#she was looking for a particular product that we're out of so she said she'd come another time

[seokwoosmole]

Good night to my favorite ARMY customer I see at work

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for refusing to empty the food waste bin every single day?

I (22f) am a uni student sharing a flat with three other friends. As most people will be finding at the moment, we're having a real problem with fruit flies. Not like an infestation or anything, just enough of them around the flat to be annoying. Our flat sits over a pizza shop and our kitchen window looks out over all the bins which I think makes the problem worse.

To begin with, we tried keeping our food waste bin (one of those small countertop ones) by the door outside. It made a small difference but not enough to justify how annoying it was to go down the stairs each time we wanted to throw away a teabag or an apple core, so we voted 3:1 to put it back in the kitchen. The minority voter (22f), let's call her Jane, suggested that we instead empty the food waste bin every single day.

Me and another flatmate, let's call her Debbie, said we were fine if she wanted to do that herself but that we didn't want to do it too. We have a bin rotor in the flat and each of us has a particular day on which we're supposed to empty any bins that are full. Jane was proposing that the food waste bin gets emptied every day regardless of how full it was. For context, it usually takes the four of us 3-4 days to fill up the bin. We said that we didn't see the point as it wouldn't make enough of a difference to bother, and we didn't want to waste the biodegradable binbags by going through 1 a day as they're expensive.

Jane got really upset that we refused to cooperate, even though we emphasised that we had no problem with her taking on the extra labour and costs herself, accusing us of ignoring her particular comfort needs. We said we didn't think it was fair to ask us to go above and beyond what is considered normal for the sake of her comfort, but she claimed that it was normal to empty a food waste bin every day (despite the fact it would take a family a good few days to fill one up) and that this was how her family had always done it (even though she'd been happy until now with just emptying it whenever it gets full). She implied that me and Debbie were dirty or had low standards for being able to tolerate the "smell" even though there was no smell at all and as far as we were concerned the issue had always been related to the fruit flies.

After a long discussion, which I guess got a little tense or passive aggressive in places, but there were no raised voices or anything like that, we agreed to disagree and we left it by saying that Jane could empty it each day if she wanted to but that the rest of us weren't going to empty it on our days unless it was full. I thought it was a bit annoying but ultimately not that deep as these sorts of spats are just part of living with other people. However it soon became apparent that Jane took it a lot more personally than either Debbie or I as she didn't speak to either of us for three days. When she eventually did speak, she asked if we could sit down to have a Talk and basically said that she felt like we had been overly harsh (even though all we had done is disagree with her) and that she wanted an apology. We had a civil discussion about it where we asked for her to tell us specifically what we had said or done that was harsh, she couldn't give us any examples, so then we explained that we weren't going to apologise as we didn't feel like we had done anything to apologise for but that we weren't annoyed at her or anything as sometimes in life people disagree about things and that's just normal. And also this whole thing is about a bin which is just ridiculous (though we didn't say that).

We felt like the discussion was civil and productive but afterwards Jane cried to our other flatmate, let's call him Harry (who isn't taking sides) and apparently is really upset that we didn't apologise. Now she's back to not speaking with us. We feel like this has been blown out of all proportion but can't tell if we're truly being unreasonable.

Am I (/are we) the asshole(s)?

What are these acronyms?

[kyriefae]

The Web Planet was an incredible story.

Long live The Light! 🔆 ...but not the evil one ofc; boo hiss!

As more of an aside before I get started, I fear the spark of magic that opened the door to stories like this one being performed the way they were in their time is gone. Not only because of graphics or budget...but can you just imagine how much of an uproar it would cause if we said let's go back to doing stage performance science fiction! Like full blown, all on a set, all choreographed as if for a live studio audience?

How "cheap" people would say it looks?

I appreciate the overtly campy stories we still get in the modern era even more watching older ones like this.

Makes me think of that teetering line between the harm of nostalgia & the joy it carries.

I digress from the 'what if' games to say what I came here to say about The Web Planet: it dives bravely into the world of absurdism and science fiction and I greatly appreciate the production team for choosing to make such an esoteric story! We don't get a history of Earth from the perspective of Britain or a future of Earth taken over by Daleks, instead we get a genuine attempt to play with the genre and be creative about what may exist out there in this wide and expansive universe.

I celebrate stories like this because they're inspired from a place of whimsy. No matter the quality of the costumes; astigmatism-like camera effect, or fumbled lines by the lead performer...were not in our own galaxy and we're encouraged to play along and go for a ride.

A full-on psychedelic ride.

Additionally so, it's clear Ian, Barbara, and Vicki can barely count on The Doctor to protect them at this stage in his travels...adding verisimilitude to their life-threatening moments.

As for the Doctor, he's a madman who lost his box. So he lies on impulse to trick a voice in the sky who communicates with him through a drop down 'hair-dryer' {in Hartnell's words}. Further placing everyone he knows in danger.

Love the dichotomy of this original iteration compared to our modern understanding of the character. The retcons that have followed regarding previous lives with less morally upstanding behavior and time lord society being malicious and manipulative, the First Doctor being so...careless of others is not so alien anymore.

The heart of it all, Hartnell chose to make this man alien in his demeanor and what The Web Planet highlights most are the lives of everyone else around the Doctor making exceptional choices in spite of the chaos. The Doctor simply receives all the credit in the end...that cheeky, maniacal bastard! 😅

Bonus silly points for Hartnell saying "explortation" instead of exploration as the captions would have you believe above.

Like, how many takes did they do before just saying whatever we need to get this episode out! 🤭

Final take on this episode: Barbara. I just love her so much!

She is so knowledgeable. So patient. So witty. When she's talking to Vicki and Vicki calls aspirin medieval? Her response was so teacher-like. So professionally backhanded while being compassionate enough to still offer this smug child aid. Like yes, I look up to your example Babs.

She is also a lot of fun to watch while the gold bracelet she'd received from the creepy arsonist Nero in the previous story was being used to control her movements. She hammed that silly stage direction right up.

And she was the hero of this particular story. Get it girl! 🎉🥰 History teacher for the win!

Classic Who is such a journey, y'all. I'll avoid delving into the cringe I experience on a relatively frequent basis when Hartnell speaks to young ladies (shuddering at all the excessive shoulder and face touching).

Erhem--I mean...

Huzzah for Vrestin & Friends!! The Light prevailed!

...all thanks to The Doctor. 🫠

[sleekervae]

Yoü & I [2.3]

Masterlist

A/N: Happy Wednesday everyone!

Warnings: some angst, mentions of depression

--

"I know it's warmer where you are, And it's safer by your side, But right now I can't be what you want, Just give it time"

Charlotte nodded along to the building beat, her own voice a foreign entity as it floated through the air in the -- soundproof -- studio in LA. The demo was beautiful but it needed that extra push to make it a hit lead single. A lead single for an album that was months away from being completed. 

"And if you and I, Can make it through the night, And if you and I, Can keep our love alive, we'll fight, We can meet in the middle, Bodies and souls collide Dance in the moonlight, Where all the stars align, For you and I, for you and I"

The girls were impressed however, with Chloe claiming it was some of their best work yet. It was more electronic than their previous pop/rock sound, with humming bass lines and ethereal echoes that wailed from verse to verse. And Charlotte's voice was the pinnacle, reaching a prominent gravelly growl when she'd sing the long notes, paired with Maria and Kim's backing vocals, it was eargasmic bliss.

Kim was the type of person who used a Pinterest board religiously and was already culminating ideas for what the video would look like: black and white obviously with animated doodles, black paint, and fast-flashing lights. And maybe some mild nudity?

"That's sexier than Brendon Urie in 'Miss Jackson'," Maria said. 

"It's beautiful," Charlotte had to admit.

Chloe slapped her on the back, promptly shocking her, "You outdid yourself, Lottie! So smile a little more!" she told her. Charlotte forced a really big Joker smile. 

Kimberly elbowed the drummer, who now had galaxy-ombre hair. The girls swore with all the hair dye that Chloe must've switched to wigs when they weren't looking. 

"Well... I couldn't have done it without you guys," Charlotte said, smiling at each of her friends. 

"We got to stick together," Maria claimed, "We're all we got in each other," 

With the demo complete, Charlotte gave the approval for the tape to be sent to be remixed and produced for the final product. She was nervous to hear it, but there was also an element of excitement coursing through her. There was immense pressure on following up the success of the first LP with the second, but she was confident with the way Catch the Caper were growing musically that it would be some of the best material they put out yet. 

Charlotte still had reservations about only letting key personnel in on their material, not eager to replicate the first mess of 'Heaven'. The song would still be on the album, but it would be released later on. Maybe within the summer of next year when the album was more grounded for release. And then there was 'Saint', the song that she and Luke agreed would be a shared piece between them, but he insisted it should go on her album. Three songs down, another seven or so to go...

For the two and half weeks they had back home, she and Luke spent some of it rehearsing 'Saint'. Unlike 'You & I', this was a song she was actively getting excited about, heartbreaking yet it held a particular bite that could be the backing track to the lead in an indie movie finally taking back control of her life. Well, there's the saying that we're all the lead in our own stories, Charlotte was still working on getting to the end of hers. 

Luke was supposed to meet Charlotte that afternoon. She left her apartment door open for him, got out her guitar and put out a plate of shortbread cookies for them to munch on while they worked. He was a few minutes late, but Charlotte chalked it up to Luke being Luke. He was always late for shit. 

However, ten minutes late soon turned to thirty, then forty five, then a whole hour. Charlotte sat on her couch, eating her cookies and watching Dr. Who, trying to ignore the fact that she was just stood up. No phone calls or texts were sent, and there was no miraculous knocking at the door. What the hell could he possibly be doing? It wasn't like Luke to stand Charlotte up like this; if he couldn't make it he would call her first. 

Charlotte soon realized she that the cookie plate was nearly empty, and Luke was two hours late. Something was wrong here. Unless she got the date wrong? Maybe she should phone him?

Luke was fine -- physically speaking. Let's just say that he got a little ahead of himself with the time. Melody opened her big mouth again and they went at it, she was upset again because Luke was spending more time with Charlotte on his break than he was with Mel. She did have a fair point, but Luke just wished she wouldn't fly off the handle so over dramatically. He couldn't help it that he was working on something that he was quite proud of with one of his best friends.

A minutes-long fight had elongated into an hour, and soon enough Luke gave up; frustrated and itching to take some control back. And take control he did. Anger turned to an afternoon of passion-fuelled angry sex, both he and Melody taking their stress out on each other in the best way possible. And Luke couldn't deny afterwards how much better he felt by the time the late afternoon arrived.

It was by the end of her fourth Dr. Who episode that Charlotte's phone finally rang. Luke was calling; this ought to have been good. 

"You better be fatally injured or missing a pint of blood," Charlotte said when she picked up, "I just ate three-quarters of a bag of cookies and I'm not proud of myself," 

Luke was standing in his kitchen, dressed only in some slacks while Melody showered upstairs. By the time they were both exhausted he realized the time, and his lust for his girl was replaced by guilt for his friend. Of course he had to call her, but he hoped Charlotte would understand.

"I am neither one of those things, and you have no reason to be ashamed. I think we've all been there," he said, trying to sound cheery.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Charlotte asked, clearly annoyed, "Where have you been? I was about to send out some K9 units," 

Luke grimaced, knowing fully-well how upset she was, "Charlotte, I'm sorry. I-I got a little caught up in some things. I'll definitely make it up to you, though," 

It was then a terrifying thought entered Charlotte's head -- did Melody do something? Throw another mass tantrum? What was she saying to him? About Charlotte, namely.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, now a little concerned.

"I'm okay," he assured her, looking up when he heard the shower water stop running, "I'm sorry, love. But how about I come over tomorrow instead?"

Charlotte noted how quiet his voice suddenly became, he didn't want Melody to know he was talking to her. It was a strange, complicated plight: suddenly becoming a secret to your best friend. If Luke was so afraid to talk to her when Mel was around, then what the point? It was clear Melody was drawing some lines -- so Charlotte figured she should do the same.

"No, it's okay. We leave again in a few days, you should spend the time with Melody," she told him. 

Luke could hear the bite in her voice, "Charlotte, I really am sorry,"

"I know," Charlotte nodded, "I'm not mad at you. I swear. Spend some time with your girl," 

"Alright, I love ya," he mumbled.

"Love you too," Charlotte said listlessly, then hung up without another word. Groaning aloud, she then grabbed the plate and dumped out what was left of the cookies. She felt sick now, and not just from the sweets. She was mad at Luke, pissed off that he blew her off. Then she felt stupid for being jealous of Melody. She was jealous of Melody, but at the same time Charlotte had probably seen more of Luke this year than she had. 

You have no right to be upset with him, his girlfriend comes before you. That's the way it should be. Leave them alone.

Charlotte decided that it only hurt more because she knew how hurt Luke was by Melody. He used Charlotte as a vessel to blow off steam, to laugh for a while, pretend he was something he wasn't when he'd go back to her. Charlotte knew he could be so happy, she could make him so happy. But time and time again, he would go crawling back to her. 

Meanwhile, Luke quickly shoved his phone away as Melody came sauntering in to the kitchen, adorned in only his t-shirt. Her eyes glimmered with the Devil as she stood before him, smelling of fresh coconut shampoo with a smile that could stop any man dead in his tracks. He held her and gave her a kiss on her head, but he averted his eyes to the wall behind her. 

"What do you wanna' do for dinner?" she asked sweetly. 

"Anything you like," he affirmed, "We can cook, we can order in," 

"Let's order in," she decided, pulling away to go for their drawer of various take-out menus. 

Luke watched Melody from where he stood. He felt better, he felt happier, relaxed -- but he didn't feel whole. Then fear settled in, the fear that he was indeed falling out of love with Melody. Because when he looked at her, his mind raced back to mornings with Charlotte, sitting at her kitchenette as she made them both coffee and would go on and on about whatever had captured her interest in a dream she had. Her thoughts were as beautiful as her face.

Melody was beautiful, she shone like a strobe light. But Charlotte was a damn lighthouse beacon, burning so bright and full that she washed Melody out. However, there were some days Luke feared Charlotte may just burn out. 

A half empty bottle of wine sat on the coffee table, beside it an empty glass that Charlotte had just finished. She poured herself another glass, guitar perched in her lap and she began to play again, singing a wistfully sad melody about feeling, well... used.

"You see, I want the world to believe, That there's a light inside of me, But it's time that I come clean. I'm not what I seem, no, Some would say I'm possessed, yeah, But I'll confess I've just been obsessed With life and death and emptiness, I guess. Can't you see all of the change in me?"

The more she drank, the more emotional she became. The more poems she wrote, her voids once filled now flooding out. She was lonely, felt more lonely tonight than she had in so long. She could hear memories of her own words echoing in her head, like a bad dream. 

"Three years I let myself get tossed around in a salad spinner of emotional turmoil. Now I'm watching Luke go through what I went through; we both see the same thing in each other and yet willingly stay in a precarious and chaotic situation. I mean -- that must register as clinical insanity!"

"Well, ask yourself: why did you stay with Ben? When you had every single person in your life telling you how toxic that relationship was, why did you stay?" 

"I didn't want to be alone," 

What did she mean by that? Of course Charlotte wasn't alone, she was surrounded by friends! Friends who told her hours ago that they would support her no matter what. And yet, drunk on wine and emotions she felt more empty than she had in months.

The last time she felt so lonely she had been dumped. Eight months ago, she was tossed aside like a pebble on the street. Ben abandoned her, and in her less than cognitive state of mind, Luke abandoned her too. She was abandoned for something better, something closer, easier. Something she could never get within arms reach of.

"You took these starving limbs, tried to see. Tried to see what they could be, But I thought I'd be something.I thought you'd complete me, That you'd erase all the pain that I felt in my brain. If you filled my heart with love, Then you'd fill my voids above. Now you see, that didn't change a thing,"

She recorded her voice as oppose to write, she gave up writing as her penmanship was a little sloppy now. Tomorrow she'd decide whether or not to put this song on the album. Tonight the only guest in her apartment would be her perilous brain.

[mercury-lurks]

Doing an angst rp with Mercury and got sad so I wrote a little hapby thingy with merc and quine :3

Very inspired by Boyfriend by Dove Cameron btw just thought I'd mention

'+'

The night was warm. The trees blew in the hot breeze, bugs buzzing from leaf to leaf to get a small reprieve from the endless heat.

Mercury didn't understand why Quine had invited them to third-wheel on them and Valzu's date. Granted, it wasn't truly a date, and it was also a school dance, but she didn't understand why Quine and Valzu just didn't go by themselves. Mercury had far more important things to do than hang out with Quine's boyfriend.

But, alas, Mercury needed to uphold appearances. If they didn't seem popular, Da'ceri would be disappointed. Stars, there was also that science test coming up that Mercury had to study for.

He smoothed out her outfit, taking great care to make sure not a speck of dust ruined their image. Quine and Valzu were linked together with their arms, chatting idly as they walked into the school cafeteria.

It was only a middle school dance, thank The Ruler of the Stars, so Mercury wouldn't have to run for any school royalty. Of course, she'd be expected to during highschool.

Valzu pushed Quine into the dance floor, the smaller of the two giggling. Mercury rolled their eyes and resolved to hang around the snack table away from everyone.

He picked up a cup filled with water, idly sipping on it as they surveyed the crowd. Nothing in particular caught her interest, so he settled for watching Valzu and Quine dance together.

Honestly, it was terrible. Valzu kept jerking Quine around, stepping on their feet and far too close for comfort. Quine took it in stride, bending back a bit to get away from his looming presence.

Of course, Mercury was soon distracted by someone from Student Leadership coming up next to her.

"Heya, Merc! How's it hanging?" Bla'cara asked, throwing xer arm over his shoulder good-naturedly.

"Don't call me that." Mercury replied in an even tone, pushing xer arm off her.

"Oh. Sorry." Xe looked awkwardly at Mercury, shuffling anxiously. "Um. You liking the party?"

"Not particularly, no," he said simply, taking another sip of water. "Far too childish for my tastes. Silly dancing and stupid little party games."

Bla'cara stood there for a moment before walking away, not saying a word to them. Mercury was happy that interaction was over.

They tapped their foot against the floor, picking at the skin of her fingers. He wondered if Neptune and Shad'r would be alright with their parents tonight. They would, of course, but Mercury usually took care of them. It was hard letting someone else do that, even for an hour or two.

Soon, Quine came and joined them by the snack table. Valzu was off talking to some of his friends, apparently.

"You haven't done anything yet have you, baby blue?" Quine asked, leaning against her.

Mercury blew air harshly out of his nose. "This little dance is too immature. I could be doing something more productive, you know."

Quine's face fell, and Mercury wanted to immediately take everything back. They sighed, looking back at the dance floor. "I guess it is. But it's nice being a little immature sometimes. We're only 13, Mercy, we get to live a little."

"You get to live a little." Mercury corrected. "I don't."

Their ears twitched a bit in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Rolling her eyes, Mercury elaborated. "I have an image to uphold. I can't go goofing off and do whatever without consequences. I'm even lucky I got permission to come here."

Quine frowned, lightly hitting Mercury's tail with their own. "I knew your parents were strict, but I didn't know they were that strict."

"They do it because they care about my future. I can't get a good job with the U.N.S.C. if I'm not perfect. It's bad enough I'm flawed."

They looked at Mercury with horror. "Flawed? You can't be talking about-"

"Of course I am. I can't do the things everyone else can. I can't hold a pencil right, I can't grip things the correct way, I can't play sports or push buttons or anything. My hands are broken, Quine. They don't work right." Mercury brought her hands up, watching them tremor for a moment before hanging them back down.

Quine gained a determined look on their face. "That's not a flaw, Mercy. It's not your fault your hands shake. I don't know what it'll take to convince you, but I'm willing to put in the work."

Mercury scoffed. "Go right ahead. It won't matter."

"You're too cynical. You need to lighten up a bit." Quine kicked his leg softly, furrowing their eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" She questioned. Mercury's questions were momentarily paused when Quine dragged him into the middle of the dance floor. "I- Quin-"

Quine shushed him, giggling. "Just dance, silly! Loosen up! One little jig won't kill you."

It was hard to resist Quine's golden smile, and so Mercury let themself be pulled along in a dance. Soon she was moving with Quine, careful not to make any missteps or step on their feet.

Quine twirled them around, a genuine laugh escaping her lips. Mercury pulled them into an even more dramatic move, Quine responding in kind. Both of them ended up laughing, pushing each other and bumping hips and stepping on each other.

The dance settled down into a slow sway, Quine's hands on his hips and Mercury's arms looped around their neck. The silence between them was comfortable, and Mercury let her eyes slip shut.

"You know, baby blue, I've been thinking about breaking up with Valzu."

Mercury's attention was brought back to the present, blinking their eyes open. "What do you mean? Why?"

"He's a good boyfriend, sure, but he's not a good friend." They explained, tail swishing pleasantly behind them. "I don't think he's right for me. There's someone else I've had my eye on."

Now Mercury was curious. "Oh? Do tell."

Quine chuckled, tilting up Mercury's chin. "Take a guess, dear."

After a moment, Mercury's face heated up. "O-oh. Quine, I-"

"I know you don't feel romantic attraction. But I can't keep lying to him like this, you know? Maybe once it fades, I'll get back together with him, but-"

Mercury silenced them with her hand, placing it over their mouth. "Quine, I know I don't usually do romance. But- but I'd like to try. With you."

Quine grinned under Mercury's hand, which he removed a moment after. "Well then, Merc. Would you care for another dance?"

A purr rumbling in his throat, Mercury replied. "Why yes. Yes I would."