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privateolives · 6 months

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GRHJGUMERGJMERGAM YOU HAVE SMT OCs??? I wanna know more

I sure do. Long long ago when SMT//Imagine was still novelty me and my roleplaying crew at the time decided to make a roleplay guild called Clan Volatile. Because these fuckers were all ticking time bombs in their own right.

My ticking timebomb of choice was a young man called Dastolle Kobayashi, the resident clan tank and horribly abused workhorse.

So for those of you not in the know, SMT Imagine was an MMO set in the interrim between SMT1 and SMT2. My roleplay group at the time decided to set up an rp guild in the game, exploring the first generations of humans who wouldn't remember the days before the nuclear fallout of SMT1. None of them would survive to make it to SMT2, which was also part of the concept. Having a good ol' look at those people who perished when things started to get ugly again.

He's a sweet guy, if not the smartest... though he's still smarter than people give him credit for. Unfourtunately he's also incredibly traumatised and suffer from intense amounts of anger (secret) that's being kept in check only by his intense fear of abandonment (Apparent to anyone with eyes).

He's unquestionably loyal to his clan. Why? Because he doesn't trust his own judgement on who he can trust or not - and his departed mentor promised him that these people would be his friends.

It... didn't go so well. He's the "best friend" of an incredibly abusive clan leader who's sanity is probably compromised by his demon fusion wings (remember the freaky lore with the demon accessories?) and something of a (rather objectifying) interest to said leader's twin sister.

They're all C-rank demon busters, so only in the about level 20s or so. Real nobodies doing grunt work that noone has time to keep much of an eye on. They can survive, and that's good enough.

He doesn't like books (they're religious items that steal people away) and may or may not be trying to burn a clanmate's bible without him finding out. He's staunchely neutral due to both his parents leaving him for each their faction when he was younger, and mostly uses beast demons. They're nice and simple. His primary demon is a fire-breathing unicorn who likes to mess with people and has a narcisism problem.

He took up smithing as a secondary clan-job. He mostly makes swords for their leader, he likes his hammer.

I also had a cool thing going where I had reaction images drawn both with and without the visor that let ME know when he was being mildly deranged under the cover of the visor, but other people wouldn't tell because they couldn't see his eyes. There was a lot of interesting psychology going on with him.

Dastolle is a docile guy who works hard to try and ensure his "friends" won't abandon him out of an extreme fear of being alone again. It's the only thing keeping an increasingly boiling anger down.... for now. But he's got a dark and bloody future ahead of him.

I can talk more about his story if there's any interest.

#smt imagine #shin megami tensei #imagine #Zeph's oc's #Abuse mention #The abusive leader was actually a really cool character made by a friend and had a lot of themes of fear leading to corruption by power #but not being strong enough to survive the insane conditions of the Shin Megami Tensei universe #I think even in their final confrontation - the strongest the clanmates would ever be - they were only level 50 or so #The main trio (Dastolle - leader - leader's sister) got demon imagery associations reflecting their eventual downfall into madness.#All low level demons. These guys are nobodies noone will remember.#Dastolle was Ippon-Datara #Fated to go mad at being abandoned a second time and turning into a murderous craftsman living alone in a cave #crafting neutral-alignment only weapons until the day his former ''best friend'' kills him #He takes out the guy's prized wings in the process though.#I've also roleplayed as the SMT1 protag since the early 2000s and the regular demon team are sort of oc's in their own right now.#Dastolle's favourite things are related to nature and he likes to take refuge in Nakano when there's nothing to do.#He also accidentally ate a demon apple once and got possessed once #It was kind of a running theme with him that nothing about his situation was ok #But everyone were too busy with basic survival to do anything about it.#So nothing was done before he finally went nuclear.#The whole Clan's story was a psychological tragedy of preventable dooms noone cared to prevent #Doomed by the narrative etc etc #High defence zero brains #Ironically the two people closest to him were the only ones with high enough attack to make anything hurt #The visor belonged tot he demon buster who saved him and also introduced him to his 'friends'#The anger being hidden behind the damaged visor was deeply symbolic about the fear and the promise being the only things hiding it #keeping it locked away

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singular-yike · 7 months

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Yago Ametsukana (Revisited)

My analysis on Yago Ametsukana was the first post I've ever made here, and while I still think it holds up to scrutiny 100%, I've since found a comfortable format in which to write these, so think it'd be nice to revisit and expand on it~!

And so, here's

A Thousand Blades and a Thousand Arms — Yago Ametsukana

Name: Yago Ametsukana

Given Name: Yago

Their given name, Yago (ヤゴ), is the Japanese word for dragonfly larvae, nymphs and naiads.

This is reinforced by its official Chinese rendering as 水蠆, which is also the Japanese kanji for the word and refers explicitly to the same things.

Family/God Name: Ametsukana

Their family name, Ametsukana (天目津金) is modelled after the names of Shinto deities, like those one would find in the Kojiki or Nihon Shoki, thus it takes a bit to analyse.

This name can be sub-divided into 3 parts:

First is "ame" (天目), the pronunciation along can refer to "the heavens", though further dissecting the name reveals that "a" is assigned specifically to 天, which means "heaven(ly)".

This can be deduced from the fact that "me" is a standard reading of 目, which means "eye". Taken as a whole, "ame" here combines to give "heavenly eye".

Secondly is "tsu" (津), the word literally means "harbour", though its often used in Shinto deity names for its pronunciation alone as an attributive particle, in other words, it means "of".

Finally is "kana" (金), which could mean "gold, metal or money", though considering Yago's occupation and domain likely means "metal"

Putting the three parts together, the name probably means something along the lines of "metal of the heavenly eye".

Curiously, this surname actually seems to be moreso Yago's title as a god rather than their name, as we see Yago invite Sukune to "become the next Ametsukana" in BPoHC.

Mythological Inspiration

Like a good chunk of Len'en characters, Yago is based on Japanese mythology, not just one such figure, but three! Let's quickly go over them here:

Shinto Deity: Ame-no-Mahitotsu-no-Kami

Firstly and most majorly, Yag is based on the Shinto god Ame-no-Mahitotsu-no-Kami (天目一箇神 lit. "Heavenly one-eyed god").

Below: The Usuno Hitotsume Shrine (薄野一目神社), one of the places where Mahitotsu is enshrined. (I couldn't find a traditional depiction of him so have this instead.)

Mahitotsu's Domain & Story

He is a god of metalworking and blacksmithing, of metalworkers and miners, mirrored by Yago's own domain of blacksmithing.

A god closely associated with him is Amatsumara (天津麻羅). He appears in the Kojiki, where he helps forge the mirror Yata no Kagami, used to lure the sun goddess Amaterasu out of hiding.

In fact, in the Kogo Shūi (古語拾遺), Mahitotsu is said to in fact have assumed the identity of Amatsumara during those events, and are thus the selfsame entity.

Perhaps this very event is what lead to Yago's contributions being acknowledged and their subsequent promotion to godhood.

The Hyottoko Mask

Also, Mahitotsu is sometimes said to be the origin of an archetypal character known as the Hyottoko (火男 lit. "fire man"), often acting as a comedic character during shrine festivals and other festivities.

Below: A typical hyottoko mask.

We see Yago themself wear the hyottoko mask on their head, as well as wearing the same headscarf a typical hyottoko mask wears over their eyes.

The 5-7 Paulownia Shrine Crest

As a final note, the most common shrine crest for shrines where Mahitotsu is worshipped is the 5-7 paulownia crest (五七桐紋), named so for the number of flowers on each cluster.

A stylised version of this crest is found in Yago's spell card background as well, no doubt a reference to their irl sites of worship.

Below: One of the layers of Yago's spell card background, featuring the stylised crest (most prominent to the left of Yago's head), with the standard version of the crest in the bottom-left corner.

Youkai: Ippon-datara

Yago is also based on the youkai ippon-datara (一本踏鞴 lit. "one-legged bellows"), who is often times said to in fact be the corrupted form of Mahitotsu after he fell from grace.

Below: An ippon-datara talisman, the specialty of Mastumoto Studio (松本工房), said to protect travellers, especially on mountains.

While tales and descriptions related to the ippon-datara vary greatly from region to region, they all generally agree that it is a fearsome being with a single leg, on which an eye as large as a dish sits.

Varieties aside, it's agreed upon that the "datara" in the name refers to tatara-shi (タタラ師), a type of blacksmith that works with Japan's historical tatara furnaces.

Based on this connection, the origins of the ippon-datara's two most consistent traits can be deduced:

It only has one eye as blacksmiths would've constantly kept one eye on the furnace, leading to its deterioration.

It only has one leg, as the other would've gone bad from working the bellows for so long.

This, by the way, would also be the same reason Mahitotsu is the "one-eyed" god of blacksmithing.

These are referenced in Yago's design as well, their left eye covered by a piece of headscarf and left foot modified to accommodate for how it had "gone bad from an occupational disease".

Shinto Deity: Kanayago-no-Kami

Finally, we come to their last basis, the Shinto goddess Kanayago-no-Kami (金屋子神 lit. "child-god of the metal house").

Right off the bat, we already note the inclusion of "yago" in her name, which is already interesting, but there is of course more~.

Below: A hanging scroll depicting Kanayago.

Kanayago is not the most consistent deity, at least in terms of her character details. She is most often said to be female, but is also occasionally cited as male.

She is sometimes said to be the same as Kanayamahiko-no-Kami (金山彦), or Kanayamahime-no-Kami (金山媛), or even Mahitotsu, all gods of mines and metalworking. Yet is other times simply a god that somehow relates to them, without explicitly being them.

What is consistent about her, is that she is a blacksmith, and is specifically a goddess of tatara furnaces, blacksmithing, fire and iron-making. These of course line up with Yago's domain quite well.

Kanayago is perhaps not as notable compared to Mahitotsu or the Ippon-datara, though I'm fairly sure that a connection exists regardless, if only a faint one.

Who knows? Maybe one day this connection will get expanded upon, and I'll get to tell you more about this goddess. (She's a very fascinating figure indeed, but that falls outside of our scope today.)

Sword: Sugari no Ontachi

Yago's goal in life is to one day make a weapon that's a perfect match for themself, but despite being a master at doing this for others, he simply cannot do so for himself.

Until that day finally comes, he instead uses the "Crested Ibis Sword", Sugari no Ontachi (須賀利御太刀).

Curiously, Yago's Sugari no Ontachi is said to be "the counterpart of another sword from the outside [world], and has lost its original owner and purpose".

We, of course, know nothing about its original owner or purpose, though the first part about it being a "counterpart of a sword from the outside" is indeed notable.

Counterpart Candidate #1: The Sugari no Ontachi

One candidate for this counterpart, is indeed, the Sugari no Ontachi itself.

Below: The real Sugari no Ontachi

That's right, the Sugari no Ontachi is not an original invention by JynX, but actually exists in reality.

The sword is one of the sacred treasures of the Ise Grand Shrine's Inner Shrine, in fact one of the most extravagant and important treasure of the shrine.

JynX titles it the "Crested Ibis Sword" (朱鷺剣) in Yago's spell Crested Ibis Sword "Sugari no Ontachi" because the sword is famous for having two crested ibis feathers decorating its hilt.

Below: A close up of the sword's hilt, showing off the pinkish red feathers of the crested ibis tied to it.

Despite the sword's sacred status, the ones you see in the above image is not actually the original sword.

You see the shrine has a tradition of being taken down and rebuilt every 20 years on an adjacent piece of land under the same exact specifications, based on the idea that new objects have greater divine power.

The Sugari no Ontachi is part of this tradition, ritualistically reforged every 20 years to retain its divine might. This would of course mean that the sword we have now is not the original, perhaps the original lies with Yago still?

Notably, the sword contains elements of its design that are anachronistic to when it should've first been forged, indicating that it must've received a redesign during one of these reforgings.

I do not know whether this should just be attributed to JynX not bothering to or not being able to copy the sword's design 1-to-1, but the sword in Yago's hand indeed features a slightly different design to the Sugari no Ontachi of our world, perhaps another point to Yago's being the original.

Counterpart Candidate #2: The Tamamaki no Ontachi

This is the other candidate for an outside world counterpart to Yago's Sugari no Ontachi, the Tamamaki no Ontachi (玉纏御太刀).

Below: The Tamamaki no Ontachi.

As you can see, the two swords are extremely similar in appearance, and are thus often considered a pair. In fact, the Tamamaki no Ontachi is also a sacred treasure of the Ise Grand Shrine's Inner Shrine and is similarly reforged every 20 years.

There's not much more tying the two swords together, but it doesn't take much investigation to see why this could be the counterpart to Yago's sword.

Yago as a God

Finally, I want to devote a small section to Yago's status as a god, as they're one of the few windows into what godhood is like in Mugenri (alongside Souko, of course).

Powers After Becoming a God

We know that Yago (and Souko too) didn't start off as gods, but instead as a "human-like" being (which I theorise to be the race that split into humans and non-humans in the future, like Hoojiro mentions).

Instead, they became gods after their contributions in certain fields got acknowledged, by a group of yet-unknown people, and they got promoted to godhood.

Alongside this, they gained incredible longevity, but is this the only power they gained as a god?

Curiously, Yago seems keenly aware of Suzumi messing with time during the evens of BPoHC, and is even able to hear the voice of Ardey, and deduce that there are two souls inside Suzumi.

It is curious that they are seemingly unable to detect the presence of Benny, perhaps it is simply because they didn't speak during that conversation, or perhaps there is something more here.

Whether this is something inherent to Yago or something that they learnt after becoming a god (personally I lean towards the later), it is still a very interesting tidbit.

Godly Spell Card Backgrounds

Now for a much more lighthearted one, Yago actually shares part of their spell card background with Souko, likely symbolising their equal status as gods.

Below: Yago's spell background (left) with Souko's overlaid on top (right).

Clouds shaped like these have long been a popular motif for wood carvings decorating Japanese Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, and so it's not surprise at all that Yago and Souko, gods themselves, would reference this pattern as well.

Below: A carving of a dragon surrounded by such clouds at the Suga Shrine (須賀神社), Yabu city, Hyōgo prefecture.

Ending

And that, I believe, concludes my revisit to Yago Ametsukana, my favourite Len'en character of them all.

I decided to really lean on the mythology side of things with this analysis, since it's what made me fall in love with Yago in the first place. Though I really enjoy them as a character too! Perhaps I'll write about that some other day~.

In any case, and as usual, I hope you enjoyed~! :)

#len'en #len'en project #len'en lore #yago ametsukana #honestly so glad to have done this #I feel like I really eclipse the original with this one #still gonna keep that one around though #it is my first analysis after all #and no reason to get rid of it when it's not wrong or anything

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