Forgotten Friday #195 - ダアチュラ / Daatura

 I has keyboard! Which sounds like a silly thing to be excited about - but the Windows touch keyboard is so, so awful, it actually caused me pain. Mental pain that became physical, kinda. It was impossible to get used to because it never suggested the correct word, even when it should have learned better.

Forgotten Friday #195 - ダアチュラ / Daatura

I feel like I should remember this UTAU. She's really cool! She's Taino, which was the first New World peoples contacted by that one guy who shouldn't have his own holiday in the Caribbean. She's from Cuba and named after a plant. 

Her voice provider seems to have abandoned her. There were no videos on their YouTube channel of her, even though they have been uploading as recently as eleven months ago DEAR LORD I LOVE THIS KEYBOARD!!

Daatura is gentle and feminine, but is sad when she's alone.

Who is Daatura?

official icon from wikia

Last week, I said we were going to get introduced to a new character in a flashback! We haven't met her yet! Let's see what's going on in this installment of A Spectrum of Apple Skins!

Franz leaned against the counter behind him with a small smile across his lips. He loved when his wife spoke dramatically. Even off the cuff, it was like watching a full stage production.

"If Mars needed a janitor," Marissa dramatically sighed, "I would be a janitor. It would not be beneath me. However." She stood, pressing her small palms against the edge of the island, "When Mars has robots that serve that function better than any human could, it is below me." She broke for a second. She couldn't do her usual song and dance. "Franz, have you ever noticed that when someone like me graduates high school here, a cleaning bot mysteriously is taken out of commission? And that despite the hordes of people who could fix robots in their sleep, the cleaning bot stays out of commission until the 'unworthy' person dies or leaves?"

Franz blinked. He had noticed the yearly influx of troubled teens suddenly bumbling around the periphery of the lab, but he had never actually asked why they were there or what they were meant to be doing. Everything his colleagues deigned below them had a specific robot model assigned to it. 

"You gave me the ability to escape that life, Franz." She looked up at the ceiling. "Every novel I've published. Every album I've sold. It's only because of you." She slowly lowered her chin, praying more tears wouldn't fall. "But, with Belinda growing older, I had two choices." She closed her eyes tightly, tears squeezing out. "The first was to become pregnant again. You know that Belinda and I almost died too many times. That isn't an option." She opened her eyes. "Or I could have my work ripped away from me so that I could replace a robot. Idle hands are a sin, but the arts are somehow even more of one." She let out a shuddering laugh that wracked her whole body. "But Franz," she smiled to the best of her ability while fighting away the sobs. "You applied to teach at San Andreas Bluffs." She wiped her tears away with the back of her sleeve. "You didn't tell me because you didn't want me to react to something that was a long shot. And I'm grateful. The idea of Earth… the magical blue marble… if I thought I could have it and it was ripped away, I'd be devastated." 

Franz cautiously made his way to the island. "I am so grateful that you are happy… but the university isn't sending a near-warp for us. We have three more years here, and it will involve acclimating your, and Belinda's, body to Earth conditions." He sighed. "It's intense, and for years they thought that it was impossible for a human born on Mars to survive on Earth." 

Marissa seized. Theoretically, she shouldn't have been able to have a perfect, healthy baby with Franz. Her ancestors were the first humans on Mars. Of course, plenty of people born on Earth contributed to her family tree. But she had a direct line with the first humans to stay. She closed her eyes and tried to think of everyone who had left. It was rare for someone to leave. For Franz to take his job on Mars, he had to renounce his American citizenship. Marissa was simply undocumented in the eyes of every country on Earth. The mandatory twelve year waiting period for a return trip meant that Marissa wouldn't even be eligible for a visa without an expensive near-warp trip booked for the return. 

Next time we'll definitely meet Belinda! Or not! I don't actually plan these out. Tune into the next installment of A Spectrum of Apple Skins!

How is Daatura's bank?

We were promised three, but we got one! There obviously were earlier banks, but I didn't take the effort to find them - we are very lucky that we have this bank - almost everything related to Daatura has been taken offline. No official tumblr, no associated deviantArt - no YouTube videos even.

So, the bank we have is a one pitch CVVC called Inoxia. When I searched that, one of the results was "Why is datura called inoxia?" Apparently, a clerical error.

The OTOs are eh, but since I am processing this in Praat, they're not bad enough to interfere with synthesis! She does work with romaji, which is cool because I was using a new tester UST, and not converting to hiragana saved one step. 

I generally have the attitude of "It's fine that not every UTAU is VCV - there's thousands more to find!" But dang it, I wish Daatura had VCV. Her voice is calm and gentle with a slight Latino accent that just makes it feel warmer. The recording quality - foremost being the even tone - just makes her voice sound like a happy hug. Also. her design and concept are really cool.

Where can I download Daatura?

The link to her bank can be found on her Wikia page. I know she is discontinued for her voice provider's new UTAU, but I hope her download link doesn't get taken down - she's really nice!