By Jo Jo
Contestshipping Hint List
Set-up
1. May and Drew 'meet cute'.
Often two characters who are going to fall in love later on have an ironic first meeting where they form a bad impression of each other. Usually one of them either insults or embarrasses him/herself in front of the other. May and Drew do this, when May nearly hits Drew in the head with a frisbee, and he makes fun of her contest act.
2. May and Drew bicker.
Bickering is often a huge clue towards future romance. May and Drew are rivals and therefore you'd expect them to fight anyway, but there are a few details in their dialogue that hints at UST (unresolved sexual tension). I once made a post on this.
3. May and Drew fit the 'good girl/bad boy' pattern.
Quite a common archetype in romance is the upright girl ending up with the arrogant guy. It's used a lot in movies; examples that leap to mind are Princess Leia/Han Solo (Star Wars), Sandy/Danny (Grease) and Ginger/Rocky (Chicken Run). There are certain elements which crop up very frequently in these kind of stories and are also recognisable in May/Drew; for instance:
- The guy is intrigued by the girl right from the start, whereas the girl is repelled by his jerk-like behaviour.
- The guy is often very good-looking and considered a catch by most other girls. Sometimes he even has loud, squealing fanclubs (especially if this is a movie set in a high school). The girl is one of the only people who are not impressed with his charm, and is scornful and dismissive towards him instead.
- The guy will make it his 'quest' to win the girl over. He generally does this by seeking out and antagonising her. Although she may give as good as she gets, she rarely seeks him out in return or starts arguments with him. She tends to get much angrier during these spats than he does, if he gets angry at all; more often than not, he will merely be amused by their exchanges.
- The guy often makes his feelings towards the girl very clear, but she doesn't take them seriously at first because he does so in a casual, flirtatious manner. She may find herself attracted to him, but will not admit so to others or sometimes even to herself.
- The guy eventually proves to the girl, either slowly over time or in one big, dramatic gesture near the end, that he's not the pillock she took him for, at which point she starts to return the feelings (or realises she returns them if she already has them).
Drew likes May
1. Drew is very interested in May.
Right from Drew's introductory episode, he is unusually drawn to May. The first time we see him, he is standing on a cliff just above where she is training; we know he had been watching her because he immediately insults the routine she had just been practising. This meeting sets the tone on the way he behaves to her for the rest of the series. To give a full list of all the times he stares at her, spies on her, goes out of his way to wind her up, shows off to her or otherwise pays attention to her would perhaps be going into too much depth, but suffice it to say, he does it A LOT.
2. Drew flirts with May.
Starting in Win, Lose or Drew, there is a recurring theme of Drew giving May roses. The first time, he seems to only do it to wind her up, by telling her that it's really for her Beautifly. The second time, he openly hits on her to begin with ("Isn't that sweet? You even remember my name after all this time. Hi, May"), but then reverts to the Beautifly excuse ("Don't get your hopes up, May. The only reason I even came over here was to see Beautifly again"). The third time, May asks him if it's for Beautifly and he almost admits that it's really for her ("Yeah... something like that"). The most recent rose he gave to her in the Grand Festival, this time without offering any excuses.
3. Drew dislikes the idea of May being with other boys.
The earliest hint of this was in Pros And Con Artists, when Ash calls out a friendly greeting and Drew responds with a cold, "Oh. You're May's little friend, right?". The real meat of this argument, however, comes from the Grand Festival. Harley, May's other main rival, spends most of the first two GF episodes hanging around with her, being very clingy and friendly, constantly clasping her hands and gushing about how wonderful she is. The real reason he was doing this was to pretend to be May's friend and stab her in the back later, but Drew apparently interprets it as Harley trying to make a move on her, and therefore spends the whole time watching the two of them from a distance and sulking. (He perks up briefly, though, when Harley doesn't get a particularly high score for his appeal. )
Eventually Drew overhears Harley gloating over the success of his plan and busts him. Even after May's found out the truth and she and Harley have officially parted ways, however, Drew shouts at her for trusting him in the first place. This really shows how bothered he was by the whole thing; even after the threat is out of the way, he's still insecure about May being taken in so easily. Once May defeats Harley in battle, though, he seems to cheer up considerably.
May likes Drew.
1. May encourages Drew's advances.
As infuriating as she finds him, May is surprisingly pleased when she thinks Drew is giving her a rose, back at her first ever contest. She blushes slightly and says, "this, for me? Thanks, Drew!". May surely thought at that point that the rose was meant as a romantic gesture - why else would she blush? - in which case, the fact that she thanks him so warmly is cause to believe that she quite likes the idea of Drew being interested in her. This is supported by the ending of Come What May; when Drew congratulates her on her win and throws her another rose, she asks him teasingly, "I suppose this rose is for Beautifly, too?" It's doubtful that she meant that as a serious question. If she wasn't at all attracted to Drew, then she would have been uncomfortable or guilty at him making his feelings so clear, but if anything she's bantering - even flirting - with him.
2. May is sensitive to the idea of her and Drew as a couple.
While May was arguably slightly attracted to Drew in the beginning, it isn't until near the end of the season that she starts to properly like him back. The strongest May-->Drew hints occur in the Grand Festival, and this is one of the biggest ones: Harley, when first introduced to Drew, says or at least implies that he thinks something's going on between May and Drew (his demeanor is basically along the lines of, "oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"). May blushes and squeaks, "Harley-san!". She does something similar at the end of the GF, too; her mother teases her about the way she's looking at Drew and she freaks out, blushes, whirls around and protests loudly. This is especially significant when bearing in mind that in the season before, somebody had told her she must be in love with Ash, and her only response then was to fold her arms and make a sarcastic reply.
3. May is very interested in Drew, too!
This doesn't manifest itself at first - in fact, May's very dismissive towards Drew at the beginning of the series. For example, in Pros And Con Artists, when he tells her he's only there to see Beautifly, she answers, "Then now you can go!". But later on, she begins to show the same signs of suspiciously persistant interest in Drew that he shows towards her. The first tiny clue is actually way back in in Win, Lose Or Drew - while Drew's doing his appeal and the gang are all watching on the television backstage, Ash, Brock and Max all try not to sound too impressed out of solidarity to May, but May herself is staring at the screen with her hands clasped under her chin, enrapt. She later acts the same when Robert's on stage, though, so this probably isn't a real hint. She is, however, the only person to notice when Drew leaves the contest early. And the earlier moment is echoed in Fan With A Plan, when May is out training and hears Drew nearby; she spies on him from behind a bush and is very embarrassed when he calls out and reveals that he knew she was there all along.
When the Grand Festival hits, though, there are quite a few instances where May becomes quite preoccupied with Drew. In the first episode, she seemingly senses him standing some distance away and runs over to him. Later when he shouts at her, she stares after him, deeply upset. In the final ep, when he loses to Robert, she gazes at him with her eyes wobbling in the traditional anime way to show emotion. And of course, at the very end, she watches him walk away on the beach, with the wind blowing her hair around dramatically. She is so fixated on him that she doesn't even notice her friends and mother approaching until Ash physically obscures her view by holding an ice cream in front of her face. Even then, she only manages to keep her attention on them for a couple of seconds before turning back to Drew, her hands clasped in front of her, smiling and blushing. This causes her mother to jump in and tease her.
Set-up
1. May and Drew 'meet cute'.
Often two characters who are going to fall in love later on have an ironic first meeting where they form a bad impression of each other. Usually one of them either insults or embarrasses him/herself in front of the other. May and Drew do this, when May nearly hits Drew in the head with a frisbee, and he makes fun of her contest act.
2. May and Drew bicker.
Bickering is often a huge clue towards future romance. May and Drew are rivals and therefore you'd expect them to fight anyway, but there are a few details in their dialogue that hints at UST (unresolved sexual tension). I once made a post on this.
3. May and Drew fit the 'good girl/bad boy' pattern.
Quite a common archetype in romance is the upright girl ending up with the arrogant guy. It's used a lot in movies; examples that leap to mind are Princess Leia/Han Solo (Star Wars), Sandy/Danny (Grease) and Ginger/Rocky (Chicken Run). There are certain elements which crop up very frequently in these kind of stories and are also recognisable in May/Drew; for instance:
- The guy is intrigued by the girl right from the start, whereas the girl is repelled by his jerk-like behaviour.
- The guy is often very good-looking and considered a catch by most other girls. Sometimes he even has loud, squealing fanclubs (especially if this is a movie set in a high school). The girl is one of the only people who are not impressed with his charm, and is scornful and dismissive towards him instead.
- The guy will make it his 'quest' to win the girl over. He generally does this by seeking out and antagonising her. Although she may give as good as she gets, she rarely seeks him out in return or starts arguments with him. She tends to get much angrier during these spats than he does, if he gets angry at all; more often than not, he will merely be amused by their exchanges.
- The guy often makes his feelings towards the girl very clear, but she doesn't take them seriously at first because he does so in a casual, flirtatious manner. She may find herself attracted to him, but will not admit so to others or sometimes even to herself.
- The guy eventually proves to the girl, either slowly over time or in one big, dramatic gesture near the end, that he's not the pillock she took him for, at which point she starts to return the feelings (or realises she returns them if she already has them).
Drew likes May
1. Drew is very interested in May.
Right from Drew's introductory episode, he is unusually drawn to May. The first time we see him, he is standing on a cliff just above where she is training; we know he had been watching her because he immediately insults the routine she had just been practising. This meeting sets the tone on the way he behaves to her for the rest of the series. To give a full list of all the times he stares at her, spies on her, goes out of his way to wind her up, shows off to her or otherwise pays attention to her would perhaps be going into too much depth, but suffice it to say, he does it A LOT.
2. Drew flirts with May.
Starting in Win, Lose or Drew, there is a recurring theme of Drew giving May roses. The first time, he seems to only do it to wind her up, by telling her that it's really for her Beautifly. The second time, he openly hits on her to begin with ("Isn't that sweet? You even remember my name after all this time. Hi, May"), but then reverts to the Beautifly excuse ("Don't get your hopes up, May. The only reason I even came over here was to see Beautifly again"). The third time, May asks him if it's for Beautifly and he almost admits that it's really for her ("Yeah... something like that"). The most recent rose he gave to her in the Grand Festival, this time without offering any excuses.
3. Drew dislikes the idea of May being with other boys.
The earliest hint of this was in Pros And Con Artists, when Ash calls out a friendly greeting and Drew responds with a cold, "Oh. You're May's little friend, right?". The real meat of this argument, however, comes from the Grand Festival. Harley, May's other main rival, spends most of the first two GF episodes hanging around with her, being very clingy and friendly, constantly clasping her hands and gushing about how wonderful she is. The real reason he was doing this was to pretend to be May's friend and stab her in the back later, but Drew apparently interprets it as Harley trying to make a move on her, and therefore spends the whole time watching the two of them from a distance and sulking. (He perks up briefly, though, when Harley doesn't get a particularly high score for his appeal. )
Eventually Drew overhears Harley gloating over the success of his plan and busts him. Even after May's found out the truth and she and Harley have officially parted ways, however, Drew shouts at her for trusting him in the first place. This really shows how bothered he was by the whole thing; even after the threat is out of the way, he's still insecure about May being taken in so easily. Once May defeats Harley in battle, though, he seems to cheer up considerably.
May likes Drew.
1. May encourages Drew's advances.
As infuriating as she finds him, May is surprisingly pleased when she thinks Drew is giving her a rose, back at her first ever contest. She blushes slightly and says, "this, for me? Thanks, Drew!". May surely thought at that point that the rose was meant as a romantic gesture - why else would she blush? - in which case, the fact that she thanks him so warmly is cause to believe that she quite likes the idea of Drew being interested in her. This is supported by the ending of Come What May; when Drew congratulates her on her win and throws her another rose, she asks him teasingly, "I suppose this rose is for Beautifly, too?" It's doubtful that she meant that as a serious question. If she wasn't at all attracted to Drew, then she would have been uncomfortable or guilty at him making his feelings so clear, but if anything she's bantering - even flirting - with him.
2. May is sensitive to the idea of her and Drew as a couple.
While May was arguably slightly attracted to Drew in the beginning, it isn't until near the end of the season that she starts to properly like him back. The strongest May-->Drew hints occur in the Grand Festival, and this is one of the biggest ones: Harley, when first introduced to Drew, says or at least implies that he thinks something's going on between May and Drew (his demeanor is basically along the lines of, "oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"). May blushes and squeaks, "Harley-san!". She does something similar at the end of the GF, too; her mother teases her about the way she's looking at Drew and she freaks out, blushes, whirls around and protests loudly. This is especially significant when bearing in mind that in the season before, somebody had told her she must be in love with Ash, and her only response then was to fold her arms and make a sarcastic reply.
3. May is very interested in Drew, too!
This doesn't manifest itself at first - in fact, May's very dismissive towards Drew at the beginning of the series. For example, in Pros And Con Artists, when he tells her he's only there to see Beautifly, she answers, "Then now you can go!". But later on, she begins to show the same signs of suspiciously persistant interest in Drew that he shows towards her. The first tiny clue is actually way back in in Win, Lose Or Drew - while Drew's doing his appeal and the gang are all watching on the television backstage, Ash, Brock and Max all try not to sound too impressed out of solidarity to May, but May herself is staring at the screen with her hands clasped under her chin, enrapt. She later acts the same when Robert's on stage, though, so this probably isn't a real hint. She is, however, the only person to notice when Drew leaves the contest early. And the earlier moment is echoed in Fan With A Plan, when May is out training and hears Drew nearby; she spies on him from behind a bush and is very embarrassed when he calls out and reveals that he knew she was there all along.
When the Grand Festival hits, though, there are quite a few instances where May becomes quite preoccupied with Drew. In the first episode, she seemingly senses him standing some distance away and runs over to him. Later when he shouts at her, she stares after him, deeply upset. In the final ep, when he loses to Robert, she gazes at him with her eyes wobbling in the traditional anime way to show emotion. And of course, at the very end, she watches him walk away on the beach, with the wind blowing her hair around dramatically. She is so fixated on him that she doesn't even notice her friends and mother approaching until Ash physically obscures her view by holding an ice cream in front of her face. Even then, she only manages to keep her attention on them for a couple of seconds before turning back to Drew, her hands clasped in front of her, smiling and blushing. This causes her mother to jump in and tease her.
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