Welcome to Night Vale is a thing of beauty. WTNV is a twice-monthly podcast that morphs into the style of community updates for a small town in the desert fondly known as Nigh Vale. This independent podcast, made by only a handful of people, began in 2012. Each episode ranges from 20 to 25 minutes long, with heavy "themes of surreal humor and horror." The series is written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor and is narrated by Cecil Baldwin, who speaks the voice of a character by the same name. Although the podcast is distributed by the hands of itunes, it is completely free and independent. Itunes does not own or sponsor anything and the way the WTNV group has an income is by support by their fans for them to continue episodes. Hence, WTNV is an independent source of media as it is distributed by a handful of people for free and only that small group has creative rights over it.
WTNV is a podcast set in the unknown and supernatural and surreal town of Night Vale. Cecil Baldwin spends his time reporting the weird (but normal for them) news that happen on their daily lives while ranting about such and such nonsense. He talks about his fear of management and how he hears their tentacles move outside his door when he's reporting something the sheriff's secret police don't want known. Sometimes, he diverges into his love for Carlos, an unknown tan scientist with beautiful hair that has wandered into town and their budding romance. WTNV does not have a specific story line but all the podcasts seem to contact in minor ways that become more major in later episodes.
The audience for Night Vale is any age who doesn't mine the chilling feeling of shivers rolling up their spine. Night Vale is supposed to creep you out, make you nervous or ponder the importance of other things. It's technically for all ages, but I think those with a more mature mindset should dedicate time to listening to the episodes.
Despite being around since 2012, WTNV has surged in popularity and has grown a proper fandom. The most wonderful thing about it is that no one has a specific face, thus artists tend to draw many forms of Cecil, from black to tan to white to a monster creature with tentacles and a heart of gold. This matters because it's one of the most underused forms of story telling in modern day and allows creative actions to be made without being tied down by preset images. It opens up the world of podcasts and how you don't need something horrible flashy to be brilliant.
Welcome to Night Vale is considered an Independent Media source due to it's creation being solely in the hands of a few people, rather than a corporation or a group with power. It's made in someone's home with his friends and a small writing team of two men.
Simply outstanding. I still want to see you writing more concise sentences, but this rules. Nicely done. 5/5
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