Older Shippings Fading Into The Dark

[Encyclopika]

Perhaps so, but at this point of the anime it's obvious old character cameos are pretty much done.

Yes, this is true, but people still have hope. You might be down to Earth and realistic, but that doesn't mean everyone is.

At this point the only time I can see each character making one last appearance is in a series finale type deal, but that's assuming the show ever does get a real ending at this point. And now Ash has had 9 different travel companions and tons of rivals, so again it may not be feasible to see everyone show up at the end of the show.

Oh, I can see that happening. They may not get a true "part" in it, but they'll definitely all get some sort of cameo. I mean, come on. They gotta do that. However, I also doubt that a true finale will come about. At the moment, it seems like the show will really go one forever, kinda like The Simpsons. XD But this is starting to get offtopic, so, let's try to stay on topic.

Speaking of fading ships from AG, I must say that the trend really hasn't reached fanfiction. I was just looking in there, and, well, from past experience, you'd think that the majority of fics nowadays would take place in BW, but it's quite the opposite. In fact, it's a great mix of different ships. Just looking now on page 1, there are a few Contestshipping fics, an Advancshipping fic, and Hoennshipping (and these are new, btw, post-AG era). It seems like AG ships are still reigning supreme. Perhaps they aren't as faded as we think?

 

[CyberCubed]

I'm guessing the only reason you still see some new fanfic/fanart for AG era ships is these are new people who are watching that saga for the first time, they missed it when it was originally airing and this is the first time they're discovering it. I think this is why you see some new Contestshippers suddenly gushing about the ship when they were never around before, probably because they were either too young when AG was originally airing or they were disinterested in Pokemon at the time and weren't following it, only to discover it later on.

Meanwhile all the fans who were there "in the moment" as we were in the 3rd generation of course moved on as they lost interest or moved on to the 4th and 5th gen.

Of course the DP generation had a ton of awesome ships as well. None of them were pushed hard in the anime much, but the fandom for them is still strong.

Now that we're in BW, it does seem like a lot of the DP ships are fading, but there's still tons of talk about all the Dawn ships at least, as well as Paul ships.

 

[Sumner Sturgeon]

It really seems to have a lot to do with memories; DP shippings still get a fair amount of attention since that saga is still relatively fresh in our minds, while AG ones' staying power comes from a combination of the aforementioned new fans discovering it for the first time, as well as a lot of folks who either first came aboard when AG was new or were already avid fans at the time-- I still see a lot of users around here whom I first spotted during the Hoenn days.

That said, I'm still rather unhappy to see how Hoennshipping's been largely forgotten these days, seeing as that was what brought me to this site in the first place, and I had a whole lot of fun discussing it with my friends in both of its long-dead threads. It's not like it had much of a chance, though; lots of folks seem to consider the anime the "master" continuity (or at least shippers do), and without Brendan on-screen, there wasn't much hope. Oh, well...we had a nice run all the same.

Now, Fortuneshipping, on the other hand...that one seemed pretty much dead on arrival, even when I first jumped on board toward the beginning. It seems would-be shippers learned their lesson when Brendan never appeared beyond cameos, and decided not to bother with Lucas. The DP saga ending was the last nail in its coffin.

Bleh-- it sucks sometimes being a game-based shipper in an anime-heavy fandom.

 

[CyberCubed]

That said, I'm still rather unhappy to see how Hoennshipping's been largely forgotten these days, seeing as that was what brought me to this site in the first place, and I had a whole lot of fun discussing it with my friends in both of its long-dead threads. It's not like it had much of a chance, though; lots of folks seem to consider the anime the "master" continuity (or at least shippers do), and without Brendan on-screen, there wasn't much hope. Oh, well...we had a nice run all the same.

Now, Fortuneshipping, on the other hand...that one seemed pretty much dead on arrival, even when I first jumped on board toward the beginning. It seems would-be shippers learned their lesson when Brendan never appeared beyond cameos, and decided not to bother with Lucas. The DP saga ending was the last nail in its coffin.

You're right, because Hoenn was the first time the male protagonist was being ignored, but I think some people still somewhat hoped Brendan would show up as a surprise league rival for Ash in the Hoenn league or something. At the time since Kenta was featured in the Raikou special, there was no indication if the male heroes would be truly ignored.

By the time DP started, everyone knew the "pattern" of the writers using the female character but ignoring the male, so just about everyone knew Lucas would never show up outside a brief movie cameo.

Funnily enough, now in BW BOTH the male and female characters have been ignored, and Hilda may not appear in the current saga at all.

 

[Lovely_Umbreon]

Contestshipping is one of the lasting ones, along with ah... uhm... whatever May x Ash is. I forgot. *blush* But, the points made about the DP ships are true, too. Actually, SoulSilvershipping is losing its luster, even though it's a game pairing.

 

[CyberCubed]

I think some of the more obscure anime ships definitely died off, especially the nevermet ones.

Like Misty/Drew, Misty/Paul, May/Gary.....characters that never met each other that people played around with for a while.

Once it became obvious that the characters from the previous sagas wouldn't necessarily meet the characters from the next one, most of these ships kinda died off.

 

[Ryn]

I'm not afraid to admit this, but, I'm a fan of rather obscure pairings. I was going to say how you don't see much Eldershipping anymore, but you never saw much of that in the first place, and that's just something I'm interested in. Moving on...

A big ship you used to see a lot of was Rocketshipping. I know this was mentioned on the last page but here's my two cents.

This was my first ship in my history of being a shipper (for ANY series) and I'm sad to see it's pretty much gone by the wayside. I know there are a few people who still write and draw for it, but for the most part, I guess all us shippers grew up and realized how flaming James can be, and all the other stances people have taken. Still, that doesn't mean his feelings for Jessie don't run deep, but... there is a lot less to work with, I guess. They're still on the show and all, but it's really, really disappeared. :/

 

[GirlsILikeThem]

I really like Ceruleanshipping, Advancedshipping, and...Fireflyshipping?

 

[couplesupporter]

Am I the only one who thought it would have been cool to see The Phantom in the Grand Festival?

I would like to see Timmy I also wanted to see those one time characters that only showed up in the grand festival like Anthony and Robert.

 

[ChaosMudkip]

What's sad is that there are so many Bandwagoners. Advanceshipping has long since been consumed by Contestshipping, and Pearlshipping faded as soon as Sinnoh did. Pokeshipping is the only old ship to hold strong. THE ONLY ONE. AND I DON'T EVEN SUPPORT IT ANYMORE.

 

[CyberCubed]

What's sad is that there are so many Bandwagoners. Advanceshipping has long since been consumed by Contestshipping, and Pearlshipping faded as soon as Sinnoh did. Pokeshipping is the only old ship to hold strong. THE ONLY ONE. AND I DON'T EVEN SUPPORT IT ANYMORE.

They're not abandoned, most people multi-ship.

Pokeshippers, for some reason, don't multi-ship Misty with anyone but Ash. I don't see why, as I think they take shipping a little too seriously compared to all the other fandoms.

I've noticed most Contestshippers also liked Cookieshipping (May/Harley), Respectshipping, (Ash/Drew), etc.

Some people can multi-ship, others feel like they "betray" their pairing by shipping multiple characters. Don't know why really.

 

[JetshipperKekkaishi]

They're not abandoned, most people multi-ship.

Pokeshippers, for some reason, don't multi-ship Misty with anyone but Ash. I don't see why, as I think they take shipping a little too seriously compared to all the other fandoms.

I've noticed most Contestshippers also liked Cookieshipping (May/Harley), Respectshipping, (Ash/Drew), etc.

Some people can multi-ship, others feel like they "betray" their pairing by shipping multiple characters. Don't know why really.

It would feel weird to ship Characters with multiships.I mean everyone thinks that if they multiship then their ship may not happen.I rarely multishipped Dawn besides Ash,Gary,Lucas. In mind Maybe shippers like to stay loyal to their ships even if they think it will not happen.

 

[JennaJayfeather]

Some people can multi-ship, others feel like they "betray" their pairing by shipping multiple characters. Don't know why really.

Everyone (or at least most people) has their OTP and depending on how much they like that ship it would, in a sense, feel like "betraying" that pairing in a way. I like to follow a line of ships just so I can at least pretend it became canon. However in Pokemon Adventures I couldn't figure out who to ship Silver with, so I would multiship him XD now I just gave up shipping him

 

[Mysty]

My favorite old ships are Eldershipping (my otp), rocketshipping, and pokeshipping. Ive been a shipper on/off again for about 13 years. (god I'm steeply to feel old)

When you don't see the characters as much it causes them to be out of sight out of mind simple as that. I love Eldershipping, I love Rocketshipping, and Pokeshipping, because I guess they are classic nostalgic ships for me. (okay, so maybe elder isn't so classic but whatever. )

 

[Mister Melancholy]

Oh, my poor Valetshipping! I know it wasn't very popular, and a lot of people didn't even seem to know who Darach and/or Caitlin were, but they'll always have a place in my heart. </3

I'm actually more attracted to the "obscure" pairings because I feel like I get to have a little more fun and imagination with their interacts and whatnot. Regardless, I do like pretty much every pairing, and seeing them all just dying off in favor of newer ships makes me sad. Don't get me wrong; I like the new ships and wholeheartedly support various pairings already, and the decreasing popularity on old ships are inevitable, but I just don't like how it's a cycle of Ash/main girl, Ash/rival(s), Ash/other companion(s), everyone gets replaced by new generation, rinse and repeat. The game ships have the same treatment. I'd just like to actually see a few of the older ships popping around these forums every now and again so I can sigh, put on my nostalgic specs, and fondly recount how popular the shipping was and how much I loved it. (This has recently happened with the Comashipping thread. I was seriously ecstatic when I saw it and felt the need to post immediately. Ah, Comashipping...)

 

[CyberCubed]

I think another problem is the old shipping community moves on because well....everyone grew up.

When I first came here back in 2004...almost all of those users are gone now. Same with most of the people who were around for AG and even most of DP. Some ships were supporting because said fans were only like 10-15 years old at the time...then they aged to 16-19...and the oldest are now over 20.

To a lot of people now old ships are just a thing you liked from your childhood, and now as an adult, you can't get into them like you once did. Its actually scary to think that most fans of the shows early ships are in their mid-20's now...lol.

 

[sceptile33]

I'm sure there are lots of Poke/Contest/Advanceshippers still around, but since at least one of their characters was kicked out of the anime, they probably lost interest in the anime, and there wouldn't be much to talk about.

The reason I can see those shippings still going strong is that there is still fanfiction, fanart, etc. to keep the shipping community alive.

 

[Penguinsftw]

Ash x Cynthia
That pairing COMPLETELY DIED before it even existed
it only has about 1 page on fanfiction.net
And no not even a full page just like 5 fanfictions on it.
It annoys me cause its one of the shippings i support
(I dont support many at all)

 

[Tabby Catty]

I will always be a fan of Magmajewel and Betelguese... I'm not finding a good 5th gen shipping that I am completely committed to...

 

[adrenaline]

Pokeshippers, for some reason, don't multi-ship Misty with anyone but Ash. I don't see why, as I think they take shipping a little too seriously compared to all the other fandoms.

I think because her feelings were so blatant. Ash is easy to ship because, well, he's Ash, the main character, and everyone likes him. Misty only had eyes for Ash. It's the reason why some think she's was the most romantic character on the show.