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10 Flaws to Give Your Perfect Characters to Make Them Human

If you're tired of the usual vices like arrogance or impatience, here are some unique (or at least less basic) character flaws to give your perfect characters: 

Pathological Altruism

A character so obsessed with helping others that they end up doing more harm than good. Their inability to let others grow or face consequences creates tension.

2. Moral Narcissism

A character who sees themselves as morally superior to others, constantly justifying selfish or harmful actions because they believe they have the moral high ground.

3. Chronic Self-Sabotage

A character who intentionally undermines their own success, perhaps due to deep-seated feelings of unworthiness, pushing them into frustrating, cyclical failures.

4. Emotional Numbness

Rather than feeling too much, this character feels too little. Their lack of emotional response to critical moments creates isolation and makes it difficult for them to connect with others.

5. Fixation on Legacy

This character is obsessed with how they’ll be remembered after death, often sacrificing present relationships and happiness for a future that’s uncertain.

6. Fear of Irrelevance

A character-driven by the fear that they no longer matter, constantly seeking validation or pursuing extreme measures to stay important in their social or professional circles.

7. Addiction to Novelty

Someone who needs constant newness in their life, whether it’s experiences, relationships, or goals. They may abandon projects, people, or causes once the excitement fades, leaving destruction in their wake.

8. Compulsive Truth-Telling

A character who refuses to lie, even in situations where a lie or omission would be the kinder or more pragmatic choice. This flaw causes unnecessary conflict and social alienation.

9. Over-Identification with Others' Pain

Instead of empathy, this character feels others' pain too intensely, to the point that they can’t function properly in their own life. They’re paralyzed by the suffering of others and fail to act effectively.

10. Reluctant Power

A character who fears their own strength, talent, or influence and is constantly trying to shrink themselves to avoid the responsibility or consequences of wielding it.

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PS: This is my first short-form blog post! Lmk if you liked it and want to see more (I already have them scheduled you don't have a choice)

angst with soulmates, my favorite genre <3 literally<3 <3

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“Irritated fans produce fanfic like irritated oysters produce pearls.”

— Anne Jamison (via pen-in-hand)

| when hands touch..

Lola Tung And Gavin Casalegno as Belly Conklin and Jeremiah Fisher In The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022 - 2023?)

Lily and Remus is out... We need more of Lily and Sirius as best friends.

I'm thinking it started off tense. Sirius resented Lily for convincing James that he needed to change (his best friend was just fine as he was, thank you), but Lily's goodness was contagious and she eventually got through to him too.

Suddenly, gasp, Sirius was helping first years instead of tricking them and it was all Lily's fault. It also didn't help that James wore their good behavior like a badge of honor.

During holiday breaks, he made sure all of James' sappy letters to Lily included a mention of him saying hello. And when he started writing his own, he saved each of her responses in a locked box.

Cobra Kai x Outer Banks

What am I even still doing here?

I cannot relate to the majority of SW fandom, and probably never will due to the pervasive influence of Disney SW (my beloathed). I have never viewed Star Wars as a 'franchise', but rather as a singular story, told in its completion via the Skywalker saga (1977-2005). (‘It is already over. Nothing can be done to change it.’) My very strong opinion is that everything else, whether it be from the Lucas-era or the Dark Times Disney period, has always been just supplementary material. Other fans may claim to feel the same, but I struggle to believe it because sooo many people now view the Prequels and the Original Trilogy in the context of the Disney content, instead of the other way around. Supplementary material means it's supposed to uphold or augment the meaning of the core story, not alter it beyond recognition. Of course people can enjoy all the Disney stuff they want, but I cannot have meta-textual discussions with fellow fans if their reference point is 'Star Wars' as a never-ending franchise rather than as a very specific story that's been complete for nearly 20 years.

the fact that i'm no longer the same age as the protagonists of novels and films i once connected to is so heartbreaking. there was a time when I looked forward to turning their age. i did. and i also outgrew them. i continue to age, but they don't; never will. the immortality of fiction is beautiful, but cruel.

What always strikes me like a punch to the gut, is how happy and in love Anakin looks in this picture.

We all know he loves Padme and to what extents he was willing to go to keep her (Exhibit A: Joining the dark side) but the happiness and love for Padme in his expression when she tells him they're going to be parents is another level.

It just strikes me how truly Anakin, a slave boy who had to watch his mother suffer since childhood, then leave her and see her again when she's dying, leaving with Qui-Gon, only to lose him immediately and then be treated like a misfit with the Jedi, who have told him again and again how attachments are forbidden; how he craves for a family.

His family. Which he can protect and love and cherish. Where he would belong. The happiness he felt at that moment.

That's why he was so afraid to lose something so close to his heart, why he was willing to give up his beliefs and all that he had worked for in his life. Because he wanted that family he had always missed. That's what makes his fall to the dark side even more tragic 💔.