Style

Style is the slash ship between Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski from the South Park fandom.

Canon
Stan and Kyle met sometime prior to the events of South Park. A flashback in the episode 'Pre-School' shows that they have at least been friends since Kindergarten, probably longer since they are neighbors and have both lived in South Park their entire lives. They are best friends, and once referred to their relationship as 'super best friends' in the episode titled as such. Stan and Kyle are generally in sync with each other and usually work together for most of their schemes and activities. They have interactions in almost (if not every) episode, but there are some episodes that stand out more than others, particularly ones that focus on their relationship.

Stan is shown to care a lot for Kyle and has gone to extremes to help him. In 4x06, he attempts to steal Cartman's kidney himself because Kyle needs a kidney transplant and Cartman is unwilling to provide the kidney. He eventually tricks Cartman into the surgery so that Kyle can live. When Kyle's family moves away in 'Smug Alert!", his father tells Stan he will only come back if more people drive Hybrid cars, so Stan publishes a song in hopes of promoting the cars. Near the end of this episode when he thinks Kyle has died he is distraught. When he discovers Kyle is alive he is ecstatic, and hugs him. In 'Cartmanland', Stan runs to help Kyle when he's injured and helps him walk back to his house.

Kyle reciprocates this affection, as shown in 'Fun With Veal', where he shows a lot of concern for Stan when he becomes sick. He takes care of Stan and tries to lift his spirits and comfort him throughout the process. In 'Raisins', when Stan goes through a depressing goth phase, Kyle tries to convince him to come back home because he is worried about him. At the end of the episode Kyle tells Stan that he is glad to have him back.

They both trust each other very much, and care about the other's opinion of them. Wracked with guilt in 15x5, Kyle repeatedly tries to convince himself that his actions are defensible and relays a lot of these thoughts to Stan, who he doesn't want to think bad of him. Stan confesses to Kyle that he broke the dam in 'Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow', which Cartman had predicted he would do earlier in the episode, saying "I know what you're thinking, Stan. You're thinking, you're gonna go tell Kyle."

In 'Follow That Egg!', tension arises between Kyle and Stan during their school project where they must take care of an egg. Kyle is paired with Wendy, Stan's ex-girlfriend (at the time), and Stan becomes jealous of Kyle. (Some fans suggest that Stan's jealousy is misplaced, and truly directed at Wendy, though that was likely not the intention of the episode.) Mr. Garrison then changes the project part-way through and assigns Kyle and Stan as partners, putting them in a symbolic gay relationship for his own plan (which is to prove that gay couples cannot take care of kids.) Stan and Kyle take care of the egg, which they end up treating more seriously than needed, though Stan is still upset with Kyle. The egg is broken while in Stan's possession, but it turns out it was a decoy egg and Kyle has the real egg. They make up, and arrive at the presentation for the project and prove Mr. Garrison wrong about gay couples. During this, Mr. Garrison refers to them as a homosexual relationship. Kyle and Stan then inadvertently become the reason that gay marriage is legalized in Colorado.

Stan and Kyle go through a rough patch in season 15. It begins in 'You're Getting Older' because Stan becomes cynical and depressed. He starts complaining about everything he does and observes, causing Kyle and the others to start avoiding him. Kyle tells him he can't be around him because of this behavior, but Stan cannot stop, so they stop hanging out. The plot of the next episode, 'Ass Burgers', plays out somewhat like a love triangle between Stan, Kyle, and Cartman. Stan's depression continues and he is misdiagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. When he gets drunk he becomes happy and visits Kyle who is working with Cartman at their burger shack. Stan hugs Kyle and tells Kyle he was right, to which Kyle is elated because he believes things will get better. This does not last, since Stan is only happy because he is drunk and under the impression that if he can defeat imaginary aliens he will be permanently happy again. Kyle expresses concern when he realizes Stan has been drinking and tells him that he is now working with Cartman, which Stan criticizes and Kyle gets upset. Stan swears at Kyle, who turns around to walk away, and then walks back toward Stan when Stan says he loves him. He swears at Kyle once more and Kyle leaves, and does not return when Stan repeats that he loves him. They make up at the end of the episode when Stan realizes that he needs to move on and make things better rather than try to makes things as they once were. Unfortunately, Stan's parents decide not to divorce, which ends up making Stan depressed, and secretly continues to manage his cynicism by drinking.

In 'South Park: The Stick of Truth', Kyle is the High Elf King and Stan in his Knight. Stan shows a strong devotion to Kyle, appropriate for his position as a knight and righthand man. In 'South Park: The Fractured But Whole', Kyle and Stan are on bad terms due to being on rival superhero teams, though they eventually make up.

Fanon
Style is one of the oldest pairings in the fandom. It used to be the most popular, but after Creek had a surge in popularity, Style became the second most popular ship. Style is the most popular pairing for both Stan and Kyle, and has 2148 fics on Ao3. Its main rivals are Stendy and Kyman. There are a few tropes commonly reused in Style fanfiction, which has become a joke in the fandom (for example, there are many high school fics where Stan is a football jock and Kyle is an awkward nerd.)

There is a subgenre of Style content where goth Stan (from the episode 'Raisins') and Jersey Kyle (from 'It's A Jersey Thing') are implemented as their true personalities and are shipped romantically. Stan and Kyle's alter egos from 'South Park: The Stick of Truth' are also popular in fan content, particularly the Knight/King dynamic.

Fandom
FAN FICTION



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