Welcome to Night Vale

Patreon preview - Broadcasts from the Edge

5 min
Jan 15, 2025over 1 year ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

This Patreon preview episode features a fictional audio drama about Leonard Burton broadcasting from an isolated cabin in the Borderlands across three dates (1981-1987). The episode explores themes of isolation, time distortion, and the nature of communication through a character's radio broadcasts from a mysterious, hostile landscape.

Insights
  • Patreon is positioned as the primary revenue model enabling the show's production, with direct audience support framed as essential to continuation
  • The narrative explores philosophical questions about creation as self-expression versus audience performance
  • Isolation and adaptation to hostile environments create psychological complexity and existential uncertainty
  • Time perception becomes unreliable in extreme isolation, challenging conventional understanding of temporal experience
Trends
Podcast monetization through membership platforms rather than traditional advertisingSerialized fiction and narrative-driven audio content as premium Patreon offeringsPsychological horror and speculative fiction gaining traction in audio drama formatsCreator emphasis on direct fan support as sustainable business model for independent production
Topics
Patreon membership and subscription modelsAudio drama production and distributionPodcast monetization strategiesNarrative fiction in audio formatIsolation and psychological effectsTime perception and temporal distortionRadio broadcasting and communicationSpeculative fiction worldbuilding
Companies
Patreon
Primary revenue platform for the show; described as essential to production and audience support model
People
Joseph Fink
Opening speaker explaining the Patreon preview episode and technical issues with file upload
James Urbaniak
Stars as Leonard Burton in the Patreon bonus episode preview
Quotes
"Some creation is an act of self rather than an outward facing performance."
Leonard BurtonEarly in broadcast
"This broadcast is about me speaking, not about you hearing."
Leonard BurtonOpening statement
"We can't make the show without it."
Joseph FinkRegarding Patreon support
"Time is unmoored."
Leonard BurtonMarch 1st, 1984 entry
"Some things aren't meant to be gotten used to. Something should horrify every time."
Leonard BurtonMarch 1st, 1984 entry
Full Transcript
Hi there, this is Joseph again, trying this again, because the last time I uploaded this, there was a problem with the file and I didn't save the thing I used to make it. So I just have to start from scratch. So here I am, hello. What you're about to listen to is a preview of the Patreon only bonus episode, starring James Urbanak as Leonard Burton that we released earlier this week on our Patreon. This is the first few minutes. If you want to hear the rest of it, you can go sign up for our Patreon by clicking the link in the show notes or just going to our website and clicking Patreon. It also is the way we are able to make the show. We can't make the show without it. Okay, sorry about the problem with the file the last time. Thank you so much. Goodbye. June 30th, 1981. Hello. I don't know who will hear this, but it doesn't matter. This broadcast is about me speaking, not about you hearing. Some creation is an act of self rather than an outward facing performance. Now I'm getting too theoretical. The Borderlands will do that to you. It's getting dark. And I can hear the noise of movement. I'll have to try to be quieter. I'm shutting off for now. Okay, I'm back. It's dawn, quiet again. I like the dawns. They're cold, but the sun doesn't make a big deal about rising. Sometimes I'll just sit on the porch all day, waiting for the night and for the noise to begin again. I wait longer and longer each sunset, daring the night, but I always retreat inside. I'm a coward after all. I don't know how far my radio waves go. Maybe some freak cosmic bounce will take them from this wasteland into the heart of civilization. I'd like that. Maybe I do want an audience after all. March 1st, 1984. I'm getting used to being here. Which makes my day to day easier, but I'm scared of the implications. Some things aren't meant to be gotten used to. Something should horrify every time. The rock here is not of any kind I've ever seen before. And weirdly, I've seen a lot of rock. Just one of those things. Some people have book collections. Some people rate every movie they've ever seen in an effort to forget that they're going to die. I have examined a lot of rocks. And this isn't any kind I've seen before. Why did it take me this many years to notice? A good question. Some days it feels like I've been here for a thousand years, but some days it feels like I only got here this afternoon. Time is unmoored. More time has always been like this than I was tricked for a little while into thinking it applied to me. The sky is bright green today. Smell of burning paper on the wind. January 1st, 1987. The noises at night are getting louder. The silences during the day are getting quieter. At night there are creatures all around. I can't say what kind of creatures because I always escape safely into my cabin. But they howl and screech. They scuttle and scamper. They invite terrifying imagining. An invitation I try desperately to refuse. I guess I should describe where I live, if living is quite the word. The cabin is exactly as it was when I first found it. A dusty smell inside. With the faint ghost of long ago's cigarette smoke. A flat couch with a mildewed quilt thrown over the back. An imprint on the couch that isn't quite human. Probably a large dog who used to nap here. A boxy television that doesn't power on. A little kitchen that is completely empty of food but it's okay as I am never hungry. The water in the faucet works and sometimes I drink it. Even though I am never thirsty. It tastes metallic. The back of the pallet pang of antique pipes. There is a steep staircase. A third step from the bottom squeaks and I tend to avoid it. Even though there's no one to hear. No one during the day that is. Upstairs is a small bedroom with a metal frame twin bed. A blanket the same flat as the couch. Tattered green curtains. An old fashioned alarm clock that doesn't mark time anymore. A little bathroom with all of its fixtures removed. There's a bucket in there in case I need it I guess but I haven't. Not for all the time I've been here. And a porch with a single rocking chair. I tend to spend my days there. You'll notice I did not say there was broadcasting equipment. There isn't any. Okay and that's it. Yeah, if you wanna listen to the rest it's on our Patreon. Sorry about the problem with the file before. Love you, goodbye.