"are those tap shoes?"

gina is one of the few characters to never have a romantic partner in the comic. feeling left behind while your friends are partnering up is like, the textbook middle school experience. so having a more grounded arc dedicated to her insecurity of this was a good idea. but her and francis have a complicated history in the comics and novels. they're the only ones who can match the other's intelligence, but this causes them to be competitive when their smarts is put into question by the other (like in the trivia slam arc and outstanding scholarship medal arc). i think the best way to describe them was frenemies, which is what makes them interesting imo. i feel like when writing them getting together, this wasn't really addressed. even in their most recent arc last september.

which is why i think the relationship is controversial - a lot of their history and character was taken out in order to make this a thing. when it didn't have to be.