[BOYS' LOVE] (REVISED: 2026 VERSION) As tall as a building. As cold as ice. As breathtaking as flowers. As fiery as a volcano. We may know what it looks like, but we are oblivious to what it seems to be. ⋆౨ৎ⋅˚₊‧⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅‧₊˚ ⋅୨ৎ⋆ Growing up, Beniel Florus Matrinidad was always close to the beauty of Aphrodite. Despite his beauty and the countless men who made their move to him, he didn't entertain any of them. He may look innocent, but he knows how to handle himself, especially men. His only goal, when he and his friends transferred to a new university for their final year, was to graduate. Build a house for him and his grandmother. Have a stable job and live a happy life. Not until he met his roommate, Ashton Rize Tecson, a fiery, tall, basketball player from Summit Peak University known for his frigid aura. He doesn't talk much. He doesn't smile that much. In short, Ashton is the ultimate opposite of Beniel's type; the least Beniel could do is not fall for him. But he did. Were the looks and intimacy enough for love to bloom, or was love more than just what we see and feel? Were the sayings proved that having a crush on someone was just a phase? What happens when two opposites collide? What could go wrong when you place something where it simply doesn't belong? Like water on fire, or a flower in a volcano.

atr

ejdw

bl

They say that happy-go-lucky people bury their deepest pain behind smiles. For Maverick Evander, an architecture student, was entangled in a web of uncertainty by his parents' decision to separate. Beneath his playful image and a well-known loud circle, he was able to carry a facade-a mystery no one could ever decipher. How can you read someone when they are just black pages in the book? That's how engineering student Rade Archiel Tejano sees Mavric: a blinding sun you could only graze upon. And the more he tries to solve the puzzles in Mavric's mind games, the more Mavric's wall thickens. Will Rade be able to crush someone who is already broken? Will Mavric top someone when he's the one who's falling? In a play where one had to win, both of them fell...hard.

In a society where blue is classified for boys and pink for the girls, Shiloh Ching Escarra struggled during his childhood when he discovered his fondness for the toys and colors that were only labeled for the girls. Despite confining himself in the darkness, Brent Matthew Jarsdel, his roommate and the son of his mother's friend, gradually peeked through his thick walls and found a way to paint his world according to what color he genuinely prefers. In the midst of those unexplainable feelings, confusions, and judgements, Brent was willing to risk it all; to fight for the love he unexpectedly found; to build him a home where his true colors would finally be accepted.

Santiago Alverio is torn between family expectations and his own internalized fears from homophobic relatives. As he enters a casual fling with Diablo Delgado, he discovers that love, patience, and acceptance might be the blueprint to healing and embracing his true self. *** Santiago Alverio has always lived by the rules of his family, peers, and a silent world that tells him who he should be. As a civil engineering student, he hides behind toxic masculinity and the fear of being noticed because of expectations and a homophobic upbringing. Then comes Diablo Delgado--fearless, affectionate, and unapologetically himself. What begins as a no-strings "friends with benefits" arrangement slowly converts into something deeper. With every touch, every unguarded smile, Diablo breaks the walls Santi has built around his heart. But love is never simple. Santi is caught between family pressures, societal judgment, and his own insecurities. Will he ever realize that happiness was never about meeting expectations but about choosing the person who makes him feel whole? DISCLAIMER: This story is written in Taglish. COVER DESIGN: Rayne Mariano ILLUSTRATOR: Ri Ot

A BL STORY

In Olympus Academy, the first and only school to house Filipino demigods and mythological creatures, students are divided into four classes: Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Omega. Carrying one of the titles comes with great responsibility, especially to Reign, a girl who continues to live through the privilege and burden of being an Omega. All eyes are on her class as a new student arrives, bearing a legend that many do not believe and some, refuse to. Reign decides to dive deep into the legends of Olympus Academy, in efforts to understand their new member, and eventually she will. She will come to know two cruel truths about their very existence: Mythological creatures like her are being hunted for power. And as for the demigods who belong to the same class as her, they were a consequence, a threat, an ultimatum of what was once destined. To be the hunted or become the hunters? To be the protectors or become the protected? The Omegas need to make a choice. But being descendants of the original Omegas, demigods who defeated gods, titans, and even overcame Chaos, the first deity to ever exist in mythology... They know they're just as powerful to choose another option that's not given: Become no one but themselves.

During the spread of the deadliest virus in 2054 Philippines, Santhy Gozon struggles to survive to reach the last quarantine. *** A sixteen-year-old student should be worrying about school, friends, girls, growing up-not battling the deadliest virus the world has ever seen, but Santhy doesn't exactly have a choice. This virus doesn't choose its victims-psychosis, paranoia, death-and the only way to survive is to go to the Last Quarantine. Aboard a public bus, Santhy and the other passengers fight for their lives. A virus this lethal and ruthless, a rate of 902 to 1,543 victims a minute...Santhy won't be one of them. At least, that's what he's trying to convince himself. DISCLAIMER: This story is written in Taglish. COVER DESIGN: Louise De Ramos