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Director's Notes: Ep 221 - The Glow Cloud, Explained
🕑 Added 2023-02-01 18:34:17 +0000 UTCIt's me, I’m the problem, it’s me, I was the one who decided to kill off the Glow Cloud.
It was time to raise the stakes on this particular plotline, and I felt like the best way to do that was to show that it could reach into the core of Night Vale’s heart.
For us, Night Vale is not a story. A story has a start and a middle and an end. I don’t know what Night Vale’s end will be. Maybe one day there will be some great personal tragedy in our lives and we just will stop making episodes. Or maybe we will do a graceful two year ending that perfectly ties everything up, but probably not.
(Oh, I guess I should mention that no, we are not ending Night Vale. Since literally 2013, there have been people in Night Vale discussions saying “it just really feels like the show is coming toward a finale” and here we still are. We have no current plans to finish Night Vale because we still like making it and still have stuff to say with it. Feel free to let people know that.)
Anyway, for us Night Vale isn’t a story, it’s a world. Like any world, it contains an infinite amount of stories depending on which dark little corners you decide to shine your light on. And like any world, it is always changing. People enter the world, they grow, they change, they age into slowness, and then stillness, and then they leave the world. It’s important to us that this world doesn’t feel static, like a sitcom set ready for any number of jokes but always returning back to stasis. And for Night Vale's world to feel fluid, sometimes the people we love must leave it.
But none of us leave the world unmarked. The Glow Cloud has people who loved it, both in the town and in our world, and they will remember it, and carry that memory on into the future. And it has a child, a legacy. A child who must decide what they want now out of their own life.
There is more heartache coming, I must warn you, but also there is triumph. There is resistance, and good people doing their best to do good things. And sometimes they win. Not always. But sometimes.
But all of that later. For now, we look backward for a moment, and say goodbye to one of our earliest friends. Thank you, Glow Cloud. And All Hail.
-Joseph
Comments
Brenna Epp
This episode has an excellent couple of segments back to back that I want to commend y'all on - the Applebee's sponsor & traffic. I played them for my partner (who doesn't listen to the pod) and can almost recite it. This is what I love about welcome to Night Vale.
Allison Petty
All hail. <3
Joyce Byers
I am having a hard time with these episodes that are slowing dismantling Nightvale. I may stop listening to avoid more loss of the mystery and fun!
stardustphilosophy
All Hail
GraveGecko
All Hail
Alexandra DeCarlo
All Hail
Imani Khandker
ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD ALL HAIL
Antje Michels
Let me just say, this farewell text (with the living world > a finite story) really was touching in it's own right. All hail, and farewell, dear cloud <3
Joshua Habel
All hail
Ollie of the Beholder
All hail.
Storypaint
☁️ All hail ☁️
Stephen Wilcockson
All hail the mighty glow cloud. Tbh I haven't listened to the latest episode yet. And I saw this post as a notification, so was difficult to miss the spoiler. But that's ok honestly. I'm gutted that we lost the glow cloud in the same way I was when we lost old woman josie, and I'll be listening to episode 2 some point today. I bought the all hail live show on bandcamp a few years ago as well so I'll listen to that soon too. Love the glow cloud. Still got my glow cloud t-shirt too. Thank you as ever for creating nightvale and sharing it with us.
Allison
All Hail
James LEE
I will steal from the Scriptures and say that Night Vale was made for a time such as this. If ever we needed to see people stand up against facism and the killing of beauty, it is a time like this. I look forward to more Night Vale stories to give us healing and hope.
Lindsay Willett
All hail
Caspian Turpin
Awful convient that I start making a glow cloud cosplay and they die😂
David M. Carson
ALL HAIL!
Zinnia Weibel
I had to take a brief moment to mourn today. The Glow Cloud has been a part of my life for so long— an inside joke with friends and a reminder to watch sunsets and appreciate that dead animals were not raining down on me. But a brilliant episode altogether. All hail ❤️💛💙💜💚🧡
Theta
It's incredibly impressive how you guys have managed to keep Night Vale feeling fresh and alive all these years without it ever feeling like it's jumped the shark or lost it's roots. It's never stagnated, the world changes and moves like our does, and you're not afraid to move on from characters or plot points.
Valcyria
Just for the record, I AM NOT OKAY AND I CRIED.
Alex D
🙌🏻 ☁️
