can i just mention how frustrating it is to call someone pretty and have them say something like "i'm not, but thanks"

like bitch, i have eyes

i literally see you looking pretty right now and i do not appreciate being implied a liar

seriously though, i get the response is a combination of trauma and self-image issues but a simple "no you" would go a long way making sure at least i don't feel like shit trying to give you a fucking compliment

like. maybe this is toxic positivity or something. but i don't know if a response to a compliment while you feel like shit should result in both of us feeling like shit

to be clear, this is an issue i have also struggled with, and continue to do so on occasion. but more frequently than not, when someone compliments me i will usually reply with "you're fuckin right, back atcha." it doesn't matter how i feel about myself at the time, i will respond like that.

the fantastic thing about the back-atcha is that you will still feel good about it. yeah sure, you feel like you just crawled out of a dumpster, but you gave someone else a compliment, and that's a nice thing to do, and it makes you feel good.

just please stop rejecting a stranger or a friends compliments unless you have the mutual understanding that there is a lot of baggage there, and you want them to help you lift some of that weight off your shoulders. i know this is dangerously close to Toxic Positivity sentiment, but there is a major difference between "Fake Happiness Until You Make Happiness," which is toxic positivity, and "Stop making your friends feel like shit for giving you a simple god damned compliment," which is a criticism of a kind of shitty thing to do.