Fursona Flaws

Symphony · Joined: 13 Apr 2008 Posts: 2417

I tend to like flaws in characters and fursonas. I sometimes wonder if I should have given Constance some real flaws. I actually had one in mind. I thought about her having a drinking problem. Not so bad that she'd be an alcoholic or anything close to it, but more that she'd sometimes get a little too much to drink at parties. Mostly it would lead to her wanting to mate, and then go seeking a young, pretty male or female to seduce.
In the end, I didn't like the idea of her getting drunk, though, as I wanted her to be too classy for that. So I finally decided not to give her any real flaws. I don't know if others see her as flawed the way she is, but I personally don't, and that's not necessarily a good thing.

So what kind of flaws have you give your fursona? Any you had in mind, but decided not to include? What are some good flaws?

Evan_Himmel · Joined: 04 Mar 2009 Posts: 1523

I belive i have said it before, but Evan is deathly afraide of hypodermic needles. His reactions usualy range from quakeing in scilent fear, fainting out right, and/or screaming to the top of his lungs. this being a doberman pincher we are talking about.

45dragoons · Joined: 12 Mar 2010 Posts: 4227

i gave alvy gigantisum so he has a shorter life span so he may only live tell hes around 30 to 40... and alexandra i gave her the odd habbit of when shes drinks and kind of spirits diffrent things will happen from good to very very bad.

furrynerd · Joined: 07 Nov 2009 Posts: 2606

um andrew used to have a drinking problem, but i didn;t focus on it anymore so he still has it jsut not known as much. Also he has low confidence. good self esteem but bad coinfidence.

Wolf Stride · Joined: 18 Dec 2009 Posts: 7523

Well, flaws vary from fur to fur.

Symphony what are Constance's flaws? So far, I honestly haven't seen a single one and the image of a classy, near perfect horse lady comes to mind.

......a damn hot one.

The Adept · Joined: 28 Oct 2009 Posts: 3796

I would say some flaws for Kyle is that he can be very shy and alittle skittish at times not because of anything he drank or did but something in him just clicks and he can be very quite and awkward. it usually occurs when he becomes nervous. he try's to hide it using his job as a excuse saying he has a patient or is behind on his paper work. Though that is never true.

furrynerd · Joined: 07 Nov 2009 Posts: 2606

Well also remembered this Andrew is an awkward fur and cares about his appearance to much (if that is a flaw). Well symphony i don;t see anything wrong with her.

Caroline · Joined: 22 Dec 2008 Posts: 1796

((Hey Symphony,

Okay, I've done some thinking about this, so... hopefully my quick thoughts my help out somewhat.

One of the biggest... misconceptions I've witnessed in my years of various rpg-ing is that most players/people have this idea that flaws = bad ... or flaws = weak... or flaws = makes-a-character-useless... Many rpg games kinda empower this misconception as they "award" players additional character points if that player takes a "flaw" or two. As such, giving a character a flaw gives said character a stigma. In other words, a flaw is a negative trait, instead of a character trait. Sometimes, at best, a flaw is equated to a mixed blessing. However, most gamers and rpg-ers still have this notion that flaws are "bad". As such, try this on for size.

Instead of flaws, consider them "quirks" or "eccentricities" or something in that manner. Eccentricities, quirks, mannersims, oddities, weirdness aren't considered bad... they might be grouped as "not terribly useful"; however, they aren't given the stigma of being a flaw. Caroline has a couple of quirks. She smokes. She wears boys clothing. She has trouble taking complements about her appearance. She likes to go clay-pidgeon shooting. In a game of Warzone (near-future stuff), one of the quirks a character of mine had was that they would say "Oh, I took the test to be a Doomtrooper"... even though they were no where near the quality of such a trooper. Anyway, to use a PBB example, Randy has several... quirks. He's an inept theif, not much of a Don Juan, and constantly slipping into and out of trouble with the law due to his hyjinx. None of these are "bad"... they're his personality traits. Betty has a... mercurial temper. This also isn't seen as "bad", and more is used to help set the moment or be used in comic relief.

As such, if you wanted to flesh out Constance even more... maybe consider giving her some "quirks". You mentioned you were thinking about how you wanted to make Constance a lush. Well... what about giving her the quirk that, one of the reasons she started singing was that, when she gets inebriated, she starts to dance and sign bawdy, sexy, and sassy drinking songs on the table... which, in turn, caught the idea of music teachers or voice teachers or something. And, you could even use the fact that, while Constance is fully comfortable in her sexuality, when she gets her drink on, she starts to sing songs which such passon and enthusiam that would make even her blush.

Anyway, just some quick thoughts. I hope they help you, or... if nothing else, make even more questions pop into your head.))

Mayfield · Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 11718

Hmmmmmm, I've thought of flaws for Rhoda but I've only found one, her being completely ditzy at times.If that counts then yeah, she's got a flaw. I'm sure there are others but I just can't seem to find them. x_x

dragonfly · Joined: 30 Sep 2009 Posts: 8810

a flaw for link is he suffres terribly with nightmares of the death of his brother and the trouble he caused back in london before he fleed to bon bon

another flaw of his witxh i picked is he hates the cold and esopicaley the snow and has to be forced to go out in weather like that

Evan_Himmel · Joined: 04 Mar 2009 Posts: 1523

Caroline wrote: ((Hey Symphony,

Okay, I've done some thinking about this, so... hopefully my quick thoughts my help out somewhat.

One of the biggest... misconceptions I've witnessed in my years of various rpg-ing is that most players/people have this idea that flaws = bad ... or flaws = weak... or flaws = makes-a-character-useless... Many rpg games kinda empower this misconception as they "award" players additional character points if that player takes a "flaw" or two. As such, giving a character a flaw gives said character a stigma. In other words, a flaw is a negative trait, instead of a character trait. Sometimes, at best, a flaw is equated to a mixed blessing. However, most gamers and rpg-ers still have this notion that flaws are "bad". As such, try this on for size.

Instead of flaws, consider them "quirks" or "eccentricities" or something in that manner. Eccentricities, quirks, mannersims, oddities, weirdness aren't considered bad... they might be grouped as "not terribly useful"; however, they aren't given the stigma of being a flaw. Caroline has a couple of quirks. She smokes. She wears boys clothing. She has trouble taking complements about her appearance. She likes to go clay-pidgeon shooting. In a game of Warzone (near-future stuff), one of the quirks a character of mine had was that they would say "Oh, I took the test to be a Doomtrooper"... even though they were no where near the quality of such a trooper. Anyway, to use a PBB example, Randy has several... quirks. He's an inept theif, not much of a Don Juan, and constantly slipping into and out of trouble with the law due to his hyjinx. None of these are "bad"... they're his personality traits. Betty has a... mercurial temper. This also isn't seen as "bad", and more is used to help set the moment or be used in comic relief.

As such, if you wanted to flesh out Constance even more... maybe consider giving her some "quirks". You mentioned you were thinking about how you wanted to make Constance a lush. Well... what about giving her the quirk that, one of the reasons she started singing was that, when she gets inebriated, she starts to dance and sign bawdy, sexy, and sassy drinking songs on the table... which, in turn, caught the idea of music teachers or voice teachers or something. And, you could even use the fact that, while Constance is fully comfortable in her sexuality, when she gets her drink on, she starts to sing songs which such passon and enthusiam that would make even her blush.

Anyway, just some quick thoughts. I hope they help you, or... if nothing else, make even more questions pop into your head.)) "I got a clay pidgon launcher and a couple of shot guns if you care to join me." Evan said as he loaded to two over and under barrel shot guns. The doberman then lights up as cigaret and takes a deep breath.

Symphony · Joined: 13 Apr 2008 Posts: 2417

Wolf Stride wrote:
Symphony what are Constance's flaws? So far, I honestly haven't seen a single one and the image of a classy, near perfect horse lady comes to mind.

......a damn hot one.
I think that if she has any flaws, it's in how other people view her. I didn't give her any myself, and that's what I'm thinking might have been a mistake. That she might have been more interesting with some flaws.

and thank you :wink:

Caroline wrote:
One of the biggest... misconceptions I've witnessed in my years of various rpg-ing is that most players/people have this idea that flaws = bad ... or flaws = weak... or flaws = makes-a-character-useless... Many rpg games kinda empower this misconception as they "award" players additional character points if that player takes a "flaw" or two. As such, giving a character a flaw gives said character a stigma. In other words, a flaw is a negative trait, instead of a character trait. Sometimes, at best, a flaw is equated to a mixed blessing. However, most gamers and rpg-ers still have this notion that flaws are "bad". As such, try this on for size.

Instead of flaws, consider them "quirks" or "eccentricities" or something in that manner. Eccentricities, quirks, mannersims, oddities, weirdness aren't considered bad... they might be grouped as "not terribly useful"; however, they aren't given the stigma of being a flaw. Caroline has a couple of quirks. She smokes. She wears boys clothing. She has trouble taking complements about her appearance. She likes to go clay-pidgeon shooting. In a game of Warzone (near-future stuff), one of the quirks a character of mine had was that they would say "Oh, I took the test to be a Doomtrooper"... even though they were no where near the quality of such a trooper. Anyway, to use a PBB example, Randy has several... quirks. He's an inept theif, not much of a Don Juan, and constantly slipping into and out of trouble with the law due to his hyjinx. None of these are "bad"... they're his personality traits. Betty has a... mercurial temper. This also isn't seen as "bad", and more is used to help set the moment or be used in comic relief.
I like your thoughts on these quirks. Makes me look at fursonas differently. I'm thinking of how these might be applied to Constance, but I seem to keep thinking about the same things over and over again. I'll have to give it some more though.

Caroline wrote:
As such, if you wanted to flesh out Constance even more... maybe consider giving her some "quirks". You mentioned you were thinking about how you wanted to make Constance a lush. Well... what about giving her the quirk that, one of the reasons she started singing was that, when she gets inebriated, she starts to dance and sign bawdy, sexy, and sassy drinking songs on the table... which, in turn, caught the idea of music teachers or voice teachers or something. And, you could even use the fact that, while Constance is fully comfortable in her sexuality, when she gets her drink on, she starts to sing songs which such passon and enthusiam that would make even her blush.

Hmm, I don't know. The image that pops into my head is of a too drunk Constance, behaving like a teenager. I was thinking more along the lines of her becoming more flirtateous in rather obvious ways. Becoming much more eager to mate, and sometimes doing it in rather indiscreet ways.

I think that my ideas may be revolving too much about Constance's sexuality, though. I've made it a central part of her personality, but not everything needs to be about things involving her sexual preferences and desires. I'm starting to consider slight quirks like some of those mentioned in this thread.

Wolf Stride · Joined: 18 Dec 2009 Posts: 7523

Well, Caroline layed the golden law out. Basically anything could be a flaw on how one views a character, be I their personalities, their habits and overally anything they do that might be looked down upon by others.

....I'll follow up with Caroline's usage of the PBB comic as an example. Let's look at William Greenback, or rather, Wilson Green. He has a hell of a gambling problem, which made him spend every last florin of his the very second he entered the Casino. Will people see it as a flaw? Or as personal trait of his that is very, very unbecoming of his already downtroden luck?

Symphony · Joined: 13 Apr 2008 Posts: 2417

Wolf Stride wrote: ....I'll follow up with Caroline's usage of the PBB comic as an example. Let's look at William Greenback, or rather, Wilson Green. He has a hell of a gambling problem, which made him spend every last florin of his the very second he entered the Casino. Will people see it as a flaw? Or as personal trait of his that is very, very unbecoming of his already downtroden luck?
That's a good example. I personally view William as a flawed character, but that's part of what makes him seem real.

Part of my reason for this thread was also the thought of how some characters might seem too good at whatever it is they do. Again it was something I thought of for my own fursona, but given the responses in this thread, I think I'll start looking at these things in a different way. I guess what's important is the character as a whole, and not whether one percieves it as having flaws or not. Having flaws doesn't automatically make a character interesting, and not having any flaws doesn't necessarily make a character boring, either.

Wolf Stride · Joined: 18 Dec 2009 Posts: 7523

Either way, a character that is perfect can sometimes be hard to picture, seeing as it would seem like an ongoing routine of lather, rinse, repeat to the same results. Flaws, quirks, traits, these things help a character seem more real from every perspective.

......and poor William is still gonna be pennyless for a few months.

Catherine_Puce · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 2160

I think that Catherine main flaw is her way she make everything like a manipulation game. All is a game to get what she want. Playing nice to barter information that she will use later to get what she want. Alice main flaw is her pride. She considerate herself superior. In her mind she is from a small elite that should impose her domination over the inferiors ones.

Mes personnages ne sont pas parfait mais ils restent tellement amusant à jouer.

S.P.P.

Rune174 · Joined: 29 May 2009 Posts: 5288

For flaws, everyone should have a few, as I view flaws as a way to gather a measure of interest in stories to keep some form of history as to how they got that way. Like if you saw a scar on somebody, and you know that enough people are interested, it would mean that some things that are as flexible from a person's strength to their weakness means that there are more details that can bring that character to life in a person's mind.