Otherworldly

Journeying alone, she keeps to the less known roads, always with her bow and arrows within easy reach on her horse. The slight, elegant mare is a little too fine to pass as a common traveller’s horse and her own garb might also arouse too much interest. On this evening, she passes near the eastern shore of the peninsula. Some distance out into the water, a pair of houses on tall stilts are visible, their lights beckoning in an inviting fashion.

A litte Thursday quickie using a couple of things from the Fifty Linden Friday’s birthday event and this week’s Dark Wednesday release from Be My Mannequin? I used the Dutchie mid century mirror closet for the photo, which is made so that you can turn your camera around to look out through the glass and get a kind of mirror effect. This pose is one of a set of four close-up poses, meant to be shot from the waist up. The turn of the torso and the look over the shoulder really helps sell the mirror idea.

The style from Wasabi offers two different options for the bangs and a left side or right side braid. The dress from Blueberry comes in four patterns and tons of colour options for the lace and the ties. It also includes fits for a large range of bodies, including Slink Physique Original.

Inspired by the Roman Strategy Table from Del-ka Aedilis, I created this scene of a Roman noblewoman seeing the plans laid out by her husband and then praying to their ancestors, perhaps on the eve before he goes into battle. All the decor pieces as well as the house itself are from Del-ka Aedilis Civitas series, which does a wonderful job of capturing various aspects of Roman life. Note that I did size down the house as well as the decor for this photo since my avatar is small by SL standards.

My hairstyle from F&M Oblivion is not Roman, but I thought it could pass well enough for a the style of a Roman matron, at least during some periods. And the robe from the Dreaming Thicket is more Greek than Roman, but one makes do with what one has!

If you ask me, the best female mesh body in Second Life is still Slink Physique Original. I do have an use Maitreya Lara and Legacy as well, it is virtually impossible to blog without at least one of those, but for a natural, realistic look Physique Original can’t be beat. The hip and thigh area, in particular, drives me crazy on the other bodies.

But like I said, I have had to cave in and start using them for blogging. Still, I am always thrilled when a new release that supports Slink Physique Original shows up! The Iris dress from Faida is one such release and this time Titania Halasy gave herself quite a task, modelling the dress for 12 bodies/body variants. And since it is for the Itty Bitty Titty Committée, there’s a version for Slink Physique Original with the Petite Chest Augment and that is precisely what I am wearing here.

Given the upcoming ban on gachas, I decided to revisit another deviousMind gacha for this post; Chandra Meehan’s gachas will definitely be sorely missed as they have always been designed so that ever item is perfectly useable on its own. For this post, however, I am showing off the full Sylvari set, complete with the rares such as the headdress and the petal skirt.

The pose, which comes with the glowing orb, is another Be My Mannequin? creation. It has a very mystical feel, which is why I went full on fantasy with the look and the surroundings.

The writer of Gothic fiction is here seen in her natural habitat, at a writing desk in an old mansion on a remote, windy moor, her nearest neighbour a crumbling castle from ages past. She wears a blood-red gown and a streak of white runs through her raven-dark hair.

When I received the latest release from Dutchie, a writing desk with a typewriter and other accessories, I couldn’t resist pairing it with this gown from the latest (and final?) gacha from deviousMind and setting it up in the Carriageway House from Rustica. The Dallas hair from Wasabi, with its option for a splash of a second colour at the front, provided the final touch.

Still on vacation and on a laptop, so keeping things a little simple. But it suddenly struck me that this pose from Be My Mannequin? would work nicely together with the latest Experience Portal from Fanatik. I wanted something eerie for the EEP setting and green is always a good choice is the colour of sorcery. To match this, I edited the crystal heart prop included with the pose to be glowing green rather than red. I also raised the poseball off the ground, making it seem as if the magic is levitating my avatar.

I picked up both my hair and the outfit from the Wanderlust Weekend sale last weekend; that’s what I call great finds! The hair is by No.Match and the robe from 1313 Mockingbird Lane. I love the fact that No.Match has so many unisex hairs and longer styles for men, I definitely have to get Ran to shop there soon.

A final portrait for now, and probably a bit of a blog hiatus for a week or so. The mistress that followed after Missy Blackwood was Barba Bracken’s younger sister, Bethany, groomed for the position by her father and sister. Alas, poor Bethany soon ended up a head shorter for sleeping with one of the Kingsguard rather than the King, who by then was “fat and foul-tempered”.

For Bethany I wanted a look that was less haughty and a bit sweeter and prettier than Barba. I used the same skin as for her sister (Bella from Logo), but I switched to another Logo head, Chelsea. The hair is from Truth and the dress from Senzafine. I couldn’t think of anything symbolic to give her for a necklace, so I opted for a design from the Plastik that felt fairly medieval in style.

Fanatik has one recent and one brand new set out to help you build cool medieval/fantasy structures. The first is the Breakable Gates set, a collaboration with LR Weapons that provides physics-enabled gates that can take weapon damage and break down. The second is the massive Castle Builder set, with walls, towers, columns and other massive stone structures (as well as some wooden elements that integrate with the stone).

You can preview both sets and what can be done with them on the Fanatik sim, linked above. I have also done a brief video, just showing some of the contents of these packages as I haven’t had time to build anything of my own as of yet. Read on to take a look at it.

Another day, another portrait between (re)packing our bags for Monday. Chronologically, this one fits in before the previous portrait, as Barba Bracken preceded Melissa Blackwood as a mistress. The Brackens are described as a bit stocky and I imagine Barba as pretty but less fineboned than Missy. I thought the Logo Bella head (with its matching skin) might suit that. I also opted for a more casual hairstyle for her vivacious personality. As Barba was particularly known for being buxom, I picked a gown from Faida and Velvet Whip that highlights this very well. The dragon egg necklace would obviously be a present from King Aegon, perhaps as he learned she was pregnant.

I’ve tried doing portrait series before, but I always get too ambitious and too caught up in making them feel similar. So, we’ll see where I end up with this one. The genesis of the idea was to do some nice portraits for our game to spruce up the website a bit. Here, I am trying to portray Melissa “Missy” Blackwood, one of King Aegon IV’s mistresses.

To create her look, I am using LeLutka’s Erin head with alaskametro’s Ingrid skin (using the flat chest add-on since Missy was supposed to be quite slim and flat chested), which I think gives her a sweet sort of beauty that suits the description of the character. The hair is one of F&M Oblivion’s releases for Hair Fair, a style inspired by Giulia Farnese, also a famous mistress. It is a very elegant, ladylike style with a silk cap at the back. The raven jewellery is a nod to the arms of House Blackwood and I thought that the Heloise gown from Junbug could fit into Westeros well enough.

I was supposed to be on vacation and thus a blogging hiatus. But our car broke down last week as we were on our way to our summer cottage, so for a few days more I am stuck at home with much less to do than I had planned. Hence, blogging. Fortunately, there are some great events right now, including a new round of the Epiphany. I couldn’t resist the SultryGarden gacha from deviousMind, which features a ribbon harness with intricate lace appliqué. I tried out the first colour that I won and said to myself that there was almost something bridal about it. I gave it another try and fortunately it gave me the Pearl next time, perfect for my idea!

Of course, this would definitely be something for after the ceremony, unless you are having a very unconventional wedding. ;) I am still wearing that ridiculously pretty hair from Stealthic, Lavish, and my favourite skin and head combination even though they’re far from new: PXL’ss Ava on LeLutka’s Cate.

She had come to the ancient ruin, half-buried by the desert sands, to learn if the tales were true. Did a dragon of flesh and blood still roam the deep desert? The bones of such creatures, bleaches by the sun, were occasionally revealed by the shifting sands. But no man, or woman, had gazed upon a living beast for centuries.

The single pose “Hurt” from Be my Mannequin? immediately suggested to me someone looking upwards with a sense of wonder on their face. What an excellent opportunity to bring out our wyvern avatar from Prehistorica again! I had also had my eye on Zaara’s latest release and decided to appropriate it for a desert fantasy look, beautifully completed by the latest release from Stealthic, Lavish. The scene was set using the a sky landscape from Landscapes Unlimited and the Ruins kit from Fanatik.

The latest release from Dutchie-creator Froukje Hoorenbeek is one of her most luxurious-looking creations. The leather of the tub chair looks deliciously touchable and it includes eight rich, gorgeous shades. I opted for placing the chair in the corner of a private library, making it a pleasure room in more than one sense. As you might surmise from this, this is the adult version of the chair which features 100 maledom-oriented couple animations, some with auto-attaching props and some with automatic tilting for Aeros and the Physics Cock. 

I’ve tried to give a sense of the flavour of the chair through eight images that feature a selection of the animations from across several of the different menus. There’s so much more to this chair than “just” the sex, with animations capturing both tenderness and dominance.

For these photos, I am wearing the new Aqua hair from Wasabi, which includes an optional hat that I have not included here. The underbust corset from Salt & Pepper offered just the right amount of naughtiness, further emphasized by the Sweet Talk stockings from Luxuria. And Ran is looking stylish in Deadwool, always a good choice for a classy look.

The countryside inn is rustic but reasonably clean, with a more pleasant odour than its city cousins. Even so, the woman in fine linen of bright colours and with her hennaed hair elaborately dressed looks out of place. A high class meretrix, perhaps, meeting with a man where neither of them will be known?

The Civitas series of buildings and decor from Del-ka Aedilis are fantastic for creating Roman or Romanesque locations, whether just for photos or for roleplay. For these photos I have used the Tavern and the Stable, plus the Tavern Table and various decor pieces from the Culina series to fill out the first floor of the tavern further. There’s also a second floor with rooms for travellers wishing to stay. The Stable can accommodate two horses in stalls and a couple tied outside. The build includes three horse props but if you want to use your own horses you could unlink and remove these.

The dress is from the Dreaming Thicket and the hair from F&M Oblivion. It is actually a Game of Thrones-inspired hairstyle but looks remarkably close to some Roman styles; I had never really reflected over the fact that some of the styles featured in GoT drew inspiration from what a Roman woman might wear. But given their (odd) decision to make King’s Landing Mediterranean, I suppose it fits.