gunslingin’

i'm jae and i'm really fucking obsessed with gay paper cut outs. they/them please

[kymantruther]

## 📂 pinned !

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[ramcel]

boiling up

[noev1lstar]

??? at first ???

[cheescheesy]

racoon 🦝

[kymantruther]

i love how even the most dudebro-est south park watcher can see kyman

[basu-shokikita]

the thing with kyman is that it encompasses the entirety of their dynamic. it’s not just the cute moments they share on occasion, or our desire for them to get along better. kyman is also the mutual obsession they have for each other, the constant arguing and the disses. it’s the ugly fixation cartman has for kyle and the terrible codependence kyle has with cartman. when they bond it's kyman but it’s also kyman when they fight. kyman isn't just the hypothetical romance, it's the rivalry as well. it’s kyman when they save each other but also when they do attempts on the other’s life. it’s the reality that they make each other worse, but also the fact that they are unstoppable together. kyman is the parallels and the comparisons that sometimes are so blatant, but other times take a bit more to pick up. kyman is how their relationship goes far beyond direct exchanges, to the point sometimes they don’t have to interact for a moment to be kyman. kyman is the influence they have on each other, either by being present or absent in one another’s life. that’s the extent of kyman.

[saturnpanther]

I don't really want Kyle to make Eric better- I want Cartman to make Kyle worse lmfao. Let Kyle indulge the worst parts of himself until they both nearly destroy everything around them (including each other), and THEN they get to heal

[kymantruther]

cupid ye was more kyman than it was style

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 ;).

so to summarize, it’s incredibly surface level to say this episode was style. this episode was kyman to the core and just furthers the theory that cartman is in love with kyle.

[aukives]

The Good, the Bad and the High

[kymantruther]

my favorite genre of kyman hater is the ones that are like “i like the art style but the ship is disgusting” / “why waste talent on this ship”. i can just feel them seethe in jealousy about the fact the kyman fandom has talented, cool artist and it always makes me laugh.

[kymantruther]

## 📁 about !

: ̗̀➛jae, 18, they/them, non binary, lesbian, afro latina

[kymantruther]

cartman when kyle is subservient: ginger cow’s mischaracterization of eric cartman

south park’s “ginger cow”, season 17 episode 6 is honestly quite the er…interesting episode. but despite it’s rampant fart humor and what not, it’s still a goodie, especially in terms of comedy. (idk something about kyle saying “can i please i your piping hot farts in my mouth” makes me laugh every time.) but in terms of characterizing kyman’s dynamic….? that’s where it falls flat.

the episode ignores cartman’s relationship with kyle—particularly regarding kyle’s natural “fighting spirit”. when cartman does or says something nasty, kyle is the first to call him out on his bullshit, granted he’ll only do it if he personally doesn’t agree with what he’s doing (cbaa) but none the less, you can admit kyle often criticizes cartman. and you know how cartman reacts? yeah, he fights back. and it’s key to recognize what cartman does when kyle fights back at him. why mention this? well obviously people aren’t flat—they feel emotions and can be flippant; my case in point being there are times where kyle doesn’t call cartman out on his bullshit and “let’s him win”. let’s take “mr garrisons fancy new vagina” episode 1 of season 9.

in this episode, kyle tries out for the basketball team, whilst cartman hurls beforehand that jews can’t play basket basketball and obviously kyle fights back.

Cartman: This is ridiculous. Jews can't play basketball. Kyle [points right at Cartman]: I beat out YOUR fat ass, Cartman! [a referee's whistle is heard]

but as kyle plays, he isn’t exactly the best. and even his coach reaffirms cartman’s previous statement. this leaves kyle feel hopeless…

Cartman: Nyanyanyanyanyaaanyaaa! You-hoo-hoo-hoo loh-ost! Hahahahahaaahaaa! [No response. Cartman can't get a rise out of Kyle] Kyle, I'm totally ripping on you at a totally inappropriate time. Kyle: I know. I deserve it. Cartman: Yeah, you know why? Because Jews can't play basketball! Kyle: You're right. [this disarms Cartman completely, and he walks away] Cartman: Jesus, that's no fun.

Interestingly enough, as soon as kyle forfeits and doesn’t put up a fight cartman spits that, “it’s no fun”. it’s a clear departure from how cartman reacts to kyle, with the only difference being kyle didn’t fight back. i think this statement alone shows that cartman enjoys the fight with kyle, as the quote reads “he can’t get a rise out him”

and by the way, kyle being subservient to cartman is different to cartman getting his way with him. taking imagination land for an example, kyle ultimately sucking cartman’s balls didn’t come immediately. in fact cartman actually draws the time out when he thinks he’s won. cartman chooses to actively relish the moment by listening to kyle complain, he dresses up and teases him about it (ball famished anyone?). it takes a very long time until kyle sucks cartman’s balls, and the only reason cartman could enjoy it as much as he did was because kyle put up a fight. it’s kinda like the phrase “boys like the chase.”

but in “mrs garrison’s fancy vagina” cartman wins very easily, kyle just agrees with cartman and doesn’t provide any argument or anything. as much as cartman likes to win, it means nothing to him if kyle didn’t fight him before he did.

it’s clear cartman enjoys kyle’s stubbornness, and it’s even stated and addressed in “smug alert”. quote,

Stan: You know, Cartman, you may be stoked now, but I bet you're gonna find that without Kyle around to rip on, your life is empty, and hollow.

and the episode straight up proves stan right with cartman feeling that butters, who is subservient to everything cartman throws at him, is a “lousy jew” because he didn’t have the fighting cadence like kyle. cartman thinks initially he can replace kyle but it’s clear he can’t; nothing can satisfy cartman than kyle fighting back at that moment. so you know what cartman does.

he risks his life to save kyle.

it’s something he didn’t even have to do (and the fact he doesn’t even admit to it???) but it just shows how much he cares about not only his entertainment, but kyle in general, to the point he could die trying to get them back. the truth is, cartman can’t live without kyle around. he likes how kyle has fight in him, and imagination land also as a goodie that advocates this.

when someone dies, often someone who was close to them will start admitting stuff as they pass. they’ll start saying how they feel about the person, who they think the person is etc etc. and obviously south park isn’t immune to this, i mean not only is this a common trope, it can enhance how sad a death scene is. so when in imagination land (2), when kyle is sworn to die, cartman admits something interesting…

Cartman: Godammit Kyle, you never walked away from anything in your life! Now fight! [smacks Kyle around] Fight! Fight! 

cartman claims kyle “never walked away from anything”, which of course refers to how frequent kyle bickers back. but it’s interesting cartman brings this up. something that ordinarily would be seen as an inconvenience that opposes him (fighting back) is being regarded as something good, like it’s something kyle should be proud of. the fact cartman confesses this on kyle’s death bed really proves how kyle having that stubbornness is very important to cartman.

so tldr: we can come to the conclusion cartman really likes it when kyle fights back and it’s very important he does.

so why did i say all of this? well because in ginger cow, kyle reacts a bit differently to cartman’s tricks. beings an avid peace lover, when the world has world peace kyle has no problem letting cartman er…fart on him for it.

now i don’t have any issues with how kyle is protracted here, actually it aligns in his character, because we can all totally see kyle doing something dumb or extreme to have peace in the world. but the way cartman is portrayed…

he basically relishes kyle’s servitude. and if you take everything we learned about cartman so far, this is WILDLY out of character. if cartman was characterized consistently in this episode, he would bail the fuck out if kyle started being like “ok yeah sure fart in my face.” like he’d be so turned off, he wouldn’t indulge in that shit at all. now if kyle fought the fart thing it would be different, and cartman probably would’ve enjoyed himself a lot more, the the fact is kyle didn’t and cartman was ok with that??? like who tf are you and what did you do with cartman.

it pretends like cartman didn’t risk his fucking life just to rip on kyle again and have him fight back. like that guy is unhinged for it, and to act like that shit never happened is insane people talk.

like atp you could’ve replaced kyle with butters and i’d believe it; butter is a lot more passive with cartman and cartman likes to have butters listening to his every word. like the episode would’ve been so much more believable in terms of dynamic.

so in summary, ginger cow is funny but it’s not funny enough for me to ignore its blatant mischaracterization of my guy cartman 😩

[aukives]

Cat man.

[kymanisotp]

something i really love about kyman is the fact that throughout the whole series theres ‘evidence’ that kyle and cartman have something special. it’s like a mystery that no one saw coming. trying to find little clues in episodes, seeing the depth within the ship. like in jewpacabra when kyle gave cartman that blanket and cartman was wearing it in the next episode. and the fact that cartman finds love is even an episode!! like i can’t imagine how kyman shippers felt when cartman finds love aired. kyman is not just a ship that i find cute. it’s much more than that. and that’s why i love it so much. because it’s interesting, different, and a ship that no one would see coming.

[parti-pooper]

Get this. So I'm watching South Park Doubling Down, and the part where the fourth grade girls are telling Kyle he must like Heidi because why else would he be interfering so much? Then it hits me. The girls had it backwards... This wasn't about Heidi at all... Make of that what you will.

Oh, no, yeah. I’ve always believed that the girls had it the wrong way ‘round and Kyle just accepted their suggestion that he liked Heidi because, well, he himself didn’t understand why he was so invested in their relationship. If he had a crush on Heidi, he could make sense of his own involvement in her love life, ya dig? It is perfectly logical, right?

What doesn’t make sense about it, though, is that Kyle has never been unaware or unsure about having a crush on a girl before. Don’t believe me? Well, take a stroll with me now down the memory lane of Kyle’s crushes, if you will, and you will see what I mean...

First we have Rebecca, and Kyle knew from day one that he like-liked her. She was obviously wicked smart, and he was smitten by her. (It also helped that she “really was quite good-looking,” enough to write a song about.) She beat his ass at the spelling bee fair and square, and he was immediately like... “Respect.” He seemed to know his interest in her was romantic, since he wanted to serenade her with a guitar and give her flowers and all of that Hollywood romance junk he likely copied from TV. He wanted to go over to her house to talk with her, and he let her do whatever she wanted with him just so he could spend time with her. It was a very juvenile, Baby’s First Crush kind of thing; but it was still a legitimate crush. Nobody ever had to tell him what he was feeling, nor did he ever have to ask himself, “Hm... Do I? Don’t I?” Kyle was fully aware of his own feelings, and acted on them without preamble. He knew what he wanted, and without anyone telling him either. Unlike with Heidi, when he didn’t know and did have to be told.

Next we have Nichole. This is a little bit different from Kyle’s last crush since he only showed feelings for Nichole once he thought she was into him. It could be that he was attracted to her even before that, though. Maybe he was kind of trying to ignore his feelings for this pretty cheerleader at first, thinking he didn’t have a shot with her; but when he saw a sign that she liked him too, he decided he had a chance. You could see an immediate change in him. He didn’t have to ask himself, “Am I into her too?” He knew straight away that he very much was. It was actually adorable watching the high enthusiasm he bounded around with, trying to find out more about her and figure out how to ask her out. He was so excited when he was told she likes basketball, just like him, and he was totally stoked on their date. You could see there was no doubt in his mind. In fact, he had to be told by another person not to like her - rather than be told by other people that he did like her - when Cartman pointed out to Kyle that Nichole was already with Token and he would be breaking up a nice thing if he didn’t quit pursuing her. There was no uncertainty or outside influence in his crush on her.

Last we have Leslie. True, she kind of had, like, manipulative powers, being an Ad; so there’s room to argue whether Kyle’s crush was legitimate when he was simply brain-washed by her like everyone else. Still, Kyle knew he wanted to be this girl’s Nice, White, Jewish Knight. He wanted to protect her from harm. He wanted to hold her close. No one else told him, “Go take care of Leslie, it’s what you want.” He just already had that urge because of what he (or rather, his dick) was feeling for her. He was sure about what he wanted with her; he was so sure that he ditched his friends to run off and hide with her while he figured out a plan to make her safe. With Leslie, you could tell Kyle’s feelings were a “!” (until she was revealed, that is). While with Heidi, you could see Kyle’s feelings were a “?”

Now you’ve seen how he was with his other crushes, how does that make you feel about his “crush” on Heidi? Isn’t it strange that this boy who has never had to be told before “You like this girl” to know it, suddenly had to be told just that? Isn’t it odd that this boy who has never had to ask himself before “Do I like this girl?” to be sure of it, suddenly had to ask himself just that? I don’t know about you, but I’m not buying it.  

Does this look like the face of a boy who’s confident in his feelings, or confused?

Isn’t it also strange that Kyle’s interactions with Heidi were not focused on Heidi? He didn’t sing to her with a guitar, he didn’t play games she wanted to appease her, he didn’t run around the school happily when he felt like he had a shot with her, he didn’t ask her friends about her interests so he could take her out on the perfect date... In fact, we didn’t even really see Kyle talk to Heidi about her at all, unless it was about her involvement with...

Cartman.

Yup. If you ask me, that is the element of Heidi’s relationship that Kyle was really invested in from the start. It was always about Cartman. It was just easier to say, “I have a crush on Heidi,” however, than for Kyle to admit he has this obsession with Cartman. So when the girls gave him that out, Kyle took it. That’s how I feel.

Just look at when Cartman confronted Kyle about stealing Heidi away from him. Kyle’s arguments weren’t about her at all. They were about Cartman. He didn’t say to Cartman, “She wasn’t happy.” He didn’t say, “Both of you weren’t happy.” No, what he said was, "You weren’t happy.” It’s almost as if Cartman’s feelings were the only ones which mattered to him. Wow. He went on to say, “All you did was bitch about her all the time,” as if he was trying to make him see that he did him a favour, as if he was implying that he took Heidi for Cartman’s sake. Not for his sake. Not for her sake. Cartman’s.

Because of all this, I am fully convinced that Kyle’s intervention in Cartman and Heidi’s relationship had nothing to do with any confused feelings for Heidi that he could put an acceptable name to, and everything to do with all his confusing feelings for Cartman that he couldn’t put an acceptable name to.

That’s just a theory though... A gay theory. [Puts on sunglasses and finger-guns]

Anyway... Poor Kyle, huh? He’s been so unlucky in love. I just hope that one day he’ll find someone who has all the same things he liked about those girls that got away.

Someone like Rebecca, who can challenge him, and mentally stimulate him...

Someone like Nichole, who shares his interests, and he can enjoy being with...

Someone like Leslie, who he wants to be there for, and protect with his life...

...Oh, wait a minute. >w>

[potatoes-tomatoes]

I love them so much. I could watch them argue about air and I’d be enthralled.

[victimized-martyr]