itp: i tl;dr about Blaine Anderson (in: the Substitute)

[atomais]

THIS IS A BLAINE ANDERSON POST: THE SUBSTITUTE VERSION
This is a post about Blaine Anderson. It was going to be about all the episodes he’s in so far, but it got to 1,500 words about “Never Been Kissed” so I thought I’d do it episode by episode instead.
DISCLAIMER: I’ve seen a lot of hate regarding Blaine recently and, well, I just kinda

Comments

[wildejoy]

I like everything you've said. I have to say, the diner scene grates on me because it makes me a little bit frustrated with Kurt, and fed up with Mercedes. I know that Kurt is just excited about this new friendship, and it doesn't occur to him that he's excluding Mercedes from the conversation. But for me, Mercedes is being dismissive and downright derisive of issues that are really important to them. Of course, I understand her not wanting to hear about it all the time, especially when it seems like they're preaching to the choir. But the fact that she mind-dubs them as saying gay gay gay gay and the whole pink purse thing and it's just - ARGH. RAGE. I think maybe my biggest reason for this is that it implies that only LGBTQ people can care about and be involved in the fight for their rights - that gay rights is just a 'gay thing'.

I'm not trying to bash Mercedes, here, because I understand that she's hurt from Kurt not wanting to spend time with her. But I feel like I'm not really sure why Kurt and Mercedes are still friends? Neither one of them seems particularly sensitive to the other. I think we see this also in 02x03: Grilled Cheesus. Sometimes, it feels to me like they've been friends out of convenience more than anything else.

On the other hand (sorry to spam this post with non-Blaine-related stuff) - BLAINE. Oh my god, Blaine in this scene, it just - I remember watching this for the first time and marveling at how aware he was of Mercedes' discomfort; how consistently warm and friendly he stayed, trying to please both of them; how desperately he was trying to include her.

I felt like the eye-roll was partly him messing with Kurt, doing a fake-out, and partly him trying to share a moment with Mercedes - a moment of, Oh, Kurt and his Broadway idols! fondness. (That was said badly, but I hope you know what I mean?)

[wildejoy]

Oh, also - totally, completely, 100% agree with your assessment of Kurt wanting to keep Blaine to himself. I think if he'd managed to be a little more open with Mercedes, Mercedes and Blaine could have had a better relationship (I think she'll resent him for a while yet) - but I can understand why he acted like this. I've felt like this before, and we all know Kurt can be a little selfish sometimes. But how can you blame him, right?

And omg, how much do I love Kurt's blazer in the locker scene? SO MUCH.

[atomais]

I think the dinner scene was just hard because Kurt was all interested in new friendship, Mercedes was the third wheel and Blaine was kind of lost in the middle. I felt so bad for him;;

I had to be so careful not to bash Mercedes when I was writing this post, for real. I mean, she's all about being Kurt's best friend and looking after him, and in Furt she's so upset that he didn't talk to her before hand, but in this episode she literally doesn't pay an ounce of attention to when Karofsky makes Kurt break right in front of her. She's too busy being all tots. And then she's all gaygaygay when Kurt is happy for the first time in ages and UGH. Can you blame him for wanting to enjoy his friendship?

JUST. BLAINE. BLAINE APPRECIATION LIFE FOREVER.

[pawndilene]

"BLAINE APPRECIATION LIFE FOREVER"
Yes!