When it comes to short stories, a writer should want to keep its amount of "fat" in mind. These are moments that aren't too tied to the plot but nevertheless inform readers about characters and/or put them in interesting scenarios. For larger works, one might indulge themself in a helping of "lard," but for short stories, the best practice is to avoid those and focus on delivering a single feeling; stories that achieve that focus, are called "lean."

Self Destructive Tendencies is one of the leanest stories I've ever read. It willingly forgoes narration, sprites and even space-time transitions, so it can concentrate on capturing the emotional beats of a singular moment in time.

It succeeds at its mission through carefully constructed dialogue that conveys so much more than its characters are willing to say. Each sentence, each pause, each wording and omission paint these fairly straightforward characters as they navigate a complex emotional situation. I found it pretty impressive that the developer managed to construct something engaging and dramatic in all the right ways in a project where dialogue is pretty much all there is. Doing so, requires the writer to become a sort of actor, to put themself in the shoes of a creature who thinks and talks while refusing the urge to transcribe the former. 

Even so, the project isn't without flaws. Though brief, there are moments of what I call "Radio Drama Dialogue;" that is to say, characters mentioning some audiovisual situation (someone crying, in this case) unnaturally and out loud due to the limitations of the medium. It seems to me, this came from the writer finding themself in a dead end as how to convey that within the bounds they set for this story (as opposed to it coming from a lack of skill). This is far from a great issue, but it certainly managed to break my immersion when it happened.

Another review called this a "masterclass of dialogue" and I must agree. A sad, sweet and engaging short story that will move readers and give writers much to think in regards to writing conversations.