#kurt meta

[marleyssongbook]

i know the kurt stuff and biphobia has been talked to death, but to give my two cents anyway?

,,,, again this is one of those situations where multiple things are true. kurt IS worried about the idea of someone he looks up to suddenly changing on him/that it means he’s going back in the closet and he’s jealous because he likes blaine and he’s being biphobic in this moment.

i just find it difficult to argue that he’s not? he outright states that he doesn’t believe bisexual guys in particular exist and that it’s only an excuse to “feel normal.”

and the fact that he’s also jealous/hurt/worried about the idea of blaine like, retreating from this common experience between them, doesn’t change the fact of what he’s saying is harmful. prejudice of any kind is prejudice regardless of the intent behind it.

for another example; in 4.01, p much the whole glee club (blaine included!) is transphobic to unique in telling her she shouldn’t wear the clothes or makeup she’s comfortable in while sitting with them at lunch in public. i don’t think most of them mean to be transphobic there, nor do they fully understand unique atp — it’s instead something they say in service of protecting their newfound status. but none of that changes that it is transphobic to tell a trans girl who’s supposed to be your friend she can’t wear makeup, even though that’s how she’s comfortable. the difference between that episode and this one is that even though it should have been an onscreen conversation, unique is wearing her makeup by the end and the nd accept this, so clearly some reconciliation has happened. in this - kurt is never really made to learn Anything this ep. the whole thing more or less resolves with him being Right.

even if you think kurt doesn’t Mean it so much as he’s channeling all his other frustrations w the situation into this oversimplified statement, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s biphobic in nature.

also, though. i do kind of think he believes it? mainly because A) kurt was canonically the only openly gay kid at mckinley for a while, had never been exposed to other queer teens of any kind (that he knew of/that the narrative treated seriously) to talk about these issues with until season 2, hadn’t gone online to do much of his own research (this fact is related to sex but i think it’s reasonable to infer he hasn’t engaged much with other gay kids or anyone online at this stage) and has been living in a conservative state/town his entire life. the idea that he’s internalized some stuff does not surprise me.

B) i’m pretty sure kurt thinks the whole “people only say that because they want to feel normal for a change” thing is true and is projecting it onto blaine, because that was more or less his experience, with britney. like, he kind of got pressured by sue into considering he Might not be gay, but you (or at least i) never really get the sense he genuinely thinks he might be attracted to her or girls in general. he’s testing out a theory he was given, and kind of trying to “feel normal” and reconnect with burt.

and it’s not wrong of him, morally, to have had that experience. but it is wrong to treat it as the end-all be-all.

like i said in my last post, it’s hard to Know what’s going in with blaine when we’re not in his pov, but based on what he says, i think it’s reasonable to assume he genuinely thinks he may be attracted to girls/that it’s at least a possibility. but kurt can’t make space for that because he can’t entirely understand it when it runs so counter to his own experience.

and like, btw! i know i say this a lot about all tbe characters when talking about flaws lmao, but; i don’t think that makes him evil! i thinks it’s pretty realistic, and there’s also little to say he couldn’t grow out of this mindset — and i like to imagine he does. but at the end lf the day, the show has a pretty biphobic track record all in its own, and every character (including ones that are supposed to be very sympathetic!) has said some bs at some point or another.

[vicariasan]

Friendly reminder for myself that the only Klaine opinions that matters the most is ones from who both stans Kurt and Blaine at the same time. Not just "I like both of these characters, but," no, they have to stan or understand both of them to an extent.

Not that Klaine-shipper that bias only one of them doesn't matter at all. I will still take those opinions so that I can broaden my own perception. But sometimes, I have to decide not to take them to heart. Because they will make you feel mad, because they usually take things out of context when it comes to the opposite side, remember things wrong out of biasness or putting their own bias on a higher standard comparing to the other one. When in reality, both of them are messy and flawed individuals that can't be perfect, loving self to each other 100% of the time - but learn, try, forgive and accept each other's flaws or low moments anyway. Because to decide to live with each other forever from now on, they have to show off both their best and worst tendencies - not just their best selves 100% of the times, but also their worst and if they are able to forgive one another for that or not (Kurt's harsh moments at times, Blaine's emotional impulsiveness sometimes, v.v.)

From my viewpoint, Klaine are soulmates not because they are compatible all the times or as much as possible << this is so idealistic and fairy-tales-y that I actively dislike it. I think they are soulmates because they are compatible a lot of the times - but also because at the end, also realize they can incompatible sometimes in their lower moments; and that they both DECIDES to work ON THEMSELVES, because they were becoming unhealthy for themselves and each other, in order to make a relationship - that is inheriently good and still could be good - work.

[snarkyhag]

Hi! I may have asked before but what’s your view of the symbolism of the hippo head brooch. And we’ve discussed the scissors brooch in the past. I’m just trying to do some thoughts on Klaine in the Ny arc .

I’m thinking with the hippo head, it comes out at periods of grey change in Kurt’s life. Like when he transfers to Dalton, or His vogue interview, or Chandler mentions it in DWS. Kurt’s also wearing it in Opening Night. Any particular thoughts?

I think we spoke about the scissors brooch and it’s various appearances in season 6. The one I’m looking at is the closing scene in Tested.

I sort of think it, but I may be wrong, , but are these brooches at the end of 5 symbolic to change coming for Klaine? Or just Kurt’s life view in general?

Yes, I do think there is a theme of the hippo brooch coming out when Kurt needs (to display) extra courage.  He wears it in Night of Neglect, Pot o’ Gold, Dance With Somebody, Makeover, and Opening Night.  Most often, Kurt wearing it when he is him stepping into a new environment but we also see it when he needs a bit of a boost.  There is some great meta about the hippo being a power animal and the brooch showing up when he needs to get through hard things and find his path.  

Of course, Kurt is not a box and there are more than 4 sides to him so he will change it up and wear/use it when it strikes his fancy as well.  Sometimes it is just a splash of something different.  But nearly time we see if the argument can be made that the purpose of the brooch is the same - supporting his own courage to get through something awkward/hard and came out stronger on the other side.

[kurtstinypurse]

I know you don't like seblaine or kurtbastian (I don't either, sebastian sucks) but which do you prefer?

ok this ask is totally old but hello here I am to answer

and ooooooof. this is so tough. I really don’t like either - I think sebastian is super toxic for both of them and would be regardless if he’s anywhere near the way canon paints him to be.

but I suppose if I had to choose one, it would be kurtbastian. with those two, I feel like there’s inevitably a lot of competition bc they look similar, etc and have no issues getting catty with one another. do I think it would get under kurts skin and prevent him from growing in a healthy and productive way? yes. do I think he could hold his own? also yes. they both have dominant personalities, and at his core kurt would be okay.

for blaine, though, I think it would get unhealthy fast. kurts dominant personality comes with a lot more understanding and empathy and heart than sebastian presents himself to have on the show, and blaine clearly had a hard time standing up to sebastian enough to even get him to cut it out with the flirting. as committed as blaine was to kurt in season 3, he clearly enjoyed the attention sebastian gave him and got caught up in it regardless of the situation itself and its implications.

from all my blaine analysis in the past I feel like i’ve made it pretty clear that I think blaine hugely struggles with his identity and sense of self after kurt leaves for new york. as consuming as kurt can be, though, he’s never made any indication of getting off on or enjoying making other people feel small. he’s blaines biggest champion so many times, and I just cannot see that ever happening between blaine and sebastian. sebastian’s interest in blaine is entirely superficial and honestly seems to have been a lot about blaine being taken by someone else, really. and with the way blaine gets caught up in things so easily, I think he never would have come to find his center and find his place the way he eventually began to do in the later seasons alongside (with & without) kurt.

anyway! that’s pretty much how I feel about it. kurtbastian would be less bad because kurt has a better chance of holding his own against sebastian, but by no means do I find their arguments/hate towards each other/anything like that anywhere near an attraction or enemies-to-lovers or whatever. still less bad than seblaine tho

[tardismama]

@spaceorphan18 Your Glee, Actually post reminded me I’ve been meaning to share my little headcanon about Kurt’s mom’s perfume. I figure the demographics of Kurt obsessed mixed with perfume obsessed is pretty minimal so it’s probably my lane. I have decided that Mama Hummel wore either Chopard Wish or VanCleef and Arpels Miss Arpels. I’ve queried fellow fragrance lovers who are more experienced with vintage frags and they all say that bottle

 looks like some random bit of pretty glassware props found rather than an actual commercial perfume bottle. So looking for things that were around before approximately 2000/2001 (when Kurt would have been 8, going by the 1993 birthdate) that could be readily turned into a Christmas ornament I wind up with those two.(with one further alternate)

First the case for Chopard Wish

It’s not perfect, it was only released in 1999 so she could only have worn it for a year or so and the way he talks about it it always seems to me like something he remembers from his earliest sense memories. The color is also wrong for the bottle Kurt holds, but, come on, that TOTALLY looks like a Christmas ornament. It also was fairly popular and reasonably likely to be easily found in Ohio. It’s also a cheaper more or less smell alike for Mugler Angel which was released in 1992 and was (is) wildly popular, so we could reason that she used Angel until Wish was released when she switched to the cheaper option (also the somewhat more wearable option as I’m pretty sure Angel can be smelled from space - potent is an understatement) . Scent wise, it’s quite sweet and a big ole patchouli bomb (gag. I, personally, hate it, as there are no common perfume notes I hate more than patchouli)

I wish Brilliant Wish was old enough as the bottle is just about perfect and the scent is this lovely discrete honeyed dried fruit with jasmine and some quiet woodyness, but it wasn’t released until 2010 so no dice.

Option 2 (my personally preferred option), VanCleef and Arpels Miss Arpels

released in 1994 the date is right, the look is right, and the scent, at least for me, fits my mental picture of Mrs. Hummel better. I’ve yet to smell it (although it is high on my ‘to get/try’ list), but it is a very fresh, airy, green scent - basil and melon and greenery, and oakmoss and a wash of springy florals and, if I know my beloved VanCleef and Arpels, it’s likely quite restrained and elegant, strong enough to be ‘heard’ clearly but not shouty and overbearing and in your face, and with a little sparkle of quirky fun (love that house so much!), seems a perfect fit for how I imagine her. Slightly less likely to be found in a smallish midwestern city, at least I’ve never found VC&A anything in mine, but then I remember in Ohio they have Cleveland and Cincinnati, significantly bigger than Omaha. 

Third option, but I like it less, mostly for the look, but also for the scent, is Van Cleef and Arpels First 

Now I adore this one. It’s my fanciest of the fancy date night’s perfume. It is incredibly elegant, and makes you feel like a Lady with a capital L. It’s somewhat similar to Chanel No 5, (in the same vein and family anyway. I’m sure Chanel aficionados would disagree but as all Chanel turns to high priced vinegar on my skin I don’t particularly care what they think) and I’m sure there are many women who wear it as their daily signature, but it just doesn’t strike me as the daily sig scent of the woman that Kurt’s mom is in my head, or the sort of thing that a young child would remember as “I always loved the way she smelled” (my own kids certainly don’t love it, they always complain that they don’t like this one. Of course they are also used to a mommy that never smells the same two days in a row, so piping up about which ones they like and don’t like is common conversation)

Anyway I don’t know if anyone else wondered or cared about this, but it’s been a fun marriage of interests to poke at.

I also have a headcanon that Kurt is a total frag-head. I just can’t see any man who loves accessories as much as he does ignoring the category of olfactory accessories. He doesn’t have any sitting on his vanity or in his room in the loft. but clearly he just keeps them away from light like a good perfumista. (I am a bad one, I like looking at the pretty bottles too much) 

[marleyssongbook]

okay some original song kinda klaine critical admittedly thoughts lol (i overall like them in this ep! they’re cute! but)

the stuff at the start with the ~ubiquity of blaine solos~ i have? varied thoughts about that are probably gonna take at least two posts.

this should come with the grain of salt that i definitely do have some blaine bias coloring my view on things jsjshs, but i try very hard to be at least aware of that with any kind of analytical discussion.

so i’ve seen it treated in the fandom both that blaine is like, really hurt by kurt’s “blaine and the warblers/blaine and the pips” stuff (largely by people who hate kurt) and that blaine actually really WANTS someone to like, not idealize him and tkinda,, take him down a peg?? bc he gets so much adoration (not necessarily people who hate blaine but often by people who i think lean kurt-fan in their appreciation of klaine). and i just don’t really agree with either of those stances?

in the first scene, where kurt tells blaine that he's solos are "numerous" and he feels like it's, essentially, the blaine show, i don’t think it comes off as that cruel or spiteful the way i’ve sometimes seen it talked about? he admits readily to being jealous. but blaine asked him his opinion of the performance, even if he was maybe thinking through a different lens, and kurt opens his part of the conversation by asking if he can be honest bc they’re friends and they’ve always been honest each other. which blaine doesn’t really say anything to but i think he sorta nods and or just kinda… waits/kind of implicitly agrees. so it’s not like it came full swing out of nowhere - and kurt compliments blaine’s solos as "breathtaking" in the same breath he says they’re “numerous” so it’s not like it’s this total beratement of blaine.

and i find blaine’s reaction/expression, in all honesty, kind of hard to read? when kurt walks off we get a sort of close-up of his face and i like, actually have no idea what he’s feeling (neither does he, probably! lmao. king of having to sort out what he's even feeling <3). more than anything, he looks kinda confused-surprised, but i’m not even sure that covers it entirely. i can see how hurt could be read there, but i’m just not entirely sure i do?

and then on the other side of things: i just don’t particularly see kurt’s frankness with him/willingness to call him out as being like, Why blaine realizes his feelings? i guess i get why people think that bc he does at first react to that by trying to change up how the warblers do things with their blazers and eventually performance, claiming he’s tired of the warblers being about him. and that is a reaction to kurt, but i see it more as him just a) generally caring about kurt’s opinion regardless of what it’s about b) genuinely wanting to be fair! likit seems like he was taken aback/surprised by kurt’s assessment? like, i feel like sometimes bc there are Some parallels between rachel and blaine and being lead performers, some people forget that... he doesn't really act the way she does about it, the vast majority of the time. he very consistently cares about supporting other people, he's rarely if ever?? that arrogant about his singing/performance abilities. he Likes It and Knows He's Good but he's not out there saying that he's obviously the best all the time lmao, and rachel, while i do love her - one of my many frustrations with her Is that. even if he’s oblivious to how far his spotlight extends sometimes, he very often tries to share it with other people. c) maybe a little bit of him also just sort of wants to impress kurt since this happens After he realizes his feelings lmao.

d) also i think kurt really bought into the pavarotti as his voice metaphor and when pavarotti dies blaine doesn’t want kurt to actually feel like his has died too, which is his why he goes into his whole “i don’t want to silence anyone else” spiel.)

but i don’t get the particular sense blaine like, wants there to be someone to knock him down a peg or bring him down to earth. frankly, if anything, we come to find him to be someone who often doesn’t do that well with criticism, perceived or otherwise - not in the sense that he thinks he's perfect, more in the sense that he thinks he has to be perfect and will spiral if he's not.

so i don’t think it’s what kurt’s saying so much as the fact that he’s willing to say it. above anything, i think blaine values what kurt said to start with - that they can be honest with each other. (and if i were to further analyze that, though this bends into headcanon territory - i would guess that it’s because performing in every aspect of his life, and not just when he’s actually performing, is growing pretty tiresome, so he likes that kurt wants to be honest with him and expects him to be honest back.)

which i guess is why i don’t have a problem with that first scene? it’s another moment that could be uncomfortable or awkward but mostly feels to me like honest communication between two people who are just trusting that they can do that without it breaking anything. which is healthy!

… what Doesn’t feel that way to me, though, is when pavarotti dies and kurt comes in, forlorn, and… kind of immediately upon telling them, takes the moment to?? sort of insult blaine? and arguably the other warblers as well tbh. like his whole "now, I know that today we need to practice doo-wopping behind blaine while he sings every solo in the medley of pink songs" before asking to sing to pavaratti just? seems so unneccessary? like, to me, there is a Big difference between telling someone you're friends with, in a private conversation, a less than completely 100% positive opinion about something to do with them after checking in to make sure it;s okay - and saying pretty much the same thing in a much more mean-spirited way in front of a bunch of other people to? ig establish that he thinks it's more important that he sing it pavarotti? which i would understand more if we got any indication that any of the warblers at all wouldn't have been okay with this but they don't, and blaine himself just seconds before was asking kurt if he's okay and saying he's so sorry, so like... it's startling.

and to be fair to kurt: he’s very upset! he’s grieving and in turmoil! there are a lot of adults who don’t know how to express that without dipping into cruelty sometimes, much less being a young teenager who’s already had to deal with the loss of his mother at an early age. while this isn’t the same thing, i do think it’s clear kurt felt a deep connection with pavarotti and is taking the loss really hard, so i can understand why he's not checking his every word. and it's not like blaine is overly bothered - i'm sure he understands where kurt's coming from, and none of it stops him from realizing his feelings kurt like 5 seconds later lol. but i also think the writing kind of wants us to like... Agree with Kurt here, even though we've been given little reason to think the warblers wouldn't readily agree to his singing to pavarotti?

and ig overall a) i just don't even understand why it's there in the first place, as a writing choice. they've already established how kurt feels about this. you could take this one line out and literally nothing else in the episode would change. and while i don't think couples need to be perfect to each other 100% of the time (bc it's impossible, and also frankly boring storytelling ), it seems like an odd choice to? have this small vindictive moment that's not really examined at all in the episode you're supposed to root for the end result of them getting togehter? b) i think a lot of my issues with klaine as the series progresses have a lot to do with... obviously klaine start having issues. and again - it probably would make for boring tv if they didn't! and blaine certainly does not behave perfectly or in ways i like in their relationship either. but at a certain point, to me, it just kind of feels (in my memory and based on clips viewings from several weeks back atp lmao) like kurt stops liking blaine like... as a person, not even just romantically. with it coming out in similar ways as this., yet they're still treated as an endgoal couple. which (for me, personally!) is a lot more distressing/leaves a worse taste in my mouth than like, blaine (undeniably!) fucking up bc he's insecure. and maybe that's not fair and maybe i'll continue on and totally change my view on that, but as of now, i think one reason this bothers me somewhat is that it feels like the smallest hint of what's to come?

anyway this is all very LONG my actual overall original point was: blaine says to kurt 'you move me' as his reason, more or less, for realizing his feelings, and i think that sense of deep connection and emotional resonance and seeing the depth of kurt's capacity for care has a lot more to do with him realizing what he feels than anything else.

[marleyssongbook]

also chris colfer’s acting was SO good in the scene of blaine telling him about sadie hawkins. his expression is so—expansive? like he goes to being hurt bc he feels like blaine might be rejecting him to confused to this dawning horror of realizing what blaine’s talking about and you can literally see in his eyes he realizes before blaine even finishes telling him!!!

and his soft little “i’m so sorry” ugh </333

i also have complicated feelings about the narrative framing of treating this like something blaine needs to Overcome in the whole sense of “not being able to face up to the bullies” bc i think that is a pretty un-nuanced and victim-blame-y take tbh.

but i don’t really blame kurt for that as much as the writing seeming to agree with it. (i don’t love his use of ‘redemption’ later but i think he means it less morally and more in a way that speaks to his capital r Romantic sensibilities). when it comes to in-story characterization… idk i don’t necessarily think kurt feels that way. i think he knows blaine feels that way, and whether he should or not doesn’t change the fact that he does. i actually think it’s pretty sweet that kurt wants to take the opportunity to do something he thinks might help blaine, whether or not it’s misguided. (debatable?)

[snarkyhag]

Also my question:

Kurt does wear a lot of military looking outfits and camouflage patterns. Here’s some examples:

Have you a theory why? It’s not because he’s wanting to hide - it’s more the opposite in these scenarios. ( though he didn’t pick his wedding suit) .

Thanks!

What I find interesting about Kurt’s use of camouflage is that it is never to blend in and always to stand out.  He’s upending the concept and playing with the idea.  It makes me speculate that this is a nod to passing, specifically that he usually does not or is not interested in it.  His clothes demand the full attention of his whole self.

Also, it begs the question... who did pick the wedding suits?  If it were Sue she would have landed on something more of a character of them.  Blaine would have had so much plaid.  Brittany is more of a big thinker than detailed person. But Santana, now she has the eagle eye for details.  She pays attention and when she is not focused on making fun, could hit the nail on the proverbial head.