May I say I was stunned to realize that Character MBTI *vs* How Well They Fit the Stereotypes was written over a year ago (January 2020). Like... that was pre-COVID?! (in the US anyway lol) I would have sworn I wrote the thing only six months ago. Anyway, I've made some sparkly discoveries and am totally up for an MBTI ramble, so here we go.

The most important thing to mention is that Douglas is Not an ENFP. I always assumed he had to be a feeler-type because of how empathetic he was and how attuned to the emotions of others. Once, at my wits' end how to reconcile his thoughtful, even-tempered nature with the ENFP portrayals, descriptions, and even cognitive function stack, I hypothesized wildly that he could be an ENFJ instead. But I knew in my soul that was... wrong. He had to be ENFP. Right? RigHT??

Turns out that Douglas was never a "feeler" type. He's an EN"T"P, or as one site categorizes his type, a Trailblazer. His auxiliary cognitive function, the one he prefers second-most, is introverted thinking.

Does that mean he's not empathetic or tuned in to emotions? Of course not! In fact, as an ENTP, his tertiary function is extroverted feeling — or Fe —, which is oriented directly toward observing social atmosphere and preserving external harmony. And I think that Douglas, with an INFP father and an ISFJ mother, ended up with that tertiary Fe particularly well-developed, sparing him some of the more abrasive ENTP stereotypes that fall by the way.

However, Douglas in his most default state is distinctly detached. He's not the bubbly, happy-go-lucky ENFP, still less their more volatile unhappy side. Douglas is and has always been pensive, pleasant but quiet, relaxed but subdued. He has his quirky moments, he's full of banter, and he's not above some harmless prank fun. But even his (rare) anger is startlingly quiet and rational. Contrast Derek's explosive Mount St. Helens or Mordred's Vesuvius temper and you wonder how he's even related.

Being an ENTP rather than ENFP not only explains Douglas' general attitude towards life better, it if anything better confirms his visionary nature. He has a mind full of potential, eager to explore all angles, to find new things, to wiggle through abstract concepts and engage in friendly debate. He's very open-minded and willing to give all perspectives a fair shot, though he forms his own convictions and sticks by them. His primary MO is clearly intuitive, just like an ENFP, but the fact that he follows it with thinking instead of feeling makes all the difference. It affords him a more organized presentation, an attitude of analysis vs. pure exploration. And he's still one of the most introverted of the extroverts... give him just a lil recharge time.

Ailean

So we just got done rambling about Douglas but I'm gonna backtrack to him real quick. You see, the reason I made the switch for Douglas was that I had Ailean Mycrai typed as ENTP, and Douglas as ENFP. I have no memory of what lit this match in my brain, but out of the blue one evening I went, "What if... it was the... other way around?"

And it literally was. Welcome to Ailean, my ENFP child who for some reason I assumed had to be a thinker type because otherwise she would be too much like me (her original inspiration). Ironically, as an ENFP, she shares absolutely no preferred cognitive functions with my type.

Ailean is a total fab gorl and full of spontaneous fun. While more decisive than many ENFPs, those flash decisions are a result of lifetime discipline under an adored INTJ father more than her automatic gut response — she'd prefer to hold her options open.

Ailean is very quick to read others and empathize, though she struggles to give a socially appropriate response when she feels it would be untrue to her own sentiments. How very introverted-feeling of you, Ailean. This high emphasis on her emotions and values also results in prompt and fiery indignation when she feels any of them have been infringed. Beware the temper, especially if you're Derek.

Speaking of Derek... I have nothing to speak about Derek because his type is unquestionably still ESTP but I love him and the world deserves to hear how amazing he is so there you go.

Well, nothing to speak except that the number of ESTP stereotypes I've seen involving drugs has officially ticked me off. 

Well, and the fact that part of the reason I'm in such an MBTI-writing mood is because of how annoyed I was the other day at the bias toward intuitives and the lack of real sensor material even in the part of MBTI culture that uses type theory vs. 16personalites.com *wince*

Anyway.

Margaret Thorne is probably an ESFP but I haven't delved much into that for her, just throwing it out there. You may or may not remember her as the lass who clashed hard with Derek on multiple occasions in the pre-SAS years.

Captain Rhodes is unquestionably a soft conflict-avoidant INFP bean and I've thoroughly chilled out to having more than one character be the same personality type, at least for Rhodes. He's so INFP honestly he's more so than Mordred whose trauma shaped significant aspects of his character and made him our beloved mess of volcanic contradictions.

... lo, Mordred has appeared in the chat despite this chapter having NOTHING about him on the agenda.

I've tentatively typed Murcod (ID's buddy from The Claw) as an ENFJ which is absolutely hysterical given that he's the last person I would have expected to resemble me. (I mean? 6' tall beanpole guy? kicked out of the house by his dad at 28 for not doing enough with his life?) And yet it's hardly surprising given that he fills my preferred "sidekick/supportive" role. No protagonist assignments for me, thank you.

Anyway he's easily a primary Fe user, seems to have a natural knack for when to joke around with his friend and when to stay quiet and offer advice, sometimes falls down the "micromanage your problems" hole, actually thinks a lot under his projected cheery exterior and likes his world grounded and stable. Full of self-deprecating humor and tends to reason in holistic, big-picture leaps of abstract thought but has difficulty connecting the dots in retrospect (auxiliary introverted intuition).

actually though I would marry that mans very few questions asked and you know I don't say that every day

Lethira

Lethira is a character whose personality mainly hinged on her relationship to Mordred for a while. Because of that I never felt like I actually knew her until I wrote the short story about their first year of married life, and even then I didn't know her nearly well enough to define her MBTI type. However. Due to Ellowyne sharing my mutual obsession with their adorable ship, we kept having conversations about them, which led to not one but two vignettes about the college AU versions meeting, and little by little I began to uncover the busy, conscientious, pert little bundle of anxiety that is Mordred's little bird. The hub of MBTI discussion glazes over ISFJs a lot, so my discovery of her probable type didn't add much initially to my appreciation of her as a character — just the mom friend, okay, that was obvious from day one, there's gotta be more to it than that.

However, when I came across a post on ISFJ anger, a lightbulb went off in my brain as my thoughts flashed back to the marriage short and the scene where Lethira blows up at Mordred over a late dinner.

(^ from psychologyjunkie.com)

I mean xD if that xD if that ain't her xD

the entirety of that scene was Lethira stressing out over things potentially going wrong and failing to actually explain her unhappiness to a puzzled and sarcastic Mordred and literally saying at the end "I was too angry at the world"

what a gorl <3

Anyway this ramble has delighted me long enough and it is time to Post

Farewell till next time *puts on sunglasses and vrooms away*