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♪ I've got a second chance to fly I've got a second chance to fall What can make the tide turn? What can make the fire burn? A second chance is all ♪

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: THE MUSICAL: THE SERIES | 4x05 – Admissions

#I LOVE THEM SOSOSOSOSOS MUCH

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“Is she gone?”

“Your timing is impeccable!”

“Sorry I couldn’t wait til tomorrow to see you.”

#hi #my little lovebirds

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I saw people discussing when they think Ricky knew about his romantic feelings for Gina, and honestly I feel like him (and Gina) knew from the pretty much the beginning.

In 105 Ricky is upset Nini rejected his kiss and ‘friendzoned’ him so he decides to stop pursuing her and goes to homecoming with Big Red. He makes a pact with his dad that they would put themselves out there and Red says “So put yourself out there. Like, tonight”. and the next shot is Gina and EJ asking to sit.

The show establishes that Ricky is in the mindset of looking for a romantic connection and then places Gina in front of him.

He lashes out at her, and when he goes to apologise he basically tells her that he felt a connection with her, and he kind felt disappointed because he thought she felt it too (he was jealous 😭) and he has a high opinion of her. “I thought you were classier than that,”

After the convo and kiss on the check in the car, I think that he knows there’s potential there, but might be hesitant because she had just told him she that doesn’t date.

When Big Red asks ‘what happened with Gina, Ricky says “I’m not sure yet,” again, confirming that Ricky is deciding on if it’s a crush or not.

And then Gina asks to hear him play her the song, and he KNOWS that he likes her.

like look at his face, he is cheesing. This whole scene is SOOOOOO excellent. The way Gina asks him to play so they could stay for 5 minutes more because the night before the had confessed how much they enjoyed having a place to go after school, (him being flattered because nobody takes him seriously) ALSO WTWMAY is such a loaded song choice

After they both shower each other in compliments (because they are so 🥰🥰🥰) Ricky says to her:

“I kinda can’t forget about anything that happened at homecoming,”

Which I feel is Ricky telling Gina that he has a crush on her.

Look at the way he says “anything,” with the raise of the eyebrow, the small step towards her, as he tells her he’s been thinking about her, and the kiss with a hopeful smile.

And Gina understands it. You can see her process the information.

I’ve seen people joke that S1 Rina were dating without labels- and I literally think it’s true. Ricky tells Gina he felt a connection with her, she asks for a ride home and kisses him on the cheek. He tells her he can’t stop thinking about her, she walks him to a party and makes him a hat. They were courting each other, and that’s why they were both devastated when she got the call from her mom and she cut him off.

Gina’s confession on opening night is her verbally confirming to Ricky that she felt the connection too, and she was really sorry (heartbroken) that she had to give up on it.

Just like in the s3 finale, where she understood his confession in Kristof’s Lullaby, she verbally confirms that she wants to be with him.

Ricky doesn’t blink when Big Red thinks he wrote a song about Gina, because he knew he was romantically pursuing her. When Ricky says he let Gina slip through his fingers, I think means he’s sad he didn’t fight when they both knew they liked each other, and it’s why he feels EJ stole her. In s2 Gina says “Nini’s back and he’s so happy now,” she was a sad because he moved on, not because her crush was unrequited! And he only moved on because she had told him to, he doesn’t see her as an option after she moves (he thinks the follow my dreams resolution was about Gina) and he bury his feelings for her. He put himself out there and got disappointed again, and Nini was the safer option for a moment (i’m just saying Ricky wasn’t particularly heartbroken over his first break up with Nini)

The TL;DR is

Ricky is very open with Gina about his feelings for her in s1, he has always known that they were romantic and he basically tells her he has a crush on her after singing WTWMAY.

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WE WEREN’T CRAZY?????

IM SORRY BUT…. i was probably the most skeptical person about the chocolates theory. thought it was just our delusions. but first of all there was NO reason to bring it up now… like with the “no drama” line was enough for us and ricky to get the point. second of all RICKY’S REACTION??? HIS WHOLE BODY TENSED WHEN SHE SAID THAT??

back in my full time delusional era but why am i thinking the chocolate theory can be true…

#rina #ricky x gina

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“I don’t think Gina and Ricky were a big plan. I think ‘Homecoming’ changed everything and the performance of Josh and Sofia in that car changed the trajectory of the show forever.” - Tim Federle

#you weren’t the plan #you were never the plan #but plans change 💖

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RICKY & GINA in HSMTMTS Season 3

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He said we all saw this coming. But I didn’t. Not that night in your car after homecoming. Or when I made you that hat at Thanksgiving and the floppy little ears looked so dumb, but it was honestly the cutest thing I’d ever seen. God, Ricky Bowen, you have been a surprise since the day we met. You weren’t the plan. You were never the plan. Plans change. And if you want me to shut up, I’ll shut up, but I don’t have “maybe” feelings about you. You aren’t a maybe. You’re a yes. And I like to know where people stand with me and so now you know where you stand with me.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: THE MUSICAL: THE SERIES | 3x08 – Let It Go

#lifechanging

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“Gina giving the speech was unrealistic.” “Ricky still doesn’t love Gina as much as she loves him.”

Walk with me.

Gina SAYING how she feels explicitly after all they’ve been through (Gina moving then coming back, Rini getting back together, her ‘confession’ in season 1, Ricky being blinded by his fear of change to see how he’s UNINTENTIONALLY hurting Gina, Rina drifting apart after 2x05, Portwell getting together and Rina’s reconciliation in S3) proves that she gets him. Ricky has always needed people to use words to show how they feel about him because HE never has the words. His love language is words of affirmation and a bit of quality time, he prefers to receive love in those ways and he gives his in quality time and acts of service.

He had to HEAR that after all they went through, Gina still loved him and she knew that. Because they get each other. Remember she’s the one who vocalized how he felt about his mother and Todd in season one episode seven: “just when you get used to things changing, they change again. Am I close?” “…maybe”

Gina not getting the big speech doesn’t mean Ricky’s feelings aren’t as strong, it means he understands her because Gina might have always heard pretty words (from her mother, her brother, EJ this summer) but no one has STOOD BY HER. No one has shown up and stayed for her until Ricky. EJ showed up when things were easy (before he graduated and had to face real life) but Ricky stayed throughout a pretty life changing time for both of them (her first summer camp, her first real friendships, her first basketball triumph, her first ‘big’ lead, his turning eighteen) he walked beside her through this and she knows it.

She knows Ricky loves her because while he barely showed up last season when they were both in turbulent times in their lives and had drifted apart, he’s now here, unmoving. She had to SEE him after all they went through and he knew she deserved someone by her side because remember in season one episode five: “I don’t do dates. Try moving five schools in seven years.” “And how’s that working out for you?”

She’s never had stability and he knows it. Gina’s love language is quality time and acts of service. And she gives her love with acts of service and words of affirmation. Ricky gave his all for this musical because it meant a lot to Gina, he helped her plan the surprise for Elton and he was by her side through the woman in the woods and colour war and defended her from Channing and even after Portwell’s break up, he was there and they were only apart after SHE left him in the coat check. Hell, HE went to find HER after she missed HIS birthday surprise.

She recognizes what he was saying all summer without using words and gave her love in the form of words of affirmation.

A trait they share is they NEED physical touch. Ricky and Gina relish in feeling the other person. They (playfully) hold hands, Ricky places her hand over his heart, they hug, they lean into one another when they stand next to each other as if to remind themselves and the other person that they are there.

The kiss was perfectly placed because all that needed to be said or shown over the summer had been. Gina placed all her cards on the table at the theater and Ricky had shown his all summer. They kissed to show the other that what they always had was always real.

Gina deserves the big romantic moments and she will absolutely get them from Ricky but not only in words, but in gestures. In time together. In showing up and staying.

TL: DR: Rina works because they understand who the other is NOW. Gina SAYING how she feels is on parr with Ricky SHOWING how he feels.

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RICKY & GINA HSMTMTS | 3x08 → 1x01 | 1x05 | 1x06 | 1x07 | 2x06

callbacks & parallels in gina’s monologue

#the love story of the show #its always been ricky and gina #all along

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Joey & Pacey | 3x14  Ricky & Gina | 3x07 

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#STRAIGHT OUT OF A ROMCOM

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i mean, i don’t want to say we told you so but…

in the s1 finale rinas wouldn’t stop saying how rini break up was inevitable because ricky was clinging to the past and nini was the figure of what represented a safe space for him in that place. it protected him from change. eventually, a year and a half later they end up having a whole storyline over this and explicitly say it in their break up.

portwell starts dating after the s2 finale airs. rinas say the relationship is doomed because they’re in two different stages of their lives which are not comparable with one another. ej can’t give gina what she needs because his place in life doesn’t align with gina’s, so their priorities end up being completely different. s3 starts and builds up a whole storyline of ej not being able to show up because of his responsibilities. because he’s not a kid anymore. they break and the show explicitly states that they’re in different places as people and it just doesn’t align.

so. is it really the writing bad or inconsistent if such a big group of people noticed with so much anticipation? haven’t you guys considered maybe you just read what the show has been telling you wrong?

we kinda told you so

#rina #ricky x gina #hsmtmts

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I think the most important part we have to take into consideration with Gina and EJ’s relationship is that they both really wanted it to work. Both of them tried and, to some extent, fought to keep the relationship afloat.

We have Gina who pretty much stuffs her feelings for Ricky down, down, down. (and we know her feelings are still there for many reasons, first of all she never got closure, also the “who said anybody would” line in 3x01, “and for the first time in forever i won’t be alone” look she gave ricky in 3x02, and so on!) She does this to completely focus on her “Summer of Firsts” with EJ.

Then we have EJ who had this pile of responsibility packed on top of him at the last minute and has completely abandoned Gina (yes it’s not his fault! but it still happened) despite promising her the best summer of fun. Even though a lot of lies and secrets and miscommunication came to the surface due to his new position as director, they still managed to make up in during the beginning of 3x06 “Color Wars”, and focus on the rest of the summer.

Even though her and EJ were back to how they were, EJ still wasn’t around. Ricky, himself, asks where EJ is and asks EJ where he’s going. Like even Ricky notices EJ keeps leaving Gina. Again, I know it’s because of his responsibility, and because he was with Miss Jenn the whole episode (I won’t even get into him lying to Gina again about Miss Jenn, but maybe another day) but it still happened. I think a funny thing to also point out is Gina stating how much she wanted Blue team to win for her and EJ, and Blue team.. lost.

This is when I feel like Gina really thinks of one last big gesture to give EJ to really salvage their relationship. Ricky (my son who loves her so much and just wants her to be happy) helps her set up this adorable “Kiss the Girl” inspired decoration with the canoe. They bring EJ to surprise him and that’s where Gina asks him to prom. EJ immediately shuts her down and claims it’s because they don’t allow dates to the prom, to not hurt anybody’s feelings. I could get into how much his delivery towards rejecting Gina’s Promposal bothers me, but again.. that’s for another day. At the end of the day, he just said no! Then he told her he had to get back to work so they should just sit there for a little bit and wait for the fireworks. I believe that Gina interpreted that as EJ telling her to just sit there and wait for either of them to feel something for the other again and she asks “is that a metaphor?” but EJ reiterates that no there are real fireworks and they’ll be “any minute” now. And the fireworks never came.

Going back to what I said in the beginning, both EJ and Gina wanted the relationship to work. EJ even tells her he’s going to fight for her to stay in Salt Lake. But the fireworks never came. You can put as much effort as you want into a relationship, you can want a relationship to work out reallllyyyyy bad, but sometimes you’re simply just not meant to be? Sometimes a pair just isn’t compatible. Sometimes a couple loses their spark and their passion after that initial honeymoon phase. and that’s okay. There doesn’t need to really be a (strong) outside force, or a super clear explanation as to why the fireworks didn’t come. They just weren’t meant to be.

It’s also important to point out that Ashlyn asked Miss Jenn about Mike Bowen earlier in the episode and how she knew she wanted to get on the boat with ricky’s dad and Miss Jenn answered fireworks! The scene right after Gina and EJ’s was Ashlyn’s realization of her sexuality. The fireworks came for both Miss Jenn and Ashlyn, but not for portweII and the look they both make at the end, really shows they know it too.

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While I have no horse in the portwell v rina race, I will say, rina fans are much funnier than portwells. Like portwells are no fun in the way that it is no fun to watch a baby fall down a flight of stairs. They're whinging and you're worried for them and you wanna help. But rinas are like a grown man enthusiastically falling down the stairs for the third time. They're joking about how they're gonna throw themselves down next time and laughing maniacally as they fall. This is the slow burn they've wanted all along. They are psychotic. It's a hot mess but I enjoy it.

#this is the funniest post ever #but its true

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RICKY & GINA S03E06: Color War

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when i have time i will probably write a whole long post about this because i have so much thoughts all around my head right now but i want to point it out now so you have it in mind. specially when there has been all this talk about ricky’s character regression, ricky not being ready for a relationship, saying if rina were to date it wouldn’t be healthy.

ricky’s love for gina represents the complete total opposite of his love for nini. ricky’s love for gina is selfless while ricky’s love for nini (the main reason why their relationship fell apart) was selfish. it was about clinging onto nini too much and not letting her out to the world. it was, and i quote nini, trapping her in a pedestal. with nini, ricky prioritized their relationship interest’s over her’s. he deleted a comment (not maliciously) because he thought it could send her off (even if it mean a dream come true to her) and unconsciously he was putting his and the relationship’s interests over what nini wanted. meanwhile ricky’s love for gina makes her help her plan a surprise for her boyfriend and accept her happiness might not be with him, but it doesn’t matter because the fact she’s happy is enough for him. ricky’s love for gina makes him show up every single time with no ulterior motive other than to be there for there. do you know how big this is for his character development when he was considered unreliable by the beginning of s2? now he’s literally the person gina relies on for everything. he’s the guy who shows up.

with gina, ricky learned how to love selflessly. THAT’S character development if i’ve ever seen one. in the words of rina’s parents: “the act of being in love with you is enough for me” 🫶🏻

#rina #ricky x gina #this might be all over the place bc its almost 6am and i slept like 3 hours #but you get me

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omg hi i have a lot of asks i’m sorry i have been busy but i’ve seen a recurring thing that is causing panic among us rinas that i don’t think everyone interpreted well.

i am the rina with the most fear of the season not ending good us for us. however i saw a lot of people scared because of tamia (the rina reviewer) saying she doesn’t want rina to end up the season together. i think everyone interpreted it as a bad thing but me, as a full rina too, also don’t want them to end s3 officially together. i’m pretty sure that’s what she was referring. because if portwell breaks up, rina would start dating too fast and since they’re the slowburn of the show them ending s3 together would make it rushed and i don’t think no one wants that. i for the life of god also don’t want rina to end up together in s3 but not necessarily a bad thing for them at all, it’s more just a preference for their future plot and what makes sense with their storytelling.

i think there’s a lot of things to be scared because i am, more than anyone, but i don’t think this is one of them! hope this eased someone’s fears 😭

#ricky x gina #rina