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theredoesnotexistThis will be the first and last time I do a full on dissertation on a totally inconsequential headcanon. This isn't a fandom blog. This isn't a fandom post. This is a THESIS.
Rarely do I headcanon characters, let alone as having ‘disorders’ even if it’s a label I also identify with. Generally antipsych and as a disclaimer I don’t even really believe one can “have schizotypal” like it’s an innate feature of the brain rather than a description for a pattern of behavior and experiences. However as a closeted queer teen Cecil being a happily gay man was profoundly important to me and as a deassimilating young adult Jew Cecil being casually Jewish was profoundly important to me and as a relatively recent adult experiencer of psychotic symptoms who finds relatability at the very least in the impression of schizotypal, Welcome to Night Vale has continued to be profoundly important to me so if I may have the floor:
The main antagonistic presence throughout the entire series is literally a corporation represented by insistence on emotional over-expression especially of joy to the point where it's consistently symbolized with an obsession with and amount of smiling that is presented as uniformly horrific. It's also a religion that worships a god that tortures people with flat affect by forcing them to feel deliriously happy. It takes place in a town where reality is accepted to be subjective and impossibly bizarre for everyone by default. According to Joseph Fink his original idea for the show was “a town where every conspiracy theory is true.” This fictional place where schizospec people wouldn't really even be disabled by the norms of their society occupies a space in my brain I imagine most people have reserved for “fandom.”
I know the issue of Cecil’s fashion sense is a hot button topic in the WTNV fandom but under the consideration of him being schizotypal (like me! :3), I’m holding on with a death grip to the idea of him genuinely being totally uncoordinated and bizarre rather than some kind of avante-garde fashionista queen. I’ve been told I speak like him because of the discordance between my tone and the things I’m saying, when I genuinely didn’t consider what I was saying might be unusual or disturbing. He’s a “blabbermouth” because he has a level of social awareness where he DOESN’T REALIZE why or even that others might not want that information public until after he says it (haha I do that 🥲). The casette tapes episode didn’t just mess me up because it was ooky spooky, it messed me up because it felt like being fucking read. I wish I could thank a podcast for giving me one more character who doesn’t experience time “normally” that I can point to and say “look, it’s me!” (Shoutouts to Vonnegut as well)
“But he wouldn’t be schizospec because none of that matters since it’s normal in Night Vale!” Ok well have you considered: YEAH THAT’S THE POINT. That’s why “schizotypal Cecil” is my hill. Because schizospec traits and experiences would be considered normal in Night Vale. In my eyes this is a schizospec character in a setting where psychosis and cluster A personality types aren’t pathologized because they aren’t considered disordered because reality IS actually fucked up so it’s normal to experience a fucked up reality!!
Carlos is canonically autistic (true). Cecil is not neurotypical just because he’s not also autistic. He reads so schizospec to me it’s not even funny. WTNV is a schizospec story. Thank you for coming
