Bella's OS-tan Artwork Thread

[C-Chan]

*blink blink*  '__'

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THAAAAAAAAAAANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!

*SUPER NOVA SWOON*



Added after 1 minutes:

(No but seriously, I'll be right back to comment properly on this one.  Thank you so much for the beautiful present, Bella-hime!  You say it's not finished, but it means the world to me!  ^v^)

Added after 17 hours 33 minutes:

Sigh...sorry for not being able to check in more often...this is another one of my hectic times of the year, before my beloved "fall lull" and subsequent "winter lull". Come October I should be able to check in quite a bit more, and by mid October I'm sure you won't be able to get rid of me ^^

I'm still dying of curiosity to see what entails the daily life of Bella-hime.  It still says "student" in her profile, but I'm wondering now if that's outdated....

Or perhaps not necessarily what I/we assume.... ^.^

Hmmm...the Mozilla sisters have a mommy...?

Yepper Pepper.  

I can't wait to see this game  

Actually, today I had another very dangerous urge to create one of those overly-ambitious ones -- and I've been trying hard to stifle that nonsense, but it keeps resurfacing.  ^^;

It would be a very simple old-RPGeque game centered around the Binteji Renmei.  It would have elements of RPG, RTS, social/city simulations and "collect them all" games.

It starts off with the founding of the BR, at which point Amiga-sama, ][-chan, GS/OS, Lisa-chan, Windows 1.0-chan, and Windows 2.0-chan are playable characters.  Each has their fighting style (or lack thereof), speech mannerisms, and of course talents.  Amiga-sama is a multi-role character whose good at many things and has perpetually-good morale and endurance.  ][-chan is a great short and long-range fighter, knows how to grow food (and teach others), but has fairly low speed and hit points.  GS/OS-sama is the greatest fighter among them at startup, but generally not very good at much of anything else.  Both Lisa-chan and 1.0-chan don't have exceptional talents and their fighting skills are non-existent, but they have almost interminable endurance for boring, reptitive tasks (such as knitting or carrying stuff) and their presence helps maintain morale and happiness.  2.0-chan has poor fighting skills and overall low endurance/hit points, but she's the only one at startup who can build (and teach others to build) strong building structures, and is key to getting ][-chan's simple hut expanded to a decent living place.  ^^

The key at the beginning of the game is the same as most Sim city/town/etc simulators -- expand the BR and build up resources so that you start attracting (and/or maintaining) potential new members.  This is done by expanding the crop fields, building extra living quarters and storage sheds, refurbishing broken appliances into working ones, fighting off viruses and bootlegs in the vicinity, etc.  The player could take direct control of up to three characters at a time, but the real goal is to delegate the tasks properly so the right number of people work on the right number of things.  With so few OS-tans at first, and with no communications grid set up, it's dangerous to spread the OS-tans too far.

New members start to introduce new skills that help expand the technology tree further (and add an extra helping hand).  PET-chan, for example, would introduce fishing and boating, Pilot-chan flying and trade, ZX-Spectrum-tan higher grades of teaching and research (the more the other OS-tans are taught, the more advanced tech trees become available).  There would also be various non-vintage-tans wandering around the map randomly -- a few offer trouble, many a friendly conversation or valuable information, but a couple offer a useful service such as temporary volunteer work, simple bartering, or a financial reward for a simple task or item that can bring in some money.

If mismanaged -- and all the new members leave starved and unhappy, and the buildings/fields created destroyed by rampaging malware-tans -- than the player starts from scratch.  If well-played, however, the BR becomes a bustling mini-metropolis of activity, with control and influence over every part of the mini World Map, and with activities essentially self-sustaining.

....

In short -- yeah, this isn't gonna happen.  ^^;
But I suppose it's a nice thing to aspire to in case my Concentration game ends up reasonably successful.  ^__^

If she looks tired, that's because she is. Remember...? Getting up at all hours of the morning because she cannot keep track of time.

And she reminds me of a 1920's girl.  After she yawns, I can picture her dancing the Charleston.  ^^'

Now all I have to add is TSS/8 (the mechanic), Tenex (the Sinophile), BATCH-11 (the crazy knife-wielder) and VMS-sama (the nosebleed inducer)!

I'm loading a few swoons in the torpedo-door bays as we speak.  ^___^

Uh oh, C-Chan's giddy...

...dare I show him his birthday gift (which is still in beta)....?

SURPRISE!

ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH BELLA-HIME!!!  ^V^

Both horses are based on pictures I've taken. I kinda wanted the horses to represent hard drives and their size, with is why PCLOS's horse is much larger than SAM-chan's. PCLOS-tan's horse is an Arabian, considered the most ancient of all "modern breeds"; this is one of my favorite breeds of horse. They are famed for their nimbleness, hardiness, and adaptablity, and known for their great intuition and intelligence; but derided by some as being too difficult and hotheaded. Arabians are probably one of the few horse breeds that can, quite easily, outwit their riders, learn to take advantage of every flaw, and can figure out how to turn this on the rider. But if handled properly, they are willing to give their all for their rider, and can make great bonds with humans.

Figured PCLOS-sama would offer the perfect excuse for you to draw a horse.  ^__^
Not sure if you'll add more details to the horses post-Beta, but as they are they are gorgeous -- the detail is exquisite, and offers the same kind of anatomical-correctness that Anime artists tend to give their animal characters (I've always liked the fact that cats look like cats, and not like Felix).  ^^;

SAM-chan's horse is modeled on the Shetland Pony, a tiny, mischievous breed from Scotland. Shetland Ponies are the classic kid's horse; they are small, fat, and furry, with a wicked streak of gluttony, and are known for being sharp-witted and feisty. In case you were wondering, the pony's bridle, saddle and SAM-chan's britches, hat and tall boots are an allusion to the gear worn in the sport of dressage, a precision equestrian event that has it's roots in western Europe and is very popular in Germany.

AHHH!!!  Potty mouth!!!  ^0^

*grabs shower brush and soap*

Oh wait,... that's "Shetland" Pony.  My mistake. ^^'

You can copy and paste the horse coments above onto here -- the same applies.  ^.^

SAM-chan looks adorable (more so after you explained the dressage bit), and I can imagine her mouse clinging for dear life after the hat flew right past over him.  ^__^

I would have given PCLOS-tan a hat, but I'm no good at drawing cowboy hats--and besides which, it would've covered too much hair.

And actually, it wouldn't be uncommon for her to latch her hat behind her back, especially if she's expecting to ride REAL fast as she would being the maverick that she is.  ^___^

But as I said, it's still in beta, as more detail is needed on the saddlery, as well as putting in PCLOS and SAM-chan's hands, and doing hair highlighting. But it's a start. I should also note that these are the first characters I've drawn entirely on the computer, with no guide sketch (OS/8-tan being the second)

It's a birthday picture, so I will offer nothing but showering and praise in this instance. ^.^
It's up to you to take care of any niggles you feel might need to be corrected for the final.  ^___^
But if it's your first 100% digital computer drawing, then congratulations!  (or should I say, welcome to my world...) ^v^

Not sure how long this might have taken vs. sketching it first, but the results are great for a first attempt.  ^^

And in case you were wondering but weren't able to see it...yes, that is a C-Chan cameo there...

Fufufu!  I just noticed I'm underneath a great bit of shade.  ^.^
*nosebleeds*

Now if you'll excuse me....  I gotta take a quick visit to Baikonaur.

No real reason.... I swear..... ^____^

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*explodes in distance*

[Chocofreak13]

tasty. ~^_^~ your art is making me a bit jealous. (that, and the fact that you actually have the time for digital coloring! O_O;)

[C-Chan]

Oh now, it's not really hard (or necessarily time-consuming) to do digital coloring, especially if one is using Inkscape.  Give it a shot -- it's a free program.  ^^

http://inkscape.org/

[NejinOniwa]

By the way, something seems to be the wrong with Bella's Photobucketeering. Check that up, would you? The images aren't showan.

[C-Chan]

Hmmm...  I seem to have no trouble with them (viewing them from home).  On the other hand, I have heard a lot of problems coming from Photobucket as of late.... might be related.  8(

[NejinOniwa]

Hum. I see them now. Wtf. Oh well, all's well that ends well I guess.

[Bella]

Oh gawd...what a horrific month this has been... I've lived though the start major recession and some terrible weather including a HURRICANE. I was still helping my family with the last few major photography jobs of the season--the bad part being not a huge workload, but the fact that frivolous purchases aren't so popular at a time like this. Not to mention the frustrating equipment malfunctions and a near-devastating business miscalculation on my boss' part. Add in my studying and...well, maybe you can see why time was a bit short for me.

If any good has come from this situation, it's that I'm getting to stay at home over the holidays, instead of going out to the Southwest on vacation; I really love being near my close relatives and friends at that time of the year.

Ironically, the time when I had the least on my plate were over the weekends while helping out my family-- but these were mostly spent in...crushingly dull...towns in rural New England, where I couldn't even fathom searching around to find a library or cafe that I could do a bit of web surfing from. This isolation may not have been entirely bad...for awhile I had actually lost a bit of inspiration; and rather than waiting around for it to find me, I decided to track it down and find it. I had the desire to draw something, after all, so I took initiative and jump-started it by making some chibis of characters I had wanted to draw for some time. This is a milestone for me in some ways, as these are some of the only vector sketches I've attempted free of a hand-drawn sketch first (aside from the PCLOS/SAM-chan and OS/8-tan drawings) and are likly the most efficient drawings I've done to date. I also found the time to work on chapter three of my comic; the dialogue is planned out, the panels planned, but I still have some inking to go on it.

But, thank goodness, it looks like things have evened out for me. I wish I could have checked in more often, and I'm very sorry for not finding the time, but now I promise you won't be able to get rid of me. And I don't promise things unless I mean them.

First off, I want to just say that I'm about done with C-Chan's belated birthday gift. I should be able to post the finished product within a few days :3

For the time being, I'll post the chibis. Each character was drawn completly in Inkscape, using geometric shapes (the circle and square) for the basic forms. It took a few minutes to do the forms for each, then about 45 to an hour to do the vector sketch and shading. I do think I've found a very efficient way to do chibis...I might make a tutorial or at least post the SVG files so people can see how I drew them.

First off, BSD and AIX-tan:



BSD-tan's outfit and weapon are based off of the magical BSD-girl mascot, but made a bit more mature. AIX, for those who need a refresher, is considered by the Multicians to be "A Multics-like OS posing as a Unix"; it is an IBM Unix that does have some features present in Multics and TSS/360. So it's fitting that AIX-tan would have an unusual love for the finer things in life, and love to dress fancily.

I do suppose she'd be one of the few Unixen who would be overjoyed and at peace with finding out that Multics-sama is her grandmother.

Next up, Vi (/Vim?), (GNU) Emacs, and Red-kun:



Vi-kun is quiet and efficent; but some find him difficult to work with, being a bit tempermental and shy. However, many would like his intelligence and no-nonsense attitude, and his ability to work even with sparse resources available. Physically he's on the short side, and around 14 or 15 years old. Being a fervent follower of Unix Philosophy and sharing a few traits with her, I suppose one of his closest friends would be Unix-sama; BSD-san would be another, both knowing each other for decades and having the same "father".

Emacs-kun is the object of much rivalry with Vi-kun. Excepting intelligence, he would be the opposite of Vi-kun in almost every way: charismatic, mature, handsome and tall, a great speaker and the heartthrob of many a fangirl. He is a hint on the vain side, spending more time on his hair and clothing than most girls he knows. While he's mostly associated with Unix-tans, he would have friends in all circles; even the Mac-tans would admire his exceptional smarts and good-looks.

You wouldn't know it to look at him, but one of his best friends would be ITS-san. A believer in the GNU project, he was brought up in the hacker culture of MIT and witnessed its downfall; he would be most comforable when in the company of like-minded open-source types (and would probably be best friends with the Linuxes).

Red-kun is, of course, a follower of VMS-sama, going back to their military days when VMS-sama was his commanding officer. Somehow I see him as the opposite of VMS-sama; hotheaded, smart-mouthed, and willing to pick a fight with anyone, even though he's prone to getting his butt kicked. He would love reading, however; probably the only time he would be annoying people around him is when his head's in a book.

I do remember C-Chan mentioned thinking Emacs-kun was like a certain character from Battlestar Galatica (Dr. Baltar, or someone...?); while I've regrettably not seen that series, I now think I can draw a comparison between Red-kun and Sawyer, a sly Southern con man from my favorite cult hit, Lost (OMG a Lost reference?!). Both are temperamental, prone to rows, and boorish, yet very smart and inexplicable bookworms, so it seems to work. I wonder if he would have Sawyer's knack for giving nicknames to everyone and everything-- VMS-sama would undoubtedly be called "Sharky"; RSTS, eCOS, and VxWorks-tan would probably be known as "Bulldog, Hot Stuff, and Space Cowgirl" to him. And Vi and Emacs-kun would likely be "Short Stack and Golden Boy" as well ^^

Finally, a vector sketch of VOS-tan:



VOS is a fault-tollerent OS used on Stratus servers. Now, there is a bit of debate as to whether these computers are actually very high-end, high-uptime servers (not unlike VAX or Itanium servers), or miniature economy mainframes. There is also debate among some whether or not VOS is should be considered direct descendant of Multics (OMG moar Multics-likes?!), some even going as far to surmise the two are related in code! (I personally think there's not enough evidence for either case). So VOS-tan is a very skilled sorceress, who's defensive ability would be on par with VMS-sama or perhaps SAGE-sama. Dunno if she'd be aligned with the CIOST, a wanderer, or in the Mainframe Guild, but I almost think she's not powerful enough for the latter and too powerful for the middle one.

Physically, I think she'd be rather tall, playing on the fact she's sometimes considered a tiny mainframe OS. I wanted her to look a bit like Multics-sama (not a doppleganger), just enough so that there would be conspiracy theorists hellbent on proving she's the lost heir to Multics-sama and entitled to her riches (not that there's...really anything left). The look I was going for with her outfit is victorian, with a punk/modern twist; I imagine she'd have wing tattoos (another nod to her idol), like that info does a lot of good from this angle, though.

I actually ended up vector sketching two outfits; if you download the SVG file, you can take a peek and the first one, some different eye color ideas, AND see the form that I use for making chibis. I give you permission to play dress-up with her.

*beta* FreeVMS and OZONE-chan:



FreeVMS-chan is based off of my original concept, plus C-Chan's drawing of her in the ZS Xmas comic. OZONE-chan I couldn't really work out an outfit for--so I coped out and hid her behind FreeVMS-chan. OZONE-chan hails from New England, and is very strange (more so than FreeVMS-chan). While very humble and unassuming, her idol in life would be VMS-sama; Unix-sama would take a second place, and she would also admire NT-tan. Granted, she wouldn't know what it is about NT-tan she likes...

I thought about making her hair blonde and eyes purple; but I thought the dark hair and light eyes would tie her in more to her idols (and give her a slightly intimidating look). Her hair is meant to be something of an...oh lawd...mullett...but in a cute way.

Now for some sketches. A revised-for-the-third-and-hopefully-last-time DTSS and WAITS-tan!



What can I say, DTSS-sama and servant DTSS really were too prim and proper and plain looking to be real NHites. I thought about what this state means to me and what I associate it with-- the outdoors instantly came to mind. Hiking, biking, hunting, powersports and snowsports, they're all things NH is famous for. We've always been a very eclectic, open-minded, yet no-nonsense people, with a deep reverence for the natural world. So I only found it fitting that the DTSSes should reflect some of this.

Mistress DTSS' hair and eye color might be changed, and her outfit may feature some mix of subtle natural tones, with a hint of brightness. I'm still not sure about Servant DTSS' color scheme, but it'll probably reflect her mistress'.

WAITS-tan I wanted to look very old-fashioned bohemian, thus the high boots and long skirt. And the hat and belt. I found some pictures of the WAITS machine, SAIL, and its color scheme seems to have a lot of blue, off-white and some orange, so while WAITS-tan's hair will likly remain blonde, her eyes might become blue. And her color scheme will feature more blue and creme colors.

Now, there's one last piece I should have had to offer, a vector sketch of Siya's GMOS-tan. BUT, Inkscape conveniently ATE my SVG file of this vector sketch, leaving me nothing but a JPEG file. Now, this has happened in the past, notably with a Multics-sama picture I had started on. I imported Siya's color map into Inkscape, did the complete frickin' vector sketch (which took a few hours), I saved it and closed Inkscape, and when I went to look for it again, all I found was a JPEG file unreadable with any program. When this happened the first time months ago, C-Chan assured me this wasn't possible (to save SVG data as JPEG), and that there must be some SVG file buried in the system. But searches have uncovered nothing of the such, and furthermore Inkscape has no record of this SVG in its "Recently opened documents" list. It's time to start considering that this is rare, but very possible. >____<

I'm so sorry, Siya...I do suppose I'll get to work on this picture again, but I can't right now...

I'm still dying of curiosity to see what entails the daily life of Bella-hime. It still says "student" in her profile, but I'm wondering now if that's outdated....

Or perhaps not necessarily what I/we assume.... ^.^

Wouldn't you like to know... ~_^

I guess I'm just an average NHite. Which means...my life is average by no means. XD

Actually, today I had another very dangerous urge to create one of those overly-ambitious ones -- and I've been trying hard to stifle that nonsense, but it keeps resurfacing. ^^;

It would be a very simple old-RPGeque game centered around the Binteji Renmei. It would have elements of RPG, RTS, social/city simulations and "collect them all" games.

It starts off with the founding of the BR, at which point Amiga-sama, ][-chan, GS/OS, Lisa-chan, Windows 1.0-chan, and Windows 2.0-chan are playable characters. Each has their fighting style (or lack thereof), speech mannerisms, and of course talents. Amiga-sama is a multi-role character whose good at many things and has perpetually-good morale and endurance. ][-chan is a great short and long-range fighter, knows how to grow food (and teach others), but has fairly low speed and hit points. GS/OS-sama is the greatest fighter among them at startup, but generally not very good at much of anything else. Both Lisa-chan and 1.0-chan don't have exceptional talents and their fighting skills are non-existent, but they have almost interminable endurance for boring, reptitive tasks (such as knitting or carrying stuff) and their presence helps maintain morale and happiness. 2.0-chan has poor fighting skills and overall low endurance/hit points, but she's the only one at startup who can build (and teach others to build) strong building structures, and is key to getting ][-chan's simple hut expanded to a decent living place. ^^

The key at the beginning of the game is the same as most Sim city/town/etc simulators -- expand the BR and build up resources so that you start attracting (and/or maintaining) potential new members. This is done by expanding the crop fields, building extra living quarters and storage sheds, refurbishing broken appliances into working ones, fighting off viruses and bootlegs in the vicinity, etc. The player could take direct control of up to three characters at a time, but the real goal is to delegate the tasks properly so the right number of people work on the right number of things. With so few OS-tans at first, and with no communications grid set up, it's dangerous to spread the OS-tans too far.

New members start to introduce new skills that help expand the technology tree further (and add an extra helping hand). PET-chan, for example, would introduce fishing and boating, Pilot-chan flying and trade, ZX-Spectrum-tan higher grades of teaching and research (the more the other OS-tans are taught, the more advanced tech trees become available). There would also be various non-vintage-tans wandering around the map randomly -- a few offer trouble, many a friendly conversation or valuable information, but a couple offer a useful service such as temporary volunteer work, simple bartering, or a financial reward for a simple task or item that can bring in some money.

If mismanaged -- and all the new members leave starved and unhappy, and the buildings/fields created destroyed by rampaging malware-tans -- than the player starts from scratch. If well-played, however, the BR becomes a bustling mini-metropolis of activity, with control and influence over every part of the mini World Map, and with activities essentially self-sustaining.

....

In short -- yeah, this isn't gonna happen. ^^;

Wow! That is a neat idea, but it seems very complex. Oh well....

ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH BELLA-HIME!!! ^V^

Just wait a few days and it'll be all done :3

Figured PCLOS-sama would offer the perfect excuse for you to draw a horse. ^__^
Not sure if you'll add more details to the horses post-Beta, but as they are they are gorgeous -- the detail is exquisite, and offers the same kind of anatomical-correctness that Anime artists tend to give their animal characters (I've always liked the fact that cats look like cats, and not like Felix). ^^;

Thank you! I'm quite good at drawing horses by hand, but I had to trace photos for this picture.

AHHH!!! Potty mouth!!! ^0^

*grabs shower brush and soap*

Oh wait,... that's "Shetland" Pony. My mistake. ^^'

You can copy and paste the horse coments above onto here -- the same applies. ^.^

SAM-chan looks adorable (more so after you explained the dressage bit), and I can imagine her mouse clinging for dear life after the hat flew right past over him. ^__^

Thank you again

It's a birthday picture, so I will offer nothing but showering and praise in this instance. ^.^
It's up to you to take care of any niggles you feel might need to be corrected for the final. ^___^
But if it's your first 100% digital computer drawing, then congratulations! (or should I say, welcome to my world...) ^v^

Not sure how long this might have taken vs. sketching it first, but the results are great for a first attempt. ^^

Actually, I was able to draw them much quicker than when I use a hand sketch. I've not had similar luck with other full-sized all digital drawings, though...

tasty. ~~ your art is making me a bit jealous. (that, and the fact that you actually have the time for digital coloring! O_O;)

Thank you very much! I assure you it was a lot of practice and hard work to get to this point though-- if you don't believe me, look at some of my older works and compare them to my newer stuff.

But yeah, working with Inkscape has been a joy. Much much easier than raster artwork, for sure.

Hum. I see them now. Wtf. Oh well, all's well that ends well I guess.

Yay!  ;010

[C-Chan]

WOW!!!  Bella-hime is back!!  I've missed you!  ^___^

Don't mind us,... in fact, it's been pretty hectic here and in RL as well.  I'll tell you all about it later,... currently dealing with a lot of very panicky people who... let's just say made some very bad decisions.  -.-

I'll stop by later to glomp all over this... can't do it now anyway since I'm not able to see Photobucket images from this location anymore.  ;__;

And I want to test out Mandriva 2009 tonight, so what better way to do it than viewing Bella-hime's masterpieces!  ^.^

[Bella]

Panicky people? Oh yeah, I am a VERY panicky person right now. What with the Econopocalypse happening at this very moment and all...

Not that I have a single dime invested in the stock market...

[C-Chan]

Neither do I -- thank gawd for Austrian School of Economic theories.  But a lot of people (good, honest people) I know have and are in bad straights right now.  

Also doesn't help some of the things I depend on, like jobs and services and stuff.  -___-

[Aurora Borealis]

YAAAAAAY! BELLA SIGHTING! But so sad that your latest travels have been awful

Activity in this sub-forum drops considerably in your absence but when you return, you return with so much beautiful, awesome winnage! And the way you did the eyes for your newest batch of chibis is very beautiful and mesmerizing! ;010

BSD-tan: I like how you combined elements from your sketch of her with elements from the magical BSD girl. The latter makes her very cute and the former gives her a mature look at the same time!

AIX-tan: She's beauuuuuuutiful! Her clothes are very elegant yet professional, and her face is adorable! ^_^

Vi-kun + Emacs-kun + Red-kun: Wow! Bella is also awesome at drawing guys too! Vi-kun is so cute! Red-kun is very handsome and I also like the smart mouthed-type! *swoons* And that Emacs-kun, he looks so dreamy and enchanting! *__*

*massive swoon*

VOS-tan: Another example of your top-notch ability at fashion, her outfit is a combination of Victorian and punk; both well-integrated into a whole new fresh look! She looks like tough girl + diva too!

Free VMS-tan + OZONE-tan: CUTENESS OVERLOAD!! *explodes*

Both of them are so cute, and strange- a combo I really like!

With FreeVMS-tan's design combined the cuteness from your original concept as well as C-Chan's rendition and has the cuteness of both multiplied!

OZONE-tan's mullet-like hairstyle does not detract from her cuteness at all, it actually adds on to it!

DTSS-sama + WAITS-san pic: While I really did like your previous version of the DTSS-sama + WAITS-san pic, I think that the third time is the charm and their redesigns are fantastic!

So sad that your lost your GM OS-sama pic

[NejinOniwa]

First off, I want to just say that I'm about done with C-Chan's belated birthday gift. I should be able to post the finished product within a few days :3

Speaking of birthdays... :3

Secondly: Either I've been away/mentally dismantled for some time without noticing, or your artstyle has changed considerably in the last weeks. Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's the new sans-pencilsketch method you use, but I see a difference.
A good difference, that is, but still something that made me scan them one more time than usual. Er.

Next up, Vi (/Vim?), (GNU) Emacs, and Red-kun:

That settles it, my core is offline. I didn't even notice they were guys before I read Aurora-san's post, despite the BEARD, just assumed they were girls because they were, well, here, without even looking at them DAMNIT EVEN MY BRAIN IS FAILING ME, NOW I CAN'T EVEN TYPE.

Summing up, because I think I made a bad impression:
VOTE FOR CHANGE! CHIBI OM NOM SPOTTED, NET THEM AT ONCE! >:3


Two days left~ Two days left~

[C-Chan]

Wait, could that be a hint that Nejin-san's birthday is neigh?  *v*

Drawing inspiration is a bit low at this time, but I can certainly dress for the occasion if that's the case....



=======

In any event, I'm winding down the evening, but will have some time tomorrow to finish my responses before I'm off to the slaughter on Monday.  I'll of course glomp at Bella-hime's absolutely gorgeous chibis (for sure, the best I've seen!).  ^v^

But I'll also touch on some serious topics as well.  -__-

[NejinOniwa]

Wait, could that be a hint that Nejin-san's birthday is neigh? *v*

Nigh, you say...?

More like, NO MOAR UNDERAGE B&!, TOMORROW AND ONWARDS! >:3

I'm SO getting my ass drunk as hell.


...ahahaaha~

[C-Chan]

Aa sou....  -v-

*draws long line on floor*

When you get back from partying-hardy, I want you to walk across this here line.  Fail, and I'll slap you with one helluva ticket, B-Day Boy.  

j/k, j/k, Happy Birthday!  

=========

Oh, and I'll be handling this response now...

*starts typing*

Added after 1 hours 34 minutes:

Oh gawd...what a horrific month this has been... I've lived though the start major recession

...Which has been pretty much the case for several years now.  Just happens to be the first time the media in the US is willing to admit it (and even then, it's like teeth-pulling).  ^^'

and some terrible weather including a HURRICANE.

Yes, I remembered how terrified I was when I heard about tornados many months earlier.  Glad you made it through that after all.

I was still helping my family with the last few major photography jobs of the season--the bad part being not a huge workload, but the fact that frivolous purchases aren't so popular at a time like this.

Present company aside, I've never been much of a fan of stores/businesses that rely solely on frivolous or luxury items, precisely because they're so dependent on economic prosperity and so vulnerable to downward fluctuations in the business cycle.  Sure, they serve as mine canaries, but it's also disheartening too since they're also the commercial equivalent of a rose garden in a field of crops and weeds -- without at least a few of them, shopping centers aren't nearly as nice.

If at all possible/practical, I've always advocated a kind of "farm analogy" when it comes to sustainable business practice.  To put it cryptically, be sure you can grow crops all year round, not just in the spring (cabbages are quite winter-hardy, fyi).  "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" is probably a more famous analogy, and while not 100% equivalent it does convey a similar idea.

Not to mention the frustrating equipment malfunctions and a near-devastating business miscalculation on my boss' part.

Aa sou, so you guys aren't entirely in control of the business then?  ''

Add in my studying and...well, maybe you can see why time was a bit short for me.

Ah, so you are still a student (just one ask of which level).  ^.^
But certainly, it can be daunting to study and sustain a job, as both can be quite demanding of your time and attention.

If any good has come from this situation, it's that I'm getting to stay at home over the holidays, instead of going out to the Southwest on vacation; I really love being near my close relatives and friends at that time of the year.

And real broadband, or so you said. ^^;

Ironically, the time when I had the least on my plate were over the weekends while helping out my family-- but these were mostly spent in...crushingly dull...towns in rural New England, where I couldn't even fathom searching around to find a library or cafe that I could do a bit of web surfing from. This isolation may not have been entirely bad...for awhile I had actually lost a bit of inspiration; and rather than waiting around for it to find me, I decided to track it down and find it. I had the desire to draw something, after all, so I took initiative and jump-started it by making some chibis of characters I had wanted to draw for some time.

In that respect I am envious.  I've lost inspiration, but can't jumpstart it as my attention is still drawn into Python/QT4 stuff, more so now that I finally have a working version of KDE4.  I'm actually now training in GUI development -- while the prospect of desiging stuff will undoubtedly lure me even further away from OS-tan stuff, the day I can attempt OS-tan themed software could also draw nigh.  Pretty much wait and see at this point.  ^.^

This is a milestone for me in some ways, as these are some of the only vector sketches I've attempted free of a hand-drawn sketch first (aside from the PCLOS/SAM-chan and OS/8-tan drawings) and are likly the most efficient drawings I've done to date. I also found the time to work on chapter three of my comic; the dialogue is planned out, the panels planned, but I still have some inking to go on it.

I'm very happy you were able to draw these beauties entirely digitally.  ^__^
I'll say more shortly, but these are some of the most faithful Anime styles from you I've seen to date that are drawn in so little time (or so you say).  ^.^

Feel free to post the comics uninked if you want to save a little time.  Speaking of which, I never could muster the strength to lift your boot off of me in your manga thread, so might need a hand.  Or foot.  ^^;

But, thank goodness, it looks like things have evened out for me. I wish I could have checked in more often, and I'm very sorry for not finding the time, but now I promise you won't be able to get rid of me. And I don't promise things unless I mean them.

Sadly, things haven't been too hot over here as I explained earlier.  -__-
I'm actually quite happy you were able to work from an isolated, untainted environment, but I fear the depressive undercurrents (especially mine) will be corrupting.  I should probably consider quarantine.  -.-'

First off, I want to just say that I'm about done with C-Chan's belated birthday gift. I should be able to post the finished product within a few days :3

Thank you very much.  ^^
But given the above, I think that makes me rather shameless.... -.-

*crawls to a corner and curls into a ball with shame*

For the time being, I'll post the chibis. Each character was drawn completly in Inkscape, using geometric shapes (the circle and square) for the basic forms. It took a few minutes to do the forms for each, then about 45 to an hour to do the vector sketch and shading. I do think I've found a very efficient way to do chibis...I might make a tutorial or at least post the SVG files so people can see how I drew them.

Sounds to me like you've perfected the Block Sculpturer's approach -- as in, you start with rudimentary shapes for positioning, and then just "chisel" away the forms until they come up to what you want them to look like.  ^__^

First off, BSD and AIX-tan:

BSD-tan's outfit and weapon are based off of the magical BSD-girl mascot, but made a bit more mature. AIX, for those who need a refresher, is considered by the Multicians to be "A Multics-like OS posing as a Unix"; it is an IBM Unix that does have some features present in Multics and TSS/360. So it's fitting that AIX-tan would have an unusual love for the finer things in life, and love to dress fancily.

I do suppose she'd be one of the few Unixen who would be overjoyed and at peace with finding out that Multics-sama is her grandmother.

That's some chiseling!  ^__^

Probably the best example of doing more with less as I've ever seen, and better even than my chibis (you still somehow manage your characteristic fold and costume design supremacy with fewer shapes).  Their eyes are done superbly -- rich, deep and expressive as you once admired.  Their noses are just barely hinted at, which is a strong positive in most chibi-making.  And their hair simple but refined precision instruments of Win.  

I would definitely have to say this is my favorite of your latest salvo of incredible drawings, if only cause the girls are so darn cute and addictive.  I'm gonna need my fix.  XvX

AIX-sama I love by default -- the backstory is just icing on the cake.  MamaBSD is also fantastic, not only because it finally gives her some much needed exposure (and a concrete colored character design), but you were also gracious enough to embed elements of the oft-overlooked BSD-girl mascot.  ^^

Next up, Vi (/Vim?), (GNU) Emacs, and Red-kun:

Vi-kun is quiet and efficent; but some find him difficult to work with, being a bit tempermental and shy.

...

He would love reading, however; probably the only time he would be annoying people around him is when his head's in a book.

Never a big fan of -kuns, but still have to say these are great!  ^v^b

I do spot that line between Emacs-kun's legs, so I think that might be a leftover from the original box shape.

Vi-kun is definitely my favorite for a wide variety of reasons; aside from offering potential for fantastic comparison shots with the ladies, his eyes/gaze/glare certainly lends off the impression that he's a character that LOOKS like he's a verifiable weakling and coward, but in fact is rather keen and sharp-witted.  Still no fighter by a long shot, but he would probably exhibit the same courage and confidence of a doctor secure in the belief that he won't get hurt (or even if he did, not really care about it).

Probably the reason he's such good friends with UNIX-sama, when anyone else in such close proximity to her would pee in their pants.

First time followers would probably love him for being so gosh-darn cute and small (a la Negi), but if they managed to survive his nononsense stylings would come to appreciate his views and respect him for what he's managed to achieve despite his physical limitations.

Emacs-kun is precisely the kind of man I had in mind when I came up with the suggestions -- a celebrity with unmatched vanity and an enormous following of rabid fangirls that he can tame with a smooth tongue and a healthy dose of intelligensia.  Now if he actually followed that up with a kind of playboy mentality, then he WOULD be rather Dr. Baltarish after all (minus, I hope, the crushing selfcenteredness...). ^^;

Appearance-wise, Red-kun doesn't look like he'd attract a cold.  ^.^;
Character concept-wise, however, I think you have a very rich and ironic idea going.  ^^

I should probably make it a point to try and watch what you watch since [judging by Full Metal Alchemist and several other recommendation] you clearly have good tastes.  That way I can better appreciate the comparison with this Sawyer character -- although for very obvious reasons I kind of make the connection of Red-kun with a more modern Mark Twain caricature.  It just seems so appropriate. ^^

Fufu... It's names like "Hot Stuff" that will surely get his butt kicked twice as fast.  ^.^;

Finally, a vector sketch of VOS-tan:

VOS is a fault-tollerent OS used on Stratus servers. Now, there is a bit of debate as to whether these computers are actually very high-end, high-uptime servers (not unlike VAX or Itanium servers), or miniature economy mainframes. There is also debate among some whether or not VOS is should be considered direct descendant of Multics (OMG moar Multics-likes?!), some even going as far to surmise the two are related in code! (I personally think there's not enough evidence for either case). So VOS-tan is a very skilled sorceress, who's defensive ability would be on par with VMS-sama or perhaps SAGE-sama. Dunno if she'd be aligned with the CIOST, a wanderer, or in the Mainframe Guild, but I almost think she's not powerful enough for the latter and too powerful for the middle one.

Niiiiiiiice!  Call up the royal palace, and ask them if they lost their queen?  ^.^

Outrageously elegant and gorgeous, and certainly only Bella-hime could have made such a beautiful CLAMP-like dress for her.  Same compliment of the eyes applies from before, and the hair has a simple but effectively regal look that just barely HINTS at a Multisque influence.  ^^

As for her alignment, it seems like you are leaning towards the CIOST, but I should probably note that Wanderers don't necessarily have to be weak.  I've always thought of Viru-sama as a kind of Barbarian Queen ruling over an unrecognized kingdom of virus-tans.  It woudn't be a stretch therefore to say that VOS-sama is the Lady (or Duchess or whatever) of her own Estate/Duchy/etc, and refuses to be aligned with anything for her own range of personal reasons (vanity? mistrust? arrogance? ignorance of modern affairs?).  As a skilled sorceress, she has enough power to defend her land from greater-than-average threats -- but she's only lucky that no serious effort has been made to chase her out of it.

Physically, I think she'd be rather tall, playing on the fact she's sometimes considered a tiny mainframe OS.

*smears self with crazy glue and attaches self to VOS-sama*

Mine.  TvT

I wanted her to look a bit like Multics-sama (not a doppleganger), just enough so that there would be conspiracy theorists hellbent on proving she's the lost heir to Multics-sama and entitled to her riches (not that there's...really anything left). The look I was going for with her outfit is victorian, with a punk/modern twist; I imagine she'd have wing tattoos (another nod to her idol), like that info does a lot of good from this angle, though.

That's a smart approach actually.  For an obscure character, she certainly attaches with her a lot of intrigue.  ^.^

*beta* FreeVMS and OZONE-chan:

FreeVMS-chan is based off of my original concept, plus C-Chan's drawing of her in the ZS Xmas comic.

Not that that was really much to work off, but nice to know.  Not sure if you dropped the mini pigtails, or they're just hidden by her VMS-esque bangs.  ^.^

OZONE-chan I couldn't really work out an outfit for--so I coped out and hid her behind FreeVMS-chan. OZONE-chan hails from New England, and is very strange (more so than FreeVMS-chan). While very humble and unassuming, her idol in life would be VMS-sama; Unix-sama would take a second place, and she would also admire NT-tan. Granted, she wouldn't know what it is about NT-tan she likes...

Gyah!  She has a mullet,... but she's still cute!  Why?!  Is my head playing mind games with me?  @v@

Certainly nothing wrong with the cope out -- I've done similar things before and for very legitimate reason.  Besides, in this case, it worked great.  ^^

Now for some sketches. A revised-for-the-third-and-hopefully-last-time DTSS and WAITS-tan!

What can I say, DTSS-sama and servant DTSS really were too prim and proper and plain looking to be real NHites.

...

I'm still not sure about Servant DTSS' color scheme, but it'll probably reflect her mistress'.

I don't recall what the originals look like, but I think they're new, revised, no-nonsense look suits them very well.  Still old-fashioned but rugged, in a Cossack kind of way.  Me like.  ^v^

WAITS-tan I wanted to look very old-fashioned bohemian, thus the high boots and long skirt. And the hat and belt. I found some pictures of the WAITS machine, SAIL, and its color scheme seems to have a lot of blue, off-white and some orange, so while WAITS-tan's hair will likly remain blonde, her eyes might become blue. And her color scheme will feature more blue and creme colors.

Me like more!  ^v^
Again, the original slips my mind, but this take on early Bohemian fashion is intriguing to say the least!  Certainly a keeper! ^.^

Now, there's one last piece I should have had to offer, a vector sketch of Siya's GMOS-tan.

...

But searches have uncovered nothing of the such, and furthermore Inkscape has no record of this SVG in its "Recently opened documents" list. It's time to start considering that this is rare, but very possible. >____<

This is where a quick call of C-chan Tech Support could have helped, you know.  -v-

Too late now I'm sure, though.  -.-'
Just a shot in the dark... be sure to check out C:\Program Files\Inkscape, just in case.

Wouldn't you like to know... ~_^

I guess I'm just an average NHite. Which means...my life is average by no means. XD

Ah I see....

...

...so that means you dress like this in public after all.... ^______^

Wow! That is a neat idea, but it seems very complex. Oh well....

You're right, of course.  Which is why I've already long chucked the idea.  ^^;

*throws idea out window*

Concentration game is the most I'll aim for at this time.  ^.^'

===================

And I think that about wraps it up for the evening.

There's one more important thing left I have to give to Bella-hime, but I'll save that for tomorrow.  There is indeed too much going on for some of us, so I want to make sure I remain a help and not a disruption per se.  -v-