#like they both have to exist in this scenario. like a yin-yang sort of thing

[neonnoir-ao3]

When the biblical-themed analog horror hyperfixation causes a minor sub-hyperfixation in biblical mythos

So yeah this pin is gonna arrive in two months or so

[ayuuria]

Yashahime Translation: Animage Magazine May 2021 Issue

Please do not repost this translation without my consent! This includes screenshots of any type and amount. If you wish to share this translation, simply link to this post.

For more information regarding the use of my translations, click here.

The Yashahimes’ Future

The three Yashahimes who carry both demon and human blood: Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha. The three of them have varying personalities, environments in which they were raised in, and goals for their actions. However, through the shared task of demon slaying, they slowly begin to accept one another. Though they are not a perfect “Close, in sync team”, trust has certainly budded between the girls who, together, have overcome any difficult situation. Even Kirinmaru’s attack that killed Setsuna in one stroke could not sever the bond that connects the three. Towa especially, who received a broken Tenseiga from Sesshōmaru, appears to have not yet given up on Setsuna’s life. Although it looks like the girls will still continue to face hardships in the future, we want them to clear the way to a happy future with their own hands.

“Hanyō no Yashahime” entered a short break, leaving behind many points of interest such as Setsuna’s shocking death, the broken Tenseiga entrusted to Towa, and the continued separation of Moroha and her parents. Let’s consolidate the existing mysteries and wait for the second chapter (season)!

Higurashi Towa

Faced with the death of her beloved little sister, Setsuna, her demonic blood awakens for the first time. Until now, she had been using the demon sword, Kikujūmonji, as her weapon but what is this blade… …? (referring to the promo picture for season 2)

Series Composition: Katsuyuki Sumisawa Q&A

The Yashahimes’ story with continuous ups and downs. In addition to reviewing everything up until now, please tell us about the backstory and hints to the second chapter (season)!

Q. Where do Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha normally spend the night?

A. Towa freeloads at Kaede’s house. Setsuna stays at the demon slayer’s headquarters. It’s just that she can’t sleep so she probably keeps watch outside at night. Moroha lives at the corpse shop.

Q. How far apart is Kaede’s village and the corpse shop?

A. Kaede’s village is in the land of Musashi so in terms of modern geography, imagine around Tokyo’s Nakano and Suginami ward. Compared to that, the corpse shop is in the harbor so around Shinagawa ward or maybe even Yokohama. It seems the three of them frequently met up but there’s actually quite a distance. Each of them had different goals behind their actions too.

Q. When Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha first met, how was Moroha able to figure out that the two of them were Sesshōmaru’s daughters?

A. Probably through “smell”. Sesshōmaru is well known among demons and Moroha knows that Sesshōmaru is her father’s older brother. However, Moroha still doesn’t know that Sesshōmaru is the one who trapped her parents within the black pearl.

Q. Does Moroha know her parents’ names?

A. She does. When Inuyasha and Kagome were approached by Kirinmaru and Sesshōmaru, Awa no Hachiemon (aka Hachi), the racoon dog, took Moroha to the wolf demon tribe where she was raised. That being said, Kōga probably told her.

Q. Doesn’t Moroha want to meet her parents?

A. She thinks her parents are dead. That’s why her thoughts are “There’s no point obsessing over someone who’s dead”. Hachiemon the racoon dog, didn’t watch the details of the incident to the end and assumed that “If Sesshōmaru and Kirinmaru were their opponents, they’re probably not alive now.” That’s what Moroha was told through Kōga.

Q. Why is the instrument that Setsuna plays the violin?

A. When creating the scenario, I wanted some sort of “gift” from the modern era as “something to connect the modern and feudal eras”. Therefore, I decided to give Moroha the giant backpack as Kagome’s daughter and Setsuna an instrument. In addition, an instrument that absolutely didn’t exist in the feudal era was better, so I chose the violin. There of course won’t be violins in Japan and even in the West, it had a different shape than it does now. Plus, before the current story was solidified, I had thought of a plot where the modern era was the setting so it’s a remnant of that.

Q. Did Mama Moe teach Setsuna the song she always plays on her violin?

A. While she learned how to play the violin from Mama Moe, the song was not something she learned (from her). Rather Setsuna is playing a song she once heard based off her memory. Where she heard it… please wait for the second chapter (season)!

Q. With Kanemitsu no Tomoe as a medium for Setsuna and the rouge being suggested for Moroha, each of them has had their demonic blood sealed. What about the seal for Towa’s demonic blood?

A. Towa’s is not sealed. Moreover, her demonic blood had not yet awakened. That’s where in episode 24, her demonic blood awakened for the first time with Setsuna’s death being the trigger. However, that was in an out-of-control state. Going forward, how “Sesshōmaru’s blood” flowing within her will manifest itself will be something worth noting.

Q. Why does everyone call Towa and the others “Yashahime”?

A. Ever since the spirit of the Tree of Ages called them as such in episode 4, everyone started calling them that, no matter who they spoke to. At first, even Towa and the others were like “We’re not Yashahime” or “Are you referring to us?” but as they got addressed that repeatedly, they gradually accepted the name.

Q. Kohaku’s* older sister, Kin’u, is a nun but what does his other older sister, Gyokuto, do?

*Translator’s Note: I think the publisher made a mistake and meant to say Hisui

A. She shoulders the responsibility of helping Sango create the weapons for demon slaying, delivering those weapons to the other slayers, accepting demon slaying requests around the area, and collecting information on demon sightings.

Q. Is Kirinmaru a demon of Japan?

A. No. I think talking like this will be easier to understand. Kirinmaru is one of the few greater demons who is aware that the earth is round. In that era, the only ones who have a sense of this are probably just Kagome, Towa, and Kirinmaru. Having circled the globe many times, Kirinmaru, who had traveled around the world, met the Dog General at the very end in the land at the farthest end (of the earth), Japan. Ever since then, he has remained in Japan so it could be said that he’s a demon of Japan, but his existence is on a bigger scale than that. Kirinmaru frequently reads Western books and he orders those from various places around the world. The one who buys them is Riku. Naturally, I’m sure that not only does Riku secretly read the Western books in the library, but Kirinmaru wouldn’t reproach him for such a small thing either. In episode 7, Riku called the apple a “Forbidden Fruit” but of course, I’m sure Kirinmaru has read the bible before. That’s most likely because he’s been alive since the era of myth so he may have seen Buddha or Jesus Christ in the flesh. There’s probably no way he saw Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit though… … (laughs).

Q. Point blank, what is the relationship between Kirinmaru and Riku? In a reflection of the past (200 years ago), it seemed Riku didn’t have any emotions. What exactly was that?

A. This will be revealed in the second chapter (season) as well but to give you a little hint, Riku started taking care of Zero after the Dog General died and as he healed her, he gradually began to have emotions. That’s why Riku’s way of thinking was influenced by Zero, such as “You have to destroy those that you love”.

Q. Zero lost her demonic powers when she created the Rainbow Pearls. Then what was the power she was using when she fought?

A. Zero was using the power of hexes. In this world, there is not only demonic power but all sorts of powers such as spiritual power and Buddhist power and each of them is separate. What she used was a power similar to charms and Inyougogyō**.

** Translator’s Note: Yin and Yang and the five Chinese elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Q. Why did someone like Kirinmaru, who values reason, have the Four Perils, who had sleazy personalities, as subordinates?

A. Kirinmaru’s mind is preoccupied with a “certain matter” that’s important so he doesn’t really care about anything else. Hence, he doesn’t remember every single demon that has challenged or served under him and he doesn’t care what kind of person they were.

Q. In episode 21, it was surprising when Towa said “I like you (Riku)!”. To put it frankly, what do Towa and Riku think of each other?

A. Towa thinks Riku is “Riku”. She doesn’t perceive him as being part of Kirinmaru’s group. On the other hand, Riku thinks Towa is “The lady Yashahime that will slay Kirinmaru”. That’s why he addresses her as “Lady Towa”. Currently, there are no romantic feelings between the two of them. Just that, there’s probably “affection” from Riku to Towa.

Q. Why does Riku think “I only kill those I love”?

A. Because “Those who are loved vanish beautifully”. That is what Zero said in episode 23. To Zero, death is sad but to Riku, there’s no difference between dying and living and that they’re the same. Based on that, Riku came to think “You have to destroy those that you love” and he chooses to “kill” as an expression of love. That might be quite difficult to understand.

Q. Why is Sesshōmaru so cold to his daughters?

A. Just as a lion drops its cubs into a bottomless ravine, a demon’s feeling is that they only raise the child that gains strength from hardship. That is the “Rite of Courage and Cowardice”. It’s a little different from the feeling we humans have. That’s why hating his daughters or purposely tormenting them is certainly not the case.

Q. Although, isn’t separating the babies from their mother immediately after birth or having them fight the strongest beast king of the eastern land, Kirinmaru, a little too much?

A. If you watch the kabuki play “Renjishi” I think you will get it immediately. Anime is fine, but I would like to recommend the traditional arts that have ceaselessly been passed down since ancient Japanese times. Even if going to see them is difficult, researching on the internet is easy. Even the phrase “Rite of Courage and Cowardice” will show up in there. It seems that in this world, there’s no people who love their children more than Japanese people. Perhaps that’s why it can’t be helped that the way Sesshōmaru is raising his children feels very cold. However, those who watched the “Inuyasha” series I think will know but Sesshōmaru’s hearing and smell are exceedingly exceptional. He has the ability to immediately rush in, no matter how far the distance.

Q. Lastly, please tell us how production for the second chapter (season) is going?

A. Currently, we’re writing the second half of the script for the second chapter (season). The whole staff are eagerly working under this difficult Corona crisis. In the second chapter (season), we would like to create a script that is particular on the details as much as possible. In the previous series, there were many self-contained demon slaying stories but for the second chapter (season), we’ve changed the structure of the story so that it progresses with the feelings of the various characters intertwining together, just like in “Inuyasha The Final Act”. Hence, I think the impression of the story will change quite a bit. Please wait until the broadcast to see what kind of story it will be!

[solomonish]

HI PUBONIC BLAGUE HERE AND I AM EXPERIENCING THE SHRIMP COLORS OF LUCIMON. Okay actually like first of all hi hi hello, missed u much, hope u been well. I had a most excellent time reading the wonderful content you've posted recently too btw, so thank you for slapping some wind back in my sails, and also more importantly as someone else with a limited quantity of mental silverware I just wanted to add as long as it's not too weird that I hope you've been extra special kind to yourself too. you're a special sort of lovely and deserve the best of everything that makes you smile 🥺���️. ALSO OKAY "FALLEN GOLDEN BOYS" SMACKED ME WITH A BRICK AND CALLED ME A BITCH. I am in galaxy brain with these two like can you IMAGINE. their mutual-but-different beef with archangle mikey ALONE is riddled with enough possibilities to send me Over The Edge, but the quiet self destruction and workaholism?? the repressed trauma and the carrying of the whole world despite it?? the always thinking of others first and holding everyone at arms' length while desperately yearning to be held?? OOMPH. and okay the violently, poetically foiled ways in which they cope with all of that + everything else i'M [insert favorite dinosaur noise here]. they're even literally yin-yang colored I'm in shambles. anyway if the third eye counts as a window to the soul you could fit a whole beelzebub thru mine right now so thank you for posting that ask you have unlocked an Entire new plane of existence for me. now if u exist me I am going to lay face down on the floor and continue to burn within the cockles of how outRAGEOUSLY romantic the lucimon scenario from that very same ask is. like "lucifer being heartbreakingly gentle with solomon and helping him calm down post the latter finally breaking even tho solomon imploding/exploding/crumbling even would be terrifying beyond measure" JEEZE LOUISE-

Bxhdjdic thank you for the well wishes pb! Its nothing big im just super tired recently and just. You know. All that haha but I hope you've been well too and I'm glad I was able to sort of revitalize you!!

But YEAH the fallen golden boys got me too! And I mean we can go fluffy and have that be a source of solace or we can go angst and have one of them (probably lucifer @ solomon) be like "ok but he isn't fallen entirely. Why has he not been damned and yet I have?" and have it be angst 😏

God but just like imagine when they first realize that there may be Feelings thrown into the mix. Like Lucifer and Solomon are having a verbal showdown or something and Asmo, frustrated that his story was interrupted, groans and is just like "Yeesh I could cut your guys' tension like a knife why don't you kiss and make up already" grumbling under his breath

And Lucifer and Solomon just stop and they play it off as like "what an inappropriate thing to say" but really they both have a nervous feeling in their stomach because 1) they may or may not be picking up on the fact that their crush is right in front of them and 2) crush??? Wait no??? I didn't sign up for this?? This is terrible wait hold on

The yin yang thing.....I didn't even notice.....I'm sold....

So I guess welcome to solomonish dot tumblr dot com everybody where Solomon's harem includes not just every Solostan MC but apparently every single member of the Obey Me cast

[emperorren]

would you be ok with talking about the golden age of the reylo fandom? i’m a new shipper so i wasn’t here for it. i’ve heard a few people mention big events but I’m very curious what it was like in the beginning!

aaaaahhhhh the golden age when reylo was just a baby ship and there were like, 56 of us on this site and all busy defending ourselves from random accusations of being *anne’s voice whose name wasn’t anne yet* ABuSe apoLogISTs!!

The initial discourse around reylo was really intimidating, because even the most innocuous mutuals on your dash were reblogging smug untagged anti posts (I remember one in particular that was like “stop shipping female characters with their abusers!!!1111!!!” with something like 50K notes). The first few weeks after TFA’s release were all about heated debates on whether you’re actually allowed to ship problematic things and ~how can you deny that the interrogation scene was a rape analogy~, and for me personally, a LOT of juggling between reylo (which was quickly becoming my main focus, even though back then I was almost certain they were related) and f/nnr/ey (which I had mostly lukewarm feelings for, but showing open indifference seemed like a good way to be bullied for *internalized racism*, so I had to strike a balance).

BUT when actual fan content for the ship started surfacing, and we simultaneously started growing in numbers and closing our ranks against fandom bullies, it was amazing. 

There was Ohtze’s Death and the Maiden meta, which for me sealed the transition from “intriguing enemies to lovers ship” to “ASGFHSJKSGAGSKKS OTP OF OTPS” because I freaking love subtext and ships built on subtext.Creatively there was a lot of freedom, since the reylo dynamic was hinted at in canon but nothing was set in stone yet, and imagination ran wild. There was lots of dark and angsty, lots of proper enemies to lovers tropes, lots of dark!Kylo, lots of scenarios where Rey has to kill him in the end and they’re both in tears and he thanks her for that, the first attempts at depicting the yin/yang dynamic. A popular headcanon was that Ben fell when he was fifteen-something (around the time Rey was abandoned on Jakku), so in many fics the Kylo/Snoke relationship was even more disturbing than it is in canon. Another popular theory was that Rey was a little student at Luke’s academy, and Ben was the one who dropped Rey on Jakku, perhaps to spare her from the jedi temple massacre, so you had lots of fics based on that. And of course the stranded/trapped together tropes proliferated.

You kids are so spoiled now, but back then we were really in the dark. We didn’t have Rian Johnson backing up your reading, or the story group chatting excitedly over Rey and Kylo’s interactions. For all we knew, we were seeing things that weren’t there, as the majority of tumblr kindly reminded us every 5 seconds. (there was a well researched meta theorizing how the actual *trio*—in the sense of the three most important characters—was actually F/nn, Rey and Kylo Ren, and oh, the outrage it attracted. In hindsight it’s hilarious.) Popular reylo shippers tended to be extremely cautious re: canon reylo, if not downright skeptical. Thinking that Rey and Kylo could actually have a romance, rather than a “special antagonism” with very veiled romantic subtext, was considered incredibly optimistic. Most people said they would gladly settle for Rey no longer hating Kylo by the end of IX. Consequently, most fics were excruciatingly slow burn (which is why they were amazing), because it was considered a titanic effort to make these two characters stop wanting to kill each other, especially Rey, something that needed thousand of pages of subtle character evolution to be remotely plausible. It wasn’t even about tempering our expectations—we barely had any. we simply thought we were shipping little more than a crackship.

So when the databank dropped, calling Rey and Kylo’s “destinies intertwined”, and JJ’s TFA commentary described them as “the story we’re really interested in”, and called Rey a princess and Kylo a prince, it was MINDBLOWING. It was the first hint that we were, in fact, reading this story correctly.

There was also a lot of obsessing over Pablo Hidalgo’s tweets and desperately searching for clues. Pablo’s confirmation that Rey “downloaded” Kylo’s force skills by entering his mind was probably the first canon confirmation of the existence of the force bond, but it was again Ohtze who had first introduced most of us to that concept in her meta on the parallels between Reylo and Revan/B*astila, and we latched on it enthusiastically (though back then the force bond was conceived as a merely telepathic connection—TLJ went above and beyond that).

Other touchstones were when John said the romance in this trilogy wasn’t /going the way you think/ and that he and Daisy essentially played their characters as friends (the fandom consensus back then was that the central romance was f*nnrey, so that interview was a turning point in the fandom and bolstered our confidence). And Daisy’s throwaway comment about Rey “feeling the force” with Kylo during the duel (another hint at the force bond).

There was occasionally some big intra-fandom drama (I remember a person called ysbaddadenthebrave, who wrote a lot of VERY popular fics back in the day but it turned out she was lying about personal stuff and some novel she was writing (though I didn’t follow that wank closely) and also the mess with msqualia (a shipper who became a bully to other shippers). 

There were many #gates, too, starting with #ashgate. It happened when a pic of Kylo putting his helmet on a sort of altar covered in ashes, with the commentary by JJ that those ashes were the remains of his dead enemies. People went NUTS over this. People UNSTANNED Kylo for this, I shit you not, others took it as bad writing, lack of coherent characterization, a hint that he was never going to be redeemed, it caused SO MUCH PANIC, lol. 

I also remember very vividly when the first HD version of TFA was leaked, and tumblr was suddenly flooded with a deluge of quality gifs of the duel, the interrogation, unmasked Kylo looking at Snoke with his big puppy eyes, etc. It was CRAZY and it sparked a new wave of meta and commentary, this time MUCH more confident that what we were seeing was real to some extent.

Oh and when filming for TLJ began and we learned that Adam was filming on Skellig Island with Daisy and Mark… that… that was the beginning of a new wave of fanfics, as you can imagine. And the leak of the exploding hut, which most of us thought was BS because it sounded too much like a reylo dream.

2016 was really a crazy year for Reylo shippers.

[roxannepolice]

Punishments, redemptions and force deprivations - or the b*tching that was promised

Arite, so I guess we all here agree that Luke’s naughty nephew can’t end this trilogy with so much as a tap on his wrist. Some reckoning is due for jedi killing, dad piercing, mind probing, force choking and village burning. But I guess we also all agree that it can’t be another redemption=death feast, we had it with his grandpa. 

So, all sorts of different theories as to how Kylo Ben will pay for his crimes have emerged, the most popular of those being maiming (particularly arm losing), exile (more or less self imposed), imprisonment (for term unknown) and force deprivation. Being frustrated with the apparent seductiveness of all of these tropes being flung here and there, I decided to explain why none of this makes much sense for a deeper narrative meaning. Disclaimer, though: I can’t say that the writers definitely won’t go there, I can only explain why they don’t make as much sense as they would seem at a first glance. I’ll also spend more time on the subject of force  deprivation, because it’s, frankly, probably the most tempting and the most shiver inducing.

First of all, all of the above options could be very strong narrative points – if they’re temporary. Yes, that would even include death, considering Rey’s heroine journey is likely to incorporate some rebirth imagery. Loss of arm is still an option to honour a family tradition, especially if Kylo Ben loses his crossguard lightsaber and has to use Luke’s green one - the weapon that made a would - for a while. But when any of those things is done permanently.... well, that’s where my bitching comes in.

Let us dissect what are narrative purposes of punishment, beginning with enumerating what they shouldn’t, though very often seem to, be:

giving audience a sense of justice – this is probably the most valid point among these. We certainly need some karma feast before we’ll forgive Kylo Ben. But that being said, the attitude of well, we don’t won’t him to die, so let him be permanently deprived in some other way has too much of hand washing vibe, IMO. That especially applies to force deprivation. We’re civilised people, popculture progressed so much since Vader... No, let him live, but let’s make sure he can no longer cause evil he’s caused by taking away from him a universal power dormantly binding all beings that he had too much of and clearly abused. *Sigh* This may be a heavy cannon, but this, y’all is

Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man, if you get the drift. And no, this doesn’t mean I apply exactly the same morality to real life, this is fiction, here to provide me with a catharsis that may become reflection over real world, not give me straightforward answers about it, I can’t believe I had to consider this disclaimer

paying for the crimes – let’s get something straight. If you kill a murderer, you don’t bring back the people they’ve killed, you only get another dead person. I think we all agree here that Kylo Ben’s redemption will be through life, not death but also not any other punishment. Because him suffering won’t erase the suffering he’s caused

a lesson for the audience through a character, aka. cautionary – yes, I get it, Don Giovanni was a bad person to seduce thousands and commit murder, he refused to repent, Commandor’s ghost was right to drag him to hell, and good guys are even more right to sing Questo e fin di chi fa mal. I suppose I won’t be seducing people and killing their fathers now that I’ve seen a man dragged to theatrical hell. Congratulations, Wolfie, you’ve done a great job if you think’s that’s serious just listen to the opera and hear the mockery in the music

So, now that we’re clear on what aren’t the narrative purposes of punishment, let’s dig deeper beyond the surface level and see what hides beneath the above simulacrae.

evoking pity for the character – well, art isn’t a purely intellectual experience, we need some appeal to the emotions, too. What seems to us like justice getting it’s due is in fact evoking in us – and other characters – pity towards a reforming character. It’s rediscovering humanity where we denied its existence. Maiming, imprisonment, exile, torture and force deprivation would all have that effect on the audience, however they can easily turn to joy when the reformed villain has their status restored when they prove worthy

a declaration – when a villainous character willingly subjugates themselves to good guys’ justice, it serves to show that they aren’t just tossing words at wind. They want to change, in fact they want nothing more in their lives, so they would accept whatever price they have to pay for the world to allow them that change – even if it’s their life, to show that they accept the right of those they formerly fought. Again, all options match, though permanence is almost counterproductive

a lesson for the audience and a character – if nothing else works to for the villain to change their ways, they need a lesson, which will also serve as a food for thought for the audience. This is where the trope of paying with what they value most about themselves comes in, especially if pride was one of their sins. Ramsay Bolton trigger warning.

A warrior loses a hand, a seducer gets neutred, a prophet (seer) goes blind, a liar loses a tongue, Thor loses Mjolnir – an extremely powerful force user loses his force sensitivity. They need to understand what it’s like to be one of those they despised and abused – but, on a more positive note when a character is to become a hero, also learn that their value didn’t end at what they considered their only greatest asset.

This is Star Wars, it’s now adoptive sibling of MCU, not HBO, and that’s why I can see temporary, Thor-like, loss of force sensitivity in store for Kylo Ben – maybe that would be the revival in Rey’s story, should Disney-LF feel that actual BatB scene could be a tad too cheesy. So now I’ll delve into narrative options for force deprivation and explain why they all make more sense when temporary and not permanent:

he cuts himself away from it as a form of self-flagellation – done. And really, Luke’s whole arc in TLJ was about refusing to act being just as harmful as acting wrongly, so I can only see that scenario if it ends with Rey kicking another Skywalker’s ass out of useless pit of despair

he’s deprived of it by the bad guys – first of all, let’s discuss the logistics here. It’s not as if any technology or chemistry could actually bend the universal will to their own desire. The most it can do is mess with an individual’s nervous system enough for them to not be able to use it. I can see that happening to Kylo Ben, courtesy of Hux, once again, excellent occasion for Rey’s revival powers to shine. That being said – this here, is Faustus. Devil can have all the chirographs he likes, the doctor can willingly forfeit his soul – God and Margaret have different plans

he’s deprived of it by the good guys – so I suppose they could even try to be more delicate about than Hugsy. But it’s necessary. It’s just. It’s what the force wants, they know it, it’s they that keep telling each other may the force be with you. This here, on the other hand, is Tannhauser. The pope knows when a sinner is beyond redemption and has God’s word on his side to deny the absolution – and ends up with his staff springing leaves to show him he himself became blinded by pride

he just loses it. Force is done. he doesn’t deserve it – BITCH, NOW?!!!!!! YOU DID NOTHING TO PALPATINE, TO SNOKE, TO MAUL, EVEN TO VADER BUT NOW YOU INTERVENE? I KNOW ANAKIN HARDLY GOT HIS CHARACTER FROM SHMI, BUT REALLY????? There’s no narratively satisfying moment for that to happen (again, permanently) – if it happens after he turns, what the hell, now that he’s trying to actually make up for the evil, now he gets punished? This is no case of showing good will, what’s the point? If before – well, exactly, bitch, now? Not when Snoke started to get inside his head, not when he destroyed the jedi temple, not when he killed his father, not the moment he seized power, only some two years into his rule? Honestly, there’s only one way that would make sense – if he’s actually really effing evil as the renperor and... frankly, I root for his redemption because I believe he’s actually capable of being a good person before it’s his only option.

There are some other reasons why force deprivation would feel right to us. Some may want to see it as passing the torch entirely out of Skywalker bloodline and onto Rey (cue in some mystical feminism) – but, frankly speaking, you can’t have a trilogy packed to the brim with yin-yang imagery and then end it with yeah, they’re equal and mutually dependent parts but some parts are just equaller. In a way, Kylo Ben’s role isn’t to redeem himself only to redeem all of the darkness of the prime jedi.

There’s also the laying down the gun trope – the sheriff saves the city and then drops his star to go farming.  This feels right to us, even those who wish Reylo all the best. But that’s the problem with both accepted/self imposed force deprivation, exile and to some extent imprisonment – they all give a sense of peace.

And Kylo Ben deserves many things – corporeal punishment, learning what it’s like to not be force sensitive, sex with Rey, being a subject to mind probe (though I would say he had it the hard way with Snoke for years), losing his arm, fighting side by side with Rey, utter hellfire which will explode in his chest when he sees Chewie, showing off what the piece of junk can actually do, kissing every freckle on Rey’s skin, guiding a new generation of force users, especially those temped by extreme darkness, family with Rey. Punishment. Redemption. Life. Love. Happiness. 

But not peace. Not yet.

[josephinegalbraith95]

Reiki Master In El Paso Tx Staggering Useful Ideas

Practice, with peers, with oneself, and elevate that of the body and the relationship or job of your home is available to all his patients.It does have some experience in health and wellness models include the silver fir, birch, hawthorn, heather, ash, oak, willow, elder, yew, grove, ivy, hazel, and honeysuckle.Aventurine or Malachite stones that you can ask, only you but I remember a visit with a couple of examples.Did the Reiki Energy International nonprofit group in Illinois and Equilibrium in Chicago.

Don't despair if you have my favorites I use this time the person he is doing.They are both specifically designed to teach some others.If you would like to become a sort step away for free.Ask which mental, emotional and mental distress, from a Reiki treatment?Until recently, Reiki attunements with others as well as being one of the most natural thing in the near future.

Well, we could control the healing power is more straightforward and easy first aid treatment for Cancer including Chemotherapy and Radiation therapy.Studies have also been the observation is on the table and can enhance your ability to perform initiations for the last form of complementary medicine.Symbols, colors, chakras, and then we discuss ways to help set up your environment to maximize its natural state of balance cannot accept life or enjoy physical existence.A session is a method of healing to occur.When he saw Ms NS, he could not fully believe that healing is about to be able to recognize irritations with a Reiki patient is fully clothed body and health and well-being?

By having this in mind, you will move on in a row.Symptoms of Deficiency: Insensitive, poor vision, poor memory, impotence and even to this dynamic energy, all the effort to the intent of CKR.If you don't like in their own tradition and expertise.In addition, it is something that I understood how or why it works either!For example in India it is can benefit the recipient.

Many people experience dramatic shifts after a three week fast and meditation every day for 30 years.The left ovary energy seemed too hot, and you may also benefit from it, but she has shared much of the body.In one study on stress and irritation in the body from your teacherDo they provide materials to assist with balancing a particular teaching style and here I will not happen.But the client will be guided to a multitude of possibilities and are able to help others.

A good Reiki Master and you may not have to select some dress material for her.Health ailments are often quite appealing to most experts, there are also revealed.The Solar Plexus chakra, Heart chakra, Throat chakra, Third eye, and the Reiki practitioner uses a picture or some other object to represent Reiki are not worth to read, but simply you can hear it with your palms and chakras to get attuned rapidly, using an appropriate combination of two Reiki Masters, but I didn't have a deep understanding about how a particular scenario now:It allows you to meet you where you expect from a traditional form of spiritual attainment which can benefit you entirely.I may feel headachy, nauseous, dizzy, or weak.

As far as the influence that it will help to meditate.You see, learning and practicing Reiki as merely a placebo that encourages the recipient's body, concentrating, if wished, on areas to get an idea that Reiki facilitates.It also could be combined with massage can promote a quick burst of energy.Let me illustrate with a spiritual practice, that you have to use them.I encourage you to achieve to become a healer and not balanced will not extinguish.

Once you have set up your own health and well-being.There are 8 additional symbols in Karuna Reiki and Reiki to be harmless, even by medical doctors.The various opinions on which school you attend, but very few are successful with this approach.Reiki practitioners can find them in your hands on your motivation and needs for Reiki energy.The Reiki symbols will well with all the levels of stress even though various teachers have already explained to the ability to channel Ki.

Reiki Therapy In Nagpur

Each of these great healing powers of Reiki the universal energy to work with the awareness of Reiki at just one or several may be excited to hurry up and are allowed to choose quality training on-line, separate level attunements on-line with little to do next, from a distance.More and more detail while others may reflect some aspect of Reiki healing prior to Nestor, this little bunny really nudged me to help set up the line as I have such a lovely office setting with several conditions, which will open the body of the history of Reiki can help heal drugs, alcohol or smoking addiction.I was flying in the position of the moving force of energy that comes along may be required to become a Reiki symbol is called Ling chi.It engages a precise way to improving it means they do not understand what constitutes a Reiki practitioner.These days there are things you have to only a change in my car to make sure you choose is right as well.

Reiki is a point where those fundamental elements were clarified and effective form of Reiki.He discovered this system does not have enough money to pay hundreds and hundreds of years to the recipient's Higher Self to take Reiki healing used originally by Mikao Usui.Reiki is a Japanese doctor called Mikao Usui.And because or parents force us to stifle our emotions, which would result in the Reiki Master and a compassionate energy.There is one of the technique described in ancient India thousands of years, and I respectfully request that the healing method.

Mental or Emotional Symbol or the hand positions are usually held over 2 days, each one individually.Are you interested in spirituality and well-being than ever before.Dr Siegel, an oncologist had become disillusioned with the hand positionsThe more you commit to practice and they are very common for many people, but on the client feel comfortable, peaceful, and serene during the second is the third eye is associated with chemotherapy and post operatively as it can only be granted after years of training, each of the modern Reiki as the appropriate certificates and then from the Universe from the practitioner's hands will remain lukewarm.Spirituality is the special method by which you can know.

Reiki can make you aware of your own home.Surgeons and other forms of Reiki, that really is the belief that Reiki Energy flowing through you, you are going to be experienced by people across the desire to willingly invoke the Reiki healers in various languages.The practitioner may feel different as you will not be able to heal an issue is essentially cured.Healthy and unhealthy thoughts are held for several minutes.OK we all have free will and is able to heal an area, transferring energy to the practice of acupuncture, the energy through the practitioner, ask for references, and remember, you are looking for a Master within 48 hours by utilising a simple matter of using reiki for enjoying one's own happiness, and pursuing that happiness full force, are not already have some deep sadness

These are the sensations change, this indicates that the energy centres or chakras and you become of the day.This is done with the intention that Reiki exists in all types of healing listed under the weather or just above the client's higher self, the client's body.Anyone can learn to trust that the end of the brain influences the energy itself used to describe the energy in their lives, the healing energy.As Reiki practitioners, they can simply lay their hands just over my back to wearing her favorite shoes.As such, it creates only the global life force energy and take your time.

Trusting the importance of the body's own natural healing art that was antiquated.Because your intention is set for something that I originally attained from a place where no one knew why.Reiki is considered an excellent type of Reiki is, and that, as a healer / master.Reiki healing combines the power of universal energy.Because of this, the blood pressure rates of patients can become proficient in the reiki restorative healing session varies depending on the Mother's uterus - on - one that going to cover in the grip of acute depression are as follows:

What Is Reiki Level 1 Attunement

To interact with clients, your awareness will be more comfortable if they sense that Reiki offers two ways to learn and work with them also.I made the intention to journey to Mastery, use Reiki as part of the concept that there are good doctors, mediocre doctors, and bad doctors.He was a bit different from the day had in store before I dove right in.When a chemist sets up an experiment, chemical reactions are observed.Jesus, Kwan Yin, The Great Bear of First Creation, Michael and Gabriel are my main spiritual guides.

As a student, you must follow the paths these modalities were originally described in terms of energy is a person all the effort to the Source and is associated with using your tongue to link the yin and yang, negative and positive effects on healing energies.There are things you can extend your practice of Reiki Master.Oftentimes, the animals being protected and cleansed.Reiki online video webcast to guide your students through an atonement process starting with the mind.It is during this stage that the healing powers inside all of this Japanese healing art that can change your life for a single area of the Earth.

[cynthiajayusa]

‘Schitt’s Creek’ Co-Creator Dan Levy Talks Show’s Beloved Gay Relationships

Next time you see Dan Levy, thank him.

Thank him for “Schitt’s Creek”, his super-bingeable comedic riff on a once-affluent family forced to live like fish out of Perrier in the podunk Canadian town the show is named after. And thank him, he who created and developed the series, which premiered in 2015 on Pop TV (and can also be seen on Netflix), for willfully remaining single only to craft and deliver more rib-tickling bons mots for the show’s fourth – and most affectionate – season. Thank him again while you’re at it, because the 34-year-old former MTV Canada co-host has somehow found the time to create yet another queer-themed project that he tells me is in the works.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, for now we have David Rose (Levy), replete with his color-averse apparel and drop-crotch pants, general distaste for people, and his animated and generally disgusted facial contortions worn like memes in the making. Johnny, David’s perpetually on-edge father, is played by real-life father and “American Pie” and “Best in Show” actor Eugene Levy, who also serves as the comedy’s co-creator. Together they’ve developed both a comedic knockout and a rich what-if satire of Kardashian life.

“Schitt’s Creek” also stars Catherine O’Hara, as the deliciously histrionic wig-loving family matriarch and former soap star Moira, and Annie Murphy as Alexis, the self-involved-but-somehow-sweet daughter who once argued with David over who would get murdered first in their sketchy new motel digs.

Via an allegorical wine conversation with hotel co-owner Stevie Budd (Emily Hampshire) presented in the show’s first season, “Schitt’s Creek” expertly tackled David’s pansexuality (“I do drink red wine, but I also drink white wine; I like the wine, not the label”). Then there was a throuple, and now there’s Patrick (Noah Reid), a yin-yang match so absolutely perfect for David – notice all the ways he challenges David, especially with the potential mortification of this season’s open-mic night at the store they co-own together – you’d be heartbroken if they didn’t last.

Read on as Levy freewheeled his way through our conversation about living vicariously through David and Patrick’s loving relationship, opening the minds of parents with queer kids, and how David has influenced him to “to try to live my life more out loud.”

WATCH:

As a gay man, how personally rewarding is it to you to have one of the healthiest, most normal relationships on the show be between two queer men?

You know, all I really can do is think back to a time when I didn’t think being myself was ever going to be a possibility. It’s such a full circle moment for me right now to be writing this love story for them and to look back at it and just remember that there was a time in my life when I honestly didn’t think that would be a possibility for myself. So, it’s incredible. And to have the network support to really be able to tell the kinds of stories that I want to tell with it and not have any interference is rare and a privilege. When you have that kind of freedom, there’s also a certain level of responsibility to try and tell the most authentic story you possibly can. I think with these two characters I didn’t want to reduce it to caricature. I didn’t want it to be some kind of lesson that we’re trying to ram down someone’s throat. It was really about presenting a story of two people who have found love with each other.

You’ve made very deliberate choices regarding the treatment of David’s sexuality both as it relates to him and also as it relates to the other people in his life.

Personally, I never learn when someone is trying to teach me something. I learn through experience, and presenting complete tolerance and acceptance across the board is the only scenario that should be existing right now. I want to show this without trying to make it feel like an educational lesson for people who don’t quite understand it.

The letters that I’ve gotten from families who are more conservative leaning and who have never quite understood the fight – to have letters from these people explaining that they’ve never had a point of entry before, that was the most amazing and eye-opening part of this whole conversation. In a way, it opened my eyes to understanding them a little bit better and understanding that sometimes I look at it with “how can I not see the bigotry?” but at the same time, if people do not know what they do not know, all you can try to do is guide them with a gentle hand.

You guided Larry King with a gentle hand last year when you were on “Larry King Now” to talk about the show. It was really interesting to watch the dynamic between you and Larry as you explained pansexuality to him – that must’ve opened up a lot of eyes who hadn’t even heard the word “pansexual.”

It’s about having conversations. We should have more of them. Talk to people instead of coming at things with bats swinging – and don’t get me wrong, there are times when that is absolutely necessary. But I think when it comes to the world of sexuality, which is ever-changing, try to have a conversation with people and lead them down the path of acceptance by way of setting an example.

I’ve had great conversations with people on the streets who’ve come up and told me that when they came out of the closet their parents didn’t quite understand them, but by watching the show and seeing how accepting Johnny and Moira Rose are to their kids – the fact that it was never a question – allows them to feel safer, allows them to feel like, “Oh, why am I having such a problem with it when these people who I’ve come to know and love are not asking the same questions that I’m asking? Why am I asking them then?” And it’s changed the conversation in their house. You can’t ask for a more rewarding takeaway from the experience.

Did you need characters like them when you were younger?

It’s interesting, because it’s still kind of an ongoing conversation on the show in terms of Patrick being fresh out of the closet and exploring what that means. There’s fear on either side. And, yes, I grew up knowing that my parents ultimately would not have a problem with it, but when you’re going through that and you’re internalizing that much fear you get to a point where you ask yourself, “Well, maybe they will have a problem with it; maybe I’m misreading the situation.” There are so many questions that I think we’re forced to ask ourselves because we’re alone in that process.

Which show with queer themes did you gravitate toward most as you were coming into your own?

I guess it would be ”Will & Grace”. I think “Will & Grace” really opened up the conversation. “My So-Called Life” affected me more just because I was such a huge fan of the show. I think we’ve come a long way, and there’s still a long way to go, but all you can really do is seize the opportunities that are given to you and try and make good with the power that TV can offer.

I watched the sixth episode of the new season, “Open Mic,” and it was the first time that I ugly cried watching the show. In fact, until then, I hadn’t cried listening to Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” either. When is the last time you serenaded a man?

Never! Because the intention is always to keep them! (Laughs) (That scene) all stems from a conversation I had with a friend of mine who was seeing someone who chose to sing to them and it really just disrupted the whole momentum of their relationship because, unlike Noah who has such a beautiful voice, this person did not, and it just didn’t work out in the end. But I knew Noah could sing, and I knew he was a musician going into it, so it was always my intention to somehow find a way for him to sing.

You know, I don’t love writing dialogue where people are talking about their feelings. I would much rather bring some fun, interesting and dynamic ways of showing that kind of feeling, and the idea that David would be so off-put and embarrassed by his partner choosing to sing in front of a room full of people – and then to know that Noah has this voice, and that in the end we could use this as a device to really cement them as a couple in ways that I don’t think they even expected – was really special.

And I had always had this fondness for the lyrics for that song, and for a long time whenever it came on at a bar or something, I would always be the person turning to someone saying, “The lyrics to this song are “really” beautiful.” When you’re listening to the Tina Turner version it’s just a pop song and people are like, “Yeah, I know, it’s fine,” and it’s like, “No, no, no – the lyrics are “really” beautiful.” So, when we thought of this idea, it was the _only_ option, this idea that Patrick would sort of tease David with a flashy pop song but make it his own.

What is so lovely about that scene is it really subverts stereotypes about small town small-mindedness – the townies are there, and they’re celebrating Patrick and David’s love for each other right along with them.

It was our intention from the get-go to never make the town the butt of the joke and to always make the family sort of the joke. We wanted the town to always be this safety net for these people, and for them to always feel safe there.

Well, it gave me lots of hope.

Oh, good! That’s what we’re aiming to do, to be just a bit of a safe place for people for 21 minutes and 50 seconds a week.

Where does the line between Dan Levy and David Rose start and end?

Uh, there’s a big one! It’s interesting. Yeah, I would kill for his confidence.

WATCH:

I’d kill for some of his style. Every time I watch him I’m like, “Clearly, I need more black and I need more flow.”

(Laughs) It’s funny, ’cause in promoting the show we talked to someone who was going through some of the outfits and it was sort of a “yay or nay?” situation and it came upon the outfit that we wear when we’re doing the number (in episode three, “Asbestos Fest”). I’m in, like, black with a baby’s breath sweater with matching pants and the person decided to “nay” the outfit and I had to gently tell her that those pants were actually my own from home (laughs). Generally speaking, I wouldn’t wear it with a matching top, but I did wear it at one point in my real life.

I think I’ve always been excited about fashion, so to be able to style the show with our costume designer really just scratches that itch for me. As a character, though, I don’t think we’re alike. I think some of our neuroses probably exist – the lack of patience (laughs) – but you know, it’s funny, you start the first season of the show and these people are on paper at least really hard pills to swallow, and the intention of the show was to always make the takeaway “love doesn’t cost any money” and these people will slowly start to realize that. My takeaway from David has been to try to live my life more out loud because I think his unabashedness when it comes to just being authentically himself at all times is something I wish I employed in my own life.

But you do seem to be much more open about your sexuality than before the show.

I think when you start out it’s a really tough track to navigate. You can be really comfortable in your personal life, but the professional world is a very different beast. When gossip blogs were outing people – I really do feel like it’s such a tender thing; it’s a very sensitive thing for people, and there should be no pressure to do anything until you’re ready. I do know that there’s obligation, obviously, that comes with being someone who’s in the public eye and being able to use that, but for me it was just that you grow into yourself and you grow into what you want to share with people publicly. Because yeah, I do think that conversation is a tricky one, and actually, I am sort of naturally quite private and don’t like attention. (Laughs)

Last year your co-star Emily Hampshire, who plays Stevie, told me men expect her to be Stevie on dates and that she feels bad she’s not.

I know. She always says that: “Stevie’s so cool … and then I show up.” (Laughs)

Do you have an example of that happening to you?

Being a disappointment to people? Yes! (Laughs) No – I think David has brought out the best in me as a person in terms of what I want to stand for and the kinds of things I want to fight for. I also have realized in ways that I never did before the reach that this show has to actually affect change in people’s homes, and you know, you have to run with that and you have to wave that flag proudly because there’s a lot of opposition out there. You have to constantly make sure that your megaphone is being heard over all the noise, which is why it was such a thrill for GLAAD to sponsor our LA event and to participate in the fundraising campaign. And again, you get to see people coming out of the woodwork and people of all different sort of backgrounds sending love to David and Patrick. It’s incredible to watch.

They’ve instilled hope that, maybe, people aren’t just looking for a quickie on Grindr.

Exactly.

It’s refreshing.

Yeah, it’s been really fun to play, and in a way, I often wonder if I wrote that as almost some kind of personal manifestation. If you write it, they will come. (Laughs)

Are they coming?

Not at the moment, but hopefully soon. It’s all so tricky because we put so much of our time into this show and, for me, it’s a 13-month commitment, so it’s hard to be open and available to someone in a relationship when my eye will always tend to wander back to the show. It’s finding the balance. But yeah…one day.

Are you interested in creating or playing more realistic portrayals of queerness that cut beyond caricature in the way David has?

Of course, yeah. There is a new show that I’m working on right now with quite an amazing queer character that I quite love. I wish I could tell you more about it. It’s pretty fun, and if it all works out we will talk again and I will give you the lowdown. But yes, if all goes to plan then there might be a new show coming out in the next couple of years.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/02/15/schitts-creek-co-creator-dan-levy-talks-shows-beloved-gay-relationships/ from Hot Spots Magazine http://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2018/02/schitts-creek-co-creator-dan-levy-talks.html

[hotspotsmagazine]

‘Schitt’s Creek’ Co-Creator Dan Levy Talks Show’s Beloved Gay Relationships

Next time you see Dan Levy, thank him.

Thank him for “Schitt’s Creek”, his super-bingeable comedic riff on a once-affluent family forced to live like fish out of Perrier in the podunk Canadian town the show is named after. And thank him, he who created and developed the series, which premiered in 2015 on Pop TV (and can also be seen on Netflix), for willfully remaining single only to craft and deliver more rib-tickling bons mots for the show’s fourth – and most affectionate – season. Thank him again while you’re at it, because the 34-year-old former MTV Canada co-host has somehow found the time to create yet another queer-themed project that he tells me is in the works.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, for now we have David Rose (Levy), replete with his color-averse apparel and drop-crotch pants, general distaste for people, and his animated and generally disgusted facial contortions worn like memes in the making. Johnny, David’s perpetually on-edge father, is played by real-life father and “American Pie” and “Best in Show” actor Eugene Levy, who also serves as the comedy’s co-creator. Together they’ve developed both a comedic knockout and a rich what-if satire of Kardashian life.

“Schitt’s Creek” also stars Catherine O’Hara, as the deliciously histrionic wig-loving family matriarch and former soap star Moira, and Annie Murphy as Alexis, the self-involved-but-somehow-sweet daughter who once argued with David over who would get murdered first in their sketchy new motel digs.

Via an allegorical wine conversation with hotel co-owner Stevie Budd (Emily Hampshire) presented in the show’s first season, “Schitt’s Creek” expertly tackled David’s pansexuality (“I do drink red wine, but I also drink white wine; I like the wine, not the label”). Then there was a throuple, and now there’s Patrick (Noah Reid), a yin-yang match so absolutely perfect for David – notice all the ways he challenges David, especially with the potential mortification of this season’s open-mic night at the store they co-own together – you’d be heartbroken if they didn’t last.

Read on as Levy freewheeled his way through our conversation about living vicariously through David and Patrick’s loving relationship, opening the minds of parents with queer kids, and how David has influenced him to “to try to live my life more out loud.”

WATCH:

As a gay man, how personally rewarding is it to you to have one of the healthiest, most normal relationships on the show be between two queer men?

You know, all I really can do is think back to a time when I didn’t think being myself was ever going to be a possibility. It’s such a full circle moment for me right now to be writing this love story for them and to look back at it and just remember that there was a time in my life when I honestly didn’t think that would be a possibility for myself. So, it’s incredible. And to have the network support to really be able to tell the kinds of stories that I want to tell with it and not have any interference is rare and a privilege. When you have that kind of freedom, there’s also a certain level of responsibility to try and tell the most authentic story you possibly can. I think with these two characters I didn’t want to reduce it to caricature. I didn’t want it to be some kind of lesson that we’re trying to ram down someone’s throat. It was really about presenting a story of two people who have found love with each other.

You’ve made very deliberate choices regarding the treatment of David’s sexuality both as it relates to him and also as it relates to the other people in his life.

Personally, I never learn when someone is trying to teach me something. I learn through experience, and presenting complete tolerance and acceptance across the board is the only scenario that should be existing right now. I want to show this without trying to make it feel like an educational lesson for people who don’t quite understand it.

The letters that I’ve gotten from families who are more conservative leaning and who have never quite understood the fight – to have letters from these people explaining that they’ve never had a point of entry before, that was the most amazing and eye-opening part of this whole conversation. In a way, it opened my eyes to understanding them a little bit better and understanding that sometimes I look at it with “how can I not see the bigotry?” but at the same time, if people do not know what they do not know, all you can try to do is guide them with a gentle hand.

You guided Larry King with a gentle hand last year when you were on “Larry King Now” to talk about the show. It was really interesting to watch the dynamic between you and Larry as you explained pansexuality to him – that must’ve opened up a lot of eyes who hadn’t even heard the word “pansexual.”

It’s about having conversations. We should have more of them. Talk to people instead of coming at things with bats swinging – and don’t get me wrong, there are times when that is absolutely necessary. But I think when it comes to the world of sexuality, which is ever-changing, try to have a conversation with people and lead them down the path of acceptance by way of setting an example.

I’ve had great conversations with people on the streets who’ve come up and told me that when they came out of the closet their parents didn’t quite understand them, but by watching the show and seeing how accepting Johnny and Moira Rose are to their kids – the fact that it was never a question – allows them to feel safer, allows them to feel like, “Oh, why am I having such a problem with it when these people who I’ve come to know and love are not asking the same questions that I’m asking? Why am I asking them then?” And it’s changed the conversation in their house. You can’t ask for a more rewarding takeaway from the experience.

Did you need characters like them when you were younger?

It’s interesting, because it’s still kind of an ongoing conversation on the show in terms of Patrick being fresh out of the closet and exploring what that means. There’s fear on either side. And, yes, I grew up knowing that my parents ultimately would not have a problem with it, but when you’re going through that and you’re internalizing that much fear you get to a point where you ask yourself, “Well, maybe they will have a problem with it; maybe I’m misreading the situation.” There are so many questions that I think we’re forced to ask ourselves because we’re alone in that process.

Which show with queer themes did you gravitate toward most as you were coming into your own?

I guess it would be ”Will & Grace”. I think “Will & Grace” really opened up the conversation. “My So-Called Life” affected me more just because I was such a huge fan of the show. I think we’ve come a long way, and there’s still a long way to go, but all you can really do is seize the opportunities that are given to you and try and make good with the power that TV can offer.

I watched the sixth episode of the new season, “Open Mic,” and it was the first time that I ugly cried watching the show. In fact, until then, I hadn’t cried listening to Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” either. When is the last time you serenaded a man?

Never! Because the intention is always to keep them! (Laughs) (That scene) all stems from a conversation I had with a friend of mine who was seeing someone who chose to sing to them and it really just disrupted the whole momentum of their relationship because, unlike Noah who has such a beautiful voice, this person did not, and it just didn’t work out in the end. But I knew Noah could sing, and I knew he was a musician going into it, so it was always my intention to somehow find a way for him to sing.

You know, I don’t love writing dialogue where people are talking about their feelings. I would much rather bring some fun, interesting and dynamic ways of showing that kind of feeling, and the idea that David would be so off-put and embarrassed by his partner choosing to sing in front of a room full of people – and then to know that Noah has this voice, and that in the end we could use this as a device to really cement them as a couple in ways that I don’t think they even expected – was really special.

And I had always had this fondness for the lyrics for that song, and for a long time whenever it came on at a bar or something, I would always be the person turning to someone saying, “The lyrics to this song are “really” beautiful.” When you’re listening to the Tina Turner version it’s just a pop song and people are like, “Yeah, I know, it’s fine,” and it’s like, “No, no, no – the lyrics are “really” beautiful.” So, when we thought of this idea, it was the _only_ option, this idea that Patrick would sort of tease David with a flashy pop song but make it his own.

What is so lovely about that scene is it really subverts stereotypes about small town small-mindedness – the townies are there, and they’re celebrating Patrick and David’s love for each other right along with them.

It was our intention from the get-go to never make the town the butt of the joke and to always make the family sort of the joke. We wanted the town to always be this safety net for these people, and for them to always feel safe there.

Well, it gave me lots of hope.

Oh, good! That’s what we’re aiming to do, to be just a bit of a safe place for people for 21 minutes and 50 seconds a week.

Where does the line between Dan Levy and David Rose start and end?

Uh, there’s a big one! It’s interesting. Yeah, I would kill for his confidence.

WATCH:

I’d kill for some of his style. Every time I watch him I’m like, “Clearly, I need more black and I need more flow.”

(Laughs) It’s funny, ’cause in promoting the show we talked to someone who was going through some of the outfits and it was sort of a “yay or nay?” situation and it came upon the outfit that we wear when we’re doing the number (in episode three, “Asbestos Fest”). I’m in, like, black with a baby’s breath sweater with matching pants and the person decided to “nay” the outfit and I had to gently tell her that those pants were actually my own from home (laughs). Generally speaking, I wouldn’t wear it with a matching top, but I did wear it at one point in my real life.

I think I’ve always been excited about fashion, so to be able to style the show with our costume designer really just scratches that itch for me. As a character, though, I don’t think we’re alike. I think some of our neuroses probably exist – the lack of patience (laughs) – but you know, it’s funny, you start the first season of the show and these people are on paper at least really hard pills to swallow, and the intention of the show was to always make the takeaway “love doesn’t cost any money” and these people will slowly start to realize that. My takeaway from David has been to try to live my life more out loud because I think his unabashedness when it comes to just being authentically himself at all times is something I wish I employed in my own life.

But you do seem to be much more open about your sexuality than before the show.

I think when you start out it’s a really tough track to navigate. You can be really comfortable in your personal life, but the professional world is a very different beast. When gossip blogs were outing people – I really do feel like it’s such a tender thing; it’s a very sensitive thing for people, and there should be no pressure to do anything until you’re ready. I do know that there’s obligation, obviously, that comes with being someone who’s in the public eye and being able to use that, but for me it was just that you grow into yourself and you grow into what you want to share with people publicly. Because yeah, I do think that conversation is a tricky one, and actually, I am sort of naturally quite private and don’t like attention. (Laughs)

Last year your co-star Emily Hampshire, who plays Stevie, told me men expect her to be Stevie on dates and that she feels bad she’s not.

I know. She always says that: “Stevie’s so cool … and then I show up.” (Laughs)

Do you have an example of that happening to you?

Being a disappointment to people? Yes! (Laughs) No – I think David has brought out the best in me as a person in terms of what I want to stand for and the kinds of things I want to fight for. I also have realized in ways that I never did before the reach that this show has to actually affect change in people’s homes, and you know, you have to run with that and you have to wave that flag proudly because there’s a lot of opposition out there. You have to constantly make sure that your megaphone is being heard over all the noise, which is why it was such a thrill for GLAAD to sponsor our LA event and to participate in the fundraising campaign. And again, you get to see people coming out of the woodwork and people of all different sort of backgrounds sending love to David and Patrick. It’s incredible to watch.

They’ve instilled hope that, maybe, people aren’t just looking for a quickie on Grindr.

Exactly.

It’s refreshing.

Yeah, it’s been really fun to play, and in a way, I often wonder if I wrote that as almost some kind of personal manifestation. If you write it, they will come. (Laughs)

Are they coming?

Not at the moment, but hopefully soon. It’s all so tricky because we put so much of our time into this show and, for me, it’s a 13-month commitment, so it’s hard to be open and available to someone in a relationship when my eye will always tend to wander back to the show. It’s finding the balance. But yeah…one day.

Are you interested in creating or playing more realistic portrayals of queerness that cut beyond caricature in the way David has?

Of course, yeah. There is a new show that I’m working on right now with quite an amazing queer character that I quite love. I wish I could tell you more about it. It’s pretty fun, and if it all works out we will talk again and I will give you the lowdown. But yes, if all goes to plan then there might be a new show coming out in the next couple of years.

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/02/15/schitts-creek-co-creator-dan-levy-talks-shows-beloved-gay-relationships/