aita?

[insertusername]

am i the asshole?

Life isn’t always black and white. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who’s really at fault, and no one wants to believe they’re the bad guy. Sometimes you need an outside opinion. Or several.

Tell your side of the story and crowdsource an honest answer to the age old question; Am I The Asshole?

Top Level

with your character explaining a situation where they might have been the asshole.

Comment

with your hot takes. Anon or IC.

Comments

Jester Lavorre // Critical Role

[littlesapphire]

I sort of parent-trapped my mama and dad, AITA?

[coldsong]

All by yourself, or did you have a twin to assist?

[unshakencowboah]

Depends, what’s parent-trapped mean? You lock them in a room together?

Ezra Bridger | Star Wars | OTA

[merging]

So I(19M) led a planet-wide revolution against galactic fascism and in the process, got myself and my enemy villain guy(??M) stranded in the middle of nowhere. NOW he says he was actually trying to protect my world(and the galaxy) against a larger threat. But shouldn't he have just said that in the first place? AND NOT TURNED TO IMPERIALISM? Also got a bunch of his crew stuck with us too and probably killed a few hundred or more. Usual rebellion stuff, but AITA?

[seenitbefore]

Possibly, but you're also not wrong. Anyone who plays the "I was oppressing you for your own good" card deserves to deal with assholes.

[knowledgeandshadow]

A threat, you say. Is it truly a real threat, or one that had been imagined or exaggerated?

[ She isn't making any judgements yet. For that, she felt she had to know more about this situation. ]

[onemillionsubscribers]

NTA.

He's the asshole. Fascism has no excuse. Unfortunate you dragged others into it but also they're supporting a fascist reigm by siding with the establishment you're fighting against.

Again for the people in the back: NTA!

[survivalthroughhate]

You're not wrong. But you're a fool for believing him.

[Look, Maul's experienced Ezra's opinion of villains before firsthand and figures whoever this may be is just manipulating the overly-trusting teen the same way he had.]

[artfultactics]

NTA. 

[He's not going to absolve himself of being the asshole when, among other things, this isn't the first time that holding his cards too close to the vest has backfired on him - not that he'd admit that part.] 

As for why I did not simply explain the reasoning behind my actions earlier: even if you would have believed me, I had no reason to place any trust in you, or anyone else connected with the Rebellion. Spectre cell was relatively insulated from the Rebellion as a whole, so you had no opportunity to witness the degree to which the best, and, above all else, the worst of the Republic was encapsulated in miniature in the Rebellion. Even when all their focus should have been on their common enemy, its leadership still could not control their infighting - no, perhaps backstabbing is a better word for some of their recent actions. Already, it is clear that their chances for long-term stability are nonexistent - and stability is the one thing the galaxy needs most, to prepare for the threats it will face. The Empire, for all its ugliness, provides that.

However, the Empire may not be enough. There are major deficits in its overall strategy that even I have been unable to correct, which prioritize its ability to deal with internal threats at the expense of its capacity to meet external ones. I already had a plan in motion to compensate for these shortcomings by taking part of the Seventh Fleet into the Unknown Regions on what would have nominally been a mapping expedition, but which would in fact have allowed me to build a largely autonomous defensive formation to screen the Empire's flank.

[In other words, finding himself unable to change the Empire from within, he'd been forced to devise an exit strategy - albeit one that wouldn't cut him off from the Empire's resources, so he'd have an easier time building up his own power base.] 

Of course, you couldn't have known that, in a few standard months, we would no longer have been one another's problem. 

lys skovgaard | original | ota

[pawper]

I don't tell people the truth if I think it's just gonna hurt them.

[secare]

Sounds like a slippery slope.

Crowley | Good Omens

[glarefully]

So, I'm pretty sure that I'm the asshole in this situation. But a certain co-worker of mine thinks otherwise, and I'd like to prove them wrong.

I live in central London, busy town, I'm sure you can imagine what the streets are like. Crammed full of people most of the time. Right, so -- sometime back I went around with a pocket full of shiny new pound coins and -- get this, I super glued them to the sidewalks around London.

Sure, not everyone stops to pick up a pound when they see one on the street, but enough people do. Can you imagine the frustration? Thinking you've scored yourself a bit of easy pocket change, only to find it's glued down? Not to mention all the frustrated people behind them, having to take time to move around them.

So, tell me, AITA?

[treefullofmonkeys]

You can ask all the people you like, but you and I both know the truth!

The Monarch | Venture Brothers

[the_mighty_monarch]

Honestly? You better believe it. And I do it right. None of this passive-aggressive crap, I go straight to aggressive.

You want an honest story? I hate Thaddeus Venture. I have made every day of his so-called life a living hell for years, just because I could. And in style, homies. Mighty Flying Cocoon style.

[He pauses, holding up pamphlets.]

And know what? You can, too. If you sign up for the Guild of Calamitous Intent. Now with a ten percent discount for first-timers, and a shiny pen and mug set.

[His wife asked. Ultimately, he can never say no to her.]

[stuporscience]

I mean... let's be honest, "living hell" is a bit generous...

But you did kidnap me and Hank a lot, so yeah, I'd say that puts you on the list.

Also, did you seriously just use, "homies"?

He Tian || 19 Days || M/M

[beasttian]

I kissed the guy I like with full tongue and it made him cry in gay panic.

Koakuma | Touhou Project | OTA

[littledevil]

So... I ate the Lady of the house's pudding and blamed it on her little sister and now there's a big argument. You know, sibling level stuff.

So, AITA for simply trying to liven things up around here? She WAS saying she was bored, after all!

I'm sorry

[catarmy]

YTA. I hope you get swirlied.

Theseus | Hades

[deltastrike]

Ditched a princess (18F) on a deserted island because I (18M) didn't love her, AITA?

[mermustyou]

um yeah

Arthur Morgan - Red Dead Redemption II

[unshakencowboah]

Know what the answer's gonna be but might as well ask.

Man owed us money, came to collect, he didn't cough it up. Well, coughed up something but never mind that. I beat him until he finally admitted he didn't have the money and had no way to get it at the moment. Was still breathin' when I left him but when I returned to try again, he'd died.

Am I the asshole?

[hobblepot]

Not the asshole, as far as I am concerned. This, as I see it, is a matter of fairness: if it was made very clear that what you were offering was not in any way an act of charity, and this man accepted, willingly placing himself in your debt, then it is in your right to collect. Otherwise, he is simply taking advantage, yes?

[Smiling, he spreads his hands as if to say, 'prove me wrong'. Needless to say, he is not opposed to the use of force in this situation.]

Nana | WOL FF14 OC/🐈OC | Ota

[knightglow]

"Why am I the asshole? If youre stupid enough to start an argument with me because you think I'm a bimbo, don't get upset when I'll back up my proof with a sword at the end of my statement. I dont have time to care about your half assed bias anyway, but I get looked down upon? You think I run around doing almost everything for other people, to not know my way around things? Whatever, not my problem or is it?"

Seong-Hui | Yakuza 7

[likeageomi]

A certain rat wanted to raise the curtain on the counterfeiting operation that keeps the entire economy of Yokohama afloat and ensures the peace between the syndicates in the area. So I sent assassins after him to shut his stupid mouth. AITA?

I'm not. I'm not the asshole.

[gumboots]

Oh so I'm the asshole actually for doing the trolley problem wrong and choosing my brother over some sci-fi shit ran on stolen electricity.

Tsume | Wolf's Rain

[clawandscars]

I used a gang of humans for my own ends, dumped them, and let them get caught when it became too inconvenient to keep them around. AITA?

Darth Vader | Star Wars (He is and he's not even sorry.)

[nouskaiananki]

Several of my. Shall we call them 'coworkers' and well as the Emperor had an idea for a new breed of "weapon". Such design was an affront to what I stand for, an incredible waste of resources, poorly designed, and even more poorly executed. It also contained numerous design flaws including one capable of destroying the entire device. Given I am excellent engineer I saw these flaws years ago and made multiple attempts to steer the weapons development away from this project to another, better suited to our goals. After being ignored and scolded for my suggestions I stepped back, gathered my evidence, and waited for the inevitable.

Including the Rebellion getting the plans. How terrible they slipped from my grasp.

The weapon was rightfully destroyed. Many of my men were killed as a result which is my only regret.

I have been told this makes me 'the asshole'. I don't believe I am.

[lotsoflaughs]

::Suddenly, there is music playing. Obnoxious music.::

::Enjoy the new soundtrack to your life.::

Ysanne Isard | Star Wars: Expanded Universe

[iceheart_imperial]

So I released a plague. I came closer to winning a Galactic War with economics and a singular instance of biological warfare than any of my predecessors. Who, I would remind this so-called jury of my peers, viewed the solution as an endless, unwinnable military conflict.

After, of course, trying two planet-killing superweapons. And then degenerating into bickering, petty little princelings the moment the Emperor wasn't there to manipulate them, nor Vader there to enforce their loyalty.

I make no apologies. The virus was engineered to be entirely curable - the so-called 'New Republic' merely chose the death of its citizens over political surrender. If they truly believed in their supposed moral code, they would have chosen otherwise. As for the Lusankya's...creative exit from Coruscant, that too was military necessity.

My actions do not make me an 'asshole', as you seem to believe - the Empire brought order and peace to the Galaxy. Restoring it, saving it from a galaxy-spanning defeat? Calls for all extraordinary measures. If the roles were reversed, see how long the Republic would hesitate before doing the same.

Re: Ysanne Isard | Star Wars: Expanded Universe

[wasstarkiller]

Right, all that slavery and murder the Empire did was incredibly peaceful and orderly.

The Joker | Batman: The Animated Series

[gothams_joker]

Heh heh, here I thought I was the comedian in this outfit.

Darn tootin' I was, and lemme tell ya - it's been great, folks. Heh - think of all the entertainment and interesting events I've brought to your otherwise dreary and mundane lives.

And if a few of you got the big kiss off along the way, who cares? Consider yourselves extras in the greatest show in Gotham, ha.

[He sketches an elaborate bow.]

I'm the best there is at what I do - and I ain't apologizin'. And if you've got a complaint? Heeee, well, I've got a Chicago typewriter to write a reply on. [He holds a hand up in a theatrical aside] Look it up, kids, the learnin' will do you good.

[killerjoke]

Finally, someone with taste up in this place. I could just kill>/I> for a decent laugh.

the prickly prick that'll bury us all

[pathoflogic]

I am Bachelor Daniil Dankovsky, from the Capital. I came to visit the Town-on-Gorkhon for my research into thanatology, and my arrival happened to coincide with the reemergence of a strange and disastrous plague known as "Sand Pest".

Be glad it hasn't spread. I approached the Town's rulers and insisted on quarantines, price-fixing, and the breaking up of social gatherings. They had no hospital and no morgue, and I was able to secure two buildings to serve as such. I also assisted Stahk Rubin in the creation of a vaccine. And I had to work far too damned hard to get any of that implemented! Nearly every resident of the Town, not to mention the authorities sent a week into the outbreak, is more intent on politicking than addressing a disease that could and very nearly did kill us all!

So what if I don't respect local traditions? Local traditions make it a hanging offense to draw blood and see nothing wrong with burning random women at the stake! Ignorantia non est argumentum*. I'm a man of science. Shamanism and miracle-working are incompatible with a learned and logical outlook.

In the end I concluded that the land under the town itself contains the plague-causing bacteria. It has contaminated the groundwater. The latest one was a tower known as the Polyhedron, which extends over the river. The children of the Town sheltered inside it and never contracted Sand Pest. It has great thanatalogical importance which I'm not certain I can render down for simpler minds.

The Sand Pest has peculiar properties, unlike those of any disease I have studied. The vaccine Rubin and I created has very limited effect and those who are infected die almost without exception. So long as people occupy the Town, there is a chance of fresh outbreaks. Learning this, I was able to convince General Block to raze the Town. The uninfected will build a new town across the Gorkhon, which will be a true utopia, or so I've been informed. I can't trust the motives of my so-called allies, either. Either they have lost their senses or I have.

I have acted justly to the best of my abilities. And yes, I have ended the lives of more than a few people in order to survive and continue in my efforts. I am not proud of this. If I have been inadequate to the task, that is unfortunate, but the results have more import than if I was - do we really need the vulgarity? - an 'asshole' about it.

I also discovered something ridiculous which makes it all moot, anyway. It was all in vain... Dixi**.

*Ignorance is no argument.
**I have spoken.

Rayla | Dragon Prince

[theworstassassin]

My name's Rayla. I'm a Moonshadow Elf. I've been training my whole life to be an assassin, but honestly, I can't do it. What does that even make me?

Wrong Hordak | She-Ra

[lets_wink_brothers]

I'm a clone, one of veeeery many, of, what's the word? "Asshole."

Oh no. Is 'asshole' a bad word? I think I've said a bad word. And Princesses say that's bad. I've just done a bad thing. I'm very sorry.