Otherworldly

From one kind of fantasy to another, with a closer look at the re-release of Tuli’s Eva skin, the glove and stocking appliers for Slink’s hands and feet from Adam n Eve and a new hair from Alice Project. Plus a sexy rigged neck corset in leather from Perception and one of the sinfully gorgeous beds from Trompe Loeil, packed full of poses for all sorts of occasions.

Well, it is definitely Game of Thrones-season, because I am finding so little time for Second Life. But, with the Fantasy Faire just around the corner, I will be making time, come hell or high water. I will be blogging the faire this year as well—and I have been assigned some truly amazing creators—and you might consider this a bit of a warm-up even though what I am showing in this post has already been released. Then again, the blog is steadily becoming more and more true to its name, with fantasy and historical wear cropping being the focal point more often than not.

Slink has an exciting new update to their fabulous mesh hands and mesh feet: an applier system (if you use mesh breasts, you are likely already familiar with this) that allows other creators to create textures for these add-ons. In addition to allowing feet and hands that perfectly match a skin without the need for any tinting, appliers can also handle other things. Or how about mesh feet with actual stockings or panty hose on or mesh hands with more nail colours than you can shake a stick at?

One of the very first brands to deliver some goodies for Slink’s hands and feet is Adam n Eve. I decided to pair some of these new goodies with some sexy poses from Elymode.

The Skin Fair opens today and I’ve got another new release, this one from the Plastik, to show you. The Astrali skin comes with a huge array of options and in a wide selection of tones, allowing it to be used both for regular wear and for more fantastical purposes. I decided to pair it with some recent releases from Gallactic to start with, before stripping down a bit more. After all, the whole skin matters, not just the pretty face.

No, I wasn’t thinking directly of the sin, but I am not opposed to a bit of sinning. However, it was the lovely vintage vanity from Trompe Loeil at this months FaMESHed that inspired the title and provided the setting for this look at another new skin from Adam n Eve set to debut tomorrow at the Skin Fair.

I’ve been doing a lot of fantasy looks of late, but the latest One Bad Pixel release as well as a new furniture set from HANDverk for The Men’s Department obviously lent itself to something very different. With it, I also have another preview of the Skin Fair, this time in the form of a new Tuli skin.

So many gorgeous new things, so little time. That continues to be my bane, though I imagine that is only too common. Plus, these things do have to come together naturally for me to be really pleased with them. Like this one, which definitely grew quite organically. I had had a number of the pieces sitting in my inventory for a while, and then this fountain by DECO showed up at Collabor88 for March and provided the (almost) final piece of the puzzle.

After offering several lovely gowns that Ran could just be jealous of (not that he wants a gown, as such, but something matching for male avatars), the Muses has now released three mesh robes for men. These are absolutely perfect for all sorts of fantasy/historical roleplay. Almost at the same time, the Muses also released three more gowns, but you’ll get to see those in a separate post. Instead, I decided to use the two new mesh gowns from Bilo‘s new line, Bilo Rani, as they also have quite a fantasy feel to them. In addition to that, I am showing two of the newest hairs from Wasabi Pills and we’re using the table, chairs and props from Libertine for the Genre event.

If you’d like to try something new in SL and get a bunch of cool stuff, then Global Domination by Hottie Cooterati might be for you. Its a game that involves searching for items and solving riddles. Some quite easy, some very hard. I played the game right on the launch night and persistent as I am, it kept me up to 4.30 in the morning as I insisted on trying to finish it all in one go. Of course, there was a race at the time to be among the first three to finish to get one of the grand prizes. I didn’t manage, but I was definitely not disappointed by the prizes available to everyone who completes the game. I also enjoyed the actual game play; the scripting of the HUD that you purchase to participate with is well done and the puzzles were fun and engaging.

Need to look your best in space? Then Gallactic may be what you need. They’ve recently released a number of different body suits, each shiny and sexy, some more revealing (much more revealing, even) than others. I picked up a few in my favourite colours, slipped into one of the Nephilim skins from Nomine and dug out some suitable poses from CnS.

I’ve already shown the mesh drapery from Maxwell Graf of Rustica in a previous post, but they most definitely deserve more of a spotlight feature as well. They are lush, versatile and just the thing for changing the feel of a slightly cold and empty room to make it seem more cosy and intimate.

Also shown in these photos is the special Valentine edition of Claire from Tuli, the new Timea ankle boots from lassitude & ennui and the newest hair from Wasabi Pills.

I am in fantasy-clothing heaven. First the Muses gave us the Rainha gown and now the Shieldmaiden has been released. It uses similar elements to the Rainha gown but instead of leather and chain mail you get leather and linen, for an elegant yet slightly rustic look. As with the Rainha gown you can combine pieces from different sets to mix up the colours and this is helped along by a hud that allows you to adjust the colour of the undergown on the mesh part.

I am also wearing one of the gorgeous new hairs from LeLutka—the hair net is such a fabulous detail—and the stunning knotted pearl necklace from lassitude & ennui.

When Nephilaine Protagonist dropped me her newest dress for The Muses (one of her little army of mesh shops!), I knew right away what I wanted to do with it. This regal mesh gown combines leather and chain mail for a fierce, warrior-queen look and when I put together the red gown with the black chainmail, it truly looked like something that Visenya Targaryen could have worn.

Yes, once again I am going on about A Song of Ice and Fire (which you may know as Game of Thrones), but that is because Ran and I have spent a rather crazy amount of time in Westeros lately, working on The World of Ice and Fire together with George R.R. Martin himself. Much of that work has concerned the history of House Targaryen since their arrival in Westeros and one of the most fascinating characters from the past is Queen Visenya, one of Aegon the Conqueror’s two sister-wives. She was a warrior and a dragon-rider, a wielder of the Valyrian steel sword Dark Sister. And I am sure she would appreciate the Rainha gown, though I think she would be practical enough to wear something beneath that chain mail. ;) Because there’s nothing royal about chafed nipples.

Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel books rank high on my list of best fantasy series, so of course the Plastik’s Namaah set caught my attention. However, there’s much more to it than just a well-chosen name. Composed of a number of pieces—some rigged mesh, some not—and with HUDs for texture changing, this is a unique and versatile set of fantasy accessories. Or a whole outfit, if you’re inclined to show a lot of skin (which I am). I am also wearing one of the latest new hairs from Magika and the Helena skin from Tuli. My poses are from the awesome Music is Life set by Studio Sidhe; these are really full of motion and still so very well balanced.

A couple of weeks ago, Tuli released a couple of previews for a new skin at the Dressing Room Fusion. Since then, I have been eagerly awaiting the full release of the Helena skin, as well as the return of some of Tuli’s previous skins in new and updated tones and with other little tweaks. This weekend, Tuli’s new mainstore on the Cupcakes sim finally opened, with four skins available in three tones each. In this post, I am taking a closer look at Helena, the new skin (the other three being new versions of previous skins).