Fear them!

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Fear them!
Could you pretty please talk about how much you love occultshipping (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)?
Gladly! 😊❤️ I have so much to say about this ship 😈👻
Their dynamic is fascinating to me. Two spooky guys who theme their decks around ghosts and the occult have a duel to decide who will make it to the finals, proving to be the scarier duelist.
I'll start by comparing the way they treat their monsters. Yami Bakura likes using a monster's whole existence as a tool to achieve what he wants, as if condemning its soul, showing whoever his opponent is horrors beyond their imagination. Kotsuzuka, on the other hand, prefers to strengthen his ghosts to make a scary army of undead creatures to frighten his opponents.
One of them condemns souls. The other makes them stronger. They're so similar and yet so different. It's like seeing two sides of the occult.
What I like the most about this pairing is that it simply works. I'm thinking again about their Duel Links tag. Every person who has met Yami Bakura wants to use him, harm him, stop him, or wants nothing to do with him. This is the first time I ever see someone wanting to be around Yami Bakura, let alone feeling admiration for him.
Kotsuzuka barely knows anything about him. He doesn't know about the Millennium Items or Bakura's dreadful past and origin. He has no idea that this teenager, who is only 1 or 2 years older than him, is an ancient spirit currently possessing Ryou's body. In Kotsuzuka's eyes, Yami Bakura is this cool, scary guy who masters the occult and uses that to terrify others. And he likes him that way.
Having someone like Kotsuzuka around, who shows a genuine fascination for him (especially after experiencing how cruel he can be), could end up shaking Yami Bakura's world. This sweet ghost, who is both terrified and fascinated by him, could make Bakura want to lower his guard and get closer. He could make him care.
The height difference also makes this pairing too cute. Yami Bakura can easily hold Kotsuzuka, to which the little ghost will respond by finding the perfect spot to rest his head on Bakura's chest or shoulder.
Of course, I'm not forgetting about the dark aspect of this pair. Imagining a possessive Yami Bakura who wants to keep Kotsuzuka all to himself is what first got me into this pairing.
They could scare everyone together. Or they could lose themselves in the darkness. Just the two of them.
----------------✦ I have kind of a story in my head that includes all this. I hope I can turn it into a fic eventually (I've been practicing my writing) 🥺 Thank you SO much for the ask! 😊❤️ I fell in love with this pairing about three years ago, and my love for it keeps growing.