southposting:

Im gonna go wild with this so hold on tight. I like to believe that at the very least Cartman’s obsession with Kyle goes beyond just thriving off of his reactions, instead being fueled by a fascination with Kyle’s nature itself. I’d say that Cartman has idealized this character that Kyle represents in his head, not just as a source of attention but Kyle being the object of interest as well. You could compare this way in which Cartman idealizes people in order to become fond of them to the way he did with Heidi in s20, except unlike in Heidi’s case, whereas Cartman pulled his idealization out of his ass, Cartman’s idealized portrayal of Kyle is more of a recolection of Kyle’s actual traits and thus, harder to threaten.
He sees in Kyle this self righteous boy with firm moral codes, a strong desire for justice (he dislikes Kyle’s morality, yet can’t help being intrigued by it, being such an alien concept to him and relatively appreciating it as its own thing) whose sense of entitlement can easily lead to corruption. All traits Kyle posseses, however, Cartman doesn’t care about Kyle’s humanity(his moments of vulnerability), he cares about this perfect ‘Kyle’ who exhibits these sickening traits and is these traits only, no cracks allowed.

Several times throughout the series, with a few exceptions, Cartman finds himself greatly disappointed when Kyle finally gives in(paralleling this to Heidi not being funny for example), and thus shattering the ‘character’ he’s supposed to be(which could very well be attributed to him just being pissed off that Kyle no longer pays him attention as stated early, but then again this is all deep into speculation), and has on occasion even tried to encourage him to fight back whatever he’s up against, this, under this theory, all to protect his ideal of Kyle from going down the gutter, which is, given that his obssession with Kyle is such a significant part of his life, a devastating blow to his perception.

Thought I personally think It’s pretty close to the actual thing, It’s not necessarily ‘love’ in the conventional sense, as having contempt for Kyle’s well being is out of the question for now(as Cartman is usually unable to recognize that others’ suffering should be of his concern), it is perhaps comparable to a relationship such as that of an observer and a very efficient test subject. Cartman is thriving off of Kyle’s character, and that’s what differentiates his crave for his attention from the one he craves from others. When others give in and feed Cartman with a reaction, his consumption of this is notable distinct to that of when Kyle’s wrath is the protagonist. It’s important to note that, outside of Kyle, Cartman is not all that fond of negative attention(exceptions such as Wendy, who has a similar profiling to Kyle’s), and in such cases he will try to mental gymnastic his way into reconstructing others negativity in order for it to be validating and thus suit for his ego to assimilate. With Kyle, he is fully aware of the spite,

he doesn’t sugatcoat Kyle’s hatred,

he knows Kyle hates him and he enjoys it because it comes off as natural for someone like Kyle to feel that way.

Though Cartman actively tries to destroy Kyle, and manages to break his will every now and then, he wouldn’t be satisfied had Kyle not returned to status quo after the ordeal. Kyle is not a toy he can break and move on onto the next thing, he’s far too invested, and Kyle disappointing him isn’t gonna make it any easier on him, He needs Kyle to live up to his name and do what he would do as ‘himself’,

 I think the more Cartman obsesses over Kyle, the more attached he becomes to Kyle himself other than his idealized self, making it difficult to let go

of him

once Kyle fails to suffice in matters of consistency.  

Cartman doesn’t know this of course, he’s gonna keep  relentlessly

trying

to rip Kyle to shrinks, just to find out the result isn’t all that satisfying in the end.