illuminescent

FACES

illustrated and written :

John Gabriel; L Arellano
commentary: WHAT IS
UP!! SO 1
THIS HOW
2
U READ 1
THE
MANGA

2
1
3 4

3 4

5
6
 for all
commentary:
those 1
clouded
by doubt
no
pressure
, just
breathe
2

1
 an orphan kid named kirby, even with his love for the
arts the boy is not
raised by the priests of
decided because of the
the village who paints as
societal pressure around
if it is his last breath and him that tells him about
believes that to paint is the unprofitability of
his purpose arts
to paint is to
live, as long
as i live i
paint

bulacan was an
unnoticable rural city side note: KIRBY ALSO KNOWN AS
BILLY BAT IN HIS SOCIAL MEDIA IS A
nothing extravagant or
VERY FAMOUS PAINTER ACROSS THE
anything, until.... GLOBE WITH 3 MILLION FOLLOWERS
IN HIS HIMSTAGRAM

but the winds of change

are starting to be felt
because a mysterious
lady from the city
decided to visit the
province to find the
famous internet
sensation painter billy bat

WHAT AN
ODD LADY,
SHE SMELLS
LIKE THE
CHURCH ON
so where SUNDAYS
do
i start the boy kirby saw a girl
that had a glow on her
looking for
face, a glow so
that billy luminescent he could not
bat... see how she looks but has
a certain fragrance
smelling like sampaguitas

somehow
the aroma
of the lady
inspired me
to paint
something
 i have a
name you
krazy kid!!!!

THE GLOWING
SAMPAGUITA
LADY?!?!?!?!

after posting the new painting

named “oh strange lady” kirby’s
himstagram grew another million
because of how much people
loved the painting and asked for
more

would you
like to get you’re billy
ice cream bat right? i no i’m just
saw you
latur a high
painting
glowing
schooler
sampaguita
lady?? lady
whatever,
can you
paint me a sure
portrait and becuase
I HAVE A
send it in this you
NAME OKAY,
adress? bought me
MY NAME IS
ice cream
NIA! NIA!!

kirby swore that no other person

shall know who billy bat is because he
doesnt want fame to water him down
but he loved this interaction with this
girl, even if he doesn’t really have
time he made time for the girl that
smelled like sampaguita and glowed

after checking his cabinet he

reached a conclusion that
all his stocks are coffee
because of his artistic nature
where he randomly wakes up
at night and get inspiration he
stocks up on these 3 in1
coffees
oh i wish that
portrait is
brought
before the
funeral...
I’M
ABOUT
TO BE
LATE!!!!

kirby never really got to

say goodbye to nia but he
did know that she came
back to the city to
continue her studies and
promises that they will
meet again

For your
information
mr. Kirby kirby was never the sharpest tool in the
delos reyes shed but he always tried his best eversince
you are JUst in elementary but since it’s his last year he
already 30 feels so burned out because of the
time!
minutes late pressure of chasing a dream he doesn’s
for this know th pressure of adulthood knowing
calculus that his current choices will dictate his
class future.
better
late
than
nevver :3

commentary:
 i’ve heard
stories of
you young
man

i wonder
how is nia
doing......

i kinda miss
her being
hopefully
around.....
the same day kirby also met the good ones
vice principal and the guidance mr ryo
counsil because it was the time
for carrer orientation and
why are
college appplication orientation the clouds
shaped like
her..

what a
peculiar
idont you dream,,,,,
forget
about me
oh i should do
kirby, i..... i..... the painting
love..... for
sampaguita
lady, it almost
slipped my
maybe i should mind
call her and
ask how she is,
nah ill prob
just bother
her
kirby wakes up from a cold sweat
but is not tensed or mad at the
dream at all because it was a
dream about him an nia

i dont even
know why
she’ll need a
portrait how
peculiar
 so thats
why you
want a
portrait...

3 weeks later kirby recieves an

invitation from nia and it
contained a location and a
letter that said “ i’ll wait for
you there billly bat :))”

why do
all of you my parents
leave me left me nia
left me even
the priests
don’t even bat
an eye to me
am i that
insufferable...

kirby was later found

unconscious because of
dehydration by his classmate
that wondered why he hasn’t
been attending class and was
just planning to tell him the
current events of the school

weeks of self destruction went on

kidby not eating or even getting out
of the house, just in a constant fit
of rage thrashing his apartment
 our main character experienced a writer
block where he couldn’t finish or even
start a work because of stresses or
any exteral reason, and for kirby it was
a first because he firmly believed that
after a few weeks of to paint or to do art is to breathe and
recovery kirby found out he his conclusion is....
was accepted in two
schools the prestigious art
school darwin’s and in the
state university where he
qualified for an engineering
degree

this gave kirby the dilemma

of shall he pursuing what he
always dreamt of? or to be
more practical for a stable
9 to 5 future?

why cant i
finish an
artwork....

what shall i am i......

do now
lord,,,
dead,

and when he just lost all hope he

turned to god and asked him what
shall he do but he doesn’t feel
fulfilled nor his prayer being answered,
he prayed harder and he doesn’t feel
an omniscient being out there so he
asks
 your mother
minutes, hours days, weeks passed but
had a special
kirby still is losing hope so he decides
to seek help from the priest that raised skill that she
him as a kid because the weight of the can see people
world just felt so heavy and he needs who is on the
his papa verge of
commiting
suicide or self
harm

she described it
as a person
glowing a white
light in their
face and
smelling like
sampaguita

but with the

constant stress
she was brought
to by helping
others she gave in
after long hours of talking kirby finally to the hardships
reached clarity not peace or ease but and ended her own
life
only clarity on his mind and feels better
but the priest confronts him about his
mother and it shocked him

and it finally made sense why being with

nia felt so nostalgic because it felt
just6 like his mother, a mother who did
everything for others and couldn’t even
leave anything for herself

what
monstrosities did
u heal that made
you that broken
ma,,, reast easy
my angel i’ll be
there in a minute
 im tired of
pretending that i
know what the
hell is happening
in my life..
with all those revelations kirby was
ready to end it all, nia the first girl that
he had a crush oin he could not save
because he was to afraid to call her, his
grades falling apart, he doesnt know
what college degree to pick, he lost his
painting skills his only output
RING!
RING!
kirby felt a strange cold wind breathe by
him and he suddenly felt calm he felt as
if two people we’re holding him tightly it
was a cold chilling breeze yet it felt so
comforting and fuzy
YOU DON’T HAVE
TO KNOW
EVERYTHING
KIRBY JUST ONE
STEP AT A TIME,
OKAY?
AFTER THE PRIEST RANG HIS PHONE FOR THE
5TH TIME HE RUSHED TO HIS APARTMENT HE
SAW KIRBY SITING DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO HIS
BALCONY OUTSIDE AND HE UNDERSTOOD
ALREADY THAT ALL THE BOY NEEDED WAS NPT
SCOLDING BUT ALL THE BOY NEEDED WAS
SOME WORDS OF AFFIRMATION AND SUPPORT
 WE’LL PLAUY
CHESS
TOMORROW
RIGHT?

GRAMPS I LOVE
YOU OKAY DON’T U
WE SHOULD BREATHE AND
EVER THINK THAT U
DO WHAT OUR HEART
DESIRES, NOT WHAT
HAVE NO BODY
SOCIETY TELLS US TO BE , CUZ I’LL ALWAYS
NOT WHAT OTHERS WANT TO SEE U IN
BELIEVE IS BEST FOR US, THIS PARK
WE SHOULD BE WHO WE
WANT TO BE AND BE
PROUD OF IT

WE’LL PLAY CHESS

TOMORROW OKAY
AND THE DAY AFTER
THEN THE OTHER DAY
AFTER THAT ,
PROMISE ME YOU’LL
COME EVERYDAY
OKAY?

KIRBY CHOSE TO STOP FOR A YEAR BUT HE IS

THE LONG JOURNEY OF OUR GOOD
FRIEND KIRBY WITH HIM SLOWLY
GETTING BETTER MENTALLY AND
FINALLY GETTING BACK TO PAINTNG
AND EVEN GETTING BETTER AT IT.
PLANNING TO TAKE ON AN ART DEGREE BUT HE
STILL NEEDS TO GET BETTER MENTALLY BUT
WHILE HE IS IN THE PROCESS OF IT HE USES HIS
EXTRORDINARY GIFT OF KNOWING WHO’S IN
NEED TO HELP OTHERS BE WHO ARE
TROUBLED GET BETTER