Monthly Meme - The AITAs of March

[pumpkinhollow]

BEWARE THE AITAS

C

ry havoc, and let slip the hounds of war interpersonal conflict! In this month's mingle, spin us a yarn of drama, suspense, romance, or petty arguments. Submit the tale for judgement to the court of public opinion, in pursuit of the answer to one all-important question--- "Am I the asshole?" You may defend yourself, but ultimately it is up to your neighbors to decide your fate.

Unlike other public forums, we don't have any rules about fake stories, validation posts, excessive arguments in the comments, or stabbing the emperor. Fudge details to your heart's content, but don't be surprised if the other people involve in the story jump in with a counter-argument. To vote, here is a glossary of important shorthand:

• OP - "Original poster", the person who submitted the story
• YTA - "You're the Asshole," for when the OP is the primary wrongdoer
• NTA - "Not the Asshole," for when the OP is the one who was wronged
• NAH - "No Assholes Here," for when no one is technically in the wrong, the conflict was simply a misunderstanding
• ESH - "Everyone Sucks Here," for when all parties are in the wrong and all of you should be ashamed of yourselves
• JAH - "Justified Asshole," for when OP is definitely an asshole, but for good reason
• INFO - "Information," for when the story is too vague to make a decision, usually followed by a question

Stories should include the OP's name in brackets and then a punchy title in the subject line. Additionally, you may use [ANONYMOUS] in place of your name--- this will allow players to know who OP is, but the characters will not know. Have fun!

Comments

[cw: imprisonment, torture] [ANON] AITA for resorting to drastic measures to escape?

[astrogator]

I [18F] was held prisoner for over a year. The material conditions were fine, but in all other respects it was truly horrific. We were tortured. Dehumanised. Told over and over how impossible it was to escape, how we'd never get out, and there was no point in even trying because home wouldn't miss us anyway and the situation outside the prison was so hostile we'd just all be slaughtered.

That prison damaged me so badly I don't think I'll ever recover, even though my physical wounds were healed by coming here. But while I was there, I never gave up hope of freedom. I tried everything I knew how to do.

Here's the problem. In one of my attempts at escape I badly hurt a prison guard. She had no choice about her job, didn't volunteer for it, arguably none of it was her fault. But she got hurt. I saw it as my duty to try to escape (and, frankly, I was at breaking point...) and what happened to her was an unfortunate necessity.

Some of my fellow prisoners disagreed. Worse still, some of them had started sympathising with our captor, saying that he didn't choose to imprison us specifically, and that torture was just how the system worked. He had a sob story people fell for, so the idea that he might suffer very negative consequences if outside attention was drawn to this prison or if people escaped seemed to bother them. Honestly, I didn't care what happened to him, after all that had been done to me.

I got out! I'm here! But I've since been informed that some of the actions I took made life worse for the remaining prisoners. I do feel bad about that. Even for the ones who hurt me. But I still don't regret my actions. AITA?

[ooc: assume non-canon unless we mutually decide otherwise, thanks!]

[when_a_grids_misaligned]

NTA. In a place like that, you can't save everyone, and sometimes the only way to survive is to hurt someone else who doesn't want to be in that situation any more than you do. If the warden took it out on the others after you escaped, he's the asshole (not that that's news).

[astrogator]

Thank you.

It's troubling my sense of integrity not to give you the specifics. He was absolutely an asshole, but the others had a worse time after because I got a message to the outside, signalling that we were there and desperately needed help. The person who ended up finding it wasn't... friendly, apparently. I couldn't do anything to mitigate the situation, because my freedom was - well, it came through death. I don't expect the message recipient finding their contact was dead by the teeth hand of another prisoner helped the situation.

[when_a_grids_misaligned]

Fucking privateers. Nightmare scenario right there.

[astrogator]

The whole thing was a complete nightmare.

Probability smiled. I'm out. Forward now, I guess.

[inaurate]

Of course you're NTA. No question. It sounds like you were doing everything you could just to survive in a system stacked against you, and no one should blame you for that. Your captor's obviously the one to blame here-- someone with that kind of power always has choices they can make in how they utilize that power. He used it to harm others and strip them of their freedom, and no sob story in the world can justify that. It is unfortunate that someone who also had no choice in the matter got hurt, but that is still the fault of those who put her in that situation to begin with.

[astrogator]

Thank you. Sometimes I felt so alone it just - helps to have outside opinions, yes? You're right, that's exactly how it was.

[redlightgreenlight]

NTA

That's all I will say for now.

[astrogator]

Thank you. I appreciate that.

[hate_gettin_older]

fuckin right NTA

[astrogator]

That means a lot.

I felt like I was losing my mind there because nobody else agreed. So many people fretting about our captor's welfare. It's good to hear other perspectives.