Hunting the Unicorn: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"Here is there, and high is low; all may be undone. What is true, no two men know; what is gone is gone." Fairy tales are harder to live through than you'd think.''|The story's summary.}}

 

 

The author originally planned it as a short piece that addressed Kurt's characterization switch from the beginning of the show to the episode "Sexy," but she discovered that the Dalton Arc and the novel's plot and themes matched up very well in her head, and the story quickly became a [[Deconstruction Fic]] of Kurt and Blaine's relationship. It draws parallels between the [[Glee]] characters and those of ''[[The Last Unicorn (novel)|The Last Unicorn]]'', though with the current length, they are becoming much looser.

Excerpts and poetry from the novel set each chapter's tone, and several scenes are inspired by parts of the book. While it is certainly not a ''happy'' story, there are lighter moments that keep it from being too depressing.

 

 

* [[Adults Are Useless]]: Averted with the Dalton staff, although Blaine's parents aren't too useful.

* [[Adult Fear]]: Blaine is a ''minefield'' of this: He's painfully lonely, makes absurd mistakes because nobody's there to tell him otherwise (or he waits until the absolute last minute to ask for help), and then {{spoiler|he gets a [[Stalker with a Crush]] who ''kidnaps him and his friends''.}} And is he a juvenile delinquent? No, he goes around being a [[Knight in Shining Armor]] because [[Dramatic Irony|that's what his parents taught him before they dropped out of his life]].

* [[Deuteragonist]]: Blaine (deuteragonist) and Kurt (protagonist).

* [[Did Not Get the Girl|Did Not Get The Guy]]: Terry didn't get Blaine.

* [[Double Meaning Title]]: ''The Princess'' refers to {{spoiler|the guy Blaine dated}}, but it could also refer to Blaine--a [[Rare Male Example]] of a [[Princess Classic]] due to his [[Wide-Eyed Idealist|optimistic]] and [[Too Dumb to Live|naive]] nature. Let's not forget that Kurt's [[Expy]] is the unicorn, and the chapter revolves around a certain ''purity''. [[Deconstruction|Or lack thereof.]]

* [[Dramatic Irony]]: The fic ''runs'' on Type Two.

* [[Fatal Flaw]]: Blaine's unquestioning trust in people is heading towards this.

* [[The First Cut Is the Deepest]]: {{spoiler|Oh, Blaine.}} Bonus points for {{spoiler|the guy being his ''literal'' first.}}

* [[The Four Loves]]: Blaine's lack of Storge ([[Parental Neglect|intended]] and [[When You Coming Home, Dad?|unintended]]) means that he throws himself into Eros and Phileo. The former led to him {{spoiler|losing his virginity in an attempt to invoke [[Sex Equals Love]]}}, which [[Break the Cutie|didn't go well]], and his Agape has attracted {{spoiler|his stalker Alex.}}

** On the positive side, the Warblers are a perfect example of Phileo and the Eros with Kurt is mutually genuine. Blaine's siblings and Greg are also an example of Storge, even if two-thirds of them aren't there to show it.

* [[Lonely Rich Kid]]: Blaine, so much.

* [[Love Hurts]]: For Blaine, romantically and otherwise.

** [[It Got Worse|It gets worse]] in ''The Princess'' and ''The Harpy.''

** And ''The Cat.''

* [[May-December Romance|May-September Romance]]: Besides Kurt, at least two of Blaine's past love interests are older. Jeremiah's [[Vague Age|older]], Terry works for UPS while Blaine's still in school, and the guy in ''The Princess'' is implied to be older since Kyle puts so much emphasis on Blaine being sixteen. {{spoiler|Alex is older, too.}}

* [[Meaningful Echo]]: Not exact echoes, but:

'''Blaine to Kurt:''' Would you want to stay with me?<ref> He's asking if Kurt would stay with him at Dalton, given the choice.</ref> ([[Foregone Conclusion|Kurt wouldn't.]])<br />

'''Blaine:''' I wanted him to stay with me.<ref> The reason {{spoiler|he slept with the first guy he dated.}}</ref> [[Break the Cutie|(It didn't work.)]] }}

** [[Played With]] in ''The Princess''--after Kurt talks about how crazy [[Papa Wolf|Burt]] would go in Blaine's situation, Blaine's mother ''doesn't'' take {{spoiler|Blaine losing his virginity}} very seriously.

* [[Nakama]]: The New Directions. The Warblers are also close-knit and [[Shipper on Deck|care a lot]] about Kurt and Blaine's relationship. When Blaine implies that his situation with Kurt has happened before (with even worse consequences), they're rightly pissed.

** They also set up [[Hero Secret Service|a buddy system]] to keep track of Blaine once David {{spoiler|realizes Blaine is getting stalked.}}

** Wes and David {{spoiler|''force Alex to kidnap them'' because they won't leave Blaine alone}}. The other Warblers are {{spoiler|helping the police look for them.}}

* [[One of Us]]: A lot of readers are tropers, and some have read ''[[The Last Unicorn (novel)|The Last Unicorn]]''.

* [[Papa Wolf]] / [[Mama Bear]]: Greg, Burt, and Carole, in a strong contrast to Blaine's parents. Emphasized in ''King Haggard,'' where Luke asks Greg why he didn't find out {{spoiler|Blaine got kidnapped}} until hours later.

* [[Paralyzing Fear of Sexuality]]: Obviously Kurt, but David reveals that Blaine has "chivalrous panic attacks" about pushing Kurt too much. Both are (un)motivated by a host of insecurities, played for dramedy. And we've found out that {{spoiler|Blaine's not a virgin, which makes all of the jokes sound horrible now.}}

** Later, we see Blaine get uncomfortable listening to [[Spring Awakening|"Touch Me"]]. He also takes ''lots'' of [[Shower of Angst|cold showers]] to deal with his feelings, and he can barely talk about it to anyone.

* [[Sex Equals Love]]: [[Reality Ensues|Not necessarily]]. [[It Got Worse|It gets worse]] if you try to ''invoke'' it.

* [[Shipper on Deck]]: ''The Warblers,'' dear god. We have Wes to thank for "[[Duet Bonding|Candles,]]" by the way.

* [[Ship Tease]]: Jeff and Nick. They're almost always together, there's a reference to Jeff and Nick being the subject of Warbler bets, and considering Nick got hauled into counseling and won't tell anyone ''why''...

** In ''The Butterfly,'' a stoned Nick accidentally falls in the swimming pool and somehow mistakes Jeff for [[Batman]]. [[Lampshade Hanging|Nick then remembers his last name is Grayson.]] [[Subverted Trope|And worries that "Bruce" will whoop his ass for cursing so much.]]

** The Warblers are actually somewhat calm in Nikos, considering {{spoiler|three of their members got kidnapped.}} It's only when Kurt finds out that the [[Mass "Oh Crap"]] is unleashed.

* [[Sophisticated As Hell]]: The Warblers, who use a profuse amount of [[Precision F-Strike|Precision F Strikes]].

'''David:''' According to what I learned in Psych, inexplicable crying means that something's been fucked over! }}

* [[Stalker with a Crush]]: {{spoiler|Alex, from ''The Butterfly'' onwards.}}

* [[Two Scenes, One Dialogue|Three Scenes, Two Dialogues:]] ''The Princess'' jumps between three different scenes (denoted by '''then, now,''' and '''later''') and two dialogues. The first scene is what happened to Blaine a year earlier, while the second and third scenes are about Blaine telling Sarah and Kurt about it.

* [[Title Drop]]: In ''The Hunters.''

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: Blaine, physically ''and'' emotionally.

* [[Undercover Cop Reveal]]: {{spoiler|Greg is Jerry.}}

* [[The Unfavorite]]: Blaine. When he tries to call home and get a ride from his dad, it takes three tries and his ''brother'' finally answers. It's implied this has happened before.

** They try to change Kurt's ringtone to a "[[The Power of Love|Love overcomes all]]" song ([[Aqualung]]'s "Brighter Than Sunshine"), but accidentally change it to a sad song (Augustana's "Boston"). Kurt's just confused.

** They hack Blaine's Facebook to send Kurt a marriage request and [[Refuge in Audacity|a five-page poem]]. As gay marriage is still largely illegal in the US, it's a sore spot for Blaine.

** They lock Kurt and Blaine [[Ten Minutes in the Closet|in the closet]]. Their motive isn't even recognized, since it's such a standard prank.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Troper Works]]

[[Category:Fanfic]]