Crossposted From Twitter - Tumblr Posts

An old AU/Fic idea!

So, this ask from @wild-selenite-caffine actually reminded me that I haven't posted this yet so here it is: An old post-P5S idea!

tw: stalking, harassment, major character injury, death threats

Also, MAJOR P5S SPOILERS!

The concept is this: What if the secretary that supposedly killed themselves had a relative/family member that basically held a grudge against Zenkichi for participating in the coverup (for the murder of his wife). Basically, blaming him for the hell their family went through.

So, they end up stalking him whenever he's in Tokyo; gathering info, just following him around. Nothing huge at first since they don't exactly know who he is. Then they learn after Konoe and Owada get arrested which made the news. Perhaps there was a press conference that they secretly attended and Kaburagi answers some questions before crediting Zenkichi Hasegawa for his aid in the case. Bingo! That's what they needed! Zenkichi actually notices a figure with a hoodie obscuring their face among the crowd but decides not to stress about them for now, thinking that he was just seeing things. That was when the notes and letters start. Basically threats against him and sometimes just words like, "MURDERER" on them along with, "I HOPE THE PHANTOM THIEVES STEAL YOUR HEART OR WORSE!" "I HOPE YOU DIE LIKE YOUR WIFE DID!" He was bothered, but willing to ignore them at first but the last one? Good god did that rattle him severely. He still tries to keep a level head but the notes become more frequent and even somehow ended up at his own house! In Kyoto! And Akane? She starts to become aware too, especially with how stressed her dad seems lately. That and she snooped a bit out of concern and finds the notes he kept as potential evidence (in his own secret hideout maybe?):

"Dad? Is someone bothering you at all?"

"What do you mean?"

*She shows him what she found*

"Akane... Where did-"

"I'm sorry, I know I should've done that but... I just, I felt like something was wrong and... I don't want things to go back to when mom died..."

"Akane... They're all just petty threats and I'm just saving them for evidence. Probably for a restraining order at best..."

"Then why does it not reassure me in the slightest?"

Turns out, Akane had every right to be concerned. They step up their game a bit. Now there's dangerous packages added to the mix, one of which gets Zen hurt by a bundle of razors at work. Thankfully it was not a serious injury and he dismissed it as a nasty prank from a co-worker. But now it catches Kaburagi's attention as she expresses concern too. He still tries to keep calm though but gives her permission to investigate and maybe some protection if needed. He finally loses it though when Akane nearly gets hurt by a bundle of rusty nails left on his front door and then gets a message from an unknown number saying to check the PhanSite. He does (after being filled in on its purpose by the others and Akane) and pales to see a request made towards HIM. He feels sick as he reads the message attached to it saying that he needs to pay for ruining their life and taking away a loved one.

"What...?! Who in the-?!"

He gets in touch with everyone via video chat and that's when he fully breaks down from all the stress that's been building up.

"Please... Help us! I don't want to end up nearly losing the only family I have left again!"

Futaba gets in touch with Mishima who proceeds to delete the request after she pleads that Zenkichi is genuinely a good person despite everything. This pisses the stalker off and feeling that the PTs "failed" them decides to take "justice" into their own hands. They plan accordingly, keeping an eye on his activities and routine while he, Kaburagi, and the PTs try to figure it all out with Akane growing more worried. Especially when someone has been watching her streams and leaving disturbing comments. Especially about her dad. One day, Zenkichi had to work late and gets a call from Akane, who immediately tells him to come straight home right after work. He notices how anxious she sounds and tries to reassure her again. She just responds that he comes home and that she also wants to talk to him. He's concerned now but agrees and they end the conversation there. It's late and dark out by the time he leaves and while walking to the train station, he hears a noise and starts to ready himself. He hears the noise get louder before turning around and pinning the assailant to the ground, knife sliding away. He questions them, having concluded that this was the person that threatened him and, by extension, his family only to be knocked off of them and a struggle starts as he tries to keep them away from the knife. But sadly, they fought dirty and was able to free themselves. Zenkichi chases them only to feel pain as he looks down to see a knife in his gut. They twist it, causing him to cry out in pain before pulling it out, causing him to fall to the ground. They look down at him, clearly enjoying the high they got from the action and stomps on him. He cries out again and they kneel to his level, almost giggling madly as they express their desire to continue to the torture to make him "suffer like they did." There was more beating and Zen was reminded of his interrogation back in P5S and freezes up, not fighting back. He snaps out of it when they grab him by his hair but before they could do anything worse...

"FREEZE! DROP YOUR WEAPON AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP NOW!!"

They pale and turn to see an angry Kaburagi pointing her gun at them. They panic and run off, dropping the knife in the process. Kaburagi could have chased them, but she had another priority right now. She tries to keep him alive as she calls for help and even tells him to stay awake for Akane's sake. He does survive the encounter but now there's a pissed off group of teens and daughter now...

Also, there would be Phantom Thief!Akane as the whole incident would act as a lead up/catalyst to her awakening to a Persona. Maruki would be involved too (having started dating Zen by then).

Honestly, along with "Gentle Madman," "Throw Away Your Mask" is also a good showcase of Maruki's character and mental state.

It's a good mix of somber and desperation. He's pleading with the group to see his perspective and stay where they won't suffer ever again. He sympathizes with them, he wants to help them and everyone else in the world and it's tragic but also madness and unhealthy. His trauma is left untreated and festering because of circumstances out of his control. He clearly blames himself for what happened to Rumi and is also upset and even angry at the world itself that someone he loved, who was innocent, got hurt so badly. He's breaking.

He's running away, hiding behind his own mask in a twist of irony. The group DOES sympathize with him (well, except Akechi) but they also know that he needs to be stopped for both their and other people's sakes along with his own. He has a high amount of empathy but it's being used against others along with him. But the whole reality is good on paper but ultimately stagnant... Unfeeling. There's no growth, people won't suffer but at what cost? Their individuality is stripped away and they're basically in a gilded cage of what's considered to be "happiness" and Maruki warped himself in feelings of denial that it was ultimately wrong and believing that this is the "right" way. He's slowly losing it and himself.

Ultimately, it is a plea to stop fighting and consider his way and viewpoint... But it's also ironic that he's hiding behind his own mask as a result of running away from the truth and everything else (probably why his actual mask almost resembles a shield in hindsight).

Another Maruki analysis: His literal Mask

I kinda wanted to do an analysis on his literal mask since this was a realization that hit me really. Now I agree that it looks absolutely silly and I wonder what Atlus was thinking with his overall outfit but... I can't help but think of something here...

Now "Masks," both literally and figuratively, play a primary role in P5 in regards to its characters. They hide who they really are because of either pressure to meet societal expectations, fear (Ex: rejection), dealing with various forms of abuse, and of course trauma. Especially as way of coping with said trauma. It is also a thing in Psychology known as, "masking" which is basically the description I just gave. Masking is basically, as an example, someone performing in a way that it is considered, "acceptable." But it can be at the expense of expressing who they really are, hiding their true selves. It's never fun at all as someone who deals with this on occasion and can even hurt the individual deep down. It can even worsen their mental state as well.

I always feel bad for those that had to go through it for one reason or another. But back on topic. When the MCs awaken their Personas, they literally tear their own masks off (with an exception or two). It's framed as painful but then liberating. They feel free and are done with all the bs they had to deal with. Each mask also has a unique design for every Thief and it's all unique to them and even symbolic of either their true selves or even just overall personality.

So, what about Maruki? While it does look ridiculous... As I've mentioned in a previous post, it almost resembles a shield. A large one at that. Now you could argue Makoto's does as well but it's short and is more like a knight. It also reflects her more tough personality. In Maruki's case though... It covers his whole head and top part of his face (minus his eyes 'cause he needs to see somehow). I also mentioned that it's ironic that "Throw Away Your Mask" is basically his thought process and mental state and yet he is hiding behind his own mask.

Now the "shield" thing can be a double meaning: He doesn't want to hurt the Thieves at all and can be considered a pacifist unless pushed and even while fighting he tries to reason with them and mostly uses Azathoth/Adam. But at the same time, it can also be his own mental defenses coming to the surface. He's hiding behind a metaphorical shield and running away from everything. The truth, his true feelings, his trauma, everything. He gives a calm and serene/gentle demeanor ("Gentle Madman") which is genuine but also puts up his defenses. Even when everything around him is falling apart, he refuses to believe that "his way" was ultimately wrong and harmful even when he knows or realizes it.

Then it gets damaged, and Adam is destroyed which is when he starts to fully break. His barrier is falling apart. He starts to show more of how he really feels. He has awareness and is regaining it at the same time and the cracks remain.

Then he fully removes it and later his godhood outfit changes to his white attire albeit torn up, damaged, and dirty. He's completely vulnerable. No barriers... No mask.

He's not hiding anymore, and we see who he really is: A sad, traumatized, and broken man who gave up everything for a dream that was ultimately not gonna help anyone... Not even himself. He wanted to do good so badly but went too far and about nearly lost himself in the process. It was unhealthy and self-destructive... Like the story of Icarus, hubris got the better of him and flew too close to the sun. All because of things that were out of his control and led to him making impulsive and downright harmful decisions. It's being human and understandable. But he still needed to be stopped, otherwise... Things will turn out for the worse for everyone, including him. Now I wonder what other character this can remind people of...?

So, joking and small fandom jab aside, a TL;DR version: Maruki's mask can represent a barrier he put up for himself to hide and run from it all and once it cracks and it's fully taken off, he shows his true feelings, coming to terms with himself and the truth. It's only then he starts to take steps towards healing and starting over on his own two feet. No hiding, no mask, no barrier. Just him and whatever reality will throw at him, and he'll try his damndest to get better and even redeem himself.

So something hit me: Futaba and Haru's "wishes" were to have their dead relatives back from the dead albeit idealized versions of themselves while Sumi's was to CONTINUE BEING her dead relative but an idealized version of them. Holy shit guys... The parallels/foils!

I swear to god my thoughts on Azathoth after playing Royal can consist of:

Me: Azathoth is creepy and sus sometimes!

Also me after playing Royal: Hehe, goofy eldritch squid go brrrr...

I am not kidding here! XD

Very Important!

Ok so I've been noticing that my Sprite Edits have been reposted here and on Twitter (ESPECIALLY Twitter, Tumblr is only once so far thankfully) without my knowledge. To be fair, people probably thought they were official (especially the Kasumi one I made) or randomly found them by chance and it's on me for not thinking to include some form of a signature back then.

But I do that now and will be done in further future edits but I will now include a rule to please, please let me know about this sort of thing and ask permission before trying to use them! Just a small form of credit is fine! If you're not sure, reverse image search is your best friend!

I was fine with it at first but now it's making me uncomfortable so try to abide by this rule please and thank you! I know it seems harsh since some people no doubt probably didn't mean any harm, but I feel like I have to now! Lots of love guys and stay safe ok? Thank you!

Also please don't bother the people that did that, I already messaged them and they were all very nice and sweet about it! Google or just any other site is random sometimes with image searches which can be one of the most common ways they get found accidentally so I don't fault them at all for that. ^_^

So I remembered doing a bit of digging on the possible meanings behind the fox statues that take the forefront of Akane's Jail and found this:

This definitely paints the symbolism in both a heartbreaking and even small heartwarming light due to a convo I had with a Twitter mutual about them.

All of this would make sense considering that the main puzzle is reuniting the Mother and Father Fox statues to open a path. Which can represent how she felt like her family became broken after her mother died. She wanted it all to be fixed so badly. When it was happy.

It helps that the locations/shrines you have to pray to in order to reach the Mother Fox shrine and reunite the statues are labeled: "Couple," "Harmony," "Parental," "Daughter," and "Fortune" respectively.

(I thought that comment from Makoto was interesting to note)

Another thing is that the whole puzzle is also primarily triggered by locating and activating the Father Fox shrine first.

Her Jail in general is just so subtle with the symbolism compared to the other Monarchs but at the same time it can show her isolation and feeling closed-off/not being willing to open up about her trauma. Because to her, no will listen or believe her. So minus well just hide. Despite her apparent anger and hatred towards Zenkichi though, she just wants it all to be ok again deep down. She wants her father back, she wants her mother back, she wanted all the happiness back that was abruptly taken away from her that day.

This is further supported by her Shadow's dialogue as she disappears (how he had changed after Aoi died):

But a summary: Akane's Jail can actually be much deeper when you really think about it as it's more than just her obsession with the PTs. It's also about an angry but traumatized kid who probably wanted her whole family back but probably knows that it just isn't possible so resorted to unhealthy coping mechanisms and lashing out instead along with feeling alone and neglected as a result of her father's absence along with being denied justice for her loss for 2 years.

And that's also part of why her character hits so close to home along with Zenkichi. At least for me.