#summer 2017 night vale USA

[agnes-come-back-challenge]

just so everyone knows im still thinking about this

I know WtNV is a lot less "ooh mystery, how do these details fit together ;)" than TMA was but do we think something's gonna happen with a helicopters with detailed murals of birds of prey? Cuz sometimes little details become Subplots (like that one plane) and i think this could turn out to be one of them?

Hear me out:

the helicopters with murals of birds of prey diving have been mentioned at least three times (ep 1, ep 25, ep 111)

They've always been a mystery, and implied to be dangerous (on Steve Carlsberg's chart they're just labeled as "RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", and parents are advised to keep their children away from them)

In ep 13, the man in a suit receives a phone call. "'Yes Sir,' he says, and, 'No Sir.' Also he makes hawk shrieking sounds."

In ep 45, the Supervisor takes a phone call and "A series of 'Yes Sir's and 'No Sir's and hawk shrieking sounds come in response."

Idk i think it's a possibility though

[asydicsydney]

I was thinking heavily about year 6 today. Such an underrated year. All those trilogy's? Come on, guys

Council Member Flynn when I listened to it felt like it predicted quarantine. We get to see Tamika's badass city running, a Janice side story, and the most slice-of-life facts about NV like how Stranger Things is a documentary series

eGemony. I remember nothing besides the beginning which is always amazing. "My children think I'm the real Hugh Jackman." "Your children are wrong."

A STORY OF LOVE AND HORROR. I've been telling people about this trilogy all day. Do y'all remember it??? Go listen to it again. Cry.

A Door Ajar, is also kind of forgettable. Cecil and Carlos get couples counseling? Sorry, I know the phantom ocean more from Truth and Other Misconceptions

A. MATTER. OF. BLOOD. God I wish I remembered how it went but I just know it was intense as hell. Could be important to current NV as well

And the other episodes? Citizen Spotlight where Cecil basically fucks over someone in witness protection. Niecelet being the best guest written episode. ALL SMILES' EVE??

This has been a PSA, relisten to year 6

[w2nv]

EVERY EPISODE SO FAR THAT DOESNT END WITH “GOODNIGHT, NIGHT VALE. GOODNIGHT”

SO I finished the list today! This list includes any variation of the phrase, episodes where he just doesn’t say it although present, and episode where he doesn’t say it because he’s not present. I decided to mark colour code them as a result!

• variation, • no goodnight, • no Cecil

Before I start:

I did not include extra episodes like snippets from the lives shows and such.

For the quotes here I only took the final phrase. So anything that breaks the usual scheme like a lack of “stay tuned next” or any lengthy monologue about anything relating to the goodnight phrase, I didn’t quote

I’m thinking about making a video compilation later on but for now I DONT have the space to dowload all these episodes so this will do for now!

If I missed any, lmk!

———————————————————————————

• 1 — Pilot

Good night, listeners. Good night.

• 2 — Glow Cloud

Good night, listeners. Good night.

• 3 — Station Management

Good night, Night Vale. And goodbye.

• 4 — PTA Meeting

Good night, listeners. Good night.

• 5 — The Shape in Grove Park

Good night, listeners. Good night.

• 6 — The Drawbridge

Buenas noches, Night Vale. Good night.

• 7 — History Week

And, from this moment in history, the one that’s happening right now, good night.

• 8 — The lights in Radon Canyon

It is a good night, listeners. Good night.

• 9 — “PYRAMID”

Speaking of the nighttime, I truly hope you have a good one, Night Vale. Goodnight.

• 10 — Feral Dogs

Get your sleep, Night Vale. And don’t forget to dream. Good Night.

• 14 — The Man in the Tan Jacket

Good night, Night Vale. Be alert, and write down everything you cannot comprehend. Until next time.

• 15 — Street Cleaning Day

Good night. Good night. Good night.

• 19B — The sandstorm

Kevin: Until next time, Desert Bluffs, Until next time.

• 46 — Parade day

And until next time, Good Night, Night Va- Hey. Hey. No. What are you-

• 47 — Company Picnic

Kevin: And, as always, until next time, Greater Desert Bluffs Metropolitan Area. Until next time.

• 49A — Old Oak Doors (Part A)

Listeners, there is someone knocking on my station door, which must mean…Carlos? Carlos, is that you? Come in, and welcome home, my sweet Car…

• 53 — The September Monologues

Well, that's it for the September Monologues. We've said so much. What more is there to say?

• 65 — Voicemails

Kevin: Until next time, Cecil. Until next time.

• 67 — [Best Of?]

Leonard Burton: And as always "See ya, Night Vale. See ya."

• 70A — Taking Off

Kevin: Until next time, new Desert Bluffs, until next time. Oh. Oh no. This is so sad. No. I don’t like this. I am sad. No. No.

• 85 — The April Monologues

And so we reach the end of the April Monologues. There is much that could be said. I will say none of it.

• 86 — Standing and Breathing

Good night, Night Vale. (Maybe lock those windows too.) Good night.

• 87 — The Trial of Hiram McDaniels

Good night. I guess.

• 88 — Things Fall Apart

Hello? [very faint breathing] Hello? [very faint breathing] Who is this? [distant dog bark]

• 89 — Who’s a good boy? (Part 1)

“I want nothing, Cecil. Nothing at all. And I will have it.” Huff huff huff. Huff huff Huff.

• 94 — All Right

All right Night Vale. Good night.

• 98 — Flight

Good night.

• 100 — Toast

Good night, Night Vale, and every person who can hear my voice. Good night.

• 101 — Guidelines for Retrieval

Happy purging, Night Vale. And goodnight.

• 104 — The Hierarchy of Angels

Good night, Night Vale. Josie was beautiful. And angels are real. Good night.

• 109 — A Story About Huntokar

Huntokar: Good night, my Night Vale. Good night.

• 111 — Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA

Good night, listeners. Good night.

• 113 — Niecelet

Any second now. Any second. Any... second.

• 120 — All Smiles’ Eve

Lauren: Good night, Kevin. And good night, Desert Bluffs Too.

Kevin: Good night.

• 128 — A Matter of Blood (Part 2)

Oh god, it’s here.

• 133 — Are You Sure?

Is this the first time you’ve heard me say this? Are you sure? Welcome to Night Vale.

• 135 — The Mudstone Abyss (Part 1)

Kevin: Until next time, Desert Bluffs, Until next time.

• 136 — The Mudstone Abyss (Part 2)

Charles: Kevin. I. Handlebar cereal, okay? Handlebar cereal.

VM: End of message.

• 137 — The Mudstone Abyss (Part 3)

Kevin: Until next time, Desert Bluffs, Until next time.

• 148 — The Broadcaster

Leonard Burton: And until tomorrow, "See ya, Night Vale. See ya."

• 156 — The Trouble with Time

Listeners. I must go. I must talk to my husband. We can be together forever, don’t you see? A new world awaits us in the future. I must talk to Carlos. I must.

• 157 — The Promise of Time

Kasper: Believe in a smiling god, buddy. Believe in a smiling god.

• 164 — The Faceless Old Woman (Live)

FOW: And I will be seeing you very, very… soon.

• 171 — Go To The Mirror?

Won’t you have a good night, Night Vale? Won’t you have a good night?

• 175 — The October Monologues

And as the leaves are done, so are the October Monologues. All that can be said has been said. And all that can be said will be said again.

• 177 — Bloody Laws, Bloody Claws: The Murder of Frank Chen

That about does it for me, Night Vale. That about does it for me.

• 195 — Silas the Thief (Part 1)

Silas: And my name is Silas. Not Khoshekh. Okay? Okay.

• 196 — Silas the Thief (Part 2)

And one I have to consider. Am I Khoshekh? I don’t know if I’m ready to admit that just yet.

• 199 — Guidelines for Retrieval

Happy hoarding, Night Vale. Goodnight.

• 200 — Susan Willman Comes Clean

Susan Willman: So let me begin. This is a story about Huntokar, said a voice on the radio. A voice you had never heard before, though she has been speaking to you your whole life.

• 203 — The Kareem Nazari Show

Kareem: Again, really sorry. Uh, so… Take care. I guess.

• 216 — The Ball Is Where The Win Is

Steve: You have already made me so proud

• 221 — The Glow Cloud, Explained

All Hail, Night Vale. All Hail.

• 227 — A Word With Dr. Jones

Lubelle: Show over, Night Vale. Show over.

• 230 — Carlos, Explained

Good night, my Night Vale restored. Good night.

• 237 — Frown Night

Kevin: Until next time, Desert Bluffs Too, Until next time.

• 239 — Sister Cities: Vermillion Falls

Frank Luna: Good evening, Vermillion Falls. Good evening.

• 240 — He Is Holding a Knife

He is holding a knife. He takes the knife, and sets it against the microphone cord. And with one smooth and easy motion, he cuts the co-

• 249 – Rifts

I would say good night, Night Vale…But if a tree falls in the forest, you know?

[watchandread02]

Cecil called Steve his best friend.

And Cecil and Carlos are just sickeningly cute. Carlos coming up with a fake science thing just to visit Cecil.

„I hope all of you out there have someone to sleep through it with. I know I do.“

- from Welcome to Night Vale (Ep. 111 „Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA)

[landscaping-your-mind]

We return you now to a safe place. The Street Cleaners have passed. Street Cleaning Day, as so many other days, is behind us. We emerge from hiding spots, from secret locations, from places under other places. We step out into the street, and it is as though it is brand new to us. Certainly, it is cleaner now, but that is not all. We have survived all the way from birth to this very moment, and we look at each other, and some of us start laughing and others start weeping and one or two of us break out into a wordless humming song, and all of us mean the exact same thing.

(Welcome to Night Vale: Episode 15 — Street Cleaning Day)

Somewhere the tiny people of the city below have arrived in Night Vale, and are beginning their war against us, having already shown themselves capable of murder. Somewhere a man in a tan jacket is whispering into the ears of our mayor, and we do not know what agenda they pursue. […] This all happens, somewhere else. But here, Carlos and I sat on the trunk of that car, his car, looking together at the lights up in the sky above the Arby’s. They were beautiful in the hushed twilight, shimmering in a night sky already coming alive with bits of the universe.

(Welcome to Night Vale: Episode 25 — One Year Later)

But.... In spite of all this, coach al-Mujaheed called a pep rally last Friday, in a gesture of support for Malik Herrera. This, as any time, is when we should join as a town, despite the game that never was. […] Everyone was sad, and everything was perfect. We stayed late into the night under the fluorescent corona of the bleachers, eating damp barbecue, wearing our orange ponchos, and telling those tales we wanted to tell to those loved ones who have left us, telling them instead to those who we currently or may eventually love. Tears were hardly noticeable on our rain-streaked cheeks by the time we said our goodbyes.

(Welcome to Night Vale: Episode 56 — Homecoming)

And they both take the hand of the person they love, and Amber smiles at Wilson and Wilson smiles at Amber and everyone smiles at everyone and at everything and no one is okay, exactly, but we’re outside and we’re smiling and that is a kind of perfection of its own.

(Welcome to Night Vale: Episode 57 — The List)

Night Vale isn't a single unified thing that can love or be loved. It's just the name slapped onto a set of borders and rules that some old bureaucrats [..] devised centuries ago. But they don't live here anymore. We do. I do, and I can make it worth it. I can’t just leave it, I have to live it. Live it and make it better. For myself. For Carlos. For my friends. […] And for you, listeners. We will together celebrate another homecoming game. We will together survive another street cleaning. We will together… well we will see.

(Welcome to Night Vale: Episode 70B — Review)

Our reality is badly damaged, and the only thing keeping it together is our acknowledgement, finally, of this strange town that we live in. No more denial. We must see ourselves clearly or risk losing ourselves forever. Angels are real. Our town is a deeply weird place. We know and acknowledge that it is a deeply weird place. There are dotted lines and arrows in the sky. And I love my family, and I love my brother Steve. He was right about everything. He always has been.

(Welcome to Night Vale: Episode 110: Matryoshka)

This is my work, listeners. My work is to speak to you all. To talk you through the day. To murmur you into the night. Settling in to be another clear and pretty evening here in Night Vale, this weird, weird town. I hope all of you out there have someone to sleep through it with. I know I do.

(Welcome to Night Vale: Episode 111 — Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA)

Carlos and I hold each other through the town, passing two teenage boys dressed in scraps of of airplane upholstery, gripping tightly each others’ faces. We help a lost toddler find his parents. We clear broken glass from streets. We walk home. We shade our eyes from the setting sunset which kindles through a hilltop cleft. We talk nonstop about today about tomorrow about yesterday about every possible moment, just talking, and talking, because we almost lost our talk forever. We do not hear the returning echo of sirens across the valley. We do not hear anything but ourselves. Stay tuned next for a silence that is all your own.

(Welcome to Night Vale: Episode 167 — Echo)

And I say: “Look at the clouds in the sky. They mean nothing, and yet they are there and they are pretty. Isn’t that nice?”

(Welcome to Night Vale: Episode 181 — C****s)

The day after Valentine’s we said “it’s over” but we did not believe it was over. We believed it would never be over, that we would always be living the same sad and terrifying minute, breathing the same stale air thick with our own fear. But we were not in that moment anymore. But we were, some part of us, still. The day after Valentine’s was a rebuilding, a recovery, a return to form, a back to business. Bury the bodies and stand up the fences, it’s time to move on.

(Welcome to Night Vale: Episode 202 — The Day After the Day)

“What do we do now?” I asked him. He smiled, “First we go home, eat meals together, remember that we are a community, and that we are better together than we are alone.”

(Welcome to Night Vale: Episode 230 — Carlos, Explained)

[kevin--of-desert-bluffs]

WTNV quick rundown - 111 - Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA

Read the others here!

A friendly desert community, where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead, while we lay open eyed, watching it all. Welcome to Night Vale.

In many ways this episode is a mirror of the pilot/earlier episodes but with updates according to developments in the story. For example, Cecil is questioning why they aren't allowed in the dog park, the angels are legally acknowledged as angels and are throwing a memorial service for Josie, Cecil and Steve have a better relationship etc

The rips in reality left an ocean around the NV boardwalk which can only be viewed from said boardwalk.

Carlos, Luisa and Nilanjana are renewing their investigations into the House that Doesn't Exist with new understanding of it as a portal to another world. They also say that the 'seismic activity' that can be detected but not felt could be the different universes colliding.

Weather: "Andromeda" by Airospace

The tiny NV under Lane 5 had disappeared.

Carlos admits that he doesn't know what his box that makes a noise like baby birds waking up and tests for materials actually is, he just used it as an excuse to drop by and see Cecil.

Settling in to be another clear and pretty evening here in Night Vale, this weird, weird town. I hope all of you out there have someone to sleep through it with. I know I do. Good night, listeners. Good night.

Proverb: There is no proof you exist, only evidence.

[draciachan]

More Night Vale thoughts, to people coming back to podcast. Someone mentioned 10 years later episode (210) as a good place to listen as it sums some of the things that happened on the meantime. But there is also Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA (111), which is also a similar recap episode and a callback to EP 1.

In case any of you just want to restart from 210 I just *must* give a shout out to episode 190, an anniversary one made as a collab with many other podcasts. It's glorious and must be heard to be believed.

[theoutworlder]

OK. I love Episode 111 "Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA". It did not feel familiar. (parts of the last 5-10 minutes of "Matryoshka" did.., as did promos for the "All Hail" tour)

I'm starting to think the Summer Hiatus 2017 is the point I lost the thread, which may just come down to sometimes I kinda... Forget things exist. IIRC, I stared a new job during that time and might have just been too burned out to fold WTNV back into my life... Idk. I can't remember. (which I hate)

Looking forward (hesitantly) to the show still ahead.

[bread--quest]

the Contrast between the vitriol in first episode's "for shame, desert bluffs. for shame." and the affection in ep 111's "for shame, east night vale! for shame!" HHHHHHH

[eldritchwyrm]

Welcome to Night Vale, Episode 111: Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA

[wtnvproverbs]

There is no proof you exist, only evidence.

Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA

[agnes-come-back-challenge]

Every time WtNV repeats itself I feel things

They said "A friendly desert community where the sun is bright, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep. Welcome to Night Vale" three times in three slightly different ways and i felt things

They said the part about "the wide, dumb eyes of some nocturnal animal" in "A Story About Them" and "A Story About You" and i felt things

They describe the Planet of Awesome Size, Lit by No Sun in the exact same way each time and each time i feel things

[Image ID: the "It's about the cones" meme edited to say "It's about the repetition". End image ID]

[sajwho]

THIS NEW EPISODE OH MY GOD I’M DYING HERE

(spoilers for WTNV ep 111 “Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA” ahead)

• The original intro music 💦 💦 

• We got a bit of Carlos’s perspective on things FINALLY

• Carlos realized he has changed oh my god, I hope we’ll get more of his original character please

• ‘Carlos reminded us that we are by far the most scientificly interesting community in the country. And we joined hands and nodded, because BOY. don’t. we. know. it‘ lmao

• A lot of Carlos in general, bless 🔥 

• Also a lot of cecilos. Like. A lot. I think there was more cecilos moments for one episode than ever, safe for the First Date ep maybe

• They’re starting to highlight Carlos’s team of scientists!!! You can’t imagine how long I’ve been waiting for this

• ‘There seem to be secrets about that year [in the desert otherworld] [Carlos] is keeping to himself. Maybe someday we will learn what they are’ CAN YOU HEAR ME SCREAMING

• Fink in the author’s intro: ‘We’re going to be trying some new stuff with this show and it’s storytelling in the coming months‘ more like an episode narrated by Carlos WHEN

• CECIL CALLING STEVE HIS BEST FRIEND

• THE COLLIDING UNIVERSED ARE STILL A THING AND THEY EXPLAIN THE WEIRDNESS JUST THE WAY I IMAGINED I’M LIVING

• what happened to my tiny Night Vale you monsters

• Cecil being bitter about things is my favorite Cecil

• ‘Carlos <...> came into our studio during the break earlier <...>. He had some sort of blinking box in his hand covered with wires and tubes <...>. He asked if I remembered it, he brought it by on the first day we met. He told me that it tested for materials but he wasn’t actually sure what materials it tested for. He had just wanted an exquse to come by and talk to me‘ oh my god this is the best thing I love this ep

• tbh I thought that the ‘boyfriend material‘ joke was gonna become canon for a second lmao

• the scene with Cecil, Carlos and Khoshek is officially the cutest thing in the entire podcast

In short, this episode is amazing and I’m in tears. Can’t wait for the new ones

[cecilspeaks]

111 - Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA

A friendly desert community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we lay open-eyed, watching it all.

Welcome to Night Vale.

The City Council reiterated for the 1874th consecutive day that the Dog Park is off limits for both dogs and humans. The fence is electrified and highly dangerous, et cetera. Hooded figures and all that. Since its construction, we have shied from and feared the Dog Park. The Dog Park is neither a park nor for dogs, so what does it even mean to call it a Dog Park? Why do we use language that means one thing to describe something that is entirely else? I don’t know what the word for that place the City Council calls the Dog Park, but I do know it’s time to start searching for that word, and once found, to use it boldly.

The angels – who I can know say are angels and will say are angels because they are angels- held a memorial for Old Woman Josie in her house. Everyone in town came, overcome with the feeling that finally, they could look at these beings and recognize them for what they were. Even the City Council attended the memorial, but refused to make eye contact with anyone. Of course, this positive concrete identification only led to more mysteries. For if these are angels, then where did they come from, and what does that mean for us? Even now we find that we cannot voice these questions. Not because we are not allowed, but because we cannot find the words to ask. Instead, we ate cake and drank coffee in the living room of Old Woman Josie, which was once just that, the place she lived. Now, it is only a room. One by one, we laid our hand on the angel’s hands, and in that moment of contact, each of us in turn found ourselves weeping.

As the party wound down, we all heard a soft pop outside. It was the lightbulb on Old Woman Josie’s porch, burning out.

A man who I know very well came into my house today, which is also his house. He laid his head with its perfect and beautiful hair upon my shoulder and crossed his arms over his perfect and beautiful lab coat. I embraced him. We are creatures of touch, humans. And we retrieve so much meaning and happiness from contact.

“I’ve become too complacent,” he said. “When I came here, I understood this town as scientifically fascinating. And then, gradually, it became my day to day life. I could no longer see the strangeness, but only my home.” “We are all guilty of that,” I said. “But I’m a scientist,” he said. “Well,” I said, “we have all been scientists at one point or another in our lives.”

Just a reminder to all the parents out there. Let’s talk about safety when taking your children out to play in the scrublands and the sand wastes. You need to give them plenty of water, make sure there’s a shade tree in the area, and keep an eye on the helicopter colors. I asked my best friend and brother, Steve, to talk me through which helicopters belong to which organizations. Obviously the black helicopters belong to the world government. Although I had not realized until Steve laid it out for me, how closely they are also associated with the lizard people. The blue ones are Sheriff’s Secret Police. The pink ones are the new Double Secret Police. And the ones painted with complex murals depicting birds of prey diving? [inhales sharply] Well, not even Steve knows what those helicopters are, nor what they want. On Steve’s chart, those are just labeled with the word “RUN”. And then a few hundred exclamation points.

A commercial airliner flying through local airspace disappeared today, only to reappear at the fifth hole of the Sagebrook Pines Private Golf Club and Bulk Supplier. This disrupted all golf activities badly, as well as scaring a family of four who were perusing bulk paper towels offered at a discount price in a nearby sand trap.

I feel, for the first time, that I can articulate that this airliner had flown into some other universe, those divisions being particularly thin here in our quaint little community. This also is the cause of things like dead relatives occasionally joining us for breakfast, or the shimmering skyscrapers and crowded cities that appear for flashing moments in the sky.

Of course, it also could be the handiwork of the East Night Vale Cacti, the basketball team at the new East Night Vale Elementary School. Those scamps are always pulling pranks. Could they transport a large plane through multiple universes? Who am I to say? But probably yes. For shame, East Night Vale! For shame!

My husband and our town’s friend and protector Carlos called a town meeting. He thought we hadn’t checked in with each other in a while and wanted us to have a moment where we came face to face, and saw those faces, and remembered that we are all real and all affect each other. Erika and Erika of the newly acknowledged angels brought corn muffins.. which were inedibly salty. They explained that angels just can’t get enough salt. Dana Cardinal was there, not as our Mayor but as a citizen, one who is so young for the responsibility that has been thrust on her. Tamika Flynn was there, not as a City Council member, but as a citizen, one who is so young for the responsibility she has seized with an army of loyal and extremely well armed teens. Please see my upcoming editorial on why millennials are always joining armed teen militias. Ugh, millennials!

Carlos reminded us that we are by far the most scientifically interesting town in the country, and we joined hands and nodded, because boy, don’t we know it!

We have clear eyes now. We see ourselves for who we are, but more importantly, we see each other. We are still a community.

The Night Vale Business Association is proud to announce the refurbishment of the Night Vale Harbor and Waterfront Recreation Area. Now you might remember that these facilities have always been absolutely beautiful, eco-friendly, and with a pedestrian-focused design. However, they have suffered poor attendance due to the complete lack of water in the desert. But this is where things have changed. The Night Vale Business Association said, in a press release that they drunkenly sung in unison out in my yard last night.

The recent problems we had with other universes intruding on our own resulted in a great deal of pain and loss. But it has left us with an ocean. This ocean is only visible from the Waterfront Recreation Area’s boardwalk, and viewed from any other angle, the area still appears to just be the usual sagebrush and rocks. Carlos said he doesn’t understand how this window into another world works, and warned that no one should attempt to touch the ocean, for we do not know what lurks within it. But, he said, there could be no harm in a sunset stroll along the boardwalk, listening to the soft hiss of the retreating waves.

The local chapter of the NRA is selling bumper stickers as part of their fundraising week. The stickers are made from good sturdy vinyl, and they read, “We genuinely do not value human life.” Cute!

Carlos and his scientists, like Louisa and Nilanjana, are renewing their investigation into the house in the development of Desert Creek, out back of the elementary school. The house that doesn’t actually exist. “It seems like it exists,” muttered Carlos, “like it’s just right there when you look at it. And it’s between two other identical houses, so it would make more sense for it to be there than not.” But he says, it is actually a doorway into another world, a world he himself was stuck in for a year. There seem to be secrets about that year he’s keeping to himself. Maybe some day we will learn what they are.

Lights seen in the sky above the Arby’s. Not the glowing sign of Arby’s, something higher and beyond that. One night years ago, two people scared and vulnerable and loving and ready came together for a quiet moment under that sky, and I pretended at the time to understand the lights. But a big part of recognizing the world for what it is is recognizing when you have no idea. Invaders from another world? Harbingers of future terror? A fragment of other universe, fading into our own above reasonably priced lunchmeat? Maybe any. Maybe all. Maybe none.

But here is what I do know: the lights are, among other things, a part of my memory and a part of my marriage, and a part of my love. They are a piece of my past and I don’t need to understand them to understand that. Ladies and gentlemen, the past is here, and it’s about a hundred feet above the Arby’s.

Carlos and Louisa say that the monitoring station near Route 800 is recording wild seismic shifts, even as our ground reminds completely still. He suspects that this might be because multiple universes are colliding, creating earthquakes that are undetectable in the third dimension. “Picture our worlds intertwining,” he said. “And here we are in the coil, the friction of every possibility coming into contact, shaking the very structure of chance and fortune,” he said. Well, submit an insurance claim anyway and see what you can get, right?

Listeners, the traffic. Police are issuing warnings about the ghost cars out on the highways, those cars only visible in the distance, reaching unimaginable speeds, leaving destinations unknown for destinations more unknown. It seems that the ghost cars have taken to drag racing on weekends, which poses a hazard to both pedestrians and other drivers. The police indicate that they will be arresting whatever beings drive these cars, as soon as they can figure out how to pull one over.

And now – The weather.

["Andromeda" by Airospace soundcloud.com/spairoace or on Spotify]

The sun didn’t set at the correct time today or any other day, Carlos and Nilanjana reported. They are quite certain about that. They checked several blocks. But, they said, the sunset was really beautiful, so at least there’s that.

Carlos still does not have any explanations, but he did suggest that while time is especially weird in Night Vale, time is weird anyway. Mostly people don’t notice in the rest of the world, because while time is weird there, it’s always weird in the same way, and so is mistaken for being remotely understandable.

It’s easy to forget in this hot, hot, desert climate, but things would actually be slightly harder for us without the sun. We know this because there was a version of Night Vale in some other universe in which the sun did not exist. And that version of Night Vale was teerrible. Ugh, just no good at all! Their street plan didn’t make a lick of sense, for one thing. There was no flow to any neighborhood! I’m glad I live in my sunny Night Vale, and not any other.

The City Council would like to remind you about the tiered heavens and the hierarchy of angels. The reminder is the council is grumpy that all of this is not forbidden knowledge, but due to the new laws, they are required to inform you that the angels have made all of that information available. Stop by the house where the angels live if you want to pick up a free packet outlining exactly how all of that is organized. While the packet itself is free, it is likely the angels will ask to borrow five dollars. They tend to do that.

Over at the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex, Terry Williams, its owner, reported the startling news that there is nothing under the pin retrieval area of lane 5. As you may remember, there has been a tiny city of warlike people under the bowling alley for several years now. Which has caused some trouble, although not a lot of trouble, because they were very tiny people. But now there is just a hole in the earth under the pin retrieval area, an empty space containing only my own memories of a night that someone I loved almost died, before I had a chance to truly love him. So good riddance to whatever that town was.

Carlos, perfect and beautiful, came into our studio during the break earlier and we ate lunch together out of Tupperwares. He had some sort of blinking box in his hand, covered with wires and tubes. When he put it close to the microphone it sounded like – well, like a bunch of baby birds had just woken up, really went crazy. He asked if I remembered it. He had brought it by on the first day we had met. He had told me that it tested for materials, but he wasn’t actually sure what materials it tested for. He had just wanted an excuse to come by and talk to me. “Anyway”, he said, “I thought it was a nice memento back when we were fumbling awkwardly toward this life we share.” “But,” he added, “it’s a real instrument that is detecting some actual materials of some kind, so there is a good chance that everything about this studio is deeply dangerous. Please, be careful.” Then we fed Khoshekh, the cat floating in one of the bathrooms here at the station. Carlos pointed out cats don’t float. I stared at Khoshekh, having never really thought about that. After a bit I said, “This one does.” Carlos smiled, petted Khoshekh between the eyes and went back to his work, and I went back to mine.

This is my work, listeners. My work is to speak to you all. To talk you through the day, to murmur you into the night. Settling in to be another clear and pretty evening here in Night Vale, this weird, weird, town. I hope all of you out there have someone to sleep through it with. I know I do.

Good night, listeners, Good night.

Today’s proverb: There is no proof you exist, only evidence. .

[vilevilescorpio]

Carlos reminded us that we are by far the most scientifically interesting town in the country, and we joined hands and nodded, because boy, don’t we know it

Episode 111 Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA

[gradually-watermel0n]

Carlos, perfect and beautiful, came into our studios during the break earlier, and we ate lunch together out of Tupperwares. He had some sort of blinking box in his hand covered with wires and tubes. When he put it close to the microphone, it sounded like, well, like a bunch of baby birds had just woken up. Really went crazy. He asked if I remembered it. He had brought it by on the first day we had met. He had told me that it tested for materials, but he wasn’t actually sure what materials it tested for. He had just wanted an excuse to come by and talk to me.

“Anyway,” he said, “I thought it was a nice memento. Back when we were fumbling awkwardly toward this life we share.”

it's nice to know carlos was smitten from the start too lmao i love him so much