Was sent this video today. So since we're apparently comparing people to dogs now: If anyone ever tells me my man is "Well-trained," I will bite them like an unleashed doberman. And anyone who says shit like that not just about their partner but about anyone, pardon my hostility but they deserve to be put down. The rest of the phrases are pretty damn annoying too but that first one makes my blood boil.
I'm having a weird hyperfixation with the Smiling Critters lately and I do want to make a comprehensible story out of my headcanons, but for more instant gratification, I'm just gonna make a list. So here goes! These will primarily pertain to the cartoon versions because that's where my head's at.
We shall start with one for each of the critters because they all deserve love.
Dogday's tail wags when happy, like the good boy he is.
Catnap purrs when happy. Also his tail is prehensile, which doesn't follow along with his species but it wouldn't fit anywhere else.
Bubba's trunk is prehensile. Helps when his hands are full.
Bobby scratches her back on trees when no one is watching. Works better than her own hands most of the time.
Hoppy likes hard chews/hard candies. A lot. Her teeth grow uncomfortable if she goes without one for a while.
Picky enjoys a good mud bath. This could be either the spa variant or the "It just finished raining" variant. Out of respect for her friends, she will take a normal bath afterward.
Kickin lives up to the stereotype of chickens being associated with cowardice. He's working on it but he's still the most susceptible to Catnap's sneaking around. However, if anything were to threaten his friends, he would kill for them.
Crafty probably has the most powerful legs out of the group. Followed closely by Hoppy who doesn't skip leg day. You do not want to be too close to Crafty if she's startled or, heaven forbid, angry.
So you know how friend groups may have some people more drawn to each other than others? If I had to make pairings for who in the group was closest to whom, it would go something like this.
Dogday and Catnap
Hoppy and Kickin
Picky and Crafty
Bobby and Bubba
And now we have a few that would be used in the fanfic if I have any motivation to write it after this. They're mostly Catnap-centric since he'd be the main character.
Each of the Smiling Critters has a scent that just sorta naturally happens (to correspond with the scents their toy versions dispense), but Catnap happens to have two. His natural scent is lavender, while his Red Smoke smells like poppies. This comes from the fact that Playtime Co. apparently put some weird ingredients in their Red Smoke that I think gave it a poppy smell? When the Catnap toy was supposed to smell like lavender. So he gets both in the cartoon world!
Catnap is in full control of his smoke, for the most part. It'll come out in small harmless puffs if he's sleeping, or if he does something like a sigh.
Catnap, ironically, is an insomniac. He has frequent nightmares that prevent him from sleeping and is immune to his own gas. (He'd probably be narcoleptic if he wasn't.) He tends to space out a lot during the day because of this.
Dogday is also an insomniac and suffers anxiety as the group's leader. He is the most dependent on Catnap's gas to help him sleep.
The gas is somewhat addictive. I'm not sure in this case that it would drive its consumers to manic episodes like that sleepover cartoon, especially considering it's meant to aid sleep, but regardless Catnap has learned to be careful with it. He's tried other methods of helping Dogday and the others sleep but usually ends up feeding the addiction.
He'll also use the gas for self-defense if left with no other options since a heavy enough dose can knock people right out.
Romance plays very little role in the Smiling Critters' world but Dogday and Catnap might have feelings for each other. (Yes I ship it, but only in the cartoon world.)
Catnap is by far the quietest of the group. Upon first meeting him one might think that he's mute. But rather, he can't (or at least doesn't) speak above a whisper. To talk with his friends in a group setting, he whispers to Dogday and lets his bestie relay his thoughts for him.
On that same note, Catnap's quietness often leads to him scaring his friends by just standing there when they don't expect it. Sometimes he does it on purpose.
And then we have the most important headcanon, the one that basically would set this whole story in motion:
Catnap still worships the Prototype
But with a few key differences because this is the cartoon world we're talking about.
He's not so much of a Prototype-Bible-Thumper. In fact, he doesn't tell the other Critters at all out of fear. Fear of mockery or rejection, and fear of what his god could do to them.
The Prototype shrine is underneath his house, is smaller, and is constructed out of various toys and scraps he's found lying around. The human skeleton at the front is more than likely some kind of doll instead.
The electrocution incident that leads to the worship is caused by some faulty/exposed wiring. Perhaps his natural curiosity leading him into dangerous situations.
I can't say for certain that the Prototype is a benevolent god in-game, but he's certainly not here. He keeps Catnap under his thumb through fear more than anything else, he's the cause of Catnap's nightmares, which often portray gruesome deaths of himself and his friends, and he could drive Catnap to insanity at any given point. He could also give the poor kitty an existential crisis by revealing that he lives in a TV show or giving him visions of his "Bigger Bodies" self, but I haven't quite decided on that yet. Basically, Prototype's an asshole and Catnap stays due to both a life debt and fear of punishment.
And that, I think, about sums up the whole story premise I had without me having a proper structure for it. So yeah! The instant gratification monkey is happy.
I put semi-genuine effort into deciding an eye color for a character, who only today got a set-in-stone design, wanting to make it symbolic and interesting and to say a lot about him. Only to go with brown. Because it’s common and “down to earth.”
My story ideas are pretty all over the place. I can’t really stick to a genre. My last idea was twin girls learning to appreciate life with a small pantheon of gods. Most recent one: A soccer team tearing apart their teammate on national television. Big ol’ stain on the field.
I might be back. For like, a month at most, I predict. It matters nothing, of course, but I may use this as a motivation for writing instead of trying to be another shitposter. Could post random quotes or ideas. I guess I just wanna do more social media.
Despite having a tumblr account for a little while, this is the first anyone’s heard from me here. Anyway, hi. I needed a space to blurt out my random thoughts. Was gonna use twitter at first. Then I realized tumblr doesn’t have a character limit. So now all my nonsense goes here.
