#a^3

[eh----no]

QUICK this determines a important lore for Alani cuz I just realized something

Option 1

Option 2

Voting ended onMar 17

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please allow me to use your inbox to high five a^3, their mbti analyses make me so happy

*barks frantically in A^3′s direction*

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I'm not sure how to get in touch with A^3 but I wanted to thank both of you for those MBTI analysis of the characters, specifically Kuvira. It was quite spot on! Primarily because of all the villains, Kuvira scared me the most, in large part because she was the villain most like me. We share a profile and her first speech about order gave me chills because it sounded almost verbatim like one of my rants. The analysis was phenomenal and I thank you both for writing and sharing.

Well, A^3 did the writing...I just did the sharing part, haha.

Anyway, glad people are enjoying these! I find them fascinating. I try and analyze on a character level, but I would never be able to break down cognitive subfunctions in such a clear way. It’s such a cool lens.

We’ve got a big one on Mako dropping tonight which is just phenomenal, so yes, I’ll join you in singing A^3′s praises.

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So do you think it's a generational thing why many people just don't understand the subtlety of Asami's characterization? Or have these people just not been exposed to subtle characters in anime and tv shows? I pretty much grew up in a generation that watched shows like Utena and Noir (anime), among others, that require/demand that you pay attention to everything a character does, says, and doesn't say because characters like Anthy and Mireille are not blatantly obvious. Is that currently lost?

I don’t think it’s generational at all, no. I don’t know much about the shows you mentioned, but I can say with my experience defending Sansa in the ASOIAF, this is a certain kind of character that is difficult for some to gravitate towards. And on the visual medium I do understand it, because Asami can seem like an inscrutable character, I suppose.

Actually A^3 send me a message awhile back about this, and just to pull quick snippets that I think apply:

Our cultural values are heavily skewed toward sensory pleasure, public success, and individual agency. Think about the content of our blockbuster movies or the types of people who become famous or earn the biggest paychecks in our society.

Introverted people are married to their inner selves and this strength of character is not obvious until tested outwardly. Asami is just another vapidly pretty face until she stands up to her father and electrocutes a few people with her glove, right? The only introverted heroes our culture recognizes are the ones who produce tangible results. For example, the ones who can tackle intractable problems (visionaries, geniuses, or prophets) or the ones who can kick-ass and take names (lone wolf crusaders or martial arts masters). .....

The recent fad of placing women into traditionally male action roles speaks to our collective expectations about who can be strong introverts. Women are supposed to be social and emotional, so seeing them mercilessly killing people as stoic action heroes is a novelty. Introverted women who are perceptive and empathetic get the shortest end of the stick. They are seen as weak and incapable, even though they often silently endure the most heinous injustices and heartaches in our stories. Their silence makes them complicit in their own suffering. Sansa is the perfect example, but watch how people will love her once she inevitably starts to assert herself, as though she was not the same person before that outward display.

I could write a much, much longer post on this, and probably will at some point. I don’t think it’s any great moral failing if someone doesn’t like Asami. But I do think it’s an undervaluing of a skill-set that is not typically viewed as heroic. You can argue its merits in a narrative, but I personally find it incredibly compelling. But maybe I’m just being self-serving?

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A^3′s MBTI Analysis of Suyin and Kuvira

lokgifsandmusings: The wickedly talented A^3 has completed another MBTI analysis, this time a requested one on Suyin and Kuvira. This is a great read, and it really goes along so well with scottpaladin‘s essay  Kuvira and the Great Rejection. The Suyin section also unpacks the Lin/Suyin relationship in a very engaging way. Seriously, a must-read!

Suyin: ENFJ (Fe-Ni-Se-Ti)

Fe-doms are warm, devoted, and persuasive people. They excel at maintaining the delicate balance between individual and collective needs. Because of Ni, they tend to focus on people's personal or spiritual growth. This makes them drawn to adopting ideals or theories that help people live more fulfilling, authentic and harmonious lives. Suyin obviously held strong utopian ideals and used them to build Zaofu culture; she believed that everyone possesses unique talents which should be used to contribute to the community. Her driving goal was to create a space where people were free to explore their potential, and this meant that she was suspicious of authoritarian structures (see: conflict with Lin).

A good way to understand Suyin is to observe how she interacts with people. ENFJs tend to get into everybody's business insofar as they believe they know what is best for you. They have many ideas about how you could live your life better. It is not difficult to imagine that such gestures would be rebuffed or even ridiculed by Toph or Lin. Physical and verbal signs of social bonding are very important to ENFJs because they are the language of a strong community. Thinking types do not speak this language very well and, since Suyin could not find a sense of community at home, it was natural for her to search elsewhere.

Lin saw young Suyin as rebellious, but her misbehavior actually expressed a need to develop natural ENFJ strengths. Fe-doms innately understand that individual behaviors impact society at large, so they want to know how best to behave in order to preserve the values that keep society whole and cohesive. They need to learn about how people are interconnected and obligated to one another. It is necessary for them to explore a variety of relationships/perspectives in order to figure out the most effective ways of improving them. Thus, they can be attracted to all types; Suyin was often drawn to "bad apples" because of an unconscious urge to reform them.

Lin interpreted this as poor decision making and "falling in with the wrong crowd" because, in her mind, there are clear standards of right and wrong and people choose whether or not to follow them; if people break rules, they should be punished accordingly (Te). But Suyin is inclined to believe that, no matter how dark, every perspective has some validity, and her defining strength is being able to incorporate and utilize those positive points to enhance communal life (Fe). She was quite successful at persuading individuals to see beyond themselves and become more productive members of society.

To Lin, service to others is a duty and she performs it willingly as a way to preserve order. Suyin sees service as a way to improve society through combining every person's unique strengths or talents. Both of them value service. Thinking and Feeling types can reach a similar logical conclusion because both want to preserve societal structure, but from completely different angles. Examining their conflict, Suyin forgave Lin because preserving their relationship was more important than past mistakes (Fe), whereas Lin was unable to forgive because it was more important that Suyin admit her wrongdoing and preserve faith in justice (Te). This conflict illustrates the classic F/T divide.

Healthy tertiary Se will prompt ENFJs to enjoy relaxing physical pursuits, especially in the arts because arts have a visible impact on people. Suyin used creative or artistic expression as a way to build teamwork and maintain harmony. But defensive Se can strike every now and then, even in mature ENFJs, and they might focus too much on visible relational markers like admiration, status, or keeping up a persona/image. Suyin did take a little too much pride in her status or persona as "matriarch" or "savior" of bad apples.

Because ENFJs enjoy helping people, their relationships can have a subliminal undercurrent of controlling behavior (at their worst, they are manipulative). They can be relentless in pushing you to be your best and they can be stubborn if they are convinced you are making the wrong choices. (Su knows best. Lin knows you're wrong. Opal knows you're fake. Toph knows you're dumb. Gotta love the Beifongs!) When under stress, ENFJs can become insecure, jealous, or possessive. They might feel slighted and unappreciated when people do not conform to their expectations about proper behavior. This leads them to act out by claiming moral superiority and then they feel further justified in controlling people. This explains Suyin's "inharmonious" behavior as a teen as well as her harsh reaction to Aiwei and Kuvira's betrayals.

Ti functioning is about analyzing, understanding, and predicting how different variables work together, and finding good evidence to support judgments and actions. Ti-doms love to get their hands dirty with the nitty gritty details of dissecting any type of problem or system, but inferior Ti produces highly uncertain conclusions. Because of this, ENFJs might overemphasize safety and security in order to fight against unpredictability (see: dome designs and constantly repeating that Zaofu was the safest place on earth). They also tend to dismiss detailed critical analysis as hairsplitting and veering away from important issues, and this can get them into trouble because they have a hard time finding a consistent standard for decision making when faced with moral dilemmas. Focusing more on relational harmony than critical analysis makes it hard to choose between competing interests, and this produces a tendency to brush off or avoid pressing problems. Suyin did seem to struggle with tough decisions. Her natural ENFJ tendency is to see the positive in each side and reach some middle ground, but some moral dilemmas do not allow for compromise. Sometimes you have to pick a side.

Fe+Ni gives ENFJs a great understanding of how to solve problems for people, but weak Ti makes them unable to apply this skill inwardly; they have trouble with self-mastery. It is not uncommon for ENFJs to dish out great advice only to turn around and have difficulty heeding it themselves (but as idealists, they really do want to heed it). As they mature, Ti should strengthen and prompt them to carefully evaluate the standards they use for decision making, and Suyin was able to straighten out her life by adopting positive ideals to guide her behavior. She was also able to recognize what was best for Opal even when it conflicted with her own expectations.

Other possible types: ESFJ? They are more concerned with the material aspects of a relationship, rather than idealizing it the way Suyin does (consistent with Ni). INFJ? She doesn't display the weaknesses (like perfectionism, physical rigidity, or dissonance regarding material life).

Kuvira: INTJ (Ni-Te-Fi-Se)

(Be warned that because Kuvira is an antagonist, this analysis disproportionately focuses on flaws and weaknesses. I love INTJs!)

Instead of remembering objects, Ni-doms tend to remember relationships between objects or phenomena, particularly patterns of cause and effect. They then apply these patterns to new situations in order to predict possible outcomes. A potential flaw of Ni is a tendency to impose patterns on reality even when they are not applicable, thereby extracting the wrong meaning from a situation. Unchecked Ni can blind a person to important facts or details that contradict its vision, leading to a type of confirmation bias. What's worse, if a pattern has served them well in the past, Ni-doms can become inordinately stubborn about employing it. They will lose their natural flexibility of perspective and come to believe that one particular perspective is the ultimate truth. This exaltation of subjective vision is often the fatal flaw of fictional INTJ villains. Kuvira was no different when she clung to her own vision of the world even in the face of diminishing returns.

INTJs are perhaps more susceptible to this flaw than their INFJ siblings because of Te. Auxiliary functions should balance our dominant ones by turning our attention in the opposite direction. Ni is subjective (only processing information that is personally meaningful), so INFJs have Fe to make them care about feedback from others, and this keeps their thoughts in check. For INTJs, Te should balance Ni by looking for objective truths in the external world. Te observes processes and procedures, trying to understand how things operate in the most effective manner, thereby systematizing messy Ni functioning. Healthy Te should pull INTJs out of their heads and help them feel more connected to material and social life.

Maturing Te makes life predictable, granting people more confidence in their actions and, over time, Kuvira certainly became more self-assured in her ability to control/order the external world. Unfortunately, when taken too far, this can lead to arrogance, especially when combined with the natural tendency of INTJs to be independent and self-motivated. What's worse, inferior Se pushes them into mastery and perfectionism as a way to manage anxiety, so they tend to excel at things in the same methodical way as INFJs. This feeling of mastery can easily compound arrogance over time. Unhealthy INTJs feel they are "above the fray" and convince themselves that much of what concerns other people is trivial. The problem with this type of thinking is that "trivial" is defined by subjective standards (Ni), usually for the purposes of defending one's own behaviors or weaknesses. For someone so young, Kuvira was quite accomplished in leadership, combat and bending, and those abilities did inflate her ego to an unhealthy degree. Her definition of "strength" became too narrow, and it framed how she viewed others (see: her conflict with Korra or Suyin).

Tertiary Fi tends to direct emotional expression inwards, so INTJs are not very outwardly expressive unless they are overwhelmed by stress. They are slow at processing emotions and do so internally, thus it was often difficult to gauge how Kuvira truly felt about people or events. This economy of expression makes it hard for INTJs to navigate social situations gracefully in the way that ENFJs do. Unhealthy Fi can even make INTJs eschew social interaction, thereby limiting their social abilities even more. Or they might overanalyze their own emotions and end up further detaching themselves from people. Fi can also prompt them to personalize issues in abstract ways. Kuvira's own "salvation" as an orphan was an important factor in her desire to help others achieve the same stability, especially after watching Suyin build a stable home for herself in Zaofu.

Using Ni, Kuvira intuited a pattern between stability and creativity; people need a stable life in order to be creative. Sounds reasonable. Te allowed her to confirm and quantify this pattern by observing: her own life, her role in the security forces, and Suyin's emphasis on security. When a pattern is consistently validated, Te turns it into a law or principle. Once Te grasps a "universal" principle, it feels compelled to implement it whenever possible in order to preserve the integrity of INTJ's view of reality. This made Kuvira prioritize stability/order and pursue it in every situation. Therefore, when the Earth kingdom descended into chaos, her natural instinct was to stabilize it, so that it could flourish later on.

One weakness of Ni+Te is that it can mistake correlation for causation. Even though a general pattern might seem valid, the devil is in the details: Zaofu was a small collection of people who were loyal to a particular set of beliefs/ideals, and this collective cultural unity was the third factor or true "cause" of Zaofu's stability and creative success. Kuvira failed to see this because her cognitive perspective was too narrow and her experience was limited only to Zaofu (i.e. small sample size).

Generalizing from a small case like Zaofu into a larger case like the Earth kingdom was not a good idea because it ignored important facts or nuances. Kuvira fell victim to her inferior function of Se by not attending to what the facts were telling her. Firstly, Suyin's role as mentor and caretaker of social cohesion (i.e. ENFJ strength) was essential for Zaofu's success. Being unable to see this important fact meant that Kuvira herself could never fill such a role (aside from whether she had the ability to do so). Secondly, the Earth Kingdom, being enormous, had no unity of thought like Zaofu. Kuvira overlooked a crucial factual detail: a lack of shared culture meant that localized groups, when given the chance, would want to seek self-determination based on their own customs, rather than being forced to adopt a new way of life. Kuvira misinterpreted noncompliance as an act of irrational disobedience and punished it as such, instead of acknowledging the legitimate human need for independence. When confronted with cold hard facts (Se), she could only see the meaning that she had imposed upon the situation (Ni failure). In her mind, her actions were in perfect accordance with (her version of) the truth, so anyone acting against her was merely on the wrong path and needed to be corrected (Te). There was no real malice in her decisions.

All types want to preserve the integrity of reality as they see it. INTJs intensely dislike the feeling of being wrong. This is because they are naturally skeptical. They make an effort to learn about new or different perspectives in order to "fact-check" their beliefs. Then they whittle down the possibilities into one workable truth or unified theory that they can use to make judgments and decisions. When faced with the prospect that your view of reality is flawed, the healthy thing to do is to step back and reconsider, and INTJs can be quite good at doing this when given enough space to do so. However, the magnitude of Kuvira's mission would not allow her even a momentary flash of doubt. The continual stress of military leadership drained her healthy cognitive functioning, pushing her to be defensive and stubborn in the face of reality. But the harder you push back against reality, the harder it will fall on your head later on, and poor Kuvira is now dealing with the consequences of ignoring reality for too long.

In order to grow, Kuvira must first recognize that her strength lies in understanding and not necessarily in implementation; Ni idealism coupled with defensive Se can lead to destructive micromanaging. INTJs are often sharp as tacks but they need to be vigilant about misattributing meaning. They need to be more self-aware about the lenses they are using to view the world, especially when Te-aux is telling them there is no lens. They need to learn how to better incorporate raw factual data (that hasn't been filtered through Ni) as well as emotional needs into their decision making. If only Kuvira had someone to remind her that humans have a variety of valid needs and perspectives, then she might have been more patient and accommodating when pursuing her goals. While she had good ideas, she needed someone to temper her idealism and Baatar Jr was not that person (he was an enabler). INTJs are often attracted to people by way of intellectual intercourse, but what they actually need is a person who can help balance their intellectual life with a varied and meaningful social life.

Some people type Kuvira as ENTJ. I can see it. But what is her go-to defense mechanism (3rd function)? She tends to use moral justifications when reality doesn't go her way (Fi). For instance, if she needs to do something unsavory, she invokes the "for the greater good" defense. How does she manage stress (4th function)? She tries to exert even more control over physical reality (Se). Her master plan was a giant impenetrable robot that only she could operate. ENTJs are less likely to justify their controlling behavior with moral rationalizations, instead, they tend to employ Fi to judge others very harshly. Kuvira considers Suyin "weak" but I think this stemmed from dysfunctional familial dynamics. Actually, she tended to discard or dismiss people based on their usefulness rather than fundamental character flaws, which implies that Fi is not her inferior function. Furthermore, ENTJs are brilliant strategists and Kuvira had too many blind spots. She mythologized her mission and saw herself as a symbolic savior, to the point where she believed herself better than the Avatar. This implies stronger Ni than Te.

Relationships: INTJ + ENFJ

It is easy to see how the two of them could rub each other the wrong way. ENFJs require physical and symbolic gestures of social bonding, so they will tend to judge INTJs as too cold and detached. Since ENFJs are "people fixers" and struggle with decision making, INTJs are likely to judge them as meddlesome and irrational. Suyin doesn't mind watching events evolve organically, only intervening when necessary to promote a balanced resolution (Fe+Ni). Kuvira likes to act preemptively by anticipating problems and achieving the best results (Ni+Te). Suyin prefers to harmonize with her social surroundings (Se) whereas Kuvira needs to distinguish herself from the crowd (Fi).

Suyin successfully drew out Kuvira's talents. Something they both share is an idealistic vision of how the world should be but, unfortunately, their visions did not match up later on. Suyin felt conflicted about unifying the Earth kingdom because it was a lose-lose situation. While she believed strongly in her ideals, Fe and her past experience led her to conclude that trying to impose new ideals on a fractured nation would only lead to resistance and greater conflict. Furthermore, she would be risking the safety and security of Zaofu and her family by becoming the "aggressor" and essentially forcing people to submit to her authority. Her decision was completely logical, derived from solid standards concerning liberty and human well-being. Unfortunately, Kuvira misinterpreted Suyin's misgivings as irrational or lacking moral backbone. She believed that imposing ideals upon people was necessary for building stability (Suyin did employ Aiwei's services after all). Weak Ti made it difficult for Suyin to articulate her stance, while strong Te made it easy for Kuvira to take action and fill the void of leadership.

Suyin should have acknowledged Kuvira's genuine desire to be of service to others. Kuvira should have acknowledged Suyin's strong sense of responsibility to anyone who would be negatively impacted by the consequences of the decision. They could have worked together and balanced each other's weaknesses but, unfortunately, they were unable to reconcile their differences. The stress of making tough moral decisions can exact a harsh toll on relationships.

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A^3 Appreciation Post

New Years Day 2015 I woke up on my friend’s couch a mere 4 hours after falling asleep. I’m a morning person by nature, and always am the first one up. With a pain in my stomach and an ache in my head, I lay staring at the ceiling for sometime, slowly accepting that I was awake for the day (once my mind is on there’s no going back). At last I grabbed my phone and opened up the tumblr app, looking for anything that could distract me.

I noticed I had a few new asks, most about Korrasami. Only a few weeks had passed since the finale, and the “arguments” were still going strong. But also floating in my inbox was a rather lengthy message with the following preface:

As a philosophy graduate, I love this show and Asami was my favorite character from the beginning and I was thrilled to find your blog and share in your thoughts. I am not a public person. I don’t have a blog. I don’t chat online. I’m more of the kind of person who blows the load in one shot, so to speak. So I wrote down all my thoughts on Asami in one shot and I chose to share this “magnum opus” (or my only opus) with you, since you have been so keen to share with others. I hope you don’t find it too long. If you find it good enough and not too long to post on your blog, feel free to do so. You can credit it to “Anonymous Asami Admirer”. Feel free to make corrections if necessary. Or just enjoy it for yourself because you were part of the inspiration - this fan letter is yours now. Oh and happy new year!

With the throbbing in my temple, the last thing I felt like doing was reading any sort of “magnum opus.” But the humility and Sato admiration piqued my interest. I forced myself to continue on:

First off: I think anti-Korrasami-ers fall into 3 main camps: 1) Those who are just plain homophobic: They might mask the hate with various excuses but it’s obvious that a queer relationship is simply distasteful/disgusting to them, so they protest too much, instead of just letting the show be what it is. 2) Those who themselves genuinely prefer Mako over Asami as a romantic interest: This is perfectly understandable as there’s no accounting for taste. Some people just prefer the sort of relationship that Makorra represents - maybe it’s their ideal relationship. ˉ\_(ツ)_/ˉ 3) Those who truly believe Asami and/or her storyline was sorely underdeveloped, so it doesn’t make much sense to cast her as the final romantic choice. I think you’ve gone a long way in debunking this camp. I’d like to build on what you’ve said (hope you don’t mind!).

There are many reasons why Korrasami might seem too subtle or underdeveloped and it has been discussed ad nauseum all around the internet. But what is abundantly certain upon multiple viewings is that Asami was indeed in love with Korra long before Korra was able to reciprocate those feelings. The problem is that taking each Asami “gesture” by itself is not enough to convince anyone definitively, but if everything she did is taken as a whole, the picture becomes a lot clearer. I will try to present the whole picture as I see it.

Then I saw the title: “A Portrait of Asami’s Devotion.” That was it. I propped myself up, ignoring my queasiness, and poured over what is now one of my favorite posts on this blog.

Since that time, A^3 has proven more prolific than I (or they) could have ever imagined, and every single essay is a delight. The reason I’m writing this post now is that sometimes I get asks that praise me from something about it, when I deserve none of the credit. So I just really want to highlight the work of A^3 alone in this post:

A Portrait of Asami’s Devotion to Korra 

Kuvira: Su’s ‘Complicated’ Protégé

Philosophical Meta: Eastern vs. Western thought in LOK

Politics in the Legend of Korra (also a 3-way followup conversation)

MBTI Analysis of Asami and Korra

MBTI Analysis of Linzin

MBTI Analysis of Bopal

MBTI Analysis of Kainora

Do yourself a favor and read all of these!

And thank you, A^3. Had you only submitted “The Portrait of Asami’s Devotion,” it would have more than sufficed. The fact that you’re still producing such amazing and thought-provoking work is truly amazing. And that you’ve chosen my blog as the platform through which you can share it is an honor. Keep doing you.

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Will you do a MTBI analysis of Kuvira? She is one of my personal favorites, most likely do to the fact we are both INTJ. And trust me, INTJ's are very complex people

Well, it’s not actually me who does the MTBI analyses, but the brilliant and enigmatic “Anonymous Asami Admirer” (A^3), who will drop by my inbox and email and grace me with an intimidatingly impressive essay every once in awhile. But A^3 has definitely given Kuvira some serious thought before, so it’s possible?

Idk whether they’ll agree with you about her type (and I’ve never given it any thought), but I’ll just say I love people who test as INTJs! I call you guys my best-friend soulmates, and actually have a few INTJ friends that I’m really close to. Also my sister (ENFP) is dating one, and their relationship is hilarious because it’s pretty:

I will say that in general I take MBTI with a salt-lick (it’s a bit imprecise, scientifically speaking), but I think it’s a cool lens through which to view characters. Like especially breaking the types down into the “sub-functions.” So for me it’s not like “Asami is an INFJ so therefore,” but more “Asami’s exhibited traits XYZ tend to manifest with this pattern of behavior, consistent with the INFJ profile.” I’m just saying this because I’ve gotten some anons that don’t like the MBTI analyses too much, mostly on principal of the unscientific nature of the test. But to me those analyses are great because they’re just in-depth character profiles, which is always neat to see.