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.}}

 

 

 

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.

* [[All Love Is Unrequited]]: Blaine comes damn close. Two guys were his unrequited love interests, his father's emotionally negligent, and two more guys had to deal with Blaine's own [[Selective Obliviousness]]. Five people, one successful relationship. {{spoiler|And Alex makes it six.}}

* [[Alternate Universe Fic]]: After the episode "New York," it's completely (and [[Wham! Episode|abruptly]]) diverged from canon.

* [[Anxiety Dreams]] / [[Bad Dreams]]: Blaine (both) and Kurt (the second). Both are symbolic.

* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: Wes wins any bet he makes, and a past Warbler nearly ''died'' because he wasn't careful. Played for laughs until he ups the ante on [[Duet Bonding|a Kurt/Blaine duet at Regionals.]]

* [[The Bet]]: "Kurt and Blaine ''will'' hook up within the next decade, it's just a matter of what will finally do it."

* [[Becoming the Mask]] / [[Love Redeems]]: Blaine's good manners used to be just a habit. Then poor, miserable Kurt came along, and Blaine liked making him happy.

** {{spoiler|Kurt's not taking Blaine's abduction very well.}}

* [[Big Fancy House]]: The Andersons' mansion. Has a voice-activated gate, a huge driveway (that Wes implies to be on the ''small'' side), a pool, and two theaters. Blaine's theater has movies from the 1920s, and at first Kurt thought it was just a really big room until Blaine started opening a bunch of secret compartments.

** Depressingly lampshaded by Kurt in ''The Harpy'' when he tells his mom he has to remind Blaine that "he is in fact his boyfriend and not his liege lord" to which Blaine always gives him confused [[Puppy Dog Eyes]]. So yeah, Kurt sees the Courtly in [[Courtly Love]] in-universe apparently.

* [[But Not Too Foreign]]: Blaine and Wes are half-Filipino. It turns out relevant to Blaine's character.

** Being broken [[Reconstruction|can make you a better person.]]

** Desire. There's "what you want vs. what you ''say'' you want," "what you want vs. what someone else wants," and even "what you want vs. what ''else'' you want." Implicitly, "what you want vs. what's right" is there if you squint.

* [[Cerebus Retcon]]: Three major aspects of Blaine's character have been retconned: Blaine's [[Knight in Shining Armor]] personality, played as straight as possible, would be [[Deconstruction|extremely unhealthy]] in modern society. His [[Oblivious to Love|obliviousness to love]] is even ''less'' fun when you're not Kurt; on the sad side, Blaine completely believed a friend's excuse to invoke a [[Dance of Romance]]--[[Department of Redundancy Department|alone, in an empty room, with nobody watching]]. On the [[Fridge Horror]] side, {{spoiler|he has no idea that he's garnered the attentions of a stalker.}}

** Klaine's [[But Not Too Gay|annoying chastity]] is torn apart. Unlike most fanfics where Kurt is the wibbly, terrified [[Uke]], Blaine seems to project that image on him because {{spoiler|Blaine tried to invoke [[Sex Equals Love]] out of loneliness and naivete}}. Not only did that fail hard, he was pretty clearly unprepared for his siblings [[Beware the Nice Ones|going crazy]] and is now carrying lots of emotional baggage. Their [[Sickeningly Sweethearts]] portrayal is an extension of this.

** The Warblers treat everything as [[Serious Business]], which means Blaine had no idea they were [[Crying Wolf|genuinely worried]] about {{spoiler|the stalker following him around}}.

* [[Character Development]]: Blaine and the Warblers get a lot of fleshing out, as does Karofsky.

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: In ''The Cat,'' [[Code Name|Jerry]] from the fourth chapter reappears. {{spoiler|It's Greg.}}

* [[Chekhov's Skill|Chekhov's Habit]]: David writes everything down. {{spoiler|It comes in handy when you're keeping track of a stalker.}}

* [[Contrived Coincidence]]: Averted in ''The Cat.'' A concussed Blaine, who is in {{spoiler|his stalker's basement}} instead of a hospital, calls his dad and finally [[Calling the Old Man Out|calls him out]] on his neglect. ...Except he's talking to [[Parental Substitute|Greg]].

** [[Played With]] in ''The Skull.'' Kurt finds Blaine in an alley, calls it the [[Lampshade Hanging|"best coincidence ever,"]] and starts calling Finn over. {{spoiler|Which lets Alex find them.}}

* [[Damned By Faint Praise]]: The only thing Kyle can say about his and Blaine's father is that he could be worse.

* [[Dance of Romance]]: Terry tried to invoke this. [[Subverted Trope|It didn't work.]]

* [[Deconstruction Fic]]: ''And how''. Ties in nicely with [[Cerebus Retcon]] above.

** Blaine's chivalrous nature makes him a good person, but he's also insecure, fragile, and naive. The Warblers poke fun at how [[Sickeningly Sweethearts|painfully romantic]] and [[But Not Too Gay|chaste]] he is, while his decision to let Kurt go back to McKinley is derided as [[Extreme Doormat|being Kurt's bitch]]. On the other hand, the Warblers, Greg, and Blaine's siblings are so protective of him that he ''doesn't tell them things'' because he's afraid they'll [[Disproportionate Retribution|overreact]].

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

* [[Distressed Dude|Distressed Dudes]]: {{spoiler|Blaine, Wes, and David get locked in Alex's basement.}} [[It Got Worse]] when {{spoiler|Finn got locked in the Navigator's trunk and lost track of Kurt and Blaine, who are no doubt being pursued by Alex.}}

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

** For someone who always worries about his boyfriend getting hurt by the cold, cruel world, Blaine is the one in genuine need of protection by the thirteenth chapter. {{spoiler|And the nineteenth.}}

** Blaine is the perfect boyfriend because the rest of his life is ''miserable''. Which he refuses to complain about because his [[Parental Neglect|parents]] taught him to be chivalrous.

** Blaine phones his dad and [[Calling the Old Man Out|finally calls him out]] on his [[Parental Neglect]]. The problem is, he's concussed and has no idea he's actually talking to [[Parental Substitute|Greg]].

* [[Dude Magnet]]: Blaine is a toned-down example with "only" two guys on his record {{spoiler|plus one he doesn't know about}}, but he makes it up in [[All Love Is Unrequited|sadness]] and [[Fridge Horror|terror]].

* [[Dysfunction Junction]]: Blaine's family: A well-meaning but [[Values Dissonance|extremely old-fashioned]] mother, a [[Parental Neglect|distant]] father, a [[Parental Substitute]], and two well-adjusted, caring older siblings... [[When You Coming Home, Dad?|who are almost never home]].

** Averted in ''Nikos,'' which [[It Got Worse|gets worse]] in ''The Cat.'' Blaine gets a concussion, wakes up with no memory of the past half-hour (during which David and Wes say that he was rambling incoherently), and after calling home he mistakes his [[Parental Substitute]] Greg for his dad.

* [[Epiphany Therapy]]: [[Subverted Trope|Subverted.]] Blaine has an epiphany in ''The Harpy,'' but it's a messy ramble that doesn't solve his issues.

* [[Exact Eavesdropping]]: [[Played With]]. Wes and David track Kurt for ''three hours'' before [[Fan Nickname|the Kliss]], but then they accidentally watch Kurt tell Blaine about his nightmare.

** And then comes ''The Clock.''

** And '''''[[Up to Eleven|Nikos.]]'''''

* [[Exact Words]]: Fans of the novel may have noticed that in ''The Hunters,'' the quotes that the author uses are from the beginning of TLU. The story will end "when she runs out of quotes"--she never said anything about chronological order.

** Blaine's "never been anyone's boyfriend." {{spoiler|He just really, really wanted to be.}}

* [[Heroic Self-Deprecation]]: Blaine's lack of self-esteem shows painfully in his [[Love Martyr]] and [[Extreme Doormat]] personality.

* [[Hero Secret Service]]: The Warblers are a minor case for Blaine, and they are ''very'' right to do so.

* [[Horrible Judge of Character]]: ''Blaine.'' [[Played With]] in that while he ''is'' [[Selective Obliviousness|selectively oblivious]], his real flaw comes from being insanely trusting.

* [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]]: The chapters are all titled after characters except for ''The Midnight Carnival,'' ''[[Wham! Episode|The Quest]],'' and ''[[Love Hurts|The Clock.]]''

** In a serious example, Kyle lampshades how ridiculous it would be for someone to ''turn down'' {{spoiler|sleeping with Blaine.}}

** "We forgot about [[Chekhov's Gun|David's cuff-links]]."

* [[Locked Out of the Loop]]: [[Played With]]. The Warblers try ''not'' to lock Blaine out, but since [[Serious Business|they treat everything as a life-or-death matter,]] Blaine thinks they're just exaggerating about that guy hanging around campus.

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

* [[My Beloved Smother]]: Blaine's mother disapproves of Blaine's singing, though it's not as clear-cut as most examples: She's Filipino, [[Self-Made Man|grew up poor]], and doesn't want Blaine to end up a [[Starving Artist]]. Wes calls her traditional despite his own mother being Filipino.

** [[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.

{{quote| '''Nick:''' We need to find that bastard and rip his fucking ''kneecaps'' out!}}

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

* [[Oh Crap]]: When David realizes that {{spoiler|Blaine's stalker has slipped past campus security [[Right Under Their Noses|disguised as a delivery guy]].}}

** The Warblers let off a [[Mass "Oh Crap"]] via ''text-message'' in ''Nikos.''

* [[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.

{{quote| '''Greg:''' I didn't call you because [[Parental Substitute|I was looking for Blaine]].}}

* [[Parental Neglect]]: Luke to Blaine. {{spoiler|And Blaine's mother is incredibly lax on sex-ed.}}

* [[Played for Drama]] / [[Played for Laughs]]: Sometimes both at the same time. It's a [[Glee]] fanfic, after all.

** {{spoiler|And forcing the stalker to kidnap them if he doesn't want them to call the police.}}

* [[The Power of Love]]: Is great, but [[Deconstruction|not enough]] to keep Kurt or Blaine from having insane insecurities. Or for Kurt to stay at Dalton.

** ''Everyone'' is keeping some kind of secret from each other. Except Kurt and Blaine.

* [[Seme]] / [[Uke]]: [[Played With]]. Blaine looks like a standard ''seme'', but is unbelievably trusting and naive. Meanwhile, Kurt looks like a standard ''uke'' but is far more assertive and confident than Blaine.

** Which has now been [[Cerebus Retcon|Cerebus Retconned]] (see [[Crying Wolf]] above).

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

{{quote| '''David:''' We need to subtly change his goal from transferring back there to staying with Blaine. ''[[Beat Panel|(beat)]]'' At Dalton.}}

* [[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''...

** Nick's last name is Grayson. His name is ''[[Batman|Nick Grayson.]]'' Lampshaded in ''The Butterfly.''

** The Warblers need a countertenor for most ''[[Rent]]'' songs, so they'll have to settle for ''[[Spring Awakening]].''

* [[Shower of Angst|Shower Of Repressed Sexuality]]: Blaine takes a lot of them.

** She's also studying psychology and averts [[Epiphany Therapy]] or [[Single-Issue Psychology]].

** [[Unicorn|Unicorns]] are frequently thought of as sweet, helpless, and pure, and this is why Blaine's dreams involve Kurt turning into one or vice versa. But the author compares Kurt to the medieval unicorn, which is a symbol of pure ''[[Pure Is Not Good|wildness.]]''

'''Nick:''' Yeah, I vote in favor of fucking that.<br />

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

* [[Subtext]]: Several of these tropes are implied heavily at most. And let's not forget the dreams.

* [[Suspiciously Apropos Music]]: [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] most notably during ''The Princess,'' where Blaine has a [[wikipedia:Music therapy|music therapy]] session. He sings "[[Lonely Piano Piece|Samson]]" by [[Regina Spektor]].

** There's also ''The Creatures of Night,'' where the Warblers listen to "[[Spring Awakening|Touch Me]]" and Blaine ends up uncomfortable.

* [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight]]: Only the freshmen at Dalton care that four Warblers are hauling Blaine around like a sack of potatoes. Apparently, they do this for at least one of their number every year.

** Ms. Bradford bumps into Nick and Jeff, who are both soaking wet, and Nick is acting strangely (because he's high, but she doesn't know this). She immediately "gives the nurse a head's up."

* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: Blaine.

* [[Wham! Episode]]: ''The Clock,'' ''The Princess,'' and the second half of ''The Butterfly.''

* [[Wham! Line]]: After all the Warblers' mostly-affectionate jokes at Blaine's lacking sex drive, {{spoiler|"I'm not a virgin"}} hits ''really'' hard.

** "Having a rough patch, [[Code Name|Tom?]]" Said to the dean by {{spoiler|Greg}}.

** David and Wes don't know they're being recorded either. When they need to decide between {{spoiler|calling 911 or running, which would risk Blaine getting run over}}, they [[Take a Third Option]] by {{spoiler|forcing Alex to kidnap ''all three of them.''}}

* [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]: The Warblers think Kurt and Blaine are a fairy tale couple and desperately want them to live happily ever after. Unfortunately, this story is based on ''two'' deconstructions of that very thing.

** Terry may have thought he and Blaine would be [[High School Sweethearts]]. Unfortunately for him, that title goes to Kurt.

** And {{spoiler|Blaine's stalker Alex}} thinks that 1) Blaine is in an [[All Take and No Give]] relationship, and 2) he's the [[Dogged Nice Guy]] who'll end up with Blaine in the end.

** 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.

{{quote| '''Jeff:''' Thank god we didn't get the rings.}}

 

{{reflist}}