MBTI Type: ISTP

Unlike her friends, Tibby is pretty even-tempered, logical, unaffected by what’s going on around her, and takes care of most of her own problems by herself. She takes a particular interest in how movies are created and wants to be a filmmaker herself. She is tactless to the customers at the video store, because she remarks on their taste without thinking how it might reflect on her or endanger her job. She enjoys putting together a fluid piece of art that makes sense. Tibby likes to be doing things and is very hands on in her approach to directing her movies. She has her own flair for style and doesn’t like to look the same way two days in a row. She pays attention to what is happening around her and doesn’t hesitate to leap into action whenever something goes wrong. When she finds a girl unconscious in the super store where she works, Tibby is the first one to call for help, to take the girl’s wallet to find out her name, and to get help on the scene. She becomes visually engaged by video games and gets a thrill out of watching Brian finish off all his levels as he races on to “save the girl from the dragon.” Though she’d never admit it, Tibby is searching for deeper meaning in life. Her cynical attitude covers up her own doubts and insecurities, but in exploring the different things that people care about, and in developing a deep friendship with Bailey, Tibby starts to see and understand the bigger picture. She likes to think about a project and then see it all the way through; her vision for the outcome of her movie develops beforehand but shifts with more information, as she finds the greater truth in Bailey’s words. Once she thinks she might be pregnant, Tibby freaks out and starts worrying about how this will change her life forever … becoming fixated on the future. Her inferior Fe shows in how Tibby is afraid to open herself up emotionally and let people into her heart. She cares about the things that impact her (like Bailey’s illness or her possible pregnancy) but doesn’t really care how other people perceive her behavior. She pulls away from her family and friends whenever she is upset – she goes through her pregnancy scare alone, she refuses to go to the hospital to see Bailey until it is almost too late, and later in the books, she doesn’t open up about her illness to her friends.

Enneagram: 5w6 sp/so

Tibby is fearful of experiencing emotions and forming connections to people, and for that reason, she keeps them at a distance. She pulls away from them, and assumes everyone is going to abandon her, so she prematurely rejects them and refuses to deal with her feelings. When having sex “makes me feel more than I thought it would,” she uses her pregnancy scare as an excuse to isolate herself. In a 5ish way, she sneers at anything that isn’t competent enough, or edgy enough, or “unique.” She is insecure and avoidant, but also wants to be there for her friends (she just doesn’t think she “needs” them). She pretends that she doesn’t care about what others do, but she actually cares a lot—she doesn’t like her friends ignoring her or pulling away from her, and can’t stand it that Cameron is blathering on about all her problems without listening to Tibby or wondering what’s going on with her. She enjoys being “different” from her culture and finding ways to stand out and broadcast her aesthetic, but it all comes from a fear of making connections, of letting people into her heart, and facing the possibility of losing them. She is argumentative, contrarian, and sometimes negative.