Otherworldly

Dreaming Thicket has a wonderful set of Venetian carnival masks available in a NextUp vendor at the Secret Garden event, in a variety of styles and colours and all for a very low price. I opted for a classic Columbina from my blogger set and managed to grab a Volto off the vendor for Ran. A bit of digging into our inventories produced some suitable Renaissance-inspired pieces from the Muses and Stitched, as well as hair for me by F&M Oblivion and boots for Ran by lassitude & ennui. The couple poses come from Nanta and Be My Mannequin and represent a couple of rare entries into the category of couple poses suitable for scenes of courtly love. More of these, please.

Cheval D’or has a gorgeous, circus-inspired harness out as a limited set for Valentine’s. I picked it up for the Pegasus and colour-coordinated it to my outfit via the HUD which offers both some preset textures and the ability to tint on top of these. The set also comes with two types of reins, static ones and a set for using with a cart.

Speaking of my outfit, that is another NextUp release from deviousMind, the GoodFortune set which has a bit of an Asian-inspired feel to it (though perhaps not so apparent with the pieces I am using). I am finding that this type of gacha-replacement works pretty well, though admittedly deviousMind has always had very fair sets where its easy to get useable items without needing every piece. For example, the SilkBlouse and Panties are in the same set and are perfectly wearable without anything else.

My hair is Wasabi’s latest release, out now at Anthem. The Pink hair is unrigged (and thus resizeable) and includes an optional hair clip. The skin is Selene in Milk from Poema’s Rahra-line which I really like on the Zora head from LeLutka.

Both of my poses are from Be My Mannequin; I have blogged these particular poses before but they suited the scene very well. The horses are using poses from Mythril.

A while back, I showed off a pair of Grecian-inspired earrings and a necklace from Old Treasures. Since then, the Kleos series has seen quite a few more releases, including clothing for both male and female avatars. I love the attention to detail with these pieces, from the shape of the garments to the textures that suggest different fabrics. I am particularly fond of the texture and the colours on the male clothing, but the female outfit is very good too.

The male set includes the chlamys (the robe-like garment) and the perizoma (basically a loincloth) and six colour combinations for each. The female outfit is sold as two separate pieces, the chiton (dress) and sash, where the sash comes in a version for wearing on its own and in a version for wearing over the chiton. There are several colourpacks available for each piece.

I found the perfect setting for showing off these outfits in this temple build from Del-ka Aedilis. Admittedly intended as a Roman-inspired temple, it definitely works well enough for a fantasy Grecian feel as well. The temple uses a rezzer and includes two statues as well as some plants, though these can be unlinked and removed after the fact if one prefers. I also added a pair of incense burners from Paper Moon.

The ancient ruins, perhaps the last visible remnant of a long-lost civilization, were surrounded by towering ice bergs and miles upon miles of frozen ocean. Whatever else the people who built them had left behind was buried deep beneath the ice, erasing almost every trace of them.

Fanatik has continued their winter-themed releases (which started with the Ice Plates) and added Glaciers (which include cliffs, chunks and paths) and Icebergs (which include both regular and scripted versions). As with the Ice Plates, the scripted version of the Iceberg falls apart, though not from collisions but rather over time. With these three sets, all with beautiful textures and materials, you can create fantastic winter landscapes. The ruins are also from Fanatik, the older set which comes in a summer and a winter version in separate packages.

The pose comes from Be My Mannequin’s Matrix-inspired set and includes a bullet wall prop, but the outstretched hand was just what I needed for the astronaut carefully touching the ancient ruins. The spacesuit is an older release from Anachron,  a former brand from the Dreaming Thicket.

(Also, if you haven’t read The Book of the Ice by Mark Lawrence, do. But maybe start with everything else by him first, they read best in the order they were written.)

She took the ancient stone stairs down into the deep, descending from her mother’s realm above the waves to her father’s below. Leaving the surface behind, she started to swim instead of walk, gliding as easily through the water as if she had fins instead of arms and legs.

Chronicles & Legends: Deep Blue Sea opened yesterday and I fell in love with the gorgeous skin by Fallen Gods, a new entry into the Oceanica series which sports subtle scales and hints of colour that remind me of bioluminescence. An older set from deviousMind, Lorelay, was the perfect outfit for my deep sea Princess, and the extravagant hair from Mythril completed the look. The hair is actually animated and looked perfect when underwater, making it seem as if it was swaying around in the water like kelp.

Finally, we have the pose from Be my Mannequin? Exploring is a unisex pose that works both for legs and for certain mer tails. Its confirmed to work with Cynefin Nemissa, likely to work with Cynefin Lorelai and also confirmed to work with Cove’s Tidal Tail. I don’t own any mer tails so legs it was for me. Be my Mannequin? also has one more single pose and a couple pose out at the event, plus an entry in the hunt.

Since underwater locations are sorely lacking on our own sim, I went looking for recommendations and found the lovely Lost Gardens of Thera, which offered some beautiful underwater scenery.

It started with the second of the two images popping into my head when I tested the “Little Drummer Boy” pose from Be My Mannequin. I liked the idea of showing that amidst a waterfall, and fortunately I was sitting on an excellent one from Fanatik. No clothing needed meant I could break out my favourite body, Slink Physique Original, and I am wearing an older DeeTalez skin since it is so hard to find good skins for an SL UV mesh head. The hair Yelena, the latest style from Wasabi which you can get an Anthem. Yelena also includes unrigged bangs which I am not wearing for this photo.

From the 3rd to the 10th of January there are great savings (up to 50%) to be had on many Fanatik items in the main store.  Fanatik has almost everything setup for viewing on their sim and you can also see several of their castles as well as many other of their sim building blocks (such as the very handy Lofoten cliffs) in use on our sim. For this image, I used the Lofoten cliffs to create a great ice wall and added a little village in its shadow using the Medieval Village set and pieces from the Wood Works set.

The lonely outpost was guarded by a single warrior, but one of surpassing bravery and ferocity. When the skies turned red like blood and the seas froze, making the outpost reachable across the ice, she knew it was time to set out for war.

Sigrun the Winter Valkyrie is a new creation from deviusMind, available at the current round of Epiphany, which now means a regular release rather than a gacha (or any of its replacements).  Be a fashionable Valkyrie in fur, leather and dragon scales, including heels tall enough to use as a weapon if need be.

The build is yet another part of the Laketown set from Del-ka Aedilis, a smaller house with just an open platform at the lower level and a single room on the second floor. I liked the idea of using it as a lookout because of the focus being on the second floor and the fact that there’s a walkway that goes all around the upper area.

For the poses I used Nantra’s Brynhildr set, though I switched out the included horse for my Teeglepet Pegasus (in a wingless makeover).

Both Ran and I did some shopping when LeLutka had their Black Friday sale ( I picked up Zora and Inez while he got Paxton and Skyler), but with December being so busy we’ve not had a chance to play much with making new shapes until now. But here I’ve got a nice combination of Nar Mattaru’s Delphine on Inez while Ran is wearing Clef de Peau’s Evan on Paxton. I also picked up some new pieces on Salt & Pepper’s current retirement sale, where selected releases are at 80% off and the Miya dress struck me as a great one to wear for this intimate and possessive couple pose from Be My Mannequin?

I am not sure which is the cosiest and laziest day of the year for me, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. Probably Christmas Day given all the leftovers available and the lingering food coma. Poking around in SL and taking some pretty pictures is about as intensive as things have gotten today. I wish I had a fireplace IRL to curl up in front, but I had to settle for enjoying it through my avatar. And while the Mangiafuoco Fireplace from Fantavatar & Moonstruck is pretty cool, I am not quite sure it would fit in my living room. ;)

HollyDays is a new release from deviousMind that you can pick up for L$50 per colour for Wanderlust Weekend. Very festive and with two options for the holly pasties, a covered and a peekabo version. The thigh highs from Luxuria match it nicely in colour and theme; these are available at the Arcade and also come as tights. The classic updo is the latest style from Wasabi, an unrigged alpha hair with options for bangs and streaks.

I love how this image came out, both moody and seasonal. I’ve been struggling a bit with ideas again, but I think it is partly because I have been trying to force myself to blog the wrong things. For next year, I will need to rethink my blogging commitments. On the one hand, if I don’t have some things I actually have to do, I can get too indecisive and just never get anything done because I keep waiting for the perfect idea. On the other hand, if I have to work too hard to get inspired it can be draining.

Anyway, when I saw this lovely dress from Faida and Velvet Whip at Redeux, I knew I wanted to do something with it. But I’ve wandered about in it for a few days now without just the right idea (see above), until I remembered the Starlight Lantern from Contraption that I picked up a few weeks ago. Off to my little winter landscape in the sky I went and then the magic happened.

We brought the tree in today, though haven’t dressed it yet. Instead, I dressed my virtual tree today, setting up my little Christmas corner with various pieces from Libertine. I love the aesthetic of Libertine, especially the Christmas collection which really captures the feel of old-fashioned Christmas card. If I could have my Christmas looking like that IRL too, I’d love it. No modern minimalism for me. For this year, I picked up the dark and snowy foliage add-ons for some variety and also a few extra ornaments, both interactive and unscripted. The Christmas Collections have been rearranged following the ban on gachas and Alia has put up a detailed post about how they are now being sold.

I also decided to get a little holiday festive with a new dress for my Chai body and a pair of heels that make my feet hurt just from looking at them. But in Second Life they’re no problem and the red leather does look very nice. The Wasabi hair is the second of their styles from the Arcade, very sleek and elegant, and I am wearing the new gift head from LeLutka.

Today I am out on thin ice. Specifically, on LR & Fanatik’s new Ice Plates, a cool product that includes scripted, breakable ice plates. To give a sense of how they work, I did another video!

I also talk a bit about my new outfit from R3D Studio, a viking-inspired dress and cloak. It looks very warm and sturdy, just right for a cold, northern winter. For full credits, go to the end of this post.

You still have a couple of days left until the SL Christmas Expo closes on the 14th of December. My final post from the event takes a look at the latest Teeglepet release, the majestic Andalusian horse.  And of course he gets a little video to show him off. Apologies in advance for my steering, apparently I can’t ride and talk at the same time in SL. ;)

In the video, I mention that there is a One of a Kind Andalusian up for grabs at the charity auction, and if you want to know more about that, check out this link. The auction ends tomorrow, Sunday the 12th, so don’t miss your chance to bid!

Below the video I’ve included a couple of shots of the horse on its own, to give a better look at both him and the beautiful Cantara tack set from Cheval D’or. And the full credits are at the end, of course.

Snow is still on my mind and while it likely will disappear in a few days, it is still snowing outside my window tonight. So, I made it snow in SL as well, using the Shimmering Snow from Dysfunctionality as the final touch on this scene. It started with the “It Pours” pose from Be my Mannequin, part of a set of dynamic poses for The Grid event. I placed it in front of the dramatic Ice Portal from RatzCatz, another item from the SL Christmas Expo and left myself staring up at the thick snowfall. The very cute and Christmassy outfit is Dancer from deviousMind, available in the new NextUp “gacha” format.