Special Guest Blogger: Mephistopheles

I miss the 16th Century, back then the brand was strong because people actually feared the unknown. You take a stroll through a German village, and you can practically smell the fear but I wasn't some common tempter lurking behind a bush with a piece of fruit, I have standards.
The rule has always been simple in that I don’t look for people to corrupt, my specialty is the pre-qualified lead where I wait for the ones who have already slammed the door on heaven and are currently looking for the Exit sign with no moral compass. I am the servant to those who have already
decided they are their own gods. I’m just the one who provides the paperwork and the complimentary refreshments.
Christopher Marlowe (lovely man, bit of a temper) really put me on the map. He portrayed me as a tragic figure, a fellow who knows exactly what he’s missing out on which was great for my dark and moody aesthetic. Then Shakespeare started throwing my name around like a prestigious brand of
luggage. I was the demon of the Elizabethan era. I was chic. I was portrayed as the creature who was summoned by Faust.
Now, the legend says I tricked him but we had a deal, twenty-four years of total servitude where I fetched him rare manuscripts, helped him woo women who were way out of his league and I even took him on a world tour and in exchange, I got his soul at the end.
But then the 18th and 19th centuries rolled around, and Goethe decided to turn me into a Romantic Devil and suddenly, I wasn't just a servant of the Pit, I was the sophisticated nihilist, the witty observer of human folly.
So on one hand, I’m an icon of literature representing the intellectual’s struggle with morality but on the other hand, my name is now a synonym for that sneaky lying demon but i never once lied during contract negotiation, if someone signs away their eternal essence for a two-decade bender and a few magic tricks, that’s on them because i clearly explain at the offset exactly what’s going to happen, I show you the fire, I hand you the quill, and you still sign.
I’ll be honest with you, the 21st century is making me lazy. In the old days, a Faustian bargain was an event. There was blood, there were circles drawn in the dirt and all with a sense of gravitas. Nowadays, people sell their privacy, their dignity, and their attention span online,  you don't need me to ruin your life when you have Social Media and a credit card.
So i'm not the villain, more the clerk at the end of the world’s longest checkout line, i’m not the one who makes the world a mess, i’m just the guy who shows up with the bill.