I'm making this post because I care deeply about the community. I firmly believe that Wattpad should be a safe place where you can happily post/write/read stories and interact with others without any worry. However, it's impossible to do so when I see so many people with toxic behavior skulking about. I'm here to call it out since nobody else is.

Today's topic: a rant on manipulative, egotistical jerks who need to stop. Yes, this does apply to Wattpad because there are several of them on here who I'm two steps away from publicly calling out. I could not care less if I stir controversy or soil my reputation through this drama since I'm so sick and tired of it.

Let me kick things off on why I think I'm overqualified to talk about this: I'm going to go over my dark history I've never confessed to online before. When I was 16, I was a horrible person. An absolute snake. I drowned myself in negativity and found entertainment in stirring drama that ultimately just harmed others. Why? I was so miserable at the time due to my most recent move and difficulty with my new school that I took it out on others. It was by far the darkest period of my life.

You see, this behavior got me sucked into an even more toxic friend group who taught me their ways of manipulation. I learned how to charm people to get me on their side just to coax information out of them and exploit that for my own gains. These people weren't friends, they were pawns. Tools. They held no purpose outside of letting me get what I wanted. 99.9% of this was done online, which is an important tidbit for later. It wasn't until that "friend" group fell apart that I stopped that toxic behavior and returned to being a decent human being.

As time went on, I realized just how awful that year of my life was. It caused me to do a complete 180 and try to become a positive person with good intentions always. Yes, I still stumble sometimes with that, but that's just human nature to make mistakes. But the important thing is that I realized the errors of my ways and sought to fix them. I've changed my ways, and I can wholeheartedly promise you I'm no longer that toxic person I used to be.

Why does this info matter, though? It's to assure you that I know exactly who and what I'm dealing with when I address this problem at-hand. Nobody can sense a snake like another snake.

Within this past month or so, I've seen not one, but two people whose behavior makes me sick to my stomach because it reminds me of that era of my life. These people are disgustingly manipulative. I won't name names, but I will tell you the crap I've been silently watching them do. Let me help you learn how to spot red flags and save yourself future trouble.

Scenario 1: The Most Unfriendly 'Friend'

Let's call this first person Opal. Opal, at first, seemed like a sweetheart. Zie was very kind and cheerful, frequently posting things and interacting with others normally. Until Opal didn't. Opal got into a minor disagreement with someone we'll call Ruby, so Opal blocked Ruby without any given warning. So Ruby blocked Opal back.

During this time, Opal talked crap about Ruby to other people to make Opal seem like zie was the victim. Opal wasn't a victim. The conflict was over choosing an image for a graphic. It's not that deep. But then Opal realized Ruby blocked zir and got offended. Opal begged Ruby for forgiveness, but Ruby was done with that friendship since Opal had treated Ruby so badly. Ruby told Opal zie held no ill will against Opal, but Ruby didn't want to be friends anymore.

That should've been the end of it. But it wasn't.

Opal started to harass Ruby. Opal began making public messages asking for Ruby's forgiveness and stalked Ruby's Activity Feed, replying to Ruby's comments nonstop and writing on Ruby's wall to get Ruby to talk to zir. This was so inconsiderate because Opal was actively painting Ruby as a rude, selfish person for everyone to see when that obviously wasn't the case. Still, Ruby refused to give in and hoped if zie ignored Opal long enough that Opal would go away. Opal didn't catch the hint.

"Why didn't Ruby just mute Opal?"

Because Ruby thinks muting people is a complete middle-finger to them and didn't want to seem like a jerk because Ruby is a nice person.

Moving on. About a day passed, and Opal made a fake account we'll call Lapo. You could tell Opal was Lapo right away because they messaged the same exact way. Anyways, Lapo DM'd Ruby and said zie noticed the drama going on and began to beg Ruby to forgive Opal. Lapo basically threatened that if Ruby wasn't friends with Opal anymore that Opal would harm zirself and possibly commit suicide. Ruby still stayed resilient and explained zirself to "Lapo" again saying why Ruby was unhappy with Opal and unwilling to be friends. 

Opal picked up another tactic to get Ruby to talk to zir: Opal began reaching out to other accounts who were common friends between the two and beg them to ask Ruby to forgive zir. So Opal was unnecessarily dragging people into the mess zie created because zie wouldn't take a respectful "no" for an answer. Fortunately, Ruby was able to explain the situation to them and so Opal's attempts were fruitless.

The drama ended when Opal's accounts mysteriously disappeared.

If someone doesn't want to be friends with you anymore, don't harass zir about it. Don't post on zir wall about it or drag in other people to try to guilt-trip/publicly shame zir into it. And oh my god do NOT threaten self-harm over it. That won't make your ex-friend like you. That'll make zir hate you. If you do any of these things, you're being manipulative. You don't care about the other person's feelings, you only care about your own. You want them to forgive you to heal your own ego. You're being self-centered.

Don't be like Opal.

Scenario 2: The Clout Chaser

It's no lie that everyone wants to be famous on Wattpad. Having people who actively care about your work and admire what you do is an amazing feeling. Who wouldn't want to feel that?

A good chunk of Wattpaders attempt to gain fame by kissing up to well-established members of the community. Getting buddy-buddy with big names and having them promote you is the fastest way to gain a following. However, it rarely works out that way. Newbies realize this and give up on those ways, deciding to earn popularity by making a name for themselves via writing, graphic-making, etc.

Well, some people don't grow out of that mentality. So let's talk about this person I'm gonna call Rain. Rain loves attention. A lot. Anyone who knows Rain knows this. Rain loves attention so much that it's unhealthy. (Un)fortunately, Rain isn't that popular. And it kills zir inside. It also causes zir to act in shameful ways.

Okay, so let's say that Wind is a popular member of the community. Wind has a well-established, active following because zie's a friendly person who loves to interact with other users. Because of Wind's approachable behavior, Rain decides to try to use Wind as zir gateway to fame in the community. Rain sees Wind as an opportunity, a tool. And it's obvious to everyone who sees it.

Rain begins to message Wind, and Wind detects pretty quickly what Rain is trying to do, so Wind backpedals out of the conversation. This frustrates Rain. A lot. Wind was in the perfect position to fix everything for Rain, but things didn't go to plan like Rain wanted. So what does Rain do? Rain, like Opal, begins to contact people who're common friends between the two to ask about Wind. Wind, like Ruby, ignores Rain.

But then Wind notices something suspicious. Rain is reaching out to all of Wind's mutuals and trying to win their affection. It's most apparent when Rain reaches out to Ruby, someone who wasn't part of their community at all but was someone who interacted with Wind 24/7. It couldn't be a simple coincidence. Not when Wind knows Rain is as greedy and manipulative as zie is.

People are not tools that you can use at your disposal.

Now, a question you might be asking is: "Well, do we give Rain and Opal a second chance to redeem themselves?"

You can, but please don't. These people are toxic. If you involve yourself with them, the chances of you facing a difficult situation like Wind or Ruby is extremely high. Worst case scenario, you begin to adopt their habits and make these practices more commonplace. Do you want that?

I want Wattpad to be happy and healthy for its users. That's why I made this post. If I wanted to sPiLL tHe TEa then I would've been more comical, but this is serious. I only want the best for you guys. If you have any questions about this post or need to share some concerns you have, DM me (Wattpad or Discord). I've had more than enough practice dealing with this type of drama. I can help you.