Porphyry Kimono

What exactly was so wonderful about these imaginary tribes?

Maybe you can't see the first letter well, but in any case when I bought this, I thought it said HOPE. When I realized it said NOPE, I figured there might be a HUD that changes the word, but no. Still, it's cute, though I can't wear it everywhere (the skirt is pulled up in back; another feature I didn't spot before buying). All my fault, I know. Even so, not the worst mistake I've made.

When I was fairly new in SL, I wanted to look good. I spent what seemed like a lot of money on a nice skin, tried it with many shapes and different hair styles -- this was 2008 or 2009, so none of it was up to the standards of today. In any case, though, I thought I looked pretty good. Then one night I was in a store, this huge lingerie store, and a handful of models suddenly appeared. They were super nice, and wanted to chat. I was awestruck at how incredibly beautiful they were. One of them showed me a picture of her avi from a year earlier. It was surprising. She still looked amazing, but not a great as the avatar standing in front of me. "It's all from tiny tweaks, every day," she said. I told an SL friend of mine about my encounter, and she said, "Do you know what the difference is between us and those models? They are always trying to look better, to improve their look." Certainly it's easier for a female avatar in SL: there is a lot more to work with, so many more resources. Still, I doubt that ANYONE who posts in this thread started out looking fabulous. Whatever look you're aiming for, it can be done. Be patient with yourself. Always make a backup, and spend some time effing around with sliders, skins, clothes, hair, whatever you feel could look even *slightly* closer to your vision. Good luck and keep us posted.

These little guys are so cute and funny! Their animation is, I don't know, 90-120 seconds long? They go through a lot of attitudes in that time.

For me it's a kind of breaking-the-third-wall thing. Most of the people I interact with have human avatars, so that's what I'm used to. I know that the avatar isn't the person, but it's how they chose to represent themselves. At times there's a dissonance, though -- like the time a beautiful female avatar approached me and wanted to have sex with me. I said I wasn't interested in women, so the person said, "It's okay -- I'm actually a guy." When I said that it didn't change anything for me, they offered to switch to their male avatar. I had to log off to get away from their insistent requests. It offended me. Certainly that person was completely in their rights to do and say all that they did, but the OP is about how we react. I reacted by getting the hell out. To me, it's like when you see a play or movie or read a book -- there's a consistency and coherence to it all. If the author suddenly says, "Okay, it's all a dream -- everyone's actually on a farm in Kansas," you CAN make that work, but it can't be your standard operating procedure. If you want to be a woman this minute, then a talking airplane the next, and then a robot with male genitals the next, you're ruining the immersion. If that's how you want to do SL, then do it. I won't play along. If a person decides to be an alien or a furry or a tiny in SL, then okay, yes. I can deal with that, I'll be happy to chat with you, but I'm not taken in. There was a tiny guy who I used to let sit on my lap, but once he started talking as if he were a full-size man, that ended it. In RL when I see a man in a cowboy hat, I'm 99% sure that he's not a cowboy. I don't assume that he knows anything about horses. And sure, I'll talk to him, but if he believes that I'm taken in by his partial costume, he's dreaming.

You can't tell, but it's a human-sized piece of cat furniture. And you can't tell from this angle, but my avi's body *is* resting on it and not floating above. But you can't tell.

New face shape, new hair, same old aliens (they only *think* they know me!).

Hey, @AnnabelleApocalypse-- I saw that you gave up the Kahlene Analexa body because you didn't find support for it, by which I take you to mean clothes. Well, I have been using Analexa for a while and find that nearly all Maitreya clothes and shoes fit just fine. The only problematic ones have been SOME panties which come off as overlarge and floating above the body. But only a few are like that. When you consider the ocean of available clothes for Maitreya, it makes Analexa a much more viable option. Also, because of BOM, you can wear the old system-style lingerie.

I don't know that anyone could make a *complete* list, and it's a bit of work to also compile all the landmarks. I can give a shot at listing all the ones that occur to me off the top of my head. The ones with asterisks I've bought and used. Also, I should say that I know nothing about male mesh bodies. These are only female bodies: Maitreya Lara* Tonic Fine* / Tonic Curvy eBody Classic* / eBody Curvy* / eBody Reborn Slink Physique / Slink Hourglass* Belleza Freya, Belleza Isis*, Belleza Venus* JudyBody* Altamura* Inithium Kupra Legacy / Legacy Perky Kalhene Erika / Kalhene Analexa* Utilizator Kemono* Essen Ruth 2020* Ultra Vixen* There's also furry avatars. I apologize to the makers who I've not listed. As far as which is best -- it's not a great question, but I will say that my absolute favorite is Tonic Fine. It's just not as easy to find clothes for it as for other bodies. Currently I'm using Analexa and am quite happy with it, especially since most clothes made for Maitreya work for Analexa as well. Hourglass comes third, and I'm curious about Legacy in spite of its quirks.

I swear I'll get better about removing clutter in the background.

So, yeah -- I'll check for Bento compatibility. Honestly, I hadn't a clue what Bento meant until just now. That's probably the key. I don't want to say which head I've got -- and if someone guesses, it will only prove my point -- but there's only a limited number of mesh heads available and I don't relish the idea of looking exactly like someone else. Update: I just checked, and my head *is* Bento compatible, and the maker has a HUD that does Bento things... so it turns out everyone was right. Thanks, all!

Are the shapes we use for bodies with mesh heads made by the built-in shape editor? The one you get when you right-click your avatar and select "Edit Shape"? I ask because when I've moved sliders around, they don't seem to have any effect, or minimal effect. As examples, I saw the slider for head shape was at 50, so I moved it down to 0 and then up to 100, but I didn't see any change. Then I tried to move up the corners of the mouth into a smile, but it looked so ghoulish that I quit. Are these shapes created in some other way? Or do the heads nullify much of it?

One of these things is not like the others.

The skeleton is animated, strumming the guitar -- other figures behind me are moving... not really worth a video, but it was a fun scene.

I suspect they will be a mesh head.

Ghost asks, "Does this color suit me?"

Thanks, @Mollymews -- good to know I'm not the only one, and good hint!

I'm convinced that the strange creature to my right is a fertility spirit. Also, the flecks on my dress aren't splotches of paint -- if you could see the dress inworld you'd realize that they're pearls. Oh well!