Seren Kilig🪻🦋
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serenkilig.com
Seren Kilig🪻🦋
@serenkilig.com
110 followers 85 following 92 posts
filipino writer of queer historical sff ☀️ • occ. a poet & artist 🪻• any/siya 🏳️‍⚧️ • not here on sundays 🪷 • repped by: @shannonlechon.bsky.social (ALA)

serenkilig.com
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serenkilig.com
Beneath the ground, huge mechanical beasts are rousing from slumber, and the Cassiopeian Orchestra may hold the only musicians left alive who can quell them.

It’s quite a shame, then, that they’re merely a gaggle of thieves unloved by history.

#QuestPit #AG #WIP #A #F #SF #SFF
Burgundy background with red splatters throughout. In the middle is a picture of a solar eclipse, as well as Aria’s title, by Seren Kilig. Surrounding the picture are quotes in white. Each quote corresponds to a character in the book. “I am a woman driven by my desires, and they will ruin me. They will unspool me inch by inch until I am nothing but bone.” – N. Onja. “There’s great humor to be found in my father’s name doing as much for our group as your instruments. Perhaps I am an instrument, then? I quite like that.” – L. Autissier. “Memory is an unforgiving warden, and I am her eternal prisoner. I wish to forget, to slip into the comfort of the unremarkable meany.” – A. Sarata. “People will only see what they want to see, even without my hand in that. I cannot force fortune out of falsity, and in any case, I’d rather live in imagined extravagance than in misery with the rest of you.” – S. Irfani. “Look up. They wait for you. I’ll live lifetimes of stories for you when we reunite, an
May 7, 2025 at 1:38 PM
serenkilig.com
THE NIGHT CIRCUS x FIRE & BLOOD

Orphaned by the Cosmic War, heartstring player Nasudi bends audiences to her will. Traveling with thieves disguised as an orchestra, she refuses to let her past snag her, even if it means betraying her new family.

#QuestPit #AG #WIP #A #F #SF #SFF
A dumping ground of inspiration, themes, and images related to Aria, by Seren Kilig. The manuscript comps The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin, and A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal. The manuscript evokes emotion akin to the songs Sleeping Giants by The Crane Wives and Inkpot Gods by The Amazing Devil. Set in a rich science fantasy world, the images of harps, pocket watches, blood moons, and red thread evoke a tense adventure. There is text that reads ARIA, as well as three quotes. “Doom yourself before the narrative does.”; “There’ll be no hymns to our Glory. History has cut our throats.”; “I am an unforgivable creature. But darling, I will love you. I will love you through all my disgusting performances.”
May 7, 2025 at 12:54 PM
serenkilig.com
A new guide for APPARATUS, my jazz-era Historical Fantasy Academia 🇵🇭⚔️🪶

In pursuit of the sibling that abandoned them, a student conjurer becomes entangled in an arms race between two rival secret societies at the Cypress Institute of Invocation.

#QuestPit #AG #A #F #HF
A Guide to APPARATUS, an Adult Historical Fantasy, by Seren Kilig, who is represented by Shannon Lechon at Azantian Literary Agency. The text is atop a dark brown background that is faintly splotched in old paint. There is an intricate leaf border in ivory around the entire image. The pitch: 1925, Chicago. Entangled in an arms race at the Cypress Institute of Invocation, a conjurer-turned-weapon must decide who will wield them: the American Institute intent on subduing them, or the student insurgents eager to martyr them. To the right is a cut-off version of St. Jerome by Leonardo Da Vinci. The text is atop a dark brown background that is faintly splotched in old paint. The comps include: Babel by R.F. Kuang, The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo, Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang, and If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. With the addition of having more queer rep, a protagonist that’s poor, ride-or-die siblings, conjuring magic, Filipino rep, and all of the scholars are in pairs. The text is atop a dark brown background that is faintly splotched in old paint. There is an intricate leaf border in ivory around the entire image. Prose. “The heroes in these stories, none of them were recognizable to Rivers. At such a young age, they didn’t think it was naive to ask Saniata where people like them were in these tales of wonder and love. She laughed, asking, “Who do you think the savages were?””. The prose is to the right of a 3x3 moodboard full of jazz-aged, academic photos. Which includes coffee, tea, flapper clothing, texts that speak of death, a map, and a bundle of papers. The text is atop a dark brown background that is faintly splotched in old paint.
May 7, 2025 at 11:43 AM
serenkilig.com
Ultimately, the Sword picks the Scribe — but I think @shannonlechon.bsky.social and I work better as partners, wouldn’t you say?

After the most stressful month of my life, I thought I'd want rest, but no. We have so many more queer, cutting, and unflinchingly Filipino stories to talk about ~ 🪶
Seren Kilig is represented by Shannon Lechon at Azantian Literary Agency. Seren is depicted by a drawing from littlestpersimmon on Bluesky, which is of Seren’s character, Rivers. Rivers is a brown-skinned androgynous Filipino wearing a black cloak with cloth bandages around their neck. The background of the image is a grainy vintage picture of a university library. APPARATUS, an adult Historical Fantasy by Seren Kilig. The background is a grainy 2x4 moodboard centered around 1920s imagery. This imagery includes a flapper girl in a sparkly red dress, text that says “body & soul”, a dagger hidden in a book, a tube of lipstick overtop handwritten letters, red wine pouring into a glass, a deck of tarot cards, text that says “coffee and cigarettes”, and a red die with a miniature crown.
April 30, 2025 at 3:03 PM
serenkilig.com
5k into my ya urban horror! 🐚 🌅

if i'm not mentioning the sky in my writing, i'm not me
A snippet from Seren's PROJECT SPIRIT. The background is a gradient from dark blue to pink with a full moon in the middle. The text reads "Sunsets and sunrises stake their claim over the skies in St. Veronica without much competition. Violet-borne mornings and golden-hour evenings are plentiful, especially when it came time for the equinoxes to flush the city rich with tourism.”
March 14, 2025 at 4:05 PM
serenkilig.com
an #agentsguide to my filipino jazz-era fantasy 🇵🇭✨

BABEL x GATSBY x BOBH ft.
☀️ struggling southeast asian academics
🔖 magic fed by disagreement
🪻 abysmally dysfunctional families

agents/editors, I #amquerying, so leave a ❤️ or reply if you want this sent your way 🔥
An Agent’s Guide to APPARATUS, an Adult (Historical) Fantasy, by Seren Kilig. The text is atop parchment full of inked cursive writing. Faintly, drawings of feathers are outlined in white. There is an intricate, swirling border of gold around the entire image. The pitch: 1925, Chicago. Entangled in an arms race between two secret societies at the Cypress Institute of Invocation, Rivers’ steadfast neutrality unravels when letters from an estranged sibling urge them to fight against the Institute, or burn alongside it. The comps include: Babel by R.F. Kuang, The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo, Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang, If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio, These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever, and The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake. The text is atop parchment with a drawing of a butterfly. There is an intricate, swirling border of gold around the entire image. The tropes and themes include: anti-imperialism, gender by circumstance, poor kids in academia, colonial displacement vs immigrant identity, writing-based magic system, a “it’s gay either way” kind of love triangle, Filipino spirituality, and vengeful siblings. These tropes surround a 3x3 moodboard full of jazz-aged, academic photos. Which includes coffee, tea, flapper clothing, texts that speak of death, a map, and a bundle of papers. The text is atop parchment full of inked cursive writing. There is an intricate, swirling border of gold around the entire image. A snippet. The Cypress Institute of Invocation was as influential as it was aged, and the heart of it was, of course, its students. Over the years, the Institute saw many of its scholars vanish from their records. Under a pile of old syllabi was a binder holding a stunning amount of photographs. Each sleeve held four portraits of Invocation pairs, all clad in their years’ colors. An archivist had inked over the film in blue. Next to stilted smiles sat the phrases, “killed in training”, “dismissed – low performance”, and most commonly, “disappeared.” Which, for Rivers, placed them in the same category as the less elegant “dead”. The text is atop a picture of a brick walkway in the rain. There is an intricate, swirling border of gold around the entire image.
February 15, 2025 at 2:14 PM
serenkilig.com
✧. ★ ⟣ .. ❥ ❝ BY BLOOD, BY SONG ❞

progress thread for ‘tgua’ :: adult fantasy. as of jan. 2025, the ms is being outlined.
a banner-length image of white and beige architecture. there are columns, stairs and lanterns. the architecture is grand, well-lit, and evokes wealth and/or prestige.
January 28, 2025 at 1:35 PM
serenkilig.com
DARKER BY FOUR x HELL FOLLOWED WITH US

🎧 se-asian punk culture & urban underworld
🗡️ boss fights ft. disgusting amalgamations
🐚 hate at first sight -> reluctant partners -> ???
🤍 corruption + purification arcs
⚖️ anti-religious imperialism, catholic edition
#YouDeservePit #YA #WIP
A 3x3 moodboard of images tinted in blue, peach, and gray. These images include a young man whose face is obscured by white daisies, paper boats atop a blanket, a dock by the sea, two hands tentatively touching, the silhouette of a young man covering the sun with his hand, two soda bottles with straws, a full laundry line atop a roof, a bouquet of dying roses tied together with white lace, and a closeup of a feminine-presenting person wearing a black leather jacket.
January 24, 2025 at 3:13 PM
serenkilig.com
BOBH x THE CHOSEN & THE BEAUTIFUL
Entangled in an arms race between two secret societies at the Cypress Institute of Invocation, Rivers’ steadfast neutrality unravels when letters from an estranged sibling urge them to fight against the Institute or burn alongside it.
#BluePit 📖 #A #F #POC #Q (soon)
ALT: A 2 x 4 brown tinted moodboard. This moodboard includes images such as academy stairs, alcohol, rainy brick steps, tarot cards, anatomy notes, a graveyard, a shelf of books, and an academy hallway.
January 13, 2025 at 7:49 PM
serenkilig.com
BABEL x GATSBY

☀️ a displaced ilokano conjurer
🔥 vengeful & murderous siblings
🔖 scholars who toe the line between researchers and lab rats
⚔️ deadly rival secret societies ft. two love interests you can’t trust
✨ 1920s glamor! jazz! bootlegging! culture clashes!
#BluePit 📖 #A #F #POC #OV #Q (soon!)
A dumping ground of inspiration, themes, and images related to this manuscript. The manuscript comps Babel by R.F. Kuang and The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo. The manuscript evokes emotion akin to the songs Young Volcano by Fall Out Boy, Too Sweet by Hozier, and So American by Olivia Rodrigo. Set in 1920s American, the images of libraries, texts, and fire imply academic revolution. There is text that reads 1920s Fantasy Academia, as well as three quotes. “You very much want to die. You look like a trapped animal.” “Something in me wants more. I can’t rest.” “I have never understood where the line is drawn, between sacrifice and self-slaughter."
January 13, 2025 at 6:03 PM
serenkilig.com
1920s, Chicago. PH-born Rivers is a scholar, conjurer, and test subject. Unable to pass the Invocations their chosen Scribe writes, they take on another in secret. One the Dean's daughter, the other his ward, either could ensure Rivers’ survival or love them to ruin.
#BluePit 📖 #A #F #POC #Q (soon!)
A 3x3 moodboard of images tinted in pink, yellow, and brown. Each image is themed around 1920s America. These images include a compact blush, the back of a flapper girl with a feather boa, a hunting dagger nestled in the roots of a tree, a collection of worn polaroid pictures, a shop window advertising POETRY UPSTAIRS, an inkwell and fountain pen paired with a handwritten letter and stamp, a revolver hidden in a jewelry box, a hand reaching into a pool of water, and a coffee much stained with red lipstick.
January 13, 2025 at 3:11 PM
serenkilig.com
✧. ★ ⟣ .. ❥ ❝ MY HEART, MY WORLD ❞

progress thread for ‘fanaca’ :: adult fantasy academia. as of jan. 2025, the ms is on draft 3.
a banner-length image of yellowed notes paper. there is illegible text written in cursive to the left and faint diagrams to the right. across the main body image is an inked butterfly.
December 21, 2024 at 5:31 PM
serenkilig.com
✧. ★ ⟣ .. ❥ ❝ THE ARCHIVES ❞

a thread of notable reads, starting jan. 2025
a banner-length image of two copies of the secret garden. both are laying atop grass with vegetation surrounding them. one copy is closed and its cover ja green with golden lettering. the other is open and atop the other, displaying text and an illustration of a tree.
December 21, 2024 at 5:24 PM
serenkilig.com
Re-intro!

I’m Seren 🌻; PH-born and raised, US-based. I write queer and startling SE-Asian fiction, and I’m a certified Big Yapper :)

🪶 fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and romance (🏳️‍🌈)
🪴 anti-colonial fiction, mythos, & musings on art
🕹️ lover of good video games and bad films
An illustrated headshot of Seren Kilig. Seren is a brown-skinned Filipino person with dark brown chin-length hair. They are smiling and their eyes are closed. They are wearing a black turtleneck with a semi-transparent dark blue cardigan overtop. Light from a spotlight illuminates their face in a circle. They are in front of a patterned background. A 2 x 4 brown tinted moodboard. This moodboard includes images such as academy stairs, alcohol, rainy brick steps, tarot cards, anatomy notes, a graveyard, a shelf of books, and an academy hallway. A 2 x 4 blue, pink, and purple tinted moodboard. This moodboard includes images such as hands reaching toward the sky, paper birds strung up, coats hanging on a door, a bowl of fruit, the top of a lighthouse, shells on a wooden dock, light breaking through the surface of water, and stairs.
December 20, 2024 at 3:56 PM