Fanfic / Dalton

"My problem is that my plans got as far as actually going to Dalton. Now that I'm actually here, I realize that I've made absolutely no plans as to what I intend to happen to me here. Fortunately, I have Blaine, David and Wes to, for better or worse, lead me to some direction."

—Kurt

Dalton is a Glee fanfic written by CP Coulter. It focuses on post-"Furt" Dalton Academy, straying away from canon from that point onward.

In his failed gig to spy on the Warblers of Dalton Academy, Kurt found the White Rabbit late for a very important date. Following the rabbit, he saw a glimpse of a Wonderland that was better and new than his life in McKinley.

What he didn't expect though was his forced transfer to Dalton just weeks later.

Kurt wasn't expecting too much in his transfer to Dalton. What he didn't expect were Wonderland and all its unusual madness. With the White Rabbit, March Hare, Mad Hatter, Dormouse, White Knight, and the Tweedles at his side, he met the Knave of Hearts and caught his heart.

However, his journey just began with his involvement with Warblers and the Dalton as a whole. Meeting the Caterpillar, Queens of the realm, and so many more, he continued to follow the White Rabbit and down the rabbit hole, he goes. When crossing paths with the Cheshire Cat, he never once thought more what could come at Dalton beyond its craziness.

Now has its own wiki.

The fanfic itself can be found on Fanfiction Dot Net here and Archive of Our Own here. Though it has not been updated since April 2014, it still has a devoted fanbase and CP Coulter has stated as recently as April 2020 that she intends to continue it. In May of 2020, a group of fans came together and recorded The Dalton Audiobook, allowing newcomers and veterans alike to listen to the story as well as read it.

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This fanfic provides examples of:

Tropes #-H

• Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Played with and it’s not the same type either. The Prefects have meetings with each other and the ones to actually organize their houses’ parts in events as well as having definite hands in festivals such as Hanover calling in to build a rollercoaster. The twins could be an unofficial because of their involvement in Dalton and just how much they got away relatively with their pranks. They are still punished if they done something bad and apologized for it.
• Acceptable Breaks from Canon: Of course; the author was upfront about its canon divergence. Not that it hurts. For one, Kurt chooses to stay in Dalton and Blaine is the same age as Kurt for one thing. Wes and David are wildly different from their canon selves. And that's not even touching the Ouran High School Host Club vibes.
• The Ace: Everyone in Dalton and Dobry. It does help that Dalton and Dobry has a consistency of excellence in grades and rigorous courses. Deconstructed because everyone became stressed one way or another and that it's not easy becoming The Ace. Stuart likes their coffee as much as they demanded everyone to keep up with their studies.
  • Broken Ace: As impressive as they are, they are still crazy and lacked common sense. Oh, they can socialize, but their thought process is not sane. And that's not regarding issues with family and temperament/attitude.
• Adults Are Useless: Subverted. They're Reasonable Authority Figures but they have no idea that a killer stalker was roaming the school grounds because Julian made sure that nothing gets out of his situation.
• Affectionate Nickname / Embarrassing Nickname: Depending on the situation, the Wonderland nicknames functions like this. During their relationship, Blaine and Logan referred to each other as Rabbit and Knave respectively. When any of the Dalton characters want to be mysterious or to play off the situation, they would use the nicknames.
• Alice Allusion: This fic is, after all, famous for it. The metaphor extended to the events that played out in Kurt's stay at Dalton. Not only the Tweedles' usage of Wonderland metaphors spread throughout the school to the point many people call those nicknamed comfortably - including Headmaster Winters albeit mentally -, but people also have the tendency to use the metaphors to be mysterious and to play off the situation. Not even Kurt and Blaine are immune to this either.
  • The school itself is a labyrinth. It has secret compartments and passages that only the Twins and Han knows so far.
  • Kurt bumped into Blaine, who at the time took out his pocket watch and seemed to be hurrying to join the Warblers as if he was late, and led him to a world of wonders that awaits his arrival.
  • Blaine/White Rabbit acted as the Herald to the Charlie/Queen of Hearts, being the Acting Prefect and trying to maintain sanity as he was sane - though by not much.
  • David/The Mad Hatter and Wes/March Hare are almost never seen without the other. Wes/March Hare is much more jittery, forward, and throw things with wild abandon. David/The Mad Hatter is prim, proper, slightly more responsible and rational.
  • During Dwight's birthday, Dwight/White Knight rescued Kurt/Alice from Karofsky/Red Knight. Note that in this case, Karofsky wasn't ever named the Red Knight by the Tweedles. However, given how the situation played out, the Red Knight tried to capture Alice until the White Knight rescued her.
  • Because Reed is the Dormouse, his love interest Shane is the Little Bat. Reed/Dormouse is curious about Shane/Little Bat's whereabouts a lot, not just when Shane went missing but also during his time away from Dalton.
  • When they were children, the Tweedles and Logan/Knave of Hearts named themselves respectively. Logan/Knave got his name because he wanted to steal the fruit tarts meant for his father.
  • Whenever Julian/Cheshire Cat appeared - invisible or otherwise - on campus, things seemed to happen, either for worse or for good.
  • Han/Caterpillar is helpful to Kurt/Alice, giving information willingly.
  • Derek/King of Hearts, for all he is the captain of two Dalton teams, has no real power regarding the houses' issues with one another. This is in comparison to the Charlie/Queen of Hearts and Justin/White Queen. Notably, the Queens were heavily involved in Hell Night while the King of Hearts was forced to watch on the sidelines as his friends underwent major Heroic BSoD and pain.
  • According to the Twins, the New Directions are a mix of the Momeraths and Talking Flowers. ND would try to help Kurt/Alice in some direction, be it the White Rabbit or his general happiness.
  • Speaking of Talking Flowers, girls are often called this. So far, the ND girls, Laura, and Erin were called this.
• All Love Is Unrequited:
  • Julian believed this to be the case when there are two things Logan needed to know about this situation - namely, he believed Julian is straight therefore off-limits and oblivious that one of his best friends is in love with him since Freshman year. There are hints that Julian's case might not be unrequited as he thought it was.
  • Sebastian for Julian. No matter how much Sebastian tried, Julian will always see him as a friend and a fling. At this point in time, Julian is already in love with Logan so that makes Sebastian's case less likely.
• All There in the Manual: Readers of only the fanfiction and not the stuff on the side would have no idea who Haven, many siblings and family members, and many others are.
  • Also The entire relationship between Sebastian and Julian.
• Always Identical Twins: The Brightman twins, Evan and Ethan.
• Abusive Parent: Blaine's dad, horribly, when Blaine came out.
  • Logan's dad, though this seems like mostly emotional abuse.
• Altar the Speed: As of Chapter 26 when it was revealed that David bought an engagement ring for Katherine, this may be the case for David and Katherine due to her sickness.
• Agent Mulder: Dwight. He believes in the occult and magic so much that he was well-regarded as one of the most insane members of Windsor. Even the McKinley Glee club was horrified when he suggested they were a part of a cult, particularly the cheerleaders.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Shane, to Blaine. Everyone else seems to think he's pretty cool.
  • Laura to Justin.
  • Jake to Riley.
• Animal Motifs: Cat for Julian and rabbit for Blaine. Apparently, Blaine has a pair of bunny slippers. It goes hand-in-hand with their Wonderland nicknames, Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit respectively.
• Ascended Extra: The Hanover students, when Adam comes in.
  • Laura to Justin.
  • Jake tp Riley.
  • Also their parents, after the Art Hall burned down.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Beneath the Vitriolic Best Buds and general insanity they give each other, the Dalton and Dobry kids stick together through thick and thin.
  • Between Logan, Julian, and, to a lesser extent, Derek after Hell Night
• Ax-Crazy: Adam. Dear lord, Adam.
  • A literal version. Logan, somewhat, when he hits Adam in the back with an ax during episode 26.
• The Beautiful Elite: Dalton and Dobry's students are filthy rich and everyone is attractive, everyone. Subverted as they were revealed later on to have issues, relatable to others below their class; they are still beautiful and rich, but their issues did detract them.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Julian and Logan, at times. Of course, Logan has no idea.
• Beta Couple: David and Katherine
• Big Applesauce: The New York arc.
• Big Eater: Wes. He actually refused to believe Mercedes that she loves tater tots more than him. According to a side-story, he and David actually went on a draw in a candy-eating contest.
• Big Fancy House: Windsor, Hanover, and Stuart dorms and that are not getting into the properties owned by the Dalton boys' families.
• Billy Needs an Organ: Katherine.
• Black Magic: Dwight's practiced this before, most notably when he tried to bring his little brother back to life.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Han Westwood, who never leaves his technology infested room, but all the same keep an eye on the campus with security cameras.
• Broad Strokes: It's implied that the events of "Special Education", "A Very Glee Christmas", "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", and "Silly Love Songs" from the McKinley side went on while Dalton was occurring. Even then, that's different considering Finn and Rachel didn't break up. It's heavily implied Blaine, Kurt, and New Directions didn't have the same interactions in "Blame It On The Alcohol" and "Night of Neglect" either. There was no mention of "Blame It On The Alcohol" even offhandedly.
  • Bully Whips. In Dalton timeline, Santana apparently started the club before December at least. However, given how ND noticed Kurt's joy when staying at Dalton, the goal of Bully Whips may have changed slightly. Karofsky isn't a co-founder this time though; by the time Bully Whips was mentioned, Karofsky wanted to have a personal conversation with Kurt.
  • Since Dalton almost closed down and we learned from Medel that the Warblers wouldn't be competing in Regionals due to Hell Night and its aftermath, we can also guess that New Directions won Regionals and went onto Nationals just as the S2 depicted but without Kurt. As a result of this, it's heavily implied Lauren Zizes never left the glee club either just as she did in canon next season.
    • Blaine remained at Dalton, never once transferring. This changes his relationships with the old and new New Directions members. And that's not getting into the fact he's a wholly different character from canon Blaine.
  • According to Word of God, Burt's cancer may or may not happen and his political career would still occur. Finn will be Spared by the Adaptation. Unlike how the whole Dalton single-building school burned down in canon, this fic's Dalton Academy would not likely burn down because it's an Elaborate University High and there is no way a fire would happen again after the disaster.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The people at Dalton and Dobry are very talented and friendly but also very eccentric. Sometimes common sense did not seem to register in the stunts they pull.
• Butt-Monkey: Dwight, even members of his own house love to tease him constantly about his rather obtuse belief in the supernatural.
• Cast Full of Gay: There's Kurt, Blaine, Logan, Shane, and Reed.
  • ... and Julian, Adam, Jude, Micah, Erin, Rebecca, Ace, Jake and Joshua, though the last is solely via flashback.
• Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Comes with the territory of being set in a boys' One-Gender School.
  • Blaine looks like - of course - Darren Criss, Kurt looks like Chris Colfer, and ditto on the rest of the Glee cast.
  • It's been decided that Shane looks like Robert Sheehan.
  • Reed resembles a very young Benedict Cumberbatch, when he had his natural red hair.
    • Actually, Reed is much shorter and has longer, curlier hair; finding a fancast for him was extremely hard, and this was the best that the wiki administrator could come up with after hours of searching. This is also why Reed has been replaced with fanart.
  • Jude resembles Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman).
  • Erin looks like Emily Browning.
  • Basically, everybody, from staff to students, is attractive to a degree.
• The Casanova: Derek; he often has multiple girlfriends at the same time.
• Celeb Crush: Well, that's putting it lightly.
  • Apparently, Blaine used to have a huge crush on Tom Felton.
• Central Theme: Acceptance, Family of Choice,
  • Kurt and New Directions found acceptance within their own group but to meet people who encouraged them while becoming a part of their support system was freeing. The Warblers, in opposition to their past experiences with Vocal Adrenaline, was big-hearted and would never harm them physically and mentally. New Directions, after interactions with them and the choirmasters, would definitely feel lightheaded and happy they were accepted so casually.
• Character Development: Lampshaded. When Kurt goes running out of his room singing with Reed, everyone points out how he's now a true Windsor boy. According to Word of God, Kurt changed the whole of Warblerland. The character development is more subtle.
• Chekhov M.I.A.: Julian Larson, Micah Randall, Joshua Tipton, and Jude Whittaker had been unnamed but their presence were hinted through dialogue and pictures.
• Chekhov's Skill: Dwight's obsession with the paranormal comes in handy when Shane goes missing.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Anybody that is regarded as insane in-series is this.
  • The Mad Hatter: Many of Dalton and Dobry are this. The titled Mad Hatter, David Sullivan, took pride in the insanity he partakes in; he was never regarded as one of the sane ones either, as much as he was the one of the few who actually studied.
• Cloud Cuckoo Landers Minder: Kurt, sometimes Blaine, Reed, Charlie, Justin, and Bailey. And even then they're Not So Above It All, willingly going along with the insanity.
• Continuity Nod: References to past Glee events in season one and some in season two.
• Crazy Enough to Work: Lampshaded when Dwight defends himself from Adam by squirting holy water into his face.
  Dwight cried out, ducking as he sprayed him in the face. Adam cried out, dropping the bat to the ground and wincing, covering his wet face with his hands. Dwight looked up with a gasp, unable to believe it—it worked? It actually worked?
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Shane, Blaine, Julian, Logan, and Reed displayed some tendencies, especially Blaine in regards of Logan.
  • According to a drabble that takes place in senior year, Logan doesn't like Julian's friendliness with Sebastian.
• Cute Bookworm: Micah. Austin.
• Damned by Faint Praise: When asked by what he missed about his old school, Kurt is only complimentary towards the glee club and the freedom of wearing clothes he liked within school rules. The fact he praised only the public school code made it more damning moreso when opportunities arose for him to leave, no matter how much his friends at glee club would be there for him, he won't come back as a student, only as a guest from a private school then onwards.
• Deadpan Snarker: Almost everyone.
• Death Glare: Wes and David to Logan, repeatedly.
  • Kurt to everyone, repeatedly.
• Deconstruction Fic: Of course trauma would follow after shocking events and explored the consequences. The mental and physical scars on the school was evident even in side stories. Consequences will follow after someone did badly like suspension and expulsion. Notoriously the source material was known not to do this.
• Delinquents: The craziness of Dalton/Dobry makes them borderline delinquents. In fact, it's a tradition for Dalton to be rambunctious. Dalton Academy began as a reform school that managed to establish itself as a private school due to the efforts of former students and staff.
• The Ditz: Finn Hudson-Hummel, Brittany Pierce, and Michelle Wright.
• Down the Rabbit Hole / Follow the White Rabbit: Lampshaded by the Alice in Wonderland nicknames given to all of the characters by the twins, although it does make you wonder what they called everyone before Kurt appeared.
  • Actually, the Twins have referred to themselves as the Tweedles since childhood. They met Logan in middle school and he titled himself as the Knave - the whole thing kind of snowballed from there.
  Evan: When our White Rabbit appeared to you and showed you a glimpse of Wonderland, you followed and fell all the way down here with the rest of us.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Sydney, Spencer's twin sister
• Drives Like Crazy: Finn nearly got arrested driving to Dalton to save Kurt.
• Dysfunction Junction: To say a lot of characters has issues is the understatement of the century.
• Easily-Overheard Conversation: Frequent. The speakers should be lucky that those who overheard them knew how to keep silent. The Tweedles lampshaded that anything remotely secretive should be far away.
• Elaborate University High: Dalton and Dobry. Not only those two share buildings such as the Library but there's actually a stable, an incredibly large field and the woods and gardens, a cathedral, a bell tower, even secret passages and compartments.
• Family Theme Naming: Brothers Blaine and Shane.
• Fan Nickname: Logan's being 'The Giant Squid of Ignorance', and the Jogan ship is commonly referred to as 'The Gondola'.
• Feminine Women Can Cook: Merril regularly makes dinner for her boys.
• Foil:
  • Warblers and New Directions. They are both show choirs with internal problems. However, Warblers was able to work past issues and became good friends in a Fire-Forged Friends way. The Warblers have saner issues due to their willingness to talk civilly, even if it took people to make sure it's civil. ND, while they are tight, continued to fight amongst themselves; when these guys fight, they rarely have people stepping in to make sure they are civil to speak about their issues.
  • Warblers and Vocal Adrenaline from the New Directions' point of view. They are both synchronized show choirs with clout. Despite their seemingly formal image, the Warblers extended an open hand, treating their opponents with compassion and respect. They wound up being major supporters for New Directions. Vocal Adrenaline's dynamic demeanor hides a cold and ruthless attitude towards their opponents and thus became their biggest Arch-Enemy.
    • Whereas one of their own transferred unwillingly and had no intentions to mess with the Warblers, Carmel's student transferred willingly just to mess with the New Directions. Both transferees have fallen in love with the current lead singers of the glee club there; Jesse did express doubt and due to peer pressure, had to hurt Rachel while Blaine embraced Kurt into Warblerland and would do what he can to make Kurt happy. While Jesse was treated not that well (which motivated his return to Vocal Adrenaline), Kurt was welcomed with open arms and treated graciously (which motivated his decision to stay at Dalton when there are open opportunities for him to leave. Since he learned Dalton could potentially be shut down, he was reluctant to leave that his family and New Directions picked up on).
  • Julian and Kurt. They are both gifted divas who cared deeply for their friends and especially their love interests, with a special interest - platonic or romantic - in Logan. Julian Cannot Spit It Out, no matter how much everyone encouraged him to. It took a dangerous situation for Julian to confess. Kurt spelled out his feelings for Blaine and later Logan with absolute confidence. What highlight the kindness is that both Kurt and Julian wanted to save Adam from a fiery demise.
  • Blaine and Logan. They are both Prefects - acting for Blaine (but he will be an official one senior year) - and talented lead singers with a romantic interest in Kurt. They also have issues with their negative emotions and Oblivious to Love tendencies. Blaine actually believed Kurt didn't return his feelings while Logan is thick about Julian's feelings for him; their love interests have to spell out their feelings to him. However, while Blaine was able to get a hold of himself before he could hurt anybody outside of his target (which includes Kurt), Logan took out his anger out on anyone (including Julian and Derek) in his warpath.
  • Vocal Adrenaline and Harold Kramer's Pure Energy. Both of them are synchronized singers and dancers with impressive national performances with placing to boot. However, the latter has heart and enthusiasm. They were also honorable enough to simply challenge them in a dance-off and acknowledge defeat and skill when they see it, rather than humiliate them publically through some kind of physical pain just because they deem them weak and that they can.
  • To a lesser degree, St. Patricks and McKinley star teams. Both practiced football though the latter practiced the American football. Unlike the homophobic latter team, St. Patricks knew full well some of their members are gay and have no problem with him dating other boys.
• Foreshadowing:
  • There had been hints Dalton was a former reform school. The way the boys can get away with the pranks (that when past rulebooks mentioned some potentially dangerous equipment) and the alumni referencing their previous experience in a fond yet odd way, referring to their knowledge that Dalton used to be a reform school.
• Forgotten First Meeting: According to the side stories, Reed and Shane, Logan and Julian, Spencer and Merrill, Derek and Casey met when they were kids and did not meet again until high school.
• For Want Of A Nail: Warblerland would not exist if it wasn't for Blaine and Kurt's presence in Dalton. Hell, all the events in Dalton wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Jude's death. Fanfics out there have lots of what ifs like what if Kurt met Logan instead of Blaine at his failed spying and Blaine was never there?
• Friendly Rivalry: New Directions and the Warblers, originating from the former's ex-member transferring in the latter's school. It's very possible that the Warblers, Medel, and Harvey would still treat the New Directions with the respect they deserve if they ever met them in season 1 in this universe, likely from the beginning. The fact they were nothing more than kind and generous, unlike Vocal Adrenaline, did dissuade Rachel from thinking any of the Warblers would think of them as spies. The rivalry gained New Directions supporters who wouldn't hesitate to give them an open hand - unlike their school and Vocal Adrenaline - and, as a result, bolstered the confidence of New Directions.
  • Dalton Kings and St. Patricks Lions.
• From Bad to Worse: The events of Hell Night and its aftermath.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Adam didn't get much attention at first.
• Gorn: Chapter 26 gets pretty damn close.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Rachel was envious and indignant about Kurt's luxurious visit to New York, being treated like a star to the point he gets to experience the Radio City Music Hall.
• Happily Adopted: Wes' mafia family clearly loves Wes that even the bodyguards are willing to obey Wes' orders during the siege.
• Heroic BSoD: Logan went into a profound one when Julian confessed and continued into the aftermath of Hell Night. Julian also has the same time-frame, but just the tad before when his stalker began threatening Logan and his friends.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Harvey, sacrificing his life so that Dwight can get out of Art Hall and live. Also a Tear Jerker.
• Hero of Another Story: Many characters from New Directions to Lancaster to St. Patricks to Something Damaged to Haven.
  • The Logan/Blaine/Joshua fiasco justified the Warblers' lack of presence in the first season.
• Hidden Depths / Big Ego, Hidden Depths: Everyone, especially the egocentric ones, in Dalton and Dobry is full of this. For example, Derek still cares for Casey even when he knew it was his fault they split. The twins are emotionally savvy enough to see Kurt, Blaine, and Logan needed privacy when it comes to The Reveal of their past relationship.
• Hikikomori: Han. He would only leave on special occasions such as exams. It's one of the reasons why he was named the Caterpillar.
• History Repeats: After a fashion. Dalton's potential shutdown after a tragic and dangerous series of events. The kids rallied to protest the shutdown and refused to move until the decision was rescinded. Headmaster Winters noted this, stating that the school became all the better for it.
• Honest Corporate Executive: Surprisingly, a large majority of Dalton and Dobry's families are. Yes, including Wes' mafia ties.
• Hopeless Suitor: Logan, to Kurt.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Julian, who seems to be completely unable to tell that there's something… off about Adam.
• Hufflepuff House: Hanover House, which is barely mentioned.
  • Lancaster House.
  • Becomes somewhat averted later on with Adam's influence on the plot.

Tropes I-Q

• I Choose to Stay: Kurt chose to stay in Dalton as opposed to transferring back as he did in canon.
• Idle Rich / Non-Idle Rich: Double Subverted Trope. The Dalton boys may have time for pranks but the rigorousness of their school demanded excellence no matter what. Their parents have jobs; while they have trips around the world - Wes, in the first chapter alone, mentioned casually about his parents' yearly trip to Paris and Julian traveled for work - they still need work to get that money. They were also expected to take over their respective family's empire and they aren't fighting about the predestined route.
• I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Micah to Shane.
  • Platonically, New Directions wants their ex-member to be happy wherever he wants to be and would do whatever they can to protect that happiness.
  • Julian to Logan, to the point that he tries as much as he can to try and get Kurt and Logan together.
• In Medias Res: Chapter 28, Siege.
• Inter Class Friendship: Dalton with Kurt and New Directions. Kurt and New Directions were gifted with expensive stuff that they would never have unless they make to fame and fortune.
• It's All About Me: A lot of people have this habit. At the same time, some of them were also aware of boundaries and have common sense about respect and human decency. Unfortunately, that common sense does not translate to some of their insane actions.
  • Rachel to the T. She fully acknowledged she was unpopular among her friends in the glee club. That didn't stop her from trying to make herself flattering than usual for Dalton's school newspaper. Finn is her designated Cloud Cuckoo Landers Minder.
• Ivy League for Everyone: Downplayed. It's stated Dalton all but handed students to Ivy Leagues and other prestigious schools. However, these boys have to study and perform excellently to be accepted to these schools like Derek with extracurriculars on top of it. Han, for example, would have been easily accepted into MIT.
• Jerkass: To an extent, Logan.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Logan, who goes after Karofsky to stop him from doing anything else to Kurt.
• Just in Time: Harvey arrives just in time to get Dwight out of the Art Hall before he dies.
• Kick the Dog: Adam to Danny in episode 26, combined with Kick Them While They Are Down.
  "What's a little pain to you, Danny…?" Adam snarled. "You like pain anyway, don't you?" And he kicked him straight in the face.
• The Klutz: Reed. Tripping into fireplaces, cutting himself on soda cans, choking on Skittles...
• Lady Killer In Love: Derek with Casey in the past.
• La Résistance: The boys erected a freaking BARRICADE - yes, complete with Les Misérables references - with the help of the McKinley High crowd, their sister school Dobry Hall, and even some people from their rival, St. Patrick's.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Played with, as there is many a Noodle Incident at Dalton, such as Blaine's arrival; also, the fact that Blaine and Logan were exes, but this becomes averted later when Kurt is told of how they met.
• Limited Social Circle: The main characters — Wes, David, Kurt, Blaine, Ethan and Evan, Reed and Dwight — seem to do everything together, even New York.
• Little Big Brother: Blaine is shorter than Shane.
• Loony Fan: Adam to a horrifying degree.
• Love at First Sight: Shane for Reed.
• Love Epiphany: Possibly what caused Reed's tears when Shane left.
  • Julian, in one of the side stories.
• Love Makes You Crazy: Adam. Oh, Adam.
• Made of Iron: Dwight, after Adam knocks him out of a window from the third floor, he still gets up and running trying to save Kurt and the others.
  • One could also see Reed as this, as he is The Klutz of the story.
  • Arguably Danny, in Chapter 26; when he is stabbed in the shoulder and the side, as well as being verbally abused and kicked by Adam, Danny continues fighting to save Julian, and even after playing dead, runs to the Main Hall to protect his friends. This added to his self-harm issues and consist strength certainly suggests an air of iron!
• Mad Scientist: Satoru and Drew. For the Valentines' Day fair, they injected their 'love potion' into Windsor's cookies. It does not help that their inventions have the potential for harm and explosions.
• Mama Bear: Merril, for Hanover House.
  • It is a fan joke that Derek is this for Logan and Julian, so much that this is a fandom nickname for him.
• Married to the Job: Word of God says this is Dwight.
• Middle Name Basis: Dwight is referred to this because he doesn't like his first name. Logan is also this because the name John is most definitely his father's.
• Monochrome Casting: Exempting the face-casts which takes from varieties of races (Julian Larson's official face-cast is Francisco Lachowski, a Brazilian model), a large majority of the cast are white rich boys. While they are people of color in the cast such as David, Wes, and Satoru who played important roles, there isn't a lot of them. And that's not getting into other cast members' families. It's ended up lampshaded by the not quite as rich and diverse New Directions and Pure Energy.
• Mysterious Past: Blaine and Logan, but later averted.
• Mythology Gag: When the school was supposedly closing down, the Warblers put on Somewhere We Only Know as the intended final performance, the canon farewell song for Kurt from the Warblers.
• No Medication for Me: Logan has meds, but he doesn't like to take them because they make him feel numb.
• Nice Guy: Well, everyone from Dalton to Dobry Hall to St. Patricks. Even the Jerk with a Heart of Gold beneath their general behavior of jerks. To be fair, it's more like they know their flaws and jerkassery but they are good people respects and responds with empathy.
• The Nicknamer: A variation. The Twins gives Alice in Wonderland names to those they are interested in and in some way miraculously matched their role. For their rivals at McKinley, they referred them as Momeraths and talking flowers. For girls that caught their eye, it's usually talking flowers.
• Noodle Incident: Many. They were mentioned nonchalantly which leads to Kurt's constant question, "What is this school?".
  • Charlie's incident with the 20 comforters.
  • The time the Warblers played Rock Band in the common room. Involved the janitor's duck and a mop as well.
  • An incident involving pudding and cafeteria ovens that left Sean in hospital.
  • An incident regarding a goat, the doors and windows that left Thad not being able to trust Windsor.
  • An incident regarding duct-tape, a rowboat and pipeworks.
• No Accounting for Taste: Bailey questioned Julian's taste in partners. To list, so far, his somewhat serious relationship with another guy was with Sebastian, someone who would transfer next year, and the guy he is in love with has anger problems.
• Not So Above It All: Anybody sane would eventually end up following the insanity of Dalton and Dobry one way or another because apparently, it's contagious.
• Not a Morning Person: Kurt. At least, that's what the Tweedles think.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore:
  • McKinley: Because Kurt transferred, the dynamics of the glee club there changed. Lauren was invited and likely until graduation this time. Kurt chose to stay in Dalton and the fact New Directions have rich friends mean a certain value of protection.
  • On the Dalton side, ever since Hell Night and its aftermath, things changed where the boys are very close in a Fire-Forged Friends way, including the Lancaster kids.
• Oblivious to Love: Logan is this to Julian.
  • So much that his fandom nickname is The Giant Squid of Ignorance.
• O.C. Stand-in: To a certain degree, Blaine. Blaine is similar to his canon counterpart but he's vastly different due to experiences. He never transferred to McKinley either, thereby changing his experiences with new and old members of New Directions.
  • Wes and David are this. At this point, the author only knew them from "Never Been Kissed" so that allowed her to develop characterization from them.
• Odd Friendship: Julian and Kurt's blooming one could be seen as this, especially because Julian's love interest, Logan, is interested in Kurt.
• Old Money / Nouveau Riche: Dalton and Dobry, depending on the character. More often than not, most of them spanned generations of moneymaking. Even just being a Legacy of Dalton had been mentioned as quite a feat and honor in Dalton events such as the New Years' Party.
• One Degree of Separation: Whether it through the school or high-profile connections, a lot of people have some kind of association some way or another. Some egregious examples would be Logan and the Brightman Twins are distant cousins and that Greg Harvey was a Dalton Alumnus. It's been hinted Micah is currently tutoring Karofsky.
• One-Gender School: Doubled as a Boarding School. Dalton Academy and the sister school, Dobry Hall.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. There are two Nicks, one from Hanover and Stuart respectively with Hanover's Nicky.
• Only Sane Man: Kurt quickly learns that everyone in Dalton and Dobry has varying degrees of insanity. Even the relatively saner ones like Merrill and Reed are still insane. Not even family is exempted from this either as Laura Bancroft and Shane Anderson are just as crazy as their brothers.
  • Dwight seemed to regard himself and several others as the sane one despite others seeing him as one of the most insane members of Windsor and Dalton altogether.
• Opposites Attract: Shane and Reed.
• Overly Long Name: Julian Talal Alexander Larson Armstrong, Clayton Alessandro Malik Rizzo, Lucrezia Nyota Lara Westwood, Hansel Tiberius Link Lionheart Westwood.
• Parental Abandonment: Kurt's mom is dead, Logan's mom and Dwight's dad have nothing to do with their sons, and Merril's parents have essentially disowned her unless she acts like a boy. These kids have parent issues.
• The Perfectionist: Many of Dalton and Dobry is this but especially Derek. He cannot stand being the second best, particularly in his parents' eyes.
• Perpetual Smiler: Julian. Blaine and Kurt immediately recognized who Julian is the moment they saw his smile. It's one of the reasons why the twins named Julian the Cheshire Cat.
• Plethora of Mistakes: Happens to Dwight, Laura, and Adam in chapter 26. Oddly, Adam's plan going wrong just made things worse for the heroes.
• Power Trio: Wes, Blaine, and David.
  • Also Logan, Derek, and Julian as evil counterparts.
  • Possibly Drew, Satoru and Charlie, or Evan, Ethan, and Charlie as the Comic Trio.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: The three Houses, Windsor, Stuart, and Hanover, could be this.
  • Freudian Trio: Perhaps with Julian as The Id, Logan as The Super Ego and Derek as The Ego.
• Precision F-Strike: There's not much swearing until Karofsky comes after Kurt. There are a few F-bombs, then it goes back to ... not much swearing.
  • Used by Logan of all people in one of the side stories, the one in which he gets his father to send the search parties to look for Shane.
• Preppy Name: Lots of them.
• Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Tabitha, screaming like a banshee...
  • Charlie's ex Leslie.
• Psycho Smirk: Adam is known for this.

Tropes R-Z

• Real Men Wear Pink: The Dalton boys have no problem adjusting to so-called feminine activities - sewing, cross-dressing, cooking, etc. They might not be good at some of it but they are not complaining and they are trying. Word of God had suggested the boys would love to learn Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" without any remorse. Word of God even stated they each have their favorite flowers.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Unlike McKinley, Dalton has loads of this. The teachers, Dean, and Headmaster were willing to help the students despite their troublemaking. They also have limitations and will dole punishments according to the level of damage or genuine apology. They provided opportunities to Kurt that he never had in McKinley. Rachel noted Harvey was kind to New Directions, recognizing their talents, instead of claiming they were spies.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Logan's dad, John. His peers masked their madness and able to stop their flaws from hurting people but not John.
• Ridiculously Fast Construction: The Valentines' Fair, holy moly. Smaller in size, they may be but Hanovers had the time to build a small rollercoaster in a short time and the twins were able to construct a Wall of Mirrors. They also took it down too in record time before Parents' Night/Hell Night.
• Room Full of Crazy: Adam's room.
• Rule of Funny: The story often abandons logic and plausibility to get laughs. Kurt, ordinarily reserved and decorous, now runs through the hallways singing and flinging clothing everywhere.
  • Dwight honestly believes in Supernatural.
  • The Windsor boys find Kurt's cookies extremely desirable, to the point that they're fighting each other for them. Naturally, they're also willing to give each other the bowl to try one. Yet, as CP has declared, they ARE just regular cookies.
• Sadist Teacher: Murdoch, particularly to members of Windsor House.
• Scars Are Forever: Blaine, Kurt, Reed, Julian, Logan, Danny, the Tweedles, Wes, Charlie, Justin, and Micah all have scars after the Art Hall burning. The mental scars are just as bad, not just about those in the fire but also from the outside looking in.
• School Festival: So far, there's the Winter/Fall Festival, Valentines' Day Fair, and Parents' Night/Hell Night in Kurt's time there. There are many more in additional canon and before Kurt's transfer. The students of Dalton are expected to go all out. Valentines' Day Fair is particularly egregious when there are a rollercoaster and a recording booth, even allowing impromptu dance competitions.
  • Festival Episode: Many of them.
• Secret-Keeper: Kurt, Reed, Logan, Shane, Dwight, and Blaine for Medel's affair with Harvey and pregnancy. Kurt, Dwight, Bailey, and Derek for Julian's feelings for Logan; Kurt, Reed, Blaine, and Derek for Julian's love confession in the burning Art Hall.
• Serenade Your Lover: Both Blaine and Logan to Kurt, multiple times.
• Shipper on Deck: Derek for Julian X Logan. He wanted to get them together because it would lessen the headache he had put up with Julian's pining and Logan's obliviousness.
• Ship Tease: Of course, Blaine and Kurt.
  • Reed and Shane.
  • Some of the side stories, particularly Cat's Sleeping, are this for Julian and Logan.
• Show Within a Show: Something Damaged in which Julian starred in. An excerpt of it could be found in the very beginning of the chapter of Hell Night.
• Single-Minded Twins: Ethan and Evan Brightman. Blaine even says that it's best to think of them as one person until you know them.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Reed and Shane are both here, but for different reasons. Reed hasn't ever really had romantic feelings for anyone until Shane showed up, while Shane is gay, and has had at least one boyfriend, but is now only interested in Reed.
• Sixth Ranger: Shane could be seen as this as of Chapter 13, as he frequently joins the main original group of Kurt, Blaine, Reed, Evan and Ethan, Dwight, Wes, and David
• Small Role, Big Impact: Jude Whittaker, Blaine's late friend in the Fab Five.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Word of God stated she won't kill Finn Hudson.
• Spit Take: It happens, especially when a character revealed something shocking.
• Stalker Shrine: Adam has one for Julian complete with pictures of Logan, Derek, Laura, and Kurt.
• Stalker with a Crush: Logan.
  • Also, on a much more creepy level, Adam.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Julian seemed capable of this as well as Dwight. The former was fitting for the named Cheshire Cat.
• Stranger in a Strange School: Kurt, as The Watson and Only Sane Man, questioned what kind of school would allow Rulebooks and its insanity to pass. The Ouran High School Host Club vibes does it too.
• The Straight and Arrow Path: Dwight's primary choice is an ornate silver crossbow that he would've shot Shane with and later used in the siege.
• Super Gullible: Dwight. He will believe anything remotely paranormal and would suggest wild theories related to the paranormal.
• Team Dad: Harvey for the Warblers and other Dalton boys. Mr. Schue was grateful for his benevolence for Kurt and one of the reasons he attended Harvey's funeral.
• Team Mom: Merril for Hanover House. Medel for the Warblers.
• Team Pet: Downplayed about the many pets at Dalton and the boys' ones.
  • Pavarotti for the Warblers.
  • A horse named Thor for the Hanovers.
  • A dog named Cookie for the Windsors.
• Title Drop: Kurt, in the first part of Siege.
• Took a Level in Badass: Kurt screaming at Tabitha and calling her a "last-season Prada princess."
  • Dwight's performance in Hell Night.
    • Dwight's everything in Hell Night.
    • Also, credit has to be given to Blaine and Logan's entrance to the Art Hall in Hell Night. Logan had an AXE.
• Trademark Favorite Food:
  • As mentioned above, the boys - not just Windsor but Stuarts too - are bonkers regarding Kurt's cookies.
  • The Haven boys love their pizza.
  • Technically a Trademark Favorite Drink, but Stuarts (except Bailey) love coffee.
  • If the Hanovers had their way, Cheetos would be a food group.
• True Companions: Possibly all the Dalton boys after Hell Night.
• Twin Banter: Ethan and Evan again.
• Uke: Julian isn't quite the typical uke, but he is very much a diva, along with the fact that he's both more emotional (at least internally) and shorter than possible love interest, Logan. Then there's the recent revelation that he always bottoms when he's with a boy, which is pretty important.
  • Reed fits this trope very well. He's clumsy, easily flustered, and both shorter and more "baby-ish" than his boyfriend, Shane, even though he's a year older.
• Underestimating Badassery: DWIGHT. Karofsky and Adam had no idea that Dwight's lanky figure hides a truly brave soul who would save everybody from enemies, real and imaginary alike.
  • Downplayed about many boys in Dalton. Because people called them spoiled cushy brats who don't know anything else other than the money and privilege they have, they never realized they are capable of combat or diving into dangerous situations.
• Uptown Girl: Gender-Inverted. Blaine's family has connections to the entertainment industry which why he was able to take Kurt to the Radio City Music Hall; he didn't have any trouble getting in either, financial-wise. Kurt, while he can afford some of his more luxury brand items but never the type of expense that would leave his family in serious debt, is middle-class where his dad runs a mechanic shop and he only got into Dalton because his parents sacrificed their honeymoon money for him.
  • Shane with Micah. Note that the tuition in Dalton, according to Word of God, is upwards 40-5k and the Andersons have to pay it twice for their sons.
• Uncle Pennybags: The boys at Dalton are very well off and see no problem spending a great deal of money on Kurt and his friends back at McKinley. Kurt and New Directions certainly would have felt like charity cases had these guys were not genuine about their over-the-top gift-giving. Just look at what they have waiting for Kurt in the New York arc alone.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Kurt and Blaine at the end of episode 13. Julian and Logan. Of course, Logan is clueless.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Logan and Julian are type two.
• The Watson: When Kurt arrived at Dalton, he had no idea about almost anything. He got better over time but he kept asking himself the question, "What is this school?".
• With Friends Like These...: Julian and Logan seem to hate each other most of the time.
• Women Are Wiser: Merril seems to be one of the sanest people at Dalton.
• Word of Dante: The actual Warblers actors on Glee have read this fic. One, Aaron Page, has "claimed" the part of Logan. It was in his Twitter bio for a while.
• Worthy Opponent: New Directions twice. Once by the Warblers and the other by Pure Energy.
  • The Warblers from Pure Energy. Some of them thought they were just spoiled rich kids who don't have the skill.

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