We may just see Kambal Pandesal’s story of Miggy Boy and Miguel Tan hit the big screen soon.
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Among the many only-on-Twitter things we love about the bird app is the prevalence of AU stories. AUs, which means alternate universe, are stories made by users that can be about anything and shared on the platform. Think Wattpad, but for Twitter, and equally as compelling. Like pages in a book, the story is told per tweet with fake tweets and DMs often making the bulk of the story. Imagination is the limit as users are free to go wild with whatever story they want to tell. Over the years, Pinoy Twitter has seen its fair share of AUs that captured the attention of netizens and even the actual people who star in them.
One recent Twitter AU that may enter the hall of fame soon is Kambal Pandesal. Created by Jian, more commonly known as noted Pinoy Exo-L stan account @vicentejian, the story follows two long-lost twins who reunite at a Kambal Pandesal store. Oh, and the twins are played by SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu, and Robi Domingo is one of the lead’s friends. You can see why it went viral.
TWINS REUNITE AT A BAKERY
“KAMBAL PANDESAL”
— vico fiero (@vicentejian) March 7, 2023
short au lang kung saan ang magkambal na sina Miggy Boy at Miguel Tan ay nagkahiwalay at muling magtatagpo ang landas sa isang branch ng Kambal Pandesal sa Baclaran pic.twitter.com/6Q0AXbRWG6
As random as the premise of Kambal Pandesal is, its inspiration is even more chaotic. It was an unplanned moment borne out of a Twitter interaction. “[N]ag-tweet lang ako ng unofficial Sablay Mingyu photocard noong kainitan ng photocard issue. I captioned it with: “pinag-aral ko ‘yan tapos hahablutin niyo lang,” shares Jian in an interview with NYLON Manila. “Then someone replied to my tweet with their unofficial Mingyu photocard na nakasuot ng toga at bakit daw magkamukha ‘yung pinag-aral namin. I replied, “Baka kambal?” Tapos, another user replied, “anong AU po to?”
It was at that moment that Jian thought of doing a story about two long-lost Mingyus reuniting with each other. One twin is Miggy Boy, a UP Diliman student, and the other is Miguel Tan, a college student from Ateneo. Robi Domingo, meanwhile, plays himself and is Miguel’s classmate in Ateneo. And this doesn’t include the other characters that populate this tale like John Arcilla and Francine Diaz.
Pop culture is full of all kinds of fan ships, but the pairing of Mingyu and Robi Domingo is admittedly left-of-field. According to Jian, the pairing came about because Robi is one of the most well-known celebrities who went to Ateneo. “Habang sinusulat ang character description ni Miguel, who is an Ateneo student, naisip ko na dapat may Atenista siyang friend sa kwento. Since si Robi ang isa sa mga pinakasikat na Atenista, siya na ‘yung inilagay ko para rin medyo kakaiba na may K-pop at filipino celebrities crossover sa story.”
MINGYU AND ROBI BESTIES
While the creativity and premise was there, making the actual story was a whole other game. Since he isn’t a writer or veteran of making AUs, Jian had to learn on the fly how to make the story. “Ang mahirap sa pag gawa ng AU na ‘to, siguro ‘yung pagbuo ko mismo ng story kasi literal na gagawan ko lang ng kasunod na eksena pag mag-a-update na ako. Hindi planado ‘yung AU, kaya wala akong draft ng buong kwento.”
Still, while he admitted that he struggled a bit in writing, Jian made it work with over 100 chapters in and counting. The AU also went viral, and in the two weeks that Kambal Pandesal has been up, it’s been viewed on Twitter over one million times. Even Robi Domingo himself caught wind of the story and tweeted about his role as Miguel’s friend. Not bad for his first-ever AU.
Bakit ba, bespren ko kasi yang si Miguel 😭😭😭 https://t.co/WljLOSHeWT
— Robi Domingo (@robertmarion) March 9, 2023
“Sobrang unexpected na may magbabasa ng ginawa kong AU kasi hindi naman ako writer in the first place,” shares Jian on the story going viral. “Expected ko naman na babasahin ng Twitter friends ko kasi sila mismo nag-suggest sa akin kung saan pwede mag-edit ng gagamitin kong AU materials, pero ‘di ko in-expect na ganoon karami ang magbabasa, plus may Robi Domingo notice pa. Sobrang nakakakilig knowing na first time ko ‘tong gawin, tapos marami agad naka-recognize.”
DUMB FUN
As of this writing, Kambal Pandesal is still ongoing, but it’s already got us hooked with the twists and turns coming left and right. The AU is a good example of Pinoy humor, fun, irreverent, and slightly dumb. Only on spaces like Twitter would you find a story of twin Mingyus separated at birth, studying at UP and Ateneo, and one of them being besties with Robi Domingo. And the fact that this is all for free is a bonus.
john arcilla. retired pilot. may ari ng kambal pandesal na may mahigit 50 branches nationwide, main branch sa baclaran. tatay nina miggy at miguel pero si miguel tan lang ang nasa poder nya.
— vico fiero (@vicentejian) March 7, 2023
young john present john
arcilla arcilla pic.twitter.com/XiLJQ4rQ6D
At the end of the day, Jian hopes his contribution to the Twitter AU space makes for a fun read. “I want [readers] to have a good laugh while reading the AU. I want every single panel and characters of the AU to be remembered by the readers for a long time. Gusto ko kapag nakita nila si Robi Domingo sa TV, maalala nila yung AU tapos tatawa sila. The intention of the AU naman is to entertain everyone, so masaya na ako kapag may natatawa kahit sobrang stupid ng jokes sa kwento.” We’ll be waiting for the live-action adaptation. You can read the AU here.
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