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so about a kyman university au here
imagine when kyle and cartman’s new classmates once are so sick of hearing kyle hating cartman so much, so they sceptically ask what is it what kyle has against eric. and kyle is so confused as he can’t choose proper words to find an actual reason why he hates cartman, so he just grabs the first guess he has in mind and victoriously declares “For example, he gave me fucking AIDs once, does that count?”
and he’s so proud of finally revealing them how terrible cartman is, that he doesn’t notice how his classmates exchange understanding looks and nod. then he hears “Oh, so they were exes… That explains everything!” and gets fucking furious while cartman is losing it sm he doesn’t even try to deny their assumption.
au about kyman entering the same university somewhere far away from south park, where not a single person knows what kind of reputation cartman had back in his native town.
so cartman decides it’s a chance for him to replay the game and change the way he is treated.
he acts nice, he makes wise decisions, he makes friends with those who can help him in future, he doesn’t break a single law and studies hard, he becomes a perfect version of eric cartman. and everyone falls for it, because he seems absolutely cool, funny and charismatic to them.
the only person who’s not buying it is kyle, who decides it’s his moral obligation to “expose” the true nature of eric cartman, so he tries to sabotage him in any way but fails every time eventually humiliating himself. by the end of the first term even the professors know that kyle broflovski is obsessed with fighting with cartman and most people assume that he’s either a simple fatphobic bully or is in love with cartman.
by that time kyle is considered to be a loser and is pretty much avoided by most of his peers meanwhile cartman is surrounded by people who love and admire him. so it happens that cartman is the only friend kyle’s got now hehe.
the whole first half of an au is basically kyle who’s trying to set cartman up so he can reveal his “evil side” but he ends up as an unbelievable piece of shit himself.
and kyle is pissed because how can’t anyone see the truth??
he complains about it to cartman because he doesnt have anyone else.
cartman, meeting kyle in the morning: Hey, so how will you try to set me up this time?
kyle: I am not “setting anyone up”. I simply want people to know the truth about who you really are.
cartman: Seem kinda obsessed with me, huh, Kahl?
kyle: Do not provoke me, Cartman.
cartman: I am not. Just… what’s the truth, tell me? Who am I, then? I seem to have forgotten it since everyone here thinks I’m great.
kyle, raising his voice: You’re an unbelievably psychotic fat ugly piece of shit and you do not deserve what you get, that’s who you are, you hear me, asshole?!
everyone in the class: …Woah, Broflovski. Nice job, jerk, now you made him upset. What’s even wrong with you?
cartman, raising voice so everyone hears him: Wow, Kyle, I guess you really haven’t changed since high school. And I was stupid enough to hope we could be friends here…
kyle, confused: Wait, that is not what… That’s… Fuck!! You planned it since the beginning, didn’t you?
imagine kyle who was DREAMING about his university life? he thought he’d be noticed because of how smart he is, he thought girls would love him because he’s intelligent and nice, he thought everything would be different. but instead his life was once again about cartman – and he couldn’t forgive him for ruining his life of dream.
kyle: Why on Earth would you do this? It was supposed to be the best year of my life, but you just had to show up and ruin everything!
cartman: I ruined everything?
kyle: Yes, you did! Why else would you go to the same university?!
cartman: I’m sorry, Kyle, I don’t quite get it. You think I went to this university just because of you? How highly do you think of yourself?
kyle: Why not? You’ve been obsessed with me the whole time!
cartman: I’m obsessed? Isn’t it you who devotes all his time in his first year of university trying to set me up? Tell me about being obsessed, Kyle!
kyle: What’s that supposed to mean?
cartman: I came here, to the university as far from South Park as possible, to start a new fucking page of my life without prejudice. Have you seen a single person here who would refer to me as “fatass” except for you?
kyle: Oh, don’t even start it with “fatphobic” shit, you can’t possibly be offended by this, that was just friendly bantering!
cartman: Was it? Was it, Kyle?
kyle: Well–
cartman: And even now that I’m here you still can’t let it go. You still can’t accept the tiny possibility that I might’ve changed. So you just have to go there and shout “hey, everyone, he’s a piece of shit, you should hate him with me”. Does that help your self-esteem?
kyle: I… ugh, I didn’t think it was like that…
cartman: I know you didn’t.
so here’s a k2 au where kyle somehow managed to notice kenny’s deaths, and how i imagine his reaction would be.
first of all, we all know kyle’s saviour complex and his “older brother” behaviour, so i strongly believe he would be shocked by kenny’s immortality and his first intention is simple af – to protect kenny and not let him die anymore. it’s kind of a subconscious thing, but i think kyle would feel guilt for not knowing about kenny’s sufferings, he’d feel like a shitty friend, and would want to restore his reputation by “saving kenny”. he would make it like some sort of his moral obligation.
and that was great at the beginning because kenny is not used to such caring protective treatment, but as the time passed kyle would become more, uh, insistent?
he would have unknowingly deprived kenny of the opportunity to enjoy those crumbs of a happy, calm, free life that he had, because of his overprotection.
he really didn’t mean to discomfort kenny though, but it just. happened?... because kyle is very overprotective and sometimes he can “suffocate” with his care as we can see it from his interactions with ike.
i can literally see a scene where they all went to a potentially dangerous place such as amusement park, and kyle doesn’t want kenny to get hurt so they avoid “dangerous” things.
someone suggests to kyle and kenny to go to the rides, kenny smiles happily and is already running towards the roller coaster, but kyle grabs his hand and pulls him towards the children's carousels instead, saying that the rest is too dangerous,
and kenny is sitting on this children's carousel next to kindergarteners, with a dreary look on his face. he sees stan and cartman, screaming with delight on the adult attractions, and sighs very sadly.
and this happens more and more because kyle is responsible and he doesn’t want to break his promise. and one day kenny just gets so sick of this, like… i see how they can start arguing, because kenny wants to do something dangerous, and kyle holds him back, and kenny just loses his temper (he can get really furious when people are trying to take what gives him joy, as we see in s12e3 “major boobage”).
and kyle also gets angry so he replies smth like: "But look, how long has it been since your last death??? Two months, Kenny!! You’ve never been alive for such a long time in a row! All thanks to my care!" and kenny, who is already freaking out on emotions, says something like "WELL MAYBE DYING WAS MORE FUN THAN HANGING OUT WITH YOU!" and kyle gets so devastated. so he just frowns with a blank look, mumbles quiet “Oh… I see” and leaves.
and then after this, it has been like two or three days already, kenny dies once again, so he remembers how this can hurt. he feels a bit guilty about his words, so he comes up to kyle and they finally have a talk:
kyle: You… you really think I’m hurting you with my protection?
kenny: (Wait, no, I didn’t mean to offend you–)
kyle: But you think so, don’t you?
kenny: (It’s just… I’m used to dying, Kyle, I don’t need this much concern.)
kyle: But I… I know that but, it’s like… when I imagine you being injured or dead… Everything inside me just aches and shrinks, and… I guess I am overreacting, but I just don’t want you to go through something like this any more than needed.
kenny: (Aw :( )
kyle: I’m sorry, Kenny, I didn’t mean to…
kenny: *hugs* (That’s fine.)
and they’re finally fine. at least they’re trying to find this golden middle between protection and recklessness :3
i was thinking a lot about stan and kyle’s attitude to romantic relationships and romance in general. and what about stan’s mental problems, i’ve decided that i strongly headcanon him as a hyperromantic person.
like, when he grows up he starts having constant romantic thoughts, he “crushes” on every person he had barely talked to and has an endless anxiety on the basis of intrusive hyperromantic made up scenarios in his head.
i just find it somehow suitable for him cause he has shown to be very sensitive + he’s the only boy having such a long term relationship and he genuinely CARES about romance.
and i honestly think he gets REALLY confused when it comes to any romantic feelings (that, and also he’s still in denial of his bisexuality + i hc him having a big one-sided crush on kyle that he hasn’t realised yet)
BY THE WAY kyle, on the contrary, is very much indifferent about romance except for when its eric.
like i strongly believe that any “normal” kind of relationship makes him bored so he can only experience romantic feelings when there had been a looong rivalry-like connection and constant fights first. he also is very slow to develop these crushes.
and he, just as stan, doesn’t really understand his feelings (remember how he was told that he is in love with heidi and he’s like “no im not!!! …….am i????”) boyyyyyy😭
man i LOVE kenman brotp (that goes along with kyman otp) so here’s an au
ok cw death
i was randomly thinking about an au where cartman got immortality too.
(idk how exactly tho, i think it had something to do with satan or jesus who wanted to teach cartman empathy and sympathy so he can understand how does it feel to live a life of less fortunate who suffer every day or smth like that)
so he got immortal and that’d be the funniest thing on earth because he definitely thought about it as a blessing, not a curse. because now he can do stupid things and not worry about it because he’ll just get back to life. and it’d save him a lot of time, he’d be like uhhhh going from school is sooooo long i guess i’ll just kill myself to respawn at home.
and that kinda helps kenny because for the first time he starts seeing his immortality as something remooootely positive?
and kenman are a partners in crimes brotp in this au because you can’t tell me cartman wouldn’t use their powers to rob banks and punish those he dislikes. and kenny just has to keep looking after cartman so he doesn’t kill himself too often.
(btw cartman TOTALLY would get killed in front of the guys on purpose once and recorded it on a video because he wanted to know their reaction and then he saw kyle literally almost CRYING and it made him feel kind of guilty… but he expected everyone to forget his death, like they forgot kenny’s, and so did happen, with one minor exception – kyle remembered… heheheh i’ll definitely write something about kyman in this au later)
anyway cartman convinces kenny that they can make BIIIG money if they use their superpower to rob a bank. kenny didn’t want to tempt the fate at first, but then cartman told him how he could save his family with the money and kenny finally agreed.
they’d be like:
kenny: (Now we divide the money we stole in half, equally, right?)
cartman: Actually, I think I deserve 60%, Kenny.
kenny: (What?! How come?)
cartman: I died twice during the mission!
kenny: (THAT’S BECAUSE YOU SHOT YOURSELF FOR FUN AND I HAD TO WASTE TWO HOURS TO WAIT FOR YOUR RETURN.)
cartman: I suffered more!
kenny: (Give me the money, asshole! We had a deal!)
cartman: Ugh, fine, fine. Take it, Poor Kid. Buy your sister a fucking doll, for all I care☹️
kenny would waste more time on calming cartman down than on actually doing crimes on the missions come on, ‘cause mf risks his life constantly due to his immortality.
he would come to a bank employee and start insulting and teasing him, and kenny would have to pull cartman away until this stupid ass got shot again.
cartman to the security guard: Ha! Try and stab me! Stab me, you pussy!!!
kenny, standing behind him with a threatening look: Do not.
AND ALSO KYMAN IN THIS AU because kyle does not remember kenny’s deaths but he DOES remember cartman’s so drama drama drama
and if cartman was immortal and kyle found out about it he’d get like super overprotective, because he doesn’t want to lose cartman forever just because this stupid asshole doesn’t take anything seriously and thinks that dying is fun.
so yep it’s basically brotp!kenman and kyman crime au and it’s been rotting my brain for like hours and now i want to write a fucking slowburn fanfic for 100k words.
sometimes i see how kyle is portrayed in the fandom and i dont understand why people decide to make kyle really inexperienced, shy, clumsy and timid 😭 likeeee it’s a very popular thing in the fandom but do you really think it’s the behaviour of an inexperienced shy uwu boi
especially when they make kyle so blushing around women when it is mostly stan who is shown to be like this (the whole “throwing up next to the girl he likes” thing yk)
i hc kyle being absolutely convinced women should love him because he’s attractive and smart meanwhile everyone’s sure he’s gay af😭😭 this exact way of his thinking was shown like multiple times in the show itself.
actually i think kyle’d be the only boy to actually be friends with most of the girls and get along with them? (so yeah shout out to kyle/wendy and kyle/heidi brosistp!!!!!)
i like to think that every time cartman agrees with kyle on something, kyle gets really confused and subconsciously waits for cartman to start an argument so it goes like
kyle: …Yes, so that’s what I think.
cartman: Cool, I think so too.
kyle: What?
cartman: What?
kyle: Aren’t you gonna argue?…
cartman: Why would I? Your point sounds reasonable.
kyle: No, wait, that’s… that feels kinda weird. What about the part when I said that I formed my opinion based on that one research? Aren’t you gonna check it to see if I didn’t make it up by myself?…
cartman: Wtf, Kyle, you want me to argue with you??
kyle: No, I don’t! …But maybe you should check the last fact I talked about, now that I think about it, the source doesn’t seem very reliable.
cartman: ???????
i bet kyle “accidentally” sends cartman “happy father’s day” picture every goddamn year
kyle: I am not getting into any more stupid fights with you, it’s not even worth my time.
cartman: Water is not wet.
kyle: How the fuck is water not wet it’s fucking water.
kyle is the type to actually brush his teeth, chew a gum and use breath mints before every date with cartman
and cartman laughs at him for that like “omg u put so much effort into looking good for me dude that’s totally gay” and kyle just looks at him disgustedly and says smth like “u might put some as well because u fucking stink” and cartman goes offended “wtf thats how an actual man should smell. not like you can get it tho”
i’ve been rewatching deleted scenes from south park and why the hell do i see so few people talking about this moment
like what the fuck why did matt and trey do this?? was this really an original idea???
(took the moment from this youtube video)
guys he doesn’t even see anything creepy in this like come on he’s so fucked up. oh god. what do you think he does with these records? does he listen to them on his own?
do you think he sometimes just re-listens to kyle saying nice things to him? or, on the contrary, just listens to their usual fights and laughs? that he just lays in bed not being able to fall asleep so he opens the recording app and he genuinely smiles and feels less stressed because things seem so normal and comforting when he hears kyle, because their fights are like one of the few constant things in his life? i know it’s a deleted scene but matt and trey did write it in the script and animated it so am i wrong for considering this as canon?
i love the fact that although kyman is often considered in the fandom to be totally one-sided, their rivalry actually can’t possibly be one-sided because, come on, kyle just keeps reacting to cartman’s actions even when he knows it’ll only make cartman want to fight more.
like, let me explain what i mean. i’ve rewatched the s13e13 “dances with smurfs” that is basically an episode about wendy and cartman and their rivalry. y’know what happened there? wendy just ignored cartman as much as it was possible and when ignoring was no longer an option she just played along with cartman to defeat him in his own game. the purpose was in solving this problem and stopping cartman’s annoying actions. after that she continued ignoring him. that’s a behaviour of a disinterested in cartman person.
others? we’ve seen so many times when cartman started pestering stan, butters, kenny and other people, and they were rather annoyed and irritated, sure, but they all understood that the best way to get rid of cartman was just to totally ignore him and not give a single shit about what he’s up to, so that he loses his interest. And this strategy works ‘cause the main purpose for cartman is to get a response, a proper reaction.
and kyle, of all people, is the only one who keeps fighting and responding cartman, giving him the reaction he wants. it’s almost like he’s enjoying this, y’know. i mean, would you really get into fights and arguments with a person you don’t give a shit about every time you’re given a chance? doubt it. cartman starts it but kyle continues it – and that’s what makes kyman so wholesome. this mutual obsession.
and they both know that kyle will keep answering cartman because they both can’t live without this and they generally enjoy this fighting process and, moreover — they both need it.
and everyone knows that.
the description that i wrote down is basically just this LMAO
but the au itself is about high school!kyman who started dating one day, which was absolutely unexpected, new and confusing for them, so they’ve decided to keep it a secret from everyone for a while, so as not to get negative reaction from their friends. they were trying to think of a proper way to tell other people the news (it was mostly kyle though, because cartman didn’t really care what others would say), and while they still haven’t come up with anything good, they just kept fighting and “hating” each other so others wouldn’t suspect anything unusual (which, honestly, wasn’t really difficult considering that kyle still hated cartman’s bigoted and terrible behaviour).
and they genuinely thought they were doing just great, but literally everyone understood something changed between them after, like, a week or two of their fake rivalry. because kyle is now waaay too slow and hesitant when he has to answer familiar “stfu cartman” when cartman starts pushing his buttons. and eric himself acts strangely protective and defensive when butters supports him in insulting kyle. he goes like:
cartman: Haha, you suck, Kahl!
butters: Hahaha yes, you tell him, Eric!!!
cartman, looking ansolutely insulted: Butters, shut the hell up, what the fuck, man, that was totally unnecessary, who even gave you the right to insult him with me.
butters: But that’s what i usually do…
cartman: Well no you don’t anymore.
butters, confused af: Uh, fine, Eric… So, you don’t hate Kyle anymore?
cartman: What? Pffft, sure I do, he’s a sneaky no good jew.
and then after, like, almost a month, when they are both absolutely sick of hiding and pretending, they finally want to come out to their friends.
kyle: So, basically, I, um… we are kind of together now.
kenny: (Oh. Yeah, we know.)
kyle: What? What do you mean you know?
stan: Well, it was kinda obvious, guys.
cartman: How the hell could me dating fucking Kahl be obvious?
stan: Dude, you were hanging out together any time you were given a chance.
kyle: No, we weren’t–
stan: “Sorry, Stan, the teacher said I have to do this project with Cartman, can’t do anything about it”. Seriously, dude? You would stare at his neck licking your lips, like, at least once a day. Fucking disgusting. Me and Kenny were betting on how long it would take you to finally come out.
kyle: What?! And you didn’t tell anything??
stan: Come on, Kyle, I swear to god, I saw you laughing and smiling when he called you gay while you were arguing. It was too funny to watch without interfering.
kenny: (Yeah, you were smiling almost every time he started insulting you.)
cartman: Ha! Told ya your acting skills suck!
kyle: You suck!
cartman, shrugging: Wow, dude, we just came out, don’t you go spreading all our love life details yet.
kenny, laughing loudly: (That was a good one, bro!)
kyle, blushing and fighting the urge to break cartman’s neck: Don’t give them wrong image of our rela… our thing, you fat asshole.
cartman, smirking: Yep, that’s exactly what you called me last night.
stan, trying to hide a smile: Gross, dudes.
kyle: It’s– I– UGH just– Just… fuck you, guys.
kenny: (All of us? You’d better save that for Cartman ;))
and they would NEVER shut up with this kind of jokes.
i understood i have a huge fucking hyperfixation on kyman when today while i was thinking about a kyman au in the shower i realised that i’m about to have a panic attack so i got out of the shower as quickly as possible to write down a short description of this au so i don’t forget it and then i just continued crying and shaking
i understood i have a huge fucking hyperfixation on kyman when today while i was thinking about a kyman au in the shower i realised that i’m about to have a panic attack so i got out of the shower as quickly as possible to write down a short description of this au so i don’t forget it and then i just continued crying and shaking
did i mention i love kyman crossovers? i have come up with a kyman au that is a crossover with infinity train.
first of all if someone has no idea what infinity train is, that’s a cartoon about an odd train with an endless amount of cars in it. people get to this train suddenly, and they have a green flashing number on their hand, each is individual. it represents the main psychological trouble a person has. number can go up and down depending on how far a person is from solving the problem. the main aim of the train is to help ppl solve their trouble and make peace with themselves. (for example the main character of season 1 was a girl whose parents were divorced, and she blamed herself for that. she could only get off the train when she realised she’s not responsible for their decision and sometimes things change for the better)
so basically m4 + butters got to the train to the different cars each, but eventually they would find each other. i think first of all kyle found someone like butters or kenny, and cartman found stan. they would wander around through all those cars trying to understand the meaning of the numbers. when they finally all met up they saw that everyone’s numbers are different (butters has the biggest one and kenny has the least one) except for kyman because they share the same number. and it really pisses them off, because they have no idea why the hell they have something (anything) in common. so they’d start arguing and fighting AND THE NUMBER SUDDENLY WENT UP.
cartman: Aye! Are you copying me or what?
kyle: What are you talking about, Fata– oh! Your number! The same as mine…
cartman: Yeah, Kahl, that’s what I wanted to ask you about!
kyle: I have no idea why it is this way. Probably a coincidence?
cartman: What are the odds of this, huh?
kyle: I don’t know! And fuck off already, I’m already pretty sick of hearing you again.
cartman: You’re sick?? I’m the one who is forced to stay in a godforsaken closeted space with fucking Kyle!
kyle: Ughhh, it was much better to walk with Kenny, you fat fuck.
cartman: Yes, I also prefer Stan’s company muuuch better! …Wait.
kyle: Huh?
cartman: The number. It changed. It was 167 and now it’s 176!
kyle: …Mine too…
cartman: So they are connected.
kyle: I guess they are…
cartman: Oh, screw it, now my number is connected to the jew’s number! That’s not good, I swear it’s a bad luck…
kyle: Shut up already, would you?? I’m trying to think. You made our numbers go up.
cartman: Oh, so now it’s my fault?!
kyle: Whose else could it be?
cartman: My number was totally fine until I met you! I bet you did something to it and now because of your tricks I’ll never leave that train and never go home and that means I’ll never eat my goddamn KFC dinner my mother had promised me today.
kyle: Oh, so that’s the only thing that bothers you??
cartman: No, it actually bothers me a lot that I’m stuck here with you, of all people!!
(lmao btw the numbers are not random, 167 is a number of s16e7 “cartman finds love” and 176 is “ginger cow :D)
so they fight a lot and their number goes up and up, and then cartman does one small nice things for kyle and number goes a but down, so he realises the number depends on their friendship??? so he starts using it trying to act nice and good to kyle (not genuinely ofc)
cartman, opens the car’s door for kyle: After you, my dear friend.
kyle: What are you doing?
cartman: What? Just trying to help you, that’s all.
kyle: …You enter this one first.
cartman: What. Why?
kyle: I don’t trust you. It’s probably the most dangerous one and you just want to lock me there or something.
cartman: Why would I do that, Kahl?
kyle: Because you hate me.
cartman: That’s not true! It’s just friendly fighting, nothing more. Come on, Kyle, I’ll help you with that car! Hey, and did I mention you look sooo great today?
kyle, raising an eyebrow: The fuck are you talking about? What’s the catch? And why do you keep looking at your number?
cartman: Oh my GOD! Can’t I just be nice to you for a goddamn minute without you suspecting me of some delusional ideas, you fucking jew?!
kyle: I want to know why you’re nice, because I will never believe you’re genuine about that.
cartman: Oh, for fuck’s sake, just keep going!
and he realises it doesn’t work until it’s sincere.
so it takes them about two months to fix their friendship and be honest about it. that they don’t actually hate each other, that they have much more in common than they thought. and then they’re stuck at something like 10, for, um, two weeks. nothing they do can change their number no matter how nice and good they are to each other. the thing is the train wanted them to be honest to themselves, and they couldn’t do it without admitting they like each other more than friends :3
AND OH GOD PLS TELL ME IT DOESN’T SOUND DELUSIONAL AND CRINGE BECAUSE IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS SHIT FOR LIKE THE WHOLE DAY.
okay so since the Cupid Ye was aired i’ve been constantly thinking about cartman’s mental condition. we know he’s probably taking medication now, so i hc him having antisocial personality disorder and bipolar disorder. and i’ve been imagining him having his depression episode for the first time after he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. he’s not used to it, he has no idea what’s going on and why he suddenly feels so tired and numb all the time, so he just stays at home skipping school and avoiding social contacts. he’s scared and the “it’s all because of your illness, poopsikins!” from his mother doesn’t help at all.
and sooo i wrote a short moment about this?? i’m sorry for any mistakes because it was originally written in my native language, not in english :(
***
Ever since early childhood it was clear and obvious to everyone that Eric Cartman had problems. Not even like that, Kyle corrected himself in his thoughts. Eric Cartman had Problems. Sociopathy, sadism, aggression – all that a person could notice in Cartman after only half an hour of communication.
And Kyle wasn't too surprised when bipolar disorder was added to all of the above in a sloppy psychiatrist’s handwriting.
By the time Cartman was finally diagnosed he had already gone through several phases of mania. Kyle even did a little research on the disorder. "To know what to prepare for the next time I meet this psycho," he told Stan. "And to know how to help him if necessary," he added silently to himself.
By the age of fifteen, Stan's company was already used to Cartman's regular explosive mood swings, which were accompanied by crazy ideas, aggressive behavior, and, if absolutely unlucky, deaths of a couple or more people.
It was typical: after a short break, Cartman would burst into Kyle's room (often through the window), start showering him with business plans, startup ideas, and opportunities to have extreme fun. Kyle was silent, trying his best to ignore him and frowning irritably when Cartman smiled ecstatically and rushed to Kyle, tugging at his sleeve and almost shouting that everything would be better this time and that it’s a one hundred percent successful scheme.
For some time Broflovski genuinely believed that everyone in their friends group was going through such tortures, but after a short questioning, he found out that they had not seen Eric's mania with their own eyes. Kyle understood — and they won’t, when Cartman just chuckled at the outraged "What the fuck, Fatass?" and replied, "I guess you're just special, Kahl. They wouldn't understand." His eyes flashed especially maliciously, and Kyle looked away hastily so as not to give Cartman the opportunity to start another fight.
Well, all in all, no one's world collapsed when Cartman was diagnosed with a new mental illness. Over the past months of insane hallucinations and obsessive intrusive thoughts, he managed to make everyone sick of him. He refused to go to the therapy sessions for a long time, shouting, running away and trying to get into a fight, and Liane was too afraid to find out another unpleasant truth about her son, preferring to go with the flow and shut him up with the fulfillment of every single of his whims. Kyle doubts that anyone would have done anything to help Cartman if he hadn't intervened. Why – it was unclear to Broflovski himself, but Cartman's first depressive phase hit them both unexpectedly too hard.
Disappearing from everyone’s sight for two weeks, Cartman ignored calls and messages (although Kyle had a serious doubt that anyone other than Butters and Broflovski himself texted him) and skipped school despite Mr. Harrison's threats of expulsion.
Liane avoided answering questions, pursing her lips in frustration and talking her way out with a trivial "He's sick." Kyle didn't believe a damn second, knowing that if Cartman was sick, Kyle would have known about it the very first. Something was wrong. For some reason, the desire to find out what exactly was much stronger than it should have been when it came to Eric Cartman.
***
Perhaps Kyle really shouldn't have worried so much — not to the point of climbing into Eric's window at night. But the Cartmans hadn't opened the front door all day, and by that time Kyle's nerves were so stretched that they threatened to break if he didn't get answers to his questions in the next few minutes. Disturbing thoughts and images of possible turn of events appeared in his head. Perhaps Cartman was dead? Or, on the contrary, has killed someone and had been dissolving dismembered body of his victim for two weeks? One option was no better than the other, but nothing was even close to what he saw in Eric's bedroom.
Haggard, seven kilograms thinner, with an unhealthy skin color and bags under his eyes, he looked painfully wrong, not Cartman-like. He didn’t look exactly ill — more like lifelessly tired. But that wasn't even what hit Kyle so hard.
He did not suspect how much had been hidden in Cartman's eyes before – lively fire, hatred, anger, enthusiasm, passion – all this was gone, dissolved, buried under this empty, dead, unblinking gaze. For a second Kyle even thought (hoped?) that he was really dead, but the heaving chest under the blanket and almost inaudible sound of breathing exposed life in Cartman. He was lying on his back, his head slowly turned towards the window. Kyle sought recognition on his face, but did not see a single shade of any emotions.
He froze in the window, making eye contact with Eric, feeling like he saw something he shouldn't have. He tried to revive the old familiar hatred that usually boiled in him as soon as their eyes met, but Cartman’s emptiness totally killed all the anger. Kyle climbed through the window – Cartman didn't react in any way, lazily closing his eyes – and walked up to the bed, touching his shoulder timidly.
“Hey, Cartman?” he said, shuddering at the way his voice echoed throughout the bedroom. Cartman didn’t open his eyes but smiled hardly visibly.
“Hey, jew”. His voice was empty and emotionless and Kyle pursed his lips with a bit of a pain.
“You need to see a doctor, Cartman”, he said firmly as Eric finally opened one eye disinterestedly. “I’ll help you. I promise”.
And he did.
“kyman is a one sided pairing, kyle is not interested in cartman at all” KYLE JUMPED OFF THE ROOF AND WENT INTO A COMA JUST TO PROVE CARTMAN IS WRONG.
i have a REALLY big soft spot for the trope when character A sees good sides in character B even when nobody else does
and it’s so kyman like. really.
and i’m really sorry for this post ‘cause it’s very messy and i’m not good with words but i have so many thoughts about this–
when kyle starts to see some good sides of eric cartman it confuses him so much because he physically can’t believe cartman can have something nice deep inside. like, kyle sees how cartman suddenly cares a lot about cats and can defend them even when he won’t get any profit from that. or how sometimes cartman actually does good things and nobody seems to notice that? like in s10e2 “smug alert” when cartman risks himself to save kyle. i strongly hc that kyle learns about it from butters about a month after this all happened and he’s so shocked by that ‘cause he can’t even explain to himself why cartman would do that. and he’s starting to see more and more remotely positive things about cartman (especially since cartman’s taking his medication) and it surprises him how nobody ever praises him for that. or for anything, actually. it’s like they refuse to admit that cartman can be, well, not a devil himself.
and kyle’s starting to overthink it, so he goes to stan and starts asking him about cartman, about his personality and his good traits, and how nobody notices them, but stan doesn’t even listen. he just laughs and says that anything “good” cartman does he does for his own benefit and that he always has ulterior motives. and kyle feels this unfairness because yes, he agrees, cartman’s an asshole and it’s natural that all his friends hate him but HEY everyone deserves to be judged fairly. and as far as he can see – people don’t even try to give him a second chance. and, moreover, what’s worse – cartman doesn’t give himself second chance either.
i mean, actually, if you think about it a bit, you can notice how cartman never denies that he’s a shitty person. he knows he’s terrible, he knows he’s hated by most of the people he has met, and he knows that nobody expects anything good from him. so he doesn’t expect anything good from himself either. he just goes along with everyone’s judgement like “yep. i do not deserve good treatment because i do terrible things and hurt people all the time”. he can be dramatic and self-defensive sometimes, but actually you can see how he actually doesn’t believe in the second chance for himself.
and it confuses kyle. so much. and he really decides that it’s his new mission to prove cartman he can change and he can deserve second chance and good attitude from others. because what? because kyle just loves two things: saving and helping those in need (especially when it’s cartman) and proving other people wrong.
so, yep, it’s basically an au where as time passes children in south park start avoiding cartman because they’ve had enough of him and they’re really sick of his terrible personality. they don’t purposefully ignore him, just pay much less attention, and cartman (who has started to take medication that helps him with his mental state) tries to fight it at first and somehow accidentally hurts (not physically) stan and some other kids reaaaally bad while this, so eventually he just accepts that he’s not gonna be a part of friends group anymore. and he admits that, well, he saw it coming. his meds make him much calmer and melancholic, so he doesn’t even make a scene. he just sits at his house more and more often, skipping school to avoid his classmates. and while stan and kenny get over losing their close friend, kyle can’t. he grew closer to cartman because he really wants to save him. and – to his own surprise – he doesn’t feel like cartman deserves this loneliness.
and, well, sometimes stan and kyle have this kind of dialogue, when kyle (unsuccessfully) tries to change stan’s opinion on cartman.
stan: Dude, Cartman can’t go, he’ll ruin the whole party! Nobody will come if he’s there!
kyle: Well, it’s just… I know he’s an asshole and we hate him but don’t you think it’s a little too… harsh?
stan: “Harsh”? Kyle, we’re talking about Eric Cartman.
kyle: I know! It’s just… everyone will come, we can’t just ignore him, can we?
stan: We totally can. Remember how many times he spoiled parties just because he got bored?
kyle: Uh… You’re right… Sorry, I was just a bit… confused, I guess.
stan: That’s fine, dude. I’m always here to remind you of how much of a prick he is.
kyle: Huh, thanks…
and he realises that he doesn’t hate cartman as much as he did. because, really, kyle’s first reaction to seeing a person getting so much hatred and contempt is being defensive and trying to protect that person. and he feels, like, really bad for cartman, so he goes to his place to hang out together. and it’s like, well:
kyle: Don’t you feel bad when everyone there are having fun without you?
cartman: Yeah, it kinda sucks but it’s not like I can do something about it.
kyle: So what? You’re just gonna stay at home for months talking to nobody but me and Butters?
cartman: That was my plan, right. It’s not that bad anyway.
kyle: Two days ago you said you can’t spend too much time with me or you “get infected with jewishness”.
cartman: I became immune to it.
kyle: *laughs* Well, it’s not like I mind it too much as well.
cartman: You know, that’s the part that bothers me.
kyle: Huh?
cartman: Why are you here, spending you weekend with me instead of helping Stan with his party?
kyle, shrugging: Not really into parties. Besides, I didn’t expect it but you’re not the worst company, you know.
cartman: Oh, come on.
kyle: What?
cartman: Stop making fake compliments to make me feel better, jew.
kyle: What do you mean “fake”?
cartman: I know you’re only doing this because you don’t want me to be alone.
kyle: What?
cartman: Well, you know, your terrible saviour complex? When you see a pathetic lonely person and you just have to come and save him so you can feel better about yourself and feed your ego?
kyle: What the fuck are you even talking about?? Do you really think I’m here only because I pity you?
cartman: Why else would you be here?
kyle: Oh my god, can’t believe I actually thought we were getting along while you just assumed I was having ulterior motives!
cartman: So you claim you wasn’t and it was all sincere?
kyle, offended: Yes!!
cartman: …Nah. Unconvincing, Kahl, work on your acting skills, would ya?
kyle: You know what? Fuck you. I just… I can’t even…
cartman: Oh, finally, good ol’ Kahl is back here.
kyle, slamming the door on his way out: UGH.
and so kyle leaves and ofc he’s irritated and annoyed and angry, but the thing that bothers him so much is that cartman didn’t seem to actually believe someone would really hang out with him now without having ulterior motives. and it warms kyle’s heart and it starts over again and again – kyle getting closer to cartman and realising how lonely he really is all the time.
and, well. he ends up catching himself defending cartman in front of their classmates and choosing him over them. and then, you know, a typical slowburn fanfic for 100k words :D
so, yeah, i don’t know if someone will actually read it until the end, but, uh, i love this scenario when eric actually becomes a better person just for kyle – because kyle is (surprisingly) the only one to even believe that cartman can be better. and eric appreciates that.
hear me out kyle and cartman are both the type to enjoy lovehate relationships in media. and they don’t really admit it but every time there’s a “normal” romantic love scene with a straight couple they literally die from boredom and cringe.
so basically tfbw au, they’re all just hanging out watching superhero movies at cartman’s. one moment they pause the movie – which is something dc-related ofc, ‘cause i strongly believe that both cartman and kenny are dc fans while stan and kyle love marvel more – to discuss plot twists and then the dialogue happens:
cartman: Guys, I’m telling you, Joker is totally into Batman.
stan: Don’t they hate each other?
kyle: Well, yes, they do, but that’s kind of the point.
stan: How can you be in love with someone you hate?
cartman: Dude, you don’t get it! It’s more about rivalry, passion and obsession, you know? It’s sort of a deep feeling.
kyle: Yeah, exactly, and that trope about opposites who attract, that’s just making this relationship even spicier. A new level of romance.
stan, with a concerned look on his face: U-huh… Seems familiar, doesn’t it, Kenny?…
kenny, nodding vaguely: (Yeah.)
AND KYMAN JUST SIT THERE completely unaware of the parallel stan has just drawn. innocent oblivious guys.
okay while we’re on the subject: cartman’s skills for languages are goddamn amazing like?? the boy is about ten years old and yet he knows german and a bit of spanish (i think?) that kinda amazes me.
so here’s a headcanon that cartman has improved his knowledge of german over the years and by high school he could speak fluently without any difficulties. he mostly did so ‘cause he had to know one foreign language for school studies, but the major part of choosing particularly german was (obviously) to tease and make fun of kyle since eric’s an absolute bastard. he was constantly mocking kyle while talking in german and watching kyle getting all pissed off. he didn’t really say anything mean – sometimes he was even making compliments taking the advantage of kyle not understanding the language, but how would kyle know that? he was sick of it and he absolutely hated the way cartman acted.
so in the summer before their senior year kyle came up with a devious plan starting to learn german by himself. it wasn’t really difficult even considering that kyle is much worse at learning languages than cartman is. he did have quite a success but he kept it a secret from everyone but stan. he studied hard cheered up by the thought of cartman’s future expression when he realises he doesn’t have this advantage anymore. and oh boy was it worth it.
after three months of daily studying they finally go back to school. kyle chooses german as an extra class – the one where cartman is – and prepares for the moment he has been waiting for so long.
it doesn’t take cartman long that day to come up to kyle and say to him something in foreign language. kyle gets pissed off immediately but then calms down realising with surprise that all that cartman said to him was “looking good, jew. i like how you look in school uniform” in german. with a nasty laugh and an arrogant smirk – to make it believable that he insults kyle, probably – but he was actually telling him quite nice things all day long thinking that kyle doesn’t understand a single word. that shocked kyle beyond belief but he wasn’t sure of how to react so he just kept fighting with cartman telling him to knock it off.
then the time for extra classes came, and kyle waited for the very last second until the bell rang to enter the class with the self-satisfaction on his face (‘cause he’s a dramatic and secretly a bit theatrical jerk).
cartman choked on air seeing kyle entering the classroom casually and taking his seat right in front of cartman without even dignifying eric with a single glance. cartman got completely lost for a few seconds and then laughed loudly shouting about “the jews who are not allowed to learn german ‘cause it’s fucking comical”. nobody really paid attention to him having got used to his antisemitic and gross comments. the teacher shushed him, and the lesson continued as usual. kyle was answering the teacher’s questions without troubles. meanwhile cartman was so stunned he couldn’t even concentrate properly and kept mumbling something unintelligible.
he tried to make a scene and fight with kyle for invading his safe “jewfree” place, but kyle just gave him a cheeky grin. “afraid i might get better at this than you are, cartman? oh, and thanks for what you’ve said earlier. i would’ve never thought you think this shirt makes my amazing green eyes look even deeper” leaving eric completely speechless.
bonus: sheila got completely crazy and hysterical over the fact of her son learning exactly german, but he explained it by his desire to break stupid stereotypes and prejudices about jews, so she was pretty satisfied and proud of him. he didn’t tell her he started it just ‘cause he wanted to anger cartman though.
another bonus: they both know spanish pretty well, so sometimes they get into arguments switching languages from english to german to spanish. stan and kenny just stand by and watch them fighting being slightly impressed by this scene. btw butters knows spanish too, but when he tries to cut in their conversation they just shout at him “shut up, butters” in unison in spanish so he apologises and steps back.
kyman high school au where cartman who has never really cared about his grades finally realises that kyle is kinda obsessed with being the best student and there is nothing that can piss him off more than being bested by someone like cartman. so eric basically just for fun decides to become a perfect student and since he has some kind of natural talent for studying and he’s a quick learner he pretty soon catches up with kyle so they start competing constantly.
and although kyle is a hardworking student, cartman is still perfect at cheating and convincing teachers of his “new” era of being an example student so their competition becomes rather brutal. and i mean it. the history classes are their battlefield where they debate with each other arguing constantly about some historical facts and theories for the whole lesson. and although cartman often makes controversial statements just to irritate kyle, he’s a better and more confident debater due to being an unashamed and charismatic asshole.
when their classmates are afraid of the test or something they beg eric to start a nerdy fight about something (sometimes he even gets paid for doing so).
also kyle kinda sucks at artistic subjects like arts or music or theatre while cartman is great at them (he’s very confident about music and acting which was proven in series multiple times). he often brags about being more imaginative than kyle is. in response kyle laughs at cartman’s constant C’s and B’s in biology/chemistry/geography.
so basically they both end up being called nerds but the only thing that matters to them is being better than each other. competitive & obsessed with each other smartasses :D
Yay! Thank You!
@ninjadash0318 “Kyle Broflovski C4”
Idk how but I read Kyle as Ike so I drew Ike then had to restart and draw Kyle😵💫💀
Also, I drew this in the car, and my moms boyfriend is a crazy driver, so I’m sorry if it’s bad😭
This was in my head for an long time so I just draw it out
the start of cryle, probably will make more parts :P