always
fandom: persona 5
pairing: shuake
a/n: written for @ensquare-events's good enough #2: issue of skill zine. please check out the zine!! there are some zine-exclusive works of mine you can only find there :]
summary: shuake in AUs of media i've been interested in throughout the years.
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goro [...] leans against the staircase railing with a leg deliberately crossed over the other. the neon purple and blue lights illuminate the wear and tear of his easter bunny costume, his red bow skewed and the stitching loose around his knees. what should be a handy dandy flashlight goro taps innocently against his shoulder is instead a large butcher knife plucked straight from the kitchens that yusukitsune, akicat’s bugged out buddy, is no doubt roaming.
akicat doesn’t flinch, and that’s not just because he’s being brave for shinya, who snuck into and is now stuck in the pizzaplex until the doors open in the morning. as an animatronic, akicat isn’t programmed to feel fear, not like humans do. yet he is programmed to worry, and that’s something he feels too easily—for shinya, who akicat has tucked safely into the snug enclosure of his chest cavity, and for goro, who doesn’t seem to be all himself right now.
duplexity
fandom: persona 5
pairing: shuake
summary: A collection of seven duplex poems about Akechi Goro, Kurusu Akira, and their inevitable deaths, created with lines from past Shuake fanfiction I've written.
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death is inevitable, akira—
ghost of yongen-jaya and goro’s nightmares
ao3 told me i had too many characters in my end note, but i didn't want to cut anything, so here is the full author's note for my fic!
i want to take some time to explain each AU, though admittedly not a lot of it was thought through (which is sorta the point for the zine anyway):
🐰 fnaf security breach | there are four glamrock animatronics currently in service at the pizza plex: glamrock akicat (akira), glamrock mako-bear (makoto; also i didn’t have the energy to put her in sorry), glamrock yusukitsune (yusuke), and glamrock another (ann). if we want a bonnie equivalent, there’s glamrock harubun, but if you know anything abt fnaf security breach, you know what happens. shinya made sense to be a gregory equivalent since they’re both little shits lol. the visual of goro being vanessa/vanny really intrigued me since vanny feels like a typical slasher film villain, which we could parallel to the jagged sharpness of bm!goro.
🏒 heated rivalry | in this au, goro was born in japan and is only in the west for hockey while akira, who is still japanese like in canon, was born and raised in canada. is this detail important to the au? no, but i wanted to communicate the goro → ilya rozanov and akira → shane hollander comparisons. originally was thinking to have ann as rose landry, but since i already used her for the fnaf au, i chose sumi, who you could see as a celebrity gymnast and, yes, akira’s beard. i had to google if curried tuna melts are a thing (they are), though i can’t imagine goro “unable to filet a fish” akechi able to actually make those sandwiches lmao. i also chose the weeknd’s “the hills” since it was a popular song that would’ve been playing during the year the canonical club scene takes place in hr, and it’s only recently i found that the song was about a sexual affair, which accidentally gives the whole moment here more nuance than i planned.
👑 voltron | do you know how annoyed i was that lotor and keith barely interacted despite the similarities in both of them lkfdlkfhdkl… og, makoto was supposed to be the allura equivalent, but there’s nothing altean sounding about makoto’s name, so i made lavenza be the princess, which i feel like fits better since she is more ethereal. not shown are the other paladins: futaba (green), ryuji (yellow), souji (black), and yusuke (past blue). no, i did not think about how each character would map well to the actual canonical character, except futaba-pidge. shido would obviously be zarkon, and goro’s generals would be sumi (who gets compromised and killed), ann, makoto, and haru. i feel like it makes sense for goro and akira to be both half galra yet on different sides.
🤖 detroit become human | akira is markus (though is a common unit that sojiro used around the cafe) and goro is connor (and only few prototypes of him exist). there is something absolutely hilarious about morgana (yes, as a cat than a human) being a jericho leader, and i partly did that bc i needed pt members with tension between each other and ryuji-morgana just fit, but also the image delights me. akira is ak500 to gesture to the 5 in p5. and goro is ak600 because may 6th used to be the p5 fandom’s goro day before we knew his birthday. ak is also chosen because of the “ak-” in akira and akechi. a sig sauer p230 is the actual gun goro has. out of all of the aus present in this, dbh is probably the one i have the most developed, though this dbh au is different from my og one since that incorporated p3 & p4, not just p5. i always like this au in parallel w/ the fnaf one since they’re all robots
🌳 sonic the hedgehog | shuake. sonadow. do i even need to explain
🎵 idolish7 and other idol/band stuff | okay, this one, i have to explain. goro is definitely a tenn and gaku fusion, but akira, even though he’s the center like riku, is pretty far from being riku at all. akira is more in ryunosuke’s position, occupying this discomfort and awkwardness of how the public perceives him versus who he really is. and if this au was to actually be fleshed out, a lot of rewriting would have to be done where it might not share as much of the dna of idolish7 and instead take from idol/band stuff like bandori and enstars (i.e. “THAT MUSICAL ACT IS MY RIVAL!!” type of stuff). i DO know that akira’s group would be called WILDC4RD, composed of him, minato, and souji. and goro would be a menace
⚔️ sword art online | sorry, i’m still somewhat haunted by seeing kirito in akira’s pt costume. anyway, all i have is “if kazuto is kirito…. is akira akito” (prsk wants to have a word)
as far as other things—
🐰 the playlist was very hectic. i listened to “all the things she said” by t.A.T.u., several songs by the weeknd to see if they would even work as club songs, “FAKER” by thai mcgrath, and also my friend singing that one fortnite song in my ear while on a discord call
🏒 if you want to take it in a meta sense, everything listed here in the fic are all things i enjoyed, whether in the past or the present. but persona 5 is always persevering and something i come back to. goro, when you ask if i still want persona 5, the answer is yes.
👑 other fandom AUs i thought about doing but didn’t include the quarry, princess tutu, and deltarune
now, if you somehow got this far but haven't read the fic, here is a link for your reading pleasure. thank you for reading!
exchange
fandom: persona 5: the phantom x
a/n: written for @ensquare-events's spring festival 2026 zine. please check it out!
summary: Having (politely) rejected her neighbor’s invitation to celebrate Chinese New Year with her this morning, Yukimi isn’t expecting Yaoling to later check up on her when night falls. Yukimi, to her misfortune, struggles to adapt to the occasion.
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Yaoling-san’s questions crackle over the receiver. “How was your day? Did your plans with your mom go alright?”
That’s right; Yukimi did briefly tell her as such. It had been a tireless morning and afternoon, helping her mother with paperwork for her business. “I’m preparing you for your future,” her mother always assured her, and, in response, Yukimi would carry out whatever duty she needed to complete. Nodding when spoken to. Organizing documents by the dates, then by importance of client satisfaction. Playing the role of the perfect daughter with the natural grace of slipping on a pair of geta sandals.
All things that aren’t Yaoling-san’s concerns. Her grip on her phone tightens slightly. “It went well.”
make the wanting worse
fandom: persona 5, our life: beginning and always
pairing: akira kurusu/cove holden (shucove)
summary: It was summer when Akira first met Cove. It's winter when Akira first sees him. (An AU in which Akira, the main character of Persona 5, is the protagonist of Our Life.)
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Akira feels like an outsider as he watches on. Clueless to any onlookers, Cove waits by the crashing waves, the water climbing onto the sand before falling short of completely soaking his shoes. When Akira takes a few steps closer (but not enough where it seems like he’d actually want to initiate conversation), he notices that Cove’s practically in the same clothes as he was in at school, just with an added, insulated jacket Mr. Holden likely forced on him. The dark turtleneck poking out of his hood evokes distant summer memories—of Cove, in a slick, black wetsuit passing by Akira's house without sparing a glance, hauling a surfboard close to his side.
He’s going to swim, is the stray thought that bubbles up in his mind, but Akira knows that Cove isn’t that crazy. People closer to him would provide much better insight, though.
reality on replay
fandom: persona 5: the phantom x
a/n: written for @ensquare-events's good enough zine. please check it out!
summary: A concrete poem about Nagisa not quite knowing the reality, including the Phantom Idols, before him. But perhaps something in his subconscious does.
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his vision, daydream—or something else familiar, frayed at the fringes, kaleidoscopic crystallizing of this world or that.
you're more than enough of a reward
fandom: persona 5: the phantom x
pairing: wonmon (wonder/mont)
summary: Nagisa and Kotone help each other out before they attend The Game Awards, much to the other's embarrassment.
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Tonight is something special. Since 2014, The Game Awards is hosted to much fanfare (and consequently, criticism), seats filled up by game developers, music composers, voice actors, and more while millions of people watch from the comforts of their own home, fingers crossed that their favorite video game will take it home or a franchise that has long since been abandoned will finally receive another, hopefully microtransaction-free installment. It just so happens that this year, Persona 5: The Phantom X is nominated for “Best Mobile Game,” and Nagisa knows Atlus is vying for a win, especially after Metaphor: ReFantazio brought home three titles under its belt the year prior.
But Montagne is something special, too.
a friend to face your fears with
fandom: super smash bros. ultimate, kingdom hearts, botw
a/n: written for @ysdn <3
summary: On a sleepless night like any, Sora finds a familiar swordsmen in a similar predicament. They talk.
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“Oh, hey there! You can’t sleep, too?” Sora says as he climbs up the tiled roof of the Smash House, careful not to slip. A yawn kisses his words, but slumber doesn’t come for him. Tonight marks his second night since he’s been sneaking up here when everyone is snoozing away, recovering their strength for the upcoming matches.
Everyone except him and, in a turn of events, Link, the latter’s pointed ears raised in what’s probably surprise. Link nods, then signs slow enough that Sora can grasp the movements: I didn’t know anyone else came here.
I feel
fandom: i raised a black dragon
summary: A free verse poem about the sensations Eleonora feels and the threats she promises to keep.
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The magic in my fingertips—
the mana under my nailbeds—
the means to any end—
all of it, gone
We can officially announce that the final donations for this project have been made! As per the vote of our contributors, 50% of our profits were donated to NCADV and 50% to PCRF. 🖤
Here you can find our proof of donation:
As a final message, we wish to yet again thank our awesome contributors. This project wouldn't have been possible without all of you!
stranger
fandom: persona 5
a/n: my piece for @persona5foodzine! pls check out the delicious art by contributors as well <3
summary: Two weeks after Akira returns to Inaba, he and his mother share a meal together. Sometimes, his mother thinks, it's like he's not sitting in front of her at all.
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There he goes again, just as I expected. The same old, tiresome pattern of looking downcast, words threatening to spill from his mouth like that time he petulantly sucked on a lemon, childlike insistence that because it’s a fruit, of course it’d be sweet. Of course, Akira regretted it; he’d refuse to whine, swallowing all of his ews and yucks, when he discovered his mistake with the gravity that only a child could ever experience. I had placed an orange-flavored candy from my purse into the warmth of his palm, enclosing his hand with my own, the memory of laughter kissing my lips. I know my son.
The Nuisletter, a free zine featuring multifandom nui pictures, art, and writing, is out now! Thanks for your patience, and thanks to all of our contributors for making this possible—already looking forward to the next issue of these little guys <3
nuiborn
fandom: persona 3
beta reader: @jubilantwriter
a/n: this is an au based on toy story where nui dolls are sentient.
summary: Neither human or robot, Aigis contemplates the state of her soft, plush existence, then acts accordingly.
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[Aigis] rubs her hands again—nubs, as others call them due to their lack of fingers—and hears the friction of nylon against nylon. Static electricity fizzles at her experiment. Applying more force, Aigis detects the cotton within her squishing at the pressure, no metal peeking out from her fabric. In this form, any signs of titanium, plastic, or her Papillon Heart—her emotional engine—are absent.
She is, as Owner-san describes, a nuigurumi. Nui, for short.
ψεύτης
fandom: persona 3
a/n: written for @jeaniechibi's prompt "minato and minako arisato (the male and female p3 protagonists) practicing the lyre together. they're having fun switching from classical pieces to playing their favorite modern song" for @personaforgaza!
summary: In principle, Minako understands that when someone is dead (or more specifically, sacrifices themselves to seal Nyx in order to save the world), that soul has the entirety of eternity on their hands. It's the perfect time to fiddle around with hobbies untouched in her lifetime, like playing the lyre—and getting in practice with an alternate version of herself doesn't hurt, too.
But sometimes, as Minako discovers, learning something new can bring about old, bad habits.
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“You’re practicing again?”
Minako stops, bringing her lyre harp (heart-shaped and pearly white, just like her Orpheus’s) to her lap. Turning around, she welcomes the source of the voice with a reflexive smile. Arisato Minato ambles towards her with seeming disinterest, hands shoved in his pockets, side bangs swept over his left eye. He’s in no hurry. Time flows weirdly in the Sea of Souls, but he takes it in stride.
your nui favorite
fandom: ensemble stars
beta reader: @sirmeepy
a/n: this is an au based on toy story where nui dolls are sentient. written for the @ficwip5k!
summary: Izumi overhears a conversation regarding who exactly is the favorite nui in the household. Whatever the answer, he knows that it isn't him.
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Kozume’s voice pitches lower. “Whoever is Owner’s favorite, it’s probably from something where they’ve gotten all of the nuis. Odds are that…”
Izumi’s displeasure finally reaches its crescendo, blocking out his surroundings and crystalizing every sound into static. Whatever is Kozume’s supposedly helpful deduction, he tunes it out. It’s not like it applies to him, after all.
Not when he’s the only Ensemble Stars! character in this house.
