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I was a Rina from the very moment Gina encouraged Ricky at the skatepark. Yes, at the time she had ulterior motives, but like any true antagonist, she was using the truth in service of lies. The truth being that she really saw Ricky at a time where he had been almost universally written off. Ricky would later return this favor on Homecoming night.

Much is made about Rina’s domineering attitude in the HSMTMTS fandom. I’m not here to excuse all toxic behaviors that have been displayed under Rina’s banner, of which there has been quite a bit, but for a materially starved ship to last this loud, this long, is by itself admirable. Following this week’s recent announcements there was an instantaneous, impressive, and clockwork outpouring of Rina takes and content. While this by itself isn’t new, it feels more prominent now than ever before, so I’ve decided to think more about why Rina resonates.

Maybe Rina’s primacy in this fandom suggests something a bit deeper than just a ship, or rather the thing which really anchors one.

It’s yet unclear if Rina was something that caught on and stuck longer than was intended, or if in fact we were directed to pull at these threads of romantic conspiracy.

Whether we got here by mistake or not, we arrived suddenly, and solidified even faster.

Why?

Rina captures effortlessly upon our fear of a close call. The anxiety that we “just missed” a meaningful connection. That creeping doubt that we can’t see the forest for the trees. That the obvious solution, eternal joy, and happy ending aren’t impossible, difficult, or unrealistic— it’s that they are just so slightly and cruelly out of our reach. We could blink, and true love pass us by. It reminds us of the fragility of all things.

It tugs at our sense of security, and reveals how often we’re skating by on luck, that we’re a lot closer to the edge than we’d like to admit. Worse still, one mistake… choosing the wrong person… moving away at the wrong time… could end the story forever.

Ricky and Gina, what’s between them, and what hasn’t been able to be, is unlike every other coupling on this show that has fully crossed the line into a romantic relationship.

Rina is the almost, someday, maybe.

We invest in it because it’s dramatic, its gaps offer us prime real estate to build our own conceptions. Make our own meanings. It forces us to face the dreadful uncertainty of never seeing our dreams come true, and perhaps urgently reminds us not to fear what’s unclear, to look deeper, take the leap, and maybe even play for a slow burn long game.

If we had gotten Rina by season 1, who knows how we’d feel? But we didn’t, so there’s still a chance here; a chance to be devastated upon learning this thing we believed in was all a plot device taken too seriously, and a chance that we can still steer this sinking ship back home.

We often operate under the assumption that we’re running out of time. It’s terrifyingly beautiful and we don’t even know if it’s true. And yet for Rina’s, it’s not too late. There’s still time. Still a cause for hope.

I have seen a lot of comments, especially as this season has unfolded, that gina isn’t ricky’s first choice, or that he would choose nini over gina given the chance, etc. this isn’t true. the show establishes through many scenes and moments in each season that those statements are false. when we first see ricky and gina connect, it’s as “outsiders” who get each other, as ricky says. I might have to make a separate meta on the relevance of how ricky describes each of them and what it means for their characterization, but I digress. they are able to connect over this shared status. it is important to note that ricky also decided to stop pursuing nini + respect her boundaries at the end of 104/in 105. this does not mean he was seeking to replace nini’s presence in his life, just that rekindling a romantic relationship with her was not in the cards for him anymore at that point in the season. anyways, ricky and gina become close and quickly form a tight bond. many people claim that gina served as a rebound for ricky in these episodes but the show makes very clear what rebounds look like for ricky. he says in 101 that “he talked about nini the whole time” when he was hanging out with various girls that summer. throughout the course of rina’s s1 friendship, nini is not brought up at all until the finale and it’s all but guaranteed gina is never coming back, but we’ll get into that. a complaint nini brings up in the breakup scene in 2.08 is that she feels like she is nini of “ricky & nini” rather than being her own person. I think that the ricky we saw in s1 with gina was ricky as his own person, as opposed to ricky of “ricky & nini” and he displayed significant growth during this time. 

gina’s leaving in 1.07 plays an important role in the idea of choice. after hanging up with her mom, she walks into ashlyn’s kitchen to gather her things, where ricky is waiting for her. he tells her “I’ll call you?” not willing to let her go. however, gina knows ricky struggles with people leaving him + she knows the pain of being left. because of her care for him, she does not want him to feel this pain. she tells him, “honestly, you heard what happened. I don’t think there’s any point in calling me anymore, do you?” and leaves. ricky is obviously not satisfied with this answer and rushes after her, leaving the party. before he leaves, he runs into nini, who tries to reach out and connect with him, which would’ve been everything to 1a ricky. however, he brushes her off and presumably runs after gina. I would argue that this is one of the only moments where a choice between nini and gina is presented to ricky and he chooses gina. obviously, there is a lot more nuance at play than that, but it is an interesting moment nonetheless. anyways, this entire encounter is the first moment that gina removes herself as an option. she does not want ricky to miss her or struggle to let her go. 

this doesn’t stop ricky, and in the next episode, we see him frantically texting gina even as they stand in their burned down theater. he is worried about her and wants to continue contact, even in the face of the possibility (guarantee at that point) that they would never see each other again. yet again, gina not responding to his messages is another boundary she sets up to make the loss of their friendship easier on ricky. in her mind, it hurts less for him for her to cut him off than for them to try to hold on to a long distance friendship. she does respond to his messages later on in the episode, which I personally think is tied to ej getting her the plane ticket and her seeing this as a chance to give ricky a proper goodbye. however, at this point, it has been well established that gina a) does not want ricky to worry over her, even if it hurts both of them, him in the short term (she thinks) and her in the long term and b) is not coming back. this is the crux of this argument. ricky cannot make a choice between someone who does not want to be chosen to save them from hurt + presumably cannot be there physically. at this point, there is no choice between gina and nini because gina has removed herself as an option. 

gina returns to east high on opening night and the first time that ricky sees her is on stage. he is awestruck and rushes backstage to get the opportunity to talk to her. when they see each other, it’s a combination of nerves and awkwardness and relief. the first thing he says is “still can’t believe you’re actually back,” to which gina replies, “one night only. don’t blink, you’ll miss me.” this again establishes the fleeting nature of her return. in one of the only uses of a confessional in this episode, the camera cuts to ricky, where he says that it’s tough seeing gina again. in a short time, she became one of his closest friends (and something more that they never addressed). in fact, he says it feels like she “never left.” he says a lot more, but ends with saying something is different. this scene serves two purposes: showing the impact that gina has had on ricky’s life and showing that he’s regressed into  “who he always was,” a ricky where the only option is nini, and gina’s leaving is the catalyst for that. I can talk a lot more about the implications of this scene and the other talk that they have in the s1 finale but I want to talk about the flashback that we see in 2.06.

by the end of the night, ricky has confessed his love for nini. unbidden by the need to choose, he leans into what feels safe and comfortable and accomplishes in what he set out to do at the beginning of the season. interestingly enough, this moment is directly juxtaposed by gina entering the room just seconds after nini leaves to say her goodbyes to ricky. I think the most important line in the scene is when gina says,  “I wouldn’t quit on us if I wasn’t moving away. so now, I’m gonna give you a really tight hug and then I’m gonna walk away with my head held high.” tears are in both of their eyes (and mine) as they hug and the scene ends. I think the wording here is so important. gina cares about ricky and wants to let him know that her walking out of his life is not by choice. again, lack of choice in this situation! it’s also interesting to note that the scene ends with the hug, not with gina leaving. 

Whipped cream contains about 30 percent fat. Really? Yes. The milk of right whales and other whales is much thicker than whipped cream since it contains 30 to 50 percent fat.

Simone Ashley - FYSEE Exhibition

What a QUEEN

or should I say

Kate's eyes that become sad.

Anthony's jaw twitching.