[ SECRET POST #2479 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2479 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 018 secrets from Secret Submission Post #354.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[juliamon]

minor tangent first: I would argue that Station Management was actually our first "real" cliffhanger... and the episode following it acted as though it never happened. And yet everyone seems to be up in arms that Yellow Helicopters just pulled the same thing? If anything, I think it's a lot more telling that there was a Strex message in Cassette. Since the episodes air in a semblance of real time, it's been two weeks since the Strex incident so it's completely reasonable that things have been worked out and settled down by now. I look forward to other subtle bits of Strex slipping in here and there.

Back to the subject at hand. Most of the fandom seems to follow the show purely for the gay. They don't care about the rest of the town, they just want their adorable babies to be okay and still together. Surely you saw the shitstorm that came down after the "chews his food a little more loudly than is polite" line?

I enjoyed the new episode not because of the (possible?) Cecil backstory we got, but rather the information on the town we got from it (ie. the advent of Big Rico's, the history of NVCR). And I feel like one of the few who did. There's no "wrong way" to enjoy something but I feel like a huge chunk of the fandom is missing the point of the show as a whole.

[erinptah]

It always baffles me when people combine "caring about the gay" and "missing the point of the show." This isn't an incidental thing, it isn't a canon friendship where the queer subtext is only potential, it isn't a couple of minor characters thrown together based on that one scene where they spoke. It's the main romance of the series, involving the central character and one of the other main characters, and has been explicitly developing since the first episode.

Even more so when you put "missing the point of the show" with "not enjoying this for the backstory of the main character." If you take out all the stuff about Cecil's personal life, romantic or not, that's half the show gone -- and the other half wouldn't seem nearly so compelling without the contrast.

[juliamon]

Perhaps I should have been more clear: I meant "caring about the gay to the exclusion of everything else in the show unless it might affect the gay." The "HE DIDN'T MENTION CARLOS AT ALL IN THIS EPISODE, IT MUST MEAN THEY'RE HAVING A FIGHT" or the "STREX IS GONNA KIDNAP/TORTURE CARLOS" mindsets. Despite the fact that it is the main romance, the show itself is NOT a romance but rather an exploration of a location where a romance happens to exist, and we happen to know about it because our window to the world is all too happy to push it in our faces. Fink and Cranor have created this fascinating world, and (as someone who has spent years developing a world herself) I want to know more about it so badly, not just a twice-monthly reminder that the main character has a boyfriend. I like Cecil, don't get me wrong, it was nice hearing some backstory for him (I was just more intrigued by the surrounding data) and I'm happy that he and Carlos are a thing. But I don't want to hear about it unless there's something Night-Vale-weird related, such as the buzzing shadow entities taking over the town during their date. I get the feeling that most of the fandom wishes the buzzing shadow problem hadn't been there so that Carlos might have invited him in for coffee/cuddles, but... here's the thing: setting genders aside, basically all media aimed at people over the age of 10 makes out romance to be the Most Important Thing. It's HARD to find something that doesn't, and is still in my range of interests. The romance we get in Night Vale is good because so far it almost always ties in with something weird. Bringing the romance to the forefront of the show wouldn't fit with how it's been written so far, unless Strex is pulling the strings behind it.

I apologize for that mess of words (and the previous mess too), I'm really bad at explaining ...anything. I think the important thing is understanding what the focus of the show is.

[erinptah]

Maybe we're just getting different subsections of fandom, because I haven't seen a lot of people going "oh no, what's going to happen to Cecil and/or Carlos" who aren't just as quick to say "I'm so worried about Old Woman Josie" or "I can't wait to find out more about Dana" or "here are my theories about Kevin." It's an interest in character relationships/development in general, not just romance.

...and I'm curious about what part of Cecil's backstory wasn't weirdness-related enough for your preferences, because it seemed pretty saturated with it to me. Even the super-basic character detail of his full name came in the context of introducing himself to a mysterious force that has some unknown association with his radio job and mirrors.

"Cecil didn't mention Carlos this episode, time to panic!" does sound OTT.

Thing is, "Oh no, what if Strex kidnaps/tortures Carlos?" -- or the character-based Strex worries I've actually seen, which are all about Old Woman Josie and Cecil (and sometimes Kevin, depending on headcanon) -- just seem like they're coming from a viewpoint of "I like the weird stuff fine, but I want it to tie in with the characters I care about." Which feels about on par with "I like the character stuff fine, but I want it to tie in with the worldbuilding I'm interested in" as a way of approaching the canon, you know?

All that aside, I do sympathize when the complaint is "I wish more people were talking about the WtNV elements I'm interested in." Like, that's a legitimate thing to be frustrated about, whether everyone else's interests are valid or not.

(Come to nightvale_dogpark? We've discussed plot-related details for the last couple of episodes, and I'm sure people would respond well to more posts on the subject....)

[insanenoodlyguy]

More like 20% at best. Cecil is our narrator, but the show is Night Vale, as the title implies. Not the Cecil X Kevin hour.

To be clear there is nothing wrong with their romance or liking their romance or coming into the fandom because of the romance. But it is not a romance series so even the main romance is not all that prominent, and people expecting it to be otherwise is annoying.

[caecilia]

Not the Cecil X Kevin hour.

Did you mean Carlos, or did Cecil and Kevin hook up in the new episode? (haven't listened yet)

[insanenoodlyguy]

hahah whoops. Freudian slip.

Guess you all know what my favorite ship is now!

[caecilia]

You sick fuck.

Y'know, you can ask for some belated birthday fic from me. Femslash would probably turn out sexier but hey maybe I'm in the mood for some crackfic.