Do not give power to the PUPPET MASTER

Don't let someone play you like a fiddle...be your own fiddle player. You are in charge of you not what others think or want you to do.

"When people don't like themselves very much, they have to make up for it. The classic bully was actually a victim first.

Tom Hiddleston

Master manipulators use language in order to confuse their victim. They can appear charming at first and then switch at a moment’s notice.

They are effective communicators and language is their top weapon in their arsenal. Without effective use of language, they would not be able to lie, win arguments hand down, use sarcasm and drop in the odd glib comment.

With the language they employ, they control the other person. They will ridicule and then turn the insult back on the other person by being surprised that they took it to heart.

This is a little like the person telling a hurtful joke at the expense of a loved one saying it was only a joke. A master manipulator will rationalize their actions as an excuse for hurtful behavior.

By rationalizing what they have done, they are able to present their actions in a good light. This is another covert way they can keep their real intentions under wraps. It is another tactic they use to control a person. It allows them to carry on using this same behavior, without issue.

Gaslighting is a manipulative tactic that can be described in different variations of three words: 'That didn't happen,' 'You imagined it,' and 'Are you crazy?' Gaslighting is perhaps one of the most insidious manipulative tactics out there because it works to distort and erode your sense of reality; it eats away at your ability to trust yourself and inevitably disables you from feeling justified in calling out abuse and mistreatment.

How can you fight back? Ground yourself in your own reality sometimes writing things down as they happened, telling a friend, or reiterating your experience to a support network can help to counteract the gaslighting effect.