#lmk thoughts

My main inhibition going into this film was the lack of chemistry, which felt apparent in promo, but I very quickly realized that this was deliberate.

The whole issue of the story is that these characters don't know each other, not really. One exposure is enough to destabilize their whole foundation, and make Charlie question everything he sees in Emma - the good, the empathy, becomes replaced with irrational anger in his eyes.

The beginning of the film is tooth-rottingly sweet, but there is an underlying awkwardness that makes it seem unsettling. Their interactions feel stilted, and purposefully so, because these characters are not truly relaxed around one another. The shoe hasn't dropped yet, and it translates into their chemistry.

When we see the cracks in their relationship, when these characters remove their walls, THAT is when the actors work as a pair, because there's no hiding anymore. I still don't know how I feel about the ending scene - I see it as more of a begrudging realization that they are finally on the same level, atleast to others. They cannot fear about how the other person perceives them, because literally everyone else in the film judges them as an equally immoral pair.

Well to figure that out, we first have to start at the very beginning: MK’s creation:

Xiangliu: “The stone MK was made from was made by Nüwa. A remembrance from the chaos beyond. “

So, MK was made (along with the other stones) to be a “remembrance” of someone/something. Which is odd, because you usually do that for dead people… huh.

But anyway- other than that, we can figure out that in some way, MK is connected to chaos. Which could suggest that MK is actually made from the Primordial Chaos.

After all he is supposed to be a “remembrance”, and it seems like the “chaos beyond”, is a much older version of the Primordial Chaos, since the Primordial Chaos still exists.

Nezha: “The pillar is a mystic energy that holds back the Primordial Chaos.”

But if MK was made from chaos, wouldn’t that make him… unstable? Why would Nüwa create him like that?

Well, that I theorize to be because that in some Chinese religions, in this case Daoism, chaos is viewed as the only thing that can create the world:

“Chaos is understood as the state of unity and completeness which precedes and makes possible the creation of the world.”

But that still leaves us with the whole” chaos is unstable”- part.

I mean Xiangliu didn’t look that stable.

Luckily though there is actually two ways Nüwa could have held MK ”stable” long enough, till he could sacrifice himself: Wukong’s stone and MK’s destiny.

Let’s start with the Wukong’s stone thing.

I theorize MK was put in there because:

1. His destiny (which I will get to in a second) but more importantly-

 2. Wukong’s stone was nourished by heaven and earth before he was born. Meaning that Wukong’s stone is just brimming with Yin and Yang energy, aka stability.

Meaning this was the solution to keep MK from exploding the world before he was even born, which then leads us how Nüwa would have kept him stable after his birth: destiny.

I say this because destiny is often viewed as the opposite of chaos. And how do you make stability in Chinese philosophies/ mythology? By mixing two opposites together to create stability/ Yin and Yang.

Meaning this was how MK was kept stable until his inevitable death, where he would fulfill that very same destiny.

And now… MK has fulfilled his destiny, yet he is not dead.

Which means that he isn’t bound to anything anymore… but it also means he has lost the only thing that kept him stable. And now, chaos is starting to seep in.

This doesn’t mean though that MK needs to get himself a new destiny! It just means he has to figure out another way to keep that unstable part of him in check. (cough therapy)

However, if he doesn’t learn that quick enough it would uhm... do I even have to say it anymore at this point?

Anyway conclusion: Therapy

First this set which implies that in season 6 we're possibly going to finally have Erlang in the show. Now this isn't the first set we had that has erlang in it but the last one was more of a flashback type showing Wukong and some Celestials in heaven-

So yeah this one implies we get the arrival of Erlang

Now onto the more interesting one-

This set might not seem to imply much but the name alone can imply one of two things- the name makes it clear that that beast is a Qilin.

Now Qilin in Chinese myth were believed to appear with the arrival or death of a sage.

But I also decided to draw parallels between them and came to this conclusion:

The Six-Eared Monkey acquires information easily while the Intelligent Stone Monkey retains information easily.

I thought that, like, Macaque with his six ears can acquire new information easily while Wukong with his mind can retain it for much longer.

Did you know that babies can’t laugh before four months, and that’s human babies. Sometimes when a younger baby is ‘laughing’ it’s actually a noise that closely resembles laughter but is actually caused by pain? Plus laughter is a learned behavior, we are taught to actually laugh and therefore everyone laughs differently.

Redson is a baby CACKLING, when put in this perspective, his cackles to me sound even more like misunderstood cries of desperation and pain.

especially with his placement in the medical ward on the black whale. It’s certainly not an easy feat, especially when you see what the hell is going on in the chapters with the princes. I wonder how stressed he is, how little sleep he’s gotten, how much of this does he regret, if he’s scared to falter, or how much he can endure to reach his goal?

Though he seems very motivated and focused, it’s the job he Does want after all. I guess that’s why it’s so comforting to see him in scrubs,,, no suit, no sunglasses, no over-the-top boastful smile, it just feels like leorio at his very core. without that facade I always talk about, as it is an important part that’s woven in his character imo,,, way more sincere. like everything else he does that cracks through what he *tries* to be. but it’s clear that he’s getting more prone to wearing his heart on his sleeve, i think he even shows regret in building this persona. thinking he was shallow like the businessman he tries to be, but he really isn’t. His actions speak way louder!! He *tries* to make a situation in which he’s in power to care for others. That isn’t something a business would do. He gets stressed, he *feels* so very deeply, he gets angry, hotheaded. he’s *sincere*!!

he can be shallow at times, but in a way a teenager would be, not some CEO. that’s the staggering difference!! That’s why it’s obvious!! and money is so important because almost *everything* in his life relies on Money. hearing “money isn’t everything!” is so infuriating because. It truly does feel like it is to him. Money was the barrier between his friend’s life. Money is the barrier between his own goal. Money *can* truly buy a dream, because it can sell out his dream.and he feels so naive for that dream as he just so simply wanted to help the poor.

I like to imagine he does reach his dream. he donates a plethora of money to multiple charities, usually having business trips to that same home town where his friend died, being able to help kids from the same fate, wether watching their own friend die in their arms, or being able to be cured and not worrying about any bill. It might be naive but I know he can do this.

And I feel like nobody ever talks about Leorio’s own mental health, or how *hes* doing,,, granted likely better than the rest of the main 4,but his issues also matter, do they not? I wonder if he feels more empty after screwing around with girls after a house party. I wonder if he deeply regrets that one godforsaken trick tower scene.but I dunno, he is very irresponsible at times. bute also shows regret for that, he already shows that deep regret for goofing off during his election arc speech, knowing that his *best* friend is going through absolute hell.I think the speech in general is a great display of his character. I wonder if him regretting building this persona is him trying to rid away his own internalized hatred towards his own poverty?

My thoughts are all over the place but I want to understand him in the best way I can (and this own rant turned out different than I expected)

I honestly wonder how gut wrenching it feels to watch your friends deteriorate in front of your eyes, I can feel his own desperation when trying to advocate for Gon. he’s like kurapika, he *wont* have another one of his friends die. not in front of him. Everyone talks about how haha funny the speech is but. Leorio is so utterly worried and scared and. just so frustrated that his own father can’t even care for what’s happening. *higher people up not even caring about people in critical condition.* he’s angry but underneath that he’s terrified and. I think that’s why I love the election arc so much.