Male Asian alt ideas

[Yuumo Ichibara]

In my ten years of being on and off SL this is the first time for me to create a male alt for an RP sim. My concept is based on Japanese-English actor Will Sharpe, particularly his character in the Netflix series (a must watch IMHO!) Giri/Haji. I know that this will be very costly to start all over as the opposite gender and I have absolutely no idea how to style a guy whether on SL or RL so I need to make wise decisions on what to spend my 10-15k on. Those of you who are experts at creating and styling male AVs, especially those who own realistic Asian male AVs, which parts do you think should I buy to bear a resemblance to him (or another Japanese actor who comes to mind: Kentaro Sakaguchi)?

 

1. Head: Catwa Dino or LeLutka Kane? I tried both demos and they seem to be somewhat identical, but I am not sure which has more compatibility with skins and such. As you know, demos only give you a glimpse into the possibilities and I still cannot tell whether the sliders can replicate the look I want.

2. Body: I heard that Belleza Jake was the Maitreya Lara for men? Is there a more realistic body that I can easily modify to look tall, lanky, and somewhat androgynous (this character will dress in drag every now and then)? From my observation, most male AVs seem to favor the “hunky daddy in a wife beater” shape which is the total opposite of what I want for my male alt. (on a more NSFW side-note: I am eyeing the uncut Aeros for his ... giggles but feel free to make other recommendations)

3. AO: The last AO I ever bought was from Vista Animations, and it was the Sensual Woman (still the best for my main AV) from 2010. The movement that I want my male alt to portray is shy and mysterious, somewhat awkward, visibly effeminate (his character is openly gay after all) in that “YAS GURL” kinda way and far from the chest-thumping alpha male projections I see on 9/10 gym-fit tattoo-plastered guys on SL. Any suggestions?

4. Skin: Most skins and appliers marketed as “Asian” either look unrealistic or disappointingly Caucasian looking. Tried demos from Stray Dog, quite convinced, but open to better recommendations. I know Mudskin has some nice appliers which I use on my female AV, but they tend to lack realistic features like beards and fine lines and other rugged details I need to make the face masculine and realistic.

5: Hair: No problem in this department as I have already visited stores for men like Dura, but I would like to hear more suggestions.

 

Apologies if I posted in the wrong forum. I appreciate all your advice. Thank you in advance!

Edited August 26, 2020 by Yuumo Ichibara

[Alwin Alcott]

answers isn't really the section to get advice on your looks, you'll get better help in the "avatar"section, or the "wanted"  parts of the forum

[Lillith Hapmouche]

*shrugs* As far as I'm concerned, Answers is just a weirdly sorted layout of a thread.

Anyway...

1) Head: Personally, I'm in favour of LeLutka. Be aware that its meant to work with "Bakes on Mesh", not appliers. But since you're starting fresh, it should not really concern you, since you'll be getting fresh stuff anyway.

2) Body: ...yeaaaah, in a way, you could say that Jake is the counterpart of Maitreya Lara. Just lacking updates, like actually including BoM functionality which still requires a !§*$ (free) third party add-on to activate it. It is said to work for lean shapes, although the body is more on a buff side out of the bag. In theory, I'd guess that Slink might have the ideal shape, but also the least support in terms of clothing.

Genitalia like those by Birth or Session are known to malfunction with certain AO, apparently due to the rigging to the body skeleton. Aeros is not affected.

Depending on how strong you want the female side to be: Have you considered a Maitreya female body with the V-tech no chest add-on?

3) AO: The modern ones have the benefit of being Bento rigged, which means that you'll notice your hands being animated as well. Usually, the mesh body HUDs also offer animations for the hands.

Have you been to Tuty, Sinse or Voir? Or Body Language - Sweet Lovely Cute or Oracul?

4) Hair: Also check No.Match, Vango, VoltHair, the MARS...

 

[Skell Dagger]

5 hours ago, Yuumo Ichibara said:

somewhat androgynous (this character will dress in drag every now and then)

The drag part is rather crucial when it comes to which body you're going to choose. Belleza Jake is by far the male mesh body that has the most femme clothing rigged specifically for it. You can get deformers to reduce certain aspects of the body if it's a little too muscular for you. Check out the likes of Boys to the Bone for gender-bending clothing. There are also a few stores that sell heels and suchlike for male bodies (again, Jake tends to be the one they're most often rigged to).

By contrast, if you go the Maitreya Lara & V-Tech Boi Chest route, you'll have much more choice for clothing (for when he's not in drag, given that we're discussing the need for both male and female clothing on a single mesh body), with the exception of your torso. You'll need either V-Tech rigged tops, or Maitreya-rigged open or off-shoulder jackets that don't have much moulding around the breasts, together with applier or BoM tops (or tattoos) if you don't want to be bare-chested. There's a growing market for the V-Tech crowd when it comes to skins and the like, but much of the clothing created for it tends toward the cute pastel femboi kind. For something a little edgier or more masc, give the likes of Grima and Krankhaus a look.

Additionally: be aware that if you take the Maitreya route for the body, you will not be able to get a male mesh head to fit at the neck (unless you try the Omega neck fix by Omega Solutions, which may help). So, when searching for a mesh head, check out any female ones (or unisex ones that contain both male and female neck fits). Most bishōnen in SL use female heads and edit them using the shape sliders to give them a more masculine look. Start out by demoing female heads that have a similar vibe (e.g. for Catwa instead of Dino, try Hanako. Not sure if Lelutka have a female Asian head).

Edited August 26, 2020 by Skell Dagger

[Lillith Hapmouche]

Oh, skins... those suggestions mentioned in the thread version of this topic and Raonhausen. Not.Found might also have suitable ones. 

Are you also looking for glasses and facial hair? And eyes?

41 minutes ago, Skell Dagger said:

Not sure if Lelutka have a female Asian head

They do... Ryn for the ladies, Kane for the gentlemen.

[AdminGirl]

Another one I'll add for hair is Modulus.

Doux male hair range is awesome too.