#suprspeak

[shortmania]

I know I haven't posted on this blog in ages, but I was just thinking about Miriam running Big Bob's Beepers and finally feeling fulfilled and happy in her life, and how she gave that up again to be there for Helga, only all that ended up meaning was that she became dangerously depressed again and turned to alcohol and still wasn't there for Helga, so it was ultimately a completely meaningless sacrifice. And how Bob during that whole thing was just watching TV and relaxing for the first time in God knows how long and really didn't want to go back to work. There are so many complex conclusions to draw from all of that.

I'm just really fucked up about this right now, lol.

[shortmania]

Just realized I kinda disappeared from this blog completely out of the blue and haven't said anything for several months.

Just in case anyone cares, uh, I'm sorry. My life exploded and I had to reconstruct it from the ground up. I'm okay now, but yeah, that's why I randomly peaced out. It was rude and probably confused some people. I apologize.

I'm gonna try to do stuff on this blog again at some point. For now, happy Halloween! Everyone have an amazing holiday. Watch the HA! Halloween special. It's one of the best episodes of the whole series, imo.

[shortmania]

Would you say that Arnold needs to be needed by other people? Do you think that he has a sharp sense of his own identity?

I think he needs to help people. He grew up hearing all these stories about what amazing and caring people his parents were, so being a good person has been his way of keeping them in his life. Of carrying on their legacy. I think it’s very important to him, and has been important to him for so long now that even with his parents back and that hole inside himself finally filled, I don’t see it ever going away. He’s always going to want to help people, and I don’t think it’ll ever be for purely selfless reasons. He needs to be able to define himself as Good. He gets very depressed (sometimes outright manic) otherwise. It really is all he has, even as it is often a burden.

[shortmania]

This is random but I’m open to art commissions right now. I don’t have a commission sheet made up yet, but I just wanted to put out a feeler. 

Other than HA! stuff, I’m also open to drawing cute Animal Crossing stuff. It’s all doable. Lemme know if you’re interested. 

[shortmania]

So my cousin has known for years that I’m into HEY ARNOLD! and a few days ago decided to try drawing the characters from memory because she’s a professional artist and that’s a thing she likes to do for fun. And that’s all the context you’re getting because you have to see these right now immediately, look:

Arnold “his hair is a nest and his hat an egg” Shortman

Helga “her pigtails are like brooms” Pataki

Gerald “he had a number on his shirt” Johanssen

Helga Attempt #2 because “her eyes look different, don’t they”

And my favorite...

Angry Peanut Harold

[shortmania]

happy valentine's day arnold and helga are married and in love pass it on

[shortmania]

Do you think that Helga would be a laidback parent?

You know the interesting thing is yes and no? I think it depends on the situation. Like you could, as her child, tell her you’re going to a death metal concert and you might let your friend pierce your ear afterwards and she’d be like, “Dope, be back by midnight.” But if you aren’t back by midnight or if you come home sloppy drunk, then she’ll hang you by the rafters and use you as a pinata. Like she’s laidback, but only to a point. It also depends on how responsible you’ve proven yourself to be in her eyes. Helga wants to trust you, but if you break that trust, it’s game over, go to your room and don’t come out until you pay taxes.

[shortmania]

NickRewind in my YouTube feed: Did Arnold love Helga all along?! 😱😍😏😇💏👀👀💋💞

Me: ye

Me: *scrolls down*

[shortmania]

What kind of person do you think would be the best romantic match for Olga?

To be perfectly honest with you, I used to draw a lot of parallels between Olga and Jane Austen’s Emma, so I kinda figured the guy Olga ended up with should be someone similar to Mr. Knightley. Someone just… a little more stable who can calmly point out when Olga’s being ridiculous and steer her in a healthier direction. ‘Cause, for all that Helga laments their differences, Helga and Olga are still sisters and they share quite a few personality traits. They’re both really passionate, performative, loud, emotional, loving, empathetic, and fucked up. So someone similar to Arnold would probably be good for Olga in the same way it’s good for Helga.

But that was years ago and Emma and Mr. Knightley’s relationship does have this deeply familial element to it that’s just… weird. I love Emma, but the book didn’t age fantastically. And I also really dislike power differentials. The thought of someone just always standing over Olga telling her she’s acting poorly strikes me as both gross and unrealistic, in the same way that I see Arnold regularly scolding Helga for her attitude problems being yet another reason they inevitably break up as teenagers. At least if we’re trying to set Olga up for romantic success anyway, which I’m inclined to do. Therefore it stands to reason Olga ought to be with someone a bit more on her level. So I created Charles. I think I talked about him on this blog a little before, and it’s always a little strange trying to lay out a character’s whole personality and backstory in a paragraph or two rather than a proper 10,000-20,000 word story, but basically: 

Charles is kind of a mixture of a Chocolate Boy with actual impulse control, an Arnold who grew up isolated and upper-class, Big Patty (usual demeanor), Sid (inner world and occasional outer world), and Phoebe (attitude and actions towards people he loves). I hope that cocktail of familiar characters makes this picture I’m about to paint a little easier to see. He’s a naturally very subdued person, frequently nervous, and has a wide assortment of physical ticks, but he’s trained to hide all this so he can look the part of the charming and respectable rich bitch’s son. He was homeschooled from ages 3 to 12 before being sent to boarding school (which ended up being the best thing that ever happened to him ‘cause he actually made friends for the first time in his life), and was raised by a comically long string of nannies and baby sitters that his dad kept sleeping with (no matter how elderly or ugly they were) and his mom kept firing (and sometimes sleeping with), so he never really bonded with any of them or any adult at all.  

Outwardly, he seems like a regular, chill, smart guy, but the more time you spend with him and the more comfortable he gets with you, the clearer it becomes that he’s kind of… off and… weird and very bitter. He shakes people’s hands ‘cause he was trained to but he hates it. He hugs people when it’s appropriate ‘cause he was trained to but he hates it. He pats people on the back and laughs at important people’s jokes ‘cause he was trained to but he hates it. He can’t stand anything that reminds him too much of his childhood. Left to his own devices, he doesn’t smile much and he refuses to be gentlemanly and he loves putting his feet up on coffee tables and sitting on tables and counters, which can make him seem like a thoughtless dick to the people he’s actually friends with even though he really doesn’t mean to be. When he really, really loves people, though, he tends to fall back on his childhood training a bit because it’s the only way he understands how to make people like him and this is where the Phoebe aspect of him comes in, ‘cause he kinda just superglues himself to his best friends and does favors for them and smiles awkwardly. 

He’s also a nihilistic rebel that went on to pursue an English degree instead of a business/medical/law one like his parents told him to his whole life, so this is how he met Olga. In Wellington College, England, before she transferred to Bennington, and then he just steadfastly kept in contact with her and Olga happily soaked up the attention. Helga’s the one who points out to Olga that Charles has a thing for her and Olga goes all surprised pikachu because he’s never actually made a move on her in all the time she’s known him, which is what she’s used to. Flowers and chairs being pulled out and grand declarations and passionate kisses. Charles just talks to her and asks her questions like “How’re you doing?” and “Can I help in any way?” and “Did you get enough sleep?”

All in all, he’s similar to Olga in a few obvious fundamental ways, which was the point. It’s a bit silly and on the nose because I created Charles years ago, but since he’s existed in my mind for so long, it would be difficult for me to just scrap him and create someone new, so I have to tell you both Charles and Olga grew up lonely, somewhat isolated and laden with expectations. Only Charles hates his parents, wants nothing to do with his upbringing, and has his feet very firmly planted in reality. Which is to say, he’s incredibly down to earth and individualistic and yeah, more than a little naive, but the effect here is that Olga’s interesting to him not because she’s talented or worldly or accomplished, but because she’s well-meaning and compassionate and silly–all things he’s rarely experienced and is starved for. She’s one of the few people he hangs onto as a friend for those reasons, and Olga eventually learns that she can be a little calmer and a little more honest when she’s with him. Which is the primary thing I think Olga really, really, desperately needs in a partner. Just somebody she can be real with who won’t shush her or send her away or expect anything from her that she doesn’t want to give. Who will look at all her jagged edges and say, “I see, I understand.” That’s what love is anyway, imo.

[shortmania]

Does anybody remember what the timeline is for The HEY ARNOLD! Movie? I can't remember at all. The movie starts out as if it's summer, but then their protesting and Blockapalooza takes a while. I think I remember a timelapse, a calendar? Am I crazy? Were they in school at any point during the movie or did everything happen during summer vacation? It seems like Craig said SOMETHING about it at some point, but I just don't know anymore, man.

[shortmania]

What has happened to Life with the Shortmans?

Well, I haven’t updated in a long time and I’m not sure if I’ll ever have the time to finish it. I’d really like to complete Breathing Slowly, at least, but I don’t know when it’ll be possible for me to do that. For now, the story is on hiatus.

I wrote a little post when I officially put it on hiatus here: https://shortmania.tumblr.com/post/181917127415/ive-been-forgetting-more-and-more-about-lwts-for

Which, I still don’t have access to the next chapter that I was working on (I lost a lot of my work when my CP just... stopped turning on), but I’m at the point now where I’m like... Screw it, I can just rewrite it and make it better. There’s always a mourning period when you lose good work. Right now, I just can’t focus on it, though. 

If you have any questions about anything, I’m open to tell you whatever you might like to know. Free spoilers.

Much love and stay safe. 

[shortmania]

I would like to pose the same question about Arnold... But I think I have a good idea. LOL

Yeah, Arnold could be the poster child for introversion, lol. Sweet, quiet, thoughtful boi.

[shortmania]

Tfw you're neck deep into the third paragraph of your response to someone's ask and your neanderthal laptop suddenly decides to restart for a windows update

[shortmania]

How tall do you hc Olga to be?

Probably somewhere around 5′3″-5′4″. She’s noticeably shorter than Miriam, and I think Miriam’s probably somewhere around 5′7″-5′8″, so that’s the best estimate I can give right now. Hope that’s helpful!

[shortmania]

Do you think that Olga is an introvert or extrovert?

I generally tend to think of the Patakis as extroverts, the most introverted of them probably being Bob. There aren’t often very many true blue extroverts and introverts, though, not really--it’s a spectrum sort of a deal, and I do think Olga tends to fall more into the category of ambivert. She gets a good amount of energy from other people, but she does have a shut off point where she really just needs to be alone. I think a lot of that is probably just because she has to exert so much energy into being constantly bubbly and charming and intelligent and amazing while she’s with people, though. The stress of that’d wear anybody out.

[shortmania]

Eugene is so fucking gay for Arnold, why does nobody ever talk about this I’m losing my shit