Dr Maruki - Tumblr Posts

So here's a commission I had done by the brilliant @xiewaz of Maruki basically IMMEDIATELY after finishing P5R, it's a really beautiful ode to perhaps my favourite character of all time and you should definitely go check out their other work.

Fun fact! Royal released in the West on my birthday. I T - W A S - M E A N T - T O - B E

"A false god is slowly coming undone, a decaying gentle madman... How long will he continue to maintain his ideal world as it becomes real but he loses himself to self-destruction?"

So... Possessed Mooki anyone??

Also a couple alts w/o the glamour and bg! The tears are black and reminiscent of the mental shutdown symptoms. I also made him seem more thin, sickly, tired, and pale. Like he hasn't been taking care of himself AT ALL.

“Do you finally acknowledge your hubris? Despite your insistence that you’ve changed, you still refused help… You will surely fall to your own demise with charred wings if you keep up this charade… Do you still seek freedom? True salvation? Then I shall help you fly again… I am thou, thou art I… Rise above your torment and take flight once more!”

Was messing around on Befunky's collage maker and did a quick aesthetic board for PT Maruki (with a Persona based on Icarus) to compliment my Odile Sumi.

So here are some quick Aesthetic Boards I did based on an idea that hit me, Monarch Maruki and Sumire (more context further down below):

Monarch!Sumi Aesthetic Board with a fairytale/Swan Lake theme: "Shattered Princess KaSumire"

Monarch!Maruki: "Sorrowful Savior Takuto"

This was an idea that hit me while chatting on Discord: So basically, if you don't complete Maruki's Confidant you'll be barred from the 3rd Semester and get the Vanilla ending instead right? Wellll... Considering all that, this means that he and Sumi will be left to their own devices... As in their own problems won't be solved. Sumi would more or less remain in her Kasumi delusion until the filter potentially wears off and Maruki disappears to god knows where.

The unwitting inaction from Joker would then have MAJOR consequences in Strikers since that game can take place after either timeline... Either one or the other or even both fall prey to EMMA and become Monarchs themselves:

Maruki is self-explanatory as his desire to help people consumes him and kickstarts his self-destruction, warping his cognition and wanting to spread the Jail's influence further. People who have their desires stolen would just be mindlessly happy and "cured" of trauma or hardships (big or small). Much like canon, he thinks he's "helping" them. Maruki's "crown" would be a gold crown of thorns (biblical influence anyone?), representing his savior/martyr complex and how much he's really hurting. Removing it represents him renouncing his "godhood" and taking steps to move on and heal himself.

Sumi's is more or less revolving around herself and desperation to keep up the Kasumi filter/charade. Her own delusion and self-hatred festering. It's basically her living an ideal fairytale and not wanting to leave it. Anyone who got their desires stolen would join the Kasumi delusion. Basically, they all would view her as her dead sister and address her as such. Her "crown" would be her sister's red ribbon that her Shadow wears and then removes, symbolizing her finally letting go and developing her own identity and independence.

Idk, I just feel like with all horrifying implications that the now optional Vanilla ending are giving out... I feel like they would be easy prey to EMMA. Especially at their most vulnerable states. They both have the blueprints for having a Jail; Just need a design, layout, cores, trauma cells, etc.

tw: blood and injury

Decided to kind of sort of redo my crying Maruki sprite edit to compliment my Berserk Sumi edit there. This time with a neck injury based on the scar HC! Enjoy!

"Why... Why Rumi!?"

A screencap edit bonus!

I can't help but feel like not enough people talk about Maruki having a canon spiteful side despite his usual kind demeanor.

Like the man talked in detail about how he learned that his ex-professor worked for Shido and was part of the reason his research was stolen like something was gonna happen and then just goes, "Oh, I'm still here out of spite, nothing else! :)"

Like god damn! Bro was unexpectedly snarky but I loved it! We need a bit more of this there! Gimme more of this content and discussions! Just... Sir... SIR! O/////O

It's funny when Maruki haters think he should have turned himself in after the events of his palace as if Ichinose doing such in Strikers didn't show how useless that would have been. The fact that Maruki loses his life's work and gets reduced to a minimum wage level worker for a taxi company should be punishment enough for his overbearing and unethical attempt at world peace. If Maruki was a cute girl like Takemi or Makoto no one would be acting like he's Satan incarnate regardless of how questionable his motives are. Akechi only gets a pass cause he has twink and pretty privilege despite being far more dangerous and murderous towards the thieves than Maruki was. Akechi and Ichinose only ever saw the thieves as obstacles in need of removal while Maruki warred with his desire for a perfect world and is disdain at the idea of having to fight the thieves while grappling with mental health and trauma in a country that gives little to no fucks about adult mental health and even less about the children he was trying to help.

Ok I need to get this ramble off my chest before I forget: I feel like people completely misunderstand Sumi's motivation and breaking point for her first/false awakening. Why? Well let's dive in!

I've seen people complain about it and how seems like it's all about losing her scholarship but dialogue after that awakening actually painted a different picture. I can see WHY it seemed that way but then this part happened:

She WAS upset about it but even she admitted that the school wasn't exactly wrong in this (As assholish as the VP was, he wasn't entirely wrong either sadly).

Instead, contrary to popular belief, she was more upset that she caused trouble for and dragged Maruki into this mess to begin with.

Not only that but she overheard the vice principal basically insulting her behind her back:

Now keep in mind he had a point and didn't know she was in earshot but still it was completely out of line for him to even say that, about a student who already lost her twin not too long ago no less.

On top of that not only did she feel horrible for Maruki but she also horrible for even Joker getting dragged into her mess...

She felt useless and a huge burden to everyone. A failure... Even to her deceased twin sister. Now regardless of which sister died, it had to be a massive blow to her mentally. Especially when you consider that Shujin might have aware of who she really is but still said all those things and did all this to her... Now with Sumi's overall mental state combined with the filter occasionally slipping... Little wonder she finally snapped during that awakening. It's even showcased after it too:

So while the dialogue leading up to her awakening can seem like it's all about the scholarship and losing her special treatment, it really wasn't. She really didn't care about the treatment at all as she had said previously, it's just that she feels that she's hurting and letting people like Maruki, Joker, and her sister down.

Hell, even this dialogue is less about the scholarship too! It's mostly about she's been treated and how much the school is pressuring her and how it's effecting her loved ones and it's valid! Fuck Shujin!

Now the only downside is that she's awakening as a fake, a fraud, not Sumire Yoshizawa but Kasumi Yoshizawa and that was the biggest thing she was missing hence Cendrillon's words during that one:

"So adamant... Rather than accept a life in cinders... You'd strive towards splendor-- you know the risk... Well, if those really are the shoes you've chosen... Then we'll dance to the end. Iam thou, thou art I... Accept this contract... The spell cast upon you."

Regardless though, to boot: She wasn't actually being "whiny," she was just being empathetic and felt worse about herself and this was when she was being Kasumi! It later perfectly ties into her dynamic with Maruki and why she felt empathy towards him after regaining her true self as Sumire!

She had been in his shoes and understands! She's a strong girl! She had FUCKING EMPATHY!! And that's even when she was being someone else. Her awakening as Kasumi wasn't about a dumb scholarship, it was more about her feeling like she's a burden and letting people down... Especially those she cares about like her sister, Dr. Maruki, and Joker to name examples!

If nobody draws Hasemaru, I’ll do it myself… old men yaoi 🤭😧🌸💗💕😨🙏💥

I’m obsessed with these tragic gay man

Redesigned Maruki’s metaverse outfit so he would fit the phantom thieves vibe. It’s like an au, where Maruki became a second adult phantom thief with Zenkichi.

(Basically I just fused his palace and metaverse looks lol)

Blame @dancingpurge for this idea... Started out as just Mooki but then added Sumi!! Perfect for any bad takes out there!! Just sell your soul for 62 cents (if you get the reference, I love you!) and they're yours!

Joking aside, go wild with them! Also, original meme!

So do you ever reach the sad realization that the possible reason Maruki doesn't have stubble in his Palace is because all of his primary trauma and hardships along with his vow to Azathoth and Rumi started back when he was a college student (when he didn't have any) so that along with the white outfit resembling a mixture of a priest and a lab researcher is a visual representation of him continuing to cling onto the past by looking younger as well as any remaining innocence he had? And then when he starts to look more filthy and unkempt in the final phase, he looks more like his present self a bit which can represent him being exposed to the harsh reality and how much he's hurting both himself and unwittingly others? Well I just did...

The 3rd semester in Persona 5 Royal completely blew me away with all those story twists and revelations. As a little tribute to that awesome new part of the story, I made a wallpaper with Kasumi Yoshizawa and Takuto Maruki. Two great new character additions for Persona 5. ;)

Didn’t really have anything to post this week so I’ll post the full Maruki pic as some people requested :)

Ok so I was thinking about Maruki getting a new Persona and thanks to research, it is technically possible to have a Persona that can shift between Navi and Combat thanks to Rise's Persona in P4AU:

...Wait a second... Idea forming... What if Maruki can have that ability too?

Ohhh! I just realized something:

Perhaps kinda like Rise, he would use a visor to scan but can then shift to fight mode when needed since he isn't bad combat wise and has some Metaverse knowledge. Perhaps limitations can be applied too for balance. Navi Mode Maruki would also be able to use "Guiding Tendril" (the ability his Will Seed gives) along with some actualization abilities (namely ailments?)! Of course, the ability would have the limitation of being usable for ambush still. Keeps him from being too op.

It would definitely be good symbolism for his pacifism but also fiercely protective. A fighter but also wanting to provide support as well!

Oh yes! You're right!!! I like that! I like that!!!

Ok so I was thinking about Maruki getting a new Persona and thanks to research, it is technically possible to have a Persona that can shift between Navi and Combat thanks to Rise's Persona in P4AU:

...Wait a second... Idea forming... What if Maruki can have that ability too?

Ohhh! I just realized something:

Perhaps kinda like Rise, he would use a visor to scan but can then shift to fight mode when needed since he isn't bad combat wise and has some Metaverse knowledge. Perhaps limitations can be applied too for balance. Navi Mode Maruki would also be able to use "Guiding Tendril" (the ability his Will Seed gives) along with some actualization abilities (namely ailments?)! Of course, the ability would have the limitation of being usable for ambush still. Keeps him from being too op.

It would definitely be good symbolism for his pacifism but also fiercely protective. A fighter but also wanting to provide support as well!

Y'know, thanks to chatting with @celestialily in the replies, why not? I can work around this! I'm still thinking about Icarus' design so giving him a combat and Navi mode shouldn't hurt much! Just some fine tuning in Maruki's PT design as well!

Ok so I was thinking about Maruki getting a new Persona and thanks to research, it is technically possible to have a Persona that can shift between Navi and Combat thanks to Rise's Persona in P4AU:

...Wait a second... Idea forming... What if Maruki can have that ability too?

Ohhh! I just realized something:

Perhaps kinda like Rise, he would use a visor to scan but can then shift to fight mode when needed since he isn't bad combat wise and has some Metaverse knowledge. Perhaps limitations can be applied too for balance. Navi Mode Maruki would also be able to use "Guiding Tendril" (the ability his Will Seed gives) along with some actualization abilities (namely ailments?)! Of course, the ability would have the limitation of being usable for ambush still. Keeps him from being too op.

It would definitely be good symbolism for his pacifism but also fiercely protective. A fighter but also wanting to provide support as well!

Ok so for those that have seen this tag:

Ermmm... My hand slipped...

"Your eyes are as bright and honest as ever..."

This part of "Transformers: The Covenant of Primus" gets me every. Damn! Time!

Optimus... Just realizing that he isn't alone... And feeling despair over Bumblebee being (temporarily) killed... Break my heart why don't you?? 💔😭

Like no, honey... You were never alone! They all love and care about you damn it!

Back to fiddling with touch-ups since P5X's Sprites are super helpful with fine-tuning!

I swear to god the more I think about how Sumi's toxic/negative thoughts and behavior along with the filter's red flags were not only fully ignored but even outright ENABLED and sometimes mocked by the people around her the more horrified I feel guys. Again, fuck Shujin Academy. Not only that but her whole experience at Shujin just felt so... Isolating. It doesn't excuse it and she needed to grow out of it but it's definitely little to no wonder she primarily clung onto and became dependent on Maruki and Joker for a while.

Like her peers, Shujin faculty, hell even well intentioned ones like Maruki and even her father just kept enabling and putting on temporary bandaids thinking that what's currently happening to her and their ideas to help her were gonna benefit her in the long run when they just... Unwittingly make it worse. It's primarily when Joker steps in to tell her to STOP with the delusions and unhealthy behavior that she finally starts to show actual improvement and snap out of it. Same with her coach who had been trying to tell her to stop from the beginning.

Like don't get me wrong, Maruki and her father aren't horrible and DO care about her compared to Shujin but they kinda still unwittingly contributed to her problems by allowing her to live a lie as Kasumi. But on the other end of the spectrum, there's the added nuance that she did feel like the filter did help her (she was suicidal for Pete's sake) but also felt that she didn't need it anymore because it's ultimately not healthy and just a bandaid solution.

That and she acknowledged and admitted her own faults in the situation saying that she wasn't any better. Actually the more I think about it, the more I realize that one of the mental hangups she's dealing with is being so caught up in her own problems that she doesn't see the bigger picture of things (Kasumi not being this perfect person, Maruki's suffering despite his kindness and smiles, etc.). She even mentions it in a safe room dialogue and can even be shown in the flashback of Kasumi's death. It just kinda adds more to her selfishness even when her feelings are understandable and Kasumi's behavior and methods of helping can definitely come off as condescending to anyone. It just reached MASSIVELY unhealthy levels along with people around her enabling the toxic behaviors (Maruki included).

I guess a tl;dr is that she IS an interesting critique on Japan's fucked up mental health system and stigmas along with Maruki and I feel like people should talk about this more because it's so interesting to dissect.