#summer 2017‚ night vale‚ usa

[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

[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

[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.

[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

[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

[italwaysflinchesfirst]

There is no proof you exist;

only evidence.

[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]

[wtnvproverbs]

There is no proof you exist, only evidence.

Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA

[arthurtaylorlester]

cecilos is a tragedy (but in the best way possible)

NOTE: this is mostly speculation and wild interpretation on my part. as a cecil kin, I should also say I might involuntarily favour cecil more than our beloved carlos bUT I DON'T MEAN TO I LOVE CARLOS ALRIGHT

after writing out my disorganised thoughts, i sectioned it out so it's easier to follow my wild train of thought

re-reading it, i don't think i captured well how exactly they are a tragedy, but if you catch my vibe, feel free to explain even better!

also it should be known i haven't actually listened to that much of year 2-3, but i have read transcripts for this posts. sorry i cant handle actually hearing the tragedy and angst

edit: some people misinterpreted my post, so I'll clarify. I don't think cecilos is unhealthy. quick scroll through my blog will prove that. what I mean by this post as a whole, is that they care very much about each other to the point that they aren't willing to change because they're scared. further edits in []

spoilers for the newer episodes and it devours

cecil and carlos, the og gay podcast ship

unlike the other two ogs jmart and jupeter, most listeners would say that they are the happy and loving relationship

BUT YOU'D BE WRONG

yeah sure, jupeter have their messy shit going on and jon acted like he hated martin for the better part of 160 episodes, not to mention the individual trauma those characters have

but the format of wtnv let's us think everything is all and swell, it is most definitely not. cecil overshares a lot, but cecil is also a bad, unreliable, questionable narrator. he's opinionated, kind of arrogant at times and very sure he is ALWAYS in the right.

so WHY do we think cecilos is healthy, in relation to other podcast ships?

cecil admittedly falls in love with carlos instantly, and carlos says the same (see: first line of carlos' monologue in ep.149 "The General" and the carlos mention in ep.111 ''Summer 2017, Night Vale, USA'')

also they get married, and have been together for 9 years. but marriage is NOT an indicator of a healthy relationship.

i've always thought of nightvale as reflection of cecil and his inner turmoil, and by extension a reflection of his relationship with carlos. night vale itself is a tragedy and i've linked to a post that sums my thoughts on it.

so ok great night vale is tragedy, but surely carlos and cecil have a open relationship and trust each other. WRONG AGAIN

cecil and carlos' do not trust each other, not in the sense that they think the other would hold it against them, but in the sense that they don't want to burden each other with their own problems.

they do, as night vale did in year 5, ignore all their problems. they're ignoring the existence of their metaphorical angels.

carlos has the phantom ocean, the university of what-it-is, his whole life before night vale, before cecil. cecil does learn to be private on air, but i find it strange that in 10 years he made 0, not even one, offhand comment about something that carlos said about his life outside of night vale. like about his family, or work, or interests.

and i think it's because cecil doesn't know. carlos never told him. and cecil never asked because, to him, it doesn't matter. after all ''The past is gone, and cannot harm you anymore''

that isn't to say that cecil is his own neat can of issues. he is a little bitch (affectionate) and has mommy issues, and wants to be there for everyone, and has a fear of being replaced. and he will not talk about it. like girl will talk about anything else. we know he has a habit of latching to people with very strong emotions, either negative (steve carlsberg, susan willman) or positive (carlos, janice)

in A Door Ajar (all parts) he is VERY insistent on trying to figure out what carlos' deal is, because he can't stand the fact that his husband doesn't want to tell him something to he (cecil) can make him (carlos) feel better. and they go to therapy. but therapy DOESN'T SOLVE ALL YOUR PROBLEMS IF YOU DON'T COMMUNICATE

as seen in ep. 201 ''The Delivery Man'' their relationship isn't in the best state, and how they might reconsider therapy.

of course, now in year 11 we're getting some good old Carlos angst.

carlos angst analysis woop

of course, the biggest elephant in the room is the Desert Otherworld.

carlos got trapped there for a year, yada yada he has tons of fun, almost gets cecil to move there and then changes his mind in the end giving up science for cecil. now there are a few things that never sat right with me about this.

he was completely willing to make cecil move to the DOW

we never got to know EXPLICITLY who carlos' letter was for

so for the first point, I guess I can understand since it was ten years for him and cecil agreed. but idk it was their 3 year together I wouldn't ask that. it just hit as I'm writing that for Carlos it was their 13th(ish) year nvm

point number 2 bothers me SO MUCH. it's generally implied and accepted that carlos gave the letter to kevin. but i don't think carlos wrote the letter with kevin in mind. the wording of how he feels is just specific enough to convince me it was for cecil.

''It’s a sad letter. A letter about regrets, about mistakes.

You know how sometimes you spend a lot of time with someone, and you think that the someone makes you happy, but then suddenly one day you realize…maybe you weren’t happy at all. Maybe both would be better off doing what you love in different places. Without each other. Maybe neither of you were as happy as either of you thought.'' - Carlos, ep. 70A ''Taking Off'

this is what carlos says in regard of his letter. I think sometime before this is how he felt about cecil. before his 10 years of research got destroyed. I am fully convinced that as carlos sat there waiting for it to load, he fully intended to breakup with cecil, tell hims to stay away and in night vale, while he continued his research for who knows how long in the DOW. all because he thought the science would make hi happier

and then he lost the research. I think that at this point carlos decided that yeah no fuck this. the ten years he spent in the DOW wasn't worth not having cecil. losing the science meant he'd have to do more. and that thought he didn't excite him

he thought he was happy because he had so much science to do, when in reality it just distracted him from the fact night vale felt as if he didn't belong

I think losing it made him realise that no he didn't enjoy the loneliness and that he wasn't willing to do it all again, this time without cecil.

carlos thought he was unhappy because he was with cecil, who actually he was sad because he wasn't with cecil for 10 years. you would develop detachment in ANY kind of long-distance relationship, nevermind how long.

carlos does come back and I think seeing cecil solidified his desire to NEVER go back to the DOW.

but the thing was that carlos values knowledge and science more than cecil (or he did at this point in the story). he actively didn't think he would go back, until after he lost his work

which brings us to It Devours.

admittedly, cecil and carlos are pretty okay in the book, but again I'll talk about carlos and the DOW.

carlos in this book is practically the opposite of how he was during year 3. he literally causes all the problems in the book without realising and tries to blame a church, the government and mysterious forces beyond our comprehension. I think he does this because the time in the DOW was generally terrible for him. yeah he has endless science, but I think it was mentally draining for him. not to mention the lack of support system. he had one bloody dude who tried to murder him, but now was obsessed with him who also looked exactly like his bf and his assistants. and dana (I think?)

now lets talk about ep. 210 ''Ten Years Later''

[unpopular opinion incoming]

cecil's gift was underwhelming. what the fuck even was that. I expected something a little more

grand, yk?

nevertheless, it's the thought that counts.

except no even the thought sucked. ''Oh congrats dear hubby you're finally part of the community after 10 years and also after you saved our town like 3973648748475836470809128477 times''

like WHAT

anyways carlos said it

''It is nice, I suppose, this piece of paper. The idea that I belong. But I did not need a piece of paper. I did not need to be told I belong to this town. Because this town belongs to me. It is an artificial set of boundaries around an arbitrary collection of objects and people, and I am one of those people. I help set those boundaries. I started contributing to the definition of this town the moment I set foot in it.'' - carlos, ep. 210 ''Ten Years Later''

[the gift was nice and cute, and I've now been informed that cecilos is building a house together, so that explains a little. but what I mean here was that since this is cecil we're talking about, I expected something else. I'm content with it nonetheless, it was hilarious]

but before he stated that cecil will never know about the ten years in the DOW and it made me so angry

like they love each other so much, they aren't willing to be honest with each other because they're scared it will hurt them.

when we all know damn well cecil won't be mad about the ten years, more-so of the fact carlos lied to him for 7 (or 17, depending on who you ask) years. carlos, according to me at least, loved science more than cecil until after the DOW. and then he was like lol no cecil and nightvale are more important. either way it's not a good look on carlos.

now lets talk about ✨cecil✨

I think that cecil's problems are often overlooked by everyone, except steve, who is the only genuinely nice person from night vale [/j]

as we know from ep. 110 ''Matryoshka'', cecil disliked steve because he felt as if he was being replaced from his role as primary caretaker/provider of abby and cecil, that primarily stemmed from their mother leaving them.

cecil has some sort of issue surrounding receiving and giving out help. clearly, abby resents him a little as the role of pseudo mother was thrust upon her at a young age. and cecil might be a little closed minded, but he isn't stupid. he probably realised that abby didn't like him as much, and that's why he tried so hard to help her and janice.

and therefore his resentment for steve; he felt as though he had to ''pay back'' abby and steve didn't let him

steve tells us in ep. 100 ''Toast'' that he hardly saw cecil out of the radio station afterwards.

so i think in the period between steve and abby's marriage and carlos arriving, cecil became a little bit of a workaholic and probably spiraled as he lacked purpose (other than the voice of night vale)

and then he saw carlos, and psa see my other post about why they fell in love instantly, and so he latched on to him.

carlos was a bit of an anchor for cecil in year one, and so he was fully honest with him. as we well know, carlos is very closed off. (NOT SAYING HE WASN'T ALSO HEAD OVER HEELS, WE KNOW DAMN WELL IT WAS INSTANT PINING)

and then they get together, and immediately get trauma zapped by strexcorp, and then carlos gets stuck in the DOW. so if you think about it, the first year they really spent together without imminent threat larger than station management or city council was year 4.

i also think he has some kind of trauma-induced amnesia, because something clearly happened to him and forests but i'll write another post about him because i've now realised that if i start writing about cecil, this post will become not only incomprehensible, but downright painful to read

thing i didn't know where to put

kevin and charles are the doubles of cecil and carlos. and their relationship isn't healthy AT ALL. you don't ask the person you just met to be a significant part of your son's life. though i suppose if this post of mine is accurate, then a similar thing could be going on here. perhaps they had donovan together in some other reality. but idk if the DOW/Desert Bluffs Too is affected by huntokar. (is the DOW a reality without night vale?)

predictions because this post was derailed by own mind

cecil's greatest flaw is his stubbornness i think, so i predict that this new arc this year is gonna have some sort of misunderstanding between carlos and cecil which leads to them not communicating even more and so leading up to the finale next june. i think huntokar will be involved somehow (stan huntokar is cecil's mom theory)

i don't think anything major will happen in the next 3-5 episodes.

closing thoughts???? i guess?

to sum it all up, cecil and carlos aren't tragic in the romeo and juliet sense, but more like they're own kind of tragedy

i'd like to call it the night vale tragedy. on all accounts, i don't think their story or even the show is going to end like a tragedy.

they are a tragedy in the sense that they're circumstances are ridiculous and they're pasts deeply upsetting, and it's that allowed them to be right in time for each other. they met at a perfect time, for cecil to get out of his spiral and find purpose and for carlos to escape whatever happened to him before nightvale.

but that initial perfection, made both of them think that if the other knew about they're insecurities they would leave/stop loving them/whatever other thing romantic gay people are sad about. i'd love if we got another condos type thing where they realise that they're relationship doesn't have to be perfect, paralleling cecil realising carlos is perfectly imperfect.

that's it, that's the post

that's it for this garbled mess on how fictional voices on my phone are tragic and sad and perfect for each other and also terrible for each other.

this is 2454 words long.

stay tuned next for even more words on a screen that you'll read late night, maybe huddled under your covers. maybe you'll insult some random kid. maybe you'll get insulted. maybe you'll read about your comfort white boys or maybe you'll read about people complain about them

next time, why cecil is the best and most misunderstood character of welcome to night vale

bye now

[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