#like in s3 with jbi

[angelhummel]

Someone smarter than me pls explain all the meta going on in Rachel’s dream sequence in 5x17 bc I feel like a lot of it doesn’t even make sense

Like the only appearance and costume choice that makes sense is Kurt wearing the same sweater he wore from their Defying Gravity diva off. And I guess Blaine being in his Warblers’ uniform since he was literally their competition twice. And Sue and JBI cause they’re just always creepily antagonistic. Same for Becky I guess. I mean they were part of the hecklers club or whatever but Rachel literally didn’t even perform when they were doing that

Karofsky is there which doesn’t totally make sense. Obviously she didn’t like him bc of how he treated Kurt but it’s not like he was personally out to get her. Also he’s in his bully whips uniform which is when he was seemingly turning over a new leaf and that was the least antagonistic he ever was to anyone while they were all at school together

Tina kind of makes sense to be there even tho lbr she wasn’t much of a threat to Rachel except that one time. In s3 when she was in her mod phase, yet she’s still same old goth Tina in the dream. It makes sense for Tina to still view herself that way in Props but is that just how everyone sees her despite her growth? 

Santana, again, makes more sense. Tho I still don’t know why she’s in her Cheerio uniform sans high pony. Just a weird detail idk. Also Rachel’s dreaming about Santana seeing her naked and constantly making heart gestures at her while she’s performing. When their feud is still fresh and the only one that’s still lingering. So that doesn’t really make sense except Rachel is gay and wants Santana’s love and support and also to see her naked

And Sam being there at all doesn’t make any sense. Like they always had a pretty good relationship and were never really at odds with each other

And also. Where is Mercedes?? She’s in the ep so it’s not like Amber was just busy and couldn’t make it in. I mean maybe for that scene, who knows?? It’s still a weird omission since she’s the only other character that was ever actually Rachel’s rival. Like she easily could’ve been there in her AIATY outfit, or either of her WSS audition dresses

idk its weird im just rambling <3

[tthankstoyou]

I wonder what she did to get her reputation back to what it was

Doesn’t it show it in the show? Became head cheerio by throwing Santana under the bus, dated + cheated on popular boys (dated Finn, dated and cheated on Sam).

yeah, but im more thinking of that summer going into her junior year. like what was she up to that summer? when jbi interviews her in s2x01, she only says that she's looking forward to starting fresh and that she doesn't cry that much anymore. I would just like to know more about her summer 🦧 (kind of like how going into s3, there was a voice over of what she did that summer)

[o-dasaku]

i was wondering if you could explain the descriptions on your fgc posts and how they relate to the characters? i'm v interested

oooo for sure

don’t you (forget about me) > don’t you try and pretend, it’s my feeling we’ll win in the end. 

this one’s kind of obvious, the back half of the lyric is my brot3 tag for blamtina - they’re altogether hopeful kids that go through some (a lot of) shitty times. they’ll come out on top in the end, they’re sure of it.

here comes the sun >  here comes the sun and i say, it’s all right.

it’s a metaphor!!!!!!!! dani’s the sun, you fools!!!!!!!!!!! i don’t want to say that santana spent all of s4 hung up on brittany, but santana spent all of s4 hung up on brittany. i have no doubt she hooked up with her fair share of beautiful ladies, but she definitely didn’t date - i don’t think it’s because she was waiting for brittany to dump sam (okay she was, but not so they could be together again), i think she genuinely just didn’t feel super comfortable with it - she never really dated brittany, they were best friends and then they were girlfriends too and santana doesn’t want to leap into that minefield for the first time with just anybody.

enter: daniella perea, struggling musician who picks up a job at spotlight to help pay the bills and gets along with everybody, which is fucking rare because 90% of that diner’s staff are broadway divas in waiting (and santana) so people take notice and santana doesn’t want to like her, but she does. she really does.

so moving on from britt is hard and it’s scary, but it’s alright. she has dani. they’ll figure it out.

creep > i want a perfect body, i want a perfect soul.

i almost picked like twenty different lyrics here because it’s a Very Them song, but i feel like this speaks very well to their characters: this lyric is rachel in a nutshell, she doesn’t just want to the best, she wants to be perfect. it speaks to brody because it’s the antithesis to him: he doesn’t care to be perfect, he just wants to be himself (who, lucky him, happens to be very talented).

sidenote: i think brochel really work on that level, rachel challenges brody to want to be better while brody can remind rachel that being less than perfect is perfectly okay. i’m still sad about how they treated him.

never can say goodbye > though i try and try to hide my feelings, they always seem to show.

listen, i hate to draw riverdale/glee comparisons, but quinn’s veronica lodge. you want fire, cheryl bombshell? sorry, but my speciality’s ice. quinn wants to be cold, wants to be this untouchable ice queen but-

she just isn’t (just like veronica, funnily enough). quinn fabray feels so much and isn’t that just the worst? i don’t think quinn wears her heart on her sleeve the way so many characters on this show do, but she feels things very strongly, much to her own annoyance. whether or not the world sees isn’t really up to her either, as much as she wishes it was.

(on the riverglee comparisons: santana is cheryl, puck is reggie and sam is archie. i know people cast finn as archie but ehhhh. i don’t have anything super solid on anyone else, but rachel is probably betty and kurt is probably kevin (i’m not saying that because they’re both gay, more “i exist solely to prop up betty/rachel when needed”). jbi is evelyn from the farm and i will hear No Arguments on that.)

being alive > i’ll always be there as frightened as you to help us survive being alive.

i’ll be honest, there is an infinitely more kurt line in this song (someone to crowd you with love/someone to force you to care/someone to make you come through) but um, this is literally one of my top 3 musical theatre songs and that lyric is one of my absolute favorite lyrics ever, musicals or otherwise. 

but this line does relate to kurt (and blaine, i guess- this song is clearly meant to implicate him- for the first time, i really know what it means) well enough. i know there’s a fuckton of kurt and death meta but i don’t claim to know him well enough to make sense of any of it so we’ll look at this very shallowly - i think kurt experiences life quite differently to the normal person, and we can owe that to his mother’s death or the long term bullying or whatever tickles your pickle, but he does seem a little... removed, i think. i don’t think he’s afraid to be alive, but i do think he has a long list of reservations about being alive. i think that’s where blaine generally works for him, because blaine is so alive - even if he’s scared to death about it (see: sadie hawkins, the slushie incident, literal depression), sometimes. 

i’m not here to shit on any ships, but i do wish i shipped klaine more. oh well. i’ll always have s2.

i feel pretty/unpretty > i was told i was beautiful, what does that mean to you?

i know this is a quinn line (and a very good one at that), but i find it interesting when i apply it to both of the girls. quinn and rachel are both very beautiful, though in clearly different ways - and they both have trouble believing that. or more accurately, quinn finds herself beautiful but not her self. 

anyway. i wonder if quinn’s parents ever called her beautiful, before she was quinn. they seem incredibly shallow, even if judy develops away from that - i have a headcanon that lucy was very close with their pastor (not...in a creepy way jdsdlaks) and he was pretty much the only positive interaction she had with any elders until after quinn was a thing but ANYWAY he always told lucy that she was a beautiful person but only tells quinn that she looks lovely. that informs a lot of this performance (especially this line) for me. anyway. whatever.

so to rachel: her brief interactions with her fathers make me think that she grew up being told she was beautiful quite often, but then her peers are always telling her differently - i have no doubt that places more esteem in her father’s opinions, but i’m sure that being told two different things would confuse the fuck out of a kid. quinn was likely spearheading the “crazy berry is ugly” craze in their freshman year, so. i don’t know. the what does that mean to you? is an interesting question for that line of thought.

being good won’t be good enough > i’ll be the best or i’ll be nothing at all.

please, she said emphatically.

everytime > every time i try to fly, i fall; without my wings, i feel so small.

listen. what a marley mood.

it’s all coming back to me now > there were things i’d never do again, but then they’d always seemed right.

rachel Fucks Up A Lot. we been knew. i do think she learns from a lot of her fuck-ups (not all, see: leaving nd for cabaret and then leaving funny girl for that’s so rachel), but she did genuinely think she was doing the right thing a lot of the time (see: telling finn about drizzle’s true paternity and robbing puck and quinn of that opportunity) and i don’t think she’d change much, if she had another chance - she just wouldn’t go repeating the bare majority of fuck ups.

hand in my pocket/i feel the earth move > and what it comes down to, my friends, is that everything’s just fine, fine, fine.

listen, considering this is their proposal song, i would’ve hoped for something a bit more meaningful. but i do think that there is something to the simplicity of this song, - brittany and santana are happy. they have no issues this season (outside of britt’s bridezilla tendencies) and as much as they’ve always been the type to get their feelings out via song (see: landslide, songbird, mine), they’re definitely at a point where they can just. talk about their feelings.

their song is simple because they are too, finally. what it all comes down to? they’re fine, fine, fine. :P

human nature > see that girl? she knows i’m watching, she likes the way i stare.

another song i almost picked like, five different lyrics for lmao. while the others spoke nicely to characters, this lyric is quite indicative of their mid-s3 relationship (mercy is still w shane, sam’s trying to push in on that) and uh, i think this is an unpopular opinion. so. hang tight, kids.

while mercedes and sam were certainly attracted to one another, i think there’s a few more things at play here: sam likes being in a relationship, knows that he and mercedes could be good together and he’s trying to recapture being sixteen again, so dating the girl he’d been embarking on something with is a pretty great way to do that. mercedes? i think she likes the attention, likes actually being noticed. she likes the way he stares, basically. (i’m dropping lyrics into explanations now, sue me.)

crazy/u drive me crazy (you guys are all on notice for letting this flop, btw) > tell me i’m not in the blue, that i’m not wasting my feelings on you.

marley’s spent all episode being warned against jake, but i think it’s interesting that she’s basically seeking him out here and asking are they right? his response leaves something to be desired (tell me i’m the only one you’ll see) but at least it’s a conversation they’re having? it does speak well to marley for the rest of the time she’s on the show - she’s best when talking her issues/concerns out (see: her eating disorder v her wanting to stay abstinent, neither end well for her but she seems more at peace with the latter) while jake is. jake.

(i love jake always!!!!!!!!!!)

and finally, need you now > guess i’d rather hurt than feel nothing at all.

i changed this like, twenty times. the alternative was their ship tag (and i wonder if i ever cross your mind/for me it happens all the time), but i think this speaks a lot more strongly for their characters than that does to their relationship. puck and rachel are both very all-or-nothing characters, but 99% of the time they’re going to pick all. it fucks them over a lot of the time, but i don’t think they regret it much.

[themostrandomfandom]

Hey JJ! What are your favorite episodes of Glee Brittana wise and why?

Hey, @tryingtoohardddd!

Unsuprisingly, my answer got wordy. I put everything under the cut.

______

My top five favorite Brittana episodes are:

6x06 “What the World Needs Now” because it is the closest Glee ever comes to giving us top quality Brittana fanfiction played out on screen. The characterizations for both girls are so spot on, and especially in the hallway scene, which, in addition to providing a perfect reversal to the Hurt Locker scene in episode 2x15, also presents us with some of the best-conceptualized Brittana dialogue and cute, flirty Brittana interactions of the entire series. Throughout the episode, Naya and Heather’s performances hit on all sorts of levels: Brittany’s exasperation with her parents and zany Queso Por Dos trolling with Alma are pure comedy gold, while Santana’s heartfelt confrontation with Alma in the auditorium makes me cry, and the courage and resolve that both girls show in standing up for their love are enough to make me want to leap out of my chair and cheer because THOSE ARE MY GIRLS and LOOK AT HOW FAR THEY’VE COME. While the episode does contain some logistical plot holes, the Brittana in and of itself is about as close to perfect as possible. There’s angst and fluff, heartbreak and triumph, but most of all, just so much love. This episode is all about Brittana coming full circle. They started off as two girls who, due to the potential consequences of speaking up, were afraid to admit how much they wanted each other. In this episode, they show how they have grown into two women who are willing to fight for their love, no matter what may come of them doing so, because, to them, the most important thing is just being with each other. 

2x15 “Sexy” because, on a personal level, this is The Brittana Episode for me, the one that pulled me in and made me ship these two cheerleaders with everything in my little fangirl heart. Then, on a more universal level, because it is also just so pivotal. When it comes to Brittana, the entire timeline can be divided according to episode 2x15—the before and the after. It is their watershed, the moment they went from background to foreground, the love declaration heard ‘round the world. The Sacred Sexy Sharing Circle started it, “Landslide” kept it going, and then the Hurt Locker hit it home. To this day, Naya Rivera’s performance in that scene remains the single most affecting thing I’ve ever witnessed in any episode of any television show ever, and I continue to find new significance in the bravery of Brittany’s actions every time I examine her behavior from her “I think we should talk to somebody” line on. Everything that Brittana eventually achieve and become all traces back to what they do here. Ultimately, their whole narrative arc on the show has its basis in those four little words: “I just want you.”

6x03 “Jagged Little Tapestry” because the bedroom scene alone is worth the price of admission, and then there is also a marriage proposal on top of it. As with episode 6x06, this episode reads like really, really super good fanfiction. The dialogue between Brittana in the bedroom is some of the best in the whole show, and Santana’s proposal to Brittany and Brittany’s reaction to it are so incredibly heartfelt and pure. Way back when episode 2x04 originally aired, if someone had come to me and said, “In five years, there will be a Glee episode in which you see Brittany S. Pierce and Santana Lopez cuddling in bed together, trading on-the-lips kisses, making pillow talk about how happy they are, and promising to love each other until infinity. Oh yeah, and later in the episode, they’ll get engaged,” I would have laughed them right off the internet, because back then I couldn’t have imagined that Glee would ever develop Brittana to such a point or to give us fans so much cause to celebrate. But this episode made that stuff happen—live! and in technicolor!—and it did so so deftly, with such nuance, feeling, and heart. For years, I had gotten used to Heya delivering quality Brittana IN SPITE OF poor Glee writing and a lack of narrative focus. This episode gave us an A+ Heya performance PLUS the excellent writing and narrative focus to support and highlight what they enacted. It’s Brittana the way it always should have been, and it just feeds into S6 being my favorite Brittana season overall.

5x12 “100” because after the kick in the teeth that was S3 and the harder kick in the teeth that was S4 and the even harder kick in the teeth that was the beginning part of S5, and after Brittany not graduating, Brittana breaking up, Bram happening, Dantana happening, and, oh yeah, that little part where Heather Morris left the show and no one knew if she would ever be back, suddenly, SUDDENLY, there was this episode, and it was so unexpectedly wonderful that, all at once, the fandom had hope again. Brittana supporting each other regardless of their current relationship status is my jam, so I love seeing Santana try to cheer Brittany up and help her access her creativity again. “Valerie” 2.0 is one of the cutest, dorkiest performances in all of Glee, and the way Brittany responds to Santana just reaffirms how deep their bond runs. Plus, this episode has some of the best Brittany dialogue, hands down. Her speech to Santana in the choir room is incredible—the kind of great writing that I thought Glee had forgotten how to produce after the Hurt Locker. And then there is That Kiss™. Again, if someone had told me way back in S2 that someday we’d get to see a Brittana kiss like that one, I’d never have believed it. This episode really is the precursor to all the Brittana goodness we’re treated to in S6.

2x19 “Rumours” because it is the quintessential Back Six episode from S2. At this point, Brittana want each other so badly, but they’re both still so afraid—Brittany that Santana won’t fight for her, Santana of the consequences of being true to herself. Still, through everything, it is clear that they love each other so much, almost more than they can stand. The Blurt Locker, nose-booping, promposal, and Revert Locker are all such monumental Brittana developments, and “Songbird” is an experience all of its own, one so moving and intimate that, to this day, I can only bring myself to watch it about once a year because anything more than that feels like an intrusion. This episode’s sweetest moments are so tender and affecting, while its angstiest moments are so heart-rending and poignant. The “soulmates” exchange hurts like a motherfucker, and yet it also provides hope because while JBI is asking Santana about Karofsky, it couldn’t be clearer who her answer is really about.

Thanks for the question! 

[angelhummel]

who are your least fave characters besides brittany? also this account is starting to make me hate brittany?? which is a good thing! i used to love her but like shes low key selfish and kinda rude. one thing that pisses me off about her is how she always says "thats bullying and i wont tolerate it" but then she doesnt do anything when she actually sees bullying?? also im still mad that she won class president when kurt deserved it so much more then she did. sorry for the mini rant lol

Okay you guys know you don’t have to apologize for ranting, you know I love to hear it xD Also omg my influence, sowing the seeds of my Brittany hate throughout the fandom and watching them grow. Amazing. Also yeah Kurt losing the election was literally for nothing and that was just one of many infuriating parts of s3 for me

But for real tho like the writers are the ones letting her get away with all kinds of shit that no one else can. Well I mean, Santana and Sue can. That’s about it. Honestly I think when Rachel makes a racist comment it’s kind of partly like “oh she shouldn’t have said that” even tho it’s still mostly played like a joke. Sue or Santana say something racist and it’s just part of them being sAvAgE like there’s no self awareness from anyone. And if Brittany says something racist it’s like “ohh that brittany. so cute and clueless wocka wocka” like it’s just a big joke

I mean like Blaine gets beaten up and it’s the most traumatic moment of his life but if Brittany beats up JBI then it’s played for laughs and the other characters are literally like “oh he deserves it” like ok let’s go double standards. I mean not that JBI is anything other than a punching bag in the first place but still 

Oh but to answer your original question that I almost forgot about bc i got so distracted by complaining about Brittany. She’s the worst but my other bottom character is Finn. And then there’s Will. He’s just so damn stupid and literally the worst teacher. And Sue. She has some funny moments and good scenes but her character got so stale after about s2 and she just got more and more cringe and it’s like why are you doing this to Jane Lynch what did she do to you. Also, the aforementioned racism. 

I don’t like Rory. He’s another black spot on s3. Didn’t like Ryder for that one episode where he was transphobic, but he got better. I actually don’t like Jesse that much, I don’t know why so many people do. Aaand I’m kind of starting to dislike Mike and Quinn lmao. Purely bc of the fandom. Like I’m so tired of “king” this and “queen” that and “least appreciated” “most overlooked” “most underrated” “deserved better” like people have talked so much about how underrated they are, that it makes me feel like they’re now overrated xD If that makes sense. But those are all minor in comparison to the Big Four listed above

[themostrandomfandom]

hey jj! i'm incredibly late to the party but i recently rewatched seasons 2-3 (i've watched till the end once before) and i was wondering if you have any thoughts about where brittana stood both off screen in between those two seasons and in the first few episodes of season 3, till "pot o gold" when they become official. i feel like by season 3 a lot is different in comparison to the end of s2 and i'm really fascinated by their relationship in those first three episodes.

Hey, @deleteee!

So here is the thing: 

The hiatus between S2 and S3 is kind of a lost period in Brittana history. As S2 ended, fans had high hopes that we would see a lot of Brittana development play out in S3, but that’s not really what ended up happening. To be sure, things, as you say, were most definitely different for Brittana once S3 started. It’s just that we didn’t get a lot of answers as to how that difference came about. So much was left open to interpretation and introduced through insinuation.

The bad news is that because the show kind of glossed over this transition in canon, we can’t really say, “The Brittana relationship specifically underwent X, Y, and Z changes between S2 and S3.”

The good news is that we have a lot of room for imagination due to the lack of canon evidence—which means that this time period is open for a lot of headcanon.

If you’ll allow me a good jabber, I’ll do some recounting and offer my take after the cut, okay?

______

When episode 2x22 “NewYork” originally aired, spoilers per Brad Falchuk suggested that Brittana would end S2 “with abang.” 

Many fans hoped that this “bang” would take the form of a first onscreenBrittana kiss and/or Santana coming out of the closet and/or the girls finally decidingthat they were officially dating.

Instead, the “bang”played out as the Heart Locker, a scene which gave us a reaffirmation ofBrittana’s best friendship, a really sweet hug and a pinky-link, and Brittany tellingSantana that, for them, “anything is possible” because they love each othermore than anything else in the world.

Initially, therelative quietness of this “bang” left many fans feeling underwhelmed. For allthe ups and downs that last six episodes of S2 had provided, Brittana had neverthelessmade very little in the way of measurable progress towards dating. No one wasexactly sure where they stood or even if TPTB at Glee were going to continue topursue a romantic storyline for them come S3.

During the summerhiatus between S2 and S3, rumors and fears abounded. Some fans worried that thewriters might introduce a new love interest for one or both of the girls comeS3. Others worried that once S3 started, Brittana would once again be relegatedto background status and all forward development for them would cease.

As the summercontinued, hopeful spoilers started to leak out, and the fandom allowed itselfto imagine some more favorable scenarios: Maybe Brittana would kiss or startdating in the season premiere. Maybe Santana would begin S3 out. Maybe she andBrittany would already be dating by the time S3 started. Maybe we would seeflashbacks to what they did with their summer vacation or at least hear aboutit in a JBI retrospective.

But, again, thingsdidn’t unfold exactly as the fandom expected.

Episode 3x01 “ThePurple Piano Project” was not the Brittana watershed we were hoping for.

The S3 premiere sawBrittana back on the Cheerios for the first time since episode 2x11 “The SueSylvester Shuffle,” with Santana being awarded dual captaincy with Becky.

In Brittana’s firstscene together, Santana got a lunch tray for her and Brittany to share andwalked with her arm-in-arm to their seats. They did talk to JBI but not abouttheir love lives, only about Santana’s plan to rock her senior year andBrittany’s efforts to assemble a functional time machine.

There was no explicitconfirmation that Brittana were dating each other—but, then again, there wasalso nothing to say that they were dating anyone else, either.

They tried to re-recruitQuinn to the New Directions and Cheerios together, but it was unclear what, ifanything, Quinn knew about their relationship.

The girls were onceagain a two-shot, appearing in almost every scene together. They danced on thetables with each other during “We Got the Beat” and sat side-by-side followingthe food fight (“Those are your nipples”).

Later on, Sue seemedto intimate that she knew the truth about Santana’s sexuality and used thatknowledge to blackmail Santana into sabotaging Will’s piano project. Santanadid not appear to be out, but she and Brittany were being awfully chummy inpublic. When Santana got kicked out the glee club, Brittany appeared noticeablydistressed, to the point that even Finn seemed to notice.

Everything was,frankly, ambiguous.

There was nothing tosay that Brittana had made progress between S2 and S3. There was also nothingto say they had regressed.

After working throughsome initial feelings of disappointment, the fandom held its collective breath,waiting to learn more. 

Some fans, myself included, wondered if Brittana werealready secretly dating and suspected that maybe a big reveal would come about at somepoint later in the season. Other fans fretted that maybe we would never see anymore mainline development for romantic Brittana at all—that this “Are they oraren’t they?” ambiguity was all we were ever going to get.

True to form, Gleestrung us along. The next two episodes of S3 tiptoed around Brittana’srelationship, with each new episode offering tantalizing clues but never delivering anything definitive.

In episode 3x02 “I AmUnicorn,” Brittany seemed bound and determined to make WMHS a safe space forLGBTQ kids, and she attempted to use Kurt’s campaign for the senior classpresidency to achieve that end. When Kurt rejected Brittany’s designs,Santana made a point to compliment her genius and encourage her to believe inherself. Everything was very sweet and seemed significant, but, again, nothingwas explicitly explained.

In episode 3x03 “AsianF,” Brittany showed up the Booty Camp, seemingly in support of Santana. Later,she performed “Run the World (Girls)” with Santana singing backup. Theperformance was definitely sexy and suggested Santana’s devotion not only toBrittany’s cause but to Brittany herself. However, it was perhaps lessintriguing, from a Brittana perspective, than Mercedes’s dream sequence performanceof “It’s All Over,” in which Mercedes clearly identified Brittana as a powercouple and talked about Santana “knocking off that piece who thinks she’sbetter than everybody running for president”—i.e., Brittany. Once again, fanswere left wondering what, if anything, was the deal with Brittana. Were theydating or what? If so, did the whole school know about it? Or was Mercedes aspecial case?

Finally, episode 3x04 “PotO’ Gold” provided some answers—though, again, not the answers fans perhapsexpected.

It turned out thatBrittany and Santana had been going on dates—eating out at BreadStix, takingromantic baths together, etc.—only Santana wasn’t sure if that meant they were actuallydating. Brittany reassured her that they were, in fact, dating if she wantedthem to be dating (“I ordered shrimp”). And Santana did want them to be dating, just with the stipulation that their relationship remain private (“under thenapkin”), at least for the time being.

This developmentfilled in some blanks for the fandom:

Santana was not yetout.

Brittana had spent the summer and early school year going on dates but notdefining their relationship.

Brittany was fine with taking things at Santana’s pace.

Santana was ready to date Brittany and be in a committed relationship with herbut not yet ready to make their relationship public.

What it didn’t tell uswas how, exactly, Brittana had spent their summer vacation or to what degreethey had discussed Santana’s coming out process to date. Did they have a planfor how they were going to proceed or were they more playing things by ear?

To this point in showhistory, we, as the audience, still had yet to meet Santana’s family on screen, soquestions remained as to how accepting or unaccepting they might beconcerning her sexuality. 

There had been some hints to suggest that Santanafeared their potential reaction to her coming out but nothing had beenexplicitly stated. 

Fans wondered to what degree the Lopez family would figure into Brittana’sstoryline going forward. 

They also wondered how much or how little Brittana’sromantic development would feature in the show throughout the rest of theseason.

When spoilers startedto leak for Santana’s “coming out” arc, set to feature in episodes 3x06 “MashOff” and 3x07 “I Kissed a Girl,” the fandom hoped that maybe we would learnmore about the nature and history of Brittana’s relationship from the end of S2until present.

But that’s the thingabout Glee: The writers very rarely examined developments in retrospect. Thingshappened off screen, through insinuation, and in passing and were never againrevisited. No new details or developments were made, and the story clipped alongat its same heady pace, full steam ahead.

So was the case withBrittana’s relationship.

We got developmentsgoing forward in S3, but the narrative never looked back or provided any newinsight into what had happened to get Brittana from the Heart Locker in 2x22 to “Iwish you’d hold my hand” in 3x04.

That being the case,there just aren’t that many concrete answers to be had about the summer S2-S3 hiatus period in Brittana history. All we can dois make inferences and write fanfiction.

My personal inferencesabout that “lost summer” are these:

I believe that,following the Heart Locker conversation, Brittany and Santana’s relationshipachieved a state of new equilibrium.

Things weren’t thesame as they had been pre-Hurt Locker, where they were friends who slepttogether but never talked about feelings (even though feelings were obviouslythere). Things also weren’t the same as they had been throughout the Back Six ofS2, with so many stutter steps and hesitations and backslides andcomplications, each new week trading heartbreaks and triumphs.Neither one of the girls was dating anyone else, and they weren’t desperately tryingto maintain the image of heterosexuality, as they had in the past.

Instead, Brittana achieved a new normal.

They spent timetogether—probably lots of it in each other’s homes, as we can infer from thefact that they occasionally bathed together—and they gradually resumed theirphysical intimacy, only this time it was different, because the feelingsunderlying it weren’t being suppressed and secreted anymore.

Though fans hadoriginally inferred that Brittany wouldn’t be ready to date Santana untilSantana came out, the truth was that Brittany was ready to date Santana as longas they were exclusive with each other and there was no more obfuscationbetween them about the nature of their feelings.

They didn’tnecessarily have explicit conversations about the nature of their relationship,hence why Santana remained uncertain, even going into the new school year, asto whether or not Brittany was actually her girlfriend. Brittany, on the otherhand, knew that she and Santana were steady dating, but she wasn’t about toforce Santana into labeling their dynamic before she was ready, so she just playedthings cool, waiting for Santana to come to her.

In the meantime, thegirls decided—together—that they would rejoin Cheerios and attain leadershippositions in Sue’s organization.

They also decided thatthey would try to reform the Unholy Trinity and get Quinn to rejoincheerleading and glee club with them.

When the school yearbegan, they essentially hid their new and improved dynamic in plain sight.Santana didn’t come out to the school, and she and Brittany didn’t tell anyonethey’d been going on dates. However, the girls also made no efforts to hide theircloseness or to beard with boys, as per their m.o. in years past. If people sawthem together and made inferences, then so be it. They just weren’t going tomake any public announcements themselves—and especially not before they haddefined their relationship between the two of them.

There was perhaps somesense between them that they were gradually working towards “going public”—thatSantana was trying to become more comfortable with herself and that they werebuilding up the kind of social capital that would afford them the freedom to dowhat they wanted within the walls of WMHS—but I don’t think they had a stricttimeline on coming out or even a real plan as to how that process might unfold.

Things were still newbetween them, and they were still figuring out how to bridge the gap betweenwhat they had been in the past and what they were now—hence all the ambiguityduring the first few episodes of S3.

Honestly, this periodin Brittana history is one of my favorites to imagine, specifically because itis so open to interpretation, so I’ve written a lot of fic about it. If you are interested, you can find my main “summer between S2-S3″ stories here: 

AndEverything is August You

Can’tHelp but Fall Just to Land

Of course, these stories are just my take on this particular period in Brittana history, and other authors have imagined things in delightfully different ways.

As stated above, we don’t have many hard answers about how Brittana made the transition between S2 and S3. We just have the sense that things were keenly different between Brittana, starting their senior year.

In any case, I have jabbered a lot now.

Thanks for the question! If you continue with your rewatch, I hope you enjoy it.