#i do feel like the amount of Seriousness being put into this game by travis and sam this campaign has been very low | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

imaginingsoftly · 5 years ago

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Surprise! We Got Married - Travis Konecny

Type: eloping, established relationship, Y/N insert shorts

Requested: No

Warnings: none? I don’t think? Other than a Seattle expansion, so there are players who are obviously moved.

(Y/N = Your name)

AN: There’s a POV shift from Y/N to Travis at the end, but it’s marked

“Babe, I think today’s the day,” Travis whispered at you, not wanting to break the peaceful silence you stood in. His arm was wrapped around your shoulders as you both stood in front of your bedroom window, taking in the street below you and the bustle of Pike Place Market. You smiled up at him, nodding. “Yeah, Trav, I think it’s time.” You took a sip of your coffee, leaning into Travis with a contented sigh. It was the perfect day to get married, the rain coming down in a steady drizzle and the clouds that perfect shade of blue-gray that looked so much like Travis’ eyes.

When he had signed with Seattle the summer before, the two of you had agreed that the weather would be a fun change from what you were both used to as East Coast-ers. You had always loved the rain, and claimed that your most productive days came when the sky was gray and you could open all of the windows in the apartment to smell the rain. It took Travis a little while longer to adjust, though you thought that he had finally come around. Travis pulled you in closer, pressing a kiss to the top of your hair. “Mrs. Y/N Konecny,” he whispered, and you could feel him smile against the side of your head. The plan had been to get married the week before, when the guys had an off-day and your brother and Nolan were both going to be in town, but Travis had blocked a Johnny Boychuck slapshot the night before and you’d spent hours in the hospital waiting to see how bad the fracture in his foot was. As suspected, Travis had a minor fracture and a walking boot, and he was going to be out for at least four weeks.

The guys had a game that night, but Travis didn’t have to be at the rink until right before game time. Really, it was perfect. You could get to the courthouse right when it opened and go out to breakfast at that little bakery you both loved so much right afterwards. Your favorite part of living basically above Pike Place was the easy access to so many small businesses and local food producers, and part what helped you convince Travis the apartment was so perfect, despite being smaller and a little less expensive than what a typical professional athlete’s home would look like.

Travis squeezed your shoulders one more time before turning around and heading into your bathroom. You stood there for a second longer, taking another sip of your coffee and smiling down at the street below you. “Mrs. Y/N Konecny,” you whispered to yourself. It definitely had a nice ring to it.

Other than the location and abundant windows, your favorite part of yours and Travis’ apartment was the gigantic floor-ceiling mirror in the bathroom. It was the location of countless photos of the two of you, ranging from more formal photos before your nights out to pictures of a frowning Travis next to you smirking in matching face masks. When you and Travis had gotten the place, he had sworn he would take more photos with you in front of the mirror, and he had (sometimes reluctantly) held up to that promise. “One last photo as fiancees?” Travis asked. You nodded, shocked that he was the one suggesting a photo, before telling him “smile!” before snapping a photo before he changed his mind. It was by far one of your favorites taken in that mirror.

Travis had put on the soft gray sweater you had bought him for Christmas the first year after you started dating, his nicest jeans, and the black hat you had knit him that one winter you decided to take up knitting (your interest in the hobby ended as quickly as it began). It was your favorite version of Travis, soft and casual and completely yours. You had gone in a similar route, in a gray sweater-dress and your black tights, a matching gray knit hat on your own head. You looked down at Travis’ feet and laughed. “Seriously, dude?” He looked at your feet, encased in short black rainboots, and back at his own, in the exact same pair, and began to laugh. “Great minds think alike, eh Y/N?”. They were the rainboots Travis had bought as a joke when he told you he’d chosen to sign with Seattle. With the rainy climate, they had quickly become a staple of your wardrobe. Travis grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the door before you could try to take any more photos. “Last one to the elevator loses!” he exclaimed before taking off for the front door, and you had to laugh at the sight of him trying to run in a walking boot. It was more of a shuffle than a true run, and if you let him beat you to the elevator, well, that was a secret you’d never share.

*******************************************************************************************

The ceremony was fast, and Mrs. Grabney down the hall had been ecstatic when you’d asked her to be your witness. She had taken some impressively nice photos for an 87 year-old woman, and had appeared to enjoy ordering you and Travis into the positions she thought would be perfect outside the courthouse afterwards. You and Travis sat together outside Three Girls Bakery after bringing Mrs. Grabney back to the apartment building, sharing croissants and coffee like you had done on so many off days prior. It was your favorite place at Pike Place, both for the history and for the croissants. Three Girls had been the first business licensed to a woman in Seattle, way back in 1912, and it was still going strong over 110 years later.

As you and Travis scrolled through the photos on his phone, you stopped Travis’ scrolling to smile at the photo Mrs. Grabney had captured of Travis’ face when you said “I do”. He spoke with his face more than anyone else you knew, once you understood what his microexpressions meant, and the look on his face was one he reserved just for you. “I love this picture,” you announced, smiling up at Travis. He nodded and pressed a kiss onto your forehead. “Me too,” Travis murmured. “That’s when it became official that I could call you Mrs. Konecny forever.” You laughed. “Mrs. Konecny is your mother, Trav. Don’t age me so fast.” Travis laughed and bumped your shoulder with his own. “Okay, then I get to call you Y/N Konecny for the rest of my life then.”

“Whatever, Konecny.”

You giggled when Travis repeated the sentiment, standing with a sigh. “Come on, dude. You’ve gotta get ready for the game.” Travis sighed and did as you asked, though you could hear him mumbling something along the lines of “screw the game” as he stood.

_____________________________________________________________

(POV Change to Travis)

The guys won that night, and I couldn’t have been happier for them, though they needed to hurry their asses up and get into the room so we could do our postgame chat and I could get home to Y/N. Barzy finally made it inside, flopping down into his stall beside mine with a groan. He’d been hit hard during the game, targeted pretty heavily by his former team. I guess that answered the question of if they were still pissed at him for leaving. I slapped his shoulder, smirking when he swore at me. He stopped when he saw the ring on the hand I still had sitting on his shoulder.

“What the fuck is that?” I smiled for real, shrugging my shoulders. “Surprise? Y/N and I went to the courthouse this morning.” Barzy stood and punched my shoulder with an impressive amount of force. “Shut the fuck up. Why the fuck weren’t we invited?” He yelled out way too loudly, and several of the guys looked in our direction. “Why weren’t we invited to what,” Hanifan asked. I smiled sheepishly at the small crowd of guys looking at me for an answer. “Y/N got married this morning.” The room erupted as most of the team tried to jump on me at once. One set of friends and family down, way too many more to go, I thought to myself. It was gonna be a long couple of days.

#Travis Konecny imagine #nhl imagines #nhl imagine

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jamielea81 · 5 years ago

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Just a Simple Lie

Chapter 1

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Description: Having worked on small independent films for the better part of a decade, your friend tells you about an opening for a script supervisor with a large studio. Wanting to advance your career, you apply and get an interview. The only downside, they prefer to hire crew who are married. It’s just a simple lie, right?

A/N: This fic is simply for fun. I know nothing about the personal lives of the two actors in this series and mean no harm. I am also totally guessing regarding the studio talk. This particular chapter is Chris light as it’s mainly a getting to know the reader. Chapters going forward will be heavy on the Chris aspect. Comments, reblogs, and likes are always welcome. Tag list is open, please send me an ask.

“Do you have the ring?”

“Of course, I have the ring.” You let out a frustrated breath. “This is so silly.”

Joanna chuckles over the line. “Where did you manage to get a ring from anyway?”

“It’s my grandmother’s. I feel like I’m majorly disrespecting her by wearing it when I’m not even engaged. Not to mention I’ve been single for-ev-er.” You drawl out.

“Breathe babe. Just breathe.” She says softly.

You inhale deeply and exhale it slowly.

“Maybe don’t do that directly into the phone.” She laughs again.

“Joanna Elizabeth.” You growl. “Why am I doing this?” You ask catching a glimpse of your reflection in the review mirror. Running a hand through your hair, you see the diamond engagement ring on your left finger. It feels so foreign, even stranger seeing it.

“Because this is a great opportunity to advance your career. Stone Lite is a major studio, Y/N. You can’t keep working on those student films.”

“Hey! I worked on a couple of independent movies. One even showed at Sundance.” You defend.

“And that’s awesome. Really. But this could be your big in. You’ve been doing this, what, for ten years?”

She was right. Ten years and the majority of your income came from student funded films and slinging beers three nights a week.

“And by your silence, you know I am right.”

Smug bitch.

“Ahuh.” You sigh.

“Look, I know it’s not right, but if this increases your chances of getting hired, just wear the damn ring.” Joanna huffs out.

“Easy for you to say, oh, wise married one.”

Joanna previously worked for Stone Lite Studios before moving on to Sony. It was a well-known amongst the employees that if you wanted to get hired for any position that put you in direct contact with any of the actors, you needed to be married. The studio was concerned with fan girls and fan boys. As if adults couldn’t control their urges and not make unwanted advances. Not to mention, married or not, some people still have affairs. Now granted, not every person there was married, but you had a greater advantage to get the job if you were. Right or wrong.

You drew the line at saying you were actually married and settled on being engaged. Not wanting to worry about details like how you kept your last name and lying on the tax forms you’d have to fill out. Even though you’ve only worked on small projects, Hollywood was surprisingly small when it came to the industry. It would be a lot harder to explain a sudden husband versus a fiancé. With Joanna’s agreement, you took your grandmother’s engagement ring from your jewelry box and slipped it on your finger.

“I’m just saying, give it a shot and see where this goes.” She reasoned.

“You’re right. You’re right. I better go in anyway. There’s a golf cart that keeps circling around the lot. They’re probably getting suspicious as to why I’m still in my car.”

She let out a chuckle. “They’re going to give you a ride to the offices. Welcome to the big leagues baby.”

“Ms. Y/L/N, may I call you Y/N? Barbara Floyd, the interviewer and also the production manager asked.

The two of you had already gone over your previous crew history where you held a variety of positions including editor, grip, writer, and even wardrobe. On a whim, you took a script supervisor position on an independent short and really enjoyed it. The next job you took was on full length film in the same position, that’s when you decided that’s where your passion lied. Despite the copious amount of responsibility and that often brought on your anxiety, you loved the challenge.

“Of course, Mrs. Floyd.”

Her eyes went directly to your left hand. “That’s a beautiful ring.” She says.

Here we go.

“Thank you.” You stick your hand out for added affect.

“When’s the wedding?” She asks.

“Next year. We have a lot of out of town family. We just want to make sure they have time to arrange travel.”

Look at me lie. Maybe I should have tried acting.

“I’m sure it will be lovely.” She replies with a wide smile. “I’d like to introduce you to a few people. Please come with me.”

You received a contract via e-mail later that evening. They were bringing you on for one film with the option of three additional films after production. Granted, that’s if you didn’t mess up. Joanna was right, this is the big leagues. If you could make it through the next three to four months, you’d have a long term contract with a major studio.

The next day you received the script. Winter’s Sin was the working title. Whether or not the title would stick was anyone’s guess. You had worked with a few well-known actors, but more of the B list variety. Wonderfully talented actors, but they just didn’t get the parts or the recognition they often deserved. This film had a couple of big names, Keanu Reeves and Chris Evans to be exact. Maggie Jessup was this year’s it girl and rumor had it, this movie was going to launch her into stardom. Generally, you didn’t get star struck, but this was Keanu Reeves! You first fell in love with him when you saw Speed. And again, when you watched The Lake House. Too bad you were technically “engaged”.

Pre-production was set to start next week. This week would be spent going over the script a few times and creating notes. Some wouldn’t consider it the fun part of the job, but you loved diving into a script before it was brought to life. It was also a bonus that you generally liked the script. It was sort of a weepy drama with a love story tied in. But the main plot was between two friends, Milo played by Keanu and William played by Chris. You stayed up half the night and made it almost all the way through. To say you were invested was an understatement.

You read through the script twice more over the next few days and felt ready. Next week you would meet with wardrobe and the writers. The cast would be fitted and you would take photos for your own personal files to make sure styles remain the same for the shoot. Of course, this could all change the day shooting begins which is why you needed to be on your A game and get all the drinking out of the way tonight. You’d have Sunday to recover before starting at the studio on Monday.

Laurel Tavern wasn’t necessarily your favorite bar, but it had become the place to get a bite to eat and a few drinks. It was also the most centrally located place for you and your friends to meet. Joanna and her husband Ian picked you up on the way, knowing you wanted to drink to excess. The three of you along with Travis and Jemma were celebrating your new job tonight. The five of you often found reasons to celebrate whether it was finding a twenty dollar bill on the side of the road, not getting fired from a particular job you’ve been slacking at, for the record, that was Travis, or getting a full eight hours of sleep. Tonight, was really worth celebrating.

“What do you want girl?” Joanna asked, getting up from your usual booth. “First rounds on me. If you’re nice, I might even buy you a second.” She throws you a wink.

“Ummm. I’d like a margarita, hold the margarita.” You say in all seriousness.

“Tequila. Got it.” She says before turning away and heading to the bar.

“Extra limes.” You shout.

She waves her hand behind her head, not bothering to spare your table a look.

Travis joins your booth, a couple of pints of beer in hand. “Here, I brought you one.” Setting a pint of golden goodness in front of you.

You lean over kissing his cheek. “I feel so special.” You coo.

Travis wormed his way into your life seven years ago. He was a senior in college at the time, tall and lanky with hair that stuck out from under his hat. He was filming his final project before graduation. The two of you had a mutual friend in common, Jemma, who was an ex-girlfriend of Travis, how they stayed friends, was beyond you. You helped with directing, a little bit of script management, and even filled in for makeup on a few days. Anything to help a friend of a friend. Travis became your pseudo little brother, well, a brother that you kissed once. You had just broken up with Chad, never date a guy name Chad. Anyway, you had just broken up with Chad and were feeling down in the dumps about yourself. He fed you some bullshit about never being there for him when he needed you. You got angry, he got angry, and then he told you that you weren’t hot enough for him. Yep, Chad was a douche. Travis invited you over, feed you pizza and a ton of beers, then you kissed. He wasn’t a bad kisser, but it felt weird. He was five years younger than you, but it wasn’t just that, he was too much like a brother. The two of you agreed that it was a mistake and never brought it up again. Not even Jemma knew.

The five of you munched on burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Jemma bought you a margarita, even after you told her you just wanted the tequila. Her motive was to mooch some of the beverage off of you.

“I don’t want all of the calories. I just want to try it.” She grins. Big rosy cheeks and wild blonde hair. Her British accent on full affect after already consuming a few shots herself. She had lived in the United States most of her life, but when she drank, the accent became heavier.

She grabs your drink, taking a hold of the straw and consumes half of it in one go. If you didn’t love her, you would have ditched her years ago.

Pushing Ian out of the booth, you get up on wobbly feet and make the long twenty foot journey to the bar. “I’ll get my tequila myself. Thank you very much.” You tell the table.

It’s after midnight by the time you’re dropped off. Running a makeup remover cloth over your face and stripping down to a cami, you call it good enough and crawl into your cozy bed.

After a pit stop at Starbucks, you make it to the studio an hour earlier than you need to be. After parking in Timbuctoo, you graciously accept the golf cart ride from security.

One of the admins directs you to a small office down a long hallway with similar offices. There’s a laptop computer, various pens and notepads on the desk. You unpack a small plant you picked up yesterday after you dragged your hungover self out of bed and to the grocery store for food. There was no window in your office which you figured; a little greenery would liven the place up, literally.

An hour later, one of the producers, David, came by to introduce himself and walk you around the grounds and through the soundstage you’d be shooting on. Filming would take place on the soundstage for a little more than a month. Then everyone would move the whole operation to Vancouver. The movie was called Winter’s Sin after all and there wasn’t a whole lot of winter in Los Angeles.

Before stopping back in your office, David popped into the office across from yours. He knocked while walking in, apparently already comfortable with the occupant.

“Hey Monica. I want you to meet Y/N. She’s the assistant script supervisor I was telling you about.”

Assistant? What?

Monica got up from her chair to greet you. You plastered on a smile and stuck out your hand. She was around your age and seriously gorgeous. Beautiful thick brown hair with a touch of caramel highlights that hung just above her chest.

“Hi, Y/N. I’m looking forward to working with you. Would love to hear some of your ideas.”

“Same.”

What could you say? You weren’t told that you were an assistant script supervisor, you thought you had the position. Apparently, it was a shared position.

“Y/N will be working primarily with Chris and Keanu.”

Whoa. Well, at least there’s that.

Monica scoffs. “Really?”

Your eyes automatically go to her left hand. No ring. Of course.

“Yes, really. You’ve got Maggie. I think she can really flourish under your direction. Not to mention you have Hector, Tim, Daisy and Joe.

After the awkward exchange, you traded cellphone numbers with her and made plans to meet after the first read through with the cast.

Walking across the way into the safety of your office, you figured you might as well ask.

“I wasn’t aware that I was being hired on as an assistant script supervisor.”

David ran a hand down his face. “Y/N, listen. This is your first big film; you need to walk before you can run. Alright? If this goes well, you’ll probably get hired on as the lead.”

“Okay.” You sighed out

“Alright, I’ll see you later. Meeting at three on the soundstage.”

“Got it.” You replied, plopping yourself down in the desk chair.

David peeks his head back into your office. “You’ve got some visitors.”

“Thanks.” You call out, standing back up and pulling your door open wider.

Your heart stopped. At least you were pretty sure it did. Keanu and Chris were both in front of you. Yes, you were there to film a movie, but this felt like a freaking movie. The two of them, side by side, grins on their faces. Keanu’s hand outstretched while Chris’ hands were snugly in the front pockets of his jeans.

“Y/N, pleasure to meet you. I’m Keanu.”

You accept his hand but your pretty much speechless. You may have muttered “hi” but you can’t be sure. Sensing your nervousness, he gives you a smile and releases your hand. He looks to Chris and they exchange a silent conversation. Chris steps forward offering you his hand and once again you can’t breathe.

Has he always been this attractive? Apparently, I haven’t watched enough Avengers movies.

His hair’s a bit longer than what you remember from the one or two movies you’ve seen. He’s also sporting a full beard. Definitely something he can pull off.

You mentally slap yourself and pull your hand from his after you realize you hadn’t said anything.

“Um. Sorry. Haven’t had enough caffeine today. It’s nice to meet you both. I look forward to working with you on this shoot.”

“Nice plant.” Keanu says, pointing at the fern taking up the front corner of your desk.

You giggle. Like actually let out a giggle and you’re pretty sure your cheeks are flushed.

You’re a professional. Get your shit together.

“Well, you know?” Shrugging your shoulders. “Need to green the space up a bit.’

Chris nods his head and offers a closed mouth smile.

“Well, we won’t take up all your time. Just wanted to say hello.”

“Hello.” You reply with a wave.

Why am I so awkward?!

They both chuckle and Chris waves back at you.

Tomorrow you wouldn’t be so starstruck. These are just two men that you work with. Who cares that they both seem nice and are dangerously attractive? You’re an “engaged” woman who is also a professional. You can do this.

Yeah. I can do this.

If you are crossed out, I can’t tag you.

Tag list: @southerngracela @chrisevansforever @chrisevansfanfic @zsuzstyina @peach-acid @tanelle83 @pinknerdpanda @allaboutthebooz @estillion14 @panicfob@patzammit @heartislubbingdubbing @collinsstanharbour @twittytelly @thefandomzoneisdangerous @linki-locks11 @jennmurawski13

#Chris Evans #chris evans fanfic #keanu reeves #actor fic #Chris Evans Fan Fiction #just a simple lie #Chris Evans x Reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x y/n

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deadcactuswalking · 5 years ago

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 20th October 2019

Top 10

For the third consecutive week, and honestly to my surprise, “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I is at #1. While this is underwhelming usually for me in the first place since I find this song only okay, I expected another song to take that spot this week, but we’ll talk about that after this first song and its runner-up.

“Ride It” by Regard featuring Jay Sean is up a singular spot from last week to the number-two spot.

Now for the song that I expected to debut at #1, which debuted at number-three this week: “Lights Up” by Harry Styles. It seemingly unperformed in the US too so far, debuting at only #17, but time will tell if this gradually becomes a smash or not, and I predict it very much could be. Regardless, it’s Styles’ second UK Top 40 hit and his second UK Top 10, his first since “Sign of the Times” peaked at #1 in 2017. None of the eight other charting singles from the debut album were able to make the top 40, which is surprising to me, so maybe I overestimate the former One Direction member’s star power.

At number-four, we have “Circles” by Post Malone up a single spot.

Interestingly, Travis Scott’s “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” dropped less here than it did on the Hot 100, probably because of how radio is disregarded entirely in the UK singles chart, and Travis is just picking up radio in the US. It is still down though, and despite monstrous streaming, I have qualms about the longevity of this one, down three spaces this week to number-five.

Dermot Kennedy rides his newfound success with “Outnumbered”, which is starting to grow on me, up two spots to number-six.

The biggest story this week other than the new arrivals is probably the massive 17-space increase for “South of the Border” by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B up to number-seven. Often, we’ll see a drop larger than this, but a one-week increase being this large is seldom-seen, especially recently. Hence, the pretty awful song in my opinion becomes Sheeran’s 26th Top 10 hit in the UK, as well as Cabello’s fifth and Cardi’s fourth. Not all of the songs in the top 10 are going to be ones I tolerate, I accepted that a long time ago.

I don’t like this next song at number-eight either, however I am happy for the artist(s) behind it as I’m just glad they’re getting a lot of success, I’ve been rooting for the lead act especially, but “Be Honest” by Jorja Smith and Burna Boy is up three spots to number-eight, becoming Smith’s first ever Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart, which was a massive shock to me initially, actually. It’s Burna Boy’s second after his success with Dave’s “Location”, but he’s yet to get a solo hit to his name.

Another new top 10 hit I’m not that excited about is “Bruises” by Lewis Capaldi, up seven positions to number-nine and becoming Capaldi’s fourth top 10 on the UK Singles Chart thanks to an orchestral remix, I think? I don’t care, frankly, because it’s a pretty rubbish song.

Also entering the top 10 for the first time after a few weeks on the chart up three spots to #10 is “Post Malone” by Sam Feldt featuring RANI, becoming Feldt’s second UK Top 10 and RAMI’s first. This also marks the first time maybe ever that there are two artists in the UK Singles Chart’s top 10 that do not have a Wikipedia page, those being RANI and Regard. I can’t tell if that’s impressive or kind of sad.

Edit: Nevermind, RANI has a page now.

Climbers

We have a couple solid climbers in the top half of the chart, but a disproportionately large amount of fallers to counter them. We’ll tackle those later, but the climbers include “Buss Down” by Aitch featuring ZieZie up nine spaces to #11, right next to “Professor X” by Dave from the Top Boy soundtrack up six spots to #12, as well as “God is a Dancer” by Mabel and Tiesto entering the top 20 for the first time up a shocking 22 spots to #15, nearby “Turn Me On” by Riton, Oliver Heldens and Vula also entering the top 20 for the first time up seven positions to #16 and “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi rebounding up five spots to #18. “Good as Hell” by Lizzo is up six to #22, but after that, it’s just fallers from now on.

Fallers

The quantity of these downfalls is almost ridiculous and they’re nearly all massive hits completely collapsing this week, due to streaming cuts, which could finally kick the Winter chart season into full gear, which of course is incredibly exciting. Let’s list them in reverse order (from #40 to the earliest drop), starting with “RAN$OM” by Lil Tecca and its remix featuring Juice WRLD down 26 to #40, “How Do You Sleep?” by Sam Smith down 27 to #39, “Strike a Pose” by Young T & Bugsey and Aitch down 28 to #38, “3 Nights” by Dominic Fike down 23 to #32, “Playing Games” by Summer Walker featuring an extended version with Bryson Tiller down five off of the debut to #30, “Ladbroke Grove” by AJ Tracey down 22 to #26, “Sorry” by Joel Corry featuring uncredited vocals from Hayley May down 18 to #25, “Higher Love” by Kygo and Whitney Houston down 17 to #23 and finally, “Liar” by Camila Cabello down seven to #21. It’s hard to tell if any of this is a net positive however, as while some of these songs are downright garbage like “RAN$OM” and “Playing Games”, or lousy like “Liar”, a lot of them are at least serviceable (“Higher Love” and “Sorry”), with a handful of them, including “Strike a Pose”, “Ladbroke Grove” and “3 Nights” actually being pretty great, but we’ll see what Winter has for us in terms of the pop charts in the coming weeks as it seems right now, we’re obliterating the Autumn and Summer hits completely.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Whilst there aren’t any returning entries, there are a few drop-outs including “Panini” by Lil Nas X featuring a remix with DaBaby out from #22, as well as premature fall-offs for “Playing for Keeps” by D-Block Europe featuring Dave from #37, “Harder” by Jax Jones featuring Bebe Rexha from #39 and “Wiley Flow” by Stormzy – seriously, really worried about that album cycle, even with “Vossi Bop” being so massive and probably the biggest or second-biggest British hit of the year. Now I guess it’s time to review the new arrivals for this week.

NEW ARRIVALS

#33 – “Lose Control” – MEDUZA, Becky Hill and Goodboys

Produced by MEDUZA – Peaked at #31 in Ireland

Finally, Italian EDM duo MEDUZA are back with another single after their breakout single hit the charts hard, this one being yet another collaboration with British band Goodboys, similar to “Piece of Your Heart” which had peaked at #2 just earlier this year, meaning this is both acts’ second UK Top 40 hit, yet this time they’ve recruited singer Becky Hill (This being her eighth UK Top 40 hit), recently riding off her success “Wish You Well” with Sigala, kind of a career revival for Hill. Is the end product of this seemingly pretty fitting collaboration any good? Well, it’s a pretty slow starter, and I can’t help but think it’s a pretty cheap production job with dated, flat synths surrounded by scurrying hi-hats and... wow, that drop sounds exactly like “Piece of Your Heart”. I don’t know enough about vocals to say if that’s the same vocal melody exactly, but God it sounds like it, and it’s also performed by Goodboys, meaning it’s so blatantly a lazy move. The song itself is okay and once it gets going, it’s just a pretty generic, typical house-pop single that doesn’t bring anything fresh or even catchy like MEDUZA and Goodboys’ debut single did. There isn’t even really a proper build-up to be honest, the drop just kind of... happens. Not a fan of this, especially towards the end where it gets a bit maddening of a loop and the mixing doesn’t exactly make the chaos feel dynamic, but I can see its appeal. Next.

#19 – “Memories” – Maroon 5

Produced by Adam Levine and the Monsters and the Strangerz – Peaked at #3 in Australia and Singapore, and #12 in the US

Now, don’t get me wrong: I usually tolerate and appreciate Maroon 5 a lot more than most, but this single is boring as sin and so stripped of any remarkable features it feels like it’s beyond my criticism. Hence, let’s talk about some other songs in the top 75 that missed the mark for the UK Top 40 that are probably a lot more interesting.

First, we have “F.N.” by Lil Tjay at #69. That’s not really a bad song, but I don’t think I enjoy Tjay’s brand of painful, nasal Auto-Tune despite pretty good harmonies and that beat is still so generic and uninteresting to me. The content isn’t exactly atypical but I do like the subtle pitch-shifted vocal sample, although that intro is... confusing? I think that’s the best way to put it. The sub-bass here is killer though, by the way.

I haven’t listened to that Mark Ronson record yet because lol who cares, but “Don’t Leave Me Lonely” at #66 really lets guest artist YEBBA shine as her soulful, unique vocals sound bluesy over a pretty optimistic, vaguely tropical instrumental that I’m convinced was given to the wrong song. It sounds pretty jarring until the anthemic strings come in and it ends up just sounding like a pretty standard pop song with an above-average vocalist who deserves better. Eh.

“Sun Queen” by Gerry Cinnamon is actually a pretty cute almost country folk rock song, with a pretty jaunty guitar line I really enjoy, and some gruff vocals from Gerry that fits the alt-rock aesthetic perfectly. Not only that, but it’s pretty catchy albeit the songwriting being pretty awkward, especially in the chorus, and the mixing does feel a bit too generous towards the guitars, to say the least. That post-chorus is pretty disconnected from the rest of the song too. Otherwise, it just seems pretty decent and I appreciate the... James Dean reference, I guess? I have no idea how this charted at #64 though.

There’s a returning entry at #42 from our lads over at D-Block Europe and as you’d expect, it’s pretty awful. Over a boring guitar beat, Young Adz vocally riffs drenched in cheap Auto-Tune and reverb, with some oddly central mixing, although he has a couple funny lines and the beat isn’t that bad, just pretty dull. Dirtbike LB exists, and why the HELL is this five minutes? The chorus is so unnecessarily long for no reason.

“Memories” by Maroon 5 is not a bad pop ballad by any means, it just feels like a waste of talent, especially since it’s basically just Adam Levine singing a pretty sweet catchy pop song against keys that share their Caribbean cadence with Levine. The build-up to the non-existent drop is... unique in a way, especially with the sound effects, choir and that pretty smooth-sounding bass, and Levine’s vocalising doesn’t sound awful, especially when he’s subdued like this. The outro sounds pretty cool as well, but it’s so unremarkable I don’t feel the need to talk about it... at all, really.

#17 – “47” – Sidhu Moose Wala, MIST and Steel Banglez featuring Stefflon Don

Produced by Steel Banglez

Okay, so I feel this needs a bit of explanation. Sidhu Moose Wala is a Punjabi singer most closely associated with cinema soundtracks for Bollywood films as well as being a co-writer for a couple of related Indian singers such as “Ninja”. I know nothing about Punjabi cinema so forgive my ignorance, but we should know the other three a lot better. MIST and Stefflon Don are both British trap-rappers, the second of which a female recognised by the XXL Freshman List in 2018, the first of which is incredibly uninteresting and almost exhaustingly characterless. Steel Banglez is the producer behind many hit Afroswing-influenced hip hop out of London. I am surprised it debuted this high, though, since Walla isn’t exactly a superstar outside of India, and the three hip-hop artists are far from the biggest from the UK. Regardless, It’s MIST’s third UK Top 40 hit (I think), Steel Banglez’s third UK Top 40 hit as well, Stefflon Don’s fourth and Sidhu Moose Walla’s first ever (Congratulations), and it features all of these artists engaging in some pretty fun, cinematic trap heavily sampling and interpolating from Italian classical music, and Wala doesn’t sound bad here at all, but even if the sample knocks hard with the 808s and rattling hi-hat triplets, I can’t lie and say Wala doesn’t sound slightly awkward. MIST on the other hand is pretty natural, although he doesn’t say anything of interest. There’s a pretty sweet keyboard riff that comes up during MIST’s verse, which returns during Stefflon Don’s as well, although she does a much better job at riding the beat in a way that’s actually commanding and powerful. This song overall leaves me feeling there’s a lot of wasted potential with that fantastic sample, and definitely one of Steel Banglez’s best ever beats (Trust me, I’ve heard a lot of this man’s instrumentals), as both performances that aren’t Wala are somewhat disappointing and to be honest, surprisingly unremarkable. Speaking of which...

#3 – “Lights Up” – Harry Styles

Produced by Tyler Johnson and Kid Harpoon

I had no idea about what to expect from a Harry Styles sophomore album, I really don’t, although I did genuinely like a lot of the soft-rock and folksier angles he took to his own brand of pop music he had written for him for years in the form of One Direction, which in hindsight were probably the most inoffensive boy band I can think of off the top of my head. “Sign of the Times” is still an absolutely killer power ballad, so I had high hopes and I was surprised by the shift in sound, with a lot more focus on the pretty synths around a familiar guitar line... before it’s abruptly interrupted by a bass-heavy danceable indie pop sound that is a lot more typical of the genre nowadays. Harry Styles here has a vocal performance that feels somewhat flat, but I adore the vocoder harmonies in the chorus and pre-chorus, especially the “da-da-da-da” vocalising, that sounds fantastic. The chorus isn’t as anthemic as it intends though, mostly because of how the choir of both a choir and Harry Styles sounds pretty compressed and ugly, so it doesn’t get that rich sound that it’s going for, and I feel like that’s a missed opportunity. Also, this song is unstructured and messy as all hell, not even reaching three minutes yet feeling like a complete trainwreck throughout. Yeah, this is bad, but in an annoyingly subtle way. I don’t expect this to make my worst list, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Conclusion

Okay, I’m going to finish this really quickly, so Harry Styles gets Worst of the Week for the disappointing “Lights Up” and Best of the Week is... well... okay, so nothing here is actually good, so let’s cheat and give MEDUZA, Becky Hill and Goodboys a Dishonourable Mention for “Lose Control”. I’m going to listen to the new Kanye album, see you next week – or sooner!

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neganisking · 8 years ago

Text

They found her in the woods. Pt 2

Thank you for all the love for the first part. I hope you enjoy! Tagging: @thefelinemedia78 @negans-network

–

It was times like these that Negan wondered why he bothered.

He had gone to all the trouble of organising every last thing, delegating to Simon and Wade so that the bunch of babies that worked under him could get by without him having to hold their hand for one fucking day. And yet there he was, in the middle of a pretty fucking important job being interrupted by some asshole who thought he knew better. He wasn’t sure exactly when he became a babysitter but he sure wasn’t being paid enough for that shit.

Negan had been rather enjoying himself too, in the company of a woman who might just end up dead by the end of the day, watching everyone run around – there was nothing like the threat of death to set a fire up everyone’s ass. He thrived on the tension and fear in the air. Despite the setback with the kid with the man sized balls, and this ‘mix up’ with the guns, he could tell today was going to be another win.

“Negan?”

Stopping mid-monologue, he turned to Arat and frowned. “What is it Arat? Can’t you see I’m in the middle of a god damn conversation? It is rude to interrupt someone when they’re in the middle of a fucking conversation you know that.”

The other woman pressed her lips into a thin line and Negan smiled. Getting under people’s skin really tickled his balls. He knew though how seriously Arat took things so he knew that it must be important.

“I’m just busting your great big lady nuts you know that. C'mon – what’s fucking wrong this time?”

Instead of replying, she holds out her hand and offers Negan her radio. He just blinks at it for a few long moments. Surely she was joking. No one would be stupid enough to try to get him on the radio, not today of all days when he specifically stated that no one was to bother him.

“You’re fucking kidding.”

She shakes her head. “I told him. But he insisted.”

Sitting forwards in the chair, Negan’s face darkened. No one commanded his time. No one. “What is so motherfucking important hmm?”

“He didn’t say.” He noticed for once she looked nervous. Rightly so, he was growing more angry by the second. How was he supposed to make Rick the prick and company follow his rules while his own people were too fucking stupid to.

He got to his feet, missing the weight of Lucille in his hand though it was more important that Rick had her right now. He needed to show Alexandria that the rules mattered no matter how high up on the food chain you were.

Allowing his voice to rise and his anger to seep through, Negan took a step towards the woman. “C'mon Arat. You bring this to me – you say he insisted but you don’t even fucking know what the fuck is wrong? You know better than to pull this shit. I am entertaining my guest here while she is otherwise detained – I don’t have time to wipe some asshole’s asshole today. Now tell whoever the fuck it is I’m busy and don’t fucking bug me again. Do we understand one another?”

To her merit, she didn’t flinch once. It reminded Negan why he trusted her with his life, why she was a total badass. She knew the score.

“He said it was your personal business. That you would want to know right away.”

The word personal piqued his interest. Negan didn’t have a personal life. If he had he would have been ruined by now, secrets get you fucking dead. Even the amount of times he got his dick wet in a day was common knowledge. He was an open fucking book.

Glaring at the offending radio, Negan weighs up his options. He can always kill the guy if it’s a waste of his time. He takes it from her hand and gestures to the saviours around him.

“This had better be fucking good. Watch her, anything happens you fucking shut that shit down and get me pronto. No one gets hurt you got that?”

“Got it.”

With long strides, Negan walks back to the truck, hoisting himself into the empty cab before finally answering the call. “Who the fuck is this?”

The reply is instant. “Travis sir.”

No screaming, crying, nothing blowing up in the background – safe to say Negan was disappointed. Clearly it could wait. But not before he gave this Travis a chewing out, he would punish him properly later.

“Well Travis, let me let you in on a secret. And by secret I mean something you were all told in fucking triplicate. Today is one motherfucking busy day and you were specifically told not to do the one thing that you fucking took it upon yourself to do. So it had better be fucking worth it Travis you know how much of a stickler Lucille is for the rules.”

“It is sir – Negan – it’s just – we were – “

The man on the other end of the radio splutters pathetically and it makes Negan want to hurt him. He would roll his eyes but he’s very much aware of the amount of people outside who could be watching. He settles on scanning the view in front of him and watches Rick disappear into yet another house. The sorry shit really didn’t know where his guns were.

“- Don’t care. Out with it Travis.”

“We found a girl.”

He was amazed by this guy’s stupidity. Why would he think Negan cared for one second about that? Negan the man with five fucking beautiful wives who at this very second were waiting for him to come home.

“Good for you Travis. Still do not care. Is that really what you interrupted my day for? Cause I gotta tell you, that ain’t gonna cut it I’m afraid.”

“No sir. It’s more than that.”

Negan resisted the urge to thump his skull against the steering wheel. He was so done with this asshole. “One last chance. What is it?”

“We think she’s your daughter.”

For a moment, Negan had the surreal feeling that he was in a god damn dream. He didn’t do family, he didn’t have anything to lose anymore. That was the real secret to his success – all or nothing. He could put every last itty bitty fucking thing he had in because he had fuck all to hold him back. No baggage. The very idea that he had a weakness like that knocked back in time to the shitty old world. He might have had a daughter, maybe two. He might have had a wife who loved him as well, but not anymore.

“Negan?”

The voice on the radio brought him back to reality. A quick look told him that Rick still hadn’t produced the fucking goods. He rubs his eyes with the cool leather off his glove and thinks. It’s such an out of the fucking ball park suggestion it’s either true or a motherfucking trap. The chances of it being true were slim to none, yet not impossible. Damnit.

“What the fuck makes you think she’s my daughter?”

The fear and doubt in Travis’ voice was clear even over the crackle of the radio static. Good. He should be fucking afraid. Very a-fucking-fraid. “Well, when I gave her the rundown about who she belonged to she heard your name and started begging to see you. She wouldn’t say why.”

“That’s it?” She could be fucking anyone. Definitely sounded like a trap.

“No sir. She uh. She had a picture in her bag. You’re in it. With a woman and two girls.”

There’s only one place anyone would find a fucking picture like that. He never went back to the house after Lucile died. Maybe it was one of the more dickish things he’d done but he wanted to keep moving forward. As a man who had recently lost every last fucking thing he knew that holding onto the past would only get him fucking dead. He was right to not look back. He was.

Maybe it wasn’t a god damn trap. Maybe – maybe – one of his girls finally found their way home. He could almost feel the cracks forming, threatening everything he had worked so fucking hard to build, before he got a fucking grip. He shouldn’t be so sentimental - they’re dead. He didn’t know how else anyone could have found a picture like that, but it had to be a trap. They were all dead.

“Anything else?”

“I asked her what her name was, only I couldn’t tell much from that so I asked her what her mother was called.”

Negan held his breath, caught between hope and scolding himself for entertaining this sad fucking excuse for a joke. He tried to sound as disinterested as possible. “And?”

“Lucille. She said her name was Lucille .”

Negan didn’t put much – any – god damn faith in that answer. It wasn’t rocket science to figure out that his wife was named Lucille. Hell, he named his fucking bat after her.

“Now I know you didn’t wanna be bothered but I just thought – if it was my girl, I’d wanna know.”

Out of everything it was the photo that fucked with his head the most. Someone would have had to know where he had lived all those god damn fucking years ago. No one who was still alive knew that. But then maybe Travis was in on the shitty game. Maybe Simon had told him about the two girls and the whole thing was a fucking lie. Fucker – that was private. He trusted Simon with his life. He wouldn’t fucking dare.

He was going to have to fucking find out one way or another. “Travis shut the fuck up. Where is she now?”

“In the back of the truck.”

“Give her the radio.”

For just a moment, he let himself wonder. He tried not to think about how they only found one girl not two. He tried not to think about which one it could be - Would it be his headstrong Cassie? She was older, 26 now – fuck he was getting old. It would make sense that she survived: she was tough, fucking fast, she could have made it. Or maybe -

“Hello?”

It was fucking stupid of him to think he would recognise her voice. It had been 7 years and he had spent too long trying to forget. But maybe it wasn’t them at all.

“Who’s this?”

“Grace.”

“Grace?” Grace – his little girl. The one with her head in the clouds and her mothers eyes. She was still alive?

“Grace-lynn.”

He had to take fucking control of the situation. He had to. Clearing his throat he did his best to distance himself from things. He was fucking Negan after all. Either today just got better or a whole bunch of assholes were going to die, either way he was going to stay on top. He had to.

“Gracie I’m going to ask you a couple of questions and you’re gonna answer them honestly okay? I’ll know if you’re lying.” The nickname slipped out before he could stop it. He was getting his fucking hopes up.

“Okay.” She sounded scared. Fuck. He pulled himself the fuck together and pushed on.

“Where were you when everything turned to shit?”

“Down south. Nashville. We were on a school trip.”

Ice burned through his veins. He hadn’t wanted them to go. Lucile convinced him in the end, she wanted them to have god damn adventures. She wanted to hear all about it before she died. Look how well that fucking turned out. Shit. Everything turned to shit.

“We?” He wanted to catch the fuckers out, shifting his voice to sound like they had said the wrong thing. For the first time in a long time, Negan felt scared. He fucking hated it. The past needed to stay where it was. It was easier that way.

“Me and my sister.” My sister and I, he thought. Cassandra fucking hated it when he corrected her grammar, Grace used to find it funny. He wondered if she said it on purpose, but she was on 13 years old, Cass probably didn’t have the chance to teach her. He supposed didn’t really fucking matter anymore anyway.

“What was the very last thing I said to you?” This was it. This was fucking it. If she couldn’t answer it then their shitty god damn fucking joke was over and he could make them pay for chasing him with fucking ghosts. No one else knew. Just his Gracie.

“You? Uh – the last thing?” She was stalling. Fuck. He was right.

“The very last thing.” Negan told himself it was a good thing they were all dead. It was. Fuck.

“I don’t- “ She didn’t know. It was over.

Just as Negan was about to launch on what might later known as the most brutal fucking verbal assault in the fucking history of the universe, she spoke again.

“We were on the bus. And you got through on the phone somehow. You told us to get out of the city. That it was happening at home too so not to come back. But then a geek almost got Cass and I dropped the phone. When I got back to it you weren’t there. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

He remembered the screams, he couldn’t tell who the voices belonged to, not until Grace screamed Cassandra’s name. He had never felt so helpless, all he could do was call for them both and tell them how much he loved them over and over. The line went dead and he though he had lost them both. Lucile died the next day.

Her voice cracks as she speaks and it makes his own chest tighten. How impossible were the odds that she would make it this way, after all this time? How long had she been so close to him without him knowing? His fucking kid was alive. And she had found him.

“Gracie. It’s okay. It’s gonna be alright now.”

Clearing his throat because he was fucked if he was gonna cry in a damn cab surrounded by people who wanted him dead, he took back control of his mind and figured out what the fuck was going to happen next. This was what he knew. He was fucking good at it.

He fucking hated the position it had put him in. Some sorry shit had something over him, something they could fucking use against him if they had half a mind to do it. On the plus side, this Travis person – if that was even his name – was terrified, but he didn’t know anything about the other men. He had to hope that was enough.

“Still with me?”

“Yeah.” She was strong. She had to be. Not much longer and he would be able to keep her safe. Something he should have fucking done from the beginning.

“In a minute I want you to hand the radio back and those men are gonna take you home okay? It’s a big ol’ factory you wont miss it. They take you anywhere else you threaten them okay? You tell them that I wont stop until they’re all fucking dead. Got that?

“Gonna hand you over to someone called Simon. He has one hell of a moustache - he’ll keep you safe okay? Stay with him, do what he says and I’ll come get you as soon as I can.”

That was his best plan. It was shitty. Too many god damn holes, too many things that could fucking go wrong. But he had to have faith in his reputation and the world he had built from fucking scratch. He was Negan for fucks sake.

“Wait.” Shit. What now?

“What is it?”

“I wanna - can I ask you a question?” Negan sighed in relief. It was hard not being able to see what was going on on the other end. He hated not being in control.

“Alright. Shoot.”

“When’s my birthday?”

His kid was smart. So fucking smart. Fucking brave too. Negan was so fucking proud in that moment. He hadn’t given her any reason to trust his word yet and instead of blindly following along there she was standing up for herself even when she was outnumbered. She wanted him to prove who he was. She didn’t want to walk into some trap either.

“August 15th. You turned 21 last week.”

He wondered if she even fucking knew how old she was. If she really was on her own, she probably had no fucking clue what the date was. It pulled at something inside of him. He was finally going to give her every-fucking-thing she deserved.

“Okay.” The word hung in the air and all Negan could think of were all the fucking things he had to tell her. He didn’t want to do it over the damn radio though and he was well aware of how long he had been inside the truck. He needed to show his face out there again. Time to move things the fuck along.

“We’ll have time to talk later. Hand back the radio now for me.”

It only took a moment for the man to reply. He hoped he hadn’t heard everything. “This is Travis.”

“Travis you might just be my new best friend.” Use the carrot, then the stick. It had worked a million fucking times before.

“So it is her?” He didn’t like the other man’s tone one fucking bit. He had to be careful.

“Is she hurt?” He decided not to answer his question. Negan didn’t answer to any fucker no sir-ee. She was safer that way anyway.

“She was limping a little, and she needs food and water.”

Negan ran his hand over his beard. He really did need a fucking shave. Carson would be able to fix her up so long as she actually got there.

“Give her what you have for now. Take good fucking care of her Travis. I don’t think I need to tell you just how fucking important your day just got now do I?”

“No sir.” Now for the stick.

“and I don’t think I need to point out the consequences should you or any of your boys fuck it up do I?”

“No sir.”

“Good. Now, you’re gonna drive her back to the sanctuary and hand her over to Simon. In person and only to Simon do you understand me?”

No room for questions, orders not requests. He’d spell out every last fucking word if he had to, he was Negan and he was in control

“Take her to Simon. Got it.”

“You do it, do it right and I’ll make sure you get something good for your troubles alright?” Once it was all over he would have to reward them. Rewards for loyalty keep them loyal. This was the biggest fucking test of that he could possibly think of. He hoped he’d done enough.

“Thank you Negan.”

“Don’t you dare let me down.”

When Travis signed off Negan took a deep fucking breath and forced his body to relax. He had shit to do and it wasn’t going to do its-fucking-self. He wasn’t going to make it back until tonight. He needed to make sure Simon was ready for shit to go down.

Flicking the radio to channel 1 he called out. “Simon, you there?”

It only took a short moment for him to get a reply. “Boss?”

“I need you to clear your schedule. I got a job for you.”

“Run go okay?” He could always depend on Simon. He was always on the lookout for the next fuck up so he could fix it before it turned into a total clusterfuck. He was smart.

“Don’t fucking worry about that. One of the outpost boys – Travis? He’s bringing someone to you. I need you to look after her till I get back.”

“Sure. Who is it?” Simon never asked stupid questions, never whined like a little bitch. He got his head down and got the fuck on with it.

“My girl Gracie.”

“You sure?” Negan huffed a laugh, the fucking coot was as paranoid as he was. It served them both well.

“About as sure as I fucking can be over a damn radio which is why I’m telling you so you can get ready. If it’s a trap then shut it down and throw the sorry shits in the cells – kill ‘em if you have to. But if it isn’t I need you to keep her safe ‘til I get back.”

“Okay boss.”

“He’s on channel 7.”

“Got it.” Simple, easy, done. Why was it so hard for every fucker else?

In the silence that surrounded him, he ran through everything that had just happened. Was he fucking missing something? Was this even fucking real? His girl was alive for fucks sake. That meant something. Things were going to have to change a little to make room, to keep her safe.

When he couldn’t think of anything else he could do, Negan psyched himself up for another dramatic entrance. He needed to speed things along and if Rick still hadn’t found the fucking guns he was just going to have to kill someone. He now had somewhere he’d rather be so the sooner this shit was dealt with the better.

Swinging the door open he planted his feet firmly on the asphalt and smiled widely. Things were only looking up.

“Tick tock Rick. Times running out!”

#negan #negan imagine #twd imagine #twd fanfiction #negan's thirst squad #mine

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eponymous-rose · 8 years ago

Note

There's been some interesting talk about character alignments in the tag and I was wondering what you thought?

Oh gosh, it was neat to see that discussion! Keeping in mind that the whole idea of character alignments is intended to be a loose descriptor to aid with character-building (especially in 5e, where many of the alignment-based restrictions in gameplay from earlier editions have been peeled away) and can be extremely limiting and actively get in the way of a super RP-heavy game, and that this is just me goofin’ and isn’t intended to reflect the truth of the characters or whatever, here are my thoughts!

Look, I gotta start with Grog. Grog’s officially chaotic neutral, but I think an argument could be made that he’s been making a slow turn toward chaotic good since the Westruun arc–which shouldn’t be too surprising, since his entire character arc hinges on the one moment in which he sacrificed himself to protect an innocent. He definitely embodies chaos (Travis has talked about how Grog is just him with absolutely no filter, and he frequently does the first thing that pops into his head), but the underlying motivations behind what he does are generally based on the notion of protecting others, even if he doesn’t know them well, and even if it means he might fall in the process. There’s not a whole lot of pragmatism with Grog, is what I’m saying, and more and more often he’s been the one jumping into something because it’s gonna be a super fun bloodbath… and grudgingly admitting that it’s also just maybe the right thing to do. He might not be there yet–when he does the right thing, it’s often for the wrong reasons–but it seems to me that he’s certainly carving his way in that general direction.

Scanlan is a really prime example of chaotic good, which is his official alignment. He generally is working to do good things, but his priorities are also more aligned with protecting those closest to them than with any nebulous idea of “good for good’s own sake” (killing an innocent in order to keep from hurting Vax, backing away from an injured Pike in order to keep his promise to Kaylie). He’ll do bad things, sometimes, to protect the people he cares about most. And here’s one way the alignment chart kind of falls down: it generally treats self-sacrifice as a purely altruistic act pushing someone closer to the good side of the axis, but Scanlan’s avoiding self-sacrifice is arguably more “good” than the alternative.

I think it makes sense for Vex to have returned to chaotic good–I’ve argued in the past that a lot of the conflict that led up to her chaotic neutral shift was because she as a character hadn’t had a chance yet to push into Act II of her character development. Although Laura has from the very beginning talked about how Vex’s “greed” is a direct result of her poverty and frustration growing up, early in the show her haggling was still being done more for laughs than for any sort of deep character reason (kind of like Pike’s occasional moments of brutality early on), which really embodied the “good and evil are secondary to my concerns” attitude of chaotic neutral. Matt tends to use things like alignment shifts (or, in Pike’s case, a shattered holy symbol) as a reminder to the player that gags taken too far will actually shift their character, just to keep everyone on the same page emotionally and to make sure everyone’s taking the same parts of the game seriously. Now that Vex has finally been able to take the spotlight with the Feywild arc and get some solid character development, it seems completely natural that she’d shift back to chaotic good; fundamentally, her character’s always been about doing right in the world, even if her methods are sometimes a little bit unorthodox, and even if her personal traumas sometimes keep her from being able to act on those good intentions.

Keyleth’s a really interesting case, because on the one hand she’s generally the one (along with Vax) reining the group in from their more bloodthirsty impulses, but on the other, she’s aggressively suspicious and mistrusting of authority. For that reason, I think it’s bang-on that she’s neutral good as opposed to chaotic or lawful. The entire situation with Raishan is why I think alignment charts are so limiting: her vows for revenge and willingness to sacrifice herself (and possibly even allies) if necessary aren’t quite in keeping with neutral good on paper, but it’s painfully obvious that there’s a good in-character reason for that attitude, and it seems really goofy to try and put an alignment shift on that when she’s making the effort to seek counsel (from Grog of all people!) about how to keep her rage in check. Neutral good seems about right, with a possible meander towards chaotic good lately.

Vax, I think, is starting to veer more into lawful good territory than his official chaotic good alignment. He’s begun following an extremely strict self-imposed code that does prioritize his found family, but in a very codified sort of way. He sees himself as an instrument, a weapon, to be wielded by his sister, by Keyleth, and by the Raven Queen, in more-or-less that order. After each major battle since episode 44, whenever time has permitted, he’s made a point of tending to the dead, because while the Raven Queen may only reign over the moment of their passing, her followers (like the Bastions in Vasselheim) have been shown to feel a certain responsibility towards the earthly remains. There’s still a clear break between Vax-the-rogue and Vax-the-paladin, however, in that Vax spent his entire early life pushing back against anything organized or restrictive and has always valued personal freedom. A lot of his character’s conflict comes from that forced see-sawing between lawful and chaotic depending on the gravity of the situation and the weights other people (or deities) have placed on either end of that see-saw.

I’m one of the folks who’s vaguely astounded that Percy’s official alignment is neutral good. To be fair, I think it’s valid to base someone’s alignment on what they desperately want to be, and Percy, if he were to honestly fill out a character sheet for “where I want to see myself in five years”, would absolutely mark “neutral good”. But he gets distracted from his pursuit of goodness very, very, very easily. I’m not talking about the corruption during the Whitestone arc, I’m not talking No Mercy Percy, I’m talking about all the little things Percy does, the “I’ve had a terrible thought”s, handing Grog Craven Edge, stabbing Raishan. Taliesin has talked a lot about how he enjoys playing characters who appear to have one alignment and actually follow another, and has said repeatedly that Percy is convinced he’s the only adult in the room, which leads on occasion to a strange sort of self-loathing confidence; he has terrible thoughts and recognizes them as such, but he’s also fully convinced they’re correct and even justified, which is so interesting. His willingness to experiment because “it’ll be funny”, and his fascination with the darker side of his own nature (which has been held back a bit lately for obvious reasons), I think, pushes him into neutral territory despite his best efforts. His love of lawful order is difficult to gauge, because so much of the words he says about nobility and tradition have a certain amount of self-effacing mockery to them. I think it could be argued that Taliesin’s playing him as a chaotic neutral character who usually (but not always) remembers that he’s trying to be neutral good and sometimes goes lawful out of long-forgotten reflex.

This is already super long, and Pike hasn’t had nearly the level of character development of the others lately, so I’ll just say that I think her official alignment of chaotic good is so, so, so right for her. Sarenrae is neutral good, but Pike has been through a lot, and her influence on Grog hasn’t been entirely one-way.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #long text post #critical role meta #Anonymous #i love em all so muuuuch

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thesupernaturaluniversity · 5 years ago

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Tom DeLonge on ‘Scary’ UFO Footage, Angels and Airwaves and Blink-182’s Future

Since leaving Blink-182 to study UFOs, the guitarist has been on one of the strangest odysseys in rock. But as he puts it: “Maybe Tom isn’t so nuts after all”

Twenty years ago this month, Blink-182 released Enema of the State, an album that sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and “reimagined Green Day’s Dookie as one big, undeniably catchy fart joke” according to Rolling Stone’s list of the 40 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time. Guitarist Tom DeLonge has spent the two decades since on one of the wildest paths in rock history. In the mid-2000s, DeLonge left Blink to start an an ambitious space-rock band called Angels and Airwaves. He then started seriously investigating space himself, launching To the Stars Academy in 2015, an organization devoted to researching UFOs. DeLonge’s company, which Rolling Stone visited for a profile of the guitarist in 2016, has earned some credibility since; a 2017 New York Times story uncovering the existence of the Pentagon’s secret $22 million Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program credited To The Stars as a place where ex-military and government officials such as Luis Elizondo, who formerly ran the government’s aerospace identification program, were continuing their work.

Last week, another major UFO story hit the Times, detailing strange, highly advanced objects that were spotted daily over the East Coast between 2014 and 2015. “These things would be out there all day,” said Lieutenant Ryan Graves, a Super Hornet pilot who has been with the Navy for 10 years. “Keeping an aircraft in the air requires a significant amount of energy. With the speeds we observed, 12 hours in the air is 11 hours longer than we’d expect.” “This was us,” DeLonge said, holding a copy of the New York Times article late last week. He pointed to the work he has done at To the Stars as directly responsible for uncovering the possible sightings. “Everyone is like, ‘Wow! This is real. Maybe Tom is not so nuts after all!'”

DeLonge executive produced the History Channel’s new show Unidentified: Inside America’s U.F.O. Investigation, which airs Fridays at 10 p.m. He appears in the show with former military and government officials such as Elizondo, Lt. Graves as well as John Podesta, President Clinton’s former Chief of Staff. In this interview, DeLonge also discusses new music by Angels and Airwaves and the state of Blink-182, and why he hopes to return to his former band someday.

You just put out “Rebel Girl,” the first Angels and Airwaves song in years. What was the initial reaction to Angels and Airwaves when the band debuted in 2006? It was so different from Blink-182.

I think Angels and Airwaves has always been a little bit ahead of its time. For a kid that grew up on a band like the Ramones like me, these are complex sounds and compositions. I remember that a lot of my fan base wasn’t totally ready for it, because they were still mourning over the fact that I wasn’t playing with Blink at the time. But I tend to realize that everything I’ve done in my life is about five years ahead of its time. It would make a lot of sense that people would revisit what I was doing now and say, “Oh, I kind of get it.” That tends to be the curve that I’m on with everything I do. People thought I was nuts for not being in the band to go chase little green men. I go, “Just trust me for a minute here.” And then now, the article in Rolling Stone, I just posted it right when I walked in the building. It’s like “Wow.”

What did it feel like to see the latest article in the Times?

This is the third New York Times article that we organized and put together at To the Stars. But this one’s dealing directly with the pilots that are current military pilots that we took to the Senate and Congress. A few weeks ago, there was another article that leaked on the Times that Congress is putting together a formal reporting mechanism to the Navy on UFOs. That’s us again. Our show Unidentified is us doing that. Taking these specific pilots to Congress, influencing legislative language for oversight committees and for the appropriations committees. In that process, it leaked and came out in the papers. But our show is what this article specifically is about. And [it’s] very real. Lieutenant Graves [said] they had a fleet of UFO’s follow their carrier battle group for eight months out to the Middle East where they’re intercepting them almost on a daily basis. It’s pretty unnerving.

So that UFO footage that the Times posted — explain what that is.

It’s gun-camera footage. And what people don’t understand is they could be many, many miles away. But they’re zoomed in on an object. And even when the object just bounces an inch on the screen, that means it could’ve gone from zero to 20,000 miles an hour in a snap of your fingers. It’s a big deal even though it just looks like a little blob. But if you’re a pilot, or if you’re a radar operator, or a trained military observer, you know exactly what that is and it’s scary to them. Because things don’t do that. There’s no wings; there’s no plume on the infrared cameras. You will see an outline of a plane. You will see the fire coming out of the back — these crafts don’t have that. They’re circular or disc-like in shape. They have blurred edges. They have observability. They have positive lift and all these different factors that the government has identified. Any one of these things — they call them these five observables, and any one of them, if a country were to get one of these five, it would be a paradigm shift. A game-changing national-security issue. And these craft have five of them.

What we’re showing Congress, and what we’ve been doing in the Senate, that we’re now bringing out to the American people and the world, it’s like, “This is fucking real. And it’s real scary, so let’s get our stuff together and deal with it.”

I know for a fact that this vehicle that I’ve created at To the Stars has already changed the world. People are now taking this seriously and understanding that it’s real. We’ve changed policy, and I’m really proud of that, especially when, for years, people though I was the crazy UFO guy. I didn’t do it alone, by any means. but I created the mechanism for them to do what they’re doing now and I’m really proud of that.

Blink-182’s Travis Barker, Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus in 1999. Photo credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Why is the footage “scary” and dangerous to you?

Because you’re dealing with something [that] you don’t know what it is, you don’t know who’s in there or who’s operating these things. [Luis Elizondo] says it best: It’s kind of like you go to bed at night, you lock your doors, you set your alarm. And then you wake up in the morning, unlock the door and there’s bloody footprints through your whole living room. And you’re like, “The alarm didn’t trip, the doors were still locked, but someone walked right through my house and I had no clue. Whose footprints are those?” That’s kind of scary, because you have no clue how they could bypass all the security systems of your house effortlessly. Something with this technology is in charge. This is like rolling into some type of indigenous tribe that’s never met man. They’re deep in the forests of some remote Pacific Island and we come in with an aircraft carrier and a stealth fighter and all they have are sticks. Who’s in charge should they choose to impose their will? We don’t even know what this is, but we have to think in terms of that. And that’s a big deal.

“This is fucking real. And it’s real scary, so let’s get our stuff together and deal with it,” DeLonge says of recent UFO discoveries.

And think about the technology of these, too. Think about World War II when we were the only ones that had the nuclear bomb. You could take over the world. This is so far beyond nuclear power. They talk about civilizations, the Type 1, Type 2, Type 3 civilizations. A Type 1 civilization can control the power of the planet, and Type 2 can control the power of the sun and a Type 3 civilization can control the power of their own galaxy. We’re not even a Type 1 civilization yet. This could be a Type 2 or Type 3 that’s operating these things. I have no clue, but the technology that it is, is so far beyond what we can do that it’s unnerving. You have to hope that they’re loving. That’s a stretch probably, right?

There was one person in that Times article, Leon Golub, a senior astrophysicist at Harvard. He said the possibility of an extraterrestrial cause “is so unlikely that it competes with many other low-probability but more mundane explanations … bugs in the code for the imaging and display systems, atmospheric effects and reflections, neurological overload from multiple inputs during high-speed flight.” What do you have to say about those explanations?

It’s so offensive and naïve and ignorant that I go, “How are you even let into such a prestige environment?” They’re planting “Harvard” next to comments [made by] an officer that spent 3 million dollars on his training before he ever touched the throttle of a hundred-million-dollar weapons platform, with security clearances and the ability to fly live weapons over an American city. The two guys that went on the record are Top Gun graduates — these are the best in the world. The system that recorded this stuff is called the Spy-1 Radar, which is the single most classified radar system in the world. It’s the best stuff we got in the United States Government. And the Princeton [a Navy ship which spotted objects in 2004, which the Times reported on in 2017] was a radar ship. The entire ship was an array of hardware that can get 360-degree views of an entire combat awareness. It’s so advanced that they have the Top Gun guys running it. So for someone to say it’s bugs on the system is so offensive.

Is he saying that all these generals and admirals that have the keys to all of our nuclear weapons can’t tell a bug on the best radar system on earth? That they’re literally hallucinating, or something? It’s offensive to them. I’ve met these guys. A general I was working with had multiple PhD’s from MIT and Cal Tech in aerospace engineering. Another general was in charge of 5,000 of our nuclear warheads. He was the commander of this stuff. These guys are not idiots. I think people need to think a little bit more before they say disrespectful comments like that.

When you said that To the Stars was responsible for the footage in the Times, what did you mean?The video had gone declassified and To the Stars Academy were the ones that received it.

OK.

I don’t want to talk about anything else with that. So we’re the ones that brought it to the Times. The Times then was able to go out and find another copy of the video. That’s why there’s their version without our logo and then there’s the version with the To the Stars logo on it. So somebody at the Pentagon gave the Times the video.

Do you see Trump talking about this?

That’s a good question. I don’t know. I do know that because of our efforts, the White House has been definitely informed of some things. I wouldn’t know what. I do think that there’s the potential that some of his Space Force comments are taking into account some of the data and information regarding the subject.

Do you think the Space Force is a good idea?

I don’t know. It make sense to me because when we wanted to deal with oceans, we created the Navy. We created the Army to deal with land. We created the Air Force to deal with the sky. Space is a real thing now; we can get there. And there’s things out there. One of the radar operators, the guy I was referring to that was a Top Gun graduate, he’s the one that sent out the intercept. Commander Fravor [a retired Navy commander who reported the 2004 U.S.S. Princeton incident] was sent by this guy and he watched 100 craft come in from space over a four-day period. One hundred!

Where?

Over the coast of San Diego. So they came in, they hovered and they would drop in .78 seconds from 80,000 feet to sea level. Do you realize how fast .78 seconds is? 80,000 feet to zero. It’s just there. That’s just unreal! The question would be, “Is it imperative that we create an entire division that deals with space?” It makes sense to me because it’s not like we can tell the Navy to worry about space. Maybe they want to. Maybe they consider space like the ocean or something. I don’t even know. It’s just way above anything that I’ve experienced.

Let’s move on to Angels and Airwaves. You’ve said that you you were on drugs at the time you started the band. The sound of the first two albums is very “druggy.” Did the drugs you were on influence that huge, ambitious sound?

Yeah, it was weird because at the time I broke my back and I had surgery and I had a disc that was broken and tangled up in the largest nerve in my body. I got all addicted to painkillers at that time. I was also dealing with coming out of a really big band. It was a rebirth of who I was, and [my] identity, and insecurities and all that kind of stuff. I learned a hell of a lot about myself at the time. But creating Angels and Airwaves and having that issue in my life, at the time, allowed me to hyper-focus and really go deeply into what I was creating. There’s no mystery that drugs ruined a lot of people and I thank God it didn’t ruin me. What happens, and any artist will tell you, is if you’re not sober and you’re creating something, [drugs are] a very simple way to get deeper into what you’re creating, for better or for worse. But I’m probably the only musician who came out with this space-rock band and then did a pause to create an aerospace company. I’m not just singing about space; I’m actively engaged in that technology and what I can do for the human race and what part I can play in bringing this data, this information, this technology, out to the world.

The new single “Rebel Girl” is a little more punk than other Angels stuff, and the sound isn’t as big as the first two records. I was curious if you’re going to return to that sound.

Maybe. It’s so funny because whenever you have a plan, it always changes the first day you start recording. If you’re a good artist, you don’t force it to be something. You’ve got to evolve with whatever the song’s trying to be. What I want is to bring back a lot of those atmospherics and soaring landscapes. And we are doing that. So far, on the first third of the record, there’s a bit of that in there. The big crescendo when it builds and all that kind of stuff. The second song that we’re planning on releasing, if we still go with it, [could have] lived on the I-Empire and We Don’t Need to Whisper records.

When those early records came out, a lot of the fans thought, “What the hell is this?”

We put out a record called The Dream Walker with an animated short film for Poet Anderson and some books and all this stuff. I think that record was a defining moment because people were like, “Well, happened to the old [sound]?” And then half were like “This is the best stuff you ever …” It was the most critically acclaimed record I’ve ever done in my life. The fans needed a minute. But now I think it’s pretty unanimous that people look at that record as one of the best things we’ve done. This next one is going to be very similar in the sound and the landscape. But melodically, it’s going to be way more in the direction of I-Empire. I think everyone will like where this ends up.

When do you think the Angels album will come out?

It’s coming out with a movie. I co-wrote a movie and it goes into production in just a few weeks. Then when I come out of that and go into post, we’ll score it. That will kind of dictate the second half of the album. Both of those will come out together somewhere around the tour or shortly thereafter. It’s going to be hard to say because this is a big project.

What do you expect from this tour? You’re playing clubs and theaters.

Yeah. This is really for the fans that have been so supportive of us. I expect nothing more than having an overwhelming, emotional response within myself that people care about what I’m doing. It’s a fear of mine because I get real emotional when I play Angels live because it’s a big part of my soul. There’s a lot of meaning in it for me. When I see people respond to it, I’m almost scared of it because it’s personal to me. In a different way than Blink. Blink’s personal to me, but it’s super fun and super loud and fast. But Angels and Airwaves, there’s so much heart in it for me. There’s things in those records and songs that mean a hell of a lot to me. So when people send back that vibration, I’m kind of scared of the overwhelming emotion. It’s hard to describe.

“I get real emotional when I play Angels and Airwave songs live because it’s a big part of my soul. When I see people respond to it, I’m almost scared of it because it’s personal.”

Do you remember the first time you knew there was more to your life than Blink? Probably when I created Box Car Racer. Box Car Racer was a side project that I did with Travis Barker. But really it was about me and my friend David Kennedy, who plays in Angels and Airwaves. He grew up in hardcore bands, I grew up in punk bands, and we wanted to do something that blended both of those styles. But it was kind of scary because Blink became such a big monster at the time, that you kind of get stuck in this feeling that you need everyone in the band to be good at what you do. Because we really did need each other to do what Blink did. So to step out of that and say, “But what can I do on my own?” That was a very difficult decision. I was super excited to challenge myself. And it was actually pretty cool. And I thought it was really good especially for who I was at the time and where I was at musically. So to come out of that and say, “Wow, I made a dope record just by applying myself and taking a shot at putting myself out there without the safety of the team all around you” — that was a stepping stone to lead me to try a lot of things since then — going into technology, clothing companies, aerospace, making feature films, television series. It’s a bunch of stuff I would never have tried if I didn’t succeed the first time I tried something new and ambitious.

Here at the office, we’re fascinated with YouTube clips of your last Blink shows. You’re playing one of those huge festivals, and you’ve changed your singing a lot. You’re singing way differently on those last shows. I was curious what led you to sing in that different voice.

I kind of learned how to use my voice. I never learned how to sing, so I was always trying to sing like the Descendents. When I got in Angel and Airwaves, the tempo was slower, the melodies were written differently. And then, rather than nasally staccato, it became more like violin, more like a stringed instrument. The notes flow together. And then it came naturally to me. I’m not even a good singer. I’m just a little punk kid. I learned how to do this in a garage. So it’s really hard to make that sound good when you’re not even doing it right to begin with, you know? When you’re singing that way, you can’t even hit the notes. You’ll be flat or sharp 80 percent of the time, because the way you slam your vocal chords together on every single word really messes up [the] pitch. So I think for me, it wasn’t even really conscious. It was just what I’ve been doing for years with Angels and Airwaves. It’s the only way I know how to sing now.

Did you get blowback from the guys — “You’re not singing like you do on the records”?

No. I think kids just want it to sound like it did and I don’t blame them. And I probably could. But it seems funny to try and sound like I was 16 again. I’m not. Authenticity is a big deal for me. Be yourself. If you’re not being yourself, then the whole thing is just a play. You’re just putting on a play every night. And I can’t do that; I feel like a robot. I’ve just got to be myself.

What does the 20th anniversary of Enema of the State mean to you?

It means that time is flying by really quickly and I’ve achieved so much more than I ever thought possible. And I’m really, really thankful that people would even care at all about what I do. I’m just trying to do good things for people.

Were you surprised how well that record did?

Oh, my God, yeah! I’m still surprised about it, yeah. I’m always surprised. I’ve only been really into music and UFOs, and I might have a chance to conquer both.

There’s a lot of online excitement about you talking to the guys in Blink. I’m curious when you last talked to Mark and what that was like.

I just talked to Mark two weeks ago and I talk to Travis all the time. There’s a lot of love and respect and it’s like any set of brothers that have an argument and then, all of a sudden — “Who cares? My bad, my bad.” It’s not a big deal. The only issue right now is we’re so busy. My commitment to my company is the priority in my life. And Angels and Airwaves is a part of my company. The company came from Angels and Airwaves. When we created Angels and Airwaves, it was to be an art project that was trans-media. How do we put out music with film and books and all these things? They often live independently, but they all work together. We created an entertainment division to do that for Angels and Airwaves. One of the stories was about UFOs and that’s the one that got me [in with] the people that mattered, because I knew that subject and I knew things about it and I was getting ready to communicate it on really big platform, make motion pictures about all this stuff. I just felt I would get a lot further if I didn’t socialize what I was planning on doing, because I was also a little bit nervous about that, because I knew that I was playing with national security. But everyone else thinks UFO’s are a joke, and it’s weird tin-foil hats. It’s not. It’s real, serious business. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t ruffle any feathers in the wrong way because I do know a lot about that subject and I do know it’s no joke.

When I did that, it just spiraled into aerospace and science and it just grew into To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science. But this all came from Angels and Airwaves wanting to communicate themes over trans-media projects. And I told this to people 12 years ago when I started the band. I think everyone thought I was nuts then, too. There’s a very consistent thing here where Tom’s crazy and doing these things people don’t understand. But if you look at the path I’ve been on, I’ve done everything I said I’ll do. It’s just taken a little bit longer. It’s all hard stuff.

Do you think you will play with Blink again?

I know you’re probably looking for your headline here, but I think there will be a time, absolutely, that we play together. We all love each other and care about each other. We don’t always see eye to eye. I think people see the differences in our art. I love seeing how they’ve evolved and what they’re doing. I think when people look at Angels and Airwaves and what I’m doing, they can tell the differences. And sometimes it’s hard when you’re all trying to paint the same painting. And every once in a while, I like to see what the painting will be if I do it a different way. Off to the side. I think there’s a healthy respect for everyone to be able to paint their own paintings.

“I think there will be a time, absolutely, that we play together. We all love each other and care about each other.”

So you would be excited to play with Blink again?

Oh, my God, yeah! I started that band. That was a big a deal to me and it’s a big deal to them. And it’s a big deal what we accomplished. There is no animosity; there is no weirdness. It’s just right now, for me, I have a lot going on and the stakes are so big with my company, and with the government and with other governments. I found myself in the driver’s seat of something that’s world-changing. I can’t take my hand off the wheel for, honestly, for a rush of people really loving what we accomplished. Those things are amazing to feel, but I’m doing something I feel affects humanity. But once that is smooth sailing, then I can kind of relax and allow the car to drive itself a little bit. Then I think that conversation becomes more relevant for me.

I wanted to ask about the WikiLeaks dump that revealed your e-mails to John Podesta. What was going through your mind when those e-mails came out?

It was the worst thing ever. Because there was the biggest secret on earth, the most classified, most taboo secret on earth. And I was the only person, ever, that was able to turn the valve and get it open. And I had a full flow of information. And when WikiLeaks dumped all of Podesta’s emails, and my communication with Podesta, that valve got shut off and it scared the death out of me — for the people I was working with, but also for humanity. I was like “Oh, my God, I got so close.” But that brought me the credibility to where everybody else — from CIA, the DOD — all circled around me and said, “You’re for real, and your ideas are good. But they’re not good enough yet. Let’s help design a better better version of the idea.” And that’s how the Academy of Arts and Science became a reality.

You told me that Unidentified gets “gnarly” at the end. What did you mean?

You’re going to see stuff towards the last couple episodes that … you’ve never seen this kind of stuff, dealing with this subject, on television. On television, it’s usually guys chasing lights in the sky and they’re out in the middle of the desert. You will see the Majority Leader of the Senate, Harry Reid. You will see the intelligence agents of other NATO allies. You will see members of the current real program. You won’t see their faces, but you’ll see elements of that. You’ll see the data, you’ll see us dealing with Congress. And what you’re going to see is the world being awakened.

We didn’t do this to make a TV show. We did this as a way to get the people ready to pressure Congress further. That is what the show’s about for me. We did not do this for entertainment. I didn’t just want to sell a show. This is To the Stars Academy doing its job and a camera following us. Because everything we’re doing is gathering the info and getting the Congressional leadership to understand what’s going on. And that’s why it leaked in the press. That’s us, and this is all part of a long, multi-year strategy to awaken everybody.

Regarding Blink, it’s really interesting that you said, “I love what they’re doing.” That’s a pretty big to say because I would think that if there’s another guy singing your music, Matt Skiba …

You journalist, you’re trying to push buttons. So transparent.

It’s true, though!

No, I don’t care. I’m a confident guy. I like what I do regardless if people like it or not. I don’t need admiration or people clapping or cheering at me. I don’t need that validation from an audience. I love the fact that they have a way to do what they love. That’s what I care about. I love that they don’t have to wait for me or rely on me depending on when I can or can’t do something. That’s frustrating for them. Do we have differences in what we like musically? Absolutely. But it’s not like my ideas are any better, or something. They’re just different.

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