Profile of the Sociopath: http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html
Also, has grammar mistakes.
Yeah, I am not a sociopath. Was close to it, though. Back in the day, when my misanthropy was my main characteristic, I did enjoy manipulating people - not for my own amusement, but because I found myself thinking that this way I was able to bring justice to the world, and punish those who deserved it. I was cold and emotionless, still am, but now it is more than the steel of patience and wisdom than anything else. I was close to a sociopath back in the day, but I always had my sense of justice - I just didn't know it wasn't my job to pass it. I helped plenty of people, sure, but I thought that my job was more than that, and my focus was to bring order through punishment. I was able to break a person into pieces, attack each weakness, break every psychological spine I wanted in anyone and send them to the edge of the abyss. It is a weapon I regret having, and never really abused, but most of all, weapon I regret I shared. I gave it to two people, 10 months before my reawakening, and one of them caused more damage with it than I ever did.
Anyway, hence I found my path and swore myself to the good side, if we may say so, I am by definition the tough-love type of hero nowadays. I may speak harshly at times, to beat the wisdom in the heads of people, but I am a savior - it is what fulfills me, what I do best, and it is why people keep on seeking me for help.
Sorry for the little stray. Anyway, I've met a lot of people, some who's minds are different than others, some that are just brutal - and there was always a way to weaken them, always a way to get to their good side. I believe I am able to negotiate with psychopaths because I have. And yes, they are manipulative, but that won't work on me. I know manipulation in and out, and anyone who is maybe just confused and messed up for awhile can't step on my little toe. Hell yea, I can reason with a lot of them. Tougher than them, stronger than them, scarier than them.
Charismatic they are, oh yes. One of my trustees, a 15 year old, was involved with a 30 year man like that. His desires were... far from normal. She always said that when she went out with him, she felt in trance; anything she wanted to say, she forgot, and every time she got angry and yelled, he seemed to submit, but had no effect, as if he could read her mind. I did tell her "Introduce me to this man, when he sees you have someone stronger in your life, he will find boundaries.", but she was too afraid I'd scare him away just when she was falling in love with him.
You can reason with them, but only if you are strong enough. Any weakness they find, they will abuse. When I was like them, it was the weaknesses of people that made me hate them. And when your primary goal is not to be weak, you become helluva lot strong.
I find psychopaths pathetic now, really. So sadistic, not able to control the animal urges in them, the desire to cause pain... it all disgusts me.