Category: Type Angsts

The People of Stranger Things

July 13, 2018 / Calise Sellers

{Dunda dun da… Babum babum bababum bumbabumba bababumbaba bumbum} The music starts and red lights appear in darkness, angles slowly revealing flickering words, and my heart grows fluttery. This is my best description of an intro that I refuse to skip unless under duress. Because it gives me a sense of the ride I’m starting on, of a story that feels somehow both intimate and distant, both like childhood and like falling up into the stars.

It’s really funny to me that the only two group-dynamics character spotlights I’ve fully done up to this point have been scary works (Marble Hornets and this), because that makes it seem like a large proportion of the things I watch are scary and Lovecraftian, which isn’t the case. I do think H.P. Lovecraft was a boss, taking his INFP(ip) Great Pumpkin Distraction and turning it into a powerful catalyst: using the sheer terror that an IP feels at the all-consuming size of an endless cosmos, and turning it into a beautiful humility before a world outside of your control, bowing to the eternity that might otherwise have swallowed him whole. That is an epic example of how to properly last-step, imo.

So yes, I do actually really love Lovecraft (and using the word “really,” you’ll find if you stick around for long). But scary stuff… I’m usually “eh” about it at best. So I guess that’s why, when I find a work that truly encapsulates the awe that I believe reality has behind the curtain, while concurrently making me fall in love with characters that are so real and alive you never want to let them go, I just can’t help sharing the emotions that such works evoke in me.

Honestly, as I embark on this journey to convey the individuals I see when I watch Stranger Things, I find myself quite daunted. There are just too many moments I care about, too many facial expressions that evoke more than I could ever say in a post, no matter how ridiculously long this one is sure to be. I’d be terribly embarrassed if anyone could see my YouTube history of late, and how many times I listened to “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by the Clash, or interviews with the cast, etc. etc. Because it comforts me, which is an odd thing to feel about a scary show, but it’s true. The *people* of Stranger Things comfort me.

Because, sure, there’s the things everyone talks about—Eggos, walkie talkies, big hair, bikes, and Christmas lights—and I love all those things about Stranger Things, I do. But those things would mean nothing without the people who make those things matter; the characters who make you laugh despite danger and cry because, it doesn’t matter if you never saw the 80s (I can claim 5 months and 5 days in the 80s) or if you don’t have supernatural predators stalking you, long before the journey is over you want these people to be your friends.

Guys, this show is beyond epic. Continue reading

A Little Bit of Subtypes

June 30, 2018 / Calise Sellers

Alright! This is Justin again. So we’re gonna try to keep this huge, ginormo, super in-depth topic really short here (edit: ha!), because this is just sort of a preview. But we’re still pretty excited to get to talk about subtypes here on “Phase 1!”

See, the full post about subtypes is on aLBoP Phase 2, and even that post is just the intro to the topic. Phase 2 goes into far more depth about, well, everything! But as you might expect, it kinda requires and presumes that you’ve already gotten familiar with everything here on the starter site.

Which, right, before I go on… If you haven’t checked out at least the basic information here on aLBoP, I’m afraid you really should go read that before diving into this. Watch the intro video if you haven’t already, and then get your bearings with the Super Simple Series. Remember, aLBoP is not MBTI, so it’s probably best to go back to the start so you can get a handle on everything.

Okay! Got that covered? At least a bit? Cool, so like I was saying, we go into much more depth and detail about subtypes, what they are, why they are, and how they work, on the Phase 2 site. However, we really really want to talk about subtypes on our upcoming Stranger Things post! Also, it’s nice to be able to put people’s subtypes after their main cognitive types, partly because it immediately shows “Hey, look! This is something different, so maybe drop your assumptions about typing at the door.” And then, hopefully, maybe, if wishes were horses, we might get fewer people strolling in, glancing at a few pictures, and leaving a “nope that’s wrong” comment without, you know, reading stuff. We can dream.

So on then with the subtypes crash course! To start with, putting it simply, subtypes are kinda just what they sound like: a subset, a personal focus within each cognitive type. Continue reading

INFP The Great Pumpkin Distraction – definition

April 1, 2014 / Calise Sellers

“If the Great Pumpkin comes, I’ll still put in a good word for you!
Good grief! I said ‘if’! I meant, ‘when’ he comes! I’m doomed.
One little slip like that could cause the Great Pumpkin to pass you by.”
Linus van Pelt, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

“The Great Pumpkin Distraction” is INFP’s way of coping with the fear that their deep delvings into the realms of meaning and philosophical ponderings make them too out of touch with reality to be of value. INFP’s specialty is exploring conceptual meaning, loving to ask hard questions and explore the nuances of philosophy and understanding, and they excel at that. But their IP deep subject diving can make them feel like the world is passing them by, and with principles being their last and weakest cognition step, an INFP might try and prove that they can apply the specific details they’ve gleaned in their exploration, to the entire world. But since INFPs are good at asking questions, but aren’t naturally good at answering them universally, when an INFP forces an understanding of a principle it’s likely to be an oversimplified truism that doesn’t actually apply in practice and is comprised of lots of little details and exceptions, rather than an elegant function that works with any variable. This can make them look even more out of touch than they were afraid of in the first place.

But the INFP needs to give themselves a break and recognize that they don’t have to do it all. The world needs more healthy INFPs to explore meaning and find possibilities that no one else would have found, understanding the fine details of meaning going on in a situation. INFPs need permission to specialize more, not less. As an INFP doesn’t feel pressure to be in charge of discovering universal principles, they can instead feel excellent in their specialty of exploration and question asking, and let other types be good at their specialties of principles, each needing and learning from the other. 🙂

Examples:
Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter
Screech Powers, Saved by the Bell
and so many more…

Click here for an in-depth look at INFP The Ranger!

ENFP The McFly Conviction – definition

March 24, 2014 / Calise Sellers

“Nobody… calls me …chicken!”
Marty McFly, Back to the Future II

“The McFly Conviction” (aka “The McFury”) is ENFP’s passionate fervor about their own self-meaning, which can become dangerous when they need external validation in order to prove that they matter. When they feel like their value as a person is in question, a sweet ENFP who struggles with an unchecked McFly Conviction will feel down on themselves and like it doesn’t matter how good their intentions are (their First Cognition Step), because others find them insufficient in their actions and decisions (their Fourth and weakest step), and so they feel like they’ll never be worthwhile. But if the ENFP tries to counter this by attempting to *prove* their self-worth to others, they often, intentionally or not, end up trying to assert their self-worth *over* the worth of others, and make others feel unvalued the same way the ENFP has been. If the ENFP stops caring about others’ self-worth entirely, their McFly Conviction taking over all their choices, ENFPs can become uncharacteristically mean and end up negating their entire Type Specialization by constantly undermining the people around them, even seeking others out specifically to undermine their worth.

ENFPs need to remember, there is *no* sidekick type. But part of being a hero is not needing external validation to know that you are worthwhile. Being a hero means standing up for things, not only when you stand alone, but when you look like an idiot to the people who don’t understand. While sidekicks are busy looking over their shoulders, constantly checking for the approval of others, real heroes are busy making something of themselves. While ENFPs are just as capable of that as any other type, they first must let go of *looking* worthwhile, in favor of *becoming* worthwhile.

Examples:
Michael Scott, The Office
Bowler Hat Guy, Meet the Robinsons
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
and so many more…

Click here for an in-depth look at ENFP The Standard Bearer!

ESTP Jayne Justification – definition

March 3, 2014 / Calise Sellers

[To Dr. Simon Tam] “Tell me, Lil’ Miss Big Words,
you see a pyramid sittin’ out there? Neither do I.
So here, let me pour you a big frosty mug of ‘shut-the-h*ll-up’.”
Jayne Cobb, Firefly

“Jayne Justification” is the familiar ESTP tactic of trying to imply both that it’s stupid to be smart, and that they’re smarter than everyone else anyway. With ESTPs’ last and weakest cognitive step being action and decisions made through their iNtuition, they’re naturally insecure (as all types are about their weakest area) about their ability to understand and apply concepts and abstract principles to the choices and plans they make, making them feel inadequate and out-of-step with others conceptually and often academically. With their specialty centering around their own self-usefulness and protecting what they are, the ESTP is likely to imply that an understanding of the conceptual is worthless and totally irrelevant to everyday life, implying that those who are good at the conceptual are just as useless as the ESTP *feels*. Because this doesn’t improve their self-image the way they hoped it would, the ESTP is also likely to try implying that they really *are* good at the conceptual, in fact *better* than those whose conceptual abilities make them feel uncomfortable.

But what the ESTP needs to realize, is that they have a unique intelligence all their own, with keen observational abilities and the talent to see the things right in front of them that others simply miss. As they learn to appreciate the conceptual strengths of their friends, while realizing that it doesn’t compromise their own self-worth or their own usefulness, the ESTP can learn to use their awesome powers of Observational Sensing to see new and unexplored sides of the conceptual that are desperately needed.

Examples:
Gaston, Beauty and the Beast
Rainbow Dash, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Strongbad, HomestarRunner.com
and so many more…

Click here for an in-depth look at ESTP, “The Spartan”!

INTP The Moriarty Fear – definition

August 7, 2013 / Calise Sellers

“I’ve shown you what I can do.
I’ve cut loose all those people, all those little problems.
Even thirty million quid just to get you to come out and play. So take this as a friendly warning, my dear. Back off… I’m going to kill you anyway someday. I don’t want to rush it though. I’m saving it up for something special…
If you don’t stop prying I will burn you. I will burn the heart out of you.”
Jim Moriarty, BBC’s Sherlock

“The Moriarty Fear” is the textbook phobia of INTPs that if anyone is better than they are in the area in which they specialize, that they will not only be outshined, but rendered meaningless, worthless and obsolete. IP’s are the specialists, loving detail and preferring depth over breadth, but this means the areas in which they sink all their time and energy are very precious to them. INTPs especially tend to get the most inside their own heads as they love to use their minds to explore the world by themselves, using abstract thought to find solutions to problems. For them, smart often becomes a moral thing and the only battleground worth winning.

But, especially if they let that battle make them arrogant and self-righteous about the areas in which they specialize, pretentiously believing that they are the only ones that can know the things they know, an INTP can end up overlooking important details outside themselves and someone with a wider scope of field can end up surpassing them even in their own area of expertise. Rather than recognizing that they need to learn more, an INTP can dig in their heels and instead insist on beating down their “usurper,” making sure they rise to the top again, not by self-improvement, but by being the last man standing. Even if they are able to weed out the competition, an INTP at “the top” will constantly be watching their back, waiting for the day they secretly fear will come, when others will see their gaps in wisdom and knowledge, call out their weaknesses and that they will have no recourse.

But if an INTP instead seeks for improvement for its own sake, rather than as a competition, they indeed can be exceptional in what they do; in fact an INTP can’t truly excel in the ways they are needed unless they stop comparing and learn again for its own sake.

Examples:
Syndrome, The Incredibles (leading my INFJ to want to call it “Syndrome Syndrome” instead 😉 )
Ross Geller, Friends
Vizzini, The Princess Bride
and so many more…

Click here for an in-depth look at INTP “The Alchemist”!

INTJ Anakin Angst – definition

August 7, 2013 / Calise Sellers

“You will not understand what I have to do… you will try to stop me… I’m sorry.”
Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars: The Clone Wars

“Anakin Angst” is the classic INTJ pitfall that out of the desire to stop damage and control pain, they become the very thing they were fighting. INTJs with their ability to see so clearly just what the world could be and the steps they can take to accomplish that vision, often feel like the entire world is in their hands and that if they don’t fix it, the world’s brokenness is their fault.

IJs are the cloakers, best at making action without letting others in on their thoughts or emotions. Where IFJs cloak their thoughts from the world, ITJs cloak their feelings and are able to make choices and complete actions regardless of their personal investment in the situation. While that can be a strength, an ITJ who gets too inside their own head can end up losing sight of just what they were fighting for in the first place, their perfectionism replacing emotion, until they become the very thing they feared.

Examples:
Prince Arthas Menethil, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
The Didact, Halo 4
Sauron, The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings
and so many more…

Click here for an in-depth look at INTJ The Dragon!

ENTP Megamind Complex – definition

August 6, 2013 / Calise Sellers

“No matter how hard I tried, I was always the odd man out, the last one picked, the screw-up, the black sheep… the bad boy. Was this my destiny?
Wait. Maybe it was! Being bad is the one thing I’m good at!
Then it hit me: if I was the bad boy,
then I was going to be the baddest boy of them ALL!”
Megamind

“Megamind Complex” is a classic ENTP coping mechanism. ENTP’s, whose primary focus in life is exploring what people can become, long for nothing more than to be great. If an ENTP lives in a culture where the way they explore is frowned upon, often rather than surrender those possibilities, an ENTP will give up hope of becoming a “good” larger-than-life person and will instead spit in expectations’ face, deciding that if they can’t be good, they’ll be the best at being bad. It’s a way for an ENTP to close up and pretend they don’t care that no one really sees or likes them for who they are and they’re likely to protect themselves by pretending they never wanted to be considered good in the first place.

Examples:
Neil Caffrey, White Collar
Flynn Rider, Tangled
Han Solo, Star Wars
and so many more…

Click here for an in-depth look at ENTP, “The Swashbuckler”!

ENFJ The Faramir Dilemma – definition

August 6, 2013 / Calise Sellers

“So… this is the answer to all the riddles… a chance for
Faramir, captain of Gondor, to show his quality.”
Faramir, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers film version

“The Faramir Dilemma” is ENFJ’s big struggle; do they bring everyone together or do they stand up for what they know to be right? It’s a harder question for them than it may sound.

ENFJ’s *live* for others’ happiness, hate conflict between friends and base their definitions of right and wrong on the judgements they’ve gathered from interacting with others. But there will come a time when they know they have to disappoint the ones they love and it’s truly a time to show their quality.

Examples:
Bing Lee, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
James P. Sullivan, Pixar’s Monsters, Inc.
Donna Moss, The West Wing
and so many more…

Click here for an in-depth look at ENFJ, “The Veteran”!

INFJ Hercules Syndrome – definition

August 6, 2013 / Calise Sellers

“You know when I was a kid,
I would have given anything to be exactly like everybody else.”
Disney’s Hercules

“Hercules Syndrome” is the classic INFJ weakness of feeling like they’re strange and don’t belong *because* of the very thing that makes them special. INFJs with Hercules Syndrome feel like there is a universe of potential and principles just at their fingertips… and everyone else is down on the ground saying “how dare you fly.” Floating around in the aether, wishing they could come down to the ground and not be so alone, but not willing to give up what they’ve seen up there, the INFJ may believe that they can never be liked and enjoyed for who they really are and what they can offer, but at best must be merely tolerated for the “eccentric” they are.

Hercules Syndrome can be a factor whether or not the INFJ has learned how to use their strength correctly. If they have not yet, you can expect awkward moments and embarrassment about said strength. If they have developed their strengths, it’s usually through years of training, but without their Hercules Syndrome in check, the INFJ is likely to feel guilty for having their strength at all, even though they’ve had to double their effort to develop it *in spite* of guilt all that time.

Examples:
Hiccup, How to Train Your Dragon
Avatar Aang, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Rapunzel, Tangled
and so many more…

Click here for an in-depth look at INFJ, “The Paladin”! Click here for more on Hercules as an INFJ.