Suppression, 16

Preemptive defence: indulging in what is called in Latin “excusatio non petita”, unrequired justifications, and in unprompted claims of their virtues not required by the actual circumstances, perhaps while at the same time displaying a degree of empathy you instinctively feel a tad out of tune, to dupe others until the fabric begins to unravel at the edges, such as when dealing unobserved with common people or when shifting into phase two of love−bombing, and the underlying monster shines through. It is true that, when it comes to feel “instinctively”, we have the problem to tell whether what we feel is there in front of us or buried inside us, but this is probably a case in which we can trust our “instinct”. Especially since, after all, by their actions thou shall know them; not by their words.
Triangulation: using third parties for bank shots, possibly unexpected and without consent, such as manipulating them to support their abuses and blame the victim’s reactions, to flirt with them to undermine the victim’s certainty, to build up their influence on the victim, not to mention that both third parties and their support may just as well be, in full or in part, nonexistent.
Hoovering and testing the boundaries: first hoovering up with excessive fake mawkishness, and fake repentance when repeating the cycle, and then testing the boundaries and pushing the envelope of abusing their victims, in a cycle that gets worse each time it has a chance to repeat itself.
Aggressive jabs disguised as jokes: uttering appalling things passed off as “jokes” so as to hurt and get away with it, and remain “innocent” while accusing the victim of “lack of sense of humour”, even though smirks and gleams in their eyes betray their sadistic pleasure.
Condescending sarcasm and patronising tone: looking down on their victims, treating them like children and the like, particularly when they dare to express themselves, doing so consistently to the ultimate aim of forcing them into self−censorhip.