#Gina x Ej

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

#A Travesty

[goldengashes]

i need that king and queen of east high AU so bad

[cannonball5]

Crazy color symbolism is season 3 regarding Ricky, Gina, and EJ (and their subsequent relationships)

(Will mostly be focused on season 3 but has elements from the other seasons as well)

Watching Bridgerton really opened my eyes to color symbolism and I noticed some in season 3 and it’s kind of blowing my mind.

So to start, from season 1 we typically associate EJ with the color Red, Ricky with blue, and Gina with Pink.

In episode 1 of season 3 we see EJ wearing a shirt that is half red and half blue, showing who he is vs who he’s trying to be for Gina. In fact, we see EJ’s wardrobe throughout season 3 heavily favor blue vs his normal red. Gina on the other hand is wearing a mostly blue with accents of pink, which to me symbolizes her subconscious desire to be with Ricky and EJ’s wardrobe shift is him trying to be what she actually wants. Side note: Lily is seen wearing pink, Gina’s color, showing us that Ricky is just trying to use Lily as a Gina substitute.

Episode 2 we see Gina in her Pink showing she’s focused on herself for the audition but is still wearing a primarily blue skirt perhaps showing her indecision (also I’m not including any music numbers that happen outside reality like Balance, for color symbolism, just fyi). Meanwhile EJ’s shirt while mostly blue still has red in the logo showing he’s allowing more of who he actually is, is being overtaken by who he’s trying to be for Gina. Also while Ricky starts out in blue but changes into the snowsuit trying to be someone else and let EJ be who Gina (thinks she) wants, however he fails as the snowsuit still has blue accents.

Episode 3 is interesting, EJ starts the episode in an orange shirt, a color very close to red, early in the morning showing he’s still at least mostly himself in private, but covers up the rest of the episode with a blue camouflage hoodie. The camouflage is interesting because it truly shows what the blue is, a disguise. Gina though fully shifts to red for the episode, as if symbolizing herself devoting herself to her relationship with EJ. Ricky chooses to wear a white shirt with very dull blues, still showing he is who he is but also not trying to stand out when compared to EJ.

Episode 4 shows Gina still heavily favoring red, (but with hints of blue in her dress) showing her continuing trying to connect with EJ while showing who she wants to appear as for the cameras. EJ is still wearing blue but has some notable white in his shirt a color that always appears on EJ whenever his dad is a factor in his life showcasing his shift in his priorities from who he’s trying to be for Gina and what he’s trying to do to impress his dad. Meanwhile Ricky has fully shifted to bright blue for this episode, the episode where he shows clear and present signs of jealousy towards EJ and Gina’s relationship. Also at the end of the episode, while everyone is in pajamas, Gina is wearing blue and green (a color very close to blue) symbolizing who she’s more comfortable with.

EJ is still wearing equal parts blue and white in episode 5. Gina has switched to blue for the episode after finding out about the St. Louis letter showing a shift back to what she really wants while also showing her connection to Ricky during WDYKAL. Ricky has switched to a white shirt with green sleeves, green being Anna’s color. It shows Ricky is trying to keep things professional, just about their characters’ romance not his and Gina’s.

Color War is tricky since everyone is wearing colors for the competition, but there’s still some important outfit choices outside of the competition. At the beginning of the episode EJ is back to wearing orange showing his true colors (to a degree) while Gina is wearing a white shirt perhaps reflecting back to EJ why he’s really doing what he’s been doing (his dad). At the end of the episode for Gina’s “Hail Mary” Promposal, she’s wearing red trying one last time to commit herself to her relationship with EJ that ends up falling flat.

Pink is very prevalent in Camp Prom. Gina’s outfit is notably lacking any blue or red being primarily earth tones with a few pink accents, since she’s going solo to the dance she’s choosing herself. Meanwhile EJ goes with a pink suit with a blue shirt, trying to convey how he wants to be there for Gina but ultimately it’s not enough as his actions don’t reflect that. Ricky on the other hand chooses to wear a blue suit with a pink shirt, showing he’s still who he always was but also his wanting to be there for Gina.

Episode 8 is incredible with Gina’s wardrobe in particular. After her breakup with EJ the first outfit we see her in is blue, a realization of who she actually has wanted. When Ricky shows up he’s wearing a green and white shirt. Ricky’s once again not sure about where he and Gina are and is defaulting to keeping things professional by wearing Anna’s colors, keeping things about the show. EJ is seen in white in every scene (outside of the opening scene and the premiere) he does wear a shirt with an extremely light blue or green stripes, but it’s so light it practically doesn’t matter. There’s no hiding what this is for EJ any more it is completely about his dad.

Now often the costumes for performances don’t really play a factor but Gina’s Anna costume has some unique elements worth mentioning. First, she starts off with Anna’s quintessential green dress before switching to the blue, as her relationship with Ricky is going from professional for the documentary to personal as the show goes on highlighted by Ricky finally making his feelings for Gina clear in Kristoff’s Lullaby. Also the cloak, now Anna’s cloak is more purple, but Gina’s is red which is significant because that’s what EJ was to her a covering for her actual feelings for Ricky (the red cloak covering the blue outfit) and cloaks are also the first thing one removes when they’re in a more comfortable environment. Also during Everyday Gina and Ricky are both wearing jean jackets showing their connection even more. Also also, when everyone is signing their names on the wall Ricky signs his name in pink and Gina signs hers in blue.

The premiere outfits are incredibly symbolic for all three characters as all three are wearing black, a color heavily associated with all three. Black also can have two completely different meanings as black is both an absence of color (when referring to light) or a mixing of all colors (when referring to actual color mixing like in paint). EJ is wearing very dark tones so his coloring suggests an absence of color symbolizing an absence of self, he doesn’t know who he is at the moment, and the blue is a visual representation of his “brotherly” connection (which I still don’t fully buy). When we see EJ in season 4 he is wearing a lot of warm reds and oranges suggesting he has found himself at college but he’s also still got white in his outfit showing he still isn’t completely over his issues with his dad. Now Ricky and Gina’s outfits suggest the opposite. When they first are seen wearing black in season one it is very representative of their lacking a sense of self, or purpose, not knowing who they are, but now they know who they are and have fully accepted it. All sides of themselves. Ricky’s still wearing his signature blue but Gina has no pink, or red, or blue. She’s accepted who she is and that is not reliant on anyone at this moment. She tells Ricky exactly what she wants but is not going to wait anymore.

Anyway. Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk, hope it was informative. Tell me anything you think I missed, because I probably did (literally something clicked randomly in my brain while I was getting car work done).

[sunsetsentiments]

why does nobody talk about how horrible hsmtmts was in writing its main female characters lol,, and yeah,, both of them: nini and gina

like first, they're actually decent people in spite of their flaws or they have great development and come out better people,, but then when it comes to their relationships, suddenly they're somewhat aggressive and overly insecure. being insecure is normal,, being angry at your partner when they do smth stupid is normal,, but when the show portrayed it,, it was over the top for the sake of drama? for no??? reason???

like nini gaslighting ricky for being honest with his feelings when she was the one who told him to tell the truth. gina storming out and telling ej that maybe the old, worse version of him, is the real him in front of everyone, despite knowing he's highly insecure about his past. and the show sells it like we're supposed to clap and root for these "girlbosses".

don't get me wrong,, ricky and ej were weird too at some point,, actually all the characters were written badly by the end. it's rly frustrating when there was so much potential and the writers flopped towards the end of season 2 and never recovered.

[veryberrydreamer]

IT WAS REAL TO ME

[aroundthewaygirlao3]

::taps mic:: This thing still work?

HI EVERYONE! I'm so sorry I dropped off the face of the earth for a bit there. I was quite sick at the end of May/beginning of June with a major chronic disease flare up, and it's been near impossible to get back into my rhythm with writing fanfic, in part because...

I've signed a book deal!

Two books of mine will be coming out in 2026 (yes, publishing takes 7000 years) with a boutique publisher. They are reimagined versions of earlier AU fanfic works for mine with original characters in similar set ups, so they will look a bit familiar to you when they debut. If you want more info, please DM me and I'll gladly link you to my official author accounts on IG and Twitter.

I cannot tell you all how deeply grateful I am for your readership and encouragement. It's because of the engagement from you all that I felt like I actually had something to say as a writer, and because of that, my dream of being published is on its way to coming true. Thank you thank you thank you.

To celebrate, FINALLY an update to Princess Material! I am determined to finish this story and I hope you'll stick around to its conclusion. Hopefully updating every couple of days to get us there!

In today's installment, Terri has arrived in Portania. Are there more secrets left to uncover?

[portwelllover]

i need so many more portwell fanfics so that i can pretend that the ending of that show never happend and i can pretend they are just like the end of season 3 and everything was good

[starrrbakerrr]

Because this moment's really all we have.

[333itgirl]

right person, WRONG WRITERS.

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

#We Stan A Supportive/Protective Ex Boyfriend King

[whatever-color-of-the-rainbow]

Honestly, EJ was so real for watching Gina perform A Dancer’s Heart and immediately catching feelings

[goldengashes]

tsbu EJ’s desk

OKAY!!! this took me a while but i’m rlly happy with it. peep some of the tsbu canon callbacks <3

p.s. the gina notes on his diary are just head-canons. i think tsbu ej keeps a planner/diary and writes his thoughts down wherever he goes!!! and guess who’s always in his mind?? gina!!!! porter!!!

also… 😁 is there any chance one of the bday notes in canon tsbu contain a confession? 😛 @lovelyserpentines

[cannonball5]

There’s a concerning percentage of people who are clearly in denial or just straight up delusional.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll admit there were genuine feelings between EJ and Gina, but in love?

Please be serious. I need you all to look into your hearts and be honest with yourselves. No headcanons, no fanfics, based purely on the show, Do you really think, at any point, EJ and Gina were genuinely in love with each other?

[brekker-by-brekkerr]

I can't help but feel a little betrayed by the writers when Gina said that Ricky made her feel so seen. Not after EJ told her that she was the bravest person he ever met when he thought of her. Not only that but the couch scene in s2 cemented that between EJ and Gina. Even though s3 was rough for them I think that the circumstances weren't in their favor. This isn't hate to anyone by any means! Just a confused and slightly sad PW shipper here. 🤧

okay yeah same i did feel a little upset in that moment because on the one hand. sofia acted that moment so well and it tugged on my heartstrings and it made me happy she felt that way with ricky. but then i was like but. you were so seen by EJ!!!! i would argue even more so!! i just think these two characters will always understand each other on a different level than anyone else. the way they put their 100% into everything they do. their shared parental pressure. i could go on and on.

and in season 2 when she was feeling so unseen, when ricky was so distracted, it was EJ who saw her! it was EJ asking her how she was doing genuinely during the quincinerea scene. it was EJ seeing her and understanding her in the couch scene. it was EJ showing up with a granola bar when she most needed it. EJ saying she's the bravest person he's ever met my heart is broken EJ. saw. gina. even this season when he wasn't interacting with her the advice he gave to ricky showed just how well he knows Gina, how seen she is by him!

and anon this definitely doesn't come across as hate and i think if anyone sees it that way they have a problem with not letting people have different interpretations of the show.

as a confused and slightly sad PW shipper I'm here for you <3 i know I've expressed a lot of positive feelings about this season and the closure around portwell, but i don't want any PWs who are upset about this season to feel alone bc i definitely struggled with a lot of it. for a lot of the r*na content i had to for my sanity be like "okay. this is fine. would portwell better fit this (or a variation of this)? yes. does this apply to portwell? yes. but i will ignore this and focus on r*na being cute"

(there are valid things about the r*na ship and they have their unique aspects that make them work, and i think this season handled their relationship well in certain respects. but moments like the "i feel so seen" scene are frustrating examples of the writers highlighting a positive for r*na that also fits portwell, maybe even better, and just make my heart sad thinking about what we could have had)

[aroundthewaygirlao3]

It's Friday, so...

And I'm not even sorry ATP. 💀