#prompt: manipulation

[serickswrites]

Advent Calendar

Warnings: kidnapping, restraints, drugging, manipulation, implied torture, cruel whumper

"Caretaker," Whumper's voice was smooth as butter as Caretaker answered the phone.

"What do you want?" Caretaker spat out. They wanted nothing to do with Whumper. Wanted nothing more than to kick the crap out of Whumper and never see them again.

"Now, is that anyway to talk to little old me?"

"Yes, you're a piece of shit."

"Hmmmm," Whumper said sounding disappointed, "then I guess you don't care very much about Whumpee."

Caretaker's heart stopped. Whumpee. "What are you going to do to Whumpee?"

Whumper chuckled. "Got your attention, eh? Well, if you can tell me exactly what I want to hear in the next two minutes, I'll leave Whumpee alone."

"And what is it exactly that you want to hear?" Anything. Caretaker would say anything to save Whumpee.

"Oh, I think you know, Caretaker. You now have a minute and thirty seconds."

"Just tell me what you want to know and I'll tell you!"

"Ugh, fine, I'll say it. Since you seem to have forgotten what I want. I want you to tell me exactly where the money is, Caretaker. The money that should be rightfully mine. One minute now."

"It's with the rightful heir," Caretaker said quickly. "Now, leave Whumpee alone." Caretaker didn't care that Whumper knew that information. The rightful heir was safe. The money was safe. They had to make sure Whumpee would be safe, too.

"Excellent, excellent. See, Whumpee, I told you Caretaker would tell me."

Caretaker's mouth went dry. "What?"

"Check your email," Whumper said as Caretaker's phone pinged. "Go ahead, I'll wait."

Caretaker's heart was in their throat as they stared down at the image in their email. Whumpee was slumped over in a chair, bound at the wrists and ankles. Their eyes were hazy and Caretaker could see a pinprick on their neck. "What have you done to them?"

"I gave them a little of this, a little of that. You know, just some things to try and convince them to talk. But they didn't. So I knew you would. And now I get to punish them for their insolence."

"Whumper, wait! Whumper!" Caretaker screamed into the dead line. They had to find Whumpee. Whumper had kidnapped Whumpee and was likely going to torture Whumpee to death unless Caretaker stopped them. They had to find Whumpee now.

Tags: @mousepaw @jumpywhumpywriter @knightinbatteredarmor @hufflepuffwritingstuff2 @anightmarishwhump

@steh-lar-uh-nuhs @celestialsoyeon @st0rmm @ay5ksal @pedro-pedro-pedro-pedro-pe

@pepeniascat @artisticdemon

[deadsetobsessions]

Short DPXDC prompt #2, from @stealingyourbones.

“It’ll be good for you!” Dick threw an arm around Tim’s shoulders as he beamed his way through Gotham U’s campus.

“I could have done this online. They have virtual degrees. I could have hacked my way into one.”

“Yeah, but then you wouldn’t get the authentic experience!”

The group arrived at the dorm building, one of many, and Damian gave it a dubious once over.

“If this is authentic, I refuse to be a part of the locals.” Damian quietly remarked, before peering cautiously at Dick. “I have obtained my degrees. I do not need this experience.”

“It’s really not that bad, guys.”

“How would you know? You went to Blüdhaven for college.” Tim retorted with the voice of a young man resigned to despair. “You lived off campus and your door pin was Zitka’s birthday, month first then date second.”

“… Tim, why the fuck do you know that.”

“When I knocked on your door, that was just common courtesy. I didn’t actually need you to open it. I could have opened it myself.”

Dick’s smile brightens even further, with the light of an LED bulb instead of his usual sun, and places a hand on Tim’s head. “You’re creepy sometimes, you know that?”

“And you’re careless sometimes, you know that?” Tim groused. “Ugh, whatever. Let’s just get this over with. I can’t believe I’m going to have a roommate.”

“It’ll be fun! And if it isn’t, you can always swap roomies. We have enough pull to have that happen.”

“Doubtlessly.” Damian said. “This campus barely passes the bar of acceptability. Why is the campus like this. Why is it incorporated into the city.”

Tim smirked. Even though Damian spoke with formal language only found in the highest of echelons of society, Jon’s influence was beginning to make itself known. Good for him, the little shit. Privately, Tim thought the presence of a Kryptonian brought out the better sides of a bat. God knows Kon did, for him.

“Okay, enough whining you two! Let’s get Tim settled in.”

Tim elbowed Dick in the gut and kept walking into the building as his big brother wheezed dramatically. Damian rolled his eyes- he’s seen Nightwing take harder hits than Drake’s pointy elbows and walk it off- and followed. Unbeknownst to them, Dick all but beamed with joy at their solidarity. His plan was working.

——

Tim settled into the dorm, disgruntled at the small and uncomfortable twin mattress. The dorm smelt of faint mildew, had at least ten safety code violations, and had ventilation that probably hasn’t been cleaned since the last fear gas attack. The vent thing honestly might explain the state of Gotham U’s students and their proclivities to become supervillains. Tim is more tempted to go into villainy than ever before with these conditions.

That is, until his roomie walked in.

Step 1) reboot brain.

Holy shit, his roomie was HOT.

Step 2) notice all the weird things his roomie all showed unconsciously. Too graceful. Walking carefully, like how Kon does sometimes when he’s remembering to be careful with his fragile surroundings. Meta? Too sharp teeth.

Wait. Sharp teeth?

“Uh, hi. I’m Danny. You must be my roommate. Tim, right?” The guy, Danny, had a deep voice. And too sharp teeth. Because he smiled. It was a damn nice smile.

Step 3) bi panic. DID TIM MENTION HE WAS HOT??

“Uh. Hi. Yeah, I’m Tim.”

“Cool. What’re you majoring in?”

“Forensic Analysis. You?”

“Aerospace engineering.”

They looked at each other awkwardly. “Cool, I’m just gonna set my stuff down.”

“You’re not from here, right?” Tim asked and promptly flushed when an amused smile gets thrown his way.

“The accent give it away?”

“Yeah. Uh. You want a tour, man?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

——

It was flashes of things.

“Oh. I don’t go anywhere without my thermos.” Danny smiled, patting the dented thing. Except, Tim’s never seen him drink from it.

Or:

“Oh, woah. Food’s not attacking me.” And the thing is, Danny actually looked apprehensive before poking at the cafeteria food.

What??

And a month passes before Tim realizes he’s one hundred percent absolutely fucked.

Because it’s one thing if it’s an extremely attractive dork with brains and humor.

It’s an entirely different thing if the extremely attractive dork with brains and humor was a complete and total mystery. Tim is an absolute sucker for mysteries. It’s even more attractive than smacking him in the face with a brick!

“Hey, Tim?”

“Uh. Yeah?” Tim screamed at himself. He’s dated like fifteen different people! Why the hell is he so awkward with Danny?

(Tim was always awkward. He has that autistic rizz.)

“Tell me more about blood splatters?” Danny asked with a hopeful smile. Tim folded like wet paper. (It helps that he knows a lot- too much- about analyzing blood splatters.)

——

Outside of their window, Nightwing cackled to himself. It was worth using the Wayne name to get Tim the most interesting college kid Dick could find as a roommate. Who said Tim had the market corner on stalking anyways?

Nightwing flipped off of the roof, all but skipping home.

Robin, his patrol partner for the night, grimaced. For all Richard was his favorite, the man unsettled him at times.

[thebiggestfuckgiven]

DPxDC , Strange Allies

The JL(D) is up against an otherworldly and annoyingly powerful foe. Batman, Hal GL, Constantine, and Deadman (through a series of mishaps and miscommunications) have teamed up together for this one. They’re taking refuge in the House of Mystery, brainstorming how they’re going to take this enemy down after numerous failed attempts.

Out of nowhere, Deadman mentions that there might be someone who can help them. Constantine immediately rejects the idea.

Constantine: We are NOT calling him, Brand. End of discussion.

Deadman: Okay, I am not letting your weirdo debts get in the way of taking down a bad guy. Not again. I’m calling him.

Constantine: Then you can count me out of this shitty crusade!

meanwhile Batman and Hal…

Batman: Do you have any idea who they’re talking about?

GL: I gave up trying to figure out what their conversations are about a long time ago.

Deadman summons this new ally before Constantine even has the chance to leave the House.

A confused teenage boy in his pajamas with an empty glass in hand. He was just in the kitchen about to pour himself some water. This was decidedly NOT his kitchen. Danny takes in the scene, immediately noticing Batman (holy FUCK), some green guy, his cool af friend Boston Brand, and fucking Constantine.

Unexpectedly, Danny goes, “Whatever you need help with, count me out. I am NOT working with that asshole.”

[rie-092]

STAY WITH US

[ soft yandere! park moondae x manager! reader ]

summary : moondae didn't like what the other idols just did to you.

okay, let's talk about soft yandere! park moondae.

he first met you when the testar move into their dorms after the survival show. there, the staffs introduced you as one of their managers.

at first, he was kind of worried. because it's kind of unusual to see a woman being a manager of a boy group (it's not like he's being a misogynist, he just have a trust issue because of the rumors that he heard before)

and it's not just him, it seems like keun sejin and ryu chungwoo was worried too.

but, when you assured them that you like female idols more than male idols. they were kind of relieved.

park moondae who watched how you were able to make every members of testar trusts you. he watches how you always feeds cha eugene with chocolate bars during their hectic schedule. how you helped raebin with his job as their group's producer (and he has to admit, seeing raebin's excited face whenever he talks to you means your damn good at it), he also watch how you enjoys crocheting with ahyeon whenever you has free time.

and surprisingly, keun and bae sejin as well as ryu chungwoo slowly opened their hearts to you.

you were a good person, he knew that. you were also good at your job. that's why when the t1 tries to assign you to another group. park moondae surprisingly found himself pulling up some strings to make sure that you will remain as their precious manager.

soft yandere! park moondae who always finds himself cooking some foods for you at dawn whenever he found you pulling up an overnight to fix their schedule.

he hates to admit it himself but taking care of you became his habit. wait, isn't it supposed to be another way round?

park moondae who likes to see how your eyes twinkled while watching their music videos with them by the time it got posted. see? their music were better than those groups that you stan— wait? why the hell does he sounds like a jealous brat?

park moondae who accidentally broke a couple of cheongryeo's ribs when he talk shit about you during the time when he got kidnapped by this lunatic.

park moondae who always shows a perfect idol persona in front of the camera for the sake of the loveviewers. so calm, so cute, so calculated. yet, his facade slipped when he heard from bae sejin (who is also losing his shit in anger that time) how you got slapped by one of the entitled rookie members from another company.

look, he likes how calm and collected you are. he likes the fact that you make sure not to hurt their reputation.

but— you let those guys touch you? really?

everyone knew how good park moondae was when it comes on the internet. and with the angry bae sejin and the annoyed cha eugene (who thankfully managed to capture the exact moment while he was trying to get a cute selfie to post in their instagram)

they 'accidentally' leaked that picture.

and the loveviewers did the rest. being known as the beloved loyal manager of the testar. their fans adores you so much. and those entitled self proclaimed idols dares to slap you for no reason? nah-ah, not in their watch.

you, being completely unaware of how park moondae destroyed a certain kpop group's career overnight. was greeted by the group that morning with a bright smile which confused you.

and what's more confusing was park moondae himself.

sure, he was still the same ol' tibetan moon puppy. but he became more— uhm, overbearing? protective? yep— something like that.

overall, park moondae was the overprotective type of yandere who will do everything to keep you safe.

he likes doing this on secret. do you remember the senior manager who dumps his works to you? don't worry, he lost his job the next day after eugene told him about that. the reason why he got fired? they said it's because of leaking the testar's home address (when it truth, moondae manipulated some evidences to make sure that guy won't be able to approach you again).

even with their hectic schedule as idols. moondae enjoys taking care of you as well as the group's meals. he doesn't know the real reason but he kind of enjoys how you enjoy his foods.

moondae will do anything to keep you as their manager.

moondae was the calm one in their group. but he will absolutely lose his shit if you ever mention anything about quitting your job.

he might go far on manipulating and gaslighting you. he doesn't want to do that, promise. so be careful, okay? after all, moondae can be pretty twisted sometimes—

“ how could you not tell us— don't you trust us? don't you trust me? ”

[charlie-shoeshine]

I've gotten better at his proportions surprisingly.

[the-witchhunter]

So Lucifer Morningstar, the fourth of the fallen, (retired) ruler of hell, the Devil himself, is a character in DC comics, appearing in the Sandman comics, his own solo run and various other comics

He is absurdly powerful

The thing is, Lucifer still has access to his Divine power, unlike other fallen angels, and is actually more powerful than other angels

What does this mean?

Lucifer was the guy that shaped the matter to create the stars, an ability he still has

Enter one Danny Fenton

“Omg(oh my ghost) I’m a HUGE FAN of your work”

Just Danny fangirling over the literal Devil because of stars and space

[floral-comet-whump]

Whumpee that deceives Whumper

They rack their brain to memorize every little movement, every indicator of Whumper's mood, every pattern. At some point, they even learn to predict Whumper.

They know what Whumper likes to see. They know what they want within a few minutes, what's going to happen to them. They're powerless to stop it.

Sometimes Whumper wants them to silently cry on the floor, so they do. It would be foolish not to conserve energy while they can.

Sometimes Whumper is already in a bad mood. They probe, both because the knowledge is invaluable and because then Whumper will take it out on them.

Whumpee has a little internal guide to how to take punishments. Begin as defiant, but still shake. Look like they're trying to conceal their fear. Gradually break. It starts off as a yelp or sob or whimper followed by an immediate insult, then Whumpee goes quiet for a bit until it's “too much,” begging quietly. And then it's as if a dam has been broken, frantically pleading for mercy, for a reprieve. They look at Whumper with wide, teary eyes, and both their true self and their facade just want it to stop.

Their cries turn quiet as their energy runs out, until they can't bear to look at anything. Their flinch at Whumper's hand on their chin doesn't need to be faked. Their distress is real, and they let themselves whimper. Whumper likes displays of exhausted weakness, it makes them feel as if they've won.

They lean into the little coos and pets Whumper gives after, trying not to gag. Alarms of panic ring through their head, and they acknowledge them.

It would be easier to lose themselves in the comfort after the torture. It would be so much easier to become a shell of a person. They already act like one. Why can't they give up?

The emotional exhaustion after they've been left alone. The dark quiet. Their steadying breath. The scent of both blood and anticeptic. The locked door. The pain.

They can escape once Whumper deems them broken enough to let out unsupervised. It's just a matter of time, just a matter of maintaining this act. A matter of trust from a sadistic torturer that keeps Whumpee in a basement for no reason other than their own pleasure.

They have to keep going.

[ghost-bxrd]

Prompt:

Instead of going for Tim, Jason goes for the easiest way to utterly destroy his Replacement and kidnaps his civilian boyfriend to demonstrate just how easy it is to lose something (or someone) you love in this line of work.

And while the whole “make the Replacement beg” part of the plan is going amazing…. Jason really didn’t plan the whole “keeping a conspiracy theorist teenager hostage” through to the end.

Bernard just wants to know what the new crime lord’s deal with Robin is. And why— and how— exactly he’s supposed to be a bargaining chip when he can count the times he met Robin on one hand. oh! and could someone maybe tell his boyfriend, Tim, that he’ll be late for their coffee date on Tuesday?

[kotalloh]

12 DAYS OF ANDOR @andorappreciation day 3: i show you the stone in my hand, you'll miss the knife at your throat

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 185

No one could get into contact with Constantine. 

Now usually that wasn’t that big of a deal, the man constantly disappeared for a few days at a time doing something or other, but he’d been completely silent and unseen for months. Usually he’ll at least answer a call to tell them to fuck off or something. 

And they really need his expertise and are getting incredibly worried for their grumpy team member. Yes he’s an asshole, but he’s their asshole, y’know? And he has a habit of getting into Situations (sure he also usually gets out of them, but what if he didn’t this time?!) 

So they’re desperate. Kind of really desperate. Desperate enough to use the summoning sigil they found on his fridge. They’d checked it, multiple times, and it should summon the hellblazer. 

“You’re not Constantine.” . 

The white-haired teen in the circle yawned, stretching and blinking at them blandly with familiar blue eyes before sighing. “Actually I am,” he stuffed his hands into his hoodie as he looked down at the summoning circle. “Well, technically just one of the many Laughing Magicians currently in the Realms.” 

He gave a grin, looking more amused than annoyed. “Pretty much every one of us is in the Realms right now for family reunion lol. (Did he just say lol out loud??) So like, you’re gonna have to specify which of us you’re tryin’ to summon. Honestly perfect timing for me thanks, the fruitloop keeps flirting with John and it’s horrific so.” 

… That was probably their John, wasn’t it…

[orpheeeeus]

Merlin: *buried in Arthur's arms, not really believing the man is hugging him* Say, Arthur?

Arthur: Yeah?

Merlin: Aren't you. I don't know. Afraid?

Arthur: … of you?

Merlin: Yeah

Arthur: *tightening his arms around merlin* Never

Merlin: *bitter laugh* Why? Because I'm useless?

Arthur: *choses his words carefully* No, it's because you're a good man

Merlin: I- *pauses, blinks, sighs* I'm not a good man, Arthur. I-I've done things

Arthur: *tenses, doesn't dare to interrupt because he knows merlin would clam up if he did*

Merlin: *tries to sound resolute* I had to do it.

Arthur: *with pity or compassion* Really?

Merlin: I had to protect you.

Arthur: It's not your job to protect me, Merlin

Merlin: *suddenly tears himself apart from arthur* But it is! *frantic* You're the Once and Future King! Or you will be! I have to protect you, I was born to protect you!

Arthur: *astonished by Merlin's frenzied, almost fanatic, voice. Whispers in dawning horror* What are you talking about?

[fineiguessimintowhump]

Whumpee leaned into Whumper's touch. For once, the hand in their hair was simply petting, touch soft and soothing. They could hear him humming slightly, the vibration almost tickling, in their back.

“I’m sad to see you go, truly.”

The hand moved, Whumper softly scratching the back of their neck. It almost felt like encouragement to look up and speak, but Whumpee didn’t try it. They felt so nice, for once: nothing hurt, no-one angry, warm and fed.

“But my friend… I couldn’t say no, Whumpee.”

Whumper’s voice was different than usual. It had been soft, at the beginning of, when the petting had started, and now it was a little stilted. Whumpee had thought they’d become quite fluent in Whumper, but now all they could tell was: it didn’t sound like anger. He shifted, forcing Whumpee to move with.

Their head was tilted up, eyes meeting Whumper’s. The corners of his eyes were crinkled up, something in them that Whumpee couldn’t identify. It didn’t make sense.

“Sometimes I think they’re crueller than even me.”

Whumper chuckled, grip tightening slightly when Whumpee’s eyes widened. They lowered their eyes immediately, shaking slightly.

“Ah- no, shh, I’m not mad-”

There was still laughter in their voice as he pulled Whumper’s head up, forcing them to meet his eyes again. Maybe he couldn’t believe the words coming out of his own mouth – Whumpee certainly couldn’t. Still, they relaxed a little. Whumper had never pulled them by the hair so gently.

“Unlike me, they don’t care about their pets. You know I want you to be better, hmm? They don’t.”

Whumpee swallowed. The eyes on him were expectant, watching his reactions with amusement. Whumper wasn’t sad – he was enjoying it.

He leaned forward, bringing his mouth closer to Whumpee’s ear.

“They don’t correct infractions as soon as they witness them. They wait. They watch and they record. And when misbehaving pets like you have committed enough of those, they deal out punishment for all of them in one go.”

They froze, the condescending pat on top of their head the only reason they resumed moving. The chuckle by their ear felt much more threatening.

“Well – they asked for you to be in ‘good state’. I complied, of course. Being on their bad side would be quite the thing.”

Whumper leaned back, the corner of their lips still up.

“But I’m sure you’ll do great, love.”

and then caretaker gets whumpee and oh surprise they are not convinced when caretaker says they """"won't hurt them"""""

[memepocalypse]

Emotional Manipulation

trigger warnings ahead. emotional manipulation; emotional abuse; negativity.

"you're not good enough."

"you're not even trying, are you?"

"you're a failure."

"I'm wasting my time."

"you're slacking off."

"that's just an excuse!"

"i'm disappointed in you."

"i'm not your mother!"

"you should be able to do this."

"don't ask me! do it yourself."

"you're pathetic."

"you keep fucking up."

"do you even know what you're doing?"

"just leave. i'll handle it."

"you could be so much better."

"you're throwing everything away."

"you're being stupid."

"are you doing this to spite me?"

"what's wrong with you?"

"you're doing well. but you need to be better."

"i'm trying to encourage you to be the best you can be."

"i'm helping you. don't you want my help?"

"they're relying on you."

"don't you care?"

"you're fucking up on purpose, aren't you?"

"you're too soft."

"that's not a valid reason."

"no. you're staying here until you figure it out."

"i expected more from you."

"why are you still here?"

[whumpster-dumpster]

"You lied to me!"

"Oh, please. You were so desperate to lie to yourself, all I had to do was let you believe it."

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Halloween prompts year 2 day 14

Tim was the best thing to ever happen to Danny.

He didn't mean that just because how much of a sappy romantic he was to Tim, but because he literally saved him from his own mind.

Danny was never going to leave Amity Park so long as the portal was open.

The portal would always remain open between his parents practically treating it like thier third child and thier ability to simply make another if anything would have happened to that one. Not to mention the super creep named Vlad.

So Danny would have stayed in Amity forever, cleaning up after his parents and being miserable.

Or ya know. Until they managed to kill him.

But then Tim came into his life and fixed everything. He befriended Danny over nightime rooftop rendezvous and groaning at his dumb (read awesome) puns.

As they got closer Sam and Tucker seemed to get both anxious and angry. Were they jealous? What right did they have after the Gregor incident?! Its true that they'd both been to busy to hand out with Danny for the past few weeks, leaving Danny with only Tim to turn to for company.

Tim pointed out that they may feel threatened knowing someone else knows his secret and Danny couldn't help but agree.

Tim pointed out that Danny was going to be stuck here cleaning up after his parent the rest of his life if he didn't find a way to stop the portal. Danny had nearly broke down at that and admitted he didn't know what else to do, so Tim devised a plan with that big beautiful brain of his.

They created a machine that ran on ectoplasm and magic that could wipe information from both technology and the human brain. They could remove all traces of ghosts ever existing in this town and erase 20 years of knowledge and research from Vlad and the Fentons minds, but it would come at a cost as magic usually does.

They would have to forget Danny existed as well. Tim offered that they could run away together.

Danny decided that was okay. The only person he had left in this town who had cared about him was Jazz and she was better off without him there to get her hurt.

Tim also had a plan to strip Vlad of his powers as well as his knowledge, and Danny was looking forward to not having to deal with him anymore

It was the day after everything went down, Tim was driving the GAV while Danny flew in the Ops Centers Jet form. They had made sure to swipe everything they could from the labs as well as everything the thought they needed to travel to Tims home dimension.

Danny had promised to help Tim uncover the secrets of his past and who he really was and to do that they essentially planned to travel around the Earth being wandering criminals.

Between Tims intellect and Dannys powers they were undefeated and unnoticed. They stole whatever they wanted and did whatever they pleased, making sure no one had to get hurt unless there was no other options.

Of course they stole cash from bank vaults as well as whatever else was in there. They couldn't stop Phantom from entering since anti-meta tech didn't affect him and couldnt track Phantom due to him being whatever he was plus the collar Tim had helped Danny design that covered up his ecto-signature.

They lived like this for over a year, breaking in to abandoned places, having waterfights in large city waterfountains (and running when they heard police sirens), tagging some of the places they'd hit when they wanted to leave a message, long romantic walks at night, lots of laughter, going on dates to restaurants (they never dine & dash. Some places make the wait staff pay which is bull and they might want to return to that establishment at some point), that one time they stole a $900 wedding cake from a homophobic bakery owner, lots of Fake out-Make outs to avoid getting sent to jail, ect.

They were having the time of thier lives up until they stopped in a little 24 hour diner in Bludhaven. They were doing what they usually do, flirting and laughing until the waiter takes thier order, when a guy approached thier table. Tim and Danny exchanged worried looks before the guy held up his hands in mock surrender, "I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise, I'm Dick Grayson." The man held out his hand to Tim, who hesitated before shaking it, "Tim," he answered honestly.

Danny nudged him with his foot under the table.

The man smiled wide, "Like Tim Drake?"

Tim and Danny looked confused, "Like who?" Danny asked and Dicks smile faltered

[justasnailman]

whump prompt: whumpee is tortured in whatever ways whumper sees fit until they finally pass out.

When they wake up whumper is cradling them and seems to have no memory of the torture. They never mention it. The whumper is very soft and gentle.

Whumpee, with no true way to tell if they're lying, and so desperate for genuine affection, they just assume it's a repeating nightmare.