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Windows XP-tan

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Now, this one requires some explanation. The Wikipedia page gives more information than most humans really want to know, but I’ll explain here, too… There’s a huge Japanese image board (like a message board, only based around images) called Futaba Channel, which has spawned a bunch of memes and original characters. XP-tan here is one of them, along with 2K-tan, OS X-tan, Linux-tan and so on… They’re all representations of operating systems. (Although it’s expanded since then…DS-tan is an example.) The “tan” is a corruption of “chan,” which is an affectionate, informal Japanese name suffix. XP-tan here is essentially pretty but useless…

I was thinking about XP-tan because I use Windows XP for my job, since it and Internet Explorer are required for the ETS test rater setup. Thanks to Brian setting up Bootcamp on my system, I can switch back and forth easily, and since I work at home, it helps with the feeling of being done with work for the day… to switch from annoying, ugly XP to my lovely Mac OS is like coming home. (I use the wrong keyboard commands for about an hour, though…) There are various Mac OS-tans, but I couldn’t find one with a design that was as well-recognized as the Windows-based ones, and I didn’t really like the green one that Wikipedia bases its image on…

Tamryn’s Outfit from Emerald Dragon

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This is from a game called Emerald Dragon, and is the outfit of the main female character, Tamryn, a mystical cleric sort. The game appeared on multiple platforms, but the SNES version was recently translated by Eien Ni Hen and released by Nightcrawler of TransCorp. So if you happen to have a fondness for fun, emotional SNES RPGs, download the patch and play it for a bit, it’s a very enjoyable game.

Tamryn herself is very much the RPG maiden archetype — mystical, gentle, indispensable caster of healing spells. (And is there some sort of mysterious, special background possibly involved? No fooling you, RPG fans) The horn at her waist is from her best friend Atrushan, who gave it to her so she could call him whenever she was in danger. The hat? No comment on the hat.

Nightcrawler also hacked Tenshi no Uta: Shiroki Tsubasa no Inori which I did the translation for, and it looks as if that might be the next project he gets to. I’m very excited about it, because it’s such an odd, sweet little game. Where Metal Max Returns attracted fans very easily (tanks! wastelands! tanks! dogs with guns! tanks! what’s not to like?) I think a game based on a love story and plot twists you can see coming a mile away might be a harder sell. But I love the game and can’t wait to see it released. There’s a long ways to go, though, independent of whatever work Nightcrawler still has to do — all the town, cutscene, shop dialogue is done, but there’s some things that didn’t get dumped: special cutscenes, chats with monsters, a ‘talk’ section where you talk with your group, weapon and item names, who knows what else. So even with the main translation done, this could be quite a job.

Blue and gold princess gown (based on a gown from Liana’s Paperdoll Boutique)

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I can almost hear my mom now. “She said her midterm was on Thursday, why isn’t anything up yet?”Poor Mom. ;) This is just an update of one of my old Boutique fantasy gowns. This was one of my favorites; there was something about the blue that I liked. I still remember which blues I used originally (ultramarine and Copenhagen blue)… but arguably I was better at doing gold back then.

Check it out, University of Texas has a paper doll collection. They have a few dolls and outfits online, too, representations of women who donated to the accompanying textile collection; I totally dig December’s Christmas tree dress.

White and Blue Angel Costume (based on a costume from Liana’s Paperdoll Boutique)

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It’s a half hour before midnight and I’ve managed not to break my streak of two days in a row, although not for lack of trying. I started out so nicely this morning with an attempt to recreate my favorite dress from the Oscars, Penélope Cruz’s amazing pink concoction, which will be up here, eventually. But not today; my attempt at the bodice wasn’t quite the right color. Less of a sophisticated pale peachy-pink — more Totally Actress Barbie! pink. Brian said the pattern looked like muscles, or mummy wrappings, and I’ve known him long enough to take it as a compliment… So then I tried Reese Witherspoon’s dress. Twice.

Night came around, and I thought I’d give up and go with what I knew. So here’s a reproduction of one of my old Boutique outfits: a white angel costume with blue edges and absurdly annoying wings. Don’t ask how one is supposed to keep the halo anywhere near Sylvia’s head; the old one didn’t even have a halo, which makes this, at least in theory, an improvement.

I’ve spent a lot of time with my old Boutique outfits lately: a lot of them make me cringe, all these years later, but some of them weren’t half bad. I never did put them back up after I lost my University space, something my mom has often reminded me of, but if I’m feeling particularly uncreative I may redo some of the ones I like. If I’m feeling really uncreative, I may just put up a small set of Boutique outfits and call it a post of historical interest!