#they pass those videos around like “do you have the kenny makes out with stan tiktok?” “yeah i want the swimming pool video in exchange”

[everythingwasnormalhere]

Does CD ever make any TikTok shit posts about kissing the homies goodnight? (Sorry babes I had an intrusive thought and needed to know😔💀)

probably LMAO after almost every concert they get drunk and start doing dumb shit it's a tradition atp 😔✨

[minecraft-but-gayer]

Hello~ Do girls,boys and Dovahkin practice an activity outside of school? Genre music, drawings, sports, ect...

I’ll try and make this list a bit organized so it’s easier to read for you! :)

Dovahkiin - They thoroughly just enjoy being around the people that they care about. They could pretty much enjoy anything as long as the friends they really care about are with them doing it too. That being said, they do really enjoy drawing a lot, and they have loads of sketchbooks they keep in all sorts of places. That ranges from your car together, to your house, to their own house - they want to have drawing supplies wherever they go to be honest, because they like to sketch out things that they enjoy about a moment instead of take pictures. They’d probably refrain from bringing any into school though because let’s be real, who the fuck wants to remember most of their high school experience?

Team Stan :

Stan - He really enjoys music, and plays the guitar as we know. He actually writes a lot of songs to vent his emotions because he’s such a bad but sad boy </3

Kyle - This dork spends so much of his time studying he forgets to have fun half the time. He actually tinkers with computers a bit though, with that curiosity coming from a desire to fix the shit that Cartman constantly breaks when they play video games together as a group. He also studies a bit of law like his father, but I don’t think he’d actually want to be a lawyer.

Kenny - My man is having fun with lots of girls. He does spend a lot of his free time playing with his sister Karen/helping her study when he’s actually home, but he tends to stay away most of the time because he doesn’t really want to deal with his parents bullshit. I get the feeling that he’s probably sleeping around because he’s lonely and wants the company. He also loves to cook though, and it quite skilled at it! That’s a bit of a signature move with any girl that actually lets him stay for breakfast - maybe that’s how he got so good at cooking before Home Ec.

Cartman - This lazy sack of shit is either terrorizing people or watching tv and eating. There is no in between. (But also he is pretty good at video games just saying)

Butters (Leopold) - This absolute sweetheart never gets time to enjoy anything I swear to God. He’s either being pulled out of the house to be bullied, or he’s trapped in his house being treated like shit. He does his best to study, he really does, just because he doesn’t want to let his parents down. He never gets to do what he really wants, and at this point, the poor thing hardly knows what that is. One thing he does like for sure is dancing, but he hardly ever does it because of some trauma mixed with a fear of getting bullied. He’s also getting into drawing a bit because of Dovahkiin, but he keeps putting himself down because of comments from people like Cartman </3

Team Craig :

Craig - He used to spend a lot of his time at home playing with Stripe, but ever since the poor thing passed on, he’s almost always out causing trouble. He is one of the only boys who actually stuck with karate in the main group, though, and he uses those classes as a way to vent his anger more often than not. He keeps his composure/neutrality better now, and also gets detention less for beating up other students, and more for just generally being an asshole.

Tweek - My poor boy has tried so, SO many hobbies to try and keep his nerves calm, but most of them never stick. He’s managed to keep his attention on the piano, and he’s actually really skilled at it! Playing helps him get his mind off of his worries, so he really likes to do so - he even has a musical keyboard in his room that Craig bought him. He tends to paint a lot too, since creative type hobbies tend to do him well. Sometimes the finished products end up being nonsensical, and sometimes they come out beautifully done - he tends to be fond of them either way. He also daydreams a lot, but that’s mostly when he’s out of school - he’s too paranoid about missing something important in class for him to drift into thought.

Clyde - This douchebag also sleeps around a lot, but he’s just generally doing it for the bragging rights. He likes to get with girls, but doesn’t really care about the feelings of the people he’s with. He also plays football, but that’s mostly just a school activity he’s heavily invested in. His main interests lie in movies, surprisingly - he’s actually quite knowledgeable about film and the like, and he has grown to enjoy it a lot. That’s all mostly due to how often he goes on movie dates with girls, though - he know so much about this one topic that he almost sounds smart when he talks about it. Almost.

Tolkien - He doesn’t have a lot that interests him outside of the people that he surrounds himself with. Being rich has made him bored of most things since he could have or do anything he wants whenever he wants. He’s mostly a people watcher, actually, and he’s been studying up a bit on psychology because of how little he actually understand some of the people he knows (which I don’t blame him because like no one understands Cartman and no one ever will)

Jimmy - This funny man spends most of his time writing jokes, or performing standup comedy in local spots that invite him (of which there are many). He’s also musically inclined, and plays instruments like the Ukulele - this choice was mostly because it could add comedic affect to his other performances though, which was smart because music and comedy do mix really well.

The Girls :

Heidi - She loves to sew, as I mentioned in a previous post. She spends a lot of her free time coming up with different ideas that she wants to try out for her next projects, and she even works part time in a fabric store because she can get discounts on the products there! Lord knows those discounts matter with how much shit she’s buying to work with.

Nichole - She is still on the volleyball team, even after all this time has passed. It's less of her doing it for school, and more of her doing it for enjoying the sport. In relation to school, she also volunteers at the nurse’s office all the time so she can put her medical knowledge to the test - she wants to go to school to be a doctor when she graduates. She studies a lot after school for that exact goal, but she still finds time to set aside to spend time with her closest friends/Tolkien as well.

Wendy - This girl is always so busy I have no idea how she juggles everything. She’s the Student Council President, and she's actively gunning for valedictorian on top of that. That's not even mentioning how often she studies to keep her grades up for that goal (although she does do study groups with her friends sometimes, and even studies with them individually if they need help). She still advocates for the things that are important to her, and is very big on social justice and the like. This girl really just exists to make the world a better place for the people in it to be honest.

Bebe - Now, she doesn’t just date men to get free things out of them - Bebe is actually a very determined girl who knows what she wants and is going to get it. She spends a surprising amount of time studying for school, sometimes with Wendy, so she can keep her grades up. She struggles with certain things, like math (as we all do tbh), but she’ll be damned if she ever falls into that ‘dumb blonde’ trope. She wants to be valued for more than just her looks. She’s also aspiring to be a lawyer someday, with the intention of keeping her grades up so she can go to law school.

Red - This girl is such a fun person to be around - she honestly does so much with her free time because she wants to experience as much as she can for herself before she has to figure out what she wants to do with her life. She likes skateboarding a lot, which is a hobby she really picked up after Craig threw his out and she stole it from his trash can. That’s the most constant, but she’s also great as the bass and has been known to have been in a short-lived band with some other kids in town who may or may not be notorious for their non-conforming attitudes 0-0

I hope this chunk of information helps - feel free to ask me more about anyone’s hobbies specifically if you wanted me to elaborate more! :)

[y0ur-h0nor]

[ Please do not post my writing on different social media platforms, if I end up finding you reposting or stealing and claiming it as yours I will have to rearrange your guts in your fucking sleep, I ain't joking so think before you act upon it.]

A/n: This is the second part of High Achiever so if you guys haven't read the first part, link is here.

Fem! Reader.

After arriving at the mall the five of you had discussed what to do inside and about the time management so the five of you could line up for movie tickets at the cinema because you guys didn't want to wait for a long time so the five of you decided that you'd be 30 minutes early to line up for tickets and then eat lunch, then you guys could hit the arcade to play some games before buying snacks and waiting to line up at the cinema for the movie.

So, as you guys lined up for the tickets the guys were just talking about video games and Kyle and Eric would argue a bit before they changed the topic to defuse the tension, you had never hanged out with people out of school and when you had to come over for a school project and vice versa, you were really behind with the trends due to you 'living under a rock' and had any time for herself because you spent most of your time with lessons and free time was just for you to practice the piano or violin.

You didn't listen in with their conversation anymore because you started to zone out which was always rare but it happened enough for you to be aware with this tempting tendency, it was always when you were deep in thought or when class was being to boring to pay attention to but since you were a smart student you had to listen and par attention so you didn't miss anything and disappoint anyone because your grades had dropped slightly and besides, you didn't want your Mother to be even stricter with lessons because of a feeble mistake you had made.

"I never thought the top student Y/n Thompson would be very different people expected you to be." The mention of your name had made you come back and turn to them, their attention to you "Huh?" Eric says  "Well, you don't seem like a real nerd you don't spout out smart nonsense and-" "and your lowkey hot." Kenny cuts off Eric earning a smack from Kyle who gives him a disappointed look.

"Oh, uh..well all that smart stuff was because I was forced to study hard that's all." You say nonchantly.

"Forced to?" Stan repeats, Your eyes widen realizing your sudden slip up you frantically wave your arms and spout out excuses "Oh that's just nothing!" You stutter and awkwardly chuckled rubbing your neck.

"Well, you can just tell us when your ready, you don't need to rush." Kyle says, he already knew but he just decided to exclude that you had already told him so his friends won't try to pry explanations from him because it should be you who should tell them.

Stan nodded.

Kenny put a thumbs up and Eric just let out a 'hmph' but nodded.

You smiled and went to attack them with a hug to which Eric screamed to get away, Kenny and Kyle went wide eyed and Stan just went flustered but they didn't budge but just let you.

The rest of the day was really fun and it seemed you felt like a whole different person without having people expectations weighing down on you.

As you waved goodbye you turned around and took your keys and opened your door, you expected your Mom to be waiting for you and ready to be scolding you but you were greeted with your Mom passed out on the couch with a wine bottle in hand, you sighed and went to get a blanket to tuck your Mother in so she didn't get cold.

You really wanted to repair things with your Mom because of course she was your Mother and tried telling her how you felt about things, key word 'tried', she didn't listen she just told you how it was a bad idea to let you study in public school to begin with and she should've proceeded with her plan to home school you instead.

You started to tuck your Mother in and carefully took the bottle away from her hand "I'm so sorry.." You froze and looked up but then sighed in relief that your Mom was just probably dreaming, you placed down the bottle and stood up to go to your room but stopped when your Mother spoke in her sleep again "Mommy's sorry baby.." She whimpers and snuggles into the blanket, you brush hair away from her face and kissed her cheek and went upstairs after closing the lights.

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You and your Mom make up and go to happy land along with your friends and Eric who happens to be your new boyfriend and livehappilyeverafter :D

I'm just joking I hate writing quick happy endings because I happen to be an angst writer so-

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It was Monday and another day of going to school, you get out of the covers of your bed and went to go down stairs and get some breakfast, hearing chatter in the kitchen you slowly look to see who your Mother was talking to, peeking at the corner you gasp.

It was your older brother Micheal, He was smiling and talking to Mom it had been long since he was willing to get along with your Mother because she always nagged him about his future and him and Mom would always argue about his decisions those arguments prompted him to move out after he graduated College.

"Micheal!" You exclaim his name and he turns around and his smile widened even more, you went to tackle him into a hug crying into his shoulder, you long missed your brother and you missed the warmth of your brother.

"Hey, Kitten you've grown taller." he says rubbing your back.

"Oh shut up, you just happen to have taken all the tall genes." you say sniffling.

Your Mother smiles at the exchange and looks down to the floor guilty of the things she did to ruin her family from being like this all the time, she just wanted her children to grow up successful in life and not have to worry about their future but she took it the wrong way and drove away her son and robbed her daughter of a normal childhood.

"I'm sorry.." She says fiddling with her fingers looking down at her feet, she should've said this a long time ago and maybe her family would've been much more normal.

You and Micheal look at each other then to your Mother before encasing her in a hug, you forgave your Mother years ago already just waiting for her to realize what she had done wasn't right, she was human after all no one was perfect and everyone made mistakes.

A week had passed after that moment and things had gotten much more closer with your Family, no longer strangers living in the same household.

You had gotten better, your grades were still good but there were certain major changes in your daily routine you were allowed to do things you couldn't like do extra curricular activities so you chose (Activity/sport) as an extra curricular and would stay at school for a while for certain (activity/sport).

You also had started hanging out with Kyle and his friends more, and also was finally formally introduced to Stan's girlfriend Wendy Testaburger sure she was suspicious of you at first but eventually she opened up to you and you just jokingly flirt with her when you and her are around Stan, the look on his face was always priceless but those flirty words all just a part of a harmless joke but you were sometimes genuine though.

You and the gang were hanging out at Eric's place this time, the five of you were going to hang out there to play video games and eat pizza and also have a sleepover, your Mother was reluctant at first for letting you go but she decided to let you have fun as long you didn't do anything risky and you just told her that you wouldn't even do anything "risky" with one of the boys or whatever she was thinking about (no offence to your friends though bless them but you don't see them like that in anyway even if with or without a girlfriend you just don't see yourself dating at the moment.)

Kenny, Kyle and Stan were downstairs picking out video games to play and getting bowls for the snacks you had brought, you already had soda cans in a cooler on the floor so no need for cups or anything like that.

You were scrolling through your before deciding now should be the time to talk about something you knew about for some time now, the evident scars you saw decorating his wrist it was hard to notice but you somehow saw them.

"Hey Eric?" You say looking up from your phone to look at the boy munching on one of the chips you brought "Yeah?" He responds not looking up "Do you...Do you want to talk about it?" You question.

"About what?" Finally, he looks up at you with a confused expression with eyebrows furrowing "The scars." You say.

His breath hitches and his widens even more fiddling with the ends of his jacket sleeve his expression becomes solemn he looks down and he tried not to start crying then and there.

Y/n stands from her spot and due to this action Eric looks up at her but his body goes stiff due to Y/n hugging him he relaxes and slowly sinks into the hug and cries into her shoulder Eric was never one to open up to these kind of things or soften up to other people but due to the tip of the glass the water just came pouring out.

"You don't need to say anything right now but if you need someone to be there I'm always here for you now that we're friends."  She says rubbing circles onto his back.

He sniffles nodding, they stayed there for a while before Y/n pulls away and smiles at him "Let's go downstairs and see what's taking them long." She says standing up and offering him a hand.

Not long after that the relationship slowly bloomed, nourished by the moments they spent together Eric found a comfort in Y/n she didn't judge him because of his problems instead she encourages her to tell him how he feels and tries to help him in anyway she can.

And yet a new feeling seem to bloom between the two Eric thought of things about her he has never thought of, always missing the feeling of her embrace and he felt much more happier around her and just started thinking of her more, subtle glances at her were caught on by the boys and it didn't take long till they caught on to Eric's attraction to their female friend.

Teasing was made, at first Kyle like icky because it was Eric who was in love with you but the more time went on and the way he sees Eric look at you from afar he was convinced that maybe you guys were meant to be, you did bump into him and that's how you know destiny has you guys wrapped around it's finger.

The guys would give advice towards Eric about the way of courting you, Stan wasn't really much of a good help because Wendy was always the one to initiate things between them which earned teasing looks and remarks whirling his way.

But in the end Eric confesses when you guys were on your weekly movie day, after the movie played and people were exiting you were about to start leaving after getting your things but Eric grabs your wrist and you turn to look at Eric confused, he looked hesitant before sighing and looking at you in the eyes blush tinting his cheeks he says "I know this may seem out of character for me but I just wanted to say ever since we started hanging out and all this" he gestures to the two of you and continues "I consider you as a really good friend.." He says you smile at him despite the hurt you were feeling at the mention of friend "but I don't want to be "friends"  anymore" he says raising his hands air quoting the word friends you furrow your eyebrows 'Does he not want to be friends anymore?' but before you could say anything Eric takes your hands into his and you look up at him.

He smiles at you so lovingly.

He tucks a hair behind your ear "Y/n Thompson, would you be my girlfriend?" He asks caressing your cheek.

You look at him and tears start prickle your eyes at first Eric's expression changes and he started to get worried he opened his mouth to ask if you were okay but before he got to you attacked him into a hug and kissed him his eyes widen but melts into both the hug and kissing wrapping his arms around you.

The two of you pull away and you smile up at him "Of course I'll be your girlfriend!" You say wiping away your tears with your sleeve the two of you look at each other before kissing again.

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This is it fpr Part 2 and I'll be posting another South Park work, I have about 2 more to post and then I'll be working on a request an anon sent me.

Like my work? Consider following!

[fiveisnumber1]

So an elaboration for the anon who asked about the H7 setting up Reader with people. Just a little lore to be more entertaining that fiveisnumber1 and I came up with:

The H7 try to set up Reader and naturally it fails but they can never get an answer out of her properly. So it's surprising to them when they find out some correlating information that gives them a tiny insight about why Reader keeps refusing to show up for whatever setups they orchestrate.

The H7 all have their favorite Academy member but eventually they realize the Reader never told them her favorite. She refuses to answer when they ask but they pester her so much that eventually at one point she accidentally mumbles out "Five" and the H7 just RUN with it.

They realize he's her favorite but then feel bad for her cuz they think that the reason Reader doesn't talk about him is cuz he went missing at 13 years old which was quite young. Even Ben lived til he was 17 so they figure Reader must be taking Five's disappearance pretty hard - which, they aren't wrong about, but they don't comprehend the depth of either cuz they obviously don't know the real relationship between the two.

So being the good friends they are, the H7 decide to do something special for her. They compile a bunch of old Five focused UA merch for her like posters and figurines and magazine interviews etc as a birthday gift. Five doesn't have as much available merch as the rest and some is pretty hard to track down but anything for their leader and best friend. They give her the gift on her birthday because they think its extra cool cuz it's the same date as the UA members birthday too. Unfortunately for them, after opening the gift, the Reader starts crying because it's not just her birthday, it's her and Five's shared birthday and she misses him so much more on that day anyway but seeing the thoughtful gift she just breaks down.

She starts mumbling about how she misses him and worrying if he's safe and she's crying so hard she doesn't realize she said all this aloud.

Bren tries to comfort her cuz he's the closest to understanding what losing your "favorite hero" is like. But even he supposes he can't help much cuz he knows for sure that Ben is dead although it makes him sad. Nobody knows what happened to Five and none of them can comprehend how miserable it would be to simply not know what happened to your favorite person even if they're a celebrity.

Eventually the Reader calms down and thanks her friends because she really does appreciate the lengths they went to for her but they aren't done yet.

Dean tells Reader that he knows they can't really understand how it feels like to lose your favorite hero to time, but they've all compiled a video tape of all Five's old interviews and maybe watching them would help. He puts in the tape and then Five's on screen with his smug self satisfied smirk and his sarcastic answers and for the first time, Reader smiles through her tears at seeing Five again. Even if it's on tape, she hasn't heard his voice or seen his smile in so long and she missed it and is glad to see it.

Reader watches the interview with rapt attention and the H7 watch her reactions curiously cuz they've never seen her so expressive about the Umbrella Academy before.

Eventually, on the tape, the interviewer asks Five if he's ever been in a relationship or had a crush and Five, for the first time ever, grows flustered and blushes and then passes the question off to one of his siblings. Reader giggles at this and also blushes because of her own feelings and because she always found it adorable when Five got embarrassed.

That's how the H7 find out about the Reader's "celebrity crush" on Five Hargreeves. They aren't expecting it at all. It's somewhat surreal to them as well but hey, they don't judge! If Lucas is ready to leave Addison for Luther and Bren has a shrine to Ben then Reader having a crush on Five is ordinary too.

So they become Five x Reader "shippers" and tease her about him even though they think that he'd be much older than them even if he were to come back. Slowly, the Reader opens up again and begins to blush and smile when she remembers her feelings for Five and the moments she spent and how she felt around him without feeling just the immense pain. She misses him dearly but the H7 help her remember the positives again.

Also once they read Vanya's manuscript and find out about the unnamed best friend of the Hargreeves who Five had "a special connection and the deepest relationship" with, they tease her with that too but they also grow super defensive and promise to support her against the mysterious best friend in Vanya's book if Five ever comes back because Five x Reader is the ship they stan and nothing else will fly! (They start out crack shipping it as supportive friends and at the end actually are ready to bear arms to support it 😂)

Meanwhile, Reader is just amused while face-palming cuz "Guys... I am the mysterious best friend" although she can't tell them and although she obviously doesn't really believe that Vanya intended to mean Five had any romantic feelings towards her like she did him.

Anyway, those were some fun headcanons we came up with so we hope the rest of you like them too!

Here are more fun little things as well:

Addison and Kenny always comment how if Five shows up and he’s older they will fully support her if she wants to go into a sugar baby lifestyle with him. Reader always shaked her head and waved them off for being ridiculous.

When The apocalypse is over and Reader fully explains everything to her friends including the fact that she and Five are dating everything finally clicks. The reason she turned down ever match they tried to make, the reason she got so emotional over Five, all of it.

And it really just hits them like “wow this wasn’t a celebrity crush it was her ONLY crush”

They’re fully supportive though and are also happy they don’t have to fight some other random person for Reader since Reader was the anonymous girl mentioned in Vanya’s book.

The H7 show Five the old interview of being asked if he had a crush on anyone and becoming flustered and Five says “that was the most difficult interview I ever had to do.”

Bonus:

When people call Bren’s shrine to Ben a shrine he always gets upset and corrects them that it’s a MEMORIAL not a shrine. The rest of them still call it a shrine just to mess with him.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

2010s Art: Music, Games, and TV

So I love all forms of art. It may not seem like it since I tend to stick mainly to movies, with the odd cartoon or video game thrown in, but that’s really because movies are more my thing due to not being massive time investments. Like, don’t get me wrong, I gamed, I watched TV, I listened to music, but it was a lot more casual than my deep dive into becoming a major cinephile.

With games and TV, it was mostly issues of money and time respectively. I have a few consoles, mostly Nintendo and Sony ones, and my wife helped me experience Xbox games, but I just don’t have the money needed to experience every good game that comes out. With TV, the time investment is the biggest roadblock, especially when all the best shows have hour-long episodes these days. With movies, I just have to spend 90 minutes to two hours on average; for TV, it’s countless hours I could be watching movies. As for music… well, I listened to a lot, I just don’t feel totally qualified to properly rank and list songs and albums.

So instead of the big decade-spanning list for movies that I’m doing, I’m going to go over some things I enjoyed from the past decade and maybe a few things I didn’t in music, TV, and video games. Here’s a little guide so you know what stuff is something I consider one of my absolute favorites in any given medium - if it’s from this decade, it will be in bold, and if it’s from a previous decade but I experienced it this decade, it will be underlined.

Television

I figured I’d get this out of the way first since it’s the medium I have the least experience with. Let me put it this way: I have seen only one season of Game of Thrones, the first one (and by all accounts I dodged a bullet by dropping that show). I also had the misfortune of jumping in to The Walking Dead right as it was gearing up for its abysmal second season, which turned me off that and led to me only watching an episode here or there. 

I had better luck watching live action shows on streaming. I managed to get through almost all of Pretty Little Liars on Netflix, which was a chore in and of itself; it’s a good show, but boy could it ever get arbitrary and frustrating. Speaking of Netflix, I think it goes without saying that Stranger Things is their best effort; from the likable cast of kids to the awesome soundtrack, even though it never really surpasses season one the show always has something cool going on in one of its plots. My other favorite from Netflix would probably be their take on A Series if Unfortunate Events, which is how you do adaptation expansion right; everything they add feels like it’s in service of fleshing out Lemony Snicket’s dismal world, as well as giving Patrick Warburton an incredible dramatic role as the Lemony narrator himself.

Amazon managed to score two hits in my book. The first is the unbelievably fun and charming Good Omens, a miniseries that somehow got me to love David Tennant and Michael Sheen more than I already did. The second was the gory joyride that is The Boys which while not the smartest or most original superhero satire is definitely the most fun.

While I didn’t watch the whole show and would not consider it one of my favorites, I do want to give props to Hannibal for introducing me to Mads Mikkelsen. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the only person aside from Hopkins worthy of playing everyone’s favorite cannibal. Another show I DO consider a favorite despite slacking on keeping up with it is Ash vs. Evil Dead; I only needed to see a single season of Bruce back with the boomstick to know this show was a masterpiece.

On the animated side I have much more to talk about. Not since the 90s have we been spoiled with so many genuinely great and varied cartoons. We got Adventure Time, Regular Show, Steven Universe… really, Cartoon Network raised the bar this decade and made up for an awful 2000s. They even finally gave Samurai Jack a conclusion, which despite the mixed results, was still a real exciting phenomenon to experience.

Of course, my favorite CN show came from Adult Swim. I am of course referring to Rick & Morty, a fun sci-fi adventure comedy that attracted the most obnoxious fanbase possible in record time. While certainly not a show you need a high IQ to understand and having an atrocious third season, it still manages to be funny and thought provoking in equal amounts. Seriously though. Fuck season 3.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is another great show that I sadly fell off the wagon of around the fifth or sixth season. It never got bad of course but it never really engaged me like the older episodes, though what I’ve heard of the last season makes me wish I’d kept up with it. It was a great show with a lot of heart and character, and I’m not sure we’ll ever see a show like it again.

Netflix did not slack in the animation department; I didn’t catch their most famous show (it’s the one about a certain Horseman) but I did catch their fantastic take on Castlevania, which as a huge fan of the series was a real treat. Where the fuck is Grant though?

My two favorite shows of the decade, however, are what I see as the pinnacle of East and West: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Gravity Falls. 

JJBA is a series I had vague passing knowledge of, only knowing its existence due to seeing Stone Ocean referenced on the Wikipedia page for air rods when I was younger and, of course, the memes that spawned from Heritage for the Future, which were inescapable back in the day. As soon as I got into the series, it became one of my biggest inspirations, teaching me you can be deep, complex, and filled with great character interactions while also being so batshit insane that every new and absurd power is incredibly easy to buy (looking forward to the rainbows that turn people into snails, animators). They managed to get through the first four parts and start up the fifth over the decade; so far my favorite part is four, mainly due to the magnificent bastard that is Yoshikage Kira (played time perfection by D.C. Douglas) and in spite of serial creep Vic Mangina playing the otherwise lovable asshole Rohan Kishibe.

Gravity Falls on the other hand is just a fun and engaging mystery show that manages to excel at being episodic and story-driven all at once. There’s only one or two “bad” episodes across two seasons, and it lasted just as long as it needed to, wrapping things up with a satisfactory ending that still gave fans a few mysteries to chew on. It also gave us Grunkle Stan, perhaps the greatest character in all of animation, the pinnacle of “jerk with a heart of gold” characters who is hilarious, badass, and complex all at once. This is my favorite western animated show…

...but then the last year of the decade threw a curveball and, if I’m being honest, is on par with Gravity Falls: Green Eggs and Ham. Netflix really wanted us to know 2D animation is back in 2019; between this show and Klaus, the future is looking bright for the medium. It’s a fun, funny roadtrip comedy that knows when to be emotional and when to be funny, and it’s all filtered through the wubbulous world of Dr. Seuss. It’s just a wonderfully delightful show.

And on the subject of JoJo, I had a kind of love-hate relationship with anime this decade. The attitudes of anime fans turned me off from anime for a long while. Sure, I checked out stuff like Attack on Titan and Sword Art Online, but neither series really clicked with me. The main anime I loved this decade were ones that started in the 2000s and ended in the 2010s, like Dragon Ball Z Kai and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I suppose I did enjoy My Hero Academia, which is a really fun show with an awesome and varied cast and great voice acting. Love Froppy, best girl for sure.

One of the most unfortunate things about this decade was how many great shows got screwed over by their networks. Sym-Bionic Titan, Thundercats, and The Legend of Korra were all great shows in their own right but were treated like shit by their respective networks. It really makes me upset that stuff like that not only happened, but continues to happen to this day.

But let’s not end on a bad note; let’s talk about the astounding returns old shows got. Invader Zim got a movie as did Hey Arnold, with the latter in particular finally wrapping up the dangling plot threads, but those are actual TV movies so they don’t really fit here; what DOES fit is Static Cling, the triumphant return of Rocko’s Modern Life. A forty minute special, it follows Rocko and his friends as they navigate the modern age, trying to bring back Rocko’s favorite cartoon. Rachel Bighead’s arc in this in particular is pretty groundbreaking and awesome. 

Also awesome was the first few episodes of Samurai Jack’s return, though it did end up petering out halfway through the season and ended on an anticlimactic note. Still, Tom Kenny’s Scaramouche, the sheer amount of continuity, and the awesome final curbstomp battle against Aku are worth giving this a watch. And if nothing else, stuff like this gives me hope for future revivals. What will we see next? Gargoyles comeback? Batman Beyond continuation? KENNY AND THE CHIMP REVIVAL?! Chimpers rise up!

Music

Much like everyone, I listened to a lot of music this decade. There was a lot of shit, and I definitely used to be one of those “wow no one makes good music anymore” morons, but I grew out of that and learned to look in the right places.

Let’s start with the albums I loved the most. Continuing her meteoric rise from the 2000s, Lady Gaga drooped her magnum opus, Born This Way, an album that successfully showcases her skills as she takes on numerous pop styles. No two songs sound the same, and with a couple of exceptions every song slaps. While we’re on the subject of pop stars, Gaga’s contemporary and lesser Katy Perry managed to hit a home run with the fun bit of pop fluff that was Teenage Dream.

Weird Al was sorely missed for most of the decade, but what albums he did drop featured some of his best work. While Alpocalypse doesn’t hold up quite so well, it’s still solid, but even then it is blown out of the water by Mandatory Fun, an album that just refuses to stop being funny from start to finish. And that’s not the only funny albums this decade; aside from artists I’ll get more into later, George Miller AKA Filthy Frank released Pink Season as one of his last great acts as his character of Pink Guy. The album is as raunchy and filthy as you’d expect. And then for unintentional comedy, Corey Feldman dropped Angelic 2 The Core, an album so musically inept that it ends up becoming endearing; it’s The Room of music.

As I gamed a lot this decade I got to experience a lot of great video game soundtracks, but the two I found to be the absolute best were Undertale and Metal Gear Rising’s. I couldn’t tell you which soundtrack is better, and I’ve actually made a playlist on my iPod containing my favorite tracks from both games. Pokemon had solid soundtracks all decade, but they definitely were better in single tracks such as Ultra Necrozma’s theme from USUM and Zinnia’s theme from ORAS.

And speaking of individual songs, there were a lot I really loved. The disco revival in the easel ide half of the decade lead to gems like “Get Lucky,” “Uptown Funk,” and… uh, “Blurred Lines.” The controversy to that one might be overblown, but it sure isn’t anything I really want to revisit.

Corey Feldman may be the king of unintentional comedy, but this decade was seriously ripe with so bad it’s good music. The crown jewel is without a doubt the giddy, goofy “Friday,” but I think the equally stupid but also endlessly more relatable Ark Music production “Chinese Food” is worth some ironic enjoyment as well. 

Meme songs in general were pretty enjoyable, though it came at a price. Remember when everyone tried to be funny by ripping off “Gangnam Style?” Remember when people took that Ylvis song at face value? Irony and satire were lost on the masses. I think the best mene song of the decade, though, is “Crab Rave,” a bouncy instrumental dance track with a fun music video and an absurd yet hilarious meme tacked to it. And then we have “The Internet is for Music,” a gargantuan 30 minute mashup featuring every YTMND, 4chan, Newgrounds, and YouTube meme you could think of (at the time of its release anyway),

Then we get into artists. Comedy music was great this decade, with Steel Panther and The Lonely Island putting out great work all decade, but by far my favorite funny band is Ninja Sex Party. Dan “Danny Sexbang” Avidan and Brian “Ninja Brian” Wecht are pretty much my favorite entertainers at this point, with them easily being able to go from doing goofy yet epic songs where they fuck or party to doing serious and awesome cover albums where Dan flexes his impressive vocals. A big plus is how all of their albums are easily some of my favorites ever, with not a single bad CD, and that’s not even getting into their side project Starbomb. These guys are a treasure.

Then we have Ghost, a Swedish metal band who play up the Satanic panic for all it’s worth. These guys captured my interest when I heard the beautiful “Cirice” on the radio, and despite that song rocking the fuck out, Imagine my surprise when it ended up being only middle of the road awesome for this band! With killer original songs like “Rats,” “Mary in the Cross,” and “Square Hammer” to a awesome covers like “Missionary Man” and “I’m a Marionette,” it’s almost enough to get a guy to hail Satan. I think they appeal to me mainly because they have a style very in line with the 80s, most evident on tracks like “Rats.” 

While I’d hesitate to call him one of my favorite musicians yet (he is really good so far though), one of my favorite people in entertainment is Lil Nas X. From his short but sweet songs that crush genre boundaries to his hilarious Twitter feed, this guy is going places and I can’t wait to see what those places are.

And finally, the guy I think may be one of the greatest creative geniuses alive and who has nearly singlehandedly shaped Internet culture with everything he does… Neil Cicierega. While it’s not like I only discovered him in the 2010s - the guy has been an omnipresent force in my life since Potter Pupper Pals debuted - he definitely became the guy I would unflinchingly call the greatest artist of our time over that period.   Whether he’s releasing the songs under his own name or as Lemon Demon, you can always be sure that the songs are going to burrow into your brain. His Lemon Demon album Spirit Phone, which features songs about urban legends and the horrors of capitalism, is easily my pick for album of the decade. And then under his own name he released three mashup mixtapes: Mouth Sounds, Mouth Silence, and Mouth Moods. All three are stellar albums, but only Mouth Moods has “Wow Wow,” the bouncing track about homoerotic bee-loving Will Smith and outtakes so good they deserve to be on the next album.

Video Games 

Having a PC this decade was great because it let me experience a lot of games I probably wouldn’t have otherwise, like Half-Life, BioShock, Earthnound, Mother 3, and Final Fantasy VI and VII. All of these and more are among my favorite games of all time now, but we’re here to talk about the stuff from this decade I consider great.

It’s hard to talk about this decade in gaming without mentioning Skyrim. Yes, it has flaws and the main storyline is a bit undercooked, but there’s so much fun to be had dicking about in the wilderness it’s hard to be too mad. And if you have mods, there are endless opportunities to expand the game. The same is true for the other game I have sunk countless hours into, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Not only is there a thriving modding community, but it has been supported and encouraged by the creators and some mods have even made the leap into becoming fully canon! It’s always a blast to revisit and see how far I can break the game with item combos.

Surprisingly, Batman managed to get not one, not two, but THREE awesome licensed games this decade! Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and the unfairly maligned Arkham Origins all kick as much ass as the Dark Knight himself. The former two reunite Mark Hamill and Kevin McConroy as Joker and Batman while the latter features numerous stellar boss battles. The combat in these games is so graceful and fluid, you WILL feel like Batman at some point, be it after flawlessly clobbering two dozen mooks or silently eliminating a room of thugs before they even realize you’re there.

Pokémon had a bit of a rocky decade; it started out strong with the fifth generation, the best games in the series with a great story, region, and sidequests and then just went downhill from there. Not incredibly so, of course - the games were always fun at least - but gens VI through VIII were not the most graceful steps into 3D. Still, every gen managed to produce some of my all-time favorite Pokémon. Gen V had Volcarona, Chandelure,  and Meloetta; Gen VI gave us Hoopa, Klefki, the Fairy type in general, and a gorgeous mega evolution for my favorite Pokémon, Absol; Gen VII had the Ultra Beasts and Ultra Necrozma, some of the coolest concepts in the series, as well as Pyukumuku; and Gen VIII gave us Cinderace, Dracovish, Dracozolt, Polteageist, Hatterene, Snom, and Zacian. And those are just samplings mind you, these gens are full of hits.

Bringing back old franchises yielded amazing results. Look no further than the triumphant return of Doom in 2016, which had you ripping and tearing through the forces of Hell with guns, chainsaws, and your bear fucking hands. This game is HARDCORE. Less bloody and gory but no less awesome was the return of not just Crash Bandicoot, but Spyro as well in remakes that are easily the definitive ways to experience the games. And don’t even get me started on the remastered DuckTales!

Platinum games did not fuck around this decade, delivering Bayonetta 2 and Metal Gear Rising. The former is a balls-to-the-wall sequel to the amazing original Bayonetta that, while lacking in bosses quite as impressive as the first game’s, is more polished and has a fun story and a better haircut for Bayonetta; the latter is an action game so insane it makes the rest of the Metal Gear franchise look tame in comparison. The latter in particular is in my top ten games ever, with every boss battle feeling epic, all the music kicking ass, and Raiden truly coming into his own as a badass.

Speaking of Metal Gear, the divisive The Phantom Pain easily earns its place here. While much fuss has been made about the game being “unfinished,” it still has a complete and satisfying ending even if it doesn’t totally wrap up the dangling plot threads the young Liquid Snake leaves behind. The overarching themes as well as Venom and his relationship with characters like Kaz, Paz, and ESPECIALLY Quiet make this game, with his and Quiet’s being particularly beautiful and tragic. The Paz quest, Quiet’s exit, and the mission where Snake has to put down his men after they get infested with parasites are all some of the most heartbreaking moments in the franchise. But it’s not all tears; there’s plenty of fun to be had harassing Russians in Afghanistan while blaring 80s synth pop from your Walkman. Oh yeah, and fuck Huey.

The Ace Attorney series also thrived, with both Spirit of Justice and Dual Destinies transitioning the series into 3D a lot more graceful than some other franchises while still maintaining the with and charm the series is known for. And if that wasn’t enough for my point-and-cluck adventure needs, Telltale had me covered with The Wolf Among Us and the first season of The Walking Dead. The stories and characters of those games are so good, it’s enough to make you sad they never got a timely sequel or sequels that weren’t shit respectively.

This decade is when I really got into fighting game, though I’m not particularly good. I supported Skullgirls (and am even in the credits!), and got into Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle (and I also got into its spiritual predecessor, Heritage for the Future). But by and large my favorite fighting game of the decade and the one I’m actually pretty good at is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the most ridiculously ambitious crossover in video game history. The fact that the game is STILL getting more characters added is a testament of how insanely great the game is because instead of being mad that there’s so much DLC, people are going rabid waiting for news of more. It’s such an awesome, complete game out the door that the DLC feels earned rather than half a game being held hostage. Other devs, take note!

A lot of franchises put their best foot forward for sequels. God of War III was an awesomely bloody finale to the original journey of Kratos, with more epic bosses than ever; now he’s off fighting Norse gods, and I hear that game is even better! Portal 2 is just an absolute blast, and easily surpasses the first game on the merit of having Cave Johnson alone; the fact we get Wheatley and the malfunctioning personality cores honestly feels like overkill. Then we have BioShock… 2. While it’s certainly not as good as the first game, I think it was a lot of fun, and it got way too much flak.

 I think it definitely aged better than Infinite which, while still a good game in its own right (it’s hard to hate a game with a character as endearing as Elizabeth), definitely was not warranting the levels of acclaim it got with such a muddled narrative. “Overrated” and “overhyped” are not words I keep in my vocabulary and I certainly would not describe Infinite as such, but I do feel like people got swept up in the gorgeous visuals and the story bits and characters that are effective and so weren’t nearly as critical of its flaws. It’s still a good, fun game with an interesting world, but it pales in comparison to the other two BioShocks. I feel like The Last of Us is in a similar boat. That being said, I couldn’t tell you why; it has a great story, good characters, plenty of replayability, and fascinating enemy design. But despite all that, I appreciate this game more than love it. It’s the Citizen Kane of video game sin that regard at least.

I’d be remiss to not mention the big indie successes of the decade. Shovel Knight is easily one is the greatest platform era ever made, taking everything great about the platformers on the NES and SNES, removing the bullshit, and delivering numerous bonus campaigns with unique playstyles. Then there was Abobo’s Big Adventure, a marvelous mashup of all sorts of games starring the beloved Double Dragon mook as he goes on a bloody quest to save his son. It’s a blast and there is tons of variety but some sections are definitely as hair-pullingly difficult as the games that inspired them. And then there is Doki Doki Literature Club, the free visual novel that brutally subverts your expectations. Sadly, I do feel the game loses some impact on subsequent playthroughs, but it’s still a great, effective story that skillfully utilizes meta elements.

Still, the greatest indie success of them all is Toby Fox’s masterpiece, Undertale. Charming, funny, emotional, and populated by a cast of some of the most fun and lovable characters ever conceived, this game was an instant smash and is still talked about to this day. Sure, things like Sans have been memed to death, but it’s hard to not just love and cherish the beautiful world Toby Fox managed to create. This game may not be the greatest game of all time, but for what it is I wouldn’t hesitate to name it the game of the decade.

There was a lot of great art in the 2010s, and while I couldn’t get around to all of it, I’m so happy with what I got to experience. Here’s hoping that the 2020s can be just as amazing!

[traitor-boyfriend]

I just read your post about Stan and Kyle's relationship and I totally agree, but I was wondering if you might elaborate on what you mean when you said Kyle acts as a moral/ethical guide for Stan? I'm not disagreeing but I'd love to hear you talk more about it

sure!

kyle is obviously the most morally fixated of the four boys and i would say after about season four or so is when they really began to take this direction with his character. whenever something transpires within the group, kyle is almost always the first to disagree w whatever plot they (’they’ almost always meaning cartman) start brainstorming to keep themselves from getting into trouble, that they should instead own up to their mistakes and take responsibility and suffer the consequences that come along w it. rarely if ever does anyone actually listen to kyle and he’s cajoled into complicity but that doesn’t stop him from offering his disapproval at every turn in the name of wanting to do the right thing. the best example of this is ‘toilet paper’ where they tp their art teacher’s house for making them stay late; kenny and stan are immediately on board when cartman suggests it but kyle is uncomfortable w the idea entirely, and after it’s done he’s racked w guilt and is seen as the weakest link in all of them b/c of his compulsion to tell the truth. we get to see kyle struggling w guilt pretty often and the apex of it is usually when some outside force is preventing or coercing him from coming clean about whatever it is he’s done. though stan and kyle both shared the whole ‘gay little speech’ element in the very beginning, it’s pretty much been exclusive to kyle for the majority of the series -- kyle is the one to always explain what they learned at the end of the episode, to tie together the moral lesson you’re supposed to take away from it

because he’s a kid, kyle can occasionally be swayed out of his conviction if the consequences are great enough for him to be afraid of (this tends to be his mom). when butters’ gets the ninja star stuck in his eye in ‘good times with weapons’, kyle initially panics and agrees with cartman’s idea to kill butters and bury him in kyle’s backyard b/c he’s so petrified by the idea of his mother finding out what he was doing. but even then his moral center comes back around, even if he doesn’t follow through; he protests the idea of taking butters to a vet instead of a hospital and later tries to get rid of his ninja weapon and instead confess to what happened. in ‘crack baby athletic association’ kyle is outraged and disgusted by what he sees as cartman exploiting the babies born addicted to narcotics and wants to expose him, but he changes his tune after learning how much money cartman is making. so he eventually joins cartman but justifies it to himself as taking care of these babies, giving them opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise get, raising awareness, etc -- even though he’s in the wrong, kyle tries to view his actions through a benevolent lens in that what he’s doing -is- the right thing; that’s why it bothers him so much when stan tells him he sounds just like cartman. stan is seeing both of their actions clearly in the same vein, but in kyle’s mind, he’s incapable of conceiving himself being in anyway like cartman and has to further delude himself into seeing the positives of his actions. he goes as far as showing up in stan’s bedroom in the middle of the night to legitimize his actions, both to himself and to stan, because stan’s opinion of him matters so much that kyle can’t move past it unless he’s able to convince stan that he’s in the right. to his credit, kyle does try to rectify his actions with the ea sports deal and building an orphanage and whatnot. two wrongs don’t make a right, but that won’t stop kyle from trying.

basically i’m just trying to fully highlight the extent of kyle’s dedication to being honest, being kind, being a good person etc. it matters a lot to him and it’s also touched on briefly now and then w regards to his being jewish -- that being a good person is important if not only for the sake of being a good person.

it’s not that stan isn’t concerned w being a good person or doing the right thing, but he has more of a selfish or self-centered impulse than kyle does. stan cares a great deal more than kyle of what people think of him and is more desperate to be accepted or liked by his peers, so he’s often subservient to the whims of passing trends and fads or following the crowd. this is a debatable point but i also think because of this stan is generally more prone to blatant egotism than kyle -- when he leads some kind of superficial crusade (’butterballs’, ‘scause for applause’, ‘bass to mouth’), it’s pretty plainly about himself and his own feelings whereas when kyle gets wrapped up in a similar power-trip it’s usually at least manifested/disguised in some cause greater than himself, even if it’s a self-centered one. 

i’m gonna touch on the examples i provided above briefly:

-butterballs: stan begins the anti-bullying campaign initially out of concern for butters but when he sees how highly his classmates regard him for taking a stand, it very quickly divulges into stan riding the high of peer approval w regards to the music video, making it seen, going on dr. oz etc. kyle is the only one who finds fault with it -- “don’t act for me, stan, really” is a really caustic but honest assessment of the situation on kyle’s end b/c he sees that stan is more concerned w how his efforts are being received and praised rather than helping butters. again highlighted by their interaction in the bathroom when stan insists his video needs to be seen by everyone and kyle tells him to put it on the internet for free instead if he feels that way. stan is dumbstruck b/c he doesn’t know how to defend himself b/c he knows kyle is right, and he cares more about accolades/profit more than he does actually making any kind of grand social change.

-scause for applause: my favorite example, i think. again, stan’s refusal to take off the bracelet starts as something personal to him and very, very quickly transforms into a selfish movement about himself, ‘stanground’, b/c he loves the positive affirmation he receives as a result. craig then accuses him of having lied, and stan berates him in front of everyone in a really acerbic manner and only fuels the fire that eventually brings him down. when everyone hates stan after finding out he actually did cut off his bracelet, kyle tries to nudge stan in the right direction by urging him to tell the truth, but stan only doubles down and tries to get everyone on his side again w a convoluted scheme to make it seem as if the whole thing was intentional. when this blows up in his face, again, kyle -- without judgement -- confronts him about having asked heidi to borrow superglue the week before. stan scoffs and i think he says something like “you’re still on that, dude?” and of course kyle is! why wouldn’t he be! he doesn’t want to see his friend dig himself any further a hole than he already has. 

-bass to mouth: everyone participates in the wikileaks gossip site at school but kyle; he’s the only one who has an outright problem with such an invasion of privacy, and stan tries to get him to lighten up. kyle remarks that it wouldn’t be funny if something about stan were written on there; stan responds flippantly that there isn’t, only for something about him to show up shortly after. cue stan leading the charge to find out who the site-runner is only for kyle to remind him during the meeting that, okay, now that it happened to you, it isn’t funny, right? 

not necessarily in the same vein of selfishness, ‘two days before the day after tomorrow’ is another great example of kyle wanting stan to do the right thing. after they destroy the dam, cartman and stan agree not to tell anyone, but when stan is confronted by the destruction his actions have caused with the people of beaverton being trapped in their flooded homes, he feels immensely remorseful. cartman sternly demands that he not tell kyle b/c kyle will obviously try to get him to confess to what they did. stan ends up telling kyle anyway to the exact result, advising him to let everyone know he’s responsible so the people stranded can receive actual help. cartman becomes irate when he realizes kyle knows, but instead of following his advice, stan tries to do the right thing in a roundabout way: rescue the people himself so he can “do the right thing, but still lie about it.” this doesn’t work and only serves to put the boys themselves in grave danger, and kyle pleads for stan to own up to what he did if for their sake only. he calls randy and comes so close to following through only to decide against it, to which kyle is visibly angry and upset with him. by the time stan does come around to telling the truth it’s too late -- everyone thinks he’s speaking metaphorically about breaking the dam instead of literally which leaves him frustrated.

there’s more examples of this, but kyle very frequently is the first one who tries to intervene when stan gets himself in more trouble than he can handle by trying to guide him toward what’s honest and what’s right. stan is often described as the everyman or the straight man of the group, and for the most part i agree with this -- stan himself is a very average kid. but i think it helps to also look at his family dynamic; he has no siblings he can really rely on as shelly is far too volatile, and though she’s shown some moments of genuine concern and care for stan (that i love and wish there was more of!) she generally holds stan with disdain and irritation. sharon is shown to love and care deeply for stan’s well-being but is also largely unaware of the extent of his problems as her hands are usually tied up elsewhere (and doesn’t receive enough one-on-one interaction with stan for me to really comment on how well she handles those problems). randy is a fucking mess and speaking as someone w a parent who was a functioning alcoholic as randy is, i can attest to how fragile and chaotic a relationship like that can be. randy is certainly no role model of decency. i mean, christ, there’s an entire episode based around the concept of randy teaching stan how to lie effectively wherein which he demonstrates ‘tells’ for stan only to exhibit them when he tells stan he loves him. obviously this is played as a joke, but stan notices this and is rightly upset. randy, as a parent and a person, is incredibly selfish, has no sense of boundaries, acts in his own self-interest, and treats stan like a friend instead of son -- not a very good friend at that. not that randy has absolutely no redeeming qualities, but they’re few and far between, and the rare occasion we see him genuinely try to help or bond with stan usually ends up in another wacky misadventure. my point being, stan doesn’t have a very strong support system within his home and thus has to rely entirely on his own will to guide himself.

kyle is one of very few who is really ever shown to expect better of stan, to want him to be better than he is, to want him to be better for the simple fact that he should want it for himself as well -- not so he can get anything out of it.

that was what i mean by kyle being a moral guide for stan and helping keep him grounded. sorry this became so long, but i hope this answered your question!