#head games | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ausetkmt · 6 months

Text

YourTango: 15 Phrases Manipulative People Use To Make You Trust Them

Master manipulators have a way of drawing you in so that you feel obligated to stick by their sides, no matter what they’ve done to you. This is because they have become acquainted with what exactly they should say when you attempt to call them out on their toxic behavior.

If anyone has ever said one of the following phrases to you, you may be a victim of their manipulation tactics.

1. 'You don’t trust me?'

Manipulative people usually only say this when they have something to hide. It is often used to back their victims into a corner.

If you feel pressured and respond with, “Yes, I trust you,” then the manipulator has permission to keep doing whatever is causing you to feel wary of them in the first place. Responding with, “No, I don’t trust you,” puts your entire relationship in jeopardy even though you were truthful.

When someone says, “Don’t you trust me?” what they are actually saying is, “I’m going to guilt you by asking for your reassurance to do something that I know will disrespect your boundaries.”

RELATED: 11 Signs You’re A Highly Perceptive Person — And See The World Differently From Everyone Else

2. 'Everyone hates you, but I defend you and always have your back.'

Unless the manipulator has actually asked all 7.8 billion people in the world, there is no confirmation that everyone hates you. When people are attempting to manipulate you, they may often say this phrase to turn you against everyone so that they can have you all to themselves.

They are also portraying themselves as your only option to turn to for help by claiming that everyone else hates you. This is known as “The White Knight Method.” This method ensures that the manipulator will be the savior in their victims’ eyes, although they are anything but.

“What you do is pretty much create a problem for somebody and then solve it,” TikTok user Vanessa Irene (@thevanessairene) says in a video.

“An extreme example of this is if you pay some girls to beat someone up, but they have to pretend to lose once you come in and start defending her.”

Irene explains that when the manipulator makes it appear that they will always come to your rescue, even though they planned the entire situation to play out this way, they gain their victims’ trust instantly.

“Immediately they’re like, ‘this person is on my side because she saved me,’” she says. “You don’t know that they created the problem, but you do know that they saved you.”

3. 'No one understands you like I do.'

You know that this isn’t true because the reality is nobody understands you better than you understand yourself, regardless of how close you may be to someone. Nobody, not even a master manipulator, is a mind reader.

However, they may like to claim this as a fact in order to make you feel as though you have no one else to turn to except them.

RELATED: If You Notice These 5 Early Signs, Leave — He's Too Controlling

4. 'You’re paranoid.'

Telling someone that they are paranoid in response to concerns about your behavior falls under the manipulation tactic of gaslighting. Gaslighting makes one question the reality of the emotional abuse they are facing from the manipulator and doubt their valid worries.

"If your partner says or does something to intentionally hurt you and you confront them at a later time, gaslighting would be if they said, 'That never happened' or 'Oh my goodness, you're crazy!'” Janika Veasley, the founder of Amavi Therapy Center told Insider. “The response is intended to not only deny, but also make you question if the scenario in fact happened.”

5. 'Let me tell you a secret.'

This phrase may seem like an honor if someone says it to you because it makes you believe that they are trusting you with sensitive information. However, manipulators often use this phrase to reel in their victims.

When the manipulator tells their victim a secret, the victim will feel or be prompted to start revealing their own secrets in exchange. The most unsettling part is that the manipulator will often tell a secret that is not even true.

6. 'I have never felt connected to anyone else the way I do with you.'

While this may seem like a heartwarming phrase to hear from someone, it is usually a sign to set off the alarm bells.

People may say this to manipulate another person's emotions or actions, such as to gain their trust, attention, or favor, even when they don't genuinely feel this way. They could also be using the phrase to play with the person’s emotions, keeping them emotionally attached while not being fully committed or sincere themself.

RELATED: 4 Signs You Should Let Go Of A Pointless Relationship... Not Hold On Tighter

7. 'People who say bad things about me to you are just trying to tear us apart.'

Not everyone is going to like you and that’s okay. However, if you hurt them emotionally or physically, their reasons are valid. They may warn people who are currently in your life and tell them about their experiences with you as a common courtesy to them.

This does not necessarily mean that they are attempting to tear you apart from them. However, manipulative people may believe so.

By framing the negative comments as solely the result of others' actions, the manipulator deflects attention from their own behavior.

This phrase can also be a form of emotional manipulation since it instills a sense of distrust toward anyone who has negative opinions about the manipulator, therefore isolating the victim from other perspectives and support networks. It also invalidates the potentially real concerns being shared by others.

8. 'I am genuinely so sorry [about whatever issue is outside of their control].'

If a person apologizes for things that are completely out of their control, like the weather or bad traffic, it is actually a form of manipulation.

By doing this, they are giving the false impression that they are understanding of things that are uncontrollable, which gets their victims to trust them more.

RELATED: 5 Subtle Ways Controlling Partners Disguise Their True Selves

9. 'I’ve always been there for you.'

This phrase is often said by a manipulator when they want to trap their victims in the relationship. Even if they have always been by their victims’ side, it doesn’t mean they asked them to be. They certainly should not feel obligated to stick around because of a choice their manipulator made.

Still, this phrase can instill a sense of guilt into some people, believing that they must reciprocate the actions their manipulator demonstrated to them.

10. 'You’re the only person I am telling this to.'

In healthy and transparent communication, people should feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings without resorting to manipulative tactics.

Manipulative people use this phrase to create a sense of false exclusivity and emotionally pressure their victims. It aims to make the victim feel special and unique as if they are the only ones to be trusted with such a thing, even if they have already told others.

By emphasizing that the information is exclusive, the manipulator can apply emotional pressure on their victim, implying that they must react or respond in a specific way because they are the chosen confidant.

11. 'You misunderstood what I said.'

Everyone is entitled to their own feelings and interpretations of the things that are said to them, whether they were intended to hurt them or not.

When someone is hurt by something that a manipulative person said to them, the manipulative person will do anything to justify their actions, rather than reassuring them and comforting their victims. This phrase makes the victim feel as if they were in the wrong for simply having an opinion.

RELATED: 5 Rare Signs You're A True Change Maker

12. 'I’m just trying to help you.'

This phrase only makes the manipulator — not you — feel better about themselves.

The statement is used to guilt or pressure someone into accepting help they may not want or need, all while the manipulator can convince themselves that they are doing a good thing.

For instance, if someone says that they need space or time alone to process their feelings, and you respond with, "I'm just trying to help you," while continuing to push your assistance, that is manipulative.

You may not know exactly how to help people in certain situations, and that’s okay. Admitting that you are unsure of how to help and asking what you can do for them is the best thing you could possibly do.

13. 'You’re overthinking this — trust what I am saying.'

How can you trust someone who has time and time again crossed your boundaries by saying phrases like this? If you are feeling particularly overwhelmed by a situation, it is not uncommon to overthink. Your mind will likely jump to places that seem irrational and that other people may not understand.

Related Stories From YourTango:

When this happens, people deserve reassurance and guidance, not someone insisting that they are overreacting. It manipulates them into thinking that they must trust their manipulator.

14. 'I feel the exact same way you do!'

This phrase may be comforting, however, you should be wary of anyone who immediately agrees with you without question.

“If you want to gain someone’s trust and control over them, make sure that they are seeing themselves inside you,” TikTok user @mr.salvatore_offical explains in a video. “You need to copy their way of thinking, acting, and how they behave, which will lead them into believing everything you do and building trust towards you.”

This causes a person to not only trust you but to subconsciously fall in love with you.

Mr. Salvatore points out that if you truly want to manipulate someone into trusting you, nod your head as they are sharing their thoughts and feelings, acting as if you agree with everything they are saying. “It is like putting someone into a cage and closing it because, from that moment on, the person belongs to you.”

15. 'I had a hard life, that’s why I behave the way I do.'

If you want to manipulate someone into immediately feeling sorry for you, this is the phrase that will do it.

When people want to manipulate you into trusting them, they will give you a sob story about their upbringing, making you feel sorry for them and exploiting your good heart.

They are also attempting to avoid responsibility for their actions by deflecting blame onto everyone but themselves and claiming to act the way they do entirely because of other people. They may imply that others owe them because of their difficult life, which is also a manipulative tactic.

In more extreme cases, people may use their life challenges to emotionally manipulate others into providing support, financial assistance or other favors. They might claim that others should help them due to their difficult past.

While some of these phrases may not have malicious intent, manipulative tactics can be noticed over time, depending on how well you know the person. It is essential to look out for yourself by avoiding manipulative people and protecting your well-being.

RELATED: 4 Biggest Signs You're In Love With A Clinical Narcissist

#narcissists #narcissism #manipulation #games #head games #psychology #self preservation #trust #lies #controlling behavior

5 notes · View notes

poliel · 2 years

Text

Head Games: Chapter 1/4 - Off With Their Head!

I'm sure people have written the Head Games experiment actually happening before but whatever, I've done it now too because I've been wanting to ever since I first started writing fic for this fandom.

So also, Content Warning: Major Character Death via graphic decapitation.

The machine was quite large, taking up almost all the available space in the research tent, which already felt smaller with the flaps closed and tied shut. They’d had to move aside all of Floofty’s as well as Triffany’s stuff, putting it outside for now. Leaving only room for the machine and the camera trained on it. Having a proper recording for scientific analysis as well as proof was important after all. Not to mention, that was Buddy’s payment for helping with this; despite their derision for Buddy’s profession, Floofty knew they couldn’t resist a good story and this working would certainly be one.

“Are you absolutely one hundred percent sure this’ll work?” Buddy asked as Floofty climbed up onto the machine.

“No. If I knew for a fact it would work, I wouldn’t need to test it, now would I?” Despite that they didn’t seem at all frightened or nervous as they lay down and shifted to ensure their neck was aligned with the sawblade. With only a little help from Buddy they were strapped in, their wrists and ankles bound to the table. “I’m ready. Start the machine,” they said with no hesitation as Buddy stepped back from the table.

Buddy should refuse, right? Insist it was too dangerous. It’s not like Floofty could work this machine by themself otherwise they’d likely have done so. Meaning it was up to Buddy to decide whether or not this experiment happened. So the sane thing do would be to refuse because risking a real grumpus life was not worth it. But… but… they wanted to know if it would work too. It would be amazing if it did and fascinating to see happen. And it would make their story about bugsnax, Lizbert, Snaktooth Island and its inhabitants all the more compelling.

Floofty probably knew best, right? If they trusted it to work enough that they were willing to risk their life in testing it than it would probably work, right? Also, it’s not like they were testing it on anyone else even though they probably could’ve easily found a way to. One could argue that that made it an ethical experiment, right? Or at least not an unethical one. But it was still…

“Hurry up,” Floofty snapped, making Buddy flinch, “before some other insomniac wakes up and wonders why the tent’s closed up. I’d rather not get interrupted in the middle of this.” Because there was no way anyone else in town would let this experiment continue if they wondered in on it. A pretty solid reason to refuse but… Floofty was smart, Buddy trusted their judgment and wanted to see it work.

Taking a deep breath, they put themself back into motion. Honestly though, having let it progress this far, they’d pretty much already decided they were going to do it. First, they went to the camera to make sure it was at the right angle for recording and turned it on. Next, they loaded the feeding part of the machine with all the strabbys and razzbys they’d caught for this – small because it would probably be easier to eat them even while under stress. And then finally, before their doubts could start circling in their head again, they put their paw on the button that would turn it on. “You really sure about this?”

“Quite.” Floofty certainly sounded very sure and they’d answered the exact same way every time they’d been asked so… Buddy pressed the button.

The buzzsaw came to life with a disconcerting whirring noise that made Buddy’s fur prickle with unease as they moved back to stand by the camera’s tripod to get a better view of the action. It wouldn’t be a pleasant but they had to watch for science, journalism and good old fashioned morbid curiosity.

Floofty managed to stay still and quiet up until the saw touched their neck. They twitched and let a small yelp of pain that quickly grew gargled as the buzzsaw didn’t even slow as it cut deeper into their cakelike flesh. Blood spurted out from their neck, coating the saw and flying everywhere. They flailed uselessly against their restraints, doing little more than rocking the machine a little.

“Floofty, are you okay? Do you need me to…”

The sound of the buzzsaw changed, becoming a horrid grinding noise as if cutting through something hard. Bone probably. Floofty finally went quiet and limp. The grinding sound came to a blessed end a second or two before the whirring stopped as well.

Heavy silence settled in the tent as the blade, dripping with gore and snaxified matter, lifted automatically back to its starting position. Trembling, Buddy held their breath, waiting for… something, anything.

Except… nothing happened. The silence held as blood oozed out of the two halves of Floofty’s cleanly cut neck, dripping over the sides of the table to form a small puddle on the ground. The drip-feeding part of the machine had finished too. Buddy had been a bit too distracted by everything else to notice when.

“Floofty?” they tried because what else could they do? “It’s just taking a while, right?” But when they’d regrown their leg, it had been almost instant. And now time continued to drag. … Maybe they just needed a little help.

Fighting nausea, Buddy tiptoed closer and… gingerly picked up Floofty’s decapitated head, holding it by the horns. Their face was contorted in a grimace of pain, their eyes weren’t even fully closed. Blood oozed out of it, getting onto Buddy’s fur despite their best efforts to hold it away from themself. With nowhere else to put it and unable to bear the thought of holding it for long, they bent down and gently placed it on the ground.

Stepping back from it, they looked at Floofty’s body again. No head had regrown from it… yet. Their severed neckbone was visible beneath what remained of their throat. But other than that and what had to be their jugular veins, still dripping blood, it looked an awful lot like a cross section of a cake – a red one because blood probably, ugh. So bugsnax didn’t just change the outward appearance of a grumpus when eaten. Meaning something had been learned today regardless.

Now all that needed to happen was for Floofty to sprout a new head or new body, assuming it would work that way instead. Wouldn’t it be cool if both happened? Two Flooftys working together on science stuff, who knows what all they could accomplish? …

But… nothing was happening. Blood continued to drip off the table and onto the ground. What if it had failed? What if Floofty had been wrong about the possibility of the regenerative properties of bugsnax extending that far. Losing one’s head was vastly different from a single limb after all. But… but… they’d been so sure. … Not entirely though. They’d told Buddy that multiple times, that had been the point of the experiment after all, testingto see if their hypothesis was correct. And it was looking more and more like it wasn’t. Meaning that Floofty had….

Floofty’s snakified flesh oozed off their skull and bones, sliding off the table almost like a liquid. It melted into the ground, seemingly becoming part of it. … What the fuck? That wasn’t normal dead body behavior.

Buddy turned away and gagged, only barely managing not to vomit. They had to take a few deep breaths before they could turn back and look at Floofty’s corpse again. Just bones now, somehow.

That confirmed it though; Floofty’s head wasn’t going to be growing back. They were dead. Buddy was to blame for not only letting them do their experiment but also for helping them.

Of all the stupid things they’d ever done, this really took the cake. They were never going to live it down. It was their fault someone they cared about was dead. Their fault that someone with so much potential to make important scientific discoveries was dead. Their fault that Triffany’s friend and Snorpy’s sibling was dead. They… they… they needed to do something. They couldn’t let the others see this. No one else needed to see this horrific mess. And why had their flesh melted off!?

Shoving the question and the mental image of it out of their mind, Buddy finally got moving again, going first to the camera and turned it off. After carefully extracting the film reel, they shoved it into their pouch for now. They needed to make sure they didn’t forget it laying around somewhere where anyone might find it and decide to pop it into the projector in Lizbert’s cabin and view it.

Then they turned to look at the skull… Floofty’s skull. Their flesh turned snakmatter had melted cleanly off it, leaving nothing but white bone. Much like the skeleton at the top of Frosted Peak now that they thought about it so they at least kind of had an explanation of what had happened there. Though, why would snakification cause that to happen when the grump died? … A mystery Floofty probably would’ve loved to solve and then explain in the most condescending way possible. Buddy would’ve loved to hear it.

Shaking those thoughts away, they moved it over so they could quickly lay out the rest of Floofty’s skeleton beside it without having to hold any individual bone for longer than was strictly necessary. Next, they set to dismantling the machine. Which was surprisingly easy to do, clearly it had been built it with the intention of having it be easy to take down or put back up. What to do with the pieces though? They were still dripping with gore. … A quick rinse in the river just outside would take care of that at least.

Taking a deep breath, they undid one of the ties keeping the tent closed and peaked outside. It was still dark and… quiet. No one was up and about. By some miracle not even Gramble was sleep walking tonight. Good, very good!

They dipped back in to gather up as many of the machine pieces as they could carry. Resisting the urge to run and thus probably make a lot of noise, they brought them outside and to the river. It took several agonizing trips and quite a bit of effort but eventually they were able to give everything a solid dunk, allowing the last of the blood to wash away in streams of red in the river’s current. They let the river have the wooden parts. The rest, they carried to their hut, putting it on the top floor where no one but them was likely to look – a temporary solution that they’d fixed later.

Dealing with the blood on the ground in the tent as well as that that had dripped off when dealing with the machine parts was surprisingly not too hard. The soil seemed more than happy to drink it up and borrowing Wambus’ hoe to turn the soil over to hide the discolouration that caused was effective enough. The blood that had splattered onto the tent itself though was another matter entirely.

While the tent was waterproof on the outside, the inside, not as much, it had soaked in. Perhaps slinging ketchup all over the inside might hide the stains? … No, blood dried much darker than ketchup did, likely others in town would know the difference well enough to spot it immediately. With how big it was, cleaning it would be very difficult to do without getting spotted and questioned. … Maybe they could burn it, make look like an accident? But that would wake everyone and with the river right there, they’d probably be able to put the fire out fast enough that not enough damage could be done to hide the blood and certainly not enough to make it look like that’s how Floofty died. … No choice, they had to get rid of the tent and let everyone be mystified by its disappearance just like they were going to be mystified by Floofty’s.

Wait, wait, wait! Buddy skidded to a halt. What were they thinking and doing? They should tell everyone that Floofty had died in a failed experiment, right? The gruesome details weren’t necessary but everyone, especially the folk who’d cared about Floofty the most, had a right to know what had happened. But… it was Buddy’s fault. They could’ve stopped it, could’ve refused, or even gone and told someone when it was happening so they could interrupt and stop it. But they hadn’t. Instead they’d pushed the button. They’d killed Floofty.

An unbearable truth. Just them knowing it was bad enough, everyone else knowing too would be so much worse. … Surely there were practical reasons to keep this a secret, right? For now, anyway. Like… like… it would cause problems and make everyone upset! How could they find and save Lizbert with the whole town possibly falling apart again and everyone hating them? As they deserved, yes, but if she was still alive somehow, a higher chance of saving her was surely a good reason to put off telling everyone of this horrible crime they’d committed. Yeah, yeah! They weren’t being selfish in their instinct to keep this a secret, they were just trying to save Lizbert. A noble and just cause.

With renewed resolve, they put themself back into motion once more. First, Floofty’s bones, they couldn’t just be left lying here for anyone to possibly wonder in on while they dealt with the tent. Bones were far easier to move and hide than a whole intact corpse but still not a walk in the park. … Hmm… their only real option was their backpack, huh? Certainly most convenient with how empty it was now. With a sigh, they slipped it off and dropped it to the ground and unzipped it.

First they put in the skull, then the ribcage, and then everything else, a tight fit but possible none the less. An upside to Floofty’s flesh melting off was that Buddy could fit their entire skeleton in their backpack, wasn’t that just grand? It even zipped up too.

Leaving that there for now they set to taking down the research tent. A task easier said than done but it was far from their first time taking down a tent even if it was the biggest tent they’d ever had to dismantle. But it was designed with being taken down in mind so it didn’t take that long. As soon as they were done, they dragged it over and threw it into the river. Later they would go after it and dispose of it more properly. It washing back up on shore would be bad, especially if the blood stains remained.

Returning to their backpack filled with bones, they grabbed it, holding it by the handle and out and away from themself for a few seconds before, with a shudder, forcing themself to heft it onto their back. Physically it wasn’t heavier than what they normally put in there but psychologically it was probably the heaviest thing they’d ever carried.

They had no time to linger on that or anything else though. Every moment they spent here increased the risk of someone waking up and seeing something. So they got moving again, walking fast but not running. Walking fast was what folk did when they had things to do, running was what those guilty of a crime did.

Wambus only had one proper shovel and it wasn’t very big but it would have to do. They grabbed it and headed for… hmmm… Garden Grove. One more dug up spot in Wambus’ old garden wouldn’t be too noticeable or suspicious. And if asked what they’d been doing out there with the shovel they could say they’d been testing out some gardening stuff on their own. Heck, to really cover their ass, they could actually catch a few bugsnax and do just that. No one needed to know or have cause to suspect they were a murderer. Not yet anyway, not yet.

#my writing #bugsnax #head games #major character death #graphic death #floofty fizzlebean #the journalist

14 notes · View notes