RIP WilliamD Bracken

My close and best friend in Second Life, WilliamD Bracken, hadn't logged in for weeks when I started getting worried. I began sending him the usual "hey are you OK?" IMs but no reply. A week went by then a month and still no reply. Sadly, just last week, I got a reply to one of my IMs via email from his real life son letting me know that William had passed away on January 26th. Color me devastated.😢

About William

Will (as I called him most of the time) was funny, kind and a great conversationalist. Whenever we were online at the same time, we'd often spend hours chatting up a storm while dancing at our usual club haunts such as Muddy's, FogBound or Junkyard Blues. Will was also well-known for creating elaborate builds on his home land, especially for Halloween or Christmas. You could also find us hanging out in his hot tub or mine.
I never knew exactly who he was in real life other than his first name and things going on from day-to-day; just as he knew similar things about me. Neither of us felt the need to extend things any further. Regardless, easily 75% of my time in SL was spent with him. I'm pretty sure he was a lot older than me but he never acted like it. (Although his tastes in music mostly involved 60s & 70s music while mine run from the 80s to current stuff.) We both liked listening to the blues from every era which is why we often went to Junkyard.
Will was also the founder and original part owner of Muddy's nightclub in SL (still going strong). It's kind of ironic that I never went to Muddy's when he owned it because I was busy doing things for Blackhearts (like playing occasional hostess and making club themed clothing for them). He had lots of stories about all the personalities and ups and downs from running a club. 
What else do I know? Hmmm. Will was always barbequing something in real life. He was eager to explore interesting new places in SL. One of our favorite SIMs was a Japanese island with a lovely forest, various onsens and interesting little hideaways. We also spent a fair amount of time in the HP Lovecraft SIM, Innsmouth. He was quick to give virtual massages (which, believe it or not, often helped). And finally, he never went mesh. I think it was a badge of honor for him that for as long as he was in SL, his shape and haircut were pretty much pure Linden OEM old school. We actually me each other through the inworld HUD game Tiny Empires about 8 years ago back when our mutual queendom (Hirilorn now Hirilorn Rising) used to hold parties. After a few dates (yes they exist in SL), we became regular besties. 

RIP WilliamD Bracken. I miss you a lot. May your afterlife be as fun as your Second Life and real life.

WilliamD & Snickers on Halloween Ride

Chilling by the pool.

New skins from Stix for Fantasy Faire 2020

My friend Pixy Snook has a VERY unique design style when it comes to skins, makeup and other goodies. She has outdone herself on the creative scale with Cosmos skins in 8 different colors for BOM and Omega. Each tone is only $100L exclusively at the Fantasy Faire location!!

SLURL for her store at FF: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Auxentios%20Pass/189/171/49

Cosmos by Stix - PINK

 

Cosmos by Stix - Red1

Second Life name contest!

Since Linden Lab will be allowing name changes for premium accounts in early 2020, they've decided to hold a contest to solicit new, creative last names.

You get to submit three ideas and the winners, regardless of premium status or not, will get to change their names for free (saving a $40L charge).

They won't be reusing any old last names so here's the "banned" list: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Current_Last_Names

Want to enter? Just click below to read the instructions and follow the bouncing links.

https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/3110-name-changes-contest-is-upon-us/

Now's your chance to have that last name you always wanted. Personally, I'm going for Snickers Trump, Snickers Schiff or Snickers Pelosi.

Halloween Sexii Succubus Snick

Since it's Halloween time, what's better than dragging out your favorite sexy devil costume? Here's mine. It's from Bare@Rose (Belior Lady C2) and works well with my Maitreya Lara body and Lumae Eirtae skin. Hair is Rezology Epicure.

Fantastic bargain rigged mesh mermaid tail

I've always had a thing for playing mermaid in Second Life. From the early days of attachable fins and system skirts made to look like mer tails to sculpties with deformed avatars, I've tried just about every type. Of course it helped that a couple of boyfriends were into mer-life. It's so much fun to cuddle underwater. :D

BareRose Black Scale Mermaid

Anyway, my favorite mer avatars are from BareRose. As you can see from the photo on the left, they are gorgeous and amazingly detailed.

BUT, they are also incredibly complex. Wearing a full B@R mermaid outfit WITH a mesh body and all the accessories will easily push your avatar complexity into the stratosphere. Well for me that's around 165,000 and enough to render you invisible to a lot of people.

So I also have two mesh mer tails I use just for less complex situations or where I don't want to wear the full B@R mess. The drawback is that they are both relatively early rigged mesh and kinda clunky where the top of the scales meet the your pelvis. It's even worse with a mesh body like Maitreya Lara.

You can see that the blue tail has this added layer of fishy fat making it look like I'm really just wearing a wetsuit disguised as a tail. Which, it sorta is.

Generic mesh tail

OK fast forward to today where I went to an underwater event and of course, wanting to impress, I wore my BareRose tail and all the goodies. But there was that 165K complexity again. Yikes. Thankfully there weren't too many of us there and everyone could see everyone. BUT still.

That set me on a SL Marketplace hunt for something a bit simpler but better than my ancient mesh tail. After hitting a couple of real clunkers (thank you Demo) and some tails advertised as rigged that weren't, I finally found a simple tail that didn't suck.

In fact, the detail in the tail scales and such is every bit as good as B@R but without all the accessories and add-ons. Fellow peoples of the mer persuasion, I give you the prosaicly named "[ReS] Fitmesh Purple Mermaid" lol. Even the package looks cheesy. BUT, the tail is very good AND it comes in 5 standard sizes plus Maitreya, Belleza and Slink versions. Up close the scales have real depth and shine. What would make it perfect would be for the scales to be scalloped where it meets your pelvis so it doesn't just look like a slip-on bottom. An added bonus is that it comes with a decent mermaid AO with real control buttons. Yay!

[ReS] Rigged Mesh Tail

Oh did I mention this tail is only $65L? No, I didn't. It is. Really. It's prettier than a lot of tails that sell for 10x that price. This one is NOT available in DEMO form so you'll have to trust me that it works. You can click on the photo below to see it up close -- my body is Maitreya Lara. Oh and the mesh is auto-hide for Lara which is cool to. And tah dah, my total complexity with this tail is only (hee) about 75K.

The one thing I wasn't keen on is the included hair. It's a very basic and clunky mesh that didn't cover even my generic hair base. So the hair shown above is Rezology Wavy Hime re-colored with purple on the dark blond base. Trust me, it looks wayyy better than the included hair.

Anyway, check it out on SLM for yourself here: [ReS] Purple Mermaid Tail

Profile Peeker the Pervy HUD - FREEBIE

OK just kidding. But I do love alliteration and with a name like Profile Peeker, how could I resist? Stepping out of my usual role as a reviewer of fashion and commentator on the silly things Linden Lab often does, I'm going to talk about a strange HUD for Second Life. It's called Profile Peeker and it's made by Patser Albatros. Full disclosure, he's a friend of mine and also the maker of the inworld HUD game, Pirates.

So what does it do? First, it displays thumbnail photos from the profiles of up to 10 people you are closest to. The screen cap to the right shows how it looks in Firestorm viewer and as you can see, it takes up a bit of visual real estate. The left-hand thumbnail is the main profile picture while the right is the First Life picture (if any).

The magic comes when you click on a photo (peek at the profile). You get a popup window with three choices:

You can (obviously), look at a profile. You can also see what attachments an avatar is wearing (want to find out what dress she's wearing?). The interesting thing is "History".

It takes you to a third party server that shows you a grid of "history" changes to the text on the SL & RL parts of the avatar's profile and partner changes. I have no idea about the magic behind this but it looks like it's getting info from public Second Life web profiles. I even see data going back to 2016. Creepy? Maybe. The Internet never forgets!

So Profile Peeker works and does exactly what it says it does -- if you're inclined to use such a thing. One small thing that could use improvement is how the profile pics are presented. I'd almost prefer the avatar name instead of the thumbnail of the profile. An avatar's look doesn't always match their profile photo and it can be a bit tough to match someone up if there are lots of avatars near you. Maybe as a floater? Mouseover? Anyway, it's not an issue when you are only around say 5 people but more than that, a name reference would be easier.

Profile Peeker is available for free on the Second Life Marketplace here:

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Profile-Peeker/8067750

Normie Mesh Head by Utlizator

As some of you know from reading my past posts, I have steadfastly hung onto my system head for one simple reason. It looks best with my favorite Lumae skin, Eirtae T7. Every mesh head I've tried seems to have a fatal flaw with Eirtae -- whether it's lips that are too small or cheeks that are too hollow or whatever. It seems most mesh heads tend towards the runway model anorexic look or the doe-eyed little girl partial-anime look. Admittedly, I haven't tried a ton of heads (maybe 8 total) but each time I'd go back to my system head.

My last adventure with Bento head demos led me to Lelutka Bianca and LAQ Bree. Bianca was gorgeous around the eyes but I couldn't get the lips to look anything but overly cutesy pouty-puffy. Bree was simply awful with my skin, had limited slider response and the face simply looked puffy in general. Sigh.

Normie Bento Head by Utilizator

So I happened to be lurking the Mesh Body Addicts group in SL one afternoon when someone mentioned a Bento Omega-compatible head, Normie by Utilizator, that worked well as a sort of upgrade replacement for the system head. My virtual ears perked up and when they said it was only $500L I was like, OK must try!

I was actually blown away. Not only did my skin look great, I barely had to touch the sliders to get my "look" which is sort of sexy nerd girl next door. Definitely not runway model, pouty princess or femme fatale. One look at the freckles and well, you know what I mean.

Anyway, see for yourself (click on the piccy for a full-sized shot). No Photoshop on this -- just a straight Gyazo with normal graphics settings. Lip gloss is Delizio Hot Pink, eyes are Amicci mesh and eye makeup is Izzie's "Gloom" in copper all applied via Omega.

A few notes. The HUD is simplistic but still takes a bit getting used to since turning off/on the makeup tattoo and Omega eyelashes makes a big difference in how you look. Animations are limited as well but since it's full Bento, third party animations should work just fine. Normie also supports voice chat mouth movement through three supplied gestures. Oh yeah, Normie is also full MOD! Now what other Bento head gives you that at ANY price?

Normie is available in SL Marketplace here: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/UTILIZATOR-Normie-Head/13071631,

There is a DEMO version available as well and as with anything mesh, I strongly urge you to play with it first.

Second Life inventory clean-up

I can't believe it but I finally did it. Got rid of at least 90% of my old system clothing inventory. There is no going back. Yours truly is now fully committed to her Maitreya Lara mesh body, applier clothing and mesh clothing. I even tried on a few of my old fave outfits with my system self and OMG. They just looked sad. So bye-bye almost 30K in items! It's kinda cathartic in a way. OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW!

Oh and I have a really hot new avatar look I've been working on. It's for special occasions. Watch this space.

Improving the Second Life avatar mesh

With all the interest in Linden Lab's "Project Bento", which promises a new, more sophisticated avatar skeleton, I st00pidly decided to ask my favorite question the open Project Bento thread in the SL Forums.

"Is anything being done to improve the avatar mesh?"

Of course I clarified a bit by wondering about adding triangles (vertices) or other possibly simple improvements. I also brought up the issue of everyone wearing mesh bodies to overcome the limitations of the base SL mesh and how complex things had become.

I got a smattering of replies ranging from "no it would break existing content" to "well maybe". But the general theme was "Linden Lab doesn't seem to want to." I did get one reply with the comment to the effect that, if mesh bodies are so complicated, why don't we work on improving that ... along with the query "what makes them so complicated?" Which sort of stunned me since the individual is a mesh creator. I was thinking, uh, wow! You don't know?

Anyway, I thought I'd re-post up my response here:

Well let's see. for my Maitreya mesh body, I have to wear:

1. alpha
2. main body
3. hands
4. feet
5. head (optional)
6. HUD to control alphas, layers, nails, blend neck, select foot shape / height
7. HUD to control head and apply layers

Then the steps for wearing clothes could include:

1. Wearing Maitreya compatible clothing HUD to apply texture to clothing layer on mesh body
2. Wearing Omega relay HUD and Omega compatible clothing HUD to apply texture to clothing on mesh body
3. Making sure you buy fitmesh type clothing that is tailored for Maitreya body (vs. Belazza vs. Slink Physique vs. TMP vs. whatever)
4. Making sure attachment points of newly worn things don't interefere with already worn things (add doesn't always work).
5. Animations for HUD for head.

So now let's try to "Save" a complete outfit. You have to make sure you are wearing ALL of the necessary HUDs that would affect any changes to the outfit plus all the necessary parts to the outfit. Assuming you've remembered everything, the next time you "wear" that outfit, you STILL have to apply the textures and operate the HUDs to make sure the right layers are showing, alphas are in place, etc.

I've been in SL since 2007 and have done my fair share of designing clothing. I just started on the mesh body thing about 3 months ago. I'm a fairly smart girl. It has totally been an "OMFG what have I gotten into" experience. I just can't imagine newbies figuring this out. And I really wonder if Linden Lab is doing the servers any favors with all of this extra junk being loaded onto avatars who really really want to look good.

We are already blowing up compatibility with existing content since each outfit has to be tailored for each brand of mesh body.

Anyway, what do you think? Honestly I would prefer a standardized, improved Second Life avatar mesh and more sliders with wider ranges along with Project Bento.  It would much more newb friendly and it would allow content creators to be able to concentrate on actually making clothing and accessories instead of having to worry about UUIDs, texture mapping to 10 different mesh bodies, embedding scripts in everything, programming HUDs etc. And I have to think it would cause much less impact on Linden Lab's servers as well as the user's computer.

Am I wrong about this? Tell me why!

New doll skin from Stix - Solii:Broken Parts

Stix Solii:Broken Parts Skin

Wandering off the beaten path from my usual taste in styles is this fun new skin from Stix. Aptly called Solii:Broken Parts, she does indeed look like a bit like a doll that's been taken apart and put back together slightly out of place. Her smudged makeup, alabaster pink skin tones and heavy dark eye shadow are suitable for goth or some artsy nightclub. Dare I say cosplay too? OK I did.

I didn't do anything fancy here for the photo. Midday lighting and a country pink outfit I thought would go well with the skin. It's also my usual shape, not something optimized for Solii (although I didn't see a shape in the package).

As with just about everything from Stix, you get multiple cleavage/nipple/girl parts options, mesh appliers for just about every body you can think of (Maitreya, Omega, TMP, Slink, Belleza, Soul, Baby Bump) plus the full complement of system skins.

Best of all? It's all only $199L. SLURL to inworld store: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollow%20Shades/100/208/26.

Some thoughts on mesh avatars

Sassy Romano was wondering (in the Second Life Forums) why the enthusiasm for mesh bodies and also thinking that, with applier outfits, we've gone back full circle to system clothing which everyone has tried so hard to escape from. They're good questions so here's my take:

1. The mesh bodies I have (Maitreya, TMP and even Ohana) are much more realistic in shape than the system mesh. The breasts are much more natural (don't get me started on Lola's Tangos) and the hands & feet are just much better done. No more cankles either. You also get the option of wearing insanely high feet like Slink's for ridonkulous heels. Realistic, colorable and resizable nails & toenails too!

2. Paint-on clothing for mesh (aka system type) ends up looking more realistic because the layers are actually physically separated from each other. So clothing layer sits a bit further out than underwear which sits a bit further out than tattoo which is on the same physical level as skin. This actually gives 2D clothing some depth that it wouldn't have otherwise. I'm often surprised at how much more realistic an applier outfit looks on mesh than the same outfit looks when it's on a standard avatar.

3. All this goodness aside, mesh bodies are a royal PITA. I have to save each outfit wearing all the right body parts PLUS the appliers themselves AND if it's an OMEGA applier outfit, it also has to have the OMEGA relay attached too. Then you have to apply the clothing to the right layers. Oy.

4. Mesh bodies don't always work correctly with mesh clothing. Usually something is popping through and turning on the appropriate alphas for a mesh outfit is, again, a chore. Much easier to simply wear a mesh outfit with the standard avatar provided your shape is in-range and the designer has included a properly made alpha (many don't make good alphas).

Now for YEARS I've been screaming at LL to improve the base avatar. Seriously we have so much better hardware now that doubling the vertices and tweaking the sliders should be pretty straightforward. Make the layers do exactly what the mesh body layers do -- set the physical distance away from the avatar.

Another idea I've thought is that LL could provide a true ADULT avatar. One with more realistic bits. I'll bet a lot of people would check the appropriate over 18 boxes and pay extra for one.

Right now the load on the servers has GOT to be heavier with all these unoptimized and scripted monster mesh avatars running around. Wouldn't SL be better off with a much improved standardized avatar?

As usual, all comments and thoughts are welcome.

A new Snickers

I know I know. Not very catchy title is it? At first I thought "Snickers is dead" but that was too much drama queen stuffs. Then I tried "Old Snickers is dead, long live new Snickers" but that's just icky.

New Snickers - Amelia Skin by Aeva

So you're left with the prosaically stupid "A new Snickers". What does it mean? Well for me it was a bit traumatic. After 4 years of pretty much the same look (a skin and shape I made myself), I started playing around with the whole mesh avatar thing, appliers and all that stuff. (Noooo I'm not doing Lolas Tangos.)

That process led me through a merry adventure of demo skins, a couple of different trial avatars and new shapes. Plus I already had to break down and buy
SLink feet since my fave designer (Inga Wind) is now supplying most of her outfits with really cute shoes that are designed for the SLink high footsies.

Old school SL bikini so you can see  new skin. Click for full size
pinup picture.

So in this whole process, I came across a skin that looked cool from the pictures and was available as a discontinued item on SL Marketplace.

I absolutely fell in love with Amelia by Aeva. It's not a current skin in her line but was on SL Marketplace (and was cheap) so I snagged it.

Amelia has the sort of eyes I've always wanted plus a nice, natural skin tone similar to the skin I had made in Photoshop. Plus it comes with multiple cleavage looks from none to over the top, three different colorations and brow/freckles options. Shown is mid-cleavage with brow and freckles.

I made a few tweaks to my shape including, sigh, bigger boobies to fit more of the mesh outfits I've been wearing, some facial changes and a little more fat and muscle here and there. Voila, you have the new Snickers!

My next adventure will be fooling around with mesh avatars. I've already experimented with one which I plan to write about soon and I'm looking around for others to play with. (Creators feel free to contact me for this project.) :)

So what do you think? Any suggestions?

I've thrown up pics of my old skin (face and same bikini) so you can get an idea of the changes. Not huge mind you but enough that it seems like some fresh air to me. As usual you can click on the image to see the full size photo.

Old skin & shape

Old skin - Snickers Rose Tan 8d

Old skin - Snickers Rose Tan 8d