Skell Dagger

The neck issues. I dislike neck sheaths (they look very obvious to me, visibly feathering out as they do) and won't wear them to hide the very visible gap that I see with Jake and certain mesh heads, such as below: That's unacceptable to me, and as a blogger it's more hassle than I'm prepared to go through every time I do a photoshoot, to spend ages in Photoshop cloning that out. I don't see that gap with the same mesh head and any other mesh body that I own.

Another day, another half-dozen events to buy stuff from... Credits L'Etre for The Men Jail, Avi-Glam for The Seasons Story, plus POUT! for Cosmetic Fair. Skin applier: L'Etre - Ivan (buttermilk) (Catwa) Eye appliers: Avi-Glam - Dramatic Eyes (sky) (Catwa, Omega, own brand mesh eyes) Eyeshadow: POUT! - Twilight Eyeshadow (Catwa, Lelutka) Hair: Exile - Strawberry Wine* (grayscale) Brow appliers: Identity Body Shop - Thick Eyebrows (Catwa, Omega, system) Piercings: Artificial Hallucination - Casual Goth Bento Piercings (Catwa, RavenBJD) Jacket: VRSION RIVAL - 22 Male Jacket Head: Catwa - Daniel (Bento) *review copy

Getting annoyed at fashion bloggers who don't credit everything they're wearing. I just came across a fantastic SL fashion shot on Flickr and my immediate thought was "Holy crap, what body is he wearing? It looks amazing!" There was a link to his blog post, so of course I clicked it. His credits list comprised only the outfit itself. Not the hair, not the skin, not the body, not the shoes, not the poses. And no, he doesn't even have one of those "this is my usual skin/body/hair, in case you're interested in those" type pages on his blog. I had a sneaking suspicion that the body was Signature Geralt, but any guy who knows very little about mesh bodies, wants to upgrade to one, and loves that one... is going to be completely lost. As for me, I'm just completely annoyed. Credit all your stuff, people! Bah!

If Slink now sells their idle animation as a separate HUD, then yes that should fix it. (If a demo is available, though, try that first.) It's built into their own hands by default (no need for an additional HUD if you're wearing Slink hands) but I've long thought it would be useful to have the animations separated out so they can be used with any hands. I own multiple male mesh bodies, and - of the Bento ones - Jake is the only one to have the splayed hands issue, which is one of the two main reasons why I hardly ever wear it. Agreed. I've demo'd every one that I've come across, and I've not yet found one that I like. Most of them seem to want me to pace around with my legs wide apart, like a boxer with rickets

Technically how I looked a couple of days ago. Playing around with filters, and Syd wanted a look-in...

Soaked to the bone. Sink like a stone... Credits [Bad Hair Day] for The Black Fair (ends April 20th), plus Ascend for The Mens Dept. Also: look, Ma! Colour! Hair: [Bad Hair Day] - Ash* (colours main HUD, pastels layer HUD) Shirt: Ascend - Jorge Shirt (plains fatpack) (Slink, Jake, Signature) Necklace: Empyrean Forge - Springleaf Necklace Ears: L'Etre - Taper Mesh Ears Brow appliers: AlaskaMetro - Alchemy Gacha Eyebrows (rare) (Omega, system) Eyeshadow applier: La Malvada Mujer - Nefelina Eyeshadow (Omega, Genesis) Lipstick: La Malvada Mujer - Lady Ketamine Lips (Omega, Genesis) Eye appliers: ARTE - Fairy Eyes (light) (Catwa, Lelutka) Hairbase: [Bad Hair Day] - Hair Base 02* (tintable) (Catwa, Omega, system) Head: Lelutka - Andrea (Bento) *review copy

I love this! Thank you Ooh, he's pretty. I could get behind that. Literally.

This ^ The one thing that has proven most useful to me - both online and off - is knowing when to walk away, even if that means you feel you might 'lose'. There are plenty of ways to step back and bow out gracefully from most disagreements. The trick is recognising when you need to do that.

Told the sun not to shine on me... Credits A&Y and Occult for The Black Fair (ends April 20th). And if you want to see how amazing the flames on that candle crown look, check out this short video. Hair: A&Y - Cyber Ghost Hair (black) Headdress: Occult - Candle Crown (black) Eyeshadow: - Sn@tch - Cavern Club Extreme Eyeshadows (Omega) Lipstick: POUT! - Toxic Spill Black Lipstick (Catwa, Lelutka) Brow applier: Identity Body Shop - Thick Eyebrows Eye appliers: Izzie's - Demon Eyes Tattoo applier: Letis Tattoo - Zazil (Signature, Belleza, Maitreya, Omega, Slink, system) Head chains: The Little Bat - Katya Headchains Nose piercing: The Little Bat - Lunar Nose Chain (ash) Collar: Stray Dog - Choker Pants: RIOT - Elliot Jeans (black) (Slink, Adam, Jake, Gianni) Gloves: L'Emprorio - Fingerless Gloves (Slink Dynamic) Ears: Swallow - Darkness Ears Skin applier: Tableau Vivant - Mort Vivant (Lelutka) Head: Lelutka - Andrea (Bento) Body: Slink - Physique Male Poses: Ana Poses

That is something I wish creators would not do. If you're going to sell a shape with a style card, the skin on the style card should be readily available. Some people want to look exactly like the ad image, so using a skin (and then offering a style card for it) that's incredibly difficult or costly to obtain is... well

Translation: "How can I make lots of money without putting in any effort or external cash?"

First: your photo is taken from a different angle than the ad picture. The ad picture is taken head-on and yours is taken from slightly above, which means you're seeing the chin as being longer than it is. Second: you've also probably used the scrollwheel of your mouse to zoom in on your face, and that action is notorious for creating a 'fisheye lens' effect which lengthens and stretches the view of your face. Get your camera about 3m away from your face and angled directly head-on (level with and looking at your nose) and then repeatedly hit CTRL+0 (the Control key together with 'zero'. CTRL+9 will reset your view). This creates a more accurate look, and is probably what the creator of that shape did before they took their ad picture. Here are two examples of the visual difference those two zoom settings make: Third: if that doesn't make a difference then you can edit the shape anyway. All Bento heads allow you to edit their underlying shape by using the shape sliders. The demo shape probably won't allow you to edit it (for obvious reasons; you could just wear the demo all the time instead of buying the full version) but the full shape will let you do that. Fourth: as a CSR for Catwa I need to tell you that your inventory screenshot shows you wearing two items that you don't need to: CATWA EARS NoBento - These are not to be worn unless you plan on using third-party Bento ears, such as neko or elf ears that require animation. The Catya head already has ears. Adding the non-Bento ones will cause problems if you're not also using third-party animated ears. (For other third-party non-animated ears you can simply use your head's Master HUD to hide the head's ears.) CATWA TEETH A - You're not wearing the 'toothless' version of the head, so you're actually wearing two sets of teeth: the ones that come with the head and the additional ones. The additional teeth are worn only with the toothless head, and they allow you to use such add-ons as the Catwa bubblegum, etc. Lastly, as @ALI131129i has just posted, to get the exact same look you need to wear the same skin as the one shown in the ad image. It does state that it comes with a style card, so if you buy the full shape you'll have that to go by.

The shape in the MP listing states the following: If you're not trying that shape with the 'Catya' head from Catwa, it won't look the same as in the advert. Each Bento mesh head has a base 'starting shape' which will affect how slider changes look on it. The exact same slider changes on, say, Catwa 'Catya' will look entirely different on Catwa 'Hanako'.

Your Catwa head folder contains a full alpha layer. Wear that (and take off your body alpha; you only need one full alpha* on that covers both body and head, rather than one for head and another for body) and the problem will go away. *This is advice I always give as a CSR for Catwa, since some head and body combinations can be problematic if you're wearing a head alpha from the head's folder and a body alpha from the body's folder. Very occasionally - with some head/body combinations - these alphas don't quite meet, and you can find yourself having all kinds of neck issues.

Lousy video quality, but audio that demands to be cranked to the max...

The OP's picture is a screenshot from The Sims 4.

As to the rest of your desired look: hoodies are ten-a-penny in SL, although - as with Sims - if you want one with the hood up you'll get the best fit if you use one that comes with hair attached, rather than trying to fit a hoodie over the top of a hairstyle. (I've played Sims from the original through to TS3, which I still play today, although I've never played TS4.) I seem to recall that the Dura hair store in SL collaborated sometime in the last year with a clothing designer (can't remember who that was now) to create a separate hairstyle for a menswear event: one that fitted perfectly with the other designer's hoodie. It might now be at the Dura mainstore with a link to the relevant clothing store. ETA: It may have been Dura, or (now that I think of it) it could have been the INK hair store. Ugh, sorry. Hoodies aren't my thing, otherwise I would probably have bought it and remembered exactly who made it. It was a really great-looking product. The necklace is fairly simple. This one on Marketplace comes close, if you use the HUD to customise the chain to silver and the triangle to light grey. I'm going to guess those are CC eyes. There are several similar ones in SL (you'll find that quite a few Sims CC creators also mesh for SL, including Stealthic and Ersch, and don't even get me started on the Sims creators who basely steal SL meshes to convert for Sims... ). If you stick with a system avatar then these freebie eyes by Bird Next Door are a close match (or you can head to the Avi-Glam inworld store and wait by the lucky boards; the single one at the top is open for all to click and contains system eyes. Just click it if the letter changes to either the first letter of your username - 'V' - or to a '?'). If you go for a mesh head, these eye appliers from Avi-Glam are similar in colour.

This is what I was going to suggest, too. Either Catwa's "Dino" head, or one of Raven Bell's BJD heads. This one is "James" (although if I redid this pic I'd choose a different skin; the upper lip didn't really map too well here) -

For reference, regarding Catwa being mentioned on both of those lists: Catwa is a self-hosted E2V server and won't be closing. She has asked for her logo/name to be removed because of that, but apparently it's still there. Her own words, passed on to us CSRs are: "Regarding the sad news about E2V vending system that they will be retiring. Maybe some of you are wondering what will happen to his CATWA redelivery history and credits balance. We have good news. Since CATWA has a Self-hosted system. It will not be effected. Our redelivery and credits system will keep going. If there will be any other changes I will let you know. "

I don't use Hourglass (being a guy I use Slink Physique Male) but have you checked to make sure you've enabled the tattoo layers on your Slink body's HUD? I'm not sure if the female body HUDs differ from the male one, but look in the second tab and make sure that - on the figure that's on the far left (labelled 'tattoo') - the areas you want the tattoo to apply to are highlighted in white. Then try applying again.

I had a go this evening with the project viewer and Chellynne's Omega applier. It was interesting to see which old skins did and didn't work too well on the different brands of mesh head that I tried them on (mainly Catwa and Lelutka, since I only had an hour or so free to test things). Some 'fuzzing' issues with body tattoos as seen below (I presume those might become sharper once the avatars go from 512 to 1024?) but overall I'm pleased that I can wear at least a handful of my favourite old skins like this Tableau Vivant one (which still looks fantastic on my mesh head), as well as tattoo layer makeup that I thought would never see the light of day again. Skin, all makeup, and the tattoo are all system layers. Head is Catwa Skell and body is Slink Physique:

Funny you should say that... I've been enduring a Linden viewer for the past couple of hours (dear god...) just so I could test out Bakes on Mesh. And all I can say is "Holy [insert a string of delighted swear words here] this is going to be a game-changer". Skin, makeup, and tattoos are all system layers baked onto my mesh head and body: Credits behind a spoiler tag, because I've split them into mesh, applier, and system:

I am not in the least bit surprised. The fact that so many style-conscious men in SL can predict in advance the kind of items that will be available to them is a sad indictment on where male SL fashion is these days. Yes, there are a few designers who are still bringing fantastic items to the table - be it in design or quality - but the vast majority of offerings are the same-old-same-old. When it's always said that "men don't shop much" part of that is down to men thinking "How many bloody hoodies/sweatpants/tattoos does one guy need?" I find myself coming away, even from menswear-only events, with just a few accessories lately. I'm past the point of ranting (with the exception of one blog post that will be forthcoming) and I'm now at the point of just a heavy sigh. Yeah. I used to love Cubura. They were one of the first (and few) stores to break the gender barrier for non-bishonen guys with their male mesh body-fitted heeled boots. But between this and their last offering (the joke 'smelly, pee-stained underpants' at The Men Jail) they now seem to be trying too hard. I'm all about avant garde clothing, but my initial reaction on seeing the above was "What the...?" Any merchants out there who want a clothing niche to create for? Make applier pants for guys. (And not just sodding ripped jeans, either!) There are thousands of pairs of boots available, from above-ankle to below-knee, and most of them can only be worn with (at best) one or two sets of mesh pants (I have a 150,000+ inventory and I sometimes spend ages trying on tens of pairs of pants when demoing boots, only to give up and not purchase said boots), whereas applier pants fit under them perfectly, just like clothing layer pants used to fit under our favourite engineer boots before mesh came along. Who is making applier pants? Nobody. I'm still relying on the old sets of female applier pants that Sn@tch used to make, and even Ivey doesn't create those anymore. (And yes, I know there are other female applier pants out there, but many of them look 'wrong' because they dip low at the front and physically don't allow enough 'fabric' to accommodate what a guy would have behind there, as opposed to what a woman would have behind there!)

For buying clothes, yes. Those two bodies are the most catered-for in the clothing market right now. But I would not recommend Signature Gianni to the OP as a body in its own right. Not because it isn't a good body (it's actually a fantastic body to use) but because it's heavily muscled, and that's the opposite of what he's looking for. I have spent hours working with the shape sliders to try and tone down the muscles on Gianni - especially around the deltoids of the upper arm - and it requires a great deal of work to do so. @Desert Bulloch Just as it did with system bodies, a skin can make a great deal of difference. Signature Geralt is a very new body on the market (but a lot of clothing creators are already starting to rig clothing for it) and its default skins are muscular. However, it's a lot slimmer than Gianni, and the right skin (ie: a non-muscular one) will make a lot of difference. I have a comparison post between Gianni and Geralt here on my blog, focusing largely on their shapes. (I did use a more muscled skin on them both, but some looking around will help you find a non-muscled one. Look for a skin with a 'soft' or 'no abs' body option. Off the top of my head, both Swallow and Clef de Peau have body appliers like that.)

Still tweaking Syd's look. He dragged me around Shoetopia and The Black Fair over the past couple of days, and I've been digging through inventory to find some amazing old 2014 flexi hair from Monster that still looks good today. Credits Gloves: A&Y - Electra Cyber Gloves (black) Pants appliers: Sn@tch - Debbie Ripped Rocker Pants Tattoo applier: ISUKA - Struggle Straps applier: Sn@tch - Cage Strappy Top Hair: Monster - Sparrow (this will scream) Head: Catwa - Catya* Body: Maitreya - Lara Add-ons: Valentine Technologies - V-Tech Boi Flat Chest Mod Ears: L'Etre - Taper Mesh Ears Eye makeup applier: Sn@tch - Cavern Club Extreme Eyeshadows Lipstick applier: Shiny Stuffs - Catwa DollFace Brow applier: HUWE Cosmetics - Fishtail Brows (Catwa) Eye applier: Avi-Glam - Elysian Eyes (charcoal) Skin applier: Glam Affair - Payne (Arctic) Piercings: Artificial Hallucination - Casual Goth Piercings Pose: Momomuller *review copy