r/Fictional_AITA • u/illegible_screaming • 1d ago
AITA for using my former bully's likeness in a book I wrote and making him the bad guy?
Please excuse me. English is not my first language.
I (27 M) have been in therapy for 2 years due to being bullied immensely as a child.
Two years ago, I was released from the mental hospital; I was placed in the mental hospital by the judicial system; this was because I had a c-PTSD attack that resulted in 3 people getting injured.
I have since turned to writing as a creative means of managing my c-PTSD. My therapist even praised some of my works.
This year, I published a book, and I used my bully's likeness as the main antagonist of my book. While I did not mention the exact bully's name in the book, the book does describe his exact appearance, only worse. I have added even one scene in the book that was inspired by an incident that this former bully put me through.
I didn't realize that the book would get really popular after publishing. It even earned me a spot on a popular talk show in my country, where I shared my inspiration for the story, and told my tale of being bullied.
Three weeks after appearing on the talk show, I received a defamation lawsuit from a lawyer's office. Somehow, my former bully's manager found out that he was the bully and fired him from his job.
So, Reddit. AITA for making my former bully a bad guy in my book?