Smugjak / But How Does This Affect You Personally?

About

Smugjak is a version of Soyjak wearing an expression of smugness. Traced from the character Hal Stewart from Megamind, the Soyjak achieved virality on Soyjak.party, and later beyond it on Twitter, in the first half of 2023. Smugjak is associated with the catchphrase "But How Does This Affect You Personally?"

Origin

On January 10th, 2023, an anonymous user of the Soyjak.party imageboard posted a smug Soyjak variant traced from the character Hal Stewart from the 2010 animated film Megamind (Soyjak and original frame shown below, left and right).^[1] On January 11th, Soybooru^[2] user ThremboJew archived the Soyjak on the site, with the upload garnering over 50 comments.

Spread

Starting on January 11th, 2023, multiple derivative versions of Smugjak were posted on Soyjak.party and later uploaded to Soybooru. For example, on January 13th, a Gem edit of Smugjak was archived on the site (shown below, left).^[3] Also that day, a user archived a Zoomerified Twitter edit (shown below, right).^[4] As of June 30th, 2023, over 190 images featuring Smugjak had been archived on Soybooru.

Following a period of use on the imageboard, the variant spread to 4chan^[5] and Twitter, being used to convey smugness and condescension. For example, on March 8th, 2023, Twitter^[6] user @eyemakelofi poste a Smugjak version in a post ridiculing atheists that received over 960 retweets and 13,400 likes in four months (shown below, left). On March 31st, 2023, Twitter user @0xAlaric posted an image in which Smugjak, superimposed over the painting Destruction by Thomas Cole, said "But how does this affect you PERSONALLY??" The post (shown below, right) received over 570 retweets and 5,000 likes in three months, while the catchphrase achieved association with the Soyjak variant.

In the following months, the image achieved close association with the phrase, being used to counter slippery slope fallacy accusations in online arguments (examples shown below).

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References