flattering profile of a maniac

when i say the word "maniac" what do you think? more often than not, one thinks of some scary, dangerous person. not so, my dear, not so! that is maniacal stereotyping, and i resent it! now, i like a maniacal villain as much, if not more, than the next weirdo, and granted, a fair chunk of the scary dangerous people in the (real) world are maniacs, but only a very few from the maniacal community actually are scary or dangerous.

but what makes a maniac? how can you tell if someone, even yourself, is a maniac? here i have for you simply a generic profile to follow and apply, keeping in mind that every individual is... well, individual, which makes the profile subjective. but look anyway, and decide for yourself if you, or someone you know, could be a maniac. if the subject in mind fits over half the criteria... possibly, darling, possibly!

when it comes to appearance, maniacs tend to look a fair deal like most everyone else, with maybe a few slight deviations (a different dress code, hairstyle, maniacal glint in the eye...). appearance-driven, maniacs can be broken into two groups: those who try to hide their mania and strive to fit in, and those who embrace the mania and rebuke the mainstream. it is usually one extream or the other, nothing in between.

behaviors are the first things to look at when pinpointing a maniac. the ones who strive to fit in (submissive maniacs) are never the first to offer a suggestion or idea to a group, however, if you were to catch them when they were alone, they would prove to have ideas and opinions so strong, it seems amazing that they would deviate for anything, especially social standard. they adopt the personas of whoever is around, and seem to change identities from group to group. again, if you were to watch them when they were alone, the personality that shows throught would appear to be a completely different person than the one you see in public. (hint: many famous politicians are submissive maniacs.)

as for the ones who strive to stand out (dominant maniacs), they show a behavior that is completely specific to their own character, each with one specific constant of their own design. their passions are evident, and it is almost impossible to get a dominant maniac to refuse them. (any type of radical extreamist is a dominant maniac.)

known to non-maniacs as "obsessions," every maniac has a specific passion that could range over a series of things. for example, one maniac's passion could be their one favorite necklace, while another maniac's passion could be for all jewelry. passions could be for places, animals, emotions, and people. no matter the passion, you can bet that, somewhere (whether in a closet, in a book, or just in their head) there is bound to be a sort of shrine built to their one specific passion -- this is a maniac staple.

in submissive maniacs, their passion is always kept secret, even if it poses no threat to their secret identity. dominant maniacs, surprisingly, while are more inclined to share their passions than the sumbissives, also tend to keep their passion quiet, in the mindset that, should they let it be known, something would either be done to themselves or their passion (especially if the passion is an animal, emotional object, or a person) that would be ultimately unfavorable.

the final contributer that is universal to almost all maniacs is what i like to call an "underdog complex". this requires the complexor to believe that the majority of the people in their surroundings are, in some way, against them. if it simply stopped there, it would be called the "high school complex", but the part that makes it an "underdog complex" is that, despite the precieved hostility, they strive to survive, and even succeed against the pain. for submissives, this means becoming the top of the socail totem pole, few true friends, but lots of substance. for dominants, this means finding a meaningful cause, clinging to it, and basically saying "screw you" to anyone who would oppose the cause. this also gets them few friends, but lots of excitement.

so, as a recap, here's a condenced profile of a maniac:

• slight to large deviation from the norm in appearance
• (submissive) agrees with the croud, seems to have no opinions of their own
• (dominant) declairs opinions loudly and emotionally
• secret "shrine" to passion
• underdog complex

now that you have learned, take this question from a writer who is, herself, a happily dominant maniac: how maniacal are you? MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (that, my dear, was a maniacal laugh, war-cry of all the greatest maniacs)