Demon Training-Gluttony (Blogophilia 1.11)

Before we continue our series, a word from our sponsor.

In this, the beginning of our eleventh season of Blogophilia, I need to take a moment to introduce myself the newer readers. My internet name is Another Government Employee and I have been infesting the internet for roughly 15 years and have been a part of Blogophilia since the beginning of season 2. As the name implies, I was a bureaucratic drone for about 25 years when I caused an allergic reaction to the government organism. I was expelled and now spend my time consulting on benefits issues and exploring my imagination.

The name itself originated on the old Neal Boortz radio program website, where I was an occasional contributor. There was already one guy called Government Employee, so I became another. You may find older posts with the tagline “6th house on the right, off 9-27, PDK Atlanta. Often my exchanges on the Boortz site involved aviation, and I really do live next to the airport and often post pictures from there.

Politically, I lean slightly conservative but have little use for the Tinpots infesting our current system. I delight in exposing hypocrisy, since that IS the human condition. I work mostly in prose and stories. There are very few subjects I won’t try. Martien Ecrits asked if I would contribute a favorite sample. Here you go: http://anothergovernmentemployee.blogspot.com/2012/05/sermon-gbe2-53.html.

The blog is the repository for most things A.G.E., so feel free to browse and comment.

And now, back to our story...

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After the short break, Marty comes back to the podium.

"OK, everyone, Elevenses is over. Quit choking on the stale pastries and come to order. You in the back. Please leave the cups on the table. They are designed..."

A small explosion leaves the cup holder in a pile of ash. Silently, everyone steps around the smoking pile.

"...to self destruct if taken five feet away from the table. I guess I should have warned you." A huge look of glee comes across his face. "But that wouldn't have been any fun."

"And speaking of choking, it is my pleasure to introduce our next instructor. An expert at the practice of both Gluttony and Greed, he had quite a run as a Mortal, inventing some of the most diabolical consumption prompts ever used. Please welcome Mad Man Don Draper."

Polite applause as a clean cut Demon comes on stage,wearing a pink Armani suit with a clashing scarlet tie. The audience grimaces at the sight

"Hello and welcome to DQ, or Hell as we sometimes like to call it." A few snickers come up as he pauses to adjust the microphone. Yeah, I used to say that when I was Topside."

"So, Marty, this is a quickie, right?"

Marty nods sagely as the snorts grew louder. Draper clears his throat.

"No, this isn't a continuation of Rachael's talk, although she was...uh " a sly wink "...good to me around 11 last night, if you know what I mean." A pause for the hoots to die down. "I take that back, it really is. This talk is about is how you extend the hard wired condition of Lust and sex into a frenzy of over consumption."

"It always starts with a lie: 'you don't have enough'. Sometimes, it isn't a lie because of circumstance, but in most cases it is. Maker designed his architecture for the most efficient use of power. However, the distribution has dips and surges. One target doesn't have food and a second target doesn't have a mate, so you begin with the lie. The shortages balance, but program assures neither target is satisfied. The exploit keeps running until it is translates to 'nothing is enough.'"

He takes a sip of water and gags a bit at the warmth. Shooting an evil look at Marty, he continues.

"Even us Senior Demons are still lacking in comforts."

"In my case, the lie started when I tricked my Commanding Officer to take a bullet instead of me, allowing me to escape being poor. When I had nothing to lose, I had everything. When I stopped being who I am, I found myself. Switching dog tags with the corpse, I became successful topside with the fake identity. Gaining confidence over time, I became the master of lie and half-truth, even thriving when the magic was revealed.” Pausing for another sip of water. “They told me I paid my debt to society. Funny, I never got a check. But I digress"

"Over the next few years I tricked millions through mass media campaigns convincing them to by stuff they never wanted or were blatantly harmful. This hits at the heart of what Gluttony truly is. When you were topside, you were told it only involved too much food, like Porky and Petunia making bacon on Mars." Laughter erupts. "But it is so much more, a weakness in the Mortal condition so easily exploited, it is silly."

"The exploit was invented by Mr. Beezlebub himself when he overheard Maker tell the Mortal not to eat something. The original curiosity loop for Mortals was exposed and Old Luke found a willing snake to provide the cover. Variations developed as circumstances required and over time it became the first law of Advertising: 'Tell people they can't have a thing and they will want it.'"

"There is a flaw in the Gluttony exploit. Effectiveness wanes after each iteration. We came up with two ways around this. First, present it as being New and Improved to your target. If they haven't seen it before, the guards tend to come down. Second is the use of Nostalgia. In Greek, it translates to old pain. Remind them of Dear old Mom, or Grandpa and you will have them eating out of your hand. When you combine the new and old it completely overwhelms any other defenses the Mortal might possess and they consume even the stupidest of baubles."

"The excess created where Gluttony has done it's job make the storm tossed targets vulnerable to more complex schemes. While it was as fictional as me, it is the basis of an apocryphal story I had hand in topside, Ocean's Eleven. Casino gambling is based on a combination of Gluttony and Greed (which we will go into in more detail in the next lesson). The characters see the excess and want it so bad they gather explosives and build a plan large enough to break all ten of Maker's major program stops in twenty minutes. I only bring this up to show you how far you can take any of the tools in DQ's vast array."

"I see some eyes glazing over. Get used to it. One of the hallmarks of DQ is density of our lessons. But, I do need your attention for the next part, so take five and we'll move on to good old Greed."

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Prompts used:

Coehlo quote: “When I had nothing to lose...”

Oceans Eleven Quote: “They told me I paid my debt...”

Casino heist: explosives

What I do at 11AM; Elevenses (second breakfast for you non Hobbit fans)

11PM? She was good to me

Looney Tunes making bacon.

Pic Owner-Dia Jie

Pic guesses: Storm tossed (in blog), Row, row, row your boat, Viking, Stroke, Wild sea, seasick, riding waves.