leaving. Given that 3 of your 4 possible moves can Shove, it’s very easy for you to pull off a successful ring out, ensuring that wherever you choose to set the arena is very well secured by you.

Of course, this also means that Hariyama itself has to be within its own Unite Move to do anything, but it doesn’t gain any form of protection from activating it barring Buddy Barrier. You can be knocked out and stunned by hindrances as well, but you won’t get forced back to base as you would your opponents. It’s just very hard to shove enemies out of the ring if you yourself got thrown out of it.

Not only that, you only have 10 seconds to throw at least one enemy out with your moves, which isn’t a lot of time to work with. None of your moves have less than 10 seconds of cooldown, barring Black Emblems reducing that timer but even still, missing with just one move locks you out of the ability to shove with that move until the Unite Move ends. This is why Wake-Up Slap and Vital Throw have the ability to reset the cooldown of your other move, to incentivize the player to master these moves.

But with enough discipline and maturity, you too can be a sumo king, just like Hariyama.

Holowear

With Hariyama’s big body, there’s a lot of space for us to work with. However, sumo wrestlers fight without any clothing aside from that loincloth called a mawashi. But then again, Pokemon Unite isn’t exactly a game of sumo, and it isn’t exactly a typical pokemon battle either. What I’m saying is, since Hariyama is a pokemon inspired by sumo wrestling, it should be okay to give it some virtual clothes, provided they don’t detract from the overall aesthetic.

First up is Vacation Style, giving Hariyama a large tropical shirt, hat, and some sunglasses. Then there’s Bodyguard Style, giving it a fancy black suit and tie along with some black glasses and a radio headpiece. Chef Style gives it a white cook shirt along with a sushi chef’s hat and a sash with sushi preparation tools hanging off to the side. Training Style puts Hariyama in a monk’s robe and gives it a bead necklace to wear along with some warding tags. Finally, there’s Cowboy Style that gives it a big cowboy hat and leather vest along with a belt and holster along with some old fashioned hand cuffs.

Whatever Hariyama wears tends to command a lot of authority, so it only makes sense to give it Holowear that fulfills that feeling.

Strategy

A lot of Hariyama’s successful plays will be centered around getting the position of the enemy just right in order to maximize the effects of its moves. Force Palm and Wake-Up Slap are two such moves that benefit from getting that sweet spot just right, rewarding accuracy with perfect defense. Arm Thrust and Vital Throw however manipulate the positioning of your enemies by shoving and throwing them away, making it easier to defend but harder to use safely.

The most important aspect of Hariyama is its Thick Fat ability, granting it a way to shut down almost all Dash Attacks. If you are good at lowering the cooldown of Thick Fat by using your moves, you can very easily become the bane of Speedsters who rely on their Dash Attacks to deal damage and move around the map. It’s a great compromise since using Thick Fat means getting hit, but you can equip items like Rocky Helmet or Weakness Policy to maximize the opening provided by the ability.

Starting out in the match, you’ll want either the Top or Bottom Lane. While both Fake Out and Smelling Salts are a powerful combo, ironically they aren’t useful moves for defending. Neither attack can push enemies and you can only stun by hitting the sweet spot with Fake Out. But in exchange, this makes your early game much easier against frail Attackers like Scorbunny and Pikachu, as they use dash moves or stuns to escape confrontation. Fake Out can easily catch a retreating Attacker and Smelling Salts can deal enough damage to score an easy KO, allowing you and a lane partner to free reign over the area.

Once you hit Level 5, you have to decide what kind of Defender you’re gonna be. If you’re really good at hitting the sweet spot with Fake Out, Force Palm is the better overall option. If you’re having trouble keeping enemies out of your Goal Zone, Arm Thrust is better, as it has wider range and can shove enemies pretty far and consistently. Both moves can combo with Smelling Salts while you still know the move, allowing you to greatly damage or even KO a weakened enemy.

At Level 7, your Smelling Salts upgrades to either Wake-Up Slap or Vital Throw. If you love the extra damage Smelling Salts allowed you to deal, Wake-Up Slap is the move of choice, as not only does it do the same thing but stronger, it’ll also refresh the cooldown of Force Palm or Arm Thrust, greatly increasing your defending potential. Vital Throw is a great move in its own right for its ability to toss enemies away as if they were cue balls on a pool table. Being able to throw and damage two enemies in one go is Vital Throw’s most valuable asset and makes it even easier to defend against aggressive enemies. And if you manage to KO an enemy in the cross fire, you’ll still get your other move refreshed, making Vital Throw preferred in matches versus frail Attackers and Speedsters.

Of course, Hariyama does have limits, and that would be its difficulty in taking continuous hits. Hariyama has little defense against hindrances and passive damage, and its range is limited as well. Having long cooldown on its moves means it cannot afford to be reckless with how it uses its moves, requiring steady aim and careful planning in order to be used effectively. Even its ability Thick Fat, despite being able to stifle most dash moves, does not protect it from damage or hindrances, meaning that Hariyama will eventually succumb to damage from a prolonged fight.

Most Defenders have ways of alleviating this weakness by either increasing the HP they can restore or by utilizing their moves for an escape plan. Trevenant has a built-in Focus Band, but its range is very limited. Snorlax can double the effects of Sitrus Berries with Gluttony, but they become rarer as the match goes on. Greedent is very good at sustaining its HP, but it’s ability to defend a single area suffers as a result. The convention continues with Hariyama, having no effective way of saving itself, but in exchange, its ability to defend is unrivaled, being a sumo wrestler and all.

Yes, a sumo wrestler trains to command the ring of battle, but it requires training and steady eating in order to reach that peak. Hariyama is no different, and must be looked after by its teammates. It will risk everything to ensure that nothing gets past it, so make sure you return the favor by keeping it well supported.

Defend your defenders.

And that’s Hariyama for Pokemon Unite! I think I speak for everyone when I say that the game could use more Defenders, and I think Hariyama would be a strong contender for the role. I mean, it literally bases its entire fighting style by throwing weaklings out of its arena, so it would fit right in.

Next up we’ve got another Attacker on the list. Who’s it gonna be? Follow and find out!

#Hariyama #Makuhita #Pokemon Unite

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roodle-things · 2 years ago

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Dark-Type Specialists: Karen, Sydney, Grimsley, Nanu, Marnie, + Piers aesthetics for @ferje-flamsburg I hope you like them!!

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gundamfight · 4 years ago

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iirulancorrino · 3 years ago

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Some might argue that many sports require specific, even freakish, body types for participants to excel. One must be tall to play professional basketball, bulky to play certain positions in professional football, obese to compete in sumo wrestling, light and tiny to race horses. However, unlike athletes in those other sports, the world's best female gymnasts are children. The showdown for the gold medal in the 1992 Olympics pitted two fifteen-year-olds—both 4 feet 6 inches tall, one 70 pounds, the other 69 pounds—against each other. The sport has evolved to the point where only children can excel. The difficult tricks require a child's small, lean, limber body. One physician says today's gymnastics puts bodies under "unusual biometric stresses that are more designed for monkeys." There is no place anymore in elite women's gymnastics for women. If horse racing, for example, required children as jockeys in order to survive as a sport, and if those children were training eight hours a day at the track under the supervision of screaming trainers, and if the children were already used up by the sport before they turned twenty, their malnourished bodies a mess of broken bones and torn muscles—wouldn't there be an outcry? Wouldn't somebody suggest this was a violation of child labor laws, if not outright child abuse? But there is little outcry about gymnastics, perhaps because the sport's amateur status suggests that the athletes are competing for fun. And perhaps because the girls seem so cute. We want to believe that they are what they seem to be, extraordinarily gifted girls who happen to be small. They spring onto our TV screens—their size makes them the perfect television athletes—free of the sticky issues of power, sexual orientation and aggression that encumber most other female athletes...In a modern sports world grappling with the changing role of women, from the front offices to the playing fields, gymnasts are beacons of simplicity and innocence.

Joan Ryan, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters

#what I'm reading #olympics #ice skating #gymnastics #sports

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writers-worst-nightmare · 3 years ago

Text

I don’t dance

Fluffvember: day one

Pairing(s): Technoblade x reader

Warning(s): no editing done (very poor grammar and spelling mistakes)

Type of fic: fluff, kinda reverse comfort

Words: 3,029

Requested?: No

Request are always open!

A/N: I hope I wrote Technoblade right! I really am a sumo for him and feel like I would always let him down from the glory that he is if I wrote him!

Song you two are singing

Techno was a quiet person.

Not shy but quiet.

He rarely talked but when he did his voice was smooth like honey rolling off the tongue or as sharp as the blade of a sword.

He oftentimes shared his option about the government in the open. Making him known for his chaotic and loud personality. But nobody except you got to hear the soft side of him. The soft and gentle side of him.

The side of him that put his hair into a ponytail because he knows that Michael loves to see his scars and piglin features. The side of him that bought you everything gold because he had some fascination with you wearing it. Whenever you would wear the stuff he gave you he would plaster a large and rare smile on his face.

Oh, yeah, this man smiled a ton.

But he only smiles for the people that he trust with the most. The people who are close to him. The people who really know him.

And you—being his significant other—know him very well.

You knew that he always looked up to Eret. Especially since he betrayed everyone. And that he why he wears a long draping cap. You know the side of him that always has wide and open arms waiting for somebody to cuddle him. You know the side of him that shared mythology tales that can venture on for days on end. You knew the side of him that never did care for his family.

And you couldn’t blame him.

Tommy betrayed him

Wilbur died

Philza killed Wilbur

And Fundy joined Las Nevada’s with Quackity.

It was hard for the men to get his head wrapped around everything. So sometimes he had to take a break from life. And that break was you.

“Hello babyyy!!” You cheered. A smile on your face. You were baking some food for him. Techno chuckled and closed the door behind him. He had on a golden crown that stick up, nothing too sparkly like some of his crowns that he wore. Instead of his formal attire that consists fo the long draping cap and white undershirt with a large buckle and pirate like pants. Techno today wore a very casual outfit that you had given him a few days ago as a surprise. The outfit consist of a long sleeved white collard shirt. The cuffs of the shirt had dark colored buttons on them. The collar of the shirt was connected at the front with two thin silver chains. Over the long white shirt he wore a plain black shirt sleeved shirt. The collar still shoving and sleeves out in the open. And over that he had on a black jacket with the L’manburg flag on it. The collar of the white shirt and cuffs were still visible. The jacket was left open (you guessed it got a little warmer when the sun was out in the air). There was a triangle shaped necklace that was short but not so short that it didn’t hide underneath the white collared shirt. It was a black crystal that the two of you found on the second date you guys went on. You had a dark pink blush crystal that is connected to a wired necklace. This time the black crystal was connected to a silver chain similar to the chains connecting the collar in the front of his shirt. He had on a thin black belt with a silver buckle to hold up his skinny black jeans that (surprisingly) had no holes in them. He was wearing black combat boots to at he was untying right now. The socks he was wearing were some Christmas socks that were fuzzy and thick.

You smiled at him.

“I like your socks.” You commented. Pinning tit eh socks that did not match his outfit. Techno rolled his eyes before grunting slightly.

“Do you have my clothes ready?” He asked. You nodded your head ‘yes’ and pointed to the stool where a pile of clothes had been set by you.

“They are fresh out of the dryer.”

“Nice and warm!”

Techno stated in awe before slipping off his belt and pants. You looked back behind you but quickly got flustered and stared down at the food in front of you. You stirred the pasta that was in the bucket. Techno slipped on a pair of baggy black pants. He took off his necklace and gently laid it down on the kitchen table. Focusing on it and having flashbacks of the pay for a few seconds Techno let a content sigh and took off his jacket and short sleeved black shirt. He unattached the silver chains and unbuttoned his long sleeved white collard shirt. He pulled over his head a loose white shirt that had puffed sleeves. There was a drawstring cross in the front of his shirt. He took off his crown. Turning around he went to the kitchen area where you were and hugged you from behind.

“Hey baby...” Techno’s sweet and dark voice rang in your ears as he places soft kisses on your neck. You giggled, turning around and facing the man.

”Hello Tech! How are the farms going?” You questioned. Techno placed his head on your shoulder and let out a long sigh.

“Stressful...I wish I can be like Schlatt and get rich off of being handsome...” you mumbled. His voice slightly muffled by being buried in the crook of your neck. You for wed slightly and rubbed his back in a comforting sort of way.

“Awww...I’m sorry Tech...Why don’t we distract ourselves by undoing that braid of yours and eating some dinner?” You suggested. Techno nodded into the crook of your neck and pulled away slowly. You smiled in a comforting sort of way. “Go sit on the couch. I will get the pasta ready for you!” You exclaimed happily. Techno smirked and went to the living room. Sighing to yourself you got the pasta and poured it out on the plate. Pouring some sauce and cheese on both of your plates (although you put a little more pasta in Techno’s plate since he has had a stressful day). Getting the two plates you hummed happily as Technoblade sat down on the floor in front of the couch. You took the plate with more pasta in it and handed it to Techno. There was a fork in their. You preferred a spoon. All the flavor goes into it and it ends up being delicious. You took your plate and set it beside you on the couch. You looked down at Techno’s light pink hair and pulled it into your lap. Techno leaned back and placed his head on you lap. You smiled in celebration and gently pulled Techno’s hair out of a braid. Once your weaved it out and it got down freely Technoblade plopped his happy self right next to you. Throwing a arm over you. You turned on the TV and went to YouTube Music. You pulled up your playlist and started playing it. Techno hummed along to some of the songs that played as he ate his spaghetti. You ate also.

By the time that both of you were done eating it seemed as though Techno had calmed down. You took both of Techno and your plates and put them in the dishwasher. When you put them in the dishwasher had been filled. So you got in the cupboards and got one of the pods to put in the dishwasher. You put it in the little box area that it goes in. Hitting ‘start’ and then closing the door the dishwasher buzzed with a silent noise. It wasn’t a annoying noise. But a silent and peaceful noise. Humming the words to the song that was playing you smiled at Technoblade and went in front of him. Pulling him up you laughed as his stumbled to his feet. Blinking his beautiful black eyes in condition at you you prompted the idea.

”Wanna dance?” You asked. Techno looked tacked aback as he stared at you.

“What? Dancing? Me?!”

*song starts here*

Hey, oh! Play ball!

“Yes you!” You giggled. Technoblade rolled his eyes.

“I can’t dance...”

”You just move your feet!”

You smiled widely as Techno gave you a weirded out look.

Oh, oh, hey

You started taking Techno’s hand and pulling him closer. “I know you got it in you.” You teased.

”Is that a comment or a threat?” Techno asked. Tilting his head to the side. You laughed out loud. Your laughter following the log cabin.

”Whatever you want to take it as Baby...” You cooed. Technoblade rolled his eyes at the common pet name. Not that he didn’t like it so to speak. He liked the name. But it was just like...

Now?

He never danced and he didn’t like dancing. He prefers to listen to music and songs and let his mind wonder to the astrology and stars.

Speaking of...

Techno looked up. The roof of your guy’s house was completely made out of glass (at least the kitchen portion) and it was one level from the kitchen and the living room (both right next to each other) after that the house steeped up to more levels. The stars shone brightly overhead and he lightly chuckled to himself.

Hey, hey, woo!

”Whats so funny?!” You demanded.

“The sight is...it’s amazing...” Technoblade mumbled. You had to agree. The sight was amazing. Stars littered the night sky

“Not as amazing as you!~” you peppered Techno with a kiss on the cheeks. Technoblade’s face heated up as he held the place where you gave him a short and sweet peck.

“Hey, batter, batter, hey batter, batter swing”

You started softly singing. Techno laughed out loud.

“First dancing and now baseball?” Technoblade joked. His arms flailing in the air. A silent way of saying I-give-up-trying-at-this-point. You sucked in your cheeks as he joked about you.

“Just wait...” You demanded. Smirking slightly as Technoblade stared at you with wide eyes.

“I don’t like that look on your face…”

”You shouldn’t!”

Yeah

You took Technoblade by the hand and tried to dance with him. Techno widened his eyes as you tried to dance with him.

“I have told you before I don’t dance!”

Technoblade argued. Pulling away from your hand. You groaned

“I'll show you that it's one and the same Baseball, dancin', same game It's easy Step up to the plate Start swingin'”

You challenged. Starting to sing again. Techno blade rolled his eyes as you backed away from him and started moving some furniture away from the living room or away form the ‘dance floor’ that you have made in under a few minutes. Technoblade pushed away some more furniture in a attempt to help whatever you were trying to do.

“I wanna play ball now, and that's all This is what I do It ain't no dance that you can show me (Hey, hey, hey) Yeah”

Technoblade said. Sliding across the living room and breaking apart from the dance room. You started to cartwheel across to Techno with a goofy smile on your face.

“You’ll never know”

You starting suggesting. Holding out your hand for Technoblade to hold it

“Oh, I know“

Technoblade cut you off and reassured you at the same time as he twisted his torso and started to leave for his bedroom. You pulled him back by the shirt.

“If you never try”

You finished your statement. Blocking him from going to his bedroom. Techno snorted and went across the living room.

“There's just one little thing That stops me every time, yeah”

Technoblade tried to reason. Spinning around to face you. You gave him a I-am-not-believing-anything-you-say look before you grabbed his hand and spin around. Technoblade let go of your hand and groaned loudly.

“Come on!”

You encouraged stubbornly. Grabbing Technoblade’s arm and pulling him in for a swing dance. Techno managed to twist out of your grasp and head to the bedroom once more.

“I don't dance”

Technoblade repeated. You rushed towards your boyfriend and came behind him. Jumping on his back.

“I know you can”

You said. Getting off of Techno’s back and turning towards him. Dragging him to the living room and trying to swing dance again with the pink haired man.

“Not a chance, no”

Technobalde declined your offer. You took this as a challenge (because you take everything as a challenge). As Technoblade came to the doorway of your room once again you slid in his way.

“If I can do this, well You can do that”

You coaxed sliding from side to side as you recreated the dance you wanted to do with him by yourself. Technoblade felt tempted to hit you but he knew better then to do that. Some of the voices in his head told him not to. So he did what the Blood God’s wanted.

“But I don't dance”

He said again. Placing a hand on your shoulders. You shrugged his large hands off of you and grabbed his left hand. Turning around you managed to spin yourself around and drag Technoblade into the living room.

“Hit it outta the park”

You sang on the top of your lungs. You knew that Technoblade didn’t actually care that he was dancing. It was more or less playful bickering then anything. The two of you felt like young teens once again.

“I don't dance I say you can There's not a chance, oh Slide home, you score Swingin' on the dance floor”

You both sung together. You took his hands and he took yours. You both swing danced together. He grabbed you and brought you closer. He kissed you like it was his first and last time kissing you. You kissed back and smiled slightly.

“Who said they couldn’t dance again?” You teased. Technoblade shrugged his shoulders with a playful glint in his eyes.

”I don’t know. Maybe the handsome man that will one day sweep you off your feet?”

”Oh will he now?”

”Yup!”

”Then prove it..”

“I don't dance, no Hey, batter, batter, hey batter, batter swing I got to just do my thing Hey, batter, batter, hey batter, batter swing Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Two-steppin', now you're up to bat Bases loaded, do your dance It's easy Take your best shot Just hit it!”

You laughed loud loud as Techno picked you up and tossed you in the air. You felt weightless as if you were flying through mid-air. Technoblade laughed as well. Catching you in the safety of his arms. Smiling down at you with a proud full look in his eyes.

“Told you!”

“I've got what it takes playin' my game So you better spin that pitch you're gonna throw me, yeah I'll show you how I swing You'll never know Oh, I know If you never try There's just one little thing That stops me every time Yeah Come on!”

Technoblade twirled you around. You grabbed ahold of him after the spin and smiled a wide smile. Techno smoked back at you. A true smile. A smile that carried you off your feet. A smile that you hoped to see one day as he wears it out in public eye. You grabbed his left arm and right arm. Bringing it close to your chest and out again you did the same to the right side.

“I don't dance I know you can Not a chance, no, no If I can do this, well You can do that But I don't dance Hit it outta the park!”

You spun Technoblade around. Techno dipped low and loses you hard on your lips. The crown fell down as you kicked it out of the way in a spiral of emotions. Glad to finally be in the arms of a man who truly loved you and truly trusted you. The man of your dreams no less. You took part from Techno for only a second to turn on the led lights and let them flash slowly so neither you nor Technoblade will have a stroke. How kind of you. You though humorously as you went back to Technoblade. The lights added to the affect as your voices bounced off the walls in glee and happiness.

“I don't dance I say you can There's not a chance, oh, no Slide home, you score Swingin' on the dance floor I don't dance, no Lean back, tuck it in, take a chance Swing it out, spin around, do the dance I wanna play ball, not dancehall I'm makin' a triple, not a curtain call I can prove it to you 'til you know it's true 'Cause I can swing it, I can bring it to the diamond too You're talkin' a lot Show me what you got Stop, swing! Hey! C'mon, swing it like this (Yeah) (Drr) Oh Swing! (C'mon) Jitterbug, brrr (Just like that) da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da, da That's what I mean That's how you swing“

Technoblade let out a laugh. Not a evil laugh. A real laugh. A laugh that he had never shown you before. His pale and pink spotted skin flowed the the flashing lights and brought out his features and pointed jawline.

“You make a good pitch, but I don't believe I say you can I know I can't I don't dance You can do it I don't dance, no Nothin' to it Atta boy, atta boy, yeah Hey, batter, batter, hey, batter, batter, what? One, two, three, four, everybody swing Come on! I don't dance I know you can Not a chance, no, no”

You were once again lifted in mid-air as Technoblade threw you like a Italian does with Pizza. His large and strong arms caught you once again. You smiled widely as you swung again. Dancing along with the system of the music that played in the background.

“If I can do this, well You can do that But I don't dance Hit it outta the park! I don't dance I say you can There's not a chance, oh Slide home, you score Swingin' on the dance floor I don't dance, no”

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angelisverba · 4 years ago

Text

come out, come out wherever you are

in which y/n agrees to do something really stupid, and harry is a bit of a shit

word count: 5k

pairing: vampire!h and y/n (different au from my other vamp!h fics, though)

warnings: drug use, mentions of drinking and alcohol, mentions of blood (duh, he’s a vampire).

author’s note: okay so i know that i put vampire!h in the pairing, but this h is a wierd succubus x demon x vampire mix where he can feed off the emotions he wants to?? i’ll explain it in the story. enjoy your reading :)

She shouldn’t have agreed to play hide and seek in a cornfield.

At night.

During a full moon.

On Halloween.

Y/n’s logic always disappeared when she was… under the influence. Whether that be with alcohol or other sorts of… fun substances. That was not to say that she was an alcoholic, or a drug addict, she just… hated to be a party popper. When her roommate invited her to college parties, she didn’t say no to the red solo cup because she knew that some way or another, she would end up giving in by the end of the night. Or when it was just her and her closest friends passing around a freshly rolled joint, she didn’t say no because she didn’t want to be the odd one out.

Plus, it didn’t hurt that she enjoyed it… most of the time.

This? This was not one of those times.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Josephine, her roommate, had barged into her room with a smile over her lips as the brightness of her phone lit up her face from the bottom up, casting spooky shadows since y/n’s room was dark and she was falling asleep.

“Y/n, look!” She said, turning the phone so beams that felt like they came from hell illuminated y/n’s pinched face, marks from her pillow decorating the place above her lip. She mumbled something, and Josephine kept speaking, “Travis just sent me an invitation to one of the frat’s Halloween parties! Come with me, it’s gonna be so much fun!”

And to get her to leave her room, she agreed. She must have, because the next morning as she was getting ready for her 10 a.m. literature class, she was bombarded with a series of costume ideas and questions about what was considered cheesy or overdone. Josephine had made it clear that it was okay that they didn’t match, especially because of their differences in clothing choices. Jo was more risqué, and y/n liked to dress in what she felt comfortable in.

It didn’t take her a long time to figure out what she was going to go as for Halloween. That same morning, just before she walked into class, y/n stopped to stare at a framed art print in the hallway.

La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats was a poem that she knew by heart, and the painting was one that she could get lost in for hours. Stopping to stare at it before walking into class was not an unusual occurrence for her, but that time an idea came to her, almost like it was written in the long locks of her red hair.

Y/n would go as a Victorian princess. The dresses had always fascinated her, with the intricate lace details and elegant rippled of muslin fabric that flounced in a puff around the hips of Countess, or trailed behind the average cottage girl as she frolicked in fields full of daisies. She could picture it in her mind, and it made her giddy to know that there was a possibility she could look as pretty as one of the poet’s muses. She spent the entirety of the class switching from writing notes to browsing the five pages worth of gowns on Amazon, looking for something pretty yet within her price range.

By the end of the period she’d had what she wanted in her cart. A baby-blue wisp of a dress with intricate lace detailing at the neckline that curved like the top-hald of a heart to cup her breasts. The sleeves bunched around her arms mid-bicep, and scrunched again around her wrists, the transparent fabric looking as if her arms were wrapped in the sky. Built in ribbing created a corset that added an extra curve to her waist to make way for the heaps of fabric that exploded from her hips and cascaded down to the floor like the foaming spray of a waterfall.

It fit like a dream. When it arrived a few days before the party she dropped everything she was doing to try it on. The moment Josephine patted her shoulder to tell her that she was finished zipping up the back, y/n twirled around in the limited space of their dorm room to see herself in the narrow mirror at the end of her bed.

Every penny she had spent on it was worth it. Sure, it was snug around the bust and refrained her lungs from expanding the extra millimeter they needed, but it made her feel… nice. Pretty. She liked the way it cinched her waist, how her wrists looked dainty covered in the lacy ends of the sleeves, and the way her breasts looked… accentuated by the frilly detail.

Jo had squealed once she had a full look at her friend, and wouldn’t stop talking about how good they were going to look walking in together. She was going as Cat-Woman, complete with the latex suit, boots, mask, and all. She looked every bit as fantastic as y/n, only on opposite ends of the Halloween costume spectrum.

Building up to the day of the party, the pair talked make-up and hair details, both of which Josephine would be taking care of because she was better at them. At one point, y/n thinks she even dreamt about making a grand-entrance, boys and girls gawking at how amazing she looked, and the most handsome guy stepping forth to profess his undying love for her.

Which wasn't really how it went the night of, but she attained the same satisfaction.

The party was located a little ways away from the city, at a plantation-style frat house in-front of a huge cornfield. Carved pumpkins with candles illuminating them from the inside out lined the pathway up to the front-doors, the trees nearby created crunchy pathways of orange and yellow leaves, and the moon was out; yawning tiredly, but glowing an eerie yellow color over the scene.

It looked like the opening scene of a horror film.

Y/n did receive a lot of stares, though. Most of them were from guys whose beady little eyes pointed straight to her chest, and the ones she got from girls were on the nastier side of envy. She could tell. But, oddly enough, she liked the attention.

Josephine y/n’s hand and led her through the mass of costumed-bodies. There was a variety of ‘sexy’ professions (the usual: nurses, cops, cowgirls, and school girls) and those that come from fandoms (Hogwarts’s students, Eleven from Stranger Things, Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction, multiple heroes from the Avengers) or those that came for shits and giggles (T-rex blow-up costumes with tiny hands, Joe Exotic, sumo-wrestlers, those things that sway outside car-dealerships, and even a Trojan condom packet). There was a lot to see, and honestly, it was beginning to overwhelm y/n.

Not only was it slightly disorienting to see everyone disguised, the interior itself was something to look at. Chandeliers and velvet sofas, gold lamps and fancy carpets and curtains. The epitome of privilege. She felt trampled, every once a while there was a tug on the ends of her dress.

“How about a shot to start off the night, y/n?” Josephine asked her, hooking a latex coated arm around hers. The music was a rumble on the backs of their heads, shaking them through and through as some nameless rapper sang of drugs, sex, and money. What it always came down to.

She agreed, and took the plastic shot cup. On normal nights, she would’ve usually required some type of coaxing, but not then. Y/n was almost looking for the hangover the next morning. She wanted fun.

Three shots later and her fingers were dragging in front of her face. Her knees were wobbly and cheeks tinged with spirits. Everything was funny and if you asked her what two plus two was she’d tell you five. There was a new swagger in her step, and some might say that was the influenced hand-eye coordination, but to her it was newfound confidence. She felt good, she looked good, and she was having a damn good time. Laughing, making the best conversation she’d ever made, and when Jo suggested they go dance, she danced the best she’d ever had.

And sure, she was drunk out of her mind. A light weight. Everything was under a glamourized rose filter. It only made sense that the crowd parted like the Red Sea at God’s feet.

Y/n’s lungs stopped working the moment her eyes locked with his.

He was her counterpart. Literally.

Dressed in a navy blue Victorian prince’s suit decked in gold trim and gold medals pinned to the breast. The tan pants that hugged his muscular thighs like they were made just for him, and his hair was slicked back. Jaw a sharp, smug line that worked as he popped a piece of pink bubblegum between his molars. A gleam of appreciation sparking in the forest of his eyes as they raked a path on her figure.

It was like the work around them stopped, put on pause by some higher power so they could relish the moment of their discovery. What was that shit called? Divine Intervention? The millisecond before and after and between the time Eve’s teeth sunk into the taught skin of that forbidden red apple, and the snake’s tongue slithered out to see her. He was a stranger to y/n, but it seemed as if the feeling he stirred deep in the core of her being was one she’d always known, one from a past life. Besides her, Jo stopped doing whatever lucrative dance she was doing to see what had caught her friend’s attention. Y/n stood, tongue dry, feet glued to the ground as the handsome stranger approached her, a clear path in front of him.

Then, he takes one step forward and whatever conversation he had been involved with before was no longer of importance. Besides her, Jo stopped doing whatever lucrative dance she was doing to see what had caught her friend’s attention. Y/n stood, tongue dry, feet glued to the ground as the handsome stranger approached her, a clear path in front of him.

“Oh,” Jo huffed in her ear, “he’s hot.”

“I-Is he?...” Y/n’s question died on her tongue.

“Coming right for you, girl. Good luck,” Jo pressed a kiss to her cheek and disappeared in the crowd.

The stranger stops closer than she would have thought him to; a finger away from her nose, and when he spoke, she could feel the vibrations of his speech through her breasts where they nearly grazed his chest.

“I don’t believe we’ve ever met before... princess?” His voice is deep, raspy and filled with grooves like the bark on a tree. He mocks a bow (given their costumes) and their nose touch before he straightens again. Up close, y/n can see the flecks of gold in his eyes, and she hopes her mouth doesn’t stink (it probably does, given the alcohol she’d had). A chilled palm grips her bicep, and the fabric of her sleeve sinks under his touch, “Would you like to get off this shitty dance floor and speak somewhere else?” He asks her.

Her heart is pounding and she wonders if he can hear it because she certainly can, rushing in a taunting, roaring stream past her eardrums. Y/n nodded her agreement; yes, she did want to speak with him. A thrum of warmth comes from where he holds her, and he tugs her so that she’s standing in front of him, her back touching his chest as he pushes her through the crowd.

Her fingers shake as she lifts the fabric of her dress to avoid tripping, and her saliva goes thick. Not because of what might happen, but because the man who ripped her bicep tenderly, like she was made of the most fragile china, was the most good-looking man she had ever seen. Her mind ran images of things to compare him to, and almost all of them were of the Greek statues put up in museums for all to admire.

He leads her past the crowd and the kitchen where everyone was making drinks, past the wrap around stairs on the inside of the house, and even past the calmer sitting areas where couples were making out or groups of friends passed a smoking joint. He leads her right through the open back doors of the house so they faced the seemingly endless cornfield and the barn that was a speck behind it. The deck was less populated than the couches where kids smoked weed, but y/n guessed that it wasn’t to his liking because instead of turning off to the side so they could have a much less strained… conversation, he continued to walk- this time standing beside her instead of behind her.

Grass crunched under their feet as they got closer to the stalks of corn. Confused, y/n spared a glance to what she was leaving, and then to him. He stared straight ahead, but she caught his eyes flickering in her direction, and a smirk quirking cockily on his lips before they returned to the yawning face of the moon.

There was a short wooden fence separating the house from the cornfield that reached her hip, and he stopped there.

“Finally,” he sighed, “Some peace and quiet.” He makes a gesture to the fence, and pops his gum.

Dizzied, the tequila still in her head, she watches his tongue gather the gum back into his mouth, his lips shining with his own spit. Y/n doesn’t register that the movement towards the fence was his way of telling her to take a seat on the wooden bars.

“C’mere,” he murmured. Placing his hands on her waist, he lifted her up so she could sit on the wooden fence, and her hands went to his wrists instinctively, trying to keep herself steady.

Suddenly out of breath, her eyes shot straight up to his. There’s no way he can’t hear my heart right now, she thinks. He’s so close to her, his breath on her face. He smelled like pink bubblegum, cologne, and a liquor much more sophisticated than what she had to drink. His eyes held the same spell that she felt she was under.

“What’s your name?” He asked, his hands still on her waist. He didn’t look like he was in a rush to step away from her, and that was okay because she didn’t want him to.

“Y/n,” she whispered. It was physically impossible to raise her voice any louder. The stupid corset was making it harder for her to breathe, along with the added pressure of being in his presence. “You?”

“Prince Harry, at your service,” he smiled then, and y/n got a glimpse of shockingly sharp canines. They had to be fake. Longer than most in length, and she swore she saw one of those cartoonish-diamond glitter at the knife-like tips of his teeth.

She pointed to his mouth and said, “Are you a vampire prince?”

He looked at her strangely, his brows furrowing and his tongue running along the inside of his cheeks. Then, he laughed. “Something like that.”

“I-” She was gonna say something along the lines of ‘I think you’re a very good looking vampire prince’ until he cut her off.

“How about we play a game?” One of his hands lifted from her waist, and she let go to steady herself by grabbing onto the plant. Y/n hoped that her dress wasn’t getting dirty, but the moment that Harry brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear it flew out the window.

Her eyes fluttered closed, and she leaned into his touch like a purring kitten. She blamed her blatant carelessness on the alcohol. “A game?”

“Yes, y/n. A game,” he muttered, watching the way her eyes twitched under her eyelids.

“Which game?” Her eyes fluttered open again, and her breasts pushed against the corset as she took a deep breath, “I thought you wanted to talk?”

“Oh,”he glanced down, to her lips and for half a second, to the repressed mounds of her tits, “I promise the conversation is going to be much more interesting after a game of hide and seek.”

“Where would we even play t-that?”

“Right,” he pinched her chin with two fingers so that her lips smushed together, and gently tilted her head towards the field of corn. “There.”

That’s how she found herself, running for her life in the middle of a corn maze, at night, on Halloween.

What had started off as her giggling and running had soon into a panting, scared-shit-less run for no reason. Maybe it was because she just couldn’t get Harry off of her tail, or maybe it was that she was running with no direction into a cornfield she was sure was lost in. Maybe it was a combination of all those things.

Harry yelled, “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” and it only made her want to cry.

It was strange, really. Y/n didn’t know where this fear was coming from, it started out with them actually having fun, the tips of his fingers tugging at the fabric of the skirt before he let her run a bit, calling out how he was going to get her, how he was gonna catch the princess and she was giggling, turning to see him disappear when she turned.

Then he went quiet. The footsteps stopped. And his tone of voice dropped to something much more… sinister.

“Come out, little one,” he said, a clear whisper poured directly into her ear.

Y/n turned, and she felt him getting closer so she tried to run faster. But she was getting so, so tired, and it felt like she couldn’t get any air into her lungs. All she knew then was the moon, with her tired face, and the intimidating, tall stalks of corn.

Harry supposes that he’s doing her a favor. A lot of people wish they could run through a field wearing a dress like the one y/n has on. He was a bit of a shit, sure, setting her up for failure given he had abilities that she did not possess, but, he knew just as he knew the sky is blue- that she liked and wanted to walk into the corn field. Now, it wasn’t because Harry happens to be really good at reading people, no.

As an empath- one of the terms in the fine print of the being he was- he was able to connect into the funnel between her veins, the curved out thrum of what she was feeling. The witches he knew compared it to reading an aura, but it was much more than that. There was no need for interpretation of colors because it was like he was her, feeling what she was feeling. And she liked it.

Up until, of course, he switched up his game.

After a few minutes of running around and playing with her like she was a mouse, Harry decided that he wanted to scare her. He wanted to give her a taste of himself. He wanted her to be scared- to not like him. Because he was something that shouldn’t be liked. It was a sick thing, really, that he happened to be so good looking when he was a literal monster. Harry fucking drank human blood. He wasn’t something that should be thought of as Greek statues.

The part of him that remained human throughout the years felt bad for doing this to her. But, he had to. It made him feel better when he sunk his teeth into a victim’s skin. Almost like… he’d warned them, and it was their fault that they hadn’t taken the signal.

A scarecrow loomed overhead, and her lungs were running out of air, so he decided to go ahead and make his final jump on her.

When y/n broke through the final turn to reach the very small clearing in the center of the field where a scarecrow stood in between a few bales of hay, she felt his breath at the back of her throat, and her knees buckled.

She’d never really been much a screamer during a jump scare. Instead, she sucked her breath in, really loud and sudden, and because she was having such a hard time breathing, that instinctually breath caused black dots to litter her vision and suddenly those weak knees contributed to a faint.

Harry caught her, and picked her up, huffing a small laugh to himself as he laid her across the piles of hay.

She really was a sight to see. Flushed, hair a mess from all her running. Her lips were dewy and her waterline was agitated, he could see the moisture in the place where her eyelashes sprouted.

With a few pats to the cheek, her eyes fluttered open, he was still hovering over her. Harry did not make a move to scoot back.

“You’re awake, princess,” he said, smirking.

Y/n blinked, her eyes wide, and… gasped when Harry pressed a kiss to her cheek. His lips were cool against her heated cheek, and the curved ends of his slicked back hair tickled her chin.

“You chased me,” she gulped, “for a long time.”

“Yes, I did. And you liked it. Didn’t you, little one?” He allowed the tip of his nose to follow the line of her jaw, testing the waters. She liked it, he could feel the shudders it sent to her heart in his bones.

“I did.” Her eyes furrowed at her own admission. Why was she being so carefree? Why was she allowing herself to continue to stay in this cornfield? What was stopping her from questioning further what the fuck was going on? Her attraction, and his implied interest, that’s what.

Harry’s tongue slipped out of his mouth, and licked at her jaw before he placed another kiss to it, “Good. What do you say we have some more fun?” “What kind of fun?” Her head titled, and he was given direct access to what he wanted. Her neck. The column of her throat was pulsing with the beat of her heart, and the veins he could almost taste criss-crossed beneath her skin.

“Fun is fun, pet. But if you must know, the kind of fun I’m talking about involves a lot of mouth to mouth,” He moved so his face was directly in front of hers again, and his palm gripped her waist beneath him. Unconscioslu, her legs parted and Harry had more space to slide both of his thighs between hers, one of his knees resting on the bales of hay she rested on.

Y/n was no longer worried about the state of her dress, but rather, where his mouth would land, and where she would put her hands. Her eyes bounced between his, but they struggled to remain still under his intense hold. “O-okay. I’d like that.”

“The prettiest princess I’ve ever seen,” he mumbled into the hollow underneath her jaw. And it was true. He’d seen a lot of royalty all throughout his wretched life, and none of them had been as pretty as she was. He felt a shiver of arousal go through her at the same time the air came fresh into his lungs, and it felt like he was going to explode from the inside out.

“I think you’re the most handsome prince I’ve ever seen.”

Y/n wanted to slap a hand over her mouth the moment those words left her lips, but Harry only chuckled and the vibrations felt heavenly against her skin.

“You've been seeing other princes’, little one?” Harry teased, his mouth tracing their words against her lips. He pressed forward and kissed her; just a peck, testing. Again, she liked it.

“No, just you,” she shivered. Her words were coming out in pants now. The fabri of her dress was too thick and too abundant to allow for any frisky actions, but his mouth was enough. One of his fingers was running over the tops of her breasts. Her mouth opened, she wanted more. Harry tasted of pink bubble gum. She wondered where it went.

He chuckled and kissed her once more. “Then how do you know you know I’m the most handsome?”

“I just do,” she said, arching into his touch. His finger was hooking into her sleeve, and he let it snap into her skin.

“You do?” He licked her bottom hip, and she whined. This game, whatever it was, she wanted it to be over. It was too much for her to handle.

“Yeah,” y/n said in a dreamy, far-off voice. “I mean, yes. Yes.”

Harry relished in what she felt, and soon enough, his cock twitched in his trousers. He never let himself become… involved in his meals emotions, but it was different with her. She was tender, and sweet. Willing and not a nuisance that he drowned out before biting.

“Am I handsome enough... for you to let me bite you?” And that was another thing.

Harry never asked for permission. Y/n was drunk enough that she’d wake up the next morning and think that he was just some kinky dude who’d left a sick hickey on her throat, as all of his ‘victims’ were, but still. Harry had asked for permission.

“Bite me?” She was confused, head fuzzy with the same feeling that was heating in her groin. The lacy knickers she wore were probably soaked through. The bale on her bum was beginning to hurt.

“Yes, princess. Bite, right,” he licked a stripe right where her pulse was the strongest to accentuate his intentions. “Here.”

“Okay, Harry.”

He was handsome. And she was horny (with a mix of other things), she didn’t see a reason to say no.

“Thank you, pet.”

It was the same as it always was. Harry nuzzled into the spot, sniffing like a dog meeting a new friend, and with no preamble, he bit into her. The tips of his teeth pierced her flesh, and he allowed them to retract once the blood started to flow. When the first drop touched his tongue, he groaned. She was good, one of the best he’d ever had, and the heady flavor was just as sweet as she was. He was so caught up in his own satisfaction that he didn’t notice the moment her hands bunched the fabric of his suit from the late 1700s into fists, or her body going tense before he slowly relaxed, her heartbeat an irregular mix as she decided whether or not she should be panicking.

But, he knew that she continued to enjoy what she was doing.

“H-harry, I-” She went limp in his arms, and the small squeak that left her mouth was the mermaid’s song that enchanted Harry.

He knew this wouldn’t be the last time he’d see her again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

hi! happy halloween babies! or better yet, happy harryween! i hope you enjoyed this peice, it was for sure out of my comfort zone and something new for me. if you haven’t yet, please check out my fanfic on wattpad in which harry owns a more aesthetic version of playboy mag. you can read it here.

#hunflowershalloweenchallenge #Harry Styles #harry styles fanfic #harry styles one shot #harry styles oneshot #harry styles imagine #harry styles angst #harry styles smut #vampire!harry #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles blurbs #harry styles blurb

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verdantspringcourtyard · 3 years ago

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Heian Gourmet Festival Event

CN's 5th anniversary event has arrived! It's a 2-week long event that coincides with the release of Shokurei and Mishige. It consists of 3 main parts; Market, Downtown Challenge and the Restaurant. Also, everyone's beloved Showdown Bidding finally returns in this event.

Market

Help Shokurei and Mishige get Ingredient Bags by defeating random bosses. Costs 1 event AP to do, there's no time limit, has solo and co-op but you can only get rewards for first co-op 10 runs per day. Once your event AP is all used up, can use 6 AP to continue farming but with slightly different rewards.

Rewards when farming with event AP are: Ingredient Bags, 5000 event currency, memory scroll fragments, gold, guild medals and 4-6* selected souls. Selected souls are 4 souls you pick out of a selection of 15 as your preferred drops. When farming with AP the rewards change to: memory scroll, gold fragments, orochi scales, EXP souls, and random souls. The drop rate for memory scroll fragments seems rather low.

In the battles, Shokurei will replace your onmyoji and Mishige will join you as an extra ally. Shokurei gives your ally with the highest crit DMG a new turn, so it's recommended to have your DPSs faster than him. Mishige is just an extra DPS and, sadly, a weak one at that. If you're a beginner, don't rely on her to carry you.

After the 1st week is over, the Downtown Challenge becomes unlocked and Nebutori's Invitations are added as drops in the Market.

Downtown Challenge

Unlocks after the first week of the event. Every day your guild can go downtown to challenge Happyakuya Tanuki in a Sumo Match from 18:00-19:00 and participate in an after match Feast from 19:00-21:00.

Sumo Match

At 18:00 your guild can challenge Happyakuya Tanuki. He's not the toughest boss, he does have different phases but they're mostly ignorable. Once he is defeated, you'll receive some of Happyakuya's Invitations, a max of 30 per guild member a day, along with some other rewards sent to you via ingame mail. Rewards are like the ones for Demon Encounter Bosses but with random souls instead of boss souls, gold orochi scales EXP souls, mochi and 100000 event currency.

Happyakuya's Invitations are needed to open up the medium or high quality Feast.

Feast

Guild leaders/lieutenants can open up the Feast at any time between 19:00-21:00, lasts for around ~10 minutes. The feast quality depends on how many Invitations guild members have obtained. The medium and high quality feasts require 100-200 of both Nebutori's and Happyakuya's Invitations. The basic feast only has 4 types of food available, while the medium quality has 7 and the high quality has 10. Like in regular guild feasts, you click the food icons that pop-up and get rewards. There's also a special reward of 20 jade, 50 AP, 1 black daruma shard and a random SSR/SP shard.

At the end of the feast, guild members can participate in a round of draft duel. Happyakuya will be watching from the sidelines, when he is finished eating he'll spice matches up by doing one of the following: inflict confuse on everyone for 1 turn, grant everyone 100% chance to co-op for 2 turns, dispel all debuffs on everyone + increase HIT by 300% for 1 turn, no onibi cost for the next shiki's turn. Spectating guild members can feed him to help the speed the fun up.

Rewards for participating in the draft duel include a blue summon ticket, black/white/blue daruma shards, gold, EXP souls and EXP pamphlets. Rewards for spectating are the same, excluding the summon ticket.

Restaurant

After getting some Ingredient Bags from the Market, it's time to start cooking and delivering to the nearby stores managers. Cooking is done selecting menu items via the 2nd storey of Shokurei's restaurant. Onirigi only comes as a side with other menu items.

Once an order has been placed, you can check its progress by clicking the Current Orders box. Clicking the box will open up a pop-up showing the order Shokurei is currently cooking, cooking times each order, the total time to complete all orders and speed-up buttons. The speed-up button instantly completes an order and costs jade to use, the cost will vary depending on the menu item and how many of it you ordered.

Every manager has a favourite menu item that gives them bonus Culinary Talent EXP and when they have enough EXP, you'll unlock their Culinary Talent and daily revenue (event currency). Culinary Talents all have 10 levels. There are special unlocks for the first 5 levels for each manager, while the last 5 only increase the store's daily revenue. Levels 2/5 unlock bonus effects, more details can be viewed in the below section. Levels 3/5 unlock event story with the manager, the 2nd event stories can be rewatched via the board with stickers in Shokurei's restaurant. Levels 2/4/5 unlock the store's 3 purchasable decorations.

The unlocks for Shokurei's Culinary Talent is a little bit different. Levels 2/6 unlock more food he can cook, levels 3/4/5 and 7/8 unlock battle bonus effects. Details about his bonus effects can be viewed in the below section or in the wiki version of the guide.

Bonus Effects

(won't be writing out the effects here, can read it in the wiki version of the guide)

Showdown Bidding

It's standard Showdown Bidding but with event currency as rewards. Bidding is from 10:00 to 22:00 every day during the 1st week of the event.

Decorations

When you purchase a decoration from a store or the Food Trader, you can use it to make the stores in the street look nicer. Every store has 2 ground spots and 1 roof spot for decorations.

At the end of the event, you'll receive the street as a Town skin. Even after the event is over, you will still be able to swap around decorations at any time.

Food Trader

The scam cat/mystery merchant acts as a Food Trader in the event and is found at the front of the street. Clicking on him will bring up a page with 2 tabs; a food exchange and a talisman pass type thing.

In the food exchange, you can sell a max of 100 onigiri for a random amount of event currency between 600-1200 per onigiri or sell 2 foods for a random restaurant decoration. The amount of event currency and decoration offered will change daily. The decorations will always cost the same 2 foods needed to unlock them directly from a restaurant. Can also open up the food trader to friends, your guild or to world chat.

In the second tab with the talisman pass thing, there are 5 daily missions and 2 rows of rewards. The missions are how you unlock the rewards. First 3 missions are "Fight in the Market/Cook food/Feed a manager once", the other 2 missions are "Sell 20 onigiri" and "Buy the decoration sold by the trader".

Rewards in the 1st row are: 300000 event currency, 20 Ingredient Bags, 50000 gold, 50 AP, 20 gold orochi scales, 5* EXP soul and a 4* EXP pamphlet. Rewards in the 2nd row are: 50 event AP, 2 exclusive decorations (pet house and a fox statue), 2 trader secrets (max sell price for onigiri is increased to 1500 and cost for decorations sold by the trader is halved), 100 demon souls, 10 black daruma shards, 5* white daruma and a new skin for the summoning page.

Cost to unlock the 2nd row of rewards is 68 s-jade (CN price).

Exchange Shop

The most notable items are: an animated icon frame, 2 loading screen illusts, an animated icon frame, 5 blue summon tickets, 400 jade, 3-5* white daruma, 6* transfer ticket, drum kekkai card, random SSR/SP, a black daruma, 5 black daruma shards, new Inugami skin, 50 skin tickets, shiki shard event pack, guaranteed 6* soul event pack, daruma and kekkai card event pack, jade and AP event pack. Each of the event packs can be bought a max of 200 times.

Recommended Teams

Market

The 1st team is for before you have any battle bonus effects unlocked, other teams are for after you have unlocked them. DPSs should all be faster than 120 SPD (Shokurei's SPD) and any shiki listed after them should be slower than 120. Don't worry about Mishige cutting ahead of your own shiki because she has 110 SPD.

The 2nd team is an option for people who don't have good enough souls to use the 2 teams under it. Can use other shiki besides Asura and SP Tama, just need 1 DPS with shadow to weaken the minions and another DPS to finish everything off. Just remember to give Asura/2st DPS less crit DMG than SP Tama/2nd DPS.

The 3rd team has a lot of flexibility. DPS options for the are: SP Iba, SP Tama, SP Ootengu and Ubume. Can equip them with kyoukotsu or equip the latter 3 with seductress. If they aren't strong enough to clear a boss with 3-4 attacks, then use any of the following shiki to help boost their damage: Taishakuten, Ushi, Oitsuki, Senhime, Enmusubi, SP Aoandon, Yellow Imp, Lantern Soul, etc. Mix and match, see what works for you.

For the last team, you want as much ATK on everyone so SP Tama can steal it all and decimate bosses within ~2 attacks.

Downtown

Won't be listing any specific teams here. The boss is fairly easy and shouldn't take too long to fight. Recommend using whatever team you use for Demon Encounter or Kirin.

#Onmyouji #Onmyoji #events

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ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime · 3 years ago

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Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 3

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

———————————————

Chapter 3: Memory

"Mother."

"What is it, Suzu?"

When I called, my mother turned around and replied.

Eleven years ago. The house was still new. There was no garage yet, and potted flowers were lined up all over the garden. "Do not cut my hair."

I told her that and ran down the slope in front of my house. Mom walked down the stairs opposite her, resting her hand on her waist and waiting. I ran away in the opposite direction, bouncing, saying that I would never let my hair be cut. But I was taken back without a hitch. She was seated on a bench in the garden and dressed in a haircut cape. “I’m going to make you look cute, Suzu.” After cutting my hair, I don't like the tingling of my hair. She shook her legs and sharpened her lips. But when she held the scissors without hesitation, she cut my hair all at once. "Because you’re going to be an elementary school student," I hope the hair on both sides doesn't stick to my shoulders. The bangs were far above the eyebrows. Even when I went to school, my neck was tingling for a while.

I played a lot with my mother. I took a sumo wrestling on the lawn of the riverbed in the evening. I pushed her by force and my mother rolled on the grass. I won, I laughed happily. Mother also laughed. I asked why? Won’t she cry if she loses? Mom shook her head. “I'm glad that the weak Suzu has become stronger.” Dad was laughing while lying on the grass. My mother often made salted seared meat. She lightly sprinkles salt and roasts the bonito stabbed on a gold skewer from her lenticel over an open flame on the stove. I was staring from the top of the chair. Since the fat drips, the microwave oven will not get dirty if you bake it while sucking it with cooking paper. When it gets burnt, dip it in ice water to cool it, and then drain it. It was a style. So as a kid, I had a hard time holding a thick piece of salted meat with chopsticks, and I had a hard time putting it in my mouth. Mom was waiting for dad's return, holding a mug and watching my struggle.

My dad was a salaryman at that time, and he wore a tie and went out to the city every day. Perhaps because of that, we had some money in our house in the old days. Mother bought a state-of-the-art smartphone at the time. I decided to try out the performance of the on-board camera, and on dad's lap, I pointed my smartphone at my mom. I asked dad to help put mom in the frame and pressed the shutter. She is dressed in white.

The smiling mother, she was beautiful. The photo of her was printed on paper and is still at the house. I was a cheerful child running around, unlike now. I definitely liked playing outside rather than inside the house. If there were trees, I climbed, if there were leaves, I tore them, and if there were insects, I chased them. But it didn't burn in the sun. I must have been such a constitution. Instead, my face is freckled.

I was often injured. My knee was also full of scratches. In the woods, on the riverbed, on the slope in front of my house, I often stumbled and fell. My mother ran up in a hurry and she hugged me tightly, crying in pain. Mysteriously, it hurts somewhere. That's when I was happy. I don't know how many times I fell because I ran around vigorously and wanted mother to hug me. Every time mother rushed in as if it was a big deal for her daughter and worried. Every day was like summer vacation. I clung to mother doing the laundry and cleaning and played. After lunch, she opened the tatami mat, laid a summer futon on the tatami mats, and we took a nap together. The smoke of the mosquito coil was rising slowly. When I woke up, most of the time, I couldn't see my mother sleeping next to me, and she was busy doing housework. In retrospect, she never been told me that she is busy. She was always with me when I asked for it. Since my house was in the mountains, I rarely went out to eat somewhere, and instead my mother cooked any kind of food. One day she saw it in a picture book, and she said she wanted to eat yakitori. She had never eaten it before. My mother made yakitori by sticking chicken on skewers one by one. For the first time in my life, I saw yakitori with the naked eye. I didn't know how to eat it, so I couldn't do well by chewing the meat and removing it from the skewers. Dad and mom were staring at me. Never missing what her daughter experiences for the first time in her life. The place where we, who live in the mountains, go out to play is not an amusement park or a shopping mall, but a campsite further in the mountains from our house.

On a sunny summer day, my mom and I wore a wide-brimmed hat and crossed the subsidence bridge. Dad was carrying a lot of camping equipment. The water crystal pool in the depths of the Yasui Valley was a breathtaking blue color even for us living in the area. The water is so transparent that you can clearly see your shadow on the bottom of the river. I feel a little scared as if I were floating in the air. My mother was an advanced swimmer. She boasted that her mother, who was once a local kid, swam like a kappa every day in the summer. She knew all about the fun of the river. At the same time, she never let her swim in dangerous places on dangerous days. Mom wraps around me, floating. She dived into the water to show her off her skills. Still picked up by her, I became anxious and called out. “Mom, don't go.” But mom, she swam in the blue water, as if she couldn't hear me.

One evening, I was playing with my mother's smartphone and saw a strange app. I put it on. When you launch the app, you'll see white and black horizontal stripes lined up. I pointed to what this was and asked my dad who was next to me. Dad looked it and twisted his neck, calling mother, who was preparing dinner. After dinner, mother's hand fixed the smartphone I was holding vertically. I laid it down and found it to be a piano keyboard. As prompted, I pressed one of the keys. There was a "do" sound. I looked at my mother's face. My mother also saw my face, saying that she had come out. It's mom’s music production app. Only then did I look around my mother's room and notice. Old records, cassette tapes, and CDs are lined up on the shelves to the end. And if you set them on a record player or cassette deck and pass them through an amplifier, music will be played from the left and right speakers. The collection was a brilliant one that accurately captured the main points of the history of classical, jazz and rock. I didn’t know at the time, the value and meaning of such a lineup being packed in a room at the end of the world.

In that room, I pressed the keys of the app one after another and recorded. When played, each sound sounds in the order in which they are arranged. Even if you enter an insane scale, it will play back in a lawful manner. I was so happy that I bounced on my chair. My mother was laughing too. Warm incandescent light was illuminating us. After that, I was crazy about this app. I had my mother lend me a smartphone and I was playing around with it day, night and morning. The operation was intuitive and easy to use. There were words that I couldn’t read because it wasn’t a children's app. And there were many functions I didn't understand. But I was absorbed in that kind of thing. I was completely absorbed in the exciting new experience of writing songs. I composed a number of songs and previewed them in front of my mother. The mother who finished listening gave me advice in short words each time. If you do xxx, it will be better, or the trick is to do xxx. She sometimes took out some of the records in the collection and listened to them for reference. My mother is neither a musician nor a composer.

I think each piece of advice is accurate even if I look back on it now. Over and over again, she listened to my melody, and she said she noticed something, and she sang herself to make sure it was. When I asked, she said it wasn't bad. She said she was smirking at me as she said. I put the sound in a place that I wouldn't normally put it. I'm sure this song was a failure, and all the work I've done so far will be ruined. But as it gradually takes shape, it seems strangely cohesive, she said. I felt as happy as I wanted to. I'm sure it's my parents' favor, but even if my mother added, I was happy. For me, I'm not making it with the intention of letting someone else listen to it. It would have been nice if only my mother could listen to it. My mother sings along with the song I typed in. Take the tempo with her right hand and sing gently. The voice of mother, who was also a member of the chorus made by her friends, echoed and was transparent.

She listened to my weird songs many times. I was happy and sang along with it. Anyway, it’s a song that is as nice as my mother.

I couldn't. Happy memories of me and mother suddenly end here. And that August has come. After this, all I have is a painful, painful memory. The voice of a little girl crying and crying echoed in the riverbank. A girl was left alone on a sandbar. Is she 4 or 5 years old? She looked smaller than I was. It was so sunny just a while ago, but I noticed it wasn't a blue sky, and it was covered with overcast clouds. The beautiful and calm river was cloudy, flooded, driftwood-filled, and surprisingly fast. I can imagine that it is raining heavily upstream. Before this happened, there were people happily making noise on the opposite bank when the flow was still transparent. They are now staring at the girl on this shore. She wore colorful outdoor clothing that made it easy to see that she probably came from the city, not a local. The girls' clothes were also bright colors that I had never seen. Why did people from the city overlook the girls' flashy colored clothes? Why did she forget her existence and she came back to this shore? What to do with friends, their families, and those who enjoyed fishing and canoeing on the riverbanks.

It seemed that she couldn't do anything, and she had no choice but to stand and look like a stick. It's no wonder you're standing. The violent flow of the river separated the girl from the people. Everyone realized that it couldn't be helped. One of the adults was talking to someone on his cell phone. However, everyone can see that where the girl is, is gradually narrowing. Everyone is aware that it is very unlikely that the rescue team will arrive in time. Therefore, I have no choice but to stand up without being able to do anything. Is it just listening to the girl's crying as it is? At that time, someone picked up the red life jacket beside the canoe.

I went forward while staring at the girl. She was a mother. Mommy, and I hurriedly clung to the hem of her mother's clothes. She realized that what her mother was trying to do was too dangerous. She wouldn't have been anxious. She screamed and pulled hard, trying not to let her go. Mom crouched down and squeezed my hand, and she told me something. At that time I can't remember what mother said. Maybe I was screaming and not ready to hear the words. Mom stood up to shake off my chasing and ran, locking the buckle on her life jacket. I fell down on a stone in the riverbank trying to chase her. Still, I got up and shouted at mother's back. Don't go. I think mom didn’t hear my words. While checking the girl's whereabouts, I went around the river, went into the water, and got in the stream to help. It started to rain.

How long has it passed since then? Suddenly the surroundings became noisy. The girl was rescued from the river. Adults are pulling the soaked and tired girl out of the river. I was staring at while getting wet in the rain. People running up. A mixture of joyful voices and crying voices. Are you okay? Open your eyes. I'm glad I was saved ... The girl was wearing the same red life jacket that her mother wore. At that moment, I understood at once what was happening. Mom isn’t here.

"Mother ..... Mother .....!"

I looked left and right, searching for her.

Not anywhere.

"Mother ...!"

In the distance, I heard an ambulance siren. The girl was wrapped in a blanket.

Carried by many adults, she leaves the riverbank. Everyone is crazy about it and realizes that my mom isn't there.

She isn't.

"Mom!" Only I raised my voice and kept calling. Many times. Many times. Many times. I don't remember much after that. When I heard that my mother was found all the way down the river, it seemed like a lie. It wasn't long before I realized that the mug that mother was using was missing. Dad put a picture of mother, which he took someday, in a picture frame and put it in a corner of the kitchen. He had to add flowers every day next to it. Neighbors bothered to talk to me every time I met them on the road, listened to me in a friendly way, and encouraged me with tears. Meanwhile, the Internet was flooded with anonymous posts about the accident.

"It's a suicide act to jump into a river flooded by rain"

"It seems that she was confident in swimming, but it's different from the pool."

《It is irresponsible for my child to help someone else's child and die》

《If there is an accident, playing in the river will be a nuisance and annoying》

《Because helping people is a good person, this is what happens》

The person who wrote it probably didn't know anything about the actual situation, and the day after he wrote it, he probably forgot what he wrote. However, the person who wrote it keeps sticking in my chest forever. Immediately after the accident, an acquaintance told me with resentment that it was terrible when I saw this. In front of these words, I was too young to understand all the meanings. However, as I grew up and became able to understand the meaning of the words accurately, I continued to suffer from the unconscious malice contained in them. Losing mother.

How should I pass on these writings as a bereaved family, even though I still can't accept them, as if the mother who helped me was all bad?

Aside from me, my mother just smiled in the picture frame in the kitchen. From that accident, I think something has changed decisively from what I used to be. One evening, in mother's room, where dust began to build up, I stood on her chair, hoping to return to her happy memories. And I sang the song I sang with mother. But when I started singing, I realized I couldn't sing at all. My voice became stuck in the back of my throat and couldn't get out of my mouth. I was confused. Something in my heart was suppressing me from singing. Why can't I sing? Tears came out.

Hey mom. Why can't I sing?

It was clear that the reason why singing was so fun and necessary was because my mother listened to it.

However, just because you can't sing... You don't have to worry about anything. Even if you can't sing, no one will blame you. Life just goes on. I went to a local junior high school. The jumper skirt uniform was stuffy. Many of the elementary school classmates went to the town as they went on to school, and there were not half of the students remaining in the local area, so even in junior high school, it became a compound class. Therefore, the chorus practice was accompanied by the vice-principal teacher, and it was decided to sing in all grades. There were three people in all grades. Because there were only three people, I quickly realized that I was just lip-synching without singing. I was asked why I didn't sing, but I didn't say anything. I thought they would get angry, but they didn't get angry. It means that only I can visit from the next practice.

I sat alone in a corner of the music class and watched everyone practice. I may have looked like a lethargic girl who was just silent. But inside that, there are things that can't be translated into words.

I think it was swirling. When I left school and returned home, I irresistibly entered mother's room in the twilight. The twilight light was shining through the window. Cardboard boxes containing tableware and seasonal home appliances that are no longer in use are piled up on the table. It was completely turned into a storeroom. It's been many years since then. It has passed. I listened to the large number of records there, one by one from the edge of the shelf. Days, days, days. By listening earnestly, I managed to calm my rough feelings. But one day, there was a moment when I thought I couldn't bear it anymore. Upon returning, I entered my mother's room, sat down in front of the keyboard, quickly opened the report sheet, and began to write fiercely with a pen to spit out the incomprehensible feelings in my chest. I was almost suffocating if I didn't spit it out. I turned over the paper and continued to write forever. -Why did mother leave me in the river? Why did she choose to help the child who she didn't even know her name rather than live with me? Why am I alone? Why, why, why – I added paper, supplemented with post-it notes, and wrote long, long lyrics. The scale that springs up is notated long and long. Those that were neither were spit out as pictures. It was a swirl of many kinds. It was like a whirlpool floating on the surface, like a black hole that swallowed everything, and like a hole in the top of my head. The floor of the room was filled with pieces of paper with a mixture of lyrics, pictures and sheet music. But suddenly..... I returned to myself and stopped writing. Right now, I've noticed the worthlessness, meaninglessness, ugliness, and helplessness of the words, pictures, and scales I wrote.

What are you doing? I broke the paper. Everything I've written so far.

I threw it in the trash can without hesitation. The bundle of paper looked like a vomit that I had just spit out. Then I became a high school student.

I finally found myself worthless. The uniform tie was stuffy. I crossed the subsidence bridge while looking down and went to school. I took an exam and passed the exam at a junior and senior high school in the center of the city, and transferred from high school. There, I met my childhood friend Shinobu-kun again.

"Shizu.."

"Shinobu-kun ..."

Now that I was in high school, Shinobu-kun looked tall and shining, all different. On the other hand, I didn't seem to have grown at all since then, and I was irresistibly embarrassed and couldn't even talk. What have I been doing so far? I started a new life going to the city from the mountains, but I couldn't get into studying. Even though I had a hard time taking the exam, I just looked out the window during class. Knowing that this shouldn't be the case. Club activities didn't go anywhere. There were very few such students. On the way home, you can see the students devoting themselves to club activities. The track and field club is jumping the training hurdle in a line in the courtyard. The volleyball club is running on the ground. A percussionist in the brass band with a metronome in his ear is striking a stick in the hallway. The Naginata club sits upright in the martial arts hall with a good posture, and thank you for your cooperation, saying before the practice. The first-year students of the baseball club, who have not yet been numbered, stand side by side and watch as if they are digging into the practice of their seniors. I didn't belong anywhere, so I left school quickly. It was already winter. There is a river called Kagami River that flows from east to west in the center of the city. Since the flow is often gentle, the TV tower and buildings on the opposite bank are reflected like a mirror. When I returned to the station through the road beside it, the girls of the light music club carrying the "Chahahaha" musical instrument case overtook me with a light step while laughing. A cute cat-shaped stuffed animal attached to the school bag is shaking. Attached to my school bag was a cheesy plastic plate of "Gutto Koremaru". "Gutto Koremaru" is an egg-shaped character who can poke his hand against the wall and endure the pain. I have a crack in my head, probably because I endured it too much. Of course, it's not cute.

In a dark and narrow corridor.

I resisted, "I can't do it! Hey!", But I was pulled into the room, saying "OK." The soundproof door slammed behind me. Shinboku "Ah!" There was a flashy room in a karaoke box, and the pink and purple lights were spinning mysteriously. It smells of incense. Only for girls in the class.

I heard that it was a social gathering, but when I saw the frenzy of the girls standing on the sofa and shaking their heads, I thought that I could not get into this tension very much.

"Peggie Sue is cute"

"This is the one that is popular in" U ", isn't it?" On the monitor screen on the wall, the popular Az of "U", Peggy Sue, was seen singing in a black rubber dress. Purple lipstick that shakes silver hair. An eccentric beauty with red eyes. Peggy Sue? "U"? Az? Is it popular? I don't know anything. It's like an event in a different world from me. Then, Hitomi suddenly offered a microphone, "Yes." Sing, and so on. "Huh?" Puzzled. Neither the coat nor the muffler is taken off. But "yes" the microphone was pointed again. Why for a child like me who is at the end of a class?

"Sing together?"

"Hey, sing."

The shadows of the girls press the microphones. What do you mean?

"Are you not going to sing alone?"

"Isn't it a lie that you can't sing?"

I see, so it’s this situation.

Dozens of microphones are forced against my face one after another. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

"Sing"

"Hey, sing?"

"Sing"

Those voices sound like a threat.

"You're telling me to sing."

"Sing!"

Ahh!

Immediately, the microphone popped off and fell to the floor.

The girls dancing on the sofa suddenly saw me. It's calming down as if I was taken aback.

"What happened? Suzu-chan"

The mic and the shadows of the girls disappeared like a phantom.

"No, nothing. I'm sorry. Hey ..."

Without saying anything, I pushed the door of the karaoke box open by force and went out like crawling. Someone might have heard and told everyone that I couldn't sing.

When I got off the bus, powder snow was flying. I almost slipped down the slope from the bus stop. Even in Kochi, it usually snows in the mountains, aside from the city. When I crossed the subsidence bridge, I heard a crackling sound of thin ice. The surface of the concrete bridge is frozen.

Cold. It's not dexterous enough to get used to everyone, and it's not divisible. On the other hand, I’m not strong enough to be alone, not prepared, and have no idea.

I don't do anything selfish. Rumors that you can't sing, that's a lie. I'm just not confident in myself for a while. I want to get along with everyone. Really. I know. Of course I know. So "Ah ... Ah ..."

In the middle of the bridge, I impulsively exhaled my voice.

"Ah ... ah ... ah ah"

As I breathed in, cold air sank into my throat. Still, I sang towards the river. "Ah..”

Did I sing? It didn't match a song. It's just a growl. The bag slipped off my shoulder. Will you forgive me if I sing? Can I get along with everyone if I sing? It doesn't help to sing alone in such a place. It's like a scream of a dead end before being crushed. Still, I sang that song with my mother with a squeezed voice. I was happy back then. It's different now. Powder snow was swirling in the flow of the river. Suddenly, in front of me it became pitch black. Nausea swelled from the back of my stomach, and I held my mouth with both hands.

"Uuuuu!"

I crouched on my knees. However, I couldn't stand the momentum of the backflowing gastric juice. I pushed my body forward and vomited towards the clear stream under the bridge. The vomit that was about to kneel and vomit fell to the surface of the water, creating a number of ripples. I spit out everything in my stomach and fell on the bridge. My hair is messed up and my mouth is smeared with gastric juice and smells. It's already spicy. I want to get rid of everything. Shivering and crying as if groaning. Drops of tears ooze on my cold cheeks and tingle. I wish I were gone.

I could hear the slight sound of powder snow folding and piled up right next to me. A notification came to the smartphone that slipped off my bag. It was a message from Hiro-chan.

<< Look at this, Suzu. It’s so amazing that I’m seriously laughing. >>

There is a link to somewhere.

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

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

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