Look At Them! Just. So. Good!

in light of people's confusion over cecil's longevity in @sexymanotd i wanted to document a bit of his history for those unfamiliar or nostalgic

welcome to night vale is a podcast written by joseph fink and jeffrey cranor. cecil gerschwin palmer is the main character and voiced by cecil baldwin.

it debuted on june 15, 2012 it reached its peak in popularity in 2013-2014

despite this, wtnv has been one of tumblr's top fandoms since staff started tracking fandom-related data in 2014

for the longest time the only thing we knew about cecil's appearance was: "He is wearing a tie. He is not tall or short. Not thin or fat." and that wasn't until episode 19 which aired march 15, 2013. for almost a full year we had no idea what cecil looked like. so tumblr's collective unconscious kicked into high gear and we did what we do best

we created a tumblr sexyman

from know your meme: "Defining traits of the archetype include skinny body type, trickster or villain role and dapper clothing."

know your meme identifies wheatley (portal 2, 2011) and the onceler (the lorax, 2012) as being likely tumblr's first sexymen. and the onceler fandom was at its peak in 2012-2013, the same time as wtnv. in addition to this, the hannibal fandom has been cited as one of the contributing factors to wtnv's success on tumblr.

so tumblr had created an archetype that worked and the wtnv fandom was made up of mostly hannibal fans - the foundation for putting cecil in a suit was there. and honestly? cecil's at work in the show, why wouldn't he be well dressed?

however, while this explains his attire it doesn't explain some of cecil's more unique sexyman features, namely the tentacles. for this we have to return to the 2014 fandom review analysis where you can see the most popular fandom at the time: homestuck

haven't you ever wondered why almost a quarter (189/923 at time of writing) of E rated wtnv fics on ao3 are tagged tentacles or tentacle sex? why cecil having tentacles for a dick is such a seemingly popular headcanon? well look no further then homestuck cultural hold over.

throughout all of this, the development of the sexyman archetype on tumblr and the rise of homestuck, one creator really stands out: kinomatika

kino was one of the most popular homestuck artists on tumblr at the time, popular for her eridan fanart. if you google image search "welcome to night vale" kino's art is still one of the first results you'll get

her design was so popular in fact it was featured in wtnv related articles from the time

and yes there were absolutely other artists giving cecil tentacles and moving tattoos at the time, but it can't be understated the reach kino had and the influence her homestuck roots had on her design choices

i recommend going through the archive of @nightvaleartclub to see how cecil used to be portrayed back in the early days. unfortunately the earliest fanart i've been able to find is july 2013 and i find it hard to believe it took tumblr a year to draw him. although, i started listening at episode 5 and didn't start drawing him until then myself so who knows...

cecil has had tumblr's heart in a vice grip since episode 1, with "20,000 posts, 183,000 blogs and 680,000 notes using the #Night Vale tag" during its first week. tumblr's love for wtnv has always been fairly genuine, from the impact the writing has had on tumblr humor and future story telling, to how wtnv paved the way for lgbt+ representation in indi media, to how it popularized podcasts as a medium for story telling, to the little comforts some of cecil's quotes still bring people today

cecil is not only a founding father of tumblr culture, but also a blorbo of the people. cecil the character in canon has a tumblr account where he posts his art and slash fanfiction.

although cecil's character has developed over time and we've come to see what a ditzy, eccentric, brat he really is, changing his status from sexyman to babygirl, cecil is absolutely a character you should embrace. and you know what... despite what i've said in the past

#cecilsweep

Who doesn't like a beautifully cunning seelie queen?

Top 3 Shadowhunters Villains as voted by our followers

↳ #2 Seelie Queen

Well played, Cecil. Well played.

CONGRATULATIONS TO CECIL GERSHWIN PALMER, WINNER OF THE 2023 TUMBLR SEXYREMATCH

So, a little less than a month year ago (this is all my fault, I take sole responsibility for this loooong delay), I got roped into reading The Trials Of Apollo by @flightfoot’s amazing meta. I loved it more than I could have ever anticipated, and I’ve been gushing about it non stop to her on discord. We had a lot of fun reviewing the series and taking it apart to overanalyze bit by bit, marveling at the way it keeps growing layers and dimensions the longer one looks at it. Finally, we took out a google doc. The following is result n.3 of our combined excited ramblings, and… well it sort of turned into a full on dissertation. Whoops.

“You must make your own choice.”

Reconstructing Apollo’s Journey within Riordan’s Narrative

Much too self aware to be egotistical

Not the kind of feelings that gods have

You have heard of imposter syndrome?

As if you could have immortality or meaning, but not both

The sun’s indifference

Art thou sure that is thy wish?

The washing away of curses  (read on ao3)

Keep reading

Look at these!!!

So pretty!!

Feefal on Instagram / Tumblr

TUMBLR SEXYREMATCH POLL MASTERPOST

I'll update this as the rounds progress.

ROUND ONE:

Lewis Pepper (Mystery Skulls Animated) vs. Professor Venomous (OK KO) WINNER: LEWIS

Guzma (Pokémon) vs. Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls) WINNER: BILL

The Warden (Superjail) vs. Almond Cookie (Cookie Run) WINNER: ALMOND COOKIE

The Once-ler (The Lorax (2012)) vs. Megamind (Megamind) WINNER: MEGAMIND

Sans (Undertale) vs. Junkrat (Overwatch) WINNER: SANS

Tony the Talking Clock (Don't Hug Me I'm Scared) vs. Black Hat (Villainous) WINNER: TONY

King Dice (Cuphead) vs. Raymond (Animal Crossing) WINNER: RAYMOND

Wheatley (Portal 2) vs. Doc Ock (Marvel) WINNER: WHEATLEY

Nagito Komaeda (Danganronpa) vs. Dr. Habit (Smile for Me) WINNER: KOMAEDA

Cecil Gershwin Palmer (Welcome to Night Vale) vs. Slenderman (???) WINNER: CECIL

Jack Skellington (the Nightmare Before Christmas) vs. Turbo (Wreck-It Ralph) WINNER: JACK

Ingo (Pokémon) vs. Bruno Madrigal (Encanto) WINNER: INGO

Purple Guy/William Afton (Five Nights at Freddy's) vs. Spamton (Deltarune) WINNER: SPAMTON

Alastor (Hazbin Hotel) vs. Loki (Marvel) WINNER: LOKI

Arataka Reigen (Mob Psycho 100) vs. Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice (all versions)) WINNER: REIGEN

Herobrine (Minecraft) vs. Benr(e)y (Half Life VR but the AI is Self-Aware) WINNER: HEROBRINE

ROUND TWO:

NOTE: Starting round 2, I'm ditching the bracket and opting for randomized matchups. The left side will stay on the left and the right will stay on the right, but otherwise it'll be shuffled.

Wheatley (Portal 2) vs. Lewis Pepper (Mystery Skulls Animated) WINNER: WHEATLEY

Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls) vs. Raymond (Animal Crossing) WINNER: BILL

Tony the Talking Clock (Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared) vs. Almond Cookie (Cookie Run) WINNER: TONY

Sans (Undertale) vs. Megamind (Megamind) WINNER: SANS

Loki (Marvel) vs. Nagito Komaeda (Danganronpa) WINNER: KOMAEDA

Cecil Gershwin Palmer (Welcome to Night Vale) vs. Herobrine (Minecraft) WINNER: CECIL

Ingo (Pokémon) vs. Jack Skellington (the Nightmare Before Christmas) WINNER: JACK

Arataka Reigen (Mob Psycho 100) vs. Spamton (Deltarune) WINNER: REIGEN

REVIVAL ROUND: The Once-ler (The Lorax (2012)) vs. King Dice (Cuphead) WINNER: THE ONCE-LER

ROUND THREE:

Tony the Talking Clock (Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared) vs. The Once-ler (The Lorax (2012)) vs. Wheatley (Portal 2)

Sans (Undertale) vs. Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls)

Cecil Gershwin Palmer (Welcome to Night Vale) vs. Nagito Komaeda (Danganronpa)

Arataka Reigen (Mob Psycho 100) vs. Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

Not me being so distraught over a certain manga chapter that I literally can't read anything about gojo satoru or else I'll ugly cry for like an entire day

GLADOS HAS BEEN CROWNED TUMBLR SEXYWOMAN 2023!

Thank you all for participating in the sequel bracket! I know it took a while, and some of the polls were bloody, but I really think we made the obvious right choice here.

I still just cannot believe they made Fred obsessed with portraying Toxic Masculinity in the Velma show.

Fred?

‘Ascot wearing’ Fred?

‘Metrosexual icon’ Fred?

‘Cried openly during the goodbye scene in Alien Invaders’ Fred?

‘Drinks his respect women juice daily’ Fred?

‘Unapologetically affectionate with Shaggy’ Fred?

That Fred? Obsessed with Toxic Masculinity? The audacity. The gall. The clownery.

I've been scrolling through Glass Onion posts for days and I've never seen someone else see Derol as a personification of the pandemic when he carRIES AROUND CORONA BEERS all the time??

He's always like "oh don't mind me, I'm not even here", showing how those rich people on their private islands loved to act like the pandemic isn't real just because in their little rich people world they were able to act like it's all just a figment of others' imagination while people were literally dying

But no, they're not doing anything bad, they're only meeting up with their 'closest friends' (like Birdie's party in the beginning of the movie), they're isolating themselves from the 'general masses' in their huge, luxurious mansions and on their private islands and then make a show of singing Imagine💀

Derol is the ghost of corona floating over everyone's head which those people on this billionaire's little island have the luxury of ignoring