When I was a kid, I had a friend who would torment his little brother with an annoying puppet. Eventually, his little brother would lash out and strike at the puppet in frustration. Then my puppeteer friend would lower the puppet to his side and adopt faux concern: “It’s just a puppet, younger sibling, surely your conflict is with me and not with this bit of cloth. It’s not real and I am concerned about your desire to inflict violence upon a toy.”
It is the technique of a true bastard.
