History YMMV / WelcomeToNightVale

** Not quite as specific, but the Morse code from Episode 46, "Parade Day", has been translated as [[spoiler:'Tamika needs you', 'Radon Canyon in 2 hours', 'Go to Radon Canyon', 'Now now now' and in the credits, 'Fall 2015'.]]

** Perhaps the most infamous incident of the notoriously poorly planned and organised Tumblr convention Dashcon occurred when negotiations between the con organisers and this show's creators over financing broke down. The Night Vale crew became convinced that their costs for the trip were unlikely to be covered and walked out, leading the organisers to sheepishly attempt to compensate the audience with a free hour in a tiny (and decidedly grubby) ball-pit. It's not completely clear whose reputation was more damaged by this, Night Vale's or Dashcon's, but either way, ''someone'' isn't gonna live it down.

* MemeticBadass: Tamika Flynn is gaining this reputation on Tumblr. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as of Episode 36, [[spoiler: where she successfully evades [=StrexCorp=] and [[DavidVersusGoliath destroys a yellow helicopter]] ''with a rock.]]''

**

* MemeticMutation:
** The Apache Tracker being an "asshole" has become associated with Creator/JohnnyDepp playing a [[RaceLift race lifted]] Tonto in the 2013 version of ''Film/TheLoneRanger''.
** There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek speculation that Carlos is a grown-up version of Carlos from ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus.'' At least one fan has suggested that Cecil knows/is related to Ms. Frizzle.
** "The Bus is Late" has become quite memetic due to how catchy it is.
** Saying "... and now the weather" whenever something weird happens has become the 21st-century equivalent of humming the opening notes to ''Franchise/TheTwilightZone'' theme song.
** "Goodnight X. Goodnight" based on Cecil's closer at the end of nearly every episode.
** "Dogs are not allowed in the Dog Park."
** Leaving comments like "I read that in Cecil's voice" or "And now, the weather" in bizarre and somewhat ominous Tumblr threads.
** ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis ALL. HAIL. THE GLOW CLOUD.]]''
** [[HesBack "HE IS HOLDING A CAT."]]
** Hiram [=McDaniels=] is ''literally'' a five-headed dragon.

* SeasonalRot: Fans are starting to complain about the current (fourth) season (examples [[http://theoriesofnightvale.tumblr.com/post/132737778578/why-night-vale-is-not-as-appealing-as-it-used-to here]], [[http://videntefernandez.tumblr.com/image/131260731363 here]], and [[https://octoberspirit.tumblr.com/post/128543378096/meveret-it-does-feel-like-the-wtnv-fandom-is here]]), due to lack of a coherent plot so far and Episode 76, which was seen as a blatant ad for the book.

** "The Bus is Late" has become quite memetic due to how [[EarWorm catchy]] it is.

** EarWorm: Episode 2's weather, "The Bus Is Late," by Satellite High.
---> Waiting for the bus in the rain, in the rain. Waiting for the bus in the rain. Waiting for the bus in the rain, in the rain. Waiting for the bus in the rain.
** BlackSheepHit: However, Satellite High have been getting annoyed as of late that a gag track is their best-known song.
** Special mention should go to episode 48's "High Tide Rising". While an excellent piece on its own, its context within the story, [[spoiler: where it herald's Cecil's return and the true chance to fight back against [=StrexCorp=]]], turns it into a fist-pumping forecast of ''awesome'', with an amazing crunchy Music/NeilYoung [[SincerestFormOfFlattery center]].
** Also Eliza Rickman's "Pretty Little Head" and "Closer" by Tiny.
** Episodes 73's "The Heroine" is possibly ''the'' crowner for the series. While a beautiful piece on its own, like High Tide Rising above it, the true greatness comes tied to the story. The sad melody perfectly reflects both Cecil trying to get back on with [[spoiler: Kevin]] and [[spoiler: the fall of Desert Bluffs.]]

* BetterTheDevilYouKnow: In earlier episodes, the tenuous rulers in town were a long-established council of shrouded and robed figures. They've done a number of stupid things (like waste millions in taxpayer dollars in flimsy and unnecessary public-works projects) and a number of more devious things (such as leaving the town residents to fend for themselves during a street cleaner attack) and are pretty much established as definitely being some sort of malicious non-humanoid entity. However, Cecil always seemed to be genuinely respectful of their authority and generally deferred to their policies, even if he was somewhat wary of them. [[spoiler: [=StrexCorp=], however, has been treated by Cecil with deep suspicion and sometimes barely-concealed fear and hatred. Not that this isn't justified...]]

** The various character designs for Cecil are notable in that some have become so prevalent, people commonly mistake them for canon. These include, but are not limited to, ExtraEyes, living tattoos, [[HumanoidAbomination tentacles]], blond hair, and glasses, a younger Tim Gunn as PBS Idea Channel has described... Although as noted under InternetBackdraft there are many competing portrayals. Just to set the record straight, the only clear canonical references to Cecil's appearance have been the [[SuspectIsHatless (non)descriptions]] of him and Kevin in "The Sandstorm" and his description of his outfit in "First Date", and WordOfGod is that his appearance in particular will remain vague.

* HoYay:
** Disturbingly, a good amount between [[spoiler: Carlos and Kevin]] in 70A. Could also double as FoeYay.
* InternetBackdraft: It's probably better if you don't have an opinion about Cecil's race, because every opinion will get you into hot water with someone. Numerous headcanons and fanart depicting Cecil as white or as a person of color were met death threats, harassment, and similarly uncalled for behavior. The whole thing is moot considering the only description of Cecil boils down to "average height and build, wears a tie, and has a slightly off-putting smile"... and WordOfGod has confirmed that the creators intend to leave physical descriptions quite vague, especially Cecil's.

* UnfortunateImplications: Averting this trope (especially in light of the racial InternetBackdraft listed above) was the goal of Jeffrey Cranor's [[http://happierman.tumblr.com/post/69936379508/ch-ch-ch-ch-changes-or-who-is-carlos announcement on Tumblr]] that he was stepping down as Carlos' voice actor. "It sucks that there’s a white straight male (me), playing a gay man of color (Carlos). Look, I know it’s a voiceover, but it’s not just that. We do live stage shows, and that’s a visible role for a [=PoC=]." The role was recast with Dylan Marron, a gay Latino member of Cranor's Neo-Futurist performance art circle.

* AwesomeMusic: Most of the weather reports.

* MostWonderfulSound: In Episode 48, [[spoiler: The Night Vale theme song, heralding the return of Cecil.]]

* InternetBackdraft: It's probably better if you don't have an opinion about Cecil's race, because every opinion will get you into hot water with someone. Incidents have involved death threats against some fans arguing for a white Cecil, and lest you think only one side has anything to answer for, artists with [=PoC=] portrayals have also experienced serious harassment, and literal white supremacists making them feel unsafe. The whole thing is moot considering the only description of Cecil boils down to "average height and build, wears a tie, and has a slightly off-putting smile"... and WordOfGod has confirmed that the creators intend to leave physical descriptions quite vague, especially Cecil's.

** In Episode 4, which was released in 2012, Cecil says,"Remember, this is America. Vote correctly, or never see your loved ones again."

** Is the Man in the Tan Jacket [[spoiler: a {{Jerkass}} villain who callously upended three lives in a bid to force them to clean up someone else's mess, or is he a DesignatedVillain driven to extreme methods by the fact that no one could remember his desperate pleas for help? Or alternatively, after his SurprisinglyHappyEnding: is he a very understandable, but still out-of-line JerkassWoobie who needed a little push to take responsibility and fix his own problems ?]]
** Is Diane [[spoiler: justified for chewing out the Man in the Tan Jacket, or is she an unbearably selfish DesignatedHero who doesn't hesitate to engage in some uncalled-for victim blaming on someone who conviced her already unhappy teenage son to willingly run away from home? Are her insults the product of fear and righteous anger (as Josh is a teenager being endangered by an adult who should know better), or was the line "Maybe if you had been a better mayor, none of this would have happened" a borderline MoralEventHorizon (since the Man in the Tan Jacket is in basically the same situation as her with his family)?]]

* DesignatedHero: [[spoiler: Jackie and especially Diane might come across this way in the climax, where instead of listening to the Man in the Tan Jacket's {{Woobie}}-worthy backstory with sympathy, they instead call him an asshole for luring them to King City against their will and taking their teenage son and half-brother with him. Granted, they had to go through a ''lot'' of difficulty to get there, their lives were almost destroyed to motivate them into going, and on top of it they were scared about Josh, but still. His town and family are falling apart at the seams and no one remembers he exists, leaving him with no other options. That should engender at least a ''little'' sympathy, not insults and blatant victim blaming.]]
* DesignatedVillain: [[spoiler: The Man in the Tan Jacket might come across as this. He's portrayed and treated as a selfish {{Jerkass}} with no qualms against upending lives in a quest to put his own back together, but he only seems to do this because he's out of options. His attempts to explain who he is and what he's doing in Night Vale are always forgotten, his attempts to get Troy to leave were futile, and not even his own town remembers he exists. Compounding the problem is the fact that some listeners and readers believed the podcast portrayed him in a more heroic light, so when he's revealed as a villain, they didn't quite believe it.]]
* JerkassDissonance: [[spoiler: The Man in the Tan Jacket struck some readers as a DesignatedVillain who resorted to extreme methods after his desperate pleas for help went unheard and unremembered.]]
* JerkassWoobie: The Man in the Tan Jacket. [[spoiler: Had a normal life, a family, and a city he loved, before Troy arrived and brought Night Vale's weirdness with him. He watches as multiple Troys swarm the city, his existence is forgotten by his family and citizens, and when he goes to Night Vale to find help he's either unhelped or forgotten. However, Jackie and Diane don't hesitate to chew him out for disrupting lives and for using a BatmanGambit to lure Josh away to King City for his own purposes.]]

** Nazr Al-Mujaheed and Frances Donaldson cross this in Episode 123 when they [[spoiler:intentionally destroy Frances' home universe, killing billions of people, because they can't stand to be separated from each other.]]

*** As of recently, we can cross [[spoiler: Mayor Dana]] off the list. [[spoiler: We ''could'' add Violet [=McDaniels=] because he owns Lot 37, but he honestly wants to protect Dana from his other heads.]]

** [[spoiler: As of Episode 63, Hiram [=McDaniels=], The Faceless Old Woman, and possibly Mayor Dana have all crossed this. Hiram and the Faceless Old Woman are revealed to have been responsible for goading Pamela Winchell into her disastrous retirement activities, set up the Monolith in front of City Hall, ''and'' released the Antiques, all in an effort to discredit Mayor Dana. Mayor Dana, on the other hand, is possibly the [[CallBack owner of Lot 37 - one particular radio host -]] and has been using him against his will to protect herself. If true, this is a ''severe'' misuse of one of her closest friends and a breach of trust, even if for a good purpose.]]

* LGBTFanbase: Is getting quite popular with this group, and justifiably so, as the primary OfficialCouple in the series is gay.

** "... and now the weather" whenever something weird happens.

* {{Narm}}: Joseph and Jeffrey, in a attempt to make Jackie sound like a teenager, loaded all of her dialogue with slang like "dude" and "bro", to a distracting degree.
** Invoked to a degree. Jackie has been a teenager for a long time. Time is weird in Night Vale. No one said her slang needed to be accurate so much as it provokes the idea of teenage slang. [[FridgeBrilliance This is notably averted with Josh, who has been a teenager for a normal timespan, and speaks more realistically]].