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.
Does anyone have any experience with taking prog on cyproterone acetate? The doctor said that they weren’t really the same thing, but I think it might be the reason why prog makes me feel so tired and brainfogy, like the cypro already acts as progesterone and taking actual prog on top of that is too much. I know prog can cause issues when taken orally (although I don’t actually know what those issues are) but if anything taking it rectally made the drowsiness worse, in addition to being a hassle
I’m thinking I might just stick with one or the other, but I’m not sure which. On the one hand, prog and estrogen might be enough to suppress my t so I might not need cypro, but I don’t know if it’ll be as effective, and the side effects might still be bad and my levels low unless I take it rectally, which is a lot less convenient. Plus I’m scared of not knowing if it’s working while waiting to get a blood test.
On the other hand, cypro is absorbed better orally, and I know I tolerate it well and that it works at suppressing t, but I don’t know if it can actually replace progesterone
Yet another layer to this is that it kinda feels like prog is having some kind of reaction with my escitalopram/cipralex. I checked and didn’t find any known interactions, but I get some of the same symptoms as when titrating up or down with cipralex
Cypro acts as progesterone!?
Maybe
that’s what I’m wondering. It’s a synthetic progestin, so it behaves at least somewhat similarly to progesterone and interacts with the same receptors. In fact, cypro works by targeting those receptors to reduce testosterone production the same way that prog does (edit: I think. I’m not actually sure now that I think about it, but I know that progestogens in general have anti-androgenic effects). But beyond that I’m not sure how similar they are
It’s a progesterin, a variant of the same chemical.(I think)
I do prog and cypro (and E).
The issues with oral prog is the first pass effect, which makes it less effective than taking it by rectum/boofing it. Your liver will metabolize a bunch if you take it through the mouth.
Cypro doesn’t replace prog. Not sure who told you they’re the same, they’re not.
Prog is known to help regulate sleep which is why you should take it before bed. It definitely helps me sleep better. This secondary sedative-esque effect is why it’s making you sleepy. This is a known, expected side effect unrelated to taking cypro simultaneously.
Is that the only issue? I remember reading that that prog has a neurosteroidal effect when processed by the liver (I have no idea what a neurosteroid is or what that means)
I knew about that, and I take it before bed, but the fatigue lasts all day. Like I start feeling better around the afternoon but even when I skip a dose I still feel off the next day, over 24 hours since the last dose. I know fatigue is a side effect of cypro so I thought they might be compounding each other or something
Also, I don’t really feel sleepy? Like I feel tired and unfocused but I don’t really feel the urge to sleep if that makes sense. That said I’ve also never felt the urge to nap so it may be the same thing and I just feel it differently
Well, definitely experiment if it’s bothering you, everyone’s bodies is different and there’s so much variation in genetics for metabolism. Cyproterone can be a little weird to come off for some people (adrenal insufficiency cause of its minor glucocorticoid effect thats really understudied) taper it just in case but they don’t usually make you take a lot every day (mine is every other day). If it’s causing that much fatigue definitely experiment. You never know, could be something else too. Any other things change? New apartment, different food, more stress from work? Plus, your whole system is liable to change from HRT and we dont have the luxury of XX style hormone secretors and receptors to tell us when to dial back or not - not that they always work right for cis people lol
One of progesterone metabolites totally might be funky. I’ve never looked into the chain for it but that might be part of why they say don’t take it orally. I think the WPATH doesn’t recommend keeping on prog forever, just like a boost for a few years to help push more feminzing effects. Can’t remember.
Yeah I think I’m gonna try lowering my cypro dose and see how it goes from there. I’m not on that big of a dose, just 12.5 mg per day, but the doctor said I could go lower so I think I’m gonna give every other day a try. The semester just started though, and it’s a fairly intensive program (not to mention the stress of being around people all day and commuting) so I’ll have to take it slow. Virtually nothing else changed when I started prog, plus it was during the summer break, so that at least narrows it down I guess lol. I actually thought I might be sick when I first started but considering it clears up when I stop taking it that doesn’t seem to be the issue.