#we are playing to long game folks s4 endgame here we come !!

[laylakeating]

the thing is rina antis are holding onto 2 big (false) things; the idea that ricky “never liked gina” (clearly wrong but whatever) and that he was leading on her on and cruel in s2 bc he knew her feelings. the first reason is going to be disproven this season even though it’s obvious that was never true. i can see why ppl may be upset with him for their number 2 reasoning but i really don’t think he truly understood what she said (even if he did it’s more complicated than that imo) and he never TRIED to go to her for advice besides once every other time she gave the advice unprompted which probably made him think it’s ok to ask her. i just don’t see valid reasons to dislike them i wish ppl would just go back to disliking ships for no reason stop trying to come up with reasons why rina and ricky are toxic 😒😒 this season will no doubt have him being called a homewrecker and toxic all season just for being FRIENDS with gina (like gina in s2 before she stopped talking to ricky)

"ricky never liked gina" yeah you're right he was acting insane in 106 and 107 because he didn't. yes. that makes total sense !! it's one of those things that is so clearly wrong - like you said!! - but because it hasn't been explicitly stated on the show people love to ignore it because it furthers their own agenda. bleh. rina are about to serve girl falls first boy falls harder and TRUST we are getting that love confession !!!!!!!!!!

number 2 is definitely a really interesting one but i completely disagree?? however i do think it's a lot more valid than number 1 because the lines become a lot more blurred. it's exactly as you said - ricky tries to respect her space and her boundaries!! he tries to give her time !! throughout 2a we see this happen repeatedly. in 201 he's trying to get back to where they were. she ignores him. in 202 they barely interact (coincidence? i think not! although, sidenote, i love 202 as a rina ep and i'll die on that hill). in 203, gina comes TO him. like, directly to his house. and even then, ricky doesn't bring up nini, gina offers him advice UNPROMPTED !! so, hmm. let's file that away for later.

then we come to 204. we see that rina have fallen a little bit back into their old friendship, even though gina is still clearly hurting (clear to the audience, not ricky). once again, when big red tries to ask gina for advice, ricky (quite vehemently) tries to stop him, only letting red go ahead when gina insists it's okay. we see that gina is in pain, but she still gives ricky advice. and NOW we've established a pattern. also, it's worth noting that gina is giving him good advice. or, at least, advice that's working.

so now we've got our pattern. ricky assumes gina's okay. he assumes she's over it! why wouldn't she be? she hasn't given him any indication that she isn't.

so we come to 205 (rip). ricky once again goes to gina for advice, because there's a pattern that's been established. it's the last straw for gina, she tells him her boundaries (which she is obviously within her rights to do) and now ricky's confused.

which brings us to 206 (a wonderful, brilliant, excellent rina ep). we essentially finish out ricky's arc when it comes to gina - he asks her if she wants to partner up for the exercise, she doesn't even deign to answer, and from that point on? HE LEAVES HER ALONE. he gets the message!! he respects her space and her boundaries, and even though he's probably confused he doesn't try to push her.

as for the flashback scene...i lean both ways? or i have, at least? now, i do think he understood what she was saying, but it IS more complicated that that because again. do we want ricky to cheat on his girlfriend? no!! of course we don't!! he was doing his best not to hurt anyone, but his hands were tied.

okay and yes !!! on twitter all the time i see tweets like "i don't know about this ship they seem forced and have no chemistry. also they're toxic". just SAY YOU DON'T LIKE THEM. it is not that hard !! i don't like rini and i don't like pw but that's due to personal preferences !! i just don't like them!!!

ricky is my homewrecking prince lmao <3 but honestly it kind of seems like ej will be digging his own grave this season anyway !!