#tuiyla

Hello and thank you so much for this ask! I love any opportunity to gush about Kurtbastian <3

So I think before I get into it, I want to preface with a few things. Not so much for you specifically, but just for anyone who happens to read this.

Kurtbastian is my favourite ship. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that I think it's objectively (or even subjectively lol) better than other ships. It's just my personal preference, not any sort of statement of objective quality.

I'm also aware that most of what Kurtbastian is, especially on Sebastian's end, is based in fanon. I understand that some people might take issue with me ranking something based in fanon over canon ships. I'm not trying to say that a non-canon ship is more valuable than a canon ship, because I certainly recognize the value in canon ships. That being said, I also don't think that canon ships are objectively better than fanon ships; I think they're just so different it's really not comparable. Again I think this just comes down to personal preference, and I'm just trying to share my perspective.

This is very specifically my opinions. I'd like to think that a lot of other people who ship Kurtbastian would agree with at least some of the things that I say here, but I'm not trying to speak for anyone else or say that these are the reasons other people should like them; these are just some reasons that I, personally, like them.

Alright, with that out of the way, let's get to it! I'm going to break it into three main sections. First Kurt and Sebastian as individuals, then their dynamic together. I considered talking a little more broadly about why them being fanon rather than canon appeals to me, because that is part of it too, but I decided against it because a) this was already getting kind of long, b) it's not really a Kurtbastian-specific point, and c) I think it would involve a lot of drawing comparisons with canon ships to properly get some of my thoughts across, and I wanted this post to focus on the merits of Kurtbastian on their own as opposed to relying on comparisons to other ships. That being said, it is a topic I'd be more than happy to discuss elsewhere if you're interested in that conversation!

you're so right 😂😔

like literallyyy 90% of it is either "thank god glee ended before they could cover x" or "omg i just remembered [the absolute most basic detail of the show] glee was such trash" like. ok.

Thank you so much for this! @tuiyla <333 It is a honour to receive this from one of my favourite gif makers<3

Amber Gray as Persephone

This was made for the celebration of Amber Gray and I am really proud of it. She is a big part of something that I love and makes me happy so this gif-set is pretty special.

Love Languages

This gif took a lot of time from me to finish but I am happy how it turned out, even though I made mistakes doing it. It was so much fun and the prompt was awesome because I am always here for the celebration of love. I am so thankful for @gleeful-paintbox-project because it gave me an opportunity and motivation to start making gif-sets. Even though I wouldn’t consider myself a skilled gif maker yet (which is why I was so surprised and flattered to get this, thank you again) this was the first gif I really challenged myself doing.

I Follow Rivers

I just love Tina and this song of hers as I am sure you can tell. I just wanted celebrate her and this song and I really like how it turned out. she deserved better

Mercedes Jones for Emoji Association Game

This was so much fun to make and this is a really fun game. This was meant to be something else but it ended up being a Mercedes gif-set and I glad it did because her💕

Sancedes I have many ideas about gifs that I want to do but I can’t start for some reason (another reason why I love the gleefulproject, I tell myself to finish it before next week and I do). But this gif-set just happened because I realised how Santana and Mercedes look out for each other and how cute it is. I really like it and I think it turned out well.

ty for the ask!!! i just answered quinn here

favorite thing about them: how easy it is to make fun of him 🥰 also love how he decided he wanted to be a good person and actually stopped being a little shit

least favorite thing about them: the racist things he said to santana :/

favorite line: “fun, i don’t like you either” ( @xmeggiemoox i just saw you said the same quote in ur answer. very iconic of us)

brOTP: i… don’t know 😭. like how acitw says, i don’t think he has any friends that doesn’t wanna get in his pants. i guess i would like to see him and jeff become bros?

OTP: kurtbastian my beloved <3 it’s really my only sebastian ship ahsjdj

nOTP: seblaine. no judgment to ppl who do ship it, it’s just not my cup of tea. also sebtana is really gross 😦

random headcanon: i think he’d really like salt water taffy

unpopular opinion: his popped collars aren’t THAT ugly. i really appreciate how he wore it two times canonically. it’s his staple (also a lot of ppl hate him so me loving him could count as unpopular 🦧)

song I associate with them: ohhhh boy do i have a bunch. the archer by taylor, 27 by fob, summerboy by gaga, nice guys finish last by cobra starship, i did something bad by taylor, fucked my way to the top by lana, turn you on by paris hilton, etc etc

favorite photo:

Sure!

Let’s start with the characters, beginning of course with my beloved Rachel.

She starts this season losing Finn. I’ve spoken about this before, but I think she had by this time internalised a lot of Finn’s insecurities about no one else loving him the way she did, which of course added to the insecurities she already had about being unloveable. He said they were supposed to be endgame, and she believed him, and then he wasn’t there any more, and she didn’t know what to do. She had no idea how to move forward.

I think a lot of this contributed to things that happened later on in the season, but I’ll put a pin in that for now, because she had two other major storylines this season: the launch of her career, and her relationship with Santana. I think their dynamic is one of the most interesting on the whole show, and I think that this season does the best job of exploring why. Rachel really had no idea how to have friendships with women without them being a competitor as well, if not a straight-up adversary (just look at how she reacted when Quinn started being nice to her - she had no idea what was going on). It didn’t help that Santana had been both of those to her for most of the show up to that point. But something changed when Santana helped Rachel through her pregnancy scare - Rachel had a genuine friendship with Santana, and Rachel became the only person besides Brittany who Santana was ever vulnerable around.

Then the feud happened. While it was terribly handled and they both started behaving like the worst versions of themselves for a while, I think it was probably inevitable that it did, because of Rachel’s insecurities - Finn and her talent were the only things of which she was sure (erroneously so, but that’s a discussion for another day) and then one was taken from her and the other was now being threatened. When people talk about the feud, though, they usually leave out the part where they came through to the other side, stronger because of it. It’s incredibly significant that it’s Santana who rouses Rachel on opening night of Funny Girl. I think, by that point, she had arguably replaced Kurt as Rachel’s best friend, and had definitely replaced Finn as Rachel’s “person”. (Is there a large part of me that would’ve rather had it be Quinn? Of course, but that doesn’t change the way I feel about what actually happened). I love Opening Night, it’s one of my favourite episodes of the show; it’s a wonderful celebration of friendship, of the theatre, and of Rachel Berry - three of my favourite things! I think the only thing I’d change would be having Quinn there instead of the Sue subplot, but I digress.

Then there’s what happens after Opening Night, which brings us back to Rachel’s insecurities. As she says in the very first episode, she “wants everything too much.” However, as I said earlier, she had also internalised a lot of Finn’s insecurities as a result of his attitude and behaviour towards her in season 4, which largely manifested in his always wanting the things he doesn’t have. Not the best combination, for sure, and I think her desperate search for something led her to feel so unsatisfied with her dream that soon, and why she quit to do TV. The second half of that arc plays out in season 6, as she finally puts her life back together. My girl is a mess for most of this season, but it’s a really interesting look at her character. Between this and the following season, her arc has some interesting things to say about grief, insecurity and picking yourself back up after a setback - and how hard it is to do that when the setback is one of your own making.

As for the other things that I love about this season:

Klaine learning to exist as a relationship outside of High School - I also think that this shows why they had to break up again in season 6. The first time they dated, back in high school, it always felt a little unbalanced: it was Kurt and his Knight in Shining Armour. Then, when they’re together this season, the roles have been reversed: Blaine is feeling his youth, and he also knows Kurt has the power in the relationship because of how it ended the first time around. When they finally come back together in season 6, it finally feels like it’s as equals, and, not coincidentally, as adults.