#and please be kind

[bigbrownboots]

my thoughts on ‘listener characters’, and the freedom of what is the ‘canon’

to start, this isn’t targeted at anyone specific, or attached to any one argument, but i’ve been reading some posts surrounding what people deem ‘canon’, or at least, very strong ‘headcanon’ for characters - be they listeners or speakers, and i had some thoughts on the matter.

some people may interpret the ‘listener characters’ as entirely separate people from themselves, and listen to the audios with the mindset that they are watching characters (albeit voiceless ones) make choices and interact with the world.

others may interpret it like they are ‘playing a character’, similar to a concept like DnD: Erik has created the world, setting and storyline, along with the characters to interact with, and you - as the listener - do so, meaningfully and emotionally, through your character, sharing as many or as few similarities as you decide with them.

and then, some people may simply use the ‘listener character’ as a space to wholly insert themselves into the story and setting directly, as if they live within this world - completely as they are (granted, perhaps with the addition of powers, depending on which audios they enjoy)

with this in mind - because i want to be crystal clear here: all of these are valid ways to listen and enjoy the content (and if you happen to have your own unique way of interpreting the listener character that i haven’t listed, you are also valid. these are just some examples) i think it’s important to keep the discussion of ideas of what is ‘canon’ when it comes to identity (for listener characters especially, but this goes for speakers too) open-minded, and subjective, and kind.

i see so many back and forths of “this character is -“ “this listener is -“ “if you think of this character as - you are wrong”, and as much as these may be jokes and light-hearted fun, i believe it’s important to remember that everything about the listener characters - and their relationships - are entirely up to individual imagination. of course there are always exceptions, as there is with everything, (and these are usually story elements: ‘Freelancer’’s magical awakening did not go well with their parents, ‘the applicant’ had poor relationships with the people around them and felt incredibly isolated in their life just before the events of Sadism’s Hold, ‘Angel’ had at least one boyfriend before David, etc.) but these aren’t usually giant aspects of the character’s… well… character, and any specifics that are mentioned are never tied to the listener character’s perceived identity.

when it comes to the identity of listeners, there are no wrong answers. again, that’s entirely up for individual interpretation. the audios are all titled [M4A] for a reason. for anyone.

if there was a ‘correct’ way to view them, Erik would have given the listener characters specific information concerning their identities. there would be mentions, descriptions, observations made by speakers. there aren’t.

if certain speaker characters ‘could only be this one sexuality’, their respective listeners would be gendered. they aren’t.

also, Erik has mentioned during livestreams that, in fact, none of the speakers have a ‘set’ sexuality. there are small tidbits here of previous relationships: Sam with Alexis, and Geordi with Ben, etc. - but as far as i’m concerned, none of that is ‘proof’ of anything. as it was so wonderfully printed on the cassette tapes in the older videos, ‘sexuality is a spectrum’. also, bi people exist and i’m sick of people pretending we don’t.

there’s also been a lot of discussion about listener characters’ races. again, a reminder that some people see themselves as the listeners, whilst others don’t. to claim that one idea of a character’s race is ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect’ when considering that people are inserting themselves into the space of these listeners is going to be more harmful than not.

it is okay to have a diverse cast of characters you came up with! have fun figuring all the wonderful ways your listeners interact with each other, all the backstories and fun details and unique moments!

it’s also okay if you see all of your listeners as the same person, just re-skinned with different outfits and stories! have fun coming up with different scenarios to think of them in, and playlists and aesthetics you picture for them!

big, long ramble aside, i just hope everyone can be kind to one another. the whole Redacted experience is just: enjoying some incredible stories though the medium of audio and theatre of the mind, after all. as long as we can be respectful of each other, let’s have some fun.

[androgynealienfemme]

It didn’t hit me until recently that people genuinely think Kamala Harris was a police officer because of all the people who call her a cop online.

Like I think maybe it’s important people should know she was a prosecutor. She was once a district attorney and later an attorney general for the state of California. And we can discuss how related that is to police work and how tied she is to the carceral system etc etc (but for fairness would have to include her record of pushing for lowering incarceration rates through programs helping former prisoners + her office refusing to jail folks for low level weed offense). But she was never a police officer. Like people should get that clear. Kamala Harris was never a police officer. She was a district attorney. She was never a police officer.

[mlm-blues]

dear gods please take my pain, double it triple it quadruple it and give it all to neil gaiman and then do that 10 more times

[eydilily]

gem n joel the strongest duo (family) that you are

and of course. her

[elliesbelle]

emily gwen, the creator of the sunset lesbian flag that we’ve come to commonly use, still continues to live in poverty.

multi-billion dollar companies have used their design and made profit from it, and yet they have not seen a cent for their creation.

i’ve been friends with emily for years, and i have not once seen them be financially stable the entire time. i’ve seen them homeless, unemployed, starving. right now, they need our help more than ever.

please consider donating to emily’s ko-fi, especially if you’ve used their design to create something and profited from it.

[aluminumneedles]

I'm knitting in the corner at a party

and guys my age stop by to tell me I remind them of their aunt, of their grandmother. This is a compliment and I take it as such. They confess to having tried crochet once, and I smile. They get back in line for the bathroom.

I'm knitting in the corner at a party and a queer woman sits on the floor next to me, arranges her skirt, and smiles up at me. (I try not to blush.) She asks me all the questions on her mind about my craft and I answer them, hands still moving. We swap yarn sources. She doesn't stay, but she knows where to find me.

I'm knitting in the corner at a party and everyone knows where to find me when they need a minute, when socializing is too much and the music is too loud and they need to catch their breath. They pretend to be checking in on me, which is sweet, but I can see the relief in their eyes the moment they stop performing for a house full of people. They sit down and tell me things and all the while they never take their eyes off my hands.

The party has wound down and I'm still knitting and the hosts, two guys in their twenties, thank me for "helping to curate the vibe." I had no idea that's what I was doing. I leave the party having forgotten to drink anything and without that woman's number but with many rows added to my top-down raglan sweater. I call it a night, and a good one.

[ghosted-jazz]

Doey's 2/3 angsty traumatized teen, I think he'd love MCR

[penn-dragon]

I have a headcanon that Sanji struggles with wanting/asking for non-sexual intimacy from Zoro. So if he's having a rough day or just wants to be held by the man he loves he'll initiate sex in order to feel that connection, regardless of whether he's actually in the mood. But Zoro's gotten unnervingly good at telling when he's doing this and redirecting to give him what he actually needs in that moment.

[inkskinned]

because sometimes there are invisible tests and invisible rules and you're just supposed to ... know the rule. someone you thought of as a friend asks you for book recommendations, so you give her a list of like 30 books, each with a brief blurb and why you like it. later, you find out she screenshotted the list and send it out to a group chat with the note: what an absolute freak can you believe this. you saw the responses: emojis where people are rolling over laughing. too much and obsessive and actually kind of creepy in the comments. you thought you'd been doing the right thing. she'd asked, right? an invisible rule: this is what happens when you get too excited.

you aren't supposed to laugh at your own jokes, so you don't, but then you're too serious. you're not supposed to be too loud, but then people say you're too quiet. you aren't supposed to get passionate about things, but then you're shy, boring. you aren't supposed to talk too much, but then people are mad when you're not good at replying.

you fold yourself into a prettier paper crane. since you never know what is "selfish" and what is "charity," you give yourself over, fully. you'd rather be empty and over-generous - you'd rather eat your own boundaries than have even one person believe that you're mean. since you don't know what the thing is that will make them hate you, you simply scrub yourself clean of any form of roughness. if you are perfect and smiling and funny, they can love you. if you are always there for them and never admit what's happening and never mention your past and never make them uncomfortable - you can make up for it. you can earn it.

don't fuck up. they're all testing you, always. they're tolerating you. whatever secret club happened, over a summer somewhere - during some activity you didn't get to attend - everyone else just... figured it out. like they got some kind of award or examination that allowed them to know how-to-be-normal. how to fit. and for the rest of your life, you've been playing catch-up. you've been trying to prove that - haha! you get it! that the joke they're telling, the people they are, the manual they got- yeah, you've totally read it.

if you can just divide yourself in two - the lovable one, and the one that is you - you can do this. you can walk the line. they can laugh and accept you. if you are always-balanced, never burdensome, a delight to have in class, champagne and glittering and never gawky or florescent or god-forbid cringe: you can get away with it.

you stare at your therapist, whom you can make jokes with, and who laughs at your jokes, because you are so fucking good at people-pleasing. you smile at her, and she asks you how you're doing, and you automatically say i'm good, thanks, how are you? while the answer swims somewhere in your little lizard brain:

how long have you been doing this now? mastering the art of your body and mind like you're piloting a puppet. has it worked? what do you mean that all you feel is... just exhausted. pick yourself up, the tightrope has no net. after all, you're cheating, somehow, but nobody seems to know you actually flunked the test. it's working!

aren't you happy yet?

[frenchublog]

[malenjoyer]

I don’t agree with bullfighting morally, but I’ve been looking at certain pictures of matadors and their poses for a couple of months…

[paiigemahoney]

9-1-1 | Hen & Chimney "And thanks for following me down that hillside." "The first of many, I'm sure."

[allylikethecat]

Chapters: 1/20 Fandom: The 1975 (Band) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: George Daniel/Matthew Healy Characters: George Daniel, Matthew Healy, Ross Macdonald, Adam Hann, Carly Holt, Jamie Oborne Additional Tags: Equestrian, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Past Drug Addiction Summary:

“Why the hell is Matthew Healy riding Carly Hann’s horse?!” George exclaimed, flinging open the door to storm into Jamie’s office, taking care to make sure the door was shut again behind him. He was surprised Jamie was even out so early, sitting in front of the computer with his reading glasses perched on the end of his nose. “He’s bad fucking news, Matthew Healy?!” George said, shaking his head as he ran his fingers through his close cropped, bleached hair.

[magentasnail]

so I started playing stardew valley, and now it's the only thing I want to do with my life

I had to trick myself by drawing stardew things, namely krobus my beloved