How Did I Not Recognize Him From Love By Chance 2??

How did I not recognize him from Love by Chance 2??

Do I keep getting distracted by the face? Yes, duh!

Me ... rabbit hole.

Segasaki's Public Persona

Hi sorry I gotta put these boys back in the microwave and hit whammy on the +30 seconds button ad infinitum to examine them or I’m not gonna make it to next Thursday for the next episode. 

This time I need to talk about Segasaki’s public persona and how it relates to his relationship with Yoh.

Throughout the series so far, we’ve seen that the public Segasaki is very different than the private Segasaki. The public Segasaki is charming, polite, and friendly. He speaks in a different register. He even smiles and laughs! But it’s very much an act that Segasaki turns on and off at will. Yoh notices when Segasaki turns the act on him (describing it as 外面, his “outside face,” as notfreetoday outlines here) in Episode 3 and Segasaki deliberately weaponizes it in Episode 4 to assert his claim on Yoh to Man-san.

In Episode 6, we see the college-era public Segasaki, as Yoh first sees Segasaki in the cafeteria surrounded by friends. He smiles, he laughs, he speaks in that different register. But when he’s not “on” in the conversation, he looks uncomfortable. When he catches Yoh looking at him, he looks downright miserable. But Yoh doesn’t look away, and we see Segasaki notice him, question what he’s seeing, and then be utterly struck by feeling something, some kind of connection. (It’s a beautifully subtle piece of acting.) Yoh catches a glimpse of the private Segasaki and remains enthralled; surely a novel experience to someone who feels the need to perform in these settings to make people like him.

Segasaki clearly finds it intriguing enough to take advantage of an opportunity to meet Yoh and ditch his friends. He’s still very much the public Segasaki with Yoh in that first meeting; polite and friendly and charming. But he immediately starts testing the waters. What if I whisper conspiratorially in your ear, making it clear it’s us vs. them? What if I grab you casually to steer you around? What if I tell you nerdy weather facts? What if I get close to you? What would you do?

And Yoh responds beautifully. While confused that someone like the popular Segasaki would bother with him, he’s happy to be in a little conspiracy of two with Segasaki. He lets Segasaki steer him without protesting. He’s fascinated by the weather facts. He lets Segasaki crowd him because he realizes he enjoys it. Yoh might not be able to parse that his overwhelming feelings for Segasaki are romantic at this point, but he does demonstrate to Segasaki that he’s someone Segasaki could trust with his private self. 

Which we see in the scene immediately following in the library set an undetermined amount of time later. Segasaki’s dropped the honorifics. He speaks to Yoh in that low voice he only uses with Yoh. He crowds him and clearly enjoys Yoh’s reaction to being crowded. He even bosses him around a bit, assigning him a little book report so Segasaki has an excuse to see him later.* This is not the public Segasaki everybody else gets to see; this is the private Segasaki that he only trusts Yoh with. 

Segasaki’s public persona versus his private self is a theme that was introduced as early as Episode 1, but I wanted to point it out here because I think this is one of the key reasons that Segasaki fell in love with Yoh and fell so hard. The preview for Episode 7 implies that Segasaki didn’t realize how fake his smiles with his friends were until he saw himself in Yoh’s sketches. Not only can Segasaki be himself around Yoh, but Yoh may be the one who opened his eyes to the dichotomy between his public persona and his private self and the toll the former takes on him. No wonder Segasaki’s so in love with him and so fearful of losing him; Yoh is a safe harbor for him that no one else is. For Segasaki, Yoh is home.

And Yoh has no idea how important he is to Segasaki and he's gonna find out!!! Ahhh!!!!

*The book Segasaki hands Yoh is a copy of J'cause français, non?, which appears to be a linguistics book from the 1980s addressing then contemporary fears about the downfall of the French language. I looked it up because I thought the book might be a cute Easter egg, but it’s clearly just a random book from the school library they were filming in. That said, I love the idea of Yoh mentioning he's looking for a book and Segasaki panicking and handing him a book in a language neither of them can read because he wants to provide for Yoh so bad. Nerds (affectionate). 

Dangerous Romance: The Curious Case of Kang's Shirts

Or how I can prove that he's not into Pimfah using the law of buttons.

It's 11 PM on Thursday in the desert and, as always, I can't stop thinking about Dangerous Romance. Now, I'm sure most folks are pretty confident that Episode 5 showing a somewhat infatuated with Pimfah Kang is the result of gay panic/confused feelings/compulsory heterosexuality. But one thing I haven't seen mentioned is how Kang is dressing (or undressing, or dressing down) for different people in his life.

My sweet baby Kang has been dressing for the job he wants: Sailom's boo. School uniforms are, in a word, hella lame--and the first interaction we get with Sailom and Kang in the 'real world' Kang rolls up in this stunner of an outfit.

Date outfit number 1

We've got leather pants that won't quit--they're shiny, they're stylish, and they are paired with an impressively blousey blouse.

He's fully accessorized: watch? check. Bracelet? you betcha. Ring? Absolutely. Necklace? never leaves the house without it. Sailom has to pay attention to him when he's looking this good, right? Right?

Date Outfit Number 2

And here is angry kitten Kang on his way to commit a crime. The crime being his passion for Sailom of course...

and bringing a gun Sailom's house (unloaded guys! it's perfectly fine!--Kang's defense). He took a cab to his midnight rendevouz; Now we know Kang has a scooter. Did he not want to mess up his hair on the ride over? His neckline has gotten progressively lower and buddy boy did he also accessorize. Is silver too matchy-matchy with gun metal? Kang doesn't think so.

Date outfit number 3

My wayward boys next out-of-school encounter is their Khaosan Road adventure. Now here Kang explicitly states that if he would have known they were going to a bar he would have gone home to change. They end up in some fabulous tourist threads--note here that Kang just can't stop himself from a low button shirt & classic pukkha shell necklace. (shout out to fashion police Nawa for his burn)

Pimfah's Birthday Lunch:

Kang celebrates Pimfah's birthday and this is where they interrupt Sailom's escorting date. Is Kang looking slick? Yes of course he is.

And yeah, it wouldn't be Kang without showing some skin... But that neckline has inched its way upwards. Top button and a high one at that.

Date outfit number 4

But what do you wear to welcome your totally just platonic, I don't even like him grandma I despise him, secret crush tutor Sailom? Obviously the shirt with the most cleavage.

If the wind blew I could see his nipples (ahem...Sailom).

Date with Pimfah:

And for the open house open heart Kang is in date mode, but for the first time ever covering up. He is advertising the fact He is in fact totally okay with this, in a crewneck sweatshirt. The face of a man okay with everything happening, right?

You can fool yourself for a while Kang, but you can't fool your excellent taste in low cut shirts. Or me.

Thanks to @shouldiusemyname for the tag. I found lots of cool folks to follow in this chain. Not the most accurate avatar, but she's close enough. Just imagine her plushier with either a big smile or rolling her eyes.

Tagging anyone who wants to play dress up with pixels! 🥰

Thank you for the tag @illumi-nati-png 😁. I should be sleeping, but this was far too entertaining. 😅

Anywho I was challenged to do this piccrew game.

Me and Moon the cat. I pretty much live in shorts these days until the howling gales of Yorkshire force me into trousers. I think I was possessed by the spirit of a pe teacher at some point in life. 😅

Anywho... I'm tagging @marvagon @bobbole @ibrithir-was-here @mashumaru @thirrith and @debellatis because I keep seeing you nipping in to like and reblog and wanted to say hello. 😅

FreenBeck coming for our necks.

Got it.

FreenBecca x Liio

6 minutes into Absolute Zero and I'm already regretting starting it before all the episodes are out. Why do I do this to myself?