#LIKE I LOVE NIKI SHIINA

[nikikikiko]

ok im freaking out abt mana as well but i would love to point out that is this giving Natsume to anyone else too 😭 😭

LIKE… IS THIS NOT JUST NATSUME PERSONIFIED AS A UNIT???

[voiceofsword]

assorted doodles (+an edit) for a god au friend and i have been rambling about

[eclown4hire]

the bees!

[cryptidm0ths]

A sketchbook set

[subzeromoron]

Hitting my head on a door right now

[nguyenfinity]

Have you ever seen a bee on ice

Bonus:

Don’t worry Rinne makes a loop around and grabs him too

[infernaltenor]

one more niki analysis.

for now.

ok this one technically i've had in mind for MONTHS but couldn't figure out how to word it until just now because i a) read hot limit about three months ago and it hasn't left my head since b) the idol exploration event.

anyway. the actual crux of this is: niki's character is specifically written to be content, not happy. these often get confused imo. the second part of this is his contentedness isn't natural, it's forced. the third part of this is no one fucking notices, except for one rinne amagi, because of course he does. by no one, i'm talking specifically character-wise here; niki in game tends to get written off as childish or otherwise doing well, and that comes directly from his other unit members.

side note: i'm fairly confident in my own reading of "niki will pretend to not be bothered by anything, ever" and this is bolstered by a few different things; a) the honeycomb summer lyrics in my last post where there's a part of the intro, "hidden the true feelings out of habit / and now you're regretting it" (rinne amagi you slick bastard) b) hot limit. like the entire story. mostly because he was being troubled by multiple different things throughout it (work, idol activities, and his family last name/father's scandal) and the only person who noticed was rinne, and that's probably because he knew the damn guy for five years c) also in hot limit, the exploration into niki seeing himself as a burden because of his illness. why did they add this into his character and then not elaborate further? i don't know. if it never gets elaboration, i'll implode. anyway, it's a part of his character that he usually doesn't show, but he references it as "not wanting to inconvenience the people around him" REGARDLESS of if the people in question don't mind him inconveniencing them (rinne). in general, the only thing he makes a fuss about is food, likely because of his metabolism and the fact that he does become more of a danger to people when extremely hungry (he has bitten hiiro before.); i.e. the inconvenience for everyone else is a 19-20yro trying to bite them, not complaining that he's hungry.

i digress.

niki has referenced himself as being content with certain things before. for instance, in hot limit, it's phrased distinctly as "just getting to eat every day is a bliss to me - i need to be satisfied with that", which comes up again in his letter from the idol exploration:

"it feels like happiness is there to fill my stomach, too!" oh, is it? is it niki? is it now?

basically, what i'm getting at is niki's expectations for life are so incredibly low, so he's satisfied with getting to eat every day. that's it. just satisfied. side note: this is why i went insane when survival was added to his profile; the way he lives/talks about living, he's been surviving more than living. this is also why i think rinne and niki work so well as a pair, rinne's into living and niki's busy surviving. though, to be fair, rinne and niki's relationship is built on this crux anyway. rinne intends (hopes, maybe? his goal?) is to help niki with what he has identified as a problem. thank you rinne amagi.

(for the record, right after i read this, my live reaction was "WHAT IF I KILLED MYSELF". that's quite dramatic, and i won't, but i figured someone might get a laugh out of that.)

this isn't the first time that rinne has referred to niki (well, more so implied) as "not happy", as it happens in hot limit, too.

"that's why i'll grant his wish and make him happy" oh ok i see.

anyway. niki's fascinating, because this forced contentedness vs happiness is so interesting to me, because beyond rinne's own read of niki, it's easily bought by everyone else he knows. most notably, kohaku and himeru, as their impressions come off of reading niki quite differently to rinne's:

(i grabbed these screenshots after i finished the event for the time being. rinne's i grabbed before LMAO)

both of them appreciate and even look up to niki in certain ways, and they both like his focus on food. but what's interesting is how both of them see him vastly different from rinne; where rinne focuses on his low self impression, himeru thinks niki's perspective of the world is interesting, as well as i think he gives credence to niki being selfless, which kohaku sees him as both childish and reckless. i'm pretty sure both himeru and kohaku see him as more naive than themselves, which is a fair read. this also does line up with what happens in hot limit; while rinne is aware of the troubles niki's going through, himeru and kohaku are both surprised at the end.

niki's own effort, i think, to convince himself of being satisfied and content pays off, because the only person who notices otherwise is rinne. which, imo, is a whole other source of depth to their relationship; rinne probably saw niki working that out. he was 14 when they met, and likely the shiina parents leaving was recent (side note: i'm a certified niki's parents hater. i know we don't have much info on them, but i don't trust them after that burden thing), which is something i've mostly extrapolated by the contact he seems to have at 14 vs at 19, where they're pretty much never mentioned. yes, i know, niki chose to stay in japan. i just don't think you get through your parents leaving you in your native country at 14 while they gallivant around the globe and your communication with them steadily dwindles results in anything good.

ok. i'm sorry for the parent hating.

but unless proven otherwise i'm expecting them to be the source of these problems.

[mirrortouchedsea]

so i got niki and meru's autumn noon 3 lines recently and i just love the duality of them. himeru vc shiina just made himeru an apple pie and it tastes like autumn :) vs niki himeru-kun asked me to make this pie~! so obviously i had to write something about it. recipe pulled from here btw. i want to do something else with this so you might see a second version of this Eventually but for now you get this.

7 large Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored and sliced into ½ inch slices)

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar (loosely packed)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon lemon juice (plus the zest of half of a lemon)

1 large egg (lightly beaten in a small bowl for egg wash)

2 tablespoons sanding sugar (optional)

The first step to baking a pie is to prepare the dough. Prepare the vinegar and cool water mix and set aside. You were like that mixture to our group when we formed, seemingly out of place but a necessary ingredient to make the finished product taste good. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl before adding the butter cut up into cubes and cutting it into the dry ingredients. Just like how we needed to be pushed to the limits before we could make something whole. Drizzle the ice water and vinegar mixture over the dry ingredients and mix in with a fork, and make sure ingredients are fully incorporated with your hands. Divide into two disks and set in the fridge to chill. 

Once the pie crust is set, you can begin the next part of the process. HiMERU-kun, I think you’re a lot like an apple pie in a funny sort of way. Hey! I’m just saying! Well let’s prepare the apples, can you peel them, I’ll core and slice them up. When we were living together in the dorms, during the summer, you were such a stranger to us. I would never have guessed that you had such a big sweet tooth with the serious airs you put on for us back then. I’m really glad you’ve been able to relax a bit more, HiMERU-kun and trust us with yourself. Oh, careful that you don’t cut yourself on the peeler! 

With the apples prepared, we can coat them in the other ingredients. I’ve already put the flour, sugar, spices, and lemon juice in the bowl, we just have to mix in the apples. Don’t be afraid to get a bit messy! You know, in the labyrinth for that TV show Vice Prez put us through, I didn’t expect you to be so torn on the decision at the end with your rewards. It’s okay to be selfish sometimes and we totally understand that! We’ll support you until the very end, you know? Make sure the apples are coated as evenly as possible. 

Okay, let’s roll out the pie crust and get these pies put together! The oven should be done preheating soon so we can get it in there when we’re ready! Ah, this makes me think of just all the trips we’ve been on and the shit we’ve pulled. I know you hate Rinne-kun’s pranks but life would be pretty dull without him in it, yeah? He’s really the reason any of us are here in ES right now huh. Hey! I can be sappy about him sometimes and I know you feel the same way don’t even try to deny it! Anyway just put the crust in the pie tin like so. 

Next we’ll fill the pie tin with the filling. Just spoon it in like that and spread it out. If you really think about it, filling a pie can really be a metaphor for becoming friends. Where do you end and where do I start? Oh, so now you’re telling me to not be so sappy? You were the one who wanted to make an apple pie together and you have to deal with me to get it! That’s why I’m trying to teach you how to make it in the first place! 

I’ve rolled out the other piece of the crust so we can just put that on top now and let me carefully cut some vents into it. It’s just to make sure the pie doesn’t explode in the oven, unless you want to spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning the oven too? Now that I’ve cut the vents, we can go around the crust and pinch it closed like this. Even if you look the same as you did all those months ago during the MDM, we can all tell you’ve changed a little. We’ve all grown on you HiMERU-kun~ Agh! Okay I get it I get it I’ll stop with the food metaphors. No I won’t but still. Let’s put the pie shield on and wash the top crust with that egg wash. 

We’ll put it in the oven for 25 minutes first before we take off that shield, just to make sure we don’t burn the pie. We wouldn’t want to burn your mood either, and I like you like this. I’m just saying, I like spending time with you HiMERU-kun, that’s all. What did you want to do while we waited? Dishes would be a good idea so we don’t have to do them later. Do you want to wash or dry? 

After the shield is removed, we’ll put it back in the oven for 35 more minutes to finish baking. The dishes are all put away which leaves us with a little bit of time to relax before we can pull it out and let it cool. Have you ever baked a pie, HiMERU-kun? I should have asked earlier but you did great with this one. Oh, HiMERU-kun our HiMERU-kun has never baked a pie before?! Well there’s a first time for everything and I’m really happy we got to make your first pie together! It’ll taste delicious and I’m sure it’ll end up on Cinnamon’s menu this season too. I meant it earlier when I said you were like an apple pie too, HiMERU-kun. You’re a bit tart at first bite but sweeten up very quickly and I’m glad I get to see this side of you~ Oh, the timer went off! Let’s pull it out to cool. We need to let it cool for a few hours before we can try it, so we can go do something else for a bit--

Ah, HiMERU-kun, what was that? I had something on my lips? And you didn’t get it all the first time? Well I won’t say no to another try~ Just make sure you don’t put your hand on the baking tray. 

[neolxzr]

and everybody is so trolled

(8 now)

[meltypinksugar]

i am VERY VERY BEHIND on femstars week but we stay silly...here's rinniki at the beach for day 3's prompt!

[ejnherjar]

Sleepy

[voiceofsword]

big Fan of your art!! if you’re still taking request can you draw beta/initial niki meeting the current niki please?? i want to see your interpretation of what their interactions would be like hehe (you dont have to do it if ur busy btw!! and UGHH love your art<33 thanks!)

just letting you know i will be thinking about possible interactions between them 24/7 from now on because im sick in the head

my apolocheese for making it rinniki but unfortunately they are always on my mind

[unrelatabledude]

Au talk again, I have the feeling the dread encounter in your dunmeshi au is going to be hilarious like HiMERU covering Kohaku and later Rinne trying to "explain" to HiMERU about the birds and bees except HiMERU is a lot older than Rinne himself so he just try to keep a straight face while Niki and Kohaku are busy cooking

HI…. HELLO… FUNNY you should mention this! I was talking to nokire about this stuff anyways and realised i had some stuff i drew that hadn’t been posted yet. this is mostly not that stuff but IS related to the dryads so. have. have this

this is for a later au thing. that i’m maybe too shy to share about right now

kohaku wants to be taken seriously and he hates being babied but that doesn’t stop himeru from spoiling him and the others from babying him

[eveh-koko]

Summer Niki!! ☀️

[akrophobic]

scr!!

[nguyenfinity]

[slams this on the table] HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY

Extra: