Halloween Fic: Spirit Animals

[formerdinosaur]

Gonna post this in 3 installments - the last one will be up on Halloween night!

Title: Spirit Animals
Pairing: Stan/Kyle
Rating: R
Words: ~20k; ~5,500 in this chapter
Summary: Cartman wants to film his amateur ghost hunting show at the site of the grisly McCormick massacre. Stan hates the idea but he can't stay away, because Kyle will be there.

Comments

[formerdinosaur]

Thank you so much, I'm glad you're into this! And yeah, I'm into the dynamic of Stan and Kyle being stuck together while they work through their issues rather than being separated (though hell I've written that, too, and sometimes it works), because they don't want to be apart even when they're making each other miserable. I'm glad you're into the character treatments so far and that Kenny feels like a real presence! That was important for me to achieve. :3

Thanks for leaving a comment - more to come soon!

[sekrit_omg]

Wahhhhhh! Okay, I love this for a few reasons, not the least of which is because it hearkens back to your first few PWP fics about Stan and Kyle, in which they engage in elaborate pre-gay touching rituals. Yet this fic (or the beginning of this fic, since there's more to come) is so much more expansive in its scope of characters, the complexity of its emotions, and plot. That probably sounds like a stupid thing to say, because, well, duh, but I think it's important to note how satisfied I was with those fics (I'm thinking of the "baby game" one) at the time, and how much this first installment expands on emotional and situational elements that I didn't even miss in previous fics about Stan and Kyle playing nascent juvenile sex games until I read this one here and realized how satisfying I found them. But, more importantly:

"So I walked you home," Stan says, feeling stupid.

"What do you want, a medal?"NO KYLE YOU BITCH HE WANTS A KISS JESUS

[formerdinosaur]

YES, I think the baby game is my favorite fandom debut I've ever done, I went right for the weird sex from the start. But then there is much more behind why I like it for Stan/Kyle, so yeah, I'm glad this sort of harkened back to that with more examination of the issues that make them want to do weird things to each other's nipples, etc.

I'm glad you're enjoying the details! Halloween adventure details are some of my favorites to write, and yeah, I'll never get over making Kenny's deaths an actual dramatic thing - that was like, my entry point to the fandom in some ways. Thank you for appreciating Craig's yogurt behaviors and Cartman's ball vortex speech, I was proud of that one.

I hope it will get creepier! But I want to maintain this kind of comedic tone at the same time - I think my issue with the previous draft attempt was that it was just too serious-serious and the absurdity of Kenny dying multiple times just wouldn't stand up to that treatment. Glad you're looking forward to more, and thanks for the comments!

[brimbelle]

Aah I really like this !! You're good at writing scary stories and I was planning to read again your Amalgation story for Halloween but eeh this is even better, new fic ! And I agree with arvyy, I can definitely feel the importance of Kenny in the fic.
I love that Stan didn't leave Kyle even if Kyle's "relationship" with Cartman is gross to him. You write my favorite Cartman and here he is especially great! I'm glad that you included Wendy, Craig and the others too, their interactions here are amazing and feel like they could actually be on the show.
"There's no Cartman clause. Do whatever you want with that fat piece of shit. I'm not going to abandon you in this darkest time of your soul's struggle.""
haha that makes me laugh and aww at the same time.
And poor Clyde. He just wanted a ride home.

(Also lol at the references to Downton Abbey. I've been addicted to this show for two months now and I'm still trying to match every South Park character to a Downton Abbey one everytime I watch an episode.)

[formerdinosaur]

Thank you! I'm glad you like this one, and that Kenny has a presence. Stan is only increasingly codependent when threatened with the idea of Kyle in Cartman's clutches, yeah. And I love writing Cartman's awful dialogue, especially when he's bragging about having Kyle to poor Stan, ugh, it's my fave. Glad you liked Clyde's cameo as well, haaa.

I was really into the first two seasons of Downton Abbey!! Mathew's storyline inspired the whole War AU fic, and I wrote a kind of fake Downton Abbey fic where Kyle was a broke nobleman and Stan was a valet who bathed him, lol.

[_confunded_]

I really really love this so far. It actually reminds me a lot (well not A LOT a lot) of your Hey Arnold Halloween fic, in which Arnold comfortably tags along to the scary/haunted place because Helga's going and he can't bear to not go because what if something happens and he's the moral one and secretly in love with HelgaSo needless to say I'm really into this already! I enjoy Halloween as a background for forcing pairings to confront their feelings, a lot. I also love the Kyman in this, because literally nothing makes me happier than Stan being inexplicably angry and uncomfortable over Cartman and Kyle touching each other's dicks. I really think there are a lot of circumstances where Cartman being the one to make the first move on Kyle would be the thing that makes Stan realize HE wants to be that person, not Cartman. But anyway

[formerdinosaur]

Thanks! Yeah, I was definitely remembering that story when writing this one, aww. I wrote it in the library when I was miserable and avoiding homework, and it's a good memory

[_confunded_]

No no I get what you're saying and I agree. Kyle is an emotional force of nature that has a gravitational pull for someone who is normally pretty apathetic like Stan.