Fatfish's reblogging area

Here's some other things that help me get motivated; may not work for everyone, but I'll put my thoughts out there anyway!!! Colouring them between each section so it's hopefully easier to read!

Looking at tutorials or speed paints. Looking at others draw and studying how they do it helps me want to do the same!

Studying a specific style. Looking at books, blogs and other's art! For example, I've been looking at a lot of old paintings. I may not be able to do it now, but I'll get there!

Realising that art takes time. This one seems pretty obvious, but it's something I have to hammer in a lot. Art really does take time, I can't just draw anything instantly!! To realise that this is a journey instead of an instant thing can help with stopping the 'giving up' phase.

Sketching! Making quick sketches instead of going right into the big stuff can help. It not only counts as practice, but it also feels like there's more of a 'freedom' to it. So if lines are 'wonky', it doesn't matter cause it's just a sketch!

Making "purposely bad" art! Now I don't believe there can really be any 'bad' art, but what I mean by this is that you let go of every rule and just scribble. I've done this a few times, throwing anatomy and colours out the window just to make something. It's experimental, (theoretically) easy to do, and can trick the brain into thinking that it's some kind of success, which can bring one out of some kind of art block!

Look at art challenges! A simple thing to help one out of a stump. It can be anything from a chart of prompts, a bunch of images to make something from, or even just random emojis to think of a theme! Sometimes I like to do this to make random characters or scenes.

Try to draw pictures with a twist. Look at images of a landscape, perhaps try to paint/sketch it, but not exact! (Unless that's what you want lol). I find it fun to try and add/remove things to a painting while making it still look like it fits the style.

Learn where you're at in art. This one might sound a bit blunt but I found I can learn better if I stop trying to aim for things way past my level. Of course one can get to that level, but not instantly. This goes back to the 'Realising' bullet point. When you try to rush into mastering everything, it falls apart. You gotta realise that there's steps to take. You can't make it to the top if you don't know your path. Basically, find tutorials, arts and whatever else that's around your art style as it is. Ease into more advanced things as you go. (I still do this a lot aargh!!!) [Of course don't let it stop you from trying to go big, we're getting there, that's the point!!]

Another simple thing is to look at videos about how to get motivated. Unless you're spiteful, then it might not work that well LOL (I know I'm unintentionally spiteful, so it doesn't really work for me. But maybe it'll work for you :D)

Hope something from here can help! I'm not a professional or anything, just putting out there what helps me and what could possibly help others. Just another reminder, You're doing art for yourself. You should always think about what you want in your art. It's yours after all!

ÆONBOUND is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @vennnovember.  You can read it here. SPOILER NOTICE: While this review is not spoiler-heavy, it does include a fair amount of quotes and mentions of events from the adventure. I personally don't think these are the kind of spoilers that could totally ruin your experience, but if you are especially sensitive to spoilers, maybe don't read this.

Ahh, sburbventures. The website's so full to the brim with them that if you take any random word and glue on a "-stuck", "-bound" or "-swap" at the end, you’ll get the title of a sburbventure that already exists somewhere on mspfa.com. Truly, the massive sprawl of the sburbian jungle on mspfa’s home page is glorious to behold. However, while I do respect this subgenre, its sheer abundance does mean that a sburbventure has to do more than just follow the basic recipe in order to really stand out to me.

So why is it, then, that I keep coming back to read more ÆONBOUND every time it updates? How is it making me care ? Indeed, the thing that makes it special is not immediately obvious. Eventually, though, on my reread of the whole adventure, I finally realized that its secret ingredients are vulnerability, emotional tenderness and heart . Interestingly, the emotions presented by this story are rarely theatrical and show-stopping: instead they are subtle, realistic, and gently ever present in all the characters' thoughts and actions. Let's dig into how the adventure makes me care.

The Characters Truly Care For Each Other

“You completely ruined your friendship with Andy and you're going to die anyway. Why can't anything EVER go your way?” - page 159

What happens when you suddenly throw world-ending meteors at a group of teens, and playing a cooperative video game is their only way out ?

Homestuck’s answer to that question is “hilarious antics ensue”, but ÆONBOUND's answer is “the teens have all got such different reactions to the situation that it immediately plunges them into conflict”.

“different reactions” is an understatement :

- Andy is in denial, on the verge of a panic attack , WHILE

- Arlo is in an action-oriented flurry, frustrated at anything that gets in his way, WHILE

-Remy is ashamedly stumbling through the ordeal of trying to get his friends to face the truth , WHILE

- Beck is sternly questioning the likelihood of there even being a “prophetic world ending video game” for almost the the entire time.

As you can see, things are on fire and the friends are NOT on the same page. It makes them constantly butt heads.

The even more interesting thing, though , is the way they frantically try to heal the wounds they cause each other, just as often.

This clumsy affection is what really takes the interpersonal dynamics to another level - all their badly timed pleas for forgiveness , agonizing regrets over the interactions that go poorly, and, of course, that one unforgettable hug of pure sympathy . Even the more “harsh ” characters have their inner affections and insecurities quickly unraveled for the audience to see.

All the characters’ behavior towards each other makes one thing abundantly clear : despite everything, these friends don’t want to lose what they have with each other.

Strong Characterization

It should be obvious by now that the adventure features some very solid characterization. We learn about the cast at a pace that is not overwhelming but still brisk, which means you can get a good initial grasp of most of them within just about an hour or two of reading. The characters have significantly different home lives and are all tangibly affected by it. Indeed, it’s impressive that the teens already feel very distinct from each other - not only in life experiences , but in behavior as well.

Here’s the mechanisms ÆONBOUND uses to pull that off. Narration That Cuts Deep Into What Haunts The Character

"To you, he's special, one of a kind. To him, you're just another person." - page 147 The story's narrational text is PHENOMENAL at weaving in and out of the characters' unspoken baggage. Right when you think you're just being told a funny anecdote about a random object in the room, the text hits you with a painful musing about the way that character sees themself.

The Narration's Charming Humor is Very Character-Flavored

"You barely ever SEE other people, let alone NEED TO SHOOT THEM." - page 142 The narration has its fair share of humorous quips - the kind that tell us alot about the characters' opinions on their own lives. I respect comedy in storytelling, especially when it serves the purpose of understanding a character better. Fascinatingly, sometimes the narration even switches up to provide teasing external commentary on the character's behavior, instead of staying just firmly glued to expressing the character's perspective. I love this. Here's an example of what I mean: "Needless to say, you discard this foolish thought as soon as it — Oh you actually did it. Has anyone ever told you you're really impressionable? Like, worryingly so?" - page 29

The Dialog, Of Course!

"uhh this is where my room is i was kinda excited to show you but on the way i realized its dumb and boring so we dont have to go in if you dont want"- poor sweet Remy embarrassed by his privilege, page 71

One of my favorite things about MSPFA's adventures is the distinctness of spoken character voices that often come with them, and ÆONBOUND is no exception. Though its chatlogs don't often feature the hilariously strange tangents that Homestuck's did, the conversations we see here are still fantastic at showcasing the spectrum of different personalities and relationships in the friend group. Andy and Beck, for example, seem to regard each other as their intimate safe space, despite them both having such different attitudes. Beck and Arlo, on the other hand, have a way of amplifying each other's brutally honest disposition when they interact - they do care for each other, but in a tougher way. On the other hand, Remy and Andy seem to be comfortable exchanging a more gentle kind of sympathy with each other. Once again, the comic is amazing at using crisis to highlight the strengths of the characters' relationships.

The Catch-All Bucket

This whole review/analysis thing may have mainly focused on the story's approach to characters, but there's so much other stuff I loved in the adventure that I could have talked about as well. Here's a quick catch-all bucket of the things I missed:

-I love the way the story uses "being in denial of a doomed prophecy" to create tension. -I also love that, despite the oncoming disaster, the story still takes its time to play out more gentle, tender and fun moments, like Remy trying to convince Andy to fly for the first time. -Remy's dream journal entries were both endearing and heartbreaking, and is one of my favorite parts of the story so far. I'm also very intrigued by his apprenticeship under a mysterious prospitan magician. -Another one of my favorite moments was the reveal of Beck's scrap book, in which we learnt who the object of her affections is, and all her complicated feelings about it. -The beginnings of some intriguing worldbuilding are not lost on me. Why is this story specifically set in 2020? How and why did Arlo get access to Sburb code? What's going on with the different colors of the prospit rooms?? -The surrealness of the humor truly cracks me up sometimes. I'm talking about stuff like the sandwich loading screens, the GASTROINTESTINALDEX, the "mission complete" screen for Beck chasing down her package offscreen... good stuff. - The visual art style is immediately appealing and may have been the first thing about the adventure that had my attention. The panel art is a modern, fresh remix of the classic homestuck look and I really like it. The characters have more expressive faces than the traditional style does, which I really enjoy.

Closing Thoughts

I was already quite fond of the webcomic before writing this, but after these few days of thorough analyzing, I have come to truly love it. I have a new level of appreciation for the amount of thought that's gone into crafting the adventure so far, and high hopes for where it will continue next.

Fantastic work, @vennnovember ! I hope that the emotions I found in the story resonate with the ones that you were trying to convey. Thank you for reading!

ÆONBOUND is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @vennnovember.  You can read it here. SPOILER NOTICE: While this review is not spoiler-heavy, it does include a fair amount of quotes and mentions of events from the adventure. I personally don't think these are the kind of spoilers that could totally ruin your experience, but if you are especially sensitive to spoilers, maybe don't read this.

Ahh, sburbventures. The website's so full to the brim with them that if you take any random word and glue on a "-stuck", "-bound" or "-swap" at the end, you’ll get the title of a sburbventure that already exists somewhere on mspfa.com. Truly, the massive sprawl of the sburbian jungle on mspfa’s home page is glorious to behold. However, while I do respect this subgenre, its sheer abundance does mean that a sburbventure has to do more than just follow the basic recipe in order to really stand out to me.

So why is it, then, that I keep coming back to read more ÆONBOUND every time it updates? How is it making me care ? Indeed, the thing that makes it special is not immediately obvious. Eventually, though, on my reread of the whole adventure, I finally realized that its secret ingredients are vulnerability, emotional tenderness and heart . Interestingly, the emotions presented by this story are rarely theatrical and show-stopping: instead they are subtle, realistic, and gently ever present in all the characters' thoughts and actions. Let's dig into how the adventure makes me care.

The Characters Truly Care For Each Other

“You completely ruined your friendship with Andy and you're going to die anyway. Why can't anything EVER go your way?” - page 159

What happens when you suddenly throw world-ending meteors at a group of teens, and playing a cooperative video game is their only way out ?

Homestuck’s answer to that question is “hilarious antics ensue”, but ÆONBOUND's answer is “the teens have all got such different reactions to the situation that it immediately plunges them into conflict”.

“different reactions” is an understatement :

- Andy is in denial, on the verge of a panic attack , WHILE

- Arlo is in an action-oriented flurry, frustrated at anything that gets in his way, WHILE

-Remy is ashamedly stumbling through the ordeal of trying to get his friends to face the truth , WHILE

- Beck is sternly questioning the likelihood of there even being a “prophetic world ending video game” for almost the the entire time.

As you can see, things are on fire and the friends are NOT on the same page. It makes them constantly butt heads.

The even more interesting thing, though , is the way they frantically try to heal the wounds they cause each other, just as often.

This clumsy affection is what really takes the interpersonal dynamics to another level - all their badly timed pleas for forgiveness , agonizing regrets over the interactions that go poorly, and, of course, that one unforgettable hug of pure sympathy . Even the more “harsh ” characters have their inner affections and insecurities quickly unraveled for the audience to see.

All the characters’ behavior towards each other makes one thing abundantly clear : despite everything, these friends don’t want to lose what they have with each other.

Strong Characterization

It should be obvious by now that the adventure features some very solid characterization. We learn about the cast at a pace that is not overwhelming but still brisk, which means you can get a good initial grasp of most of them within just about an hour or two of reading. The characters have significantly different home lives and are all tangibly affected by it. Indeed, it’s impressive that the teens already feel very distinct from each other - not only in life experiences , but in behavior as well.

Here’s the mechanisms ÆONBOUND uses to pull that off. Narration That Cuts Deep Into What Haunts The Character

"To you, he's special, one of a kind. To him, you're just another person." - page 147 The story's narrational text is PHENOMENAL at weaving in and out of the characters' unspoken baggage. Right when you think you're just being told a funny anecdote about a random object in the room, the text hits you with a painful musing about the way that character sees themself.

The Narration's Charming Humor is Very Character-Flavored

"You barely ever SEE other people, let alone NEED TO SHOOT THEM." - page 142 The narration has its fair share of humorous quips - the kind that tell us alot about the characters' opinions on their own lives. I respect comedy in storytelling, especially when it serves the purpose of understanding a character better. Fascinatingly, sometimes the narration even switches up to provide teasing external commentary on the character's behavior, instead of staying just firmly glued to expressing the character's perspective. I love this. Here's an example of what I mean: "Needless to say, you discard this foolish thought as soon as it — Oh you actually did it. Has anyone ever told you you're really impressionable? Like, worryingly so?" - page 29

The Dialog, Of Course!

"uhh this is where my room is i was kinda excited to show you but on the way i realized its dumb and boring so we dont have to go in if you dont want"- poor sweet Remy embarrassed by his privilege, page 71

One of my favorite things about MSPFA's adventures is the distinctness of spoken character voices that often come with them, and ÆONBOUND is no exception. Though its chatlogs don't often feature the hilariously strange tangents that Homestuck's did, the conversations we see here are still fantastic at showcasing the spectrum of different personalities and relationships in the friend group. Andy and Beck, for example, seem to regard each other as their intimate safe space, despite them both having such different attitudes. Beck and Arlo, on the other hand, have a way of amplifying each other's brutally honest disposition when they interact - they do care for each other, but in a tougher way. On the other hand, Remy and Andy seem to be comfortable exchanging a more gentle kind of sympathy with each other. Once again, the comic is amazing at using crisis to highlight the strengths of the characters' relationships.

The Catch-All Bucket

This whole review/analysis thing may have mainly focused on the story's approach to characters, but there's so much other stuff I loved in the adventure that I could have talked about as well. Here's a quick catch-all bucket of the things I missed:

-I love the way the story uses "being in denial of a doomed prophecy" to create tension. -I also love that, despite the oncoming disaster, the story still takes its time to play out more gentle, tender and fun moments, like Remy trying to convince Andy to fly for the first time. -Remy's dream journal entries were both endearing and heartbreaking, and is one of my favorite parts of the story so far. I'm also very intrigued by his apprenticeship under a mysterious prospitan magician. -Another one of my favorite moments was the reveal of Beck's scrap book, in which we learnt who the object of her affections is, and all her complicated feelings about it. -The beginnings of some intriguing worldbuilding are not lost on me. Why is this story specifically set in 2020? How and why did Arlo get access to Sburb code? What's going on with the different colors of the prospit rooms?? -The surrealness of the humor truly cracks me up sometimes. I'm talking about stuff like the sandwich loading screens, the GASTROINTESTINALDEX, the "mission complete" screen for Beck chasing down her package offscreen... good stuff. - The visual art style is immediately appealing and may have been the first thing about the adventure that had my attention. The panel art is a modern, fresh remix of the classic homestuck look and I really like it. The characters have more expressive faces than the traditional style does, which I really enjoy.

Closing Thoughts

I was already quite fond of the webcomic before writing this, but after these few days of thorough analyzing, I have come to truly love it. I have a new level of appreciation for the amount of thought that's gone into crafting the adventure so far, and high hopes for where it will continue next.

Fantastic work, @vennnovember ! I hope that the emotions I found in the story resonate with the ones that you were trying to convey. Thank you for reading!

ÆONBOUND is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @vennnovember.  You can read it here. SPOILER NOTICE: While this review is not spoiler-heavy, it does include a fair amount of quotes and mentions of events from the adventure. I personally don't think these are the kind of spoilers that could totally ruin your experience, but if you are especially sensitive to spoilers, maybe don't read this.

Ahh, sburbventures. The website's so full to the brim with them that if you take any random word and glue on a "-stuck", "-bound" or "-swap" at the end, you’ll get the title of a sburbventure that already exists somewhere on mspfa.com. Truly, the massive sprawl of the sburbian jungle on mspfa’s home page is glorious to behold. However, while I do respect this subgenre, its sheer abundance does mean that a sburbventure has to do more than just follow the basic recipe in order to really stand out to me.

So why is it, then, that I keep coming back to read more ÆONBOUND every time it updates? How is it making me care ? Indeed, the thing that makes it special is not immediately obvious. Eventually, though, on my reread of the whole adventure, I finally realized that its secret ingredients are vulnerability, emotional tenderness and heart . Interestingly, the emotions presented by this story are rarely theatrical and show-stopping: instead they are subtle, realistic, and gently ever present in all the characters' thoughts and actions. Let's dig into how the adventure makes me care.

The Characters Truly Care For Each Other

“You completely ruined your friendship with Andy and you're going to die anyway. Why can't anything EVER go your way?” - page 159

What happens when you suddenly throw world-ending meteors at a group of teens, and playing a cooperative video game is their only way out ?

Homestuck’s answer to that question is “hilarious antics ensue”, but ÆONBOUND's answer is “the teens have all got such different reactions to the situation that it immediately plunges them into conflict”.

“different reactions” is an understatement :

- Andy is in denial, on the verge of a panic attack , WHILE

- Arlo is in an action-oriented flurry, frustrated at anything that gets in his way, WHILE

-Remy is ashamedly stumbling through the ordeal of trying to get his friends to face the truth , WHILE

- Beck is sternly questioning the likelihood of there even being a “prophetic world ending video game” for almost the the entire time.

As you can see, things are on fire and the friends are NOT on the same page. It makes them constantly butt heads.

The even more interesting thing, though , is the way they frantically try to heal the wounds they cause each other, just as often.

This clumsy affection is what really takes the interpersonal dynamics to another level - all their badly timed pleas for forgiveness , agonizing regrets over the interactions that go poorly, and, of course, that one unforgettable hug of pure sympathy . Even the more “harsh ” characters have their inner affections and insecurities quickly unraveled for the audience to see.

All the characters’ behavior towards each other makes one thing abundantly clear : despite everything, these friends don’t want to lose what they have with each other.

Strong Characterization

It should be obvious by now that the adventure features some very solid characterization. We learn about the cast at a pace that is not overwhelming but still brisk, which means you can get a good initial grasp of most of them within just about an hour or two of reading. The characters have significantly different home lives and are all tangibly affected by it. Indeed, it’s impressive that the teens already feel very distinct from each other - not only in life experiences , but in behavior as well.

Here’s the mechanisms ÆONBOUND uses to pull that off. Narration That Cuts Deep Into What Haunts The Character

"To you, he's special, one of a kind. To him, you're just another person." - page 147 The story's narrational text is PHENOMENAL at weaving in and out of the characters' unspoken baggage. Right when you think you're just being told a funny anecdote about a random object in the room, the text hits you with a painful musing about the way that character sees themself.

The Narration's Charming Humor is Very Character-Flavored

"You barely ever SEE other people, let alone NEED TO SHOOT THEM." - page 142 The narration has its fair share of humorous quips - the kind that tell us alot about the characters' opinions on their own lives. I respect comedy in storytelling, especially when it serves the purpose of understanding a character better. Fascinatingly, sometimes the narration even switches up to provide teasing external commentary on the character's behavior, instead of staying just firmly glued to expressing the character's perspective. I love this. Here's an example of what I mean: "Needless to say, you discard this foolish thought as soon as it — Oh you actually did it. Has anyone ever told you you're really impressionable? Like, worryingly so?" - page 29

The Dialog, Of Course!

"uhh this is where my room is i was kinda excited to show you but on the way i realized its dumb and boring so we dont have to go in if you dont want"- poor sweet Remy embarrassed by his privilege, page 71

One of my favorite things about MSPFA's adventures is the distinctness of spoken character voices that often come with them, and ÆONBOUND is no exception. Though its chatlogs don't often feature the hilariously strange tangents that Homestuck's did, the conversations we see here are still fantastic at showcasing the spectrum of different personalities and relationships in the friend group. Andy and Beck, for example, seem to regard each other as their intimate safe space, despite them both having such different attitudes. Beck and Arlo, on the other hand, have a way of amplifying each other's brutally honest disposition when they interact - they do care for each other, but in a tougher way. On the other hand, Remy and Andy seem to be comfortable exchanging a more gentle kind of sympathy with each other. Once again, the comic is amazing at using crisis to highlight the strengths of the characters' relationships.

The Catch-All Bucket

This whole review/analysis thing may have mainly focused on the story's approach to characters, but there's so much other stuff I loved in the adventure that I could have talked about as well. Here's a quick catch-all bucket of the things I missed:

-I love the way the story uses "being in denial of a doomed prophecy" to create tension. -I also love that, despite the oncoming disaster, the story still takes its time to play out more gentle, tender and fun moments, like Remy trying to convince Andy to fly for the first time. -Remy's dream journal entries were both endearing and heartbreaking, and is one of my favorite parts of the story so far. I'm also very intrigued by his apprenticeship under a mysterious prospitan magician. -Another one of my favorite moments was the reveal of Beck's scrap book, in which we learnt who the object of her affections is, and all her complicated feelings about it. -The beginnings of some intriguing worldbuilding are not lost on me. Why is this story specifically set in 2020? How and why did Arlo get access to Sburb code? What's going on with the different colors of the prospit rooms?? -The surrealness of the humor truly cracks me up sometimes. I'm talking about stuff like the sandwich loading screens, the GASTROINTESTINALDEX, the "mission complete" screen for Beck chasing down her package offscreen... good stuff. - The visual art style is immediately appealing and may have been the first thing about the adventure that had my attention. The panel art is a modern, fresh remix of the classic homestuck look and I really like it. The characters have more expressive faces than the traditional style does, which I really enjoy.

Closing Thoughts

I was already quite fond of the webcomic before writing this, but after these few days of thorough analyzing, I have come to truly love it. I have a new level of appreciation for the amount of thought that's gone into crafting the adventure so far, and high hopes for where it will continue next.

Fantastic work, @vennnovember ! I hope that the emotions I found in the story resonate with the ones that you were trying to convey. Thank you for reading!

ÆONBOUND is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @vennnovember.  You can read it here. SPOILER NOTICE: While this review is not spoiler-heavy, it does include a fair amount of quotes and mentions of events from the adventure. I personally don't think these are the kind of spoilers that could totally ruin your experience, but if you are especially sensitive to spoilers, maybe don't read this.

Ahh, sburbventures. The website's so full to the brim with them that if you take any random word and glue on a "-stuck", "-bound" or "-swap" at the end, you’ll get the title of a sburbventure that already exists somewhere on mspfa.com. Truly, the massive sprawl of the sburbian jungle on mspfa’s home page is glorious to behold. However, while I do respect this subgenre, its sheer abundance does mean that a sburbventure has to do more than just follow the basic recipe in order to really stand out to me.

So why is it, then, that I keep coming back to read more ÆONBOUND every time it updates? How is it making me care ? Indeed, the thing that makes it special is not immediately obvious. Eventually, though, on my reread of the whole adventure, I finally realized that its secret ingredients are vulnerability, emotional tenderness and heart . Interestingly, the emotions presented by this story are rarely theatrical and show-stopping: instead they are subtle, realistic, and gently ever present in all the characters' thoughts and actions. Let's dig into how the adventure makes me care.

The Characters Truly Care For Each Other

“You completely ruined your friendship with Andy and you're going to die anyway. Why can't anything EVER go your way?” - page 159

What happens when you suddenly throw world-ending meteors at a group of teens, and playing a cooperative video game is their only way out ?

Homestuck’s answer to that question is “hilarious antics ensue”, but ÆONBOUND's answer is “the teens have all got such different reactions to the situation that it immediately plunges them into conflict”.

“different reactions” is an understatement :

- Andy is in denial, on the verge of a panic attack , WHILE

- Arlo is in an action-oriented flurry, frustrated at anything that gets in his way, WHILE

-Remy is ashamedly stumbling through the ordeal of trying to get his friends to face the truth , WHILE

- Beck is sternly questioning the likelihood of there even being a “prophetic world ending video game” for almost the the entire time.

As you can see, things are on fire and the friends are NOT on the same page. It makes them constantly butt heads.

The even more interesting thing, though , is the way they frantically try to heal the wounds they cause each other, just as often.

This clumsy affection is what really takes the interpersonal dynamics to another level - all their badly timed pleas for forgiveness , agonizing regrets over the interactions that go poorly, and, of course, that one unforgettable hug of pure sympathy . Even the more “harsh ” characters have their inner affections and insecurities quickly unraveled for the audience to see.

All the characters’ behavior towards each other makes one thing abundantly clear : despite everything, these friends don’t want to lose what they have with each other.

Strong Characterization

It should be obvious by now that the adventure features some very solid characterization. We learn about the cast at a pace that is not overwhelming but still brisk, which means you can get a good initial grasp of most of them within just about an hour or two of reading. The characters have significantly different home lives and are all tangibly affected by it. Indeed, it’s impressive that the teens already feel very distinct from each other - not only in life experiences , but in behavior as well.

Here’s the mechanisms ÆONBOUND uses to pull that off. Narration That Cuts Deep Into What Haunts The Character

"To you, he's special, one of a kind. To him, you're just another person." - page 147 The story's narrational text is PHENOMENAL at weaving in and out of the characters' unspoken baggage. Right when you think you're just being told a funny anecdote about a random object in the room, the text hits you with a painful musing about the way that character sees themself.

The Narration's Charming Humor is Very Character-Flavored

"You barely ever SEE other people, let alone NEED TO SHOOT THEM." - page 142 The narration has its fair share of humorous quips - the kind that tell us alot about the characters' opinions on their own lives. I respect comedy in storytelling, especially when it serves the purpose of understanding a character better. Fascinatingly, sometimes the narration even switches up to provide teasing external commentary on the character's behavior, instead of staying just firmly glued to expressing the character's perspective. I love this. Here's an example of what I mean: "Needless to say, you discard this foolish thought as soon as it — Oh you actually did it. Has anyone ever told you you're really impressionable? Like, worryingly so?" - page 29

The Dialog, Of Course!

"uhh this is where my room is i was kinda excited to show you but on the way i realized its dumb and boring so we dont have to go in if you dont want"- poor sweet Remy embarrassed by his privilege, page 71

One of my favorite things about MSPFA's adventures is the distinctness of spoken character voices that often come with them, and ÆONBOUND is no exception. Though its chatlogs don't often feature the hilariously strange tangents that Homestuck's did, the conversations we see here are still fantastic at showcasing the spectrum of different personalities and relationships in the friend group. Andy and Beck, for example, seem to regard each other as their intimate safe space, despite them both having such different attitudes. Beck and Arlo, on the other hand, have a way of amplifying each other's brutally honest disposition when they interact - they do care for each other, but in a tougher way. On the other hand, Remy and Andy seem to be comfortable exchanging a more gentle kind of sympathy with each other. Once again, the comic is amazing at using crisis to highlight the strengths of the characters' relationships.

The Catch-All Bucket

This whole review/analysis thing may have mainly focused on the story's approach to characters, but there's so much other stuff I loved in the adventure that I could have talked about as well. Here's a quick catch-all bucket of the things I missed:

-I love the way the story uses "being in denial of a doomed prophecy" to create tension. -I also love that, despite the oncoming disaster, the story still takes its time to play out more gentle, tender and fun moments, like Remy trying to convince Andy to fly for the first time. -Remy's dream journal entries were both endearing and heartbreaking, and is one of my favorite parts of the story so far. I'm also very intrigued by his apprenticeship under a mysterious prospitan magician. -Another one of my favorite moments was the reveal of Beck's scrap book, in which we learnt who the object of her affections is, and all her complicated feelings about it. -The beginnings of some intriguing worldbuilding are not lost on me. Why is this story specifically set in 2020? How and why did Arlo get access to Sburb code? What's going on with the different colors of the prospit rooms?? -The surrealness of the humor truly cracks me up sometimes. I'm talking about stuff like the sandwich loading screens, the GASTROINTESTINALDEX, the "mission complete" screen for Beck chasing down her package offscreen... good stuff. - The visual art style is immediately appealing and may have been the first thing about the adventure that had my attention. The panel art is a modern, fresh remix of the classic homestuck look and I really like it. The characters have more expressive faces than the traditional style does, which I really enjoy.

Closing Thoughts

I was already quite fond of the webcomic before writing this, but after these few days of thorough analyzing, I have come to truly love it. I have a new level of appreciation for the amount of thought that's gone into crafting the adventure so far, and high hopes for where it will continue next.

Fantastic work, @vennnovember ! I hope that the emotions I found in the story resonate with the ones that you were trying to convey. Thank you for reading!

ÆONBOUND is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @vennnovember.  You can read it here. SPOILER NOTICE: While this review is not spoiler-heavy, it does include a fair amount of quotes and mentions of events from the adventure. I personally don't think these are the kind of spoilers that could totally ruin your experience, but if you are especially sensitive to spoilers, maybe don't read this.

Ahh, sburbventures. The website's so full to the brim with them that if you take any random word and glue on a "-stuck", "-bound" or "-swap" at the end, you’ll get the title of a sburbventure that already exists somewhere on mspfa.com. Truly, the massive sprawl of the sburbian jungle on mspfa’s home page is glorious to behold. However, while I do respect this subgenre, its sheer abundance does mean that a sburbventure has to do more than just follow the basic recipe in order to really stand out to me.

So why is it, then, that I keep coming back to read more ÆONBOUND every time it updates? How is it making me care ? Indeed, the thing that makes it special is not immediately obvious. Eventually, though, on my reread of the whole adventure, I finally realized that its secret ingredients are vulnerability, emotional tenderness and heart . Interestingly, the emotions presented by this story are rarely theatrical and show-stopping: instead they are subtle, realistic, and gently ever present in all the characters' thoughts and actions. Let's dig into how the adventure makes me care.

The Characters Truly Care For Each Other

“You completely ruined your friendship with Andy and you're going to die anyway. Why can't anything EVER go your way?” - page 159

What happens when you suddenly throw world-ending meteors at a group of teens, and playing a cooperative video game is their only way out ?

Homestuck’s answer to that question is “hilarious antics ensue”, but ÆONBOUND's answer is “the teens have all got such different reactions to the situation that it immediately plunges them into conflict”.

“different reactions” is an understatement :

- Andy is in denial, on the verge of a panic attack , WHILE

- Arlo is in an action-oriented flurry, frustrated at anything that gets in his way, WHILE

-Remy is ashamedly stumbling through the ordeal of trying to get his friends to face the truth , WHILE

- Beck is sternly questioning the likelihood of there even being a “prophetic world ending video game” for almost the the entire time.

As you can see, things are on fire and the friends are NOT on the same page. It makes them constantly butt heads.

The even more interesting thing, though , is the way they frantically try to heal the wounds they cause each other, just as often.

This clumsy affection is what really takes the interpersonal dynamics to another level - all their badly timed pleas for forgiveness , agonizing regrets over the interactions that go poorly, and, of course, that one unforgettable hug of pure sympathy . Even the more “harsh ” characters have their inner affections and insecurities quickly unraveled for the audience to see.

All the characters’ behavior towards each other makes one thing abundantly clear : despite everything, these friends don’t want to lose what they have with each other.

Strong Characterization

It should be obvious by now that the adventure features some very solid characterization. We learn about the cast at a pace that is not overwhelming but still brisk, which means you can get a good initial grasp of most of them within just about an hour or two of reading. The characters have significantly different home lives and are all tangibly affected by it. Indeed, it’s impressive that the teens already feel very distinct from each other - not only in life experiences , but in behavior as well.

Here’s the mechanisms ÆONBOUND uses to pull that off. Narration That Cuts Deep Into What Haunts The Character

"To you, he's special, one of a kind. To him, you're just another person." - page 147 The story's narrational text is PHENOMENAL at weaving in and out of the characters' unspoken baggage. Right when you think you're just being told a funny anecdote about a random object in the room, the text hits you with a painful musing about the way that character sees themself.

The Narration's Charming Humor is Very Character-Flavored

"You barely ever SEE other people, let alone NEED TO SHOOT THEM." - page 142 The narration has its fair share of humorous quips - the kind that tell us alot about the characters' opinions on their own lives. I respect comedy in storytelling, especially when it serves the purpose of understanding a character better. Fascinatingly, sometimes the narration even switches up to provide teasing external commentary on the character's behavior, instead of staying just firmly glued to expressing the character's perspective. I love this. Here's an example of what I mean: "Needless to say, you discard this foolish thought as soon as it — Oh you actually did it. Has anyone ever told you you're really impressionable? Like, worryingly so?" - page 29

The Dialog, Of Course!

"uhh this is where my room is i was kinda excited to show you but on the way i realized its dumb and boring so we dont have to go in if you dont want"- poor sweet Remy embarrassed by his privilege, page 71

One of my favorite things about MSPFA's adventures is the distinctness of spoken character voices that often come with them, and ÆONBOUND is no exception. Though its chatlogs don't often feature the hilariously strange tangents that Homestuck's did, the conversations we see here are still fantastic at showcasing the spectrum of different personalities and relationships in the friend group. Andy and Beck, for example, seem to regard each other as their intimate safe space, despite them both having such different attitudes. Beck and Arlo, on the other hand, have a way of amplifying each other's brutally honest disposition when they interact - they do care for each other, but in a tougher way. On the other hand, Remy and Andy seem to be comfortable exchanging a more gentle kind of sympathy with each other. Once again, the comic is amazing at using crisis to highlight the strengths of the characters' relationships.

The Catch-All Bucket

This whole review/analysis thing may have mainly focused on the story's approach to characters, but there's so much other stuff I loved in the adventure that I could have talked about as well. Here's a quick catch-all bucket of the things I missed:

-I love the way the story uses "being in denial of a doomed prophecy" to create tension. -I also love that, despite the oncoming disaster, the story still takes its time to play out more gentle, tender and fun moments, like Remy trying to convince Andy to fly for the first time. -Remy's dream journal entries were both endearing and heartbreaking, and is one of my favorite parts of the story so far. I'm also very intrigued by his apprenticeship under a mysterious prospitan magician. -Another one of my favorite moments was the reveal of Beck's scrap book, in which we learnt who the object of her affections is, and all her complicated feelings about it. -The beginnings of some intriguing worldbuilding are not lost on me. Why is this story specifically set in 2020? How and why did Arlo get access to Sburb code? What's going on with the different colors of the prospit rooms?? -The surrealness of the humor truly cracks me up sometimes. I'm talking about stuff like the sandwich loading screens, the GASTROINTESTINALDEX, the "mission complete" screen for Beck chasing down her package offscreen... good stuff. - The visual art style is immediately appealing and may have been the first thing about the adventure that had my attention. The panel art is a modern, fresh remix of the classic homestuck look and I really like it. The characters have more expressive faces than the traditional style does, which I really enjoy.

Closing Thoughts

I was already quite fond of the webcomic before writing this, but after these few days of thorough analyzing, I have come to truly love it. I have a new level of appreciation for the amount of thought that's gone into crafting the adventure so far, and high hopes for where it will continue next.

Fantastic work, @vennnovember ! I hope that the emotions I found in the story resonate with the ones that you were trying to convey. Thank you for reading!

ÆONBOUND is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @vennnovember.  You can read it here. SPOILER NOTICE: While this review is not spoiler-heavy, it does include a fair amount of quotes and mentions of events from the adventure. I personally don't think these are the kind of spoilers that could totally ruin your experience, but if you are especially sensitive to spoilers, maybe don't read this.

Ahh, sburbventures. The website's so full to the brim with them that if you take any random word and glue on a "-stuck", "-bound" or "-swap" at the end, you’ll get the title of a sburbventure that already exists somewhere on mspfa.com. Truly, the massive sprawl of the sburbian jungle on mspfa’s home page is glorious to behold. However, while I do respect this subgenre, its sheer abundance does mean that a sburbventure has to do more than just follow the basic recipe in order to really stand out to me.

So why is it, then, that I keep coming back to read more ÆONBOUND every time it updates? How is it making me care ? Indeed, the thing that makes it special is not immediately obvious. Eventually, though, on my reread of the whole adventure, I finally realized that its secret ingredients are vulnerability, emotional tenderness and heart . Interestingly, the emotions presented by this story are rarely theatrical and show-stopping: instead they are subtle, realistic, and gently ever present in all the characters' thoughts and actions. Let's dig into how the adventure makes me care.

The Characters Truly Care For Each Other

“You completely ruined your friendship with Andy and you're going to die anyway. Why can't anything EVER go your way?” - page 159

What happens when you suddenly throw world-ending meteors at a group of teens, and playing a cooperative video game is their only way out ?

Homestuck’s answer to that question is “hilarious antics ensue”, but ÆONBOUND's answer is “the teens have all got such different reactions to the situation that it immediately plunges them into conflict”.

“different reactions” is an understatement :

- Andy is in denial, on the verge of a panic attack , WHILE

- Arlo is in an action-oriented flurry, frustrated at anything that gets in his way, WHILE

-Remy is ashamedly stumbling through the ordeal of trying to get his friends to face the truth , WHILE

- Beck is sternly questioning the likelihood of there even being a “prophetic world ending video game” for almost the the entire time.

As you can see, things are on fire and the friends are NOT on the same page. It makes them constantly butt heads.

The even more interesting thing, though , is the way they frantically try to heal the wounds they cause each other, just as often.

This clumsy affection is what really takes the interpersonal dynamics to another level - all their badly timed pleas for forgiveness , agonizing regrets over the interactions that go poorly, and, of course, that one unforgettable hug of pure sympathy . Even the more “harsh ” characters have their inner affections and insecurities quickly unraveled for the audience to see.

All the characters’ behavior towards each other makes one thing abundantly clear : despite everything, these friends don’t want to lose what they have with each other.

Strong Characterization

It should be obvious by now that the adventure features some very solid characterization. We learn about the cast at a pace that is not overwhelming but still brisk, which means you can get a good initial grasp of most of them within just about an hour or two of reading. The characters have significantly different home lives and are all tangibly affected by it. Indeed, it’s impressive that the teens already feel very distinct from each other - not only in life experiences , but in behavior as well.

Here’s the mechanisms ÆONBOUND uses to pull that off. Narration That Cuts Deep Into What Haunts The Character

"To you, he's special, one of a kind. To him, you're just another person." - page 147 The story's narrational text is PHENOMENAL at weaving in and out of the characters' unspoken baggage. Right when you think you're just being told a funny anecdote about a random object in the room, the text hits you with a painful musing about the way that character sees themself.

The Narration's Charming Humor is Very Character-Flavored

"You barely ever SEE other people, let alone NEED TO SHOOT THEM." - page 142 The narration has its fair share of humorous quips - the kind that tell us alot about the characters' opinions on their own lives. I respect comedy in storytelling, especially when it serves the purpose of understanding a character better. Fascinatingly, sometimes the narration even switches up to provide teasing external commentary on the character's behavior, instead of staying just firmly glued to expressing the character's perspective. I love this. Here's an example of what I mean: "Needless to say, you discard this foolish thought as soon as it — Oh you actually did it. Has anyone ever told you you're really impressionable? Like, worryingly so?" - page 29

The Dialog, Of Course!

"uhh this is where my room is i was kinda excited to show you but on the way i realized its dumb and boring so we dont have to go in if you dont want"- poor sweet Remy embarrassed by his privilege, page 71

One of my favorite things about MSPFA's adventures is the distinctness of spoken character voices that often come with them, and ÆONBOUND is no exception. Though its chatlogs don't often feature the hilariously strange tangents that Homestuck's did, the conversations we see here are still fantastic at showcasing the spectrum of different personalities and relationships in the friend group. Andy and Beck, for example, seem to regard each other as their intimate safe space, despite them both having such different attitudes. Beck and Arlo, on the other hand, have a way of amplifying each other's brutally honest disposition when they interact - they do care for each other, but in a tougher way. On the other hand, Remy and Andy seem to be comfortable exchanging a more gentle kind of sympathy with each other. Once again, the comic is amazing at using crisis to highlight the strengths of the characters' relationships.

The Catch-All Bucket

This whole review/analysis thing may have mainly focused on the story's approach to characters, but there's so much other stuff I loved in the adventure that I could have talked about as well. Here's a quick catch-all bucket of the things I missed:

-I love the way the story uses "being in denial of a doomed prophecy" to create tension. -I also love that, despite the oncoming disaster, the story still takes its time to play out more gentle, tender and fun moments, like Remy trying to convince Andy to fly for the first time. -Remy's dream journal entries were both endearing and heartbreaking, and is one of my favorite parts of the story so far. I'm also very intrigued by his apprenticeship under a mysterious prospitan magician. -Another one of my favorite moments was the reveal of Beck's scrap book, in which we learnt who the object of her affections is, and all her complicated feelings about it. -The beginnings of some intriguing worldbuilding are not lost on me. Why is this story specifically set in 2020? How and why did Arlo get access to Sburb code? What's going on with the different colors of the prospit rooms?? -The surrealness of the humor truly cracks me up sometimes. I'm talking about stuff like the sandwich loading screens, the GASTROINTESTINALDEX, the "mission complete" screen for Beck chasing down her package offscreen... good stuff. - The visual art style is immediately appealing and may have been the first thing about the adventure that had my attention. The panel art is a modern, fresh remix of the classic homestuck look and I really like it. The characters have more expressive faces than the traditional style does, which I really enjoy.

Closing Thoughts

I was already quite fond of the webcomic before writing this, but after these few days of thorough analyzing, I have come to truly love it. I have a new level of appreciation for the amount of thought that's gone into crafting the adventure so far, and high hopes for where it will continue next.

Fantastic work, @vennnovember ! I hope that the emotions I found in the story resonate with the ones that you were trying to convey. Thank you for reading!

ÆONBOUND is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @vennnovember.  You can read it here. SPOILER NOTICE: While this review is not spoiler-heavy, it does include a fair amount of quotes and mentions of events from the adventure. I personally don't think these are the kind of spoilers that could totally ruin your experience, but if you are especially sensitive to spoilers, maybe don't read this.

Ahh, sburbventures. The website's so full to the brim with them that if you take any random word and glue on a "-stuck", "-bound" or "-swap" at the end, you’ll get the title of a sburbventure that already exists somewhere on mspfa.com. Truly, the massive sprawl of the sburbian jungle on mspfa’s home page is glorious to behold. However, while I do respect this subgenre, its sheer abundance does mean that a sburbventure has to do more than just follow the basic recipe in order to really stand out to me.

So why is it, then, that I keep coming back to read more ÆONBOUND every time it updates? How is it making me care ? Indeed, the thing that makes it special is not immediately obvious. Eventually, though, on my reread of the whole adventure, I finally realized that its secret ingredients are vulnerability, emotional tenderness and heart . Interestingly, the emotions presented by this story are rarely theatrical and show-stopping: instead they are subtle, realistic, and gently ever present in all the characters' thoughts and actions. Let's dig into how the adventure makes me care.

The Characters Truly Care For Each Other

“You completely ruined your friendship with Andy and you're going to die anyway. Why can't anything EVER go your way?” - page 159

What happens when you suddenly throw world-ending meteors at a group of teens, and playing a cooperative video game is their only way out ?

Homestuck’s answer to that question is “hilarious antics ensue”, but ÆONBOUND's answer is “the teens have all got such different reactions to the situation that it immediately plunges them into conflict”.

“different reactions” is an understatement :

- Andy is in denial, on the verge of a panic attack , WHILE

- Arlo is in an action-oriented flurry, frustrated at anything that gets in his way, WHILE

-Remy is ashamedly stumbling through the ordeal of trying to get his friends to face the truth , WHILE

- Beck is sternly questioning the likelihood of there even being a “prophetic world ending video game” for almost the the entire time.

As you can see, things are on fire and the friends are NOT on the same page. It makes them constantly butt heads.

The even more interesting thing, though , is the way they frantically try to heal the wounds they cause each other, just as often.

This clumsy affection is what really takes the interpersonal dynamics to another level - all their badly timed pleas for forgiveness , agonizing regrets over the interactions that go poorly, and, of course, that one unforgettable hug of pure sympathy . Even the more “harsh ” characters have their inner affections and insecurities quickly unraveled for the audience to see.

All the characters’ behavior towards each other makes one thing abundantly clear : despite everything, these friends don’t want to lose what they have with each other.

Strong Characterization

It should be obvious by now that the adventure features some very solid characterization. We learn about the cast at a pace that is not overwhelming but still brisk, which means you can get a good initial grasp of most of them within just about an hour or two of reading. The characters have significantly different home lives and are all tangibly affected by it. Indeed, it’s impressive that the teens already feel very distinct from each other - not only in life experiences , but in behavior as well.

Here’s the mechanisms ÆONBOUND uses to pull that off. Narration That Cuts Deep Into What Haunts The Character

"To you, he's special, one of a kind. To him, you're just another person." - page 147 The story's narrational text is PHENOMENAL at weaving in and out of the characters' unspoken baggage. Right when you think you're just being told a funny anecdote about a random object in the room, the text hits you with a painful musing about the way that character sees themself.

The Narration's Charming Humor is Very Character-Flavored

"You barely ever SEE other people, let alone NEED TO SHOOT THEM." - page 142 The narration has its fair share of humorous quips - the kind that tell us alot about the characters' opinions on their own lives. I respect comedy in storytelling, especially when it serves the purpose of understanding a character better. Fascinatingly, sometimes the narration even switches up to provide teasing external commentary on the character's behavior, instead of staying just firmly glued to expressing the character's perspective. I love this. Here's an example of what I mean: "Needless to say, you discard this foolish thought as soon as it — Oh you actually did it. Has anyone ever told you you're really impressionable? Like, worryingly so?" - page 29

The Dialog, Of Course!

"uhh this is where my room is i was kinda excited to show you but on the way i realized its dumb and boring so we dont have to go in if you dont want"- poor sweet Remy embarrassed by his privilege, page 71

One of my favorite things about MSPFA's adventures is the distinctness of spoken character voices that often come with them, and ÆONBOUND is no exception. Though its chatlogs don't often feature the hilariously strange tangents that Homestuck's did, the conversations we see here are still fantastic at showcasing the spectrum of different personalities and relationships in the friend group. Andy and Beck, for example, seem to regard each other as their intimate safe space, despite them both having such different attitudes. Beck and Arlo, on the other hand, have a way of amplifying each other's brutally honest disposition when they interact - they do care for each other, but in a tougher way. On the other hand, Remy and Andy seem to be comfortable exchanging a more gentle kind of sympathy with each other. Once again, the comic is amazing at using crisis to highlight the strengths of the characters' relationships.

The Catch-All Bucket

This whole review/analysis thing may have mainly focused on the story's approach to characters, but there's so much other stuff I loved in the adventure that I could have talked about as well. Here's a quick catch-all bucket of the things I missed:

-I love the way the story uses "being in denial of a doomed prophecy" to create tension. -I also love that, despite the oncoming disaster, the story still takes its time to play out more gentle, tender and fun moments, like Remy trying to convince Andy to fly for the first time. -Remy's dream journal entries were both endearing and heartbreaking, and is one of my favorite parts of the story so far. I'm also very intrigued by his apprenticeship under a mysterious prospitan magician. -Another one of my favorite moments was the reveal of Beck's scrap book, in which we learnt who the object of her affections is, and all her complicated feelings about it. -The beginnings of some intriguing worldbuilding are not lost on me. Why is this story specifically set in 2020? How and why did Arlo get access to Sburb code? What's going on with the different colors of the prospit rooms?? -The surrealness of the humor truly cracks me up sometimes. I'm talking about stuff like the sandwich loading screens, the GASTROINTESTINALDEX, the "mission complete" screen for Beck chasing down her package offscreen... good stuff. - The visual art style is immediately appealing and may have been the first thing about the adventure that had my attention. The panel art is a modern, fresh remix of the classic homestuck look and I really like it. The characters have more expressive faces than the traditional style does, which I really enjoy.

Closing Thoughts

I was already quite fond of the webcomic before writing this, but after these few days of thorough analyzing, I have come to truly love it. I have a new level of appreciation for the amount of thought that's gone into crafting the adventure so far, and high hopes for where it will continue next.

Fantastic work, @vennnovember ! I hope that the emotions I found in the story resonate with the ones that you were trying to convey. Thank you for reading!

ÆONBOUND is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @vennnovember.  You can read it here. SPOILER NOTICE: While this review is not spoiler-heavy, it does include a fair amount of quotes and mentions of events from the adventure. I personally don't think these are the kind of spoilers that could totally ruin your experience, but if you are especially sensitive to spoilers, maybe don't read this.

Ahh, sburbventures. The website's so full to the brim with them that if you take any random word and glue on a "-stuck", "-bound" or "-swap" at the end, you’ll get the title of a sburbventure that already exists somewhere on mspfa.com. Truly, the massive sprawl of the sburbian jungle on mspfa’s home page is glorious to behold. However, while I do respect this subgenre, its sheer abundance does mean that a sburbventure has to do more than just follow the basic recipe in order to really stand out to me.

So why is it, then, that I keep coming back to read more ÆONBOUND every time it updates? How is it making me care ? Indeed, the thing that makes it special is not immediately obvious. Eventually, though, on my reread of the whole adventure, I finally realized that its secret ingredients are vulnerability, emotional tenderness and heart . Interestingly, the emotions presented by this story are rarely theatrical and show-stopping: instead they are subtle, realistic, and gently ever present in all the characters' thoughts and actions. Let's dig into how the adventure makes me care.

The Characters Truly Care For Each Other

“You completely ruined your friendship with Andy and you're going to die anyway. Why can't anything EVER go your way?” - page 159

What happens when you suddenly throw world-ending meteors at a group of teens, and playing a cooperative video game is their only way out ?

Homestuck’s answer to that question is “hilarious antics ensue”, but ÆONBOUND's answer is “the teens have all got such different reactions to the situation that it immediately plunges them into conflict”.

“different reactions” is an understatement :

- Andy is in denial, on the verge of a panic attack , WHILE

- Arlo is in an action-oriented flurry, frustrated at anything that gets in his way, WHILE

-Remy is ashamedly stumbling through the ordeal of trying to get his friends to face the truth , WHILE

- Beck is sternly questioning the likelihood of there even being a “prophetic world ending video game” for almost the the entire time.

As you can see, things are on fire and the friends are NOT on the same page. It makes them constantly butt heads.

The even more interesting thing, though , is the way they frantically try to heal the wounds they cause each other, just as often.

This clumsy affection is what really takes the interpersonal dynamics to another level - all their badly timed pleas for forgiveness , agonizing regrets over the interactions that go poorly, and, of course, that one unforgettable hug of pure sympathy . Even the more “harsh ” characters have their inner affections and insecurities quickly unraveled for the audience to see.

All the characters’ behavior towards each other makes one thing abundantly clear : despite everything, these friends don’t want to lose what they have with each other.

Strong Characterization

It should be obvious by now that the adventure features some very solid characterization. We learn about the cast at a pace that is not overwhelming but still brisk, which means you can get a good initial grasp of most of them within just about an hour or two of reading. The characters have significantly different home lives and are all tangibly affected by it. Indeed, it’s impressive that the teens already feel very distinct from each other - not only in life experiences , but in behavior as well.

Here’s the mechanisms ÆONBOUND uses to pull that off. Narration That Cuts Deep Into What Haunts The Character

"To you, he's special, one of a kind. To him, you're just another person." - page 147 The story's narrational text is PHENOMENAL at weaving in and out of the characters' unspoken baggage. Right when you think you're just being told a funny anecdote about a random object in the room, the text hits you with a painful musing about the way that character sees themself.

The Narration's Charming Humor is Very Character-Flavored

"You barely ever SEE other people, let alone NEED TO SHOOT THEM." - page 142 The narration has its fair share of humorous quips - the kind that tell us alot about the characters' opinions on their own lives. I respect comedy in storytelling, especially when it serves the purpose of understanding a character better. Fascinatingly, sometimes the narration even switches up to provide teasing external commentary on the character's behavior, instead of staying just firmly glued to expressing the character's perspective. I love this. Here's an example of what I mean: "Needless to say, you discard this foolish thought as soon as it — Oh you actually did it. Has anyone ever told you you're really impressionable? Like, worryingly so?" - page 29

The Dialog, Of Course!

"uhh this is where my room is i was kinda excited to show you but on the way i realized its dumb and boring so we dont have to go in if you dont want"- poor sweet Remy embarrassed by his privilege, page 71

One of my favorite things about MSPFA's adventures is the distinctness of spoken character voices that often come with them, and ÆONBOUND is no exception. Though its chatlogs don't often feature the hilariously strange tangents that Homestuck's did, the conversations we see here are still fantastic at showcasing the spectrum of different personalities and relationships in the friend group. Andy and Beck, for example, seem to regard each other as their intimate safe space, despite them both having such different attitudes. Beck and Arlo, on the other hand, have a way of amplifying each other's brutally honest disposition when they interact - they do care for each other, but in a tougher way. On the other hand, Remy and Andy seem to be comfortable exchanging a more gentle kind of sympathy with each other. Once again, the comic is amazing at using crisis to highlight the strengths of the characters' relationships.

The Catch-All Bucket

This whole review/analysis thing may have mainly focused on the story's approach to characters, but there's so much other stuff I loved in the adventure that I could have talked about as well. Here's a quick catch-all bucket of the things I missed:

-I love the way the story uses "being in denial of a doomed prophecy" to create tension. -I also love that, despite the oncoming disaster, the story still takes its time to play out more gentle, tender and fun moments, like Remy trying to convince Andy to fly for the first time. -Remy's dream journal entries were both endearing and heartbreaking, and is one of my favorite parts of the story so far. I'm also very intrigued by his apprenticeship under a mysterious prospitan magician. -Another one of my favorite moments was the reveal of Beck's scrap book, in which we learnt who the object of her affections is, and all her complicated feelings about it. -The beginnings of some intriguing worldbuilding are not lost on me. Why is this story specifically set in 2020? How and why did Arlo get access to Sburb code? What's going on with the different colors of the prospit rooms?? -The surrealness of the humor truly cracks me up sometimes. I'm talking about stuff like the sandwich loading screens, the GASTROINTESTINALDEX, the "mission complete" screen for Beck chasing down her package offscreen... good stuff. - The visual art style is immediately appealing and may have been the first thing about the adventure that had my attention. The panel art is a modern, fresh remix of the classic homestuck look and I really like it. The characters have more expressive faces than the traditional style does, which I really enjoy.

Closing Thoughts

I was already quite fond of the webcomic before writing this, but after these few days of thorough analyzing, I have come to truly love it. I have a new level of appreciation for the amount of thought that's gone into crafting the adventure so far, and high hopes for where it will continue next.

Fantastic work, @vennnovember ! I hope that the emotions I found in the story resonate with the ones that you were trying to convey. Thank you for reading!

BOOTSTRAP is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @captainkawaii666.  You can read it here.

So, the author of this really likes cats, huh.

Though BOOTSTRAP started somewhat recently, the adventure’s already showing a lot of promising signs to me. While it may seem questionable to “review” something that’s just getting started , I think there’s a lot you can glean about an authors approach from the first pages of a story. So let’s get right into it.

What makes this Adventure Different?

It feels more grounded in an adult reality than your average mspfa adventure  "you aren't in school anymore, and you've been struggling to find a job, so it's not like getting a few extra hours of sleep is going to hurt you." <- (Page 7) Most characters in mspfa adventures are teenagers who seem to live in a world where, pre-world-destruction, their primary concerns involve either ranting to their friends online about their favorite/most hated piece of media, or sneaking past their guardians to get to a mailbox. See, they typically have parent figures in charge of all the "adult stuff" , while they go do "teenage stuff" on their computers. In contrast to all this, something about independently living 19 year old Tyche Erwin and his sister feels more immediately relatable to me. It's the way they both seem surrounded with a hundred little random responsibilities that are all just a little too much for them- the boxes are unopened, the fridge is barely stocked, and they've given up on the idea of washing actual dishes a long time ago. Instead of living in a big suburban house, they're just trying to make ends meet in a moderate apartment, while occasionally dealing with their landlord calling animal control on them. And somehow none of this stops Tyche's sister from compulsively adopting every cat she can lay her hands on. I mean, damn - if this blend of impulsivity and procrastination isn't an accurate depiction of starting a new life as a young adult, then I don't know what is.

A really interesting opening "you ever wonder what exactly defines a "story"?" <- (Page 1) I have to admit I felt incredibly pandered to with this opening line. I love seeing an author dare to depict a philosophical conversation without covering it up in irony or throwing a "haha just kidding" onto it. Starting an adventure with a scene that takes itself this seriously is a bold move, but a good kind of bold. To me, it signals that the writer is confident in their vision, and that they have a very strong and specific motivation for choosing to tell this particular tale. It really sets a tone that you'll see throughout all the following pages as well: this adventure knows what it is, and, despite the familiar framing, it's not something we've seen before. Speaking of which...

Intriguing hints of strange new world building / magic systems? "You haven't got the slightest clue what PUZZLE POINTS do, but over the course of your life, you have accumulated a grand total of 327 of them" <- (Page 11) Man, I love nonmspa mspfas (as confusing as those two words look together). I love it when adventures take the visual language of the mspa world, but then throw out all the sburb hijinks, leaving a sburb-shaped hole ready to be filled with something new and terrifying. BOOTSTRAP seems to have learnt something valuable from Homestuck: the less a reader knows about how something works initially, the more tantalizing it is for them when they get teased with clues into a much bigger picture. The comic has a very delicate way of sprinkling in casual mentions of surreal happenings onto a deceptively normal looking setting (what the hell are Puzzle Points?? what do you MEAN there's just a radioactive cat??), and it hits you with these odd things whenever you're least ready for it. It's masterful at this.

About The Adventure's Narration Style

"Your sister tried getting her a scratching post, but the only thing she accomplished with that purchase was discovering the one surface Emmie didn't have any interest in maiming." <- (Page 27) As you can probably see from the quote above, the narration in this webcomic some times has a subtle "sarcastic but classy" kind humor that isn't extremely in your face. The sentences often have an extra flair of style and quality that I can really respect. I wonder if this is going to be the narrator's style of the whole comic, or if the author is specifically choosing to make it like this whenever we see the world from Tyche's perspective, to reflect his thoughtful personality? Either direction would be cool to see.

Thoughts on the Characters

This story is in the early stages and we're still just starting to get to know one of the characters, so I may have to do another review for this adventure once we get to know the cast better! That being said, for now... there is some well-done characterization that we can already see slowly unfolding for Tyche, the fan of mystery stories.

Tyche's polite but frank disposition shows up in the way he talks to the cats - he's oddly respectful to each strange creature, but still manages to call out each one out on its self-destructive behavior. We also get to learn his vibe a bit more from a conversation he has with his more chaotic friend "DiscoRabbit". Tyche is that one slightly stern friend who uses a somewhat more formal register than is typical, and is not afraid to correct your typos in conversation, but he will still go along with your antics anyway. Which brings me to my favorite thing said about him in the story so far: "you knew when you signed up for it that you might not make it out unscathed, but for your friend you would accept that risk a hundred times over." <- (Page 16) I am very eager to get to know him and his friends better. DiscoRabbit is an interesting one.

Closing Thoughts

BOOTSTRAP is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @captainkawaii666.  You can read it here.

So, the author of this really likes cats, huh.

Though BOOTSTRAP started somewhat recently, the adventure’s already showing a lot of promising signs to me. While it may seem questionable to “review” something that’s just getting started , I think there’s a lot you can glean about an authors approach from the first pages of a story. So let’s get right into it.

What makes this Adventure Different?

It feels more grounded in an adult reality than your average mspfa adventure  "you aren't in school anymore, and you've been struggling to find a job, so it's not like getting a few extra hours of sleep is going to hurt you." <- (Page 7) Most characters in mspfa adventures are teenagers who seem to live in a world where, pre-world-destruction, their primary concerns involve either ranting to their friends online about their favorite/most hated piece of media, or sneaking past their guardians to get to a mailbox. See, they typically have parent figures in charge of all the "adult stuff" , while they go do "teenage stuff" on their computers. In contrast to all this, something about independently living 19 year old Tyche Erwin and his sister feels more immediately relatable to me. It's the way they both seem surrounded with a hundred little random responsibilities that are all just a little too much for them- the boxes are unopened, the fridge is barely stocked, and they've given up on the idea of washing actual dishes a long time ago. Instead of living in a big suburban house, they're just trying to make ends meet in a moderate apartment, while occasionally dealing with their landlord calling animal control on them. And somehow none of this stops Tyche's sister from compulsively adopting every cat she can lay her hands on. I mean, damn - if this blend of impulsivity and procrastination isn't an accurate depiction of starting a new life as a young adult, then I don't know what is.

A really interesting opening "you ever wonder what exactly defines a "story"?" <- (Page 1) I have to admit I felt incredibly pandered to with this opening line. I love seeing an author dare to depict a philosophical conversation without covering it up in irony or throwing a "haha just kidding" onto it. Starting an adventure with a scene that takes itself this seriously is a bold move, but a good kind of bold. To me, it signals that the writer is confident in their vision, and that they have a very strong and specific motivation for choosing to tell this particular tale. It really sets a tone that you'll see throughout all the following pages as well: this adventure knows what it is, and, despite the familiar framing, it's not something we've seen before. Speaking of which...

Intriguing hints of strange new world building / magic systems? "You haven't got the slightest clue what PUZZLE POINTS do, but over the course of your life, you have accumulated a grand total of 327 of them" <- (Page 11) Man, I love nonmspa mspfas (as confusing as those two words look together). I love it when adventures take the visual language of the mspa world, but then throw out all the sburb hijinks, leaving a sburb-shaped hole ready to be filled with something new and terrifying. BOOTSTRAP seems to have learnt something valuable from Homestuck: the less a reader knows about how something works initially, the more tantalizing it is for them when they get teased with clues into a much bigger picture. The comic has a very delicate way of sprinkling in casual mentions of surreal happenings onto a deceptively normal looking setting (what the hell are Puzzle Points?? what do you MEAN there's just a radioactive cat??), and it hits you with these odd things whenever you're least ready for it. It's masterful at this.

About The Adventure's Narration Style

"Your sister tried getting her a scratching post, but the only thing she accomplished with that purchase was discovering the one surface Emmie didn't have any interest in maiming." <- (Page 27) As you can probably see from the quote above, the narration in this webcomic some times has a subtle "sarcastic but classy" kind humor that isn't extremely in your face. The sentences often have an extra flair of style and quality that I can really respect. I wonder if this is going to be the narrator's style of the whole comic, or if the author is specifically choosing to make it like this whenever we see the world from Tyche's perspective, to reflect his thoughtful personality? Either direction would be cool to see.

Thoughts on the Characters

This story is in the early stages and we're still just starting to get to know one of the characters, so I may have to do another review for this adventure once we get to know the cast better! That being said, for now... there is some well-done characterization that we can already see slowly unfolding for Tyche, the fan of mystery stories.

Tyche's polite but frank disposition shows up in the way he talks to the cats - he's oddly respectful to each strange creature, but still manages to call out each one out on its self-destructive behavior. We also get to learn his vibe a bit more from a conversation he has with his more chaotic friend "DiscoRabbit". Tyche is that one slightly stern friend who uses a somewhat more formal register than is typical, and is not afraid to correct your typos in conversation, but he will still go along with your antics anyway. Which brings me to my favorite thing said about him in the story so far: "you knew when you signed up for it that you might not make it out unscathed, but for your friend you would accept that risk a hundred times over." <- (Page 16) I am very eager to get to know him and his friends better. DiscoRabbit is an interesting one.

Closing Thoughts

BOOTSTRAP is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @captainkawaii666.  You can read it here.

So, the author of this really likes cats, huh.

Though BOOTSTRAP started somewhat recently, the adventure’s already showing a lot of promising signs to me. While it may seem questionable to “review” something that’s just getting started , I think there’s a lot you can glean about an authors approach from the first pages of a story. So let’s get right into it.

What makes this Adventure Different?

It feels more grounded in an adult reality than your average mspfa adventure  "you aren't in school anymore, and you've been struggling to find a job, so it's not like getting a few extra hours of sleep is going to hurt you." <- (Page 7) Most characters in mspfa adventures are teenagers who seem to live in a world where, pre-world-destruction, their primary concerns involve either ranting to their friends online about their favorite/most hated piece of media, or sneaking past their guardians to get to a mailbox. See, they typically have parent figures in charge of all the "adult stuff" , while they go do "teenage stuff" on their computers. In contrast to all this, something about independently living 19 year old Tyche Erwin and his sister feels more immediately relatable to me. It's the way they both seem surrounded with a hundred little random responsibilities that are all just a little too much for them- the boxes are unopened, the fridge is barely stocked, and they've given up on the idea of washing actual dishes a long time ago. Instead of living in a big suburban house, they're just trying to make ends meet in a moderate apartment, while occasionally dealing with their landlord calling animal control on them. And somehow none of this stops Tyche's sister from compulsively adopting every cat she can lay her hands on. I mean, damn - if this blend of impulsivity and procrastination isn't an accurate depiction of starting a new life as a young adult, then I don't know what is.

A really interesting opening "you ever wonder what exactly defines a "story"?" <- (Page 1) I have to admit I felt incredibly pandered to with this opening line. I love seeing an author dare to depict a philosophical conversation without covering it up in irony or throwing a "haha just kidding" onto it. Starting an adventure with a scene that takes itself this seriously is a bold move, but a good kind of bold. To me, it signals that the writer is confident in their vision, and that they have a very strong and specific motivation for choosing to tell this particular tale. It really sets a tone that you'll see throughout all the following pages as well: this adventure knows what it is, and, despite the familiar framing, it's not something we've seen before. Speaking of which...

Intriguing hints of strange new world building / magic systems? "You haven't got the slightest clue what PUZZLE POINTS do, but over the course of your life, you have accumulated a grand total of 327 of them" <- (Page 11) Man, I love nonmspa mspfas (as confusing as those two words look together). I love it when adventures take the visual language of the mspa world, but then throw out all the sburb hijinks, leaving a sburb-shaped hole ready to be filled with something new and terrifying. BOOTSTRAP seems to have learnt something valuable from Homestuck: the less a reader knows about how something works initially, the more tantalizing it is for them when they get teased with clues into a much bigger picture. The comic has a very delicate way of sprinkling in casual mentions of surreal happenings onto a deceptively normal looking setting (what the hell are Puzzle Points?? what do you MEAN there's just a radioactive cat??), and it hits you with these odd things whenever you're least ready for it. It's masterful at this.

About The Adventure's Narration Style

"Your sister tried getting her a scratching post, but the only thing she accomplished with that purchase was discovering the one surface Emmie didn't have any interest in maiming." <- (Page 27) As you can probably see from the quote above, the narration in this webcomic some times has a subtle "sarcastic but classy" kind humor that isn't extremely in your face. The sentences often have an extra flair of style and quality that I can really respect. I wonder if this is going to be the narrator's style of the whole comic, or if the author is specifically choosing to make it like this whenever we see the world from Tyche's perspective, to reflect his thoughtful personality? Either direction would be cool to see.

Thoughts on the Characters

This story is in the early stages and we're still just starting to get to know one of the characters, so I may have to do another review for this adventure once we get to know the cast better! That being said, for now... there is some well-done characterization that we can already see slowly unfolding for Tyche, the fan of mystery stories.

Tyche's polite but frank disposition shows up in the way he talks to the cats - he's oddly respectful to each strange creature, but still manages to call out each one out on its self-destructive behavior. We also get to learn his vibe a bit more from a conversation he has with his more chaotic friend "DiscoRabbit". Tyche is that one slightly stern friend who uses a somewhat more formal register than is typical, and is not afraid to correct your typos in conversation, but he will still go along with your antics anyway. Which brings me to my favorite thing said about him in the story so far: "you knew when you signed up for it that you might not make it out unscathed, but for your friend you would accept that risk a hundred times over." <- (Page 16) I am very eager to get to know him and his friends better. DiscoRabbit is an interesting one.

Closing Thoughts

BOOTSTRAP is an adventure on mspfa.com written by @captainkawaii666.  You can read it here.

So, the author of this really likes cats, huh.

Though BOOTSTRAP started somewhat recently, the adventure’s already showing a lot of promising signs to me. While it may seem questionable to “review” something that’s just getting started , I think there’s a lot you can glean about an authors approach from the first pages of a story. So let’s get right into it.

What makes this Adventure Different?

It feels more grounded in an adult reality than your average mspfa adventure  "you aren't in school anymore, and you've been struggling to find a job, so it's not like getting a few extra hours of sleep is going to hurt you." <- (Page 7) Most characters in mspfa adventures are teenagers who seem to live in a world where, pre-world-destruction, their primary concerns involve either ranting to their friends online about their favorite/most hated piece of media, or sneaking past their guardians to get to a mailbox. See, they typically have parent figures in charge of all the "adult stuff" , while they go do "teenage stuff" on their computers. In contrast to all this, something about independently living 19 year old Tyche Erwin and his sister feels more immediately relatable to me. It's the way they both seem surrounded with a hundred little random responsibilities that are all just a little too much for them- the boxes are unopened, the fridge is barely stocked, and they've given up on the idea of washing actual dishes a long time ago. Instead of living in a big suburban house, they're just trying to make ends meet in a moderate apartment, while occasionally dealing with their landlord calling animal control on them. And somehow none of this stops Tyche's sister from compulsively adopting every cat she can lay her hands on. I mean, damn - if this blend of impulsivity and procrastination isn't an accurate depiction of starting a new life as a young adult, then I don't know what is.

A really interesting opening "you ever wonder what exactly defines a "story"?" <- (Page 1) I have to admit I felt incredibly pandered to with this opening line. I love seeing an author dare to depict a philosophical conversation without covering it up in irony or throwing a "haha just kidding" onto it. Starting an adventure with a scene that takes itself this seriously is a bold move, but a good kind of bold. To me, it signals that the writer is confident in their vision, and that they have a very strong and specific motivation for choosing to tell this particular tale. It really sets a tone that you'll see throughout all the following pages as well: this adventure knows what it is, and, despite the familiar framing, it's not something we've seen before. Speaking of which...

Intriguing hints of strange new world building / magic systems? "You haven't got the slightest clue what PUZZLE POINTS do, but over the course of your life, you have accumulated a grand total of 327 of them" <- (Page 11) Man, I love nonmspa mspfas (as confusing as those two words look together). I love it when adventures take the visual language of the mspa world, but then throw out all the sburb hijinks, leaving a sburb-shaped hole ready to be filled with something new and terrifying. BOOTSTRAP seems to have learnt something valuable from Homestuck: the less a reader knows about how something works initially, the more tantalizing it is for them when they get teased with clues into a much bigger picture. The comic has a very delicate way of sprinkling in casual mentions of surreal happenings onto a deceptively normal looking setting (what the hell are Puzzle Points?? what do you MEAN there's just a radioactive cat??), and it hits you with these odd things whenever you're least ready for it. It's masterful at this.

About The Adventure's Narration Style

"Your sister tried getting her a scratching post, but the only thing she accomplished with that purchase was discovering the one surface Emmie didn't have any interest in maiming." <- (Page 27) As you can probably see from the quote above, the narration in this webcomic some times has a subtle "sarcastic but classy" kind humor that isn't extremely in your face. The sentences often have an extra flair of style and quality that I can really respect. I wonder if this is going to be the narrator's style of the whole comic, or if the author is specifically choosing to make it like this whenever we see the world from Tyche's perspective, to reflect his thoughtful personality? Either direction would be cool to see.

Thoughts on the Characters

This story is in the early stages and we're still just starting to get to know one of the characters, so I may have to do another review for this adventure once we get to know the cast better! That being said, for now... there is some well-done characterization that we can already see slowly unfolding for Tyche, the fan of mystery stories.

Tyche's polite but frank disposition shows up in the way he talks to the cats - he's oddly respectful to each strange creature, but still manages to call out each one out on its self-destructive behavior. We also get to learn his vibe a bit more from a conversation he has with his more chaotic friend "DiscoRabbit". Tyche is that one slightly stern friend who uses a somewhat more formal register than is typical, and is not afraid to correct your typos in conversation, but he will still go along with your antics anyway. Which brings me to my favorite thing said about him in the story so far: "you knew when you signed up for it that you might not make it out unscathed, but for your friend you would accept that risk a hundred times over." <- (Page 16) I am very eager to get to know him and his friends better. DiscoRabbit is an interesting one.

Closing Thoughts