Saturday, 19 July 2014

#CandorTime

I'm going to make a confession. And after all, it's Saturday night! It's time for #CandorTime.

So basically, I am one of seven administrators - or admin(s) -  on one of Indonesia's biggest book fanbase for Divergent series by Veronica Roth (we have 5k+ followers already!) and each one of us have our schedule on ngadmin and mine is every Saturday. And I have this game called #CandorTime where I just throw some questions and the fanbase's followers are asked to answer them TRUTHFULLY (because what's the point of being a Candor if you're not honest). And I'm not going to lie, at first, this ngadmin thing SUCKS.

The founder and I didn't really go along well back at that time and I kind of feel something like jealousy because I have my own fanbase dedicated to another series of book and they just aren't THIS big. And this fanbase followers I feel like they're too... arbitrary. Their answers are not like what I expected, some feels like giving a really rude joke, and with the main issue between the founder and I, I've thought about quitting more than once.

BUT there are also sweet Initiates that somehow feels like supporting me, and they're just really kind to me, and before I even knew it, I fell in love with this whole fanbase and its fandom. All the fanboys and the fangirls, they're somewhat important to me now and that sounds really cheesy oh my God.

Well, long story short, tonight I tried this thing where I just asked some veeeerry sensitive and private questions about their childhood and their memories and what things makes them happy and what is their regrets and everything and I just can't stop thinking about how lucky I am.

I'm a complete stranger to them, yet they open their mind for me. Sure, some probably not really a big deal to them but when it comes to me, my chest hurts by this overwhelmed trust they gave to me.

WHICH IS PROBABLY THE WORST MISTAKE THEY'VE EVER MADE.

I feel sooooo lucky to get to know them more, like, maybe I don't know what's their real name or their favorite food whatsoever (actually that'd probably be a good idea for me to ask) but I do know what they regret most, what is their fear, and what memory they treasure most. And I kind of feel confused of artists and famous people who has SOOOO much fans but they treat their fans like they don't mean a thing. I mean, dude, seriously, without them you wouldn't be there! These #CandorTime participants are SURELY SURELY NOT my fans but they support me and if I ever treat them like shit, I'd know that actually,

i am the shit.

And if there's any DivergentID followers reading this and you constantly participating in my game called the #CandorTime I just want you to know that I am VERY grateful and I feel so blessed and I owe you BIG THANKS and I also love you very much, like, if I ever had to choose between eating pizza and talking to you guys, I'd obviously choose you! ...because I can still eat the pizza while talking to you.

So once again, thank you sooooo SOOOOO MUCH for being there; thank you for letting me into your mind, and I love you so ridiculously and insanely much. Whatever you've been through, you're awesome and you're beautiful.

I love you.
xxx

Find me on Twitter!
http://twitter.com/AdityawhXo

Follow the first Indonesian fanbase dedicated to the NYT Bestselling Trilogy by Veronica Roth! 
http://twitter.com/DivergentID

Thursday, 17 July 2014

Random Rant Super Short Blog Post

Am I the only one who really LOVES to talk to myself and practically being my own best friend? Because we - I and I - will like talk about random things at the most random times then laugh at our own inside jokes but the thing is I only speak the one voice so the other voice is remain unhearable by other people because she - I - speaks inside my own mind so no one else heard it but me - us - but then we'll laugh together and everyone's going to look at me like AM KARAYZEE!

Which kind of cute, actually.


Tuesday, 15 July 2014

Matthew Trewhella III

Fanfic seri Ingo karya Helen Dunmore. SPOILER ALERT! I own nothing. :)


Aku mendengarnya sebelum otakku menerjemahkan suara itu.

Sssssapphireeee......... Sssssaaaaaapppphhiiiiireeeeeeee........

"Dad?" panggilku. Tapi itu tidak mungkin. Dad sudah meninggal. Dad sekarang berada di Limina.

Sssssaaaaaapppphhhhhiireeeeeeee...............

Suara itu semakin mendesak, dan kali ini aku yakin bukan Dad yang memanggilku. Suara ini milik seorang perempuan. Aku merasa pernah mendengarnya, tapi ingatan itu hanyalah memori samar yang sulit kujangkau.

Myyrrgh kerenzzaaaa.......

"Sapphire?" Conor mendongak, dan aku menyadari bahwa aku telah berdiri. Sadie mulai menggeram, seolah tahu suara dari Ingo memanggilku. "Hush, Sadie."

"Con?" panggilku. "Aku mau pergi ke teluk sebentar."

Kali ini Conor mengernyitkan keningnya. "Ada apa? Apa Faro-"

"Bukan, bukan Faro," tukasku. Aku mengusap kepala Sadie lembut. "Tolong jaga Sadie, ya? Sadie, Sadie manis, kau diam di rumah bersama Conor sebentar, ya? Aku segera kembali, aku janji."

"Saph-"

Tapi aku tidak mendengar lagi, karena aku telah berlari keluar rumah, menuju teluk, menuju suara wanita yang memanggil-manggil namaku. Aku berusaha secepat sekaligus sehati-hati mungkin saat turun ke teluk, tapi tetap saja tanganku tergores tepian batu yang tajam. Lalu aku berlari melewati garis pantai hingga separuh betisku terbenam, tapi aku tidak menyelam. Belum.

Aku tidak bisa memastikan suara yang memanggilku berbahaya atau tidak.

"Keluarlah!" teriakku. "Aku sudah datang. Apa maumu?"

Kemudian, perlahan-lahan, jauh lebih ke tengah, sebuah bola hitam muncul ke permukaan. Namun itu bukan bola biasa; itu adalah kepala. Kepala seorang Mer. Meski matahari mulai terbenam, cahayanya cukup bagiku untuk mengenali Mer tersebut. Itu bukan Elvira, meski mereka cukup mirip. Bukan.

Itu Mellina.

"Kemarilah," pintanya, suaranya terdengar lemah dan sesak. "Aku tidak bisa menembus batas Ingo dan Udara semudah dirimu."

Baru akhirnya aku menyelam. Aku terkadang lupa bahwa tidak semua Mer - dan manusia - seperti Faro dan aku; kami memiliki darah Mer dan darah manusia. Meski awalnya menyakitkan, namun transisi dari Ingo ke Udara dan sebaliknya tidak sulit bagi kami. Bagi beberapa Mer lainnya, rupanya, itu merupakan proses yang menyakitkan, bahkan meski secara teknis seluruh tubuh mereka berada di dalam Ingo.

Aku menghampiri Mellina dan menyadari ia membawa Mordowrgi, anak Mer Dad. Adik tiriku. Ia tidak lagi tampak semungil dulu saat aku menggendongnya di gua Saldowr beberapa bulan yang lalu. Benarkah itu baru beberapa bulan yang lalu? Rasanya seperti bertahun-tahun yang lalu.

"Salam," sapaku.

"Salam, Myrgh Kerenza," balasnya. Aku sedikit mengernyit lalu dengan cepat menetralkan kembali ekspresiku. Nyaris seluruh Ingo memanggilku Myrgh Kerenza. Hanya karena Mellina yang memanggilku begitu tidak berarti semuanya berbeda.

Aku mengamati Mordowrgi, dan ia balas mengamatiku. Bola matanya hitam dan besar, ekor Mernya bergerak-gerak di balik buntalan yang ibunya bawa. Ia tersenyum memamerkan gusinya yang baru ditumbuhi satu gigi, lalu tinjunya yang mengepal menggapai-gapaiku.

"Halo, Mordowrgi," sapaku, lebih lembut dari yang kukira. Tapi aku tidak bisa menahannya. Bayi memiliki kecenderungan mengeluarkan sisi lembut dari dirimu.

Mellina mengamati saat Mordowrgi tertawa menanggapi sapaanku, lalu ia tersenyum. "Dia menyukaimu."

"Eh," aku rikuh sejenak. "Terima kasih?"

Wanita Mer itu tersenyum lagi padaku. Di matanya tampak gurat-gurat kesedihan karena kepergian Dad. Dan sebelum aku bisa menahannya, aku berkata, "Aku turut menyesal atas kehilanganmu."

"Kau? Menyesal atas kehilanganku?" Mellina tertawa, dan untuk sesaat kukira ia mengejekku. Tapi kemudian aku menyadari tawanya hampa.

"Oh, Myrgh Kerenza," matanya tampak begitu sedih namun ada setitik rasa terhibur di sana. "Aku bisa lihat mengapa Matthew begitu menyayangimu."

Ulu hatiku serasa ditonjok saat ia menyebutkan tentang Dad. Aku nyaris berkata, tapi dia lebih menyayangimu. Untunglah aku berhasil menahan diri. Bukan salahnya Dad jatuh cinta padanya dan bukan salah Dad ia membuat Mellina mencintainya. Kami semua merasakan kehilangan yang sama; kehilangan orang yang kami sayangi.

Mellina menunduk menatap bayi Mer dalam dekapannya. "Bayi ini adalah anak Matthew," katanya, seperti kebiasaan para Mer mengulang hal yang sudah jelas. "Selama ini, kami memanggilnya Mordowrgi. Kau memanggilnya Mordowrgi."

Mellina mendongak. "Kini, ia sudah cukup besar untuk menerima nama yang sesungguhnya."

Aku menelan ludah dengan gugup. Aku tidak mengerti apa hubungannya pemberian nama untuk Mordowrgi untukku.

"Sapphire," ujar Mellina, "ini bertentangan dengan kebiasaan para Mer, tapi aku-" ia berdeham, "-aku ingin memberinya nama milik Matthew."

Barulah aku mengerti. "Kau ingin meminta izinku?"

Wanita Mer itu bergerak gelisah. "Aku tahu kau dan kakakmu menyalahkanku atas kepergian Matthew ke Ingo - tidak, biarkan aku menyelesaikan," katanya saat aku membuka mulut untuk menyela. "Dan sedikit-banyak, mungkin kalian benar."

Mellina tampak menyesal. "Seandainya waktu itu aku tidak bernyanyi padanya, ia tidak akan memberanikan diri masuk ke Ingo. Seandainya aku langsung pergi meninggalkannya waktu itu, ia tidak akan meninggalkanmu. Keluarga kalian tidak akan berantakan."

Duka dalam suara Mellina membuatku tercekat. "Tidak." Aku berdeham agar suaraku tidak terdengar mencicit. "Tidak, itu bukan salahmu. Darah Mer dalam diri Dad jauh lebih kuat dari darah manusianya. Dengan atau tanpa bantuanmu, hanya tinggal menunggu waktu sebelum Dad lebih memilih Ingo dibanding... dibanding... Udara."

"Aku tahu," Mellina tanpa sadar memainkan ikal-ikal rambut Mordowrgi. "Tapi jika seperti itu kejadiannya, mungkin dia tidak akan merasa terlalu sulit meninggalkan Ingo dan kembali ke Udara, seperti yang kau lakukan."

"Tapi kalau begitu, Mordowrgi tidak akan lahir," kataku. Dan tiba-tiba aku merasakan cengkraman kepanikan di dadaku. Aku selalu berpikir keadaan akan lebih baik jika saja Dad tidak bertemu wanita Mer di hadapanku ini; jika saja Dad tidak jatuh cinta kepadanya. Tapi jika tidak seperti itu keadaannya, adik tiri Merku tidak akan ada. Dan aku tidak bisa membayangkan hal itu meski baru tiga kali aku bertemu dengannya.

Mellina membelai Mordowrgi dengan sayang. "Ya," jawabnya lirih. "Ya, kau ada benarnya. Untuk itulah aku memanggilmu ke sini. Tolong jangan salah sangka dan mengira aku terlalu sombong untuk mendatangimu, Myrgh Kerenza, tapi Udara..."

"Aku tahu," balasku. Karena aku memang tahu. Aku ingat bagaimana sakitnya saat pertama kali memasuki Ingo, bahkan dengan bantuan Faro. Dan aku ingat bagaimana Udara seolah menusuk-nusuk paru-paruku saat aku keluar dari Ingo.

"Aku sudah merebut ayah kalian..." suara Mellina nyaris berupa bisikan. "Dan aku cukup egois untuk menjadikan namanya sebagai nama putra kami. Tapi aku ingin meminta restumu. Aku tidak bisa memutarbalik waktu dan mencegahnya mendatangi Ingo, mendatangi aku. Dan sejujurnya, aku tidak mau," Mellina tergelak sedih. "Jadi kupikir... kupikir meminta restumu atas namanya adalah hal terakhir yang bisa kulakukan untuk kalian."

Tenggorokanku tercekat dan aku merasa air mata panas menusuk-nusuk bola mataku, dan kali ini aku tidak berusaha menyembunyikan rasa haru dari suaraku. "Ya," jawabku, "ya, tentu saja."

Untuk pertama kalinya, wajah Mellina tampak penuh harap. "Kau mau memberkatinya?"

"Tidak, aku tidak tahu-"

"Yang harus kaulakukan hanya memberi bayi ini namanya," Mellina mendekatkan Mordowrgi padaku. Aku berdeham, takut melakukan kesalahan. Berhenti berpikir, Sapphire, ada darah Mer dalam dirimu, kau tahu bagaimana caranya.

Dan aku memang tahu. Aku meletakkan tangan kiriku di atas kening Mordowrgi kecil dan bahkan ia tampak serius seolah tahu betapa pentingnya saat ini. Lalu, dengan bahasa asli Mer, aku memberkatinya.

"Aku memberimu nama, Matthew Trewhella, atas kesetiaanmu, kekuatanmu, dan keberanianmu."

Mordowrgi - Matthew Trewhella III - cegukan. Aku tidak tahu bayi Mer juga bisa cegukan seperti manusia. Matthew kecil meringkuk dalam dekapan ibunya lalu tertidur. Mau tak mau aku merasakan senyum lebar merekah di wajahku, begitu pula di wajah Mellina. Aku berpikir mungkin selama ini hanya Matthew lah yang membuatnya bisa tersenyum. Bagaimanapun juga, ia melihat pria yang dicintainya mati di hadapannya. Seperti juga aku dan Conor.

"Terima kasih," bisiknya. Aku mengangguk dengan canggung. Mellina membuka mulutnya seolah ingin mengatakan sesuatu, lalu mengurungkan niatnya. Ia berbalik untuk pergi, namun sebelum ekornya mengibas, ia menoleh padaku. Ia tampak ragu sejenak.

"Sapphire," ujarnya. Aku menunggu sementara ia berusaha menyusun kata-kata. "Kalau kau ada waktu... kalau kau mau, datanglah mengunjungi kami kapan-kapan. Faro akan menunjukkan jalan menuju rumah kami. Ajak pula... kakakmu."

Untuk sesaat, aku tak tahu harus bereaksi bagaimana, jadi aku hanya menjawab, "Oke."

Mellina tersenyum sekilas padaku sebelum pergi meninggalkanku di teluk. Kembali ke Ingo. Kembali ke rumahnya.

Rumah. Aku tiba-tiba tersadar. Sudah berapa lama aku berada di Ingo? Cepat-cepat aku berenang sampai ke pantai dan menjulurkan leherku ke luar, menghirup oksigen dari Udara. Aku menoleh ke arah cakrawala dan merasa lega matahari belum terbenam sepenuhnya.

Aku berlari pulang menuju pondok kami, tidak memedulikan bebatuan yang kembali menggores tanganku atau semak-semak yang membelit kakiku. Aku harus memberitahu Conor sebelum Mum atau Roger pulang. Namun saat aku hampir mencapai pondok, langkahku melambat. Conor tidak menyukai Mellina ataupun Mordowrgi - Matthew. Bagaimana reaksinya nanti?

*

Di luar dugaan, reaksi Conor jauh lebih tenang. Bahkan, terlalu tenang. Ia hanya menatapku kosong sementara aku menceritakan keseluruhan kisahnya - setelah aku mandi dan mengeringkan pakaianku, karena Sadie benci bau Ingo. Saat aku selesai bercerita, Conor termenung menatap perapian kami yang menyala.

"Adik tiri, ya?" gumamnya. "Kau selalu saja menganggapnya seperti itu."

"Tapi, Con," sahutku, "Mordowrgi memang adik tiri kita! Dia anak Dad, seperti juga kita!"

"Maksudmu Matthew?"

Aku mulai cemas. "Kuharap kau tidak akan marah padaku karena memberkatinya dengan nama Dad."

"Marah?" Conor tertawa lepas. "Baru sekarang kau memikirkan konsekuensi itu?"

"Mellina berhak, Con," aku berusaha menjelaskan. "Dia juga menyayangi Dad, sama seperti kita."

Alih-alih menyanggah seperti yang selalu ia lakukan, Conor justru mendesah. "Aku tahu."

Harapan mulai tumbuh di dadaku. "Jadi kau tidak marah?"

Conor menggeleng. "Tidak. Lagipula, mungkin memang itu yang Dad inginkan."

"Trims, Con," aku memeluknya erat.

Conor balas memelukku sejenak sebelum berkata, "Jadi, kapan kita akan mengunjungi Matthew kecil?"

Jawabanku hanya berupa gelakan yang tercampur air mata.


Find me on Twitter!
http://twitter.com/AdityawhXo

Saturday, 12 July 2014

Not What I Thought

You know that sometimes, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself, that you're different, you're unique in your own way, you still can't help but to feel like you're so tiny, and small, and just doesn't mean a thing to the world.

Maybe this isn't much. Maybe, maybe I took it way more than I should have. Or just maybe, my expectation and judgment about myself is just either too low or too high.

I started this day feeling rather bubbly. It all began when a Twitter friend of mine tweeted me last night, "DILA OMG I WANNA TELL YOU SOMETHING".

Despite the misspelling of my name (again...), I was curious. So I replied with, "wat" but she didn't tweeted me again. This morning, when I saw her tweeting, I quickly told her, "I thought you wanted to tell me something?"

"Oh right I forgot. Remember when I asked you if you have WhatsApp?"

"Yea," I said, "and I told you no?"

"Yeah and then I realized youre damn popular cause we talked about you once lololol"

I was all like, "WHAT" with a big, confused, also amused, grin on my face.

Here's the thing: I know that many people know me, and it's not because I have GREAT personalities or likes to hangout or I'm a queen bee or things like that. Nor that I'm popular because I'm like the emo kid or the goth girl or just those who really stands out. I like to think that I'm standing out of the box but sometimes it's just that I'm trying to convince myself. And also there are other times where I just want to jump into that boring normal called box.

What makes me popular is, I think, rather than have a big group of friends I go everywhere with, I have small group of friends here and there. Like in my school (exclude my own classmates), I have like two friends in that class and three friends in that class. Also another one in the class over there and other four in the class over here. And they're just friends. Imagine the acquaintances who knows me from like extracurricular or projects they're doing or other things. So yeah, I know that I'm popular if popular means many people knows my name.

But this morning.

When Dhiya, my Twitter friend, told me they talked about me once in the WA group, I feel... I don't know what I feel. Amused? Honoured? Gigglish? Weird? I don't know. But one thing I know for sure, it probably didn't go like this:

"Hey"
"Hey"
"Hey you guys know Dilla?"
"YES OMG"
"OMG SHE'S MY FRIEND HOW DID YOU KNOW HER"
"IDK when I found her I just feel like damn I'm lucky"
"i know right"
"She's awesome"
"Even beyond awesome"
"She's just so great and fun to talk with"
"And to fangirl with lmao"
"I finally met up with her last year and that was the best time of my entire life"

Okay, so maybe I exaggerating a bit, but hey, everyone can dream, right? But I'm sure they didn't talk about me THAT way because that's just so strange aaaand mostly because I act like "a retarded bitch" all the time.

I'm being serious.

But, well, being "popular" on a WA group where you're not even a member (I don't have any chatting app aside Blackberry Messenger) is clearly not something to brag and be proud about because I imagine the members are mostly just my other Twitter friends and if that's so then WELL HELL YEAH OF COURSE I'M POPULAR they all know me.

But the way Dhiya told me, I just.... like..... wow. How could some people waste their precious time just to talk about ME? Like, naw I'm not that special but thank you hohoho.

It's just good to be reminded how matter you are to the world, even if you're just the smallest part of it. Sure, if they didn't talk about me they'll just talk about something else. But it still feels good to know. That someone knows me and kind of happy enough to then mention me when they're chatting with other people. Or kind enough to remember me.

Now it feels like a big responsibility for me to not turn them down when we meet in person.

ONE BY ONE - YouTuber: breelovesbeauty

Hey, remember when I said I wanted to make a blog series about book reviews and movies and songs? Yeah, guess what: I don't feel like doing any! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

*

So I was browsing YouTube (not really browsing... is looking through your subscriptions page considered as browsing? It's not like I'm typing anything on the search bar) and I watched Breelovesbeauty's video, Healthy & Yummy 4th of July Treat Ideas! then all of sudden I get this idea of writing a post about her. Aaaaaand I think I probably want to, you know, just write about other YouTuber that I subscribe to, but for now let wonderful Bree be the first victim!

I can't promise you that I will write regularly things like this because I can't stay committed like I can barely keep up with my ex more than two weeks and I don't know why I'm talking about my ex right now it's not like he's going to read my blog! Duh.

He's that annoying.

Also, if you think that I'm showing off with talking (when you read this... do you imagine how I sound like? Because I DO) and writing in English, well, SAWRY I want Bree to read my blog so yeah I'm that awesome. Moral of the story? You guys probably won't see me cuss as much as usual. c:

So, let's get staaarted!

*

Bree on Learning to Love... Yourself ♡
I think I first discovered her channel like, a year or a year and half ago. Her first video that I watched was How To Clean Your Room. On that video I don't really see her because all she did was cleaning up her room and talking on the background. She talks almost as fast as Ryan Higa so I guess if you can keep up with him you'll be fine with her. Although SOMETIMES she talks TOO FAST I can't I just can't I was like, "What was that?" so I pull it back a couple of seconds then I was like, "What was that again?" then I pull it back couple of seconds again, COUPLE OF TIMES, until I either a) gave up or b) FINALLY understand. She's still awesome, though!

So she did like healthy lifestyle and beauty and cooking videos. So here's the thing: if you look at her, she's not stunningly pretty or something; she just average looking. BUT the way she feels comfortable with herself, the way her eyes sparkle when she speaks (I sound like a creepy stalker...), her confidence, ALL SHOWS. All of them shows and when I first saw her, I understand that inner beauty isn't just something people say to make "average" looking girls feel better. IT'S A REAL THING, EVERYONE. REPEAT, IT'S A REAL THING.

Cambria Joy isn't stunningly pretty. She's STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL.

Which kind of suits her YouTube name, breelovesbeauty, if you think about it. I mean, how can you not love beauty, especially if it's like, a real beauty. How can you not?

Bree, I may say, is a very inspirational person. She encourages all her viewer to do a healthy lifestyle, to workout, and getting fit WITHOUT causing damage to yourself (you know those ads where they say you can lose Xkg within days without doing anything but taking pills? Lies. ALL LIES). And if you're doing any of her workout routine or exercise videos, it feels like she's doing it with you! She's the type of a person everyone wish to be friends with. I feel like she's a very loyal person and won't let you go through any hard times without her. Her family and friends are sure very lucky!

And, surprise, she's only eighteen!

Well that is, if I'm not wrong remembering her birth year. Maybe you should go check her Draw My Life video. There she told a bit part of her history.... you may say?

I think I don't have many things to talk about Bree from breelovesbeauty because... all I can say about her is that SHE'S AMAZING. And if I force myself to type further, I'll probably just repeating the same thing over and over and making fool of myself. She's that one kind you can't really tell your friends about except that she's wonderful. She's like the you've-got-to-see-for-yourself type of a person. So, go! Go to her channel, breelovesbeauty, watch her videos, and tell me what you think about her.

I just LLOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEEE this girl. :D