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fandomhighdorms2014-05-01 03:39 pm
voiceoverdue) wrote in fandomhighdorms2014-05-01 03:39 pm
Entry tags:
Room 216, Thursday afternoon
Cecil had been looking forward to heading home for the week between semesters — honestly, it was just one week, how much would it slow him down? — but to his initially hurt surprise, Carlos had suggested he not. Cecil had been a bit worried, until he’d gotten a letter from him.
Apparently the awful people over at Desert Bluffs were trying to move in on Night Vale, and Carlos was concerned about his safety? Aww, that was so sweet! And look, the Sheriff’s Secret Policeman who had checked the outgoing mail had even added a “wait for it to die down like always” scrawl in the margin!
So no need to worry, then.
He was curious, though. With the letter, Carlos had sent a bit of a care package: some more hats and scarves and osmingo-leg-warmers from Old Woman Josie, a campaign poster for Hiram McDaniels, a USB drive that the letter said was a recording from Dana (with a note from the Sheriff’s Secret Police that the charring and blood were there prior to their search), a shirt, a sweater, and some nifty socks from Carlos himself, and a box of cassette tapes.
I found these in your closet, the letter read. I thought maybe you’d have fun comparing then-you to now-you. I haven’t listened to them yet, in case they’re really embarrassing. They were labeled “Cecil radio test — age 15”.
It took a few days for Cecil to track down an old cassette player. Then he eyed the tapes curiously and a little worriedly. “Huh.” Cecil blinked at Foucault, who blinked back (Foucault’s blinking was much more impressive). “I don’t remember making these. Want to listen?”
Foucault fluttered and honked, and Cecil took that as a yes, found the first tape, and hit play.
Hi, Cecil here. Mom gave me this recorder for my birthday so I could make my own radio shows, just like Leonard Burton’s show at the real Night Vale Community Radio. I’m going to replace Leonard one day. I really want to, plus the tablets down at City Hall say so, so I better start practicing now.
Leonard always starts out his show with his big catchphrase, and so I’ll do it too, just the way he does it. Here goes:
The sun is actually cold. It’s cold and empty and all is lost. Greetings from Night Vale.
How was that? Hold on, hold on, I want to hear that back! Wait, where’s the Stop button?
…
Cecil again! Wow, is that what I really sound like? This is so weird! OK, OK. *Ahem*
So, in local news: A new pizza place opened, and I went to it. It’s called Big Rico’s, and it’s pretty good! I mean, I prefer Sammy’s Ultimate Sliceria by the Ralph’s, but it burned down last week, and that’s too bad. Oh, well. I’m sure it’ll be rebuilt soon.
Wait, what is...that?
...
Huh. It went away when I hit Stop. Oh, but now it’s back again. It’s kind of…it’s this kind of flickering in the corner of my eye, like someone’s waving their arms right next to me, but when I turn, there’s nothing there. Oh, well.
Oh, hey! Do you want to hear me sing? Here’s the Night Vale High fight song!
[static sounds accompanied by faint humming]
Wow, that flickering got really strong when I sang.
[Gasps] Oh, oh oh oh! Leonard’s going to be on soon! All right, goodbye for now – or, as Leonard always says: See ya Night Vale. See ya!
...
Cecil again! My brother says that I’ll never make it in radio, because my voice isn’t right for it. I need to get more like Leonard, with that perfect radio voice – all high-pitched and grating like sandpaper, just the way radio voices should be.
Um, I’ve been seeing that movement more, even when I’m not recording. It’s like someone is walking towards me, but when I turn, there’s nothing there. And it’s not the Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Our Home because I asked her, and the next day our kitchen table had been flipped over, and super-glued to the floor, which I’m pretty sure is her way of saying no.
I wish whatever it is would just say hi! [Gasp] Whoa! I felt something touch me! I think maybe making these tapes is encouraging it. I’m… um…I’m going to hit Stop now!
...
Hey! Cecil here, great news! Leonard agreed to let me intern down at the station, doing all the things he doesn’t have time to – like organizing the tape archive, making the coffee, and keening to station management for the prescribed three hours daily. Oh! I cannot wait to start!
Mother says to beware, be warned, be wary. She says this to everything, no matter what you say to her, so I think that means she’s very proud of me. Heck, I’m very proud of me! I wish my brother could be proud of me, but no family member is perfect, they become perfect when you learn to accept them for what they are.
...
Oh my god! My first day as an intern was just...neat!
It didn’t start out well, what with my brother staring at me from across the breakfast table with those hollow eyes and howling? Ugh, brothers, right?
But once I was in the radio station, I knew I had found home! A messy home, full of hallways winding away into a labyrinth of audio equipment and tape stacks – just like home!
Oh, the station management’s door, with its terrifying shadows whipping around in a hazy silhouette, just like that gauzy curtain in the living room back home we never open?
And, oh! The windows looking out onto empty recording studios that haven’t been used in decades, but that still broadcast live shows every night! Some just heavily-amplified insect movement, others a whispered voice describing a window opening, a hand reaching in…and then repeating, a window opening, a hand reaching in.
Oh! Oh! And working with Leonard? When he looks at you through the glass of the booth, and he signals you to crouch under a table and cover your head, you know…this is it! I’m actually doing radio!
My mom seems really proud of me too! She hid from me for three days! Like, the longest ever! And she’s covered all the mirrors in my house. I’m not sure why, but I think it must be because of pride. Being proud does all sorts of things… to a… um… to a person.
I’m– I’m sorry, I got distracted. That weird movement is back, and it’s– it’s closer now.
Hello? Hello? I’m Cecil! Cecil Gershwin Palmer! And you cannot scare me! You cannot! You canno –
...Hello?
...
Interning is going great! Mom is gone, um… Oh! Leonard is super nice to me! My brother’s gone, too. Family, right?
I think I’m learning a lot at the station. All the mirrors in my house are uncovered now, and I’m not sure who did that. I’m standing in front of the hall mirror right now. Am I changed? Am I becoming an adult? I look more grown, I think. More professional.
Leonard said if I work hard, maybe I’ll be a radio presenter myself some day!
Leonard said he once was smaller too, but that he is larger now – that everything is larger. That everything in the universe is growing to towering sizes, but all at once – all in unison. So no one notices, and it is all the same relative to itself.
Leonard lolls his tongue out of his thick, purple lips. Leonard hisses.
Being an intern is great!
That flickering movement is everywhere now. Especially looking in this mirror. I see the flickering movement, and I know. I know it.
I think the radio station is fun. I think the radio station is hidden. I think the radio station is like a dark planet lit by no sun.
I think, therefore I soon won’t be.
I’m looking in a mirror. The mirror is not covered. The flickering movement is just…behind me. I–
[Screams, followed by strangled, gargling sounds]
Cecil turned the player off as quickly as he could and flung it across the room, eyeing it as if it were going to attack.
[Text taken directly from a transcript of Welcome to Night Vale, episode "Cassette". I unfortunately can't remember where I got the transcript. Just a bit of canon catch-up for the boy! Closed door, open to anyone barging in afterward.]
Apparently the awful people over at Desert Bluffs were trying to move in on Night Vale, and Carlos was concerned about his safety? Aww, that was so sweet! And look, the Sheriff’s Secret Policeman who had checked the outgoing mail had even added a “wait for it to die down like always” scrawl in the margin!
So no need to worry, then.
He was curious, though. With the letter, Carlos had sent a bit of a care package: some more hats and scarves and osmingo-leg-warmers from Old Woman Josie, a campaign poster for Hiram McDaniels, a USB drive that the letter said was a recording from Dana (with a note from the Sheriff’s Secret Police that the charring and blood were there prior to their search), a shirt, a sweater, and some nifty socks from Carlos himself, and a box of cassette tapes.
I found these in your closet, the letter read. I thought maybe you’d have fun comparing then-you to now-you. I haven’t listened to them yet, in case they’re really embarrassing. They were labeled “Cecil radio test — age 15”.
It took a few days for Cecil to track down an old cassette player. Then he eyed the tapes curiously and a little worriedly. “Huh.” Cecil blinked at Foucault, who blinked back (Foucault’s blinking was much more impressive). “I don’t remember making these. Want to listen?”
Foucault fluttered and honked, and Cecil took that as a yes, found the first tape, and hit play.
Hi, Cecil here. Mom gave me this recorder for my birthday so I could make my own radio shows, just like Leonard Burton’s show at the real Night Vale Community Radio. I’m going to replace Leonard one day. I really want to, plus the tablets down at City Hall say so, so I better start practicing now.
Leonard always starts out his show with his big catchphrase, and so I’ll do it too, just the way he does it. Here goes:
The sun is actually cold. It’s cold and empty and all is lost. Greetings from Night Vale.
How was that? Hold on, hold on, I want to hear that back! Wait, where’s the Stop button?
…
Cecil again! Wow, is that what I really sound like? This is so weird! OK, OK. *Ahem*
So, in local news: A new pizza place opened, and I went to it. It’s called Big Rico’s, and it’s pretty good! I mean, I prefer Sammy’s Ultimate Sliceria by the Ralph’s, but it burned down last week, and that’s too bad. Oh, well. I’m sure it’ll be rebuilt soon.
Wait, what is...that?
...
Huh. It went away when I hit Stop. Oh, but now it’s back again. It’s kind of…it’s this kind of flickering in the corner of my eye, like someone’s waving their arms right next to me, but when I turn, there’s nothing there. Oh, well.
Oh, hey! Do you want to hear me sing? Here’s the Night Vale High fight song!
[static sounds accompanied by faint humming]
Wow, that flickering got really strong when I sang.
[Gasps] Oh, oh oh oh! Leonard’s going to be on soon! All right, goodbye for now – or, as Leonard always says: See ya Night Vale. See ya!
...
Cecil again! My brother says that I’ll never make it in radio, because my voice isn’t right for it. I need to get more like Leonard, with that perfect radio voice – all high-pitched and grating like sandpaper, just the way radio voices should be.
Um, I’ve been seeing that movement more, even when I’m not recording. It’s like someone is walking towards me, but when I turn, there’s nothing there. And it’s not the Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Our Home because I asked her, and the next day our kitchen table had been flipped over, and super-glued to the floor, which I’m pretty sure is her way of saying no.
I wish whatever it is would just say hi! [Gasp] Whoa! I felt something touch me! I think maybe making these tapes is encouraging it. I’m… um…I’m going to hit Stop now!
...
Hey! Cecil here, great news! Leonard agreed to let me intern down at the station, doing all the things he doesn’t have time to – like organizing the tape archive, making the coffee, and keening to station management for the prescribed three hours daily. Oh! I cannot wait to start!
Mother says to beware, be warned, be wary. She says this to everything, no matter what you say to her, so I think that means she’s very proud of me. Heck, I’m very proud of me! I wish my brother could be proud of me, but no family member is perfect, they become perfect when you learn to accept them for what they are.
...
Oh my god! My first day as an intern was just...neat!
It didn’t start out well, what with my brother staring at me from across the breakfast table with those hollow eyes and howling? Ugh, brothers, right?
But once I was in the radio station, I knew I had found home! A messy home, full of hallways winding away into a labyrinth of audio equipment and tape stacks – just like home!
Oh, the station management’s door, with its terrifying shadows whipping around in a hazy silhouette, just like that gauzy curtain in the living room back home we never open?
And, oh! The windows looking out onto empty recording studios that haven’t been used in decades, but that still broadcast live shows every night! Some just heavily-amplified insect movement, others a whispered voice describing a window opening, a hand reaching in…and then repeating, a window opening, a hand reaching in.
Oh! Oh! And working with Leonard? When he looks at you through the glass of the booth, and he signals you to crouch under a table and cover your head, you know…this is it! I’m actually doing radio!
My mom seems really proud of me too! She hid from me for three days! Like, the longest ever! And she’s covered all the mirrors in my house. I’m not sure why, but I think it must be because of pride. Being proud does all sorts of things… to a… um… to a person.
I’m– I’m sorry, I got distracted. That weird movement is back, and it’s– it’s closer now.
Hello? Hello? I’m Cecil! Cecil Gershwin Palmer! And you cannot scare me! You cannot! You canno –
...Hello?
...
Interning is going great! Mom is gone, um… Oh! Leonard is super nice to me! My brother’s gone, too. Family, right?
I think I’m learning a lot at the station. All the mirrors in my house are uncovered now, and I’m not sure who did that. I’m standing in front of the hall mirror right now. Am I changed? Am I becoming an adult? I look more grown, I think. More professional.
Leonard said if I work hard, maybe I’ll be a radio presenter myself some day!
Leonard said he once was smaller too, but that he is larger now – that everything is larger. That everything in the universe is growing to towering sizes, but all at once – all in unison. So no one notices, and it is all the same relative to itself.
Leonard lolls his tongue out of his thick, purple lips. Leonard hisses.
Being an intern is great!
That flickering movement is everywhere now. Especially looking in this mirror. I see the flickering movement, and I know. I know it.
I think the radio station is fun. I think the radio station is hidden. I think the radio station is like a dark planet lit by no sun.
I think, therefore I soon won’t be.
I’m looking in a mirror. The mirror is not covered. The flickering movement is just…behind me. I–
[Screams, followed by strangled, gargling sounds]
Cecil turned the player off as quickly as he could and flung it across the room, eyeing it as if it were going to attack.
[Text taken directly from a transcript of Welcome to Night Vale, episode "Cassette". I unfortunately can't remember where I got the transcript. Just a bit of canon catch-up for the boy! Closed door, open to anyone barging in afterward.]