aka "A Running List of All the Things My Friends and I Compare Ourselves To"
If I asked you, "What baked good are you and why?" would you have an answer? Other than:
Yes, it seems silly. But let me rephrase: can you imagine knowing yourself so well that you would be able to confidently say what baked good you are?
As a content creator, artist, or entrepreneur, branding is crucial. I believe that a key component of a successful brand is creating something that is representative of not just what you do, but also who you are. In order to do this, you need to know yourself, but more importantly, you need to know how the world perceives you.
Some of my best friends (who will likely be featured a lot throughout this blog) and I unconsciously came up with a way to make this fun. It started after we went to see Captain America: Civil War. While discussing the movie, we somehow got to the topic of who would be most romantically compatible with which character. As the years went on, we continued to do this with different pop culture things, online quizzes, and other topics that randomly pop up in conversation.
By taking things that interest us and comparing ourselves to them, we are learning who we are in relation to each other. It also gives us new ways to critically think about who we are in relation to the rest of the world. Doing this with friends as “sounding boards” keeps us honest about it, too. There were several instances where someone would be confused by their "result," and the rest of us would present a compelling argument as to why it was true.
Since we started doing this, I have been able to create a brand that accurately represents me, not the person I tried to shove into a mold that wasn’t quite right. Because of my friends, if someone were to ask me “Jaclyn, what baked good are you?” I can instantly reply with “Cheesecake.”
The Running List:
GENERAL
What is our Hogwarts house?
Jaclyn: Hufflepuff 💛🦡
Elie: Slytherin 💚🐍
Jane: Gryffindor ❤️🦁
Rebecca: Ravenclaw 💙🦅
What is our Ilvermorny house?
Jaclyn: Horned Serpent
Elie: Pukwudgie
Jane: Wampus
Rebecca: Thunderbird
What types of magic would we excel in?
Jaclyn: Runes, Wards, Objects / Psychic / Shapeshifting
Elie: Potions / Alchemy / Working with Nature
Jane: Healing / Working with Animals / Necromancy
Rebecca: Illusions / Teleportation / Energy Manipulation
What mythical creature are we?
Jaclyn: Gorgon ("and I mean like properly pretty gorgon that just happens to have snake hair and kind of creepy eyes, not like the super fat ugly gorgon from the Hercules movie") -- the Gorgon is also part of the Sicilian trinacria!
Elie: Dragon
Jane: Mermaid
Rebecca: Kitsune
What is our Pokémon type?
Jaclyn: Ground/Poison (later generations: Steel)
Elie: Fire/Dragon
Jane: Lightning/Fighting
Rebecca: Ghost/Water (later generations: Dark)
What Tolkienverse species are we?
Jaclyn: Dwarf
Elie: Elf
Jane: Man
Rebecca: Hobbit
Which of the Great Houses in Game of Thrones do we belong in?
NOTE: Some answers were inspired by this.
Jaclyn: Tyrell / Stark
Elie: Targaryen / Lannister
Jane: Baratheon / Greyjoy
Rebecca: Martell / Tully
What is our Star Wars alliance?
Jaclyn: First Order
Elie: Dark Jedi
Jane: Galactic Republic
Rebecca: Rebel Alliance
Which of the ATLA four nations would we be in?
Jaclyn: Earth Kingdom
Elie: Fire Nation
Jane: Water Tribe
Rebecca: Air Nomad
What kind of being would we be in The Dragon Prince?
Jaclyn: human with primal magic (Callum not Claudia)
Elie: startouch elf
Jane: member of the human army, likely a general
Rebecca: human royalty
Which Voltron lion would we be the paladin for?
Jaclyn: Yellow (even though I'd be Pidge)
Elie: Red
Jane: Blue
Rebecca: Green (even though she'd be Hunk)
What time period do we belong in?
Jaclyn: Years of Lead, Italy
Elie: either Wild West, "kicking ass and getting justice for how white people treated POC back then," or 1920s mafia wife/shadow leader
Jane: 1980s America
Rebecca: 1990s West Coast
CHARACTERS
WhichYoung Justice character are we?
Jaclyn: Batgirl/Oracle | Barbara Gordon
Elie: Artemis/Tigress | Artemis Crock
Jane: Miss Martian | M'gann M'orzz/Megan Morse
Rebecca: Wonder Girl | Cassie Sandsmark
Which OG Avenger are we?
Jaclyn: Hulk | Bruce Banner
Elie: Black Widow | Natasha Romanoff
Jane:
Rebecca:
Which Disney Princess (or Prince) are we?
Jaclyn: Belle
Elie: Jasmine
Jane: Flynn Rider
Rebecca: Merida
Which marauder-era Harry Potter character are we?
Jaclyn: Sirius Black
Elie: Remus Lupin
Jane: James Potter
Rebecca: Arthur Weasley
Which original trilogy Star Wars character are we?
NOTE: Leia and Luke were taken off the table.
Jaclyn: Darth Vader
Elie: Obi-Wan Kenobi
Jane: Han Solo
Rebecca: Lando Calrissian
Which Star Trek original series/reboot character are we?
Jaclyn: Bones
Elie: Spock or Uhura
Jane: Kirk
Rebecca: Scotty
Which She-Ra character are we?
Jaclyn: Scorpia or Glimmer
Elie: Catra
Jane: She-Ra | Adora
Rebecca: Sea Hawk
FOOD + DRINKS
What type of alcohol are we?
Jaclyn: rum
Elie: gin
Jane: vodka
Rebecca: bourbon
What cocktail are we?
Jaclyn: hot toddy
Elie: dirty martini
Jane: Moscow mule
Rebecca: whiskey sour
and finally—What baked good are we?
Jaclyn: Cheesecake
Elie: Grand Marnier Soufflé Jane: flaky American Biscuit
Rebecca: Cronut
