Ashita Ga Mienakute Mo
Musings
Chibi Tudung is cute!
Jul 24th
Original image taken from Tiara’s blog
This got me thinking while I was talking to Jhameia about why people (read: Caucasian Christians) get so uptight around veiled women. The following proposal is not fully thought out and so may require some fine-tuning?
For me, I feel that part of the reason why the veil threatens such males (and to an extent, the females) so much is that they are confused about the sexuality and “availability” of veiled Muslim women.
For instance, the veiled Christian nun sends a strong message; I am a woman devoted completely to God, and thereby unavailable to you, ever, by virtue of my vows. This means that no one can ever own a nun, because they are owned by God.
A veiled Muslim woman, on the other hand, signifies that she is devoted to her God, but is still available for carnal relations because her veil merely signifies her commitment to God religiously but does not signal her inavailability to marriage. In other words, she confuses the white Male by being both available and unavailable at the same time.
Confused? Here’s another example to tell you to illustrate the point. It’s the same as a woman who goes to a bar, enjoys herself on the dance floor, lets herself be filmed by a camera crew while she’s dancing, and then protesting LOUDLY when her top’s pulled down to show her breasts.
Does that sound fucked up to you? GREAT, BECAUSE IT REALLY DID HAPPEN.
In essence, it is the simple idea that any woman who behaves in a manner that may be deemed “wild” or “disruptive” deserves not only to be oppressed, but also discriminated against. This discrimination need not be overt, but it can be subtle. As subtle as a woman who seems “surprised” that her daughter chose to wear the veil/tudung instead of a bikini.
Edit: With regards to the “oppressed” statement in the picture, and to explain the rest of my entry, when I say oppressed in this context, it is to say that a veiled Muslim woman is an oppressed woman. In other words, she cannot be seen to choose to wear the veil out of her own free will, because most Caucasians (in this context) believe that a Muslim woman dons the veil because she is FORCED/PRESSURED to do so, hence the oppression. The very idea that a woman may CHOOSE to wear the veil because she feels more comfortable in it flies in the face of a lot of people, especially who cannot understand a woman choosing to do something because it is her own choice.
Eumora Soap Testing~
Jul 21st
So, after selling it to darling Neko, passing some to Nera (ex-officemate) and countless nagging from my dad + bro (it’s very serious when THEY start making noise at me) I caved in and decided to start using the Eumora soap my brother swears by.
Eumora is this soap that claims to leave your skin feeling smoother, clears out your pimples (as you can see from Neko’s post), close your pores and do other miraculous things. Touted as an “all-in-one” skincare product, it boasts that after using it, you will not need any more toner, moisturiser etc. An ex-colleague who’s been using it for years swears by it; her skin is almost spotless and is always glowing.
It’s been three days since I started. Well, two, to be exact, cause I forgot to take a pic of my face on day two and I skipped the night washing. 
So far my first impressions is that it’s extremely drying on the skin. The feeling of your pores being tightened could be due to this. This is also the first soap I’ve used in an extremely long while that doesn’t kill my eyes when I open them after rubbing the soap all over my face, including my eyes. Rather, it makes me feel like I have a mask on.
Photo of Day One can be found here.
Photo of Day three is here.
Yes, I know about the colour contrasts. I’m going to be experimenting with a few settings later to see if I can get more uniform shots later. On another note, I am also selling this soap. If you want to buy/interested in selling it yourself, drop me a comment here and I’ll contact you. 
Things to do while waiting
Jul 12th
Stuff I need to write/edit:
1. Edit Nanonovels
Book 1: Key’s Twilight needs editing. It is also sitting on Zoho Writer because apparently GDocs can’t handle documents with more than 114,000 words. 
It’s over 512kb apparently. Basically it needs to be edited for flow, grammar check and spelling. Book 2: Key’s Kiss requires completion. At 53,000, it’s nowhere near done. I still need to actually get to the END of the books. And decide if I wanna make this year’s Nanonovel all about finishing the Key Trilogy.
2. Write Celefina
I have the ending, I have the opening. Now I need to actually write their stories. There’s five parts to this book and the setting is half inspired by Shadow of Colossus and Prince of Persia the movie (shows how bad the movie is that I want to rewrite the entire thing). I can get through the prologue, but the first arc is already making me go bwuH?
3. Begin Shieri
Interesting character that popped into the head one day. I may base her on a friend, because she seems to take quite a lot of personality traits from that friend. Including the sensitivity to spirits. 8D And the sex appeal. XD
Suikoden Tierkreis: Thoughts
Jun 28th
Simply put:
- Asad is such an uke. As suggested by Neon, Chrodechild tops Asad. Fredegund tops Chrodechild.
- Roberto is hot for Hero.
- I still think Mubal is a pedo.
- Meruvis strikes me as the type of guy who’s probably going to either have an arranged marriage or marries for convenience. That said, his wife will be the very sweet, loving kind of girl. Though she has a mean left hook.
- Ooooo Ritterschild gunners! Only team I know capable of taking down the Dromon Pirates while the former is around level 22 (Fusillade all the way!). With Hero providing the healing. XD
- Shams and Manaril are. too. cute. Really! But OMG Manaril’s magic is really powerful.
- Fredegund… I didn’t know you were that old. Thought you were only 19! On another note, I thought Roberto was 22, turns out he’s 17.
- Why is the cast so. bloody. young. But I admit, most of the people I perved on were all… appropriately aged. Or rather the pairings.
- Fancy Lads Unite Attack is… sparkly.
- If the Company were a country, Liu would be the Prime Minister, Jale would be the guy in charge of the Harem and Marica is Mistress of the Harem. Thus Hero is like a Chinese Emperor who has no idea what is happening.
Cut for story thoughts! More >
Quick post
May 7th
Sigh, some authors these days are really very paranoid, aren’t they? Or attentionwhoring, as it seems to be the case.
Reading the Angelic Intent
Apr 13th
Mysticism, I has it.
The Angel Healing cards, according Doreen Virtue, is supposed to be read in a side to side manner, aka from far left to right. I’ve got what Malaysians colloquially call "itchy hands", which means I can’t leave things as it is, or in this case, I can’t quite obey the instructions.
Or don’t read them well.
In this case, I laid the 5 cards out as though I was doing a partial Celtic Cross spread.
Self was the Harmony card. The first thing that popped out, "Beloved Child of God, you are a peace-lover at heart." Insert as many facepalms as you will here. Yes, I am a peace-lover at heart, but the overall message the cards were telling me was that everything is going to be ok. Let things flow and happen in their own way, in their own time.
Next, I pulled out an upside down Balance card. Right side up, it indicated a need to get balance back into my life. Or rather, with it upside down, it meant that balance was missing in my life. Instincts tell me that this is the current situation card. Where I am right now. My life is unbalanced. The scales are tipped to one side. This child walks in the dark and but misses the joy of the light (yes grammar mistake is deliberate).
Dream, which I associated strongly with going to Japan, was next. Upside down. When I opened my eyes after drawing the cards, I felt my heart break. My question had been simple; would I be going to Japan before the end of 2010? The card said no. Or rather, the dream to go to Japan was broken. In pieces. Writing this out, I’m struck with a sense of rightness. The dream is broken because it was incomplete. In essence, it was not a full application I was submitting to the Universe, but a partial and very sloppily-filled one. It’s time to take some time out and ask myself if this is really what I want to do, and are my fears justified enough for me to feel apprehensive to sabotage myself thus? This is my Challenge card.
"You are worried that your spiritual growth will affect the relationships you have with the people around you." Completely and utterly. This is my fear. If I should become a more spiritual person, one who is in touch with the "magic" and "faith" of the world, would I be shunned? Would I lose the company of people I enjoy? These questions are groundless and useless. All I can do is to have faith, and hope. This was my Fear card.
Be not afraid to love. Love is hate’s undoing. It is the ultimate absolver of sins. The protection of God. The promise made to a child. Angel Sanctuary by Kaori Yuki taught me this. Seeing an upside-down Michael reminds me of the way she portrayed the famous Michael; not as a fully-grown warrior, but a boy who harboured bitterness at his brother. His lesson had been to realise the love he had for his brother.
Throw away the suspicion, the hate shall not be your undoing. Let love wash it away. Have faith that things will turn out for the best. That… is my Lesson card.
Script Frenzy moments
Apr 10th
A lot of people know my muses are very active in my head. While writing a random profile for Franziska of Ace Attorney, the following came about:
(Main character: Miles Edgeworth)
Profile: Franziska Von Karma
A fellow prosecutor and the daughter of my mentor. Likes to whisper to no one in particular.
I found myself typing this right after that:
AT THIS POINT, THE WRITER HAS THE DISTINCT FEELING THAT SOMEONE IS WATCHING HER AND CRACKING A HORSE WHIP.
Muses are scary.
Gaping thoughts
Apr 10th
Primordial Sound meditation, is in essence, the idea of going back to the gap in your mind. We have thousands of thoughts in a day; this noise runs through our minds and is in a way, the indication that we are conscious. The thoughts may not make sense, nor may they be coherent, but they are still thoughts otherwise.
What we rarely think about, if we do at all, is the gap between each thought. Take a breath, close your eyes, and ask yourself, "What is my next thought going to be?"
…
……..
Did you catch that?
That small, tiny, almost-invisible gap between one thought and the next?
Yes, that’s the gap between your thoughts.
In that single gap, that space to breathe, is where limitless potential resides. It’s a moment of the Cosmos, of the Universe. I don’t know about you, but for me, that one single moment gives me a glimpse of eternity. Of unbridled freedom. Of simply being.
Now that’s a thought to take away.
Letter to muses… and headspace
Mar 29th
A slightly longer version of what I posted over to Note to Muse on LJ:
Dear Kishou and Ta’Lern
I’m glad that we got THAT out of the way. Yes, am editing, no am NOT putting in a sex scene. Goddamnit Ta’Lern your libido is not that uncontrollable!
Dear Franziska and Miles
Hello. Nice to meet you. No, you may not have a fic. I barely know you two, for goodness’ sake! And yes, that does include time playing ONLY AAI: ME. Seriously, stop making puppy eyes, trying to whip me AND invading my dreams. Do. Not. Appreciate.
Dear Sukina, Naoko and the rest of that female line
Darlings, wait wait what? You girls want to do WHAT? This is taking that story wayyyyyyyy out of left field.
Dear Annwn
Can I join you in your corner?
*whimpers*
No love
Struggling Me
PS: Anra, no you may NOT play kissy face with Sukina.
To all the Asian Women on my list
Feb 4th
And no, guys, you don’t count unless you’re transgender. This is a shoutout to promote the 5th Asian Women Blog Carnival, now open here. The theme for this Carnival is Who I Am When I’m (not) With You.
Submissions close 12 February 2010, so get to it, people!
Wordsmith with a penchant for writing wonderfully whimsical words.
