#the people who make wtnv are so creative!

[kerink]

putting aside my issues with continuity (because i know there's a debate about what "continuity" means in wtnv) and putting aside my personal preferences, i'd like to talk about what's made me unhappy the last two seasons:

i think the story telling is bad

that's not to say brinknor aren't creative people and good writers, they are. that's why i listen to and enjoy the show. i've also read their more stand-alone and self-contained works, i know they are talented. this is not a dig on them or their abilities. if i didn't like them or their work i wouldn't bother with it

the main issue, for me, is that i think the last two seasons have been trying to cram in more ideas than the season length has air for, so we're not seeing the complete story. i think too much is being left intentionally vague for fans to play with in a way that doesn't work

year 10 ends with carlos becoming a night vale citizen and him reflecting on whether or not he's okay with that, whether or not he feels like he actually belongs here, despite that having been his main struggle while he was trapped in the dow. we saw that although carlos has committed to and prioritized night vale, and that was ostensibly enough for him to be accepted, he did not actually accept night vale back. we assumed that carlos' commitment to cecil over his work was him finally finding his place, but all it was was him finding his priorities. maybe it wasn't that night vale had rejected him, maybe it was that night vale was attempt to protect its voice, and only allowed carlos back once he agreed to love cecil like the town does

and then janet shows up. at the end of year 11, janet said that her primary motive for coming to night vale was to get back at carlos. we saw blake bullying carlos for having abandoned the university and how he's viewed as a disgrace. we saw the university staff threaten cecil. janet ruins the town that got carlos' name on the map. all of these events are congruous with the above struggle: does carlos belong in night vale or does he belong in the real world? is carlos a citizen or an interloper?

but that isn't the main struggle that plays out. other than what was stated above, and janet making a few backhanded remarks about carlos' bad science, there is zero evidence that janet's primary motive was to hurt carlos until she says so at the very end. in fact, at the beginning of the season, she stated that he primary motive was to make night vale normal. that's in line with her actions far more than hurting carlos is. hurting carlos feels like a bonus to what janet actually wants: to be in control and in charge. the majority of the season is spent antagonizing dana (which was narratively unsatisfying because it was a bland rehash of the a matter of blood arc, but i digress). carlos is not a participant in this story, he hides and he lets the city protect itself, he lets cecil take the heat for him

and when we step back and look at y11 in the context of the primary theme of y10's finale we learn the answer: carlos is an interloper

as soon as science becomes threatening again the town turns on him. they reject him, they strip him of his power, they judge cecil for being with him. the town did not accept carlos, they had a truce with him formed out of his marriage to cecil

y11 left a lot of questions unanswered: how long has carlos actually been gone? what contact did he have with the university after y1? who is still looking for him? what role does dr. kayyali and her search party have in this? was the glow cloud (all hail) the only perma-death?why did janet's explanation of the glow cloud (all hail) not kill its child too? why did the university have such a large staff? why did the entire staff turn on janet so easily and so quickly?

and narratively it feels unsatisfying because janet's stated motives were not in congruence with her actions. which fine. people lie. maybe janet was lying about what she wanted to prevent carlos from meddling. maybe she did want to ruin night vale for him but got distracted by the whole doubles thing so picked that up as a side project. maybe we only heard so much about what janet was doing to dana because cecil cares about dana and carlos asked cecil not to talk about the plan he was forming to defeat janet. i can accept all of that, i just wish we'd gotten a whiff of it instead of having it entirely being left to interpretation

so we leave y11 with questions about what the point of it all was when a) there was only 1 permanent consequence that we're aware of and b) it didn't provide us any new information. we got the most about carlos' backstory we've ever gotten, but that was really the only thing you could say came out of y11. and even learning that about carlos felt violating, felt inappropriate, furthered our question of who is carlos and what role does he have in town

and it seems like carlos felt it too, because he decides to go back to the dow. when he was there he gained wisdom about himself and who he was and what he wanted from life. he figured himself out and found his place in the night vale. after a year of having his status as professor robles of the university of what it is questioned and derided by janet and her team, and having his status as carlos the scientist hero of night vale scorned and rejected by the town, he wanted to return and gain clarity on how he picks up the pieces of himself

but that's not what happens either!

the boy shows up and the story becomes about him. we don't learn where the boy came from, how he appeared in night vale, why he's in night vale instead of desert bluffs, how the timeline supports there being two kevins when back in e106 and e209 the timeline made sure to kill the duplicate cecil. how did no one see that the boy looked like cecil? it could have been a fun reveal if everyone thought it was another little cecil (also playing into all the palmer childhood lore this season) only to bait and switch it being a young kevin. we don't learn why tamika specifically took over raising him or how carlos instinctively knew to keep the boy away from his family. we don't learn how the boy was rapidly aging while in night vale or what age he wound up stopping at when kevin took him away. we don't learn why mother lauren absorbed him instead of killing him outright, since she seemed more than happy to try to get rid of kevin. what happened to the boy's desire to be his own person and create his own timeline away from kevin's fate? isn't the finale a tragedy and not a happy ending? what did this season matter if everything he learned about himself and the world was erased? the boy does not get a full story because too much air was given to lauren and kevin

with lauren we don't learn how she re-made a name for herself in desert bluffs too, how she got in the smiling god's good graces, how she manifested the power she presented with in night vale, how her rise to power impacted kevin's control over dbt, what the state of dbt is after lauren left for night vale, what was her motivation for even coming to night vale, what did the night vale chapter of the joyous congregation think about this, did carlos' killing the centipede matter at all and does anyone care? lauren does not get a full story because too much air was given to kevin and the boy

with kevin we don't learn what becomes of his theocracy, what becomes of his control of the church, what did his speech on changing even mean and how does it impact things when he's choosing to create a time loop? when kevin said he was going to bring someone back with him, who was he talking about? where are charles and donovan and what do they think? why do kevin and carlos not interact even a single time? does the night vale chapter of the joyous congregation care that their prophet has returned and what does kevin's defending of night vale mean for their beliefs? kevin does not get a full story because too much air was given to the boy and lauren

some of these questions are nitpicks, some are good things to leave vague and up to the audience. the main issue here is that: 1) the boy does not get a beginning to his story, the middle of his story ultimately didn't matter because mother lauren erased it, and he has no true ending because we already know what that looks like and in its being a time loop it will never end; 2) lauren does not get a beginning or a middle to her story; and 3) kevin's motives are totally all over the place. does he want to change or is he still so afraid of losing control that being able to control his own terrible future brings him some kind of closure? why is the best he can offer the boy the same horrific life he's spent the last century trying to recover from?

and carlos does not get a story at all. none of this mattered. carlos wanted to go back to the dow but he never did, he never got the chance, we never saw what he did with the time that he had. is carlos doomed to living in this space of not knowing who he is or what his role is because he quite literally had to pull the plug on the one place that offered him a safe haven to explore himself?

in trying to tell the stories of 4 people, no one got a story at all

and that's what's really frustrating, it's just felt like the last two season's haven't mattered, moved along the primary story, or evolved any of the characters in satisfying ways

y1 carlos decided to stay in night vale; y2 strexcorp was defeated; y3 cecil freed himself from lot 37 and carlos confirmed his decision to stay in night vale; y4 night vale freed itself from the beagle puppy and hiram mcdaniels was brought to justice; y5 night vale fell apart and had to find a way to anchor itself in reality; y6 focused on resting after y5 and had the 2 and 3 parters, diving deeper into specific characters; y7 was about fixing time and the consequences of doing so; y8 was about the delta flight; y9 was about frank chen; y10 was another character-focused rest season concluding in carlos becoming a citizen; y11 was the university of what it is; and y12 was about the boy

other than y11 and y12, all the previous seasons had lasting consequences on the story at large. they had domino effects into how future seasons would be focused. the outcomes of those seasons had permanent changes on the town and its people. everything janet did was erased by carlos. everything the boy went through was erased by mother lauren. janet's season should have led carlos down a path of continued self-discovery and reinvention. the boy's season should have led kevin to further growth and change, and could have paralleled the palmer family story by showing how kevin was trying to overcome his own trauma and build a family with charles. maybe it's just too soon. frank chen was murdered in y1 and it wasn't until y9 that his story was resolved. maybe i'm just hyper critical and impatient

but i feel like a lot of people are noticing this trend and are speaking up about it. i was active in the fandom from 2012-2015, and then picked it up again in 2021. it wasn't until y11 that i felt that a season wasn't finished. other seasons had left me with questions, had left some loose ends, but i always felt satisfied with where we were at once the summer hiatus hit. i don't feel that way with y11 and y12, i've walked away from both now going "okay now what? so what? huh?"

i don't know. i'm kind of running out of steam for this post. the point i wanted to make is this: y11 and y12 have not had character motives that have strongly correlated to their subsequent actions; i don't feel like characters are being given complete stories with beginnings, middles, and ends; and they've both left me feeling like none of it ultimately mattered

anyway. that's my two cents.

[writingnotes520]

The University of What It Is and Losing Your Inner Child, an Analysis

This opinion may be silly, or odd or otherwise not holding water, but my personal interpretation of the entire UOWII arc is that it is a metaphor for losing one’s childlike wonder and creativity.

Think about it. What is Night Vale without its unexplainable phenomena that seem so out of nowhere and sound like a more surrealist version of something you would hear on a second grade playground?

“This rock is named Sara, she runs the college!”

“There’s another planet in the sky!”

“That cloud is glowing! And look, it has a kid!”

These are all things from WTNV that sound silly when you phrase them simply as what they are. Night Vale is a town whose citizens are very connected to their inner children and never let go of that wonder. Even if they can’t remember their childhoods or didn’t have good ones, the town ensures that they can keep the spirit of their childlike selves.

And then Janet Lubelle arrives. She and the University are the adults in a child’s life that come and squash their ideas and dismiss them as silly. The people that tell us to grow up as we change from children to tweens, and teens and adults beyond that. They are the world that comes at us at the most unexpected times, the science that tells us that what we imagined for years was impossible. And since it makes sense, since it’s been explained now, the magic of whatever it is disappears.

Carlos is the science that says that even despite these facts that diminish our imagination, we can still feel free to come up with those whimsical ideas again. We can still imagine what we want to imagine. So what if rocks aren’t alive? Sara can still be the dean! So what if the glow is an illusion? We can still call it an ancient god! We can keep our ideas while acknowledging that they aren’t possible. We can think like children again while knowing the facts that were supposed to explain why these thoughts are silly.

I also think that, with this view of the arc, the ending doesn’t seem so bad. Science that wishes to destroy and science that wishes to coexist clash, and the science that wishes to coexist uses the unexplainable to defeat that which wants everything explained. Like young children playing rock paper scissors. Gun, black hole, and all the other new moves we come up with aren’t part of the game, but we play them anyway and as much as the other tries to argue, we know we won. The glow cloud did what it was always able to do, but hadn’t before because it wasn’t in the rules of the game. It played gun. And Dr. Lubelle lost.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say that Lubelle’s logic wasn’t going to work, anyway. She said earlier in the episode that Carlos’ middle name was inexplicably Dave. Inexplicably. It may have been a joke the writers placed into the script, but I like to think that she would have realized that since she had acknowledged something about Carlos she couldn’t explain, she wouldn’t be able to explain him away even if she got the chance to try.

So, yeah. Maybe this makes sense. Or maybe I just have trauma from severely repressing my inner child. Who knows.

[vestaclinicpod]

Audio Drama Sunday - 9th July ✨

For a good long while now, I've been sharing my weekly thoughts on the fantastic audio drama I've listened to each week on Twitter... I think it's time to start sharing them here too!

I’d love to start by shouting out @tellnotalespod’s S2 crowdfunding campaign. I need to know what happens to these characters like I need air to breathe and I have a specially vested interest as I’m going to be playing a really sweet ghostie this season. PLEASE let’s make this happen!!  

🌲Happy birthday to Mx Wellman, the @hellofromthehallowoods creator! I listened to this week’s episode while cycling to and from work and happened to be wearing leggings with lightning bolts on them…. You can imagine how FAST I got home during Olivier’s affirmations! 

📻 (104) The first @monstrousagonies letter made me so sad for the writer but really raises such a good point about how to cope with people doubting the authenticity of your identity. I especially feel that this is important when people enter more diverse (often online) spaces and meet people who have identities that you may not have met otherwise. If a new identity resonates with you, you can explore that! “And if you do decide that transformation is right for you, well. Welcome home.”

🌒 (S4E17) OUGH I don’t want to spoil anything because today’s Moonbase Theta Out (@monkeymanproductions) episode isn’t out at the time of writing but oh my GOD. BRACE yourselves. You’re going to cry, you’re going to laugh, you’re going to wish you could act HALF as well as Tau Zaman and Cat Blackard!! I am SO excited for the season finale - I’m sure it’s going to be … explosive. 

🧛‍♂️ @re-dracula Renfield time! I was so confused about this part of the story when I first read it, but the team are doing an amazing job of bringing it to life! 

🧬 Ep 3 of Regina Prime was great! Poor Prime, she’s wandering into something far greater than she could have ever anticipated and I love the contrast between her cheerful exploration and the jaded additions from Omega. I’m enjoying this so much!! 

 💫 This week I listened to episodes 7-9 of Wolf 359. I love Doug and Hera’s relationship. I’m not sure if the genre of the show is going to shift over time, but I’m really enjoying how it’s falling in the same weird place as WTNV where the events are strange and a little uncomfortable, but you’re always waiting for the punchline. 

Hope everyone has a lovely week! I’ve told myself that I’m going to wrap up writing S2 of The Vesta Clinic by the end of the month and it’s looking like that’s going to be possible!! Sending only the finest creative vibes to everyone else who’s working on something they want to be proud of! 

[randaccidents]

Intro Post thingie!!!

Finally making an intro post <3

So hi! Welcome to where I make Random Accidents happen!

Just call me Randa, any pronouns work for me I don't have a preference. I'm a creative who specialized a little too heavily into writing and worldbuilding :3

I'm also randaccident13 on AO3!

Unfortunately my dear mutuals, I am old (sike I'm in my early 20s), and unfortunately further to half my mutuals, my timezone is GMT +8. (I simply sleep at ass o clock in the morning)

Main Tags:

Art: #rand.art (my old tag is #my art, I couldn't be bothered to change all the way back 4 years of work)

Writing: #rand.writ (my old tag is #my writing, I couldn't be bothered to change all the way back 4 years of work)

Headcanons: #rand.hc

Me talking shit: #rambles

RP related stuff (cause I cant stop chattering about it it has consumed my brain): #rp chatter

Answered asks: #reply

Current interests

Currently? CCCC/Chonny Jash. Guys I am so insane about it.

There's also a side of: Minecraft (I never left the mine), Hermitcraft, WTNV, Fallen London (sorta), MILGRAM Project, Hollow Knight/Silksong (please please please release this year) and Honkai Star Rail

AUs

Cause they are getting CLUTTERED around here, here's a list of all the AUs I have currently:

Heartless AU (Masterpost here)

Tangled Wisteria AU (currently no masterpost, use #Tangled Wisteria AU)

Lie of Concord AU (HEAVY criticism piece of certain fandom tropes, use #Lie of Concord AU)

Tridential Whole (just my personal interpretation that went a little wild, use #Tridential Whole)

Find the Pieces AU (new, use #Find the Pieces au)

Organic Machinery AU (new, use #Organic Machinery au)

When the Sky Falls AU (new, use #When the Sky Falls au)

Carousel of Time AU (new, use #Carousel of Time au)

What Lies in Apathy AU (new, use #What Lies in Apathy au)

Rotten Faith over on @tridential-sauce

(And for the oldies here: #shadow people au <- this the tag for all my writing under SPAU when I was still part of the community)

I've got my ask box open and I'm always open for interaction! And asks! I'm an AU writer after all, asks might inspire something (most likely angsty sdfnsjk). But beware that I might ghost you if you spook me with a random DM or ask.

Credit for dividers goes to cafekitsune

[tragedyboycentral]

So I'm copy-pasting my own essay I added onto another post to post on my own. But the amount of people out here who truly DON'T understand the historical importance of WTNV, from a queer media perspective, boggles me.

I want you to imagine the year is 2012. Gay marriage won't be legalized for another three years. A podcast starts to make the rounds, your friends are watching it so you think sure. Let's check it out. And then you here the narrator start to talk about the new scientist in town. And right there, in the first introduction, they make it clear. "And I fell in love instantly." There was no building up, no hiding it, no queerbaiting. Right there in the first episode they told us that Cecil was Gay and in love with Another Man.

And if you weren't there then there arent WORDS for how ground breaking this was at the time. How amazing it was for the tumblrbase, consisting largely of closeted/ discovering pre-teens, to hear this. The finale of Legend of Korra, where two women holding hands was GROUND BREAKING?? That wouldn't happen for another two years. This wasn't an everyday occurrence and hell, I would argue even today, a whole decade later, there still aren't many pieces of media doing it like wtnv was (and still is).

Not to mention in horror media, queerness is traditionally used to notate something scary. The scary lesbian woo'ing another woman and killing her was a horror trope for a reason. In media queerness is used as almost exclusively as a corrupting, disgusting, force. But Cecil's queerness wasn't just loved, it was celebrated within the media itself. His love interest was a 'normal' guy from out of town but Cecil's oddities are why Carlos loves him. Every aspect of Night Vale is odd, is queer, and that queerness becomes acceptably mundane in a beautiful way. The entirety of Night Vale of a concept was taking all that was Queer and celebrating it.

And in greater terms of media, Welcome To Night Vale is what single-handedly changed podcasts from 'the thing your dad listened to' to something interesting and accessible to young people. It practically introduced the concept of narrative podcasts and is still the roadmap many of them use today. Massive media like The Magnus Archives, The Penumbra Podcast, and hell I would argue even the popularity of other media like TAZ? It only happened because WTNV brought not just an audience to podcasts, but a QUEER audience. A queer audience who, once they were old enough, only needed a mic and cheap editing software to start making their own queer content just as fast as they were consuming everyone else's.

But back to 'sexyman'. Again. Tumblr's base is 12-14. And we're given not just the first gay character most of us have ever seen. But a dutiful boyfriend who loves his husband and his cat. Who gets into silly little squabbles with his silly little nemesis. Who's CHARMING. Of course the internet fell in love. But beyond his personality. He had the Homestuck/ Bill Cipher/ Wheatley bonus of not having a canon design. People keep mentioning he's faceless as a weird element but that was the DRAW back then. It was an INTEGRAL part of the appeal. Sure, the basic 'blonde white twink' design was/is the most popular- it was 2012- but some people got creative. No matter what your attraction was too, you could picture him looking like that. He's a good boyfriend AND he's hot?

Sure, The Onceler was insanely popular and so was Sans. But people were either lusting for them or Hated them. But Cecil?? Cecil was our hot gay mentor. He was the closest thing a lot of younger queers on tumblr had for an adult queer role model. He was the basis for so other tumblr sexymen.

TLDR: "Did wtnv have cultural impact?" jesus fuck yes it did.

[give-soup-please]

The "Changing of the Guard"

So this is a concept I've had difficulty explaining to others, and I'm going to try and explain it.

As someone who uses fictional characters to cope, I invented a system many years back that I still use now, even though my living situation is a lot better.

Essentially, I created a space within my head for all of these characters to live. I described this place briefly in my fic, 'what is this, a crossover fic?' But that's not the focus for this post.

So as these characters are accepted into my head, they have a focus of making sure I stay alive, no matter what. I craft their personalities so that they are *slightly* different from canon, and round out their rough edges if they have any. And I carry them with me.

This mechanic was something I designed where I would put focus into one character at a time, receiving serotonin and coming up with creative ideas involving them. The other characters I've had in the past would still be there, but generally I focused on one comfort character at a time. The thing is, this idea grew quickly in complexity as I retreated into my head while living at my parents place. I don't use this creation I built as a child often anymore, but it is something to fall back on when I'm stressed, anxious, or depressed.

Eventually it developed into a series of rulesets where they would act friendly towards each other, and recognize that the time they were spending with me wasn't permanent. And that when the time came, the main character I was focusing on would be switched out for the next one. All of them recognized that keeping me alive was their priority, and if one character was better suited to looking after me, there were no hard feelings involved. And all of them recognized that in an emergency, I might call upon one of them to help, and that was an okay thing to do.

It's not dissociative, these characters didn't take over my brain. I was always aware of myself, and 100% in control of them. It was maladaptive daydreaming, I think.

But then this other concept developed, the 'Changing of the Guard.' The ritual by which one character would be replaced by another to act as the main support. If I trace my past, I can see when one character shifted to the other.

Papyrus from UT was the first, then Cecil from WTNV, then Aziraphale from GO, Julian from DS9 appeared somewhere between those four, you see what I'm saying.

So for a long time, the narrator was acting as guard, to keep me from doing stupid things, and acting as a voice of reason when stressed. Now, he's no longer in that position. Believe it or not, it's transferred back over to Aziraphale now. There's nothing to note here specifically. In a time of need, I may call upon the narrator again. I can do that, they're all focused on keeping me alive, that's the whole goal. All this to say, I forgot that the concept of 'changing of the guard' is not common among everyone. And I brought up the concept to a few people and got a whole bunch of '??????' in response.

Essentially, the fictional characters I love most take turns holding the line so that I don't make permanent mistakes.

And this is a thing that not everyone does.

[cowboyinternist]

Welcome to my blog !!!

silly intro post for my silly account!

Some things know:

I don’t tag spoilers, unless the content is super recent (ie, I’ll tag spoilers for a WTNV episode that just came out, but not for one that came out a month ago). So please be careful!!

I am autistic! and also a very anxious person! this often effects the way that i interact with people, so be patient with me ^ .^ sometimes when I’m trying to be opinionated/informative I come off as irritated or angry when I don’t mean to.

I post gore semi often, and I always be sure to tag it as best I can, but still be cautious if that bothers you !

I’m very hesitant to reblog stuff because it makes me anxious, but if we’re mutuals I promise I love you and think you’re awesome. I’m trying to work on this lmao because I don’t,, not want to reblog

I AM A COMPLAINER. I LOVE COMPLAINING ITS MY FAVORITE. It is all kind hearted and if i’m being overly critical it is 100% kind hearted and only for my enrichment.

Favorite…..

WTNV character: Sheriff Sam

WTNV episode: Things Fall Apart OR Filings

WTNV arc: Who’s a Good Boy? OR The Huntokar arc

Other things I like:

This is mainly a WTNV blog (because it’s my special interest) but I also love to talk about the following!

Will Wood (saw him live and met him 11/12/24! fuck it we slouch!!!!!!! 🐁 🌸 🌼)

The Magnus Archives/Protocol

Musical theatre 🙄

Adventure Time

Animation (in general, but my favorite cartoon is Infinity Train)

Bugs and similar creatures

I also have some OCs who r very dear to me

If you want to read basically all the same info but with more depth and way more awesome, check out my carrd!

i DO NOT like the police i’m just stupid and autistic

Tags… (more creative names pending)

wish i was normal about this podcast? find my non sheriff sam art in #normal art (still not entirely sam-free sorrey)

wanna hear more analysis/me talking about shit? try #horsetalk. i’m trying to do more of it.

all my request work is in #request tag

also i’m super broke despite having so many things i need to do so please buy my art okay thank you byeeeee 🐁

[go-to-the-mirror]

List five things that make you happy! Then put this in the ask box of the last ten people who reblogged something from you! (you have to talk to me even more lol)

The general idea of Jonny Sims. Whenever I hear his voice, whenever I hear abt him or one of his projects. It’s kind of odd, but this is what a magnus hyperfixation does to a person

MY PARTNER @scarandjoelenthusiast <3 I love bloom so much so so so so much

Talking to you. You’re neat :D

Swinging on the swings outside

The magnus archives is a podcast distributed by rusty quill and licensed under a creative commons non commercial share alike 4.0 international license

Bonus no. 6 WTNV episodes focusing on community

[tragedyboycentral]

DID WTNV HAVE A CULTURAL IMPACT???? oh I'm sorry random notes user you have unlocked my literal thesis topic so prepare for a mobile ramble

First, to knock Homestuck out of the way. Homestuck absolutely should of been in the poll, the lack of dirk or Dave is insane to me. But riegen has NOTHING on strider sexyman status and is nowhere similar but that's for another post.

Anyways back to Cecil.

I want you to imagine the year is 2012. Gay marriage won't be legalized for another three years. A podcast starts to make the rounds, your friends are watching it so you think sure. Let's check it out. And then you here the narrator start to talk about the new scientist in town. And right there, in the first introduction, they make it clear. "And I fell in love instantly." There was no building up, no hiding it, no queerbaiting. Right there in the first episode they told us that Cecil was Gay and in love with Another Man.

And if you weren't there then there arent WORDS for how ground breaking this was at the time. How amazing it was for the tumblrbase, consisting largely of closeted/ discovering pre-teens, to hear this. The finale of Legend of Korra, where two women holding hands was GROUND BREAKING?? That wouldn't happen for another two years.

In horror media, queerness is traditionally used to notate something scary. The scary lesbian woo'ing another woman and killing her was a horror trope for a reason. But Cecil's queerness was loved, it was celebrated within the media. The entirety of Night Vale of a concept was taking all that was Queer and celebrating it.

Welcome To Night Vale is what single-handedly changed podcasts from 'the thing your dad listened to' to something interesting and accessible to young people. It practically introduced the concept of a narrative podcast. Massive media like The Magnus Archives, The Penumbra Podcast, and hell I would argue even the popularity of other media like TAZ? It only happened because WTNV brought not just an audience to podcasts, but a QUEER audience. A queer audience who, once they were old enough, only needed a mic and cheap editing software to start making their own queer content just as fast as they were consuming everyone else's.

But back to 'sexyman'. Again. Tumblr's base is 12-14. And we're given not just the first gay character most of us have ever seen. But a dutiful boyfriend who loves his husband and his cat. Who gets into silly little squabbles with his silly little nemesis. Who's CHARMING. Of course the internet fell in love. But beyond his personality. He had the Homestuck/ Bill Cipher/ Wheatley bonus of not having a canon design. Sure, the basic 'blonde white twink' design was/is the most popular- it was 2012- but some people got creative. No matter what your attraction was too, you could picture him looking like that. He's a good boyfriend AND he's hot?

Sure, The Onceler was insanely popular and so was Sans. But people were either lusting for them or Hated them. But Cecil?? Cecil was our hot gay mentor. The only thing a lot of younger queers on tumblr had for an adult queer role model. He was the basis for so other tumblr sexymen.

TLDR: "Did wtnv have cultural impact?" jesus fuck yes it did.

Look. Whatever happens. Isn't it incredible that Cecil Gershwin Palmer, who got eliminated first round in the Twitter polls because nobody knew who he was, is now neck-and-neck with Reigen in the semi-finals? The guy who the animated Tumblr Sexyman Fight Video described as "just a normal guy" is now giving the previous runner-up a run for his money. What a comeback story for our guy.

(go vote for Cecil though. Do it.)

[mutopians]

I love the call to the water company in Water Failure. The water company’s voice mail is funny as it is, but but Cecil’s comments make it even better!

[erinptah]

Hey, are you ErinPtah on ao3 as well?

I gotta assume you are, hi, so this is the corresponding account to the fic account for HowWeGotHere on ao3, and I wrote an awful awful piece of fanfiction called.... uh.... Many, compiled, bad ideas in dedication to a really good piece you wrote a few years back called I Can't Control My Fingers, I Can't Control My Brain for welcome to night vale

I actually remember your account quite well, because I read over all of your fics for that fandom at the time and later, when I was writing Many, compiled, bad ideas, I would boast to my friends that an older, far better writer had let me write for their fic, oh my god.

Many, compiled, bad ideas is not a good fic. I finished writing it, I've reread it multiple times since then and my writing style has changed dramatically. I learnt some incredibly, incredibly important lessons about formatting and characterisation and story lines that have really helped me now. Your permission for me to write for your fic has really impacted me, as a person, because it was a major stepping off point for me getting things written online.

Really though, while I would NOT advise going back to look at MCBI from 2020-2021 (I literally would sit at my grandfathers house and write this awful, low quality fanfiction instead of being social), or really any of my work, I have to express immense, immense gratitude to you. WTNV was my first fandom, and you were one of the first creators to really inspire me to be brave and put my writing out there, to get better and really be part of fandom.

So while maybe that one "yes" in a comment back in 2020 doesn't mean much to you, it means a lot to my little heart. Really, I would not have improved without it, thank you so much. Your writing remains amazing and I am honoured to be inspired by you.

(if you aren't erinptah on ao3 then just... let this ask die in your inbox. i think i would die of shame if the public knew i sent this rambly ask to a random person who was not the recipient)

You have reached the same Erin, yes! This was a lovely message to get out of the blue, thank you <3

I don’t remember the fic nearly well enough to make any comments on the quality, but (a) getting a request to write fic of your fic is a cool and exciting thing for the person being asked, having someone else get that inspired by your work is super encouraging, and (b) if you were that driven and fired-up about the writing, I guarantee something else would’ve kickstarted your brain onto that journey eventually! My fic just happened to be in the right place at the right time to flip the switch.

Also: no need to get self-conscious about writing instead of “being social.” Big group conversations are energizing for some people, but draining for others -- we’ve gotta move away from this cultural idea that "I’m gonna pull back and do some creative stuff by myself for a bit” is a bad thing, or, like, a personal slight against the specific people you’re not socializing with. Gatherings where everybody gets to lean in or sit out as much as you want, depending on what you have the bandwidth for, are awesome and we should have more of them.

[wildergrimm]

On Podcasts, or Why I Love a Bunch of Voices

Back when I was first getting into WTNV, I was still listening through, trying to catch up. I distinctly remember Bonus Episode 2: “What of the Sea?” being the final episode I listened to before I was finally in-synch with the update schedule. My first, brand-new episode of Welcome to Night Vale was number 57, “The List.” Neither are, say, important installments of the show. (Not in the grand scheme of the plot, at least. All episodes were important in terms of the show’s overall Experience.) But, I’ll always remember them both. I will always think of “What of the Sea?” when I hear someone mention black garlic, or when someone says “S.W.A.K.,” or “sealed with a kiss.” I’ll always remember how much effort I put into memorizing the list required in episode 57 myself, reciting it with my friends in our middle school classrooms. I think I wrote it down in my math notes, at some point. On stray pieces of paper. Muttering it under my breath. Heartbeat. Heart. Beat.

I don’t listen to Welcome to Night Vale anymore, and even attempts to start from the beginning usually fizzle out pretty quickly. That’s more my own fault, though--podcasts have gotten increasingly difficult for me to listen to. Still, WTNV is possibly one of my first instances of being completely and totally immersed in a piece of media. I still have some friends I made online, old Night Vale meme pages that have since shifted content, either to other media or entirely to becoming private accounts. I got posters, t-shirts, a Sheriff’s Secret Police hoodie; I went to a live show with a group of middle school friends, all dressed up as characters. (I was the man in the tan jacket.)

I’ve jokingly called WTNV my “gateway podcast,” steering me into the wide world of audio fiction, and here’s the thing: it’s not a joke. A friend and fellow Night Vale fan showed me Wolf 359, which somehow brought to my attention shows like The Bright Sessions and my absolute favorite, Ars Paradoxica. Then came EOS 10, Our Fair City, Wooden Overcoats, The Infinite Now. I found myself listening to Jim Robbie and the Wanderers, The Penumbra Podcast, The Strange Case of Starship Iris, What’s the Frequency?, The Amelia Project, and The Bridge, whose sound design then led me to find Archive 81. There was a whole world opened up to me, and it was one that was intensely interconnected in ways that took time for me to fully appreciate. I began recognizing voices and names between shows, feeling that extra kick of excitement, as if they were people I really knew. And in some ways, I did.

Podcasts have given me some of the most euphoric moments of my life, from Cecil Baldwin telling my friend and me to stay in our seats, to meeting the cast and crews of The Bright Sessions and Ars Paradoxica (the latter day being one that still makes me cry sometimes). They brought on some smaller moments, too. Taking writing lessons from Sophie Takagi Kaner and Kevin Vibert. The Amelia Project’s Twitter liking my hot chocolate inspired by Les Deux Magots. Having Twitter conversations with the voice of the TIMESCANNER, Richard Penner. There is so much talent behind these beautiful pieces of art, and any ounce of recognition from my creative heroes brought me unimaginable amounts of joy.

I am overjoyed that Night Vale Presents has found success creating more and more shows, as well as the other creators who are reaching new heights with their works, and the ones that have moved on to other pursuits. No matter where you are now, you’ve put something out into this world, and it’s found someone whose heart it can nestle into. I hope I’ll never let it go.

( @arsparadoxica, @thebrightsessions, @timescanner, @hartlife-blog, @archive81, @thepenumbrapodcast, @whatsthefrequencypodcast, @thebridgepodcast, @eos10podcast​ ) I’m missing a few, but I’ll be honest: I don’t use tumblr very much at all. Just wanted to say thank you all for creating and having created.

[alchemist-shizun]

Calamity unknown

Wtnv taglist: @softanxiouspatton @suffering-is-my-comfort-zone @pushussmollworld @mylifeisadeceit (tell me if you want to be added or removed)

Word Count: 634

Characters: Kevin (Future and Present)

Pairing(s): None

Warning(s): Migraine mention, blood, scars mention, slight body horror. Tell me if I missed anything!

Summary: Repair? They had already fixed him up, smiling all the time like that, he was at his best! How could anything be possibly wrong with him?

A/N: Dialogue is from I am damaged (Heathers) with some little adjustments. Had this idea yesterday when I saw a little video and I have 0 self control. I did take some creative liberty, don't mind me experimenting with weird talking. Hope you enjoy!

✾

❝ Are you here to distract me so I make a big mistake?

Or are you someone out there who's a little bit like me?

Who knows deep down I'm not where I'm meant to be? ❞

Oh, how bizarre it sounded, even at the thought.

The fact that people in Night Vale simply pretended to sleep, oh how much they were missing on.

Of course, in Desert Bluffs things were a tad bit different; especially since the mostly benevolent Strexcorp had gained the hegemony on their town.

People did sleep and, once you were lucky enough, you could dream, too!

Dreams, a fictitious substance coming from a placid mind, were recorded and filed away – which was the reason why they had to attach so many funny looking wires on their bodies – and secretly reviewed by the town hall.

It was like a little museum of memories that never happened.

Kevin had been attempting to dream for a long while. Actually, citizens were always attempting to dream, every chance they managed to find a spot to sleep.

Obviously, were you to accidentally nap without the dreams gear, the agents would have accidentally taken you away and accidentally made you disappear for six months.

After that, you wouldn't sleep at all anymore.

The figure of a man started to appear in front of Kevin, he seemed to be reaching out to him, but the light around felt too burdening and his eyes too battered and so tried that he couldn't have distinguished the features.

Words were spoken, but never delivered.

« I am damaged. » the voice said, after calling his name again. It sounded like … « Far too damaged. » … like his own.

Way more broken and … sad? Was that even possible, with the prosperity of life- he couldn't believe, he didn't want to believe that might have been himself.

« But you're not beyond repair. »

Repair? They had already fixed him up, smiling all the time like that, he was at his best! How could anything be possibly wrong with him?

« Stick around here. » the voice turned firm, its owner slowly became clearer. « Make things better. »

It felt so … urgent.

Better. Better than that? Kevin's vision came back to him at once: he looked down at his hands.

He found blood; blood smeared on his clothes, wetting his hair, leaving a ferric taste in his mouth and crusting the skin on his face, falling down his eyes like newly fresh tears.

So, oh so, so lovely.

… was it? It was, right? It was beautiful, he was too, it rendered him beautiful.

Kevin looked up and found himself. He found himself, older, hurting, tired and regretful.

And it horrified him.

He was stunned and kept on staring, his voice taken away by the demons haunting his dreamscape.

« Cause they beat me fair and square. » the man showed himself, he showed the stitches and scars that would have never gone away, some that made his face look permanently in anguish.

As though an epiphany had struck him, Kevin – well, present Kevin – didn't need the confirmation of who “they” might have been.

So that was the future he was looking forward to, huh? How swell.

To be patiently awaiting for misery.

He felt like laughing, laughing at his own madness, mocking himself while his insides twisted and broke up like in a bewildering dance.

Future him shook as an hologram would have done. « I have to disappear, but, » he looked at Kevin with determination in his eyes. « Clean up the mess down there. »

With a lightning bolt, Kevin jolted awake again.

He raised a hand to his forehead, debating whether or not he had been experiencing one of his daily programmed migraines.

« Gosh, I already remember nothing of that. »

Kevin got up and left the room nonchalantly, before the sound of a dream being filed away could echo through the walls.

[showsonface]

Can you tell us more about your Night Vale au? I'm excited to hear more :0

for sure! my WTNV au is actually something I was doing back in 2016, so there’s like 4-5 pages of content for it on my blog if you’d like to look through the old posts; they should be tagged ‘wtnv au’, and this link should take you to the beginning of all of them (but tumblr has been screwing with my links lately, so apologies if it doesn’t work, lmk and i’ll fix it). 

making the AU was probably one of my favorite times in the fandom, because so many people were excited for it and it spurred a lot of amazing creativity and content! @itty-bittle​ wrote an INCREDIBLE fic based on it (GO READ IT RN) and @tronnies-art-blog​ made this fantastic piece of art.

the AU is pretty simple, i just blended omgcp into the wtnv setting and characters. I’ll put a rundown of everyone’s roles / fun details below.

Bitty (taking Cecil’s role) - host of WTSW (Welcome to Samwell), a student-run radio station for one of the strangest universities to ever exist

Jack The Historian / Photographer - based directly off of Carlos The Scientist. not a cryptid except for his abnormally beautiful cheekbones (according to bitty) 

Intern Nursey - in charge of research and information gathering for WTSW. One of the only people to survive the librarians, but as a result of his run-in with them, he is constantly dripping ink and can only speak in proverbs.

Intern Dex - in charge of general maintenance and upkeep for WTSW and the station headquarters. Perpetually on fire!

Intern Chowder - in charge of being cool i guess (probably publicity). shark boy 

The Wingman - Holster, but he’s a terrifying 6-8 winged angel with fiery eyes and a really LOUD voice (not that different from regular Holster). deliberately referencing Wingman, the devastating AU comic Ngozi herself made, in which Rans & Holster are firemen and holster fucking DIES

Ransom - possibly one of the only normal people at Samwell, which is probably why the Wingman keeps following him around trying to protect him

Providence McFalconer - based off Hiram McDaniels; a terrifying amalgam of all of the falconers into one many-headed dragon body

Kit Purrson - essentially Khoshekh. stuck floating in the station bathroom

Kent Parson - steve carlsberg....

Station Management - Lardo, but she’s an eldritch horror (again, not that different from regular Lardo)

The Shitty Old Student Who Lives In Your Dorm - he’s there

Johnson - does anyone actually remember Johnson from omgcp itself? i feel like a grandma whenever i mention him. anyway he’s sweating, this is too much canon divergence even for him

let me know if you guys would like to see more of this particular AU / something similar! i love cryptids

[carbootsoul]

things to do in quarantine!

i hadn’t seen a list like this yet and i thought that was kind of odd. we’re all stuck inside the house for who knows how long, which means (as my girlfriend is stressing) we are all going to have to get some fucking hobbies. this list is a bit long so:

-friendship bracelets! embroidery thread works best (i have a lot left over from my brief embroidery stint when i was younger) but i think you could do it with other kinds of string! you can find a lot of patterns here, and they’re all free! my favorites are 1, 2, and 3

-amigurumi, which is making stuffed animals out of crocheting. this doesn’t work great if you don’t have any crochet hooks, but if you’re living with your parents or with any crafty friend, they’re likely to have some. this website has a ton of patterns (i’ve linked the free ones, but they have even more for ~4/5 dollars). personally, i’m really excited abt this plant.

-itch.io games. itch.io has TONS of free games, as long as you have a computer that can handle like, stardew valley, you’ll be able to find something that works. my favorites are butterfly soup, the bird museum, and cheeky chooks, but just browsing through any tag will give you so many things to play. also, if you’re not up for downloading stuff, not only does itch.io have browser games, but you can always come back to coolmathgames.com

-draw some stuff!! on paper with a pencil (a novel idea, i know). here are some idea generators! alternatively, on your computer/tablet. pixilart is a free to use, online pixel art tool, and aseprite is a downloadable tool. aseprite is the best out there, but it’s $15 if you can’t compile it yourself. finally, krtita is an open source alternative to photoshop that works pretty well, imho.

-make a game. i know you can do it. a lot of these game makers aren’t super difficult to use, but require you to sink a few hours into them to figure out what’s going on. perfect for quarentine! whether you’re making a visual novel, a text adventure, a retro gameboy ROM, or just a quiz, it’s a way to kill time and there’s nothing more satisfying than Making Something. 

-start working out- i know it’s intimidating, but you don’t know how much exercise you get just by walking around until you are stagnant in your bed all day. here’s an illustrated guide for workouts designed for transmasc people (i use this!), and here’s an article about working out without equipment. please try to do something. you will feel so much less greasy, even if all you do is stretch and walk around a bit before showering. 

-bake some things! bread is yummy and a classic but unless you’re used to it, it probably won’t work out how you want it to. that doesn’t stop me from trying tho! kneading and mixing are both good ways to get your stress out. i’ve been compulsively making snickerdoodles, too. @butchhousewife has almost a whole blog full of vegetarian recipes that you can browse through.

-waste your time with phone games, too. games aren’t limited to computers and consoles! i bet you thought phone games were just mindless things you did to kill time. well, you thought RIGHT but ALSO WRONG. my favorites are adorable home, seabeard, good pizza great pizza, and dadish. also, download an nds (i use this one. i think it’s like $7 but you can play ace attorney and animal crossing. think of how much those would cost normally) and a gameboy emulator while you’re at it and nab some ROMS. remember, it’s not piracy because these games aren’t available anymore and also fuck capitalism. 

-write fanfiction. idc if you write all the time of if it’s been years or if you’re a “shit writer” i literally Do Not Care. find something a concept you love (50s diners. sitting on roofs and stargazing. lazy mornings with a girl you love.) and write abt the characters you love. post it on AO3 because lets be honest, wattpad is a biiit trash. 

-the useless web. 

-try to stay connected with your friends! this might seem dumb but believe me, we’re social creatures. these next few weeks without any touch are going to SUCK. do what it takes. snap them. facetime. even just a good morning text. maybe get more creative! watch movies together with kast (the rabbit replacement? idk tell me how it works) and videos with rave, play some co-op stardew valley, or new horizons when it comes out. without is an app for long-distance couples, but now ALL couples are long-distance because you can’t leave your house! also whatever the fuck touchroom is. it seems cute. 

-practice all that self-care you never had the time for. clean your room (@unfuckyourhabitat has some tips here). take a bath (or, if you don’t have a bath, sit on the floor of your shower and pretend you are anywhere else). masturbate. online underwear window shop (meundies, adoreme, and aeire are some of my favs) just for the excuse to look at happy women in fancy bras. make yourself some kind of meal and drink water. sit naked in front of a mirror and compliment what you see (or work up to that! you’ve got time).  remember that these weeks will be hard. do your best.

-read!. if you’ve got a stockpile of books-i-need-to-read GREAT. read them. otherwise, read this lesbian erotica that is inexplicably also a cosmopolitan article, or this article about lesbians and also hands. or ebooks on any of these free book websites. or fanfiction (again, linking ao3 because wattpad embodies all the worst parts of my life). if audio is more your thing, this is an article with links to free audiobooks. or try podcasts! i’m a huge proponent of the gay ones. try wtnv, the penumbra podcast, the magnus archives, and wolf 359.

-bonus! likely you will have things you need to do while quarentined, whether it’s homework, things for work, or just brushing your teeth and showering. habitica is a free productivity game that rewards you for finishing those tasks! it’s super cute and it works. 

[mossrotts]

1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 20, 21? Bonus: 16 ✨🙂🤔👀

near comin in HOT with those questions, what’s up

1. what song makes you feel better?

i answered i wanna get better on the previous ask, but another one is Monster by the Automatic (they used to be the automatic automatic which i think is a cooler name, but i guess they dropped an automatic along the way). 

i used to be a part of a fake band that’d go around doing rock band (as in the video game) songs in competitions and stuff and i was the lead singer! we did Monster for a competition in town at this place that used to be a railroad station. it was a neat place and we won and i was told that i “embodied the spirit of automatic automatic”--which at the time i was only just starting to question gender and realizing i was trans and being compared to a band with a male lead singer was just, idk, very euphoric. anyway, another song that is very good to scream out in a car. 

2. what’s your feel-good movie?

Labyrinth, baby. love those muppets, love that goblin king. also Practical Magic, i feel like i could rewatch that one a lot. 

6. say three nice things about yourself (three physical and three non-physical).

oh! this is a kind ask. i’m just gonna do three (the parentheticals imply i should do six) just cause that seems easier to start with. 1. i’m pretty good at poetry! i’ve gotten poetry published! i’ve read my poetry in front of a bunch of people at salt lake pride!2. i may not be a ‘master’ in many areas, but i’m a jack of all trades and have a lot of skills. if i’ve never done something before, i can probably figure it out. 3. i am stronk! i think many people might assume i’m not with my chubby physique but i’m pretty good at doing things that are physically exerting. 

7. what color brings you peace?

though i enjoy other colors, i think that i answered that pretty well here and i can’t think of another color that does quite as much for me as grey does.

10. what’s something you’re excited for?

gayhaus is moving soon!! it’s still in utah and just in the next town over, but we through my roommate’s connections we found a pretty nice house for rent. no connected neighbors (finally i can start singing at the top of my lungs at all times) and the landlord’s okay with certain alterations so i get to paint my freaking room. also our pets will be legal and we’ll have a yard and space to garden. 

20. what do you want most in the world right now?

sleep lmao. i haven’t been able to get meds (should be seeing someone for mental health soon tho!) so i haven’t got my anti-insomnia meds and hoo boy it’s been just. a lil bit rough!!!!! i’m tired, man!

21. if you could tell your past self one thing, what would it be?

change is okay and not knowing is okay. it’s better to listen to what you need and want in the moment rather than telling yourself you have to do/not do something because it fits some label that you think defines who you are. 

16.🎆🎇 compliment the person who sent you this number.🎇🎆 

hell yeah!!!!!!! you’re such a fucking cool dude robin. i love how knowledgeable you are! i love your choice in aesthetics, you’re so creative and have really neat original characters, and you’re just very kind and thoughtful. i’m so glad i met you (and glad i met you in such a fun way, godbless wtnv). 

thanks near!