#he fluctuates a lot between overly cautious + anxiously considerate + socially savvy and. Emotionally Blunt Hammer

[talentforlying]

i truly don't think i talk about constantine's generally lame qualities enough because i spend a lot of time on his occult persona or highlighting the lovely things about him that have been lost/discarded in later adaptations, so like. aside from the obvious conning, lying, stealing, and occasional backstabbing that come with the work, some everyday bad habits include:

he forgets people's birthdays far more often than he remembers them, including the birthdays of family and partners. it's going to happen. now, he does have memory problems / usually has a lot going on in life, but he's also always had a negative attitude towards his own birthday and is not likely to consider someone else's important enough to prepare for ahead of time. he'll always go out of his way to make up for it, but a half-assed last-minute gift and even more half-assed apology isn't always an enjoyable tradition when you've known him for a long time. (of course, if you've known him a long time, you might have come to expect it by now. doesn't make it nicer.)

when it comes to apologies, he does usually mean them, but it rarely comes off that way. a lot of the time, it's either a casual 'sorry' followed by breezing on as if nothing happened, or if called on that, a 'sorry' followed with something deflective/self-pitying like 'what else do you want me to say?' / 'look, i knew you'd be upset if i told you' / 'you'd have been angrier if i did x instead'. it's shitty and he knows it, and he does try to make up for it / explain his reasons when he feels like he has the time to do so. but it's shitty and he knows it and he keeps doing it anyway (and keeps doing the things he ends up needing to apologize for too), so, make your own judgments.

he'll often straight up run away from emotional conflict if he thinks someone's about to be angry at him. physically, actually, run away. this can include ghosting people for weeks, or until he finally gets up the courage to face a well-deserved bollocking. he will eventually come back to face the music, but it's hard to miss the initial fleeing.

chronically running his mouth is a given, but doing so even after you've asked / told him to shut the fuck up can also be a given. he doesn't care if it's the mother you're reconciling with, a friend you're trying to ice out without causing further drama, or your grudge-holding boss: if he perceives unfairness or a slight against someone he likes / cares about, he's likely to chat shit to people's faces about it, regardless of social rules/conventions. he's got a very strong sense of justice and very bad impulse control, and as much as he's willing to put himself on the line to defend somebody else, he doesn't always consider the potential for collateral damage to the person he's defending. (mind you, if a hard boundary is set ahead of time to keep his mouth shut in a situation, he will be careful not to cross it, but without explicit guidelines, his instinct is to fight.)

fridge pilferer. he's a surprisingly good houseguest most of the time, and usually asks before taking food from a pantry or a cupboard, but his fridge logic is 'if it's in there, it'll expire sooner or later, so i might as well do them a favor' and take it off their hands.' leftovers he leaves alone, and he won't go for vegetables if he can avoid it, but anything else (eggs, milk, cold cuts, yogurt) is considered fair game.

he's constantly reading people's mail, albeit discerningly; i.e. only if the envelope, package, or return address "looks interesting." he'll reseal anything he opens before handing it over to its rightful recipient, because he doesn't want to leave incriminating evidence behind, but sticking his nose in everyone else's business remains his specialty.

chronic over-the-shoulder phone peeker and reader of messages, he just cannot help it. who you texting, whatcha texting, you got games on your phone, etc. a little bit of it is paranoia, but the rest is straight-up inconsiderate grandpa behavior and insatiable curiosity. he's Learning to be more considerate, in this newfangled smartphone age, but he's not learning fast.