Fanart is by Syurii22.
Toyosatomimi no Miko is a character in the Touhou Project series introduced in its 13th installment, Ten Desires.
Miko was once Prince Shoutoku, a Japanese leader in the 600s known for promoting Buddhism and streamlining the Japanese government. In the Touhou lore, she was visited by Taoist hermit Seiga Kaku, who had heard about Miko’s longing for immortality. Seiga introduced her to Taoism, but she rejected it as a religion unfit for placating an entire country. She was intrigued by its promise of immortality, however, and privately converted to it, advocating for Buddhism to keep Japan stable. After drinking an “immortality elixir” (mercury sulfide), however, she was forced to let go of her body and become a supernatural hermit like Seiga, notably taking on the form of a woman, making her a canonically trans character (
).
After convincing a hermit from a rival clan (Mononobe no Futo) to sleep without decaying, Miko followed in suit, waiting for a time where a Taoist Japan would revive her in search of guidance. However, Buddhist monks were able to keep her mausoleum sealed, and the legends surrounding her were slowly brushed off- which led to her transportation into Gensokyo, where the folklore of old is a reality of everyday life.
When she awoke in Gensokyo, it was right after Buddhist monk Byakuren Hijiri opened her own temple, however, leading to a surge of divine spirits across the realm, setting up the events of Ten Desires.
What look like headphones on her are canonically earmuffs- Shoutoku was allegedly able to discern between ten questions asked at once, an ability carried by Miko (although with her enhanced abilities, she can also analyze each person and determine their inner desires (thus the title of the game))- although it means her hearing is highly sensitive and has to be muffled to prevent pain.
Join our public Matrix server! https://matrix.to/#/#tracha:chapo.chat
As a reminder, be sure to properly give content warnings and put sensitive subjects behind proper spoiler tags. It's for the mental health of not just your comrades, but yourself as well.
Here is a screenshot of where to find the spoiler button.
I have a dilemma. While headphones and masks help a bit with certain sensory issues and otherwise protect me, they also hurt my ears which is another sensory issue.
relatable content
With masks, I highly recommend N95s with headstraps instead of earloops. Not only are they more comfortable, they also provide a better seal.
I’ve used various kinds of masks. Can’t remember if that was better but I’ll try it again.
I personally use reusable elastomerics, I swap off between the Flo Mask and the MSA Advantage 900. The Flo mask is more comfortable but the MSA Advantage 900 provides better filtration. YMMV, but I do generally recommend reusable elastomerics because they're more cost-effective in the long run. That being said, they are definitely an upfront investment.
That’s cool. I use reuse disposables. When I mentioned wanting a more reusable gas mask type thing my family said no, I’d look like a nazi. My desire to buy one is renewed. I thought it mostly looked cyberpunk. Do you have a recommended online source?
I think it looks punk, and it goes with my punk/alt look so that's a bonus. This is the one I bought, with the filters on it even looks trans-colored. They don't sell directly from their website but they do link to distributors. The Flo mask I got from my friend who didn't need his anymore, but this is their website.
i was typing up a rant about every headphone pair i've ever owned, but i'll spare you that and just report my findings for noise-cancelling things i've tried. i'm not really sure what the point of this was, i think i am just looking for an excuse to rant about money i've thrown away on things that ended up hurting me.
i haven't found the perfect headphones yet for dealing with sudden unexpected sensory assaults (i don't get out much, so sensory things are usually unexpected, like the neighbour having the sudden inspiration to play the drums or do a loud woodworking project, or some asshole with a stupid car 30 miles away revving), open to suggestions haha
edit: i should clarify: the airpods max were the last damn straw for me for apple products in general. they absolutely destroyed my interest in Big Tech, so i guess the money wasn't completely wasted.
Lovely, thanks for the input. I see the fancy Apple stuff and think “that looks uncomfortable but they’re expensive so maybe they’re good,” so that makes sense. I need Bluetooth so no to sennheiser. I used some cheap weird Bose ones for a while that were probably worse but worked ok until they totally fell apart. I see these are all pretty expensive, so I guess I have little hope even beyond my budget. I had some soundcore something’s that I liked a decent bit but lost last week. Currently using loops, some weird cheap earbuds (both hurt my ear canals), and stiff plastic non electronic over the ear ones that mostly make things fuzzy.
oh yeah budget is a concern for sure, at least i can tell you that the expensive stuff i've tried isn't worth it imo haha. i have some old bose qc25s hanging around somewhere (no bluetooth, needs AA batteries) and they're comfortable too. my partner still uses them, we just got new pads from bose directly to give them probably 10 more years of life. might be able to find like a qc35 used (i think that's when they added bluetooth?) for cheap if you wanted to go that route (although maybe you don't with your bose experience), but i guess my point was i haven't found the "holy grail" of noise-cancelling headphones yet, despite the dumb amount of money i've spent (all the ones i posted are fine, but my use case is "i go into an office sometimes and i have to be on a noisy bus 1 hour each way and then they need to be comfortable for like 4-6 hours of meetings every day" and i can only last an hour or so in most of them without lasting effects)
If you're using them just for the noise canceling and not listening to anything, have you tried over-ear muffs like for shooting? You can get good passive ones for pretty cheap. I have a few pairs of Walker passive muffs that I use, they stay on way better than headphones but the downside is that you can hear the inside of your head.
thank you! haven't tried since the one time i've been shooting, but hearing the inside of my head might be a dealbreaker. are they cheap at least?