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''[http://www.somethingpositive.net/ Something*Positive]'' is a [[Slice of Life]] webcomic by R.K. Milholland based on the life and trials of Davan MacIntire, a put-upon, misanthropic author stand-in, and his best friends Aubrey Chorde, Pee-Jee Shou, and Jason Pratchett, who originated as caricatures of [[Life Embellished|Milholland's real-life friends]]. The supporting cast includes Davan's acerbic but loving family, African-American Wiccan Kim Anansie, Pee-Jee's long-time gay man-crush [[Straight Gay|Jhim Midgett]], "pint-sized bisexual" [[Keet|T-Bob]], reformed [[Fan Dumb|obsessive geek]] Mike Dowden, vain waste-of-space Kharisma Valetti, and Davan's hairless, amorphous cat Choo-Choo Bear. The cast is [[Loads and Loads of Characters|enormous]], and various members [[Out of Focus|pop in and out]] over the years.
 
Most of the comic's humor is incredibly dark and cynical, with glee for [[Dude, Not Funny|potential offense]]; few demographics have avoided skewering by the author's [[Strawman Political|strawman constructs]] -- it is remarkably fair and balanced in that approach. However, moments of sympathy sometimes rise to the surface, as the characters may be jerks (an admitted fact by Milholland himself), but they ''do'' love each other deeply, and go out of their way to help one another. Common elements include the stupidity of the common man, geek culture, tabletop gaming, and Davan's seemingly endless parade of psychotic girlfriends.
 
Expect a lot of [[Take That]]. To fans of the comic (particularly stupid e-mails are almost ''always'' revealed to the fans on the comic's web page, or even in actual comics), to fans of certain shows or genres, and ''especially'' to Milholland himself, as well as his comic. It's equal-opportunity cruelty at its finest and most vulgar.
 
The title was created when the real Aubrey told Milholland to do "something positive."
{{tropelist}}
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=== This comic provides examples of: ===
* [[Absolute Cleavage]]: [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp04262010.shtml Monette celebrates Boobquake!]
* [[Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male]]: Although most of the cast engages in [[Slapstick]] violence regardless of sex, the strip makes a [[Running Gag]] of PeeJee, Aubrey, and Kim doing much more serious harm to their various boyfriends (and Davan). When Eva goes to jail for beating up her husband, on the other hand, [[Protagonist -Centered Morality|everyone seems to agree she's getting what she deserves]], although maybe more for being a [[Manipulative Bastard]].
** [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09192003.shtml This strip] wouldn't be half as funny if the genders were reversed. (Though in a large part, because the jokes wouldn't work.)
* [[Abusive Parents]]: {{spoiler|Ollie's}} father apparently beat him when he was a boy. This is probably why {{spoiler|Ollie does everything in his power to honor and protect the reputation of his otherwise [[Evil Uncle]] Avogadro, who put a stop to the abuse by raising Ollie himself}}.
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* [[Black Comedy Rape]]:
** Kim and Davan.
** Mike and the Redneck Trees [also portrayed as teaching him a lesson]. Initially, nothing actually happens to Mike. [[Deep -Immersion Gaming]] is a visual device, not something that actually affects the characters. It's not shown how graphically it was described to him, although based on his reaction, probably "very".<br /><br />Then, [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp01162003.shtml thanks to Davan's good memory], it was reenacted. And he was actually almost publicly sodomized by a man in a tree costume. But since he was an unsympathetic [[Jerkass]], it was played for laughs... and then it happened ''[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp02282003.shtml again]''.
** The rejection letter Davan sends to the writer of a bad play claims that "A better title for your play would be 'Rape-Rape: A Tale of Rapening'. Also, your next play should have a little less rape in it."
* [[Biggus Dickus]]: [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp06122004.shtml Jason, apparently.]
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* [[Bread Eggs Breaded Eggs]]: [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05152012.shtml "What should we do first?] Strip club? M.M.A.? The zoo? Stripper M.M.A. cage matches at the zoo?"
* [[B Side Comics]]: ''S* P 1937'', ''Life with Rippy'' and to a lesser extent, ''[[Super Stupor]]''.
* [[But You Screw One Goat!]]: Monette's koala incident.
{{quote| '''Davan''': Before I post your bail, tell me: Was it a ''female'' koala you had sex with?}}
* [[Butch Lesbian]]: Lisa developed into one after moving away with Monette.
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* [[Continuity Nod]]: "I lava you".
** And "[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09202006.shtml You're doing something different this time. What is it?"] "[[Black Comedy Rape|Consenting]]".
* [[Country Matters]]: Despite the [[Cluster F -Bomb]] he's rather notorious for, Randy is ''very'' antsy about this word, so far only using it twice, once when Mike (an utter [[Jerkass]]) is very annoyed with PeeJee, and even he stammers a bit, and once indirectly when Davan's [[Girl of the Week]], trying to justify her cheating, asks if she's "being too blunt," and Davan replies she's "in the rhyming neighborhood." Apparently, a woman walked out of a panel discussion when he said it in [[Real Life]].
* [[Covert Pervert]]: ''[[The Cutie|Vanessa]]''. "I wanna see tiiiitties!"
* [[Crapsack World]]
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* [[Disability As an Excuse For Jerkassery]]: As a young boy, Fred was admitted to a hospital for an ear infection, where he was antagonized at every turn by a boy in a wheel-chair, who used his disability as an excuse to rage at the world, and every other child at the hospital hates him. Eventually, Fred and his friends team up to scare him and teach him a lesson... {{spoiler|whereupon it is revealed that the boy is in the hospital for a heart condition, and the shock of the scare ends up killing him.}}
* [[Don't Sneak Up On Me Like That]]: Peejee has a fear of puppets, and breaks Aubrey's hand with a hammer when Aubrey sneaks up behind her with a handpuppet.
* [[Dude, She's Like, in A Coma]]: [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp01282003.shtml Gal, He's Like Drugged Unconscious]
* [[Dynamic Entry]]: [http://somethingpositive.net/sp09052010.shtml Aubrey demonstrates the technique.]
* [[Dysfunction Junction]]: And ''[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp03202002.shtml acknowledges]'' it.
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** God Himself apparently thinks so, too, as seen in "Boobquake."
* [[Heroes Want Redheads|God Wants Redheads]]: Apparently, [http://somethingpositive.net/sp04262010.shtml Jehovah likes] when lesbian redheads have sex. Also relates to the above.
* [[Good Angel, Bad Angel]]: [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05052003.shtml here.]
* [[Green Eyes]]: Kestrel. Notably, she's the ''only'' character in the comic to have colored eyes, owing to her original source material in ''[[Queen of Wands (Webcomic)|Queen of Wands]]''.
* [[Grievous Bottley Harm]]: [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp02132002.shtml Considered] as a [[Fetish Fuel]] but [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp02142002.shtml done] accidentally.
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*** Averted with {{spoiler|"Santa Claus"}}, seen in Hell but alive (if not "well") later
* [[Lamarck Was Right]]: Half of Choo-Choo's kitties are gooey and boneless like him, despite his condition being a result of chemotherapy.
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: Davan's [[Speech Bubble]] is [[The Un -Reveal|covered up]] for a second time when he tells PeeJee who he called at the con (see [[Painting the Fourth Wall]] below), this time by Choo-Choo Bear bursting out of his ice cream. PeeJee reasonably says that this makes no sense:
{{quote| '''Davan''': [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp03112009.shtml He's a 30+ year old pudding cat who can travel through drains] but '''this''' is where [[Arbitrary Skepticism|your ability to believe]] is gonna be taxed?<br />
'''PeeJee''': Even so, there's a point where reality dictates--<br />
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'''PeeJee''': This ice cream could use sprinkles. }}
** "That woman" died when {{spoiler|an alligator - specifically a [[Running Gag|Canadian Trapdoor Alligator]] - burst out of the air-conditioning vent and ate her}}, for the record.
* [[Laser -Guided Karma]]: Kharisma.
* [[Last Het Romance]]: Davan to one of his exes, who became a lesbian.
* [[Law of Inverse Paternity]]: Played with; Davan didn't ''want'' to be Rory's father, but was at least willing to step up if he was, unlike the other candidate. Davan wound up becoming his [[Parental Substitute]] even after finding out he wasn't the dad, and admits that in retrospect he wishes he had been the father after all.
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* [[The Maiden Name Debate]]: Gender inversion; Jason takes Aubrey's last name, Chorde, when they marry, at least in part as a slight against his father.
* [[Man Child]]: [http://somethingpositive.net/sp05022012.shtml Randy declares himself a bearded telve-year-old.]
* [[MathematiciansMathematician's Answer]]: [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp10112005.shtml "First time to be rectally violated or first time to feel good about yourself?" "Yes."]
** Also from [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp02152009.shtml Mike]: "Because I did that to your character or because I thought to put it in a game before you?" "Yes".
** And in [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp03032009.shtml this] strip's comment: "If you're wondering whether the argument or the lolcat was stupid, the answer is: yes."
* [[Mattress Tag Gag]]: Slipleg the Pirate (aka Choo-Choo Bear) gets an evil witch's attention by breaking into her house, smashing her things, setting her furnishings on fire... [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and tearing the tag off a mattress]].
* [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane]]: Even Randy is unsure of whether or not the floating blue apparition Kharisma sees is real or a hallucination.
* [[Meta Guy]]: Silas, acting as an unwanted narrator to the gang's antics.
* [[Mercy Kill]]: [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05312003.shtml Here].
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* [[Morality Pet]]: Rory for Davan.
* [[Most Common Superpower]]: [[Discussed Trope|Discussed]] in [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp06022003.shtml this strip].
* [[Murder the Hypotenuse]]: When the [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|Teddy Bear Liberation Front]] returns, Meggie shows unrequited love for her partner in crime, Gregory. He seems oblivious and falls for {{spoiler|Kharisma through writing to her and visiting her in jail. When they break her out while being transported, Gregory nurses her back to health. Then Meggie tries to remove her.}}
* [[Naughty Tentacles]]: Well, naughty tree branches, at any rate. Poor Mike.
** And Aubrey's atttempt at making a chef/tentacle monster gay porn film.
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'''Jason''': [[Lampshade Hanging|Like when a webcomic intentionally dangles a plot but refuses to ever resolve it]]?<br />
'''Davan''' [on phone]: You mean the world to me--<br />
Wil {{[[[The Un -Reveal]] covering Davan's}} [[Speech Bubbles|Speech Bubble]]]: YES! Seriously, it doesn't get dickier than that shit! }}
** Pee-Jee once asked the question, "Why does everything that happens around here revolve around sex?" Daven mumbles, "Bad writing." But, like the first example, he was reading a book and muttering to himself to justify the fourth wall breakage.
** Multiple examples in [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09282011.shtml this strip], with regard to Helen of the then just-concluded webcomic ''[[Penny and Aggie]]''. Jason wonders where comic characters go after their strip ends. One of Aubrey's suggestions is "the background of another [[Take That Us|crappier comic]]," a reference to Helen having already long since left her original comic for ''<nowiki>S*P</nowiki>'', but mostly remaining in the background since then. Kim mentions that she'll be interviewing Helen for a Nerdrotica position. Having met her already, she tells Aubrey that Helen's "okay, but whenever she's around, people get really pissed for some reason," an allusion to Milholland's ongoing problem with ''P&A'' fans who complain to him about how he writes her. Aubrey says she doesn't want her business to be a "dumping ground for other people's damaged goods." This refers to the reason ''P&A'' writer T Campbell gave Helen's character to Milholland: he felt her problems now ran too deep for his own comic's setting and characters to help her out of them. Kim tells her she sounds like Kestrel; this alludes to the ''[[Queen of Wands (Webcomic)|Queen of Wands]]'' protagonist who ended up herself working at Nerdrotica.
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* [[Platonic Life Partners]]: Davan and Pee-Jee. Pee-Jee even refers to herself as Davan's "Platonic Life Mate."
* [[Prima Donna Director]]: Avogadro. Such is his flamboyance that [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp07312006.shtml even being bedridden does nothing to his hamminess.]
* [[Protagonist -Centered Morality]]: From an objective point of view, the protagonists are not just as bad as many of the people the comic considers antagonists... they're worse. The majority of behaviors that are often decried in the more serious moments... emotional abuse, dishonesty, disrespect, hurling insults, assault... are things that the main characters do for ''fun'' the rest of the time. Because being rude to people in your gaming group is terrible, but convincing random children that their parents don't love them is ''hilarious''.
* [[Psycho Lesbian]]: [http://somethingpositive.net/sp01262011.shtml One of Vanessa's exes shows shades.]
* [[Puppy Dog Eyes]]: "[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp11162009.shtml So, what's the going rate on buying back promises from Kindergartners these days?]"
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* [[Scenery Censor]]: Kharisma, in [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp04272011.shtml this strip].
* [[Schedule Slip]]: Although the author tries to make up for it. Strips tend to get updated in mass surges rather than and kind of regular schedule.
* [[Self -Deprecation]]: A major source of humour, and something that keeps Davan from being a [[Canon Sue]] at times. He's as critical of himself as anybody - Milholland attributes this to himself, frequently remarking upon his appearance.
** Occasional [[Fourth Wall Mail Slot]] strips never miss an opportunity to have Choo-Choo Bear describe his creator as a lazy hack.
* [[Settled for Gay]]: Branwen's parents. Her father was gay and needed a wife and family to "keep up appearances" in his professional life. Her mom just didn't like sex, but wanted a family. This had some ramifications for Bran.
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* [[Take Our Word for It]]: Mike's kid's appearance and the terrible shows the cast get involved in, especially the one Aubrey made that was so bad that the State of Massachusetts gave her a restraining order to keep her away from TV and film production gear.
* [[Take That]]: Used ''a lot'', for very many groups and fandoms -- Catholics, ''[[Warhammer]]'', old-school ''D&D'' dorks -- after all, it's [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp01182002.shtml not as cool as a Monopoly] if it does not involves a prize -- and the comic's own fans.
** Not to mention TV Tropes itself at least once (on ''[[Super Stupor]]'', rather than ''S* P''). "I was busy [[TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life|quoting from TV Tropes instead of forming my own opinions]]", in response to being accused of [[Black Comedy Rape]] by a Livejournal responder)
** And a rather [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09142009.shtml long]-[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09182009.shtml running] [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09232009.shtml one] against [[Nancy Grace]].
* [[Take That, Audience!]]: The mailbag spots and occasional author appearances are usually to say how stupid some of the comic's fans are, amid comments about the author being [[Self -Deprecation|a talentless hack]].
** Assorted logic failures and other dumbness [http://somethingpositive.net/sp04142007.shtml said to Randy at conventions].
* [[Take That Me]]: [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp02112004.shtml Here.]
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* [[Tear Jerker]]: In-universe example. Davan pulled out [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na-xvlYMGck this video] to make Jason cry when he said he didn't cry over songs, because that was stupid and over-emotional. [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp08032005.shtml It worked] maybe a bit too well.
* [[Tempting Fate]]: Kharisma... [http://somethingpositive.net/sp11172006.shtml Right here.] And it ties in with a [[Genre Savvy]] moment, to boot.
* [[The Un -Smile]]: [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp10312006.shtml Dude...]
* [[The Something Song]]:
{{quote| "Meth Song, Meth Song, <br />
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* [[Welcome to The Big City]]: A character moves to the city and is helped by a kindly old lady, only to later discover said sweet old lady had relieved her of her wallet.
* [[Wham Episode]]: "Just Today."
* [[What Do You Mean ItsIt's Not Heinous?]]: Apparently, [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09012011.shtml Davan's and Vanessa's opinions of Hard Lemonade fall into this trope].
* [[Whatevermancy]]: Aubrey, in [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp01092002.shtml the January 9, 2002 strip], refers to using sex appeal to get into a club without paying a cover charge as "Vaginamancy".
* [[What Happened to The Mouse?]]: A few subplots have been dropped over the years, as different parts of character's lives get ignored (or just not focused on). Davan and Jason were initially supposed to be producing ''Titus Andronicus'' (even auditioning for it), but it got dropped when he moved to Texas. Later strips involve a play Davan re-wrote instead. Certain subplots ''seem'' to have been dropped, only to reappear later on (such as Monette's "Big Secret" -- which turned out to be her TV show, and Davan and Jason's work on Neko-Neko Holy-Chan). New character Bian was introduced, but then went several months before actually ''meeting'' any of the recurring cast.
** The most epic (and possibly deliberate) use was Monette's baby -- she had a big pregnancy storyline, and then one strip showed her sad while somebody mentioned that she "lost her baby". It was done either really clumsily, or very [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bastardly]] by Randy, to the point where fans re-scoured recent Archival updates to find out when the baby ''really'' died. Turns out, that was the first time it was mentioned.
* [[Word of God]]: A veritable ''ton'' of information is available about the strip and the backstory behind it by Milholland's interviews and commentaries. Just which situations are based off of real events, and which characters are based off of specific people, is often answered.
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