November 2015
November Newsletter
Hi and welcome to (a very late) November newsletter from Project Pearlshipping. This month has been a relatively good month for us and we’ll detail why in the updates for various Pearlshipping arenas.
Fanfiction: Mixed. Quite a few fics have been written/updated but not in the past week (Things seem to have almost completely halted up to around the 13th- maybe world affairs are an influence? I don’t know). There are still a large number of updated fics under the Dawn and Ash tab, but please be aware that a high proportion of these are actually Amourshipping or “Two girl” or indeed, “multiple girl” fics (damnit!). Most of these fics are also in progress so if you’re one for completed fics, i.e. no cliffhangers, then you’re going to have a bad time.
However, I do have word from Vault that max acorn (the author we featured last month) is writing a new fic. I know that quite a few of you are fans of his so there’s some good news for you. Anyone who hasn’t heard of max acorn please be aware most of his Pearlshipping fics are M rated so if you or your parents aren’t alright with that sort of stuff, the one we featured last month is suitable for everyone.
Deviantart: Very quiet as far as I am aware. Our correspondent PlatinumSun hasn’t found a fanart of the month this month so I presume there’s not enough action for us to detect.
Instagram: Pearlshipping continues to be upheld through several very dedicated accounts. Today we can add ashxdawn5ever to our list of Pearlshippers on Instagram. After a brief period of hiatus, they are back, and those of you who are new to instagram might not have come across the account before, so it’s well worth a look. Pearlshippers have their own little circle on instagram, and if any of you have accounts that support Pearlshipping (and Pearlshipping as an Ash ship alone), do make yourselves known if you want to be added to the groupchat (started by pearlshipping4life).
Comments sections of pics are also active, especially if they compare or feature two or more shippings.
Serebii: Fairly quiet. Nothing new on the Amour side either. They’re mostly talking about how Ash won’t notice Serena in “that way” yet and they’re basically waiting for something to happen. Pearlshipping on serebii mostly speculates on a Dawn cameo these days and the discussion is usually centred on hypothetical situations. If that’s your thing, you might want to contribute.
Vault: Very active the past couple of days. The analysis graph has skyrocketed.
Hint of the Month:
Eyy, we’re actually having a hint of the month! The Brocktober thread on Vault was a bit of a fail, analysis wise. While we have a few bits of new fanart that people managed to find, we didn’t get much textual content so I’m making up for that with this. Today we’ll be looking at…
DATES!!!
Many of you have heard of or seen XY059 “Satoshi and Serena’s first date?!”- The (I think) misleadingly and stupidly titled episode about Ash and Serena’s supposed first date (because it sounds like some idiotic fangirl is screaming the title whenever I get to the “?!”)
“No shipping can beat this!” the Amourshippers cry. Well…really?!
First of all, I’ll run briefly through the plot of this episode. Ash and Serena go and get gifts for the Pokemon since Clemont and Bonnie want to stay at the Poke Centre. Serena is uncomfortable about this since she thinks it’s a date (that girl has a one track mind), and this one is where she tries to grab Ash’s hand but doesn’t because she’s nervous and blushing too hard.
Halfway through, Ash ditches Serena. Literally, the bulbapedia says “Ash decides to leave” (Which, funnily enough, is what almost every Amourshipper ultimately fears at the end of the series). Then they meet up with everyone, including Clemont and Bonnie, at the “vow tree” where they promise to do their best for their Pokemon etc. etc. and Ash gives Serena the blue ribbon he got for being the millionth passenger at the monorail as thanks for accompanying him. Serena then “promises to treasure the ribbon”.
Now let’s grab the Pearlshipping thing I’ll be comparing this to. You have probably all watched the DP episode “Tanks for the Memories”. This is the one where Ash suggests he and Dawn get something to eat after he finds her crying about her third contest loss. Then they go get ice cream, and the fun times are unceremoniously interrupted by Brock, who they see hanging on to Team Rocket’s ballon.
Let’s start the analysis. While, in the DP episode, Ash and Dawn are NOT the focus, the (what pearlshippers often call) “ice cream date” is much more meaningful than Ash and Serena’s “date”, and I’ll tell you why. Firstly, let’s look at purpose.
Ash and Serena’s date is to get gifts for the Pokemon, it’s not about any interaction between Ash and Serena (in the canon verse anyway- the writers obviously intended this episode to be targeted towards Amourshippers). On the other hand, Ash’s INVITATION to Dawn is obviously to cheer her up. Whether he feigns denseness after Dawn says she’s fine for the sake of not embarrassing her is debatable, but the implication still remains that Ash is willing to (or wants to) spend time with Dawn. The purpose of this date, indeed, was to spend time with her and cheer her up- the date itself is Ash and Dawn centric. The purpose for the Pearlshipping date already sounds more romantic at this stage.
The Pearlshipping date doesn’t get a lot of airtime, and the main strong point that the date has to help us is the purpose, so this is the argument to use whenever Amourshippers claim their date episode is unbeatable. Some Pearlshippers also suggest the ice cream is connected to the song Ice Cream Syndrome. Whether that is true or not is unclear.
Secondly, let’s get to taking apart the Amourshipping date. We’ve already seen the purpose of it- not to spend time together (which debates its title as a date). Now, the first significant thing is that Ash ditches her, which causes Serena to make this sweet, sweet face that all Pearlshippers should look at in times of sadness.
Aww. Look at him go.
So, Ash clearly doesn’t seen spending time with Serena as a priority on this date. After a few hours, Serena meets up with Ash again by accident. Ash tells Serena he can’t choose a gift, and Serena tells him to choose something he’d like since he’s quite similar to his Pokemon.
Thirdly, we now move on to the ribbon. When Ash finds out the box from the monorail contains a ribbon, what we can basically summarise is that he does not give a toss about it. Serena, of course, thinks the ribbon is really cool. And this detail is important for the next part. When Ash gives Serena the blue ribbon at the tree, he gives it to her as thanks for helping him choose a gift. The ribbon is something that Ash doesn’t really value, and he gives it to Serena as thanks, or basically, repayment. This is the first time Ash has given a girl a gift without prompting, but this is to be expected from a more mature, XY Ash. Still, the concept of giving the gift as thanks rather than any personal forward feeling is far less romantic than Amourshippers make it out to be (?!).
Although the focus of the Amourshipping episode on Ash and Serena makes the episode seem stronger, a more meaningful look at the events is key. (for Pearlshippers, anyway. Obviously the Amourshippers want their precious date episode to stand above all)
So, next time an Amourshipper tries to lord their date over you, flash them this table!
Summary Table- Pearl Date vs Amour Date
Fanfiction of the Month
Haven’t got one, since the newsletter team pretty much forgot about the newsletter until last week! I hope the analysis today makes up for it, and next month we should have an FF of the month. If you want your fanfiction feature please contact legendaryphenom on FF.net. If you don’t have a fanfiction account (if your fic is on wattpad or something) then email me. All contact details are on the sidebar.
Pearlshippy things to do:
- Check out some Pearlshipping instagram accounts. If you don’t have the app, just look them up on iconosquare. A Google search with their username and the word iconosquare should yield the correct results.
- Maybe have a look on Serebii?
- Listen to high touch, as always.
So this is me signing off for now. See you in December (like two weeks later).
