Kurt/Blaine

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Pairing
Pairing: Kurt Hummel/Blaine Anderson
Alternative name(s): Klaine, Kurt CoBlaine
Gender category: m/m slash
Fandom: Glee
Canonical?: yes
Prevalence: common
Archives:
Other:
Kurt+Blaine=Klaine
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Kurt/Blaine is the slash pairing of Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson from Glee, widely known as Klaine. A canon pairing, it is probably the most popular Glee ship, spawning countless works of fanfiction, artworks, and other fan projects.

Canon History

Season Two

Blaine Anderson's first appearance on Glee was the lead singer of rival show choir The Dalton Academy Warblers in episode 2.6 "Never Been Kissed." Blaine performed "Teenage Dream" while smiling at Kurt throughout, who was instantly smitten. Blaine and Kurt exchanged phone numbers and seemed to be fast friends. When Kurt transferred to Dalton Academy to escape bullying at McKinley High, the two spent a lot of time together and sang a number of flirty duets. They began dating in episode 2.16, "Original Song," and exchanged "I love you's" in the season finale.

Season Three

Blaine transferred to McKinley to be with Kurt in episode 3.01, "The Purple Piano Project". Although this put them in a position to compete for roles in the school musical and and solos in Glee club, they worked through those issues. In episode 3.05, the two lost their virginity to each other. Blaine was only a junior, but when Kurt graduated at the end of the season, they vowed to stay together no matter what.

Season Four

Although Kurt failed to get into the college of his dreams, in the first episode of season four, Blaine encouraged him to make his way to New York anyway and make a place for himself. Although they'd promised to Skype every day, the relationship deteriorated. In "The Break-Up," episode 4.04, the distance became too much for Blaine, and in a moment of weakness he cheated on Kurt. They broke up, but in episode 4.08 they re-affirmed that they were best friends and that they loved each other. Blaine visited Kurt for Christmas in episode 4.10, and in episode 4.14 they slept together. Although they initially promised that this hook-up was just "bros helping bros," Blaine seemed hopeful about a possible reunion. As of the season finale, Blaine had bought Kurt a ring and was considering proposing.

Season Five

Kurt and Blaine reunited officially, and Blaine proposed, in episode 5.01, "Love Love Love." They have been engaged ever since, although they occasionally had some difficulty living together.

Fanworks

Early Dalton-Based Fanfiction

Kurt and Blaine as Warblers

Several fanworks, started in the early days after "Never Been Kissed", heavily feature other members of the Dalton Academy Warblers. While since jossed, the Warblers and fans' early conceptions of them have have become a minor fandom within the Glee fandom as a whole. Some of the most notable and influential of these are:

Canon-universe Fanfiction

Noteworthy fics that were canon-compliant at time of publication, or took place in a possible future.

Alternate Universe Fanfiction

Kurt and Blaine, immediately after the proposal

Notable Fan Artists

Fanvids

Other Fan Works

  • Klaine Book Project, a zine
  • Brixelated A dedicated fan re-creates her favorite Glee moments in Lego, with a heavy focus on Klaine scenes.
  • Klaine Edits - Each episode of Glee edited down to only Kurt/Blaine scenes.
  • Unfinished Klaine Video Game
  • Dalton Games An ongoing project to create video games "that adapt the story of Glee into a swords-and-sorcery epic, using Blaine and Kurt as focal characters."
  • TDB Podcast Weekly podcast that focuses on discussion of Glee characters Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson

Fan Sites

The Kurt-Blaine Livejournal Group

The Kurt-Blaine Livejournal Group was established on October 15, 2010. [1] Although Blaine would not appear on Glee until November 6, due to Darren Criss's past projects, the Klaine pairing was highly anticipated. Discussions and even speculative fanfics were posted weeks before Blaine's first onscreen appearance. The Livejournal group became a vital early hub for the fandom. In addition to providing a place to publicize fanworks, in its heyday, the Kurt-Blaine Livejournal community hosted weekly episode discussion posts, weekly fanwork recommendation posts, one-sentence fic and other memes, and even "friending" posts for Klaine fans to find each other. Although the Klaine fandom would (mostly) migrate to tumblr in the following years, the Livejournal group remains active and a valuable resource. A community also exists at Blaine-Kurt but it was created after the Kurt-Blaine community, was never as large or active, and is now largely defunct.

Scarves and Coffee

In 2011, the archive "Scarves and Coffee," was created just for Klaine fanfiction. It now contains over 8,000 works of fanfiction focusing solely on the Kurt-Blaine relationship.

Glee Kink Meme

While not specifically a Klaine-focused community, the Glee Kink Meme on Livejournal has always had a large number of Klaine-related prompts and fills. Notable works of Kurt/Blaine fanfiction which began as prompts on the kink meme include Everyday by ohblainers, In The World of Silence by misqueue and Forever Feels Like Home by spinmybowtie.

Other Klaine Fandom Projects

Box Scene Project

The Box Scene Project began when a scene between Kurt and Blaine was cut from the Glee's 2011 Christmas episode before it aired.[2] A well-publicized promotional still had been released, which showed Blaine giving Kurt what appeared to be a ring box. Although fandom was eventually provided with an explanation of sorts, many were desperate to know exactly what had happened in the scene. In April 2012, the episode's script went up for auction to benefit the charity Project Angel Food. An amateur fundraiser to win the script on behalf of the Klaine fandom was organized, and ultimately, 113 people donated a total of $4,200. As word spread further, another $14,000 was raised for charity as a way of saying thank you, and the contents of the script were revealed during a livestream to thousands of fans. Then in July 2012, when Glee showrunner Ryan Murphy joined twitter, he showed his appreciation by releasing the scene in full on his Youtube account. The Box Scene Project now continues with a more general mission of fundraising for various charities and "equal media representation for the LGBT* community, people of color, women, people with disabilities, and those that live at the intersection of those identities."[3]

Glee Equality Project

The Glee Equality Project was a campaign which started in the Klaine and Brittana fandoms, due to frustration over the handling of LGBT+ characters on Glee. [4] In season three especially, the pairings of Kurt/Blaine and Santana/Brittany suffered from a lack of screen-time, plot-lines that took their relationships seriously, and almost no physical affection, despite being wildly popular canon pairings. The efforts of the campaign eventually received a favorable response from showrunner Ryan Murphy. [5]

The Origins of Interlude Press

In May of 2013, the first seeds of an idea were planted when editor, ghostwriter and publishing consultant Annie Harper - better known to the fandom as tumblr user "iconicklaine" - attended an industry event and heard an executive from a major publishing firm refer to fan fiction as a tool for spotting “what readers want that we are not providing.”[6] Noting all the talented authors in the Klaine fandom, Harper gathered a group of like-minded professionals to found Interlude Press, a "boutique publisher of LGBTQ romantic fiction." Interlude Press formally launched in 2014, with its first titles re-purposed from popular pre-existing Klaine fanfiction in the manner of Fifty Shades of Grey. All authors were encouraged to leave their original fanfiction works intact and online. While Interlude Press eventually aims to provide opportunities to undiscovered and fandom authors of all stripes, in its initial phase it has primarily provided opportunities to a long list of popular Klaine fandom authors.[7]

The Klaine Book Project

In the summer of 2014, the Klaine Book Project was organized via tumblr. Organizers solicited auditions and selected a group of authors and artists to contribute to the book. The project was funded via Kickstarter. [8] The proceeds from the sales of the book totaled $2,000, all of which was donated to the Trevor Project.[9] Contributors included some of the most prominent names in Klaine fanart and fanfiction at that time. Following the first successful project, in 2015 the same group organized and published a second Klaine book, this time focusing on AU stories.

Resources

References

  1. ^ Kurt-Blaine Livejournal Community Profile
  2. ^ The Box Scene Project "Box Scene" Page
  3. ^ The Box Scene Project General About Page
  4. ^ Glee Equality Project
  5. ^ Tweet From Ryan Murphy Re: Glee Equality Project
  6. ^ Interlude Press 'Who We Are'
  7. ^ Interlude Press List of Authors
  8. ^ Klaine Book Project Kickstarter
  9. ^ Klaine Book Project Trevor Project Thank You
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