#tcotrb

[haru-kuneko]

[Circa 2050. As the rest of the world burned, ravaged by numerous wars, famine, natural disasters, and civil unrest, the once powerful and greatest nations have fallen, but one small nation has resurfaced as a new superpower in the midst of a deadly storm, strange phenomena, and deep secrets.]

Hey there, mate! In case you’re wondering, I am currently in the process of improving TCOTRB (The Case of The Red Bubble) — also, check out this rad new profile background I made teasing the book on my Wattpad profile. Also, rest assured that the overall premise, characters and writing will stay intact.

I remember reading it again and let's sat it was painfully cringe (HAHA!). There were some repetitive paragraphs and probably many confusing parts that I might've overlooked so hopefully it’d be more appealing to new readers — and ol’ fans revisiting it — as well.

Tomorrow on Saturday, the rest of Chapter VIII will be out on Wattpad at 06:00 (GMT+8). Starting next week, the other remastered chapters will fall on Fridays (16:00 GMT+8) and Sundays (06:00 GMT+8).

By the way, here's a close-up of the Philippines. They consist of dome islands that are built above sea level. Oh, that's not all! They also have settlements beneath each island underwater.

[haru-kuneko]

Here are some initial artworks from Chapter VI of "TCOTRB: The Case Of The Red Bubble."

Stretching around ten kilometres, the bridge from Circa VIII (a.k.a. The Golden Dome island) to the Capital island has been closed off from the public until someone manage to break the blockage.

To anyone who thinks the title is kind of stupid, not only is it meant to be ambiguous that you'd be curious to find out why it's called that way but also due to how the overall story is supposed to feel like it's ripped straight out of a child's imagination. It is meant to be silly and unnerving at the same time.

[haru-kuneko]

Art Promo Corner

Happy Nat'l Book Lovers Day, everyone! Also, cheers to my lovely readers (including the silent ones) who were able to make it this far and the exciting aftermath of this recent chapter. Hope to see y'all on October 31st for more thrilling adventures and drama! 🎉

PROMO ART FROM CHAPTER X (TULPA)

Professor Sylvester standing over the balcony as some eldritch creature emerges from below. Imagine this taking place inside a veined, jello-like dome with a fleshy interior, characterized by a fleshy ceiling and flooring. 

Meet The Parents

A quick concept of Milo and his friends' family. Again, I do apologize if the colors look off though. They look a bit more vibrant and crisp when I view them on my phone. 

Dexter Cojuangco (Volos) and Sofia Romano (Arachne)

Dexter can never go out without his trusted orange beanie hat. He is rather insecure about his grey hair (which I suppose is a result of stressful and traumatic events). By the way, his last name is read as 'KO-HUANG-KO.'

The Sanchez Family

Uhh ... I think I got a little lazy drawing this but you at least get the idea of how the architect behind the dome structure of the Philippines and his wife look like.

Now, Mr. Rafael Sanchez (a.k.a. Icarus) is actually of Spanish and Filipino descent, making him a "mestizo", while Ms. Cornelia Ackerman-Sanchez (a.k.a. Perchta) is of Dutch descent. They are one odd family. Whatever you do, never mess with Madame Cornelia over here! 

[haru-kuneko]

July 20th - 21st: The Secret Bubble Radio Anniversary

I just wanna give a quick heads up! To those who might be weirded out and confused by the amateur art style, it's supposed to be inspired by ol' graphic novels and comics with thicker outlines and flat colors. All of them were drawn on the iPhone 'Pages' app. This post is dedicated to celebrating the anniversary of these two books. TCOTRB was published on Wattpad on July 20th, 2022. The sequel “AMANDI: The Secret Messenger”, on the other hand, was published on July 21st, 2024.

At camp, Jin (TCOTRB and AMANDI) is suddenly surrounded by Mina (a character from my graphic novel "BIOMETRICS"), Zoey and Uzi once they discover he's reading the latest volume of Shonen Jump.

Man! If only it were so easy to win girls over as an anime fan ... Uzi here is like "Do they have Naruto there, too?".

A glimpse of Kaira (left) and Irene's (right) outfit during the Halloween party chapter. Fun fact: Kaira is the one who actually designed Irene's iconic witch costume.

Inspired by the scene from TADC episode 5 where the characters were posing in an empty white room so I thought of drawing Leo in his streetwear posing in this vibrant, colorful room.

•••

P.S. To anyone asking if I take commissions, make sure you're a legit person and your profile contains enough information telling me what company, origin and the kind of services you offer complete with contact info. I don't use PayPal due to safety reasons.

For example, [First name/Last name] from the Penguin House Department in Australia looking for a book cover artist who can do a vector-esque art style. I wanna know who you really are and if you got any references. Don't just say you wanna hire me or I'll block you.

Also, if you wish to share my art, please give credit. DO NOT REUPLOAD!

[haru-kuneko]

Starting on July 20th - 21st is "The Secret Bubble Radio Anniversary."

I just wanna give a quick heads up! To those who might be weirded out and confused by the amateur art style, it's supposed to be inspired by ol' graphic novels and comics with thicker outlines and flat colors. I drew them on my phone. If you've read TCOTRB (The Case Of The Red Bubble) and AMANDI on Wattpad, you'd be at least familiar with it thanks to their distinct illustrations.

In celebration of both of my novels' debut anniversary, here are a couple of colorful promotional art featuring the ambitious and athletic Leo, and the outgoing fashionista Kaira.

This post is dedicated to celebrating the anniversary of these two books. TCOTRB was published on Wattpad on July 20th, 2022. The sequel “AMANDI: The Secret Messenger”, on the other hand, was published on July 21st, 2024.

I hope that many people can also support Filipino authors, both on Wattpad and beyond, as well. To those who might be new here and just stumbling upon my content, two of my books, albeit a little too campy, niche and millennial levels of ol' school, are part of a detective series on Wattpad.

A perfect read if you are looking for something outside of the typical teen romance tropes. Also, don't worry! They're both written in English so a lot of my international readers can get into it.

Instead of cheesy crushes and hot studs straight out of Instagram, you have a group of ragtag teens consisting of an introvert, a preppy extrovert, an athlete, a nerd and a street-smart artist playing detective in an abandoned island that's been shut down by the government following a deadly outbreak.

P.S. To anyone asking if I take commissions, make sure you're a legit person and your profile contains enough information telling me what company, origin and the kind of services you offer complete with contact info. I don't use PayPal due to safety reasons. For example, [First name/Last name] from the Penguin House Department in Australia looking for a book cover artist who can do a vector-esque art style. I wanna know who you really are and if you got any references. Don't just say you wanna hire me or I'll block you. Also, if you wish to share my art, please give credit. DO NOT REUPLOAD!

[haru-kuneko]

Here's some interesting facts about TCOTRB (The Case Of The Red Bubble)

To anyone who's read TCOTRB as well as its sequel, "AMANDI: The Secret Messenger," you may recall how I tend to portray the setting of the Philippines as a place that's just starting to catch up with the rest of the world.

I imagine that while they may already have floating vehicles and gone digital for almost everything, there are places that still lack automatic doors and fast Wi-Fi connections. The country is still recovering from its amnesiac state -- in other words, many of its people have almost no recollection of the past.

[haru-kuneko]

[haru-kuneko]

Did You Know? Two of my books TCOTRB (The Case Of The Red Bubble) and "AMANDI" also took inspirations from "Murder Drones", anime and two real-life events.

To those who don't know, TCOTRB took a bit of inspiration from "The Big O" hence the idea of people living in a futuristic country where nobody remembers what happened years ago except it's set in the Philippines.

The character Milo was based on myself. As an awkward kid with god awful social skills, I used to spend most of my time in the library at school or stay cooped up in my room surfing the net. I would imagine him having a fun-tastic time on Tumblr!

But nah! He mostly hangs out on Reddit (BreadIt as called in the story).

As for "AMANDI," it was inspired by Gosho Aoyama (the author of Detective Conan), Liam Vickers (Murder Drones) and the notorious Glico Morinaga Case that happened in Japan in the 1980's. The main suspect in question simply identified itself as "The Monster With 21 Faces" which is based on Edogawa Rampo's fictional villain "The Fiend with Twenty Faces."

The titular character Amandi is an anonymous podcast host notorious for revealing dark secrets and conspiracies around various people including the government. Is it a he or she? A duo or cult? Who knows??

This is why Amandi looks like the Shadow Man from Detective Conan. The story came to be after reading a couple of my favorite detective books on Wattpad, Project Loki and the Detective Files series who were als inspired by DC. AMANDI is basically like if Liam Vickers wrote DC.

So I encourage people to branch out and also check out my books if they're into sci-fi, deep lore, and horror because you don't really know what you're missing. At some point, those unpopular fics have also been inspired by your beloved pieces of media and can show how much of an impact they've had on these authors.