#wtnv year 4

[lesbianmothman3000]

Little rant about year 4 of night vale and what I'm picking up so far!

Now, I’m no expert on media analysis, but I do know that every story has a message. Stories are trying to communicate things to you. And when crafting a story, you’ve got to be careful about what exactly you are communicating, how it will be interpreted.

In year 4 of welcome to night vale, a major conflict is the strangers. They are descending upon this beloved community that We the Listeners have become attached to, these strangers who want nothing and stand and breathe. In my opinion this has been wtnv’s most effective use of horror yet, but that’s another rant. 

Sometimes, when a threatening outside force like this is positioned as villainous and monstrous, it can end up having some not-so-great implications about people who are outsiders and people who are different (like immigrants, for example). I’ve heard that some media about alien invasions can fall into this harmful category.

This is why I think that the inclusion of the Desert Bluffs merge is a very necessary and intentional choice in this arc. Here they have night vale being forced to coexist with another community, one that they’ve had a lot of animosity towards, a community that does things differently, that many of them are distrusting of, and having them learn to live together. 

The people of night vale and desert bluffs still have their differences, and there is still lingering mistrust, but they are still able to live together. Dana defended the desert bluffs people, their kids play baseball together with a ghost! They practice different religions but are still able to stand together against a greater evil! They’re saying here that people can be weird and different and hard to understand and still live in community with each other. I just think that this little storyline was really great and necessary to prevent this arc from falling into some sketchy territory, and is part of what made year 4 my favorite so far. I might just be stating the glaringly obvious here, but whatevs! 

[lazylittledragon]

about to start my yearly critrole campaign 2 rewatch so prepare for me to be absolutely insufferable

[cowboyinternist]

is this anything

[asydicsydney]

(2023 "Coming Home" theory ^)

Y'all ready for the 10 year anniversary of Homecoming? For Cecil's dad to come back as a ghost that he must talk to. For Earl to come back and force Cecil to remember. For Carlos not to be there to comfort him.

[cha1cedony]

Idk what it is that makes me fixate so hard on one specific thing for years at a time, but I need it to chill out 😭 DnDads has been my only long-term media interest for like 1 and 1/2 years now, and it’s BORING to only like one thing ever lol I’m BORED!!! I need other things to be interested in, but I struggle with getting into new stuff (other than video games) sooo bad :(

That said, if you have DnD podcast recs that have interesting characters……… GIMME 👀 Also where the early episodes aren’t a nightmare to listen to 🙏 I have never listened to any other DnD podcasts, and I think it’s mostly bc the earlier seasons are always poor audio quality or like 3 hours long 😭 I’m also good with any type of narrative podcast. I just want compelling characters and platonic/familial dynamics pls. Stuff I can write sad shit about!! But also not TOO sad the whole time… maybe a little bit silly idk

So far, ones I’ve written down to listen to are Cast Party and Friends at the Table? I don’t know anything about either of them, though so? Also I keep seeing my mutuals posting Oxventure and Woe.Begone (although the latter isn’t a DnD podcast.. I think?) sooooo let me know your thoughts. And recommendations! Send me your propaganda! Tell me about your blorbos

[mudstoneabyss]

ough okay thinking about it in gmnv they said in 70a Kevin decorating his studio was him relapsing or finally breaking or whatever like its not clearly symbolizing how, by making it like his previous home, Kevin sees the desert otherworld as a home and is fully embracing that and settling in whilst at the same time Carlos realizes it is not and will never be a home for him and he cannot keep living here like this- and that happens with broken glass and blood much like Kevin's makings of a home does

[lonelysheepling]

On one hand I think one would expect me to be annoyed that my non-fanart posts get barely any attention

But on the other hand, my Hollow Knight fanart is sick as hell and frankly everyone should be complimenting my genius

[arataka-reigen]

I'll be honest, the overarching arc of year four was not the most interesting arc so far, but to compensate year four had some incredible standalone episodes that leave you heartbroken, with a sinking feeling in your stomach and a bittersweet taste in your mouth. Like "The Trial of Hiram McDaniels" in which we expect justice to prevail, at least for Violet, and what we get instead is a clear criticism of the death penalty when Hiram is cruelly sentenced to death, or "One Normal Town" in which we see Cecil grow as a character and finally see that the people from Desert Bluffs are just people and deserve respect and compassion, or "Lost in the Mail" an anti war episode in which a daughter tells the story of how the war tore her father away from her, OR TRIPTYCH DO I EVEN NEED TO TALK ABOUT TRIPTYCH IS THAT NOT THE BEST EPISODE EVER

[grimbeak]

anyway 1 of my hcs for kevin is that strex rly fucked up his hair like severely badly by unsafely bleaching it like 24/7 along with other stuff so now it like grows extremely slowly, like an inch a year if he's lucky. so he doesnt like to cut it bc otherwise it takes like a full decade for it to be at a comfortable length for him and the longer it is the more scars it can cover. anyway i think lubelle should science his ass and shave his head and mb Explain him a lil

[buttrflyisland]

its been almost 5 years since mudstone abyss came out which is the last time our boy kevin has been in the podcast. this is an injustice

[joskippy]

Cecil promotion era

[radisyn]

👏👏👏 so well said baba! no matter what happens I'm calling this a spiritual win, in part because Freddie got wind of it (lololol) and because it's brought us all together in glennfuckery!!🤘💪😎🎸🔥🥵 we're putting up an incredible fight, I'm so proud of us and happy to have met you all 🥺❤️‍🔥

Sexiest Podcast Character — Round 8|Ζ (Final Round)

EDIT: Carlos the Scientist is from Welcome to Night Vale.

[j-esbian]

i’m still chugging through old wtnv to catch up, but i just got to the episode that made me finally listen to taz and now i’m like. hm maybe it’s balance time again actually 🤡😔

[cowboyinternist]

probably i am the only person who cares about this but im such a big hater of the headcanon that sheriff sam isn’t from night vale.

like i kind of get it, i understand why one would come to that conclusion but it only makes sense on surface level. and i find it just ?? boring …?. because to me everything about sam’s mentality and the way they behave suggests that they’ve lived in night vale their entire life. they’re like an example of how badly the brainwashing and experience of an upbringing in night vale can just,, destroy ur sense of humanity and trust in other people. idk. like yeah they perpetuate the system but pretty much solely because of how it ended up effecting them specifically. the idea that they just come from somewhere else and just happen to be really weird and neurotic anyways is boring and genuinely serves no narrative purpose.

and also at that point in the story how does it make any logical sense that night vale would allow someone from out of town into that position?? one of the major plot conflicts of that year is focused on night vale’s distaste towards outsiders. come on. and narratively?? sam is meant to represent the sentiments of the majority of night vale at that time so WHY???? would they be from somewhere else????????????????????????

[asydicsydney]

I would like y'all to know I've always said they were 4 years apart

[the-voldsoy]

Alrighty it is almost the end of the year so, in no particular order, here are podcasts I recommend of the ones I've listened to this year! (let me tell you picking favourites for this was So hard) (Unfortunately I can't just do all of them because there are almost 50)

Hello From The Hallowoods: The world ended, but we're still here, and shit's weird. (Has made me cry; even the trees are queer; my comfort show<3)

Camp Here And There: Good morning campers! The time is 7:63AM and Cabin Magpie Moth has spontaneously combusted! Whichever one of you little woodworms can put it out first can come get a puffy sticker from me in the Nurses Cabin! (Is it a horror? Is it a comedy? I don't know, you'd have to check to be sure)

Wooden Overcoats: Funn Funerals used to be the only funeral parlor on the island. It isn't anymore. (Sitcom, the main characters are the most miserable wet cats you ever did see)

Re: Dracula: Maybe this year, they'll be okay. Maybe this year they'll all live. Maybe this year he won't go, and she'll be alright.

Magnus Protocol: TMA's louder, bolder, less serious younger sibling.

The Silt Verses: Oh boy. Let me tell you, you will look at crabs differently after this. (WET horror, genuinely the best pod I've ever heard)

Archive 81: Dan, a newly hired archivist, has to listen to and catalogue a set of old audio tapes. The tapes contain interviews conducted by someone Dan has never heard of. Dan is in an isolated bunker in the middle of the woods. Surely nothing will happen to our dear friend Dan. (What is it with archivists and getting snatched by The Horrors? Ignore the tv show it doesn't exist)

Red Valley: Just a couple of guys with an interest in research station Red Valley, whose focus was cryonics. It's completely defunct now. I wonder what happened. (Ethics? What's that?)

Woe.Begone: Some say it's about time-travel, some say it's about keeping yourself and those close to you alive, some say it's about online safety. All can agree on one point: What the fuck why are there cowboys now

Midnight Burger: Midnight Burger is a time-travelling, dimension-spanning diner. Dunno how it works or where it's going next. We open at six! (The episodes are an hour long minimum but it's worth it. Comedy sci-fi, lighthearted fun :)

Old Gods of Appalachia: The Appalachians are spooky y'all. (The narrator's voice is so comforting in this, it feels like campfire stories)

Dreamboy: Went into this pod being told it was made by the people who made WTNV and absolutely no other information. Let me tell you I did not expect the main character to tell us that he got a hard-on in the first episode. (The most sexually explicit pod I've listened to)

The White Vault: Nice little trip to Svalbard to check on the remote research station, surely nothing will go wrong :) (Holy Fucking Shit What Is That) (Recommend 1st season especially to The Thing (1982) enjoyers)

Camlann: Ever wished that you were apart of Welsh folklore or Arthurian legends? Or perhaps some of the last people left on Earth? No? Ah well, you'll pick it up soon enough. (Three idiots and a dog in Wales, fighting for their lives)

Breaker Whiskey: Imagine. Being the only person on earth. Just you. Just you, and someone on the radio. Just you, the radio, and a woman you absolutely do NOT have sexual tension with. (This one looks really long because it has 260+ episodes, but they're like 4 minutes long each so it's not really)

Ethics Town: Don't worry about it. (Cannot recommend enough, it is a mindfuck)

Tell No Tales: What if ghosts were a thing that could infest a place, like rats or roaches or mold? What if it was your job to exterminate them? And the million-pound question, do ghosts deserve rights? (I am waiting so so patiently for the rest of s2)

Remnants: You wake up in a place you recognise. You have always been there. You have no idea where you are. You see a stranger's life. You recognise them. You knew them once, you think. Discard or reshelve? You don't know what that means. It does not matter. Discard or reshelve, that is the question. (I am going insane over this pod)

Not Quite Dead: Vampires! Alfie is an overworked A&E nurse who does not have time for this shit. Unfortunately, he does not have a choice in this matter. (A really interesting take on vampirism, going into the biology. It is fascinating, and an exciting story)

Travelling Light: Space Quaker! Listen to the Traveller tell you about every new planet and civilisation they visit. Whattttt noooo they don't have a crush on one of their crew members what are you taaaalking abouttttt (Very comforting pod, beauty in the mundane in a way? But not mundane because yk. Aliens)

Someone Just Like You: Brilliant horror, just really well written. I don't even have words for it. So far there are only 6 episodes and the concepts/plots of each seem cheesy, but my GOD the execution.

The Bright Sessions: People with powers get therapy! Thank God, they need it so bad. (I love one particular antagonist so much, I need to put him in a microwave)

Poe: Evermore: It wasn't until I started this that I realised that Edgar Allen Poe would have had a Boston-ish accent. Reallyyy interesting story of his life, and I keep getting jumpscared by VAs I recognise. Faulkner Silt Verses what are you doing here.

Witherburn After School News: Your school radio host getting WAY more involved in the news than they should. Really hope they're still breathing. Love the folklore section though!

Before The Tone: Voicemails from someone who just got a job they probably shouldn't have. (Brilliant idea for the format, and great execution)

I Am In Eskew: What if you were trapped? What if you had a home, a wife and a child? What if they aren't real? Are you sure? Go and check. What if your city tried to kill you? What if it loved you very much, more than anyone else? (Horror but the narrator is the saddest wettest man you've ever heard)

Sherlock & Co: Modern day Sherlock Holmes, and John Watson is a true crime podcaster. Dear God I did not think it would be as compelling as it is.