Doctor Kenneth McCormick & The Beautiful Concept of āLove To The Point of Inventionā
Okay! So I could not stop thinking about the dynamic between Dr. McCormick and Victor Chaos, and more importantlyā chapter 13 of my ficā¦ Iām sorry yāall. Itās just,,, there was so much discussed in this chapter and I just wanted to talk about it MORE. I wanted to voice everything out, even revealing some behind the scenes stuff, implications, deleted paragraphs, investigative research, and my thought process throughout the chapter. It was a long one; it couldāve been longer, but I genuinely forced myself to stop. Anyway, feel free to read my very own ādirectors cutā! Just letting you know ahead of time that it WILL be containing spoilers for Chapter 13 of āI Will Make of Youā and my one-shot (Un)Forbidden Love.
The backstory starts off as newly graduated Kenny and Butters, with Butters asking him to run away together. The reason for his hesitation is explored on (Un)Forbidden Love, but actually a big scene I cut out [and was going to be featured in this chapter] was ā
The one where Kevin gifts his truck to Kenny and Butters. I was planning on hinting that Butters had explained his plan to Kevin beforehand, and had asked for his help into getting a truck of his own. Kevin, being literally the coolest person ever, basically told him that they can take his truck, and he will be gifting it to them. Butters and Kevin go back and forth about it, Butters being āno, I canāt possibly take yours! Thatās unfair and selfishā, until Kevin hits him with the āIām not doing it for you, itās for him. We both want Kenny to be happy.ā Obviously, Kenny doesnāt know this conversation happened š„¹, but caring older brother Kevin tugs at my heartstrings. I also wanted to add a tidbit where Kevin is helping them pack their things in the truck, he whispers to Leo to āmake him happy and give Ken the life he deserves.ā KILL ME NOW, I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!
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Moving on past their new established relationship, we get the first hints of Vicās negotiating skills. It is already established in the canon universe of the Post Covid South Park specials that Kenny is a very talented scientist whoās done all these amazing thingsā but we also find out that Butters (Vic Chaos) is the one that actually funds all of Dr. McCormickās projects! I tried to mess around with this concept in my own story, but the one thing I always wondered was: What made Kenny want to become a scientist in the first place?
Love to the Point of Invention
I think there is something so pure, and so genuinely beautiful about loving someone so much, youāre capable of inventing something revolutionary BECAUSE of them. There are many examples of this actually happening in real life:
Kenny seeing Butters come homeā fatigued and stressed from all the workloadā it motivated him into creating something to help Butters feel better. And it not just worked, but someone actually bought Kennyās invention. Of course, if it wasnāt for Butters [Chaosās] negotiating tactics, they wouldnāt have secured the millions of dollars that helped them get into an Ivy League Uni.
Personally, I feel like Kenny truly is talented when it comes to being an inventor, but both in canon and in IWMOY, his main motivators where always the people he loves. Butters is also canonically good at running a business, and his Vic Chaos persona proves that heās capable of getting some good money off of investors. Scientist Kenny who invents all these crazy things and Vic Chaos who invests, sells, markets, funds his inventionsā Itās literally a match made in heaven yāall š, theyāre a power duo!
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There are a lot of other things I want to get into but Iām going to skip ahead a bit to talk about the main event of this chapter: Cooperās creation! Iāve always headcanon that Stan and Kyle are more family oriented and the more likely to have kids first, while Kenny isnāt as caring about the concept. So when Kenny witnessed their joy and Butters cuddling up with a baby, it sort of planted him with an image of a family in his head. What really sold the idea was that conversation he had with Butters. Kenny wasnāt aware that Butters was having daydreams of starting a family with him until that very night š„², it once again motivated him into creating something that will make Buttersā daydream a reality. LOVE! CREATION!!
Now, the concept of bringing a human to life in the ānon-traditionalā sense is actually very complex AND controversial š. I was aware that there were some negative views towards the study of human cells and artificial wombs, but I didnāt know just how bad itās perceivedā¦ Bro, even IVF and surrogacy are still somewhat frowned upon. Iām the type of person that even if itās not mentioned or come up in my essays, I still do extensive research so I can get a general idea of what Iām writing about. For Cooperās ābirth,ā there were three main things that needed to be focused:
The study of cells and how to make gametes of two people of the same sex to successfully produce a zygote (fertilized cell/embryo)
Artificial Wombs, how they work, and how will they function for a developing human fetus
The weekly development of a baby and what they will need inside a womb to grow/develop healthy
All of these things have their own concerns that required different forms of investigation, and it brought up a lot of moral dilemmas that I REALLY (and I mean really) overthought during the entirety of my research and writing process.
One
In real life, the use of animals for scientific purposes is controversial because, letās be realā no one wants animals to be abused for humanityās own desire to learn. Hell, I wouldnāt want that either! Yet, in my fic, Kenny does use lab mice and monkeys and itās actually an integral component for this experiment. Personally, I do believe there is an ethical way we could use mice and monkeys for research; and thatās if the experiment doesnāt cause deadly risks and physical or psychological harm to the animals. You can let me know your thoughts! I feel like Kenny would actually be less empathetic about it than Stan, which is why I made him call Kenny out on it. Lol. Getting that out of the way, how would Kenny use those animals to reach his goal?
Lab mice are actually used to this day, and theyāre a valuable species for the study of human biology, pathology, etc.. Mice have 20 chromosomes in their haploid genome, their gestation period takes on average 19-21 days, their genetic complexity is pretty low; thereās also low ethical concerns due to their rapid reproduction, small size, and short lifespan. Scientist already have a general understanding of their genetics so it makes the testing more straightforward. Kenny will definitely find more early success and failures during this section since the breakthrough can be proof that conception is possible with two species of the same sex.
I stated this in chapter 13, but the next animal they tested on was the Rhesus Macaque; theyāre the primates most genetically and physiologically similar to humans. A single rhesus macaque contain 21 pairs of chromosomes, gestation period is roughly 166 days, and their maternal health has a big influence to a babyās development much like a human. Kenny testing with these animals will help bridge the gap, enhance the technology, and address any issues that happen throughout the process. But since theyāre pretty similar to humans, especially with their reproductive biology, it raises more ethical questions than with the lab mice. The failed attempts of gestation, fetal development, and the long-term health would be very hard to ignore. This step would take significantly more time and patience, lots of care will need to be taken place before ANYTHING becomes feasible. So once everything is overcome, then we could possibly move to humans.
The ultimate and final goal would be testing this technology with humans. Human genomes are extremely complex, they have 23 pairs of chromosomes (which is 46 in each cell), gestation is roughly 9 months, human embryos require precise conditions, and their long-term health need to be carefully monitored years after their birth. The testing of this would definitely be frowned upon by society. Realistically, we would need highly advanced technological breakthroughs to make this happenā it is very likely Kenny wouldāve gruesomely fail this step many times. But I didnāt want to make him suffer the losses of his potential children :(, thatās too cruel. Besides, Cooper is a strong kid, and Kenny used his cursed blood to create him!
Overall, it truly isnāt scientifically possible for two species of the same sex to procreate because their biological mechanisms lack the components for fertilization (yetš). Theyāll probably need to reprogram or edit genes and cells to transform at least one male gamete into an egg-like cell. (Iāve sort of drawn inspiration from stuff like CRISPR-Cas9). Then, similar to that of IVF, mimic the fertilization of both of the cells, continue editing the genes to make them compatible, remove any harmful mutations that might occur, and ensure the embryo has the necessities for proper development. What Iām trying to get at is that either Kenny or Butterās gametes had to be transformed into an egg so that Cooper could exist [and also Tweek and Craig for Emilio if you think about it] š«¢. Yāall can decide on whose cell it was.
Two
Artificial wombs are an actual thing being developed and testedā mice embryos have been used on clear rotating vials and theyāve actually attempted to use an artificial womb for a premature lamb who needed help with their lungs! When I first thought of using the concept of an artificial wombs back when I was drafting this story, the first images that came to my mind were something like the scenes from āI Am Mother.ā
This technology was my main inspiration for Cooperās creation becauseā really guysā how else would Kenny and Butters have a biological kid of their own if not with the use of advanced technology š??? Before I reached this scene, even as far back when I revealed the explanation back in chapters 2 and 8, I didnāt think much about this; truly, I wasnāt even thinking of making it a big deal. But then it was time for me to finish drafting chapter 13, and I decided to make more research on the concept, this video by Cleo Abram appeared on my recommended!
It completely changed my perspective on the concept and even made me want to tread with the idea more carefully. I really recommend watching it if youāre interested on what Iām going to be talking about. I didnāt realize how controversial or even the complexity of it. So, not only did I do research, but I also did a deep dive on motherhood and pregnancy š¤ā¦.
Let me start with the negative conversations: The main issue people have with it is that this technology breaks the āidea of childbirthā and the ābeauty of pregnancy.ā Many mothers believe that itās an amazing thing to grow a human inside of them, and they feel some type of bond between their child as they grow. Itās a sacred thing and āpart of being a womanā, and they donāt want technology to take that away from them. *Though the concept of artificial wombs being an actual thing is purely fictional and theoretical, Iād like to point out that alternatives such as surrogacy and IVF are real options and even those are controversial till this day*
The positive side: some mothers believe that this technology could be a great alternative since child birth can be very dangerous to certain women whose biology doesnāt allow them to carry, or canāt conceive at all. Others simply donāt want to experience the labor. Pregnancy in general could be a very difficult thing for both the mother and a baby, this alternative could help alleviate those concerns.
In my heart of hearts, I couldnāt make Kenny be the one to invent this because honestly, he just wouldnāt understand; Heidi Turner was the best decision in my opinion. I always wanted to make her be a part of Kennyās scientist team, and this experiment felt like the right opportunity. I donāt feel qualified to put my two cents on the topic, so Iām gonna end this segment by quoting what one of my friends said.
āFor starters, I donāt want to have kids of my own, nor do I plan on ever becoming pregnant due to my own personal circumstances. But if I were to have a choice, I would like this to be one of my options. I have heard both the horrors and positives of what pregnancy does to a woman and it makes me not want to be pregnant even more. In the end, idk what the process would look like, let alone the aftermath of both my and the babies health. Of course not everyone would agree, and maybe there would be pushback for this sort of advancement, but I feel like we should focus on the idea of giving women more alternatives to choose what they could do with their own bodies instead of being self righteous about whatās natural or not.ā
Three
Yāall š a baby developing in a womb is really no easy task. We donāt know what happens inside a uterus when a baby is inside, itās not like we can peek inside a womb, so we mostly just go by the current research of the weekly gestational period. But I tried my best to sum up how the process would be like. A fetus in an artificial womb would have to be in an environment that replicates the uterus. Nutrients and oxygen need to be exchanged, facilitate waste, hormonal changes that happen during pregnancy need to be mimicked, temperature and pH need to be regulated, amniotic fluid is important for allowing a fetus to moveā well, pregnancy is complicated. Not to mention how foreign and disconnecting it could be for a baby to develop outside of their motherās womb, that connection could be crucial too, no machine can mimic that warmth and feeling, and I made sure Heidi be the one to point that out.
Literally a single wrong move could be the end. Itās a very high level riskā¦ This is a gamble with human life. Everything could go so wrong in many ways if they arenāt careful. Nothing about this could be considered natural.
No matter how you view it, what Kenny is doing is selfish. He is messing with natural order of life to have a son of his own with his husband. He knows this more than anyone else. Thatās why when Craig also wanted to try to have a son of his own using this method, Kenny felt displeased. Craig CANNOT be having a spur-of-the moment baby fever, this isnāt something to FOMO aboutā this is a human they are attempting to create. Conscious human life. If they die in the middle of gestation, or they suffer long-termā it is entirely on their selfish fault. I wanted to add a scene where Kenny straight up tells Craig āNOā and that he wasnāt ready for it. It would lead to a big thing where even Tweek gets involved and explains his side and wheewww would it have turned out way longer.
Though this entire experiment was kinda Kennyās sort of selfish desire of creating a familyā itās that LOVE he has for Leo that pushes him to invent this (love, inventionā¦. *sighs*), and it was love for his son that pushed to save him in the end. It really is romantic and beautiful to deeply love someone š..
This is such a heavy and interesting concept that I feel could bring on a lot of conversation to the table, I want this to be an open discussion so feel free to comment your thoughts and opinions. I also want to iterate that I AM NOT A SCIENTIST NOR AM I AN EXPERT IN ANY OF THESE CONCEPTS OR TOPICS THAT IāVE DISCUSSED. IM JUST SOME SILLY AND STUPID GUY WHO WRITES SOUTH PARK FANFICTION ā ļø
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Small little things I like to add from this chapter:
Craig living in Houston because he worked for NASA is so funny to me. Idk much about how they work over there but I do know that those roads and highways are no joke. Bro was fighting for his life in those 14 lane roads š. They always have construction and accidents too, shit is stressing me just thinking about it </3
Stan and Kyle being family oriented feels so right to me, and Stan getting cold feet because he doesnāt want to end up like Randy š my shaylaaa. Idk whatās it like to be a parent so I hope Stanās dialogue felt realistic š. I didnāt want to include too much of how they adopted Robin, but I also wanted to give a bit of a recapped explanation that was somewhat realistic. Cartmanās death and the adoption happening around the same time would obviously stress them even more so I feel like anxiety is normal in the situation. It worked out in the end tho hehe š«¶, and it was thanks to this scene that motivated Kenny into starting his family.
Butters saying Cooper was ācooped up in thereā and didnāt āwant him to feel lonelyā down there ā¹ļø
I also wanted to add a bit of background Tweek being an engineer and more of Doctor Heidi Turner, but,,,,,,, chapter too long. We did decent amount of Heidi content tho, but no Tweek. He will appear in chapter 14 yāall šTrust.
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Anywhoā I feel like I went overboard with this deep dive but if you have any input with the topics discussed or the dynamics between Kenny and Butters as Doctor McCormick and Vic Chaos, or literally anything else, please feel free to share š„¹
