Billy Beaverhausen
What's this? What's happening? What's going on?
It’s a Cover-up 2
I noticed a peak in views of older blog posts about my Linden Homes. As the interior of my Loftroom home looks rather different these days, I thought you might be interested in an update. Fair warning: I will be skipping the details of smaller decor items.
- The original fireplace is hidden by a wall that’s been placed at and angle with the Lisp Bazaar Mid Century Fireplace in front of it.
- On the right you see the Famous Sofa by N4RS and on the left the Milligan Couch by Digs.
- I’m reading by the light of the Meyer Floor Lamp from The Loft & Aria. The other sofa is lit by the Dover Lamp (gacha) placed on the Wallace Table both by Fancy Decor. The main light for this area is the Geometric Pedant Light by Apple Fall.
- A modest coffee table leaves plenty of room for the animations in the sofas. The Concreet and Wood Coffee Table by Fancy Decor is a perfect choice and it’s a group gift.
- To shut out some of the questionable design choices of my neighbours, I created simple screens for the windows, using Mesh Studio.
- A plant such as the Dust Bunny Areca Palm ads a much needed green touch.
In the previous layout I had an art studio. This time I wanted more realistic functionality and turned this area into a kitchen.
- The wood and concreet cupboards on the left are something I’ve knocked up myself. They go all the way up to the ceiling and hide the house’s original spot rail.
- On the right I’ve used elements from the Roost Palm View kitchen.
- The Cement Kitchen Countertop by Saikin goes very nicely with the overall look.
- The fridge is a group gift at KraftWork.
- The Wire stools are a group gift at Fancy Decor.
- The coffee maker is a rare gacha from KUNST.
- The Tennyson fruit bowl by The Loft & Aria adds a nice splash of colour.
If you are familiar with the Loftroom house, you know it has a floating room and there is a window that shows you the outside area underneath this room. I never found the perfect idea for that space under the room, so I’ve boarded up the window and I also installed a nicer flight of stairs, cause the original is just a plank with a stair texture on it, which is a little bit too old school for my liking.
- Alderan dining table – The Loft
- Alderan pendant light – The Loft
- Darya Dining Chair – Trompe Loeil
- Dover Console (gacha) – Fancy Decor
- Leaning shelf (sold empty) – Fancy Decor
- Toronto living room book shelves (adjusted) – Bazar
- Fiddle leaf tree – Dust Bunny
This seemed like the perfect spot for a desk.
- Dover desk (gacha) – Fancy Decor
- White/Gold office chair – Fancy Decor
- Items on desk (apart from laptop computer) – Fancy Decor
- MacBook – KUNST
In the loft room I blocked 2 of the three windows to give myself more walls to put furniture against.
- Foskett bed, side tables and pendant lights – Fancy Decor
- Modern chest (gacha) – Fancy Decor
- Glam male wardrobe (adjusted textures) – Bazar
- Velvet lounge chair – Soy
- Little Glowing Boyfriend – 22769
Looking back at the previous interior, I think my choices have become slightly more sophisticated. I used 155 of the 175 available prims, so there’s a comfortable margin for an extra plant here or there, or I could even attempt to move up the wardrobe, leave an opening and install a shower behind it. Walls can’t be taken out, but you can add some. To help you with that, you can get the texture pack for your Linden Home at an infohub. I’m not sure if you still can get a Linden Home in the Meadowbrook style or if everybody who goes looking for a Linden Home at this point is diverted to the new house options by default, which seem to be hard to come by. I hope this was somewhat inspirational and I’m wishing you all good luck with creating your own space in Sl.
Loft Life
Finally I’m getting around to putting some more furniture in the Skye Warehouse Loft, but it’s shaping up to be a tough summer at the real life job, so after rezzing just a few items and finding myself a new pet, I already needed to have lie down… Or maybe it’s just an excuse to give you another look at the latest work I did with the Signature Geralt body.
I’ve made myself a cosy reading corner, though technically it isn’t a corner.
- Soy velvet lounge chair with texture change
- Nutmeg pile of vintage books (group gift)
- Consignment & Floorplan radiator bookcase
- What Next Pothos plant
- Brocante locker cabinet
- Bazar fluffy carpet
- Static “inquisitive” kitten from JIAN kitten collection
For the look check my previous blog post: DABBLING WITH GERALT (AND GERARD) EPISODE XIII.
Dabbling with Geralt (and Gerard) Episode XIII
Here I go with yet another combination I hadn’t made before: the Signature Geralt body with the Vista Gerard head. I imagine that the perfect creative space for this kind of work would look a lot like Dr. Frankenstein’s surgery. Let’s take a look at the result of this handy bit of stitch work, cause IT’S ALIVE!
Stray Dog is one of the handful of skin creators who has a skin for the Vista Gerard head. Sadly they only have one. The Blaze skin comes in three dark tones and I’m using the lightest one here, with the matching Stray Dog applier for the Signature Gianni body, which works well enough on the Geralt body. The neck seam could be better and both the Signature neck sheath and Vista neck size options are best left off, as they only make things worse. Soothing windlights or kinky chokers offer a better solution.
If you’re looking for something to wear at the beach with Geralt, check out January’s JOCKD set at Thirst. It contains the Paneled Bikini Brief (worn in image) and the Peekabooty Brief.
The hair is Like Lust by Stealthic, worn without the sides.
Here’s where I stop yapping and let you enjoy the Vista with Geralt. (see what I did there).
Thirst @ Epiphany July 2019
Listen up all you gacha hungry people! It’s Epiphany time. Thirst has a great gacha set at the event for you happy campers. I’m not sure how long this event lasts. It started on July 15th, so maybe till the end of the month.
The “Roughing It” set has a couple of sweet rezzable items such as pup tent (rare) and sleeping bag and cute camping outfits for Signature Gianni and Beleza Jake. There’s a sexy tailored shirt and a cute pair of shorts. I’m wearing the Scout Leader version (rare). You can also get backpacks and binoculars from this set. I got myself a map to find my way out of these woods (exclusive item) … But maybe I should hang around for a bit.
Good luck with the gachas ya’ll!
PS: shoes are the Kurtov Sneakers by Versov. If you’re still feeling parched, head over to the Thirst main store for more juicy goodies. Both bodies in the shot are Belleza.
What’s Eating TMP 15
Throwing caution to the wind I finally coughed up the L$ 5000 for the male TMP Legacy body. I really don’t like the shopping experience at The Shops, so I rushed home asap after grabbing that ass… eeehm body.
Due to some bad marketing choices and allegedly poor customer service, TMP have managed to rub a lot of people the wrong way. Partly because of that, there’s a certain type of SL citizen out their that will assassinate this body outright, without even looking at it. Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder, revenge is a dish best served cold and the ooh aah bird is so-called because it lays square eggs, but what has to do with the price of fish? In short: some of you aren’t making much sense, but that’s okay. You do you boo, even if that is being a bit of nagging *beeeeeeeep*
RIGHT! Personally I think the Legacy body turned out rather nicely, but it does have its technical shortcomings. For example, unless you already own the previous TMP body (now named “Classic”), you only get 12 standard skin tones in your hud, which I find disappointing compared to the 36 skin tones you get with the Classic body. There are no options within these 12 skin tones. There are no hairy skins, only smooth ones. You don’t get skins with more or less muscle definition, just one version. I sincerely hope TMP plan on expanding this, because the most expensive mesh body on the market should be offering something extra.
TMP has included a way to help you match a Catwa mesh head to the body with its standard skin tones, but I can’t speak for other heads at this point. First you need to make sure you are using the correct neck size. Click on the second or third dot to snap your neck into place. Next you choose a skin tone that is the closest to whatever skin you are using on your Catwa head. I’m using the #9 Jayden skin by Stray Dog so obviously I picked a dark skin for the body. After that I had to apply a neckfade to the body and here things became tricky, because I had 36 skin tones for the neckfade, while I only had 12 unnumbered skin tones for the body. Maybe I have all those extra neckfade swatches because I also own the Classic body and the hud seems to be sharing some of the content for that body with the Legacy body. I chose No.27, then located the matching number in the neckfade folder (filename: [27] Classic Neckfade (m) (Apply To Head)), right-clicked the file to copy the UUID and pasted that value in the hud for the Catwa head in the appropriate neck tattoo tab where it says “Apply Your Own Texture”.
The result is far from perfect, but most neck seams are imperfect anyway. Part of the problem in this particular case is the shading of the adam’s apply which is part of the Stray Dog skin. I like the TMP standard skin a lot. It all comes down to personal preference of course, but I have always appreciated the shading and detail of the skin on the old TMP body and they have carried that quality over to the Legacy body. Meanwhile I have heard that Stray Dog is working on an applier for Legacy and it will be coming out soon. The hair I’m using is Elliot by Modulus, the eyes are by Avi-Glam and the mesh ears are by L’etrê.
You also get a basic outfit with this body. The folder contains one pair of black briefs, a pair of chinos in 5 colours, a tight fitting and loose cashmere sweater both in 4 colours and a pair of Oxford shoes in 4 colours.
The Legacy body comes with something called Fit Deformers and they can be helpful when you try to wear items that haven’t been made for the body. They don’t solve all issues, but all you need to do is put on your clothes, solve some of the problem areas by using the alpha cuts and then put on the deformer. If after that you still haven’t achieved a good fit, you can play around with your shape to compensate for the remaining bits of skin poking through you clothes.
Left: Ed shirt, Broberry jeans and Chase sneakers all from Deadwool. I’m using the old TMP size for all these items. The shoes only work with the feet blanked out and the socks on.
Middle: Patch sweatpants by Dufaux, wearing the the Gianni size.
Right: Linus overall by Legal Insanity (Gianni size) and the unrigged resizable version of the Sandov sandals by Versov (group gift).
That’s it for now. I think I’ll be back soon with the Legacy body to show some underwear options and hopefully by then Stray Dog will have released their applier for it. Fingers crossed on those very well made Legacy hands!
Mad Last Minute Dash to the SL16B Shopping Event
I’m sure there has been lots of things to celebrate SL’s 16th birthday and I’m also sure I’ve missed all of them. That’s fine though. My main reason for being in Second Life is all the fun I have putting all those different looks together. I don’t really suffer from FOMO. However, I should at the very least check out the official SL16B Shopping Event before it closes on July 8th. There are bound to be a few nice gifts and interesting discounts.
The first gift I picked up was a tasty little waffle from Hangry. It’s nice to have something to nibble on while you wade through lag, trying to get past the many many many many many participating stores that offer items for female avatars only.
Dufaux does have a presence at this event and they are offering a 40% discount on their Jordan tank top. That’s the one you can personalise with your own artwork, or you can leave it blank of course. They also have a new pair of track pants, but there’s no special offer on that, it’s just new. Altogether it makes for quite the sporty look, so the sports water bottle they’re giving away is the perfect accessory. Fox City is giving a way a whole bunch of poses, this “Thirsty” pose is one of them (I know, spooky how convenient that is, right!)
Sure I could go on some more, because I did get other gifts and I bought myself some flowers from the Apple Fall stand (all items are L$50) but right now all I want to do is spread this free blanket and floor pillows from Peaches ‘N Cream by a campfire on the beach and relax. There’s no rest for the wicked though. Remember, this event ends on July 8th.
The look was discussed in my previous blog post.
Stray Dog gift at Man Cave
I already showed some of the many gifts at the current round of the Man Cave event, which runs till July 11th, but I didn’t have a chance yet to look at Stray Dog‘s gift. It’s time to rectify that now!
Stray Dog has been very generous at man Cave. Their gift contains 2 skins: one in 3 dark skin tones and another one in 4 lighter skin tones. I’m wearing the No. 3 Urie skin on the Victor Catwa head. You don’t get a body applier with this, so if you don’t have one yet, you’ll have to pick it up at the Stray Dog store. They have body appliers for the Signature Gianni body (also works on Geralt, though not perfectly) and Belleza Jake body, which is what I’m using here. My eyes are from Avi-Glam and the hair is by Stealthic. Both the cropped tank and nipples are by Noche.
I’m keeping it short and sweet today, in sharp contrast with my tall and mean reality. Cheeri-forking-oh mothaforkers!
Akeruka Group Gift Mesh Head Summer 2019 – 3
You still have a wee bit of time to go snatch up the ‘Clay’ male Akeruka Deluxe mesh head. You need to be a group member of course, as it’s a group gift. The joining fee is only L$ 150 and the head will cost you L$ 1. This ends on July 6th, so run Forest, run!
I have already created two looks with this head. This time around I’m using a skin that is totally new too me. I’ve never looked at Vendatta before. They have two skins that are specifically made for the Akeruka head and body appliers for Belleza and Gianni as well as an Omega applier, so that opens up some combination options.
Here you see the Akeruka Clay head combined with the Belleza Jake body and the aforementioned Vendetta Roman skin in tone #5. It’s the usual story with the neck seam: sometimes you see it and sometimes you don’t. Que sera sera. To mix things up, I used some of the head’s own built-in optional features, such as a lightly applied eyeliner and a smattering of beauty marks. My Hair is ‘Like Lust’ by Stealthic (without the sides) and I’ve used the Stealthic hair base as well. Of course you get eyes with this head, but I’ve used the Avi-Glam Solstice Eyes to give me more texture options. The nipples on the Vendetta skin are somewhat vague, so I’ve put on the Noche nipples for a much sharper effect… I can cut glass with these.
Like my fancy pants? They’re the “Graphic Set” by Noche and were very recently added to their range. Noche really went all out with the patterns this time and because some of them are food based, they’re making me feel somewhat peckish. Can you blame me?
That’s it for looks with the Akeruka Clay head while it’s still free, but I’m sure it will pop up in my blog again once it’s being sold at the usual full price. There are still several combinations to be made.
Akeruka Group Gift Mesh Head Summer 2019 – 2
Mesh head creator Akeruka is celebrating their Second Life anniversary with a group gift mesh head named Clay. I already took a look at it on the Signature Gianni body with the head’s original skin. Today I’ve put together a look with another skin and body. Don’t dilly dally and head over to Akeruka NOW, cause this gift expires on July 6th! If you’re not a group member yet, the joining fee is a mere L$ 150 and then you pay one “symbolic” Linden dollar to grab the head.
To start of with a bit of nagging, I’m going to point out that yet again the neck seam is far from perfect with this combination. Right, that’s out of the way, now on to the positives! I’m using the Akeruka Clay head with the Belleza Jake body and Stray Dog Jonatas skin. This skin was created when Akeruka released the first male Deluxe mesh head ‘Leon’, but it works equally well with Clay. I applied the browless version, so I could apply the Real Brows by Identity to match my hair colour, which is the vibrant red of the Zack hair style by Vango. Then I wanted something on my chinny chin chin and went for the tintable Luigi facial hair by Mister Razzor. Keep in mind that you need to get the Omega relay for Akeruka heads to apply the brows and beard. You can find that at the store. They call it the Omega System Kit.
The original eyes that come with this head aren’t bad, but they are not Omega and I really wanted something different from the standard eye textures, so I popped in Avi-Glam Solstice Eyes, which probably have been my favourite for a while now.
As the devil is in the details, I added the Noche nipples and named them pinky and perky, but who’s who though… or was that what I call my balls? I’ll leave you to ponder that philosophical question.
Getting some Ink for David
David was banging on the door, eager to get out of the closet and begging for something new. I’m of course talking about the delectable NX-Nardcotix David mesh body. So I headed over to Men Only Monthly, figuring that the lag wouldn’t be too bad as it’s been on for over a week now.
The current round of MOM (runs till July 15th) has a lot of tattoos. Seriously, it’s lousy with it. There are more tattoos than you can shake a conservative fist at. In the spirit of “if you can’t beat them, join them”, I got the Eagle tattoo by Carol G.
The undies are of course NX-Nardcotix‘s own (come with a tank top), the head is ‘Stanley’ by Catwa and the skin I’m using is ‘Drogo’ by Birth. It includes that slashed eyebrow and several facial hair options. For the body there is a matching Omega applier from Birth. I went with a trimmed hairy look this time, but you can leave the skin baby smooth if that’s your preference. I’ve popped on mesh ears by L’etrê and the ‘Bailey’ hair by Modulus to complete the look.
Then I headed over to Man Cave. At the current round of this event you’ll find a nice pair of trousers and a jeans jacket which you can wear with or without a t-shirt by RKKN. I had to do some shape editing to make the trousers wearable without a shirt, but nothing too major. The sneakers are currently a gift at Man Cave till this round ends on July 11th. The event is overflowing with gifts this time because it’s celebrating its two year anniversary.
And with a nice pair of comfortable walking sneakers like that, all what’s left for me to do now is say auf wiedersehen and march out of here into real life.
