On mesh avatars

Since I've been gone, mesh avatars have become a thing. I decided to get one (Maitreya Lara) to give it a try. The body looks amazing and I love the selective alpha feature. The neck skin blending feature could be a little better though, because I am not ready to get a mesh head. I am rather fond of looking like myself.

The biggest downside to having a mesh avatar that I can see right now is the clothing situation. With a system avatar you can mix and match clothing layers and prim clothing however you'd like, and however able you are to modify the prim elements to fit your av. With mesh clothing, your ability to mix and match seems really limited. I tried on a couple pairs of pants, and because the hems were scrunched a bit, I couldn't wear them with my prim boots. And I imagine it would be the same with any boots that weren't made to go with those pants. If they were system pants this wouldn't be an issue.

Someone told me that they have an applier that allows them to still wear their system clothes, but as far as I can tell right now, appliers only work for the system clothes they come with. If I have pre-applier clothes, I'm not sure that will work. At least I don't understand how it will work at any rate. I haven't been able to find any kind of applier that works generally on everything, and from what I understand of the development kits, this wouldn't be possible.

The other downside to mesh av clothing is that I hate it. I have found very few items I am actually fond of. Everything seems "sexy." Like when you walk into a costume store at Halloween for a regular old nurse costume and all you can find is "sexy nurse" or "sexy zombie" or "sexy pirate." It's ridiculous. I just want a white shirt and some decent pants and some boots. Clothing makers' interpretation of "steampunk" also seems warped. Like if it isn't a corset with all of your cleavage popping out, then it's an aviator jacket opened down to the naval or pants stuck in the crack of my ass and a thigh gap a mile wide. Some serious WTF going on when I page through Marketplace, and that is only searching on General level maturity.

And what if I DON'T WANT MY BELLY BUTTON TO SHOW?

Anyway, I'm not a mesh av convert yet to say the least. I LIKE my old outfits, and I might just stick with my old system av so I can wear them. I'm into steampunk anyway, anachronism is kind of my thing.

Homecoming

In the autumn of 2014, I exited Second Life rather abruptly. I had decided that my real life was never going to get any better as long as I was distracted by everything happening inworld, so I made a commitment to myself to focus exclusively on improving my situation. Were I a more moderate person I could have balanced my pursuits in both real life and Second Life and manage to not abandon good friends and loved ones, but I knew it was going to be all or nothing.

So here I am today, almost exactly five years later (oddly enough), back in New Babbage. I have to admit to having some anxiety over how I would be received, but I've been relieved by the warmth and fondness old friends have extended. They could not be blamed if they approach me with skepticism, but if that is there it isn't showing. The welcome home I've experienced has been reassuring, and I'm so glad to be back.

Now I've set about the business of re-orienting myself to SL in general and New Babbage in particular. The city has always been ever-changing, but there is enough the same that it feels comforting. The Brunel is still there, although it has experienced what appears to be yet another face-lift. The cozy little corner of Academy of Industry by Ruthorford Square is still has tranquil as ever, the trolley terminus being the only hint of the urban landscape beyond. And most of all, I was pleased to see that The Gangplank is still standing, itself having been the recipient of a complete overhaul. I have Mr. Lighthouse to thank for his stewardship of one of the oldest pubs in New Babbage.

It is good to be home.

Disguises!

Our Mines of Falun adventure continues, with the latest installment finding Emerson and Petra in disguise as "Victor Mornington" and geologist "Doctor von Hoopla," respectively.

The Mines of Falun

It's that time again!  Emerson has set us all out on a new adventure, this time to the northern mining town of Falun to look for enough gold to save our public house, The Gangplank.  Nothing is ever easy though.  An evil doctor and his wicked Morlock "daughter" are hot on our trail, and it's a race to see whether we can somehow manage to foil his designs for world domination as well as save our bar from a takeover by Victor Mornington!

Valentine's Day

A certain Mr. Lighthouse surprised me this year with a box of chocolates and some sparkling sentiments. I am still smiling.

In adding the image above, I found a picture from Valentine's Day last year.  I was at a party in Mondrago, and Emerson joined me later for a dance.  (In the background are Ahnyanka Delphin, Tau Hallard, and that delightfully peculiar couple, Phaedra Underby and Brother Dominic Lapis.)

Speaking of candy and Phaedra, my assumption is that she didn't make the chocolates Emerson gave me...

Armada Breakaway

(Cross-posted to my photo blog.  I've been considering how to handle updating my blogs, actually.  I'm inclined to cross-post since more people look at this blog than my photo blog, but I also want people to not have to weed through everything else I post...or not as the case may be for the last few months.)

The Armada Breakaway sim, unique in the Steamlands and perhaps all of SL, will be going away this coming Sunday.  I am assured, however, that the Scoundrel Fleet will continue in exile in a small location that they've secured on Blake Sea.  Huzzah! 

In order to commemorate Vernden Jervil's time as the Commander of the Fleet and Armada Breakaway, I offered to make a portrait of him there before the entire thing goes up in flames.  (Pirates love to burn, and there is a longstanding Armada tradition of torching any build that is being removed from the sim.  How spectacular it will be to see the entire sim alight!)

Go-Devil Canal Race!

Here I am, with a stale blog.  Let's see if I can't do something about that.  I think I've missed the window for discussing Christmas, which was enormous fun, but there is plenty of fun just around the corner.

The Gangplank is sponsoring a Go-Devil Canal Race this Saturday, January 26th.  The frozen canals make a fabulous track for Go-Deviling, and a race is something I've been thinking about since last winter when Kimika Ying introduced her fabulous vehicles.  We've made the arrangements with Tenk, have a course picked out, and now just need to mark the route on Saturday morning.

Saturday is going to be a busy day.  At 11 am SLT, the Second Life Giant Snail Race will take place in New Babbage.  The course for that race shouldn't interfere with our canal race, and it is apparently a great honor for the city to be hosting the snail race.  Great news for New Babbage!  At 1 pm SLT, we will be kicking off our Go-Devil race, with a party at the Gangplank afterward until 3 pm.  From 6 pm until 9 pm SLT, the annual Founder's Day Black and White Soot Ball will be happening at the Piermont, an event I am loathe to miss.  From 7 pm until whenever is a grand finale bash in End of Armada Breakaway Party, celebrating the sim before it goes away on Sunday (I'll discuss in a separate post).

All in all it promises to be a busy one, and I'm pondering whether I can somehow manage to make it to all of them...