The Way Everyone Else Is Ignoring The Two Seranading Each Other To Look At #them

the way everyone else is ignoring the two seranading each other to look at #them

this pic… many thoughts. head full of thoughts.

@positiveseed

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he was the one all along: part 2

i’m really emotional about portwell today, so why not continue this? LMAO.

here’s part 1, btw.

https://forbiddenship.tumblr.com/post/670127606035857408/he-was-the-one-all-along-part-1

sneha

he was the one all along: part 1

one of the things i love most about portwell is that when you go back and watch the show knowing what happens, you have this realization, li

disclaimer: i am not liable if anyone cries. read at your own risk. i love you all <3

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it’s actually crazy to me how literally every episode had some sort of connection or reference to or foreshadowing to ej and portwell. every day i’m more and more impressed with these writers and their storytelling.

in 2x04, ricky tells gina, “i go big. you know that.”

but the thing is, gina doesn’t know that. all she knows is the ricky that started hanging out with her after homecoming and flirting with her once he decided he wanted to move on from his ex and put himself back out there. the ricky that has always been very proactive in preserving the family the wildcats have created together, including doing his best to make sure miss jenn got to keep her job, but easily accepted that gina was moving away and resigned himself to this fact. she knows the ricky who, after she moved away, realized he still loved nini, and got back together with her even after she came back into his life. and lastly, the ricky who put their friendship on the back burner and as good as forgot about her as soon as he was in a relationship again.

gina doesn’t know that ricky is capable of “going big” - for her, at least. she’s seen him do it for nini, right from the first time she saw him and he sang “i think i kinda, you know” all the way to when he wrote a song to play for nini on valentine’s day. and even in the context they’re talking about - which is the chocolates (“i can only assume it’s your latest valentine to me”) - even that is an example of something ricky didn’t do for gina. a time that he didn’t “go big.” so when he says she must “know” that he can do that, even though it’s unintentional, for her it really translates to “you’ve seen me do this before for nini.”

in the next episode, we see gina finally confront ricky about all of his bullshit - for lack of a better term - and set her boundaries firmly. it was very satisfying to watch, after two straight episodes of him being a bad friend and making jokes about something that she was genuinely humiliated by. after the way he delivered that “obviously” so casually (but cruelly in the name of being honest. sorry i had to) when she said “we’re not dating.” it was nice to see her tell him straight up where her boundaries were.

and while that was the main takeaway from the scene, i can’t help but also notice the reason that he came to her for advice in the first place. ricky wanted to ask if gina would appreciate if he went behind her back for a good reason. basically he’s asking if she’s okay with being surprised by some sort of gesture. something that was planned without her knowing, but at the end of the day, was done for her own good. and what do you know, she says yes. that she would be flattered.

ofc ricky would never do something like this for gina. he knows it, she knows it, we know it. it’s part of why she gets so (rightfully) pissed when he comes to her asking this question. he turns it into a hypothetical between the two of them, but the truth is that he wouldn’t give her a sweet gesture, he wouldn’t go big for her, and he certainly wouldn’t do something behind her back for a good reason.

but guess who does go big for gina? who does things for her when she least expects them but most needs them? who shows up without ever having to be pushed and gives his 110%? who looks at her with the stars shining in his eyes?

ej caswell. who proves time and time again, without even trying, without even meaning to, that he can do all of the things that gina and ricky talked about, but obviously, ricky never could - even on a friendship level. all of the sweet gestures and the going big and - something i recently thought about - the “going behind her back for a good reason.”

in the fake dating scene in 2x07, we see gina having a convo with the north high guy, looking uncomfortable and unsure what to say, and in literally the next second, we see ej walk up behind her and put his arm around her. “hey babe.”

that was not something the two of them planned together. they fake dated before for homecoming, but that was a completely different situation. there was never a conversation where they sat down and established “if one of us ever needs rescuing, we will pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend to get each other out of a difficult situation.” i mean, that would be cute, but i don’t think it happened, judging by the way gina was very surprised to see ej with his arm around her and ej kinda panicked and went “risotto!! let’s do that!!”

which means that in that split second that he saw gina standing there looking uncomfortable, ej came up with the fake dating as an idea to help her out. on his own. he didn’t ask if she was okay with it, so you could say he “went behind her back” - but for a good reason. it’s even in a literal sense, because the way they shot the scene is with ej walking up from behind gina, which is presumably where he came up with this idea.

and while we know from the fallout that ricky and nini had at slices that she didn’t appreciate him going behind her back, we know that gina, on the other hand, would be flattered by that. she’s not the same person as nini, and she doesn’t have the same love languages. to her, someone who spent the majority of her life looking out for herself, the prospect of someone looking out for her - the very idea of being “saved” - is indeed flattering. and that’s exactly what ej does for her.

i just think that’s neat.

moving to episode 2x06 now - sorry i’m going out of order - where we had the big confession scene in flashback form. even that scene had a small reference to ej. right before gina tells ashlyn about what she did on opening night, ashlyn brings up the secret understudy plan with ej. in the same episode where gina says “team wonderstudy. i got you.” the first time the wonderstudy plan was mentioned all season, actually.

it’s so personal to me how gina is basically sad and regretful and hurting in this entire scene, but the one mention of her plan with ej from last semester is enough to make her smile softly. to take her mind off ricky. much in the same way that she smiles and looks extremely relieved in the “may i have this exercise?” scene, when moments ago she was feeling flustered and slightly panicked. it’s the little things.

last, i just wanna talk about the two confession scenes. with ricky, gina knew that she was moving away, and some part of her also knew that he didn’t reciprocate her feelings - but she was okay with doing it anyways because she knew “the plane was going down.” she’s not really looking for an answer from him though. she tells him her confession, and then tells him she’s gonna hug him and walk away and that’s that. whereas with ej, she genuinely puts her heart out there by asking instead of just confessing and giving him a chance to respond.

i wanna focus on both of these boys’ responses, to these confessions though. because, even though gina phrases them very differently, the confessions do have some similarities.

with both ricky and ej, gina hesitates for a moment before making the confession. “i guess i just wanna say that- i’m sorry, this is so stupid, i don’t know why i’m crying.” to which ricky responds with “say it.” and “can i -??” to which ej responds with “can you what?”

of course, ricky looks her in the eye while ej looks away. ej was afraid of getting rejected and had no idea that she was actually going to confess, whereas ricky probably knew what was coming and, well, had just gotten back together with nini. nevertheless, i thought both of these setups for a confession were interestingly similar. until they weren’t. because after they ask her to keep going and she makes the confession, gina pauses for a second to see if they understood. and when i looked at their reactions side by side, it was like night and day.

ricky’s expression after she confesses stays basically the exact same as it was before, and he just nods. ej, however, is very confused, which is written all over his face. so gina clarifies her confession (which she never did with ricky because she wasn’t looking for him to give her a concrete answer) and again, ej’s expression changes. this time, he breaks out into a wide smile as he finally understands.

with ricky, she tells him that she’s going to hug him, and then takes the first step forward for the actual hug. but with ej, she asks if she can kiss him, and he drops his bag and takes the first step towards her. i just think it’s so cool how similar but also remarkably different the two scenes are. and how ricky’s face remains practically neutral the entire time - i can barely tell which shots are pre confession and post confession - while ej goes through a mini journey of emotions that play across his face, before he finally takes that big step forward.

i honestly don’t know what this post ended up being. i just started thinking about all the little references to ej and the foreshadowing in so many rina scenes, especially from 2A. how those scenes are not only examples of what’s wrong with rina, but also what’s right with portwell. it’s genuinely so beautiful to me. the writers knew what they were doing.

he was the one all along: part 1

one of the things i love most about portwell is that when you go back and watch the show knowing what happens, you have this realization, like “oh. ej was right there all along.” it’s so beautiful.

in all of 2A, when gina was hurting, and ej too, the writers do such a good job of developing their individual arcs to where they’d be ready to meet in the middle come 2B. their overarching character arcs are done so well and i love how much they compliment each other. how they were exactly what the other person needed. it was done in a way that you can’t help but think it was the most unexpected thing that could happen, but also the only thing that made sense, right from the beginning.

but even the little things always get me. there’s quite a few scenes where gina is pining for ricky and/or just dealing with a lingering crush on someone she knows is in love with someone else. and in so many of them, ej is present or referenced in some way. sometimes it’s obvious, other times it’s just little background moments. and in some of them, ricky’s own lines and actions serve as a really poetic foreshadowing for what’s to come.

in one of the very first scenes after the semester ends, ricky shows up with nini at the new year’s party. it’s the first time we see gina acknowledge ricky in any way and the first thing that makes us question what must’ve happened between them. but while she’s looking over at him, who’s in the same shot sitting right next to her? ej.

one of the next scenes where we see gina looking over at nini and ricky together is when they’re singing you are the music in me. who’s standing next to her singing in that moment? ej. and i wish they had kept in that shot of rini singing and portwell talking in the center because it’s so telling. she seems so happy and not at all bothered or jealous in that shot. and literally all their friends are looking at them and not the couple literally serenading each other which i find hilarious.

in episode 2, the scene that stood out to me the most was at the auditions when ricky came in late and they made a point of showing gina’s reaction to him. in this entire scene, ej and gina were standing right next to each other and put in the same frame every time they showed up onscreen. so when she looks over at ricky yet again, who’s standing beside her AGAIN? ej.

moving on to episode 3, this is the scene most of us have already analyzed in detail bc, looking back, it’s just so glaringly obvious what they were doing. gina telling ricky that every girl likes a sweet gesture, and when he says that she’ll get one too, she responds by saying SHE DOESNT NEED ONE?! bc she knows that the person she likes won’t be giving one to her anytime soon so she’s accepted that she can live without that and it’s no big deal?! PAIN.

i think what’s so interesting about this scene is, and this may not be the best way to word this but, at the time it’s just an example of how wrong rina is. gina mentions a sweet gesture to a clearly uncomfortable ricky who is stressing out about what to do for his girlfriend - so much so that he doesn’t realize what his friend is going through enough to offer any show of support or friendship, in fact just shushes her when he gets a call from his girlfriend, and acts awkward the entire time. which is why when she mentions sweet gestures he immediately goes “i think you’ll get yours too” - he knows it’s not gonna be him and he’s saying, “don’t worry, there’s someone out there for you. even if it’s not me.” but ofc gina doesn’t believe that. she doesn’t think that’s possible. so she says “i’ll live.” at the time, it really just showed us how ricky wasn’t right for her, how these two really weren’t right for each other.

it wasn’t until 2x05 that it really hit me that there was someone else out there who really could be that sweet guy that gina wanted and deserved. and it didn’t even have to be a big gesture. something as simple and small as asking how she was feeling was enough to show her that he cared. and i realized that this valentine’s day scene wasn’t just about how ricky couldn’t give that to her, but about how ej could.

and then that elusive word “sweet” came up again in 2x07, and again in 2x10, until i was sure this show was basically turning portwell into a couple from a rom-com. not that i’d ever complain. the freaking airport scene??? something i never would’ve dared dream of. the little sweet gesture of the granola bar that was wrapped up in the big sweet gesture of driving to the airport in the middle of the night to pick her up? and then saying he’d do it again tomorrow? all of it without her ever having to say a word? it’s just too much.

oh yeah, not to mention the literal plane ticket he bought to bring her back for opening night. and then told her not to pay him back for.

whereas ricky never give gina enough, even when she asked, ej gave her the things that she never dared asked for. the things that she was too scared to ask for and convinced herself she didn’t need.

they will never not make me cry.

portwell in season 2: exists

risotto sellers: wondering why the hell risotto sales are so high

EJ and Gina talking about each other