MBTI Type: ISTJ
ISTJs often become experts in whatever field interests them the most, and that’s true of Kya. She loves the swamp so much, she becomes an expert in all the different kinds of plants, insects, and birds that live there. She spends hours drawing them and writing down what she knows about them, filling her home with sketches of them, paintings of them, and scribbled facts she has found out. Her mind loves facts and information out of books, especially after she learns to read better, and she winds up becoming an author on factual topics. Kya is very good at taking care of herself, at learning how to earn money, and on paying off her debts so that she can possess the deed to her father’s house. She is also sentimental; though she pushes away her first boyfriend when he comes back into town (he broke her heart by breaking his promise to come back and see her), she still starts to develop feelings for him again. In a twist (spoilers), we find out Kya planned to murder the man who was threatening her life, and did it successfully. She planned it so well, she got herself an alibi, she made it in and out of town without being seen (and nobody recognized her, which meant she had a disguise), and she “took care of the problem.” It doesn’t come out that she got away with murder until her partner is going through her books after her death. That shows how strategically she can think, but her emotions are also a vulnerable spot. She falls in love easily, and then gets hurt easily. She often kicks into hard boundaries, telling people to leave her alone, refusing to talk to them, and also refusing to testify on the stand in her own defense; she tells her lawyer that she trusts people to make up their own mind, in a sense, abdicating herself to whatever they decide. She shows almost no intuition, other than her interest in learning all she can about the world.
Enneagram: 5w6
Kya is a fearful person, who instinctively draws away from other people. She avoided school as a child, even if it meant a free meal, because she would run away and hide in the swamp so that the other kids wouldn’t make fun of her. She does not move toward people, or assume they care about her (it surprises her when the local shopkeeper asks her to please tell him when she comes and goes, so he won’t worry about her “out there on your own”). She is fine with living on her own, taking care of herself, and dealing with her own problems—as we find out at the very end of the film, when we learn that she used her line to 8 to make something happen in her life, for her own safety’s sake. Kyra is slow to show off her talents; she writes a book and draws insects for many years before she sends them off to a publisher, when she finally feels ready. She also pushes people away when they want to help her, and insists on doing things for herself. But her 6 wing does move toward people, especially romantically. She gets her heart broken and then is open to love a second time, but makes an error of judgment and picks the wrong person, trusting them too much, and then being afraid of them when they prove to be violent. Kya does want to share her knowledge with the world, but from a place of reclusiveness; she lives almost like a hermit, but is sweet enough that most people like her, even if they find her a little “strange.”
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