For Interested Parties: Canlaon College

Canlaon College is a fiction and art anthology about Philippine mythological creatures based in a High School to College setting. Please keep in mind that submissions are primarily done for free. Whether or not you're a first-time author or illustrator doesn't matter: anyone is welcome to submit. :)

Submission Requirements:

1. Must revolve around the theme of Philippine mythological creatures in a High School or College setting.
2. Can be in English or Filipino.
3. Can be in fiction, comic, or artwork format.
4. Must be original (of course).
5. Must not be previously published.
6. Created by someone of Filipino nationality/ethnicity.
7. Only one submission per person. Should the work not be considered for inclusion to the anthology, rights to publish or enter the story in a contest unrelated to this specific anthology will be given back to the creator.
8. Preferably targeted to a teenage/young adult audience.

Not-Requirements:

1. Does not have to occur specifically in school, as long as it focuses on that certain theme or age.
2. 500-7000 words in fiction, only preferably.
3. Art will be published in grayscale.
4. There is no maximum for comics, but preferably they should not exceed 20 pages (excluding the cover). Any submission that exceeds 20 pages should be justified solely by the plot.
5. Avoid fancy formatting if you are to submit fiction. Entries will be standardized according to our own format eventually.

Editor's Notes:

1. Please include your real name in the submission e-mail. Pseudonyms will be discussed once your submission is considered for publication.
2. When your work is considered for publication, we will require you to submit a short bio, with or without publishing history.

How to Submit:

1. Join the Canlaon College group on Facebook so you can participate in discussion and/or consultation.
2. E-mail your entries to canlaoncollege@gmail.com with your real name.
3. Submissions may be done in the following formats: .doc, .txt, .zip, .jpeg, .png, .rtf
4. Deadline for submissions is on Jan. 1, 2014.

SETTING DETAILS/INSPIRATION

1. No specific school is designated to be the setting for "Canlaon College".
2. Stereotypes/cliques per species is designated as follows (no need to follow, but recommended to at least exemplify):

• ASWANG/MANANANGGAL
• The self-appointed rulers of the school - confident, reassured people by day who are, well, beasts once night drops. Female aswang are to be dated with caution, as they are known to be man-eaters - literally, and, more usually, figuratively. Their carnivorous streaks are toned down now that they have to lie low in their schools, but they still retain a fierceness that doesn't require any bloodshed. Usually.
• TIKBALANG
• Jocks who enjoy flaunting their fitness just because it's in their blood. They're the students who, despite the hectic demands of academic life, never seem to run out of horsepower. Ahem.
• DIWATA/ENGKANTO
• The students who just can't help but exuberate their own brand of fash-own on campus. You could dismiss them as free-spirited hipsters, but when it comes to environmental activism, they're so much more than the average dreamcatcher-toting, Instagram-using, trendsetting teenager.
• KAPRE
• "Stoners"/activists/sometimes slacktivists, only rarely seen without a cigarette or, in some cases, a cigar between their teeth. They might seem lazy and uncouth at first glance, but one should learn never to judge a Kapre sumply by their laidback appearances.
• SIYOKOY/SIRENA
• Like the Diwata and Engkanto, the sea-dwellers can't help but feel protective of their home and will most likely be spotted at the next "Save the Dolphins" wall-painting session. However, they also can't help being inevitable scene-stealers and will most likely sing, dance, act and dramatize their way into conviction, no matter how over the top it looks.
• NUNO SA PUNSO
• The Nuno, by today's standards, may be quite awkward and nerdy, but there's no way they're going to go down from a bullying without a fight. Nuno are still the smiths of pranks and practical jokes, benevolent and otherwise, and one would be smart to pay a little respect to the descendants of the very first hill-dwelling people.

Mythological creatures not mentioned above can be written about in any way you wish.

Carraway

And suddenly it begins to show: the naked truth revealing itself from a billowing cloud of silken white smoke. A web of people and circumstances all connected with strings no thicker than a hair, or a sliver of moonlight, dew drops huge and heavy on their lengths and the wind a gushing force threatening to tear it all apart.

I realize that I, once again, am on the outside, looking in.

on the road

There's a certain comfort in being in a station wagon along the highway while rain batters the windshield at a million miles an hour.

There's a certain comfort in looking outside and seeing a view much better than my crappy camera could ever capture, as lightning cuts through the sky in its electric whiteness, faster than I could ever catch.

There's a certain comfort in looking out the window at 9 in the evening and seeing a hundred lights, a hundred lives, a hundred stories that we blink past every hour.

There's a certain comfort in the way your friends text you from Quezon City as you ride on the NLEX, as if they were sitting right beside you on a long, lonely ride.

There's a certain comfort in heading to your childhood province six hours away from where you live now, realizing you're living your childhood construction of "safe" - that is, buried in a blanket in a snug old car.

There's a certain comfort in waking up to something like this.

Happy Independence Day, everyone.

Here Comes College

Fifteen hours before College and I'm feeling a bit indifferent - the actual worst thing I could possibly feel, I guess?

It just doesn't feel like I'm going to school tomorrow. I'll come into my first subject at 8:30 and find new people, but I don't know if I'll feel any different about staying there the next few weeks, because this was a hell of a long Summer for me. Maybe it's the fact that I have no books, or uniform, or the fact that I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of official stuff to fix thanks, mostly, to my absolute cluelessness and naivety.

It's not that I hate these brand new school vibes and fear that I'll lose Summer. If anything I'm glad that I'm going to College (har har) and I'm glad for the new lifestyle change, because I sure will be more productive in school than I was when I didn't have it. That's why I worry about not feeling much, because, surely, I should be feeling at least excitement (not as much as I should be, but I feel it a little) or nervousness or fear or joy? But mostly I feel nothing at all.

More on this as the story develops.

A Mondrian Look Back

It's four days before school, and I feel like I have to 'fess up: my Summer wasn't as exciting as I cut it out to be. Heheheh. The above outfit was something I wore yesterday (owing thanks to my Tita who just came from the States for the top).

Let's recap: all I've done these past three months is go out with friends, sometimes attend some events, eat out with the family, get glasses, practice driving, and sit on my butt almost every day drawing, watching movies, and catching up on Hannibal.

I'm a little frustrated about being "too lazy" to update the blog - my sister laughed at me once, telling me it takes dedication to run a blog every day. And even though I never planned on updating every day I still feel - no, know that I'm missing out on updating, writing, working as much as I should.

Looking back, I can conclude that I can't be half-assed to make my own adventures sometimes; and if I do, I don't even have the initiative to blog about them.

This isn't supposed to be as emo a post as it sounds, haha. 

Here's to hoping that the time I actually have piles of work on my desk to be done, more friends around me, and a new home to fit into for the next four years, I will be able to update this blog and have more adventures worthy of documentation. I know I'm crossing my fingers, but I'm not hoping too much. Hihi.

on being a nobody

by patricia ramos

you're a shadow, a mirage
a spatter of matter in a scatter of existence
nobody really knew your real name
but you knew it was "nobody"

who are you?
what are you?
your height, your weight, the flesh on your face?
the mistakes you made and the achievements you made up
how you used to wear these kinds of clothes and then decided to stop?
and spouted all these lies just to show what you've got
that that was you
and yet it was not

that was 11 years of not knowing who you really were
11 years of knocking on doors of association
pretending you fit in
and forcing the puzzle pieces to fit
even though they did they never worked out on the bigger picture
but you didn't mind as long as you had someone to sit with at lunch

did it not feel strange the first time you gazed on that list
and marveled at how a few names could spell out "home" for you?

three hundred-odd days of a different feeling
wherein people you've never seen before know you by your name now
and they say "i know you from this"
"i think you're cool"
"i'm glad that i'm your friend"

and it felt good to be important and missed
and it felt good to make a lot of friends
and it felt good to tear down the bricks
of the wall you had been building for yourself for
such
a long
time

who knew i had it in me all along?

Team Effort (and the importance thereof)

Yesterday I popped over to Motzie's house to - finally - work on the Project Bayani 2nd issue pages that have remained stagnant since a month ago. 

I decided to ask her if I could come over around Wednesday all of a sudden because nothing was happening. Like, literally. I was, to be honest, unconsciously putting off work because 1) I have so many ideas and other projects piling up, even though school hasn't started haha, and 2) I am lazy as hell. I thought it would do me good if my co-creator was physically there to attend to me, thereby forcing me to do as much work as I can. I allotted seven hours - 11 to 5. Despite a couple of transpo problems I made it to her house.

As you can see from the ecstatic Instagram "live feeds" I'd been posting, progress was amazing. I finished inking all of the pages (without black masks) in the span of 5 hours, as we went to Moonleaf after and had time to spare to erase my pencils.

Did I mention that it just so happened to be Project Bayani's first birthday, coincidentally? We'd only found out when I looked at our Copyright Certificate again.

Conclusion: pressure is, indeed, very helpful. It stemmed from the way that writing circles and running clinics (one of which I've attended, heh) stimulates one greatly to get what they want done - it's the idea that people actually, physically bank on you to finish something, and it's kind of the best feeling ever to accomplish something after.

I thank Motzie because if it hadn't been for her, I definitely would not have finished these on my own. Yes, I'm that lazy haha. On to wrapping up inking, then it's post-prod by scanning and Photoshopping. Wish me luck. :P