Twenty Random Facts You May Or May Not Know About Ryuuji Otogi
Title: Twenty Random Facts You May Or May Not Know About Ryuuji Otogi
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh
Pairings: Ryuuji x Seto, Mai x Ryuuji, Mai x Jounouchi, Yuugi x Anzu
Summary: Dedicated to a_white_rain and nekokilala. A quick sketch of how Ryuuji's life could have been/could go, to fill in all the blanks.
Twenty Random Facts You May Or May Not Know About Ryuuji Otogi.
1) The first time Ryuuji ever experimented with make-up was when he was five years old. He'd snuck into the quiet room (the one with sheets all over everything that the servants talk about behind their hands when they speak of his mother) and pulled out all the drawers. Hair-clips had tumbled around him, sticks of eyeliner and jars of blush so old that it was caked. He thought of his father and smeared it over his face until he looked like a beautiful child-clown, delicate bone structure and garish red lips.
2) The second time was when he acted in a production of Midsummer Night's Dream. He was Puck, impish follower of King Oberon, declaiming his lines with perfect inflections and flawless timing. The audience adored him, and he adored their adoration. While he was taking his penultimate bow, he decided to be an actor. And a scriptwriter, because nobody had written anything good enough to suit him yet. He'd make a play the world would remember; he'd put words into their mouths long after his own corpse had decomposed.
3) He changed his mind when he hit thirteen, and thirteen hit back. Mendacious, duplicitious and too pretty to hate, Ryuuji chose instead to script out his own life. If you were an actor, people expected you to lie. If you were a game designer, people didn't double-think your actions.
4) The first game he invented was an RPG. He drew the graphics for it, made a tree-diagram of the different plots and starting points, then submitted it under the name of "Cilia Vedette" to Black Crown's commissioning committee. Ryuuji didn't tell his father that he'd created the game until after it'd been approved for production.
5) He met Seto before he met Yugi. He knew who Yuugi was before he met both of them, of course, but he encountered Seto at a business meeting when he was fourteen. Seto was memorable because he was the only other person there that was Ryuuji's age; he hadn't spoken to Ryuuji and Ryuuji didn't dare approach him, but it was enough to make Ryuuji feel less out of place on his first solo meeting.
6) He met Mai before Yugi, as well, right after meeting Seto. On the flight back from the meeting, he was seated next to her in First Class. The two of them talked the entire ride through, and she was the one to pencil in the trademark line of eyeliner under his left eye when he complained about how concealer never was quite enough to make him forget about the thin scar there.
7) When Yugi and his entourage walked into school the first day of Ryuuji's arrival to Domino High, his first emotion wasn't hate but jealousy. They were so close and happy together. There were other ways that he could have lured Yugi into Black Crown, but he chose to use Jounouchi, just so that he could have a little revenge for himself. Constantly moving didn't make it easy for Ryuuji to actually make friends, after all.
8) He never saw his father again after Yuugi defeated Otogi-san in the dark game. The man died of injuries sustained during the fire and smoke inhalation the same night he was admitted to the hospital. Ryuuji didn't feel as sorry about that as he should have. He didn't even feel guilty (how easily love turns to hate when control is gone).
9) Tagging after Yuugi became a sort of fascination for him. He'd spin away, knowing he didn't belong, and then he'd spin back, wanting to see what was happening with them now. Like watching a documentary of "Where are they now?" except Ryuuji was the cameraman and audience all at once, even as he stayed in the spotlight of his own making.
10) He didn't fit in until Shizuka arrived. Shizuka was his ticket in, because he understood competing over a girl. It was something he could do; a way to relate to the others in the group. He didn't really care about her. Like her brother, she was nothing more than a means to an end.
11) Seto was probably the only other person that would understand that way of thinking. And perhaps Yami no Yuugi, but Ryuuji knew quite well that Yami no Yuugi would at least feign outrage for Yuugi's behalf; Ra forbid that Yami no Yuugi actually reveal his hypocritical side again. But Seto would never understand what it was like to want to belong, Ryuuji assumed, then rethought that assumption when he remembered that Seto had spent a while in an orphanage.
12) Ryuuji dropped out of contact with the group for the most part when Yami no Yuugi moved on. Why should he stay in touch? The Pharaoh - the reason behind the not-quite-right parts of his childhood - was gone. No more nightmares waiting to happen. He kept in touch with Mai, because she didn't count as part of the group either, and he'd known her longer.
13) Apart from sending them a postcard every so often, he forced himself to forget about that part of his life and worked on his life-script again. He wrote in a blonde girlfriend, gave her violet eyes and a ready laugh, then watched her erase herself from the play, leaving the stage to pick a stray dog out of the gutters.
14) Ryuuji personally thought that was a waste of time on Mai's part, but he supported her anyway. They were friends long before they had been lovers, and even after the breakup, they were still friends.
15) Ryuuji didn't date for a while afterwards, even though he smiled and laughed just the same as usual.
16) The next date he went on was with Seto Kaiba. A charity auction was being held for victims of a tsunami, Seto had gone there to bid on a certain rare card, won it and been on the verge of leaving when he had heard that the next lot was "a date with the world's most eligible bachelor, Ryuuji Otogi".
17) That wasn't the date, though. Seto didn't take Ryuuji for dinner, but instead dragged him into a duelling school and demanded that Ryuuji act as a guest speaker to address the students on probability and calculating the odds. Bemused, Ryuuji did so, but demanded a proper date in recompense. Surprisingly, Seto agreed.
18) The date went well. There were several others, including a public appearance at the Mazaki-Mutou wedding and a week-long trip in New York during which they chose an apartment for Mokuba to stay at while he went to university. The fact that Mokuba subsequently transfered to a British university resulted in Seto being teased mercilessly about how his 'horrible blue-white minimalistic design scheme was enough to make anyone move out'.
19) Seto retaliated by giving Ryuuji free reign to decorate the mansion. Ryuuji pointed out he probably ought to move in first. Seto agreed.
20) When gay marriage was legalized in Japan, a half-decade or so after they got together, they both got busy signals trying to call and tell each other the news. Seto sent Ryuuji a text message asking to marry him; Ryuuji responded by sending Seto a sound clip of the bridal march. Mai was the bridesmaid, Mokuba the best man, and for days afterwards, the pictures of their happy, triumphant expressions were on the cover of every magazine around.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh
Pairings: Ryuuji x Seto, Mai x Ryuuji, Mai x Jounouchi, Yuugi x Anzu
Summary: Dedicated to a_white_rain and nekokilala. A quick sketch of how Ryuuji's life could have been/could go, to fill in all the blanks.
Twenty Random Facts You May Or May Not Know About Ryuuji Otogi.
1) The first time Ryuuji ever experimented with make-up was when he was five years old. He'd snuck into the quiet room (the one with sheets all over everything that the servants talk about behind their hands when they speak of his mother) and pulled out all the drawers. Hair-clips had tumbled around him, sticks of eyeliner and jars of blush so old that it was caked. He thought of his father and smeared it over his face until he looked like a beautiful child-clown, delicate bone structure and garish red lips.
2) The second time was when he acted in a production of Midsummer Night's Dream. He was Puck, impish follower of King Oberon, declaiming his lines with perfect inflections and flawless timing. The audience adored him, and he adored their adoration. While he was taking his penultimate bow, he decided to be an actor. And a scriptwriter, because nobody had written anything good enough to suit him yet. He'd make a play the world would remember; he'd put words into their mouths long after his own corpse had decomposed.
3) He changed his mind when he hit thirteen, and thirteen hit back. Mendacious, duplicitious and too pretty to hate, Ryuuji chose instead to script out his own life. If you were an actor, people expected you to lie. If you were a game designer, people didn't double-think your actions.
4) The first game he invented was an RPG. He drew the graphics for it, made a tree-diagram of the different plots and starting points, then submitted it under the name of "Cilia Vedette" to Black Crown's commissioning committee. Ryuuji didn't tell his father that he'd created the game until after it'd been approved for production.
5) He met Seto before he met Yugi. He knew who Yuugi was before he met both of them, of course, but he encountered Seto at a business meeting when he was fourteen. Seto was memorable because he was the only other person there that was Ryuuji's age; he hadn't spoken to Ryuuji and Ryuuji didn't dare approach him, but it was enough to make Ryuuji feel less out of place on his first solo meeting.
6) He met Mai before Yugi, as well, right after meeting Seto. On the flight back from the meeting, he was seated next to her in First Class. The two of them talked the entire ride through, and she was the one to pencil in the trademark line of eyeliner under his left eye when he complained about how concealer never was quite enough to make him forget about the thin scar there.
7) When Yugi and his entourage walked into school the first day of Ryuuji's arrival to Domino High, his first emotion wasn't hate but jealousy. They were so close and happy together. There were other ways that he could have lured Yugi into Black Crown, but he chose to use Jounouchi, just so that he could have a little revenge for himself. Constantly moving didn't make it easy for Ryuuji to actually make friends, after all.
8) He never saw his father again after Yuugi defeated Otogi-san in the dark game. The man died of injuries sustained during the fire and smoke inhalation the same night he was admitted to the hospital. Ryuuji didn't feel as sorry about that as he should have. He didn't even feel guilty (how easily love turns to hate when control is gone).
9) Tagging after Yuugi became a sort of fascination for him. He'd spin away, knowing he didn't belong, and then he'd spin back, wanting to see what was happening with them now. Like watching a documentary of "Where are they now?" except Ryuuji was the cameraman and audience all at once, even as he stayed in the spotlight of his own making.
10) He didn't fit in until Shizuka arrived. Shizuka was his ticket in, because he understood competing over a girl. It was something he could do; a way to relate to the others in the group. He didn't really care about her. Like her brother, she was nothing more than a means to an end.
11) Seto was probably the only other person that would understand that way of thinking. And perhaps Yami no Yuugi, but Ryuuji knew quite well that Yami no Yuugi would at least feign outrage for Yuugi's behalf; Ra forbid that Yami no Yuugi actually reveal his hypocritical side again. But Seto would never understand what it was like to want to belong, Ryuuji assumed, then rethought that assumption when he remembered that Seto had spent a while in an orphanage.
12) Ryuuji dropped out of contact with the group for the most part when Yami no Yuugi moved on. Why should he stay in touch? The Pharaoh - the reason behind the not-quite-right parts of his childhood - was gone. No more nightmares waiting to happen. He kept in touch with Mai, because she didn't count as part of the group either, and he'd known her longer.
13) Apart from sending them a postcard every so often, he forced himself to forget about that part of his life and worked on his life-script again. He wrote in a blonde girlfriend, gave her violet eyes and a ready laugh, then watched her erase herself from the play, leaving the stage to pick a stray dog out of the gutters.
14) Ryuuji personally thought that was a waste of time on Mai's part, but he supported her anyway. They were friends long before they had been lovers, and even after the breakup, they were still friends.
15) Ryuuji didn't date for a while afterwards, even though he smiled and laughed just the same as usual.
16) The next date he went on was with Seto Kaiba. A charity auction was being held for victims of a tsunami, Seto had gone there to bid on a certain rare card, won it and been on the verge of leaving when he had heard that the next lot was "a date with the world's most eligible bachelor, Ryuuji Otogi".
17) That wasn't the date, though. Seto didn't take Ryuuji for dinner, but instead dragged him into a duelling school and demanded that Ryuuji act as a guest speaker to address the students on probability and calculating the odds. Bemused, Ryuuji did so, but demanded a proper date in recompense. Surprisingly, Seto agreed.
18) The date went well. There were several others, including a public appearance at the Mazaki-Mutou wedding and a week-long trip in New York during which they chose an apartment for Mokuba to stay at while he went to university. The fact that Mokuba subsequently transfered to a British university resulted in Seto being teased mercilessly about how his 'horrible blue-white minimalistic design scheme was enough to make anyone move out'.
19) Seto retaliated by giving Ryuuji free reign to decorate the mansion. Ryuuji pointed out he probably ought to move in first. Seto agreed.
20) When gay marriage was legalized in Japan, a half-decade or so after they got together, they both got busy signals trying to call and tell each other the news. Seto sent Ryuuji a text message asking to marry him; Ryuuji responded by sending Seto a sound clip of the bridal march. Mai was the bridesmaid, Mokuba the best man, and for days afterwards, the pictures of their happy, triumphant expressions were on the cover of every magazine around.