About Yin-Yang 

 

Basics:

 

This site was created in September 2007. It's the product of MANY years of Palletshipping - I got interested in it when I was about 12 (so around the year 2000) :D. Palletshipping is largely what got me interested in Pokémon again, but that's a different story.

 

This page will hopefully be a combination of different things. It'll have the usual shippy material - evidence, pictures, fanworks, links, etc. But I'm hoping to add more. I analyze pretty much everything to death, while at the same time enjoy poking fun at/having fun with almost everything, so I want to add some more 'scholarly' stuff as well as fluffier things, like games and humor.

 

The majority of the site content itself will focus on the anime. I place much more importance on the Japanese versions of episodes than on the English ones. Unfortunately, I barely know any Japanese, and don't really know where to find subtitled episodes (or even if they exist in large numbers), so I usually have to go with what I see in the English dubs ^^. But if you have any information on subtitles, translations, etc. of Japanese Palletshippy episodes, please let me know!

 

Note that since school is in session, updates are infrequent :(. But I'll still be checking my email constantly, making any necessary changes, and doing maintenance. If you have anything to ask, comment on, contribute, etc., feel free to contact me :D. Even if it doesn't relate to the anime - I only focus on that because it's what I know best in terms of Palletshippy evidence, but I would love to know more about various manga (and game?) hints. You can contact me by writing a message (public or private) in my guestbook.

 

Why Ash and Gary?

 

I like this pairing for a few reasons ^_^. First, like most shippers with their respective ships (I think), I see actual moments of implied or potential romance between them, like the arc with the pokeball halves and Ash's postcard-inspired daydream (both of which I hope to include in the Hints page). Second, I like their development, both as individual characters and together. They've obviously both greatly matured over the show, and their relationship is just very interesting in my opinion. They've always been competitive and have pissed each other off a lot, but it's always been obvious too that they do care about and support each other, even if they don't often express it with cheers and smiles (at least not to each other's faces), like a lot of the other friendships and shippings. I like the relative uniqueness and subtlety of it. Third, kind of touching on the second reason, I like that they have a history (that's canonically established). It was revealed during the Advanced Generation that early on in their lives, they were friendly enough to watch at least one movie together sitting next to each other. During the Johto saga, it was revealed that their rivalry had essentially started before they started training pokémon. Taking both instances into consideration, one can obviously make the conclusion that Ash and Gary were friends when they were little, then something happened (either one instance or a series of them, or there was a sudden or gradual change in something) to make them rivals. Then, over the show, they become friends again, while still maintaining some of their rivalry. All the while, as I said before, they continued to care about each other, though it wasn't made too obvious for a while. I like that history aspect too, and can't think of any characters who have that kind of long, dynamic relationship (except for maybe May and Max, but that's a given), so the added unique-ness is interesting. Lastly, and maybe most superficially (relative speaking? XD), I like their chemistry. Ash is still relatively brash and impulsive, while Gary is calm and thinks things through. Pretty cliché, but I think their personality clashes are cute ^_^

 

Why 'Yin-Yang'?

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(the Taijitu/yin-yang, a symbol "which represents the principle of yin and yang")

I'm not Taoist, so please forgive and correct me if I make a mistake here :\. Simplification in this matter is a given.

 

Obviously, a fictional relationship doesn't compare to a whole way of thinking, but I think Ash and Gary's relationship does have some interesting parallels to the philosophy.

 

Wikipedia has this to say:

 

"The dual concepts of yin and yang (or heaven and earth) describe two primal opposing but complementary principles or cosmic forces...yin is the dark element: it is passive, dark, feminine, negative, downward-seeking, consuming and corresponds to the night. Yang is the bright element: it is active, light, masculine, positive, upward-seeking, producing and corresponds to the daytime...the black and white shapes within the circle [of the Taijitu symbol] represent the interaction of two principles or aspects, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white)...Each of them contains an element or seed of the other, and they cannot exist without each other."

 

Ash and Gary are very different in a lot of respects, and as I said before, these differences often lead to conflicts. However, as demonstrated throughout the show, when they work together and compromise, drawing on each other's strengths, they really get things done and done well. Ash and Gary's strengths as well as their personality traits add to and balance each other, making the "final product" better. For example, in "Ill-Will Hunting," it took a combination of both caution and planning as well as action and force, initially advocated by Gary and Ash, respectively, to foil Hunter J's plans. While I wouldn't call Gary feminine, he does fit some of the other yin qualities. He is calmer and, as seen in "Ill-Will Hunting," will let things slide if they don't cause any harm (like with letting Hunter J leave), even if they're personally grating. In addition, currently he is shown to be quite serious and thoughtful. Ash, on the other hand, corresponds more to the yang element - he's almost constantly pushing ahead, upbeat and determined. Despite their personality differences, Ash and Gary obviously do have things in common, and affect each other in various ways. Gary has pushed Ash directly and indirectly to train harder and to travel to different regions, leading him to becoming a more serious trainer (if not for Gary, Ash may not have achieved as much as he has). And Ash's persistent friendliness and forgiveness led the two of them to reconcile and has kept Ash in Gary's thoughts and heart (as shown, for example, in the Aerodactyl Chronicles episode, when Gary thoughts and concerns went to Ash when the subject came up, even though there were more pressing matters at the time).

 

Why this layout?

 

It's based on one of my favorite Palletshippy scenes, and was intended (and maybe succeeded?) to mirror the dreaminess of the scene, as well as the hidden, but still present nature of the romantic aspects of the relationship.

 

 

 

- Feb. 25, 2008