oh ok pretty boy

harper reads a lot lmao / rj caswen hsmtmts

[snoopdog11]

getaway car x drivers license mashup is literally gina and ejs break up scene

[goodluckisak]

just wanna take a second to appreciate dara renee and matt cornett for TWO incredibly accurate and raw depictions of anxiety this season.

dara displayed a beautiful performance of that paralyzing fear that completely kicks you down and stops you in your tracks. something that happens to me so often in big social spaces (just like what the climbing wall represented)

and matt! matt was just phenomenal at showing that underlying DREAD that comes with an anxiety of the inevitable. any time ej is in the background of a scene after his phone call you can just see how he’s never really comfortable, and just on edge the whole time. something i can REALLY relate to because that’s just my default state.

props to both of them for playing such a real feeling and problem so well and so carefully, beautiful performances from them <3

[snoopdog11]

i shipped rina in season 1

portwell in season 2

and then in season 3 when rina kissed I couldn’t process it bc I was so heartbroken over ej being thrown under a literal bus all season and it wasn’t until I read the original script on that insta post that I shipped shipped rina bc omfg the chocolates.

[snoopdog11]

the core difference between ej and ricky is that ricky is loved unconditionally and ej is not.

For basically the entire show ricky is a kid with no responsibilities other than to the musical but also no pressure to be anything other than who he is: a kid. he’s a slacker with bad grades and commitment issues but his parents and friends love him regardless. He’s just loved for who he is.

EJ on the other hand is the exact opposite he has a perfect grades, a mountain of responsibilities from student body treasurer to water polo captain not to mention directing a musical in season 3. EJ also isn’t a slacker but he also isn’t loved unconditionally by his family who seem to just put up with him (ashlyn) and his father who wouldn’t even see his show or tell him he’s proud of him. Most if not all of ej’s actions have been to prove that he’s worthy of love and that if he’s successful he’ll be worthy of love wether it be from friends or partners or family

[snoopdog11]

ej calling ricky a brother just reinforces that he had no healthy relationships in his life where anyone ever put his needs before their own even though he was always looking out for everyone else.

[maad-maxx-deactivated20230130]

can benjamin come back? i need him. ej needs him. benjamin mazzara you are needed.

[snoopdog11]

what happened to the 104 days of summer vacation y’all Americans are supposed to have? Why is Gina acting like the 12 days she has at camp is the entire summer? That’s not even two weeks?!?? I’m speechless-

[snoopdog11]

the documentary will never air because ricky’s dad probably never signed the forms since he just rocked up so all the drama will be for nothing wow

[caswensworld]

Ricky, we both know EJ could end you if he wanted to. If you wanna make that a tradition, go ahead

[snoopdog11]

I WANT EJ TO GO TO SAINT LOUIS AND FIND PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT HIM

[rosesradio]

for all of the ej slander we have endured this season, i am willing to except an apology in one of four ways:

1.) ej gets an emotional scene in which he breaks down and has a heartfelt song dedicated to him, like all of the other struggling characters have gotten thus far (some have gotten multiple songs).

2.) ej gets a hot villain bop in which he corrupts the entire show as a last screw you all to the cast who has been nothing but inconsiderate of him

3.) ej gets a heartfelt ballad in which we can all begin to sympathize for him until it takes a sickening turn into a hot villain bop

4.) ej gets with ricky

[snoopdog11]

why don’t you like Val?

oh I’ll tell you why - bc when EJ was reaching out for help in someone he’s known and trusts for basically his whole childhood he gets knocked with

“Woah buddy don’t you have a gf to have these conversations with?”

and then he shuts down and doesn’t try to reach out for help with his anxiety again. He’s got so much on his mind and so much to deal with and no one wants or wanted to help him, no one. It’s actually heartbreaking.

[aroundthewaygirlao3]

HSMTMTS S3E7 Rant

RANT Ahead!

Why are we treating Kourtney’s anxiety and EJ’s anxiety SO differently?

Kourtney’s worried about bombing on stage, she gets a literal chorus of supportive sisters to help her climb the literal and metaphorical wall.

EJ is worried about his ENTIRE LIFE imploding, and he gets snarky comments from Ricky about how everyone knows he’s stressed, Carlos (who knows the stress of putting on a show) telling him to “just do it at night,” and literally NO ONE just taking the damn script away at the prom. Gina knew exactly where to find him after the last dance, why didn’t she go look for him DURING it? Where is the close relationship he and Ashlyn have had for years? Why is his arc just about “wow, he’s fucking up everywhere”? 

YES, EJ made mistakes. YES, he’s terrible at reaching out and asking for help. So was Kourtney. But she got support, and EJ didn’t. And I think Kourtney DESERVED the help! But why didn’t EJ?

To be clear, this isn’t about the Portwell breakup. I think Gina has some very valid points about them being in different places and feeling unsure about the future, and all those feelings are incredibly valid and real. I think they came a bit out of nowhere and wish we’d been actually addressing those issues all season instead of these GIGANTIC external factors that they keep dropping onto this couple, so it felt a bit unearned, but that part isn’t the problematic part for me.

I CAN’T get behind the way the narrative has treated EJ and diminished what HIS experience of anxiety has been time and time again.

It feels like a very gendered lens on mental health, honestly, and I’m not here for it. 

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

2x10 | 3x6

[snoopdog11]

the saddest most heartbreaking ricky ej parallel is that they both loose the places they considered “home”

In season 3 ej introduces the camp as his “second” home and a place where he can just be a “kid” but instead they throw a mountain of responsibility on him and camp goes from his safest most favourite place to the most stressful place on earth where his privacy no longer exists bc of the documentary.

In season 1, Ricky runs away from home one night after his parents announce their divorce and he feels like he can’t return home. He also calls nini his home after moving away from his childhood home only to then experience the most toxic relationship ever. Also his dad starts dating his teacher and he no longer feels that his theatre space is safe either (see 2x06)

Obviously this is just an observation and both characters have really been going through it at different points in the series but I really hope they find new homes

[timelessbibliophile]

I am sick and tired of portwells and rinas screaming about how x character is the devil for so-and-so reason. I think the love triangle, as individuals, have been built pretty cleverly. All of their POVs can be understood.

On Gina's side, she feels like she's being shut out of EJ's life because has this need to prove to his dad he can do the show on his own. She feels like they were a team and now they're falling apart, but she's also being super petty and immature about it. And tbh it's fine because she was mad! It's understandable to try to hurt someone who hurt you.

EJ is extremely pressed with so many responsibilities. He wants to spend time with Gina, he wants to enjoy camp, he wants to prove to his dad he can do things right, he wants to get everything from the show right, he wants to keep the documentary going. Surely you can see how stressful this situation is for him, right? All he wanted to do was have fun one last summer and he just got dumped with this massive responsibility, and had to act like it was fine. However, he decided to do the whole thing alone. He is a perfectionist who thinks that by doing things alone he can prove that he's good at something—at what he does. If only he asked for help from Val, or his friends, he would know that they're all together, and that there's no need to do everything by himself. Surely you can understand where he comes from, right?

Ricky just left a horrible relationship. He wanted to be free, and find himself at summer, but feelings he thought were forgotten resurfaced and he couldn't feel worse about it. She's in a relationship in which she seems happy, and he thinks he can't ruin that if he really likes her, so he tortures himself by helping her with her boyfriend, going on walks with her, and singing love songs with her for the musical. He's really trying not to get in the way, but his feelings are too strong to not say the occasional completely wrong comment that her boyfriend "stole her" from him. He's trying not to interfere in her happiness, but he hurts himself in the way. Surely you can understand that, right?

These characters aren't black and white. They aren't supposed to be. So saying Ricky is a homewrecker or saying EJ doesn't really care for Gina, or saying Gina's being incredibly unfair to poor bby EJ is wrong because it's not that simple.

I'm tired of seeing people saying it is

[thstarsofsilver]

absolutely!!! and the whole point is that these characters are meant to be flawed - their flaws are what make them interesting. a show about perfect characters would be devastatingly boring.

they're also kids. kids with a lot of feelings and not enough life experience to know how best to deal with them. kids with responsibilities and emotions and chips on their shoulders. kids just trying to enjoy their first relationship or enjoy finally being out of one or direct a show with far too little notice or deal with their parents' divorce or reach the too-high standards they hold themselves to or branch out or who knows what else.

there aren't heroes or villains in this story. there are people. and vilifiying them all for normal human emotions is pointless and unnecessary.

[ejcaswelll]

ej’s been calling ricky ‘bowen’ an awful lot this season and it makes my brain go brrrrrr in a variety of complex ways like somethingsomething the emotional distance of using someone’s last name to refer to them but the inherent intimacy of using a name for them no one else does . yeah