#about megaten

[sl33py-g4m3r]

thinking about it; the megaten games are almost always in Tokyo or Japan itself.

One was in or in a place similar to India with demons of Hindu myth and legend (tho I forgot what game that was......... Soul Hackers 2?? I could be very incorrect here I'll admit... I could always be incorrect.)

edited to add: I'm dumb i think, it was Digital Devil Saga i think..... Not Soul Hackers 2..... now i feel stupid......

another set of games took place in the arctic....

Makes me wonder what about other countries if that apocalypse was going on? Like if it was worldwide instead of local. Or how would the world population get together demon summoners to save everything?

If that's happened already, please forgive my ignorance.

Just thinking of whether each region would have their own spread of demons from their own local myths and legends; or would they just be everywhere regardless of regional myth?

Like in America; having a bunch of demons from the many Native American folklore.... Or the middle east being home to demons and mythical beings from Islamic tales, I'm sure you get my point.

and this may very well be the case.

would the summoners from different regions get along or see each other as enemies?

would the law/neutral/chaos alignments work the same way? surely they would honestly.

Are there different ministers in the cathedral of shadows for each region? Or is it solely The Minister?

Just musings about MegaTen over coffee~~~

[laurencin-draws]

surprise argilla

[doodlesdreaming]

Whatever happens, we face it together!

[thishappenedinsmt]

[abgemeldet]

'sometimes being roughly is a good thing.'

(maybe it's really not that dramatic what I think to be, I've uploaded it now...bye. love you 👋❤)

[dailydemonspotlight]

To govern the sea... A primordial goddess... Faster than humans can fill the land… Faster than the humans can destroy the planet... the MOTHER OF CHAOS...

TIAMAT - Day 150

Race: Drake Alignment: Dark-Chaos January 1st, 2025 This DDS will contain spoilers for SMT V: Vengeance! Don't read and scroll past if you wanna avoid them!

Good lord, was this a long time coming. Sorry about the constant teases, I've been going through some life stuff, but we've resolved it just in time for today's analysis, and one that I can't wait to dig into. I just got to the Tiamat portions of SMT V: Vengeance, and they've hooked me like nothing else in this series so far, but even before that I was always drawn to Tiamat for a variety of reasons (and no it wasn't the tits); she held a prominence and power throughout the series much like another, incredibly powerful and important demon, Masakado, and it always caught my interest. Tiamat has played a role in many of the games she has appeared in, whether it be a major boss in Strange Journey or, well, the final fucking boss in SMT V: Vengeance. Even in the games where she doesn't appear in the story, eg SMT IV, she still appears as an incredibly powerful and noteworthy demon, and that's always caught my ire.

However, once you begin to look at what Tiamat is, it begins to make sense- in ancient Mesopotamian myth, while elusive to much of cuneiform literature, she plays an incredibly important (and terrifying) role in being the embodiment of the primordial sea and chaos itself, particularly in the form of the chaos of creation. There's a lot of Mesopotamian lore surrounding Tiamat and her being that I can't quite get into here due to us possibly being here all day with it, but I'll give the best rundown I can. Special thanks to @yamayuandadu for providing me an incredibly good source for this DDS- they do amazing work.

Tiamat is described in Lugal-e 334, first pictured as the whipping oceans that arrive after the defeat of Asakku, though not directly stated. She appears as the ocean itself, representing the sea in all of its power and terror- the primordial birthplace of all life, not just in history but also in Mesopotamian mythology as far as I'm aware. An Akkadian fragment (Sm 1875) describes the sea as a being itself, one who battles with Ninurta, the god of farming in Mesopotamian mythology. Unfortunately, the passage is fragmentary, so all we can really glean is that Ninurta fought sea monsters and that the sea itself was sentient, likely being Tiamat. However, our first concrete reference to Tiamat is in the epic Enūma Eliš, which describes Tiamat and her battle with another major deity, being Marduk. The tale describes Tiamat, the sea itself, representing the salty and bitter waters of the sea, alongside another being- Apsu, the deity representing fresh, sweet water. The two immediately got to mingling upon establishing themselves, giving birth to several beings known as the younger gods.

However, there was a problem that plagued Tiamat, one that plagues many other married couples as well, and that was that the younger gods were too loud, keeping Apsu up all night. Deciding that enough was enough, Apsu devised a plan with the help of his vizier to kill his own children, causing Tiamat to warn her youngest son, Enki, the younger god of water. This, however, led Enki to attack and kill Apsu, using his remains as his new home, enraging Tiamat. I mean, I can't really blame her- if you told your kid that your husband was going to kill them, and they killed him instead, you'd probably be furious too. This eventually lead to a war breaking out between the gods and Tiamat, though, who found themselves overwhelmed and ultimately defeated by her. That is, until the god Marduk rallied them all, and finally got the upper hand in the battle, striking down Tiamat and tearing her in two, from which he'd use her body to form the Euphrates river and Tigris river.

Ultimately, though, Tiamat's role was palpable- she was the primordial sea, the chaos of the world before it eventually was situated. The victory over Tiamat was celebrated in the new year festivals of ancient Mesopotamia, celebrating Marduk's accomplishments, tying a neat little bow as to why I waited this long for this analysis. With all of that, though, it's easy to see why Tiamat was selected as such a major and powerful figure in the SMT series; she served, in her time alive, as the embodiment of chaos itself, the primordial seas lashing out against the younger gods and their attempts of establishing order. There's a lot more to Tiamat, and I'd recommend doing your own research- much of her history is hidden in fragmentary passages, but what we can piece together is utterly fascinating.

Much of her ancient portrayals were similar to that of sea serpents, likely derived from the waves themselves, tying well into her design in SMT. I rather like how her design in Strange Journey takes less from her more 'dragon-y' aspects and more from her role as the goddess of the ocean, her body made and formed from water and her role as the mother of the young gods shown in the absurd amount of boobs she has. This isn't to say her other designs are bad, though- her design in SMT II is a fun take on her concept that plays more into her traditionally dragon adjacent design, while her design in SMT V is utterly terrifying, a towering drake with lashing heads of several other creatures, also playing into many more pop-cultural ideas about Tiamat, likely derived from depictions of her having the multiple heads of multiple animals. Overall, though, the primordial chaos Tiamat represents is a fascinating aspect of Mesopotamian mythology, and she, herself, serves as an incredibly interesting being.

[still-breathing-au-p3r]

[Previous post for October 30th] [First post for October 30th]

He finally manages to hunt down the error Kirijo had pointed out and wrangle the equation into submission. Which means he can– for now at least– put math behind him, where it belongs.

He pushes the worksheets towards Kirijo and rolls out his wrists and shoulders while she shuffles them into order and tucks them neatly away. She immediately produces a new stack of paper, flourishing a little like she’s doing some kind of magic trick. And hell, maybe she is– he’s got no idea how she never seems to run out of fresh work to throw at him.

Shinjiro can only sigh in defeat. He did ask for this, after all.

Okay, so not nearly as bad as it could be. That might explain her little burst of showmanship, actually, if she’s presenting him with something that might have a chance to be interesting.

He’s joking, mostly, but Kirijo sighs with real disappointment.

He takes the packet from her and starts to read– it’s mostly about the political pissing contests of various Roman emperors. Not as exciting as he’d hoped; he’s always been interested in what regular people were up to more than anyone who lived in a palace, but he’ll definitely still take it over math. 

As he gets to work, Shinjiro finds himself dwelling on how nice it is, having their verbal fencing matches again. 

Back when S.E.E.S had been brand new, he’d found it incredibly annoying how Kirijo always seemed to have a prim and witty response to anything he might say. He'd thought at first that she just couldn’t stand for anyone else to get the last word, then that she couldn’t stand to let him, specifically, have it. 

It had taken him an embarrassingly long amount of time to clue in to the fact that that was just how she played. Sure, he and Aki bickered for fun more than a little often, but usually as more of a lead-up to a good, hands-on scrap. For Kirijo, though, trading banter back and forth was the whole entire game.

Once he’d figured out that he was supposed to play along, chasing after the upper hand in a conversation became fun instead of frustrating. Knowing that it was always a toss-up whether his teasing would get deftly parried or if he could manage to land the hit and fluster her enough to disrupt her pristine image– it was all part of the game to him. 

He’d tried not to let himself settle into that rhythm again when he’d come back to the dorms, and he’d done an even worse job of it than he had of avoiding his other old habits. Kirijo’s just too good at pushing his buttons, just like Aki. 

But now– Now that he doesn’t feel the need to keep himself at arm’s length anymore, falling right back into step is the easiest damn thing in the world. He doesn’t even need to think about it.

It feels good to have this back. Living his life, whatever’s left of it, means building connections and rebuilding the ones he had purposefully bulldozed before. He’s lucky Kirijo is even giving him a second chance at friendship at all, so he’s not about to waste it. 

There’s absolutely no way he’ll ever say that out loud, though. Especially not to her. 

“Given you’re reading about Rome, that reminds me.” Her voice is a little too light and airy. Someone who hadn’t been on the scheming end of that tone before might have missed it, but Shinjiro can tell right away that she’s trying to get something out of him. 

“Akihiko mentioned that you found his second awakening to be quite amusing,” she continues.

“Yeah, Aki didn’t get it,” he snorts, unable to help himself. “Bet you did, though.”

“There is a certain irony present, yes.” The face she puts on is demure, but the way she flicks a little of her hair over her shoulder looks suspiciously like preening to him. He has to squash down a smile. “You could have filled him in yourself, you know.”

“Sure. But where’d the fun in that be?” The grin he was fighting off wins and Kirijo lowers herself enough to roll her eyes at him in response.

“Yamagishi’s new Persona is Roman as well,” she tries again, casting another line. “Juno.” When he laughs, she frowns at him, apparently not a fan of his reaction. “What’s so funny, Aragaki?”

“Nothin’ at Yamagishi’s expense,” he says. “I just wouldn’t’ve guessed that for her. The whole ‘queen of the gods’ thing would’ve made me think of you, actually.”

Kirijo clears her throat a bit and pointedly does not preen again, just like how he does not feel stupidly pleased with himself over the reaction that she definitely didn’t have.

“Guess it does make sense though," he continues. "If you think about the whole ‘eyes of Argus’ thing. She have peacock feathers?”

“After a fashion, yes.” Kirijo purses her lips thoughtfully. “They are… somewhat abstracted.”

“Well yeah. Almost wouldn’t be a Persona if it didn’t get a little weird with the details, right?”

“No, I suppose it wouldn’t.” She flashes another short-lived smile and then goes back to looking thoughtful. He can practically hear gears turning as she weighs whether or not to make another attempt. “Amada’s was something of a surprise. She's called Kala-Nemi.”

He wracks his brain and comes up empty. “Don’t recognize that one. Doesn’t sound like a Roman name, though.”

“I was unfamiliar as well. And you’re correct– she’s from Bronze Age India, from a tradition that predates Hinduism. It took quite a bit of effort to find any information about her, actually. She shares her name with two other male figures from Hindu texts, and references to them are far more plentiful. From what I understand, though, she was a spirit associated with the Wheel of Time and the changing of the seasons. 

“As a Persona, she excels in healing and protection magic. The new Theurgy Amada gained from awakening to her is– it’s extraordinary.” The way Kirijo says the word makes it clear that it’s a gigantic understatement.

Healing and protection, huh? 

“That’s better for him,” Shinjiro says softly. The image of Amada from the other day, hunkered in on himself with guilt and nerves, is still fresh in his mind.

“It is,” Kirijo murmurs. She’s silent for another few seconds, clearly hoping that he’ll take his cue at last. 

And sure, he could talk about his new Persona, like she’s been nudging him to. He could also speculate about whether he’s got his own new Theurgy. But what would be the point? The next full moon is just four days away, and then none of it is going to matter anymore.

Kirijo sighs, accepting defeat. “Pardon me for distracting you from your reading. I’ll let you get back to it.”

“No worries.” He means it, too. Kirijo might push, but unlike Aki, she does know when to call it quits.

It’s yet another thing Shinjiro appreciates about her.

[vixy-exists]

Have some AtlusArtober stuff!

Day 1: Mascot

[rustoma]

I've been reading The Rose of Versailles manga, which I feel has become a sort of required reading as a SMT4 fan lol. And actually I can see how this manga helped shape the game's story and worldbuilding, as well in guiding Isabeau's own decision-making and ultimate stance.

This is obvious but, Mikado is in a way parallel to 18th century France. Both have nobles who are more concerned with their leisurely lifestyles and climbing the aristocratic ladder than to concern themselves with the growing plight of the lower class, instead leaving them to bear the brunt of their frivolities. Both see a growing unrest among the embittered labourers, including the emergence of intellectuals among them who question the status and even need for nobles. Both experience tension that is rapidly reaching a violent tipping point.

But then there's also Lady Oscar.

Oscar was born into a life of luxury and privilege -- no different to Isabeau herself -- but unlike most other nobles, Oscar is actually acutely aware of the class differences and addresses them.

She recognizes the growing unrest in Paris and gives Marie Antoinette counsel for the good of the country. She becomes aware of her own privileged upbringing and lifestyle and, rather than cling onto this and look down upon those of lesser means, she levels herself with them. She realizes that the royal guard is packed with "pretty puppets", who earned their celebrated positions through no more than their looks and birthright (there's similarities to this with the Mikado Samurai), and chooses to step down and transfer to a lower guard.

I still have only read up to volume 2 of 5 so far. But nonetheless, Oscar leads by strong morals and never shirks her beliefs for what is just, and I can easily see how Isabeau would look up to her as a guiding figure and as someone she could see herself in. Especially when Isabeau is scared and uncertain of the rapidly destabilizing climate around her. The Rose of Versailles helped her navigate that.

Sure it might be a little ridiculous for the neutral rep to come to her terms through reading a shoujo manga about 18th century France, but how many of us have also had our worldviews be challenged and changed by engaging with a piece of fiction? This is actually a good thing. And it wasn't as if Isabeau wasn't seriously contemplating all the things going on around her before reaching her conclusion.

Putting SMT4 aside though, The Rose of Versailles is a beautifully written and illustrated historical fiction in its own right with plenty of sociopolitical commentary that are still just as relevant today as they were during its original publication. As well as being a crucial piece in shoujo manga history whose influence can still be felt. It is well worth a read (or even a watch if you prefer anime) that I can't recommend enough.

[thebirdqueen]

Happy 3rd anniversary to Shin Megami Tensei V 🎉🎉🎉🎉

It's been so long since I've drawn MC/Nahobino....

[Click for better quality]

[ya-kiri]

Okay, does she just have a vendetta against cars* and roads or something? Where is this coming from?😅

[eternalhyacinth-blog]

Demi-fiend: Jeez, those True Demons were some real Maniax! I sure hope I don't get "Forced" into "Battle" with other fiends!

The cunning Horsemen of the Apocalypse:

[lostbizkits]

Good Evening Tatsujun Nation

How are we

edit: got my mom to take a better picture

[2000mallow]

[clavtheft]

My wacom broke so I've had to occupy myself through other means

These images are long so read more

I have a bunch of pictures of my friend posing with him, here are a few for scale he is 6'4" (~1.9m)

[dailydemonspotlight]

Balor - Day 66

Race: Tyrant

Alignment: Dark-Chaos

July 8th, 2024

For how relatively obscure Irish myth can tend to be, it has a surprising amount of influence over contemporary fantasy. If you walked up to someone on the street and asked them who Dagda was, they'd likely never be able to answer, but if you showed them a picture of a Banshee or a Changeling, they'd... probably still not know what you were, and ask you to leave, but whatever. If you went into a D&D party and asked that same question, you'd get many recognized looks and nods of understanding, at least, for what it's worth. As gone over far earlier in this series, during the Dad- ahem. Dagda analysis, Irish mythology is wide and has surprising roots in a lot, especially relating to the main antagonistic force throughout, the Fomorians. And who else leads this roving band of pillagers but today's Demon of the Day, the single-eyed giant, Balor!

While the Fomorians are a demon in their own right within the SMT series (and a personal favorite of mine at that,) the topic of them is unavoidable when it comes to Balor- after all, being the leader of the bunch, the most fearsome of them, and being a star player in the Tuatha Dé Danann as a whole, it's impossible to divorce their leader from, well, them. Balor's name roughly translates to 'The Flashing One,' as purported in Myth, Legend & Romance, a book that goes in-depth into general stories throughout Irish mythology- things such as the Ulster Cycle where Cu Cuchulain originates, or, in the case of Balor, the Mythological Cycle, the book going over the eternal war between the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomorians. In the Mythological Cycle (and thankfully looping back to Balor after such a detour), Balor is one of two major leaders of the Fomorians, and one who leads the charge into a battle with the Tuatha Dé Danann.

In the story, Balor is described as a giant monster with a single eye. To quote,

The first was Balor, of the Mighty Blows, balc-beimnech. A remarkable thing about him was that one of his eyes, which he generally kept covered, brought instant death to everyone on whom its gaze fell.

I think that 'of the Mighty Blows' is meant to establish a great stature, especially given the amount of chaos he wreaks later on in the battle itself. As the champion of the Fomorians, and the greatest warrior who led the charge, he played an incredibly important role in getting the Fomorians an advantage, in that he killed Nuada Airgetlám during the first major battle of the war, granting an upset, given that Nuada was the leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Later on in the battle, however, Balor was betrayed by his own grandson just as he went to open his eye, intending to bring a swift stop to the fighting- a Tuatha Dé Danann named Lugh, his own grandchild, went to battle with the one-eyed giant, and after some teamwork to forcibly close the destruction the giant's eye was wreaking, Lugh ended up firing a boulder through it, killing Balor. After his defeat, Balor fell backwards, ending up crushing several of his own men.

Hilariously, as the Wikipedia article about Balor says regarding the source of Balor's eyes' power, "O'Curry tantalizingly stated he was in possession of a manuscript with an alternate explanation on how Balor got his power, but does not elaborate due to lack of space." Honestly, kinda tragic. It's commonly believed that Balor's eye's power, mainly depicted in the Cath Maige Tuired (a collective title for two saga texts in the mythological cycle,) originates from an exposure to magic fumes his druidic father, Buarainech, the collective father of all Fomorians as well.

There's also an entire folkloric side to Balor, but I'll leave you to read into that yourself. What I find most interesting about Balor is his apparent role as a representation of the 'Scorching Sun;' Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, a scholar in the field of Irish mythology, purports that the already existing depictions of Balor as the 'scorching sun that would bring crop failure and drought,' to quote the Wikipedia article, likely comes from the physical resemblance between Balor and a Cyclops, giving light to a hitherto unnamed Celtic sun god from the Bronze age. As he speculates, the deity mentioned could be Balor, and his appearance had been conflated with that of the Cyclops, giving way to the strange similarities between Balor, Cyclopses, and a relatively obscure Welsh giant named Ysbaddaden, which is its own can of worms.

In SMT, I find the depiction to be really interesting, and frankly pretty cool- the hairy body may be drawing a connection between Balor and the Fomorians design in SMT, given that Fomorian is depicted as a giant ram. The single eye up above in a cage is a unique design element, and while I'm not sure where the cage came from, I really do enjoy how unique it is- besides, the writhing mass of worms surrounding the single eye makes Balor resemble a Beholder, which gets HUGE ups from me. I LOVE BEHOLDERS!!!! RAHHH!!!!!! In gameplay, from my experience, Balor tends to be a mid-game physical attacker, which fits very well. I kinda wish he would get a signature skill based around his eye, maybe one that's sorta like Mudo? But I digress.

Overall, the Fomorians are a rabbit hole I find utterly fascinating, and Balor is just one example of why that is. Trust me when I say there is a lot more to this- I'm only really scratching the surface- and I'd highly recommend reading more about the Mythological Cycle if you're interested!