santana + unholy trinityyyyyy
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writing about the unholy trinity in the canon universe is like grasping at straws, because writing about gleeās most ambiguous friendships is like playing a game of clue (it was quinn fabray, in the living room, with a baseball bat!). in the fandom, quinn, brittany, and santana as a trio are one of the most regarded, appraised, and loved friendships in glee history, but most of what the fandom believes is the unholy trinity as a single unit, comes from vague headcanons and assumptions drawn from barely-there evidence, because the unholy trinity actually does not have a lot of canon evidence to suggest they were as close as hummelberry or later on in the seasons, bram ā because glee tends to discard friendships when theyāre no longer useful for the plot or too tedious to write (rip quinncedes). glee however, made something very clear: the unholy trinity, at some points in time, worked together as a well oiled machine, a single unit of social terrorism who made sure everyone at mckinley high knew they were to be feared and respected. most importantly, quinntana made sure the entire student body was aware of this.
the strongest evidence that suggests the unholy trinity had a strong friendship didnāt come until season three, when santana name-drops The Unholy Trinity for the first time in canon, in 3x01 The Purple Piano Project, even Brittany states they were always ālike the three musketeersā, to which santana adds that they ājoined the cheerios together, all slept with puckerman the same yearā. in 3x08 Hold On To Sixteen, when quinn says āi love you girlsā and reminds them of their good times together, and then again during 3x21 Nationals - āthe unholy trinity, starting together, ending together. just the way it should beā. then again, in the 4th season, when quinn suggests they once were so āin syncā that it only took a quiver of santanaās lip for all of them to know where they were gonna move or if their hips were gonna āshake or shimmyā, and lastly in the 5th season where they perform their own rendition of toxic in the choir room, and santana refers to them as The Unholy Trinity yet again.
based on vague comments and fanon assumptions, we know that: 1) the unholy trinity met sometime during their freshmen year of high school and carried their friendship to their cheer leading tryouts. 2) theyāre the mckinley high cheeriosā superstars and 3) theyāre almost always seen together, quinn in the middle, and santana and brittany at her flanks.
so, what was, ultimately, santanaās role in the unholy trinity?
its hard to say. we can make the assumption that quinn and santana called the shots at one point or another, more importantly, quinn usually took high command of the UT and used santana and brittany as her trustworthy sidekicks, but its also important to remember that quinn always treated them as her equals (more santana than brittany, since thereās strong evidence that suggests that quinn and brittany werenāt that close, but quinntana had a stronger bond). in season one, canonically speaking, brittana seem to detach themselves from quinn when they find out sheās pregnant ā more so, even when quinn still hangs out with them (like the scene at the library where brittana are defacing the school yearbook), sheās promptly left out, but we see them interact in the background during musical numbers, in a rather fond display of affection. moreover, glee almost makes it seem like brittana can work just fine without quinn present (i.e: destroying finnās relationship with rachel, taking sueās orders, etc) but thatās not particularly true (though thatās a story for another day).
one thing is certain though ā despite their tumultuous and ill-defined bond, santana lopez loved both quinn and brittany. brittanaās relationship doesnāt need an explanation, as their friendship and romantic interests were thoroughly revealed and expressed in glee canon, but santana also cared about quinn, even if she was awful at showing it at times. i have it in me to believe that, even if santana seemed to isolate quinn from her social circle in the first season, she still worried, still visited, still texted and asked if she was okay. that despite their constant, ongoing season two battles for dominance (especially after quinn drop kicked her from the pyramid and revealed her āsummer surgeryā to sue), she still loved her. in the nationals episode, santana worries about quinnās well being and her state of mind before their final performance before finchelās accidental sabotage that leaves santana reeling (we even see quinn holding santana back from attacking rachel in the hotel room). most importantly, the famous āquinnās my homegirlā line in season 3, and her rather affectionate interactions in season 4, when they drop by unannounced at rachelās loft to stop her from exposing herself a-la-nude to a bunch of college film students.
but the rest weāll never know.