Welcome to Night Vale
Aug. 31st, 2013 02:55 amAnother recent-ish fandom: Welcome to Night Vale.
WTNV is not one I thought I'd get into. It's an audio drama -- dramedy, really, but hey -- in English, structured as a radio broadcast; I overload very easily on NPR (the husband's an NPR junkie, so I get the opportunity frequently) and that's exactly what WTNV is based on. I don't like listening to audiobooks or podcasts in any way; if it's words and not music I want to just read the words. But I kept enjoying the quotes I saw on Tumblr, and figured, hey, it's free. So I gave it a try.
And I fell in love instantly.
I've made at least one convert by likening the show to "Chris In the Morning," from Northern Exposure, had Cicely been located in Lovecraftian horror (or maybe in Area 51; depends on the episode) rather than magical realism. The horror isn't really the point, though. The point is the humor that comes from local news and community announcements for a place where it's taken for granted that the sheriff has a secret police force that everyone knows about, there's this shape in the park that no one talks about or acknowledges, and that you should count yourself lucky if you survive an encounter with a librarian.
Here, just have some quotes. Delivery is a significant part of it, sure, but I love the writing on this show.
The first dozen episodes are mostly episodic, but there is some plot, including narrator Cecil's slow-building relationship with Carlos, a scientist from outside Night Vale who's way less calm about all Night Vale's weird shit than Cecil is; Desert Bluffs, a nearby city that turns out to be, um.... an interesting foil to Night Vale; the civilization under the bowling alley and Night Vale's preparations for war against it; and various other Night Vale fixtures and recurring figures. The Cecil/Carlos romance is the plotline that's had the most narrative payoff so far (and has also resulted in wanky controversy despite being canon, but the less said about that the better if you ask me.) It's the biggest and most active fandom I've ever been in, and there are portions of the fandom I do my best to avoid, but that doesn't change the fact the canon is great.
Basically, it's a really good show, and I say this despite actively disliking its medium. Check it out.
WTNV is not one I thought I'd get into. It's an audio drama -- dramedy, really, but hey -- in English, structured as a radio broadcast; I overload very easily on NPR (the husband's an NPR junkie, so I get the opportunity frequently) and that's exactly what WTNV is based on. I don't like listening to audiobooks or podcasts in any way; if it's words and not music I want to just read the words. But I kept enjoying the quotes I saw on Tumblr, and figured, hey, it's free. So I gave it a try.
And I fell in love instantly.
I've made at least one convert by likening the show to "Chris In the Morning," from Northern Exposure, had Cicely been located in Lovecraftian horror (or maybe in Area 51; depends on the episode) rather than magical realism. The horror isn't really the point, though. The point is the humor that comes from local news and community announcements for a place where it's taken for granted that the sheriff has a secret police force that everyone knows about, there's this shape in the park that no one talks about or acknowledges, and that you should count yourself lucky if you survive an encounter with a librarian.
Here, just have some quotes. Delivery is a significant part of it, sure, but I love the writing on this show.
The first dozen episodes are mostly episodic, but there is some plot, including narrator Cecil's slow-building relationship with Carlos, a scientist from outside Night Vale who's way less calm about all Night Vale's weird shit than Cecil is; Desert Bluffs, a nearby city that turns out to be, um.... an interesting foil to Night Vale; the civilization under the bowling alley and Night Vale's preparations for war against it; and various other Night Vale fixtures and recurring figures. The Cecil/Carlos romance is the plotline that's had the most narrative payoff so far (and has also resulted in wanky controversy despite being canon, but the less said about that the better if you ask me.) It's the biggest and most active fandom I've ever been in, and there are portions of the fandom I do my best to avoid, but that doesn't change the fact the canon is great.
Basically, it's a really good show, and I say this despite actively disliking its medium. Check it out.