How Does Night Vale Confront Us With the Unknown? | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios
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- Опубликовано: 19 авг 2024
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Night Vale's masterful balance of mystery, humor, and horror has made it the #1 podcast in America. Night Vale employs the techniques of H.P. Lovecraft, specifically his masterful manipulation of THE UNKNOWN, but the medium chosen makes it literally impossible to visually depict its universe. And it is questionable, in our hyper visual culture, whether we are truly able to cope with the mysteries of Night Vale. And not just the mysteries of the plot (like why we're forbidden from entering the Dog Park), but the impossibility of knowing what this fascinating world even LOOKS like!! Are we ok with that? Watch the episode to find out!
Check out the awesome "Night Vale" and Lovecraft fan art featured in this episode!
Cecil Baldwin Cosplay
by Haley
bit.ly/1bdQyOq
Welcome to Night Vale
by ~AznNerd
bit.ly/16zUqnL
Welcome to Night Vale - Hooded Figures
by *dontevenknow-anymore
bit.ly/16zUpQF
"Your beloved narrator" by Kinomatika
bit.ly/17138Qk
littleulvar
bit.ly/1fDKXnq
All my interns are dead
by ~Womaneko
bit.ly/1fDL0zK
Saved Chicken
bit.ly/16zUzrn
blood in a rose teacup
bit.ly/1fDLaqF
night vale announcements
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Hell Man Draws
bit.ly/190bBzR
Walking The Dog - Welcome to Night Vale
by *dontevenknow-anymore
bit.ly/190bDaT
Of all dimensions
bit.ly/1713kPn
Cthulhu
By Chris Nichols
bit.ly/1713iXW
Napoleyawn
bit.ly/1fDLlCi
Night Vale 4
by ~SheepyDoodle
bit.ly/16zUILq
Welcome to Night Vale - Sheriff's Secret Police
by *XibXib
bit.ly/16zUNPe
Mind of Machine
bit.ly/16zUQdL
Artemismoon12
bit.ly/190bRPc
Musain
bit.ly/190bTqq
The Unreliable Narrator
by ~Bluemutantfreak
bit.ly/16zUSCo
Starlock
bit.ly/16zUVhB
Kateordie
bit.ly/190bXqd
Kurzz
bit.ly/16zUXpJ
bit.ly/16zUXWJ
Cecil Baldwin
by ~aerettberg
bit.ly/16zV0BY
Welcome to Night Vale: Cecil Sketch
by ~FeatherGambler
bit.ly/190c5WK
littleulvar
bit.ly/190c4lC
H.P. Lovecraft
by *CreepySeb
bit.ly/16zV3xM
Welcome to Night Vale
by =Simply-Psycho
bit.ly/1713EO6
H.P. Lovecraft
by *AbigailLarson
bit.ly/1713Gpd
Welcome to Night Vale.
by *cacogenic
bit.ly/1fDM5aw
Station Management.
by Sheepy Doodle
bit.ly/1713JkZ
Cthulhu : Long Reach of Evil
by ~ESharam
bit.ly/1fDMaeB
Welcome to Night Vale
by ~acpadilla
bit.ly/1713Lcz
All Hail The Glow Cloud Shirt
bit.ly/190ckB2
Welcome To Night Vale: Cecil and Carlos
by ~probably-human
bit.ly/1713M05
Cecil Baldwin
by ~Jackie-lyn
bit.ly/1713MgJ
Cecil Baldwin
by ~Chancc
bit.ly/1fDMlXg
Night Vale: Just a Small Desert Town
by ~Thatoneguywithbrains
bit.ly/16zVgkp
Homage to Lovecraft
by ~Valzonline
bit.ly/16zVgB7
Cecil Baldwin
by ~TheTinyTaco
bit.ly/1fDMolK
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Videos:
Welcome To Night Vale - Cecil Cosplay - By Sam Lake
bit.ly/1fDMv0M
Welcome to Night Vale - by Shon Reidy
bit.ly/1fDME4q
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Watch Attack on Titan Episodes here!
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Tweets of the week:
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Come hang out in the Idea Channel IRC!
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Music:
The Ballad of Fiedler and Mundt
bit.ly/1712NgA
Chiptune - Kenzalol
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Binarpilot
bit.ly/10N0UBf
Level 5: Room for the Homeless
bit.ly/10N0Ykm
StatueofDiveo - Final Days
bit.ly/1fDK4eI
EatMe
bit.ly/17ludvN
"Europe" by Roglok (www.roglok.net)
"Tarty Prash" by Roglok (www.roglok.net)
"Squarehead" by Roglok (www.roglok.net)
"Carry on Carillon" by Roglok (www.roglok.net)
Nieuwe Utrecht by Disparition
bit.ly/190aQXz
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"Night Vale is like Stephen King and Neil Gaiman started a game of The Sims and left it running forever..."
- Jeffrey Cranor, WTNV Co-creator
OMG SO TRUE
Roman Zdenek XDDD beautiful
Was that his description? Because I've seen a similar one before, but it also added Lovecraft into the mix. Personally, I've never been able to describe it better so that's become my go-to. lol
Wow! I did not think about it that way!
*Opens the sims and aggressively creates night vale*
Damn
It's funny that we don't know what Cecil looks like, like many citizens of Night Vale, but we have a very good description about what Carlos looks like, who isn't from Night Vale. Of course that might just be because Cecil loves Carlos, but it's interesting to point out.
His perfect square jaw, don't forget, his perfect. Square. Jaw.
And teeth like military cemetery
And gorgeous hair
Do you really believe that’s a coincidence? 😏
And his dark gorgeous hair that that barber cut down... Horrifying
In the Well of Night episode, it was confirmed that Cecil has hair, since he felt it shrinking back into his head.
No other fandom is able to say that a character is confirmed to have hair. I love Night Vale so much
WELL OF NIGHT
WELL OF LIFE
Adam Foss Goku and Vegeta have hair.
Doesn't mean he doesn't have it shaved :D
All hail the glow cloud
The most terrifying part of Night Vale is Desert Bluffs. Jesus jesus jesus no no no oh God Kevin *shudder*
Oh god Kevin... He's the creepiest thing EVER to come out of Nightvale, AND HE DOESN'T EVEN LIVE IN NIGHTVALE! THERE'S A PLACE MORE CREEPY, UNNERVING, AND VISCERA COVERED THAN NIGHTVALE!!!
R.I.P Shaun, Sean and Shawn D:
THANK YOU Kevin is terrifying! Desert Bluffs radio made me shiver
I think what makes Desert Bluffs even creepier than Night Vale is the fact that all of Night Vale's weirdness is at the surface, where in Desert Bluffs, the horror is buried beneath a layer of euphemism and forced cheer.
Imagigirl and viscera that seems to line everything.
Cecil is Schrodinger's Cosplay. Everybody is simultaneously is and is not cosplaying Cecil. Also, all depictions of Cecil is simultaneously is and is not cannon. That is what I love about Cecil. Plus he makes a great last minuet Cosplay when you run out of money for the one you were planning, you.
You know, as long as you have an eye face painted on your forehead.
But the thing is that's not even cannon. Yes, they mention people growing third eyes in the podcast but that's just in one part of town. Where Cecil is not. Cecil can be anyone or anything.
***** I would be more onboard with this explanation if, like Schrodinger's cat, it involves radiation.
That would be awesome now wouldn't it?
***** Canon* but cosplaying as him can be a blast.
I believe Cecil looks like how we imagined him to look like when we first heard his voice. So, conceivably, he could look different to everyone. Within and out of the universe Night Vale takes place in.
I agree completely
Danielle Waltman but what if you picture him as Yoko Ono?
Since Night Vale canon includes a multiverse (listen to A Story about Huntokar for the explanation, although on its own, that spoils a lot) there is a canon universe where Cecil looks like Yoko Ono
Because there isn't a canon appearance for Cecil, we all have our perspectives on what he looks like for now. All designs are basically canon. But if it's Carlos on the other hand, he has a canon description.
+Dave Strider Everybody is canon Cecil.
+LylaDoesStuff Even Carlos' description is pretty loose.
+FexloGuitar He has perferct black hair, perfect dark skin, and is perfect in every way *continues rant about how perfect carlos is
Relany Ampora * rants with you* (love your icon btw X3)
Relany Ampora LylaDoesStuff This is all true, he is *very* perfect, almost *aggressively* perfect, but even with all we've heard, we don't know nearly as much about how he looks as any character from a TV show or movie.
Mike, your thinking about the Dog Park has been reported to the Sheriff's Secret Police. Just thought you should know.
Ben Toth wait. this means that YOU thought about the *** ****
oh crap The SCP FOUNDATION FOUND NIGHTVALE AGAIN
@@jrein4189 the SSP has no time to deal with the foundation again...
the person we really know the most about is the man in the tan jacket.
Yeah his distinct uni... did he have a unibrow? Did he even have eyebrows? Did he have eyes?
There was a man with a tan jacket? Was he carrying something? Was it a man? Wait what were we talking about again?
Ah, the man with the tan jacket. And the deer skin briefcase. That is filled with flies. That are trained. Yup!
Robert Pysh
Well, Think About It. We Know That He Has A Tan Jacket, And A Deer Skin Suitcase, But The Only Thing We Know About Cecil Is That He Lives In Nightvale.
Georgia Kingsley - Doyle and that he's dating carlos, he works at a radio station, he recently reconnected with a childhood friend named earl, his niece is crippled etc.
I've seen some people in the comments mad that the fandom has given Cecil a face but honestly it gave it many faces. I have seen Cecil portrayed in every single human and inhuman way there is, even a floating eyeball, so I can safely say everyone can still picture Cecil as anything they want or nothing at all.. just the Unknown.
Nothing is as bad as Street Cleaning Day, unless it's Valentines Day.
***** Nice. XD
***** But as long as we all stay away from the dog park-which doesn't exist-we should be fine.
+katiebug080592 also have seen you the helicopter
unless you see a sandstorm
+Quillo Manar but what about that stEVE CARLSBURG
One thing I love about the fact that Welcome to Nightvale is purely audio is that you can imagine your images for what is happening, which are the ones that are, in your mind, the ideal ones or the right ones. It's like reading a book. And if they changed NIghtvale to a tv show or something else on a visual platform, it would be like watching a movie adaptation after reading said book. All of your images are destroyed.
Actually, Welcome to Night Vale has done stage shows in the past. I've never seen any, but an official visual representation of some stuff in that universe does exist.
"It's impossible to cosplay as him" I hear as I watch this while working on customizing the headphones for my Cecil cosplay
Mandy Granger *accurately
I personally think Nightvale is doing something very unique in storytelling that has unfortunately died out with the popularity of visual mediums like TV and movies. While I enjoy both I also appreciate stuff like The Shadow and Lone Ranger. Its just interesting to have to use your mind to see what's going on in the story.
I love that Night Vale is doing something amazing based on just doing something that people used to do all the time. I love it.
I love old time radio. The Shadow, Box Thirteen, Dragnet, Tales from the Black Museum, Dimension X, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Mercury Theater's War of the Worlds, Jack Benny, Nero Wolf, Sherlock Holmes, The Life of Riley, The Great Gildersleeve, Superman (this last one I thought it was so cheesy that I liked it). As a teenager I found a radio station that played old shows and created new ones like Harry Nile and new episodes of Sherlock Holmes every Friday and Saturday night.
I have heard of Nightvale, but have never listened to the actually podcast. Perhaps I should finally give it a try, now that I am listening to podcasts.
I want to know who even came up with the "typical" Cecil depiction, the one who's blonde, has glasses and the tattoos (almost always including the third eye.). Why did we choose that one? What made people accept this description over others? That, to me, is the greatest mystery of Night Vale.
+SnowScales Even Cecil himself has no idea))) Listened to Mr. Baldwin talking about the show/
+SnowScales The most mystifying part of that to me is how they always have him in ties, or suits, or some version of 'professional' dress, when the only real actual description of Cecil we've ever gotten in the show are when he describes what he's wearing. "Best tunic and furry pants" in one instance, "Hawaiian shirt, leather pants and honeycomb hat" in another, and "sponge clogs and tights" in another. It's literally the only concrete visual clue we're given and it's ignored. And I think it's such a wasted opportunity. Why would fans put this man in a suit! If I had any artistic ability I'd have the best time coming up with ridiculous outfits for him.
+srae1971 He's probably constantly in a suit and tie because we need a concrete appearance for Cecil. If he's constantly wearing something different and weird, we might begin to view him as a "gag" character (whether the creators intended that I have no clue).
+srae1971 The fan art of Cecil in a shirt and tie, with the glasses and tattoos and third eye, emerged before the descriptions of his clothing started to appear. In the sandstorm episodes we got the rough description of his appearance, but that is hard to draw. In the first date we got the first outfit, more than a year after Night Vale first started. I started listening between these episodes, and the fanon Cecil was very obvious in fan art at that point. Each time a new outfit is described art will be made of it, but the typical Cecil image predates the wacky wardrobe descriptions and is recognisable across the fandom as a sort of artistic shorthand for WTNV fan art.
+SnowScales
In my opinion, that typical depiction does kind of match the voice. There are other depictions, but they don't match the voice too well, so I think that people going with the blonde, glasses Cecil. I, typically, like drawing him like that as well.
Also, I think it's canon that he has a third "seeing" eye? Do you remember the episode called "The Story" where he narrated a mans legitimate (to the universe) life? It makes sense outside of that point too; I think at one point the citizens were described as being a bit like monsters in a way.
What I love about wtnv is you have to allow yourself to believe the un-understandable in order to follow the plot.
"Nothing is as terrifying as street cleaning day." What about that dreadful... Valentine's Day *shudder*?
This Valentine's Day,
As all Valentine's Days,
Will not grip our glorious city with Dread.
For this Valentine's Day,
As all Valentine's Days,
We shall not allow it to.
So if Cecil is literally The Unknown, just a presence, someone's lost psyche, or voice recording the daily news...then what was it that drew Carlos to him? Maybe unlike us, Carlos couldn't give two shits about whether or not he could visualize Cecil. And maybe for that, he loved him anyway. Maybe there's more to Cecil than what we can visualize of him. And I don't know...maybe that's what Night Vale is trying to say? That you might not have or even need visuals in order to be able to love someone?
Well, for us Cecil is just a presence. In our universe,Cecil is a voice, an idea. But in NightVale, he is something you can interact with. Even if we say he doesn't have a physical form in his universe, so does the rest of nightvale. Thus, carlos and cecil can interact with each other. Weather they are matterial or not. Meaning that to Carlos, Cecil may be just a voice, but so is he. Just a voice. An idea.
Nerdicaful What if Cecil is just a crazy guy and Carlos doesn't exist.
that has been said. that cecil is crazy, in a mental hospital, and he imagines all of these. Though we hear other people, like Dana, Carlos, Hyrom MacDaniels etc. soooo i dunno. though it possible
Master Hand Is nobody going to mention how Carlos' voice changed...
What ep ?
He does wear a tie tho. Sandstorm Part B.
My favorite Cecils are the most popular blonde guy(cause I'm blonde with short hair so I like cosplaying that version), Navajo looking guy with long braids, cuddly purple tentacle monster, and my absolute favorite, a person who looks like father from kids next door.
And I think Carlos might actually have a cannon description, "a Brazilian super model in a lab coat" cause that's how Cecil Baldwin described how he sees him
Nightvale doesn't scare you with abnormality, it scares you with the fact that what is happening to these characters IS normal
A notice from the City Council:
There is a dark void at the bottom of a cliff. I can feel something...something down there, writhing, amorphous, curdling the air with waves of putrid, nightmarish,...creeping fear. I look down. I see nothing. I feel it. I see nothing. The dark thing is there. I see nothing. I feel it creeping upward, ascending towards me, wanting to see me, wanting to reach up to me. I feel its dark tendril entwine around my ankle. I feel its mass engulf me fully into its black, unfathomable abyss. We become one.
I see nothing.
This has been a public service announcement from the City Council.
THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME KNOW OF NIGHTVALE. Seriously. All hail the glow cloud.
ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD
ALLLLLLL HAAAIIIIIIL
AAALL HAAAIIL THE MIGHTY GLOW CLOOOUUUD
ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD
ALL HAIL
I like thinking of it this way: I am technically always cosplaying Cecil. So are you. So is everyone. I find that thought rather comforting.
Maybe Cecil really looks exactly like me, right now. Maybe Cecil's appearance changes daily but he uses a unique call so that Carlos can always identify him. Maybe Cecil is really an anthropomorphic dog, like the one in that Japanese commercial - you know the one.
if cecil is that dog than that would explain quite a bit about that commercial
All these years later I gotta say thank you for putting me on to Night Vale. One of my best discoveries of my 2010s.
I would like to say, thank you for introducing me to this show.
It is AWESOME. Also, ALL HAIL.
ALL HAIL
ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD
Because of this episode, I journeyed into the dry desert town of Night Vale.
Thanks, Idea Channel :)
P.S. *ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY GLOW CLOUD*
All hail!
All Hail!!
HAIL HYDRA
I know this is dated, however, it is interesting to notice that Nightvale is named yet unseen with themes stem from "horror is reality, and it is beyond and apathetic to puny humans; take it or leave." Doctor Who, meanwhile has the exact opposite themes ("there is fleeting wonder that makes all reality's horrors worth it, and each puny human may still be intrinsically valuable"); and is simultaneously seen yet never named.
I'm actually quite sad that fan art and fan fiction forced me to imagine Cecil and Carlos as I do. I can't even remember my first thoughts of the image of these characters. I believe I imagined Cecil as that guy with the brown hair and the really deep voice who's the most famous guy on Vine right now. I can't even remember how I imagined Carlos.
I was just thinking the same thing! I love the fan depictions, but I wish I had waited to see them until I had a clear original headcanon, because now I can't remember what I first imagined him to look like.
I don't care what the other fans say/do, MY Cecil doesn't have a third eye on his forehead. I don't know how that became a thing.
frootloopstakethewheel I have actually never imagined Cecil as anything. I have no problem with him being faceless and average. For me, it is like all other radio I listen to - I don 't even think about the person's appearance until I see them. As for Carlos - I just picture a faceless man in a labcoat with fabulous dark hair. I am surprised at how much other fans have put into visualizing these characters.
Melissa Koczur-Mitchell Same here. For me Cecil is amorphous. He exists as anything until otherwise confirmed. So it kinda surprises me when people depict him as being tall, skinny, and white with white hair. All I know are the very basic characteristics that come with having a man's voice and the physical prerequisites for that. If they later revealed that Cecil was actually a Two headed dog, my brain would make sense of everything in a sort of weird way, retroactively applying that trait to what I know about Cecil and His History.
I'm undergoing a procedure to unlearn the fan depictions of Cecil.
And now, corrections: the moon is beautiful, not bright.
I love love love Night Vale but when ever I try to show my friends it they get bored not just because there's no visuals but because there's only one voice. It's an acquired taste.
It's the same with my dad except he just has a hard time with all the weird stuff and Cecil's dry delivery. I'm not gonna force it on him though.
The7thDraconian Introduce him to the Twitter account or Facebook page first. It's funny as heck and it's a lot more accessible.
not really an acquired taste, more just something you either like or you dont
I immediately fell in love with it. I just started listening and listened to the first 19 episodes on a car trip. It is the best decision I have made in a while to start.
TheSH1N1GAM1 i got caught up in like two or three days, because my teachers sometimes give us a lot of free time
What's funny about WTNV is that if you zone out for even a second, you have more chance of becoming Satan and ruling hell than understanding what Cecil is talking about.
night vale make you feel like you're taking a peak at a different and privet world.
the closeness of the community and the way they talk about outsiders makes you feel like you're nosing on someone else's business, yet, Cecils voice quickly becomes your friend and you care about him and the other characters like Carlos and the town.
its very comforting to sit back and listen to whats happening while having someone guide you through it safely and still fell involved and addressed by Cecil himself.
its like the perfect amount of 4th wall-ness being prodded at.
and because we cant see anything, it stops things like a literal 5 headed dragon talking to us seem cheesy or badly done.
all of the benefits of reading a book can be found in listening to welcome to night vale, you can let your imagination go wild :)
The way Night Vale normalizes the bizarre and the scary distinctly reminds me of the way Douglas Adams normalizes the foreign and the complex. Through Ford and his experiences, Arthur embodies the emotions of the audience while experiencing media of the normalizing variety. He is often passive, perplexed, panicky, and perfectly predictable, in a mundane sort of way. Such is the contrast between the two BFFs/foils to make the reader experience, in a kind of round-a-bout, the perfectly normal process of "becoming" the protagonist. They both tend to make the reader feel as though he or she is receiving both too much and not enough information. Night Vale, with its unique medium and questionable characters, is very much a translation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books from the Sci-Fi genre over to the Horror genre.
Julia Cohen this is an old comment, but I want to add it's funny you say that: the Hitchhiker's Guide was originally a radio show, if I'm not mistaken. In general I think that's the deal with audio stories.
Julia Cohen this is an old comment, but I want to add it's funny you say that: the Hitchhiker's Guide was originally a radio show, if I'm not mistaken. In general I think that's the deal with audio stories.
It is advised that you do not respond to this comment in any way shape or form because it does not actually exist. Thank you.
oops...
Pamela? Is that you?!
NyhyyyhhddhhhhdhhdddhhyhhsssyhhmddhhdhhhhddddhhhhhdMMMMMMhyys/+y+/sohhohhohdyyo:ssy.yy:oyyd:ydmmmd+/ddhoohysyhMMMMMMMMMMdyhmmmemmhsyydh:lsy:+yy+yd:odho+yp/+hh.ys/syyhymdddd/:ddmd/:myyyymmmmmyhyedlpNMMeMNyoooossssooshdhy:oo:o+syd/odyosh/ohh.ys/yyyhydmdhh/:mddm/+myyoosssso+ooymMMMMMMMMmyssoyyyddhhyysdhyo/ss/ssyhhsssoysshys/yhy++yy/yhhssy+/yyyooddyyyhhddhyyssssmNMM ... *fades to static*
Caudex should I deconstruct the 4th wall or manipulate time and space defying the bounds of the frame?
hmmmmmmmm
I once drew Cecil as a realistic talking fish head. It was awesome.
I always figured Night Vale left the visuals to the listeners' imaginations. Fandom visualizing him in so many ways isn't a sin - it's exactly what we're meant to do. It's why the creators will (probably) never canonize his appearance beyond the most vague descriptions. We all get to see Cecil as we want to see him.
This is what got me to listen to Night Vale.
Bless this video, it changed my life.
He messed up the opening line:
A small desert community
Where the sun is hot
The moon is *beautiful*
And strange lights fill the sky while we all pretend to sleep
I think we'll have to agree to disagree, Valentine's Day is far worse than Street Cleaning Day.
the glitter....glitter and paper cupids everywhere,(rocks back and forth ) i dont wanna be a valentine i dont i dont i dont
The chocolate. Gives me chills just to know it exists. And is in my cupboard. Oh dear. Send help.
Rachel Barnes I think we can all agree Black Friday is the best knuckle workout.
I don't know if I ever thanked you all those years ago when you introduced me to this wonderful podcast.... Thank you! I have enjoyed every moment of it!
Carlos is the only canonically described character in Welcome To Night Vale. And his hair is PERFECT.
So, I hadn't heard of Night Vale until I saw this episode. I'VE SEEN EVERY EPISODE SINCE THEN TO DATE. I love that show! Thank you, thank you so much for this episode.
I think the reason for lots of fan-created Cecils looking similar (blond, sweater vest, tattoos, headphones, third eye) is perhaps not so much due to the way Joseph and Jeffrey evoke Cecil's character but more so because of the popularity of that image, and fans just following the herd.
The headphones are pretty much mandatory in radio.
Don’t you guys just love fist sized river rocks? They’re the best and have so much personality.
the unkown becomes mundane and the mundane becomes terrifying. the inversions here are awesome
WAITIN' FOR DA BUS IN DA RAIN!
Because of this episode, it appears I am now hooked on _Welcome to Night Vale_.
Since Cecil doesn't have a Canon appearance technically we're all cosplaying him
Honestly, I hated it when I saw a picture of Cecil. I always imagined him as a voice,The picture destroyed that.
street cleaning day??
what about Valentine's day I barely survived that 😦😦
I'm a simple person who sees night vale and clicks
I have to say, I was a little/extremely disappointed in this fandom for giving Cecil a face. I mean, obviously, it was bound to happen, but still.
I think, though the one described in the episode is the most common, the only real constant to depictions of cecil is the eye of nightvale. I think that's fitting given that ultimately we are as dependent on him to "observe" nightvale as we are on our own eyes and ears to "observe" the world. I think that one true symbol of the show is the only thing you need in a cosplay to be recognized as cecil which isn't so disappointing to me.
It's wierd how the first time listening to it I thought I was just so confused and had to stop because it was too wierd. I realize wasn't wierded out. I was scared. So scared I had to stop listening for a while. I didn't do it because I was bored or wasn't getting it, that was my natural instinct to end what was putting me in this scared state...damn, Nightvale.
It's funny, I had a similar experience. The first time I heard it was when my boyfriend just put it on in the car, without telling me what it was or anything. I heard this stuff about hooded figures in a dog park and I was like, "WTF is this? Turn this off." If he had told me more about it before just putting it on I might have enjoyed it. Later, of course, I got into it.
The great thing about Cecil not being described is you have a wide spread of options of how you can make him look and you are neither right nor wrong because we have no idea of how he looks. However when people draw fan art that is appealing to a wide audiences, or viewers, those people can take that image they like and make it the norm. If you really like something you will copy it or make something similar. At least, that's what I think.
What's really interesting is that I feel like since this was made, there has been a pretty significant shift in depictions of Cecil. Not that he's never depicted at a trim, blond, white guy with tattoos, vests and ties, but now there are a ton of different depictions of him as well that are becoming fairly widely accepted. Granted, any change in wardrobe are probably largely due to newer, canonical depictions of his clothing which is much more... eccentric than people initially thought.
However, aside from that, I've seen a ton of depictions of Cecil as, for instance, Native American. Or black. Or Latino. Or albino. Or literally blue. I've seen a wide variety of hair styles and eye colors. I've seen tons of different kinds of tattoos, and no tattoos. Tons of piercings, and no piercings. Trim, and chubby. Physically disabled, and not. Hell, I have seen him depicted as a literal python, a literal eye, and a literal blob creature (albeit one that could shapeshift into human form). And that's not even to mention all of the eldritch monster versions described in fanfiction. And from what I've heard from people who've been in the fandom for much longer than I have, this was not something that used to be considered "acceptable" by an alarmingly significant number of people. Whereas now it seems to me, as a relative newcomer, to be the norm. Of course he's depicted in every imaginable way. He has no canon appearance, so every depiction is just as valid as the next.
So, at this point, it almost seems that the fandom has agreed that, while many people still adhere to that original fanon appearance, all other depictions are fine too, and cosplaying is more a matter of getting as close to your personal headcanon as possible while maintaining at least one distinct feature that is considered to be uniquely Cecil, be that tattoos, a third eye, fur pants, or something else.
So basically, over time it seems the job of creating that visual image of Cecil which we instinctively want has moved from the fandom at large, to each individual listener, to the point where many fanfics are tagged with "Cecil is not described" so people know that their personal headcanon won''t clash with whatever they're reading, which I find both really interesting, and really nice.
This is definitely one of your best recent episodes, Mike. Keep up the great work, and make more episodes like this!
I was overjoyed when I discovered Welcome To Night Vale, for the first time (for me at least) I could hear someone talking about all the things I've read in Lovecraft in todays era. To be able to relate more to their surroundings, to immerse myself in something that you can't get anywhere else... It's like "Here, have a dose of the unknown also, deal with it". There hasn't been an episode that I did not enjoy listening to and it got me started on re-reading my lovecraft books (after actually studying up on USA:s 1850 to ca 1930, not a big subject in swedish schools).
The weirdest thing about Nightvale is that I literally can't decide if a movie version would be a good move or a horrible one. Assuming it was a good movie, of course (a bad movie is always a horrible move, where you usually wish it had never been made). Would it necessarily tie Cecil down to a physical depiction? Could it be thought of as just one of many different interpretations of the same material, like fandom interpretations, except that it's official? Would it be reasonable to do a movie in which Cecil wasn't ever properly onscreen at all? (In one of the fan trailers I saw a picture of the faceless old woman and decided she really ought to remain offscreen at all times for appropriate creep factor, because when you see her the creep level takes an immediate plunge.)
Part of me wants to squeee out and thrill at the thought of an actual visual form of Nightvale, because that is what I usually enjoy about other fandoms: Seeing it brought out in new forms that can be combined in new ways. Certainly I had to come to grips with not being able to make a proper fanvid of Nightvale without footage -- I don't like clip shows quite so well -- and that was weird and disappointing, because fanvids are a major part of any fandom for me. But another part of me feels that it is best that Nightvale never hits the silver screen.
And I don't know which is right.
Personally, I'm going to have to say that Night Vale would not translate very well into a visual medium like film or television. So much of what makes Night Vale effective is what they discuss in this video: the fiction of of gaps. Having these vague clues of menacing and horrific events happening around the narrator force us as viewers to create what those monstrosities are, and are made much more effective because of that.
I would love a movie, but where the characters are only (at most) half-seen. And for some reasons, not played by the voice actors, but still voiced by them. But I'm sure I imagine even the city of NightVale different from everyone else, if not smaller. The house that doesn't exist... The Ralph's... Everything would be so different in a movie. Maybe, a movie without panoramic shots of, well, anything. Things never seen in the full. It'd be... Great, but not great.
Also, was the fanvid that Bad Moon Rising one? I found it cool, except the Faceless Old Woman. And I mostly found it cool 'cause there were so many different fan interpretations in it.
Yeah, that's the one :)
I want to see more cosplay videos, dang it. I've only run across two music videos done with cosplay. If more existed I would be all over them.
You know, I think the total lack of establishing shots could really work. There are other considerations, some of which I mentioned, but having a lack of overall precision, keeping the audience a bit off-balance, that might be neat. Maybe an "establishing shot" would be coming down through thick fog or a cloud and maybe get just the faintest glimpse of the whole thing (the fact that there is a city, and maybe three distinct landmarks) before going to other shots that never get more precise with the layout.
I've watched two song ones, Bad Moon Rising and Love is an Open Door. LiaOD was amazing, the two people in it were almost my HeadCanons
5:51 unless every depiction of cecil is cecil
Just finished about everything this year and am re-listening to it.
It's still going
I honestly think that Carlos is the most interesting character to discuss about how he looks because a) we know the most about him, which gives us the illusion that we know what he looks like when, in actuality, we don’t actually know a lot about what his looks, and b) Carlos is described as “perfect” so (following the guidelines of descriptions that we have been given) what we imagine Carlos to look like is what we would see as “perfect”.
The Sun is hot the Moon is BEAUTIFUL. Know your quotes.
Welcome to Night Vale is still the greatest podcast. I have listened to it for years and years (hoe many years? What even is time?). Thank you for making this video ^^
Also, A L L H A I L
''nothing is as scary as street cleaning day''
*sees a weeping angel by the window*
I beg to differ...
So perfect, the mere mention of his perfection, the mere translation of it into words-so feeble and anemic, so powerless and incapable in its observance-would be an injustice an order of magnitude greater than calling the waters surrounding Maldives simply "blue", the deepest earthly depths simply "hot" or the vitreous bodies occupying Carlos's cranial orbits simply "eyeballs."
I know this is an old video, but I wanted to mention one small thing I wasn't seeing in the comments. One of things that I find unique about WTNV and cosplay is that sometimes they cosplay as non-canon characters. Sure other fandoms may dress up as "just a character from that world" but WTNV cosplayers can dress up as fanfiction OC and still be recognizable. I am talking about "Diego" (or whatever you want to call a Dessert Bluff double of Carlos). I am not sure if this is because of the connectedness of the the fandom through Tumblr and head cannon groupthink or what, but I saw several "Diegos" at my last WTNV show. (Can anyone name another fandom that does this regularly?)
I like thinking of Cecil as this static-y being with a third eye. Yes, I like the typical depiction as well, since that's easier to draw, but I sort of like my version as well.
Literally ANYBODY can be Cecil. Even Cecil's gender is supposed to be ambiguous.
I think the most terrifying thing in the world is that it's been proven that there are things that you literally can not know. Not knowing is easy, not being able to ever know is a nightmare.
+Noah Williams I fear for anyone caught in between what they know and what they don't yer know, that they don't know.
Cecil is awesome because even the creators don't know what he looks like and specifically said they don't try to imagine him. At a Q&A they just held where I live last week, they said their favorite fan art are the ones that show the artist's own, unique take on who/what Cecil and the other Night Valeans look like. Which is funny because prior to this I have never seen a picture of Cecil Baldwin but as soon as I saw him it was bang on what I personally imagine Cecil looked like. :)
all I know is that I have to avoid the dog park...which means reading this comment is to be avoided :/
I'm confused by all the fan art and cosplay. What is it with the third eye for Cecil?
smallthetalk I'm guessing that it's based on the eye on the cover
It's theorized that Cecil has a third eye that lets him see visions around town. He just seems to know things....even as they were happening. (Like the episodes, A Story About You, and A Story About Them)
RUclips tells me I have watched this. I have no memory of this video at all
"mountains" What the hell is a mountain (( GAHHHHH I LOVE CECIL ))
All hail the empero... GLOW CLOUD
All HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD
Can I just- thank you SO MUUUCH for describing the depiction of Cecil so accurately!!!!
I'm loving how he's asking to leave whatever comments on our ideas about night vale and instead all the comments are about the glow cloud
I'm not a very visual thinker, so I don't feel that compelled to imagine what the characters look like. Seems like most people are quite the opposite.
***** Maybe because he's like, the narrator?
+Haruko Haruhara Neither am I, and that's part of why I've fallen in love with Night Vale
I've heard of plenty of things that exist that I could have lived my whole life more comfortably, not knowing what they actually looked like.
I'd prefer in most cases to just take somebody's word for how bad something is based on what I know as a result of failing to do so and wandering into things man was not meant to know.
Or as I say to my stepfather all the time on the topic of aliens and monsters and ghosts: "What if all that really does exist and it was confirmed? Sure you'd be vindicated in your beliefs, but could you really live comfortably with the knowledge of its existence and knowing that you were at the mercy of something you could never comprehend? *loop back to 1st paragraph*"
In watching all of Nightvale, nothing has scared me more than Desert Bluffs. Its a shame this was made before that happened. In Desert Bluffs, all is known, all is accounted for. There is no monster under your bed while you sleep because, you aren't sleeping, you are too happily, much too happily, at work.
I'm only a few episodes into the podcast and I believe what draws me in is that I'm trying so hard to understand this town, so I continue to listen in hopes of better understanding and in such make this unknown more understandable, when really the more I listen the crazier it gets. It is a fascinating situation.
... And I find Cecil's obsession with Carlos entertaining. :D
What's kind of unfortunate about widespread acceptance of this white, conventionally attractive, tall, skinny, blonde Cecil is that it kind of defies what the creators themselves aim to do with Night Vale. The podcast offers quite a bit in terms of representation (of female, queer, and POC characters, for example), yet so many people in the fandom default to a white Cecil without ever really considering that he could be /anything/ - Native American, Black, Asian, etc. - else beyond that. Here we have this blank slate character who could be something as amazing as one more popular character of color where there are so few compared to white characters, yet lots of people oppose that and even get mad whenever anyone points out that, hey, Cecil doesn't actually have to be white.
Whitewashing really isn't cool, and neither is the message being sent that a person of color isn't as desirable or attractive as a white person.
Not that a white Cecil isn't okay - just, why does 80% of fanart have to depict him that way?
I think by now his appearance is just part of the unnoficial canon of the show. The creators themselves said it's completely up to our imagination as to what the characters look like- it's the fans that 'drew' Cecil, not the podcast. I guess if someone wants to do fanart and have no idea what to draw, they'll look it up? I think his popularised appearance suits him, anyway.
Stop telling fanartists what they can and cannot depict a character as. If 80% of people imagine Cecil as white, who are you to tell them that he SHOULD be a different race?
I'm not telling anyone that they can't depict a character a certain way. If anything, it's the artists who depict Cecil as non-white who have to contend with the rest of the fandom telling them that their Cecil is somehow less realistic or possibly canon than the popular white depiction. Also, there's something wrong with the fact that 80% of a fandom defaults to a white character when the show's creators specifically wanted to leave room for more inclusive representation of minorities. Heck, at least half the fandom tried to insist that Carlos was also white and had a fit when it was explicitly stated by the show's writers that, well, he's not.
Yeah, Cecil should be shown /more often/ as being of a different race. There's nothing wrong with a white Cecil headcanon. There is something wrong with that being the /only/ popularly accepted headcanon. To the point where people can actually call it "unofficial canon."
Jessica Tracey His popularized appearance frankly goes against canon - in one episode, Kevin states that he is neither fat nor skinny, neither tall nor short; the popular fanon Cecil is both tall and skinny, and undeniably so.
I think they default him to being white because the voice actor is white.
Of course, there is always that chance that Cecil is just a construction of something else, something that wants Nightvale to be known and gain power through the knowing of it. The real Cecil might not even be a 'Cecil' at all.
Perhaps he is the Voice of Night Vale.
He must have some corporeal form, because Carlos exists--that is as close to a certainty in Night Vale as we're likely to get--and he and Carlos are *insert a variety of spoilers here*.
Snowskeeper Ferenczy no no man, remember? Nothing is real! Even that what we describe is not real and not even the description of it is real, therefore, if Carlos is not real and does not exist, neither Cecil has to. : p
Nexus Akayuki Ah, but what is reality if not a series of perceptions that one shares with oneself? The question most people fail to ask when considering the Grade 11 Philosophy logic puzzle, "Can we prove that reality exists," is "Does it even matter?"
In fact, there's evidence to support the idea that our universe is just an immense computer simulation, and if that's the case, again, who cares?
Augusto Sinopoli What else would I do with omniscience and omnipresence?
the best part of welcome to nightvale is seeing Cecil and all the characters in your own way and that no depiction is the right or wrong depiction
I personally love Cecil's non-description - first of all, it's pretty smart on a podcast-making standpoint because it very handily pre-emptively stops a lot of inevitable discourse that will arise in a fandom as big as this over time before it can even get started (you can't argue over a character's skin colour or depiction there-of if you don' t HAVE a canon colour, and so on), and also: nobody can feel excluded! AND you have FULL creative freedom!
But second of all: because this is Night Vale, the description CAN be taken literal. Or not. It's up to you, really. That's the beauty of having so much weird shit happening on the reg, you never REALLY know if they're being literal - or even if they are, it COULD also just be a fuge-state, or another outbreak of gas bc the water-company was just Not Having It today, or maybe it's another mandatory dream-delivery, you never know!
i want your shirt. . .
ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD
It's for sale on the wtnv website. It even glows in the dark!
BriWhoSaysNi i must get it
This is my first time seeing a picture of Cecil Baldwin and he looks exactly how I imagined the character Cecil.
Just going to throw this up here. Tales From the Afternow is by far my favorite pod cast / radio drama. A little old and only 2 seasons, but worth every minute you spend listening to it. I still go back and re-listen to them.
Don't think about the dog park
he wrote a story about me
The Idea Channel and Welcome to Night Vale are my two favorite things. I am extremely happy right now.
Life is still just as terrifying and unknown as it was in Lovecrafts time we just now have a flashlight in the void that doesn't make it less of a void.
Mountains are real!
Mountains are not real, you can't just contradict the city council like that.
But I've seen them! They have to be real.
+Michelle Godwin have you recently spent time in the desert other world? What were you doing in the dog park anyway?
Michelle Godwin they are an /ILLUSION~/
I have a feeling I'm going to get a stamp on my Alert Citizens card now...
Hellooooo Stop-sign immunity!!!
A quite frankly wonderful video about two of my favourite things: Lovecraft and Welcome to Night Vale. Definitely worth a look!
This got me into night vale....thank you Mike!! In 1 day I managed to listen to the entire series and now I'm stuck waiting until the next episode comes out.
after watching this i looked up night vale 1 minute and 33 seconds into it i returned to state that i have found a new fandom thank you pbs thank you
That's pretty true. In order to comprehend the unknown, we often need a medium of visual depiction. However, the audio insight gives us the power to imagine it and overall, the series is amazing.
I had never heard of Welcome to Nightvale before this episode was posted, now I have listened to all of it. I... no longer sleep at night.