Director's Notes: Ep 241 - He Is Still Holding a Knife (Patreon)

I’ve been a visitor to Night Vale for a long time now. I’ve seen the sights (the sights have looked back, of course) and spit into Radon Canyon (which is customary and polite). And after all these years, it’s finally time to settle down. Friends, listeners, fellow citizens, I’m excited to announce that I’m joining the Night Vale writing team in a more permanent way. And since we’re going to be spending more time together, I want to take this opportunity to reintroduce myself to you. You may remember me from such episodes as Guidelines for Disposal, The Waterfall, and Big Rico’s Pizza Band. You may remember me from sitting together on some form of public transportation without making eye contact (which is customary and polite). You may not remember me at all. Hi, I’m Brie! 

I was born and raised in the woods near a small town not unlike Night Vale in its strangeness. In the fourth grade, I wrote a naughty limerick about a rat from Zaire that was banned from my class poetry book. (I have tried to tone down the controversy since then.) I like movies and karaoke and I drink a lot of sparkling water. 

And I can’t really think of anything else.

I honestly didn’t intend to draw this parallel at all, but I just realized I kind of understand how the Boy from Grove Park feels. On some level, maybe none of us know how to define ourselves. But for some reason, we feel compelled to try. And that’s a frustrating tension. I get it. We get it, Boy from Grove Park! WHO ARE WE? Isn’t that a question we’re asking ourselves and each other ALL THE TIME? 

Sorry to shout. I rarely ever shout, which is another fact about me. Unless I’m in a big cave with an echo. An echo being a reflection of your own voice, answering your questions with the same questions you ask. WHO ARE YOU who are you who are you.

It’s a tough question, an eternal question, an important question—but one that I hope we can all try to answer without knives. As for the Boy from Grove Park (aka Young Kevin), no judgment. You do you.

-Brie Williams

February 2024