#sherald

Tried my hand at making realistic TemTem, this time the Crystle line

Sherald are known to evolve from Crystle- in the wild, as a result of exposure to the harsh environmental conditions of Tucma. They extract nutrients from the chemical interactions of metamorphic rocks and volcanic ashes.

Well, before Season 20 I always imagined Sherald as the perfect couple (they are, after all, a Gemini and a Libra - super compatible signs). They had their problems, like Sheila being overbearing and an emotional roller coaster and Gerald having a history of addiction (gambling, cat pee) and narcissism (gods and clods is the prime example), but the key to them and the Broflovskis being a strong family unit was absolute transparency. They KNEW what each other’s flaws were and worked through them together. What set Sherald apart from the other SP parents was their willingness to talk things out, hold each other accountable, and try to make each other happy even if it meant stepping out of their respective comfort zones. Because they were always a united front, particularly as parents, Kyle and Ike saw that as an example to follow and ALSO present a united front as siblings, and they both really value their family above anything else. 

HOWEVER… Season 20 was kind of a slap in the face. It made me reevaluate Gerald as a character and, as a result, what he actually brings to the table in their family. That being said, I thought Gerald’s characterization in Season 20 made a lot of sense - it brought his narcissism to the forefront and took it to an extreme place, but it wasn’t out of character. Gerald thinks he’s better than everyone else and is in total denial about any of his actions being wrong, but he’s also desperate to preserve his reputation and image as an upbeat family man who has a loving wife and two decent hard working kids. So he channeled his narcissism and arrogance into something secretive - anonymously making people feel bad about themselves on the internet so he can then pat himself on the back and call himself hilarious. At first I thought he was poisoning himself with memberberry wine, but… no, Gerald is JUST a huge asshole. But it made sense, as he’s always had an undercurrent of douchebaggery that simply came across as fairly innocuous before this. 

The most upsetting thing about S20, though, was that Sheila never found out about it, and Gerald is super proud of that. So… that made me reevaluate my headcanon that Sheila and Gerald, no matter what happens, are honest with each other. Gerald, despite his denial of having done anything wrong, KNOWS that this is something that would cause Sheila to at best lose faith in him and at worst, leave him. And he’d rather knowingly lie to the woman who would do LITERALLY ANYTHING for him than risk losing his Perfect Life. 

So, that’s where I stand on them as a couple right now. Not as magical as I always thought. But then, maybe they were never that magical and I was just looking at them through Kyle’s eyes? And now that Kyle’s rose colored lenses have been removed, so have mine.

On that note, the other thing that really blew my mind about Gerald this season was just how much of a DICK he was to Kyle. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I loved the scene where he tells Kyle to lighten up and stop being a pussy, because it confirms a lot of what I headcanon for Kyle (that his anxiety, constant guilt, and need for validation can make him kind of unbearable to be around at times, even for his parents), but like… you don’t say that shit to your kid!!! 

I think that, generally speaking, Gerald and Sheila are both good parents, though. They provide for their kids, try to teach them good morals, and have somehow managed to produce two kids who are very intelligent, have a strong sense of self, and who value hard work and education in the midst of all the fuckery and foolishness that is South Park. Even with their flaws - Sheila having an extreme temper that prevents her from truly listening sometimes, and Gerald secretly being an asshole who doesn’t understand that driving someone to suicide is A Bad Thing To Do - they have SOMEHOW the most solid, consistent marriage and positive parenting style in the entire show. 

I do think it is very clear by now that Gerald favors Ike over Kyle and Sheila favors Kyle over Ike. Gerald favors Ike because he sees Kyle as a lost cause, because he’s “just like his mother”, and still thinks he can swing Ike over to his fucked up sense of humor (even though that clearly didn’t work). I think Gerald sees Ike as more of a typical son, and therefore more fun than Kyle. Kyle has too much of a sense of duty, too much nurturing instinct, and a tendency to sacrifice his own well being to help and worry about others, which in Gerald’s mind makes him a wet blanket. 

On the flip side, Sheila favors Kyle BECAUSE he takes after her in like, every way possible. He’s into politics, he likes to read, he’s passionate to a fault about everything, he values family and duty and honor, he values and defends his religion, he puts school first, etc etc… these are all things that Sheila tried her best to impart onto him from the get go, which is why when Kyle fucks up, she reacts SO strongly and is SO disappointed. Her reactions to his moments of disrespect or compromised morals are so disproportionately severe because she sees him as perfect, and though he tries to live up to that and it causes him a lot of stress, at the end of the day it’s impossible to be Sheila’s Perfect Son 100% of the time. I also headcanon that Sheila being pregnant with Kyle was a very stressful pregnancy, that it followed one or two miscarriages, that it ended in a premature birth, and that Kyle was a sickly infant. Because she tried so hard to have him and there was always that risk of losing him, she babies the SHIT out of him. It doesn’t help that he’s a sickly kid, too. So she’s still extremely overprotective and overbearing with him in a way she really doesn’t seem to be with Ike. Thus, Kyle learned to be incredibly overdramatic about everything that happens to him because that’s what is guaranteed to get him the maximum amount of attention. So we can blame Sheila for that. But Stan often enables it too.