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Little subjective observations on ISTJs

I know some ISTJs irl. They are highkey underrated and often misrepresented, so here's some interesting things I noticed about them.

Extremely loyal. If they're not the most loyal type, they're very damn close. They will never give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you. Seriously, they are very ride or die for those they care about, especially their family.

That being said, that doesn't mean they're submissive, far from it actually. In fact, they're known to be a bit possessive/controlling of those they care about, and they will let it be known when they think you're going the wrong way.

It's true they tend to follow rules and don't really like people who break them, even if they empathize with the reasoning. That being said, the rules need to make sense to them.

They are extremely observant of other people. They are not really extroverts, but they tend to really enjoy looking at others and look at how they behave in a mostly "neutral party" kind of way whenever they go outside. It's less to fit in, but more to understand human behaviour.

About them being conservative: it depends on their values. Behaviour-wise, they tend to indeed be slightly more conservative and usually dislike loud styles and behaviour, but politically it really really depends. The former dictator of my country was the most stereotypical conservative ISTJ to have ever walked the earth, but some of the ISTJs in my life have been some of the most headstrong about their own progressive beliefs and have been the most skeptical of far-right slop propaganda.

In general, their high Te prevents them from falling completely to conspiracy theories. Not really immune, mind you, but they're more willing to change their minds based on credible information, even if they're skeptical.

I won't say they're the most philosophical type ever, but they are very thoughtful and very good to talk with about deep topics. The stereotype that they're "robots" who don't think deeply about anything is hilariously untrue, they are just as engaging as INTJs when talking in my experience. You can seriously learn a lot with them.

Sometimes, I see people saying that, due to being more "conservative" and closed-minded, there tends to be friction between them and XNFPs. I can attest that, at least romantically, ISTJ/ENFP can be kind of disastrous long-term, but in terms of friendships it can work, and so do ISTJ-INFP friendships. Imho, they tend to get along very well, and they can have very engaging convos with eachother. When it comes to Fi, ISTJs are usually very in synthony with INFPs and ENFPs (at least when they share similar values).

The real struggle of ISTJ-XNFP bounding comes from their lack of Ne. It's usually not the values that cause conflict, it's how they seriously struggle understanding the way Ne doms/aux work and how it leads to a series of problems that ISTJs are genuinely baffled about. To them, procrastination is usually a matter of "just do it" and they are unable to understand the (admitly irrational) "whys" of XNFPs' struggles with organization. They tend to be way more proactive than XNFPs, which leads to them getting frustrated with them over organizational matters very quickly.

Related to the above, it's true that they tend to be extremely hardworking. They tend to work (eh) by the motto "work to then relax later without worries". It's something I deeply admire in them (and admitly struggle with unfortunately).

Also a bit close to the stereotype, they aren't usually very deep appreciators of abstract art and usually appreciate artistic stuff that is clear in terms of meaning and ability. In that way, I guess they're more "low-brow" (in the actual meaning Bourdieu conveyed) in terms of taste, even if they're from a higher social class. Very few would find anything artistic about a cabbage or a painting with a few drops of color on it.

And above all: much more empathic than what the stereotypes say. They may struggle with some matters (particularly the Ne related shenanigans I mentioned before), but they genuinely try to understand others and especially to help those they care about.

In this way, the best fictional character that portrays ISTJs is, imho, Mikasa Ackerman. She greatly represents how loyal ISTJs can get, the protectiveness they have over those they love, but not to the detriment to their own values. I won't completely spoil the series, but she really characterizes the three-dimensionality of ISTJs well, which makes the way the fandom treats her (calling her things like "Slavekasa" and thinking of her as a flat character without bothering to read into her) even more ironic. Just because she's lowkey in terms of personality it doesn't mean she's "boring", and the same applies to ISTJs irl as well.

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Every day is another new day of people misinterpreting Fi as the "irrational function", and thus viewing Fi doms/aux as people who only think with their emotions and heart, have no logic to fall onto and cry all the time.

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🤨

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Some more ISTP + INFP art because there needs to be more light shed on their dynamic smh 🙏 (coming from my experience with an ISTP)

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💋💖

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Writing styles: differences between INFPs and ENFPs

ENFPs and INFPs tend to have very similar writing styles. They have the tendency to mostly be descriptive and verbose, describing sensations and mental headspaces with somewhat poetic, almost surreal descriptions, enhanced by the Ne way of processing the world. Almost chaotic, too. A lot of writers, particularly of character-driven stories, tend to be XNFPs. They can write almost any genre, in fact, there's a tendency to blend genres, as the nature of Ne tends to like novelty and lacks complete focus. This also makes them usually not the best when it comes to worldbuilding and are generally more prone to plot holes in their stories. In contrast, Ni and Ti dom/aux writers tend to be much more rigorous with them, so the plot feels more "constrained" and less chaotic. It has a clear beginning, middle and end, while XNFPs are more likely to get "lost in the sauce", so to say.

However, what they may lack in plot/worldbuilding skills tends to be very compensated with the character and theme building, but sometimes these themes are only obvious to a few people, leading to many XNFP stories to be seen as bad or lost potential. ENFPs in particular are a bit more "flighty" with their character focus, leading to some character conclusions that may feel unsatisfactory to fans, but they also tend to create the most memorable characters as well. Take Gege, the creator of Jujutsu Kaisen. Created very memorable and iconic characters, but due to the chaotic nature of Ne (combined with a suspected enneagram 7), a lot of famous characters ended up having conclusions seen as unsatisfactory to fans. But, despite this, he had clear themes in mind (even if said themes aren't well-liked by fans - I think a lot of people cannot distinguish a work being thematically confusing and a work simply having themes most dislike/disagree with), and the characters that mattered the most to him were the most well crafted. Another example of this is MXTX, the most popular danmei author. A "simpler" yet witty writing style compared to other danmei authors, side characters that become very popular on their own, and occasional random changes in tone. Still, MXTX's books remain thematically consistent (with a big focus on humanist themes, extremely common with XNFP writers) and the characters all contrast and parallel eachother very well.

A genre in which I see a lot of XNFP writers is fanfiction. Transformative fandom tends to be dominated by Ne users in general, so it's no surprise that fanfiction, which is 99% of the time transformative and character-focused, is full of XNFPs. Fanfiction is also hobbyist by nature, so the annoyance of having to deal with questions like audiences, money, editors, etc, are extremely reduced, allowing for more authentic writing compared to published works, which is something that high Fi users often value.

While reading fanfiction, the differences between INFP and ENFPs in writing became clearer. It's not always evident, and when combined with enneagram they may even become indistinguishible sometimes, but one thing that I noticed is that ENFP fics tend to have a more "playful" and spontaneous tone while INFP fics tend to be a bit more "sober", so to say. ENFP writers in particular are very good at incorporating comedic elements in their stories, regardless if that's the focus or not. One of my favorite fanfics, for example, is very dark, but there's still an element of playfulness that, instead of detracting, actually adds a lot of character and charisma to the prose. The focus character (which is from a work written by an ENFP as well) is also a comedic yet dark character that requires creatively funny dialogue to work, and ENFPs (especially if their enneagrams are E7) are particularly good at working with them. When reading works with this character by fellow INFPs, including my very own, I notice that, even when the dialogue is genuinely funny, it still feels a bit more "serious" and lack that "spontaneaty" I see from ENFP fics, which can feel a bit distracting sometimes. INFPs with E9 in particular struggle with this. Characters with a more serious and/or polite disposition and dialogue, however, are easier to nail for INFPs. They also feel a bit more "verbose", and paragraphs in fics tend to be longer when written by them.

That doesn't mean they are the only ones writing fic, however. All types can write fic, after all (though XSTXs and ENTJs tend to write it the least). It must also be said that this is mostly a generalization. Not all XNFPs are good at writing, some ENFPs don't write comedy, some INFPs are very good at it. While there are usually some patterns within MBTI types, each person is still different with their own tastes and preferences, after all.

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Doodle mbti !

This time with my sis

Our honest reactions akdoa

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💋💖

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MBTI Types & Texting Styles

Perceiving Functions

xNxP | High Ne: uses run-on sentences and parentheses (to maximize info-dumping and clarification via extraneous details, respectively)

xNxJ | High Ni: Short and simple sentences. It’s not intentionally “dry”, it’s just effective word choice.

xSxP | High Se: lowercase letters/free form sentences and p much any slang they wanna use bc its just texting and not deep enough for proper spelling and grammar

xSxJ | High Si: Breaking up responses to multiple topics into separate paragraphs.

It’s easier to keep track of what you’re talking about this way.

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Judging Functions

xxFJ | High Fe: traditional/safe emojis and slang for effective communication ie. lol, brb, ☺️, 😅 periods in the middle are okay. Periods at the end are intimidating so it’s best to avoid those

xxFP | High Fi: Using creative combinations of emojis ( 🙏😩 | 👁️👄👁️ | 🥺👉👈) for the ultimate range of personal expression

xxTJ | High Te: Capital letters, and advanced punctuation; they exist for a reason. Big fan of the Oxford Comma.

xxTP | High Ti: Correct spelling and grammar is mostly a byproduct of autocorrect unless its absolutely necessary. it doesnt have to be perfext just understandable

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little meowmeows😼

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MBTI Color Palettes

Just color palettes I associate with each type. Just for fun.

INTJ

ENTJ

INTP

ENTP

INFJ

ENFJ

INFP

ENFP

ISTJ

ESTJ

ISFJ

ESFJ

ISTP

ESTP

ISFP

ESFP

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MBTI notes

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All the MBTI characters together :D Men and women versions !It's so satisfying to see them all on the same pic ! 🥺💚Also sorry for being incative aah I missed this acc so much ! What's your MBTI ? who's your favorite ?  I'm INFP ! my favs are INFJ & ENFJ ! ^^

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MBTI!!! very large space for designs :D

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infj x intp fanart from 2021

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Much is said about the Ni-Fe desire for the world to conform to their ideals. The reason Fi-Ne (usually) doesn't fall into the same trap is because they usually have a higher value for personal freedom. They think of what it'd be like to conform and the average Fi-Ne user dislikes it. But there's also lack of ambition a good chunk of the time too. Just contrast INFJ leaders and INFP leaders. Most INFP leaders were mostly puppets who cared more about their own hobbies than ruling. Even with their own ideals in mind, they couldn't care much about structures and social games surrounding them, and leadership feels foreign. INFJ rulers are the ones who tend to actually act to change the world, and this led to amazing and also disastrous consequences around the world. High Fi and very low Fe makes it difficult for INFPs to play with political mindgames, and the lack of Ni and their low Si and Te gives them extra difficulty with handling the structures and boredom behind politics. This isn't to say INFPs can't be politicians, they absolutely can, especially with more developed Si and Te. But it's not a coincidence they are one, if not the, least represented type with politicians and revolutionaries. This doesn't mean they aren't important in political thinking, it just means they tend not to be at the frontlines.

The Fi-Ne combo tends to instead attract INFPs to art, music and literature in high droves. It's a way to distract oneself from reality (which often goes against their ideals) and also something they have control over without dealing with the actual stress of actually dealing with the processes that come with being in the frontlines of change. As I implied before, INFPs can have this hidden desire to play god just as much as INFJs, to have reality bend to their morals and ideal world, but because of the individualistic and somewhat chaotic nature of Fi-Ne, INFPs tend to instead scratch this itch more often with fiction, where the world is at the hands of the creator and the cold, cruel reality of the universe can bend at will without painful consequences or inflicting on someone else's free will.

This, of course, is a very big generalization. INFPs can vary a lot in terms of personality, interests and hobbies, not all of them will be attracted to arts and literature. And I talked about INFJs here, a lot of them are artists and writers too (they are actually a surprisingly versatile type). But one can't deny that, despite most INFP stereotypes being annoying and false, there is an element of truth in that they tend to be more attracted to theory and imagination compared to action.

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