#sp meta

Sometimes it seems like he is lowkey plotting to break them apart like in "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" when he tells Stan:

"Isn't this fun? Just you and me hangin' out, Stan. No stupid Kyle around"

Or in "truth in advertising", where he seems happy that style are physically fighting. But then in the vaccination special, Cartman is trying to restore the "broship" (tho we all know it was really about stan and kyle) and more recently in "cupid ye" he literally plays cupid trying to get them back together.

So, my question is: what exactly does he want from them?

cartman does have a few good reasons to try to break them apart. He might be trying to get back at them for all the bullying he used to endure from them, a sort of "divide and conquer" type of thing. Cartman might have realized that Stan and Kyle are pretty miserable without each other (examples: guitar queereo, ygo/ass burguers, the post covid specials). Plus, Cartman is clearly still obsessed with kyle (see: panderverse ending...); whenever Stan isn't around to support Kyle, Kyle almost always goes to cartman (prehistoric ice man, miss teacher bangs a boy, Ass Burguers). For cartman, Kyle without Stan means an endless source of attention or, if he manages to put kyle in a vulnerable state, Kyle being completely at his mercy (like in gingercow).

However, Cartman doesn't actively try to "steal" Kyle from Stan, which is strange considering how possessive Cartman can be with people whose attention he feels entitled to (examples: his mom and kyle).

It's such an under-discussed part of their dynamic. Cartman does this all the time. He does it to tease Kyle. He does it to comfort him. He does it to express gratitude. He even does it to pictures of Kyle when Kyle's not there.

And you could say that's just Cartman, he's just touchy, that's just how he expresses himself . . . except that it's really not. All this petting and stroking isn't something you see him do with Stan and Kenny. (Friends he has said multiple times he loves.) It's not something he does with his actual pet, Mr Kitty. It's not something he does with his mom. It's not even something he does with Heidi or Yentl. There's a lot of hand-holding and kissing in those relationships, but Cartman appears to consider this expected romantic partner behavior, and to be imitating that accordingly. What you don't see with them is the clingy, almost unconscious need to touch he demonstrates with Kyle. Kyle has to be stroked, patted, petted, hugged, poked, pulled on . . . it seems to be a comfort thing for Cartman, and that is just so fascinating to me.

It's also endlessly fascinating to me that Kyle - who has no problem putting Cartman in his place about anything else - allows this nearly every time. Maybe there's some token complaining, but he never actually tries to stop it. It's not "ew, Cartman is hugging me" it's always "why is Cartman hugging me?" and that's a subtle difference I think gets overlooked. People like to claim Kyle's response to Cartman having a crush on him would be disgust, and that Kyman could only ever be one-sided for this reason. But Kyle's response to Cartman being affectionate with him is actually pretty much always confusion, not disgust. I get the impression Kyle doesn't know how he feels about it.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here, but it's just so interesting to me, the relationship they both have to touch. Cartman uses Kyle to fulfil his need for touch and connection - and Kyle doesn't often reciprocate this touch, but he pretty consistently makes the concession of allowing it. They're feeling each other out, trying to work out "who are you to me and what do I feel for you?" It's one of the elements of Kyman that makes the ship so endearing, I think. There's this sweetness to it that absolutely should not exist between these characters, but does anyway.

Definitely! You’re right, Cartman does seem to seek out physical contact with Kyle considerably more than with anyone else he isn’t directly romantically involved with and my favourite instances of this is when he does so under the guise of antagonizing him. Two examples of this are the whole ‘Jennifer Lopez’-thing in “Fat Butt and Pancake Head” and Cartman promoting Kyle to the Germans in “Funnybot”. In both cases he uses an instance of disrespecting Kyle as a front to compliment him, with the ‘Jennifer Lopez’-persona constantly being gushing over him, telling him how much she likes him, calling him ‘handsome’ and of course ‘kissing’ him by Cartman pressing his hand against Kyle’s mouth. This is especially interesting considering the fact that later in the episode it is very heavily implied (and then pretty much outright confirmed in “200”) that Cartman really doesn’t have full control over the character. In “Funnybot” Cartman calls Kyle either ‘gentle/soft’ or ‘juicy’ (lol), ‘pretty’, and ‘very beautiful’ in extremely mangled German (which I guess is just regular German in-universe since the native speakers talk just like that) and while the context of the scene is obviously very dark for the viewer, who can infer what’s going on, Kyle doesn’t actually seem to realise what is happening. He doesn’t appear to understand what is being said at all and as such Cartman doesn’t even really have the excuse that he’s teasing him.

This scene fits the reaction you described that Kyle tends to have when Cartman engages him in physical contact very well: Kyle reacts to Cartman excessively touching him with confusion but simply lets it happen. He has every reason to be wary of Cartman’s intentions and yet he makes no effort to stop him from what he’s doing. In “ManBearPig” Kyle wakes up to find Cartman leaning over him and while he doesn’t actually touch him, he does get extremely close to him, giving us the famous image of their faces mere inches apart. Kyle’s reaction to this is incredibly understated: He appears at most slightly irritated and attempts neither to push Cartman off nor to move away from him. Once again, he mostly just seems confused by Cartman’s behaviour but, as far as we can see, makes no further attempts to investigate the reasons behind it. This understated reaction is an indication of an (imo) often overlooked aspect of their relationship, which is that while Kyle is well aware of what Cartman is theoretically capable of, he doesn’t actually seem worried that he’d ever seriously harm him. Personally, if I found myself trapped in a cave with a person who constantly professes his hatred for me and whom I know has no qualms about killing people, and then woke up to find said person looming over me in my sleep I’d be much more worried than Kyle appears to be. In fact, considering everything that has happened over the course of their relationship and how many despicable things Cartman has done, Kyle seems Weirdly Comfortable And Safe With His Evil, Ill-Intentioned Friend. Because that’s what they are: They’re friends. To call it a complicated friendship might be an understatement but when it comes down to it the simple fact of the matter is that these two do like each other. While in earlier seasons a point could be made that they only spend time together out of necessity (with the main four being somewhat isolated from the other kids, as Craig points out in “Pandemic 2”, and Cartman originally being an incidental part of the group as ‘the friend no one likes’), they’ve both long since expanded their social circles to a point where they are no longer ‘forced’ to spend time together for lack of better options. Kyle would be more than justified in cutting Cartman off completely and yet he doesn’t and I can honestly see no real reason for this other than the fact that he simply cares about him as a person.

I’ve written a lot on their differences, but that’s mainly because I often write them paired up, so… I think about these differences a lot. About their dynamic. And when you write them together long enough, you start to notice just how different these two boys are. Not just in behavior, but in how they see the world.

There are plenty of episodes where they clash and argue, even some where they completely drift apart. And yet...  there are even more moments where they come back together. Always.

Because despite everything, they choose each other to be super best friends. Again and again. 

I’ve written about their differences between their neuroticism and how those are completely different (Kyle more internally chill yet externally anxious, yet Stan much more externally chill but internally more depressive and sensitive). And I keep meaning to make a post on here about their differences in Agreeableness when it comes to the Big 5 (something very interesting when comparing the two, which I’ll probably share later on). 

But something I often ask myself is… why are they best friends despite seeing the world so differently? They are SO different in how they process the world, yet canonically they’re ride-or-die best friends, so… why?

When it comes down to it:

Stan is more internal, emotional, disillusioned, cynical. Not good at consistently tying general societal moral issues together, yet great at one-on-one empathizing. His emotions often overwhelm him to the point of inaction, though when he does act, it's from an impulsive and often deeply emotional standpoint.

Kyle is external, he brings the fire- he's morally intense and CONSISTENT about his morals - but he can be terrible at one on one empathizing. He tries to stay ultimately positive about future implications. He’s idealistic. He's organized and consistent about his actions. You can count on him to stand up for what he feels is wrong.

Despite this, it’s clear they both care deeply, just in wildly (and at times flawed) different ways. This causes their core friendship at its best to run heavily on mutual respect, honesty, and loyalty. And at its worst cause massive misunderstandings and dramatic breakdowns.

Kyle brings the fire. Stan brings the calm. Kyle can get Stan to finally fucking act. Stan can help Kyle to take a deep breath and pause. 

When they clash the most: 

Kyle fights the world. He wants justice and group harmony. And he can be selfish from a standpoint of getting preachy and self-righteous, turning things quite black and white and disregarding some perhaps more nuanced views. He’s positive there’s always a moral way forward. And he desperately wants to be seen as an believes he is correct, not just morally, but also logically. When Stan checks out emotionally or becomes nihilistic/selfish? This drives him fucking insane. 

Stan withdraws from the world. He just wants authenticity and inner peace. And he can be selfish from a standpoint of just being… internally selfish lmao. Like he knows what he wants personally, and can zero in on just that, without thinking about, say, why Kyle may be so hurt about Cartman being anti semitic because Stan at times doesn’t care unless it impacts him personally. He doesn’t always show up for the moral crusade, and Kyle notices this. 

Kyle externalizes stress. Stan internalizes it. That contrast causes rifts, but also shows how different kinds of emotional pain can look. Kyle can get pissed off at Stan because Stan doesn’t as consistently demonstrate the same group moral standpoint moral crusading he expects Stan to, and sometimes Stan is so inwardly focused that he doesn’t even consider the impact on the greater group. And Stan can get pissed at Kyle because sometimes Kyle completely misses individualistic points and can be a bit self-righteous while perhaps not being great at 1:1 empathy (at times even getting pissed at Stan’s depression, such as in Raisions and You’re Getting Old/Assburgers). 

But here’s the thing… 

When they respect each other and just let each other be who they are, they both are at their very best. Kyle reminds Stan that the world is worth caring about and that he can get out of his microcosm of himself and focus on the greater group. And Stan reminds Kyle that he doesn’t have to carry it alone, and that sometimes there are some more individualistic factors at play. He shows Kyle what deep emotional empathy can feel like, both on the receiving and giving end.  

They both are emotionally intense, just in different ways. They both are disgusted by injustice - Kyle from a more idealistic standpoint, Stan from a more individualistic/realistic standpoint. They both are quite pragmatic and feel disillusioned at times (often bonding over this feeling of disillusionment). They both can be fucking stupid and basically just be 10 year old kids. Yet they’re both wildly smart beyond their ages and often act as the adults in the wild situations they find themselves in. They both can be selfish, though in different ways.

And yet… they both get each other in ways most people dont; and they are at their best when they don’t ask each other to change themselves while still calling each other out when they need to. They have the same sense of humor; they can banter back and forth in both their immature ways and their more understanding ways; they share a similar wide array of hobbies and will both shred current media to pieces together.

They clash often and yet… they believe in each other. Not in a naive way. Not blindly. But in a ‘I’ve seen you at your worst and still want you around’ kind of way.

They’re equals. Even when they argue. Even when they don’t understand each other. They challenge each other constantly, and still trust each other to come back.

Their friendship is deep and tested, and when they work to keep it intact they’re at their happiest. It’s canon that they are most miserable without each other in their lives and feel the most complete when they have each other to lean on.

They fucking respect the hell out of each other. Kyle may yell at Stan for being too detached, and Stan may side-eye Kyle for moralizing too hard - but when push comes to shove, they instinctively turn to each other first. You can see it, this desperate need for validation from the other, like when Kyle practically begs Stan for moral absolution in crack baby athletic association, or when Stan goes to Kyle as his final lifeline in You’re getting old.

They care deeply about what the other thinks of them above anyone else. And not in a performative way. They want each others approval not because of ego, but because they respect and know the others standards actually means something to them. They want each others judgement not because it’s kind, but because it’s true.

When everything falls apart- when the town loses its mind, when things don’t make sense, when the adults become parodies of themselves- Stan and Kyle keep showing up for each other. they don’t always know how to help, but they try. They’re consistent in their inconsistency, in the way only flawed childhood best friends who’ve grown through chaos can be.

Kyle is the fire. Stan is the still water. Kyle will fight the system. Stan will wonder if the system is even fucking worth fighting for. They both argue, and they sometimes clash, and they are both STUBBORN AS FUCKING HELL. 

And yet… they believe in each other. Not blindly. Not perfectly. But they always go back to trusting each other regardless.

They challenge each other. Call each other out. Clash hard.

But they also trust each other more than anyone else. Because…

They're equals. They highly depend on each other. They call bullshit on each other without hesitation. They fucking respect the hell out of each other, and they care highly what the other thinks of them. At the end of the day, they depend on each other, and when at their best, they balance each other out.

And that’s why, after everything… 

I don't know if you still take asks about SP but I had a question— please feel free to ignore it 😥 In YGO what do you think triggered Stan's depression? We know that his fall-out with Kyle later on along with his parents' divorce pretty much solidified it but before all that, when he first began seeing the world as shit, why did that happen?

Anyways, regardless of whether you respond or not, just wanted to tell you that I think you're one of the coolest people on this app👍

Thank you so much for reading and enjoying my meta! Sorry for taking ages to respond to this, I'm not as on top of things on here as I once was.

I think Stan has always been prone to being cynical, even nihilistic, and getting stuck in his own emotions with the same stubbornness he often also has for proving points on principle. When he settles on a point of view or action plan, it's hard for him to see reason or an alternate route. Sometimes this is a good thing, because he'll make the most futile, ridiculous mission happen out of pure determination and save the day. Sometimes it's not so good, because he'll gain fame for something he's being stubborn about but then he lets his ego get the best of him. And sometimes it's really BAD for him, like doubling down on being in his goth phase in Raisins despite it making him more miserable.

So with all that in mind, I don't think any one thing caused Stan to start feeling depressed. Sometimes depression really does just come out of seemingly nowhere. Sometimes we have a genetic predisposition to it (which I think he does). Sometimes things happen over time that don't seem to be that big of a deal, but they compound into heavy baggage (and lbr, the SP kids have all been through a lot). Sometimes everything feels basically fine until puberty hits and then it's just, bam, depression from there on out. I think Stan 'getting old' essentially was the trigger, because sometimes that really is how it goes. And it sucks! For me it was turning 12. It truly was like a switch got flipped.

And because every adult in South Park is an idiot in one way or another, he wasn't given the support he needed when he asked for help, either by being told that's just how life is, or straight up getting misdiagnosed. That, combined with Randy and Sharon being preoccupied with their own issues, left his support system to be solely made up of other kids, who obviously weren't at all equipped to deal with his feelings and, crucially, couldn't relate. So nothing got better and it was, like you said, solidified by the divorce and the falling out with Kyle. On top of that, being a kid himself, Stan didn't know how to really articulate how he was really feeling. He and Kyle are already not the best communicators, so it's no wonder that things got so strained - they both thought the other one wanted nothing to do with the other, and neither of them were capable of identifying the bigger issue.

The thing with depression is that it makes you your own worst enemy. It convinces you that everything is miserable and difficult and pointless and everyone secretly hates you, so you enter into this cycle of self-sabotage and creating all these self-fulfilling prophecies you can later point to as evidence to support why everything is so terrible. With Stan, he was unintentionally but actively pushing his friends away by being constantly sarcastic and judgmental, complaining about everything they wanted to do, and sucking the fun out of everything. They didn't know WHY he was being like that, only that he didn't seem to enjoy hanging out with them anymore. So, naturally, they hung out without him. Then he pointed to that and thought 'see? I really am completely alone'. I've been there many times, and it sucks! Even once you know it's depression fueled paranoia that's making you drive everyone away, it's still hard to stop it. And that's just one of the cycles that depressed people often get trapped in.

This is a four part essay in which i explore Cartman and Kyle's relationship, focusing primarily on Kyle's perspective. As said, i have broken it down into four different parts titled:

Sense of Identity

Martyr Complex and Competitiveness

Cartman

Their Relationship

There will be an extra chapter where i will make some additional commentary.

Hope you guys enjoy.

1. Sense of Identity and Selfishness

In the show Kyle is always concerned about “doing the right thing”, at least that's what he likes to tell himself. Though in reality, he is extremely selfish when push comes to shove and the reason for that stems from his constant questioning of his own identity and his stance in things. This makes him come off as rather inconsistent in a lot of ways. As a result, Kyle feels very lost. So what does he do? He decides to base his opinions and feelings and thoughts off of his environment because his own existance overwhelms him so much (eg. the "Tooth Fairy Tats 2000" episode). This puts him into this vicious cycle where he keeps getting lost even more due to not being able to pinpoint his own frame of thought and latching onto the external world that consists of many different people who have found their own way in life who also keep changing constantly and thus leaving all kinds of contradicting impressions on him. Throughout the series we see him try to change his apparence, religion, even his personality for the sake of fitting in (this also correlates to his martyr complex which i will get to). He creates this moral code for himself that he conditions himself to stick to in order to find his own identity and feel a sense of belonging but the sheer inconsistency of said moral code causes him to come off as indecisive, sometimes as a people pleaser and sometimes a hypocrite.

His defiance of a stable frame of mind pushes him to act on instinct and his momentary emotions while his refusal of self-acceptance causes him to distance his true self from others he considers close to him (Stan), hence the selfishness. It makes sense because how could someone get close to another when he can't even make peace with his own identity?

The reason i am mentioning this is to point out that since Cartman is so extreme in his beliefs and deliberately commits so many evil and selfish deeds, Kyle is obsessively drawn to him because it is so easy to call out and oppose him. Their polarity makes Kyle feel a sense of self he doesnt allow himself to truly make peace with and sugarcoat how fucked up he can be just like all the people in South Park that have wronged him but not enough to channel these feelings into. Cartman keeps Kyle grounded. Just like basically every other kid in the show, Kyle has done terrible things but he is so concerned about being right that he has to have Cartman by his side to make him escape from his own inner conflicts by reflecting it directly onto Cartman, the one person he is actually much more similar to more than he likes to think but he can only subconsciously acknowledge it.

2. Martyr Complex and Competitiveness

Another very essential aspect we need to pay attention to is Kyle's martyr complex. Kyle feels the need to not only to do the right thing but also to “sacrifice himself” for it. He is so self righteous to the point that not only does he not acknowledge his own flaws he also thinks he has to be and is some kind of heroic figure to others (eg. "Ginger Cow"), though this is more subtle compared to the other aspects of his personality.

The martyr complex causes Cartman to be seen as an even easier target than he already is and Cartman is more than willing to exploit Kyle for it hence feeding his very own complexes. They mutually feed off of each other to the point they are obsessed with each other and need each other. I would also like to point out that Kyle often shares some of his most vulnerable moments when Cartman is by his side in a suprising way (eg. choosing to stay by Cartman's side in the "You're Getting Old" and "Ass Burgers" episodes as an escape from Stan's depression at the time, crying with Cartman in "Kenny Dies" etc.) and vice versa. Though this is hard to notice on Cartman's side because Kyle conveys his vulnerability via confusion, sadness and desparation whereas Cartman does so via anger, jealousy and revenge.

3. Cartman

Cartman chastising Kyle like this most likely stems from how he believes Kyle was the catalyst to how fucked up he turned out to be due to his constant agression and bullying towards him in the earlier seasons, where he was mostly just a spoiled brat and nowhere near as bad as he is now. His pent up fury leads Cartman to also feel an extreme amount of envy towards Kyle with the reason of Cartman being a little more capable than Kyle at recognizing how him and Kyle share many similarities (being very emotionally driven, selfishness, neuroticism, stubbornnes, a habit of denying their own mistakes) who is in full denial of it on a conscious level. Cartman does try to get closer to Kyle and also the rest of his friends and seek their validation in the earlier seasons but as time goes by he realizes more and more that Kyle does not get the same treatment as him regardless.

Therefore, Cartman blames Kyle for his suffering and takes it all out on him in various disgusting ways because he thinks that Kyle deserves all the terrbile things happening to him.

It is very important to take into consideration how abhorrent Cartman's upbringing was and how influential it is to the way he feels towards Kyle. All of his childhood; he was raised with all kinds of abuse, neglect, extensive bullying and was depraved of almost all positive emotions. The result of this is Cartman ending up percieving positive emotions in a very traumatized, distorted and disturbing way. With this gradual build-up and "Scott Tennorman Must Die" being his breaking point by spreading fear to all of South Park and feeling an overwhelming amout of attention on him that he craved so much, Cartman ultimately comes to the conclusion that he can only and only validate himself by inflicting negativity on others. Independent from being conventionally "positive" or "negative" emotions, post-Scott Tennorman Cartman correlates all of his emotions to seeking attention and asserting himself as much as he can in means of a defense mechanism and in means of validating his own existance. His real feelings are filtered through a broken perspective, of which are conveyed intensely to the people he feels strongly about like Kyle or Liane.

How this all comes back to Kyle lies in the fact that Cartman also "benefits" from the way Kyle caters to his own problems via their seemingly very polarized relationship, not only does Cartman keep Kyle grounded as mentioned but Kyle does keep Cartman grounded as well.

At this point, their individual vicious cycles have become one, a constant play of cat and mouse; with both of them unable to differentiate which one is which, ever chasing.

4. Their Relationship

Describing their feelings towards each other as solely hate wouldn’t do justice to the times they tried so hard to keep the other in their lives (eg. the "Smug Alert" and "Skank Hunt" episodes) not only for the sake of just existing in each others lives or keeping in touch etc. but also to keep each other in their individual loops they are in, of which they cannot maintain with anyone else.

As a consequence Kyle and Cartman’s mutual obsession with each other leads them to go such lengths as saving each other multiple times. However, since there is a perpetual competitiveness between them due to Cartman's evny towards Kyle and Kyle's insatiable need to prove himself to be better than Cartman, they simply cannot stand each other’s happiness, especially if it involves someone really close to them, like a partner. Cartman ruining Kyle's potential romantic relationship with Nicole in "Cartman Finds Love" and Kyle trying to ruin Cartman's relationship with Heidi in "Doubling Down" and Kyle being unable to appreciate Cartman finally changing his ways for good and having a loving relationship and family in the Post Covid specials are all examples of both of them selfishly trying to involve the other in their own issues they should be able to deal with on their own, only have they not been such self absorbed people.

Their rivalry brings out the best and the worst in each other and they both know deep down that they are just like each other and they both hate it and feel an odd sense of comfort in it. That is exactly the reason why they simply cannot stand when the one of them goes on to have a happier life than the other. Not only do they feel as if they have lost some kind of battle but they also feel abandoned when it happens.

Extra Thoughts:

I find their relationship to be extremely complex and honest to god it has my multi media overthinker ass climbing up the walls and shitting furnitures. They are my favorite characters in the show and analyzing both of them was such treat to me. Due to some things i have mentioned in this essay especially on the last chapter, you can interpret some of them in the same vein as some kind of shipping subtext, even though this essay is essentially written in means of sheerly exploring this dynamic as it is. I honestly like keeping things really ambigious without necessarily categorizing relationships as romantic or platonic but if written properly i can enjoy both renditions of this relationship.

In order to clarify some things, i can enjoy romantic kyman ONLY AND ONLY in the condition of Cartman bettering himself over the years. I know it would be really difficult and may seem impossible to most of you but i find it an interesting and challenging story to think about and create content for. I believe that Eric is forever gonna stay as an asshole and i do not expect him to become an angel in the future. However I also think of him to be a really traumatized 8 year old, who is a really fucked up product of his really fucked up environment, a child who is smart enough to learn to be a better person, especially to those he values as his friends if given the proper opportunity. I do not think that their relationship will ever be a conventionally and classically an ideal one, especially from an outsider's perspective but Kyle and Cartman (and the entirety of South Park's cast) are both very far from being ideal human beings in the first place. At the end of the day, relationships can be very complex and unhealthy in real life, they always come in different colors and shapes. It is okay to explore a relationship in fiction without thinking it is the ideal relationship or the relationship you want to have in your own lives. It is okay to explore a relationship because it is interesting and well-written. This is what media literacy is all about.

As a disclaimer before some dumbass ship discourse happens, there are ofc some lines not to cross like the romanticization of inc*st, p*dophilia, r*pe and things like ww2 aus and shit btw. That being said, if you cannot separate fiction and reality to the extent i talked about in the previous chapter, this is your stupidity. Stop making it everybody's fucking problem.

anyways im gonna be extra deadass rn if someone gave me a 100k word long collage au that is written properly i would eat that shit up like theres no tomorrow. it doesnt even have to be romantic i just want more of them they are so interesting 😭😭😭 they also funny as fuck so the 2012 yaoi becomes even funnier. what a great dynamic godzamn 😭😭😭😭

So I've had this little thing among my pinned posts for a while, but basically, I've been curious where "DeLorne" (Christophe's almost universally agreed upon last name in the fandom) comes from. Previously, the earliest instance I'd found was on a dA art post in 2006, but I've since done more research and uncovered incredible pieces of fandom history, as well as a mystery! It's a pretty long story, but if you're interested in South Park fandom history at all (especially pertaining to Gregory and Christophe), I think you'll find it all fascinating. Let me rope you into the journey I've found myself on.

seeing as south park episodes aren’t gonna come until march, this gives me the time to talk about cupid ye…which i’ve wanted to after the episode came out but i figured i wouldn’t have enough time to. so i really planned this analysis to be after all the episodes were made for s26…but again seeing as they’re on break, i took my chances.

so this is the perfect time for me to talk about cupid ye and how the episode always read more kyman than style to me. this may sound absurd considering the episode phrases stan and kyle’s relationship in a romantic way, but i find that’s all it extends to. let’s review the episode for a bit so i can elaborate. sure, the phrasing implies some sort of romance between stan and kyle, and there’s even a scene where stan is stammering and love struck when kyle talks to him. But we don’t ever see stan act upon this. notice how throughout the entire episode stan NEVER confronts kyle about how he misses hanging out with him? i see people call kyle a bad friend for “ditching” him, but it’s a notion i never got. stan never said anything to kyle about it, kyle’s not a bad friend for wanting to have fun with someone else, it’s not ditching in the slightest (unless you’re going to try and actually imply kyle belongs to stan and should only be around him 24/7). how was kyle supposed to know stan felt this way? he was having fun with tolkien, kyle’s suddenly villain for having fucking fun??? i can only blame stan in this situation because all he did was avoid the problem and act like it didn’t affect him (when it did).

even at the end of the episode, he only confronts tolkien not kyle. this just signifies to me there’s a clear communication problem in stan and kyle’s friendship. for an unknown reason, stan doesn’t want to address things with kyle. with this fact in mind, that scene where stan is nervous to talk to kyle at lunch suddenly doesn’t look so cute anymore, in fact, it demonstrates a legitimately problem of stan’s.

it’s no wonder stan and kyle’s friendship is breaking off, stan can’t even discuss his feelings with kyle. he does nothing but mope around and feel sorry for himself when he could literally fix the problem if he talked to his super best friend.

but opposed that to cartman in this episode. what does cartman do in the episode when he realizes he did something wrong? he acts. he realizes he’s gone way too far with the rumor about kyle running hollywood and he actually does something about it. sure, stan can stand in front of kyle to protect him (which tolkien did too so even that’s not a style moment lol) but cartman’s the one who forced cupid ye (arguably himself) to take his meds to save kyle.

cartman got kyle in this mess but he got kyle out of it.

and let’s talk about the initial synopsis for the episode too.

the synopsis says cartman is jealous. watching the ep, it appears stan is jealous, and he is. so why would it say cartman is jealous? because cartman is projecting. cartman ordinarily doesn’t care if stan and kyle have a fallout, actually he typically relishes in them. but that’s only because he gets kyle to himself (ex: assburgers, cbaa). but this time, tolkien and kyle hang out. so cartman takes stan’s jealousy and acts like he’s doing it for stan and his friendship with kyle, but in reality he’s doing it because he’s jealousy. just as the synopsis says.

and i don’t think it’s a coincidence cupid me, cartman’s gay conscious, is in this episode about cartman being jealous of tolkien and kyle’s friendship. in their valentine’s day episode at that ;).

Like lmao. “Disagreements” give me a break

—

In his defence, this is one of the few times where Skug is actually incredibly diplomatic. There’s a few reasons for this:

1. The obvious one: Omen is a kid. More than that, Omen is a lame kid, whose entire life experience at that point is Being Fat, Being Lame, and Sitting In Maths Class. He would have no point of reference for how to react to something as viscerally horrifying as my father murdered my mother. That would be a wildly age-inappropriate story for Skug to tell him - so much so that even Skug knows it. 

2. The other obvious one: all the Abrogate bullshit would be a very painful, very personal, very old wound for Skug. No way in hell would he want to open it for the benefit of this boy he barely knows. Yes, he’s prone to dropping inappropriate stories out of nowhere, but most of the time it’s because they’re either relevant to what’s happening around them, or he doesn’t realise they’re inappropriate, because he’s messed up, and his upbringing was messed up, and his concept of what’s normal is decidedly skewed as a result. 

And 3. The one I think actually occurred to him at the time: Omen is a child with an abusive home and parents who have a hardcore golden child/scapegoat dynamic. Omen is a child who has spent his entire life being overshadowed by and negatively compared to whatshisface, the brother. And in this moment, Omen is a child who is - tentatively - reaching out to someone he sees as a Safe Adult. He’s testing the water to see how Skug reacts to a relatively minor disclosure, because he - Omen - isn’t sure whether he really is just disappointing and useless, or whether he’s justified in feeling neglected and badly treated. 

Skug also came from an abusive home, was also the family scapegoat, and at some point probably dropped the same kind of hints to Ghastly’s parents. He would know how important it is that he react correctly, because it would be so easy at this point to make Omen feel like he can’t open up to anyone about his home life again. 

And “Yeah, well, my father murdered my mother, we’ve all got problems,” would be a spectacular way to make sure he never brings up his family issues again. It would be overshadowing his pain, putting him in the same position he’s been pushed into by his parents all his life. It would be saying your suffering doesn’t matter because I had it worse. 

And Skug is a lot of bad things, but he’s not deliberately cruel to people who don’t deserve it. He’s kind to Peg Muldoon, he’s kind to Scaramouche van Dreg, he’s kind to Scapegrace - all people who could have reasonably been handled with violence or cruelty. So he’s absolutely not going to choose nastiness with this boy. 

He says: I liked my mother. I think I might have even loved my mother. I had disagreements with my father. In the same conversation, he tells Omen that parents should love their children, and that it’s not Omen’s fault that his don’t. 

That’s. A very carefully-worded way of putting it. He’s chosen words that will seem, to Omen, to mimic his own situation. He’s saying I understand what you’re trying to tell me. He’s saying I see how they treat you and I don’t approve. He’s validating what Omen has been through as the scapegoat child, and telling him it’s not okay. He’s giving Omen an ally - an adult who sees the Darkly parents’ behaviour, isn’t okay with it, and isn’t afraid of them. Basically, he’s trying to give Omen the kind of support that Ghastly’s parents probably once gave him when he was in Omen’s position. 

And for that, Omen doesn’t need to know how much worse Skug had it. He just needs to know that a) Skug survived it, and b) someone he has a lot of respect for has confirmed that the way his parents treat him is Not Okay. It’s really quite a startling amount of tact and empathy for someone who is so, so damaged, and this is probably the closest we get to seeing how he likely behaved with his own child.