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

[pawper]

I guess...

[Hesitant, unsure. It seems like an obvious choice to her: who wouldn't want to avoid unnecessary pain? But here this kid was, challenging that assumption.]

I mean, yeah, it'd be one thing if I knew they were sick before they did, or something. Not saying anything would be totally wrong and just end up hurting them more.

[A sidelong glance, looking at his face without actually meeting his eyes.]

But if I knew...other stuff...why would anyone even want to hear it?

i'm missing a lot of icons

[secare]

Do you really think that it's okay for you to make that decision?

( tapping a finger against his chin as he thinks about it. )

I guess it really depends on the thing, but sometimes it's better to know the truth. Even if it hurts.

shame on u

[pawper]

[A flinch, because she's just that cowardly. Being sneaky and underhanded was always easier than taking the risk of opening herself up to scorn and anger, but simply admitting that to herself didn't take the guilt away.]

I don't know. [...] I just don't want them to be hurt. And if a decision has to be made anyway...

[A sigh.]

...sometimes it's better, huh?

[secare]

Yea. You gotta trust them to be able to handle it.

( he knows. he frequently wants to be told things that he isn't for the sake of "his own good". somehow, it never actually is. )

You'd want the same thing yourself, wouldn't you?

[pawper]

[She doesn't answer for a long time, hating the way that question seems to writhe inside her chest like a living thing. She feels like a fish on a hook, yanked out of her element and left gasping for air. So she stops trying to look at him at all, turning her face away.]

...I don't know if I would. What's the point of sharing something ugly and painful that you can't do anything about? It's like...like you're hitting someone without actually touching them.

[She thinks about Anja, who told her all the time how stupid and worthless she was. How it was always the truth, always correct—because Anja was so much smarter and braver and better, and that meant she was always right.]

[secare]

I don't think that's true. You can be there for them, can't you?

( they are not quite on the same wavelength with this. )

[pawper]

That's not enough to fix it. To...to take away all the hurt.

[Not on the same wavelength at all.]

Some things just shouldn't be shared. I can't think of a single good reason to share 'em.

[secare]

I don't think you're supposed to take away all the hurt. It's not healthy to never feel bad feelings. I guess I would say that the bad feelings make you appreciate the good ones all the more.

And the people who are there to help you get through them.

( making a loose twirling gesture with his finger. )

I can't say the same about withholding stuff.

[pawper]

[Her face visibly closes up more and more the longer she listens to him, frustration rising in her eyes until she looks away. It feels like there’s a knotted rag inside her chest, twisting tighter and tighter.]

I guess.

[It’s no kind of response, but it’s the least argumentative one—if still disagreeable and unproductive—that she can give. Because she doesn’t want to fight with Yukine. He just doesn’t understand, and Lys assumes she’s must be too stupid to convince him.]