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lilgarbitch · 30 days

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Running in Circles- Two

Pairing: Noah Sebastian x Reader

CW: suggestive scenes, alcohol

Word Count: 8.5k

Author’s Note: I won’t base Y/N or her band on any specific artist or band, but I will use certain artists multiple times purely because I either want the lyrics/ genre of song to fit a theme or for particular surprises.

(Author’s Note pt 2: It’s 4:30 am and I decided I needed to stop rereading and rewriting this and just finally publish it, and as I was getting this ready, Running in Circles came on and pfft that’s a sign if I ever seen one)

Part One

Noah

A loud groan escapes my lips as I run a hand over my face. She looks so much different than she did all those years back. Yet, the exact same. And she was going to kill me. I had to hide it, but everything she did had such a substantial impact on me. From her personality, to her tattoos, her voice, and her absolutely beating my ass in Mario Kart. She was the most perfect person I had ever met.

Being reminded, I look down at the switch in front of me and pull out my phone to take a quick picture of our score. I open Instagram and go to post it on my story, about to tag her, before remembering I haven’t actually followed her on my main account yet. I type in her username, hit follow, and then go back to posting the picture.

It wasn’t until it was fully uploaded and I looked over at the boys that I felt the giant smile I had on my face. After catching some looks from them, I played it off, trying to let it falter, but a small smile still stayed.

“Yeah… That’s her. For sure. I- I felt it again the second she introduced herself to me. I don’t know if I wanted to believe it, even after seeing those pictures. But seeing her in person again today just… sealed the deal.” I answered them, throwing my head back onto the couch and staring up at the ceiling.

I just couldn’t help but think of all the memories I’ll get to make this tour. Don’t get me wrong, every tour was excellent, from traveling to beautiful places, trying new restaurants, and spending it with my brothers. But this tour would definitely be one to remember. I didn’t even care if she felt the same way, as long as we could become close and I could spend time with her. I’m just happy I finally found the girl that has plagued my mind for the longest time.

The boys and I were about to play our first festival. We managed to catch a bit of Erra’s set but had to run back to our stage to finish setting everything up and doing our warmups to get ready. I was more nervous than I’d ever been, but I knew that if I just got through this set, I would feel like I could perform anywhere. Plus, we’ve had technical difficulties in the past, but everything worked out well, and none of them were our fault. I practiced enough this week that I could probably do the whole show in my sleep. So there was nothing that could go wrong, right?

We got the signal that we were going on any moment now, and did our best to hype each other up. We all gave Folio a quick high five before he ran out on stage. Instantly, I could hear the entire crowd cheering, and that was all I needed to be ready for this show.

Jolly and Nick ran out a few moments later, and now I just had to wait for my signal. Shaking out my hands and feet, ensuring every last drop of my nerves were gone, I heard the music start. The crowd was louder than ever, and I felt my confidence building more and more every second. With one last exhale, my cue to run on stage was now.

I walk around the stage and get a good view of the crowd's size as I start singing Mercy. The passion I felt in this moment was unlike anything else. The crowd cheering and singing along with every word, trying to reach and carry every note as I do. The hands in the air. The range of age and style. These people all came together to hear me, or at least wanted to hear me for the first time. I felt like a fucking king in this moment.

Over the next few songs, I really started to get into the zone. I felt connected with each of my brothers on stage with me, every person in the crowd in front of me, and especially the lyrics as I sang them. I sang the last line of Malice and let the arm that held my mic fall, letting my breathing relax. Turning to my brothers on stage with me, I gave them all a proud smile. They all returned it in their own way as they set up for our next song. Jolly gave me a laughing smile, and Nick gave me a smirk. I walked towards Folio behind me and reached out my hand, him grasping it over his drums and giving me the brightest smile. We’ve come so far and nothing was stopping us now.

Stepping away and back towards the front of the stage, Jolly and Nick start the first notes of The Worst In Me, Folio immediately following their lead. Putting back on a more serious demeanor, I get closer to the people in front.

Is there nothing left to keep myself awake?

To keep these walls from caving in?

When all they ever do is try to bend and break?

Is there forgiveness in the end?

I lower to a crouch as I sing the lyrics, scanning my eyes over the people at the barricade. Their faces light up as I look at each of them and try my hardest not to smile at the reaction.

I had you in my grip, but you’re starting to slip

Bring out the worst in me

And now it’s come to end, I think I’m giving in

You set my demons free

I watch as everyone sings along with me. I hold out my hand to them, and a few reach out, but they’re all just too far to touch. I stand and move more to my left to see more faces, not wanting to prioritize the ones right in front of me.

I need relief, a failure’s coming on

Just breathe in deep, It’s taking far too long

I need relief, this weakness carries on

Please be a dream, or was it all along?

I stand back up and let my eyes roam over the ones standing behind those before as I continue to sing along, making eye contact with everyone I can.

It’s better when you’re with me

My eyes trail across their faces.

But it’s better left unsaid

I see them all singing along.

It’s better when I’m empty

I even catch a few tears falling down some of their faces. Matching those that fell down mine as I wrote some of these songs.

But I still let you in

Then, there it was. There she was. I had never seen her before, yet something in me knew her. I tried to move my eyes past her, but they stayed glued to hers.

It’s better when you’re with me

She wasn’t moving or singing along with the others. It was like we were both locked in a trance. I felt electricity flow through my entire body. I felt like I had been transported to a different world.

But that’s better left unsaid

When she blinked, the movement reminded my brain where I was. Reminding itself what was happening

It’s better when I’m empty

But I’ll still let you in

I was thankful a part of my brain kept working, singing on complete autopilot. Because nothing else wanted to work. I couldn’t move my eyes. My legs stayed glued to the floor. I had to try to fully rip myself away from the moment to even regain control of my body.

Blinking a few times, I finally move from my entranced state and finish the song, keeping my eyes on anyone but her. As the song ended, I turned my back to the crowd, closed my eyes, and let out the biggest exhale. I had to refocus. We still had half a setlist to get through.

I looked up at my band, and Nick gave me a weird look, silently asking what was wrong. I completely ignored him as I turned back around and got ready for Said & Done.

With my mind almost on full autopilot, I managed to push through and finish the rest of the set. Cheers roared through the crowd. I pulled out one earpiece to listen to them, hoping they bring me back to reality. The boys and I all walked to the front of the stage, bowed, and said our thanks, to the people in the crowd and to the festival for having us before tossing random shit out to the crowd and saying our goodbyes.

As we were heading off the stage, it was almost like I could no longer fight it as what felt like a magnet pulled my eyes back to hers. She was still looking at me, and a shiver ran through my body. I almost think I saw the same happen to her, but I forced myself to pull away and off the stage before I got completely stuck to her again. I did my best to shake off the feeling and push it to the back of my mind as we walked back to our tour bus. The boys were eerily quiet as we walked back, or maybe my brain was just so overwhelmed with emotions that I was blocking everything out. All I knew was that I needed to sit down.

Finally reaching the bus, I sit on one of the couches in the lounge and throw my head back, shutting my eyes. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to replay the moment or force everything out of my brain. All I knew was that the only thing I could see in my head was her eyes. And I couldn’t stop wondering what the hell that was. Who was she? What was that feeling? Why did it truly feel as if my body was being pulled towards her? Wh-

“Noah!”

My eyes shot open as I quickly sat up and looked at the boys all sitting around me.

“What?” I blandly ask, trying to play it off. I got a few odd stares in response.

“What the hell was that?” Ruffilo asked.

Shaking my head, I replied weakly, “ I don’t know what you’re talking about,” which caused him to raise an eyebrow at me.

“Well, first of all, something weird happened during one of the songs, and then you looked completely out of it the rest of the set, and then you ignored all of us on the walk back and for the last few minutes as we tried talking to you.” He gave me a stern look, telling me there was no lying or getting out of this. I let out a sigh and ran my hand over my face, trying to collect my thoughts.

“I..really don’t know. I can’t even explain without sounding stupid.” Then Jolly sat beside me and put a hand on my shoulder.

“Come on, you say stupid shit all the time; I think we’ll understand some of it,” Jolly said, causing me to give him a weak smile.

With another sigh, I started talking. I tried my best to explain the weird trance I got put under. About how I got locked in her eyes until I literally had to rip myself away. That caused Jolly to ask if she was just really hot, to which I responded with a smack to his chest. I explained how, for the rest of the show, it was like there was a magnet I was fighting against. One that finally pulled me back in before we left the stage, and that time it felt even harder to rip away from. I did my absolute best to explain the feelings that shot through my body the entire time, but since they were nothing like I had ever felt before, I had nothing to compare them to. By the end of the venting, I had my face in my hands, trying to reground myself.

I sat up and ran my hand through my hair as I looked back up at them all. Each more confused than the last.

“I really don’t know how to help you here, bro. I mean, it sounds like some divine intervention shit.” Folio finally said. That caused a groan to erupt from my throat. If it really was, why now? To a person I will probably never see again? I’ll never be able to find her again. What the fuck is even happening.

2 Years Later

The thought comes and goes. It’s more like a dull yet burning yearning in my chest that hasn’t left since that day. It’s been so long that I’m starting to get convinced that I’m just going to be stuck, thinking of those eyes, until the day I die.

I pull out my phone and look at the time, groaning when I see that it’s now two in the morning and I am just lying here, stuck in this endless cycle of thought once again. Then my eyes land on the date, causing an even larger groan. It’s been over two years since that show. It’s been over two years of the same ruminating thoughts. I roll over in my bed and open my phone, knowing that just sitting here in my thoughts will keep me up all night anyway, so I might as well try to distract myself.

I open Instagram and switch over to my alternative account, one that can actually follow interesting things without fans speculating on why I follow so many people. I scroll through the timeline, liking a post here and there, seeing a few bands posting news or a few memes that actually put a smile on my face. Getting stuck in the endless doomscroll, I finally landed on a post that genuinely piqued my interest. It was one of Bryan’s photography friends who liked to travel and find new bands to help out with pictures. I always loved discovering new bands to listen to, so just seeing his username caught my attention, but then I finally looked at the pictures he posted.

Oh, fuck. It was her. It was her. I could recognize the face anywhere. Even though I caught it for barely a minute, it was so engraved into the folds of my brain; seeing it every single time I closed my eyes, there was no way I couldn’t recognize it. I noticed she now had a neck tattoo that she hadn’t before, peeking over her crew neck shirt from the first picture. I scrolled through the photos, almost burning a hole through my phone as I eyed up each one with her in it. She looked utterly beautiful as she performed. I finally let my eyes fall on the caption.

‘So incredibly thankful to have found this amazing band while traveling around the East Coast. Check them out at @ Praisingdeities and definitely check out their music. It was unlike anything I have ever heard.”

Praising Deities. Now, that’s something I could absolutely do now that I finally found her. I click on their username, it sending me to their page, before instantly following them. I scrolled through their pictures, not getting enough of finally seeing her again. I saw that there were people tagged in one of their posts, so I clicked on it and saw that one tag was right on her. @ PraisingY/N. Clicking on that, I got sent to her personal page. God, she was fucking beautiful. I was glued to every picture of her face. I almost had to force myself to scroll to the next post, my eyes not wanting to leave the last.

Finally realizing I had spent way too long staring at her, I exited the picture and scrolled back up to the top of her page, ready to tell someone that I had found her, when I saw her bio.

“Goddess’ out now!”

Fumbling with my phone, I hurriedly opened Spotify and typed in their name, instantly getting results. I clicked on the song ‘Goddess.’ Within seconds, my ears were filled with the most beautiful voice I had ever heard.

You’re like a goddess in disguise

I’m drowning slowly in your eyes

It’s like you kill me by design

You’re all I desire.

Fucking tell me about it. I wouldn’t blame anyone if they wrote this song about her. With a surge of energy running through me, I bold up out of bed and out of my room. I peek into the hallway, seeing that both of the Nick’s doors were closed, but Jolly’s was open. Glancing into his room, seeing that he wasn’t there, I ran down the stairs, searching everywhere for him. Finally, I make it to our studio and practically burst through the door. Jolly and Folio are sitting in there, chatting, as Jolly held his guitar. They both look up at me in shock the second I come through the door, and I almost run to them, holding out my phone, Y/N’s Instagram account pulled up on it. Jolly’s hand reached out first, so I handed the phone to him as he looked at it confused.

“IT’S HER! THAT’S HER!” I say, not trying to yell but accidentally doing so. Nick leaned over in his chair towards Jolly as Jolly pulled the phone closer to his face to get a better look.

“Her? Like..her her? The one from the show?” Nick asked, still looking over at my phone in Jolly’s hands.

“Yes! I found her! She’s in a band. Oh my god, guys. She sings, and it’s like heaven. She’s like heaven. I can’t believe I fucking found her.” I say, practically pacing around the room. Nick pulls his phone out and pulls her band up on Spotify, hitting a random song, and instantly, her beautiful voice plays through the speakers.

I wear my scary mask

When I’m afraid I don't belong

You can’t read my brain

Until it’s off

Not comin' off

I stopped and stared at them as they stared at her profile on my phone, waiting for any reaction from them. They hear this, right? As I watch them scroll on my phone, looking over her selfies and group pictures of the band, one of them occasionally pointing out a tattoo or an instrument, suddenly, her voice changes, causing us to immediately stare at Nick’s phone as she starts screaming.

I’m alright

You ain’t gonna see me tonight

We all look at each other, Jolly with amazement, me with shock, and Nick with a smug look.

“I think you found your perfect match, Noah,” Nick said with a chuckle. I felt heat rise to my cheeks. She was perfect, wasn’t she?

We talked about it until we all decided it was too late and should head to bed. I’m not sure whether it was finally finding her, or if the amount of energy I just let out finally wore me down, but I was able to get some sleep. The next day, Jolly mentioned that he followed the guitarist of their band and reached out, telling him that he loved their sound, which came with the response from their guitarist, Thomas, fangirling a little bit from the recognition. Jolly said that they had a lot in common and had been chatting about music and other interests, which was fucking fantastic.

I get brought out of my daydreaming to the sound of her voice floating through the air as they do their soundcheck. I sit up and look at the boys whose attention was also caught by the noise. I stand up and go to walk towards the stage, not so far that I’m within their view, but just enough that I can watch her as she sings a few lines of a song with her eyes on the front of stage crew, looking for confirmation that everything sounds good. Each member tests out their instruments, and then they do a small run-through of a song before heading off stage. I turn around and walk back to the boys, or try to, before realizing they were all standing behind me, watching as well.

I give Ruffilo a small smack on the arm, laughing as we hurry back so we don’t get caught. Sitting back down in random seats, trying to play off that anything suspicious happened, her band came into the room, with the stage manager trailing behind them.

“Alright, boys, you’re up.” the stage manager commanded, making us all stand and follow her.

“You guys sounded amazing. I can’t wait to see your full set,” I heard Folio tell the other band from behind me as we passed them. I turned and went to give them a proud smile as a way of agreeing, but I instantly caught Y/N’s gaze, getting locked in. Within a split second, I got lost in them, only being able to break out when Jolly patted my shoulder to keep me moving. With a few blinks, I finally sent them a warm smile, quickly turned my head, and returned to heading towards the stage.

Y/N

Bad Omens does their soundcheck as my band and I plan out our set, going over if our setlist was exactly how we wanted it to be, what we wanted to add in, where the best break would be, and what surprises we should add, as it’s something we loved doing to connect with the crowd. The next hour was a bit of a rush as the crew ensured everything was perfect, and both bands checked to ensure everything was ready. The next thing we knew, we were about to head on stage.

I peek around the side of the stage and see the massive crowd, all either chatting with each other, hyping themselves up, or singing along with the pre-show playlist. This was is. We’ve had large shows in the past, but this was our biggest yet. Bad Omens being the first well known band to let us tour with them. I jumped up and down a bit, shaking off my nerves as my band and I got ready. Suddenly, the venue's lights darken, and the stage lights turn green, our signature color.

“You ready?” I hear in my ear. I turn and see Cam looking down at me with a huge smile, causing me to instantly return it and give him a nod. He pats my back a few times before running on stage, waving to the crowd as they all start cheering. I watch as he sits behind his drum set and spins his sticks a few times, both putting on a show and letting out some nerves. Tommy and Tony follow lead, each giving me another pat on the back as they pass me and head to their designated sides of the stage, earning more cheers and screaming from the crowd.

All three make a little noise to get the crowd even crazier, Tony strumming loudly, followed by Tommy playing a little riff, then Cam playing a few beats. My face was starting to hurt from the smile on my face as I watched it all play out in front of me.

They all started the beginning of our first song, causing the crowd to quiet down and signaling that it was now my turn. After a few moments, I wait until the vocals start and walk on stage. I sing the first few lines of our first song, and the crowd goes insane and starts singing along. I had to force myself to keep my composure and not smile too wide. Over the next few songs, singing along with Tony in some of them, and having a chorus of fans in front of me join in on the ones they know, I felt so connected to everyone. I occasionally glanced at my band and felt so proud of us. It felt like being on top of the world, with my best friends standing with me the whole time.

We finished the fourth song of our set, and I mentally prepared for our next one. It was ‘Goddess.’ I wrote this one after Tommy forced me to start journalling my feelings when I wouldn’t talk to anyone about why I was always so stuck in my head. I took all the least heartbreaking feelings out of my entries and then quickly wrote down some of the things I said and tried to make them sound as good as they could as lyrics. After the band looked over it, we made some changes, making it flow better, and then Tony mentioned that maybe we could gender-bend it to make it make more sense and cause less confusion about who I could be singing about. I won’t lie; most of our newer songs were about Noah, or at least he was in mind when writing them, but this one was probably our most blunt song, the words being my exact thoughts and feelings.

With a cue from the band, I began singing, them joining in later.

You’re like a goddess in disguise

I’m drowning slowly in your eyes

It’s like you kill me by design

You’re all I desire

Tony and Tommy join in as we sing the next few lines.

You’re like a goddess in disguise

I’m drowning slowly in your eyes

I could cross the great divide

But only you decide

Then the music finally starts, and I get a moment to breathe before continuing, knowing that the person I wrote this about was nearby, and I honestly didn’t know how to handle it. I look forward and see everyone having an amazing time, some acting as if this was their favorite song with how they even mimicked the guitar. My eyes continued to trail over the people and then towards my bandmates as they played. Then something caught my eye. On the side stage, I saw Noah and Jolly rocking out to the music. Who knows how long they’ve been there, but now I didn’t know what to do, Noah’s presence throwing me off. With a deep exhale, I began to sing the next part, trying to rip my eyes away from Noah.

Tell me you love me

He was singing along.

Tell me you need me

He knew the words. He was staring right at me, singing along, and I couldn’t help but stare back.

Tell me you’ll never ever think about wanting to leave me

It was almost like we were singing to each other. If only he knew that I genuinely was singing to him and had been since I wrote the song.

You’re Aphrodite

God I’m in love

I tried breaking away from his gaze, but between the magnetism forcing it together and my deep desire of wanting to sing this to him for the longest time, I just couldn’t.

It’s time you ascend to your rightful place perched on your throne up above

He actually knew every word. It caught me so off guard.

Go and take your seat at Mount Olympus

I’ll do anything for you my temptress

Even if I’m innocent, I’d confess

Kill to watch you undress

Feel your body close pressed up

The dark look in his eyes sent fire straight to my core.

Against mine

He stood there, crossing his arms against his chest, staring at me with a look I couldn’t explain.

Heart beats

In Time

Feel your chest rise

You’re all I desire

A look I could explain. A look I absolutely mirrored as I continued singing the song. A look full of desire. One that could part the Red Sea just so we could meet in the middle. I knew my feelings when I wrote this song. I knew the feelings I had when I’d stare at new pictures or videos of him at night. My eyes trailed down from his eyes to his lips as he sang along, ones I needed to feel on mine, then his neck, covered in a tattoo I so desperately wanted to touch, down to his muscular arms that have caused unspeakable thoughts to cross my mind many many times, but before I let them move down further, even though I so badly wanted to, I brought my eyes go back up to his, before finally getting the power to pull them away and look back towards the crowd as I finished the song.

Everyone cheered as the song ended, and I did everything in my power not to look back at Noah to see his reaction. I refused to falter, especially while on stage.

We played the rest of our set, even a random song that someone in the crowd requested as it was a part of our show. At one point, while looking at my bandmates, my eyes glanced at where Jolly and Noah once stood, but they were no longer there, probably getting ready to go on stage themselves. Thank god. Hopefully, I wouldn’t run into any of them until the show was over, and I could let myself cool down in the meantime.

We said our thanks to the crowd and hyped them up for the band they were mainly here to see before leaving the stage. The boys all ran to me, and we had a small group hug as we made our way backstage. They talked about how amazing our show was and how fun it was to have such a large crowd, especially with people singing along. I laughed and agreed, letting them take my mind off everything until we finally reached the room and sat down. Jolly and Nick were still there, chatting and messing around until we joined them. They both stood up and ran to us, giving us their praise. I looked around and let out a sigh of relief when I saw that Noah wasn’t there and I just let the boys talk until Bad Omens had to head on stage.

Eventually, Ruffilo joined us, also sending compliments before chatting with Folio and Jolly.

“Yeah, I don’t know where he went. He was with me watching their set for a while, but after a few songs, he just left, and I haven’t seen him since,” Jolly responded after Ruffilo asked if anyone had seen Noah.

“We go on in less than ten minutes, so whatever the hell he’s doing, he better be quick,” Folio said as he pointed the drumsticks in his hand toward the stage.

“If he’s not here in the next few minutes, I’m sending out a search party,” Ruffilo groaned out.

I hope he’s okay. But depending on which song he left after, I have a slight idea on where he could be. I immediately shook that thought out of my head, unable to handle if it went any further, and turned to my boys and tried letting them be my distraction from my mind as we all waited to see if we had to help search for the missing boy.

Noah

I stood in the bathroom, washing my hands and trying to collect my thoughts. God, that fucking girl.

Night after night, after finally finding her and hearing that exact song for the first time, not once did I have control over myself. I don’t know what I was expecting when I knew I would finally hear it live for the first time, but I wasn’t expecting her to practically serenade me in front of thousands of people as if the words were meant for me. If only she knew the effect she had on me.

Finally feeling like my hands were clean enough, I glanced up at myself in the mirror. My cheeks were flushed a bright red, either from thinking of her or my previous actions. I quickly bent down and splashed my face with cold water, hoping it would help, before drying myself and leaving the bathroom. I made my way back to where everyone was and let out a few deep breaths, breathing in through my nose and out my mouth, hoping to feel a little more grounded.

“There he is!” I hear as I step into the room, making me give Ruffilo a sheepish smile.

“Alright, let’s head over, we start any minute now,” and with that, I get pushed towards the side stage. As I moved, I happened to glance over at the other band, who were looking back at me. I gave them a smile and a quick “You guys were amazing” before I continued to be pushed. My eyes were met with Y/N’s for a split second, but I quickly shut them and turned away. I couldn’t handle that right now. I can’t let any thoughts fill my head when I need to be completely mentally on stage.

Somehow getting my brain working again, the band and I had a blast on stage. I let myself live in the moment, not caring about anything other than singing and having the crowd sing with me. The screams and cheering were even heard through my earpiece, which was absolutely insane. We made it through most of the set, only having our two encore songs left. But that was when I was brought back to reality. As much as I tried to play it off, the boys knew who was on my mind when I wrote ‘The Death of Peace of Mind’ and ‘Just Pretend’. One getting more shit than the other, as they knew there wasn’t anyone else on my mind when they were written. Especially when she was all I ever spoke about. Actually, many of the songs on this album were written with her in mind, just with some help, or should I say arguing, from the boys, so we didn’t make this whole album dedicated to my feelings for her. But these were the two that I had fully written out while thinking of her, and the boys liked them so much that they just went with it. But I did have to lie and tell fans that I wrote ‘Just Pretend’ as a joke to not cause any suspicion. And surprisingly, they became fan favorites, so now I had to play them every night.

I had to do everything I could to not think about her while singing. I knew this would be a problem when the talk of touring with them was simply a subject, but with the emotions I went through not even an hour ago, I absolutely could not get lost in my thoughts while in front of thousands of people.

Pushing through, I managed to get through The Death of Peace of Mind with a straight face and complete composure, pushing her face out of my mind every time it popped up, no matter how much the look in her eyes as she sang to me flashed through my head. But now, the one that held all of my emotions would be the hardest to perform without cracking.

The song began, and as I sang, I tried my hardest to think of anything but her. I put on the best performance I could, knowing I had to show a little emotion while singing it but doing everything I could not to feel it too much, knowing the one I wanted so desperately was just backstage. I did the best I could, but the second I hit the chorus, emotion came crashing through my body.

I can wait for you at the bottom

My eyes started to get drawn to the side of the stage, not wanting to do what she did, I only looked through my peripheral.

I can stay away if you want me to

She was there, watching.

I can wait for years if I gotta

And I have. God, I’ve waited years and years to even see her again. And I’ll wait more if it means I could get closer to her.

Heaven knows I ain’t getting over you

As much as I didn’t want to, I sang that line to her. My eyes locked on hers as I did. I hope it wasn’t as obvious to her as it was to me, but those words were for her 110%. I moved as far from her as I could, pretending like I wanted to get closer to the crowd, but it was so that I could break away from her as I continued the song.

Finally, the song ended, and as much as I wanted to run off stage, the boys and I said our thanks and goodbyes like we always did. We tossed some memorabilia to the crowd before we could finally leave. We filed off the stage, and I let out a long sigh as the boys all high-fived each other. All I could think was how I hope these shows would get easier.

Y/N

I honestly don’t know why I decided to watch their show with all the thoughts running through my head. Noah looked utterly mesmerizing up there in front of everyone. He was meant to be on stage. He put on the most amazing performance and sounded absolutely beautiful. The problem was that this was the first time I had seen him perform since that day. Thankfully, I was paying attention this time, but that didn’t change the tension I created when I sang to him earlier.

Everyone was now back together after the boys stepped off stage. Once again, all chatted as Noah and I just kept to ourselves, paying attention to their conversation but not really adding anything. At one point, Nick mentioned that we should do something together to celebrate our first night, which got a mix of replies, from a few people saying that we had to head out soon for our next show tomorrow, to some being more than happy to party a little to start off the tour. Cam checked the time on his phone and said that we had a few hours to do something. We just probably shouldn’t go anywhere and just hang out here before we had to hit the road, which got a lot of good reactions, so I guess that’s what we’ll be doing.

I started walking towards the door, letting the boys know that I was going to change quickly and just meet them out there, and headed towards the bus.

Stepping on, I walked to the back and opened up my bags, trying to find something comfy to wear, hoping I had something that wasn’t embarrassing since most of my sleep shirts weren’t the most appealing. Rummaging around, even through the other boys’ clothes, the best thing I could find was leggings and a tank top, only wearing pants because it was still a little chilly out. Tossing them on, then throwing on my slippers, I took a look in the mirror to make sure I didn’t look insane.

I wiped under my eyes to get any mascara that had smudged over the day, fixing a few of my piercings, making sure my septum wasn’t crooked, and none of the others had anything on them, and glanced over my outfit one last time. Many of my tattoos were showing because of the tank top, and I couldn’t wait to see what the other band had to say about them, knowing they were covered all day with my now dirty sweater. After one final once-over, I figured I looked good enough and walked off the bus to see the boys talking outside.

Tommy, Tony, Jolly, and Ruffilo were all standing outside the Bad Omens’ tour bus chatting, and I assume Cam, Nick, and Noah were inside doing who the hell knows. I walk towards the group of boys outside, standing between Tommy and Ruffilo, and give Tommy’s arm a squeeze to let him know I was there, to which he turned slightly to see me and smiled as he continued to talk to Jolly about a guitar shop in one of the places we toured. I smiled at the rest of the boys, earning some back before Ruffilo’s eyes trailed to my arms. He made an exaggerated face, creating an ‘O’ with his mouth.

“Dude, those are sick,” he said as he reached a hand out to grab my right forearm and slowly twisted my arm to check out the sleeve I had. I laughed as he looked at it in amazement. I stepped closer to him and held out both arms so he could get a better look. He eyed up the black ink sleeve I had on my right arm, the one that had cybersigilism print flowing throughout some of the pieces, connecting them all into a full sleeve. Then he looked at my left arm, which made him gasp, catching Jolly’s attention. My left was full of American Traditional pieces that all collectively came together. Jolly came closer to me to look at them all before his eyes caught my chest piece, a large bat with flowers around it. Tommy and Tony laughed at their reactions, knowing this was a common thing when men into tattoos saw me. I just smiled at them as they moved my arms. All of a sudden, Jolly pulled away and walked towards the door of the tour bus.

“Yo, guys! You have to check this out!” he shouted in, causing the three boys to eventually trickle their way out, confused. I looked over and laughed when my eyes met Cam’s, who was also laughing when he saw them inspect me like I was some crazy art piece they found. Nick and Noah came closer, not understanding, until they got close enough to see what their friends were freaking out about. Folio joined the rest of them as Noah just stood back and watched as they pointed out specific artworks.

“You guys wanna see something cool?” Tony asked them while laughing, making them all look over at him. That’s when he grabbed me and turned me around, which I immediately understood so I pulled my hair off my back and onto my shoulder, showing off my upper back tattoo of Baphomet that I got a few years back. It was one that was usually hidden because of my hair, but I did love showing it off.

The second I turned away from the boys to show them, I heard a soft groan in the distance, which caused a snicker from a few of the other guys. I didn’t understand what was so funny, so I kept showing off the tattoo.

“Dude, your tattoos are crazy.” I heard Folio say as I fixed my hair and turned back around.

“Thank you. I honestly just wanted to get covered as fast as I could, so I only have a few meaningful ones, but most are either in areas always covered or on my legs,” I replied with a smile. I earned a few more compliments before they all returned to talking about their own thing. I noticed Noah glancing at me occasionally, so I shot him a smile, trying to play off the tension I know he also felt. He gave me one back, just not a full one, almost like he was too distracted in his own head. That’s when Cam chose to get our attention.

“So, we drinking, or what?” he asked us, clapping his hands together, causing a groan from the boys in my band, knowing how hard Cam wants us to go, and cheers from the other band. Cam jogged to our bus as the rest of us piled into the other since we were going to be hanging out there.

“Don’t touch my Fireball!” I shouted at him with a teasing smile, knowing he hated drinking Fireball; well, all the boys did, which is why it was mine. He, and multiple other buys, made a chorus of disgusted noises in response. Making me laugh.

“Of course you like Fireball, you’re the most insane girl I’ve met,” Ruffilo said to me teasingly as I walked on the bus, causing me to laugh harder.

“I’m honored,” I replied with a sweet smile before taking my seat next to Tony. Cam came in a minute later holding three bottles that he packed the day before when we got on the bus, and even though I gave him a little shit for it, I’m beginning to think he had the right idea as Jolly set an equal amount of bottles on the table next to his.

Tommy asked where the cups were, and Jolly started looking at the bottles, thinking about which would be the best to start off with. Tommy set some solo cups down, understandably the only option we had, as Jolly started pouring us all shots of tequila. Great. Well, let’s hope I don’t embarrass myself.

We all toast to the tour and take our shot, the liquid fire going down painfully. I exhale as I feel the fumes in my throat, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if I breathed fire, not having tequila in at least a year. Thankfully, it settled in my stomach fine, even though I hadn’t eaten anything since the drive here.

We all chat about anything and everything as a few more shots get poured. We all sat cramped in the lounge of their bus, The Bad Omens boys sitting behind the driver's seat, Jolly the closest to it and Noah the farthest, and me and my boys sat on the other side, Cam across from Noah and me across from Jolly. So I was the closest to the door, that was still open, and even though my body was heating up from the alcohol, the occasional breeze still caused goosebumps. I rubbed my arms a little bit, hoping that the alcohol would heat me some more.

I held my cup out to Jolly across from me, signaling that I wanted a refill, and he took it, asking if I wanted anything in particular, to which I responded by shaking my head no. He poured a little vodka into my cup and handed it back, which I accepted with a smile. I guess that’s when my goosebump-covered arms caught his attention.

“You cold?”

“No, just a small chill from the breeze; I’m okay,” I replied

“Hun, let me run to our bus and grab you a hoodie,” Tommy offered, giving me a slightly concerned look.

“Guys, I’m okay. I’ll warm up after I take this,” I said with a giggle, lifting my refilled cup. Suddenly, Noah stood up and reached his long arms around into one of the bunks and grabbed a hoodie, handing it out to me.

“Just wear this until you warm up.” He said. I was about to protest again, but he almost seemed annoyed, or maybe that was my drunk ears playing tricks on me, so I didn’t want to argue. I reached out and took it, giving him a smile and a small ‘thank you’ to which he responded with a slight nod and returned to talking with the boys. I put my arms through the hoodie, pulled it over my head, and slid it down, the bottom being a tighter fit, so I had to put a little extra effort into getting it over my chest, but once it was on, it was the most comfortable thing ever. It was definitely the alcohol affecting it, but going from chilly to warm with a soft hoodie felt like heaven.

I turn my attention back to the multiple conversations happening at once. My eyes caught with Noah’s, as he was staring right at me. He cleared his throat and tried to turn away like he hadn’t been caught staring, but I just flashed him a bright drunken smile. He did a small double-take before looking back at me and laughing a little as he gave me one back.

I mouthed the words ‘it’s so comfy’ at him as I hugged the hoodie closer to my body, and he responded with a small chuckle and mouthed a ‘good’ back. I giggled as I reached into my pocket, wanting to be on my phone for a while as I wasn’t as interested in the boy’s conversations. I clicked on the power button to turn on my phone and saw that I had a bunch of notifications, a lot more than usual, which confused me. Thinking maybe it was just me being tagged in photos from tonight’s show, I clicked on them and got taken straight to Instagram. I click on my notifications and see that they're all comments on my last post, talking about Noah once again, but this time saying how it was either cute that I kicked his ass at Mario Kart or how he went easy on me, which made me laugh, knowing how it actually played out. But I was still confused on how they knew, before I scrolled enough and saw that I was tagged in a story.

I let out a loud laugh as I clicked on it, catching a few of the boy's attention, but I waved them off as I tried silencing my giggles. I liked Noah’s story before replying to it.

“That’s what cheaters deserve ;)”

I saw Noah shift as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, and I watched as he clicked on the notification and chuckle to himself before looking up at me with a smirk and then typing on his phone.

Noah- Me? The cheater? Who was the one who smacked the controller out of my hand?

I giggled before replying.

Y/N- Says the one who picked the hardest map of the whole game!

Noah- You literally got first place. you didn’t struggle that bad.

Y/N- You’re still an ass

I heard him let out a huff which made me giggle more.

Noah- Whatever you say, sweetheart

My heart skipped a beat, but I did my best to play it off. I look over at my cup I had forgotten about and take my shot, it going down a lot easier than before, but I still made a face while shaking my head. I heard a laugh and looked up to see Noah watching me. I give him a scrunched up face to exaggerate the disgust, which he continued to laugh at.

“What are you two giggle-fucks laughing about?” Cam asked us, making me us laugh harder. “Come on, we still have a while to party, let’s get some more rounds going!” he suggested, resulting in some groans and chuckles. This tour is gonna be the death of me.

After a few more rounds of shots, me trying to deny most of them, it was finally 3 A.M. and we had to hit the road. We said our goodbyes and headed to our bus, Tommy having to hold me as I walked up the stairs. I really should wash my face, but that’s a problem for tomorrow.

I fell into my bunk, ready for sleep to take over as I was utterly exhausted from our first night. I pull my arm up under my head and face the wall of the bunk, closing my eyes. That’s when the smell of a citrussy amber and musk filled my nose. I lifted my head and looked down at my arm, and realized I was still wearing Noah’s hoodie. I let out a soft giggle before burying my head into the sleeve and letting sleep take over me. I fell asleep before I could see a new notification coming from my chat with Noah.

Noah- Here’s my number incase you need it ***-***-****

Noah- or to let me know when you wanna give that hoodie back ;) See you tomorrow

Part Three

#noah sebastian #noah sebastian x reader #noah sebastian fanfiction #noah sebastian fic #noah sebastian and reader #badomens #bad omens #bad omens fanfiction #noah sebastian smut #noah sebastian reader insert

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blazehedgehog · 2 months

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what is the sonic franchise's problem? why does every concept have to be stretched to death and then discarded entirely?

"What is the Sonic franchise's problem" is such a broad question these days because there's so many layers to so many different parts of the franchise but ultimately it boils down to two things:

Time and money.

The way capitalism works in creative fields is that if you prove you can do it faster and cheaper, then you have to keep doing it faster and cheaper. The more you save the company time and money, the better it is for them.

And at least in the case of Sonic games, they've had long stints where they get made dangerously quickly. Even as far back as Sonic 2, that game spent a long time in the concept phase that eventually got thrown out as they rushed the final game to completion. Sonic 3 legendarily came together in as little as 6-9 months after the original pitch (a pseudo-3D isometric game) fell apart.

Sonic Adventure 2 was made by half the people in half the time as Sonic Adventure 1. Rush and crunch on Sonic Heroes was so bad one of their level designers was hospitalized for months due to exhaustion related illness. Takashi Iizuka stepped up and basically doubled his workload to cover for that guy and has publicly said he lost over 30 pounds because of the stress.

He then worked so hard on Shadow the Hedgehog, the next game after Sonic Heroes, that he straight up burned out and left the Sonic franchise for like six years. If you check the credits for Shadow, Takashi Iizuka is attached as the director, game designer, level designer, story writer, and CG movie supervisor. The dude carried half that entire game in an era where directors did not get their hands dirty like that.

Sonic Unleashed in 2008 was a change in form in that it was a very expensive game. So expensive that people working on the game complained that they were wasting too much money on details nobody would be able to appreciate because you were always moving too fast.

So Sega changed gears. Sonic Generations looked like another big money sink, so they brought in Morio Kishimoto, a guy who came up through games like Sonic & The Secret Rings and Sonic & The Black Knight. Secret Rings in particular was a huge success story for Sega: it was immensely cheap and produced incredibly quickly, and when compared to the bomb known as Sonic 06, Secret Rings looked and played like gold.

Kishimoto was given the dying embers of a failed Wii port of Sonic Generations, which he quickly and cheaply turned around into Sonic Colors, and again, it was a runaway success compared to the very expensive and divisive Sonic Unleashed.

And so once again, Sonic games erred towards faster and cheaper and faster and cheaper and faster and cheaper. That was Kishimoto's style.

I was watching someone stream Sonic Lost World for their first time a few days ago, and in theory, the concept of the game makes sense. Kishimoto is open about saying that Sonic Colors was them trying to inject a little Mario flavor into a Sonic game, so Sonic Lost World is trying to be Sonic Colors 2, and it's a lot more overt with its Mario inspiration. And it's a lot worse, too.

That's because Mario games incubate for years and years and years, building and iterating ideas until they are perfectly cut, highly polished finished products. Sonic games are rammed through production as fast as possible, square pegs forced through round holes, exhausted developers making the best of table scraps, and they are covered in rough edges and misshapen gameplay.

Every time you play a bad Sonic game and see the twinkle of a good idea, that's a seed of greatness that was not properly cultivated and given room to grow, because cheaper and faster makes them more money.

This is why you hear people say they hope the success of Sonic Frontiers will get Sega to increase the budget for future Sonic games again, because it's REALLY clear they were making a game out of basically nothing.

(I am not holding my breath.)

#questions #Anonymous #sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team

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seandwalsh · 1 month

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The culture of Lakitus in the Mario Universe

Lakitus are a species of Koopa that are often seen riding around in clouds with faces, throwing items like Spiny Eggs, Piranha Pods, Hammers or Coins at the people below them and using fishing rods to hold or catch all sorts of things. Many Lakitus work as Bowser's Minions, though we've also seen Lakitu reporters, such as the Lakitu Bros. in Super Mario 64, and the referee Lakitu who runs the Mario Kart tournaments and various other Mario sports events.

While most Koopas are ruled directly by Bowser, the Lakitus have their own ruler, King Lakitu, implying they may be more distant culturally from the others. While King Lakitu and his people clearly serve Bowser in modern day, this may have been an alliance that formed in more recent history.

Throughout various Mario games, the Lakitus are connected to the Chinese-like culture in Mario’s World. In Dragon Driftway from Mario Kart 8, a course with Chinese-style architecture, murals of Lakitus practicing Kung Fu can be seen on the interior.

Lakitu’s name written in Chinese characters ("朱盖木") can be seen on lanterns, signs and murals in Dragon Driftway as well as Dragon Palace, where Koopa Troopas can be seen practicing Kung Fu. Lakitu emblems (depicting a Lakitu's Cloud) and statues of Lakitus practicing Kung Fu are both featured prominently in both Dragon Driftway and Dragon Palace.

A poster for a movie called “Kung Fu Lakitu” with the subtitle “Dragon Driftway The Movie” can also be seen in GBA Ribbon Road.

Dragon Driftway appears to have been built in the image of an ancestor of Gobblegut, from Super Mario Galaxy 2, which had four limbs. Gold and silver statues resembling a version of this this Gobblegut ancestor, with a shorter body and "whiskers" resembling those on Draggadon, can be found in the courtyard of Dragon Palace.

This civilisation may also have built Pagoda Peak, which features Chinese-like architecture and a large green dragon structure with orange horns, very similar to Gobblegut. Pagoda Peak is said to be 4000 years old and is inhabited by Kung Fu Koopas and the Koopa Master. Perhaps the Koopa Troopas seen training in Dragon Palace will go on to become Kung Fu Koopas.

Glitzville from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is an “exotic” floating city with Chinese-style architecture, presumably modelled after a different region.

The city is named “Oolong Town” (ウーロン街) in Japanese after Chinese oolong tea. Glitzville is inhabited by many Lakitus, with both guests and local reporters being members of the Lakitu species.

At least a quarter of the Glitz Pit audience is comprised of Lakitus. Perhaps the sky-high location and cultural theming make it a popular draw for Lakitus in the region.

In Super Mario Land, the bosses faced in the Birabuto Kingdom, Muda Kingdom and Easton Kingdom are depicted as the leaders of a specific faction of enemies faced earlier in their respective kingdoms.

The boss of the Chai Kingdom, Biokinton, initially appears to be an exception to this, not bearing a resemblance to any enemies faced in the Chai Kingdom. Biokinton is described as shy and said to be hiding in a cloud which resembles a Lakitu’s Cloud. Rocketons are airplanes piloted by "soldier guards" faced by Mario immediately before Biokinton.

These guards strongly resemble Lakitus with their yellow skin, goggles and short, round noses. They may have a connection to Biokinton given their close proximity and matching name endings in both English and Japanese. “Biokinton” (パオキントン), “Rocketon” (ロケトン).

Perhaps Dragon Driftway, Dragon Palace and Pagoda Peak are actually in the Chai Kingdom, and with the alliance between King Lakitu's and Bowser's families centuries ago, Koopa Troopas began training in Kung Fu and Lakitus began serving in the Koopa Kingdom army.

Thank you to Sophie of @cartographers-office for pointing out the resemblance between Lakitus and the Rocketon pilots, this has been a fun one!

#mario lore #super mario #lakitu #mario kart 8 #mario kart 8 deluxe #rocketon #biokinton #super mario land #mario party #mario party 7 #super mario galaxy 2

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galaxygermdraws · 8 days

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Finally designing the Sonic cast. or. at least. Some of them. There are too many characters in this franchise these are just the ones I think about the most often. So uh. Ya. I will leave any notes under the cut since I have a lot, although not every character will have notes because we haven't explored every character (and share them with @shadesofvermillionvoid)

(reblogs with tags/comments are appreciated. Thankyu)

Sonic

Sonic's earring is Chip's bracelet. I don't think Sonic particularly likes having anything on his wrists, and Sonic Forces made that worse

The regulators are based directly on Sonic Prime, as I love the regulators in that show and think the idea of giving Sonic something similar to Shadow's Inhibitor Rings makes a lot of sense

He got those little markings due to accidentally absorbing some of Chaos' DNA

Tails

Tails has goggles like in Sonic Boom, because I like Boom Tails' design

He still has his robotic bits from Sonic Lost World, he still managed to keep his free will, but what happened was Zavok used his ability to control robots to force Tails to fight Sonic. Since then, Tails has updated his cybernetics so he can filter out any suspicious frequencies that could take his free will.

The cannon arm from Lost World is now basically like the guns from Mario and Rabbids, where you hold it in your hand and it like covers your arm. It's like that

Tails is a skeptic. This is the funniest bit but also thanks to Boom (the bad luck episode) it has some precedence

Knuckles

Knuckles in our lore is deeply spiritual (we are developing Mobian belief systems because we are Insane) , and the first time he saw Sonic he noticed he looked similar to the murals in Hidden Palace. So when Sonic turned out to be good, that made sense to him, as Sonic was common in a lot of prophetic murals around the island.

Knux actually thought Sonic was a god at first. Then he saw him choke on a Chili Dog.

He put beads around his spines after the events of Sonic Forces, since the war was over and he could relax for the first time in months.

Amy

Amy, like Knuckles, actually has a deep connection to her belief systems. We haven't figured out everything exactly, but she and Knuckles quickly bond over this aspect of their lives

I styled her quills differently because I kind of like giving her something that makes it obvious she is a hedgehog

Similarly, I gave her a back spine, and the hedgehog nose, since I had never realized she has the same kind of nose as Tails or Cream

Shadow

Shadow wears eye makeup. He puts it on every morning. For a while he had to have help with it (from both Rouge and Amy), but eventually figured out how to do it himself

He has yellow sclera due to the Black Arms blood. Similarly, he has a longer tail than most Mobian hedgehogs, and he cannot retract his fangs. His blood is green

He has some less favorable urges. Mostly related to the whole "Black Arms feed on living creatures" things, but they don't crop up often

He and Rouge have matching earrings

Rouge

I based her design off of Sonic Prime because I honestly prefer that design more. One because she looks like an actual spy, and two because it's based on her Sonic Heroes design. Similarly, she has Prim's hair tuft

Gave her the bat nose a lot of people do because I like the way it looks

I don't have a lot of thoughts about Rouge as of right now I am so sorry.

She and Shadow have matching earrings

Silver

Silver has a lot more scrapes and burns from his future, even though it's been fixed several times

He is displaced from time. He doesn't feel connected to his current future, especially since in our lore he is one of the few people to remember Sonic 06 (it's because in our lore, Timeline B Silver got his powers from Mephiles, in the sense that those time powers had to go SOMEWHERE after the timeline reset.)

I am going to be designing a weird messed up form for Silver (like Werehog or Doom Morph for Sonic and Shadow) based probably on Mephiles to some extent

Blaze

Like Silver, she has remnants of powers from the previous timeline. She already had fire powers in Timeline A, but she has much stronger ones now, as she still has Iblis inside of her, although the powers are no longer destructive, as they were never provoked

Her dimension is actually a result of Solaris ceasing to exist. That power still existed and had to go somewhere, so it ended up resulting in the Sol Dimension.

#sonic the hedgehog #tails the fox #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #amy rose #amy the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #silver the hedgehog #blaze the cat #sonic #ask to tag #germdraws #germ draws

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sugarmasonmearii · 1 year

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[Repost] Mario Pokémon Trainers Series

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Almost a year ago, I started this mini drawing series, where I drew the eight well-known human main characters from Super Mario in outfits of the player trainers from all Pokémon regions, in (almost) their official 2D art style, by Shigeru Miyamoto. It's actually hard to capture the full essence of the 2D art style, so I could only get as close as I can. But I think I did okay.

The inspiration behind this series was the stickers from Mario Party Superstars, and since I had been drawing so much Pokémon and missed drawing some Mario, yeah this was the result.

Three months of work, and I did all of this before on computer mouse so it's no easy task. Although after I did Yoshi, I closed off this series and moved on to making more Commissions and finishing my own projects. Despite that, these still get the attention of many in DeviantArt, not so much on Twitter anymore cuz these are literally my first art entries in that site.

I chose a Pokémon from the region assigned to each character:

Mario - I chose Kanto for him, as well as Pikachu because the first Generation is the mascot region of Pokemon, reflecting Mario being the mascot of Super Mario ofc.

Luigi - Johto is actually a region beloved by a lot of people, and Luigi is almost the same, sometimes even more preferred than their counterparts. Although Chikorita's there cuz... green.

Peach - My origin region Hoenn. I chose Skitty for her cuz pink and cute, and perfect for a princess like her.

Daisy - Ironic for a Princess living in a hot biome to be assigned in the coldest region, but at least she has a shiny fellow warm-biome friend Luxio.

Wario - Unova, like Wario and Warioland series, two things that only get the love they deserve way later. Picked Tepig for him, although there are other Unovan Pokémon that'd fit along.

Waluigi - The least loved region, paired with the unloved Luigi Clone. Inkay is due to its evolution method, which also alludes to Waluigi's emblem being an inverted L.

Rosalina - Frankly it's due to the Minior why I assigned her to Alola.

Pauline - Same thing with Grookey that's why she's assigned to Galar.

Yoshi - Someone begged and guilt-tripped me nonstop from the comments in DA, that's why this thing happened. 😑 This too is why I had to strictly implement the "No Free Art Requests!" rule.

Will the series continue? Apparently it did because of this commission. But again, I don't intend on voluntarily continuing this series. So if your character didn't came out, you can always commission me :) ...

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If you're interested in a commission from me, [do check here] for details. Or you can check my [Carrd art commissions.] Or you can DM me too.

You can support me via [Ko-fi] and/or [Patreon] too!

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Fanart: Me Super Mario and Pokémon: (c) Nintendo and Game Freak

Do not rip, trace, steal, copy, distribute, or use without consent please!

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thescarletnargacuga · 4 months

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Art: @iamespecter

CHAPTER ONE

The Amazing Digital Raceway is a Mario Kart-style racing AU filled with mystery, drama and romance! Featured ships being Showtime (Pomni x Caine) and Gangle x Zooble! (Other ships are possible but indeterminate)

WARNING: none

"Welcome, to the Amazing Digital Raceway!" A crowd of thousands were on their feet clapping and cheering in the stands around the starting line. Five racers stood next to their karts as the booming voice from above announced his welcome. "My name is Caine! I'm your trackside host and it's a beautiful day for a race! Isn't that right, Bubble?"

Caine removed his hat with a flourish and a bubble with a shark's smile emerged. "That's right, Caine! I can't wait to see what kind of race you have set up for today!"

"Then let's not waste any time and get right to announcing today's racers!" Holding his cane like a microphone, Caine flew over the crowd to the track. "Up front, is Gangle! Our winner of yesterday's race! Let's hope she can hold that title!" Gangle waved shyly to the adoring crowd, her happy mask giving the crowd her best 'happy to be there' smile.

"Next, Zooble! Master utilizer of shortcuts! I haven't been able to hide one from them to date!" Caine laughed as he flew past Zooble, who just leaned nonchalantly against their kart while waiting for Caine to finish his spiel.

"Then there's Kinger! A veteran racer who knows his way around every corner, tunnel and cliff! It's hard to trick this guy!" Kinger was face down in his kart looking at the mechanics before being startled by Caine's presence and slamming the hood shut. He spun around as if he suddenly realized where he was.

"Next is the darling doll crowd favorite, Ragatha!" Caine tipped his hat to her and he floated by. She enthusiastically waved to the crowd. "She's struggled this season, but let's hope the track is on her side this time!"

"Not if I have anything to do with it." Chuckled the last racer. Ragatha kept waving but glared at him.

"And we have Jax, another crowd favorite, whose drifting skills go unmatched! Despite the fact that he hasn't won a race all season." Caine said the last sentence under his breath. Jax chuckled and sat sideways in his kart's seat, amused by Caine's huffiness about his lack of proper participation.

"And last, but not least, we have Kaufmo! ....Kaufmo?"

Kaufmo was not next to his bright yellow clown themed kart. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen, but the crowd cheered on as if he were there. Caine covered the top of his cane-mircophone and leaned in to Bubble. "Where's Kaufmo?"

"I dunno, boss. Want me to look for him?"

"Yes, and be quick about it. The race is starting! We need our full roster!" Caine nearly hissed between his teeth in desperation. Bubble drifted away.

The other racers all looked to the lone kart at the end of the line. Ragatha frowned and looked at Kinger and Zooble, silently asking them if they'd seen Kaufmo. Both shrugged and shook their heads. None of them had seen Kaufmo that morning, which was strange. Usually he was the first one out of bed and trying to amp everyone up for the race, trying his best to make their lives there bearable.

"BOSS! I FOUND A CLOWN!" Bubble's shout got all of their attention.

"Wha- what? Who are you- where am I??" A short humanoid woman in a blue, red and yellow tracksuit and jester hat suddenly stood not far from where Kaufmo would've been.

"EXCELLENT!" Caine exclaimed. He swooped down to her and got a good look. "Hmm, you're not Kaufmo, but you'll do. We need a sixth racer."

"A what? What is this??" The newcomer looked around in panic. She was surrounded in saturated colors and lights and sounds, it was overwhelming. She manically stared down the line of racers in front of her, their expressions ranged from apathy to pity. They knew what she was going through, however, she was the first to show up right at the start of a race. "Who are you people!?"

Ragatha approached with her hands out reassuringly. "Easy, new stuff. It'll be al-"

"Get this headset off of me!" The newbie tried taking off her hat but it may as well have been her hair, it wouldn't budge.

Ragatha winced as she watched the new girl pull at every part of her own face. "Please, don't do that. You'll hurt yourself."

"Nah, let her tear herself apart. It'll be funny." Jax watched from his lounged position in his cart.

"What the [&@#$] is going on!? ..huh?" A loud BOING sound drowned out the newbie's swear.

"Now, now, my dear. We can't have any of that foul language on the track. The Amazing Digital Raceway is to be enjoyed by all ages, no matter how much road rage you experience." Caine chuckled to himself.

The newbie then proceeded to go through every swear she knew. Even ones she didn't personally think could be swears. Weird sound effects covering up each and every one of them. "...oh my god." She whispered to herself in disbelief.

Caine tugged at his collar awkwardly and addressed the crowd. "It seems we have a NEW racer, folks! Everybody put your hands together to welcome-..." He looked at her expectantly.

"Uh...uh- UHHH! MY NAME! WHY DON'T I REMEMBER MY NAME?!?" She grabbed her head in even more panic.

Caine patted her on the back. "It's alright, nobody can remember their name when they enter the Digital Raceway. Your name can be whatever you want! Care to spin the roulette?" Caine didn't get a reply so he snapped his fingers and gestured to the giant screen over the crowd. He'd been eager to try this out anyway, he'd been working hard at improving the name randomizer since last time took nearly fifty tries just to get a legible, human-approved name.

Letters spun like a slot machine, stopping one after the other. P-O-M-N-I, that doesn't seem too bad. Caine looked at the shaken and confused newbie. "What do you think of Pomni?"

"What? Uh, yeah, sure, whatever..." Pomni held herself in an attempt to ground her mind. This couldn't actually be happening. It was a dream. Had to be. It was too weird not to be.

Strange beeping and whirring sounds came from a device on Caine's wrist. "Gadzooks! We're running behind! We need to get this race underway! Racers! To your karts!" Everyone except Pomni got in their karts. Caine snapped his fingers and Kaufmo's banana yellow clown kart turned into a sleek, red and white kart with a top hat symbol on the front. "Since it's your first race, you can use my kart. Now, get in! The race is about to begin!"

Pomni reluctantly got behind the wheel. "But I don't know how to- I don't know what I'm doing!"

"Not to worry! I'll pilot you through your first lap! You'll get it in no time at all!" Caine flew high up and away as she shouted more questions that he didn't have time to answer. It was time to race. "Ladies and Gentlemen, NPCs of all ages! Today's race is through the Lair of the Gloink Queen!" He gestured to the screen and a preview of the upcoming track played. It was dark and rocky, covered in glowing underground crystals. The track curved and weaved through the caverns, silvery translucent boxes with question marks dotted the landscape. The crowd 'ooed' and 'awwed'. "Today's objective is to defeat the Queen by making the high jump over her nest and hitting the mid air target. But watch out! Her minions lurk in every corner! If they hit your kart, they'll steal your items! Remember, the only thing more important than coming in first is completing the objective! Racers, you have three laps to achieve your goal! Now! START! YOUR! ENGINES!!"

Caine's kart roared to life without Pomni touching anything. The others revved theirs in response. Bubble hovered over the front of the line with a traffic light hanging from their mouth. Pomni's heart hammered as the final countdown began.

The first light lit yellow.

The second light lit yellow.

The third light lit yellow.

Then all three light turned green.

The screeching of tires drowned out Pomni's screams as all six karts took off. After the first turn from the starting line, the track dove down underground, plunging them into darkness.

"Pomni, my dear, good to hear you're already having a good time! Haha! Now, If you can spare your screams of excitement for a moment, I'll tell you how things work around here." Caine's voice came over the kart's radio. She wasn't sure how she could hear him over the engine and the rushing of wind, but that didn't matter at the moment. She had a death grip on the steering wheel that moved on its own as it drifted through the sharp curves effortlessly. "On the track, you'll see some floating surprise boxes. Go ahead and drive through one." The kart maneuvered itself to a box and Pomni shut her eyes out of reflex. The box exploded into confetti and a small indicator light lit up on the dash. "Congratulations! You successfully collected an item! The items from the boxes are completely random! Even I don't know what you'll get each time you hit one! Anyway, these items can range from boosters to weapons to traps that can assist you in the race if used strategically. Click the flashing button to see what you got!"

Pomni opened her eyes and could barely get her hand to let go of the wheel. She hit the light and a party popper appeared in her hand.

"Lucky you! You got a popper! Those can be dropped on the track as explosive surprises for those behind you! Unfortunately, it's not too much use being in dead last. Let's change that! There's a speed booster up ahead! Flashing orange and red, can't miss it!"

"Woah! Wait, what!? Faster!? But-AAAAAAAA!" The kart accelerated into a flashing lane of red and orange. What already felt like top speed was suddenly mach speed. She quickly caught up with and flew past Zooble, who just watched her go by.

"WOOHOO! There's nothing like the rush of a good boost!" Caine's overly excited voice came through the radio again. "Now that you're in front of someone, drop the popper on the track."

Pomni's shaking hand refused to let go of the popper.

"....any time now..." Caine said, a little worried.

Pomni struggled to get it together.

"Uh... I wouldn't hang on to that popper too long, if I were you. Please, drop it on the track."

Pomni was nearly hyperventilating. This was all too much. So much was happening at once.

"Pomni! Drop the popper before it-" BANG!

The popper exploded, causing the kart to spin out of control. She hit the side wall and the kart came to a dead stop. Amazingly, she and the kart were unharmed. She felt dizzy and saw literal stars spinning over her head.

"Pomni! Are you alright? I didn't think you would hold on to it that long or I would have told you sooner that some items work against you if you don't use them quick enough! And don't worry about the crash, it happens to the best of us. No need to be embarrassed. Let's get you rolling again!"

"No! Please, wait-!"

The kart quickly gained speed and rejoined the race just in time for Zooble to catch up. Zooble looked at Pomni, sighed and shook their head. This was no way to introduce a new comer. Only Caine would be so focused on the race that he wouldn't realize just how scared Pomni was. She seemed so panicked she may abstract same day. Now that would be sad.

"Hey! New-blood!" Zooble called out, their kart even with Pomni's.

Pomni looked over. Tears welled in her eyes.

"Nothing out here can actually hurt you. Just finish the race. You'll be fine."

"Help me! Please!" Pomni begged.

"I am. Just relax. Don't worry about winning or the stupid objective." Zooble's monotone delivery was actually convincing in the moment. Like all of this really wasn't something to worry about. Pomni slowed her breathing a little and wiped her face. She gave Zooble a thank you nod which they returned.

"STUPID!?" Caine's shouting over the radio almost gave Pomni a heart attack. "This may not be my best work but it was work nonetheless, Zooble! Don't you have any respect for the creative process!?"

"Not yours." Zooble retorted.

"Well, I never! Come on, Pomni, let's get away from this party pooper." Caine's kart angrily accelerated away, leaving Zooble in the digital dust.

Each curve and swerve of the track took them deeper down until the tunnel opened into a vast cavern. The cavern wall was lined with glowing crystals all the way to the top Where they could see the track winding up the nest around the Queen to the jump over her head where a slowly rotating target hovered.

"There it is! It doesn't look like any of the others have got it yet! You could win your very first race! Go get it!" Caine encouraged enthusiastically. "Ooo! Another box!"

This one gave her a cupcake.

"Go ahead! Eat it! This item will also give you a boost, and don't worry, it doesn't explode."

"Interloper!" The long, slug-like body of the Gloink Queen emerged from the shadows. She raised her tail and spat Gloink minions on the track in front of Pomni. There were too many in the way to avoid, even with Caine's assistance. The kart smacked into no fewer than three Gloinks, one which absconded with Pomni's cupcake. Without it, Pomni just held on for dear life as the kart lunched into the air. Because of the Gloinks, the kart barely had enough momentum to make it to the other side, let alone go high enough to be anywhere near the target. The kart came down on the sloped track on the other side and started winding out of the cavern.

"That dastardly Queen! Don't worry, Pomni! We'll get her on the next lap! I know I said I would just help you with the first, but I must admit, I'm having a little too much fun! It's been awhile since I've been involved in a race myself, and, if I may say so, you're a fantastic addition to the Raceway! You've only crashed once! Many can't get past the first turn their first time!" His laughter echoed out the tunnel as they surfaced to cross the finish line and complete the first lap.

Pomni finally realized she really had no choice in the matter. Panicking and screaming wasn't helping, so she focused her energy on to what was right in front of her. She was gaining on another racer. A tall figure in a purple and white kart. Pomni took a breath, adjusted her grip on the steering wheel and floored the accelerator. The kart lurched forward with power one only thinks a kart can achieve. Gold flames flew out the tail pipes and she passed Kinger like he was standing still.

Kinger gave her a friendly wave as she flew by.

"WOAH, MAMA!! That's more like it!" Caine exclaimed.

Pomni crossed the line with the leaderboard saying she was in fourth place. She rocketed back down into the caves and started making ground on the next racer.

Gangle only saw Pomni after she dropped a bar of soap. "I'm sorry!" She gasped. "Look out!"

Pomni swerved just in time to avoid the soap, only barely missing the wall because of Caine. "What was that!?"

"Other item!" Caine answered. "Get the next box! Let's see if we can return the favor!"

Pomni pressed the glowing button and opened her hand unsure of what would happen. A fountain pen appeared. She looked at it with confusion.

"Perfect!" Exclaimed Caine. "Throw it!"

Without hesitation, having learned her lesson from the popper, Pomni threw the pen and it flew like a javelin at Gangle. The pen swerved around Gangles' head and she only had time to make the smallest squeaks of surprise before the pen inked all over her face.

"My eyes! I can't see!" She moved too far the right and hit the divider in a fork in the track. Her kart crashed and Pomni kept left, going back down to the main chamber of the Gloink Queen.

"Excellent work, Pomni!" Praised Caine. "You're a natural!"

Pomni half smiled, half grimaced. She still wasn't sure what to make of any of this. She was just doing her best to tread water after being thrown into the deep end. An explosion ahead kept Pomni's head in the race. She heard shouting and cackling and a mixture of strange sound effects that we're certainly the censors of a few choice words.

"Be careful. That was a purple seashell." Caine voice sounding strangely serious.

"A what?"

"A purple seashell. It's one of the most powerful items in the game. It flies directly to the person in first place and blows them up, heavily delaying them and often drastically changing the game. There are three different types of seashells; white, orange and purple. Only the purple ones fly. The white ones just sort of frisbee around and hit anything in around them, including you, so use them wisely. And the orange ones target the person immediately in front of you."

Pomni wasn't taking any of this in. Seashells, pens, soap, party poppers, cupcakes?? What??

"LOOK OUT!" Caine's warning got Pomni to swerve away from a Gloink. "Focus, Pomni! We're almost at the jump!"

Ragatha would have tried for the target first but Jax beat her to it thanks to his shell. "You'll have to try harder than that, Rag-head!" He accelerated into the jump and passed just right of the target. He didn't touch it but puts his hand out like he could just to taunt Ragatha.

Ragatha was going too slow and had to bypass the jump entirely. She roared with frustration and slammed her accelerator to try and catch up with him.

"This is your chance! GO GO GO!" Caine was full on cheering for her to win at this point.

Pomni got around the Gloinks much easier this time and accelerated into the jump like a pro. She reached....but she was too short. She flew just under the target and away from the Gloinks.

"You'll have to use a boost to get the target, Pomni! And don't worry, I am making a note right now to lower the target next time I use this track. That won't happen again just because someone's arms are too short. You're still doing great!"

One the way back up, Pomni caught up close with Ragatha who was still fuming. Ragatha went through a box and a red pepper appeared in her hand. Pomni watched her down it in one bite. Her sky blue tracksuit turned red and her hair caught fire. Pomni could swear flames were shooting from Ragatha's eyes as well, but that could have been a hallucination.

"Oh, this outa be good." Caine subtly moved his kart further away from Ragatha.

"Wh-what's happening to her?"

"Chili pepper! Does exactly what you think it'll do."

Not a beat later, Ragatha took a deep breath and sent a stream of red hot flames from her mouth to the kart ahead. The flames hit Jax hard and make him spin out. Pomni and Ragatha pass him and Ragatha's fire fades. She turns her head to look at Pomni and gives a wave and a smile. Pomni nervously waved back. They cross the finish line tying for first. Bubble had a sign that read "3/3 laps."

"This is it, Pomni! It's do or die! The final lap! It all comes down to this!!" Caine's voice increased in pitch with each sentence. He was nearly indistinguishable from a squeaky toy by the end.

Ragatha smiled reassuringly at Pomni. "Don't listen to him. It's not that serious. Just enjoy the ride and go around one more time. Win or lose, we're all having fun."

Pomni gave a small smile back. Then something flew between her and Ragatha. A white shell.

"[§%&#]" Ragatha swore under her breath. She looked back and saw the glare of absolute malice in Jax's eyes. "I'll handle him. See you at the winner's circle!" She brake checked Jax, causing him to swerve away from Pomni.

Pomni accelerated away, more shouts and explosions fading. It was oddly quiet in the tunnel to the Lair. Just her and kart. The engine pushed to it's limit, the tires screaming on each tight turn, the chime of the item button after going through a box. All the chaos. All the madness that was suddenly her life. It all felt so simple now.

Race.

The pistons were her heart beat. The wind was her breath. The world around her blurred as she burst into the nest cavern. She held out her hand. A cupcake.

She ate it. Candle and all.

She hit the ramp at maximum speed. She flew so high and fast, she didn't even register she hit the target. She couldn't hear Caine over the adrenaline. The kart raced so far ahead of everyone else, she was waiting a whole twenty seconds at the finish line for anyone else to show up.

Caine congratulated her in person. Shaking her hand so vigorously, her whole body shook with it. Confetti rained down from the sky. The crowd of faceless and nameless NPCs was on its feet. The other racers stood with her and waved at the crowd.

Pomni couldn't remember her name. She couldn't remember how she got here. But one feeling was familiar to her. Victory. Turns out it tastes just as sweet in the digital world....and it was addicting.

~~~

Behind the finish line was the garage. Inside the garage were private quarters for the racers. Inside one of these rooms was Kaufmo, or rather, what was left of him. A black disjointed mass of eyes and limbs splayed out on the floor. The cheering outside sent it into a flying rage, crashing against the wall, trying to force its way out.

The voices. The noise. The ceaseless, endless noise. Make it stop!

MAKE IT STOP!

M̷̤̙̦̼͇̩̖͍͔̒̈́͗̍͊͂̔A̴̦͗Ḳ̵̰͙̮̻̂͂̓̐̉̓́̈͒̈́̚͠Ȩ̵̈́͛̏̿͑ ̵̢̣͎̲̭̲͔̖̱̔̔̈́̀̐̃̚͘͠Ĩ̴̧̨͉͇̟͙̌Ţ̴͈̞͉͕̭͓̰͔̏̋̈́̈͐̈́͆̔ͅ ̶̻̰̪̠͙͓͗̌̓̏̈́̈́̀S̴̛̠̻͙̼̫̼̱͚͛̈́̔̊́̊͑̿̊̀Ţ̵̖̳̻͙̲̮̺̹͈͈̯́͝ͅO̷̠̖̤͈̚̚ͅP̶̧̨̼̣̤͇̮̣͔̻̹̩͒̏̌̔͗̇̄̒̓́̚

~~~

Ch2

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #tadc caine #tadc pomni #tadc ragatha #tadc jax #tadc gangle #tadc kinger #tadc zooble #tadc fanfiction #tadc showtime #slow burn #tadc au #the amazing digital circus au

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spikedsoul · 1 year

Text

A Different Ending

(source: taka on twitter, 18+ only! seriously!)

here we are, the first of several writings for the 400-500 follower celebration! a new chapter of mwn is also coming out within the next day or so, followed with one more short and a request someone made ages ago!

Bowser heaved a deep, heartbroken sigh as he gazed down at the quiet piranha plant clutched between his claws; he was yet again sitting alone on a bench after a failed marriage attempt, which usually wasn't a big deal, but this one had stung much more than anything else in the past. He was in one of the most romantic places there was - behind a beautiful chapel on the fucking moon with the Earth twinkling in the sky above - dressed to the nines in a fancy white and purple tuxedo and his mane meticulously styled, as requested, and yet he still sat alone, which he'd been promised wouldn't happen. Or at least, he wasn't supposed to be sitting alone with only a broken promise for company.

Peach had lied to him.

Again.

He suddenly chucked the piranha plant away from him with a deep growl, his frustration with himself mounting as he watched the poor plant land on top of his discarded jacket. One day he needed to learn to just quit her entirely, and honestly this seemed like a fantastic last straw. The final offense to crack his shell.

She'd come to him so sweetly, as always. "Oh, Bowser, can you help me get Mario to chase me again? But this time let's make it a wedding!"

He'd thought she was mocking him at first until she went out of her way to get him a custom suit and everything. More than that, though, she swore up and down she'd give him something he'd always wanted - provided he knew it didn't mean she was suddenly changing her mind about him.

Bowser groaned and leaned forward on the bench, putting his face in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. He was so fucking dumb! And now there was a chapel full of people thinking the worst of him, again, when really the whole scheme was Peach's idea.

He'd sold himself out for the promise of a kiss he was never going to get.

The only small solace he had was that she actually turned Mario down too when the idiot plumber had gotten a little too aggressive trying to give her flowers… but honestly, that didn’t help heal the rage beginning to bubble in his heart.

“Excuse me…”

Bowser’s head jerked up, his lip curled back over a fang to warn off whoever dared interrupt him - only to see you standing there, giving him a sympathetic, dare he think it, pitying smile. He recognized you from the few times you’d gotten caught up in some of the shenanigans between him and those plumbers.

He switched his snarl to a scowl rather quickly and looked away. “What.”

In his peripherals, he saw you point at the piranha flower bouquet; he braced himself for a teasing remark about the only things willing to sit near him being aggressive plants. He didn’t have a reason to suspect that from you, at all, but that didn’t stop him from assuming. It was suspicious enough you left the “reception” to walk around and find him.

“Do you mind if I sit with you?” you asked softly.

He whipped his head around in surprise as he fixed his wary gaze on you. His brain thoroughly scrambled, he first nodded, then shook his head, and finally winced at himself.

“You - you can sit,” he finally managed, scooting over just a bit to make room for you.

You gave him a suspiciously warm smile and reached to pick up the bouquet so you could sit. You were so gentle that the quiet plants didn’t start snapping, even as you settled them back on your lap - and that was oddly intriguing to him. He shifted to face you a little more, his thick arm draping over the back of a bench as he forced a scowl.

“What do you want, woman?” he growled when you didn’t immediately speak.

You were quiet for a moment, focused on the ribbon on the bouquet, then looked up at him. “I’m sorry she did this to you.”

He inhaled sharply, his eyes going wide in surprise. His mouth fell open like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out even after a few tries. Just how much did you know?

You looked back down at the bouquet as you smiled again; there was something sad about it this time that made his stomach feel like it flipped over. His stunned silence clearly betrayed just how shocked he was that you know.

“I heard her talking about it when I visited the palace,” you explained softly. “She was actually sort of laughing about it. And then knowing she’s happy to let you take the fall, despite all this being her plan…” You shook your head, looking up at him again. “I just thought I’d come check on you.”

“Me–?!”

“Yes, you.” You didn’t give him time to say anything else before you cut him off with a resolute nod. “You’re the fall guy, always, but from the few times I’ve interacted with you, you don’t seem like such a terrible guy to me.”

He growled quietly, immediately on the defensive that anyone could possibly see him as decent… despite desperately wanting exactly that. But who even were you, exactly? Yes, he could read the little nametag pinned to your dress, and as he mulled it over in his mind, he could remember Greenie and Red Idiot calling you that several times. But who were you to them? And how in the hell did you end up involved in their shit sometimes?

“What are you to them?” he demanded. Instead of flinching at either the growl or his demand, you just smiled a little bit, catching him off guard, and he blinked.

“The brothers, I assume you mean. I’m supposed to be their secretary for their plumbing business, but it seems like I get dragged into unwanted adventures by sheer association with them… and their shop has been closed since the last time a certain someone decided to try and raid it.” You raised both of your eyebrows at him in an unimpressed manner, clearly indicating his recent attempt to kidnap one of the brothers directly.

Bowser rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, pouting a bit. He… sort of liked how you were so boldly challenging him, if he was honest. You weren’t being abrasive about it, but you were letting him know that you honestly weren’t afraid of him.

“Look,” he muttered, “they just get on my fuckin’ nerves, okay? Didn’t mean to put you outta a job…”

“Well, I’m still getting paid, so it’s not such a big deal. Anyway, I also wanted to let you know that you look dashing in your tux… I’m not sure if anyone bothered to mention that, something else I think is a little unfair.” You sighed softly, like you really believed what you were telling him.

Maybe he could take advantage of the situation? Why not? He hadn’t self-sabotaged in fifteen minutes at least.

He pressed his lips together as he glanced back at you thoughtfully. You tilted your head to the side curiously, like an adorable, confused chain chomp pup.

Here went everything.

“Since you seem to be so concerned about me, li’l lady,” he started slowly, rubbing his chin in thought, “how ‘bout I take you out on a date, and I’ll tell you anything you’re curious about. How’s that sound?” He smirked a bit.

His smirk slowly faded as you seemed to actually consider his offer. After a moment or two, you smiled, stood, and gently set the bouquet back down in its spot. He watched as you stood in front of him; your hands came up to cup his cleft chin and his heart jumped at your gentle touch, his eyes widening at the bold move.

This wasn’t even remotely what he expected.

You smiled oh so sweetly at him, warm and inviting and completely unafraid. “Counter offer,” you murmured. He nodded dumbly. “I’m gonna go back inside, but if you follow me in I’ll call this a first date, and I’ll consider letting you take me on a second one.”

He didn’t reply. He couldn’t, too utterly shocked by this. You giggled softly when he didn’t respond.

“No pressure,” you said softly. “Not like you don’t know where to find me.” And then you made things a million times worse by kissing the side of his muzzle before promptly turning and strutting back toward the front of the chapel. His jaw dropped as he watched you go; behind him, his tail was wagging something fierce, knocking moon dust around.

That just happened. That really just happened, without him making a deal for it or anything. You willingly kissed him of your own volition. But now you were walking away…

Wait. No. You weren’t Peach - you had left the invitation open. He was letting you walk away.

…Was he fucking stupid?!

By the time he fully registered everything, you had disappeared around the front of the building. In an instant, he was on his feet and sprinting toward the front of the chapel in pursuit, skidding around the corner and bounding up the steps a few at a time. He ignored the stares he got from the few beings in the foyer, but it was hard to ignore the startled yelps from people when he rather violently slammed the door open with more strength than he meant to.

When he glanced around, all eyes were on him. “Uh… sorry,” he muttered. Maybe this had been a bad id–

“Bowser!”

His head whipped around shamefully fast at the sound of your bright voice and he locked his eyes on your smiling face at the far end of the chapel. For the first time in his life, he suddenly felt rather self conscious, but he slowly made his way toward you when you beckoned him over. His shoulders hunched, he held his arms close to his body, and his tail curled around his legs as he picked his way between the tables and guests; as he moved, though, a bashful smile settled on his maw, the tip of his tail flicking despite being wrapped around his leg.

You held your hand out to him when he got closer, smiling warmly at him. He was acutely aware of just how small your hand was compared to his as he took hold of it, but you didn’t look bothered in the least. In fact, there was genuine excitement in your eyes as you looked up at him. It made him duck his head in embarrassment.

“People are starin’,” he mumbled as he got himself sat beside you. His smile hadn’t faded, though.

“If I cared what people thought about me, you might never have met me,” you chuckled softly. “They can stare all they want; I’m delighted you decided to come join me.” You used your free hand to push a loaded plate of food at him, but he ignored it for now.

He gazed down at you; his tail slowly uncurled from his legs and began to sway a little behind him. “You really mean that, don’tcha,” he stated softly.

You nodded and your smile became softer, but more serious. “I do. Sometimes I’m a little too honest, but at least that means you’ll know I’m not lying to you. But I won’t just say mean things to be mean, either… just to clear that up.”

For the first time all day, Bowser chuckled. “I appreciate the honesty,” he rumbled. “This also means if you feel like things ain’t gonna work out that you’ll say somethin’, right?”

“Of course. Unlike some people-” you coughed softly and shot a glance toward a portrait of Princess Peach hanging near the altar “-I don’t enjoy playing with people’s feelings. Everyone deserves a chance, and I believe that firmly, but if it looks like we aren’t compatible long term I’ll say something.” You blushed a little as you finally took your hand back to start eating.

He laughed softly at the contemptuous look you’d sent Peach’s portrait. You really were something else, and though he wouldn’t mention it to you, he felt like already there was a sort of connection that he never had with Peach. He could easily see you turning out to be the one for him - but he wouldn’t hold his breath, just in case.

“I guess that means I’ll just have to enjoy every single moment with ya, just in case,” he purred smoothly, watching as your face reddened. Good, that meant he was back in his groove, and you were squarely in his sights.

To your credit, though, you kept your composure, sending him a sweet smile. “Well, aren’t you a smooth operator,” you chimed. “I kinda like that… confidence looks good on you.”

A shiver threatened to crawl up his spine, but luckily he managed to suppress it by the time it got to the base of his tail; he couldn’t stop the heat that rushed to his cheeks, unfortunately. Not only had you gone out of your way to check on him after this fucking catastrophe, but you also appreciated his lines and said it even suited him… he wasn’t entirely sure what to expect (given he’d only tried for Princess Peach before now) but he was starting to get pretty excited.

He leaned in closer to you with a quiet purr. “Well, how about we blow this joint and I’ll show you just how confident I can be, hm?”

You giggled softly in surprise, your face still flushed a lovely shade even as you tried to hide your fluster behind your hand.

“What, eager to get to date number two?” you teased.

“Or maybe I was hopin’ we could prolong date number one.”

You pursed your lips in thought as you regarded him, but after a few heart-pounding moments, you nodded, that beautiful, bashful smile never leaving you. “Alright, that actually sounds nice; did you have something in mind?”

What did he have in mind? Honestly, he wasn’t sure he’d expected you to agree so readily, despite all the signs you were genuinely interested in him. But he didn’t want to run you off already by being too aggressive or forward, or anything like that even though you just said you liked his confidence. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to do something a little more lowkey this first time…

He pressed his lips together briefly in thought before a wide grin pulled his lips back. Of course! It was so simple!

“Well,” he hummed, “how ‘bout some sky gazin’? I know a nice little place ‘round the back of this chapel, once we’re done here… We could talk and get to know each other a bit more before the second date?”

You reached over with a warm smile, resting your hand on his forearm. “You know, I think that sounds lovely. It’ll be nice getting to know the real you, the ones most others don’t get to see.”

Bowser’s tail felt like it was about to break the confines of the little foldable chair, it was wagging so hard. His heart was already threatening to break the confines of his chest just from your willing touch, but the gentle rub that followed practically made him swoon. If you kissed his snout again he just might faint.

Briefly, his mind tried to convince him that this was all some sick joke - but his gut told him you really were being genuine.

People were staring, not snickering, and there hadn’t been anyone outside to see you be so sweet. Nor would there be anyone to witness the second half of this date.

“Do you wanna head out already?”

The sound of your voice had him blinking back into the present. He had enough presence of mind to reply, “Thought you were hungry?”

You chuckled softly, smiling up at him. “I’ve eaten a little bit. If I’m still hungry later, we can go get something, how’s that sound?” You rubbed his forearm again, though did take the chance to get another bite in.

He nodded too eagerly as he put way too much effort into standing up like a calm, collected adult, forced to hold his tail with one hand to keep it from knocking anything over due to his excitement. His other hand extended to you, palm up in an invitation.

“Shall we, beautiful?” he rumbled, smiling warmly at you.

You placed your hand in his, a quiet, pleased hum escaping you as you allowed him to help you to your feet. Your eyes met his, and in a soft but earnest voice, you replied, “Lead the way, handsome.”

#bowser #bowser x reader #bowser x y/n #fanfic #fanfiction #super mario bros #ficlet #one shot

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