Writing adult romance, I spend a lot of time thinking about how things in a person’s past (esp childhood) can alter their self-image or impact how they build relationships. I always hesitate to make school a source of adult issues, but actually, it’s a major source for many.

Growing up one of few black girls at my school I was taught that I was inherently unlikeable & mean, so now I’m constantly worried that I’m upsetting or hurting people. Me & my girl have to revisit things that happened to us at school & remind each other “yeah that was fucked”.

I still have a lot of anxiety around socialising and how I come across because I spent years being told that everyone hated me because I was bad and that everything I did was wrong. School can fuck you up & it’s not often talked about. But maybe it should be?

All this to say I am daydreaming about an arsehole hero who says nothing to no-one because he was bullied at school, okay thank u goodnight

Also if you feel this thread you should read Charlotte Stein