💜ALKALOID 💜Crazy:B💜Valkyrie💜
💜Mayo 💜Niki💜Mika💜
Love most characters, hate free zone <3
My little space to share stuff I've been working on, rant about fandom stuff and not drive my friends insane on main. | Name: Tea/Meg | Age: 30+ | AO3 Profile | Twitter | Asks open |
New fandom, new pinned post! Seems like ages since I changed fandom but here we are. Hello Enstars fandom! This is also a looking for moots who like the same characters / pairings kind of post.
To start off: All welcome to interact / send asks!
Especially looking for NikiMayo moots as they're hard to come by. ☺️ I love both these sillies so much, although I've only been in the fandom a couple of months so I'm still trying to catch up on all the back stories.
To answer the pre-emptive questions: I also like TatsuMayo and will happily chat about that too. I can also enjoy RinneNiki but in my personal HC they tend to be more a not friends, not lovers, but a secret third thing vibe. Not against it though!
Currently writing a NikiMayo longfic! You can read on Ao3 here! If you like hurt/comfort and men with negative self worth helping each other become a little bit better, this one's for you.
More rambling below the cut so I don't stretch everyone's screens:
For other characters I like I made a general tier list. Each tier arranged in approximate order:
Lower tiers don't mean "I hate this character" it just means my brain has not latched onto them with the urge to turn them over in my mind like a chip shop kebab.
So if you like any of the characters in my top tiers, or my top groups in general, I would also like to make some new friendos in this fandom. My only general request is I don't want to be involved if you're someone who is overly negative about other characters / groups. I'm here to enjoy what I love, not to moan about what I don't. Too old, too tired. Also no minors please.
"And it seems like it's worth your time, right? And, by the way, there's actually- the superpower inside of feeling alien is admitting that you might be an alien."
Into the Mud Podcast Ep. 81: The Superpower of Feeling Alien with Project Hail Mary's James Ortiz - What James Ortiz would say to people who feel foreign and alien
Chapter 3 of Eclipse is up, and we get to see things from Niki's PoV this time!
Ao3 Link here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/85763176/chapters/227566706
Or available directly below the cut:
Niki hums as he makes his way out of the Seisoukan Apartment building, his backpack bouncing against his shoulders, stuffed with snacks ready for a hard day of training. It’s practice time with Mayo-chan!
And he’s ready to practice hard. There’s no way he’s missing out on the grand prize. Sure, his idol work pays well enough nowadays, and Cafe Cinnamon lets him snaffle the odd meal here and there, but three full meals a day, guaranteed, with no conditions or strings attached? No ifs or whens or monetary constraints? It’s an opportunity too good to let slip by.
With Mayoi leading them, their chances are high. Niki has watched ALKALOID’s performances, stood next to them on stage at Matrix. During their joint rehearsals, Mayoi had picked up the entire thing from the choreographer after a single demonstration, then spent the rest of the session helping the rest of ALKALOID with their own parts, his own execution already flawless.
It’s no wonder that ALKALOID calls him their most reliable member during lives.
Niki isn’t half as skilled as all that, but Mayoi is supposed to be a fantastic teacher; Mayoi can take care of making sure they’re prepared to beat the others, while Niki just has to do what he’s told and keep them both fed through their practices. Easy!
He crosses the courtyard, turning his face into the breeze tempering the summer haze. It carries with it the scent of an aromatic katsu dish, and even though it’s somewhat under-seasoned—an extra pinch of salt would do the trick—Niki savours it, breathing deeply to let the flavour settle on his tongue.
Delicious! Now he wants some. Tonight, after work and practice. He’ll whip up enough for everyone and take it round the dorms. Plus a dessert of some kind, of course—there’s no skimping in Chef Shiina’s kitchen!
He pulls out his phone to record himself a voice memo for later, but his fingers refuse to cooperate, trembling above the PIN entry screen. As he walks, his feet float in his boots, strangely detached from the floor, and his stomach growls.
Ah. Hungry. Again.
From his pocket, he grabs the convenience store onigiri packed there and unwraps it before stuffing it into his mouth. It’s okay—nothing special about it. The grass framing the path has recently been cut, the dead blades browning in the heat, and even that smells more interesting than the plain, unseasoned rice tastes.
At least what he has is cheap and enough to sustain him until he gets to the practice room. After that, he needs to make it until lunch, but there’s a bento box in his bag that should get him through—no, definitely, he’ll definitely get through—and once lunch hits they can go to Cafe Cinnamon and grab something.
That’s the morning taken care of.
How many hours of practice after that? Four? Five? He has snacks for the afternoon—a packet of pocky, a few yakitori skewers, a big box of fried chicken from the conbini—and it should be enough; it has to be enough until dinner, when he’ll make that chicken katsu and then his greedy, selfish body better not demand any more because he’s doing an evening shift for an important reservation at the cafe today, so that’ll be another three hours before his break and if he gets hungry by the end of that first hour...
He’ll make it. He’ll get by. He always does.
For now, it’s time to see Mayo-chan and work out how they’re going to win this Summer Extravaganza-Event-Competition-Thing!
Before long he’s standing outside the room Mayoi booked for them, the distinctive, indescribable scent of Mayoi lingering around the door. Although Mayoi’s scent is unique—sweet, yet a little woody, with a citrusy undercurrent—it’s difficult to articulate precisely what it reminds Niki of, which is peculiar in itself; any other scent, any ingredient or place or person, his memory stores as a limitless ingredient book, but Mayoi reminds him of nothing he’s experienced before.
Well, that’s not entirely true.
Mayoi is not a thing, but a feeling—bouncing a ball in the summer sun, his mother’s hand patting his head before bedtime, a hearty meal enjoyed by a table of three, each of them laughing without a worry in the world.
Nostalgia, that’s the word—those stable, peaceful times before everything went to—
Before everything.
But that's not important now. There’s a competition (and food) to be won—it’s time to get to work!
He pushes open the door. “Morning, Mayo-chaaan!” he calls as he enters, spotting Mayoi in the far corner, fiddling with the speaker system, shoulders hunched in a way that gives the impression that he’s in the middle of some indescript crime rather than preparing for a practice session.
“Shii— Niki-san.” Mayoi turns, raising his hand to shoulder level in greeting. “Sorry, I’m having a bit of trouble… This is my fault; I should have come earlier.”
“Aww, I’m sure we can fix it.” Niki bounds over to him, dumping his backpack down by the wall on the way. It’s been a whole day and Mayoi is still calling him by his given name, which is a cause for celebration. “So, what’s the problem?” he asks, throwing an arm over Mayoi’s shoulders. As he leans in, Mayoi’s scent fills the air, and he can’t resist inhaling deeper. “And how do you always smell so good? Hey, if we don’t win, I’m just gonna have to eat you instead!”
“Please don’t eat me,” Mayoi all but whimpers, slipping out from under Niki’s arm to stand a solid metre apart. He pulls at his sleeve, turning his attention back to the speaker. “It won’t connect; I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong…”
“Huh, let me see.” Niki leans in, poking at the buttons and switches, checking them in turn. However, his focus remains half split on Mayoi, on how as Niki moves across the machine towards him, Mayoi backs away, maintaining that static distance between them.
A shame—just as it seemed like they were getting somewhere, too.
Mayoi is the most puzzling human he’s come across, which is saying a lot, considering Rinne’s very existence. But Rinne has his ways and his patterns, and Niki is well rehearsed with his performance. Mayoi, however…
On one occasion when Niki had forgotten his snacks, his stomach growling and the world tilting upon itself as he attempted to make it to the nearest vending machine, a guardian angel had found him, heralded by that same nostalgic scent, followed by a hand appearing from an open ceiling panel to toss down a handful of snacks. After he’d eaten, Niki looked up to thank his saviour, but Mayoi was already long gone. It was an unnecessary kindness, carried out with no expectation of reward or gratitude—kindness for kindness’ sake. Nor was it the last time that a similar exchange occurred, a series of gestures Niki had taken as an offering of deeper friendship.
“Ah, here, Mayo-chan, look—someone turned the Bluetooth toggle off.” Upon discovering the offending switch, Niki flicks it back on, and the sound system chimes in agreement. “You should be able to connect it now.”
Phone in hand, Mayoi steps forward, and Niki steps back.
It doesn’t make sense.
Mayoi’s actions towards him have been kind, yes. But whenever Niki tries to return them, to meet Mayoi with a friendly touch or light banter, Mayoi pulls back, leaving Niki with an empty outstretched hand. It’s like being surrounded by the perfect ingredients to make the perfect recipe, only whenever he opens the containers, everything is empty inside, leaving him standing there with nothing to cook with.
“Sorry again,” Mayoi says, eyes to the ground. “I should have checked that one first.”
“Nah, it’s not your fault; no one’s supposed to touch that one. Cheer up, Mayo-chan! Just because you put the oven on a bit late, it doesn’t mean the whole meal is ruined—what’s a few minutes in a day, hmm?”
“Thank you for being patient with me…” Mayoi glances up, their eyes meeting for a fraction of a moment. There it is, that fleeting promise of connection, and then it’s gone again, Mayoi tip-tapping away on his phone to set up the music.
This is too confusing. He needs a snack. That’ll help.
One bento box later, Niki feels much better. Food fixes everything; he thinks too much when he’s hungry, and thinking is better saved for people with better brains than his. Cook, dance, sing—that’s all he needs to do.
“It’s ready,” says Mayoi, pressing the final button on the speaker system and moving to stand in the centre of the studio. “You probably know the routine already, but for ALKALOID I usually demonstrate first, if that’s alright… It’s mostly mirrored, so I’ll do your part, and you can see how mine fits around it when we start together.”
“That works for me. Show us what you’ve got!”
This time Mayoi gives him a small smile in return and a bashful rounding of his shoulders. Then, with a click, the track begins, and Mayoi hits the starting position.
Niki leans back against the wall, his stomach full and his mind calm once more.
Niki is Niki. Mayoi is Mayoi, and Mayoi’s company is peaceful, which is a welcome change in itself. There’s no need to overthink things; he’s here for fun, to enjoy some time with his friend, and to win those free meals. What does it matter if Mayoi confuses him sometimes? A lot of things confuse him; it’s just more of the same at the end of the day.
Mayoi runs the routine flawlessly, bounding between the steps, his face animated, enticing an invisible audience to play along with him. There’s nothing too difficult; it’s a fun track with a few moments of intricate arm choreography, but nothing more complex than what Crazy:B has asked of him. They’ve got this—one year of free food, coming right up!
“I hope that helped a bit…” Mayoi approaches, his left hand cradling his opposite elbow, and he makes eye contact for a split second before his gaze drops to the floor. “Shall—shall we start?”
“Let’s do this!” Niki hops to his feet, sealing the bento box and stowing it in his bag.
Together, they come to stand in the centre of the room, facing the mirror.
“We’ll start from the top,” says Mayoi, “without music the first time. I can count us.”
Niki nods, moving into his starting position.
But Mayoi doesn’t start counting.
“Uhm, Niki-san, your leg is a little…” Mayoi taps his heel against the floor. “The twist is more from the hip.”
The mirror agrees with him. While Niki doesn’t look bad on his own, Mayoi is right; side by side, Mayoi’s leg turns out further than his, creating a smooth line that’s elegant without demanding attention. As Niki adjusts to match Mayoi’s instruction, his muscles complain at the strange angle he forces them into, but the mirror congratulates him with a perfect pose identical to Mayoi’s.
Huh. Maybe he can do this.
“That’s great.” Mayoi nods to him. “Then I’ll count us in.”
Mayoi does just that, and they work their way through the start of the track. As he dances, Niki keeps watch on Mayoi’s lead; while he watched the MV a few times the night before, he doesn’t have it as well memorised as Mayoi, who has somehow perfected both of their parts in a single evening. Every movement Mayoi makes is precise, controlled, efficient, and his expression is sharp and focused.
“Ah, sorry, just here…” Mayoi initiates a pause and approaches. “Sorry,” he says again, a gloved hand tilting Niki’s elbow up a fraction of an inch, then he gestures along Niki’s arm, tracing an invisible line. “You…you’ll want to line up here; at this point you’re facing away from me, so if you cue the movement that way, it’s easier for us to maintain symmetry.”
Niki nods. “Right.”
This is so professional. Mayoi is so professional. It’s unbelievable, watching him transition into this smooth, mentorship persona, like somehow pulling a fully baked cake from a bag of rice.
He needs to be professional, too. Or as close as he can get to it.
Practice is relentless. Mayoi is relentless. At his command, they run specific sections of the track over and over, Mayoi correcting him, twisting and pulling him, making subtle adjustments that stretch Niki’s muscles in ways he didn’t know they were capable of.
Faintly, Niki’s stomach rumbles. He should have eaten half an hour ago. But although worded kindly, Mayoi’s corrections are an endless torrent; lines, expressions, gestures—Mayoi picks up on it all, as strict with himself as he is with Niki. Yet regardless of how many times they restart, Mayoi remains composed, only a thin sheen of sweat across his forehead, while Niki pushes closer and closer to his limit. He should eat. But he needs to get this right.
His hands are shaking, and his tongue sticks dry to the roof of his mouth. Having Hiiro drilling them for that short time during Matrix had been one thing, but this is on another level.
“Just—just a moment…” It hits him in the middle of a section, the room pitching to the side, as though he’s a mere block of meat being flipped in a pan, and his head is suddenly heavy on his neck. He presses his hands to his thighs, taking several deep breaths, begging the room to stop spinning. Should've stopped earlier. Shouldn’t have pushed it this far. Stupid.
“Niki-san?” Mayoi stops and rushes over, one hand hovering over Niki’s arm. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he pants, the taste of dried-out saliva thick on his tongue. He forces a smile. “Just hungry… grabbing a snack.”
He stumbles over to his bag, all but crawling the final few metres, and dredges up an energy bar from its depths while chugging the bottled water he left beside it.
“Sorry, I forgot! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” Mayoi scuttles along behind Niki, lingering at his side while he eats. “I should have remembered, should have checked in…”
“Huh? No, no, it’s not your fault, Mayo-chan! I was just having too much fun practicing with you, hehe. Don’t you worry! I’ll be alright after this!” He bites down on the bar, giving Mayoi a big smile to prove his point. Mayoi doesn’t need to be worrying about silly little things like Niki’s stomach; he’s already taking on coaching and leading their unit, all the while performing as perfectly as he has been today.
He doesn’t need his unit-mate dragging him down.
Niki tries to focus on the energy bar, but all he can taste is salt from the lines of sweat that have rolled past his lips, and he ends up shoving it—plus a second one—down as fast as he can. He’s still half empty—always is—but it’ll have to do.
“Alright!” He jumps to his feet, heading back toward the middle of the studio. “I’m ready when you are!”
There’s a lot of work to be done if he stands any chance of closing the gap between them.
Sooo I was just thinking about my Enstars journey so far and how differently I came to love each one of my silly guys.
I want to see people gush about the characters they love too, so please please please add your own on! I want to see what people love about their faves and their journey to falling in love with them🥺
My first love starting the game was Mika - I love his eyes, and was catching up on the backstory with the war and old Valk and well, I have a weakness for characters who turn themselves into puppets / weapons / tools. So I knew he was absolutely for me. And then his voice and dialect are so damn cute, especially compared to how amazing his voice and dancing are??? Like LOOK he is a cutie
He was my first love, and even now he's still in my top 3!
But then Mayoi dropped out the ceiling like a sad wet cat and he caught me BAD. 😭 Funny story but from his design I wasn't expecting to like him because I assumed he was going to be certain tropes that I'm pretty apathetic towards. Even up until we physically met him I was half expecting to jumpscare us or something jdksfhsdjk Then he showed up and I was like, OH you're a sweet baby I'm keeping you forever. I love how he loves his friends. I love how he tries to be brave for them. Very cute. Very adorable. Want to hold gently and protect. Deserves happiness and safety and I would give him the world.
Then there's Niki. He slow burned me bad.🥹I loved his aesthetic from the start (I am a sucker for grey/white hair and long hair soooo) but in the main story he gets overshadowed a bit at the start, so I liked him but didn't really notice him properly? But I kept liking him a bit more and a bit more every time I saw him until that scene with Rinne in the cafe in Chapter 5. Then everything I already liked about him just clicked and I was like, "Oh, you're actually an angel I love you,." Now he's one of my beloveds too, and I love the hidden depth he has beneath his exterior. Would 100% be friends with irl if he was real, the goodest of good boys. Seems like he would give amazing hugs. Look at him. Precious.
Anyway that's my top 3 blorbos. Pleeeeease share your stories too!
It is genuinely insane how much I've been writing the last week or so. I'm even holding myself back from posting Ch3 because I know I need to pace my posting, but damn the words are flowing like they haven't in YEARS. Even Ch4 is nearly done already too...
It seems like I really needed a change of fandom for a while now, this change has done me SO much good creatively.
