#strengths and flaws

[turtleblogatlast]

I love Raph and haven’t said that enough so to be more specific I love that Raph is a soft boy who loves bear plushies, a gross boy who eats an assortment of things that are definitely better left alone, a smart boy who is more than capable of taking down villains through planning and fortitude alike, a strong boy who is dedicated to training his muscles and fighting prowess, a teenage boy who loves his brothers but is more than happy to tease and roughhouse with them, an angry boy who sometimes lets his anger take a hold of him to cover the fear, a gentle boy who is generous with hugs and affirmations to those he loves, a capable boy who takes on more than should ever be expected of a teenager, a good boy who just wants to be a hero and slowly comes to realize the cost of that duty, a good boy who has no reservations about putting himself in the way of harm coming to his family, a good boy who’s a great brother and son and person and deserves only the best the world has to offer.

[fluffylord]

TWELFTH DOCTOR I THE ZYGON INVERSION

[nightcorecarseatheadrest]

Do you think there’s beauty in anger as well? Do you think kipperlilly saw something beautiful in the face of love’s rage?

[seance]

STEDE BONNET / THE GENTLEMAN PIRATE / CAPTAIN OF THE REVENGE

[grison-in-space]

Troy and Abed were so fucking groundbreaking, man. I don't think I can articulate enough how amazing it felt, and still feels, to have two characters who are characterized so strongly by their neurodivergence featured in the same story. (There is literally an entire subplot of an episode devoted to the concept of Abed being an alien observing humanity from afar.) And neither one of them is a math or science expert! Or white! And they're best friends. And they're both hilarious!

And they're incredibly different people.

I can't think of many pieces of media that achieve that, before or since.

[im-in-andromeda]

okay the scene in s1 ep1 when there is the flashback to the hargreeves waiting to say goodnight to reginald but he doesn’t acknowledge them and allison says ‘he’s always busy’ only to move onto the modern day scene where there are random noises and movements coming from the study?!?!

obviously it’s played for laughs and i know this wasn’t the original intention but the idea of going from the flashback to that scene really makes the study seem haunted for a few seconds, until you realise it’s klaus. the man who is haunted (literally) and plagued by ghosts. storytelling at its peak

[abrahamvanhelsings]

crozier being kidnapped and telling goodsir not to worry because edward will be there on the morrow, completely sure of it, like it's inevitable. edward in fact immediately going to rally the men to get crozier back and finding they held a vote without him and it's been decided they'll leave without crozier (and without the sick). edward having the choice between being left alone with no chance at crozier's rescue or his own survival, or taking up his duty and leading the men onward. crozier in hickey's camp believing in edward's sense of loyalty and edward not showing up, not knowing how edward fought for him. crozier showing up at the final camp seeing edward mutilated but alive like he told him to, only to die. thinking about edward's absolute sense of loyalty to his captain and duty towards the men tearing him apart and it never saves anyone

[batw1nggg]

ive always interpreted postgame hajime/izuru as for the most part separate entities but with a degree of fluidity too (some days they can communicate some days they cant, they can very distinctively tell who’s fronting some days and some days they can’t at all, some memories they share and some memories they don’t and some memories may get mixed up between the two etc etc) but ive always liked to think that komaeda, with his freakishly observant nature, teaches himself how to clock which one is which pretty accurately.

hajime doesn’t always tie his tie evenly, izuru always ties it perfect. izuru always sits with either the worst or best posture youve ever seen, hajime is always somewhere in between. only hajime seems to wear casual clothes. if the tie color is any different from the usual green, that’s izuru. izuru styles his hair a bit neater, and if they’re overdue for a trim, izuru’s probably been fronting for a while. hajime likes his coffee fairly dark, izuru likes it with 10 spoonfuls of sugar.

so using this he can also tell when one is masking as the other (usually it’s izuru masking as hajime because he doesn’t want to deal with everyone —save for komaeda —being an ass/generally weird to him unprompted. theyre still working on that. but hajime has his reasons sometimes too). hajime’s tie is a little too perfect today. he’s being slightly quieter than usual. he recoiled when kazuichi leaned in to clap him on the back — but only slightly. no one else would’ve noticed.

sometimes these conflicting tells don’t indicate one pretending to be the other, but a more merged state. distinguishing that tends to have a larger margin of error, but when one masks as the other, usually the tells are consistently towards one or the other, and when they’re more merged then the tells are mixed (wearing casual clothes but having neat hair but having hajime’s posture but having izuru’s sweet tooth for example).

a couple years postgame i think komaeda learns to tell when they’re talking in headspace too, based on the tiny little changes in expression when they zone out. to tell WHAT theyre talking about komaeda definitely needs situational context (ex: if hajime randomly zones out while youre talking to him, izuru’s probably commenting on something you or he said. given enough context, komaeda can even guess what izuru says too), but he can usually at least tell when theyre talking. hajime’s subconscious facial expressions are more obvious then izuru’s, but if izuru’s brows are a little furrowed while he’s zoned out then they’re talking, and if his face is completely neutral then he’s just zoned out.

of course komaeda is wrong sometimes, because things aren’t that simple. but he tends to be freakishly accurate. once he picks up on who’s who that day, he’ll walk up and refer to them by name and get it right first try and no one knows how. sometimes komaeda only needs to see the back of him for a second or two before he can tell (that’s already three things he can observe: hair, posture, and if the back of the tie is tucked under the shirt collar properly. hajime usually forgets to check that). or sometimes he’ll go “does izuru want to add something?” if he can tell they’re talking to each other and everyone is like how could you tell.

the freakish observation is returned on hajime and izuru’s part of course, but it’s different because komaeda is no Ultimate Analyst or anything. it’s just a gay tendency.

[olis-inkwell-symposium]

A Character’s Flaws vs. Strengths

When it comes to balancing your character’s flaws and strengths, the goal is to create a multidimensional figure that feels real and relatable—someone who’s defined by both their virtues and their imperfections. Here’s how I approach it:

Make the Flaws Integral to the Plot

Characters need their flaws to feel human. But it’s not enough for them to just have these flaws—they should actually affect the story.

When a character’s impatience or distrust leads to mistakes, it makes their growth feel earned. Their flaws should push the narrative forward, not just sit there in the background.

Don’t Overbalance Toward Strengths

One of the biggest traps is giving your characters too many redeeming qualities to offset their weaknesses. A character who’s too good at too many things, with only one tiny fault (that’s conveniently not a big deal), won’t hold the reader’s attention. It’s all about dysfunction; flawed characters who still manage to push through the shit.

Reflect Flaws in Relationships

Let the flaws ripple out. Does a character’s arrogance put them at odds with their best friend?

Maybe their insecurity makes them sabotage a potential love interest. The flaws shouldn’t just affect them personally—they should shape how they interact with the world and the people in it.

Make Strengths Earned

Rather than giving a character prepackaged strengths, have those strengths grow organically from their flaws. Maybe a character’s stubbornness makes them unwilling to give up on a tough quest, or their mistrust means they’re great at detecting lies.

The best strengths are those that arise from a deep understanding of their weaknesses.

Balance in the Journey

Don’t be afraid to let your character break down. Sometimes they’ll fall, make the wrong choice, and face the consequences of their flaws. But that’s what makes their eventual triumphs even sweeter. It’s about letting the flaws and strengths dance together, creating a push-pull dynamic that keeps readers invested.

In the end, flaws and strengths shouldn’t feel separate. They’re two sides of the same coin. It’s in that tension, that friction, where the real depth of a character comes to life. That’s how I build my characters—flawed, messy, deeply human, and it makes them all the more interesting for it.

If you want to see how I pull this off in my worlds like Tenebraethia, Novaxiom, or A Healer’s Vow, check out more over at @oliolioxenfreewrites.

[helpful-writing-tips]

"Your curses are your blessings and your blessings are your curses."

is your character strong-willed? that can easily be stubbornness. is your character compassionate? maybe they give too many chances. are they loyal? than they'll destroy the world for the people they love.

it works the other way around too. maybe your villain only hates the protagonist's people because they love their own and just have a twisted sense of how to protect them. maybe your antagonist is arrogant but they'll be confident in everything they do.

for every human alive, their flaws and strengths are directly related to each other. you can't have one without the other.

credit:@writing-references-yah

[thesinglesock]

movies Astrid: you better stop being a meanie or my boyfriend is going to kick your ass >:(

series Astrid:

[turtleblogatlast]

No but like every time I think about Splinter and what he had to go through just to keep the boys alive, my heart hurts for him so badly. Is he perfect? No not at all, but none of them are and by god does he love his sons.

The fact that all of them are alive, and grew to thrive despite the circumstances surrounding them is a testament of how much Splinter loves his boys. He raised four babies following the most traumatic time of his life, all alone with nothing but the sewers to house them (to hide them.) I feel like he’s not given the credit he deserves for all he’s done.

And I get that it’s easy to hold up his flaws and faults when it comes to parenting, I myself like looking into them because flawed characters are super interesting and said flaws make them more realistic and engaging, but he tries, and again, so many others would have given up on the boys or failed along the way but Splinter didn’t.

He’s their father, for all his faults he did his damndest to make sure they survived.

[sweetnnaivete]

“all we know about james potter—” gonna stop you right there bc actually !!! we know a lot from canon. whether you choose to use it or discard it is up to you, but we do actually know things about him (and the other marauders) !!!

[essektheylyss]

Honestly, it is so funny remembering that Annabeth Chase's literal, stated, canonical fatal flaw is hubris.

Rick Riordan was like, "This clever, neurodivergent preteen girl believes that she is smarter than the gods, and she will get the chance to prove herself right," and he was correct. 😌

[vamprisms]

the scene in judgement day where sarah tries to kill dyson and he turns around and has no idea what he's done and she sees herself from the first film looking back at her and realises she's like. his terminator. punishing him for something that hasn't happened yet and she just breaks under the weight of it all is one of the movie scenes of all time. linda hamilton the actress that you are

[redsugarheart]

I heard people were turning their OCs into Homicipher characters so I tried my hand at it. Here's Seven and Dominic as Homicipher boys!