Otherworldly

J’adoube, sponsored by The Looking Glass, is a fascinating build filled of both whimsy and beauty. Giant chesspieces, chessboard-patterned flowers and butterflies, boats with trees sprouting from them. It feels like walking into a different reality, a sidestep away from the world as we know it. I could not resist the opportunity to blog some of the beautiful pieces that make up J’adoube, though I knew I could not possibly capture a similar feeling to the full sim. Instead, I opted for showing off some beautiful period clothing from Old Treasures and Portal (including a couple of great gifts/cheapies at the birthday round of We Love Role-Play) over a game of chess in a garden.

Tall buildings strive towards the sky, light filters through colourful stained glass windows and ominous robed figures stand watch. In the middle of the city lies a great, fallen figure, entombed in stone. Somniatoris Arx, sponsored by ContraptioN, is one of the wonders of this year’s Fantasy Faire. Others have done wonderful work capturing images of the build, I opted for something more modest and tried to put together an outfit that echoed the mood of the sim.

For that, I went to the hood by Raven Bell, pairing that with a mask from Air and a gown from Kotolier, creating a mysterious figure in black and gold.

Roughly a week remains of the Fantasy Faire 2021. One of the things you do not want to miss out on doing is the traditional quest. This year it is called “The Language of Birds”. You can buy the HUD needed to participate in a regular (L$250) or deluxe (L$350, includes exclusive outfits from Silvan Moon Designs) version at the landing points on all the Faire sims and all the proceeds go to RFL. The quest package also includes a charming little companion that will help you out with extra hints along the way.

You will need a bit of patience for the quest as you are looking for birds and they are sometimes fairly small and may not rez until you are closer by. But the rewards are well worth it, from the sim-specific gifts for finishing each part of the quest to the grand prizes at the very end. Plus, you get a wonderful free tour of the Fairelands; I definitely saw areas I had missed on my shopping tours! The final sim, The Seventh Valley, is particularly gorgeous and that is where I took this shot. It was very much a spur of the moment photo, I hadn’t actually planned to blog about the quest or the outfit I was wearing right then, hence the lack of closeups on the accessories, but I liked how it came out!

As the first entry in a clothing line, Old Treasures has released the Gentilhomme set for the Fantasy Faire. As soon as the Faire opened, I sent Ran over there to get the doublet (he felt the pants looked a little too muscular in the shading for his tastes) and he opted for the very well-priced mixed colour pack in the RFL vendor. This kind of well-made medieval clothing for men is not exactly common in Second Life, so we were both happy to see Old Treasures move into this market. And since he dressed up so prettily, he gained himself an invitation to my private chambers (mild nudity at the end of the post).

Of course I had to do a vlog for something during the Fantasy Faire this year as well! Not an exploration vlog this time, alas, I’ve had too much trouble with lag this year (starting to be time for a computer upgrade, if prices ever stop being insane). But what you are getting is a closer look at the really cool animesh whip from kosmii and Mythril, a sexy outfit from 1313 Mockingbird Lane and a stylish hair from KMH, all from the Fantasy Faire. Credits and slurls can be found beneath the video and I also added a couple of nice still shots to show off the outfit and the whip poses.

Exploring Khol Dracys is not without its perils. If you climb too high, be prepared to meet some of its larger inhabitants. They have a taste for shiny things and the occasional adventurer, so it is imperative that you stand your ground and firmly tell them to snack on something else!

Petrichor (formerly the Plastik) has an absolutely massive amount of new releases for the Fantasy Faire, including skins, clothing, accessories and even decor items. Among these is the Araleus outfit that I am wearing here, consisting of the outfit itself, armour for arms and legs and a sword. The colouring huds for each part allow for almost unlimited texture combinations and for the outfit and the leg armour the huds also allow you to hide certain parts to change up your look even further.

Even though it may seem hard to believe, there are still things other than the Fantasy Faire going on in Second Life. La vie en pose, for example, is still open until April 30th and I just had to do something fun with the Roman Bath Temple from Moonlite Backdrops & Poses and Faustino. This build rezzes out complete with all the props and the pose menu easily moves you around between different spots. I’ve selected three different ones to show just some of the many couple poses available to play with. As you can see, some of them also include auto-attaching props.

Both Ran and I are wearing gorgeous outfits from Salt & Pepper, from the Scheherazade and Golden Slave set and we’re using the two new hairs from Wasabi for the Fantasy Faire. If you want to donate to RFL with your purchase of these hairs, the Solar pack for each style is set as a donation item.

Deep in the Wandering Woods, you may come across her, the Butterfly Queen. From time to take, she takes human form to explore the woods, often delighting in playing a flute that is said to make flowers bloom.

The beautiful butterfly-inspired Asclepia gown from the Dreaming Thicket insisted on being showcased in a colourful and magical way, and the Wandering Woods sim (sponsored by Titans) was just right for it in terms of looks and hues. I added the Anemone crown and collar from On a Lark for a regal look, further helped along by the tall updo from KMH, and wore the Mystic tone of the Jemima skin from Lumae to match the colours of the gown. The lovely flute from Harshlands is the Ultra Rare from flute gacha, which means it plays all the songs contained in the other flutes.

There are many things that are the best part of the Fantasy Faire (after all, it is the Fantasy Faire, so of course it can have many best parts!) and for the last years one of these best parts has been a new Teeglepet from Teegle. First it was Fable the Unicorn and then Mythos the Pegasus. This year, the two have snuck off for a bit of romance on the side and the result is Serenity the Alicorn, a gorgeous blend of the two with the most wonderful head shape and a stunning creamy white coat with pink undertones. This may be the prettiest Teeglepet yet and that’s saying something because they are all so gorgeous. You will find that both Teegle and other merchants already have plenty of accessories for the Alicorn out at the Faire, so go crazy!

Now, mythologically speaking a valkyrie would not ride an Alicorn, but who is to say what valkyries in the Fairelands ride? I just knew I had to take some in-flight photos at Alia Baroque’s amazing Valhalla sim and the Alicorn plus a valkyrie outfit seemed like the perfect fit. As it happened, Poseidon also has a set of valkyrie poses out at the Faire and their store is on Valhalla. And so, for that matter, is Wasabi and I am wearing one of their two Faire-hairstyles. My final Faire-item is the tattoo from Nefekalum, one of several special RFL editions out for the Faire.

And speaking of RFL, while not all the items I am using for my posts are RFL items, all of the vendors at the Faire do have RFL vendors out with wonderful things that you can buy to benefit the American Cancer Society.

One does not simply walk into Faerie, even if one finds one of the gates that leads there. Faerie is an ever-changing realm of both beauty and terror and one needs to be prepared for the dangers that lurk within. A trusty steed, bold and well protected by armour, is a good companion for a perilous journey. An enchanted dagger at one’s side might also help, and jewellery infused with charms of good luck.

(Also, as an aside, if you have not read The Call by Peadar O’Guilin, do so if you want to read a truly frightening account of Faerie.)

It is (almost) that fantastic time of the year when the Fairelands return to us. Yes, it is time for Fantasy Faire 2021. From April 22 to May 9th, you will be able to enjoy 21 amazing sims! I will be blogging the Faire this year as well and I thought I would start with a little sneak peak from Nefekalum, paired with a bunch of fantastical goodies from a couple of other events. So dive in!

When you want to wear your favourite body and there’s no new mesh lingerie that fits, what do you do? Wear some of alaskametro’s gorgeous BOM lingerie, of course, with a pair of brand-new BOM stockings from Luxuria. Not that alaskametro doesn’t do mesh as well; the satin robe is also hers and fortunately includes fits for a wide range of bodies.

To show this sultry combination off, I am using two new releases from La vie en pose: a draped cloth backdrop from Faida and poses from XTC PoSes from a set called Du Jour. I sized up the backdrop somewhat to make it easier to use standing poses and have it cover the whole of the frame.

As far as heads go, I am lately rediscovering my Vista heads (they are really very good!) and I have paired Lia with one of the skins from Lumae’s relaunch, Jemima.

La vie en pose opens its April round tomorrow, with plenty on offer for blogging, roleplaying and socializing. I thought I would give you a sneak peak of a nice set from Rebel Poses, featuring five emotional poses (including mirrors) set in front of a window with an optional backdrop that provides the outside scenery. I selected two of the poses to also showcase a sexy pair of garter tights from Luxuria. I love the way the shine comes out on these; it is actually materials applied to the body, but it affects the tattoo layer as well. My hair is one of two new styles from Wasabi’s new gacha at the Epiphany, which is opening in a few hours. Both Milk and its sister style, Toast, also offers a windswept option to both the bangs and the lengths of hair in front of the chest.

A fire burns in the middle of the longhall and pots of porridge and stew are cooking above it. Taking advantage of both the warmth and the illumination from the fire, a young woman works at binding baskets from thin reeds.

Roawenwood’s Basketweaver set is out at We Love Role-Play and offers both nice decor pieces in the shape of reeds and finished baskets as well as the chair shown here and mat with poses for doing the actual basketweaving or just sitting around. The style of the set means that it will fit into a variety of settings.

The Longhall Firepit Asgard is from Del-ka Aedilis for the new round of Redeux that opens today. It offers several different looks to the firepit via a menu, such as an empty firepit, a clean setup of a new fire, a burning fire and a variety of different dishes being cooked over the fire. Great for both roleplay and decor.

Portal has a new gown out at We Love Role-Play and I am delighted to see that this relatively new brand continues to develop. Well-researches historical gowns are a major SL weakness of mine and the beautiful Isouda dress hits the right spot with a high-waisted and full-skirted model. The texturing is very nice and the choices of colours excellent. While you cannot demo all the colours, I feel that you can buy the fatpack (which is the only option available) with confidence, especially at the excellent price at the event (L$700).