dreamcatch22

[dreamcatch22]

Oasis at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium - August 8th, 2025

Never in a million years did I think Oasis would ever reunite, and seeing them live in Edinburgh this past Friday was worth the long wait! Don’t forget that those Gallagher brothers are natural-born rock and rollers.

It doesn’t get better than Liam’s soaring vocals combined with Noel’s sharp guitar riffs and lyrics.

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I remember buying a box set of Black Sabbath’s first five albums with some allowance money that I forgot I had over 20 years ago. I, of course, was already familiar with their most iconic hits such as “Paranoid,” “Iron Man,” and “War Pigs.” There is a reason why you hear these songs at tailgates, the gym, fraternity parties, karaoke nights, and neighborhood cookouts. However, it was their deeper cuts that blew my mind and made me realize how fierce and bold real hard rock and heavy metal are supposed to be. Tracks such as “Into the Void,” "Children of the Grave," “Supernaut,” and my personal favorite, “Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener” are also timeless, fist-pumping anthems in their own right.

Sure, artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and The Stooges raised the standards for raw, heartfelt rock and roll, but Black Sabbath effortlessly unleashed so many different subgenres within rock music that emerged over the past several decades. That is why they were light-years ahead of their time. I may have had the privilege of seeing Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Metallica, and Megadeth live. Unfortunately, the opportunity to see Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward all together on stage never happened to me. Their sound continues to influence the next crop of great hard rockers and headbangers.

[dreamcatch22]

Advice for writing relationships

Ship Dynamics

How to create quick chemistry

How to write a polyamorous relationship

How to write a wedding

How to write found family

How to write forbidden love

Introducing partner(s) to family

Honeymoon

Date gone wrong

Fluffy Kiss Scene

Love Language - Showing, not telling

Love Language - Showing you care

Affections without touching

Giving the reader butterflies with your characters

Reasons a couple would divorce on good terms

Reasons for breaking up while still loving each other

Relationship Problems

Relationship Changes

Milestones in a relationship

Platonic activities for friends

Settings for conversations

How to write a love-hate relationship

How to write enemies to lovers

How to write lovers to enemies to lovers

How to write academic rivals to lovers

How to write age difference

Reasons a couple would divorce on good terms

Reasons for having a crush on someone

Ways to sabotage someone else's relationship

Ways a wedding could go wrong

Arranged matrimony for royalty

Signs of a Toxic Relationship

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SINNERS (2025) dir. Ryan Coogler

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"I can't..."

"...trust you anymore."

"...believe you sometimes."

"...stop thinking about you."

"...think straight."

"...be with you right now."

"...see where the problem is."

"...go on like this."

"...seem to understand you."

"...figure it out."

"...be who you need."

"...promise you that."

"...love you."

"...win."

"...stay."

"...leave you here."

"...listen to you anymore."

"...see the issue."

"...fail again."

"...explain it."

"...talk right now."

"...imagine myself without you."

"...do this anymore."

"...be with you tight now."

"...lose you again."

"...believe another word you say."

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Do you have any tips for how to slow down time in a story?

How to slow down time

To slow down time in your story you need to use a mix of different writing ingredients: you need different descriptions that capture the reader in the moment as well as internal monologue and different sentence structures.

Detailed Descriptions:

Sensory Details: Use the five senses—sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch to describe what the character is seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and tasting in intricate detail.

Detailed Observations: Zoom in on small, often overlooked details. The sound a tea cup makes as it hits the ground, the way an expression on a character's face changes, the turning of heads as someone enters the room.

Slow Motion: Manipulate the time by describing how it feels like slow motion to the characters: "Time slowed down, and it felt as if the whole of humanity had decided to stop breathing for a moment."

Physical Reactions: A detailed description of the physical aspects of a scene. The movements a character makes, how their gaze turns, their breathing changes, their body begins to shake.

Psychological Aspects: Focus on the anxiety of a character looking at a clock that never seems to move, their nervousness seeping out of them

Internal Monologue:

Memories and Flashbacks: Add context by showing memories or flashbacks that relate to the situation.

Pondering: Let the character reflect on the situation, their feelings and their plan for the next steps. Let the reader explore the character's inner life.

Dialogue:

Reduced Dialogue: Dialogue brings a scene into real time. Use it thoughtfully and sparringly, with lots of inner thoughts and reactions in between.

Silence: Make use of silence between the characters which can be filled with more descriptions.

Language:

Smaller Steps: Write out each action taken, no matter how small, and focus on describing each step that happens.

Control Pacing: Use your sentence structure to create long descriptions that slow it down, and short, impactful ones to pick up the pace if needed for a moment.

More: Masterpost: How to write a story

- Jana

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Dialogue Responses

"Did you just say you love me?"

"What? No!"

"So what if I did?"

"I said it and I meant it."

"Only if you say it back."

"Someone had to say it."

"I'm not going to say it again."

"You must have misheard me."

"I couldn't hold it in any longer."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"It's probably not what you wanted to hear."

All the Dialogue Responses can be found here.

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CLUELESS (1995) dir. Amy Heckerling

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[dreamcatch22]

Touching

Feeling another human’s touch.

touching foreheads

running fingers through hair

hiding face in neck

caressing the other’s hand

feeling their pulse

patting the other’s head

holding hands

shielding the other one with their body

listening to the other’s heartbeat

spooning at night

laying their hand on the other’s neck

pushing a strand of hair behind their ear

nudging the other one

putting an arm around the other’s waist

hugging each other

massaging them

holding the other’s chin up

squishing the other’s cheek

high fiving

bandaging/stitching up an injury

kissing the other’s brow

falling asleep on the other’s shoulder

carrying the other one in their arms

whispering in their ear, lips touching the skin

stroking the other��s arm soothingly

kissing the top of their head

pulling the other one towards them

feeling for each other in the dark

tickling the other one

grabbing onto their arm

doing a pinky swear

caressing the other’s back

tasting their smile

washing the other’s body

kissing their bruises and scars

lifting the other one up

putting their head on the other’s chest

stroking their leg

leaning into the other’s side

patting them on the back

sitting close and knees touching

braiding the other’s hair

giving them a piggy-back ride

sitting on the other’s lap

feeling their temperature

linking arms with each other

touching their elbow to get their attention

dancing with each other

holding onto the other’s shoulders for support

putting a hand over the other’s mouth to shut them up

caressing the other’s cheek

gripping thigh

holding the other’s jaw

touching cheek to cheek

tracing the lines on the other’s hand

Hand-holding|Hugs|Kisses

[dreamcatch22]

Anora (2024) dir. Sean Baker

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Top Albums of 2024

It’s time for one of my end-of-the-year traditions where I look back on my favorite records released this past year. 2024 has been quite a year for me regarding concerts. I have not been to this many shows since college, and I made every second count. It’s never easy narrowing down some of my favorite highlights, so here we go.

I flew up to Maine to see Judas Priest back in April. 50 years and 19 albums later, Judas Priest has not slowed down its heavy metal velocity at all. At the young age of 73, Rob Halford can still wail like a menacing banshee. In August, I went on another adventure out to Montana to see grunge legends, Pearl Jam. It was one of the best homecomings that I have attended. People of all ages were packed inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium singing along to every song Pearl Jam played, including the most recent hits. Eddie Vedder is still a classy, down-to-earth front man, who told us amusing anecdotes in between some tracks. I celebrated Halloween earlier than usual and caught L.A. punk rockers, X, on their farewell tour at Iron City. Of course, I wore a costume to this show, and I decided to dress up as Liam Gallagher of Oasis. After this punk rock jamboree, John Doe, X's co-founder, stayed on the floor and conversed with some fans. When I briefly met him, he studied my costume. Once I clarified that I am Liam Gallagher, he noddingly approved of my creativity. Speaking of Liam Gallagher, a major purchase of mine was successfully completed. By the bare skin of my teeth, I got tickets to see Oasis live in both Edinburgh, Scotland and East Rutherford, New Jersey next summer. Liam and Noel, I am expecting you boys to behave and get along so that I can see you live from across the pond at Murrayfield Stadium and in my home country at MetLife Stadium. Please keep that hatchet buried and let bygones be bygone. In the wise words of you, Noel Gallagher, don’t look back in anger. Amidst all the shows that I attended, I also want to tip my hat to Gojira for performing “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)” as a part of the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris, France. Well, 2024 will be a tough year to top when it comes to concert attendance.

Here are my top ten albums of 2024:

1. Brat by Charli XCX

*This selection also includes Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat.

2. Manning Fireworks by MJ Lenderman

3. You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To by Knocked Loose

4. Prelude to Ecstasy by The Last Dinner Party

5. Only God Was Above Us by Vampire Weekend

6. Where’s My Utopia? by Yard Act

7. A Dream Is All We Know by The Lemon Twigs

8. The Collective by Kim Gordon

9. Romance by Fontaines D.C.

10. The Thief Next to Jesus by Ka

Here are my honorable mentions:

- The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow by Charles Lloyd

- Britpop by A.G. Cook

- Absolute Elsewhere by Blood Incantation

- Diamond Jubilee by Cindy Lee

- Songs of a Lost World by The Cure

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I am what God made me. And perhaps it is my difference that will make me useful. I think again of your sermon. I know what it is to exist between the world’s certainties.

CONCLAVE (2024)

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Here are my top albums of 2024!

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Throbbing Gristle - Hamburger Lady 1978

Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group. They are widely regarded as pioneers of industrial music. Their lyrics mainly revolved around mysticism, extremist political ideologies, sexuality, dark or underground aspects of society, and idiosyncratic manipulation of language inspired by the techniques of William S. Burroughs.

Their industrial music often featured disturbing and confrontational themes, central to the infamous "Hamburger Lady", a song frequently regarded as one of the scariest in all of music history. The lyrics describe a burn victim referred to as the Hamburger Lady, who is hospitalised with severe burns. The song combines bleak, atmospheric sounds with P-Orridge’s haunting spoken word performance. The overall impact of "Hamburger Lady" is one of discomfort and tension, which was characteristic of Throbbing Gristle's pioneering and confrontational "anti-rock" approach to music.

"Hamburger Lady" received a total of 24,9% yes votes.

[dreamcatch22]

How to create an atmosphere: Club

Sight

strobo light

very different styles of clothing

groups of girls and groups of guys huddled together

people dancing wild and free

people just slightly swaying from left to right

people grinding on each other

stressed barkeepers

bored looking security guards

vip areas

Hearing

loud music

whatever their conversational partner is screaming at them

a random girl crying in the bathroom

girls having random conversations with strangers in the bathroom

a fight breaking out outside or on the dancefloor

Touch

sticky floor

bodies bumping into each other

cold glasses with drinks in them

the hand of a friend out of fear of losing each other

bodies pressed together while dancing

Smell

the smell of sweat

the smell of alcohol

the smell of smoke from the smoke machine or from zigarettes or other substances

Taste

the taste of overpriced drinks

the taste of the smoke in the air from the smoke machines

the taste of a drunken kiss

[dreamcatch22]

How to show emotions

Part VI

How to show insecurity

not holding/breaking eye contact

fidgeting

crossing their arms

trying to cover up their body

making themself seem smaller

playing with their hands

hiding their hands in their pockets

holding their head down

blushing

clearing their throat

biting their nails

biting their lips

nervous laughter

stuttering

How to show being offended

stiffening up

hard line around the lips

frozen stare

narrowing of the eyes

turning their head to the side

quickening heartbeat

turning red

making themself bigger, ready to fight

How to show compassion

gentle and soft smile

relaxed facial features

softening of their eyes

openly showing how they feel

leaning towards the other one

nodding along, not directly interjecting, but encouraging

deep breaths inbetween

gentle touches to comfort

How to show being pleased

big smile/grinning

laying head slightly to the side

moving one shoulder up

pursing their lips while smiling

very open body language

leaning back

Part I + Part II + Part III + Part IV + Part V

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