#why am i even explaining no one cares

[bat-the-misfit]

just to explain what i meant with "being actually different" in yesterday's post i'm gonna use Frankenstein and the Monster as an example:

the Monster is said to be Victor's foil, but in reality that's Victor's perspective. While he is "human, good-looking and intelligent", the Monster is "inhumane, grotesque and dumb". but these things don't really make them different.

this is not to say Mary is a bad writer, in fact i thought the book was so freaking great i reread it twice. what i mean is that the Monster is only a foil in Victor's view.

if you're a mbti nerd like me, listen to this: Frankenstein's an INTP and the Monster is often said to be an INFP. that just shows how NOT different they are.

they're both IxxP types, so their temperament is the same - they are both Ji doms. their inferior function is a Je function. They both make decisons on what they think is the best option ignoring what the world thinks about it.

Frankenstein wants to kill the Monster bc his whole existence does not make sense to him, it's not "correct" a monster keeps walking around like a human when they're not one in his logical perspective (Ti). He doesn't really care the Monster might actually have feelings and wants to be human (inf Fe).

the Monster wants to "feel right", to feel like an actual human being, to experience the most beautiful feeling humans can ever feel: love. Everything he does is to be able to feel "right" (Fi) and when he gets rejected by everyone for his appearance, he gets in a Te grip (ex. killing that boy) and forgets every single moral principle and value he had as most important to him bc he could feel more human bc of them. He does not actually think how can he efficiently show his value to society by proving it in practical ways to people around him (inf Te).

they both lead by making decisions that the believe is the best one (Victor: i kill the monster > everything will be alright again / Monster: i will be generous and give this family gifts > they will love me), the difference is that Victor prefers what makes logical sense to him while the Monster does what feels right to him. Just that.

At the same time they both show their inferior functions similarly when it comes to how they think they are going to be seen by society: Victor fears being seen as evil and being hated by everyone for creating the Monster (inf Fe) while the Monster fears not being able to fit in and have a "normal life" (having to work, gathering food, all the practical shit) like everyone else (inf Te).

they both use auxiliary Ne and tertiary Si. right now i don't remember any Ne things i could say about them bc it's been years i last read Frankenstein but i do remember both of them described the places they were with so much richness of detail i could not not mention their tertiary Si. That might be bc Mary may use Si but idk so meh just gonna keep quiet about that.

they are actually somewhat similar in a cognitive way. the "foil" thing is only in Frankenstein's mind and they actually have a lot in common.

when i said i wanted my characters to be "actually" different i meant that in a cognitive way as well. not their vibes, aesthetics, tastes, but the way they perceive information and make decisions. that's not to say all "foil" characters are not valid and shitty. just that i, Bat, want my foil characters to be more deeply different, in my case a in cognitive way.

well that's it 👍