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06-18-2013, 04:32 PM
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#1
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Guest
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Character Flaws
What character flaws do you like in the characters you enjoy?
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06-18-2013, 04:52 PM
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#2
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Literotica Guru
sr71plt is offline
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Mid-Atlantic, USA
Posts: 51,652
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Most of my protagonists have no qualms at all about their sexuality and wanting sex.
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06-18-2013, 05:02 PM
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#3
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Guest
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This message is hidden because sr71plt is on your ignore list.
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06-18-2013, 05:07 PM
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#4
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Literotica Guru
lovecraft68 is offline
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Closer than you think.
Posts: 32,671
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I think I'm enamored with the outwardly successful, but inwardly broken type.
The successful attorney with the looks, money and women, who was badly abused as a child and always has candles lit because he is afraid of the dark.
The powerful bad ass lesbian witch who claims no man is worthy of her, but truth was she was gang raped in her early teens and men make her skin crawl and she harbors a pathological hatred for them.
I enjoy the anti-hero. The character who lets face it, is not a good person, but happens to be in the mix against an even worse person. The lesser of two evils scenario
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06-18-2013, 05:15 PM
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#5
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Guest
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lovecraft68
I think I'm enamored with the outwardly successful, but inwardly broken type.
The successful attorney with the looks, money and women, who was badly abused as a child and always has candles lit because he is afraid of the dark.
The powerful bad ass lesbian witch who claims no man is worthy of her, but truth was she was gang raped in her early teens and men make her skin crawl and she harbors a pathological hatred for them.
I enjoy the anti-hero. The character who lets face it, is not a good person, but happens to be in the mix against an even worse person. The lesser of two evils scenario
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I'm reading Elmore Leonards early western stories, and all his PCs are part Apache, raised by the Apache, and orphaned. The army rescues these guys as teens, then people treat them like crap, but they become formidable forces of one. Whatever comes along they deal with it without whining or appeals for mercy.
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06-18-2013, 09:31 PM
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#6
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Not Quite Here
Cruel2BKind is offline
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 2,996
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Zero confidence. Fearful of confrontation. Lack of social skills. Being too rough. Stuff like that.
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http://www.literotica.com/stories/me...ge=submissions
These be my stories, if you be interested!
Most are gay male, though I have two that are straight, and one that is a How to.
I tend to go for the darker stuff... But people seem to like it okay!
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06-18-2013, 09:41 PM
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#7
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Definitely not a mouse
LadyVer is offline
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Never Land
Posts: 19,008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JAMESBJOHNSON
What character flaws do you like in the characters you enjoy?
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Flaws? I don't know. I like characters who aren't afraid to be vulnerable, who can reveal what's really going on in their minds. But not too much, or it would be a drag; there has to be balance.
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06-19-2013, 12:20 AM
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#8
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Captain Crash
slyc_willie is offline
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: In the flesh
Posts: 17,733
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I like characters who don't know they aren't good at something until they make a colossal mistake and have to deal with the repercussions. Or characters that are actually very good at what they do, but constantly second-guess themselves.
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06-19-2013, 06:43 AM
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#9
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Guest
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyVer
Flaws? I don't know. I like characters who aren't afraid to be vulnerable, who can reveal what's really going on in their minds. But not too much, or it would be a drag; there has to be balance.
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Your comment reminds me of the Civil War diary Thomas Elder kept. He was the commissary officer for the Florida Brigade in Virginia. His constant burden was too few men to collect the food the brigade needed. Slaves were not to be had, because of scarcity.
At Gettysburg the Florida Brigade was wrecked, for all intents and purposes. An obscure sidebar of Picketts Charge was the Florida attack on the Union line after Pickett failed. Lee ordered the attack to help Picketts men retreat, and the Floridians struck, and perished. It was the Florida debris whom Lee made his famous apology to.
Elders diary for July 4th, 1863 notes that sufficient servants are no longer a problem.
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06-19-2013, 08:01 AM
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#10
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Really Experienced
CarolinaPeach is offline
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 100
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I like bumbling fools and the naive.
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06-19-2013, 08:58 AM
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#11
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Dirty Old Man
TxRad is offline
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 35,696
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CarolinaPeach
I like bumbling fools and the naive.
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Then you are in the right thread. 
__________________
Why yes, I am a dirty old man. Thanks for asking. 
What doesn't kill you, will make you stronger. Not to mention, battered, bruised, contused, and completely dazed and confused.
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06-19-2013, 09:11 AM
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#12
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Really Experienced
CarolinaPeach is offline
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 100
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CarolinaPeach
I like bumbling fools and the naive.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TxRad
Then you are in the right thread. 
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I might qualify as both.
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06-19-2013, 11:57 AM
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#13
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Definitely not a mouse
LadyVer is offline
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Never Land
Posts: 19,008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JAMESBJOHNSON
Your comment reminds me of the Civil War diary Thomas Elder kept. He was the commissary officer for the Florida Brigade in Virginia. His constant burden was too few men to collect the food the brigade needed. Slaves were not to be had, because of scarcity.
At Gettysburg the Florida Brigade was wrecked, for all intents and purposes. An obscure sidebar of Picketts Charge was the Florida attack on the Union line after Pickett failed. Lee ordered the attack to help Picketts men retreat, and the Floridians struck, and perished. It was the Florida debris whom Lee made his famous apology to.
Elders diary for July 4th, 1863 notes that sufficient servants are no longer a problem.
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Well, I don't get the correlation. Maybe I'm missing something. I was just saying that vulnerabiility in a character or between real people can be good. In real life I can think of only one instance where I reached out to someone to say what was breaking my heart in a moment of grief and it was heard and responded to in a way that amazed me. But you know how humans are. Frail and broken in some way, imperfect. To have that one moment is more than.some have.
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06-19-2013, 12:36 PM
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#14
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Guest
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyVer
Well, I don't get the correlation. Maybe I'm missing something. I was just saying that vulnerabiility in a character or between real people can be good. In real life I can think of only one instance where I reached out to someone to say what was breaking my heart in a moment of grief and it was heard and responded to in a way that amazed me. But you know how humans are. Frail and broken in some way, imperfect. To have that one moment is more than.some have.
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Once you get the idea that we're always trying to connect with mutants from outer space the despair lessons a little.
OK. You don't get the correlation tho you state that you like vulnerable folks who say what they think but don't obsess about it. And I responded with a reference to a vulnerable commissary officer trying to feed 1000 men with too little help to do it, and when most of his burden is dead he makes a pithy comment, NEVER MIND.
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06-19-2013, 04:10 PM
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#15
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Definitely not a mouse
LadyVer is offline
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Never Land
Posts: 19,008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JAMESBJOHNSON
Once you get the idea that we're always trying to connect with mutants from outer space the despair lessons a little.
OK. You don't get the correlation tho you state that you like vulnerable folks who say what they think but don't obsess about it. And I responded with a reference to a vulnerable commissary officer trying to feed 1000 men with too little help to do it, and when most of his burden is dead he makes a pithy comment, NEVER MIND.
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It would have been more helpful if you had just originally stated most of this in the first comment. I wasn't sure what you were saying in the other comment.

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06-19-2013, 07:24 PM
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#16
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Really Experienced
Obzezzion is offline
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Just the other side of WTF.
Posts: 169
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lovecraft68
I think I'm enamored with the outwardly successful, but inwardly broken type.
The successful attorney with the looks, money and women, who was badly abused as a child and always has candles lit because he is afraid of the dark.
The powerful bad ass lesbian witch who claims no man is worthy of her, but truth was she was gang raped in her early teens and men make her skin crawl and she harbors a pathological hatred for them.
I enjoy the anti-hero. The character who lets face it, is not a good person, but happens to be in the mix against an even worse person. The lesser of two evils scenario
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I'm exactly the opposite of that first one. The more fucked up my characters are, the more fun they are to piss off, kick back, and watch the violence. I, too, am a fan of the anti-hero. The Punisher, as portrayed in the movie (the older one, not the one with John Travolta), is an example of a great antihero imo - like a drunk-half-the-time, line-o-coke-for-breakfast, what-time-do-your-legs-open, o-shit-trouble-better-save-the-world kind of hero.
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About Me: Male, 31, Flexible Redhead; see SRP profile (above) for more details.
My Genres: 1920s-1940s, Futuristic, Sci-Fi, Dark Fantasy (ask)
My Stories (all fiction):
Horror/Mythology: The Vampire's Goddess
Masturbation/Non-Consent: And she cried, "Oh!" (CHI)
Lesbian Sex: And she cried, "Oh!" (CHII), The Sex Doctor (CHI), The Sex Doctor (CHII)
Gay Male: Bi the Way (CHI), Bi the Way (CHII), Long Hair & Lace Panties
BDSM/Lezdom: The Architect’s Girl (CHI)
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06-19-2013, 07:36 PM
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#17
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Literotica Guru
lovecraft68 is offline
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Closer than you think.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Obzezzion
I'm exactly the opposite of that first one. The more fucked up my characters are, the more fun they are to piss off, kick back, and watch the violence. I, too, am a fan of the anti-hero. The Punisher, as portrayed in the movie (the older one, not the one with John Travolta), is an example of a great antihero imo - like a drunk-half-the-time, line-o-coke-for-breakfast, what-time-do-your-legs-open, o-shit-trouble-better-save-the-world kind of hero.
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The older Punisher? The one with Dolph Lundgren?
Man you are the only person I know who even remembers that movie and it was pretty damn good.
But yes, the Punisher, who I think was Marvel's first real anti hero (although Magneto was already demonstrating that flawed nobility by then)
It is very telling of society that the old fashioned white knight and the boy scout type do gooders like Superman are now scoffed at and the troubled hero or anti hero is all the rage.
Life has gone from black and white of simpler times to what it truly is
Gray.
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06-19-2013, 09:46 PM
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#18
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Really Experienced
Obzezzion is offline
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Just the other side of WTF.
Posts: 169
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lovecraft68
The older Punisher? The one with Dolph Lundgren?
Man you are the only person I know who even remembers that movie and it was pretty damn good.
But yes, the Punisher, who I think was Marvel's first real anti hero (although Magneto was already demonstrating that flawed nobility by then)
It is very telling of society that the old fashioned white knight and the boy scout type do gooders like Superman are now scoffed at and the troubled hero or anti hero is all the rage.
Life has gone from black and white of simpler times to what it truly is
Gray.
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Lmao. Yeah, and I prefer the older one. The newer one is good but it doesn't have that same gritty, beat-up, fuck-you-and-die attitude or look to it. It actually feels like they didn't even try, to be honest.
And don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of Superman (although I'm loving his new uniform - no more exterior underwear). But I also like antiheroes. Actually, Spider-Man is one of my faves - although he's sort of a clean-cut antihero. But yeah...
__________________
My SRP Profile
My Plots
About Me: Male, 31, Flexible Redhead; see SRP profile (above) for more details.
My Genres: 1920s-1940s, Futuristic, Sci-Fi, Dark Fantasy (ask)
My Stories (all fiction):
Horror/Mythology: The Vampire's Goddess
Masturbation/Non-Consent: And she cried, "Oh!" (CHI)
Lesbian Sex: And she cried, "Oh!" (CHII), The Sex Doctor (CHI), The Sex Doctor (CHII)
Gay Male: Bi the Way (CHI), Bi the Way (CHII), Long Hair & Lace Panties
BDSM/Lezdom: The Architect’s Girl (CHI)
Trans/Cross-dressing: Party Favors
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06-20-2013, 12:48 PM
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#19
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Really Experienced
RuzieD is offline
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 129
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I've notice a lot of people like their MC's to be slightly socially awkward. I think I've fulfilled that stereo-type.
Not sure if it is a flaw, but I like characters that are a little non-conformist, but sometimes not always realizing it themselves. I once told a fantasy story in which one character was overly cautious and fearful, while another was reckless and prideful. That was fun.
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06-20-2013, 03:04 PM
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#20
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Virgin
phantasy19 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 4
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Have a look into Nicomachean (sp?) ethics, or Aristotle's virtues, the golden mean, etc.
They all mean the same things: vices and virtues. If you don't already know, Aristotle taught that walking the middle path between excess and deficiency was the right way to life.
For example, someone who is a coward is guilty of a deficiency of bravery. Someone who is rash and rushes headfirst in is guilty of an excess of it.
Being brave but steady when the time is right is a virtue.
So in other words, giving characters a deficiency or an excess of a virtue is a great way to insert character flaws and flesh them out.
Example: John is a succesful lawyer with a few houses to his name and a huge fortune tucked away. However he measures his success by money, and rarely shares it with anybody.
For all his fortune, he is tight, mean and hard-spirited. He has an excess of pride and a deficiency of generosity, beleiving himself to be above others that are poorer.
If you wanted to make him more endearing, however, then give him a deficiency of confidence. He's chronically shy. His success comes from his academic skills, not his interpersonal skills. He hates people becuase he can't relate to them.
And so on, you keep adding them until you have a character you are happy with. I love characters like that becuase the scope is always there for them to rise above it and move from deficiency/excess of a trait, to virtue and balance, which brings catharsis to a story.
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06-20-2013, 03:10 PM
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#21
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Literotica Guru
MaxSebastian is offline
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: London, UK
Posts: 530
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The flaw I like best is not-being-a-billionaire.
I know it's quite a common flaw in real life, I'm quite partial to it in fiction, too.
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06-20-2013, 05:09 PM
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#22
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At home with LiteTouch10.
Cinner is offline
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Heaven on Earth
Posts: 33,333
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I like social incompetence: the successful author who is caught by his "biggest fan" blowing his nose noisily outside the party; the woman caught by her boss licking the plate holding a delectable treat in a side room at the office party, the couple who try to kiss each other but only hit their teeth together, the person who is either under or overdressed for an event... 
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open the curtains of your being
clothe you in a further nudity
uncover the bodies of your body
My hands
invent another body for your body.
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CINNER'S STUFF
The Wages of Cin
(All my threads. I'm still trying to psych myself up to do a photo thread in the AmPic forum... We will see...)
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06-20-2013, 05:30 PM
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#23
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Guest
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Eating boogers. Girl farts. Pulling a wedgie from the crack of your ass.
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06-21-2013, 02:35 AM
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#24
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I dream, therefore I am
LaRascasse is offline
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: A kite dancing in a hurricane.
Posts: 1,477
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Characters who have been through incredible tragedy, suffered loss and still find it within themselves to hope for the best. Characters who choose to wade in the darkness, praying for light at the end of the tunnel.
In short, misguided optimists.
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My stories in case you are interested. Offbeat, unconventional and just a bit dark. Just a bit, I swear
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
-William Blake
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06-21-2013, 02:50 AM
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#25
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Captain Crash
slyc_willie is offline
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: In the flesh
Posts: 17,733
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LaRascasse
Characters who have been through incredible tragedy, suffered loss and still find it within themselves to hope for the best. Characters who choose to wade in the darkness, praying for light at the end of the tunnel.
In short, misguided optimists.
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You like martyred heroes. I do, too. 
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