you can always tell when toxic people haven’t learned a damn thing about how they’ve treated other people, because it shows up in the way they refer to it when they claim they’re over it.
calling it strange, not like themselves, “oh i was a different person”, and blaming it on external factors like family issues/general life status/etc.
if you really learned, you’d call your actions exactly what they are. abuse, manipulation, forcing people to pick sides between you/others, etc. going through shit doesn’t excuse you from being an absolute asshole to people, you still have to take responsibility for it.
which again, goes back to my first point: if you’re still blaming other things for your behavior, you aren’t owning up to it, you haven’t learned a thing. you want a convenient excuse to keep acting that way.
your depression/anxiety/mental illness, etc, does not excuse you abusing people. that’s still your fault.
writing tip: don’t tell us your character’s backstory. don’t tell us what your character is thinking. don’t tell us what your character is doing. don’t tell us anything. the reader should simply look at a blank page and be suddenly overcome with emotion.
Good tip. I know a lot of writers who cry uncontrollably when they see a blank page, so I’m sure that feeling will translate directly to the reader.
“you reblogged from someone Bad. i’m not going to tell you who it is for some reason but you’re a bastard for reblogging them and not ruthlessly checking the blogs of every user you reblog from. you also agree with everything bad this person has said. die”
