#I still gotta finish the ones of Bowen's mom too

[tetsuwan-atom]

@project-rebirth​ said : do ittttt 

Welp, looks like I’m in 3-character Icon Hell now.

And don’t get me started on how much I’ll need to edit too!

[multimetaverse]

HSMTMTS 2x08 Review

Most Likely To was the best ep of S2 so far and ended one ship while launching another. Let’s dig in!

Gaston was super fun, a very nice showcase for both Larry and Matt. This is the kind of energy that early S2 was lacking. Also feels like the first ep where East High might actually have a shot at beating North High. Covid restrictions played a role but we really needed to see more rehearsal scenes and scenes of the wildcats just being theatre kids. This also may be one of the last times we see EJ perform as a student in the musical so I’m glad we got this.  

EJ has been criminally underused for most of S2, he’s marketed as part of the big 4 along with Nini, Ricky, and Gina and Matt Cornett’s name is listed 3rd in the credits but in the early eps of S2 you’d think he was guest star. Lately he’s started to become more important and tonight was an excellent showcase of why he’s such an interesting character. I’m not gonna check but this feels like it’s the most EJ screen time in a single ep that we’ve gotten all season long. 

Of course, the main reason for EJ’s increased screen time is because of Portwell. I’ve been neutral on them but tonight they really won me over’ their scenes were so sweet that they warmed even my cold black heart. Matt and Sofia are good friends irl and that shines through in their easy rapport and great chemistry. Gina snorting at EJ’s joke was cute and I loved the shot of Gina accidentally walking into the shot for EJ’s confessional. As an aside, they’ve been doing some fun stuff with the confessionals lately which helps add a bit of the metaness that helped make S1 so great.

The real big Portwell scene tonight was EJ and Gina talking on the couch at Ashlyn’s. Lot’s to love there. Gina’s speech to EJ about what she sees when she thinks of him was sweet and her saying that EJ tried to do the right thing and often failed but kept trying echoes what she said of herself during her confession to Ricky. Also when EJ asked Gina if she understood the feeling of having her life mapped out she replied, ‘’not really’’ which is almost certainly the inspiration for Gina asking a question to EJ and him responding ‘’not really’’ in their pre S2 face time call on the hsmtmts instagram. 

EJ is still wracked with guilt for the guy he used to be but Gina reminds him that he’s grown and is a good guy which leads to her slip up about her seeing him that way vs the rest of the gang hinting that she’s beginning to catch feelings for EJ. Which leads to EJ complimenting her and them having a moment that could well have led to a kiss if Ashlyn hadn’t come home. And they cap it off with Gina falling asleep and EJ covering her with his Duke sweater. 

It’s been nice not seeing Gina upset over Ricky these past two eps and it’s a damning indictment of the poor writing and pacing of S2 that her story in the first 6 eps can be summed up as Gina being upset over something Ricky said or did. Not only has Portwell allowed EJ to rise in prominence but also it’s allowed Gina to escape the rut her character was stuck in pining for Ricky. 

I hope after S2 is over that we get an interview where Tim explains how the Portwell plot came to be. The S1 finale set up some possible interest between them as did the pre S2 face time call but nothing came of it during the first 4 eps, they stood next to each other a lot but barely interacted otherwise. Notably in 2x01, which Tim himself wrote, EJ tries to grow a beard and tells Ashlyn that he says her as so young which is extremely jarring now that we know that EJ is crushing on Gina who is Ashlyn’s age. 

Was Tim not set on doing Portwell until he realized he needed to give Gina something else to do other than hopelessly pine for Ricky? Narratively, it made sense after Rini got together in S1 to put the other two Big 4 characters together in S2 but did Tim not want it to seem so obvious to the audience so he deliberately kept Portwell apart until 2x05 where EJ’s feelings make for a nice plot twist? Was he just reluctant to plug EJ back into the love square due to how much more complicated it would make things but later felt he had no other options? Or was it just plain old bad pacing and writing?

Of course, I wish that there wasn’t such a large age gap between Sofia and Matt but there are no Gina ships that avoid that problem, there’s also an age gap between Sofia and Joshua, just as there was between Olivia and Joshua and Matt in S1. Depending on when they film S3 there’s a good chance that most of it will be finished before Sofia even turns 18 which is deeply unfortunate. There’s a broader issue of teen girls being cast in mostly age appropriate roles while their male love interests are older adults and in particular it often affects female characters of colour. Netflix has a really bad track record with those kind of age gaps but Disney has problems too as we’ve seen on HSMTMTS and on GMW where by the end of S3 they had 18 year old Peyton Meyer as the boyfriend of 14 year old Rowan Blanchard’s character (not to mention canon Joshaya which didn’t have such a bad age gap between the actors but was problematic regarding the ages of the characters themselves).

A knock I’ve seen on Portwell is that EJ is just gonna leave for university next year but that was never gonna happen, Matt’s under the same 4 season contract as all the other mains and he’ll be sticking around in some capacity much like Sharpay ended up doing in the movies. It is true that EJ will probably have to move on at the end of S4 while Gina still has her senior year left but that will also happen with her and Ricky since he’ll be graduating at the end of S4. It was a big mistake to make EJ a senior but it also may end up being a big mistake to make Gina a sophomore. It would have been too messy to retcon EJ to be a junior but Tim probably should have taken the chance to retcon Gina into being a junior in S2.

That Rini breakup was so sad (missed opportunity for gotta go my own way). They managed to get in a Troyella reference with the treehouse. This was inevitable they just have not been communicating well though now that we know that Ricky thought Nini left YAC for him some of his desperation to spend as much time together as possible makes more sense. I think Rini is endgame if the series has 4 seasons but it wouldn't shock me if we never seem them dating again and they only get back together in the series finale. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Nini never dates anyone else for the remainder of the series or at least not seriously. 

We’re not even halfway through the series so it’s way too early to permanently slam the door on Rini though this time apart will probably help Joshua and Olivia move on from their own bitter break up before it bleeds too much into their performances. I do wonder if Tim really has a clue what he's gonna do with them for the remaining 24-28 eps of the series, assuming S3 and S4 have 10-12 eps each. 

Roman Banks killed If I Can’t Love Her and the montage of all the couples or ex couples was great.

It was nice to finally meets some parents other than the Bowen’s and Salazar-Roberts’. Kourtney’s mom was played by Dara’s actual mother and their dynamic was great as expected. It seems from their conversation that Kourtney's father is dead which I don’t believe has been mentioned before. Cash Caswell.... well it gets what the character is about across. He really looks and sounds like a rich Utah republican, I bet he knows Mitt Romney personally. I liked EJ going to tell his father that he’s not going to Duke and recognizing that he wants to build his own life on his own merits. 

We saw a bit of that S1 Miss Jenn energy tonight which was fun though I didn't like how curt she was with Seb nor did I like how rude Carlos was to Seb although we know that blows up in 2x10. 

Jazzara rising! I really liked how Jazzara and Portwell are sort of mirroring each other and since Mazzara knows about EJ’s feelings for Gina it wouldn’t shock me if helping EJ out is part of him showing a softer side in 2x12.

Of course Ashlyn is VP of the Nostradamus society. It's clear her family has some kooky new age beliefs (her parents are probably members of some naturopathic medicine group on Facebook that doubles as a gateway into Qanon)

It was nice to see Big Red being such a good friend to Ricky and the return of Ricky’s infamous pillow hugs. Lmao at Ashlyn just chilling while Big Red is comforting Ricky

Also Miss Jenn saying sexy and Big Red referring to pillow talk, the writers are adding a bit of spice when cooking up these scripts.

Looking Ahead: 

Looks like Gina may be wearing EJ's duke sweater next ep according to some posts I saw. Jack presumably is there to somehow help Gina decide what she wants with Ricky and EJ though him having wanderlust might also feed into Gina’s thoughts on settling down in SLC or moving with her mom around the country.

Let's see what mom of the year, Lynne Bowen, has up her sleeves. Ricky’s bedroom at her place in Chicago looks much nicer than the apartment Mike Bowen has so perhaps she makes a lot more money than he does. 

Not looking forward to the Zoom portions of the ep but I guess it was inevitable. 

There’s only two paths for Gina’s story to go in the remainder of this season; either she decides to move on from Ricky and give EJ a chance or she decides that Ricky is worth trying again and squelches her budding feelings for EJ. The former looks much more likely after tonight’s ep but either way it needs to be handled with care. Inevitably Gina and Ricky need to talk about what happened between them but if Tim really wants Ricky to continue being a viable love interest or even a good friend to Gina then he needs to really have Ricky apologize and show a thoughtful, kinder side of him that’s largely been missing this season. 

What I think Tim is doing is setting up Portwell getting together in 2x12 but Ricky pining over Gina until Portwell break up late S3 and Rina get together in the S3 finale before they break up later in S4 and Ricky gets back with Nini near the end of the series. If I had Tim’s ear I would tell him that he should pick which ship he wants to do, Rina or Portwell, but don’t do both. He wants canon Rina? Great then end Portwell before it starts and have Rina happen in S3 and introduce other obstacles to them getting together rather than having to damage EJ’s character and make him lose another girl he likes to Ricky. He wants canon Portwell? Great then have Gina and Ricky’s conversation be closure for the both of them and have Gina and EJ get together and break them up without Ricky being a cause of it or waiting in the wings to get with Gina soon afterwards. Doing both will be a disaster and I truly hope that Tim Federle carefully thinks over his mistakes in S2 and really plans out the remaining 2 seasons of the series while there’s still time to prevent things from going really off the rails like GMW and AM did thanks to the bad decisions of Michael Jacobs and Terri Minsky. 

Until next week wildcats. 

[plsx3]

things you said when we first met (rini!!!)

send me a prompt! (things you said)

Richard Bowen did not want to go to school.

Richard Bowen really really did not want to go to school.

That was all he could think as he stood there, the large building looming up in front of him, his parents behind him. Up until this point, the young boy had actually been rather excited for school, his parents had told him all about how he would make friends, and have fun, and learn all kinds of new things... But now that he stood there, seeing the school for the first, it looked scary, and suddenly he was a lot less sure about school.

Turning back around to face his parents, he shook his head quickly, running over to his mom and wrapping his arms around her leg. “I changed my mind, I don’t wanna go. Please don’t make go, mommy. It’s too scary, daddy. Don’t make go please.” He dragged out the last word, burying his face in the side of his mother’s leg, clinging on for dear life.

He heard a chuckle come from above him and he scowled, he didn’t think this was very funny. He then felt a tap on his shoulder, and reluctantly pulled his face out of his mother’s leg, only to come face to face with his father. “Richard, buddy, you got to go to school. I know it seems scary now, but I promise it will be a lot of fun. Don’t you remember what mommy and I told you?” Mike Bowen looked up at his wife, prompting her to finish the conversation for him, and Richard looked up at her too.

Lynne smiled down at her son, a hand going to run through his curls as she nodded. “Yeah, sweetie, remember? You’re going to make lots of friends, and you’ll have so much fun, and you’re going to be able to learn all kinds of things you didn’t know before. You’ll be so smart, don’t you want to be smart like me and daddy?” She asked gently.

Richard considered this for a moment, he did want to be smart, he was a curious child, always asking all kinds of questions, and wanting to know how his mom and dad knew so much... And the idea of making friends did sound like a lot of fun... He looked back at the school building and as he did, he noticed a boy that seemed to his age entering the school with his parents, he had bright red hair and he didn’t look scared at all... Okay, okay, maybe he could do this.

Sucking in a breath, he detached himself from his mother’s leg, letting the breath out and then looking up at his parents. He gave a small nod, almost as if he was trying to confirm to himself that he was sure about this, and stuck out a hand to his mother. “Okay. Okay. I’ll go.” Lynne’s smile widened and she took her son’s hand, and they began to walk into the school, Mike following behind them.

It didn’t take them very long to find Richard’s classroom, and his teacher (her name was Miss Cassie) greeted them a warm smile, it reminded him of his mom and it kind of made him feel safe. He said goodbye to his parents, which was hard but he told himself he couldn’t cry in front of all the other kids, he had to be a big boy now, he had to be brave... And then it was just him and Miss Cassie.

“Well, Richard, we have to find you a buddy!” The teacher exclaimed, and at his confused expression, went on to explain herself. “Oh, well, you see, I have tables for everyone, each table has two chairs. Your buddy will be who you sit next to, and the two of you will work with each other on projects and such, hm... Let’s see, who can I put you with...” She looked around for a moment, seeking an empty seat. “Oh! I know!” 

She began to lead him towards one of the tables, at the table seated a girl. She was pretty, and looked friendly enough, but Richard still found himself a little nervous. “Richard, this is Nina Salazar-Roberts, I think the two of you will make great buddies.” She waited for him to get seated before moving back to the front of the classroom to greet the next new kid.

“Hi!” The girl exclaimed, smiling widely at him. He noted that she was missing one of her front teeth, but her smile was still just as pretty as the rest of her. In a way, it reminded him of his mom too.

“Hi.” He said back shyly, attempting to give a smile of his own.

She didn’t seem to mind his shyness though, just started talking again. “So your name is Richard?” She asked, making a slight face at his name that he didn’t quite understand, so he didn’t comment on it.

“Yeah it is, and yours is, um... Ni... Ni...” He found himself struggling to say her name properly, the ‘ah’ sound didn’t want to come out. “Nini?”

She immediately giggled, and his face turned red, feeling embarrassed now. “Well, it’s Nina... But I like the name Nini.” She had a soft smile on her face now, and he felt his embarrassment die down, a genuine smile coming to his own face now.

“Okay then... I’ll call you Nini.” He said, nodding.

“Nini. It’s perfect! I’m gonna tell my mommies my name is Nini now.” She giggled again as she said this, and this time he giggled along with her. Though, he liked her giggle a lot better, it was almost magical sounding. The way he imagined a fairy would giggle.

Suddenly Nini let out a gasp and her eyes widened, he was about to ask what was wrong, when she turned and started digging around in the pencil case he’d noticed on her desk. After a few seconds of digging, she turned back to him, brandishing an object and holding it out to him. He took it, and examined it carefully, quickly realizing it was a bracelet, made of string.

“What’s this?” He asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“It’s a friendship bracelet, my mommies helped me make lots of them before I came to school so I could them to all the friends I made... And that one is for my best friend.” She explained, pointing to it as she did.

“We’re best friends?” Richard questioned, he’d never had a friend before. Let alone a best one.

Nini giggled again and Richard was sure in that moment that he never wanted to hear her stop giggling. “Duh! Haven’t you ever watch High School Musical? Gabbyrella says that when you go to kindergarten, you meet a kid, and then you’re best friends!” She said all this very proudly, completely sure of her words.

He wasn’t completely sure what she was talking about, but he took her word for it, and slipped the friendship bracelet onto his wrist. “I’ve never watched High School Musical...”

Nini let out an offended gasp, her mouth dropping open and looking at him as though he’d just announced he was actually from Mars. “You gotta come to my house after school and watch it! Okay? You gotta, you just gotta!” She insisted, almost frantically.

Truthfully, Richard had no interest in that movie, it seemed girly and boring, with too much singing... But Nini was too nice and pretty, he didn’t want to upset her. Plus, she invited him to her house, he’d never been to another kid’s house before. “Okay, okay, I will.” He told her with a smile.

Nini looked at him for a moment, before holding her pinky up to him. “Promise?” 

He immediately linked her pinky with his own, nodding. “Promise.” He confirmed.

Nini didn’t pull her pinky away yet though. “One more promise... Promise that we’ll be best friends forever?”

Richard smiled widely at that. “I promise. Forever.”

“Good.” She pulled away now, before launching into a ramble about High School Musical and how it was ‘the bestest movie ever!’ and he listened with rapt interest.

... Maybe school wouldn’t be so bad after all.

[chinuppoppins]

Could you possibly write something where Tandy and Tyrone accidentally kiss or kiss in the heat of the moment or something? I just love your writing so much!!!

Um yes and thank you my dear!

So like I listened to Perfect on loop for this fic, so I hope you all enjoy it!

There was a lot of things he was starting to learn about Tandy Bowen.

Tandy could sing, he would often hear her singing along to whatever song was pouring into her ears through her ear buds. Tyrone tried to to creep, but sometimes he would stop at the doorway just to listen to her before announcing his presence.

Also she wasn’t as open as he was. He would be happy to flesh out everything that happened during the day, from the conversation he had with his parents in the morning to what happened in class his, and the arguments and ending relationship with Evita. She would listen as she enjoyed a milkshake or a soda, never commenting about her day, not once.

Another thing was that she was a good listener, offered advice on how to handle some situations with the people in his lfe, it was good having her perspective on certain things. They’ve learned to trust each other, every other night was spent with her and he liked that, even if it was causing a rift with his love life.

They were sitting next to each other, enjoying pizza and for once just talking and laughing about life and listening to a random pandora station.

“So uh, I have to go to this school dance on Saturday.” He tells her while fetching another slice for himself. “My mom took me to get a tux, she had to match the color of Evita’s dress to the T.”

Tandy sips her soda, brow raised and a smile on her face. “Lucky lady, bet you don’t look half bad in a suit.”

He chuckles. “Yeah well, let’s hope that the suit is my saving grace. I am actually freaking out on the inside. This is sort of my first school dance-”

“Aw, choir boy, you’ve never danced with a girl?” She teases and holds back a laugh. “Right, you go to catholic school, so you gotta leave space for Christ.”

“You’re hysterical you know, making fun of me in my time of need. It’s not just dancing, I know how to dance, it’s what Evita expects  after the dance is what has me freaked. Last time we got that close, it wasn’t pleasant. I’m not sure, I want to fix us, it’s just like-”

“Your powers are rejecting her?” Tandy finishes. “Yeah you’re telling me, it’s like the ultimate cockblock. The light likes to make me into a freaking nun.”

“Maybe it’s just not supposed to be her, maybe it’s…” He stops, their eyes meeting for a split second before he breaks eye contact.

Silence fills the church, all that could be heard was the faint music playing from her phone. The song that they were listening to ended and a slower one began. “I have an idea.” She says as she turned the music up louder. “Show me your slow dancing skills and I can give you pointers on how to woo your girl.” She stands up, dusting off her hands and offers him a hand. “C’mon, slick, show me what you’ve got.”

“Is this- this is Ed Sheeran, you listen to Ed Sheeran?” Tyrone teases.

Tandy rolls her eyes. “It’s just a random station, you know how it just picks random songs.”

Tyrone looks over to the screen. “It’s your thumbprint station, and this song has a thumbs up.”

“Dude, shut up and just dance with me.”

Tyrone chuckles, takes her hand and leads her out to the center of the old building. “You gonna let me lead?” He asks and she scoffs as she wraps her arms around his shoulders. “So.” He began as they swayed to the music. “You listen to some Taylor Swift too? Is there a side of Tandy Bowen that I don’t know?”

“I swear Ty, I will step on your feet-” She threatens and he laughs, smiling a genuine smile at her there was a beat of silence before she began to speak. “This is actually nice.” She decided. “Our lovely gifts aren’t going batshit and you smell good, so.”

Tyrone smirked. “So a plus side is that I smell good?” She nods and he laughs. “So if I don’t step on Evita’s feet and smell good, I’ll win her back?”

“Pretty much, Ty. And smile at her, you have a handsome smile, use it man.” She tells him. “That was my worldly advice to you for the week.” Tandy teases him. For the moment, she lets her head relax on his chest, alright, maybe this song was getting to her and being this close to Tyrone wasn’t helping. Though when she felt him relax and pull her closer, something in her clicked.

She pulled back for a moment, her eyes locking with his. “What? Wait, this is okay, right?” and there it was, he was always checking, always asking and never taking. Ever since she opened up to him with what happened in the alleyway. “T, you al-”

She cuts him off as the song slowly begins to end by pressing her lips to his. It takes him off guard for half a second, but she finally feels him regain himself. Their kiss was sweet, slow, innocent. Something that Tandy had never experienced before until now. When they pull apart, foreheads touching and her eyes flutter open, the only thing she could say was. “You have nice eyelashes.” She rubs her lips, still feeling the bits of energy on them and then she remembers the girl Tyrone has been trying to win back. Her stomach sinks as she pulls out of his grasp.

“Tandy?” He questions and she shakes her head.

“This can’t happen, you have Evita, I have Liam.” She wraps her arms around herself. “We can’t do this.”

Tyrone steps closer again and she takes a step back. “Tandy, don’t run from me, please. Maybe we aren’t supposed to be with them, I think that it’s us, I think that we are supposed to be together- like soulmates or something. I can’t be with a girl and without thinking about you or what you doing, or if you are okay and you know you have the same problem. It’s not fair to them.”

He had a point and Tandy knew he was right. “We need to do this right then, be fair to Evita and to Liam. If we want this to work between us, and believe me, Ty, I want it to work, we need to stop dragging them along.”

Tyrone nods, walks over to her and ever so carefully wraps his arms around her. “I’ll talk to Evita tomorrow and you get a hold of Liam. They’re gonna be hurt, but, it’ll be alright in the end, I promise.”

And she knows he’s right.