Fandom Overview: Welcome to Night Vale
Turn on Your Radio and Hide: A Guide to Night Vale
A twice-monthly community update for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events.
- the Commonplace Books website
Welcome to Night Vale is a podcast created by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (plus occasional guest writers), with a theme song and incidental music by Disparition. It debuted on June 15, 2012, and was downloaded about 150,000 times in its first year; then it caught Tumblr’s attention and that number doubled in one week. Now, it regularly vies with NPR’s This American Life for the number one spot on the iTunes Top Podcasts list.
New installments of WtNV are released on the first and fifteenth of each month. A typical episode involves a central news story that plays out between various recurring features, such as “Traffic,” “Community Calendar,” and “the Children’s Fun Fact Science Corner.” The penultimate segment is always “The Weather,” a song that is lyrically or tonally appropriate for that particular episode. There is also a Twitter feed (@NightValeRadio) and some live performances.
The show is set in Night Vale, a town somewhere in the American Southwest beset by space-time anomalies; eldritch entities, some benevolent, some hostile; and multiple (possibly competing) conspiracies. The powers that be are despotic and arbitrary when they aren’t flat-out incompetent, and are prone to misappropriating funds, or squandering them on obvious boondoggles. Meanwhile, citizens are subjected to constant surveillance, and faced with “re-education,” incarceration, torture, or execution for transgressions. The overall effect is of News from Lake Wobegon as written by H.P. Lovecraft and George Orwell.
Lest this all sound unbearably grim, I hasten to add that the series is extremely funny, thought-provoking, and heartwarming, largely thanks to our host, Cecil, who keeps everyone informed about what’s happening (or what isn’t happening, according to the authorities) ... that is, when he’s not busy mooning over Carlos, the beautiful scientist from out of town. That's right, there’s a canon queer love story involving at least one person of color.
Note: WtNV is very much a live canon. I will do my best to avoid spoilers and unwarranted assumptions in this overview.
The Characters
Heard On the Air • Night Vale Community Radio • Politicians, Public Servants, and Law Enforcement • Townsfolk • Eldritch Entities
Recommended Listening
The Fandom
The ’Ships
Resources
The Characters
We have nothing to fear except ourselves. We are unholy, awful people. Fear ourselves with silence. Look down, Night Vale; look down, and forget what you’ve done!
- Night Vale town motto, as quoted in “Feral Dogs”
Q: What does the character Cecil [or Kevin or Old Woman Josie or _____ ] look like?
A: What do YOU think they look like?
- from the official F.A.Q.s page
From left to right: Erika, Old Woman Josie, Cecil, Carlos, and Intern Dana, by jennerallydrawing
WtNV has a large, multi-ethnic, multi-species cast of characters, and new names are added to the roster frequently - though many are quickly wiped out, especially the Night Vale Community Radio interns. Here are some of the people (well, mostly people) you’ll encounter in canon and fanworks.
Heard On the Air
Cecil Gershwin Palmer (Cecil Baldwin)
Weird at last, weird at last. God almighty, weird at last. - “PYRAMID”
Various Cecil headcanons and Carlos (in labcoat) as drawn by japhers
Blob!Cecil and Carlos by saltysalmonella
More Cecil headcanons, as drawn by heartbrokengirlsketches
As the Voice of Night Vale, Cecil reports the news (often mimicking witnesses and interviewees), makes public service announcements, and reads ads, his smooth, sonorous tones shifting fluidly from achingly sincere, to sinister, to sarcastic as the material requires. He is proud of his hometown and devoted to his job, but his adoration of Carlos, with whom he falls in love at first sight, trumps everything else. Regarding his appearance, we are told he is neither tall nor short, neither thin nor fat, and has facial features. When asked, Fink and Cranor have declined to state Cecil’s ethnicity, while Baldwin has said that he has no personal headcanon about what his namesake looks like. In fanworks he is often uncanny or other-than-human, with traits like a preternaturally commanding voice, a third eye, moving tattoos, tentacles, the ability to shapeshift, omnipresence or omniscience, or some combination thereof. Cecil is canonically prone to existential crises, and recent canon both implies that there is something eldritch about him and casts doubt on his reliability as a narrator. Some fans speculate that his title has significance beyond his duties as a journalist and radio personality.
Note: Before Cecil’s full name was revealed, many fans assumed he shared his last name as well as his first with his actor.
Carlos the Scientist (Jeffrey Cranor, 2012-2013; Dylan Marron, December 2013 onwards)
Sometimes things seem so strange or malevolent, and then you find that underneath it was something else altogether. - “One Year Later”
Carlos cooking for Cecil, by harlequinpants
by gingerhaole
by themonsterwithoutaname
Carlos came to Night Vale with a team of researchers, excited by the prospect of studying “the most scientifically interesting community in the U.S.” Although frequently bewildered, frustrated, or frightened by the town’s peculiarities, he has been dauntless in his pursuit of knowledge and brave in his defense of others, while still demonstrating common sense and a (usually) healthy survival instinct. Understandably, he has been slow to reciprocate Cecil’s feelings. Cecil describes him as dark-skinned with “a square jaw, and teeth like a military cemetery. His hair is perfect [...] not to ignore the dignified, if premature, touch of gray in the temples.” Carlos is generally assumed to be Latino or Hispanic. We’ve yet to learn his last name, or what his field of study is. Fanonically, he is often depicted as a socially awkward workaholic. There are a number of fanfics in which Carlos is transgender.
from a gifset by bofur-of-ered-luin
Intern Dana, or her doppelganger (Jasika Nicole)
I will call when I can, and tell my mother and brother [...] I am safe. For now. - “Dana”
Dana is the only Night Vale Community Radio intern known to have survived more than one episode, unless she isn’t - there is some uncertainty as to who walked away from the confrontation between the intern and her double. Judging from her actions she is competent and dedicated to her job. Her current whereabouts are uncertain.
Note: Jasika Nicole was already a popular fancasting choice for Intern Dana before WtNV’s creators announced that she would be featured in the episode “Dana.”
by trelldraws
Kevin (Kevin Free)
You may not know me, nor I you, but we have this mic, and this voice, and your warm ears blossoming open to hear comforting secrets in the vibrations of a voice that pulse so deep into your body, your heart relaxes for a time. - “The Sandstorm”
Kevin is the Voice of Desert Bluffs, a nearby town which is controlled by StrexCorp Synernists Incorporated, and which is Night Vale’s chief rival in all varsity and professional sports. Cecil describes a photograph of Kevin thusly: “He is not tall or short, not thin or fat. His hair and nose are like mine, but his eyes - his eyes are black as obsidian and his smile ... No. It is not a smile.” Kevin’s comments during a visit to Night Vale Community Radio imply disturbing things about “the Bluffs,” things confirmed by Cecil’s first-hand observations of Kevin’s workplace.
Note: This was one of the less disturbing pieces of Kevin fanart I could find.
by mesitka
The Faceless Old Woman who secretly lives in your home (Mara Wilson)
I lit your fridge on fire. It was upsetting me. Now I’m smoking a cigarette and notating your copy of Infinite Jest. - “Faceless Old Woman”
The Faceless Old Woman has no eyes, nose, or mouth, and is presumably invisible and intangible, since she complains that you don’t acknowledge her even when she touches you while you are looking into the mirror. She communicates through the recordings she sends to the radio station, and by doing things like gluing a kitchen table to the floor upside-down. Despite these seeming handicaps, she has announced her candidacy for mayor of Night Vale.
by meeshyarts
Hiram McDaniels (Jackson Publick)
I’m literally a five-headed dragon. Who cares! - “Yellow Helicopters”
McDaniels first came to public notice when Cecil reported that the eighteen-foot, five-headed dragon was wanted by the Sheriff’s Secret Police for suspected insurance fraud, falsifying identification papers, evading arrest, and assaulting a police vehicle with fire. This has not kept Hiram from running for mayor on a platform of supporting children, small business owners, and small children business owners.
Night Vale Community Radio
by savedchicken
Station Management
Sometimes you can see movements through the frosted glass, large shapes shifting around, strange tendrils whipping through the air. - “Station Management”
The overseers of Night Vale Community Radio are the podcast’s most overtly Lovecraftian element, with their inhuman silhouettes and the non-Euclidean geometry of the office they rarely leave. Station staff usually interact with Management by shouting at their door, and then waiting for a response sealed in a red envelope to slide out. Employees who displease Management may undergo an HR retraining session in the Dark Box.
by cryptobaffling
Khoshekh
Listen, no pet is perfect. It becomes perfect when you learn to accept it for what it is. - “Glow Cloud”
Khoshekh is the station pet, a male cat who hovers in a spot four feet above the floor of the men’s restroom, near the sink. Despite his gender and immobility, Khoshekh has birthed a litter of kittens. This act of parthenogenesis, the terrifying noise that Cecil calls a feeding time meow, and the dire consequences for anyone who attempts to make a visual record of Khoshekh raise doubts as to his true species.
Note: The Khoshekh art is draggable.
Politicians, Public Servants, and Law Enforcement
Gina Torres, fancasting by cassandrabethloveyoutodeath
Mayor Pamela Winchell
She cares very much about us, Night Vale, and when she jails or tortures someone without just cause or due process, it is because she loves this town so much. - “The Mayor”
The hot-tempered, possibly possessed mayor of Night Vale has announced that she will be leaving office by year’s end. This may not be by her choice, as during a press conference, “She said again, through tight teeth, that this is totally her call and was never, ever discussed in a room with no windows by small men wearing large pelts and decorative soft meat crowns ... ‘That is not how we do things!’ she mouthed silently, as a single dark red tear formed in the corner of her eye, and then slowly rolled down her taut olive cheek and onto her clay-stained smock.”
The City Council is Night Vale’s chief governing body. Its primary duties seem to be banning things (sometimes with cause, as in the case of wheat and wheat by-products, but more often inexplicably, as with pocket calculators, margarita glasses, and writing implements), and ordering citizens to ignore certain places and beings, most notably the forbidden dog park and the angels. Its predecessor, the Town Elder Council (which met wearing traditional crimson robes and soft meat crowns), established the current Council’s membership, along with Night Vale’s official song, chant, and moan, in 1824. The membership of the Council has not changed since. Council members move and speak in concert, and they may in fact be a single multi-corporeal intelligence.
The Sheriff’s Secret Police is the agency responsible for enforcing the byzantine laws of Night Vale. They keep constant watch over the populace, tapping phones, monitoring and controlling Internet access, and conducting surveillance from their blue helicopters and on the ground, often disguising themselves as plants or furniture for the latter. Their standard uniform includes a short cape, blowdart chestbelt, and leather balaclava. The masked person believed to be the Sheriff wears a cloak, a mitre, and a giant silver star, and speaks through a vocoder.
Agents of A Vague Yet Menacing Government Agency can often be spotted around Night Vale. Some of them may be working for the World Government, who are responsible for the black helicopters.
Townsfolk
Old Woman Josie
Old Woman Josie, out near the car lot, says the angels revealed themselves to her. - “Pilot”
by nazi-nurse
by harlequinpants
Monique Mojica, fancasting by queenoftheuglythings
Cecil’s friend, news source, and occasional bowling partner, who was Chairwoman of the now-defunct Night Vale Opera, has been playing hostess to a group of friendly, ten-foot-tall angels. In return, they have shielded her from various dangers.
Johnny Depp, from a gifset by bofur-of-ered-luin
The Apache Tracker
Can you believe this guy said he used ancient Indian magics? What an asshole. - “Glow Cloud”
The Apache Tracker (called the Indian Tracker in the pilot) is, at first, an English-speaking man of possibly Slavic descent who wears a huge, cartoonishly inaccurate Indian headdress and claims he can follow tracks on asphalt. After a mysterious absence, he returns as a man who is ethnically Native American but only speaks Russian. Despite being, as Cecil repeatedly declares, a racist embarrassment, he seems well-intentioned.
Other Notable Citizens
Eldritch Entities
The Hooded Figures
It is possible you will see Hooded Figures in the dog park. Do not approach them. Do not approach the dog park. - “Pilot”
by callmekitto
cosplay by zipperaward and frost-butt
Night Vale is inhabited by ominous hooded figures. Their bodies are obscured by robes and their faces are hidden in shadow, but people can tell apart “the one that lurks under the slide in the Night Vale Elementary playground, the ones that meet regularly in the dog park, and the one that will occasionally steal babies.” When Cecil attempts to interview a hooded figure that was already inside the radio station when the doors were unlocked that morning, it levitates and emits a loud, staticy noise. Some fanartists and cosplayers prefer to dress the figures in hoodies.
The Angels
The structure of Heaven and the organizational chart are privileged information, known only to the City Council members on a need-to-know basis. Please do not speak to or acknowledge any Angels that you may come across while shopping at the Ralph’s or at the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex. They only tell lies and do not exist. - “Pilot”
by choodraws
by jennerallydrawing
by jennafowlerart
The angels appear at the home of Old Woman Josie, out by the car lot, shortly before the arrival of Carlos and his team of scientists. When Josie calls the news in to the radio station, she says that they are ten feet tall and that one of them is black. They are friendly and helpful, though sometimes mildly inconvenient. Fanart is often based on descriptions of cherubim, seraphim, and ophanim, rather than humanoid angels. All angels are named Erika, with a K. The angels’ existence is denied by the City Council.
by lowlighter
The Glow Cloud
All hail! Kneel for the Glow Cloud. Sacrifice. Pestilence. Sores. All hail the Glow Cloud! - “The Lights in Radon Canyon”
This cloud of shifting, luminous colors rains animal carcasses (ranging from armadillos, lizards, and crows to at least one lion), and has a habit of taking over people to speak with their mouths. After passing through town, it decides that Night Vale would be a good place to raise a child and joins the local school board.
by larbestaaargh
The Man in the Tan Jacket
The Man in the Tan Jacket was reportedly seen in the moonless black, standing next to a refrigerator engulfed in flames. - “The Man in the Tan Jacket”
This ambiguous figure of unknown origin “has seemed to pop up in relation to a lot of strange events.” He can enter and exit the forbidden dog park, carries a deerskin briefcase full of live flies, and has a name and face which no one can recall. He has interacted with Carlos (who does not remember him at all afterward), the Apache Tracker, Dana (“She says he’s a pretty cool guy, if you get to know him”), and Larry Leroy (who calls the Man first Emmett, then Everett, and finally Ernest when asked about their conversation).
by weareallpoetry
The Whispering Forest
Do not listen to its hollow compliments, its sappy flattery. - “The Whispering Forest”
The woodlands which suddenly appear just to the east of town prove remarkably alluring and unexpectedly perilous. The trees can talk, and they want you to stay.
by moriartylaughingalonewithcrown
The Librarians
...any Night Vale citizen encountering a librarian, an entity suspected of being a librarian, or any excessively organized and helpful individual with a working comprehension of information systems is encouraged to shoot on sight. - “Summer Reading Program”
The Librarians are some of the most feared entities in Night Vale. It is uncertain if the doors and windows of the Night Vale Public Library vanish because they want to keep people out, or because something is trying to keep them in. The repeated destruction of the library by fire is definitely an attempt by the townsfolk to curb the menace, but it’s only a stopgap measure.
Recommended Listening
For newcomers daunted by the prospect of listening to (as of November 2013) about 15 hours of audio, here are some episodes that I think are important to various plotlines, crucial to characters arcs, or just especially interesting:
The recent boom in the Night Vale fandom has its upside and downside. On the one hand, there are a lot of people writing fic, making fanart and fancrafts, assembling playlists, cosplaying, mixing character-inspired tea blends, etc. The show’s creators are fine with this, as long as no one buys or sells unauthorized merchandise. In fact, they have collaborated with fans to create limited edition T-shirts sold through the official store, and the Commonplace Books website contains this tantalizing phrase: “If you want to practice at home and have your episode ready, a complete main story of an episode should be 700-1200 words.” Meanwhile, Cecil Baldwin has been known to post fanart of his character that he particularly likes on Facebook.
On the other hand, controversies have arisen, most notably on the topic of race and representation as it applies to Cecil headcanons. There are also a few people who, in an truly epic example of missing the point, have complained about the Cecil/Carlos relationship.
Overall, though, the fandom is a friendly place, and the canon - which includes ghosts, magic, multiple planes of reality, cryptozoology, voyeurism, doppelgangers, body horror, mindf*ckery, and vore - is a rich source of inspiration.
’Ships
Slash
Cecil/Carlos, or “Cecilos,” is the 500-pound gorilla of Night Vale OTPs. However, one could make a case for Cecil/Earl Harlan based on the Scoutmaster’s parting words, and Cecil/Steve Carlsberg as either bitter exes or partners in a hate sex relationship. I’ve also seen Steve/Carlos, usually with Steve pining unrequitedly or as a relationship preceding or following Cecil/Carlos. Then there’s Kevin/Cecil and Kevin/Carlos, which usually barrels right into dark!fic territory, and Kevin/Steve, which can be oddly sweet.
Most of the F/F fic is rule 63 Cecil/Carlos, but I have seen stories featuring Intern Dana and Tamika Flynn, usually paired with OCs.
Het
Some het relationships have been mentioned in canon, but none seem to have generated a major following so far. In terms of fanfic, your best bets are Intern Dana/The Man in the Tan Jacket, or shenanigans among Carlos’s unnamed-in-canon colleagues.
There are a few fics in which Cecil and Dana are in a D/s relationship which does not involve sex.
Online Resources
WtNV is available through iTunes, Stitcher, Libsyn, Feedburner, and Soundcloud.
Much of Disparition’s music can be downloaded for free at disparition.info.
Official Site
At the official website hosted by Commonplace Books, you can find news (such as live show announcements), a submission guideline page, F.A.Q.s (including the proper spellings for various characters and places), contact info, and a link to donate. The goods available from the online store include T-shirts (some special limited editions designed by fans), mugs, Night Vale NRA bumper stickers, Night Vale Boy Scout badges, and postcards.
Communities
There does not appear to be much of an organized Night Vale presence on LJ, but there is http://nightvalekink.livejournal.com/. Meanwhile, Dreamwidth has http://nightvalecommunitykink.dreamwidth.org, http://nightvalecityhall.dreamwidth.org, and http://nightvale-dogpark.dreamwidth.org.
Tumblr
Night Vale is huge on Tumblr. Searching the tags for welcome to night vale, wtnv, and night vale will drown you in posts. Three of the best Night Vale-oriented blogs are darkowlrecords, theshapefromgrovepark, and fuckyeahwelcometonightvale. There are also a few blogs where you can find episode transcriptions; my favorite is cecilspeaks.tumblr.com.
That's all for now. More to come soon. In the meantime, remember: If you see something, say nothing, and drink to forget.
Good night, Night Vale. Good night...
A twice-monthly community update for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events.
- the Commonplace Books website
Click to viewWelcome to Night Vale is a podcast created by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (plus occasional guest writers), with a theme song and incidental music by Disparition. It debuted on June 15, 2012, and was downloaded about 150,000 times in its first year; then it caught Tumblr’s attention and that number doubled in one week. Now, it regularly vies with NPR’s This American Life for the number one spot on the iTunes Top Podcasts list.
New installments of WtNV are released on the first and fifteenth of each month. A typical episode involves a central news story that plays out between various recurring features, such as “Traffic,” “Community Calendar,” and “the Children’s Fun Fact Science Corner.” The penultimate segment is always “The Weather,” a song that is lyrically or tonally appropriate for that particular episode. There is also a Twitter feed (@NightValeRadio) and some live performances.
The show is set in Night Vale, a town somewhere in the American Southwest beset by space-time anomalies; eldritch entities, some benevolent, some hostile; and multiple (possibly competing) conspiracies. The powers that be are despotic and arbitrary when they aren’t flat-out incompetent, and are prone to misappropriating funds, or squandering them on obvious boondoggles. Meanwhile, citizens are subjected to constant surveillance, and faced with “re-education,” incarceration, torture, or execution for transgressions. The overall effect is of News from Lake Wobegon as written by H.P. Lovecraft and George Orwell.
Lest this all sound unbearably grim, I hasten to add that the series is extremely funny, thought-provoking, and heartwarming, largely thanks to our host, Cecil, who keeps everyone informed about what’s happening (or what isn’t happening, according to the authorities) ... that is, when he’s not busy mooning over Carlos, the beautiful scientist from out of town. That's right, there’s a canon queer love story involving at least one person of color.
Note: WtNV is very much a live canon. I will do my best to avoid spoilers and unwarranted assumptions in this overview.
The Characters
Heard On the Air • Night Vale Community Radio • Politicians, Public Servants, and Law Enforcement • Townsfolk • Eldritch Entities
Recommended Listening
The Fandom
The ’Ships
Resources
The Characters
We have nothing to fear except ourselves. We are unholy, awful people. Fear ourselves with silence. Look down, Night Vale; look down, and forget what you’ve done!
- Night Vale town motto, as quoted in “Feral Dogs”
Q: What does the character Cecil [or Kevin or Old Woman Josie or _____ ] look like?
A: What do YOU think they look like?
- from the official F.A.Q.s page
From left to right: Erika, Old Woman Josie, Cecil, Carlos, and Intern Dana, by jennerallydrawing
WtNV has a large, multi-ethnic, multi-species cast of characters, and new names are added to the roster frequently - though many are quickly wiped out, especially the Night Vale Community Radio interns. Here are some of the people (well, mostly people) you’ll encounter in canon and fanworks.
Heard On the Air
Cecil Gershwin Palmer (Cecil Baldwin)
Weird at last, weird at last. God almighty, weird at last. - “PYRAMID”
Various Cecil headcanons and Carlos (in labcoat) as drawn by japhers
Blob!Cecil and Carlos by saltysalmonella
More Cecil headcanons, as drawn by heartbrokengirlsketches
As the Voice of Night Vale, Cecil reports the news (often mimicking witnesses and interviewees), makes public service announcements, and reads ads, his smooth, sonorous tones shifting fluidly from achingly sincere, to sinister, to sarcastic as the material requires. He is proud of his hometown and devoted to his job, but his adoration of Carlos, with whom he falls in love at first sight, trumps everything else. Regarding his appearance, we are told he is neither tall nor short, neither thin nor fat, and has facial features. When asked, Fink and Cranor have declined to state Cecil’s ethnicity, while Baldwin has said that he has no personal headcanon about what his namesake looks like. In fanworks he is often uncanny or other-than-human, with traits like a preternaturally commanding voice, a third eye, moving tattoos, tentacles, the ability to shapeshift, omnipresence or omniscience, or some combination thereof. Cecil is canonically prone to existential crises, and recent canon both implies that there is something eldritch about him and casts doubt on his reliability as a narrator. Some fans speculate that his title has significance beyond his duties as a journalist and radio personality.
Note: Before Cecil’s full name was revealed, many fans assumed he shared his last name as well as his first with his actor.
Carlos the Scientist (Jeffrey Cranor, 2012-2013; Dylan Marron, December 2013 onwards)
Sometimes things seem so strange or malevolent, and then you find that underneath it was something else altogether. - “One Year Later”
Carlos cooking for Cecil, by harlequinpants
by gingerhaole
by themonsterwithoutaname
Carlos came to Night Vale with a team of researchers, excited by the prospect of studying “the most scientifically interesting community in the U.S.” Although frequently bewildered, frustrated, or frightened by the town’s peculiarities, he has been dauntless in his pursuit of knowledge and brave in his defense of others, while still demonstrating common sense and a (usually) healthy survival instinct. Understandably, he has been slow to reciprocate Cecil’s feelings. Cecil describes him as dark-skinned with “a square jaw, and teeth like a military cemetery. His hair is perfect [...] not to ignore the dignified, if premature, touch of gray in the temples.” Carlos is generally assumed to be Latino or Hispanic. We’ve yet to learn his last name, or what his field of study is. Fanonically, he is often depicted as a socially awkward workaholic. There are a number of fanfics in which Carlos is transgender.
from a gifset by bofur-of-ered-luin
Intern Dana, or her doppelganger (Jasika Nicole)
I will call when I can, and tell my mother and brother [...] I am safe. For now. - “Dana”
Dana is the only Night Vale Community Radio intern known to have survived more than one episode, unless she isn’t - there is some uncertainty as to who walked away from the confrontation between the intern and her double. Judging from her actions she is competent and dedicated to her job. Her current whereabouts are uncertain.
Note: Jasika Nicole was already a popular fancasting choice for Intern Dana before WtNV’s creators announced that she would be featured in the episode “Dana.”
by trelldraws
Kevin (Kevin Free)
You may not know me, nor I you, but we have this mic, and this voice, and your warm ears blossoming open to hear comforting secrets in the vibrations of a voice that pulse so deep into your body, your heart relaxes for a time. - “The Sandstorm”
Kevin is the Voice of Desert Bluffs, a nearby town which is controlled by StrexCorp Synernists Incorporated, and which is Night Vale’s chief rival in all varsity and professional sports. Cecil describes a photograph of Kevin thusly: “He is not tall or short, not thin or fat. His hair and nose are like mine, but his eyes - his eyes are black as obsidian and his smile ... No. It is not a smile.” Kevin’s comments during a visit to Night Vale Community Radio imply disturbing things about “the Bluffs,” things confirmed by Cecil’s first-hand observations of Kevin’s workplace.
Note: This was one of the less disturbing pieces of Kevin fanart I could find.
by mesitka
The Faceless Old Woman who secretly lives in your home (Mara Wilson)
I lit your fridge on fire. It was upsetting me. Now I’m smoking a cigarette and notating your copy of Infinite Jest. - “Faceless Old Woman”
The Faceless Old Woman has no eyes, nose, or mouth, and is presumably invisible and intangible, since she complains that you don’t acknowledge her even when she touches you while you are looking into the mirror. She communicates through the recordings she sends to the radio station, and by doing things like gluing a kitchen table to the floor upside-down. Despite these seeming handicaps, she has announced her candidacy for mayor of Night Vale.
by meeshyarts
Hiram McDaniels (Jackson Publick)
I’m literally a five-headed dragon. Who cares! - “Yellow Helicopters”
McDaniels first came to public notice when Cecil reported that the eighteen-foot, five-headed dragon was wanted by the Sheriff’s Secret Police for suspected insurance fraud, falsifying identification papers, evading arrest, and assaulting a police vehicle with fire. This has not kept Hiram from running for mayor on a platform of supporting children, small business owners, and small children business owners.
Night Vale Community Radio
by savedchicken
Station Management
Sometimes you can see movements through the frosted glass, large shapes shifting around, strange tendrils whipping through the air. - “Station Management”
The overseers of Night Vale Community Radio are the podcast’s most overtly Lovecraftian element, with their inhuman silhouettes and the non-Euclidean geometry of the office they rarely leave. Station staff usually interact with Management by shouting at their door, and then waiting for a response sealed in a red envelope to slide out. Employees who displease Management may undergo an HR retraining session in the Dark Box.
by cryptobaffling
Khoshekh
Listen, no pet is perfect. It becomes perfect when you learn to accept it for what it is. - “Glow Cloud”
Khoshekh is the station pet, a male cat who hovers in a spot four feet above the floor of the men’s restroom, near the sink. Despite his gender and immobility, Khoshekh has birthed a litter of kittens. This act of parthenogenesis, the terrifying noise that Cecil calls a feeding time meow, and the dire consequences for anyone who attempts to make a visual record of Khoshekh raise doubts as to his true species.
Note: The Khoshekh art is draggable.
Politicians, Public Servants, and Law Enforcement
Gina Torres, fancasting by cassandrabethloveyoutodeath
Mayor Pamela Winchell
She cares very much about us, Night Vale, and when she jails or tortures someone without just cause or due process, it is because she loves this town so much. - “The Mayor”
The hot-tempered, possibly possessed mayor of Night Vale has announced that she will be leaving office by year’s end. This may not be by her choice, as during a press conference, “She said again, through tight teeth, that this is totally her call and was never, ever discussed in a room with no windows by small men wearing large pelts and decorative soft meat crowns ... ‘That is not how we do things!’ she mouthed silently, as a single dark red tear formed in the corner of her eye, and then slowly rolled down her taut olive cheek and onto her clay-stained smock.”
The City Council is Night Vale’s chief governing body. Its primary duties seem to be banning things (sometimes with cause, as in the case of wheat and wheat by-products, but more often inexplicably, as with pocket calculators, margarita glasses, and writing implements), and ordering citizens to ignore certain places and beings, most notably the forbidden dog park and the angels. Its predecessor, the Town Elder Council (which met wearing traditional crimson robes and soft meat crowns), established the current Council’s membership, along with Night Vale’s official song, chant, and moan, in 1824. The membership of the Council has not changed since. Council members move and speak in concert, and they may in fact be a single multi-corporeal intelligence.
The Sheriff’s Secret Police is the agency responsible for enforcing the byzantine laws of Night Vale. They keep constant watch over the populace, tapping phones, monitoring and controlling Internet access, and conducting surveillance from their blue helicopters and on the ground, often disguising themselves as plants or furniture for the latter. Their standard uniform includes a short cape, blowdart chestbelt, and leather balaclava. The masked person believed to be the Sheriff wears a cloak, a mitre, and a giant silver star, and speaks through a vocoder.
Agents of A Vague Yet Menacing Government Agency can often be spotted around Night Vale. Some of them may be working for the World Government, who are responsible for the black helicopters.
Townsfolk
Old Woman Josie
Old Woman Josie, out near the car lot, says the angels revealed themselves to her. - “Pilot”
by nazi-nurse
by harlequinpants
Monique Mojica, fancasting by queenoftheuglythings
Cecil’s friend, news source, and occasional bowling partner, who was Chairwoman of the now-defunct Night Vale Opera, has been playing hostess to a group of friendly, ten-foot-tall angels. In return, they have shielded her from various dangers.
Johnny Depp, from a gifset by bofur-of-ered-luin
The Apache Tracker
Can you believe this guy said he used ancient Indian magics? What an asshole. - “Glow Cloud”
The Apache Tracker (called the Indian Tracker in the pilot) is, at first, an English-speaking man of possibly Slavic descent who wears a huge, cartoonishly inaccurate Indian headdress and claims he can follow tracks on asphalt. After a mysterious absence, he returns as a man who is ethnically Native American but only speaks Russian. Despite being, as Cecil repeatedly declares, a racist embarrassment, he seems well-intentioned.
Other Notable Citizens
- John Peters, you know, the farmer, has never had any luck with his peach orchard, but has done very well growing invisible corn. Lately, he has dedicated himself to keeping a sleepless vigil over a mysterious freestanding old oak door that appeared in a field near his house.
- Larry Leroy, out by the edge of town, is frequently cited by Cecil as a source or witness. He was the first to encounter the Whispering Forest, and one of the few to escape it. He is also the only person thus far who seems to have heard the name of the Man in the Tan Jacket, although he cannot clearly recall it.
- Steve Carlsberg is scorned by Cecil for his dry scones, the illegible notes he takes at PTA meetings, the missing hubcaps of his tan Corolla, and the fact that he wrote to the station about government weather control when everyone already knows about that. (Some fans speculate that they’re actually friends and Cecil’s on-air animosity is an in-universe running gag.)
- Scoutmaster Earl Harlan is a leader of the first Boy Scout troop to have members attain the rank of Eternal Scout. His words and action during an interview about the impending ceremony imply that he’s been pining for Cecil.
- Leanne Hart, the editor-in-chief of the Night Vale Daily Journal, takes increasingly bizarre measures to keep the newspaper solvent, including creating an “Imagination Edition” with an automatic and compulsory subscription rate of $60 per month, and instituting a policy of killing news bloggers with hatchets.
- Michael Sandero is the quarterback of the Night Vale High School football team, the Scorpions, and has benefited greatly from being struck by sentient lightning.
- Tamika Flynn not only survives the Summer Reading Program and leads the other children to freedom, but demonstrates an impressive reading comprehension level for a twelve-year-old.
Eldritch Entities
The Hooded Figures
It is possible you will see Hooded Figures in the dog park. Do not approach them. Do not approach the dog park. - “Pilot”
by callmekitto
cosplay by zipperaward and frost-butt
Night Vale is inhabited by ominous hooded figures. Their bodies are obscured by robes and their faces are hidden in shadow, but people can tell apart “the one that lurks under the slide in the Night Vale Elementary playground, the ones that meet regularly in the dog park, and the one that will occasionally steal babies.” When Cecil attempts to interview a hooded figure that was already inside the radio station when the doors were unlocked that morning, it levitates and emits a loud, staticy noise. Some fanartists and cosplayers prefer to dress the figures in hoodies.
The Angels
The structure of Heaven and the organizational chart are privileged information, known only to the City Council members on a need-to-know basis. Please do not speak to or acknowledge any Angels that you may come across while shopping at the Ralph’s or at the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex. They only tell lies and do not exist. - “Pilot”
by choodraws
by jennerallydrawing
by jennafowlerart
The angels appear at the home of Old Woman Josie, out by the car lot, shortly before the arrival of Carlos and his team of scientists. When Josie calls the news in to the radio station, she says that they are ten feet tall and that one of them is black. They are friendly and helpful, though sometimes mildly inconvenient. Fanart is often based on descriptions of cherubim, seraphim, and ophanim, rather than humanoid angels. All angels are named Erika, with a K. The angels’ existence is denied by the City Council.
by lowlighter
The Glow Cloud
All hail! Kneel for the Glow Cloud. Sacrifice. Pestilence. Sores. All hail the Glow Cloud! - “The Lights in Radon Canyon”
This cloud of shifting, luminous colors rains animal carcasses (ranging from armadillos, lizards, and crows to at least one lion), and has a habit of taking over people to speak with their mouths. After passing through town, it decides that Night Vale would be a good place to raise a child and joins the local school board.
by larbestaaargh
The Man in the Tan Jacket
The Man in the Tan Jacket was reportedly seen in the moonless black, standing next to a refrigerator engulfed in flames. - “The Man in the Tan Jacket”
This ambiguous figure of unknown origin “has seemed to pop up in relation to a lot of strange events.” He can enter and exit the forbidden dog park, carries a deerskin briefcase full of live flies, and has a name and face which no one can recall. He has interacted with Carlos (who does not remember him at all afterward), the Apache Tracker, Dana (“She says he’s a pretty cool guy, if you get to know him”), and Larry Leroy (who calls the Man first Emmett, then Everett, and finally Ernest when asked about their conversation).
by weareallpoetry
The Whispering Forest
Do not listen to its hollow compliments, its sappy flattery. - “The Whispering Forest”
The woodlands which suddenly appear just to the east of town prove remarkably alluring and unexpectedly perilous. The trees can talk, and they want you to stay.
by moriartylaughingalonewithcrown
The Librarians
...any Night Vale citizen encountering a librarian, an entity suspected of being a librarian, or any excessively organized and helpful individual with a working comprehension of information systems is encouraged to shoot on sight. - “Summer Reading Program”
The Librarians are some of the most feared entities in Night Vale. It is uncertain if the doors and windows of the Night Vale Public Library vanish because they want to keep people out, or because something is trying to keep them in. The repeated destruction of the library by fire is definitely an attempt by the townsfolk to curb the menace, but it’s only a stopgap measure.
Recommended Listening
For newcomers daunted by the prospect of listening to (as of November 2013) about 15 hours of audio, here are some episodes that I think are important to various plotlines, crucial to characters arcs, or just especially interesting:
- Cecil/Carlos: Pilot (01), Station Management (03), The Phone Call (16), One Year Later (25), First Date (27), A Blinking Light Up On the Mountain (31)
- What Is Up with Cecil?: The Shape in Grove Park (05), A Memory of Europe (21), Eternal Scouts (23), Faceless Old Woman (26), Cassette (33)
- Night Vale Politics: History Week (07), The Candidate (12), The Mayor (24), Faceless Old Woman (26), Yellow Helicopters (32)
- What Is Up with Desert Bluffs?: The Sandstorm (19A and B), Yellow Helicopters (32)
- WTF?: Glow Cloud (02), Wheat and Wheat By-products (11), A Story About You (13), Street Cleaning Day (15), Valentine (17), Poetry Week (20), The Whispering Forest (22), Summer Reading Program (28), Subway (29), Dana (30), A Beautiful Dream (34)
The recent boom in the Night Vale fandom has its upside and downside. On the one hand, there are a lot of people writing fic, making fanart and fancrafts, assembling playlists, cosplaying, mixing character-inspired tea blends, etc. The show’s creators are fine with this, as long as no one buys or sells unauthorized merchandise. In fact, they have collaborated with fans to create limited edition T-shirts sold through the official store, and the Commonplace Books website contains this tantalizing phrase: “If you want to practice at home and have your episode ready, a complete main story of an episode should be 700-1200 words.” Meanwhile, Cecil Baldwin has been known to post fanart of his character that he particularly likes on Facebook.
On the other hand, controversies have arisen, most notably on the topic of race and representation as it applies to Cecil headcanons. There are also a few people who, in an truly epic example of missing the point, have complained about the Cecil/Carlos relationship.
Overall, though, the fandom is a friendly place, and the canon - which includes ghosts, magic, multiple planes of reality, cryptozoology, voyeurism, doppelgangers, body horror, mindf*ckery, and vore - is a rich source of inspiration.
’Ships
Slash
Cecil/Carlos, or “Cecilos,” is the 500-pound gorilla of Night Vale OTPs. However, one could make a case for Cecil/Earl Harlan based on the Scoutmaster’s parting words, and Cecil/Steve Carlsberg as either bitter exes or partners in a hate sex relationship. I’ve also seen Steve/Carlos, usually with Steve pining unrequitedly or as a relationship preceding or following Cecil/Carlos. Then there’s Kevin/Cecil and Kevin/Carlos, which usually barrels right into dark!fic territory, and Kevin/Steve, which can be oddly sweet.
Most of the F/F fic is rule 63 Cecil/Carlos, but I have seen stories featuring Intern Dana and Tamika Flynn, usually paired with OCs.
Het
Some het relationships have been mentioned in canon, but none seem to have generated a major following so far. In terms of fanfic, your best bets are Intern Dana/The Man in the Tan Jacket, or shenanigans among Carlos’s unnamed-in-canon colleagues.
There are a few fics in which Cecil and Dana are in a D/s relationship which does not involve sex.
Online Resources
WtNV is available through iTunes, Stitcher, Libsyn, Feedburner, and Soundcloud.
Much of Disparition’s music can be downloaded for free at disparition.info.
Official Site
At the official website hosted by Commonplace Books, you can find news (such as live show announcements), a submission guideline page, F.A.Q.s (including the proper spellings for various characters and places), contact info, and a link to donate. The goods available from the online store include T-shirts (some special limited editions designed by fans), mugs, Night Vale NRA bumper stickers, Night Vale Boy Scout badges, and postcards.
Communities
There does not appear to be much of an organized Night Vale presence on LJ, but there is http://nightvalekink.livejournal.com/. Meanwhile, Dreamwidth has http://nightvalecommunitykink.dreamwidth.org, http://nightvalecityhall.dreamwidth.org, and http://nightvale-dogpark.dreamwidth.org.
Tumblr
Night Vale is huge on Tumblr. Searching the tags for welcome to night vale, wtnv, and night vale will drown you in posts. Three of the best Night Vale-oriented blogs are darkowlrecords, theshapefromgrovepark, and fuckyeahwelcometonightvale. There are also a few blogs where you can find episode transcriptions; my favorite is cecilspeaks.tumblr.com.
That's all for now. More to come soon. In the meantime, remember: If you see something, say nothing, and drink to forget.
Good night, Night Vale. Good night...