Welcome to Night Vale: 71 - The Registry of Middle School Crushes
August 3, 2015 2:37 PM - Subscribe
A heist is planned. Plus the answer to last week's quiz and news about The Trial of the Century.
Weather: "My Postcard" by Toys and Tiny Instruments (toysandtinyinstruments.bandcamp.com)
SEPT - NOV 2015 TOUR DATES (Jeffrey & Joseph book tour; Live shows in UK, Ireland, US, & Canada): welcometonightvale.com, click on live shows.
PREORDER THE NIGHT VALE NOVEL: welcometonightvale.com, click on novel.
Music: Disparition, disparition.info and Joseph Fink.
Logo: Rob Wilson, robwilsonwork.com.
Produced by Night Vale Presents. Written by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor. Narrated by Cecil Baldwin. More Info: welcometonightvale.com, and follow @NightValeRadio on Twitter or Facebook.
Weather: "My Postcard" by Toys and Tiny Instruments (toysandtinyinstruments.bandcamp.com)
SEPT - NOV 2015 TOUR DATES (Jeffrey & Joseph book tour; Live shows in UK, Ireland, US, & Canada): welcometonightvale.com, click on live shows.
PREORDER THE NIGHT VALE NOVEL: welcometonightvale.com, click on novel.
Music: Disparition, disparition.info and Joseph Fink.
Logo: Rob Wilson, robwilsonwork.com.
Produced by Night Vale Presents. Written by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor. Narrated by Cecil Baldwin. More Info: welcometonightvale.com, and follow @NightValeRadio on Twitter or Facebook.
I really appreciated the detail of Janice's being in a wheelchair* and that being an integral part of the plot *and* completely unremarked upon by the rest of the cast (in a very similar matter-of-fact way to how Carlos and Cecil's romance is handled).
*Which, apparently was introduced in Old Oak Doors Part B, but I had completely forgotten about it.
posted by damayanti at 3:01 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
*Which, apparently was introduced in Old Oak Doors Part B, but I had completely forgotten about it.
posted by damayanti at 3:01 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
I love the new theme, I hope it's not a one off for the Heist. I've been looking for a version of it online, but so far nothing. I also forgot about Janice being in a wheelchair, but it's a good thing there was an ADA complaint elevator available.
posted by jazon at 3:26 PM on August 3, 2015
posted by jazon at 3:26 PM on August 3, 2015
Well, who wouldn't want the records of their middle school crushes erased for all time? Go Janice!
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:02 PM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:02 PM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
I really appreciated the detail of Janice's being in a wheelchair* and that being an integral part of the plot *and* completely unremarked upon by the rest of the cast (in a very similar matter-of-fact way to how Carlos and Cecil's romance is handled).
Yup.
*Which, apparently was introduced in Old Oak Doors Part B, but I had completely forgotten about it.
I love that bit, and I'm gonna go ahead and quote it (with the help of Cecil Speaks):
posted by Shmuel510 at 5:32 PM on August 3, 2015 [10 favorites]
Yup.
*Which, apparently was introduced in Old Oak Doors Part B, but I had completely forgotten about it.
I love that bit, and I'm gonna go ahead and quote it (with the help of Cecil Speaks):
Steve Carlsberg: Kevin, before I step into your weird light, let me ask you about schools real fast. Now, my stepdaughter Janice is ten years old, and…the elementary schools are OK, but I don’t know if I can afford to send her to private school, and she’s a little bit…
Kevin: Say no more, Steve Carlsberg! Desert Bluffs schools are top-notch! Young Janice can take college prep courses as early as 12. Our charter schools even have great medical programs, where they can heal her of all her problems.
Steve Carlsberg: I’m sorry, uh, I don’t get it.
Cecil: Yeah, um…Janice’s uncle here. What do you mean by “heal her?”
Kevin: She can’t walk, right?
Cecil: Yeah, I mean…
Steve Carlsberg: Oh no, since birth.
Cecil: She can’t.
Kevin: Well, rather than build all those crazy ramps and elevators, we just fix people, so that they can become better, and more productive!
Steve Carlsberg: You are awful, and gross! And I was only being polite about your eyes! They are weird! Now you listen to me!
Cecil: Listeners, Steve Carlsberg has just picked up Kevin by his blood-stained lapels.
Kevin: Oooh! Ooh! Oh!
Steve Carlsberg: You will not change my home town! You will not change my stepbrother! And, Kevin of Desert Bluffs, you will not change, or fix, or do anything at all to my little girl!
Cecil: And– and– and Steve– Steve is carrying him to the open oak door! And– and he just pushed him through into that blinding, awful light!
Kevin: Oh, smile!
Cecil: And Kevin…is gone.
Steve Carlsberg: I did not like that guy very much.
Cecil: Me neither. Um, thanks, Steve.
Steve Carlsberg: Anything for my girl. Try and tell me there’s something about her needs fixin’.
Cecil: You know, Steve, uh, we have our differences. So many differences. More differences than not, yes.
Steve Carlsberg: Yeah, I understand what you’re saying about the differences.
Cecil: But, I am glad that you are there to take care of Janice, and…she could do a lot worse.
posted by Shmuel510 at 5:32 PM on August 3, 2015 [10 favorites]
One of the things I love most about Night Vale is the show's casual diversity - characters are allowed to have disabilities or be LGBT or whatever, and it's just a part of their overall self, NOT the entirety, and not a convenient plot point. The Cecil/Carlos relationship is also phenomenal for those of us trying to raise LGBT-positive kids... it's such a sweet romance, and quite possibly the MOST normal thing to happen in Night Vale, and it's just an unremarkable fact of life in the show, like the forbidden dog park or the glow cloud (ALL HAIL!).
posted by julthumbscrew at 6:56 AM on August 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by julthumbscrew at 6:56 AM on August 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
AND FURTHERMORE: I've been idly kinda-sorta watching the second season of "True Detective", and the dialogue, while well-written, often lands with a dissonant "clang", and I figured out why: it's 100% Straight White Cis Privileged Male-Speak. It is a recipe with only ONE flavor component, which makes it like a salt lick, or a sack of flour. There's no nuance, there's only a single perspective, and as such, there's nothing to modulate it and prevent it from veering (as it does, violently) into "I am SO cool and SO clever and SO edgy and POSSIBLY the reincarnation of Bukowski or Chandler!" territory. Even if a writer doesn't give a damn about the OTHER benefits of diversity in writing, that aspect alone (it prevents your work from being a single, dissonant, embarrassing note) ought to be enough for any writer with self-respect to see its worth.
posted by julthumbscrew at 7:04 AM on August 4, 2015
posted by julthumbscrew at 7:04 AM on August 4, 2015
I'm not so sure about the new intro music - it seems less, I dunno, hard-hitting than the original, which I really really liked. But 4 years is a long time to go without a change.
I enjoyed the meta-ness of this, telling stories about telling stories. It made me think of the Pamela Winchell excerpt during the hiatus, the part talking about the people sitting around the campfire telling stories. Super interesting meditation on the reality (and non-reality) of the stories we tell ourselves.
posted by chainsofreedom at 7:20 AM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
I enjoyed the meta-ness of this, telling stories about telling stories. It made me think of the Pamela Winchell excerpt during the hiatus, the part talking about the people sitting around the campfire telling stories. Super interesting meditation on the reality (and non-reality) of the stories we tell ourselves.
posted by chainsofreedom at 7:20 AM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
The production company also changed its name!
(Personally, I really liked the new credits music in Episode 67. Not sure how I feel about the new theme.)
posted by schmod at 4:35 AM on August 10, 2015
(Personally, I really liked the new credits music in Episode 67. Not sure how I feel about the new theme.)
posted by schmod at 4:35 AM on August 10, 2015
I love Janice and her stealth wheelchair and her storytelling uncle so much‼ Cecil sounds so much happier, and so gleeful over the elaborate heist.
I don't think I have ever cackled louder at a sponsor ad than this one for the Venom Box, because after a spree of popular podcasts I've heard worshipful ads for every fucking subscription in existence. "Venom Box has been sending me samples and, boy! Have I almost died! I have almost died…a lot!"
posted by nicebookrack at 1:57 PM on March 27, 2017
I don't think I have ever cackled louder at a sponsor ad than this one for the Venom Box, because after a spree of popular podcasts I've heard worshipful ads for every fucking subscription in existence. "Venom Box has been sending me samples and, boy! Have I almost died! I have almost died…a lot!"
posted by nicebookrack at 1:57 PM on March 27, 2017
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Otherwise, solid season opener. I enjoyed the heist, and it's good to hear Cecil sounding happier than ever. (Also, good to hear him continuing to mellow toward Steve Carlsberg.)
posted by Shmuel510 at 2:40 PM on August 3, 2015