Otter
Nothing to see here
MMorgan said:HEY OTTER...
A small child stamps his foot and demands attention. Tantrums become less effective as he gets older, however, and there comes a point of decision. He can become self sufficient, or find more successful techniques of manipulation.
How many times have you seen this happen? Someone needs attention; they tell of their terrible misfortune. Wronged by a lover, falsely accused by a friend, passed over for promotion. Friends gather around and give emotional support. In that form it's fairly harmless: we all exaggerate a little when we feel hard done by. Our society is rich enough to indulge adults a little, in the same way that it encouraged this behaviour in the first place because we had the time and energy to indulge the children.
But people quickly tire of drama queens; what's much more destructive are the subtle methods. Sometimes a traitor or a degenerate is found in our midst. People are mobilised to exclude the reprobate, and the process of circling the waggons allows a skillful narcissist who instigated the moral panic to become the focus and leader of a group in seige mode.
The techniques are infinite, and very hard to pin down, because skillful emotional vampires take advantage of the best qualities of those around them: compassion, loyalty, trust. They are themselves outgoing, charming people with a large circle of friends. It's often only after several cycles of crisis and drama, and after quite a few people have been damaged, that one begins to notice that each of these situations was like a social vortex which sucked people in and oriented their energy and attention around the vampire who created and managed the scenario.
Sorry, I stand corrected..
