Otherworldly

For the current round of Redeux (which ends tomorrow), Del-ka Aedilis has released the first building in their new Medici series. As the name suggests, this series will have a Renaissance feel but it will also suit various types of fantasy roleplay. The Townhouse Cosimo is perhaps primarily intended for city builds, but I liked the idea of setting it up as a secluded manor house. Ideally, I would have wanted matching stone walls and a more elaborate garden, but that will have to be for later on. As it is, I think it turned out very romantic, a perfect place for a secret rendezvous.

Les Encantades has a lovely set with a tunic, pants and shoes (each sold separately) out at We Love Role-Play and to me they suggested a hunter, especially in the Olive green version with brown accents. I found the shoes a little modern-looking so I wore a pair of boots from Senzafine instead and because the pants end a little below the knee that worked pretty well. The set is available for a wide range of bodies, including Slink Physique, which always makes me very happy. There are also alphas included, something I wish more creators did these days. After all, BOM was supposed to be the end of alpha cuts on the bodies, but sadly not all body makers have gone that route.

When I saw this outfit by AsteroidBox at Midnight Order, I knew I wanted to photo it and snapped it up right away. It was easy going pairing it up with the Cosette hair (hairbase and attachment combo) from EMO-tions, but then I couldn’t quite decide on the setting and the mood for the photos. That is, until I recalled our house from Rustica and the Empire furnishing set, also from Rustica. I have had it setup on the sim for ages but it has been a while since I used it for photos. But now it provided just the right touch of gothic.

This is a most definitely NSFW look at Dutchie’s latest release, a wood-fire heated hot tub. It does come in a PG as well as an Adult version, but…well, you know me. ;)

This style of outdoor hot tub is quite popular in Sweden and sees use all year around. I knew I wanted to shoot this in a winter surrounding, contrasting the steaming hot water with chilly, snow-covered surroundings. Given some of the activities in the Adult version, it might have gotten a little cool at times; you would generally prefer to submerge as much of yourself as possible in the hot water. Then again, if things heat up in a different way, you might not notice the cold for a while!

The hot tub is available at the current round of FaMESHed and you can read the details of the functionality and included animations on Dutchie’s site.

It is Friday, after all, so how about a bit of spicy romance? Heart-shaped seats and pillows, rose petals on the floor and a hint of dominance & submission. The heart-shaped ottoman and the heart-shaped pillows are recent releases from Roawenwood, whereas the rose petals are from a previous Roawenwood set. There are several texture options for the top of the ottoman and the pillow with the animations and then there are additional decor-only pillows with preset textures. The ottoman has some single poses but is mainly for couple poses, the pillow has only single poses.

Both Ran and I are wearing the latest hair from Wasabi, Asia. It is unrigged and works very well for both male and female avatars. Not shown here is the windblown option of the style.

The Midnight Order event is threatening to create a bit of a hole in my virtual wallet as it features a very good selection of creators and said creators have done some particularly fine work for it. The Descent dress from toksik, for example. It created an immediate “must have” reaction in me. Of course, I had to decide on a colour, which was easier said than done. In the end, I steered away from the black and the gorgeous red and went with this amazing purple. Its not quite as dark as the black and less vibrant than the red, which worked perfectly for this sort of moody, slightly dusty-feeling shot.

Carpe Noctem has a sweet set of five bento poses (with mirrors) at La vie en pose, each with a pre-positioned rose prop. I really liked the proportions of these poses, they worked very well with my avatar, which is not always the case. Arm length especially tends to be an issue but here it worked really well.

I definitely wanted to embrace the “boudoir” part of the name so I used the room where I have a selection of Libertine furnishings setup, including the Marquis set. Lounging on the floor among some pillows, candles and trays of wine and fruit seemed appropriately decadent. The strategically placed tray also allowed me to skip clothing while still keeping a little modesty. The beautiful Clarity style from Stealthic and features a lovely curl texture and a very natural fringe that effectively takes the place of a hairbase. It fits well on the LightStar Maya head, though the closeness of the fit does mean that there are some heads that it doesn’t work with, so make sure to demo.

Sassy Sweet Poses has a nifty set of very saucy poses out at La vie en pose. Behind the Door includes five poses (with mirrors) in a pose stand or in a door prop (and the door prop comes as a stand-alone, with a white wall or with a black wall). While some of the poses look their best using the included props (because those feature a half-open door), I found that using the stand to fit the poses to an existing door also worked very well. Here I am using the door into the bedroom on Dutchie’s New Amsterdam houseboat. I am also using the Photo Pro HUD and attachment to provide some extra light from the side and from within the room.

A new round of La vie en pose is opening tomorrow, on the 10th of January. This is the “naughty” edition, so expect some sexy poses and props. Like this sinfully red motel room backdrop from Lacrime dell’anima and the sultry “Welcome Back” poses by Nya.Gore. To go with it, I picked up the latest release from Salt & Pepper. The light setup (including the EEP setting) is handled via the PhotoPro attachment and HUD. Now that I have started using EEP I will definitely be setting up some more EEP & light combinations to have on hand.

A dashing nobleman visits his mistress and gifts her with a magnificent set of jewellery. She sits down at her vanity to admire how the stunning necklace and earrings looks on her, adding a dash of perfume while she is at it. Her lover looks on admiringly.

I love how this came together, the beautiful vanity from Dictatorshop serving as the focal point for the rendezvous. The store is very generously offering group members an L$1000 gift card for L$1 to cheer everyone up. There are plenty of decor-only items in the store for under 1000 and even quite a few with PG animations or a more limited selection of Adult animations. If you want the really fancy versions, with all of the adult options, they cost more but they also include a very large selection of animations so they are well worth it. There are several different furniture series available, to cater to a wide range of tastes.

The Winter Solstice is upon us and the pagan buried deep (okay, not so deep) within me tend to stir on days like this. The veil between the worlds does feel a little thinner then, especially as you consider the significance such days held for people in the past. I would love to experience the light hitting that inner chamber in Newgrange during the solstice or visiting Stonehenge to see the sunrise there.

Not this year though, for certain. But with the Lucia gown from deviousMind and the Lucia halo and candlestick from Lux Aeterna, I can at least try to capture some of that feeling of celebrating the light in the midst of the darkness, hoping that the sun will return once again.

In just a few days, Dutchie is releasing this great-looking wooden pool table with a choice of five colours for the felt on top. I had the opportunity to take an early look at it to film a short video of the PG version and of course I had to take some photos as well. For that, however, I used the Adult version, which adds several menus of adult animations to the playing, socializing and romancing options in the PG version. Still, the images included are fairly clothed, except for some hints of nipple courtesy of the sexy Izzy robe from Salt & Pepper and some partially obscured naughtiness. There’s definitely much more to be discovered on those menus. ;)

I used a new skybox from Del-ka Aedilis called Christmas in NYC to setup the scene in. Del-ka Aedilis primarily creates builds inspired by various historical eras so this one is a bit of a departure, though a very nice one! Its sleek, modern and spacious and the snowfall outside the windows together with the fireplace makes it feel very cosy.

I also have to highlight the hairpiece & hairbase from EMO-tions. I love these kinds of hairs, they look both fabulous and realistic. Oh, and the fabulous group gift skin from Clef the Peau, here worn on the lovely Lilly, the gift head from LeLutka.

I’ve gift-wrapped myself today in this little number from Voluptas Virtualis that I absolutely adore. It seemed appropriate since so much of what I am wearing are gifts from generous creators, whether at their stores or at the Winter Shop & Hop. And while the skybox and the furnishings weren’t free, they were bought at Apple Fall’s incredibly generous Black Friday sale.

This is also my first photo on the new Firestorm release, with EEP instead of Windlight. So far, I am finding it incredibly useful to be able to flip through skies using the Quick Preferences but also annoyingly slow to import windlight settings and difficult to use the new way of adjusting the sun and moon. We need batch importing and we need to be able to get and set exact numbers for the sun.

At the December round of We Love Role-Play I came across a new and very promising creator. The brand is called Portal and they have just a few releases out so far but the focus on historical clothing captured my interest right away. Their item for WLRP is a classic medieval gown called Marguerite that is rigged for Belleza Freya, Legacy and Maitreya Lara. I hesitated a bit at first since there is only a HUD-driven fatpack available, though this makes sense since at least half the fun with this gown is how you can mix and match the six independently colourable areas (sleeves, pads, bodice, outer skirt, inner skirt and lace). The price point is a little higher than similar all-in-one options from brands like ContraptionN, but on the other hand it is a full gown. So, I picked it up.

It is the season for getting cosy, but nothing says you can’t combine cosy and sexy. The Holiday Thigh High Socks from Luxuria can go either way depending on what you pair them with. Here, together with the Quinnessa slip from Voluptas Virtualis, the vibe is definitely more towards the sexy end of things. The red of the couch from Roawenwood adds seasonal warmth and sensuality.