…i…iting your self-concept to include your victimization without allowing yourself to become a victim. There is a kind of sleight of hand involved in this similar to when the magician runs the knives through the lady in the box but doesn’t actually cut her, because letting go of one self-concept (in which you’ve invested months or years of your life) before the new one is fully formed requires an act of faith.
If a psychopath feels wronged by you, but is also aware you are on to them, or that you are capable of maintaining an adequate ranking in their mind games, they will up the ante. This will trigger them to be very careful with how they play their cards, and you can be sure that …
…l with how they play their cards, and you can be sure that they’ve stacked their cards to get even. They will do the opposite things all the time, but will switch up old patterns to confuse you through randomizing their behavior, like an artifically intelligent computer might.