Prompt 12 - Shortcomings

What is it that embarrasses your main protagonist / hero / major NPC the most? Is it a decision that turned out to be really poor? Was there some major event, or movement, or cult that they got caught up in that turned out to be "unpopular"? Is it a physical or mental trait they're self-conscious about? How do they react when it is brought up? Have they done anything to rectify whatever the situation is?

There are two possible approaches to this prompt; you can choose either or both: First, everybody has made mistakes. Perhaps they made an error in judgement in the past that resulted in embarrassment. Maybe they reacted to a situation with cowardly avoidance that made others doubt their intent... or excessive bravado that got them into trouble. It might have been a poor business decision that resulted in family ruin, or a romantic tryst that got them into trouble. Alternatively, the source of embarrassment may be something your hero / protagonist really has no control over: a physical deformity... or speech impediment... or illiteracy... or dyslexia... or any of a number of physical, neurological, or mental "differences". But whatever it is, there's something in your character's makeup that they'd rather not talk about - and therefore it will shape how they function in your world.
Here are some thoughts to help you get started:

• What is the nature of the embarrassment? There's lots of suggestions in the paragraph above. Describe what it is - or what happened - to cause the embarrassment.
• What does the character do when the source of embarrassment is brought up by another? Do they withdraw? Do they lash out? Do they swear ultimate revenge?
• Has the character done anything to alleviate the situation? Kings may literally try to rewrite history. People may simply move far away from where some bad thing happened. Your character may simply try to hide a physical shortcoming with clothing, or by avoiding certain behaviors. A mental embarrassment may also be dealt with by avoidance, or by hiring "people" to do what they can't do.

Suggested Template

This is another one where you probably don't need a new article - you may just be adding to your existing Character/Person entry. But whether you use your existing one, or create a new one to focus on this prompt you'll want to take a look at these fill-in boxes on that template:

• Failures & Embarrassments was made for this
• Mental Trauma - if the embarrassment was serious enough
• Vices & Flaws may be appropriate as well
• Personal History always works

The Rules

The only rule in Synergasia is that your worldbuilding is restricted to your area unless you are actively collaborating with a neighbor. If you are collaborating, let us know and we'll make an entry in the Canon articles to notate it.
Other than that, your region is your world. Go for it!
There are no prizes... no judging. An article with 300 words is probably the low end of "enough to be useful", and more than 1500-2000 becomes a "wall of text" that will frighten people off. But there are no hard restrictions on minimum or maximum word count.
We will review your article and will, from time to time, extract certain facts to be included in your region's "Canon" article. These articles will be guides for you in the future, and for anyone you wish to collaborate with. ("Canon" will include things like capital cities... names of rivers, settlements, deities... major past or present events... wars... conquests... You get the idea.)