Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[Flaze]

Well, nearly everything I find makes vague comments about bitchiness and lists things like social isolation, name calling etc etc ... I can find almost nothing that gives any actual examples, much less an explanation of how it becomes so upsetting.

Like @diamondpearl876; it's not really something that's specifically set apart between genders, at least what you found. Both males and females can bully each other the same ways though with varying degrees, guys can be a bit more violent and physical but girls could too without doubt and they both can also rely more on words that hurt you.

That being said do remember that "bitchy" is still just an added layer in a person but it doesn't make up its whole, something I've been criticizing myself over a lot on is how in a lot of bullying scenes in my fics its been really stereotypical with the aforementioned bully being just that. Also there's indirect bullying like backhanded compliments or snide comments disguised as jokes that don't actively alert someone of what's going on.

 

[Caitlin]

I'll get Caitlin on the case. She's an expert at being a catty bitch.

And so are you. First lesson: talk behind someone's back and then make an effort to make sure it reaches them.

I'll second what diamondpearl876 said, there isn't a guideline to follow. It's just bullying at the end of the day, but my favorite tactics always involved ruining or damaging someone's reputation, since it was so insanely effective against me. A recent example in my own life that I can think of was my vindictive aunt, who tried to spread the rumor that I was a drug addict in an effort to get my kids taken away, because I made the simple mistake of not raising them to her standards. Even with overwhelming evidence that I am not an addict, a lot of members of my family look down on me like I'm some sort of deadbeat monster. If reputation is important for your character's success this is something you could look at doing.

If you want a more face to face confrontation and pride is an important factor, always call your character's skills into question. Have the bully/rival tell them they're terrible and drive the point home so hard that they start to believe it.

It's all about mental warfare. Rarely has an altercation I've had with any of my girl friends ended with something physical, mostly because we all lack the strength.

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

Have the bully/rival tell them they're terrible and drive the point home so hard that they start to believe it.

Don't forget the quintessential "Kill urself loser lol" for extra bitch.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Well, fights between girls are still a thing. XD I just had a random flashback of the time I was in my high school cafeteria and someone knocked over my tray of food - "someone" actually being two girls pulling each others' hair after one of them had insulted the other's appearance in some way.

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

Damn, I'm sure glad I'm out of high school. They were edgy, Nightcore-filled days.

 

[Flaze]

damn Caitlin :c

 

[Octomo]

Wow, made me remembered my middle and high school days. I'm one of those shy students.

 

[Treble Tech]

So-called "bitchy" behavior can have a lot to do with the environment, as well. Like with genders, bullying between guys seems to tend towards they more blatantly physical side or attacks on one another's strength or toughness because that's what society expects men to embody. I don't know as much about the female side of it, but from my high school days it seems to trend towards more verbal attacks, and relate to appearance and popularity.

I've been lucky enough to never be explicitly bullied, but for a more localized example of what I mean, there was one person I could never get along with. She was in my high school band class, where we both played trumpet. In band class, for better or for worse, your always being judged on your skill with your instrument. She was always quick to point out whenever me or one of the other trumpets missed a note or was slightly off beat but, to put it bluntly, she was worse than all of us. I didn't continue band after freshman year due to AP classes and the like, but I heard from friends that she ended up in last chair. That kind of exemplifies "bitchy" behavior to me.

 

[Misheard Whisper]

I went to a boys-only school, so I'm uniquely unqualified to talk about this, but . . . to me, what people term 'bitchiness' is encapsulated by one word: pettiness. It's snide comments in the hallway that you 'weren't meant to hear', it's casually not inviting you to things, it's going out of their way to one-up everything you say, it's the quiet harrumphing noises every time you talk, it's cutting off conversations every time you walk into the room. It's a million little things that are deliberately designed to make you feel like shit, but it rarely manifests as direct bullying, I feel. Girls can and do abuse each other both physically and verbally but that's not what I really consider to be 'bitchy', although the one usually contributes to the other. Being a quote-unquote 'bitch' is more like emotional manipulation, which is why it can be so damaging: it doesn't leave marks, it's tied in with peer pressure and groupthink, so it's hard to pin down, and you might not even realise you're on the receiving end of it until it's too late. That's a skill (dubiously) that guys don't tend to have in my experience. The subtlety of making somebody feel like shit without making yourself look like the bad guy is lost on most of us.

Also, what up nerds? Long time no post.

 

[AceTrainer14]

Hello Misheard - long time since we've seen you about! Nice to see so many old faces coming back in recent weeks.

 

[Misheard Whisper]

It's good to be back, honestly. It doesn't feel like seven years ago that I joined this site, but whaddya know? Also, I seem to have had a nightmare at some point. Could've sworn this place was called the 'Fiction Fairground' last time I visited. *shudders* Welp, glad that's not the case. So I'm back, and I'm going to try to be active. I've been writing Star Wars fanfic lately, but by golly it's dark. I needed something to stop myself from drowning in my own little series of unfortunate events, so I thought I'd come crawling back and write some good old-fashioned Pokemon fic.

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

Speaking of bitches, my dad was throwing a fit about the Super Bowl last night because Lady Gaga was singing the national anthem.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I've been writing Star Wars fanfic lately, but by golly it's dark. I needed something to stop myself from drowning in my own little series of unfortunate events, so I thought I'd come crawling back and write some good old-fashioned Pokemon fic.

Is this the bit where we all start chanting "One of us, one of us!"

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

I've been writing Star Wars fanfic lately, but by golly it's dark.

Evangelion dark, Puella Magi Madoka Magica dark, or School Days dark?

 

[Misheard Whisper]

Evangelion dark, Puella Magi Madoka Magica dark, or School Days dark?

Probably more like School Days, I guess? It doesn't have the acid-laced imagery of Madoka or the heavy-handed religious symbolism of Evangelion, but there's some pretty messed up stuff. The funny part is I haven't actually written most of the worrisome stuff yet, so it all depends on how I portray it. It could end up being rather light in the end, but at the moment it's getting me down just thinking about it.

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

It could end up being rather light in the end, but at the moment it's getting me down just thinking about it.

That's actually how I feel about the current Pokemon fic I'm writing. It started off innocently enough, but in these recent chapters Pokemon are dying. But being so close to the climax, I have to keep going.

 

[Flaze]

Nice to have you back Kenji

 

[AceTrainer14]

Could've sworn this place was called the 'Fiction Fairground' last time I visited. *shudders*

Not really be choice - WW gotten repurposed, we had to change it to something. I did like the FF though, in the end. It was much more whimsical a name

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

So guys, when you write concepts for your stories, do you write your world first, or the characters?

 

[Beth Pavell]

Neither, especially. Each supports the other, so it's not a matter of priority (And lord knows I've read some dull stories based on a "what if world" premise but no heart to the characters).

I tend to end up building stories around a scrappy concept that gets steadily developed and polished. A whole six-game adventure for one of my pen-and-paper RPGs came out of the idea of having fun with the Jack Sparrow seadog archetype. I ended up with Guinevere "Smoky Gwen" Vesparo, a down on her luck starship captain with all those dirty pirate tropes depressingly deconstructed. I ought to reprise her someday. Stinking of tobacco smoke, old rum and old sweat, full of tall tales and crazy plans that just plain failed, she was great fun for me to play. Anyway, she ended up being one of the principal NPCs in a storyline that involved the player characters breaking open a new market in dubiously-legal goods