History Webcomic / SomethingPositive

* TheDitz: Monette, especially at first.

* Anvilicious - Pushes this from time to time as a number of Archs tend to end in a character getting a lecture about how stupid they are or wrong they are for their views or stance on the issue at hand, but generally in some cases including the Hell House arch, it is a case of SomeAnvilsNeedtobeDropped part of why is in [[http://somethingpositive.net/sp10192006.shtml this pages words from the author.]]

* RefugeInAudacity: Both in the humor and in the characters' actions; the page even has a quote from the comic.

* ThePoochie: A mild example. Linzie, a tattooed goth-girl character, shows up as a female partner for Davan (they have sex periodically), and appears to be added to the cast in a semi-major manner. But then she suddenly gets an actual boyfriend and vanishes completely from the strip. Very rare, in that almost all the other characters at least have "Old Familiar Faces" comics about where they've been.

Expect a lot of TakeThat. 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 it's finest and most vulgar.

* PeekABoo: Kharisma, in [[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp04272011.shtml this strip]].

* NoodleImplements: Aubrey's wacky plans tend to involve them.
-->"I need four cellphones, ten balls of yarn, and two nights' worth of cigarettes. I've got a miracle to perform."

* TheCutie: Vanessa.
** Kestrel, as well.

* EverythingsCuterWithKittens: Choo-Choo-Bear and friends. Sometimes bluntly deconstructed, which on one occasion has resulted in death threats against the author (see {{GIFT}} entry below).

** Jhim ships Davan/PeeJee. ''Davan'' was not amused.

* {{Nakama}}: Davan, [=PeeJee=], Aubrey and Jason compose the core of one, with something like a dozen other characters forming the periphery. Lots and lots of snarking and bitching, but they've demonstrated a willingness - nay, an eagerness - to commit felonies on behalf of one another.

* CanonImmigrant: Kestrel came from ''QueenOfWands'', and Helen from ''PennyAndAggie''. Candy from GirlsWithSlingshots has been hinted at joining as well.

* GreenEyes: Kestrel. Notably, she's the ''only'' character in the comic to have colored eyes, owing to her original source material in ''QueenOfWands''.

** The first was with ''QueenOfWands'', to the point where Kestrel entered S* P after ''QueenOfWands'' ended. (More info on the incident: http://www.somethingpositive.net/vlog01192010.shtml)

* MiseryPoker: Against Kestrel from ''QueenOfWands'', during [[http://www.queenofwands.net/d/20040510.html a crossover]].

** Multiple examples in [[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09282011.shtml this strip]], with regard to Helen of the then just-concluded webcomic ''PennyAndAggie''. Jason wonders where comic characters go after their strip ends. One of Aubrey's suggestions is "the background of another [[TakeThatUs crappier comic]]," a reference to Helen having already long since left her original comic for ''[=S*P=]'', 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 ''QueenOfWands'' protagonist who ended up herself working at Nerdrotica.

** More recently, Kharisma. She shedded most of her RichBitch / AlphaBitch attitude while in jail, and currently has the most intriguing subplot in the comic.

-->"Hello, I'm Peejee." \\

* StealthPun: [[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp01172008.shtml This strip]] has Jason begging Aubrey to take part in the PiratesOfTheCarribean MMORPG, to which she'll be doing something to Jason's rear-end. The pun? Aubrey's [[spoiler: a Butt Pirate]].

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Even if he is ([[OrIsIt probably]]) just a hallucination, and a fairly benevolent one at that, Fluffmodeus can be pretty scary.

* CompletelyMissingThePoint: "Do you even know what gay bashing is?" "[[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp08252011.shtml How can I? You bastards never invite me.]]"

*** How's any of this require brain bleach?

* CharacterDevelopment: Mike's growth really stands out. Introduced as a misogynistic whiny JerkAss, he later acknowledges most of his flaws and works to become a better person, and goes on to be the first member of the cast to get into a committed relationship and become a father. For a while, he was arguably now the most sympathetic and likeable person in the strip. But then when things got rough, his worst traits re-emerged. He's now, if anything, even ''more'' dislikable than he was at the start, precisely because we can see how good he could be if he could just get his act together.

** More recently, Kharisma. She shedded most of her RichBitch / TheLibby attitude while in jail, and currently has the most intriguing subplot in the comic.

* PetTheDog - Kharisma for one, prior to character development when she was a minor or supporting role. Most of the time on screen she spent as either making conversation or being TheLibby, but when she left the Medicade company that she and Davan worked at she got a moment where she was actually, intentionally, nice to Davan telling him to quit the job for his own good as she wouldn't wish it on the worst person in the world let alone him.

Most of the comic's humor is incredibly dark and cynical, with [[strike:no consideration]] glee for [[DudeNotFunny potential offense]]; few demographics have avoided skewering by the author's [[StrawmanPolitical 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.

* CallBack: [[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp08292004.shtml This strip]] featuring the Easter Bunny... who is the same as the one [[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp01122004.shtml from a conversation on]] "[[IfYouKnowWhatIMean cuddling]] yourself".