MEME: What's your Digits?

(click to enlarge)

Before I answer the Meme questions, I want to point out two great items for guys and girls at Dark Style Fair. The event ends June 7th so hurry over to pick up the goodies! The Compass Tech Muffler I am wearing from Contraption fits in a wonderfully mysterious way. It's perfect to hide behind when you've been sloppy in your feeding habits. Boowahahahaha. Little Lolita is modeling the fitted mesh Bat Corset from Violent Seduction. The corset has cute bat bows in the front and back. It comes in black, blue, candy, green, ice, lavender, leaf, mint, peach, purple, red, teal, or white and each color has it's own complete color change hud.

Each time Berry's What's your Digits Meme comes around I take the time to reevaluate my shapes. It's a good exercise to do, especially for tweaking proportions. This Meme helped create the standard sizes thanks to Wisdom of the Crowd averaging. Using the standards eliminated the quirks in my shapes mostly for the better, while I still maintain my ideal Bishonen proportions. ...Now I have a confession to make. I switch shape and even tweak shape for clothing, or pose, on almost every image I do. My digits can vary greatly so it doesn't make sense to list my digits ranges. But I can say this, my main avatar above, which I wear when I am not blogging, uses a standard size medium and clocks in between 7' 8" (234 cm) and 8' (244 cm). For the girls shown on the blog, I've taken over that duty from Fulli. She might be back in the future, but for now I'm carrying the load. My girl shapes are all over the map too as I hunt for the right tone. I'm still trying to find my way around the girl dials. lol Little Lolita above is becoming one of my favorites. She wears a size extra small and stands without heels at 6' 4" (193 cm). ...yeah, maybe not so little Lolita. lol  Just for comparison, here is what my guy and girl avatars looked like back in May of 2012.

Have you tried any of the new fitted mesh avatars released by Linden Lab? What do you think of them? What are your thoughts about Fitted mesh?

Yes, all the vampires series ones! They are fun, nicely made, and a joy to clown around in. The normal series avatars however are harder to love because the faces don't have expressions, or have eyes that blink and move. It puts me in the Uncanny Valley and it feels like wearing a costume rather than inhabiting an avatar. The vampire series doesn't have that problem because they aren't trying to be realistic, they are costumes.  Fitted mesh clothing is great when it's well crafted. It makes it possible to convert girl clothes to femboy on the female base (that means no breasts or wide hips, and broader shoulders). This is a tomboy shape with fitted mesh I did here.

1. Have you tried any fitted mesh avatars/bodies created by residents?

Yes. I tried the demos for 3rd party fitted mesh for girls. The WowMeh had been the front runner for the ladies, but it's currently being reviewed by Linden Labs and not for sale. The Fitted Mesh Body Warz are just beginning too, Slink and Belleza girls are rumored to be in development right now. Of all the currently released fitted mesh girl shapes, the one I like the best is Chip Midnight's CMFF girl. It's not a fetish shape, it's Girl Next Door, and it wears existing hair and mesh in standard sizes. You can choose to wear the head or not, and use premade alphas, or create your own with his applier app. Basically, it's built to be modded. It aims to eliminate the need for slink attachments. The feet work with a rotation for the different heel heights. And the good news is Chip will be releasing a fitted male avatar at some point. I'm sure it will come after most the bugs and issues are worked out on the female first. As far as fitted mesh for the guys, that's the only one I know of in development. There a several male mesh bodies, but they are currently not fitted mesh. p.s Utilizator's Kemono has just released, it's not fitted mesh but selling like hotcakes. It has a neko twist to his anime girl Avatar2 shape and M3 Head.

2. Have you tried a mesh head? What are your thoughts about mesh heads?

Yes. Because I don't think of any girl shapes as "me' I'm not bothered at all by wearing a female mesh head. I got the Slink Becky head for the expressions but I have a few problems with it. 1) I need an option either add an alpha to the eyelashes or turn them off for photography. It's brilliant the eyelashes can blink but also means the lashes need to be solid for mesh switching animation. Those solid mesh eyelashes tend to photograph poorly, so photo only option to hide them or add an alpha to them would be great. 2) The ear hole is too large. I would love to have mesh head without ears or holes where the ears were when I add a mesh ear attachment. 3) The teeth are beautiful but really darkly textured. 4) Emma won on the mesh head contest and most appliers work for her instead of Becky. So the Becky have tends to have the eyebrows too high for her face which creates a startled look. ...  I would love to see more expressive mesh heads. That's a key selling point to me. ... My favorite mesh head for girls is Nea by SnowRabbit. I just love seeing this pretty face inworld, in the blogs, or on flickr. It's brilliantly made and lifelike. She randomly smiles and blinks. There is zero Uncanny Valley about her. The only trade off is you lose your identify when you use a mesh head. You will look exactly like any other person using it. But there is another mesh head that DOES have slider adjustments! It's the new mesh head by Yabusaka. You adjust the sliders in an app, then have your custom mesh head uploaded to SL. You can play with Mesh Studio Head demo here. The new male demo version is here. As far as a mesh head for guys, my favorite by far is DollCoco Male. He doesn't have expressions but he's so nicely made. With some tweaks you can wear your own eyes with him, or even your own shape, but I recommend keeping your shape skinny to better match the head. My main avatar's old skin also matches DollCoco male perfectly.

3. Do you foresee a lot of changes to our current Second Life avatars because of fitted mesh?

Yes. We will eventually make the switch to amazingly well made fitted mesh avatars. Perhaps as soon as a year from now they will be the new standard in SL. Why? Because they are nicer looking, and it will make posing and photography so much better. But when it comes to mesh heads, people will be resistant because it's takes away their individuality. So that brings us right back to the serious need for Linden Labs to update the default avatar, because it's the only one with facial sliders and emotions. We can replace everything else with fitted mesh, but not the head. Really, it could be as simple as just converting the head to higher resolution quads, removing as many triangle poles as possible, and making new morphs for the sliders (that includes less cartoony emotes), and keeping the UV maps the same.

On Him, Dev:

Scarf: Contraption Compass Tech Muffler mens [mesh] (DarkStyle Fair)(250L)

Stocking, appliers: RunAway RA Shredded Tights Pants Black (150L)

Ears: Trap Vampire Ears [mesh](200L)

Necklace: Mandala KOTOWARI_Necklace_set (397L)

Hair: Argrace ARATA - White [mesh] (250L)

Cuffs: BLITZED Legacy Cuffs - black (299L)

Nails: Dark Passions Koffin Nails Shades of Grey (99L)
Gloves: A:S:S Slink glove appliers -  Skull black & white (115L)

Belt: :SEY Double-Hole Belt_B Stars./.A [mesh] (300L)

Feet: Slink Male Feet Flat [mesh] (650L)

Hands: Slink Male Hands Relax [mesh](450L)

Eyeliner: CL-NINE CL9v2l_HeadEyeline01C(bk)(free)

Eyes: S0NG Winter Violet Eye (50L)

Hairbase: Action Hair Base 04 Veganic - Snow (107L)

Appliers: Koolqa Knight - Slink Appliers HANDS, Feet (100L each)
Skin: Kooqla Knight of Rose - silver (990L)

Pose: Del May DM - Really? (50L)

On Her, Little Lolita:

Corset: Violent Seduction - Bat Corset - Mint [mesh] (DarkStyle Fair)(150L)

Anklets: The Sugar Garden Ruffle Platforms - Black [mesh](199L)

Hair: Wasabi Pills Yun Mesh Hair - Iceberg [mesh](250L)

Hands: Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands - Casual [mesh](450L)
Feet: Slink Female Feet (AvEnhance) - Mid [mesh](675L)

Eyes: Poetic Colors classic gen4 - m/r - blue surf [mesh] (150L)

Lashes: FTL Eyelashes - C01 Natural (280L)
Bikini: Neko-kan +NK+ Bikini 2012 -green (no longer available)
Skin: : ) BCC. [Latte] Heim 01 (past, The Arcade)

Pose: Zzang Model Runway 004

World Goth Fair: The Spyder Guard

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE: The leader of the Black Ops in Cursed was none other than Noble Elder Maximilian, the progenitor of the Spyder clan. The Spyders had their threads throughout the city, nothing happened without Maximilian's knowledge. The plain-clothes Spyders hidden in the crowd had taken Elizabeth to the safe place in the sky, the BatHouse of the 101st. While Maximilian personally escorted Scarlet there to meet with her sister. Maximilian was a mystery to most, but Scarlet understood his mind. He was all knowing and powerful but slow to act. She understood he choose his battles wisely. Taking on another ancient, Kaiser Kruel (also known as Horemheb), is nothing to take lightly, but some battles were worth fighting for. The separation of humans and Darks was wrong. Petty differences didn't matter, they were all family. it was time for a conversation, time for two sisters to finally embrace.

Wow I have a lot to cover here. First check out this wonderful retro-80s punk vest by Papermoon. I really love the attention to detail Papermoon does. The vest you can get in several different textures for girls or guys. Then you can pick out back patches for either punk, metal patches, or gothic. On the front buttons you can pick your music genre too. And here's the fun part, the patches and buttons are rigged, that means you can wear these fun button and patches on any outfit you like! Just add buttons to create an instant retro look! The shades by Eclectia I am wearing come with a hud to change to the textures on the frames and lens. I love the options on the lens that include shading up or down and shattered. For my Security look, I included the retro headphones from the Standby gacha, and the group gift armband from Epica (but added my own logo to it). The jeans are by favorites from Ronsem that include a speical closed boot fit version. The belt comes with a hud to change it's colors. The gloves are by O.M.E.N and comes with open and closed attachments. The Iron Cross necklace is another great item in the LNS booth at WGF. It comes with a resizer and bead color changers. While you're at LNS, be sure to pick up the free beautiful masks gift there!

Scarlet is rocking a lot of badass here. She is the leader of the Rebellion afterall, but she still has a tender heart. She's wearing the goregous corset by Couture Rock. I love how this corset fits around the waist and then opens up around the hips. There is a little black lace fringe too. The back has black ribbons. Her necklace is also by Couture Rock and matches perfectly. I didn't show it here, but there is a cameo stocking also at the CR booth that matches the corset, be sure to check that out too. The shoulder armor and finger armor are by Death Row and on sale only a few more days at We <3 Role Play. The Amor and ring also work on the guys. Scarlet's boots are wonderful chained open boot by Death Row availible at Dark Style Fair.  To wear these you need the Slink High foot. To go with it, I used the Gallactic Symbiosis pants with appliers for Slink feet. It comes with appliers for the hands too. I love this texture! So alien and organic like. The armwarmers are a return to Scarlets outfit from last year by Inkubus by SAKIDE. The 2nd fingerclaw is from LNS and you pick it up in several different colors. (All the girl vampires will definitely like this handy spiky thing. lol) Her nail polish is Dark Passion's Koffin nails Shades of Red. Scarlet's signature hairstyle is Ivy by Alice Project. Her blindfold has a little iron cross and safety pins created by Kio at Dark Style Fair, and her sleek black horns are Damned Princess by DirtyStories at Dark Style Fair. The wispy anthers are by Death Row at Suicide Dollz. They look really cool when you wear them, almost like little glittering lights the tiny white points in them. Scarlets skin is an exclusive by Jalwa at World Goth Fair. It's the Celine skin with lovely gothic purple makeup for eyes and lips. By the way, did you guys pick up all the little gifts throughout the three World Goth Fair sims? Be sure you get your free sunblock 1000 at Chaos, Panic, and Disorder before the summer gets here. lol

On Him, Noble Elder Maximilian:
Necklace: LaNoir Soleil Designs Iron Cross necklace - red [mesh](World Goth Fair, Port Seraphine)(145L)
Vest: Papermoon Oi! Britannia Vests Male Bleached: Black [mesh](World Goth Fair, Sium)(200L)
Buttons: Papermoon Oi! Britannia Buttons - Goth [mesh](World Goth Fair, Sium)(150L)
Patches: Papermoon Oi! Britannia: Patches - Goth [mesh](World Goth Fair, Sium)(150L)
Shades: Eclectica Eclectica Antique Glasses- square [mesh](World Goth Fair, Cursed)(350L)
Headphones: Standby Inc. Retro Headphones - Fire, gacha [mesh] (50L)
Gloves: O.M.E.N Black Cruising Gloves [mesh](190L)
Jeans: Ronsem Straight Jeans / jetblack male [mesh] (350L)
Armband: Epia Symbol Armband [mesh] (group gift)(free)
Hair: Dura Dura-Boy 14 - black (120L)
Eyes: The Stringer Mausoleum Hypno Eye L.E. Rebis (65L)
Boots: Neko-kan +NK+ damage combatboots_red (no longer available)
Skin: Tableau Vivant Noctis skin - bald -Tone 01 (Boystown) (990L)
Pose: 3M standing16_m_back_001

On Her, Rebel Leader Scarlet:
Pants: GALLACTIC Symbiosis Black Pants Socks (World Goth Fair, Port Seraphine)(395L)
Corset: Couture Rock Curvaceous Courtesan Corset [mesh](World Goth Fair, Port Seraphine)(199L) 50% Donation
Necklace: Couture Rock Gothic Elite Cross Choker [mesh](World Goth Fair, Port Seraphine)(99L)
Blindfold: Kio Abandoned - Honor (Dark Style Fair)(200L)
Horns: DirtyStories Damned Princess Horns Black (Dark Style Fair)(170L)
Horns: Death Row Designs Darkforest left - black-ashleafs [mesh](Suicide Dollz)(100L)
Fingerclaw right: LaNoir Soleil Designs Tactum Mortis [mesh](World Goth Fair, Port Seraphine)(147L)
Fingerclaw left: Death Row Designs left hand fingerclaw [mesh](We <3 Role Play)(75L)
Armor: Death Row Designs leftarmor arm, shoulder [mesh](We <3 Role Play)(120L)
Boots: Death Row Designs grunge thigh highs - red [mesh](Dark Style Fair)(150L)
Hands: Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands - Casual [mesh](450L)
Nails: Dark Passions Koffin Nails Shades of Red (World Goth Fair, Cursed)(99L) 50% Donation
Feet: Slink Female Feet (AvEnhance) - High [mesh](675L)
Armwarmer: SAKIDE Inkubus Crimson [mesh](200L)
Lipstick: Pink Fuel INK LipGloss (75L)
Hair: Alice Project Ivy [mesh](250L)
Eyes: The Stringer Mausoleum Hypno Eye L.E. Rebis [mesh](65L)
Skin: Jalwa Celine - Exclusive Purple (World Goth Fair, Cursed)(500L) 100% Donation
Pose: Zzang Strength 004