Otherworldly

It is that time of the year again, when it is time to get in touch with your darker side. I am easing into it with a moody evening shot which features a flamenco-inspired dress and a distinctly gothic jewellery set together with a skin pale enough to suit a vampire. Two elegant poses from Be My Mannequin are used to show off this intriguing blend of influences. Mon Cher and Cara Mia release today at the Dark Style Fair where they are sold in an event-exclusive fatpack called Gothic Romance. After the event, they will only be sold individually and the fatpack exclusive couple pose En Garde will not be available.

Its a fair trade. I made Froukje Hoorenbeek of Dutchie laugh when I asked for suggestions on Plurk for cheap or free hair for outfitting an alt soon after she had sent me her latest creation. Then she made me blush as I explored the various options of said creation together with Ran and a couple of totally innocent alts. ;)

The item in question is the Sleigh Bed, released at FaMESHed’s October round. Wood with a smooth, polished finish and soft, light-weight fabrics give an elegant (and perhaps somewhat Scandinavian-inspired?) look to this bed which offers nine different colour options for the blanket and bed spread. The modelling and the textures are, of course, top notch, with great attention paid to the finishing touches.

The bed comes in four versions—PG, Adult FM, Adult FFM, and Adult FMM—and the photos shown below are from the Adult FFM and the Adult FMM versions. These two versions have completely different animations from each other and from the PG and Adult FM beds, so if you want any solo animations or two-person cuddles or sex you want to look at the PG and the Adult FM versions. But if you prefer more of a crowd in bed, then you will have a lot of fun with the FFM and FMM beds.

First up are four photos of the FFM bed and then four photos of the FMM version follows on. I’d say the FFM bed features more intimacy/sex between the two girls than the FMM does between the two guys; for the FMM bed such animations are constrained within a single meny. The focal point of each bed is definitely the single guy or girl, but there’s good variety among the 70 animations.

Full feature lists, including lists of the various menus on each bed, are provided on the product page for the Sleigh Bed.

Until October 8th you can visit the Ice and Fire event to pick up, among other things, the Sunspear seating set from Del-ka Aedilis. The set includes a couch, a rug, a side table and a tea table, all with coordinating textures with a clear arabic/moorish inspiration and a colour palette that will remind you of a desert. I arranged the set in the Desert Villa from Lore and picked a sunset EEP setting, perfect for an invitation to evening tea…and perhaps more.

The Samira outfit from deviousMind is a little too Thousand and One Nights for Dorne, but it is certainly very lovely. Very appropriate for the Dornish theme, on the other hand, is the Serpent Choker from Schadenfreude, so simple and elegant. You can find it at the Fallen Gods Inc 14th Anniversary Market. If snakes are your thing, you will find a lot more cool stuff at the market!

The Horse Show is almost over! If you haven’t already visited, you have until October 2nd to do so. And why wouldn’t you, when you can pick up such cool things as the Daemonium Coat from Impostable and the matching Imp Horns, available for the Tennessee Walker, American Saddlebred and Teegle Avatar. The coat includes several variants and optional materials and I love the look it creates, especially together with the horns.

I used one of Mythril’s poses for the horse, but for myself I used a pose from Be My Mannequin? “Odinson” was originally part of a special fatpack inspired by Thor and Loki, but is now only available as a separate purchase. It includes a Mjolnir prop, but here I switched that for a knife from the Efreet hair by Tekeli-li.

When you blog events it sometimes leads to you discovering creators you have never come across before. My personal find at the SL Renaissance Festival is Wythburn Fine Furniture. The two pieces I am showing here are both nicely modelled, with good choices of textures (and you get a lot of options, too) that look extra nice with advanced lighting on and, on top of that, a selection of animations that for the most part fit historical or fantasy roleplay very well. The sits for women, for example, work well with gowns and skirts. Such as the lovely Carnation gown from the Dreaming Thicket, another release for the SL Renaissance Festival. The building is Fanatik’s imposing Stalker Castle, which has a great grand hall lined with torches on the first floor.

Remember that the SL Renaissance Festival is a charity event, raising money for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. All proceeds from the furniture is donated and the gown varies between 50% and 100% depending on colour.

One evening, a young lord walked through the gates, leading instead of riding a fine horse, with ribbons tied in its mane and tail. He went up to one of the elegant townhouses and knocked on the door. After a while, a servant opened the door and the lordling gave him a letter. Then, he retired to the nearby fountain to let his horse have a drink while he waited for a response.

On September 24th (that’s tomorrow!) the 2nd annual SL Renaissance Festival opens its doors, running until October 3rd. This is a charity event supporting Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and it will consist of four sims of shopping (naturally with plenty of items available that donate the proceeds wholly or partially to the charity), auctions, events such as performances, tournaments and classes and also booths presenting various roleplay guilds and groups. Schedules are posted to the official website, linked above, so make sure to check it out to see what the festival has to offer.

Since the bloggers got a sneak peek of the sims today, I used that opportunity to dress up and pose in front of the gate leading in to the tournament arena. My gold-brocaded gown is from Kitty Creations and it includes matching slippers and the necklace that I am wearing. The gown comes fitted for a range of bodies. My hair is an earlier release from Fantavatar & Moonstruck.

The Horse Show is back! From September 18th to October 2nd you can visit this fabulous event and shop for tack, coats, stable decor, stables, riding clothes and, of course, Teeglepet horses. In fact, this year there are two brand new breeds at the event, the Tennessee Walking Horse and the American Saddlebred. These are both so-called gaited breeds, meaning that they have different and additional gaits compared to the walk, trot, canter and gallop you’re used to seeing. The new animations are fabulous! Of course, this required a video. In it, I also take a look at new releases from gSpot, Majestic Designs, Star Sugar, Multifarious, Tutto e Vanita and Cheval D’or. You also get to see the two Limited Edition versions of the new breeds. These are available ONLY during the duration of the Horse Show and sold in no copy only and they are gorgeous.

And speaking of limited editions, there are some even more rare things on offer at the One of a Kind auction where you can bid on tack, coats and even a OOAK horse. These are produced in a single copy each, meaning the auction winners will have something no one else owns. The auction ends on the 26th, so get your bids in!

Below the video you’ll find some photos as well as full credits for everything shown in the video.

The Fawn outfit from On a Lark is a special offer for 25 Linden Tuesday; individual colours are 25L and the HUD-controlled fatpack only 125L. It includes six different fits, among them Slink Hourglass so that is what I opted for this time. To show it off I decided to make use of a backdrop from Faida for La vie en pose as well as poses by Creative Stylez, also for La vie en pose.  The backdrop includes several different textures both for the stone and for the drapery, the poses come with mirrored versions and a lipstick prop for each version.

Welcome to the Roman Bath from the Civitas Series by Del-ka Aedilis. Classic and elegant, it a perfect addition to a roleplay sim needing a public bath house. The two tritons bearing braziers at the front are not part of the build but a separate release from Fantavatar & Moonstruck, but I thought they fit really well in thematically and they also show how you can add more of a fantasy touch to the setup. The Tritons include left and right versions and here I have sized them down considerably; at their original size they would make great centrepieces for a temple or similar setup.

The basket with bath supplies is also from Del-ka Aedilis and can either be worn or rezzed out as a decor item. Here, the bath slave (dressed in clothing from On a Lark) is holding it to welcome visitors to the bath. I also want to mention the skin because this is a brand new release from alaskametro for the Spoonful of Sugar Festival, benefiting Doctors Without Borders. Estrella is a 100% donation item and is available in five tones for LeLutka Evo X.

Maxwell Graf, the creator behind Rustica, has been on a longer hiatus from creating in Second Life. But yesterday he dipped his toes back in with the release of a versatile mesh fire, intended as a high-quality replacement fire for fire places, torches etc. Of course, since it is fully modifiable, I decided to do something rather different with it and created a demonic landscape with black crystals and fire. The fire can be turned on and off with a click and you can also edit the way the three different meshes that make it up fit together by editing linked parts.

The pose is Dark Matter by Be My Mannequin? and it is perfect for showing off the striking Draugr skin by Fallen Gods, here with the addition of the Orthae tattoo in silver. The hair is by Mythril and it allows you to set various specular maps; here I went for one with a fiery effect to match the surroundings.

The Butter slip from Faida may look modest enough from the front, but the back definitely makes it worthy of being at the current round of Kinky, as it reveals more than it hides. But this time around, you’ll have to check that out for yourselves! I also recommend looking at the special lace versions of Butter, the lace work is fantastic on those.

The Art Deco set from Dutchie is one of my favourite living room sets and here I have added the latest Dutchie release, a beautiful antique chandelier that is available at FaMESHed. You have the choice of six different metals and two sizes that vary in regards to the length of the chain. This is the perfect centerpiece for any room that needs that extra bit of opulence.

Both poses come from the A Lady Like That set from Sassy Sweet Poses, available shortly at La vie en pose which opens today.

With new and old items from the Dreaming Thicket, a tattoo from Fallen Gods and a pose from Be My Mannequin? I created this scene of a guardian of an enchanted wood. The gown as well as the tattoo are from the Age of Avalon event, which inspired me to think of a secret haven which not everyone could reach. The amulet—available in sun and moon versions—went well with the priestess/enchantress image and the forbidding stance of the pose makes her seem like she’s not going to let just anyone pass. The landscaping consists of items from Fanatik and Studio Skye.

When I spotted the Violette shirt from Rosier, I knew I had to send Ran shopping. One quick jaunt over to the Warehouse Sale later and a bit of inventory hunting and he was ready, having paired the shirt with the very handy BOM leather leggings from Toksik and a pair of boots from Hotdog.

I then setup the Renaissance Canopy Bed from Fantavatar & Moonstruck in the Cosimo Townhouse from Del-ka Aedilis and told him to hop on. The animations are all intended for couples, but quite a few of them work just fine with a single avatar as well.

The sumptuous bed comes with a HUD that offers texture options for the wood and all the various fabrics.

Eos, the sister of Helios, was cursed by Aphrodite to fall in love with mortals, something she did several times. As always, immortal and mortal made for a poor match, ending in tragedy one way or another.

The “Worlds Apart” couple pose from Be My Mannequin? was conceived of as an underwater pose (it comes in a human and a merpeople version) but I wanted to reinterpret it. When trying the poses out, the idea of Eos descending on a mortal that had caught her eye was the one that stood out.