Hm, nice topic swampert. My opinion on advanceshipping has changed over the years little by little. i started to be obessed then i calmed down and just gave up, then i went back but not obessed over it anymore. lol.
I think May's absent from the show has affect us all in a way. most have already stopped shipping Ash and May together when we found out May didn't made a camo in Pallet. but when i saw May's Teddiursa doll in the first BW episode i suddenly gained hope that May will make a camo in the near future. now if Ash shows the ribbon in BW someday, then a lot of advancershippers who had given up will come back.
Now has that made my belief in the ship stronger or weaker? Stronger since i saw that doll in Ash's room in BW ep1. when i lose hope i watch the Wallace cup arc where May was. when advancershippers tell me that May won't come back ever i tell them this.
Obsession... I don't know if it's good or bad with respect to shipping...
The Teddiursa figurine, in my opinion, is indicative of the fact that May will make a return, if only briefly. Whether that's in 5 episodes or 150 episodes, only time will tell, but I agree that that is reason enough to retain hope. The event that is more likely to happen soon is Ash taking out his half of ribbon, which would imply that May still does the same, wherever she is. (I'm fairly certain that that was explicitly stated in DP079.) I'm also happy to see that your belief in Advanceshipping is resolute.
And
Advanceshippers told you that May isn't coming back? They aren't very dedicated Advanceshippers, are they?
Like everything in life, my interest in Advanceshipping has changed over time. One moment I'm like "AS must be canon," and the next I'm like "AS? Sure..."
There is one quote that pretty much describes my feelings for AS: Absence diminishes small loves and increases great ones, as the wind blows out the candle and blows up the bonfire.
Inconsistency? Ah, well. At least you haven't completely abandoned Advanceshipping yet. Also, I think I've seen that quote in someone's signature.
Hah, I'm still a pretty new Advanceshipper, and I've never even seen the Wallace Cup episodes. Regardless, I'm still going strong, though I can see the merits of other ships too.
Can you
keep your enthusiasm? There are a lot of pitfalls for newer shippers at this time, when we're suffering through a downturn. If you can see merits to other ships, though, you'll do well in the community. I think that Advanceshippers are generally regarded as fairly respectful shippers by others. A lot of the more experienced members, though, tend to be wary of newbies because they could be spammers or the like. (This obviously doesn't apply to you.) I hope you keep your momentum strong; it might motivate the rest of us.
If you start losing hope, go watch Wallace Cup; perhaps better, go read fanfiction or watch Advanceshipping videos.
Edit: Hot Limit, stop beating me to posts <1 minute early!
During my time as an advanceshipper, I really wasn't that enthusiasm (until I started reading the fanfiction and rewatching the Advance Generation-and that was just last year, and it's still going strong). Actually, I've been rewatching the advance generation all weekend, and that has only strenghtened my resolve. ^____^ It's given so much hope and so many ideas for them, and it makes me want to write about them even more! xD Maybe it's just my biased or whatever, but I think I turn small things into really big things. xD (that's all I've been thinking about when I've been watching the series). xD I'm planning to watch the Wallace Cup arc as well just to get myself more motivated! xD
The part about turning small things into big things, in my opinion, is true for all shippers. I mean, we turn "Yay, friendship!" into "[character] must be in love with [other character]!"
but who cares? Of course, we're all biased as well.
Clearly, you have a lot of inspiration for fanfiction. If you're not like me, you have sufficient resolve to write upon more than a few of those inspirations. I hope that you're not like me, as I'd like to read more of your excellent work.
