Going Native, by JumpingJackFlash (PG)
Fandom: WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE
Pairing: Cecil/Carlos
Length: 2,213 words
Author on LJ: gomichan
Author Website: jumpingjacktrash on Tumblr; works on AO3
Notes: spoilers through “First Date” (ep. 27)
Why this must be read:
This story is a retelling of the first year of WtNV, in the form of excerpts from a journal kept by Carlos. JumpingJackFlash has a great Carlos voice: direct, descriptive, and precise even when he’s bewildered and frustrated by the various threats and mysteries that cross his path - or by his evolving feelings about a certain persistent admirer...
I am starting to think of Cecil as Night Vale.
That doesn't even make sense written down. It's not that I think he's some sort of anthropomorphic personification of the regional spirit or something. Although that wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've run across here. But he's not a collective, or even a spokesman for the whole. He's an individual.
Still, I feel as if he functions as a sort of... diagnostic interface? The readout, not the machine. Maybe just a representative sample. Maybe just a mine canary.
He even complements the town visually. His skin is pale apricot-tan like adobe, with a few sandy freckles. His hair matches the local stone, a blondish brown that looks a bit gingery in the afternoons. His eyes are sagebrush green. It's a nice effect, really. He has the sort of face that only becomes handsome once you get to know him, the same way Night Vale only shows its small-town charm once you get past the 'dear God, what even is this?' stage.
Cecil and Night Vale both frighten me, but not as much as they used to, and not as much as maybe they should.
“Going Native” on AO3
Pairing: Cecil/Carlos
Length: 2,213 words
Author on LJ: gomichan
Author Website: jumpingjacktrash on Tumblr; works on AO3
Notes: spoilers through “First Date” (ep. 27)
Why this must be read:
This story is a retelling of the first year of WtNV, in the form of excerpts from a journal kept by Carlos. JumpingJackFlash has a great Carlos voice: direct, descriptive, and precise even when he’s bewildered and frustrated by the various threats and mysteries that cross his path - or by his evolving feelings about a certain persistent admirer...
I am starting to think of Cecil as Night Vale.
That doesn't even make sense written down. It's not that I think he's some sort of anthropomorphic personification of the regional spirit or something. Although that wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've run across here. But he's not a collective, or even a spokesman for the whole. He's an individual.
Still, I feel as if he functions as a sort of... diagnostic interface? The readout, not the machine. Maybe just a representative sample. Maybe just a mine canary.
He even complements the town visually. His skin is pale apricot-tan like adobe, with a few sandy freckles. His hair matches the local stone, a blondish brown that looks a bit gingery in the afternoons. His eyes are sagebrush green. It's a nice effect, really. He has the sort of face that only becomes handsome once you get to know him, the same way Night Vale only shows its small-town charm once you get past the 'dear God, what even is this?' stage.
Cecil and Night Vale both frighten me, but not as much as they used to, and not as much as maybe they should.
“Going Native” on AO3