My dear, sweet anon, i have never liked puzzleshipping. Who likes puzzleshipping? This pairing is a black hole of endless torment. Canonically, Atemu is a spirit. He’s dead, no life, no body, etc. He also does not belong in the world where Yuugi is. His time passed and his purpose is to fcking leave. And he does! He leaves. Yuugi is left alone bc of some bs about being ready to be without him? ???
First of all, what the shit is that? Atemu fcking dies a kid. Bc he’s like fifteen when he dies. He didn’t even enjoy a full life. He just got thrown into a fcking puzzle where he obvs did not party it up. For 3,000 years. Then this fcking nerd comes along and puts his puzzle together and Atemu’s off to fight the bad guys again. Sure, he gets some friends and some broken promise of forever (do you remember that? When Atemu and Yuugi hold hands and promise to stay together forever? Bc i sure as fuck do), but he doesn’t even get to stay and enjoy a full life. No, he just fcking leaves in the end. Adiós, motherfucker. No happily ever after for you, Atemu.
Oh, but he’s with his friends from Ancient Egypt!
But we’re talking about puzzleshipping, right? So what the fuck does that matter? Let’s get this out of the way, Atemu loves Yuugi. He does. It’s canon. I’m not even taking about romantic love. They are bros through and through. There’s all that touching they do which makes this a very debatable topic. I mean, puzzleshippers obvs think they’re in love with each other. But anyway, they love each other. Can you just imagine being ripped away from your best friend? Someone you were literally attached to the soul to? Someone you almost burned alive for? Bc remember, Yuugi stayed in a burning building to put the puzzle back together. I sure as hell would not be able to stand losing someone who meant that much to me. Would you? They’d be in my thoughts for the rest of my life.
So who’s to say that Atemu is actually happy in the afterlife? Maybe a month later, he’s sitting in his palace and just missing his aibou. And he’s got eons to keep missing him bc they’ll probably never see each other again. (Bc Yuugi might end up elsewhere when he dies. The possibilities are endless.)
A forever of being alone without each other, that’s so fcking GREAT.
Second of all, canon is bullshit. Ever wondered why i only ever write AUs? Bc canon is bullshit. Fuck yugioh. Srsly. I have nothing more to say about this. Just fuck canon and everything in it. Canon made me ship the thing and I’ll never forgive it. Canon also had vague plans to have Yuugi end up with Anzu of all people. Fucking Anzu. The girl who only ever saw Yuugi as a friend and fell in love with a dead Pharaoh. Yeah. Yuugi’s a consolation prize and i don’t fucking like it. Yuugi is no one’s goddamn consolation prize.
But I’m getting off-topic here.
Atemu and Yuugi? Not meant to be. They can’t stay together forever like they promised. They can’t hold hands and sing duets about how much they love each other. Nope. Instead, Yuugi is off being the King of Games, probably singing Don’t Wake Me by Skillet, and Atemu is off being fcking dead, singing nothing bc he’s dead (tho if he could sing, he’d be singing Hello by Adele). Bc giving him a second chance at life was apparently too much to ask for (fuck you, creator).
I realize i have rambled a lot, but i have a lot of emotions and i hate this fandom and this ship and i rant bc i can’t remake yugioh into something better. I can’t fix it. I can’t have Yuugi and Atemu stay together and i can’t fix what the anime did to Anzu (you deserved so much better, Anzu).
Alas, this answer winds down to an end.
Do i not like puzzleshipping anymore?
Well, tldr; i have never liked puzzleshipping. This ship sucks ass. It’s all tears, loneliness, and bitterness. Why would i like it? There’s nothing to enjoy here. I’m trapped in an eternal puzzleshipping hell. The question you should be asking, anon, is if i will ever stop writing for puzzleshipping. And really, who knows? Right now, I’m just trying to repair the void Yugioh DM created in my heart by writing fanfiction.