“Welcome back to Trench.”

The first words of the newest song released by American music group Twenty One Pilots resounded in my head as I hurried to lunch on Feb. 29, and for good reason. It’s been nearly three years, but the clique is more than ready to rumble once again. So get your torch out, put your jumpsuit on and I’ll start at the beginning. 

Twenty One Pilots creates very complicated music. There’s always a lot going on under the surface, even if the melody sometimes sounds simple. Twenty One Pilots is a two-man band comprised of Tyler Joseph, the lead singer, and Josh Dun, the drummer, both from Columbus, Ohio. They’ve released four major albums so far with the record label Fueled By Ramen: “Vessel,” “Blurryface,” “Trench” and “Scaled and Icy.” All four of these — but “Trench” and “Scaled and Icy” in particular — build a world and a plotline carefully hidden in song lyrics, music videos and obscure clues.

According to the newly dropped explanation video, the official Twenty One Pilots wiki, and a semi-secret official collection of files, the fictional world of Trench is a lush, green land containing the city of Dema. This city is controlled by nine bishops, the head of which is named Nicholas Bourbaki (which is also the name of a real-life 19^th century general and a secret French math club, but that’s something you’ll have to check out yourself). Each bishop governs the people in his region. They hold to the religion of “vialism,” the highest point of which is to end your own life. There’s a lot more to the story, but suffice it to say that there’s one citizen, Clancy, who’s not happy about the situation and keeps trying to escape. Their last album, “Scaled and Icy,” released in 2021, contained mostly upbeat, “pretending” music, which represented Clancy having to perform for the Bishops.

The rest of that you can research for yourself; it’s a great rabbit hole, complicated and interesting. No one fully understands what’s going on; there are still plenty of unexplained pieces. New discoveries are being made all the time. But what’s all the excitement about now? What’s new?

What’s new is this: On Feb.15, 2024, all the official digital album covers on Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Spotify had red tape over them, covering the eyes of each featured character (and over the circle representing a dead bishop in the case of “Blurryface”). That same day, some fans received official letters from the Sacred Municipality of Dema with new Twenty One Pilots information in them. The envelopes were red like the tape on the album covers. This is important because red used to be one of the main colors in earlier albums, but the more recent ones departed from that, first with yellow, and then with pink and blue. Something new was happening, but that something new must connect back to the band’s deepest roots. 

Fans became almost hysterically excited. Something was finally happening! Our long wait might be nearly over! On Feb. 17, random billboards began to go up all over the world with a new TOP logo on them. On Feb. 22, the band released a YouTube music video titled “I Am Clancy” which recapped the lore and added a bit of extra clarifying information. On Feb. 28, they announced their new single, “Overcompensate,” and the next day it streamed for the first time. On the 29th, they officially announced via Instagram that a new album is coming out on May 17, and that it will bring the Trench era to a close. “Clancy” is its name.

So what? Your niche interest no-particular-genre confusing music group is producing more music. Big deal. The big deal is that for the first time in several years, a very complex band is finally going to go back to their main storyline to wrap it up forever. We’re going to finally understand all the lore (okay, maybe it will be a while before we get there, but we’ll put together a lot more of the pieces), and even more importantly, we’re going to finally understand what it means. We’re going to be given the purpose behind all this effort over so much time, and we’re going to be able to trace it back to earlier songs and motifs. 

Finally, we’ll have enough information and enough comprehension to figure out what Twenty One Pilots is all about. And then what? Something totally new. We don’t know what comes next, but we do know that this era is closing forever with the May 17 album release, and whatever they produce after that will be entirely different. This is an exciting time for the Skeleton Clique, and I personally am thrilled for the end of the Bishops’ power and the start of a new narrative.

Were you invited to a Super Bowl party but don’t know who’s playing? Maybe your best friend is a huge fan of the Baltimore… Bills? Don’t know who Patrick Mahomes is and at this point you’re too afraid to ask? Look no further, this is the article for you. 

The Super Bowl is one of the biggest television events of the year. It’s the one day when it seems like everyone, even those who don’t care about football the other 364 days, suddenly come out with very strong opinions about what a bunch of millionaire men do or don’t do with a ball. I’m not here to turn you into a die-hard fan. If you’re tired of “Superb Owl” jokes, or saying you only watch for the commercials, or having nothing to talk to your friends about until the halftime show, then I’m here to help. 

These tips are applicable to most sports, but particularly to team sports, and can be adapted at your own discretion. Here are my top five things to say while watching a sporting event to convince others that you totally understand what’s going on: 

1. “Consistency”
How to use it:
“So long as we stay consistent…”
“If we can just stay consistent…”
“I’ve been saying it all season. It’s in the consistency.”
When to use it: When the conversation turns to discussing performance or strategy, also known as couch coaching or armchair quarterbacking. It’s particularly useful when the team your friends are cheering for messes up. This kind of talk is typically critical, but this is a good and versatile phrase to use. It’s also unique enough that you shouldn’t be suspected of simply parroting buzzwords. 

2. “Stay healthy”
How to use it:
“The players need to stay healthy.”
“We need to play smart and not get hurt.”
“There’s been a lot of injuries this season.”
Keep your tone light while still sounding like what you’re saying means something. Don’t be so serious as to let them think that you have strong feelings about a particular player or incident.
When to use it: Like talking about consistency, this is a good neutral option. You can throw this one out during small talk pretty much anytime. During a game, you can say this whenever someone on your team gets hurt. 

3. “Let’s hold on to it”
How to use it:
“Let’s see if we can hold on to the lead.”
“We need to hold on to the lead.”
“Alright, in the lead, let’s hold on to it.”
When to use it: This one requires you to be sure that the team you (or your friends) want to win is the one currently winning. Toss this out during the celebration moment after they’ve taken a lead, or when the other team scores and gets close to overtaking your team. This is a good one to use when your team is winning near the end of the game. 

4. “Big plays”
How to use it:
“Let’s see some big plays out there.”
“We’re playing too much small ball.”
“We need a big play. Make something happen.”
Repeatable. 
When to use it: When things are getting boring and your team isn’t doing great. At some point past the halfway mark, there’s bound to be a lull in the proceedings. This is a good thing to say to kindly pump some energy back into the room. You can also use this one anytime your team hasn’t done anything exciting in a while, especially when losing. Some games are just bad to watch, and this is a nice, optimistic contribution. 

5. Pick a non-score number on the screen and say it like it means something. 
How to use it: 
“Only eight minutes left!”
“Fourth-and-5.”
“52 passing yards already?”
Repeatable.
When to use it: This tip requires you to pay attention a bit to the function of the scoreboard. The score should be easy to find. Don’t say that one. There might also be a small number that keeps counting down separate from the game clock that starts at either 40 or 25. Don’t say that one either unless it’s about to hit zero. For all other numbers, you’re probably safe. The game time is a good one because it’s easy to find on the screen and will make it look like you’re staying invested in following the game. If you still aren’t sure, take note of what numbers everyone else is saying and use those. 

6. Extra: Just ask questions 
How to use it:
We all love to talk about the stuff we like. Sports fans love to talk about sports. Odds are that whoever you’re watching with won’t care if you don’t know a touchback from a technical foul, and if they do, they probably won’t be fun to watch a game with anyway.

Let yourself be curious, but don’t expect them to walk you through every single second. Ask about words you don’t understand, rules that you can’t figure out, or what a statistic is measuring. Try guessing what the referee is going to call or complain if they make a call against your team. Throw in your two cents about the slow-motion replay. 

Whatever you do, remember that at the end of the day, it’s just a game and games are supposed to be fun. Get out there and have a good time!