icykalisartblog

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Learning to rig, weight paint, and animate in Blender is a gauntlet, it took days for me to stop the dress (which is basically just a stretched out cube with the ends different sizes!!!) to stop having holes spontaneously grow in it

[icykalisartblog]

Broke: May both sides of your pillow be warm

Woke: I hope all your favorite video game franchises start pumping out buggy products with unfinished narratives that will only ever be addressed in pay2win gacha spinoffs

[icykalisartblog]

Fell Twins Thoughts

Here's more of my Elden Ring yapping I warned was coming (this is cross-posted from Reddit):

I wanted to talk about the Fell Twins boss fight. There are many moments in Elden Ring that moved me, and this was one of them. Because I didn't go to activate Morgott's and Mohg's Great Runes until I had already started the DLC, I noticed some details that add context. I've seen discussion of a few aspects of what the Fell Twins mean in the story, but I think there's more we can feel because of the expansion.

In Elden Ring, there are so many times in which you can just feel, on this deep emotional level, what is happening. Seeing the bridge to the Divine Tower consumed by darkness, the one Leyndell soldier suddenly dead after no clear struggle, and then these Omen looming in the dark, one rushing for you and the other lingering behind... it's definitely a frightening moment. The bolder Omen wields an axe with bloodflame lighting it up, and uses heavier attacks, and the one who waits farther back has a sword and fights more elegantly, and uses holy, but also cursed, magic (it's the dull gold of the games' wraiths, including the ones that haunt Omen).

This all lines up with what we've seen of Mohg and Morgott, their characters and fighting styles. But then why does the bloodflame twin have bloody stumps of horns that were cut off, and the gold twin have very long horns? That seems to be the opposite of what we'd expect. And what does it mean that after the fight, you get the Omenkiller Rollo ashes? And given we know the demigod Omen twins can create illusory manifestations of themselves that look just like them, why are the Fell Twins just regular Omen? Why don't we see a golden seal or smoke with a reddish tinge to it before the fight, which we see with other illusions made by the demigod Omen? What's going on with the Darkness... it looks similar to the Darkness incantation the player can use, but the description of that says that incantation was used by assassins who used to be tarnished. That doesn't sound relevant to Morgott or Mohg at all. What's going on?

Here's where we can look to the DLC. There's another boss that causes the area to be consumed by darkness that looks like this—Curseblade Labirith. Curseblade Meera's spirit ashes, which we get after that fight, say this:

Curseblades appear to dance when they spin their shimmering circular blades. These ascetics, who failed to become tutelary deities, were a scourge for those who attempted to invade the hornsent homeland.

Long ago, before the land was overshadowed by invasion, this scourge was shunned, and the curseblades were imprisoned. It was during this confinement that Meera met Labirith, and upon her death, Labirith was plunged into a devastating darkness.

Now, it all makes sense. The "devastating darkness" is one of grief and pain that a very spiritually-attuned person who has been shunned and locked away is "plunged" into like a terrible nightmare. Although the emotions tied to the ashes we get are completely different (we get someone who Labirith loved, vs. a figure who hunted and caused pain to Omen in the past) it's clear that in both cases, it's this concept or memory of a lingering pain that haunted someone. And I believe that the reason the Omen models aren't the demigods, and why the models are inverted from what we'd expect, is that this is a manifestation of their inner fears and suffering. Morgott hated his horned nature. Mohg intentionally spread his curseblood to others and has uncut horns. And while as the demigods went, in life these twins were comparatively successful in their aims and had high positions despite everything, at their cores there's a past trauma and lowly origin and likely a fear of being that again.

It's only after facing and banishing this lingering nightmare (and Omen are cursed to have nightmares due to Marika's actions) and feeling what these people must have felt in life that we can activate their Great Runes, and see gold and red side-by-side.

[icykalisartblog]

most recent windows 11 update is wiping SSDs

there's been multiple reports of people's computers not booting properly after the windows 11 24H2 KB5063878 update due to it essentially wiping the hard drives (specifically SSDs) on computers and laptops. users have reported their SSDs aren't able to be read/recognized and unable to be seen in bios settings either.

sources: - https://www.windowslatest.com/2025/08/20/microsoft-is-investigating-windows-11-kb5063878-ssd-data-corruption-failure-issue/ - https://www.nichepcgamer.com/archives/windows11-24h2-issue-with-writing-to-the-ssd-is-this-caused-by-kb5063878-kb5062660.html

it's safe to assume all SSDs can be potentially affected by this update, so if you haven't updated yet turn off autoupdates

the bug caused by this update is seemingly triggered by installing/moving/deleting large files (50+ gb), which as simmers is what a lot of us do very pften

if you're unsure what windows version you currently have:

go to settings > system > about (at they very bottom) > and scroll down to see the current OS version

if you do currently have windows 11 24H2:

in settings, click 'Windows update' > 'Update history' > and under 'Quality Updates' check to see if the KB5063878 update is in the list of recently installed updates

don't panic, you can uninstall this update!

while in 'Update History', scroll to the very bottom and click 'Uninstall updates', and click 'Uninstall' for 'Security Update for Microsoft Windows (KB5063878)'

from there, give it some time to remove the update and after pause updates for as long as possible (5 weeks is the longest i think), but it will force an update if there's a big/official update for the fix

if you've already been affected and your computer is not starting or giving errors regarding your hard drive, i recommend visiting small pc repair shops to try data recovery as some have reported placing their SSD in an enclosure seems to work to recover the data

hopefully this is helpful is any kind of way! friendly reminder to back up your data to an external drive routinely!

[icykalisartblog]

I don't think they'd do it because it might cause them to make a slightly smaller boatload of money, but for a while now I've been thinking the Pokémon franchise is one that's absolutely screaming out for having literally any clearly queer characters in it? When I was a kid on my DS seeing things like Elesa saying she wants to see girls or Marlon saying he wants to see guys felt so great back then, and I think it's actually smart for the feelings of characters like Lillie who like the protagonist to be more implicit for the sake of player choice...

...But it's 2025 now! Not every single thing has to be merely implied! I think the Pokémon gacha game especially shows that something is needed because to me it seems like it's gotten to this point where like 1/3 of the entire human cast are in extremely homoerotic relationships but nobody can say any of these people are dating. When characters are literally getting spotlights all about how much they admire each other in Valentine's Day events but everyone only calls them "rivals" or "friends" it's actually embarrassing to witness lol This isn't even getting into how I think it's way past time this series full of genderless pokémon has a non-binary human in a mainline game... pour one out for anybody like me who thought characters like Ilima were going to be NB....

[icykalisartblog]

Mozilla, in its finite wisdom, embedded LLM bots into recent versions of Firefox for the vitally-important purpose of… naming tab groups. Now, some users are noticing CPU and power usage spikes caused by a background process called Inference.

Ugh. Reminder again for Firefox users to visit your about:config page, search for the browser.ml.chat.enabled key, and set that to false:

If yours says true then double-click it until it reads false.

Doing that turns off the AI chatbot features in Firefox, but also the stupid new LLM tab-naming feature that's rolling out.

[icykalisartblog]

I apologize for Elden Ring spam... there is going to be more of it lol I can really see why there are people who have an entire career revolving around discussing the themes of this game. It's so rich and the way it tells stories is something that can really only be done through the video game medium.

There are so many interesting characters. I love how Needle Knight Leda's name isn't pronounced like the Leda people would think of as the most obvious allusion, the Leda of Greek myth, but instead like "lead-ah". It ties into so much about the story. It hints at a more ominous, dangerous, toxic side to her right from the start. It fits her lore, because Needle Knight Leda was once an Oathseeker Knight, and that armor is black with only hints of gold inlay, and then she came to serve Miquella, God of unalloyed (purest) gold. It fits her visual design, in which white and gold is covering the darker metal, in a way that matches how she herself desires a world in which people with her flaws would no longer have them.

Leda's Sword's unique skill, Needle Piercer, is one of my favorite details that highlights this: "Generates ten gold needles which pierce their target all at once. Those pierced are purged of all ailments and special effects alike." Everything that ailed someone but also everything that empowered them are gone. And this fits so well with Miquella's struggles to not just halt but cure his sister's rot and to shed any parts of himself that could hinder him. But in the end, what some see as accursed might be what is the best part of ourselves (also, this skill was a nightmare to get hit by for me since I rely on buffs). And all of this together fits so well with ancient alchemy, a theme that comes up in Elden Ring all the time, since the concept of transmuting lead eventually into gold was a recurring desire throughout history.

I loved how Leda chastises people for being prone to compassion if you assist Hornsent against her invasion given that she wants Miquella's Age of Compassion! She wants compassion in some sense, but wants it imposed. And something else I love about her is how she tries to convince herself of things being awful in the absence of the God she follows, even when the ideas she's holding don't go together. On the one hand, if you try to defend Hornsent, she says, "Man is a compassionate animal, for better or worse." But when she's telling you about him before the charm breaks, she says, "Man is by nature a creature of conquest."

I also like how the fact that Leda and her compatriots are all charmed wasn't some sort of twist in the story either. It wasn't kept secret from the player. Leda was upfront about it from the start:

Did you meet my compatriots? They're quite the congregation. From places as far and wide as you can imagine. Doubtless they'd have all come to blows at first glance... Were it not for the charm Kindly Miquella put upon us. This is what allows us to serve together. The work of a living god.

Ultimately, Leda is someone full of doubt and conflict. She still speaks respectfully toward people she culls, acting as if it's something she sadly has no choice but to go through with, when it's actually her decision. At one point, she mentions "The scent of the killer that slept within me. The stench of crusted blood." Leda thinks of herself as someone who's been tainted by her past actions and flaws, who can't change for the better without outside help. She's different from the opponents we face in the game who are dedicated to stagnation, since she does want change. However, while she wants a gentler world, she doesn't believe in herself enough to simply be the change herself by being compassionate.

[icykalisartblog]

Lump-legged swamp fly, 8/1/2025

It's funny how the most beautiful creatures have some of the most unflattering names (and the larvae and one of the kinds called "rat-tailed maggots"...)

[icykalisartblog]

There is something so unnerving or depressing to be playing for hours and hours and hearing so much about how the Haligtree is a sanctuary for the Albinaurics, these incredibly oppressed people who you even see being hunted by a fellow Tarnished, and then eventually getting there and seeing plenty of Albinaurics near it and in the town that leads to it... but there are none there. And running around being confused at seeing all other manner of creatures, and seeing that the knight who swore to protect them is there, but not being able to find them... but then eventually realizing there are a bunch of Albinauric-shaped cocoons everywhere. They look kind of like the cocoons of domesticated silk moths, too, and some of them look like the Albinaurics inside were bowing in supplication.

There are so many ways to take this, but all of them are depressing as hell to me. If they're encased for their protection, well, then their movements being restricted makes this seem like a pretty sad sanctuary. They don't really have freedom. If they are mid-rebirth into something else, it implies that their forms the way they were originally created somehow wasn't considered enough, that it's viewed as flawed. There are more disturbing options I can think of too, given the only things I found that can make silk in this area are the Kindred of Rot (and the Cleanrot Knights seem to be growing moth wings), and how some of the cocoons that hang from above look more like what a spider does to encase its prey, though I'm pretty sure it's one of the former that are the truth. EDIT: I forgot that Albinaurics don't live very long, so that lends credence to failed rebirthing interpretation.

I just wanted to post this because I loved experiencing this, it's such good environmental storytelling!

[icykalisartblog]

The great thing is that I too can harness the power of gorgeous women murdering people to use against Malenia with Black Knife Tiche or the Nightmaiden and Swordstress spirit ashes

I love playing Gorgeous Women Murdering Me Simulator (Elden Ring) so much

Before the DLC came out I took a long break while looking for the Haligtree and I didn't start playing again until a few days ago, so immediately I was slaughtered by Anastasia, got riddled with arrows by Albinauric archers, sliced open by Loretta, massacred by Millicent's sisters, and now... I have reached Malenia... suffering

[icykalisartblog]

I love playing Gorgeous Women Murdering Me Simulator (Elden Ring) so much

Before the DLC came out I took a long break while looking for the Haligtree and I didn't start playing again until a few days ago, so immediately I was slaughtered by Anastasia, got riddled with arrows by Albinauric archers, sliced open by Loretta, massacred by Millicent's sisters, and now... I have reached Malenia... suffering

[icykalisartblog]

Lucerne moth, 7/22/2025

[icykalisartblog]

I know my fellow artists and creators have been frustrated with the rise of AI on Pinterest and Google.  Many of us find it difficult to serch for good references, tips, and general inspiration for art.  So I want to share my collection of good, free websites for artists, designers, film makers, and creators so we can create without ugly AI images staring in our faces 🙌

Sketchfab

An incredible source for references.  Has a huge collection of 3D animals, architecture, interior rooms, vehicles, food, objects, furniture, nature, memes, characters, etc etc etc. You can literally find several insanely detailed 3D models of the Notre Dame (this one is insane) Models can rotated at any angle as well as zoomed in and out.  You can also change the view of the model to be matcap with flat, colorless planes, wireframe, or base color as opposed to fully rendered.  

Cons: there are many uploads that are random and incredibly specific, which overwhelms the search.  Can be excellent for game designers who want to download models but for artists looking for drawing references, you might have to dig a bit for what you want.  Can be so fun for playing around and using crazy fun references for practicing.

Designspiration

As a photographer and graphic designer and someone who can doomscroll on pinterest forever, this is my favorite for finding inspiration for everything: typography, logos, product mockups, illustration, photography, web design, etc.  Has an amazing feature where you can search for art with specific hex codes!  Probably the coolest feature I’ve seen in search engines, and by far superior to google's color search. This site is mostly for design inspiration, but I feel like if you are super into moodboards, then this is the site for you too especially with the beautiful selection of photography.

Cons: I have no cons, I love this website so much and I used to be addicted to pinterest (still am actually😬) but this is easily my new favorite

Public Works by Cosmos 

Thousands of artworks enter the public domain every year, and this website is a search engine for other 100,000 of those copyright free works.  All of these works are free to edit, use, and sell with few restrictions.

Cons: I personally find the layout for the search feed a bit frustrating to look around in sometimes, because it’s not the typical "scroll up and down" website. But is very dynamic and overall fun to explore.

Same.energy 

This is a good visual search engine that’s a good replacement for Google images and Pinterest.  The minimal words makes it simple and easy, and clicking on an image you like to filter the feed to find similar images.

Cons: this is in beta so it still have some kinks to work out. It seems to struggle with specific searches and some of the images brought up in the search can be repetitive or not relevant.  

Reference Angle

A website for finding face references in any specific angle and any expression for any gender and age.

Cons: I would love this website more if it gave you the ability to customize the light source, but sadly is not an option.  I also feel like there is not a lot of racial diversity in the photos, and some of the images do not match the specific angle. But it is overall a great source for face references

Virtual Lighting Studio by zvork

A good source for light studies.  You can change the source, direction, color, and brightness as well stacking several light sources on top of each other.  

Cons: there isn’t a way to angle the face or change the expression, so it is permanently in portrait mode.  There are four different models and I’m not the biggest fan of some of them…I like the black guy the best because he looks at me kindly instead staring into my soul like the two white guys. The ads are also a bit obnoxious and for the love of god DO NOT USE IN MOBILE!!!  The ads are impossible to get rid of.

Film Grab

An archive of stills from a huge list of movies.  Good for film makers, photographers, art studies, moodboards, inspiration, etc. Has a huge selection of movies and you can search by movie, director, costume designer, aspect ratio, year, genre, and country. You can also hit random post and it'll give you a random movie, which I think is really fun.

Cons: I do not recommend mobile. The mobile does not have the option to search for a specific movie, so you're forced to scroll through the giant A-Z list of directors or films to find the specific film you were looking for.  Another con that I just discovered: a big-ass ad on the top of the website that occasionally advertises AI websites 🤢 (not shown on the screenshots I shared because ew)

Unsplash

Another image search website that has the feeling of Pinterest

Cons: some images are locked for premium only, and the feed is a bit frustrating to scroll through on mobile since they show the images one at a time instead of as a nice collage like pinterest.  Some images can also be irrelevant to the search.

Sending lots of love to my fellow artists and creative peeps out there. AI sucks and it feels like it's overwhelming the creative space. But I promise there is a way to avoid it! Keep creating 💕

[icykalisartblog]

Though it took me literal years to figure out I love how the story of Elden Ring was basically just always this:

I could literally imagine Ranni or Miquella or Fia or any number of other characters saying exactly this XD I will also always appreciate this game for moving me to see beauty in the most disturbing things and to feel such pity, sadness, or even respect for people who end up doing some of the most abominable things possible because they've all been shaped by broken oppressive systems and have basically no frame of reference for anything else

[icykalisartblog]

Tumblr pet peeve: making a post that's about/features multiple characters, then seeing some people who reblog only tagging the male characters who were mentioned and not the female ones

[icykalisartblog]

oh yeah people..... this is what FAME looks like...

[icykalisartblog]

Probably other people have said this at this point but I really think it's interesting that Wyll from BG3 and Beast from DOS2 are so extraordinarily similar, not just as they are in the finished games they're in, but also in terms of how they were developed and what issues were involved with how fans and the developers treated them.

In the final products, both characters are royalty, only have one eye each, are noticeably morally upstanding compared to many other characters in the games they're in, go by a moniker other people coined for them, are traveling heroes, aren't respected by their family, were traumatized by demons, were exiled, and have very, very low self-esteem despite blatantly being heroic.

In terms of their development history, initially both of these characters were moonlighting as heroes but were to in fact not be as heroic as they claimed, and then would have to potentially go on to truly become heroic. But then players really hated them and didn't want to give them a chance, so Larian Studios changed them into being heroic people from the start, but ones who don't believe in themselves. However, they ended up being ignored by many players, and a majority of them seem to consider them nice people but boring. Now, it's not a 1:1 since the response to Wyll was way more polarized in my experience, with there being a dedicated Wyll fandom but then there also being a huge amount of genuine hatred of him or derision of his current character vs. his old one, but I think this can be explained by there being hours of Wyll content and due to Wyll being Black (just to add my personal opinion here, I think both seem great, Wyll as he is now was my favorite character but the old version seems interesting too).

Wyll and Beast also had less romance content/scenes than other characters, and their romances felt like they took more work to trigger. In fact, both characters were bugged in really similar ways... I was lucky enough to avoid the glitch in which an icon would be over Wyll as if he needed to talk about something but then it would never go away, but this happened to me with Beast in one my playthroughs and it actually made one of his romance path scenes impossible for me to see! I also remember there being like, two more romance scenes for every character vs. Beast in DOS2, and basically the same thing being true for Wyll vs. other characters in BG3.

There are definitely still things I'm annoyed about when it comes to Wyll in BG3. I feel like even adding two scenes would be enough to explore his character as much as the others were explored. His Origin route feels really lacking, honestly feeling on par with a DOS2 Origin route in terms of how many unique options there are, not a BG3 Origin route. At the same time, though, I do think the improvement is stark. I remember in DOS2 I really felt disappointed by choice of location for the endgame quests in Beast's story, and I wished that we could have seen the cold Dwarf homeland or something instead. I didn't understand why we never saw the isle he'd been banished to, either. Thank goodness the entire final act of BG3 takes place in the home city Wyll was exiled from and that there are many interactions with the demon who tortured him. I also did feel happy to see that a Wyll fanbase did actually form and that some fans wanted more content with him enough to even feel like modding more in—whereas while it's totally understandable because the game's fanbase in general is small, there just never was a Beast fanbase.