Ships you changed your opinion on over time

[Orchid]

It's pretty common to hear about supporting a ship since day one, but I think what's less often talked about are all those pairings that you changed your mind about at some point. Are there any that you originally disliked, but eventually warmed up to as your favorite? Or conversely, ones that you used to enjoy but just don't really feel the same about anymore? (Maybe because a shiny new one got introduced that you liked better? lol)

I used to not really be a fan of SacredShipping at first, but after seeing a bunch of fanart of the two recently I've started to think it's pretty cute. On the other hand, years ago I used to really love NewRivalShipping and LeagueShipping, but nowadays I'm just sorta ambivalent about 'em.

 

[Insanish Danish]

Argh as with everything there are definitely plenty of examples that are simply not coming to mind, but two ships that I instantly thought of are Neoshipping and Amourshipping. For some reason back when I first got into the shipping business Neoshipping REALLY grinded my gears. I have absolutely no idea why, because Yamato and Kosanji were both my loves, but for some reason the thought of shipping them made me ill lmao. Then at one point I just fell really hard for the ship overnight and I still love it to this day <3 Even though watching them in the dub makes me cringe lol. I do it For Them

Amourshipping on the other hand was the opposite. When XY started I loved it instantly. Serena's crush on Ash was so endearing to me at the time, and I was looking forward to seeing where it would go. But after like a year it just got really old and I was over it haha. It just got worse and worse over time and now it's a NOTP for me, sadly.

 

[Torchic W. Pip]

Okay so this may come as a surprise, but when I was younger, I didn’t ship OriginShipping. I didn’t dislike the ship or the characters, but I didn’t see Wallace and Steven as… romantic, if that makes sense? Basically Wallace/Winona were romantic and Wallace & Steven were platonic in my head. And SkarmoryShipping was, like, something I never thought about ever.

Fast forward to Masters and the Valentine’s Event, where I was like “okay but they’re kind of cute” and decided to ship all three of them with each other. In the process, I began to love all of the ships by themselves.

In terms of “ships I don’t like anymore”, I don’t… really have any? Mainly because I either strongly like a ship or feel very neutral on it.

 

[Dragonite94]

I didn’t hate it but it’s by no means in my top 10 but pokeshipping. I think I just like the idea of ash being single forever.

 

[Nicolas721]

• PenguinShipping (DawnxKenny): I liked the idea, but hints were very scarce so it was hard to follow so I ended up feeling very "meh" about it. However, after my DP rewatch from 2021, I ended up appreciating Kenny's goodbye episode a lot more as well as his final speech, so I like it more now.
• LuckShipping (BrockxLucy): I shipped them after that episode and someone so badass as her being Brock's true love was interesting. Nowadays, I prefer Brock with Olivia or alone.
• HandymanShipping(Tracey x Daisy): I think I only shipped them because TraceyxMisty was becoming popular lol. Nowadays centuries have passed since I watched the only episode where they interact so I have zero attatchment towards it.
• LagomorphShipping(Pikachu x Buneary): Remember that trope from kids shows where a character is so insistent on their loved one that you shipped them but as an adult you view it as harassment? This is one of those cases for me. Even PikachuxMeowth has more merit.
• IkarilShipping(DawnxPaul): They had some chemistry and day/night themes and all, but almost zero hints, as said earlier PenguinShipping is my jam now.
• SommelierShipping(CilanxBurgundy): I forgot I shipped this until I scrubbed off my old list lol. I prefer Cilan with someone older like Georgia or gay.

 

[Daren]

Pokeshipping. Supported it in the OS days, but now...I don't really dislike it but for some reason I'm pretty indifferent towards it now.

 

[c la fet]

I used to be a huge fan of Voidcubeshipping (N and Rosa). It was probably in my top 3.
But now that Rosa is in Masters where she looks like she's 12... I'm not sure if I still ship it.

 

[DigitalGen6]

I used to be a huge fan of Voidcubeshipping (N and Rosa). It was probably in my top 3.
But now that Rosa is in Masters where she looks like she's 12... I'm not sure if I still ship it.

I don’t really ship it either tbh.
I was never a fan of it (preferred the other ship he had that was popular, not gonna name drop since I want you to guess which one I meant lol).
Meanwhile, the other ship I just mentioned I was more fond of (I age up Hilda or age down N because obvious reasons). It used to be my OTP until two Februarys/Februaries ago. It’s still one of my favorites though.
I used to like Pokéshipping but then ended up being hot and cold about it later (I made them marry in Tomodachi Life, then I wanted them to divorce but they stuck). I still enjoy it, some times.
I used to support ChessShipping but because I started to headcanon them as siblings, I quit but still support the ship in terms of manga (in that, I don’t headcanon them as siblings) (also FerrisWheelShipping in the manga is not cool at all).

 

[SunGodNika1997]

I'm an old-school PokeShipper, and I remember getting defensive with a lot of Advance and PearlShippers back in the day. I didn't see how anyone could ship anything but Ash and Misty. Nowadays, I think pretty much all the major Ash ships are pretty solid. Still mainly a PokeShipper, but I could easily support the likes of Adavance, Pearl, Pallet, and Amour, amongst others.

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

Pokeshipping. Supported it in the OS days, but now...I don't really dislike it but for some reason I'm pretty indifferent towards it now.

Well, in my personal opinion anyways, as soon as Amourshipping became a thing, Pokeshipping was pretty much dead in the water.

 

[SunGodNika1997]

It’s not really anything deep. Just boiled down to being a dumb kid that picked his camp, and felt the need to stick to and defend it. Nothing in particular I disliked. I even liked both May and Dawn a lot, and still do.

 

[Emelie]

I used to like Palletshipping when I was really young but then I just forgot about it lol.

Pokeshipping is still a cute ship (I still love the dance at the summer festival) but it lost some of its appeal after Serena was introduced. Like it could still happen but after Ash didn't respond to Serena's confession it feels like Amourshipping needs to be given a good conclusion (regardless if Ash wants to date or just be friends with Serena) before we can consider Pokeshipping an option again. It's a little bittersweet in a way because it was regarded as the most canon Ash ship for so long.

 

[SunGodNika1997]

I used to like Palletshipping when I was really young but then I just forgot about it lol.

Pokeshipping is still a cute ship (I still love the dance at the summer festival) but it lost some of its appeal after Serena was introduced. Like it could still happen but after Ash didn't respond to Serena's confession it feels like Amourshipping needs to be given a good conclusion (regardless if Ash wants to date or just be friends with Serena) before we can consider Pokeshipping an option again. It's a little bittersweet in a way because it was regarded as the most canon Ash ship for so long.

I think the hopes of any Ash ship becoming canon, especially now, are slim to none. Probably best left to the headcanons of the fans anyways.

That being said, it is pretty wild that PokeShipping has maintained a pretty steady following even literal decades after Misty was a regular part of the show, and especially after a "more canon" ship was introduced. Nostalgia is one hell of a drug.

 

[FelipePR]

The Ships that I support the most - OldRivalShipping and AmourShipping - are still the same as when I started shipping them, but there are a few others "minor" ships that I've changed my mind a bit, although I haven't put them completely aside.

In my early childhood, I shipped Steven and Roxanne. After all, I played plenty of Pokémon Sapphire and what student hasn't been ever enchanted by a teacher? and which one didn't wish they the best?

But after Steven and Cytnhia's Cameo in Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver, I thought that, given the characteristics of both characters, one's love of Archeology, and the other's love of Gemology, I should ship these two amazing people, right ?

In the end, I still like Steven-Roxanne even though I "ship" Cynthia and him.

 

[DawningWinds]

I used to be pretty fond of AmourShipping, but over time and through seeing the fandom discourse, I've shifted to not really caring for it in the slightest. I've also grown a lot more fond of BoutiqueShipping in that time, a ship I barely thought about before, and grown a slight fondness for FondantShipping, which I had kinda previously disliked. There are probably others, but I can't think of what they are right now.

 

[DigitalGen6]

I used to be pretty fond of AmourShipping, but over time and through seeing the fandom discourse, I've shifted to not really caring for it in the slightest. I've also grown a lot more fond of BoutiqueShipping in that time, a ship I barely thought about before, and grown a slight fondness for FondantShipping, which I had kinda previously disliked. There are probably others, but I can't think of what they are right now.

What are BoutiqueShipping and FondantShipping?
Edit: OH now I know what they are!
BoutiqueShipping: Shauna and Serena, FondantShipping: Miette and Serena
Another edit: I also used to ship TompouceShipping for a while until I realized Miette was just messing with Ash.
And then six years ago I shipped OrangeRibbonShipping and now I still do (though not as much).
Another another edit: Thanks for the thumbs-up, kind DawningWinds!

 

[sleepwick]

I used to be pretty fond of AmourShipping, but over time and through seeing the fandom discourse, I've shifted to not really caring for it in the slightest. I've also grown a lot more fond of BoutiqueShipping in that time, a ship I barely thought about before, and grown a slight fondness for FondantShipping, which I had kinda previously disliked. There are probably others, but I can't think of what they are right now.

fondantshipping is super cute! i kinda didn't pay any mind to it when i saw it around because for a long time i had never seen the xy anime in it's entirety, but watching through it in full again and filling in those chunks that i missed when it was first airing definitely made me appreciate their dynamic. boutiqueshipping is also super cute, but i didn't get the appeal of it for a long time because i've mostly always been more of a game centric person than the anime. but after watching the anime it definitely grew on me as well, and while i can't say i personally ship their game counterparts, i 100% ship their anime counterparts.

as for other ships i personally changed my opinion on?
i used to really severely dislike soulsilvershipping, i think in part it was due to the fact that newreplacementshipping has always been one of my OTPs, but due to having a few friends who ship soulsilvershipping its grown on me a LOT. i think it has an adorable dynamic, and to this day i kinda don't understand why i had such a deeply rooted hatred for it at first, because i don't think i've ever really been anyone who's super defensive over characters from ships i like being paired with others.

also postwickshipping. i used to just prefer gloria with marnie and hop with victor for a long time, but eventually i just kinda naturally gained a fondness for this ship, and i'd probably say it's one of my favorite protag x rival ships in general. i think even platonically when i played the game and in subsequent replays their dynamic just left an impact on me that other ships i like involving the swsh protags or hop just didn't. (though, to be fair a lot of that is just due to them generally having more interactions with hop than with marnie or bede, and also me personally seeing gloria as the "true" protagonist in my head over victor and generally tending to play as her more)

 

[FelipePR]

boutiqueshipping is also super cute, but i didn't get the appeal of it for a long time because i've mostly always been more of a game centric person than the anime. but after watching the anime it definitely grew on me as well, and while i can't say i personally ship their game counterparts, i 100% ship their anime counterparts.

Conversely, I always understood BoutiqueShipping as a Ship with more strength in the games than in the Anime itself.

Not that Shauna isn't friendly and caring to Serena in the Anime too, but she's very affable with the protagonist in the games and the fireworks scene is quite poetic and somewhat romantic.

I used to be pretty fond of AmourShipping, but over time and through seeing the fandom discourse, I've shifted to not really caring for it in the slightest. I've also grown a lot more fond of BoutiqueShipping in that time, a ship I barely thought about before, and grown a slight fondness for FondantShipping, which I had kinda previously disliked.

Serena and Miette have a prickly but healthy rivalry and a very intriguing dynamic.

However, personally, I have always interpreted that, at heart, Miette is, actually, a quite AmourShipping supporter.

also postwickshipping. i used to just prefer gloria with marnie and hop with victor for a long time, but eventually i just kinda naturally gained a fondness for this ship, and i'd probably say it's one of my favorite protag x rival ships in general. i think even platonically when i played the game and in subsequent replays their dynamic just left an impact on me that other ships i like involving the swsh protags or hop just didn't. (though, to be fair a lot of that is just due to them generally having more interactions with hop than with marnie or bede, and also me personally seeing gloria as the "true" protagonist in my head over victor and generally tending to play as her more)

I don't know much about the ships, but Hop is a hella great character. The perfect execution of the friendly Rival that, until then, used to be somewhat unfairly criticized by the community. I love Hop's enthusiasm and how much he excited me to explore and adventure in the Galar Region.

 

[sleepwick]

Not that Shauna isn't friendly and caring to Serena in the Anime too, but she's too very affable with the protagonist in the games and the fireworks scene is quite poetic and somewhat romantic.

i agree with the fact that honestly? that scene does come off as kinda romantic to me. but i think part of it for me is just the difference in the eng dialogue (not sure how it is in other language versions) for the female player character in that scene vs with the male player character. us girls really got friendzoned by shauna like that. its definitely a cute scene though, and i can see why it'd fuel both variations of the protag x shauna shipping for anyone.