I’m Back!

Hey, guess what, I’m not dead! Yet. Almost though. Contrary to what I really want. Yeah, that was Covid-19 that broke my motivation to do regular blogging. But I experienced nothing worse than recurring fever. And some mild coughs and taste loss. I was still able to smell things though.

That being said, I recently converted the first chapter of Tripplach into a short audiobook (using Anchor). I’d really appreciate it if you could come and give it a listen.

And currently, I’m bit obsessed with Aksara Jawa a.k.a. OG Java(nese) Script. Thanks Covid-19, I guess. So, expect to see some posts using Bahasa Indonesia written in it. Although you might not be able to read it. I’ll make some short tutorials if you’re really interested. Let me know.

I think it’s enough for now. I just want to let you guys know that I’m still alive, despite my daily begging to be otherwise. But since I was able to give some important messages to my ‘son’ today for his birthday, I guess it’s not all bad.

Just An Announcement

Well.. Expect the short break to last a bit longer. I fell ill due to a cold. Fortunately it’s not COVID-19. But still it wrecks my schedules. Thanks for your understanding. Stay healthy.

Tripplach, Behind the Scene

I said I won’t post about Tripplach after chapter 4 due to me taking a short break. But here I am. Talking about the behind the scene of the short novel in Q&A format. But technically I don’t post the continuation of the novel. So, it’s fair game. LOL..

Why did I make this novel? Mostly because I have too many ideas inside my head. It’s a waste to let them lost and forgotten. I need to get them out.

Why Magic the Gathering? Last year, I was hooked up to the game. I played with MTG Arena (although I can’t seem to proceed post tutorial) and Magic Mana Strike. I also read in the website, many short stories set in the Planes. Thus, one of the stories inside my head is born as Tripplach. I also took some clues from Pokemon Fandom that made so many fanmade regions, lore, and regional variants of existing monsters. Even new ones. If Pokemon fandom can do it, why not MTG fandom?

How did Tripplach created? I wrote the draft in LibreOffice but didn’t get it finished. It is so much different from the blog post ones, but the concept is already there. A Plane with only 3 manas out of 5. Hence the name of Tripplach. It’s a corruption of Tri(mana)Place.

Why did I choose Red, Black, and Blue? They represent quite a bit of me. I’m quite emotional, individual, solitary, and love to learn new things (but mostly just the surface). That’s why I really love Ravnica blocks. The lore is just so interesting. Well, but that’s just the official reason. The real reason is basically I chose them on a whim. But then, I still tried to make sense to it. So it looks like I did it on purpose. Fake it till you make it, right?

Why did you start with Red? No particular reason to be honest. I just go with the zone. I can start with Black too if so I choose. It’s just the zone (do you ever experience it?) dictates that it’s easier to start with Red. But I really can’t start with Blue. Why? It’s for plot sake. Wait for its debut in Tripplach and you’ll see why. Hahahaha..

What about the Green and White mana’s existence? It’s still a secret! I do have the background lore for the manas in the draft and I still will use it for the blog post. But for now, it’s still a secret.

Hmm.. This is all I can think about the questions. What else do you want to ask? What else you’re curious with? Comment your questions and I’ll try to make the answer for it.

Tripplach, A Magic the Gathering Fan Fiction Chapter 4

[So, that’s that.] The human concludes our conversation.

Uh. Just like that? More importantly, why do you do this at the first place? You don’t know me. I don’t know you. But you try to help me with this information. Why?

[Hmm.. Valid questions, but unfortunately I don’t have the answers.]

So, what do you want to do? Now that you finish your main thing.

[I think I’ll stay in this Plane for a little longer. I’m interested with what you’re going to do. And how it would turn out. I will not make interference from henceforth. If you decide not to do anything, that’s fine too.] The playful image he makes when he first comes is all gone. Along with his figure that’s now invisible.

Not just invisible. I can’t feel his presence. I can’t see his mind too. It’s like he’s not here anymore. So, this is a Planeswalker. What a terrifying power they have. I decide to go back to my place and take a rest. I’m tired.

When I wake up, I find a letter besides my head. It’s from the chief. When I open it, I see a crude drawing. A stick figure with a club. It only means one thing. We have war. Full scale war. Not just bloody-but-playful fight to death we usually do. What happens when I sleep? Or when I have the conversation with the human?

I go out to the special place. A very wide plain. When I come, I see hundreds, thousands of people already there. This is the first time I see so many Tripplachis gather in one place. This is a serious business alright. Serious war too. And then, I see it. I see clouds of black mana. The human is real after all. There’s black mana in this world.

I hear many shouts from the people. It looks like many of them also don’t know about the black mana. The noise gets even louder until the chief shouts out even louder. Automatically the noise gets silent. What a powerful chief, I think. After some time, he finally speaks.

“We are here to fight. Our place is here. Nobody has the right to take it away from us. Not even the black people,” the chief speaks normally. But all of us hear it clearly. It must be a kind of magic. Magic that I don’t know.

The whole plain reverberates with excited shouts from the agitated Tripplachis. They bring forth their best, biggest, baddest weapons. The ones capable of weaponize their bones show them up. But the horde don’t do anything to each other. The chief somehow prevents them from hurting themselves.

I don’t really want to do it. I don’t really like fighting. I don’t have any weapons too. I don’t even want to be here. But I want to see where this war leads to. I want to see the end. And that is enough reason to be here. Red people, black people. Only one will live. Black people, here we come.

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I’m going to take a short break after this chapter published. I will still post. But I won’t do Tripplach chapters. So, see you soon!

Tripplach, A Magic the Gathering Fan Fiction Chapter 3

I’m in the middle of the quieter neighborhood when that thing appears.

[Hey! I told you I’m a human!]

Ah. That voice comes again.

[Why don’t you just understand? I’m a human! Giving you great information!]

It’s getting louder. But I can’t make it any more silent. Because it comes right through my mind. So noisy.

[I give up..]

So, the thing called human says that this world, barren, cruel, bloody, land inhabited by ferocious people like my kind, will be all green and beautiful. Isn’t that just a plain lie?

[No! It’s not! The thing is, there’s actually big amount of blue, black, and red mana here. The other two is in very small amount. But it’s there.]

Ah. Another nonsense. The human says there’s actually blue and black mana. I’m born here. I grow here. I live here. But never see any blue or black mana. Let alone the green and white. All I can see is red mana overflowing everywhere.

[Ugh. How can I get you to believe me? As a blue mana user yourself, you really don’t believe in the existence of blue mana.]

I don’t believe what I can’t see. Wait. What? What do you say? Repeat it! Repeat it!

[How can I get you believe me?]

No! The last one!

[You don’t believe in blue mana?]

No! The other one!

[Uh.. I don’t remember..]

The part about me! That one!

[You’re user of blue mana?]

Yes! Yes that is! Is it true? It it true that I can use blue mana? How? I’m born in the middle of people who only knows red mana. How can I use blue?

[The very fact that you can have this conversation with me is a little proof that you are using it. In fact, I even doubt you are capable of handling the red mana.]

I lost in thoughts. And yes, the human is still reading my racing mind like an open book. Not that I have things to hide. And not that I’m unable to do the same thing to the human.

I dig some information from him. And I learn some new words as well. So, this human is a male variant. And he has an interesting concept as time. There’s this round hot bright thing in the sky named sun. And the periode between when it appears and reappears is called a day. The periode of its absence is called the night. And you can see beautiful small lights called the stars. Unlike the eternal darkness we have here.

He also wears thing called clothes. And double it with a big piece of fabric called robe. We don’t even have fabrics here. And he wastes it by using more fabric than needed.

Now that I can dig information from him (but I can’t really go deep, it looks like he’s trained to deal with mind readers and he let me wander around his mind on purpose), I realize things that I can do that most of Tripplachis cannot. I hate to admit. But I have to believe him.

[Whoa.. You finally decided to believe my words? Opening up parts of my mind really pays off.]

As I thought.. He does it on purpose.

[But you learned so many things, right? So much more than the most of your kind can hope for. Now that you believe me, let’s get down with business.]

Ah. I can see that now he really means business. Fine. I have no choice anyway. Let’s do this.

Tripplach, A Magic the Gathering Fan Fiction Chapter 2

I hear something’s approaching. Not footsteps. It sound like when you drag stones against each other. I think that it’s one of those people who like to go around aimlessly. When they come back, they sometimes like to bring back skulls, bones, or rotting vines. They’re like explorer and merchant in one package.

Oh, I forget that I haven’t introduce myself. My name is Navara. I heard that it means The Sober One. I don’t know. I never see any alcoholic drinks here. So I don’t think anyone would be drunk. Doesn’t matter. This is my name. So you can call me by my name from now on.

The sound get closer. Closer. Even closer. Then stop abruptly. I’m in the middle of the quieter part of the neighborhood, so the sound is loud. I try to look around to see what or who is coming. Then it happens. I see a thing appears out of nowhere. A second it’s not here. The next second it’s here. It moves slowly using it’s two legs. It has two arms too. Is it a Tripplachi? But it’s too thin. Not even the thinnest Tripplachi is that thin. It’s as thin as my club handle. And then it speaks. I just stay silent. I don’t understand what it says. It then moves its, I think its hand to its.. head? And I hear a voice inside my head.

[Greetings. I’m J. A Planeswalker.]

I’m confused. I look to my left and right. I turn around to see if there’s someone or something else is making that sound. I look back at it and it moves a bit. I think it nods.

[Yes, it’s me talking to you through your mind.] Oh, I heard about this. A tele.. telepathy?

[Yes, it’s called telepathy. And yes, I can read your mind. This also makes us easier to communicate. I don’t need to learn your language and so don’t you need to learn mine.] I take a step back. I feel danger from it.

[Hey, I’m not ‘it’! I’m a human. Do you know what human is?] I shake my head and close my eyes. I’m scared.

[No need to feel scared. I’m not going to hurt you. Let me show you something.] Then I see beautiful things appear in my mind. Something tall. Is it mountain? But it’s so beautiful.. and green.. it it grass? I heard things about it.

[Yes, the tall things are called mountain. And the green things are grass. For a Tripplachi, you’re quite knowledgeable. I’m not wrong then.]

Not wrong about what? And what is your purpose of meeting me?

[Ah, my bad. I haven’t said anything about it although it’s very important. The thing is, your world is going to have a greenery like what you saw earlier.]

How? This barren land with eternal darkness, how can it be that beautiful?

[Have you heard anything about mana?]

Yes. I know there are five kinds of manas. And I know this world only has one kind of mana. The red one.

[As expected from the most knowledgeable Tripplachi. But you’re wrong in one thing. This world has all five.]

Tripplach, A Magic the Gathering Fan Fiction

So, I like Pokemon. I like Magic the Gathering. Since there are fan arts of fan-made Pokemon Region and its lore, I can make fan-made Plane, right? Right? Who knows people from Wizards would read it and interested in fleshing out the story and make cards based on my story. Hahahahaha..

==========

The world that was made from five kinds of manas, the source of all life. The unique properties of the location of this world made manas gather around easily. And so, the world emerged from the sea of five colored manas. Now, let’s dive down head first into the world born from the five manas. The dark world ravaged by civil wars between the wielder of the manas. The world that is beyond repair. Or is it?

That is what the legend said. The thing is, all I can see is emotional, brutal, and overly honest people. So honest to the point they get offensive so quickly and prone to fight with each other. As someone who’s born into this people, I don’t think I’m different. I just have a bit more of self control. But I do have explosive episodes from time to time. The scars I have in my face and arms are the proof.

This world is called Tripplach. A barren land without greenery and natural lights. Fortunately, few hundred years ago, someone invented fire. I don’t know how does it work. All I know is I have light from the fire. And food. I don’t want to think about it too much. It hurts my head. The size? Uhh.. I don’t know. Your typical world perhaps? I never travel far because I already have everything I need here.

As for my self? I’m part of this people called Tripplachi, but I don’t really have anything worthy of note. I can’t even tell you my age because we don’t have any concept of time. We have eternal night after all. And all lights are man made. The closest thing to what you call a day is perhaps the length of a torch. When a torch with the length of your stretched out arms is all burned to charcoal, I guess that makes it a day. As for how do we get the material to burn, I have no answer and I don’t want to think about it too much. It hurts my head.

As emotional and ill tempered as we are, actually we’re not just a bunch of witless thugs. Because we’re so emotional, most of us are quite romantic, although your definition of the word ‘romantic’ may differ from ours. We like to express our fondness and displeasure quite honestly. Like kidnapping our bride-to-be. Throwing carved rocks to the house of people we like as compliments. Give bone breaking hugs. Punch in the face with a stone club when we’re upset. Bloodbath battle definitely will start when we’re offended. And so many things I can’t even remember.

But don’t worry. Because Tripplachis basically fighting among ourselves for practically centuries, we’re not going to fall that easily. We have thick, armor-like skins. In some parts, the skins are so thick they turn into real bone plates. Tripplachis also have some specific abilities. We actually developed night vision for instance. A fact I don’t even know until much later. Some of us are also capable of turning our bones into piercing weapons. Our skins are so thick after all. It needs more than a thin sharp metal to make us bleed. In other words, physical strength is our forte. Combined with unique abilities, we make our daily lives full of fun. Bloody fun.

Kejutan Ulang Tahun untuk Dio

Memenuhi janjiku sebelumnya, aku menulis cerita pendek selanjutnya dalam Bahasa Indonesia. Sesuai dengan rencanaku sebelumnya, cerita pendek kali ini masih bertopik keluarga. Baiklah. Mari kita mulai saja.

Ruang tengah terlihat sepi. Tidak terlihat sosok Mama yang biasanya duduk dengan tenang di depan televisi pada jam-jam begini. Papa tentu saja belum pulang dari toko. Dio melemparkan tasnya ke sofa di ruang tamu. Matanya tertuju ke dapur. Perutnya keroncongan karena belum terisi makanan sejak pagi. Hanya air mineral yang menjadi pengganjal lapar.

Sayang Dio harus kecewa. Makanan tidak tersedia. Segera ia mengambil ponsel dari sakunya dan menelepon Papa. Tapi Papa juga tidak mengangkat telepon. Bahkan terdengar sapaan khas operator yang memberi tahu bahwa ponsel Papa sedang tidak menyala. Karena mulai kelelahan, Dio memutuskan untuk ke kamar. Tak lupa ia mengambil tas yang sebelumnya ia lemparkan dari sofa. Dalam hati ia menggerutu karena rasa laparnya tidak terpenuhi.

Sampai malam datang, tidak ada tanda-tanda kedatangan kedua orangtuanya. Dio beranjak keluar dari kamar. Karena perutnya masih lapar, ia berniat membeli makanan sendiri. Di sakunya masih ada beberapa lembar uang yang cukup digunakan untuk membeli makanan di luar.

Saat membuka pintu rumah, ternyata kedua orangtuanya sudah siap dengan pesta kecil. Di tengah jalan tampak sebuah meja tinggi. Sebuah kue ulang tahun tertata rapi di atasnya. Mama mendekat dan memeluk Dio sambil membisikkan ucapan selamat. Papa hanya tersenyum kecil. Ternyata mereka memang sengaja menghilang untuk persiapan kejutan ulang tahun Dio. Dio bahkan tidak ingat tentang ulang tahunnya.

Dio merasa sangat gembira, tentu saja. Ternyata kedua orangtuanya sangat menyayangi dirinya. Keluarganya tidak sempurna, memang. Tapi tetap saja ini keluarganya.

Thank you for your supports! These achievements really mean nothing without you!

Thank you for your supports! These achievements really mean nothing without you!

My Narrative Needs Lots of Works

I just realized my narrative style for short story needs lots of reworks. It’s just plain bad. I apologize for any eyesore when you read Orphans and the Old Couple..

Now that I already finished the short story in English, next one will be in Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian). I still live here after all.

I have several ideas for the short story. But continuing the trend with the Orphans and the Old Couple, I’d like to write another story about family. I don’t have a decent one though. I can only make up stories about it.