And like you said, it doesn't work for anyone. It may even get worse. In highschool, I saw too many people getting bullied without daring to fight back or doing anything about it. I saw my own little brother getting bullied. So don't take it personally but I highly disagree with your attitude and your way of thinking. I fought back, my brother too and my father before me did the same. It isn't about physical violence or a misplaced sense of virility. Everyone can be bullied but you don't have to lock yourself in the role of victim. The bullieds have to learn they can't always get away with their shit. So fight back, tell a teacher, ask help, find a way but "doing nothing" ? No man, it's no-sense to me. People have to act, not simply hoping things'll go better.
Ya, not gonna criticize anyone for how they handle situations as those situations are VERY tense, and they happen REALLY fast, but my advice on handling these situations it to confront them head on. Middle school sucked for a lot of people, I know 8th grade was rough for me. I was not a big kid back then, and I remember multiple kids bigger than me trying to bully me. One kid who was probably 6 inches taller than me would sit behind me in one class and kick my chair (and me) sometimes - finally I got up turned around and when he stood up I kicked him right in the stomach. It didn't really hurt him, but I remember that "holy shit" look on his face because he couldn't believe I had done something and the whole class was watching by that point - funny thing, though, even though he could have almost certainly wiped the floor with me, he never bothered me again.
Another guy in another class who was at least 3-4 inches taller than me basically had his own private gang of punks who were into smoking and stealing things from people, walked behind me one day while I was just sitting and reading a book smacked me in the back of the head, likely figuring I'd never do anything back. I got up walked right up to him grabbed his face with both hands and shoved him away and told him 'let's go' - again, like the other asshole, he looked at me like "I can't believe you're actually standing up to me" just in absolute shock - teacher broke it up and wouldn't you know, the guy never bothered me again. Bullies are generally pussies - they don't like when people stand up to them even if they're bigger and will, in many cases, only do something if they have a posse with them.
My feeling on this topic having looked back at many of my own encounters is stand your ground even if you get hit - letting someone push you around, IMO, only encourages more of it, not only to an increasing degree of severity from the ones already doing it, but it actually encourages other people watching to bully you as well because they know they can get away with it.
Both options are great for different reasons. Greeting Tybalt with manners while walking out of the room and acting like spending a night with Jill was the most casual and natural thing is basically beating him at his own game.
Ya you know, the way I handle Tybalt is basically like you said, to be polite and friendly initially - that's how I am with everyone in my real life too - to borrow a line from Roadhouse - "be nice...until it's time not to be nice" - I try to follow that very closely in my life. So I was very nice and polite with Tybalt early in the game, but after he was openly a jerk in barring MC from coming in to visit Jill and then is very rude toward him in situations where other people are around (like outright ignoring him), I have mostly been a DIK back to him and will continue to do so until I'm given a reason not to be.
him slapping the MC makes it self defense and who can resist a freebie like that?
Ya I REALLY wanted to level him, but the way I looked at it was we shouldn't have been there. We literally had a conversation with Jill on the phone beforehand telling her we were having the DIK party that night (effectively mis-leading her with half truths) - it would've been REALLY bad optics later with Jill if you'd leveled Tybalt after their mansion had been set on fire - that's Jill's defacto residence after all, and MC was trespassing in a place Tybalt had told him repeatedly he was not allowed to be, so I figured if we then hit Tybalt on top of it, we're looking at potential legal issues as well as relationship issues with Jill - the payoff is just not worth the risk, and under those circumstances MC just has to eat that one and walk. I hope for another chance down the road where Tybalt does something dumb toward MC off prep property and then it'll be game-on for Tybalt to get rekt.
