Counterbalance: Jessie & James

From November 2015 to August 2016, create a shrine or shrines to celebrate a dynamic duo! Lovers, enemies, brothers, sisters, parents, and close friends contribute to a character's being. Explore the fandom and the relationship from another side.
Robin
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Counterbalance: Jessie & James

Post by Robin »

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Counterbalance - Jessie & James

Team Rocket's Blasting Off Again--onto my domain! This is my not-so-small tribute to a pair of anime characters I've adored since I was thirteen. <3

I intend the site to serve not only as an introduction to Jessie & James, but also as an introduction to the entire show for those who haven't seen the first couple of seasons in a while. (I chose to use the Kanto and Orange Islands seasons as my sole basis for this site, because I feel that those two seasons had the best writing and character development for my favorite characters.)

I hope you enjoy reading the articles as much as I've enjoyed writing and compiling them!! :D
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nyxmidnight
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Re: Counterbalance: Jessie & James

Post by nyxmidnight »

WOOHOO YOU DID THE THING!!!
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Destinie
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Re: Counterbalance: Jessie & James

Post by Destinie »

I remember seeing many shrines to Jessie and James in the past but this is truly a unique and really fun interpretation of them. I could see this topic being potentially unwieldy and huge due to the contradictory nature of the canon, as you mentioned, and also they have been in almost every episode, movie, manga based on the anime, games, etc. So there's so much there! But I appreciate how you broke it down to just focus on the Indigo League - ah nostalgia!

I really love how the site is organized and how fluid it is. It makes you read through it in its entirety to get to certain pages. I like the "More about Jessie/James" pages and I like how you highlight their personalities and provide character songs. I think that's such a fun and unique thing that you do! I also love how the navigation is based on their original motto! I also love how you broke down their motto in another essay. I really think your site provides a unique view of these two and, in short, I really like it! ;P

On another note: I would love to sister site with my Giovanni shrine!!!! ;D
Robin
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Re: Counterbalance: Jessie & James

Post by Robin »

@Nyx: YAAAAAS I DID THE THING FINALLY :D \o/ \o/

@Destinie: oh wow thank you so much! I am flattered by the praise! I'm glad you like the site approach, organization, and articles--and I will definitely add your Giovanni site as a sister site! :D
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neo
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Re: Counterbalance: Jessie & James

Post by neo »

Yessss, I am very happy to see your shrine up!

This was a nice bit of nostalgia for me this morning. During reading your shrine, I was able to recall the things you mentioned and remember my affinity for the failure duo. I wasn't quite set on Meowth as a kid, but I loved Team Rocket's antics and what they brought to the show.

I think some of my favorite sections of this shrine are the ones dedicated to Jessie, the relationship and even your article deconstructing their motto.

Jessie
It's hard to take them seriously at times, but reading and being reminded of their characters (especially Jessie) made me tear up a bit in regards to their hardships. Despite everything Jessie is still such a strong character with that human element of vulnerability. She's more than determined to make a path for herself even after countless failures. (James, too!)

Relationship
For their relationship, I am so glad that you discussed both sides here: romantically and just good friends. I don't know if it's because they were constantly represented as goofballs to me, but I didn't consider them romantically at the time I watched them. (I also don't think I considered romance very much at that age, haha.) But, it's completely obvious that they work well with each other and serve as good partners and complements to one another.

Motto
Again, this is something I never really considered, but their motto is anything but evil! Sure, Team Rocket concocts evil plots and ploys, but even the motto suggests that Jessie and James are more than just "Team Rocket". This kind of reminds me of the Yakuza and gangs in general. While they are "evil" organizations, they do tend to do a lot of good for their community and the people invested in them are more than just gangsters. Jessie and James are not evil themselves, their first intent is to help each other and ultimately just want to succeed in life after being dealt bad hands.

Additionally, it must have been hard to write the gender/sexuality page. I don't grasp that from your writing, just where discussions like that are at in this point of time. I applaud you for pointing out that their deviations from societal norms do not decide their sexuality! It's always humorous, resourceful, and I never felt it was portrayed as anything else.

Really enjoyed reading your shrine today! <33
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Robin
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Re: Counterbalance: Jessie & James

Post by Robin »

neo wrote:Yessss, I am very happy to see your shrine up!

This was a nice bit of nostalgia for me this morning. During reading your shrine, I was able to recall the things you mentioned and remember my affinity for the failure duo. I wasn't quite set on Meowth as a kid, but I loved Team Rocket's antics and what they brought to the show.

I think some of my favorite sections of this shrine are the ones dedicated to Jessie, the relationship and even your article deconstructing their motto.

Jessie
It's hard to take them seriously at times, but reading and being reminded of their characters (especially Jessie) made me tear up a bit in regards to their hardships. Despite everything Jessie is still such a strong character with that human element of vulnerability. She's more than determined to make a path for herself even after countless failures. (James, too!)
YAY for nostalgia!! Glad it was a great read!

For the character pages, I really wanted to dig into the deeper/more serious aspects of each one, especially since these days they've both been reduced to a joke :/ I'm glad you liked this part of the site! I was a little worried that I'd gone wayyyy too serious on those pages, LOL
neo wrote: Relationship
For their relationship, I am so glad that you discussed both sides here: romantically and just good friends. I don't know if it's because they were constantly represented as goofballs to me, but I didn't consider them romantically at the time I watched them. (I also don't think I considered romance very much at that age, haha.) But, it's completely obvious that they work well with each other and serve as good partners and complements to one another.
Awesome! I definitely wanted there to be accessible parts of the site for people who don't see them as a couple, while also allowing for a little squeeing on my part (since these two have been OTP for me since ever xD). Glad I achieved that :D
neo wrote: Motto
Again, this is something I never really considered, but their motto is anything but evil! Sure, Team Rocket concocts evil plots and ploys, but even the motto suggests that Jessie and James are more than just "Team Rocket". This kind of reminds me of the Yakuza and gangs in general. While they are "evil" organizations, they do tend to do a lot of good for their community and the people invested in them are more than just gangsters. Jessie and James are not evil themselves, their first intent is to help each other and ultimately just want to succeed in life after being dealt bad hands.

Additionally, it must have been hard to write the gender/sexuality page. I don't grasp that from your writing, just where discussions like that are at in this point of time. I applaud you for pointing out that their deviations from societal norms do not decide their sexuality! It's always humorous, resourceful, and I never felt it was portrayed as anything else.

Really enjoyed reading your shrine today! <33
LOL, the page about the motto came from a really random thought at first--I stopped and really listened to the motto once while watching back through some of Indigo League, and I thought, "Wow, this...actually isn't evil at all! Whaaa?" Then I started comparing it with Butch and Cassidy's motto, and I realized how I could flesh that point out into an article :D (And I didn't cover much else about the connection between Jessie & James and real-life mob/gang members, but they definitely seem to function that way!)

The gender/sexuality page came out of viewing several folks' gender/sexuality arguments on Tumblr and other fansites. Since I was seeing a lot of flimsy prejudice-based arguments being presented, I thought I'd combat it with my article (but I'll admit, I wasn't sure at first whether what I was writing was just Tumblrish vomit or not, LOL). I'm glad you got a lot out of that page! :D :D
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Destinie
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Re: Counterbalance: Jessie & James

Post by Destinie »

Yay! I just added you! :)
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Re: Counterbalance: Jessie & James

Post by Jae »

Oooh, I loved this! Especially - and not to be funny - the Romance and Other Issues section. "What They Mean to Each Other" was my favorite article of the site, and overall I enjoyed how you juxtaposed Jessie to James and vice versa. Their matching profiles gave me a clear, succinct comparison and contrast that helped me understand and remember them as characters. I haven't watched Pokemon in a long, long time, but I think Counterbalance offers easy and more in-depth articles (e.g., those found under Further Thoughts) to please casual and hardcore fans.

Team Rocket is a strangely thought-provoking team, and probably my favorite part of the show. It was fun to read about their multifaceted characters in a logical but still personal format.
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Robin
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Re: Counterbalance: Jessie & James

Post by Robin »

Thank you, Jae! I'm glad you found the articles still approachable despite not having seen the anime in a while :D yay!

(Also, I laughed so hard picking the first picture for "what they mean to each other" LOL! Jessie screaming at James for bungling something up is pretty typical XD)
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Emma
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Re: Counterbalance: Jessie & James

Post by Emma »

This was a great read, Robin! I also haven't watched the anime in a long time so this was a nice blast from the past, and there's a lot here that I hadn't really considered about Jessie and James before. I really enjoyed the section about the motto, and the analysis on gender and sexuality. It was super interesting.

And I know you were frustrated putting all the images in this site, but it really paid off. Tis altogether a very enjoyable reading experience. :)
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