Hey, MCM!

Short answer? Brittana U is still a thing. The website just expired.

Long answer? When the idea for Brittana U was first developed, a very generous person agreed to create a website for it and act as webmistress. She did a wonderful job, but the site itself never caught on, as fandom members were reluctant to leave tumblr and most of the faculty members were accessible through their own personal blog pages.

Aside from acting as an archive for some of Roch’s stuff, which had been otherwise lost when Roch deleted her original blog back in the day, the Brittana U website was mostly derelict from the start.

Eventually, the webmistress disappeared. We haven’t been able to update the site without her because she had all the access codes and passwords.

Now, apparently, the domain name has expired, as well.

While it’s sad that the site is gone—because it was a very beautiful piece of work and good archive—Brittana U itself was never dependent on the site to function.

Much like Hogwarts, Brittana U will always be here to welcome shippers home. As long as there are still a few professors around, and there are, we’ll be holding classes, answering asks, and reblogging cheerleaders, as usual.

I hope you have a gorgeous day, as well!

Hey!

Thank you for your kind message! I’m glad you enjoy my blog. I too am one who loves Santana Lopez, so I’m happy to share the feels.

I jabbered a lot, so I put the response to your question under the cut.

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Hey, MCM!

1. I live with my evil, eighteen year-old house cat, Brutus.
2. I am unspeakably excited for Iron Man 3.
3. When I was a freshman in college, I broke my arm while skateboarding through the parking lot at the football stadium at my school. I did this right in time for finals week. It was the first and last time I ever skateboarded.
4. When I travel to different states, I like to visit their zoos.
5. I drive a car that is one year older than I am but only has 40,000 miles on it. For the record, I am twenty-six years old of age.
6. I have four younger brothers. They’re all named after characters in Louis L’Amour cowboy books. I’m named after my paternal grandmother.
7. My boyfriend is a high school math teacher who writes beautifully; I am a college English professor who cannot count.
8. I have very poor circulation, so I am constantly cold. My friends and family say that I am an ice monster whenever they feel my hands. When my mother calls and asks me how the weather is where I live, I have to tell her based on what other people are wearing because she can’t take my assessment at face value. (M: “So what’s the weather like today?” J: “Frigid.” M: “Really, JJ? What are people on campus wearing?” J: “Shorts and t-shirts.” M: “I see.”)
9. All semester, I have randomly been awarding my students “Ten points to [fill in the Hogwarts House here]!” whenever they answer questions correctly. I never thought much of it. Yesterday, I learned that they have been keeping track of the House points. Apparently, Slytherin is winning.
10. When I was a toddler, I had an obsession with dinosaur books. Our local library allowed children to check out thirty books at a time from the children’s section and keep the books for two weeks before returning them. Every two weeks, my mother took my to the library and let me check out thirty dinosaur books. (I think there were only like forty dinosaur books in total, so we read the same ones over and over again in rotation.) She would dutifully read me every book, even though most of the ones I picked weren’t actually storybooks. (They were just factual.) It is from reading the scientific names of dinosaurs that I learned to love words the way that I do. When my mother told me that the word pachycephalosaurus meant “thick-headed lizard” in ancient Greek, it blew my little mind. It was like a revelation to me that one word could have four words packed inside of it. After that, I became obsessed with breaking down words and learning etymologies.

Hey!

So I’m going to publish this Ask because I’ve gotten a few like it, and I feel the need to discuss this topic, even though it’s not usually one I would broach on this blog.

Note that I talk about potentially triggering subjects (including sexual assault, rape, and rape culture) under the cut. Note that I am also highly critical of Glee’s writing under the cut.

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Hey, Miss Ashley!

The first fic I ever read from our fandom was Lauren’s classic Brittana story “The Only True Paradises,” which taught me the capabilities of fanfiction as a literary genre, as well as everything I know about Brittana today. If it weren’t for this story, I wouldn’t Brittanalyze or write or read fanfiction myself. I cannot speak highly enough about it or Lauren herself.

As for the “most painful fic,” that distinction goes to two of Beth’s stories: her one-shot “In-Between Days,” which is set during the events of 3x06, and her masterpiece, “(I’ve Never Reached an Answer) I’m Only Given Clues,” which reduced me to tears more times than I can count.

I recommend both authors and all three works very highly.

Thanks for the question! 

Hey, Cam!

Since Brittany has never really expressed interest in any one job or career path in canon, I’m not sure what she’ll do once she graduates high school.

She has shown aptitudes in several fields, including journalism (when she worked on the school newspaper), hosting a television program (with Fondue for Two), fashion (as she was voted “The Trendiest Girl in America” by the Sartorialist), photography (in taking pictures for the glee guys’ calendar), politics (when she became senior class president last year), animal care (when she answered cat questions for her academic decathlon team and in dealing with Lord Tubbington), and even counseling (in helping both Santana and Marley see the potential in themselves).

Brittany is an amazing dancer, too, but, unlike the other glee kids, Brittany hasn’t really expressed interest in pursuing a performance career beyond high school.

That being said, it wouldn’t surprise me if RIB and Co. had Brittany go into dance next year, and especially if she moves to New York, as having her do so would be the easiest way to keep her “in the glee world” and to give her a reason to continue singing and dancing outside of WMHS.

Supposing that she doesn’t go into dance or performance, though, I could easily see her holding any of the following professions:

-photographer
-fashion blogger
-talk show host
-high school guidance counselor
-LGBTQ youth counselor
-veterinarian
-conservationalist
-journalist or reporter

Until Brittany states her plans on Glee, anything is really on the table for her—and especially now that she’s aced her SAT test. Brittany is very creative and has diverse interests, so as she herself would say, “anything is possible” when it comes to what she’ll do when she grows up.

It might be cool if Glee were to acknowledge that not everyone knows what they want to do with the rest of their lives at age eighteen or nineteen and have Brittany explore several different school and career options before settling into something or finding her true passion.

Heather Morris has said that she would like Brittany to work filming 3D films for the Discovery Channel and “interviewing” polar bears at the North Pole, which might be kind of awesome (see here).

Personally, I would love to see Brittany do something that will surprise all her haters—like become a Nobel Prize-winning physicist or President of the United States.

Anyway, I’m jabbering now.

TL;DR version? Canon Brittany has tons of options as to what she’ll do when she grows up. We have yet to get any clues as to what she wants to do, though.

Thanks for the question!

Hey, Taylor!

I’ve found that the key to effective betaing is strong communication. Talk to your friend a lot about her story—where she sees it going, what tone she wants for it, what uncertainties she has about it, etc. If she has an outline, ask her if you can see it. Ask her whatever questions you have about her project, then ask her what she’s looking for in a beta.

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