Filipino Stories

People like me are easy to overlook. I am Hiraya Bayani Santos-shy, quiet, and always at the back of the room. I don't lead, I don't stand out, and I don't expect to be seen. Until him. Rowan De Dios-the school's star athlete, the university's golden boy, and the son of the family who owns our school. He is everything I am not: loud in presence, loved by many, and always in the spotlight. And yet... somehow, he looked at me. I never planned to fall for someone like him. But love doesn't ask for permission. It just happens... quietly. And sometimes, the ones you think will never notice you... are the ones who change your entire world.

They met as strangers-one a future flight attendant, the other a future pilot-both hiding feelings they didn't even understand yet. Years later, fate brings them back together, turning quiet glances into something real. But love isn't always enough. Misunderstandings pull them apart, and time moves on without them. Now, years later, the sky brings them back once more-only this time, one of them is no longer free to stay. A story about missed chances, and the kind of love that never really leaves-self love.

_______ The Joker's Card _______ "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the game." - Randy Pausch _______ Have you ever held a deck of cards in your hands? Or watched someone shuffle them, knowing every card holds a different value and purpose? Cards are divided into four symbols: the clubs, the diamonds, the hearts, and the spades. Which are also divided into thirteen decks of cards: the ace, the numbers 1-10, the jack, the queen, the king... and then there's the joker, the wild card in the game, the one that follows no rules and changes everything. But this is no ordinary game. We aren't playing for money, or points, or bragging rights. This is a game of life and death, and every card in the deck is a living, breathing person, with a role they must fulfill to survive. Beneath every face is a secret. Behind every step is a mystery. Trust nothing. Every smile may be a snare. Every ally could be your end of playing. Ready to play? Come on, let the game begin. _______

Arkie "Aster" Davino loves music. He loves performing on stage. But sometimes, even passion isn't enough to keep someone from being sucked dry by the weight of public expectations. Burned out by life as a P-Pop idol, Aster decides to take a short vacation in the countryside. In La Union, he meets an awkward yet endearing fan who reminds him why he fell in love with music in the first place. Alas Del Mundo has long felt as though his life has been standing still. That while the whole world moves forward, he's been left behind. And it's a feeling he escapes through the music of GALAX-E, his favorite P-Pop group. Being a fan of GALAX-E's leader Aster should have been enough. Yet Fate, with its strange sense of humor, places the very man Alas admires right in his neighborhood. As the distance between idol and fan begins to blur, Alas can't help but wonder: Does he have the right to reach for a star he was only ever meant to admire from afar?

Jael hated Steban without a reason. One day, he moved to his mother house and met Steban, his step-brother.

"I love you," he whispered, their foreheads gently touching. A tear escaped her eye, for she understood that "I love you" was once a beautiful melody, but now it threatened to transform into a tragic symphony. "I will soon have to leave you," she confessed. He looked at her seriously but with genuine affection. "It doesn't matter," he replied. "I will continue to love you unconditionally, even if life itself ceases to exist."

They say, fake it 'til you make it - but what happens when "making it" is the biggest lie of your life? Tatiana Ingrid Ortega is a master of deception. With a smile that sells and a life that looks like a dream, she convinces the world she's untouchable, but the thing about masks is that the longer you wear them, the harder they are to take off. When she is hired to save a business that is drowning, she realizes she's not the only one keeping secrets within these walls. Now, she is playing a game where the stakes are higher than her reputation. One wrong move, and her golden mask won't just fall - it will shatter, and she will have nowhere left to hide. Will she finally reveal her true self, or will she lose everything trying to keep the facade alive?

Avery Dizon thought she had the perfect life-loyal friends, a perfect suitor, and a place at the top of Don Gregorio Scholastic Institute. But after falling from the third floor of their school building, she wakes up with broken bones, missing memories, and a strange ability she never asked for. She can hear people's inner thoughts. And what she hears destroys everything she once believed. Her best friend is hiding something. Her suitor is lying. Her classmates secretly hate her. Everyone around her has a voice inside their head-except Angelica, the girl she never trusted, and Gregory McKenzie, the mysterious blue-haired transfer student who suddenly enters her life. Why can't Avery hear him? And more importantly... Who pushed her? A Taglish young adult mystery-romance about fake friends, hidden truths, betrayal, and the one stranger whose silence might change everything.

Started: 06/07/2026 Ended: Zipporah "Zia" Chen is the Chinita princess of Makati. Lumaki ito sa isang Filipino-Chinese family na nagmamay-ari ng ilang sikat na hotel along Metro Manila. She's got it all, from wealth to beauty--masasabi talagang swerte siya sa buhay. Until one dinner night caused a catastrophic fate in her life. Hindi naman talaga niya ginusto na maligaw, sadyang mali-mali ang mga sinabi niya at walang kaalam-alam sa mga lugar-lugar. Buti na lang si Timotheo Villaranda ang tumulong sa kanya. Dahil kung hindi? She wouldn't experience the life she never knew she needed. And that's when life started to make sense. But loving a princess comes with a price a poor boy cannot afford, forcing Theo to vanish without a trace. They say being apart for a single day feels like three autumns, and for three long years, absolute silence stood between them. Now that fate is pulling them back together, Zia is about to find out: did her gentle savior return to claim her heart, or did the brutal cost of reaching her world change him completely?

"Everything can change, but we must always remain faithful to God no matter what." For young Gabriel, ancient family traditions feel like a chore. But behind those traditions lies a gripping story of a family of six who faced scarcity, isolation, and a critical medical crisis that threatened to break their spirits. Through the eyes of Grandpa Ezekiel, discover how an enduring faith can carry a family through their darkest hours and bring healing across generations.

Ilang beses ng nasaktan. Ilang beses ng nalunod ang isipan sa malalim na agam-agam. Ilang beses ng lumuha at umiyak ng dahil sa nararamdaman. Umiyak dahil walang mapagsabihan. Lumuha dahil takot na mahusgahan. Kaya't tanging isang pirasong papel at matintang bolpen ang hiniram. Isinulat ang lungkot, galit, poot at kasiyahan. Isinulat sa paraang ako at ang mga nakaranas ng dinanas ko ang makakaunawa at makakalam na ang mga talatang isinulat ay hindi talata lamang. P.S. Hi minna-chin! This is your author/manunulat, Senathren, and I want to make a safe space for everyone who can freely rant about their feelings if they are having a hard times or either good times. As well as to express my feelings and emotions through poems. I hope everyone will engage in this small platform of mine.(⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

THE ONE WHO SEEKS DEATH (Psychological Horror thriller urban dark fantasy) Gehan Phantom has always seen the world through a fractured lens. Voices in the dark. Ripples in the mirror. Eyes that never blink. For twenty-two years, she survived a body that betrayed her and a mind that saw too much. She disappeared because she didn't want to be here anymore. But when she returns three months later, the girl who woke up isn't the one who left. Her memory is a void. Her home feels like a stranger's house. And her reflection? It finally started smiling back even when she isn't. As the world unravels into the Convergence, monsters crawl from the cracks in the earth and hooded figures claim she belongs to a prophecy she never asked for. Kidnapped and forced into a war between realms, Gehan is chosen by the Nephilim Book a sentient, blood-stained artifact that picked a girl who just wanted a normal life. Under the command of Sir Nathaniel, she is tasked with retrieving ancient artifacts to destroy the soul locked within. But the closer she gets, the louder the voices in her mind become voices that sound exactly like her own. With memories that aren't hers and dreams of a life she never lived, Gehan faces a terrifying truth: The end of the world didn't start with the sky falling. It started with her. She vanished to escape the darkness. Now, it lives inside her. And it remembers everything she was forced to forget. P.S. I drew my book cover.

J'ul Di Luar-ke was an Elite Yautja. A hunter feared across galaxies. A warrior who had faced monsters twice his size, decapitated Queens, and eliminated Bad Bloods who violated the Yautja Codex. There was no prey he could not track. No battlefield he could not survive. So when he was sent to Earth, it was supposed to be simple. Eliminate Xenomorph infestations. Hunt down rogue predators. Clean up what had escaped into this planet of life. A mission worthy of an Elite. Easy. At least... that's what he thought. Because Earth was not his problem. His problem was Samantha Delos Reyes. A maldita Science teacher with too much energy, too many questions, and absolutely no fear for an eight-foot tall alien hunter with mandibles. J'ul survived wars. But he was not prepared for her.

Miguel and Lara met in Cebu at the wrong time in their lives. He was trying to find a future far from where he grew up. She was trying to become someone the world kept rejecting. They didn't text. They didn't call. They wrote letters. And somehow... that was enough.

Just a fun little AU story that I made of two sections. Warning: It will be VERY slowburn.

Binili niya oras ko sa halagang 500,000. Ang hindi niya alam... wala na akong oras para magbayad."_ *Liana Reyes, 21 Taga-Tondo. Tindera ng 55-peso coffee sa kanto. Stage 4 rare blood disorder. Walang gamot. Walang lunas. Sabi ng doktor: _Months, maybe a year._ Hindi niya sinabi kay Nanay. Ayaw niyang masira yung natitirang oras nila sa luha. Kaya nagtrabaho siya. Nag-iipon ng barya-barya. Hindi para sa sarili. Para kay Nanay. "Pag wala na ako, at least may maiiwan ako." *Sebastian Dela Vega, 21.* Heir ng Dela Vega Group. May pera. May pangalan. May boredom. Nakita niya si Liana bumagsak sa harap ng lumang cart niya. Blue lips. Walang takot mamatay. "Interesting," ngisi niya. Tapos binili niya pangarap ni Liana. 500,000. Isang deal. _"Borrow my money. Build something bigger. Pay me back with interest."_ Interest = oras at trabaho niya para sa kanya. Akala ni Seb: investment lang 'to. Laruan lang. Akala ni Liana: utang lang 'to. Kailangan lang magpanggap na malakas hanggang huling hininga. Pero paano kung yung lalaking bumili ng oras niya... siya rin yung dahilan para gusto na niyang mabuhay? Paano kung sa bawat "Made by Liana" na kape, may nagbubuo ring pusong akala niya patay na?

|Taglish Story| |GXG| Mahalia Jovira Kasilag never believed in love songs. Sa dami ng iniwang lamat ng buhay-isang ama na naging estranghero, isang pamilyang pilit niyang iniingatan kahit mahirap, at mga pangarap na halos matigil dahil sa pera-natuto siyang tumayo mag-isa. Her safe space? Crochet hooks, guitar strings, at ang mga pader na itinayo niya sa paligid ng puso niya. Then came Arden Gabrielle Sarmiga-taller, brighter, half-British half-Filipina with a voice that could stop the world. Sa unang tingin, parang kabaligtaran niya: privileged, adored, surrounded by love. Pero sa bawat biro, sa bawat pagtatanggol, at sa bawat tawag niya ng "Mahal," unti-unting binasag ni Arden ang mga pader na buong buhay itinayo ni Mahalia. From quiet rehearsals sa university workshop, to stolen glances sa dimly lit corridors, hanggang sa Battle of the Bands na nagbukas ng mundo nila-music stitched their souls together. Every note, every harmony, became a thread binding them closer. Yet with closeness comes fear: the fear of being left, the fear of choosing love again. But love, like music, is not without dissonance. Rivalries, past heartbreaks, and the terrifying silence of unanswered questions threaten to break them apart. Hanggang sa dumating ang gabi ng park confession-isang tanong na maaaring magbago ng lahat: "Mahal... pwede ba kitang ligawan?" This is a story of patience, slow-burn longing, and the courage to say: "I see you, Gabbie. Ikaw mismo." Started: 8/16/2025 Published: 5/11/2026 Ended: ---

Apat na ordinaryong Pilipino. Apat na magkakaibang buhay. Isang aksidenteng magdadala sa kanila sa mundong matagal nang pinoprotektahan ng mahika, dugo, at tadhana. Si Kian, isang drag queen na sanay lumaban sa entablado at sa mapanghusgang mundo; si Ysabel, isang BS Criminology graduate na naniniwala sa batas at hustisya; si Nico, isang binatang lubog sa utang at takot mabigo ang pamilya; at si Mira, isang artist na ginagamit ang sining para takasan ang sakit ng nakaraan. Hindi nila kilala ang isa't isa. Ngunit matapos ang magkakasabay na aksidente, magigising sila sa isang kakaibang paraiso-tahimik, maganda, at tila walang naninirahan. Hindi nila alam na napunta sila sa Encantadia, isang mundong minsang pinrotektahan ng mga Sang'gre at ng apat na makapangyarihang brilyante. Sa simula, wala silang kapangyarihan. Wala silang gabay. Wala silang alam sa mundong pinasok nila. Hanggang sa madiskubre nila ang isang sinaunang relikya na magpapasabog sa apat na elemento-Apoy, Hangin, Tubig, at Lupa. Ngunit habang unti-unti nilang natutuklasan ang kapangyarihang dumadaloy sa kanila, maririnig nila ang tawanan ng apat na babaeng hindi nila nakikita. Mga tinig mula sa nakaraan. Mga tagapag-ingat na hindi na mortal, hindi na basta Sang'gre, kundi mga Bathalumang nagmamasid sa bagong henerasyon. Hindi sila pinili dahil perpekto sila. Pinili sila dahil alam nila ang pakiramdam ng mabasag. At sa muling paggising ng Encantadia, isang tanong ang susubok sa kanila: Sino ang tunay na bayani-ang ipinanganak na may kapangyarihan, o ang dayuhang piniling lumaban kahit walang kasiguraduhan?

On the night baby Harry Potter was placed on the Dursleys' doorstep, believing he would be raised by the Dursleys, fate intervenes in the form of a white aspin, who alerted her owners. After discovering the infant, they decided to raise him as their own, teaching him values and lessons of the Filipino community.

An architect in her late twenties reflects on life between where she is and where she hopes to be. Between coral gardens, deep conversations, old friendships, career ambitions, and a connection that lingers in smiles and shared silences, she discovers that growing up is less about having answers and more about learning to live with beautiful question marks.