Art of the day:

Pictured: Satori Komeiji (left), Koishi Komeiji (right) illustrated by sousou (sousouworks), traditional media, drawn with a nib pen (ink). Sousou is an artist I discovered through the Touhou fandom roughly 15 years ago. Their skill and fine detail with a pen is stunning, and I suggest at some point you get a pixiv account to see artists like this, and souous evolution over time. Koishi has always been the most fascinating of Touhou character lore to me – surrounding themes of the unconscious mind. Her spell cards reference Freud’s Id, ego and superego, her themesong is named “Hartmanns Youkai Girl” after Heinz Hartmann, one of the “founders of ego psychology”… and furthermore, her theme song is the same melody played forward (normally) and backward (reversed). The lore here is pretty deep to process, the sisters mirror one another to the point where if you were to invert their color schemes they would match/reflect one another. In summary: to escape the fear and hatred which other beings feel towards the satori species, Koishi attempted to destroy her mind-reading ability by closing her Third Eye. However, this had the side effect of sealing away her own conscious mind, causing her to lose all thoughts and motives; she could no longer be hated, but neither could she be loved, or even remembered by people who saw her. She becomes an aimless wanderer in the unconscious minds of others with no true purpose.

Song of the day:

Released in 2008, this classic deadmau5 remix of “The Longest Road” is embedded into my mind. There’s a 7min extended version from A State of Trance mixes (Armin Van Buuren) that I recommend vibing too. This track has always sparked a bit of dissociation for me, a tinge of emptiness. Sometimes your passions (love), your motives, seem pointless or fruitless endeavors. Sometimes, they lead to dead ends. Sometimes you’re stuck and “have no means for wanderlust”. With a hollow heart, we still move forward and hold on to hope to find direction and fulfillment. “No one is going to give you a map, you have to walk your own path” is the quote I leave pinned on socials from Outlaw Star. You can stubbornly travel the same path and still encounter new obstacles, and its hard to adapt. It’s difficult to process change. It’s scary to divert off of the norm, to hit the highway, fast track to some other objective.

Thought of the day:

“Believe in yourself, don’t fear fate”; another quote from Outlaw Star. There are many that cling to ideals… perhaps deluding themselves enough to deem an encounter as “fated” or “destined”. That’s self fulfilling, that’s something you decide. Perhaps some things are inevitable, but they are not predetermined by any previous choices you’ve made. Don’t dwell on “a missed opportunity”, a “mistake”. Don’t let these things define you. You’ll be learning for the rest of your life, slowly detaching yourself from the past, accepting who you are, and hopefully you come to love that person. Don’t shut yourself out, don’t limit your horizons. You’ll get there eventually.