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Something PositiveSomething Positive or S*P is a webcomic by R. K. Milholland, which debuted on December 19, 2001. The comic is defined by its cynical tone and off-beat humor, including its portrayal of geeks, gamers and goths.
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Quotations
Don't dare blame this on my taste-buds. I could menstruate a better cup of coffee than this!
Don't gripe to me about your kids, Gia. I gave you a clothes hanger. Not my fault you didn't use it.
Goddamit, Jason! Stop using my ugliness as a tool to strong-arm people into stripping!
I am Chupacornbread! Beater of a thousand innocents and taker of lunch money from slow children!
I am La Gatita Demonica! Breaker of skulls and eater of men's spirits!
I don't really need people anyway. I've got a boneless cat.
More Quotes >>
Encyclopedia
Something Positive or S*P is a webcomic by R. K. Milholland, which debuted on December 19, 2001. The comic is defined by its cynical tone and off-beat humor, including its portrayal of geeks, gamers and goths. Setting and storylineThe main cast lives in some unspecified location in Boston, the MacIntire family lives in Bedford, Texas, and Monette has recently moved with Lisa to West Hollywood, California. The comic will often switch between these locations, with related story lines, as well as go back in time. This most often occurs with the MacIntires and the earlier life of Davan, but has happened to explain the circumstances that brought the main three characters together. S*P has done multiple crossovers with Queen of Wands, the first of which involved a baby-sitting mishap with Choo-Choo Bear, and one with Scandal Sheet!. Milholland has been known to use his comic as a forum for responding to irritating email, and has more than once satirized his own comic in the process of making a point. S*P is largely based on the personal experiences of the cartoonist. All of the main cast has some real life basis: many of them are directly based on real people, while others combine qualities from multiple specific people. According to the FAQ, around 65-70% of the comic is based on real life experiences, although toward the beginning it was closer to 90%. Unlike many webcomics featuring players of role-playing games, it is not a gaming comic. The gamers that do appear are usually stereotypical D&D nerds , who cannot function socially — but others do appear who do the genre justice. Storylines revolving around low-budget or no-budget theater are also common, some drawing on Milholland's experiences in the Boston theater scene. Most notorious among these was the storyline about "Nailed!" a musical about the crucifixion of Jesus in the vein of Jesus Christ Superstar, but done in a manner which is irreverent and highly offensive . Many of the secondary Boston characters are loosely based on people in Boston's improvisational theater and sketch comedy community. S*P, unlike many comic strips with their episodic "gag-a-day" format, takes a linear, storyline-based approach. Subject matter ranges from the main characters' adventures to contemporary commentary to political statements, and often makes its points in scathing and offensive fashion: for instance, in the , the strip's main character offers his opinion of an ex-girlfriend by giving her a coat hanger as a baby shower present . However, the strong friendships shared by the main characters inject occasional bouts of hope . Time frameThe strip is set in semi-realtime: That is, a plot arc might start out on the day several days before the day it is set in, then take the next few days and conclude on the day it is set in. There are also frequent flashbacks to the past, which also come with dates. Even with its fixture in time, the comic does not make an effort to connect with everyday life. The September 11th attacks, which were only three months old at the comic's outset, have never been mentioned, and politics itself is dodged if possible. An exception is an arc in mid 2004, when Aubrey tries to get Peejee to go with her to the 2004 Democratic National Convention so they can hand out Nader fliers. CastThe comic's main characters are Davan MacIntire, Aubrey Chorde and PeeJee Shou, with a sub-cast stemming off of that, to include Jason Pratchett , Davan's immediate family , as well as Monette Donnelly, who formerly lived with the MacIntire Family. There is an array of supporting cast members that range from Davan's boneless cat, Choo-Choo Bear, or the enigmatic Spanish-speaking love-midget, Pepito, to PeeJee's gay friend Jhim. These lesser cast members appeared more frequently in the first two years of the comic, but in recent years their prominence in the story line has diminished. Primary characters - Davan MacIntire, born November 24, 1975, grew up in Bedford, Texas, and is a failed art student. He moved to Boston in 1999. For much of the strip's history, he worked for a company that bills families for medical debts they can't afford, and despised it . He takes joy in bringing people pain and misery, but only when they deserve it. He has a rather unhidden interest in Hello Kitty
... paraphernalia. His closest friends are Aubrey and Pee-Jee. After many grotesquely bad relationships, he eventually met Branwen , but she left Boston in September 2004 to pursue her dream job in Vancouver. He is less cynical and uncaring than he seems to be, but he hides it well, and with good reason, since he is invariably taken advantage of when he does let it show. Despite his average looks, many women seem to find him inexplicably ugly. He maintains a webcomic. Davan is currently making plans to return to Texas to take care of his father. - Aubrey Chorde, born December 31, 1977, is a native of Fort Worth, Texas, and later followed Davan to Boston. She was an actress during her childhood, as well as an accomplished ballet dancer. She takes sadistic glee in violence and offending others, and she's the brains behind most of the more twisted schemes in the comic, though rarely do the consequences catch up with her. Her best friends are PeeJee and Davan. She's currently engaged to Jason Pratchett. She knows Davan perhaps better than anyone else in the comic, and to this day they continue to call each other by childhood nicknames, "Woogie" and "Monkeybutter" . She constantly wears a red choker , which once belonged to her grandmother and is her only reminder of her Malaysian roots. One implies that she was the original owner of Bun-Bun of Sluggy Freelance. With her permission, Milholland has "outed" American anime voice actress as the "real-life" Aubrey.
- Penelope-Jennifer "PeeJee" Shou was born October 5, 1976 in Canada, but spent much of her childhood in Singapore. Her best friends are Aubrey and Davan. She met Davan in an unspecified chatroom setting, and vowed to meet him when she came over to the States. Davan developed a crush on her left over from when she was a screename on his computer, but he kept it hidden and later got over it, preferring her as a friend. She always has colorfully-dyed hair. She often finds herself acting as Aubrey's accomplice, no matter how bad an idea it is. She has a huge crush on her gay friend Jhim, who remains oblivious to her desires; a recurring joke amongst the characters is that she always falls for gay men . It is also hinted in some strips that she is developing feelings for Davan.
- Jason Pratchett, born March 19, 1972. Jason and Davan met at an audition. His official backstory indicates that he was a child prodigy who took high-level math classes years in advance. The first time this came into play was the strip for August 11, 2005, when it was revealed in a flashback sequence that his previously inexplicable luck with women was due to a mathematical formula he had invented. He is large and, though generally placid, can become extremely aggressive when provoked. He is usually known for his not-so-little black book, but as he is currently engaged to Aubrey, he's stuck to focusing on his other trademark: elaborate schemes. While it was previously reported that the "real-life" Jason handled the site's webhosting, this is not correct. All of Milholland's projects live on a dedicated server in Manchester, England, and maintenance is actually performed by Aaron Price of the podcast Slacker Astronomy, another childhood friend of Milholland's. However, the real Jason does handle S*P's ad sales.
Secondary characters - Faye MacIntire was Davan's mother. Faye grew up on a small farm in rural Arkansas, although her family's chief form of income came from her father's gas station. Faye was a model child and the apple of her parents' eyes. As a teen she was a cheerleader, on both newspaper and yearbook staffs, in glee club, did dance competitions, and participated in beauty contests. In the late sixties, her father introduced her to his fishing partner, widower Fred MacIntire; shortly afterward the two were married, and were very happy together. Then they had children. Faye was the epitome of patience and did her best to live her life by God's tenets. She did, however, have one of the sharpest tongues in the MacIntire household – she just preferred to keep it sheathed. On January 27, 2006, she died in her sleep .
- Fred MacIntire is Davan's father. He and Davan do not always get along, perhaps due to striking similarities in their personalities. Fred, whose younger life is often visited in flashbacks, appears to have once been almost exactly like Davan, although he has long since burned out into general sullenness. He is, to date, the only character to have been shown aging; since the strip began, his face has become more lined and his hair has gone from gray to white. Recently, he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease; although he has only revealed his condition to his son , other members of the family are now aware of his condition as Davan has informed them.
- Dahlia MacIntire is Davan's disabled sister, the first-born child of Fred and Faye MacIntire. Originally expecting a boy, the MacIntires did their best to retool the name planned for their son for a girl. Dahlia has never, ever forgiven them for this. As a child and teen, Dahlia was a star athlete. In her early twenties she was left handicapped in a car wreck. Davan gives her running shoes each Christmas ever since. For ten years she was confined to a wheelchair, but in 2002, she began walking with a quad cane. A year later she began living on her own. Dahlia works as a travel agent, usually doing troubleshooting for very unhappy customers.
- Monette MacIntire is one of the earliest and longest running secondary characters in S*P. In her first appearance she was having a problem with constantly sleeping with men. Convinced that, deep down, she was a lesbian, she enlisted Davan's help to fully make the transition . But after long bouts of sex with men she traveled to Texas and moved in with the MacIntire family, and began a shaky relationship with her girlfriend, Lisa. She became pregnant when sleeping with a guy during a "break" from Lisa, which was a serious controversy in their relationship. The baby was stillborn, and Lisa proposed to Monette shortly thereafter. She refused, saying she wanted to make sure they would have a relationship like Fred and Faye MacIntire, and to ensure that Lisa was not just marrying her out of pity. She has also been adopted by the MacIntire family, a process that was evidently started before Monette lost her baby. First introduced as a sweet but dim-witted character, life in Texas and living with the MacIntires she seems to have developed sharp, if still basic, wit. In January 2006, she moved to West Hollywood, California to become a singer, along with Lisa.
Supporting cast- Kim Anansie was a frequent member of the supporting cast until 2004, by which time she had relocated to Illinois for graduate studies. She endured Davan's casual lust with generally amused grace but, finding him out of his mind on painkillers, semi-raped him . An attractive woman, Kim was also a Wiccan, and was nearly kicked out of her Boston coven once by an overzealous high priestess who was later eaten by the Canadian Trap Door Gator. Like Aubrey and PeeJee, Kim tended to deal with annoyances in a violent manner. She returned November 29, 2005, having been hired by Aubrey to . She is friends with—and seems to be attracted to—Kestrel.
- Lisa Baugh is Monette's girlfriend and coworker. Their relationship has had numerous ups and downs, but remains the only long-term relationship that Monette has managed to have. She is also a character in one of Milholland's other comics, Midnight Macabre, which takes place in 1981 and shows her as the main character's toddler daughter. In January, 2006, she moved to West Hollywood, California with Monette.
- Choo-Choo Bear, a boneless and hairless cat , is the most surreal of all the characters. Jhim allowed PeeJee to talk him into adopting him, but he later blackmailed Davan into taking in the "chemo-kitty". Davan quickly warmed to Choo-Choo Bear, and he may be the only character whom Davan cares for without reservation or fear of violent retribution. Choo-Choo precipitated the Queen of Wands crossover by vanishing down Davan's drain and returning some time later with Kestrel's panties. Davan, seeing an opportunity, sold the panties on eBay. Choo-Choo, due to his rather amorphous qualities, has been seen posing as such items as a washrag, a drink, and toilet paper, to comedic and/or violent effect.
Choo-Choo Bear is also used in some non-canonical one-shots to voice opinions from Milholland himself. In these, Choo-Choo Bear wears a smoking jacket and lashes out at the readers. These panels never have any effect on the storyline of the comic, with the exception of the one that introduced his cousin, Twitchy-Hug. Choo-Choo and Twitchy are also the comic's only confirmed Jewish cast members.
- Mike Dowden is an acquaintance of Davan's who was brought to further prominence when Davan began dating his cousin Branwen. Mike was, to put it mildly, annoying, and, again to put it mildly, was not well-received by the strip's cast. A diehard fan of role-playing games, Mike first appeared in one when PeeJee dropped in to play. Mike spent the game trying to kill her character, and she eventually made him so mad he quit the group. The group sent PeeJee flowers for this, and she and Mike were bitter enemies for an extended period of time. She eventually took pity on him and helped him out in several embarrassing situations , to which Mike responded with characteristic vitriol. However, one incident changed his mind and he developed a crush on her, precipitating a slow change in his nature. When PeeJee took a "break" from her then-boyfriend Kyle, Mike tried to catch her on the rebound. Although this failed, he confessed to Kyle's infidelity – which led directly to Kyle's hospitalization . PeeJee and Mike then decided to "start over" as friends, and he is becoming gradually more accepted among the S*P gang. Mike achieved redemption in the eyes of his peers – an extreme rarity in the cynical world of Something Positive – and ultimately managed to win back his old girlfriend Tamara, while maintaining true to the hobbies and goals he showed at his introduction. Recently, Tamara revealed that she is pregnant with Mike's child; Mike is gradually coming to terms with being a soon-to-be father. His transition from self-absorbed geek to self-aware geek has been the strip's longest-running, and arguably most significant, plot-line to date.
- Nancy Harper is a Nerdrotica employee, first appearing in the October 10, 2004, strip as one of the party girls dispatched by Aubrey to Davan's tenth high school reunion to hang all over him and make it appear as if he was wildly successful. She has subsequently become a friend of Davan's, quite unfazed by his foibles and scarcely less protective of him than is Aubrey or PeeJee; a recent storyline involved her claiming to be Davan's fiancée to get Eva's goat. Whether these qualities imply a strong friendship or possible future relationship is unknown. She is ten years younger than Davan, a gap upon which they both frequently joke and comment.
- Kestrel is a woman from Denver, first encountering Davan when Choo-Choo Bear stole her panties and Davan subsequently sold them on eBay. She was originally the lead character in Queen of Wands, moving to Boston when that strip ended in March of 2005. Soon afterward she was hit by a car in the background of a S*P strip. Many readers inferred that she had been killed, and that the car crash was meant to symbolically "kill her" with the ending of Queen of Wands; she reappeared in the Nerdrotica offices on November 30, 2005, wearing a bandage on her forehead. She is now officially on the Supporting Cast page. Kestrel owns a cat named Zot, whom she lost while in her coma but later recovered.
- Dr. Cab Ledbetter is a retired physician who runs the St. James' Pub, the bar that Davan and company frequent. Originally running it as a medical-themed bar, when that proved unsuccessful, he turned to PeeJee for help making it profitable, a decision that has thus far borne fruit. In return, PeeJee has the run of the bar. Cab is known for hiring attractive waitresses for the purpose of hitting on them. His first extended appearance was in August, 2005, in which he appears in an ongoing plot arc involving the hanging of pictures. He looks at the pictures and reminisces... PeeJee moves the boxes. Cab has a whiny homophobic son from a previous marriage named Berenger, and several other children from his three ex-wives.
- Anna Morgan is the youngest member of the supporting cast, and is regarded by Davan and company, particularly Jason, as a "little sister". First introduced on September 4, 2002, she is a perky, precocious blonde teenager, fond of fairies. She has also been influenced by Aubrey and PeeJee's taste for applied violence. She attends a college in Vermont, which she decided on because of its geographical remoteness from her parents. However, much to the predictions of Davan and Jason, she realized the college she chose was not the smartest of ideas, and for the better part of the year, has lived in a reclusive isolation from her peers at school. Longing for her old connections she's visited Jhim every week since school started. Over the course of the year, Anna has slowly grown more jaded, resorting to sarcasm, smoking and mischief in the style of Peejee and Aubrey. She has also at last made a good friend, a fellow student named Ben who, though gay, had been tricked by a local feminist group into posing for a mock "wanted" poster as a rapist of women.
- Pepito is an enigmatic Mexican love-midget. He was brought into the comic through Avagadro, a master director employed to produce one of the strip's many crackpot public theater shows. He was taken from Avagadro when it was found that he was being used for ill purposes and was soon adopted by the group of friends. After many weeks of putting up with Pepito, Davan and the crew prepared him for a trek to find a better home; upon beginning his quest, he was promptly eaten by a trap-door alligator. Pepito returned to the strip many weeks later, living in dresser drawers and stealing organs, but he now appears only rarely. On November 25, 2004 Pepito revealed his ability to speak English, which he hid in order to continue mooching off of the S*P gang.
- Twitchy-Hug was Choo-Choo Bear's cousin, and lived with Davan for some time, although Davan didn't like him and he rarely appeared. In fact, he was once left in a "free" box on the sidewalk, although apparently nobody wanted him. Unlike Choo-Choo bear, who is hairless and boneless, Twitchy-Hug had both hair and bones. However, his hair color changed from strip to strip : the reason has never been addressed. He had homicidal tendencies, and on a few occasions was depicted with dead bodies. In mid-2006, Twitchy-Hug may have been attempting to kill Davan, forcing Choo-Choo Bear to have his cousin assassinated by the Pet Professional in a crossover appearance from his eponymous webcomic . His feet were later apparently used in the construction of an ash tray, which Davan presented as a gift to Nancy. Recently his silhouette was seen in the background of a comic behind Kharisma in a comic entitled "Catty" . After he was seen and "spoke" in the frame he was in Kharisma's t-shirt took on the same characteristic color changes that Twitchy's fur used to have.
- Kharisma Valetti is, perhaps, the least likeable member of the cast. One of the self-proclaimed "beautiful" people, she tends to look upon those who are "ugly" with ill-disguised disdain, and holds physical attractiveness as the most reliable indicator of a person's worth. She is even a member of a LiveJournal community which claims to be "deep" while holding the same beliefs. Her first appearance was on February 11, 2002, where she was set up with Davan as a blind date but balked at his "incredible ugliness". Since, she has proven herself to be incapable of personal growth – her boyfriend dumped her, she was fired from the job she had underneath him, and her rich father cut her off, yet she holds to her belief of personal superiority because of her beauty. She has been working with Davan since 2003, and remains a mild thorn in his side. A recent appearance was on June 11, 2005, when she quit her billing job to begin work with Aubrey's Nerdrotica company. On her way out, she unexpectedly sympathized with Davan, asking him to find a less soul-crushing job.
On May 17, 2006, she revealed the effects of accidentally setting her face on fire: her face is covered in burns and she may never grow hair again. The full extent of her personality shift due to this event remains to be seen, but she has demonstrated an uncharacteristic amount of anger and hate towards Davan. As of July 29, 2006 she became engaged to fellow supporting character Ollie when she discovered that he was going to come into a rather large inheritence from his uncle. She then learned that Avagadro may not die for another 15 to 20 years. Upon learning this what looks to be a silhouette of Twitchy-Hug appeared in the background of a frame with her and "spoke". After said from her t-shirt started to take on the characteristic color changing in each frame that Twitchy's fur used to do.
In a story arc beginning in August of 2006, she and Avagadro became locked in an excalating battle of wits . To date, Avagadro, drawing upon a career of surviving murderous disgruntled actors, appears to be winning. In the aftermath of her battle with Avagadro, Kharisma begins to realize how unpopular she is, as Nancy among others has said to her face. This could perhaps lay the groundwork for her to change, though few doubt this is possible.
Minor and irregular characters- Avagadro Pompey is a director Davan and Jason met August 29, 2002, when they audtioned for his unnamed play. Avagadro was also slightly insane, emotionally abusing anyone within range and molesting Pepito. After Davan helped Pepito escape, the play was canceled due to the loss of Avagadro's "muse." He was seen on May 30, 2006, running over Silas while being 'serviced' by his nephew Ollie, Pepito's successor as love-slave. It is implied, but not stated, that this is how Kestrel was injured. On July 31, 2006, Avagadro was shown in the hospital speaking ill of Ollie and Kharisma. He threatened to cut Ollie out of his will if he married Kharisma . After attempting to seduce him, Kharisma only succeeded in realizing she'd met a bigger con artist than herself. In a current storyline, Avagadro has offered to change his will to make Kharisma his official heir, but will change it back on Thanksgiving of 2006; knowing Kharisma plans to murder him for his money, he is seeking amusement in avoiding her attempts and making her life miserable.
- Gaspar Baugh is Lisa's father, and although often referenced, he had until recently never appeared in the strip. He is the main character in the S*P spinoff, Midnight Macabre, where Lisa is still a toddler and he is trying to run a public access TV show. Exactly what stage of life Gaspar is in, or what ultimately became of his television show, is unresolved in S*P. According to Lisa's little brother, Gaspar knows that Lisa is a lesbian but hasn't told her so yet. The plot arc in which this is discussed ran in late October of 2005, and is titled "Family Macabre". On November 1st, 2005, Monette talked to him over the phone for the first time. At some point before Monette and Lisa moved to California, Gaspar made known to Lisa that he knew she was a lesbian, and they spent the time driving from Texas to California together in a moving truck getting to know each other again. Gaspar made his first appearance in the strip of February 5, 2006, standing in the background while Lisa comforted Monette at Faye's funeral.
- Coppertop is Davan's former boss. He is a short, slight little man who delights in causing bureaucratic misery. "Coppertop" is what Davan calls him, and between his hair and his suit he does, in fact, look slightly like a Duracell battery. In the earlier installments of the strip, he was on the up-and-up, and involved in a romantic relationship with Satan. However, since then things have started to fall apart on him. His initial stranglehold over Davan's work life had weakened considerably since it was discovered that Davan was the only employee who was actually doing work. Recently, Kharisma quit to work for Aubrey and Satan has broken up with him, indicating the beginning of a downward spiral. On September 21, Davan, finally approached with a new job offer, quietly resigned by setting Coppertop on fire with a Zippo. His last appearance was on December 31, 2005; after he fired most of his employees to avoid paying them severance packages, he in turn was fired, much to the... gratification of his boss.
- Scotty Harris was one of Davan and Aubrey's best friends while they were growing up. Not especially notable for his wisdom, Scotty's shining qualities were his loyalty to his friends and his willingness to go along with the half-cocked scheme of the hour. Despite his close relationship with Davan, Scotty was not above hitting on his girlfriends. In the aftermath of a failed relationship, Scotty attempted suicide, an action that Davan accidentally completed for him by shouting at him in the hospital room. Davan occasionally visits his grave and has one-sided conversations with it. He appears occasionally in flashbacks.
- Jesus-Mickey - A man whose dating pickup strategy was based on his moderate resemblance to Jesus. From 2002 on, he sporadically stalked T-Bob. He was apparently killed at an unspecified time before May 22, 2006 by Twitchy-Hug, who kept his severed head in a jar on top of Davan and Pee-Jee's refrigerator .
- Linzie - A goth girl Nancy found in an alley "setting things on fire" and promptly set up with Davan. They hit it off surprisingly well until Davan discovered she enjoys strangling her sexual partners. Nevertheless, Davan and she had a brief relationship, on the grounds that all women are crazy and Linzie is doing him the favor of displaying her craziness openly. While Davan was in Texas after his mother's funeral, Linzie found a more permanent boyfriend. She and Davan remain friends.
- Jhim Midgett, born March 19, 1973, met Davan MacIntire playing D&D. Jhim is also involved in theater, and is an accomplished dancer. Jhim is good friends with PeeJee but, because he is homosexual, apparently ignorant of her infatuation with him. He was an on-again, off-again accomplice in the artistic endeavors of the S*P gang, until his recent move to the Washington, DC area following his lack of happiness in Boston. He was most recently seen on December 27, 2005 giving Anna advice on making friends at college.
- Ollie was in charge of a play adaptation of Shock Treatment in 2004 before its backers pulled the plug on him and gave command to Davan. Ollie, who appeared outwardly friendly and extremely whiney, still had the gall to attempt a coup through paperwork, and was shafted permanently. The production still failed because the copyright owners of Shock Treatment ordered a cease and desist, which Ollie had pointedly ignored believing that once the show was performed the owners would have no choice but be happy. Ollie is Avagadro's nephew, although both characters had been introduced for some time before the connection was made on December 20, 2004 . Ollie has become Avagadro's love slave, in an attempt to earn his uncle's inheritance. He attempted to use his coming financial gain , to 'aid' Davan in his most recent Theatrical attempt. Davan of course rejected Ollie, as he did not want to put up with Ollie's constant manipulations and whiney behavior. At this point, Kharisma moved in and quickly manipulated Ollie into proposing to her, simply to get her own hands on his inheritance. Ollie readily agreed, until his uncle Avagadro rejected the idea. Unable to take 'no' Kharisma attempted to seduce Avagadro. Unfortunately Ollie caught them, though is living in denial of the incident, believing its all just one 'really funny joke'. He is unaware that Kharisma and Avagadro have a deal going in which she must kill Avagadro and get his inheritance, thus cutting out Ollie himself.
- Mr. Sanderson is a bald black man who was part of the board of directors for the bungled stage adaptation of Shock Treatment. On October 3, 2005, he provided a major plot development by giving Davan a new job. This was Davan's first job change since the strip began.
- Claire Shenstead, like most of the central cast, dabbles in acting. An attractive woman, Claire also seems to attract men with stalkerish, or at least possessive, tendencies. Her first appearance was on January 22, 2002, where she met Davan at a children's theater rehearsal. Over the next several strips, he deliberately freaked her out with a knife, at Jason's request . Since then, she has been an on-and-off member of the central group, although she did suffer from their enmity for a time when she reneged on her promise to give Davan post-breakup sex after Eva left him. Her most recent appearance was on May 6, 2005, during the SIDS train debacle.
- Silas - Almost breaking the fourth wall, Silas sometimes went on monologues to the readers about current events in the strip. Silas didn't know he was talking to the readers, though: the group of people he was actually addressing were his "imaginary cowpoke friends". On May 30, 2006, Silas was run over by Avagadro, apparently killing him .
- T-Bob is a casual friend of Davan and company. A short, perky blond bisexual man, T-Bob was first introduced at the auditions for Nailed!, where he won the part of Jesus by giving the menstruating Aubrey and PeeJee Canadian chocolates. The negative result of getting this role is that he is now being stalked by Jesus-wannabe Mickey, which has forced him to move constantly since "Nailed!". For a while he modeled the underwear that ChooChoo Bear had stolen from Krestel, when Davan was selling them on the internet, which helped him pay for his constant moves. He appears to have been closest to Kim, with whom he would "tag-team date". His most recent appearance was on June 6, 2006, where he appears as Cab Ledbetter's employee and offers to babysit his pointedly homophobic son.
- The Canadian Trap Door Gator - Periodically rises out of the ground and eats someone. On December 8, 2004, it was featured in the Channukah Special, where it was promised that the gator would "explain the meaning of Kwanzaa" at some point in the future.
Non-characters- Mr. Personality - the comic's mascot frownie face. He was originally used as the mascot for the now-defunct website for Generation Hate, a webzine written by Milholland prior to Something Positive.
- Redneck Trees - a complicated and odd recurring concept. In the original plot arc that introduced Mike Dowden, PeeJee came up with the idea for Redneck Trees, which are evil characters that sodomize their victims in Dungeons and Dragons. Milholland actually created a D&D game stats card for them as a substitute for a comic one day. The Redneck Trees were also picked up by Steve Jackson Games for one of the Munchkin expansion sets.
- Rippy the Razor - A sort of offbeat mascot to author Randy's sardonic mentality, Rippy the Razor teaches people how to properly slash their wrists. He also appears as one of author Randy's in-comic real-life , usually as a suicide advocate.
Former relationshipsFailed relationships, both presented in the comic and prior in the timeline, have played large roles in shaping Something Positive's characters, especially Davan. Some of the more notable ex-significant others include: - Branwen Maher was Davan's girlfriend from July 6, 2003 to September 23, 2004. She is the daughter of a fundamentalist Catholic and a gay man--her mother married him because she couldn't deal with her husband wanting sex all the time, and he married her to "keep up appearances" in his professional life. Her first appearance was when Davan met her at a bar back in December of 2002 when he asked her for a one-night stand and she assented, but circumstances at the time prevented this from coming about. They were reunited by Aubrey, who chanced upon Branwen and convinced her to go on a date with Davan. She proved to be perhaps Davan's best relationship thus far, balancing love and affection with sharp wit and a morbid sense of humor matching his. They were separated when Branwen was offered a job up in Vancouver and moved away. On February 23 2005 her cousin Mike let slip that she had found and married her dream guy; she and Davan remain friends, corresponding by e-mail and telephone on a regular basis . It has been hinted that they still have feelings for one another.
- Eva Olsen Marcott was Davan's girlfriend from May 15 to September 6, 2002. Employed in a stem-cell research lab, she hooked up with Davan after reading a dating resume he distributed during a night of barhopping. While they were compatible in many ways, their relationship was often strained by her constant comparisons of Davan to her prior boyfriend, Marcus, who was abusive and isolated her from others. Also contributing to the strain was her strong jealousy of Aubrey's closeness to Davan. The relationship collapsed badly when Davan caught her cheating on him with Marcus. Eva was seen with a new man, Grey, and it was thought that she had married him. However, as was revealed in a July 3, 2005, comic, she left Grey at the altar to marry Marcus, who is however often away on business trips. She maintains a friendship with Jason, which is an occasional bone of contention in his relationship with Aubrey. Like PeeJee, she enjoys dying her hair, although she sticks to a specific color. A recent ongoing subplot has involved an unknown person masquerading as Davan and corresponding with Eva through online instant messages, claiming to still be in love with her; this was revealed to Davan through Jason. Her most recent appearances were between October 12 and October 15, 2005, when she confronts Davan and Nancy in a restaurant and made a truly horrific scene on her part.
- Kyle Cheng was PeeJee's neighbor and boyfriend from June 16, 2003 to October 29, 2004, although he had expressed an interest in her for some time before their first date. Of Asian descent like PeeJee and Aubrey, he was a child actor, and played a character in a foreign-market children's show that PeeJee had a crush on. Unfortunately, the rest of their relationship was not so fortuitous. While he may have had genuine feelings for her, he was often possessive of her time, and jealous of her male friends, especially Davan and Jason. Unsurprisingly, while suspicious of her fidelity, he was unfaithful himself, seeing one of PeeJee's coworkers at the bar. Mike, lovelorn and making no headway with PeeJee, wandered in on one of these dalliances, and Kyle gave him a rather cynical pep talk, claiming that a boyfriend is merely an obstacle. Neither realized that Kyle himself was that obstacle. He has been removed, however: during the 2004 Halloween party, Mike revealed and Kyle admitted his infidelity to PeeJee; soon after, he was carted out by paramedics. His most recent appearance was November 21, 2004, when PeeJee mentioned that he was moving out of her building. On June 17, 2005, it was revealed that Kyle had come out of the closet, cementing PeeJee's reputation for always lusting after gay men.
- Marisol was one of Davan's girlfriends. Nothing has been revealed about her but she was first mentioned in the strip on April 10, 2004 by Branwen.
- Celie O'Maras was one of Davan's ex girlfriends. Her first appearance was on September 22, 2002, where she appeared on his doorstep asking him to take her to get an abortion. She identifies herself as "the girl who didn't cheat" on him, although that that seems to be one of her few redeeming qualities. She was a roommate of Monette's, but ditched their lease without warning to chase after a man who'd caught her eye. Her second appearance was during Davan's involvement with the Shock Treatment revival, during which she offered him sex during a rough moment in production, and was incredibly offended when he declined.
- Belinda was a girlfriend of Jason's from September 2002 to March 2003. Her first appearance was on August 31, 2002, where they were having one of Jason's patented contractual one-night stands. A relationship of sorts evolved, and lasted through the holidays. Jason even bought her a ring for Valentine's Day. While her last actual appearance was on December 6, 2002, she was referenced in strips through February. Her last reference is on March 2, 2003, where she and Jason are said to have broken up, and that the parting was particularly hostile on her end. The circumstances of the breakup are still unknown.
- Gia was one of Davan's girlfriends back in Texas. She is of Thai descent, currently married and has two children. She knew Davan and Scotty in high school, and was one of the girlfriends who Scotty hit on. The circumstances of the breakup are not very clear, although it seems that infidelity was a factor. Gia's first appearance was in the initial first strip on December 19, 2001, where Davan sent her a wire hanger as a baby shower gift. Interestingly, Gia started with a different name, Aie, but somewhere along the line the name was changed, and all strips with her name listed were changed to reflect the new name.
- Rose Vincent was a childhood friend of Davan's, and his first girlfriend, who he dated in high school. She died some years before the comic's timeline, in a car accident. It has been hinted at that she had started the downward spiral of alcoholism before her death.
- Aubrey has had many failed relationships and ex-boyfriends, several of whom are actually seen in the comic, and many more whom are referenced in dialogue. None of them have been actually named, and for a time Jason resorted to a numbering system for them.
Memorable quotesDavan- "The way I see it, there's so much love and beauty in the world, and someone has to balance that shit out."
- "Nothing like a woman's touch to make a man crumple into a fetal ball of humiliated emotion."
- "It's a frail, sad line between optimism and delusion, my little Canadian."
- "I try not to think. It's not really a hallmark of my generation."
- "I don't really need people anyway. I've got a boneless cat."
- "I used to think every day I woke up and didn't gargle a few rounds from a revolver was a victory, but little 'golden' moments like this make me wonder, 'A victory for who?'"
- "Mistakes that haunt you for the rest of your life and make you feel like a horrible person are what being a teenager is all about — after all, your mother isn't going to live forever and someone has to refresh your sense of shame, and if you want something done right ...."
- "Goddamnit. If I knew parents were going to be such a heartbreak, I'd never have gotten any"
PeejeeAubrey- : "Vaginamancy."
- "Don't dare blame this on my taste-buds. I could menstruate a better cup of coffee than this!"
- "If a guy tells me I can't possibly stick a crazy straw all the way up his smallest orifice, that's a challenge I'm honor-bound to accept!"
- "Oh great. More snow. Nature's bukkake."
- To Davan: “I like your setbacks. They taste like candy.”
KimOthers- Avagadro: "No! Close the door! Leave us in our secret shame and sin!"
- Goth Kid: " "
- Lisa: "For future reference, when a woman says she wants your honest opinion, she really doesn't."
Dialogue- [After Aubrey and Jason fall madly in love, Peejee senses something:]
Peejee: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
Davan: Fuck you! If you think you can bake a better chocolate cheesecake, fucking do it and quit bitching! - Nancy: You are the empress of a dynasty built on spite, hate and sadistic torment.
Aubrey: Play your cards right and one day it could all be yours.
Nancy: ...I want that in writing. - Peejee: Unlike you, most of us don't want uncomfortable silences in our sex life, Ms. 'Screams "Pikachu, I choose you!" at climax.'
Aubrey: Hey, no fair! Davan dared me to do that!
Drawing styleMilholland's drawing style has changed dramatically since the strip began in 2001, and has generally leaned towards simplicity. After a while he also started using 'paint blotch' backgrounds in some comics as a substitute for actual scenery. Something Positive: The MovieOn October 13, 2005 Milholland posted on his website to report that an amateur movie had been made based on his webcomic. Despite the fact that the movie took liberties with some of the past stories and how they're arranged, Milholland posted that he enjoyed the movie. This is the first live action movie based on a webcomic and is 24 minutes long. It doesn't contain any original storylines, instead translating strips from the webcomic into a movie narrative that centers around Davan's lack of love life. Despite the fact that it has taken only a small segment of the Something Positive story that has been published on Milholland's website, the movie does have a beginning, middle and an end and does introduce the main characters in a manner that allows people who aren't readers of the comic to understand what is going on. It is currently available at http://www.somethingpositivemovie.geekinthebox.org The movie was directed by Jeremy Jones and stars Max Harry Johnson as Davan, Iris Tibbitts as Aubrey, Melissa Jay Kinzig as Peejee, Jessie Lowe as Jhim and Adam Leonard as Jason. External links Referenced comics
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