#simplifying complex ideas

[authormarialberg]

Depth of Cognitive Complexity

It’s already April, and at Experience Writing that means it’s time for NaPoWriMo (National (Global) Poetry Writing Month) and the A-Z Challenge. Complexity by Maria L. Berg 2025 This year, I’m looking at the A-Z of Depth. Have certain definitions of depth peaked your interest? When I first typed up all the definitions of depth, I was intrigued by “sounding.” Sounding is one of the concrete…

[mask131]

It is always very funny to see at Tumblr-folks handling folklore analysis because it SHOWS a lot sometimes when they just take their things out of pop culture, fantasy media and Tumblr posts.

Not that it is a bad way to think or to start. Rather all these things make you appreciate the legends and myths from a modern and current point of view. When you speak of certain creatures as they appear today, you get to some conclusions... But when you present them as what the creature was always about, you prove you are a bit short-sighted or forgot to look at the actual tales.

For example I stumbled upon one post (which I won't link because otherwise I don't mind it and it clearly isn't a misinformation stuff, outside of just some biased reading) that defends the idea that the dragon in Europe always, always represented "the fear of a bad king" or was a metaphor for "dangerous political figures".

... No?

I mean, yes, in modern days, in pop culture, in its handling in modern fantasy, the dragon IS a figure of bad king, sort of, can be read as such and has been read as such (see Discworld). But... that's a modern thing that doesn't fit the actual dragons of legends. People forget that the current "dragon legend" is VERY recent.

For example the post I talk about mentions how dragons are always slayed by knights - and this somehow proves that a king can only be taken down by nobility feuding, or something. It also talks of how dragons breathes fire, presenting it as a core part of its element - the same way as it hoarding gold being somehow part of the core myth from day one (and not just a specific branch of the actual mythical theme, which is "dragons are guardians of treasure", but treasure isnt always gold).

Except... If you just take French folklore, this doesn't work. The post faults in this because among the tales is lists as part of the dragon myth - Beowulf, The Faerie Queene, the legend of Saint George, the Hobbit, Dungeons and Dragons - it lists the Tarasque legend, one of the most famous French dragon tales.

French dragons do not breathe fire, in fact they very RARELY breathe fire. All folklorists and legend experts, but also just anybody who has just looked a bit at French dragon folklore, will tell you they are water-entities who rarely have anything to do with fire per se. And they are not slain by knights - it is usually saints. "Yeah but saints are knights" will say those that are used to saint Georges. Except the saints slaying French dragons are usually either bishops or miraculous women. The Tarasque was defeated by a woman.

Not only that but French dragons weren't even slain at first. Originally they were tamed by the saints, turned into harmless pets. The whole "Let's kill the dragon" imagery came later, and made all these legends of peaceful domination take a bloody turn. And that's because the legend of the "dragon-slaying" in French folklore came a bit later, and no, French dragons were never meant to represent a king. They were meant to represent natural dangers, especially floods or drowning waters. They were deadly rivers, dangerous bogs, that sort of things - in the direct line of the Hydra from Greek mythology, whom people tend to forget is meant to embody poisonous waters, toxic bogs, nefarious marshes, stuff of the sort. Most people agree that originally the French dragon was tamed by saints (often city-building or bridge-building saints) as a metaphor for human communities taming the dangerous floods and wild rivers and hostile swamps while building their cities, their roads, their bridges, etc... Only later did the imagery of the dragon being murdered appeared, due to all sorts of changes and influences in the Church politics and popular imagery.

But to try to claim that the dragon always depicted the motif of the "bad king" is... Quite incorrect. Fafnir isn't a malevolent king. He is a greedy, cursed, malevolent dwarf or dvergr, a supernatural entity twisted by pure supernatural greed. He is an Otherworld threat, not very much human like to begin with - down to his body parts confering magical powers onto people. The "dragons" of Greek mythology are not "evil kings", they are rather leftovers of the primordial chaos. Either they are children of primordial deities from the chaotic times (Ladon) either they are agents of Olympian deities who still embody the part of chaos, disturbance and discord remaining in an ordered, civilized universe (the sea monsters of Poseidon, the snakes of Hera, the dragons of Ares), and they are a mixed up of symbolism - some are devouring sea, others are burning fire, others are deadly poison...

People who know their myths around the world won't be surprised and will just roll their eyes and say "Duh, of course" but it actually still needs to be said because a lot of people don't know it... Originally the dragon is a manifestation of natural disasters, of the elements gold wild, of the destructive weather, of the sea or the land being hostile to humanity itself. Originally the dragon is the flood, the storm, the primordial chaos. The "bad king" dragon is much more recent than you think.

It is just like the "peaceful, beautiful, pure virgin unicorn". Yes there's old if not ancient elements to prove it, and yes it is part of the myth... But unicorns still started out as bloody ugly and freakingly terrifying monsters hellbent on violence and bloodshed. They still had rainbow colored horn, but it was to eviscerate elephants.

The dwarves were dark elves, the "genie" is born out of the "djinn". The three little pigs were pixies, sirens were not mermaids, people get ghouls and zombies VERY wrong, werewolves warlocks and vampires were once one and the same...

Yes, monsters and beasts and entities of legends manifest anxieties, desires, fantasies and allegories of the human world, and quite ancient and vast ones. But it doesn't mean these entities can't change their meaning - while they might represent something now, it doesn't mean they meant something else before.

[braintapes]

evil drawing advice your brushstrokes should be COWARDLY and WHIMPERING and snivelliing pathetically when you draw them. and so you should make as many short, shaky, shivering lines as you possibly can

[wonder-worker]

Friendly reminder:

Elizabeth Woodville did not bring any "assets and advantages" to her marriage and queenship. On the contrary, she was a disadvantageous and unsuitable choice in every way. Historians and commentators need to stop downplaying or softening this for the sake of "defending" Elizabeth because they're ... not defending her. What they're doing is erasing her historical context, downplaying the judgement/criticism she had to face during her life, and disregarding what it says about her own strength of character that she was able to successfully adapt to queenship despite these difficulties.

Like ... no wonder nobody discusses these aspects of Elizabeth's political career when they can't even grasp the bare basics. We're really stuck at level zero here.

[beatcroc]

some rough passes at a logo for the scrapniks... i think they deserve one.

[moe-broey]

Had. An extremely funny vision to revamp Moe's staff.

The design isn't super final, I can never really decide how I want the accents to look... trying to keep them in line with how the Askr trio's weapons look. Especially the signature color magic glow that's present in their special arts!!!

Anna has it too!!!!! You just don't see it bc her art gets cut off in game. Also, additional image bc you don't see the handle v well in her special.

Which is why, here, the green gem is most prominent on Moe's weapon.... geen....... idk if I'm keeping the other ones that look like the summoning circle orbs. It was just something I wanted to try out!

BUT. BUT. The Main Idea here is that Moe added its own touch to the staff. Yeah, the dangly halo was a Neat idea, but this concept is just so much funnier to me..... says SO much about Moe as a character... it is ALWAYS. Making and customizing things. I can also see Moe using the carabiner practically as well! Now, I wonder why it held onto those two feathers in particular... 🤔

[blujayonthewing]

elvish and dwarvish should have logographies in addition to syllabaries or alphabets

[humansarespaceorcsforeal]

"It is sometimes difficult to explain the cosmos to children."

"No it's not. Kids understand the cosmos better than anyone I've ever met. The problem is, as we grow up we feel the need to put the cosmos into terms we feel more comfortable with. It's easier to think about the massive, indescribable, life giving, life ending, soulless but perhaps not inanimate contained combustion that is our sun, if we make it into something infinitely smaller but just as amazing."

"Oh you mean the gorilla thing?"

"Yes Kevin, I mean like the gorilla thing."

as a child being told "the moon controls the tides" with no additional explanation was like. oh okay. you want me to believe in magic? you're talking about magic right now? okay. fine

[psrinklers]

“DC stands for disregard canon” but meant in the way of cutting out bad/bigoted writing and retcons i disagree with, not never consuming the original media

[cemap123]

[pukicho]

hey @pukicho i saw your art and i thought it was super cool! you improved so quickly (really impressive btw), and i was wondering what resources used to study art? and what app/website you digitally draw on? and your brushes if your okay with sharing them? and literally ANY other information you had because i would love to learn how to draw?

i feel like a victorian street rat asking for more bread

I use an XP-Pen Pen Tablet and Clip Studio Paint as my program of choice, but any pencil and notebook will suffice for learning, and may even be better. As for learning, I use books, baby!!! BOOKS! I'll even be nice and tell u which ones, because I am a lover of shared knowledge:

How To Draw by Scott Robtertson - deceptively complex book on perspective. It tells you how to draw a box, I then suggest you draw a fuck-load of boxes in correct perspective before moving forward. Having a strong grasp on planes and perspective allows you to properly grasp the volumes and shape of almost anything. It's the baseline principle to visualizing what u wanna draw. Without simple forms understood in perspective, you merely lack the skills necessary to draw from imagination.

Carlson's guide to landscape Painting - A good book, even if u don't intend to draw landscapes. Tons of clever explanations on lighting and value. Tons of useful relational shortcuts to understand complex scenery in smarter ways. I like the way he explains things, it makes me go ohhhh.

TACO point character drawing 1 & 2 - Two NEAT anatomy reference books. It's mostly just a collection of simplified, anime-esque proportional figure drawings. They're a great reference, but I absolutely wouldn't use it as my only set of books on anatomy. It's still useful to use and learn, but in a more general way - and I can't currently apply everything the book tells me yet, because I haven't learned the forms in more detail first.

The Human Figure by Jon H Vanderpoel - this is a short, but VERY useful anatomy reference book. The Author is from the early 1900s - real oldschool, which is good. He has a very useful, matter-of-fact writing style. This is the better starter book to use in order to remember the proportional relationships of the human body (even then, it's still not enough)

The Practice of Oil Painting & Drawing by Solomon J. Solomon - I'll be honest, this one makes sense to me conceptually, but I cannot fucking execute some of his practices. This dude is from the victorian era, his paintings are in museums and they're too good. It only makes sense that his views and approach to art are headier than some of the other suggestions on this list. The book is still useful, and I presume will only grow in usefulness as I learn. It does still have some cool ideas in the first-half of the book that you can easily apply to your art studies! But the second half is a series of master-derived schools of learning that I have yet to dare touch.

(also check out loomis books. I hear they are good)

ENJOY

[twilightofthesandwiches]

A lot of Deltarune… isn’t quite a refutation or counterargument to Undertale’s themes as much as it is going, like, “I mean, you’re not wrong… but it’s a bit more complicated than that sometimes”. Or, like, elaborating on nuances that were present in Undertale but weren’t given as much focus as Deltarune, as a much longer and more complex game building on Undertale’s themes, can give them.

And it happens most often with Ralsei. Ralsei’s worldview often seems to be an oversimplified and corrupted reflection of Undertale’s themes. Exaggerating them and stripping them of their nuances so that the other characters (mostly Susie) can respond to them and re-introduce nuances and complications back into them.

Most obviously this is done in Chapter 1 with his ultra-Pacifistic and ultra-nice attitude to conflict. His views at the start were a lot more simplified than Undertale, as even a True Pacifist Playthrough requires one to defeat Asgore and Flowey through violence at least once. Plus a bunch of times where Sparing an enemy required an acknowledgment that they can’t be appeased or convinced to back down from a fight. There was sometimes a bit of trickery involved, rather than just 'being nice'.

But these nuances weren’t really Undertale’s narrative focus, the focus was on selling the Player on the value of Pacifism in the first place. So Ralsei’s oversimplification of the idea is a good basis for Deltarune to start putting these nuances to the forefront of the story and really focusing on them, now that Undertale has already established the baseline of “even Random Encounters can be real people with feelings and you should always strive to non-violence.”

And I think a similar thing is kinda happening with his whole…

Which feels to me very reminiscent of…

Like, okay, it is very thematically important that Asriel can’t be ‘saved’ in Undertale. The Royal Siblings Tragedy is a traumatic shadow looming over so many characters in the game, and it’s not something that can be perfectly fixed by being nice or even with Unkillable Time God Powers. Toriel and Asgore and, yes, Flowey/Asriel himself all have character arcs centered around moving on from the tragedy and accepting the present, and would be weakened if a Player could just… magically fix things.

But that doesn’t mean that doesn’t hurt to hear Asriel be so resigned to his fate. Susie Deltarune’s reaction to hearing Ralsei speak so plainly about the idea that he’s just an illusion and that she should prioritize her ‘Real Friends’ very much echoes the emotional reactions of most Undertale Players seeing Asriel ask them to not worry about him and focus on their real friends because he’s already doomed. And in both cases it’s extremely understandable.

The fact that even with Unkillable Time God Powers, the past is the past and there is a value in acceptance and moving on is itself an important nuance in Undertale’s central theme of Determination. With enough Willpower and Defiance, the Player can defy the concept of a kill-or-be-killed world, and free the Monsters from their seemingly hopeless prison, and resist the laws of death and time… it’s a power that comes from a refusal to accept the inevitable. But if you deny everything that goes against your personal will, you’re gonna end up like Flowey, utterly consumed by grief and denial over Chara’s death.

Flowey has to accept that the game between him and the Player is going to end, Asriel has to accept Chara is dead, Asgore has to accept his family will never truly return to what it was before, the Player also has to accept the game is over and that replaying it will just tear away the characters from their happy ending, and that the Asriel they saw at the True Pacifist Ending is gone.

But even with all of that… that doesn’t lessen the emotional pain of watching a little goat boy asking you very kindly and very genuinely to abandon him. It doesn’t make it any less valid for one’s reaction to be “Well, who said I have to leave and forget you? I’m sure that with the pure strength of my heart and the Power of Friendship(TM) I could save you too!!”. It doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking, even frustrating, that this is the thing the game ask you to give up on.

Undertale already added some nuance to the situation, first things first, Asriel does honestly appreciate it if you go all the way back to the start of the game and talk with him. Although he still feels that he's doomed, at least he accepted that Frisk is going to remember him.

Secondly, with Flowey’s Post-Pacifist Dialogue

And especially that Winter Alarm Clock Dialogue…

…both showing that while there was nothing that could be done to stop Asriel from turning back into Flowey, that does not necessarily mean Flowey is doomed. Despite his claims both in his Flowey form and as Original Flavor Goatboy Asriel, Flowey does still show hints that he cares for other people, that he has been truly affected by the events of the True Pacifist Playthrough, that the heart he had as Asriel isn’t actually truly gone…

We’re still dealing with the fact that we can’t undo the trauma of the Royal Siblings Tragedy but… Just because Flowey can’t be magically turned back into the person he was before his Trauma, doesn’t mean he is doomed. What happened happened, but he is still capable of healing and self-improvement. And although he’s still kind of in the margins of the Post Pacifist Friend Group, it doesn’t seem like he’s just been abandoned or forgotten for the sake of the people who are more ‘real’.

So just like with Ralsei’s Pacifism, I think his fatalism and absolute lack of self-worth is an exaggerated and simplified reflection of Asriel's situation. It's kind of a Very Different Thing between Ralsei believing he's ontologically doomed to matter less than Lightners and Asriel believing he's ontologically doomed to be an asshole, but...

It still creates a basic foundation to add nuances and subversions to the point about the importance of moving on and acceptance. Not rejecting it outright, but demonstrating how seemingly clear-cut situations of acceptance can become more complicated.

Because in Susie we now have an actual character to voice the frustrations many players felt about being unable to 'save' Asriel and argue in favor of the desire to never abandon a friend, no matter how doomed or unimportant or lesser he claims he is.

Because now we can better demonstrate the more toxic and unhealthy manifestations of the idea of ‘moving on’. How it can be just as bad as clinging to the past relentlessly.

And allow more time on-screen to explore the nuanced alternatives that aren't either unhealthily clinging to the past or quietly accepting your own lousy fate.

And now we can create more situations where Susie’s instincts to reject acceptance and reject leaving anyone behind and reject ‘moving on’ are actually the unambiguously correct answers.

Not necessarily always, I do think she’ll have to accept that Gerson is dead. And obviously with this being DivorceRune the Divorce Game, the theme of needing to move on from clinging to a past that will never be restored just as you remember it is still very important.

But she has a point, and just like with Pacifism, I think she actually has an important lesson to teach Ralsei specifically.

[luna-azzurra]

Questions for Crafting Problematic Characters

Sure, let's simplify and add some guiding questions to help you navigate the complexities of writing problematic characters:

Understanding Your Character's Mind: Dive into your character's thoughts and feelings. What makes them tick? What fears or desires drive their actions? How do their past experiences shape who they are today?

Looking at Past Hurts: Think about any past traumas or tough experiences your character has faced. How do these experiences affect how they behave now? Do they have unresolved issues that come up in their actions?

Considering Society's Impact: How does the world your character lives in affect them? Do they follow the rules or rebel against them? Are there societal norms they struggle with or don't agree with?

Thinking about Power and Privilege: Does your character have power or privilege in certain situations? How does this affect how they treat others? Do they realize their privilege, or are they blind to it?

Exploring Different Identities: What parts of their identity are most important to your character? How do aspects like their race, gender, or sexuality influence their behavior? Do they face discrimination or stereotypes because of who they are?

Dealing with Right and Wrong: Are there times when your character has to make tough decisions? What moral dilemmas do they face? Do they always do what's right, or do they sometimes make mistakes?

Giving Your Character Control: Does your character have control over their own life? How do they make choices and deal with the consequences? Do they have the power to change, or are they stuck in their ways?

Seeing Through Different Eyes: Whose perspective is the story told from? How does this affect how readers see your character? Do readers understand why your character does what they do, or are they left guessing?

Writing with Respect and Responsibility: Are you being respectful to the people or groups your character represents? Have you done enough research to understand their experiences? Are you telling their story in a way that's honest and fair?

Exploring Big Ideas: What themes or messages do you want your story to convey? How do your characters, especially the problematic ones, help explore these ideas? Are you starting conversations about important issues?

In short, understanding your character's past, their place in society, and their moral compass can help you write them more authentically. Remember to approach sensitive topics with care and to give your characters room to grow and change.

[sleepytoycollection]

Hand sculpted and casted resin statue of Discord reimagined as a G1 My Little Pony: Pony Friends toy.

I love the G1 toys and Pony friends are so cute, when I got into G4 I thought it would be fun to redesign Discord as if he'd been in G1.

He was very tricky to design, as G1 never had a character this complex in it's toy line, but if I took away too much, he'd stop feeling like Discord and more like an original character I'd made up. Which to be fair, happens a lot in toy reboots, look at the difference between G1 and G3 Apple Jack for example, but I wanted to toe the line, not cross it.

Deciding on colors alone took me ages. Brown was not a color G1 used much, if at all, but Discord's main color IS brown, and he didn't look like himself without those muted tones. I did want to simplify his color scheme though, as G1 ponies usually only used a few colors in their paint jobs. The more colorful ponies got their color from the use of different hair colors, not in the paint job itself. A paint job like this would have been expensive to manufacture in the 80's as it is.

I finally settled on this look, as least for this casting. I might make more in the future and play around with different colors.

After six months though, I'm glad to finally have a finished one in my hands! To start with and idea and end up with a physical object you can hold is very satisfying. I hope you all like him as much as I do. c:

[batfluffs]

🍰[OPEN] 3D PIXEL COMMISSIONS!🍰

i have comms open for little low poly 3d models!! i can do humanoids and anthros, whether its fanart or your own characters/OCs! feel free to message me with any questions 💗

if you would like a model of something that doesn't fall under the basic humanoid/anthro shape, message me and we'll see if it's something I'm able to do! :D

the base price for a character model is £45 !

to order, you can message me on tumblr or order through vgen ~

my prices are in GBP, but your payment method will be able to convert it from the currency you use :)

more info/full order form below "keep reading/read more" !!

[ keep reading / read more . . . ]

💗 please make sure that you have read and agree to my terms of service before ordering! i know it's a bit lengthy, but these are always to protect me as the artist and you as the client. even if you choose not to read it, these terms will still apply to you.💗

IMPORTANT: since these are low-res models, i may have to simplify designs/omit minor details, but i'll let you know if that may be the case!~

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ORDER FORM

when you're ready to order, please copy/paste the headings with the heart bullets, fill out your answers, then message the finished form to me!

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thanks so much for reading this and for all your support!! 💗

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> you can find more examples of my pixel models/animations here! <

[vvyrmwood]

instead of dnd i’m going to home brew my own system. i want to run a dual traditional / text based ttrpg and i have some ideas for systems to encourage exploration + character/story development.

thinking about writing a sci-fi dnd campaign