Billy Beaverhausen
What's this? What's happening? What's going on?
Taking David to MOM May/June 2018
The NX-Nardcotix David mesh body has been updated and as far as I can tell it looks just as exquisite as before, so changes probably were limited to some extra features in the hud, like the doubling of the alpha save slots from 4 to 8 and the addition of 10 save slots for your favourit skins. Those features sure will come in handy for swift switches between outfits and looks.
Meanwhile we’re about halfway through the current round of the Men Only Monthly event, so I felt a strong urge to go over there for a shopping trip dedicated to David. An advantage of not being one of the early birds, is that I avoided the super sluggish lag you always get at the start of MOM. I comfortably gathered a modest but pleasantly satisfying haul and started pulling some looks together.
Take this combination of a pair of faded jeans with a t-shirt and suspenders from Invictus for example. I must admit I really like the “off the shoulder” look. I also must admit that the t-shirt isn’t a perfect fit for David. I tried all the available sizes of this set and was altering my shape all over the place, but even with the most ideal version (which is the Signature size) the back of my arms kept poking through the fabric ever so slightly, so I decided that if I squinted a little, it simply looked as if the fabric was a bit torn and worn. We call this impressionism and it’s something I use these days whenever I need to look at myself in a mirror. Monet really was on to something there, if you ask me… Soft lighting helps too. To keep this outfit light and airy in terms of footwear, I went with the NX-Nardcotix sandals.
While we’re talking about keeping the attire light, let’s take a look at a pair of shorts by Hevo. Using the Signature version, it only took some minor tweaking of my shape to fit into these shorts. From the frayed end of the belt with its brass buckle down to the pockets and the rolled up hems, it’s the perfectly executed details on this item that make it special. I wasn’t familiar with Hevo yet, but these shorts make me want to go check out their store. They are a great choice for beach walks on those warm summer evenings after a long day at work, letting the waves crash upon your bare feet and a refreshing breeze blow away the worrisome cobwebs.
I’m staying in the realm of shamelessly flaunting shirtless people with these three quarter pants by BeBop. Each single pack contains both a patterned and a plain version. While I do like fiddling with my shape, it is nice to find something I can simply put on without making any alterations, so I was very pleased to see that and NX size was included. The double waistband and drawstrings on these pants are a great idea and seem to suggest one is wearing swim trunks underneath them. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone came up with a layered item like this that allows you to easily remove the pants to reveal swim trunks underneath? That would certainly accommodate the fantasy of ending that stroll along the beach with a quick refreshing dip in the ocean.
Of course we don’t all live by the sea and for some a good way to wind down at the end of the day is to just stroll around in their neighborhood and spy on the neighbors… Oh, I mean, admire the beautiful gardens. In such surroundings I do prefer to be wearing a little bit more. FE Style has just the thing at MOM. Their nice shirt with three quarter sleeves and an amusing pattern had me yet again shouting “huzzah!”, because it also includes an NX-size. Keep it coming folks! The shirt is easily paired with for example Broberry jeans and Chase sneakers, both available from Deadwool’s Tailor’s Cabin.
Should the nice weather desert you, then there’s always this new sweater by Etham. It’s a good standard item which easily fits David in the TMP or Signature size and can be nicely combined with the NX-Nardcotix Finlay cargo pants and Jude ankle boots. What you have here is an outfit for cooler days that says: hey, it’s comfortable and looks effortless, but some thought went into this.
This rounds up my trip to MOM with David. All of these items will be available at the event till June 15th (8 AM SL time) , so you still have a couple of weeks to go check it out if you haven’t done so yet.
Credits
- NX-Nardcotix ‘David’ mesh body
- Catwa ‘Stanley’ mesh head
- Nivaro ‘Harley’ applier for Catwa & Omega applier for the body in Ram tone. Make sure you get the matching appliers! Nivaro shares a sim with Birth and Labyrinth and it’s easy to stumble from one section into another.
- Stealthic ‘Hysteria’ hair
- Mandala Season 5 Steking ears
- NX-Nardcotix underpants (part of a set including a tank top)
- Location (images 2 to 5): Boystown
Dabbling with Geralt IV
In the barren landscape of suitable appliers for the Signature mesh heads, Clef De Peau offers two options: the Harry and the Calvin skin. After testing both skins and looking at them from all angles, I decided that Calvin was my favourite and purchased the skin tone No. 7. Clef De Peau is one of the more affordable skin creators on the grid, as this applier sells for 500 L$ and their matching applier for the body is only 300 L$.
It is clear from the less than ideal positioning of the clavicle shadows that this skin was made for the Signature Gianni body and not Geralt, but the nipples and toe shadows and everything else is where it’s supposed to be, so I can overlook this imperfection for now. I’m using the skin with the eyebrows it comes with, but the applier includes a no-brows version, so you can easily apply your favorite brows to match your hair colour.
Slowly the range of clothes that include a version for the Signature Geralt body is increasing and the body itself is now at version 1.1, featuring some handy additions to the hud and little technical corrections here and there. It looks like Signature is keeping up nicely with the development of their male mesh bodies and will continue to be a strong player in this field. Now if only there were some more underwear options for Geralt!
Credits
- Signature Geralt mesh head and body
- Clef De Peau Calvin & body applier #7
- Newest hairstyle from Vango, available at the current round of Men Only Monthly till 15th June.
- Mandala Season 5 Steking mesh ears
- NSS Vermeer mesh eyes, hazel
- 4BIDDEN thong
- Kalback sleeveless jeans jacket and t-shirt at the current round of TMD till the end of May
- Legal Insanity jeans at the current round of equal10 till 5th June
- Sneakers from a gacha set at Semler. (wear long jeans and hide your feet with the alpha hud)
Exmachina Davide Full Bento Avatar 2.1
The ‘Davide’ mesh body by Exmachina (one could be forgiven to think it’s by Egoism) has been updated yet again, but there aren’t any new features this time around, just a couple of bug fixes, which is always a good thing. It’s worth mentioning that since the previous update a headless version of the avatar is included which you should be able to combine with most mesh heads according to the change log, but I must be missing a trick or something because I personally have not been able to manage it without a neck seam or gap that’s noticeable from a distance. NO mister director, I am NOT ready for my close-up!
So I will be sticking to the full avatar and I like using a skin from 7 Deadly S[k]ins with this avatar, like the Gav skin in the caramel tone. Another bit of good news is that Legal Insanity recently released a pair of jeans shorts and a tank top that includes an Exmachina size. Hopefully some more creators will follow this example. This body could really do with some very nice undies or swimwear.
Credits
- Exmachina Davide full avatar
- 7 Deadly S[k]ins Gav in caramel tone
- Stealthic Haunting hair
- Shorts and tank from Legal Insanity
- Shoes from L&B Swear
L’Homme Magazine Group Gifts May 2018
This time I was determined not to wait till the last moment to go find the L’Homme Magazine readers group gifts and I gathered them all as soon as they were available after the release of the new fabulous issue of the magazine. Of course time did get away from me after that and here we are already rapidly nearing the end of May before I finally was ready to hit the publish button. There is something for everyone… Well okay, maybe not for orcs, princesses or Lilliputians, bur for almost everyone else there is something. These are a few of my favourite things.
First up is a deliciously wildly patterned suit from Bakaboo. You can try combining the top with a more simple pair of trousers, or go all out and wear the trousers that come with it for a dizzying effect. Browsing my existing footwear options, I settled on the Tripple Monk shoes from Ascend to wear with this suit.
The cowboy hat and long hair from no.match are great for creating a rugged sultry sexy cowboy look. I used it as excuse to walk around shirtless, showing off the NX-Nardcotix David Mesh body with the Clef De Peau applier, combined with a Catwa Stanley head. If you’re looking for a new pair of jeans, the new ones from Ascend currently shown in the May round of TMD are a very nice choice. I love the texturing on these jeans and you can wear them with or without the belt.
Stray Dog was a bit quick to remove their previous gift, about two weeks before the release of the new issue of L’Homme Magazine, but it’s nice to see they’re donating a group gift again for the current issue. The Zack skin in Buttermilk tone has very light eyebrows, perfect for achieving a Scandinavian look and comes with some options like lipstick marks, bruises on the neck (from wearing a choker) and freckles. The applier only works with Catwa mesh heads and you will have to purchase the matching body applier if you don’t have it yet. Stray Dog has appliers for the Signature and Belleza mesh bodies which all automatically come with body hair, freckles and tan line options. In this example I’m using the Belleza body with the Catwa Stanley head, my own shape and the ‘Haunting’ hairstyle by Stealthic.
You can drastically change your look with this same skin by using the version without brows and applying a pair of brows from the main hud for your Catwa head or any other brows of your choice and slapping on the ‘Rock of Ages’ facial hair, which is the L’Homme Magazine group gift from Mister Razzor Barbershop. To complete this bad boy look I used the ‘Obscura’ hairstyle from Stealthic is a nice choice for this bad boy look.
The last gift I wanted to show is this ‘vest’ by Meva. One could be forgiven to call this a harness and I don’t really have anything in my wardrobe that goes with it, so yes I am naked apart from the vest. This item wouldn’t look out of place in certain club scenes or roll play areas and Meva probably has trousers that combine well with it. Mostly I just wanted to show because it hot.
There are several more gifts and you’ll find the full list in the L’Homme Magazine May issue. To get landmarks to the participating stores, you can leaf through the magazine at your leisure till you come across an advert or spread for one of them and click on the store’s logo. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of shopping inspiration for both your avi and your home along the way.
Taking David to TMD May 2018
It was high time to dedicate another shopping trip to the NX-Nardcotix David mesh body. First I took a look at Fameshed, but the current round doesn’t seem to have much menswear, so I turned my attention to this month’s TMD, which looked quite promising with more clothing and less tattoos and poses this time, or maybe that’s just my first impression and as we know, anecdotal evidence is not undeniable proof (do we?). Trying everything on sure was a rocky road, but I managed to enrich David’s wardrobe with some nice pieces.
I think most of us like it when we can come away from one of these sales events with some items from different creators that can be combined easily. Etham‘s newest jacket goes nicely with the chinos from TonkTastic, provided you choose colours that don’t clash of course. I didn’t have to rummage around in my virtual closet too long to find a pair of shoes that works with these chinos. As they are quite wide at the bottom, I think you will have plenty of shoe options. I went with the NX-Nardcotix Jude Ankle boots, available from their main store where you will also find the body. The cordovan of the leather goes well with the muted red of the jacket and the style of these boots slightly pushes the outfit more towards a smart casual look.
With a tweak here and there, I was able to squeeze my shapely pixel butt into the TonkTastic chinos and wear them topless. Go barefoot or wear something light on your feet like the NX-Nardcotix Metalic sandals and you’re all set for a solitary reflective stroll along the beach, with the soothing sound of crashing waves and the occasional seagull going “mine”. The classic size of the chinos seems to work best with this body
Clef De Peau keeps extending their clothing line and are showing a jacket at TMD this time, though you could be forgiven for storing this in your folder with sweaters. An NX size is included, so no worries there and if you’re looking for something to wear with it, the NX-Nardcotix Finlay cargo pants and Deadwool Chase sneakers are a safe choice. Use the Signature size for the Chase sneakers and just blank out your feet and your aunt Margaret is married to a geezer named Robert, i.e. Bob’s your uncle.
The set from MGmen’s isn’t a perfect fit for David. You’ll get away with wearing the sweat pants topless quite easily once you make some minor changes to your shape, but the top is more problematic around the neck. You need to use the standard size and depending on your personal shape you may have to bring down your muscle mass, neck thickness and overall body thickness a lot to make it work at all, let alone get it perfect. The bright side of this story is that the top and bottom are sold separately and it looks good with Gabriel‘s roll down boots.
For the track suit from Vexiin I could pretty much repeat what I wrote about the MGmen’s set, but I had to reduce my muscle mass even more to make the cuffs fit my arms and then the t-shirt was still clipping on my neck, which you don’t see in the picture because I got lucky with my pose. On a bright note, you get a hud with some colour choices for the boxer briefs, which is nice cause you do see a lot of them.
Last but not least, I’m showing a ridiculously well textured pair of jeans and walking boots from Cold Ash. I recommend wearing the TMP size and of course playing with your shape till it works. Go ahead and be generous with that slider for your butt size! I’m sure I could find a shirt to got with these jeans, but why would I?
Credits
- NX-Nardcotix David mesh body
- Catwa Stanley mesh head
- Clef De Peau Ivo for Catwa + applier for NX-Nardoctix
- Stealthic hair
- Mandala mesh ears
It’s Kinky Time 3
Time flies when you’re throwing clocks at people and as the deity of your personal choice closes a door, they open a window into the exciting, quasi seedy yet rather classy underbelly of Second Life at the Kinky Event. This event usually starts at the 28th of the month and lasts till the 19th of the next month. In other words, you have until May 19th to check out the current round and as we’re long past the feverish first couple of days, the lag wont be biting too hard now… Unless you want it to.
I don’t like the repeating group invites that pop up on my screen as soon as I set foot in the dimly lit exhibition hall, but I do like what they’ve done with the place. The little scene you’re greeted with at the entrance of the hall lets you know straight away what kind of place this is. These items aren’t for sale at the event, but you can get them at the Krescendo main store.
Apart from skins, tattoos and some home decor (with adult animations of course), Kinky is mostly geared towards female avatars… Or male ones buying gifts for their SL girlfriend(s), which means they’re mostly buying it for themselves.
There usually is that one male item that makes the visit totally worth it. This time it’s the Wrestling Singlet by Noche. It comes with a style hud so you can wear it both on and off the shoulders. You also get a text hud, in case you want something written on your butt. It would have been great if this had included an option to write your own text, but I guess I can live with for example “yummy” and I can of course just leave it blank. If you treat yourself to the fatpack, you’ll get 15 texture options, which you can apply individually to the main fabric and trim. Last but not least there is the choice between a modest and more pronounced bulge.
Credits
- Signature Gianni mesh body and head
- Stray Dog Owen skin. This skin is not available at the store, but take a look at their Roman skin, there’s a Signature version for it.
- Tableau Vivant Dagon hair
- Vale Koer V3 trainers group gift
Dabbling with Geralt III
For this episode of Dabbling with Geralt I experimented with the ‘Kaye’ omega applier from 7 Deadly S[k]ins and I am pleased to say that everything is where it’s supposed to be. There is no awkward nipple slip or unsightly toe shadows, so well done 7DS!
The eyebrows and facial hair are part of the skin, which has the advantage that you don’t need to apply anything extra, but the disadvantage that you’re stuck with them. A soul patch is not for everyone, even less so when you’ve heard someone call it a flavor saver. Just to be clear, personally I do like it (the soul patch, not the alternative name).
It’s nice to see that clothing for Geralt is starting to appear at stores and events. Legal Insanity has a nice pair of baggy jeans shorts at Men Only Monthly till 15th April and at their main store soon after. A while ago I found a cute funny tank top from 7 Mad Ravens at an event, which is available at their store now. Signature’s own flip flops for Geralt go very nicely with this outfit and you’ll find those easily enough when you go take a look at the body and head at their store.
Credits
- Signature Geralt mesh body and head
- 7 Deadly S[k]ins Kaye skin in caramel tone
- Tram F1011 hair
- L’etrê gem pierced ears
- Avi Glam Cold Day mesh eyes
7 Deadly S(k)ins May group gift
It looks like 7 Deadly S(k)ins is doing a throw back to the “system avatar” with their male group gift this month. For those of us who are fully converted mesh freaks, going back to basic might seem inconceivable, but for anybody new to SL, this gift will make a nice upgrade from the rather bleak standard avatars.
A decent system skin for your head can also be a good thing to have if you pick up the 500 L$ TMP Deluxe mesh body. You can find out more about that quasi controversial choice in my “What’s Eating TMP” blog series.
There are a couple of options to match your mesh body to the system head. Both the Signature and TMP body for example, have a neck tattoo to help create a softer seam rather than a sharp line. Another alternative is to get an Omega or TMP applier that matches the system skin. Both are available at 7DS and I’m using the Caramel TMP applier in this image to match the ‘Brent’ group gift skin.
- 7DS group join fee is L$ 225
- The TMP Deluxe mesh body is L$ 500, including some skin options in 36 skin tones. No. 19 works nicely with 7DS Brent on your system head. Don’t forget to wear the No. 19 neck fader from TMP! It’s not a perfect match and looks a bit strange at the front of the neck, but there’s virtually no visible seam on the back of the neck.
- If you go for the TMP applier from 7DS, make sure you get the skin tone that matches the group gift skin. You can get either Caramel or Stone and they are L$ 450 each.
- The hair is from Tram, the jeans shorts are from Legal Insanity.
New Port House II
Patrik Schumacher, top architect and ‘provocateur’ who thinks that all public spaces should be privatized and social housing should be eliminated, recently claimed that millenials are never home and have no need for a living room so they could be perfectly happy in a 25 m² studio. Of course, if that space is being used very cleverly and the materials are nice, it wouldn’t have to be a bad thing. Thankfully space is not that much of an issue in Second Life and most of us can enjoy the fantasy of decorating a spacious home. A while ago I had fun furnishing and decorating the downstairs of a two-bedroom Roost New Port House for a friend and this is the second in a series of blog posts I’ll be dedicating to it.
The main reception room in this home is so spacious it easily houses a living room with an extensive library and a kitchen diner with plenty of space to move around in and entertain. Some new bookcases have popped up on the grid lately, but I still like the somewhat older World of Wood library, complete with books and several wood textures to choose from. You also get an empty version, in case you want to use your own books or desperately need to display all those gacha collectibles you’ve been hording (you know who you are). I mentioned some of the items in this shot in my previous post about this house, but it’s worth mentioning that the chandelier and globe are both from Fancy Decor. Now, let’s zoom in…
In real life I have never had the opportunity to do that thing that posh people do. You know, they put this table behind a sofa and put fancy stuff on it and books and thingamabobs (I’ve got twenty… seriously Billy? A Little Mermaid reference? se-rious-ly?). In this house I could easily fit two large sofa’s with a table behind each of them. On the closest table in this image I had space for a lamp, books with a shiny trinket, a magazine tray and some kind of horn all by Fancy Decor. I filled the gaps with a pair of looking glasses from Apple Fall and roses from Ariskea, which I put in a different vase. Finally, the table itself is from Loft.
Of course there’s nothing wrong with taking it a bit easy and getting a full living room suite with all your seating options covered in one shopping trip, but personally I enjoy mixing and matching. This cream sofa is from N4RS and I re-textured the cushions for that personal touch. The gray sofa is from Digs and has several more textures to choose from. You’ll find the comfy chair and coffee table at Lisp Bazaar and some of the bits and bobs such as the orchid, lamp, boxes and magazines are from Fancy Decor. The tray with candles ad a diffuser is from Lisp Bazaar and the white irises can be found at Apple Fall. A potted bromeliad from Dust Bunny adds a subtle hint of bright colour while the books with mini cactuses from Loft add a bit of prickly character to the scene. Oh and the rug is just one of my own little creations.
That’s it for now. Stay tuned for the next episode in this series, in which I’ll be showing the kitchen diner and possibly the hallway.
What’s Eating TMP 6
(whispers) We’re here at TMP’s flagship store ‘The Shops’ and it looks like the sale that was supposed to be ‘temporary’ is still on after two months. Their Facebook page appears to be dead in the water and who knows when this ship will be going under, but meanwhile you can look pretty good for 1500 L$ here and now. Okay, in all honesty for that money you’ll be a bold Ken doll, but at least you’ll be a pretty one.
When it comes to paler skins, TMP has always been one of my favorite options. Here I’m using the No. 3 ‘Axel’ skin, with baked in stubble, eyebrow appliers from Aeros (they’re free, if you can find them), ‘Vermeers’ mesh eyes from NSS, the nonchalantly tousled ‘B&G81’ hair from Dura and a minimum of fabric to cover up the naughty bits in the shape of a metallic thong from Noche.
If you like the look of this body but really prefer a more pliable head, you can easily combine it with some of the currently available bento mesh heads. In a previous post I showed a combination of the TMP body with the Akeruka Aron mesh head, using a skin from 7 Deadly S[k]ins, as they carry both the Omega applier you’ll need for that head as well as appliers for the TMP body. In case you’re still a bit new to SL and this is making your head spin, don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. Although, if your mesh head is on backwards, you probably are having a serious technical melt down and you should call 0118 999 881 999 119 7253.
This time I wanted to combine the TMP body with the Catwa Stanley head, because somehow I had never gotten around to that before. I already had an amazing applier for the body from Aeros (1000 L$) so I went over to their main store to take a look at their Catwa appliers. The skin tone naming system at Aeros is a bit quirky. For their TMP body appliers they use names such as ‘breve’ and ‘tequila’ while the Catwa appliers mix these names with numbers for newer skin tones. Not all the Catwa appliers come in a skin tone that will match up with the TMP body and naturally you will have to chose appliers with the same name. I settled on the rather sexy ‘Brox‘ in the tequila tone (500 L$). This skin includes eyebrows but they are not “baked” in, so you can easily apply another pair. As for body hair, the TMP appliers are available in a shaved or hairy version. There aren’t many 3rd party body hair appliers available for TMP and they tend to go fuzzy quite often, so having hair that’s baked into the skin is a good option. The look is finished off with ‘Season 5 Steking’ mesh ears from Mandala, the ‘Reach’ hair from Stealthic and the ‘Essential Jockstrap’ from Noche.
Remember that all of the boutique clothing at The Shops is for free at the moment and there still are plenty of creators that include a TMP size in their new items, though some have dropped it. Of course the big question remains: what’s eating TMP? Is their any future in it? Who knows!?
