Psychologists love them and your bisexual ex hates them; nonbinary manipulators have emerged as a force to be reckoned with (especially when applying for a barista position). Hiding behind their eccentric clothing and numerous facial piercings is their aptitude for breaking hearts and then strategically victimizing themselves.

When they’re not busy dyeing their hair or trying to be chaotic, you can find them making call-out posts on Discord servers and manifesting a text back. They love emotional unavailability and trauma dumping almost as much as they love frogs and obscure media.

With music tastes formed by watching “Adventure Time” and “Steven Universe,” nonbinary manipulators have mastered the art of curating hyper-specific playlists and weaponizing sincere lyrics to make you fall head over heels before ghosting you for three weeks to “work on themselves.”

Their playlist will hit you harder than any therapy session and will leave them on your mind for years. It’s not just lo-fi beats and whimsical melodies mixed together — it’s psychological warfare that will reel you in before you have time to realize. 

If you happen to get a curated playlist from someone and they have a couple of songs from the following artists and a “they” in their Instagram bio, you might be dealing with a nonbinary manipulator. 

Cavetown

Listening to “Boys Will Be Bugs” and questioning your gender identity go together like painting your nails black and pulling an all-nighter playing “Stardew Valley” — harmless at first, until you’re crying over a pixelated cow and googling “how to look androgynous” at 4 a.m.

Cavetown’s cottagecore coziness is nostalgic for many nonbinary manipulators as they are painfully reminded of their time in middle school and their determination to never be as vulnerable as they were before. 

His cutesy vocals empowered a generation to channel their inner “dumb teen boy” and be “very scary,” perfect for wearing oversized grandpa sweaters and self-isolating.

Mother Mother

You better run if your nonbinary friend says their “daddy’s got a gun” because you’ll end up on a burning pile for sure. In search of a grunge aesthetic, their black skinny jeans and heavy eyeliner should serve as a red flag for anyone looking to avoid a soul-crushing situationship.

Mother Mother’s rowdy sound has enough angst and rage to drive anyone to bleach and buzz their hair, but their effect on nonbinary manipulators is particularly powerful, fueling their impulsive urges to burn bridges and find new hearts to break.

Ricky Montgomery

He’s Mr. Loverman, and he misses his lover, man. Ricky Montgomery, the CEO of situationships, has made his career on the ambiguity of his lyrics. While not every nonbinary person who listens to Montgomery is a manipulator, every nonbinary manipulator listens to Montgomery.

They’ll blast him at full volume on a late-night drive as they send you mixed signals over text, make a Minecraft server for two and then act confused when you ask what you are to them. It’s not hard to piece together where they learned to be ambiguous. It’s not gaslighting — it’s just Ricky Montgomery working through them.

Lemon Demon

Lemon Demon — equal parts devastating and absurd.

Their sound cannot be described as anything other than weird, and that’s just how they like it. Each song is an overwhelming cacophony of addicting lyrics and jumpy instrumentation, matching the energy of the evilness harbored within a nonbinary manipulator.

If they play “Two Trucks” right before “Touch-Tone Telephone,” just know they are trying to distract you from the fact their tarot cards said they have to break up with you. Lemon Demon fans will look you dead in the eye, say “I’m just a silly guy,” and then emotionally devastate you over matcha lattes.