★~Umbra~☆

I'm genuinely so annoyed about the fact that all the Bleach fandom seems interested in is arguing about whose ship is more valid. I've loved this series ever since I was a kid and while I'm partial to certain ships, I've always been more interested in the friendships and relationships in the show and I'm so disappointed about the fact that they are all constantly reduced to familial or romantic. Is no one interested in exploring the friendships, the group dynamics, the mentor-mentee relationships? One way or the other, these relationships are always reduced to romance or familial.

And honestly I wouldn't be so upset about this if the people talking about ships were genuinely invested in analyzing the dynamics of the ship. But no, every single analysis of these relationships always has to put another one down. It's like everyone is in a petty competition where they're constantly trying to one up each other. Everytime I try to get involved in the fandom, whether it be on here on tumblr, or on tiktok, or on twitter, I'm faced with the same situation where there is constantly someone trying to jump down your throat for having a preference or opinion. It's like there's no concept of everyone having their own ideas and interpretations of the characters and their dynamics.

Why do the character's relationships constantly have to be reduced into a box that fits your specific interpretation of their relationship? Why do I constantly see Rukia and Renji, or Rukia and Ichigo, or even Byakuya and Ichigo/Renji being dismissed as familial in order to put ships down? Why do I constantly see people claiming Ichigo genuinely doesn't like or care about Orihime in any capacity in order to uplift their own ship? Why do I constantly see people claiming that Ishida and Orihime is a "nothing burger" ship that people only like because it gets Orihime out of the way? Why do I constantly see people claiming that any non-human x human ship is predatory or gross?

Who cares if someone else's ship doesn't fit your specific interpretation or idea of the characters' relationship? Who cares if you think that ship is gross, or that those characters are more like siblings than lovers? Curate your own fandom experience. Stop trying to pick fights or put down other ships. Stop using ship tags to make fun of people who like that ship or to say that they have no reading comprehension. Shipping is supposed to be fun. Ships don't always have to make sense. Every ship has its own appeal, and every shipper has their own reason for enjoying the ship.

Analyze the relationships that you enjoy, whether they are romantic, platonic, familial, mentor-mentee, whatever the fuck it is. Make fanarts and fanfics of it because you love it. Stop doing those things to put down other people's ships and ruin something that someone loves. And who knows, your passion and love for that relationship might make someone love it just as much as you do.