Good evening. No, no, you're not interrupting. I had just been jotting some notes for my memoirs here by the fire, but I would be happy to show you around. They call me the Dark Baron.

Yes, I live alone here in the castle. Well, nearly alone. I share company with my pet bat, Brackle. (Say hello to our visitor, Brackle.) I tell him all my secrets. Like how I became the Dark Baron for the pittance of sixty lindens. Oh yes, I know, it's difficult to believe but true. A very low price, but no sacrifice of quality, as you can see here in the details of the jacket, the cuffs, the waistband of the pants. Come closer, and you'll find that your eyes can just about "feel" the fabric.

Nightshade Designs has this and other discount outfits and accessories for men (and also for women) in the "free and cheap" hallway of their store. I picked this up, supplemented it with a few freebies and some items I already had in inventory and, faster than a teleport, I had become the Dark Baron.

Some people might hear that and think, "oh yes, Nightshade Designs; they make those sexy dark outfits, accessories, shoes, hair and even skins for women." And so it is, but what many don't know is that there are several well-made treasures for men in the store also if you have a taste for gothic darkness. They're not really hard to find if one takes a little time to browse. Plus there's also the "free and cheap hallway," the Midnight Mania, the lucky chairs --

What's that? Oh, must you leave so soon? Ah I see, you have some shopping to do. Yes, yes, I completely understand. I think I'll just step out to my balcony for some fresh air and to watch the October moon rise.

 

 

Style card:

 

skin: Lapointe (Eloh Eliot's "Pale mens skin"), L$0

shape: my own

eyes: Sterling Artistry (Halloweenfreebie2), October instore freebie

hair: DS Design (Adora's Demi Hair-Noir-long)

nails: Sterling Artistry (Glossy Charcoal), October instore freebie

boots: SF Design (Ankle Bikers shoeboots)

plush bat (with cuddle pose): Schadenfreude (Brackle), L$1

shirt, jacket, pants, etc: Nightshade Designs (The Dark Baron), L$60

location photos taken at Rustica Castle.
 

Hey guys! What if I said you can get a very nice skin and several good poses for just L$125? You'd want to know where, am I right? Well, what if I said you can get this really nice skin with nine variations of facial and body hair, and there's going to be ten poses in the pack - and then I tell you it's still just L$125? Your finger's itching to click on Teleport, isn't it?

But - as they say in the commercials - wait, there's more!

How would you like to have more than enough skins in a range of tones and a variety of hair treatment? And how would you like to have more than enough poses suitable for portrait close-ups and full-body views?

Right now, Cybernetic has ten male skins marked down to just L$1 each. That single linden gives you the facial hair you pick from the tone of your choice with four variations for body hair (so if you want to be very technical, that's four skins you're getting for that L$1.) I wore a mixed variety of them for the images here.

There are ten base skin tones to choose from, and each one is available with nine different facial hair options. (Body hair variations come packed with each.) You can pick and choose, mix and match, for L$1 each. Or, for only L$90, you can clean out the store. Better hurry; I don't know how long the dollarbie prices will last.

If you don't snap many pictures of yourself, you can probably get by most of the time with a basic AO and a couple supplemental poses, but when you're taking pictures of your avatar, poses are indispensible. Having the right pose can make the difference between the appearance of a plastic doll and something more natural.

At Ks2cool, you're going to find seven pose packs available. Each pack holds ten poses. And each pack costs just L$5. Yes, you read that right. Don't forget to breathe again. What this means is that you can empty out the store for L$35 and walk away with seventy poses in your pocket, suited for almost any occasion.

Fair warning: these poses were made with a female in mind, but remember that both male and female avs share the same base mesh, and most of the time what works for one will work for all. Some of these poses will be better for men if viewed only from the waist up; a few will be useful only as a headshot. But only four of the poses are not shown here, being decidedly too feminine. Only four. That leaves 66 that are agreeably usable for men, and the price is still a steal.

Almost any pose is a good pose with the right camera angle or cropping. For certain occasions, even a "bad" pose can sometimes turn out to be exactly what's needed.

And since "more than enough" is never really enough, you could also grab Ks2cool's pair of Michael Jackson poses for just L$1 more. Aw go ahead, splurge and enjoy!

Style Card:

shape: my own
earring & nose ring: my own
ring: Mustang Trading Post (etched silver band), L$50
skin: Cybernetic (various), L$1@, 90 to choose from
eyes: Sterling Artistry (DiscoveryEyes, Macbeth), SLDiscovery hunt gift
hair: Astaroth (Steve emo, color modified), instore freebie
boots: DV8 (Hades Boots), Black Keys hunt gift
white shirt: SF Design (collarless shirt)
jacket/pants/wristbands/belt: MadeForYou, MHO Hunt gift

Poses:
Ks2cool (7 packages, 10 per pack) L$5@
MJ 2-pack, L$1

 

Yesterday I went to Hair Fair 2009 with the wife and I all I have to say is "WOW Lag City!" They should really put a limit on avatar rendering cost on events like that! Anything over 500 and you get the boot! I mean, we saw people with ARC over 2000 and 3000 and higher! It may not affect them, but it sure affects the rest of us. If they can see anything, its going to take them forever most likely.

Once we finally got into each sim I did manage to find a couple of decent hairdos for men. I was actually surprised because there isn't much men's stuff out there. I think my favorite one is this freebie called "Scott" from Calico Ingmann Creations. Sebation from Hair solution was another nice one. Then we got Velma from Tiny Bird... what is this? It looks like a coconut on my head! LOL! But I do need to give them credit for the Shay style. It looks good - like I just got out of the shower.

Left: Scott from Calico Ingmann Creations

Right: Sebastian from Hair Solutions

Bottom: Romeo from Calico Hair

 

Left: Zoey from Sirena

Right: Shay from Tiny Bird

Bottom: Velma from Tiny Bird