#also janice and Steve and abby

[dumbasswithapen]

Thing I’ve been working on for what… maybe 3 months? Is finally done! I did a little teaser… thing for the cecilos week event but just got around to finishing it up. It’s my first full length animatic, so like, not perfect but yeah. I had fun. All fluffy nonsense tho. Mayhaps watch it? Leave a comment? Whatever. 

[just-an-enby-lemon]

Making childrem have connectios for the only reason that it would be really funny to see their parents deal with that:

Roger Harlan first crush was ... Janice Palmer. And look at that: she also was his childhood best friend. And what is that? She didn't like him that way and was oblivous of his feelings most of the time. Now it was a first crush and Roger moved on. But we did have a specially taxing moment where Roger tried to confess when the whole Palmer familly (Cecil and Carlos included) where at the Torniquete and cringe failed as Janice called them good friends.

Earl got visibly upset about the whole situation wich was worse because it led to Cecil trying to cheer him up by saying "I know is hard to see your son upset, but is for the best it didn't work out because it would be kindda weird with she being my niece and the two of us being basically brothers just from different parents." and Carlos, who ofc was with his husband, also offering his emotional support and talking about how scientifically speaking most people move on from childhood crushes quickly and Roger would be fine and not even think about his previous feelings in the long run. It got to the point that Abby started feeling pity for him and interviened by asking to go personally thank the chef forcing her and Earl to go to the cerimonial chef greetings room as to remove him of the situation. Later Steve patted Earl's back sadly as Carlos was sharing his dessert with Cecil and being very coupley at the moment.

[fiction-podcast-lover]

Do you ever think about what the implications that Cecil is hundreds of years old are towards Abby?

Because from the one recent episode we do know that they for sure grew up together.. but it is also implied Cecil exists as long as nightvale does. Or even if he doesn't, from the episode that introduces Earl Harlan it implies that both are much older then it seems

We also know that for a long while time did not work in nightvale, then it got restored and Tamika and Janice finally were shown growing up and all.. but we don't know if until time got fixed if it never worked since the beginning of nightvale (the city in the lore not the podcast) or if it stopped working one day for some reason and so we don't know for how long time didn't work in nightvale

All this to say, no matter his age Cecil is probably a lot older than he looks like and it's probably fair to say he may be around a hundred years old or more (the wiki says 100+ but there is no confirmation) but if we know for a fact that Abby and Cecil did grow up together then it means Abby is also around that age (and keep in mind she's the older one). It strongly implied Cecil isn't aware of this whole age aspect, mainly due to his amnesia.. But we also know that Abby is a lot more self aware of reality, so she is probably at least somewhat aware that she is a lot older than she looks like.. How do you think she feels about it? How was it for her to live so long? How was that conversation with Steve (bc ik she'd never hide that from him)? Does this mean Steve is into older women?

We know that Earl Harlan is probably in a similar situation age wise, is it the case for anyone else? Are they so old because of the time not working? Is it something else? There is so much to speculate and think about and idk if we'll ever get answers

[ladykailitha]

Can Anybody See Me? Part 10

Hey...you know how I said I had another fic I was working on that I planned on putting up the first part for today? Yeah...that didn’t work out. It needed a lot of heavy editing and because this got finished today with only minor edits, you get this instead.

Also...I realized that until this part...I never mentioned the name of the musical they’re doing. Ooops!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

*

To say Steve was nervous as hell would be an understatement. He had been in drama less than a month and now he was standing on the stage watching people mill around. And there was a lot of people. People who were taking measurements for costumes. Makeup and wigs people. Apparently kids from orchestra and band were going to be playing the music in the ‘pit’. Then there were people working on sets and up in the rafters checking the lights.

He had been to couple of plays on Broadway when he was younger. Of course he had. But he never knew how much went into making it look like magic when he was sitting in the audience.

A girl came up to him and squeezed his elbow.

“You’re Steve Harrington, right?” she asked.

Steve nodded, tongue tied from the sheer panic running through his body.

“I’m Janice Montgomery,” she said gently. “You’re friends with Gareth and them?”

Steve nodded again. “You must be the badass chick of the Hellfire Club.”

Janice grinned. “Oh good, you have heard of me.”

“A middle schooler I babysit for’s younger sister looves D&D so I try to talk you up as much as possible to piss her brother off,” he explained with a grin.

She laughed out loud. “Thanks. But I understand that this is your first time doing a play?”

“Acting in front of other people full stop,” Steve said, nodding.

Her eyes went wide and she tilted her head forward. “Please tell me you at least did the school play in elementary about the benefits of healthy eating.”

Steve scratched his face nervously. “Uh...that would be a no.”

“Fuck.”

Steve hung his head. “I really shouldn’t be here.”

She shoved his arm. “Miss Lucy isn’t the type of teacher to play favorites. Thomson isn’t a large role with a lot of blocking. Mostly standing in front of everyone else reading and being annoyed.”

Steve laughed. “I could do that, yeah.”

“See? You’ll do fine. You’ll dance for the major numbers, and then that heart-wrenching scene at the end.”

“Yeah, I auditioned with that scene, because it has both the singing and the acting in it.”

“Wow,” Janice said. “That’s impressive.”

Steve blushed. “Another middle schooler I babysit is in the drama club and asked him for pointers.”

“Well at least you know how to strategize,” she said. “Marty and I will help walk you through it. If have any questions come to either of us, okay?”

He nodded. “Thanks for this.”

The spot light lit them up and they both squealed from the sudden brightness.

Janice held up her hand over her eyes and screamed, “Eddie!”

Steve heard him cackle before the brightness was severely toned down.  And then Eddie dropped down in front of them, landing deftly on the stage.

“Mr Munson!” Miss Lucy called out. “I appreciate your grace as much as the next person, but one day you will break straight through this old stage and the school will not replace it.”

“Harsh, Miss Lucy!” he called back.

She chuckled darkly and went back to her notes.

“That was cool,” Steve murmured.

Eddie grinned. “She is right about the stage though. I don’t think they’ve redone it since it was put in god knows how long ago.”

Steve smiled.

Janice raised an eyebrow and then cleared her throat.

Eddie turned to her. “Congrats on getting Abby, Miss Montgomery.”

“I just can’t believe Tammy Thompson got Martha Jefferson,” Janice complained.

“I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of hearing her,” Steve said.

“You’ll hear her a lot,” Eddie said. “She has a song in the second act.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “I’m sure it’ll be great.”

Eddie and Janice just stared at him.

“Or not...”

They burst out laughing.

“Hey, guys!” Marty said jogging up to them.

Everyone returned greetings of their own.

“So...I found out how Tammy got the part...” he said with a grimace.

“Oh no...” Eddie said. “This can’t be good.”

“Her mom is a seamstress and has offered to make all the costumes for free as well rent the wigs for a low price.”

Janice stamped her foot angrily. “With an offer like that I’m surprised she didn’t gun for my role.”

Steve looked between them confused. “I don’t understand.”

“Have you not seen 1776?” Marty asked.

Eddie and Janice turned to him and stared at him as though he had grown an extra head.

“Um...” Steve stammered, “well...I’ve been meaning to and I just haven’t got around to it, yet.” He scratched his cheek nervously.

“You mean to tell us,” Eddie said slowly, “that not only did you try out for a play you haven’t seen, you managed to get a fairly major roll for said play?”

Steve nodded, blushing a deep red.

“That’s it!” Marty cried. “You coming over to my house and we are watching it!”

Steve frowned. “How are we going to do that? I didn’t know they put plays on VHS.”

Marty clapped his shoulder. “You are in luck my friend because they did movie several years ago.”

“I guess...” Steve said shyly. “I’ll come over on one condition.”

Janice and Marty exchanged a knowing glance.

“What would that be?” Janice asked innocently.

“If Eddie comes too?” Steve bit the bottom of his lip and looked up at Eddie through his eyelashes.

Eddie blinked. “As long as it not on a Hellfire night, I’m down.”

Steve smiled softly.

“Is tonight good?” Marty asked.

Janice shook her head. “I work tonight.”

Steve shifted back and forth on his feet. “We could do it tomorrow at my place. My parents aren’t home and I have a big screen TV.”

“Sold!” Marty said.

“Yeah, man,” Eddie said rocking back on his heels. “That sounds cool.”

“I’ll bring the tape, Marty will provide drinks and Eddie the popcorn,” Janice said.

Steve looked uncomfortable. “You don’t have bring anything I’m sure I’ve plenty of stuff.”

Eddie wagged his finger at him. “Ah, ah, ah, Harrington. That’s not how movie nights work. Host merely hosts. Everyone else provides.”

Steve blushed. “Yeah, okay. Then you guys can explain the Tammy Thompson drama.”

Marty clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “It’s is sooo good.”

Steve just laughed.

“All right everyone!” Miss Lucy said. “It’s time for the read through. Mr Kincade, Mr Munson if you wouldn’t mind helping set up chairs?”

Marty and Eddie nodded. They gathered up as much seating as they could find. Those that didn’t have any lines sat in the audience around Miss Lucy, Mrs Lawson the dance teacher, and Mr Dent the choir teacher.

Steve pulled out his script and waited for his first line.

Eddie sat in the audience and Marty flopped down next to him.

“You’ve got it bad,” he said, nudging Eddie with his elbow. “He know about your proclivities toward members of your own sex?”

Eddie winced. “Tommy called me a fag often enough, but no. I don’t think he knows.”

Marty patted him on the shoulder. “You probably should tell him.”

*

Everyone showed up at Steve’s house around seven. Marty having picked Eddie and Janice up.

“I got some candy anyway,” Steve said as he led the way to the front room.

Marty and Eddie just shook their heads.

Janice rolled her eyes but they wisely said nothing. They all got set up and sprawled out on the couches.

Steve hit play and lost himself in the music. He laughed at the funny bits swooned when he supposed to, and got teary eyed at “Mamma, Look Sharp.”

“You clearly enjoyed that,” Marty said.

“It was good,” Steve said. “Not very historically accurate, though, right?”

Eddie grinned. “Nope. Barely even close. But it’s fun and over the top.”

“It certainly is that,” Steve chuckled.

“Okay,” Janice said rubbing her hands together manically. “Who’s hotter: Thomas Jefferson or Lyman Hall?”

Eddie tapped his finger on his lips. “Jefferson. Love the lighter hair and tall.”

Marty crowed. “Red heads are hot, but gotta give it to my man, Lyman Hall. When he slams Georgia’s vote to yay...mhmmm...that’s some good shit.”

Steve frowned. “You’re both wrong.” All heads turned to him in shock. “Charles Thomson and not just because that’s who I’m playing.”

“You think Thomson is better looking than Hall?” Marty asked, dismayed. “You can’t mean that.”

Steve shrugged. “Hall’s good looking, sure. Soft spoken, too. But there is just something about how the actor portrayed Thomson that just brought this strength that Hall didn’t have.”

Steve blushed. “Plus Jefferson is married and I don’t look at taken people. No matter how hot they are.”

Eddie leaned forward and put his fingers to his lips. “Steve, I need to you to be honest with us. We aren’t going to judge or flip out but...do you like like boys?”

Steve blinked. “I never really thought about it. I thought it was normal to talk about how attractive other dudes are. Me and Tommy did it all the time.”

Marty and Eddie shared a concerned glance.

Janice shook her head. ‘That’s not something straight boys do.”

“Then why were you asking us about who was more attractive?”

“Because we deemed you safe,” Marty said as if it was the simplest thing in the world, instead of the massive bomb it should have been. “I’m bisexual. I like both.”

“And I’m gay,” Eddie said bluntly, resting his elbows on his knees.

Steve blinked. “Oh. I’m not sure what I am, then.”

Janice put her hand his shoulder. “Hey, you don’t have to figure it out right away, Steve. I didn’t mean to make question your identity.”

“Just don’t freak out, man,” Marty said. “I don’t think I’m equipped to deal with water works.”

Steve cocked his head. “I mean, I guess. But there’s no reason to freak out about it. Yeah, I’ve used fag and queer as insults and that’s not good. Obviously. But finding out I like boys? Not as earth shattering as I thought it would be.”

“And you don’t mind us being queer?” Eddie asked.

Steve frowned. “No. And I understand your concern. But no. Of course not.”

Eddie nodded and then sat back.

“So you thought Tammy would want to be Abigail instead of Martha?” Steve asked Janice. “Because it’s the bigger role?”

Janice flopped back against the cushions. “Exactly. Abby has more lines, more songs, more stage time in general.”

Steve let out a chuckle. “Then you don’t know Tammy.”

Marty and Eddie leaned in.

“Oh, do tell,” Marty pleaded.

“She would want the ‘pretty’ role,” Steve said. “Especially if she’s basing her idea of the roles on this movie. Virginia who played Abby is gorgeous, but in an understated, has had six kids and worked her whole life kind of way.”

“But Blythe Danner is just straight up hot,” Marty said.

Steve snapped his fingers. “Exactly. Tammy is just vain enough to want the Martha role even though it’s smaller...”

“Because she’s prettier than me?” Janice asked incredulously.

Steve laughed. “I didn’t say that. I said that Tammy thought that.”

“Mine!” Janice said throwing her arms around Steve possessively.

Eddie’s stomach rolled. He looked away so he didn’t see Steve blush and shift uncomfortably under her affection. But Marty did.

“Hey, quit hogging the guy,” he teased. “There’s enough Steve for everyone.”

Eddie looked back to see Steve gently push her off of him. “I’ve got a lot people who already have claimed that title, you’re gonna hafta stand in line.”

Janice and Marty looked at each other in confusion.

Eddie pursed his lips. “It’s the kids, right?”

Steve nodded, but Marty and Janice’s looks of confusion didn’t clear.

“Stevie here babysits,” Eddie said grinning from ear to ear.

Steve laughed. “At least that’s what I call it so people don’t freak out. So until Eddie took me under his wing, most of my friends were thirteen year olds.”

“I take in lost sheep,” Eddie said. “Never took in a senior before. Or a former popular kid, it’s been quite the eye opener.”

Steve blushed and ducked his head. “I’ve never been more grateful to see a person in my life then when I looked up and saw you that day in Mr Vinke’s class.”

Eddie shoved his hair in front of his face and looked away, this time for a more pleasant reason then before.

Marty and Janice looked over Steve’s head and grinned.

Part 11  Part 12 Part 13  Part 14  Part 15  Part 16  Part 17 Part 18  Part 19  Part 20  Part 21

Tag List: @shrimply-a-menace @strangersteddierthings @throwbackthrowaway @novelnovella @cursedfoxteeth @babyblender @lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaring @swimmingbirdrunningrock @steve-the-hairrington @winterbuckwild @spectrum-spectre @matchingbatbites @garden-of-gay @anaibis @thing-a-ling @fandemonium-takes-its-toll @artiststarme @sundead  @nelotegreitic @gregre369 @butterflysandpeppermint @thedragonsaunt @kodaik97 @messrs-weasley @scarletzgo @deadlydodos @renaissan-vvitch @evix-syne666 @emly03 @justforthedead89 @ashwinmeird @huniibee @phantypurple @stevesbipanic @shucks-yuckyuck @awkwardgravity1 @bookbinderbitch @reportinglivefromsoda @chasinggeese @be-the-spark-bitch @jinxjinn @kohlraedirectioner @cr0w-culture @xjessicafaithx @whimsicalwitchm @jaywhohasthegay @dangdirtydemons @lovelyscot  @howincrediblysapphicofyou @the-redthread

[mississpissi]

im asking you to explain :mic: abby and her dad go

ok this all started w bulks post about “abby” meaning “father’s joy” and it got me thinking about the contrast between cecil’s relationship with his mom versus the relationship i imagine between abby and her dad. fair warning that this mostly exists in my head but u bet ur burger im still gonna try to back up my ideas w quotes from the text (AP lit and lang babey).

first of all, looking at cecil’s relationship with his mom is super important. one of the first things we hear about her is that she used to hide from cecil for days and that she covered all the mirrors in their house (33). she also tells cecil to “beware, be warned, be wary”, which she apparently says to everything and cecil interprets to mean that she’s proud of him. we also hear in “Homecoming” (55) that cecil looks forward to seeing his mom every year at the homecoming game and was disappointed when he wasn’t able to. in “It Sticks With You” (182), we learn their mother would take them into the woods and walk quickly, cecil saying, “I think she wanted to lose us in the shadowy labyrinth of tall trees.” she would leave flowers at the base of the same old tree every time. she would ignore cecil’s questions. in “Bedtime Story” (132), which im convinced is about cecil (but that’s another post), cecil says “he just wanted his mother to show interest in his curiosity.” and even if that story isn’t about him, it is a story his mother would tell him at night, one he never heard the end of. in the traffic section of “Pioneer Days” (143), cecil tells a story of a boy left behind, abandoned by his family, left with nothing but a snake. im also fairly certain this is about him (cecil loves to tell his own story without ever really telling it). 

most revealing is what cecil says in “Ghost Stories” about his mother and her death. we learn their mother left when cecil was 14 (whatever that means), that cecil “thought that Mom would be back at any moment, like maybe she was away on business. Or out for a walk. Or just hiding.” He says, “And Mom flew away, when all other defenses failed her.” we learn she returned many years later, sick and old and “sorry”. we learn that she died soon after in a way that was “mundane”, that cecil was at work when it happened. we learn that cecil mourned her passing.

all of this paints a picture of a relationship that was strained, full of pain, downright abusive. and we see cecil, as he does so often, retrofit this pain to be something more palatable. she was hiding because she was proud. she didn’t speak to him because she was focused on something else. her defenses had failed her. she was struggling with alcoholism and mental illness. she was playing a game. she covered the mirrors because of pride. she came back! her death was inevitable. he misses her. he grieves her. he loved her. she might have loved him. he makes excuses for her because to do anything else would be to admit that he had experienced immense pain- to re-experience this immense pain. better to change the story.

now abby. 

we don’t know nearly as much about abby as i wish we did. we know she “approach[es] life with a total practicality,” that she will save her pain for when she is in private (It Devours!). steve says, “With Abby around, I can't imagine a bad thing that could happen" (89). we know her relationship with cecil has been tumultuous, that she leaned on cecil and then on steve as she raised janice. in “Bedtime Story”, the sister in the story fought with her brother, telling him she hated him. “she would wrestle him to the ground and pull his hair.” after the boy is buried in the ground, the sister often visits the tree he becomes. she plants flowers, removes beatles from his bark, reads in his shade, plucks his fruit. she visits with a man and a child, visits with joy and with tears in turn. this sister, this abby mourns her brother and tries to protect him, fights with him, loves him. 

and, again, in “Ghost Stories”, we learn that abby was “reserved and controlling”, that she dropped out of college when their mom left to raise cecil, that she blamed him (that cecil blamed her for not being their mom). we learn that abby was there when their mother died, that her death prompted cecil and abby to reconcile their differences. we learn that cecil and abby are both haunted by their family. 

here’s where i diverge from what we really have. 

we haven’t really heard from abby. everything we know of her we’ve learned from cecil and steve. but i have to imagine she resented their mother, that she hardly wanted to drop her plans for her future to raise her younger brother.  i hardly have to imagine what it’s like to have that kind of responsibility thrust upon you when all you wanted was to live your own life. i have to imagine watching your mother die, your mother who just reentered your life after years of neglect, would hurt, would be complicated, would cut deep.

i imagine mr. and mrs. palmer bringing home their first born child, naming her “Abby”, naming her “father’s joy”, naming her after the pride that swelled in her father’s chest. i imagine mr. and mrs. palmer doing their best to raise their daughter in a town as hostile as night vale. i imagine them wanting a sibling for their daughter, someone to keep her company when they couldn’t. i imagine abby struggling with the idea for a moment, then embracing her brother wholeheartedly. i imagine mrs. palmer naming their son “Cecil”, naming him “blind”, naming him after the future she saw.

i imagine abby, her father’s joy, watching as he brought his son to “work in the pasture” with him (132). watching as her brother was injured by his curiosity, watching as her father avoided him in his anger. watching her mother hide from her brother. i imagine abby realizing she would have to be the one to patch him up, even while both parents were still home. i imagine abby hearing her father promise that he “would give [his] life for [his son]”, hearing him say her brother could never be a doctor because “he feared for the boy's future patients”. i imagine her wanting her father to offer his life for her, to invite her to the pasture. i imagine her becoming more reserved over time, realizing her brother needed more help and attention, willing to step into the background because she loved him, because she wanted to be strong for her family. i imagine her doing everything she could to live up to her name, to be someone worthy of the joy of her father.

i imagine abby, her father’s joy, watching him leave. maybe she knew why, maybe she was simply left. i imagine abby watching her mother slowly fall into paranoia and fear because of her brother, because of what she had seen. i imagine abby following her mother into the woods, placing flowers on the trunk of a tree she recognizes, trying to keep cecil distracted by playing a game with him. i imagine abby making sure cecil got to school, got food when their mother was hiding from him. i imagine abby finding out her mother too had left, left her with now full time responsibility for cecil. i imagine abby becoming controlling because she had to, because she had lost control over so many other aspects of her life. i imagine abby channeling what she could remember of her father, trying to be strong, reliable- ignoring that he had stopped being that very suddenly. i imagine abby yelling at a teenage cecil, telling herself that it was better than ignoring him like they had. i imagine abby finding out she was to become a mother, a mother without a father, a mother to a daughter who had more needs than she could handle on her own. i imagine abby finding a man who wanted to help, who could provide a stability cecil was unable to, for all his enthusiasm. i imagine abby, kicking her drunk brother she had raised out of her wedding, not willing to look him in the face for years without seeing her father, seeing her mother, seeing ghosts.

and i imagine abby listening to her brother describe their father on live radio. i imagine her cleaning up after the dinner steve made, hearing about a man with a “thin mouth… [and] threatening, beckoning eyes” (192). hearing about a man, their father, her father, going into the forest with a shovel, digging himself out of the ground. i wonder if she put the pieces together retroactively or if she’d had them all along. i imagine her waiting for the shower to cry. i imagine her hearing that cecil received a photograph of their father (201, 219). i wonder if she went to see it, if she was able to, if she even wanted to see it. i wonder if she listened in, checking that her brother was taking care of her daughter, only to hear that her father, the man who’s joy she had once been, was actually talking to cecil (224). i wonder if she wondered why he was reaching out to cecil and not her. i wonder if she called cecil after, or if she knew he meant it when he said, “I refuse to look into it further.” i wonder if she hopes that when cecil is made to remember their father, she gets to as well. i wonder how long she was her father’s joy, and how long she spent grieving whatever changed that.

most of all, i wonder if WE’RE EVER GONNA GET TO HEAR ABBY’S FUCKING VOICE!!

[kevin--of-desert-bluffs]

WTNV quick rundown - It Devours! - NV&Citizens facts

Click here for the plot points!

Click here for facts about Nilanjana!

Click here for facts about Darryl!

Click here for facts about the Joyous Congregation and it's members!

Click here for stuff about the other scientists!

Click here for misc interesting facts I found!

The structure of NV works like this - there is a ring of mountains around the desert with NV in the middle and (formerly DB) Red Mesa and Pine Cliffs elsewhere. Downtown NV is the towns center which contains city hall, the radio station, several hooded figures at all times, the library, a shimmering vortex blocked off by yellow police tape, dangerous stray dogs and propaganda loudspeakers on every corner.

Beyond downtown is Old Town NV, a residential and shopping district developed in the 1930's which fell into disrepair post-war but is seeing a regenesis of homeowners, shops, tall metal trees and predatory cats. Beyond OTNV are the sand wastes then the scrublands, then the used car lot, then Old Woman Josie's house and finally, Larry Leroy's house.

Larry is fairly old (though has become quicker with age) and has lived alone for as long as he can remember. He owns a phone (broken) and a wheeless car with an underground shed full of canned goods/bottled water and a years worth of preserved pork sausages hidden underneath. He got the car by trading his shotgun for it. Larry has never felt safe around guns after he got stung by a scorpion reaching for his dads hunting rifle on a father-son hunting trip. He is not scared of scorpions though and likes that they eat pests like squirrels.

Larry wants to be remembered not through the fleeting memories of offspring but the immortality he believes art brings. His fave thing to make is dioramas of historical events and famous scenes from books. All of these are ahistorical/alternate versions such as W.E.B. DuBois riding on the back of a five-headed dragon called Rachel McDaniels or Dorothy bombing Kansas from a war balloon. His parents used to tell him that history didn't exist because it wasn't happening any more. His heroes are; W.E.B. DuBois, Helen Keller, Redd Foxx, Luis Valdez and Toni Morrison. He also writes poetry and makes patchwork quilts.

Included in his will are letters and items to be distributed to Sarah Sultan (the dioramas), Leann Hart and Cecil (obituary he's written for himself) and Michelle Nyugen (polka music written and preformed by himself using a concertina and a microcassette recorder).

The vague yet menacing government agency creates and mails everyone an earthquake calender each month to tell them when the scheduled earthquakes are.

Carlos rarely invites people back into his private lab. He spends time in there doing science but also making construction paper collage love notes for Cecil and writing down his fave numbers.

Carlos takes days off work to be with Janice (as do Steve, Abby and Cecil) when Janice gets her frequent checkups on her eyes, kidneys and spine. When Cecil is in danger, Carlos goes into an unproductive worry stupor, pacing his office trying not to call into the station to ask if Cecil is okay. On date nights, Carlos puts gel in his hair and wears his most striking lab coat.

Carlos dislikes talking about his time in the DOW, despite which he's become obsessed with it. He eventually reveals that this is because he spent ten years there instead of the year he was gone in NV, not eating or drinking or really feeling like he was existing, just endlessly ringing the moutain unable to get anywhere and away from the people he loved.

Neat is one of Carlos' fave words. He doesn't get when a question is rhetorical, or a joke, and dislikes being touched including comforted physically. However, he does sometimes like it when Cecil strokes his ears but other times not. He has a hard time predicting his own responses to things and can't articulate his feelings via words or process them very well inside of himself. He also loses speech when overwhelmed.

Carlos says that the thing he found weirdest about NV was how nobody else thought it was weird, that Cecil helped him feel better and even fond of that aspect and that sometimes when Cecil wakes up he [Cecil] will mutter "how did I end up this lucky?"

Carlos likes mint ice cream. He's a heavy sleeper.

Most birds in NV are computers produced and owned by the government.

Helicopters in NV 'don't take fuel'.

Big Rico's real name is Richie Goldblum. His brother is the mailman, Arnie Goldblum (who is two years older). They had a hard time growing up Jewish in NV as it's 'not exactly brimming with Jews' and Arnie believes that his brother changed his name to better fit in and distance himself from his culture. They also used to tease him for being small despite not being small, so the 'big' part is a play on that. Big Rico also pretty much admits to murdering competitors and feeding them to the worms he keeps in his basement.

Basimah Bishara, scared of the sudden pits and weary of the dangers of NV, decides to go to college in California. Mab, the bus driver, was almost swallowed and witnessed the sinking of Big Rico's and the full light that came from it which stung her skin. Terry Williams, age 7, was traumitised by seeing Big Rico's sink but wouldn't feel any full effects until he moved out of NV and at age 33 had a break down in a restaurant parking lot.

Jackie Fierro has decided to skip to 25. She is dating Sheriff Sam.

The Tourniquet bartender, Arjun, has been given near infinite knowledge of the universe which is shattering his mind. He also spies for the city council. He wears 'cool vintage prohibition era clothes' aka a snuggie and a mesh trucker hat. He can carve ice with his teeth.

Sex in NV is highly regulated. You have to fill out forms in triplicate providing a medical history then enter your individual Sex PIN to verify identity and interest. Then the forms have to be notorised and various blood tests and results gotten before sex.

There is a 'reincarnation programme' at the NV zoo where they will teach an animal of your choice to act like you (for a huge fee). Results are middling but the richest of citizens often sign up.

Janice doesn't like science, she likes sports but Carlos assures her that sports are science.

Cecil and Carlos think that tarantulas are adorable.

Pamela drives a purple PT cruiser.

Cecil has at least some chest hair, which Carlos likes to bury his face in when he's upset.

Josh Crayton is dating a boy called Grant.

Hank, a sentient patch of haze, works at the Staples.

[older-sister-death-match]

ROUND 3A MATCH 2

Abby Palmer art by @mellarosarts

Propaganda Under The Cut:

ABBY PALMER:

okay so like she is married to steve carlsberg, her daughter janice is in a wheelchair and her mother may possibly be a god. she basically raised her baby brother cecil who is the main character of the show. fuck i havnt listened to the show in ages i barely remember her lore but trust me shes amazing and deserves to be here

CANDACE FLYNN:

She is literally Going Through It all the time. I get that it's bratty of her to want to get her brothers busted all the time but listen. She has the most anxiety of anyone in the entire show. She's living in a world designed in such a way that she'll never achieve her goals. I'm pretty sure there have been times where she got a taste of victory but then it was undone via time travel or memory wipes. Can you imagine the frustration? Plus she definitely does care abt Phineas and Ferb despite what people say. I've binged the whole thing fairly recently, but most people only remember stuff they saw when they were kids. Not to be like, "I know more than you," but... I do. Watch Summer Belongs to You. Great episode 

Her brothers annoy her, but she also worries about them, and she loves them so much, and she’s so protective of them because of that. also “though I’ve often thought of you as just a nuisance and a bother, today I can’t imagine having better little brothers!” she’s great. 

she could blow all these other loser outta the water

[palmtree-art]

I have a head-canon that when Cecil and Carlos started going out Abby tried her best to hate Carlos (like how Cecil Hated Steve) But no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t actually bring herself to hate him Carlos was nice! and also Steve and Janice didn't hate Carlos! so why would she? (she just wanted Cecil to feel like how she felt when He would constantly hate on Steve!)

[manynarrators]

Doomed by the Narrative Positioning | Kevin and Cecil

Something I mentioned yesterday in the notes of this post is the fact that Kevin is Cecil’s Double but that the equally as true statement that Cecil is Kevin’s Double is different and somehow less true.

As the audience we are introduced first to Cecil, he serves as our “in” character. He is the narrator, and consequently, we root for and agree with him. We accept the weirdness of Night Vale because he does. What this also accomplishes, by making him the role of main character, is predispose the audience to treat him as the central character for who all other characters are defined by. In terms of an anthropological kinship diagram his is “ego”. For example, Steve is Cecil’s (note the possessive) brother in law. Janice is Cecil’s niece, Abby is his sister. Cecil is Abby’s brother is equally as accurate, but the audience would never think of him that way.

What this means is that Kevin, introduced second and seemingly almost identical to Cecil, becomes Cecil’s Double (and the less good double at that!). If he was just another radio host we wouldn’t think of it in quite the same way. He’s be a rival, or an enemy, more like Lauren is. But he isn’t, he’s something other.

Because we root for Cecil, the audience, however stressed we may become by the Strex arc, can ultimately rest safe in the idea that he will prevail. He’s the Good Double, the one we know more about. He has a niece and a sister, and a boyfriend. Cecil, as a character, has more connection and is thus defined by more than being Kevin’s Double.

So what about this “doomed by the narrative” part of the title??? Well, Kevin is even before we meet him. He is, at that point, already the voice of Strex. The tragedy has already happened. He is the Bad Double, which puts him in direct contrast to Cecil. So he can’t win. If he were some random antagonist then maybe he could be shuffled off stage left or redeemed, but he isn’t just another character.

Where the framing comes in is relevant here. From an individual character’s perspective they’re more likely to frame it from their perspective. To the audience Carlos is Cecil’s boyfriend, to Kevin in the Desert Otherworld, friends with Carlos, then it’s more likely he would think of it as Cecil is Carlos’s boyfriend. But as the audience we focus Cecil.

If the show were reversed, then this probably would be too. We would root for Kevin, and so Cecil would be his Double.

[w2nv]

STEVE CARLSBERG for the bingo not just in general. but also just in general

HE IS THE MOST PERFECT EVER AND I LOBE HIM AND HES DONE NOTHING WRONG ON HIS LIFE AND I LOVE JIM FOR IT THERE CAN NEVWR BE ENOUGH CARLSBERG

BUT ALSO WOUDL love to hear more that isn’t just him being Cecil’s in law!! Which implies that Abby or Janice get a Va please please finkor let him BE PART of a family and not THE ONLY ONE we get to hear from

Also asexual carlsberg

[zay-does-things]

Alright

*clears throat*

Cecil presumably existed, along with the radio station, before Night Vale did. Though Cecil ages from adolescence to adulthood, episode 67 suggests he exists somewhat beyond time, or at least, lives much longer than humans normally do. He frequently states that he doesn't know how old he is.

When Cecil was five years old, the prophecies were revealed saying that he would become the voice of Night Vale. That was when he first got his Little Reporter's Book of Big Boy Note Taking, a book he makes notes in always, even when he's not aware of it, and even when he's not holding a pen.

Cecil's mother was implied to be neglectful towards him, and his father is implied to have left or died when Cecil was young. When Abby and Cecil were young, she would take them out to Redwood Remains State Park to leave flowers at tree, walking fast in order to lose Abby and Cecil in the forest. When going to this forest, Cecil was told to go into a tree by either Cal or his father, likely his father. This may have been the tree Cecil's mother left flowers at. He and Abby used to be babysat by Jerrod Bansky's mom.

He sings the Night Vale High fight song in episode 33, and he says he played Pippin in his high school's avant-garde production of the musical "South Pacific." He was a member of the Night Vale Boy Scouts, earning an Advanced Siege-Breaking Tactics badge at the age of 12 and a Subversive Radio Host badge at an unspecified age.

When Cecil was 14, his mother abandoned Cecil, leading to Abby having to drop out of college to look after Cecil, leading to resentment between the two of them.

Cecil was interested in radio hosting early on. At age 15, he started recording himself on cassette tapes, enthusiastically imitating previous NVCR host Leonard Burton. While recording these cassette tapes, he began to see a mysterious flickering out of the corner of his eye which increased in frequency when he spoke or sang. Eventually, Cecil did land an internship at NVCR, before both Night Vale and radio came to be, and got to work with his idol, Leonard. But the mysterious flickering got stronger and Cecil either blacked out or died, after seeing the Dark Planet. In "Filings", it is revealed that flickering was Cecil from 2017 and when teenage Cecil sees adult Cecil in a mirror in the station bathroom, teenage Cecil passes out or dies, and disappears from the future. The flickering, or the thing that called teenage Cecil to pass out or die could potentially be the creature from episode 171, as it is implied that this is what his mother told him would kill him.

Cecil claims to have traveled to Europe after college. Cecil specifically mentions the countries of Svitz, Franchia, and Luftnarp, and seems completely unaware that they don't actually exist anywhere in Europe in real life. Cecil also claims to have met Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) during this trip and witnessed him inventing the radio. [citation needed] It is clear that NVCR predates radio itself, although it is unclear how the show was disseminated before radio. It is also unclear how Cecil had cassette tapes at age 15 when they weren't invented until 1962.

Otherwise, Cecil has never mentioned leaving Night Vale and seems unaware of conditions outside of it. Despite living in America, he has never heard of Michigan, Alabama, Oregon, or Ohio.

Cecil became host of the NVCR during World War 2, and his first broadcast as host concerned the war effort. In 1983, Night Vale would have been destroyed, but Huntokar prevented it, splitting Night Vale into multiple Night Vales.

Some time when Cecil was an adult, his mother came back. Cecil felt flat and sad about this. Cecil and Abby tried to patch up their relationship, and a few months later, their mother died. Sometime, Abby married Steve, in Cecil's eyes robbing Cecil of the opportunity to care for Janice, Abby's daughter and Cecil's niece.

(Copied this from the WTNV wiki but whatever)

"Who tf is Cecil"

You come here. Disrespect our history.

[neverwalka1one]

Day 24 of National Clean Your House Month:

Shaved the dog. My doodle grooming abilities improve each time, but she still looks a liiiittle raggedy by the end. But her rockstar hair is now framed by an otherwise trimmed self, so I'll take it as a win.

Vacuumed the entire downstairs, including ground zero of the shaving party. How one dog can produce such a pile is beyond me.

Also vacuumed the couch.

Cleaned up the car interior for Holiday Travels.

Packed for Holiday Travels, which... this may be a first that I'm mostly packed without it being the literal night before/day of travel.

Listened to WNTV for today's salty pirating, and I fully allow that I am desperately behind the times (currently finishing up 2022, I KNOW I know), but.

AUGH SARAH SULTAN FIST SIZED RIVER ROCK. I'm not okay. Carlos your college sucks.

Also the episode about Steve Carlsberg coaching the girl's basketball team, augh my heart, so sweet. And I love seeing Cecil from an outside perspective, even when he's being an absolute asshole (and omg he waaaaas). Also, also, he said he wasn't a parent in the first bit, does that mean he met Abby and Janice through the team? Did Cecil show up to cheer on his niece and discover an INTERLOPER in his seat? (not a real interloper, but a FAMILY INTERLOPER, which is objectively worse) Does someone have fic?

The ball is where the win is.

[joskippy]

Steve carlsberg i want you so bad

[kindcolors]

Thinking about Abby n Steve early in their relationship again + Abby raising janice ….< 3

[kevin--of-desert-bluffs]

The fact that it's canon that everyone (except Abby, Janice and Steve's family I guess) automatically hates Steve despite the fact that they also freely admit he's never done anything wrong just adds another layer to this.

But also I too love this little bit of lore.

Abby and Cecil haven't talked in years. She gets pregnant, the baby brings them back together but it's still tense. Then she meets someone and it's urgh, Steve Carlsberg...but also he's kind of sweet and good for her? She takes a chance. Falls in love even.

But she can't tell Cecil because there's still so much baggage between the two of them and she knows he'll feel replaced and it could ruin everything again but it'd hurt even more to exclude him from the wedding so she has to break the news and maybe she wishes she'd been strong enough to do it sooner...then they meet and it's ?? Ok.

Just normal everyone hates Steve level of awkwardness. Proud of her little brother because she knows emotional regulation can be hard for him and it's really unorthodox to only meet your sisters lover on the actual wedding day. But, maybe she was worried for no reason.

Then Steve is brutally honest about his beliefs and Cecil goes off on him in defence of her child and his niece, the only thing which is holding them together at this point and she must have started to question all over again whether she should have told Cecil about this side of her life at all.

It's so complex, I love it

I had never considered it but Cecil only discovering Abby was DATING and meeting the guy for the first time on their WEDDING probably is at least part of the reason he hates Steve. I can't even imagine how that conversation went. How one tell your lonely problematic baby brother whose only pride bar work is taking care of you and your daugther just as you did for him that actually you are moving because you're marrying next week or something?

Like with all her implied history I don't blame Abby at all for not teeling before but it truly was a bad situation from the start. Steve had no chance of Cecil ever liking him (at least not on first meet)

[lesbiancervidologist]

Jenny, if you had to pick any of the tattoos discussed, what would you pick?

ass patrol.