Ariel Vuissent

If all else fails, get a redelivery of the head. First, though, there should be a clear option for each layer the head uses, so clear each individually. I don't use that brand, so can't assist on where to find those buttons, but LAQ probably has an inworld group that you can ask, and you'll get faster and more accurate answers there.

Before you buy anything new, look around. Visit a couple high-traffic areas and just see what people are wearing. What do you like? Then, you can either ask people whose looks you like what they're wearing, or inspect pieces you like to see where they're from. Demo some mesh bodies (and heads), demo some of the newer skins, and figure out what your budget is and how you'd like to spend it - a mesh body and maybe a head, plus new skin and some clothes, can run high but is a long-term investment. Mesh hands and feet, but no body or head, leave you with a larger budget for mesh clothes if you want them, but if you choose to upgrade to a full body in the near future, may be a waste of money. There's really no rush. Do your research, ask some knowledgeable people (the inworld group for the mesh body addicts blog is extremely helpful, along with the individual groups for different body and head brands), and have fun with it! Personally, I swore I'd never go mesh... and now I'm full mesh and will never go back! Getting rid of my old wardrobe hurt, but I adore mesh. Others feel differently, so I definitely recommend shopping before you decide.

Accidental puns are still punny, and no one's laughing at your financial situation - just at the unintended pun. The usual advice is "Demo All The Things!" It applies well. I don't know what brand of head you're currently wearing, but you could also ask one their group, if they have one, if there's anything to be done about the neck issue. Clover's advice is sound, too - set a few $L aside at every opportunity, and look for sales and deals whenever possible.

A while back now, LL added new bones/rig points to the system Avatar. That's Bento, and what it means is that creators now have extra points they can stick things to. This means we can now have things like animated fingers and mesh heads that can be modified with the regular shaped sliders. The old mesh heads could not be edited pretty much at all. The new Bento mesh heads work with most of the shape sliders so you can customize your look drastically. They also animate better, since they can be animated with things like mocap instead of frame by frame. There is, however, nothing wrong with the older mesh heads that are cheaper. If you find one that you like out of the box and don't want to change, you can absolutely still use it or stick with a system head. The shape system is still essentially the same. You can create your own shape easily by manipulating the sliders in edit appearance mode, as usual. If you'd like to wear a mesh body, it, too, can be manipulated with the shapes sliders, and unlike with mesh heads, the only thing Bento that matters is if they include Bento hands ( so the fingers move if you have an animation that allows it). Many mesh bodies do, and there isn't a price difference.

LAQ is definitely worth a look, as mentioned; I adored their glow line, and the essentials line was gorgeously detailed and customisable. Curio, if they're still around and have kept their old skins, was also popular back in the day. Pink Fuel I know for a fact still has their Classic skins available, including a freebie for avatars under 30 days old. Ask the Skin Addiction group inworld for advice, too; it's full of knowledgeable people who give really great advice.

I keep forgetting I have a computer than can actually handle shadows and various other fun effects without dying. This picture was fun to take.

For an Akeruka-specific issue, try an Akeruka-specific inworld group or message the owner or their customer service rep(s). Not being a creator myself or have much knowledge relating to creation, I can only speculate that it has something to do with how that head is made. Customer support can probably help more.

Taking shelter from the snow.

The best advice is really to try a bunch and make a decision from there. Catwa and Lelutka are the two most popular brands, but there are several others; take a look at Mesh Body Addicts for thorough reviews and a more complete list. GA.EG, Genesis Labs, LOGO all have bento heads available, so you have plenty of choices. You want to look for something SIMILAR - the key features. Bento is great for customization, but you can't completely eliminate the core elements of the face. Catwa's Lona comes to mind - she has a very specific lip shape, and while that shape can be edited to a degree, it never disappears entirely. When you demo, test the sliders a bit to see how much the shape can be edited - some are harder than others - and what features work or don't work for you. Skin-wise, as a fellow pale, freckled ginger, Pink Fuel comes to mind first. I'm also a fan of Deetalez and Lara Hurley, but there are SO MANY out there. Ask inworld - the Skin Addiction group is super helpful and generally pretty friendly - or poke around on your own. Mesh Body Addicts also has a list of skin creators who make appliers for different bodies and heads, although I believe it's not longer being updated and may be out of date. Take some applier demos, and use them with the head demos to give you the best idea of how close you might be able to get. Short of paying someone to fiddle for you - or chancing upon a kind soul with the time, energy, skill, and patience to assist for free - you're going to have to mess around on your own and see what you can do. I don't, off hand, know what heads might closely match what you're looking for, but there will almost definitely be something you can tweak close.

Pink fuel has an "athletic" option for abs, but I don't recall it providing shading for other muscle groups, really. A MP search showed a tattoo for session skins that seems to offer similar possibilities. I've seen the occasional, decent-looking bodybuilder skin for females, but for the most part, light to moderate muscle doesn't seem to be readily available for women. I would love to see more designers give more shading options, for more than just cleavage. That does remind me to check next time I go inworld, though, to see who does offer those options, perhaps separately from their main appliers.

Some appliers for Catwa open a prompt asking you if you'd like to use the upper or lower layer, but most automatically apply to the lower layer. Checking the "upper" box for any applier before applying it makes no difference - it's scripted to go on the lower layer, so that's where it goes. You need to add the applier to your Catwa Master HUD, then apply from the HUD to get the item onto the upper layer. So, if you want your beauty mark on the upper layer: Add the applier for you beauty mark and click it. When it appears on your head, open your Master HUD and navigate to the blush/lipstick tab. In the blush area, choose any empty box and click the small "save" button underneath it. The box should change - it might show a logo, or a white space, whatever. Now check the box in the blush area that says "upper" and click the box your saved your beauty mark to. Voila! It's on the upper layer. Now add your dimply applier and click it. It will automatically apply to the lower layer. Be aware that you can't add anything on your blush layer after this. Actual blush, contour, freckles, even some hairbases that extend onto the blush layer - all of these will knock off the dimple.

I still feel like such a photoshop slouch! Nothing done to this one, as per usual, just timed for a nice flare of the fire. Fall is here!

Technically, child avatars are allowed anywhere on the grid. Practically, they can't be near sexual content of any kind, so while a child avatar can wander an adult sim, the amount of sexual content on them is generally prohibitive. Also, most adult sims tend not to be of interest to most legitimate child avatars. That being said, many sim owners will ban child avatars in general in order to protect themselves from any potential issues that may occur. If a child avatar is found acting inappropriately (specifically near or accessing adult content) on a sim, the sim owner can be held liable and have their sim closed, and/or be banned entirely. For many, it's not a risk they wish to take. Most General sims allow child avatars without question; Mature sims may or may not and many don't; Adult sims often don't. Your friend needs to consider what areas they'd like to have access to in order to determine if being a child avatar is too limiting. Really the best way to have a good child avatar, that I'm aware of, IS with a mesh body. The standard body has a hard time getting that small. The one I've heard the most about is Toddledoo, but there are others; check the marketplace for what's available (although not everything will be listed there), ask in inworld child avatar groups, and do a google search for blogs about child avatars. The same advice goes for skins and clothing - do some research. Also narrow down an age range, as the results will differ depending how young your friend wants to be - toddler, preteen, teen? (As an aside, relating to clothing available for adult mesh bodies - the more popular brands, such as Maitreya, Belleza, and Slink, have TONS of clothing available. In fact, many high quality creators are making clothing exclusively for mesh bodies, so check that out, as well; Mesh Body Addicts is an amazing resource there. She doesn't blog about items for child avatars, though.) Although I believe in most cases you can probably use a system head even with a child mesh body, it's probably worth it to get a mesh head for this purpose; they'll be more realistically childlike than the default head. Brands there, I'm not sure, but again, do some research and see what out there. In fact, searching "child" or "child avatar" under skins should pop up a load of results. Looking through those results, you'll find a bunch that say they're for "______" head or body; then you can look up those heads and bodies. It's a good way to find bodies and heads that aren't for sale on the marketplace.

I had my draw distance set high in an attempt to fix what I now realize was an LoD problem - I thought the reason I was having trouble seeing things in, say, events was because my draw distance was too low when in fact it was because some vendors, or even at times the boards/booths at the event, could have been built better. With a lower draw distance and a higher LoD, I'm able to see what I wanted to see and still run very well on near-ultra graphics, so thanks again, everyone!

Yeah, it was LOD. Thanks, guys! I just dragged the draw distance slider up from the way-too-low I started with, so I'll decrease that, but I'm not having a hard time handling it all. Yet. Upping LOD and decreasing draw distance should do it, I suspect; I'll lower LOD again if it causes issues.

I can assure you that is not a tan. It's not pasty white, either, though. She's healthy-pale as opposed to ghost-pale. (As ghost-pale IRL, I have some experience with this...lol) The tone is on the pinker end, so it appears "flushed," but overall it's pretty. I'll shoot you a message inworld, though, since anything seen as "endorsing" a brand is frowned upon on the forums. I have one in mind you may like.

I got a new computer recently, which runs SL much better than my old one (Yay!), but I have noticed something I saw less of on my old computer, oddly. (Or maybe I just expected it from the old one...) I have a decent draw distance - 400 or so, I think - and high graphics, but for some reason, if I'm not zoomed right on an object, it appears sort of deconstructed - angular and incomplete, sometimes missing pieces. It doesn't occur with all objects, and for some it occurs are further distances than others, but it occurs often enough to be distracting and rather annoying. I feel like I'm missing a setting; anyone know what it could be? Or if it's just a function of SL and how the objects were created, that's fine too, I'd just like to know if there's anything I can do to fix it. Thanks!

Off hand I'm actually not sure; I don't use Glam affair. If you have access to area search, use that while in the glamour Affair store and walk around for a while to see if you can find anything that says Omega. Usually, Omega appliers are kept on a wall or in a corner with any other body or body part appliers made by that creator. I don't know why Glam Affair wouldn't make omega appliers, as they're a very popular skin store and Omega is a very popular applier system, but it's been known to happen. If you can't find them and you're interested in branching out, I do know there are a lot of other skins stores that do make omega appliers and are very high quality.

On the wall where you bought the belly should be an Omega relay. You need to purchase, unpack, and add that, then click it. If I recall correctly, those are the only steps for that particular relay and belly combination. Then add your Omega applier for your skin and click that. It should apply to your belly. Using a maitreya skin applier will not work; it must be an Omega applier. Many skin creators make both maitreya and Omega appliers, so check the store that sells your skin for an Omega skin applier. If you are using a default skin that came with your maitreya body, those are Glam Affair skins.

Maitreya doesn't upsize past a certain point, true. You can use the Mama Allpa shape chart to progress naturally to that point, then switch over to a separate add-on belly. Apple May has a Belleza Isis compatible version of the Baby Bump, and is supposedly working on a Maitreya compatible version, but frankly I'll believe it when I see it since it's supposedly been in the works for over a year now. Check out the belly from Lab 737. (Inworld - it's not on marketplace.) It's new, omega compatible, and very nice in shape. It does not change size like the AM belly, but it's quite nice for a full-term belly. They have both a Maitreya and a Belleza compatible version (I don't recall which version of Belleza it's for, though), so if you choose it, make sure you get the right version. Omega clothing will work; mesh clothing is supposedly in progress. SelenA has a pregnancy add-on for her mesh body that gives you nine "shapes" - basically each their own mesh body, almost - as your pregnancy progresses. Clothing support is, sadly, minimal, although again it's omega compatible. V-Tech also has a multi-shape pregnancy body, but again, limited clothing support. The Evolution body has a full-term belly add-on with limited mesh clothing available, and Kitties Lair has a pregnant version of the Lena Lush body with even more limited clothing options. Both of those are also omega compatible. There ARE options, but mesh bodies in general only expand so far in the belly area, so add-ons or pregnancy-specific bodies are really a must if that's what you're looking for.

*starts humming "This is Halloween" under her breath*

Put up ban lines and remove anyone and everyone from your whitelist. If only you are allowed on your sim, no one else can wander in and cause damage. Also remove rez rights for everyone but yourself, to prevent anyone from getting CLOSE to your sim and rezzing damaging objects. Then only allow in people you trust absolutely.

From what I understand, bento isn't simply a matter of updating what already exists; everything has to be re-rigged, which is why most head creators simply started from scratch when moving from static to bento heads. It was faster, easier, and more effective than updating what they'd already made. While the hands may not have to be made from scratch, I would imagine adding bento is a significant update. Belleza is, as mentioned, notoriously slow at updating anything, so patience is required for Belleza users. Jake was made after bento was released, so the hands could be created and rigged to the bento bones right off. Slink's hands are nice, although not my favorites; and they do with Belleza. If you absolutely can't WAIT for the Belleza update, you can go with Slink in the interim, but you may or may not be wasting money, depending which hands you ultimately end up preferring.