Dove or Nobo || She/Her || 20+ || Artist / Writer Side Blog -> Follows from: dementedspeedster
Header art from Dylan Dog Avatar: Ken from Tales of Alethrion (check it out on youtube) [This is a Side-Blog, so I am unable to follow you directly from this blog.]
Every living Akutagawa family member is a master of frowning-while-smiling
Told in alternating timelines against the backdrop of the ’00s, KEEPING TIME is a bittersweet bummer of a romantic drama between two bandmates who - for better or worse - fall in love.
Can I say that Cameron has gotten some real bi-vibes or maybe more like unconsciously attracted to Leeds (I mean it’s Leeds. Understandable. Also the man grabbed your whole face, I get it.)) vibes going on in these last few pages of Barbarous, or is it just me?
And maybe this is a wild thought, but I’m still gonna trace out my thoughts.
Ok, like, one: Putting Leeds in THIS OUTFIT, in this Hazy plane/alternate plane that’s dictated by one’s ego. Like. Cameron. Seriously. You’ve not only put him in your/Pillar colors, but you’ve given him a HOT outfit.
You have dressed up “your”* familiar in a cute/sexy outfit, which, as we know, has occurred twice before with Percy and Prof. Abermarle, who are both characters who have shown attraction toward their respective familiar. If I’ve learned anything in life and studying literature: Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and thrice is a pattern.
This makes THREE. So I’m calling it.
*only in the context of this Hazy Plane/dream scenario of his.
Two: This.
Re-reading this page my brain had the dumbest eureka moment ever, but to me, I was like, “Girl, this looks LIKE a wedding.” Even the quote, ‘Now let us celebrate the bonding of mage and familiar,’ gives marriage vibes in the wording, but also because it’s set IN A CATHEDRAL.
It’s also a very ornate and fancy one in comparison to the version of the church/cathedral his binding ceremony with Fortuna was held.
Though this honestly may speak more to Cameron’s ego, which is what is dictating this plane to my understanding. Regardless, I must teehee and joke and say, 'Cameron wants a fancy wedding with Leeds.’
Now, I know Cameron’s real bonding ceremony with Fortuna was also done in a cathedral. I know she is also a familiar, a dog shaped familiar, but what I’m saying is that with Leeds, even though the context is that of a bonding ceremony with a familiar, this feels different because he’s a familiar with cognition, personality, and individuality, which Cameron is aware of **. He’s not just a familiar but is an individual as far as out perspective as readers and characters like Percy and others who are not aware that Leeds is a familiar are concerned.
** Though I’m unsure if Cameron really knows that Leeds is a familiar, or if he’s only putting Leeds in the role because he previously said that Leeds “almost look[s] like a familiar.”
So this is an interesting spot to put Leeds in while we, the readers, are unsure if Cameron knows if Leeds truly is a familiar or not, and kinda makes it seem like there’s some unconscious attraction going on here whether it’s serious or not.
I’m so sorry for the unannounced and long hiatus of my webcomic. IBWR is not shelved, ‘nor is it dead. I’m just incredibly slow paced right now and ibwr was taking too much energy to engage with. I apologise for my lack of communication though, I’ll try to do better, but I know myself enough to not make promises I can’t keep.
Therefore, I’ve decided to return to what I did first when starting this comic up: No schedule or deadlines, just update when I got a page made. I understand this can be frustrating for readers, but it is what I must do to keep my joy of working on ibwr alive. I apologise for this inconvenience.
would you like to read an ongoing smutty mini-comic about two guys with cell phones in the mid-aughts? you do? oh dang, what a coincidence, that’s exactly a thing I am making
There are now 3 full chapters (that’s 106 pages!!) of completely free-to-read KEEPING TIME, the queer, slow burn between two former friends and now current bandmates who - for better or worse - will fall in love.
Denver and Daniel are estranged friends and former bandmates with a complicated history, and it may have taken them over 100 pages, but Denver has FINALLY asked Daniel the all-important question.
how do you woo your former friend who stopped talking to you after his sister died back into your rock band? Denver is genuinely asking, obviously his current strategy is NOT working
Surely, Daniel reminiscing fondly in Keeping Time, the queer slow burn bummer webcomic about two guys who fell out in high school after one of their sisters died has no chance of taking a turn for the worse~
