#maggleemeta

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So this part in I Am Unicorn where Blaine starts off talking in a pretty low register but as he clocks Kurt's concerns about him vs Kurt being seen as more of a 'traditional' masculine lead, he lightens up his voice and talks more like McKinley Blaine rather than Warbler Blaine -- interesting to think about in terms of that shift in personality from S2 to beyond. Blaine's an obvious people-pleaser and code-switcher and while I don't think people (necessarily) required him to change in order to fit in and make them happy, I think he did that anyhow for better or worse.

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I didn't like the whole "Tina has a crush on Blaine" storyline because I find RM's fixation on girls mooning after gay boys to be awkward and tiresome, BUT I can't help but feel indulgent for Tina's momentary insanity. Even counting the super intrusive VapoRub incident. My high school bestie one time slept over and I realized when she showered she'd used my body mitt. I was horrified and repulsed and threw it away immediately, but high school kids with terrible boundaries and messy emotional landscapes do these things! And in real life ofc what Tina did wouldn't fly but it's Glee, everything's exaggerated for entertainment. The subsequent rape jokes about it were kinda the worst part tbh

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It's really interesting to look at the difference between Kurt's mentor Isabelle Wright and Blaine's mentor June Dolloway; Isabelle immediately finds personal Ohio connections with Kurt and confesses her insecurities, she's looking for someone to reignite her artistic side and feels a little crushed by the restrictions of management -- she sees herself in Kurt except he does have better organizational/assertive skills than she does, so there's kind of an aunt-and-nephew vibe to them, the lightly scattered fairy godmother to his clearly-defined goals and style. She throws open the door to a world of high fashion and kikis and access to things that Kurt's been dreaming of and sewing up in solitude since he was a wee little thing, and she ushers him through gently and as a friend-boss. Which is great because Kurt's due a kind-hearted person who understands his interests and talents to encourage him, who can help him chart his New York course.

June establishes herself off the bat as someone to be appealed to and wooed for the power that she holds -- which is also social and career capital, so long as Blaine toes the line and understands that he's her protege and he represents her in everything he does. Which is his bailiwick to begin with! Blaine's input into his work with June is probably nowhere near Kurt's with Isabelle and (especially at that point) that's what he needs, anyhow, is a firm hand and clear, direct guidance. June's leeway where Blaine's concerned is about his performance charisma and his ability to charm people, because she doesn't have to worry much about him succeeding at those things, and in turn she provides him a safety net, a foundation, and lbr a figure of ultimate authority -- though one he can push back against if it's important enough to him, which June can appreciate (within reason) because Blaine's biddable otherwise.

There's definitely overlap, they're probably both getting taken to those lunches at Indochine and wherever, but while Kurt and Isabelle's would be breezy and chatty like intergenerational workplace pals where career and socializing intermingle freely because they love both things equally, June and Blaine's would be more like Aunt March and Amy from Little Women lol -- the powerful dowager with her attentive and eager-to-learn companion who'll be rewarded with a trip to Europe to hobnob with important people. I just really love that they both had these relationships with these older women, in ways that were specific to what each of them needed for their personality styles. (There's something a touch darker about June's mentorship vs Isabelle's, which I think is also fitting for them, but that's something for fic rather than meta heh)

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(from this post i just reblogged)

I feel like this sums up so much how I see the Finn/Blaine pairing -- Finn's familiar enough that Blaine can open up with him if he needs to, but he doesn't really have a personal connection except "Kurt's brother" so he can be a little more ... aggressive? Not have to maintain his Tiny Adult persona as much? Especially since their relationship started off kind of antagonistic to begin with (interesting that so did Blaine's relationship with Sam). And there's this sort of natural foursome element to Klaine + Finchel, so they're kind of boyfriend in-laws because they're dating two best friends.

Anyway my point is that Blaine can kinda allow himself to play into his more dudebro instincts with Finn because (obviously) Finn doesn't find that kind of thing threatening or a bother at all, especially once they get past their initial friction and Blaine's taken up the role of Kurt's Boyfriend so Finn can comfortably know where he fits into the ecosystem. When the breakup(s) happen is when I really like to think about the two of them magnetizing towards each other, partly out of desperation and partly because there's that element of having both been in NYC for that disaster and feeling like it's their particular shared experience to keep and fret and anguish over.

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Just like how everyone in that Glee Club was queer, everyone in that Glee Club was kinda batshit. Mercedes Jones when trying to figure out if she should have sex with her boyfriend was not content with talking to friends or some inner contemplation; she put on a little red number and brought Sam to her church so he could sit in the pews the lone white boy while she and the congregation and choir asked Jesus if she could smash in a God-honouring way

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I've seen an oft-repeated fandom take that Kurt rescued Blaine from the gilded cage that was Dalton, and Blaine secretly yearned for that because he was stifled there by the petting and admiration, and that take never resonated for me. In S2 the story is still Kurt's, it's his character arc and Blaine's sort of along for the ride because they clearly had no real plan for him yet -- the bird imagery and Pavarotti, the gilded cage of Dalton, was Kurt's experience of it. Where he felt like his voice was caged and silenced and all that, I mean Blaine even literally said it, Kurt as good as said it when he complained about 'Blaine and the Pips' and his discontentment with that.

Dalton wasn't that for Blaine, it was a safe haven where he could be openly gay and be not only accepted but celebrated and admired. I don't really subscribe to the idea that Blaine wished somebody would come along to 'challenge' him -- he liked Kurt speaking his mind because he generally just likes people being honest with him (and also kind of enjoys hot people being mean to him but that's neither here nor there) -- it's not like Blaine's life had ever been lacking in challenges. Just because he was good at things and won trophies doesn't mean it wasn't a challenge for him. Kurt didn't care to wear a uniform and blend in, and if he had to do that, he wanted to be in Blaine's position where he was (unofficially) The Lead Pussycat Doll.

If he hadn't decided to switch schools, Blaine would happily have stayed at Dalton and felt very fulfilled there. Kurt was literally the SOLE deciding factor for him -- Blaine is a social creature, likes being part of a team, loves performing but not with the same burning passion for stardom that Kurt and Rachel have. It's Kurt and Rachel who are the narrative insert characters who viewers are supposed to identify with, and that's why they get these also-talented but not-as-driven dreamboat boyfriends who at first aren't interested but then become utterly smitten with them.

Had Kurt decided to stay at Dalton and become the Warbler with all the leads, Blaine would likely have been fine with that, considering he pushed to get Kurt a duet with him over Warblers who'd been there much longer! People liked him there, he could be certain he wouldn't be bullied, and he seemed quite comfortable with the school's ethos and requirements, enough to keep going back and eventually have a position there. That doesn't seem to me like somebody who was stifled and longing to be challenged and set free.

Obviously (for narrative reasons) Blaine had to leave Dalton and come to McKinley, and since I love the McKinley kids and dgaf about most of the Warblers that worked for me as a viewer, but it clearly wasn't smooth sailing for him. And despite it being a choice Blaine made freely and I don't think would've at ALL changed looking back, retroactively saying that Kurt challenged and rescued Blaine from a place where he felt trapped and unchallenged just ... doesn't seem accurate.

I have further thoughts on Warbler Blaine choosing to become McKinley Blaine and how it was sort of a no-win situation but that's for another post lol

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What is your favorite glee storyline and your least favorite?

Probably the Troubletones. Things were at a strained point in the New Directions arc and it was becoming obvious on an OOC level how kept down the Glee girls were (aside from Rachel) so it was a perfect, unexpected, and fruitful development to take. It was fun watching them compete against each other and then the feel-good reunion brought it all back together! Plus I mean all those Troubletones songs/performances we got out of it omggg 🥳🤲🏽

Least favourite is catfish leading into the sudden confessions from Ryder and Kitty that they'd been assaulted oh and also the 'school shooting' jammed in there. There's stuff I really like about that season but there was so much that was ... okay, I accept that Glee's satirical premise makes it batshit a lot of the time and there were issues with the hipster racism and all that, but even by Glee standards that was A Lot.

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Hey so since you liked my "Kurt does the domestic and emotional labor" post despite it not being the most Klaine friendly, I wanted to point out moments where Blaine does show that he notices and appreciate what Kurt does for him and others, and even tries to help (because Klaine is really cute, even if not my cup of tea)

After their fight in s05e14 he listens to what Elliott said about Kurt needing space and goes out of his way to give it to him by moving out, even though it was hard on him.

In s04e21 he's Kurt main support while Burt's going through treatment.

In s05e19 he goes out of his way to give Kurt the spotlight and makes it super clear how proud he is of Kurt, even at risk of his relationship with June.

In s05e15 there's this one really cute scene where he's making sure Kurt's up for performing, and just generally taking care of him

I just think there all all great moments of Blaine taking on some of the mental load that Kurt usually carries <3

Hey hey!! My mentioning in the reblog tag that my interpretation of klaine differs from the one outlined in your post was not at ALL meant in a confrontational way (which I hope came across) but I am delighted to have more of your thoughts on that!

I'll be honest there's lots of times with late-stage klaine where I wish they'd stayed broken up and gotten with other people because the show was too effective at demonstrating why they shouldn't be together at that point, BUT I do love both characters and I love the pairing when it's not subject to iffy writing.

And I think the stuff you've mentioned here is really pertinent and well backed-up (i can't for the life of me remember things down to the specific episode like you can ahahahaha) and when klaine's at its best, these things exist mixed in with the ways in which they miss the mark or miscommunicate. What separated imperfect klaine (😍🥰🙌🏽) from dysfunctional klaine for me was when it seemed like the relationship was imbalanced emotionally in a way that they weren't really gonna work at fixing. I don't even think it was any specific person's fault, just that their already opposite needs/styles of connection were growing even wider apart due to getting older, a change of location, and shifting goals, and the writing didn't grow along with that.

The last thing I'd want is a very realistic and serious exploration of Couples Therapy Klaine (that's for fic and not an OTT musical comedy show) but eh, I feel the show could still have knit them back together in a better way after having torn them apart so thoroughly.

WHEW that spun off into a whole discussion 😅 but yes! Even through the seasons that tried my patience, the pairing still had some genuinely nice moments. And seeing Kurt grow up and purposely choose to perform masculinity in ways that weren't available to him before, living under his father's roof and in some ways beholden to the sonwife role and the feminized assumptions made about him (whether he embraced them or not, and I feel like his choice in the matter was the issue more than being "one of the girls" since Will actively stopped him at certain points) was truly fascinating in the later seasons.