I guess I've been wanting to do this for a while and put all my ramblings in once place, and my very good friend @hopefulobjectmiracle recently encouraged me to do this, so here goes!
Brittana
Why I love Brittana
Yin & Yang Dynamic
Falling in Love
First Times
2x15 Britt “rejecting” Santana analysis
3x04 “Are we dating?” analysis
Mine (aka my fav song ever)
Filling in the gaps of Dani
Kurt interrupting Santana’s proposal to Brittany
Wedding Anniversaries
Full circle and parallels S1-S6
Musical Choices pt 1
Musical Choices pt 2
Songs I associate with Brittana
Why Brittana stood the test of time and weren’t just settling
Love Languages
Brittany and jealousy
Co-dependancy
Brittana Favourites
Underrated Brittana Moments
Santana Lopez
Santana: Why I love her
Santana and compatibility
Santana getting over Brittany
Fav Santana Looks
Brittany S.Pierce
Brittany: Why I love her
Brittany and Santana’s Abuela
Other
Quinntana
Kurtana
Pezberry
Top 10 Pezberry Moments
Personal
Why Brittana were so important to my coming out process
Maggie and Brittany both tilt their chin up towards their loves, although Maggie’s is far more obvious. They are asserting their dominance while flirting.
According to body language experts: “Jutting out the chin towards a person exposes it and says ‘Go on, I dare you, try to hit me and see what happens!’ This can thus be a signal of defiance, if not towards the other person then instead towards some situation or person in the conversation.Often, when a person is feeling confident, their chin will jut out slightly as they hold their head up and maybe tilted slightly back.Jutting may also exposes the teeth and is a thus a threat to bite which may be added to an aggressive display.”
Like some wlw MAGIC, Alex and Santana are both complimenting their loves with submissive actions; lowering the chin and maintaining eye contact.
Lowering the head whilst maintaining eye contact can also be a strong flirting signal, typically by women. It says ‘You are superior and I just can’t take my eyes off you’.
In a BOLD conclusion,
Maggie Sawyer and Brittany Pierce are more dominant/tops
Alex Danvers and Santana Lopez are more submissive/bottoms
Could you talk more about Brittana’s codependency in the earlier seasons vs how that changes after the break up? (and the want/need stuff?) Love reading your posts!!
Sure!
Posting under the cut because it's a long one!
So in the earlier seasons they are canonically joined at the hip, which isn't so unexpected. They are first and foremost best friends and they go to school together, by the time we meet them they're sophomores and hooking up and from what Santana says in 4x04, the feelings are there, but just locked inside. You can kind of see their attachment trickling through even in S1/S2 when they're not a couple, by the way they respond to conflict. An example being they argue in 2x04 about Artie and Santana not talking about their feelings and we see distance between them, but by the end of the episode they're already friends again and we see them walking through the halls linking pinkies. Whenever they argue (even though these arguments can hit pretty deep with both of them hurting each other), it's never dragged out for long. In terms of their sexual relationship they can't keep away from each other either. It's implied that they try to stop but they can't, despite the fact this means Brittany cheating on Artie and Santana going against every instinct in her body to be with a girl. Because "no matter how many times we've tried to put our thing down and walk away from it, we can't because, I don't wanna live my life without my one true love?" That line is Santana speaking as an adult how she doesn't want to live her life without Britt, but it's referring to their earlier days, when they very much had a magnetic attraction towards each other. A time where they would hurt other people to be with each other, and something they no longer did in the later seasons.
I think it's important to note why they had such a magnetic attraction back then though, and I think a lot of it is centred around the fact they were living a lie. There would be a Santana who denies her feelings and a Brittany who is happy with Artie but deep down they were denying themselves of what they wanted (in Brittany's case what she wanted but couldn't have), so that caused the magnetic pull towards each other, which manifested in need over want and them screwing over other people to be with each other because it was the only way. As the season continues we hear Santana say "I just want you" but it comes across more as a need from the way she can't let it go. She's straight onto a plan to make Brittany hers. Same can be said for Brittany because even though she's "chosen" Artie, she's still hooking up with Santana, and they can't quit each other. Again though I don't think their behaviour here is unexpected because it all aligns with the situation they were in. Santana finally put her heart on the line but then didn't get the girl, of course she was going to chase after her and make it her mission to win her over. I don't think they were particularly co-dependant at this stage, but they were very attached to one another, and just couldn't quit each other no matter what.
Then we get to S3 which is where this dynamic gets more interesting because they actually become a couple, a couple that regularly spends all their time together going on Breadstix dates and taking baths together and who can't be separated when it comes to Glee Club vs TroubleTones. Wherever Santana goes, Britt goes too. This isn't really against the norm or co-dependant though, this is just two teenagers in love in the honeymoon stage of their relationship. It took them so long to get to that stage, so of course they were going to relish in it and make up for all the lost times when denial had got in the way of love and intimacy. When Santana is outed and their relationship is common knowledge, their time together intensifies further because they're no longer hiding, and again who can blame them? They spent so long in the shadows so of course now they're out in the open they're going to spend as much time as possible together, however private they may be (and they are definitely a private couple but that's for another analysis). These two even have a Friday night date night even though they spend every day together at school (and probably after school too). Now where the co-dependancy starts to creep through is at the end of S3, when Brittany reveals she's not graduating and Santana visibly panics. Suddenly her New York plans are abandoned and she says she's gonna stay in Lima. Even when Maribel gives her the money for New York, the doubt is written all over her face as she looks at the photo of her and Britt. Inevitably she's worried for her relationship in a long-distance setting, and that's natural.
But then we get to S4 and this is where it all unfolds. On Santana's end we see that she hasn't gone to New York like she dreams of, she's in Louisville, a place we know she doesn't wanna go. She says in 4x04 she chose to go there over New York to be close to Brittany, it's not like she stayed in Lima, but we can assume only because Brittany /her parents (probably both) told her she can't just stay in Lima and do nothing, so she chose the opportunity closer to Brittany. Brittany wants that for Santana. She doesn't want her to be in Lima just because of her, in fact she wants her to go to New York because she knows it's her dream, despite Santana protesting otherwise. But though Brittany wants the best for her girlfriend her need protests otherwise. I'd say we see the co-dependancy hit hardest in her, like she literally goes into a depressive state because she misses her girlfriend so much :( We see how much she's not physically coping in 4x02 vs how she's trying to put a brave face on it in 4x04 but later the cracks show and need overtakes want when she admits to Santana that her leaving her behind feels like a panic attack. And we can see the shock and hurt all over Santana's face because she thought Brittany was coping fine. Brittany was in her bedroom the day before telling her to go off to New York, now she was here saying the opposite. That's because Brittany obviously doesn't want to feel like that. She knows the healthy thing to do would be to let Santana go off to New York and work at long-distance, but her body is reacting different because she's co-dependant on Santana and though she wants the best for her she's physically crying out for her at that time. And in that scene at BreadStix she lets that show, and off that's the catalyst for Santana to break up with Brittany. Not because she is tempted by Virginia Woolf reading lesbians in the library and certainly not because she wants to, but because she's seen how Brittany isn't coping and she thinks the best thing to do would be to let her go. And also if we look at the cut scenes, it seems like Santana is struggling too, because she can't even pick up the phone to Brittany because "it's not enough". She wants her there physically.
So it would seem like of the two of them that Santana is the less co-dependant one since she breaks up with Brittany, but actually, I think she's just as attached to Brittany. The reason she breaks up with Britt is because she cares more about Brittany's feelings than her own at this point. She ignored all her own hurt over the long-distance to stay with Brittany (putting defence mechanisms in place instead which is why she was distant and not speaking to Britt as much as she should have been) but as soon she saw how much Brittany was hurting, she had to do something. I also think that Santana breaking up with Brittany was a preventative temporary measure to a long term split. She did what she needed to do to make sure they were strong enough to come through it long term, because she knew the distance might cause them to argue and turn bitter towards each other. She says herself it's an "unofficial breakup". We're quickly reminded of Santana's attachment to Brittany in various episodes following though, like 4x06 when she returns to Lima to be in Grease just so she can see Brittany, and more importantly in 4x13 when she's back with a vengeance and a plan to get Brittany back. Going back to what I just said about the break up being a preventative temporary measure, this further proves that, because Brittany dating Sam wasn't part of Santana's plan. Of course Santana told Brittany to date other people (but she didn't think she actually would) and because she knows it's the right thing to say. She wants Brittany to be happy which is why she set her free but she needs Brittany to stick to the plan; not to go falling in love with somebody else. Brittany told Santana she could handle long distance, but her actions showed the opposite. Santana told Brittany she could date other people, but her actions showed the opposite. It's Need vs Want again.
So that's why Santana is back with a fake girlfriend and a song battle up her sleeve and a plan to move back to Lima. That's when we see that Santana is still attached to Brittany, not just in love, but attached. Because love is selfless and patient but Santana's obvious love for Brittany is clouded by her need for her. She doesn't care when Sam implies the best thing she could do if she really loved Britt would be to let her go and be happy elsewhere, because her intense need is on getting her back, and putting the wheels back in motion on her plan that always ended up with the two of them together. And I can totally see why they ended up like this. Their journey was so rough that when they finally got together, they became consumed by one another, and couldn't cope with being apart. Because being apart probably reminded them of their struggles and all the hard times before that S3 happiness where they lived in each others pockets. Being apart gave them a reminder of life without each other, that they once knew. Of course you're going to cling hard to someone you moved mountains to get, and both of these girls did move mountains and sacrifice a lot to be with one another.
So let's talk about how it all changed and they became independent but stronger, and the basis for a beautiful marriage. Brittany gets it first. It takes her a while (she tries to get Santana back in 4x06) but eventually she realises something. No amount of clinging to Santana and putting her life on hold is going to change anything. If Santana is meant for her, she'll come back to her. It's exactly what she tells Kurt in 6x03 when she's advising him moving on from Blaine. She's giving advice that day as someone newly engaged and as living proof of her own wisdom. She started off trying to control the situation and trying to win Santana back, waiting for things to maybe work out, but she grew to learn that wasn't a healthy approach. Her life needed to function without Santana and if Santana was going to come back to her, she would. So she moves on with Sam because he's providing her a temporary happiness that she can't get elsewhere, and she encourages Santana to go to New York and chase her dreams, knowing it's the healthiest thing for her. The Brittany that needed Santana might have took her up on the offer to stay in Lima; even if it meant Santana potentially resenting her for it in future. The Brittany we see here is the Brittany that just wants Santana to be happy, and she still loves her, but she's now got the fatalistic approach of "if we're meant to end up together we'll end up back together." I think Brittany probably grasped this first and learned to try move on with life before Santana did because she was the one broken up with. Santana hasn't yet grasped this concept because she still has the plan in place of wanting her and Brittany to end up together, and she's trying to control that, and Brittany dating Sam foils that plan and scares her. But off she goes to New York, swallowing her pain and fears, because Brittany has "rejected" her and there's nothing else she can do. But now that Santana has faced that harsh let down from Brittany, she too can begin to move on, because like Brittany was a few months prior she was forced too. So the break up was good because it forced them to move on and live separately learn they didn't need each other, while ultimately decided they still wanted each other.
It does take some time after Santana goes to New York, it's not something that happens overnight. They still share longing looks at Will and Emma's (non) wedding. Brittany's mind instantly jumps to Santana for comfort when she's feeling lost (she dumps Sam and her mind goes straight to wanting her sweet lady kisses-aka Santana-back) and Santana is on a same day flight to make sure Brittany is okay as soon as she hears she's acting up. They're working on moving on but they still have that pull towards each other. Brittany still needs Santana's logic to calm her and Santana still needs to do everything to protect Brittany. But 4x22 see's them have yet another emotional goodbye. A goodbye that theoretically shouldn't be so emotional because Brittany is actually moving somewhere that's closer to Santana. But the reason it's so emotional is that both girls probably realise it's really over. Their lives have taken them on different paths and they're truly moving on. Brittany is off to MIT and their adult lives are beginning, there's no more dreams of post-graduation life in New York or trips back to Lima under the guise of Grease or Thanksgiving or being a very special guest Diva. This is it.
And it's at this point when they finally both move on. Brittany is busy with MIT and Santana finally opens herself up to dating again. They probably check in with one another because before any of this, they were best friends, but their lives are headed in separate directions. That doesn't stop Brittany thinking about Santana at MIT and Santana mulling over what her life has become with an air of misery. I firmly believe they never stopped loving one another but they did stop needing one another. They stopped trying to control their situation and just let it be, hoping that maybe they'd find their way back again.
But then what happens when they're back in Lima in 5x12 and they're seeing each other for the first time in ages. The first time as adults who have been navigating truly separate lives and worlds? The magnetic connection is back and they're drawn to one another subconsciously once more. Santana say's she's over Brittany but her actions say otherwise, she follows her around like a moth to a flame, and all her energy is into figuring out what's wrong with Brittany. Brittany seems a little more withdrawn, probably because she's scared to go there with Santana, because Santana has a girlfriend now and one dance with her might bring all those feelings back up again. And she's right to think so because that's exactly what happens. And before we know it they're in the choir room and Brittany kisses Santana, and I don't actually think the kiss was intentional (I think her speech was but not the kiss), more like she couldn't help herself. BUT the whole speech she says after shows the growth she's had, and how she no longer needs Santana, she simply wants her. She wants to be with her more than anything because she's seen the world now and realised she belongs with Santana. She's realised that's what she wants but she knows she doesn't need her because if Santana says no, she's not going to go into a depressive state again and have a panic attack, because she's learned how to function without her now. She's not going to beg Santana for another chance like she did in 4x06, she's simply going to leave the ball in her court with a simple "if you want me, i'm here" and leave it at that.
Santana has shown growth too because it's so obvious how much she wants Brittany and how much she wants to carry on that kiss, but she can't. Because the new Santana doesn't cheat to get what she needs, she recognises that she can have Brittany if she wants, but not like this. My theory is that Santana breaks up with Dani after the kiss because she realises she isn't happy with her, but she doesn't go diving straight back into a relationship with Brittany. She takes time to carefully think about it and think about her life plans. She has more doubts than Brittany does because she's scared to be hurt and she's doubtful by nature. That's why Brittany puts out gestures like the lilies. Not because she's trying to control the situation, but because she's showing her how much she wants her. The tentative approach they get into getting back together shows just how much their attachment style has changed to a much healthier one. They're no longer co-dependant. They get back together because they realise they want to be with one another, and nothing more. They want to be with one another because Brittany is sure they belong together and Santana feels like Brittany has straightened her out after months tangled up in knots. They understand each other and they love each other, and they know now how to function without one another, but they realise they function better together.
And from there we see how they lead their both lives in tandem and apart. They have a healthy balance. They no longer need to be attached at the hip (see S5B) but at the same time the love between them is stronger than ever. In S6 you can see just how much they trust one another and how content they are with their life together. Their previous heartbreaks taught them not to cling too tight, but to let go, because what's yours will always be yours. They’re the living proof of that. And what I love most of all is that at the end of their story, the ever-doubtful Santana puts that into words.
"You love me, and I love you, and no silly superstitions are gonna change that."
She finally echoes that fatalistic approach that Brittany shows way back in 4x13, to be the one to assure her nervous bride. By now they've both learned that they don't need to depend on one another, they simply just love each other, and that's the root and end of it all.
They understand each other and they love each other, and they know now how to function without one another, but they realise they function better together.
This sentence >>> That was a beautiful analysis!
Would you consider season 6 Brittana to be a healthy couple, bc I’ve seen people say there’s no way they can be since Britt still doesn’t “understand boundaries” after trying to get Santana’s abuela.
Thank you <3
Yes I would. I would die on this hill that they're healthy in S6. People who don't think so can argue with the wall. They're no longer co-dependant on anyone, they have great conflict resolution and we see Santana put boundaries in place more than she ever did before. The old Santana was opposed to confrontation with her girlfriend but the new one will approach her in a corridor and confront her. The new Santana will say "enough is enough" when she see's her wife-to-be acting irrational with just an hour to go before they tie the knot. She's not afraid to call Britt out, just like Brittany isn't afraid to cut straight to the chase with Santana's vulnerability (her not inviting her Abuela being a big example) because she's no longer scared that Santana is gonna get defensive and shut her out.
A lot of people say that they're too "in it" with each other in S6 and they abandon their friendships, but they're forgetting the fact that what we see of them in S6 isn't an accurate representation of how they live their day to day life together. They're in a bubble planning their wedding and it's set over the span of a couple of weeks where they're temporarily living in Lima before forging a life together. They've travelled the world together and in my head canon lived in New York together for a bit too, and S6 is just an exciting bubble of like a month which shows them planning the next stage of their lives together. Their real life together starts after the wedding when they move to New York. I don't take the argument that they're too attached at the hip during that time because like ofc they're going to be? They're planning their wedding and they don't have the qualms of daily life to contend with, work, school etc. I fully believe in New York they'd have their own separate lives with separate friends, hobbies, interests etc. as well as a life together as well. We can't judge them based on S6, and it's unfortunate we don't get to see them living together, but the way they were in S5B should be enough to tell us they can function without one another.
As for the Abuela thing I have SO many feelings on this and a fully fledged analysis on it, so I'm gonna paste that right here under the cut:
Many have the view that Brittany put Santana in a situation to be rejected again by forcing her to see her abuela again. Others say she was wrong for going behind Santana's back and inviting her abuela without permission. But this is where my problem lies. Brittany never forces Santana to see Alma again, nor does she invite her to the wedding behind Santana's back. If she had done any of those things, believe me, I would take a different stance. But in my eyes, all Brittany is guilty of is meeting up with Alma behind Santana's back, which is exactly what Santana says herself.
"Why do you think that it's okay to go behind my back and be friends with someone, who would rather see me dead than in love with another woman."- 6x06
Of course Brittany shouldn't have done that and Santana had every intention to be mad here and to question her motives, but she quickly forgives her when Brittany explains what her motives were, and that's because she had a good reason for doing what she did. To go over those reasons, this all starts when Brittany and Santana are working on their wedding guest list, though it looks like Brittany has had a head start. She's included Alma on the list, knowing full well that Santana is going to see this list, so nothing about this is going behind Santana's back. In fact I'd say Brittany has probably even braced herself for Santana's reaction, which is probably why she went around it in the manner of including her on the list rather than just outright asking her whether she's inviting her and facing the probability of Santana becoming defensive and closing up. If this is her tactic it works, because Santana talks openly about her childhood memories with her abuela where they played wedding, and expresses how much she wants her to be at their wedding. Santana implies that she hasn't spoken to Alma in the 3 years since she has been rejected, but she does stalk her on Facebook, so we can read into that as her still caring very much for her grandmother but being too afraid to reach out. And of course we can't blame Santana for that. Alma disowned her, and it broke Santana's heart, so she's not going to risk rejection again by inviting her to the wedding. But let's talk about what Brittany hears:
"My whole life, I've dreamt of my wedding with her sitting in the front row balling. And believe me if I could get in her head and bring her into this century, I would, and I would forgive her and have her here."- 6x06
What Brittany takes from that is that Santana wants her abuela at her wedding; and she wants her to accept that their love is valid. She is more than willing to forgive her, but she hasn't heard anything from her since she disowned her, and she is not going to be the one to reach out. And this won't be the first she's heard of her fiancé expressing these wishes. Twice on screen with Brittany we've heard Santana say:
"I'm looking forward to the day when my grandmother loves me again."- 3x14
"I wish abuela felt the same." (after Maribel says that all she cares about is Santana being happy)- 3x22
I'm sure there are countless other times off screen too. So knowing how much it means to Santana to not only mend her relationship with Alma, but more importantly to have her there on her wedding day, Brittany takes matters into her own hands to try and clarify the situation further. She doesn't go with the intention of inviting Alma behind Santana's back, or to reveal anything at all about their relationship, in fact it's quite the opposite. I'm a bit of a dork when it comes to Brittana tbh, so I notice all the small details, one of them being that Brittany removed all the photos of her and Santana in her room. She didn't want to risk anything that would put Santana in a situation where Alma found out about their relationship and the wedding, she merely went there with the aim of finding out how much Alma valued family and marriage, with the hope she would place it higher than any prejudice she held onto. My thinking is that Santana's story about her and Alma playing wedding so often when Santana was a child, gave Brittany the hope that Alma valued family and marriage so highly, she would sacrifice her values for such a special day. I don't think she's naive enough to think that Alma would just change her views on homosexuality over night, more that the wedding could be the catalyst for rebuilding their relationship, a step in the right direction that would make Santana happy at the same time (since she'd have her dream of having her abuela there on her special day).
Brittany finds out that Alma does in fact value family high, saying it's very important that they share in the joy of a wedding day, so it's likely that Brittany is hopeful this can extend to Alma embracing the fact that Santana is her blood and sharing in the joy of her wedding day regardless of her views on same-sex marriage. If love is the most important thing, none of that should matter. I assume Brittany's plan is to go back to Santana with that information, or she perhaps asked Santana to watch Fondue For Two so she could see it for herself, but the point being that she was never planning to go further behind Santana's back and just invite Alma. Her plan was always to find out Alma's views since Santana rightly wasn't going to, and then to let Santana take it from there.
We then have the hallway confrontation which I mentioned earlier, with Santana being rightly mad about Brittany going behind her back, but then calming down when she finds out Brittany's intentions. Brittany suggests that if Alma gets to know them and see's that they are just a normal couple like everybody else, her views may gradually change. She's more than aware that this will be a gradual change, you can see this in her wording:
"...then she'll see us for who we really are, okay? And then maybe she'll understand that aside from the awesome lesbian sex part, we're just like everybody else"
This is why I struggle with the view that Brittany mindlessly threw caution to the wind and just expected Alma to accept Santana overnight. She knew what she was doing and she carefully thought through everything, but ultimately the choice was Santana's. All that Brittany did as a partner was establish Alma's values and then made a suggestion to Santana. She never forced her to see Alma again or persuaded her to invite her. The way it's referred to in the fandom is as if Santana was performing at the school and Brittany just brought Alma out of the blue. That would have been awful and detrimental, because it would have blindsided Santana, and if she had been rejected again it would be completely Brittany's fault.
But in this case it's Santana who makes that decision to see Alma again, and sure if it wasn't for Brittany she probably wouldn't have made that move, but she probably would have spent her wedding day with a heavy feeling of "what if?" instead. It was a big day in their lives that both Alma and Santana had looked forward to for years, a now or never moment, a day that both girls were hopeful Alma felt strongly enough about to leave her prejudice behind even if just for a day. It breaks my heart that Santana was rejected again, but I just don't think it's fair to hold Brittany responsible, when they made that decision together. They truly thought that Alma would view love and family as the overriding thing in the situation and took a chance in that. When Alma eventually does come around on their wedding day, her words echo exactly the hopes that Brittany and Santana had in the first place:
"I still don't believe it's right for two women to get married, but I do believe that family is the most important thing in the world, and I love you Santana. I don't want to be the person in your life that causes you pain. And I don't want to miss a day that I've been dreaming of my whole life" - 6x08
It's going to take Alma some time to accept the dynamics of their relationship, but she is putting that aside to be there for her granddaughter's wedding day. That's all Brittany ever wanted, and that's all Santana ever wanted but was too afraid to initiate. Brittany orchestrated the first steps but left the rest down to Santana. Together they took that gamble, and yes it was a gamble, but it was one that paid off in the end because if it hadn't been for that initial invitation, Santana wouldn't have had her abuela there on her wedding day as she had always dreamt of.
I love Brittany, but I can admit she's done some questionable things in the past, but this just isn't one of them. That's my take, and I'm open to discussion around it :)
I'm a big believer in the 5 Love Languages. I discovered it all a few years ago and I truly think knowing your partners love language can help your relationship, because you know how to communicate your love to them, and also read their way of showing love.
It got me thinking about Brittany and Santana’s love languages, and in true yin/yang style, how different I believe their specific love languages are.
If you don't know about the 5 love languages maybe give it a google first. I personally find it really interesting. But anyway here's my take (a short novel be warned):
Santana
I think Santana's love language is predominantly Words of Affirmation and Quality Time. You can tell she values words a lot in the way she communicates with Brittany. The way she shows she loves Brittany is by encouraging her, assuring her and listening to her. She's always complimenting her with words:
"You really are a genius Brittany"
"You're the most amazing dancer i've ever met"
"You are the unicorn"
"You're my lady knight in shining armour"
"You're my best friend"
"You're my favourite person in the whole world"
"You make me so happy"
Also note that most of the time Santana is the one to initiate saying 'I love you'. This doesn't mean Brittany doesn't love her as much, we'll get to that in a minute, she just has a different way of showing it. But Santana definitely values words! You can also see as well as giving love that way, she likes receiving words back to make her feel loved. Examples of this:
"Please say you love me back" 2x15
"I said I love you. You didn’t say you loved me back." 2x17
"Are we dating?" 3x04
She needs concrete proof and words to solidify it, whereas Brittany is the opposite. She already knows, without the words being said. Note that she says "Of course I love you" like it should be obvious to Santana. It's not obvious to Santana, because she hasn't heard the words. But because Brittany's love language is different, she doesn't feel the need to 'say it' she's more 'show it'. Another good example is her reaction to Santana asking if they're dating. While Santana again seeks verbal proof, Brittany has assumed their actions meant they were dating all along, no questions asked.
Further proof to me that words are so important to Santana is that in 4x22, when saying goodbye to Brittany, she tells her not to say anything. In my head this is because Santana is so affected by words, that hearing Brittany say anything in such an emotional moment, would have made it too hard.
Words are so important to Santana, and what's also interesting is the way she is so anti words at the beginning. Whenever Brittany wants to talk, Santana shuts her down. This is shown in 2x04 'there's a lot of talking going on', and also referenced in 2x15 by Brittany various times, in that Santana never wants to talk. This again highlights how important words are to Santana. She didn't want to accept her love for Brittany at this point, so she couldn't communicate words because it's her love language. But the minute she did, boy did those words of affirmation spill out.
She also says in 4x04 that she liked to say things with music, when words just weren't enough, something that we saw her doing a lot (she sang a lot of love songs to Brittany). This is also highlights how important words were for her. She values them as the top aspects, and the only thing she can do better, when even that's not enough, is to sing.
Now onto the Quality Time, I think again this another one of Santana's love languages and something that's really important to her. The main example I have of this is when she breaks up with Brittany, due to struggling with the distance. In the cut scene, she talks about how hard it is to not be physically around Brittany, and that due to this she stopped calling and texting because it wasn't enough for her. It just made her miss Brittany more.
'Both couples are rarely getting what they need' is something she says, showing how important it is for her to have that time with Brittany. She doesn't say she wants it, she says she needs it.
It's very important for Santana to be physically in Brittany's presence. Before they break up, she deliberately does laundry at home so she has an excuse to come back and see her. After they break up, she comes back on a number of occasions to see Brittany again. She admits in 4x06 that she only agreed to play Rizzo in Grease to come back and see Brittany.
While it's obvious that the distance would have affected Brittany too (who wouldn't be upset going from seeing their girlfriend every day to hardly ever), and we get to see the impact this has on her as well, I think it affects Santana more so, because it's her love language. Hence why she's the one to call time on their relationship, while Brittany could probably power through.
When Brittana do get back together, Santana mentions Brittany moving to New York quite quickly, because it's important to her not to have distance between them. She raises this again in 6x03, showing it's obviously something that plays on her mind. It's evident they'd both want to live together, but it's always Santana who brings it up.
My final example of this, is 6x08, and the way that Santana can't stay away from Brittany even for a few hours.
'I'm really sorry that I can't go an hour without seeing you, because i'll just miss you too much"
It's all about the quality time and sweet words for one Santana Lopez. Now onto Brittany.
Brittany
In standard Brittana style, I think Brittany's love languages are the complete opposite to Santana's. I would say her main love languages are Acts Of Service and Gifts. I'll start off with Acts Of Service.
Brittany is helpful by nature, but she displays that sign most of all, with Santana. She shows she loves her by helping her and doing things for her. She'd do anything to lighten the load for her and make things less stressful. Here are just a few examples:
Getting Santana the scholarship to Louisville and trying to help her figure out what she wanted to do in 3x16
Going to Santana's Abuela to find out her opinions on love/marriage/family in line with wanting her to come to the wedding for Santana 6x06
Doing most of the wedding planning. We see it's Brittany who approaches Artie to plan the wedding and she does the invites in 6 x 06, and she's seen at the venue decorating it in 6 x 08
She offers to come out on Fondue For Two in 2x19, even though she doesn't really need to, it's purely to help Santana
She allows herself to be nominated for Prom King, in order for Santana to be able to be Prom Queen, because she knows it's important to Santana in 3x19
She leaves New Directions and joins The Troubletones to make Santana happy in 3x04
She also helps Santana come to terms with her sexuality, and while at the start pushing Santana to talk may have been for her own reasons as well, it's shown that she still encourages Santana to accept herself despite staying with Artie. She wants Santana to do it for herself, and not just to be with her. She gets her the Lebanese shirt, and she constantly brings it up, and calls her out for trying to hide back in the closet and use men to cover it up. Because she wants to help her accept herself.
"I do love you, clearly you don't love you as much as I do, or else you'd put this shirt on and you'd dance with me" is very telling of this love language, as it shows how important it is for Brittany to help Santana, in order to show she loves her. When she feels she's not helping, it upsets her.
Even down to the finer details of the wedding, where Brittany is trying to make everything perfect. She tries to stick to traditions of not seeing Santana, wearing Tina's underwear etc just to make sure their day is great and nothing goes wrong. While she does ban Santana from seeing her in her wedding dress, she doesn't ask her do the other traditions (the underwear etc). If it was about tradition, surely she would request Santana does it too. It is just an example of Brittany doing everything in her power to make everything perfect, whilst making sure Santana has to do very little.
I think this is definitely a very important love language for Brit, and now onto her other one. Gifts.
We see Brittany show her affection for Santana many times with gifts and grand gestures:
She makes her a playlist for valentines day in 3x13
She buys her lilies and tickets to Lesbos in 5x13
She makes her the giant heart out of mounds bars as an engagement present in 6x02
She gives her the Lebanese shirt in 2x18
She also puts a lot of thought into these gestures. With the playlist she creates the cover herself and makes it personal to them, she's researched that lilies are the lesbian of flowers, and mounds bars are the lesbians of candy, she chooses Lesbos thinking it's a lesbian island (note Brittany is bisexual so she's doing this solely thinking of Santana), she calculates the minutes they've spent together for the engagement present. She gets her the shirt, to help her come to terms with her identity, and show her that it's okay. They are all so well thought out and this is because gestures mean a lot to Brittany, and they are for her, an important way of showing Santana how much she loves her.
You can also see it means a lot to Brittany when Santana performs gestures like this for her. Santana purely does it for Brittany, since it isn't her own love language, and you can tell it means a lot to Brit.
When Santana gets the song for Valentines Day for Brit in 3x13, you can see how touched she is by it.
In 6 x 08, when they release the doves, Brittany turns to Santana and says 'You did that!?' with her hand on her heart.
Whenever Santana sings to her, she cries. Note how emotional she gets in Saturday Night Gleever. She is a sucker for a big gesture
Brittana
So we have Santana all about the words and quality time together, and Brittany all about helping and doing things for Santana, and grand gestures. One area I think they both cross paths is the final love language, Physical Touch.
Both girls are very hands on, and it's clear they show and receive love by touching, hugging, kissing, holding hands etc. This is a love language they share, although i'd argue it's slightly more important to Santana. I think Santana initiates touch more, and when she is upset, she leans on Brittany for support and needs to physically touch her.
But both definitely exhibit this one!
There's obviously some cross overs. Everyone has features of all 5. Santana displays Acts Of Service when she helps Brittany with Kurt's campaign, with her own presidential campaign and when she helps her learn her lines for Rocky Horror. Brittany shows Words of Affirmation when she tells Santana she loves her more than anything in this world etc. It's a great representation of a healthy relationship as they are both changing their love language to suit the other, whilst not fully neglecting their own.
I think it's interesting how as with everything, they both have complete different love languages. You don't have to speak the same love language to have a happy and healthy relationship, you just need to be able to communicate and understand the differences, and know what makes your partner happy.
As Santana says in 6x08 'you love me, and i love you' so it's clear they both have no doubt in their love for one another, despite showing and receiving it in different ways :)
& there is my super long analysis. Congrats if you got to the end hahaha!
Brittana Analysis Part 1: Musical Choices (Main Songs)
So anyone who knows me will know I love Brittana a crazy amount, and I spend way too much time breaking down every tiny detail about them. I’ve written a fair few analyses about them on Reddit which people seem to enjoy, and the lovely @hopefulobjectmiracle suggested I posted them on here for people to read. I’ll no doubt add more as time goes on, but going to post up what I have for now. If anyone has any requests for analysis, my ask box is always open because I love doing these :) Happy reading! & congrats for making it through my essays.
Part 1 covers a music analysis of all their main songs and the meaning behind them. Part 2 will cover their smaller parts in group songs etc.
Me Against The Music
This one is less a lyrical analysis, because I don't think the song explicitly relates so much, more a contextual one. The Me Against The Music scene is a shared fantasy that Brittany and Santana have while under anaesthesia. What's telling is that the fantasy they have is an exact replica of the original music video between Madonna and Britney Spears, which is well known for it's heavy undertones of a same-sex relationship. The plot shows Britney chasing Madonna, with Madonna becoming increasingly more susceptible as the video goes on, until right at the end when Britney catches her and goes to kiss Madonna, who then disappears. It's a cat and mouse chase, a fight for power. With Brittany playing Britney, and Santana Madonna, this fantasy represents to me the way that Brittany is chasing Santana trying to break down her walls, and she gets close but just as she does so, Santana pulls back. In the original video Madonna disappears into thin air when Britney tries to kiss her, in the Glee version Santana is switched out for Britney, but the symbolism is the same and foreshadows the Brittana arc that we get in S2. Brittany always gets close to having Santana, but then Santana pulls away and at times she loses her. So for me, the significance in this is 1) the fact they both have a same-sex fantasy about each other and 2) how Brittany's subconscious is filled with the idea of feeling like she is chasing Santana but that every time she gets close, Santana is ripped away.
Landslide
This was a song chosen by Santana to tell Brittany how she feels about her. It may not be the most "obvious love song" choice to everyone but that works for two reasons. The first being that Santana was scared. This was a big move for her, so she certainly wasn't going to go all out and sing an obvious love song. She wanted something with subtlety, something with meaning for her and Brittany rather than for the whole Glee Club to pick up on. The second being that Santana "has the perfect song" instantaneously. From the way she doesn't need to think about it, it's clear that Landslide is already a song she associates with Brittany, and it's probably something she laid alone in her room listening to. Now she's ready to share that. It was a song that had meaning for them, but I do think lyrically it makes sense also. For me it's about Santana realising life is passing her by and that she needs to just be herself. Time makes you bolder is one of the most poignant statements in the song. The whole bit about "building my life around you" could be a double meaning. The first being she's built her life around this friendship she has with Brittany and she's afraid to tap into the relationship dynamic because doing so would inevitably alter the platonic side of things. The second being that she's built her life around this idea that she's straight and she's "normal" but she's now realising as time goes by she needs to be true to herself. I tend to think it's the latter, and that the meaning is around Santana realising she needs to let go now and just be true to herself and to Brittany before she wastes any more time. It's ironic that the next scene shows Brittany choosing Artie, which shows that Santana was already too late and the time had already passed her by. (thankfully that all worked out tho)
Songbird
In contrast to Landslide, Songbird is a very obvious love song. The song explicitly says "I love you" and you can tell by Santana's delivery how much she genuinely means that. Since this is a private performance for only Brittany, Santana is able to choose a song that overtly expresses her feelings. She doesn't have to mask it with subtlety because of the Glee Club, like she did with Landslide. While Landslide was about Santana to giving into her feelings and accepting a change within her, Songbird was the next step from that in freely expressing her love to Brittany. Santana says this in her own words before singing it. Some key lyrics beside the obvious "I love you's" that stick out are "for you, there'll be no more crying" which could relate to all the backwards and forwards Santana has done over the years (telling Britt she loves her, taking it back etc.) and times she possibly made Brittany cry, as well as the fact she has probably spent many years crying over this herself and wishing these feelings could go away, but now she's putting a stop to all of that. Following on from that "I feel that when I'm with you, it's alright, I know it's right" relates to Santana giving into all of those feelings that she's spent years pushing down about the love she has for Brittany being wrong, and really taking hold of her own self acceptance. "To you, I'll give the world. To you, I'll never be cold" is also very fitting for Brittana because it's well noted in the fandom how soft Santana is for Brittany, and how she's the one person she's not cold around. Lastly "I wish you all the love in the world, but most of all I wish it from myself" could relate to Artie in that she wants Brittany to be happy but mostly, she wants to be the one that gets to love her. I think we can all agree the lyrics, the meaning, the performance itself, the delivery from Naya were all *chefs kiss* in this song.
Cherish/Cherish
The song that Santana pays the God Squad to sing for Brittany. We don't actually see Santana choosing the song, but I think it's more likely that Santana picked it since she was paying for it, rather than the God Squad randomly picking one. If it was that kind of scenario where they picked for her, I feel Quinn would have picked the song, on the basis that it was meaningful for Brittany and Santana's relationship. I also imagine this is a song that Santana listened to back in the dark days when she was too afraid to be with Brittany in the way she desired. The lyrics talk a lot about wishing in the past tense. "you don't know how many times I've wished that I had told you, you don't know how many times I've wished that I could hold you" etc. These are likely all the kind of thoughts that Santana had back in the past, and there are also a lot of references to hidden love and hidden feelings within the song.
If I Can't Have You
Okay so Santana might say that this song was about her love for fame, but I'm sorry, I don't believe her. I'm not discounting her wanting fame, but there's no way at least some of that song wasn't aimed at Brittany, just by the way she kept turning to her and gesturing at her. She was pretty much transfixed on her throughout the majority of the performance. But Brittana (Santana in particular) are generally very private with their relationship and in their declarations, so my theory? It was predominantly for Brittany but Santana got embarrassed around all the focus on them, so she gave the excuse about fame and told Brittany later who it was really for. No deeper analysis needed. If that song was Brittany, the lyrics apply to them easily, as they could with most relationships.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody
This one is simple. It's all in the lyrics. Mr Schue sets the assignment not only as a tribute to Whitney, but for the New Directions to express and explore what's going on with them. For Brittany, she just wants to dance with somebody who loves her, that person obviously being Santana. It's highlighted in the performance and how she pulls everyone up before Santana, and finally gets to Santana for the "with somebody who loves me" line, then at the end where she says Santana is her favourite to dance with. It could be that dancing and being happy with Santana is really her only concern at the moment, or it could be deeper than that. It could be that she is deflecting her deeper issues (the fact she is failing which she'd surely know by now) and as a result only wants to focus on dancing with Santana. The two loves in her life (the third being LT) meshed together and combined.
Mine
I did a whole deep analysis on the meaning behind this, because unlike the other songs this really doesn't fit contextually at all. It's a love song based around staying and holding on, and Santana chooses to sing this right before breaking up with Brittany. I never really understood that song choice, until I looked deeper into it. You can read that here if anyone wants to read it in more detail. If you don't want to read that though, in short, I think that Santana chose that song because when she made that choice to break up with Brittany, I think she can almost picture the future ahead of them and how eventually they are going to make it, they are going to be together, but right now she needs to break up with Brittany so that they actually get that happy ending that she can see. And that fits the whole last verse of the song where she's like "we're gonna make it now, I can see it now" etc, which otherwise doesn't make sense contextually when you're about to break up with someone. It's similar to what happens in the original video for Mine, where Taylor meets the love of her life in a cafe and she "sees" the whole future ahead of them (arguments included) as soon as they meet.
Make No Mistake (She's Mine)
Pretty self explanatory with this one because it's all in the lyrics (and the amazing delivery from Naya). She still loves Brittany and in her eyes Brittany belongs with her. It kind of links back to what I just said about Mine, in that I don't think Santana truly expected Brittany to move on. She told her she could because essentially she had to say that, but did she actually think Brittany would move on? I don't think so. I think she always thought breaking up with Brittany was needed to cement their future and that they'd end up better because of it, but then Sam put a spanner in the works which sent her straight back to Lima to fight for Brittany and stake her claim. Of course saying someone can move on and seeing it are two very different things. I really wish they would have kept the parallel version of that with Brittany/Santana/Elaine and that they kept Dancing On My Own in.
Valerie
This one is definitely more contextual than lyrical. Santana picked this number because it was meaningful to Brittany. It was the first number she choreographed, and so Santana learning Brittany's part of that routine and dancing it with Mike, was a way for her to spark something in Brittany that she was currently lacking and reignite her love for dance to remind her of herself. Clearly she chose to do a dance duet because it's Brittany, but it's poignant that she picked the first song that Brittany choreographed, and it was obviously meaningful to Santana too as her first solo. Although more contextual, the lyrics do carry meaning too. "Stop making a fool out of me, why don't you come on over Valerie" could refer to Santana wanting Brittany to get up and dance with her, while "I miss your ginger hair, and the way you like to dress" could relate to A) Santana missing Brittany in general and B) Santana missing the old care-free Brittany who loved to dance and wasn't consumed by MIT and math equations.
Hand In My Pocket/I Feel The Earth Move
Obviously this song was chosen for mash up purposes in line with artists they had to stick to, but I do think the song choice (chosen by Santana) were relevant to her proposal. The lyric "one hand in my pocket" is indicative of her hiding a ring. I really liked how Santana kept getting down on one knee mid performance (I feel like she was doing this teasingly to foreshadow what was to come rather than she was gonna propose mid song since clearly she had a big speech planned- but I love how every time she did it Brittany would get down as well ) and then all the further foreshadowing with the dragging of the chair that she wanted Brittany to sit in. It's not the most "romantic" of duets, but Brittany and Santana are very private so I feel like it made more sense for them to do a fun duet when it was in front of everyone. I do adore the bit where they're singing the "ooh baby when I see your face" etc. and they only have eyes for each other and look so utterly and adorably in love and happy. That bit really has my heart.
Wishin' and Hoping'
A song about Santana from Brittany's perspective which makes a welcome change. The performance itself is obviously a dream sequence when Brittany is thinking about heaven (because being with Santana makes her feel like she's in heaven and angel wings remind her of her ), but I think the lyrics fit well with the whole narrative we see in S6 of Brittany doing a heavy bulk of the wedding planning and trying to make sure everything is perfect for Santana. This is something we later see as causing her stress in the wedding episode, when she is so nervous and obsessed with it being perfect that she becomes a bit of a bridezilla obsessed with superstition. There were also cut lines from Brittany about everything having to be perfect, and though they weren't canon in the end, it's clearly the angle they were going with. This song links to that because it's all about how ultimately just being yourself and showing the person you love that you care is enough, and it almost foreshadows the conversation that Santana later has with Brittany where she says they don't need any of the traditions or the perfect planning because they create their own luck. They love each other, and that's enough. The performance has Brittany singing about wishing and hoping and planning, but it's Blaine, Artie and Sam who sing "all you gotta do is hold her and kiss her and love her and show her that you care", so it's almost as if they are assuring Brittany. Also pointing out the part of the performance where they sing about planning, and Brittany points at her stomach, one of many S6 clues put in there to hint that Brittana will have a family together in the future ❤️
Our Day Will Come
It's another straight forward one that doesn't really take much analysis. It symbolises how the day has finally come for them to get married and start the rest of their lives together, after such a long, hard journey getting there. One of the key lyrics is "no one can tell me that I'm too young to know", which indicates that someone has tried to tell them they're too young to get married. We know that Kurt said this to them, but since Kurt is singing in this duet with them and he apologised, it may be someone else. Santana's dad maybe? Either way, whoever said it to them, they show in this duet that they are certain about their commitment and the future ahead of them. The song also has the lyrics "I love you so, and you love me" which is repetitive of what Santana said to Brittany earlier in the day before they got married when she saw Brittany in her wedding dress. It symbolises what the ending of their whole arc is about. That after a whole lot of doubt, pain and a long road to get there, they are both finally happy together and content in the love they have in each other, and very proud of that love. Santana in particular I feel always doubted Brittany's love for her. Even when Brittany said yes to marrying her, Santana couldn't believe it. On their wedding day, all those doubts are finally gone, and it's actually Brittany who's doing the worrying. The worrying that Brittany does takes us right back to the beginning of Brittana, when Brittany had her own doubts and fears in the relationship because Santana just seemed like something out of reach for her, that she'd never fully get to have. It's like she has a moment of panic, that something could mess this up the way it used to get messed up all those years ago. Our Day Will Come symbolises the end of all of those doubts, and the start of their new lives together.
This is something I mention a lot about Brittana, but they are the perfect example of Yin and Yang, and opposites attract. Each one made up for what the other one lacked.
We had the tall, white, blonde and the petite, dark haired Latina.
Brittany was always the calm to Santana's panic.
Santana was always the confidence to Brittany's doubt.
Brittany the sweet to Santana's fierce.
Santana the wise to Brittany's naivety.
In my opinion they brought out the best traits in each other. Santana was never kinder and softer than when she was with Brittany. Brittany was never bolder and wiser than when she was with Santana.
It's the most well written dynamic between two people, but that's one of the thing gets me the most about this pairing. Their characters were never written to have this 'yin and yang element', because it wasn't planned to have them be a couple. The characters weren't even well developed as individuals, being that they were background characters. I think Naya and Heather completely made the characters their own. It's mentioned in the Showmance podcast that Heather had her own version of Brittany, that Ryan loved so much he added it to the show. It's also well known that Naya adapted Santana's character, by making sure she rolled her eyes or cracked her neck in a way that would get the cameras on her. It worked, and Santana developed into the snarky character that we all know and love, with Naya then adding the humanistic depth to her. Then from Heya's behaviour, Brittana developed.
I just how adore how organic this pairing was, and how even though they didn't write them as a couple, as a couple they just fit so perfectly and had all of these traits that complimented each other. It makes it extra special.
And then what do we get in 6x03? A nod to that Yin/Yang dymanic. Check Brittany’s shirt.
Brittana Analysis Part 5: Season 6 (Coming Full Circle, Parallels and Callbacks)
It’s a long one, but it occurred to me the other day when watching the performance of Home in S6 just how much all the main Brittana S6 scenes parallel and call back to their earlier scenes/obstacles. We all know S6 was fan service and it was a way to tie up their story and had various nods to the past, but I didn't realise how many direct parallel's their were until the other day. Maybe I was sleeping on something most of ya'll already knew but...sharing anyway.
So breaking it down to their 4 episodes and some key obstacles/moments in their story and how they full circled it in S6:
Homecoming- Friends with benefits and Santana's denial and hypersexuality with men
Jagged Little Tapestry- Duets make out scene and Landslide
What The World Needs Now- Santana coming out
A Wedding- The break up and Santana's insecurities about Brittany's love, Artie, Sam etc.
Warning this is super long, and uses the word full circle like a billion times, but it's the whole point of this post 😂
Homecoming 6x02
So I'm starting off with the performance that sparked the theory. I'd say the Home performance is their most significant scene in the episode, the others are all either with other characters or background moments, but in Home they get a moment just to themselves. So here's how I see that performance.
Santana is referenced to be some form of former Homecoming Royalty in that performance, whether that be she was Homecoming Queen off-screen in her Senior Year or Homecoming Princess in another year, maybe the beginning of Sophomore Year just before she breaks up with Puck (as shown in S1). That would make sense because Puck appears to be her running mate, and Sophomore Year is the only year it would make sense for them to be voted in together. Perhaps that's what made Santana go for Puck in the first place, in the same way she used Karovsky to try and win Prom Queen. Perhaps she saw Puck's chances of being nominated and pursued him, then when she got what she wanted and won, broke up with him (using his poor credit score as an excuse). Anyway, that's going off on one, but point being that the scenes show us a flashback to what used to be; Santana and Puck.
Knowing what we know now, we know that Santana was never happy with Puck. She was a closeted lesbian using him for status and to deny her feelings, while she fell in love and slept with her best friend. Meanwhile, Brittany had to watch Santana do all this. She had to watch the person she loved ignore what they had and refuse to talk about what they were doing, and fake it all with Puck instead. She even has to hear Santana say she's just using her while Puck's in juvie- ouch! To sum up, I think it's fair to say that the Puck and Santana dynamic caused both of them a lot of pain and it was probably the first obstacle they had to overcome.
Homecoming is the first episode Brittana appear in on S6, therefore it's the first full circle moment. And that first full circle moment comes with a parallel to their first obstacle. The scene starts with Brittany leading Santana out to the pitch where she's about to partake in this Homecoming Royalty Alumni ritual. They are giddy, they are happy, they are in love. Santana is about to fulfil this commitment with her ex-boyfriend, and it's something that's probably going to transform her back to another world. A world where she was unhappy and scared for the future. It also may take Brittany back to another world, a world where Santana refused to be hers and where she had to watch her all over Puck instead. But in this world, in the here and now, the two of them are happy and you can see that in this scene. Santana may have to stand with her ex boyfriend for a few minutes and be momentarily taken back to her old life as Brittany watches from the sidelines, but Brittany is the one who walks her proudly to the pitch as they eskimo kiss in public (another testament to how far they've come), because that's where they are now. They're together and all that hiding and fear and pretending with Puck is long gone and put in the past. Santana might be standing up there with reference to the fact she was once Puck's homecoming queen/princess, but in reality she's Brittany's queen. That was hella cheesy, but you know where I'm going with it! & that's the full circle of it all. The lyrics they sing are also poignant "man oh man you're my best friend", because as we all know that's how they started out and how they've always remained throughout their relationship and even during their break up.
As Santana and Puck walk around with the sparklers, Brittany looks nervous. It might be because she's nervous for Santana in undertaking her duties, or nervous for how Santana might feel being transported back to that time with Puck. It might be that she herself feels uneasy seeing Santana up there with Puck because it reminds her of what used to be. Or it might be that she's just nervous that her girlfriend is walking around clutching a stick with fire on 😂 Whatever it is, as Puck and Santana do their duties, we then get a shot of Brittany shrugging which indicates that any feelings she used to have about Puck and Santana are now firmly behind her. She can watch her girlfriend up there with her ex because Santana is hers now, and she's no longer scared to lose her to denial, rejection or fear. The Home performance takes us right back to Brittana's rocky start where Santana used men to push her feelings away, and finishes that chapter for us showing how it's come full circle. Also pointing out that while Brittany is watching Santana, she is seated next to her own ex Sam, and next to him is her previous ex Artie which is again a nod to the past and a reference to the fact it's all water under a bridge. Both girls can stand by their exes and it will be okay both with themselves and with each other (there's no jealousy involved).
Jagged Little Tapestry 6x03
A big episode for them, once again their main scenes have direct links back to their past. Starting with the bed scene which is a parallel of the Duets scene from 2x04. The clue alone is in the way the scene starts. Both start with long shots of Brittany's room and when the camera pans up you see Brittany and Santana on the bed in both scenes. They also begin both scenes by talking about scissoring (🙄). I definitely think the mention of scissoring in 6x03 is done deliberately because it's meant to parallel the 2x04 scene. Another parallel is the fact they are discussing duets to perform in Glee Club in both episodes. The difference between both scenes is of course the dynamics of their relationship and their attitude.
In Duets, Brittany is nervous and tentative to suggest singing a duet with Santana as a gateway for her to express her feelings, in Jagged Little Tapestry she is confident and happy as she initiates a kiss with Santana and freely expresses her feelings and love for her. The Santana that we see in Duets is closed off, defensive and harsh but the Santana we see in Jagged Little Tapestry is open and expressive as she tells Brittany how much she loves her and she is super soft in this scene. Santana can't even bring herself to talk about doing a duet with Brittany in 2x04, but in 6x03 she's the one initiating a talk about their future, which shows how far they've come. Long gone are the days of rejection and Santana telling Brittany she is just using her while Puck is in juvie, this scene is all about their love for each other and their future together.
When Brittany tells Santana she will love her until infinity, Santana smiles although she's probably heard countless times how much Brittany loves her, but there's potentially another parallel within the parallel here and it could be a nod back to Santana telling Brittany she loved her for the first time - "please say you love me back". Even though Brittany did tell Santana she loved her back, it wasn't in the way Santana wanted because Brittany said she loved Artie also and stayed with him and we watched Santana's face crumble. In this scene, we get to see her smile because she's secure in the infinite love Brittany has for her. Something else this scene refers back to is the fact Santana was always seen as mean, and Brittany was always seen as stupid, but Brittany could always see the good in Santana and Santana always thought Brittany was a genius. This is replicated again in this scene with Brittany mentioning Santana's giant, generous heart and Santana calling Brittany a genius. But the main parallel is between 2x04 and 6x03, and both scenes end in a similar shot of Santana looking on. In 2x04 she is only thinking of the short term future, and who she's going to do a duet with since it definitely can't be Brittany, whilst a disheartened Brittany watches her from the bed. In contrast, 6x03 shows Santana thinking of the long term future, as she considers her life with Brittany and the fact she is about to propose to her and spend forever with her, while Brittany is cuddled up with her on the bed. With this episode, the writers replicated one of their first iconic scenes but showed us how far they had come and how things had changed for them.
Later on, in this episode, another iconic early Brittana scene is paralleled, the Landslide scene from 2x15. With Landslide, Santana and Brittany are scared, emotional and need the shield of Holly there to do the performance with them. Though initially opening herself up and allowing herself to be vulnerable, Santana immediately shuts down and gets defensive when Rachel mentions sapphic charm. She was brave enough to sing the song, but she doesn't want to be labelled. In contrast, their performance of Hand In My Pocket/I Feel The Earth Move shows them happily singing and dancing with each other and showing their love to everyone. This time, they don't need Holly in between them and they're so proud of their love that at one point of the performance they go to the back row and sit in between everyone. This is also a nod back to the past because it’s where they broke up, now they’re sat there in between all their friends right before Santana proposes.
The proposal is of course a parallel in itself, with Santana directly referring back to moments in their past about Brittany wanting her to be herself and “no matter how many times we tried to put our thing down and walk away from it we can’t”. But the biggest parallel is the comparison to the Landslide scene, where this time Santana is not scared to be labelled after singing with Brittany, she goes and puts a label on them herself by proposing to Brittany in front of everyone. She’s gone from defensive to literally wanting to scream her love from the rooftops. Like with Landslide where their moment is interrupted by Rachel, this time it’s Kurt who interrupts their moment but the two reasons for interrupting and by default the reactions from Santana are complete opposite. The two reactions Brittany has in the Landslide scene vs this scene are also very different. In Landslide she is happy that Santana has finally let her guard down, but as soon as Rachel opens her mouth you can see Brittany's face instantly drop. She knows that Rachel's comment is going to set Santana back and she is crushed when Santana walks away. But in this scene, Brittany gets to see Santana stand proud and demonstrate her love for her in front of everyone, promising to love her forever, and naturally Brittany is emotional at that and we get to see her happy tears in the realisation that nothing is going to come between them now and they've got to where they wanted to be. I’m saying it again, but this scene is literally full circle.
What The World Needs Now 6x06
This episode is less a parallel more a redo, because I see it as fan service in giving the fandom some of what they craved so much but didn't get with I Kissed A Girl (3x07). One of the main criticisms of that episode, was how Brittany didn't even speak. We were robbed of getting a conversation between Santana and her girlfriend, and seeing how Brittany could be there for her. What The World Needs Now gave us that, because it was all focused around Brittany noticing how upset Santana was that her Abuela wouldn't be at her wedding and trying to rectify that, and later being there for her and sticking up for her when Abuela said she wouldn't be attending.
There are some parallels in the episode too, such as:
The conversations with Santana's Abuela. In both 3x07 and 6x06, Santana takes the same angle of telling her Abuela how much she appreciates her and about the lessons Abuela has taught her. She then goes on to talk about her feelings and love for Brittany to try and get Abuela to accept her as a lesbian.
Abuela walks out on Santana in both episodes, leaving her devastated.
The Glee Club sing for Santana to remind her that she is loved and accepted, as they do in 3x07.
The differences are that although Santana is rightfully devastated by her grandmother's rejection, in 3x07 she tries to plead with her, but in 6x06 she stands proud and takes Brittany's hand and shows Abuela that this is who she is, and if Abuela doesn't like that she can walk right out of her life. She is visibly emotional infront of Abuela in 3x07, but in 6x06 she waits until Abuela has left the room before she finally rests on Brittany and lets that vulnerability seep in. It's likely a mixture of both having Brittany there with her this time, and being older and more comfortable with herself, but it shows how far Santana has come in her own acceptance.
A Wedding 6x08
As the final chapter in their story, this episode has many parallels and nods back to the past. Abuela is brought back and there's finally a happy ending on that when she comes to the wedding and accepts Santana for who she is, and one of my favourite parallel's is Santana walking happily and proudly down the aisle towards Brittany, a stark contrast to the Santana we see in 2x15 who walks down the school corridor towards Brittany to tell her she loves her for the first time, nervously glancing around and in fear of her secret getting out.
The scenes in this episode aren't as direct parallel as the infinity bed scene is with the duets bed scene or as Landslide and Hand In My Pocket/I Feel The Earth Move, but I feel there are a lot of references to their break up, the wedding of course being (saying it again) full circle of that. In the vows they talk about their earlier struggles and how they'd suffer it all for the tiny chance of being here getting married, so we can assume that's about both their confusing friends with benefits days and their break up.
The pre-wedding talk scene they have is one of their most prominent scenes, and in this I think there are some full circle moments, the biggest being when Santana says "you love me, and I love you, and no silly superstitions are going to change that". In the beginning of their relationship Santana struggled with a lot of doubt and insecurities, not only with her sexuality but in her relationship with Brittany too. She clung to the fact that Brittany didn't say she loved her back (2x18), even though Brittany did in fact say it, and she had to listen to other people doubt Brittany's love for her aka Finn (3x07). I feel like Santana worried a lot in the early days of her relationship that she was going to lose Brittany, and then when they broke up and Brittany ended up dating Sam and "choosing" him (which I think she only did because she wanted Santana to chase her dreams and go to New York) those insecurities were further recognised. I think that's why she made the comments she made to Dani about "straying for penis". I don't think Santana was innately biphobic or had a problem with Brittany's bisexuality at all (she verbalises her support for it on other occasions), and though her comments were wrong, I think they came from hurt and worry. Because of previous experience with Artie and her later seeing the same thing with Sam, and because of her own insecurities, I think she used to worry Brittany would leave her for somebody else or love somebody else more. I also think part of that was what held back her decision in getting back with Brittany straight away, because she was scared to be hurt. This scene in the wedding talk shows the development and the complete 360 Santana has had. By now she's confident in Brittany's love for her and she verbalises that. She's confident in their relationship, in their future. She knows they don't need to follow any traditions or superstitions because their love is strong and valid, and nothing is going to change that or take that away from them. Another reoccurring theme that's put in this scene, is the way Brittany and Santana struggle with any form of distance between them. It's the reason they broke up, and it's clearly a worry for Santana as she mentions Brittany moving to New York and them living together on two separate occasions so it's obviously something on her mind. She wants Brittany in New York with her because she finds long distance too hard, and in this scene she can't even go an hour without seeing Brittany before the wedding.
So to sum up, I'm so grateful for the S6 episodes because they really did tie everything up for us and it gave us most of the things we asked for. I really love the direct parallel's back to the earlier obstacles they faced, and I love how we got to finish their story seeing their relationship in a solid, strong place with lots of mutual love and appreciation, as well as seeing Santana comfortable and happy with who she is and secure in her relationship, and Brittany able to express her love and feel it back from Santana without any of the earlier fear, beards and confusion.
