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.

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.

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.

It is only November, but I am starting to crave snow—especially instead of rain, rain and more rain! Right now, I have to settle for the virtual kind, however, so when Del-ka Aedilis sent out a blogger package with a wintry theme, I changed over one of my sky landscapes to match. Fortunately, Studio Skye recently released a 4 Season Bolt-On for the Woodland Path, which came in handy for this scene. The gown from Senzafine may not quite be warm enough on its own, but I rather like it in combination with this cape, an older release from Stitched.

As I promised, I have a lot of things to show you from The Horse Show. This time, I thought I would focus on four new releases from Teegle that enhance your interactions with your Teeglepets, as well as some accessories for prettying up your horses. I am also featuring a new set of riding boots from Eudora 3D.

Now, before you dive into this video, I want to point out a couple of things about the hitching post and the grooming add-on. I attempted to use both of them at the same time but was unsuccessful in doing so. I thought it was because the horse needs to have the hitching post set as an animation partner to use that one and for the grooming to work I needed to be set as the animation partner. However, I was told in chat that it should be possible for a horse to be partnered to two things, so I am not sure if a) these add-ons were not setup to allow that or b) I was doing something wrong. I will update accordingly when I know more.

I am loving the Autumn we’re having right now. Much less rain than usual (knock on wood, though it is sure to come) which really lets that crispness in the air which is both a scent and a feeling linger. The colours have been a little slow to come in, but now they are starting to get there. In Second Life, Autumn is definitely in full swing and with it all things Halloween. It is a pretty good substitute when I start feeling nostalgic about not having The Secret World to play anymore; Halloween was definitely the natural season for that game too.

With the help of Del-ka Aedilis, I’ve headed deep into the woods to mix up some potions. Perhaps you would like to come by for a visit?

I have been buried under work the last week and I still haven’t dug myself out fully, but I have so many pretty things to share that I did have to make room for some Second Life as well. Both Enchantment and Redeux are going on right now (and Redeux has been extended to August 24th!) so I made a medieval mash-up of items from both events and created a small town and a somewhat overgrown village green (the sheep have not been doing their job lately) with an old well. Then I popped over to We Love Role-Play and found myself a new dress from Senzafine as well.

Redeux opens today at noon SL time and there you will find the Townhall from Del-ka Aedilis at 50% off. This is quite a large build (footprint is 26 x 27 m
and land impact is 174) with an open arched gallery, a spacious courtyard and several rooms both on the first and second floor. In one of the rooms on the second floor, I setup the Scribery Alcove from Roawenwood for the current round of We Love Role-Play. Both Ran and I are wearing new outfits from the Muses and these can also be found at We Love Role-Play.

A somewhat eclectic mix today, with everything from decor to new eyes. We’ll start big, though, with another building from Del-ka Aedilis. This one is from their medieval series, so it seemed to fit well with wearing a Viking-inspired gown by the Muses. The kitchen garden on the side is a separate item from the same series and can be combined with most any of their houses. The jewellery is more fantastical, a fairy-delicate set from lassitude & ennui that comes in a range of beautiful, shimmering mixed metals.

The braids are the latest style from Wasabi, which comes in a straight and a slightly windblown version where both the bangs and the braids have swung to one side. And then we have the eyes, the Oculi from FATE. Damien Fate calls them spiritual successors to the FATEeyes and that is fair enough, though they are quite different in many ways. The HUD is sleek and easy and even with just the included textures they are highly versatile as they tint beautifully. The HUD also allows very easy positioning vertically, horizontally and depth-wise.

There is also a free developer kit for making your own textures, something I am eager to have a go at. Their biggest new feature is properly speaking the realistically dilating and contracting pupil; it is perhaps not what excites me the most, though I need to play around with how it can affect expressions in photos and how it looks on video. Either way, I like these eyes a lot. They may not be the ultimate mesh eyes (for that, I would like BoM as well as appliers, but because these use special textures that won’t work), but they get close in that they offer both excellent positioning and easy customisation.

I have blogged a few pieces from Del-ka Aedilis in the past and was recently invited to blog more of their buildings and decor items. Seeing as they align very well with my own interests, I was more than happy to agree! To introduce the brand properly on my blog, asked them to provide a short description of what they do and why:

“As passionate roleplayers we discovered the need of low-prim, well-built and nicely textured buildings, especially for Fantasy, Medieval and Ancient Greek or Roman settings.”

Today I am going to feature the Slave Quarters from their Civitas series. It is essentially a complete district from a Roman city, with apartments, a small slave auction, a brothel, a forge and some storage areas. This offers many different options for roleplay as well as many photo opportunities. Since I don’t have a Roman city built up on our sim, I paired the Slave Quarters with their Villa Iunia for a more complete scene. I have to say I love the attention to authentic details, such as the graffiti! In the last two photos, from inside the brothel, you also see the Whore’s Mattress which includes solo, couple and threesome animations.

The footprint of the Slave Quarters is 33 x 16 m and the total land impact with all decor is 136 (102 for just the buildings).

We’re yet another day closer to the opening of the Fantasy Faire. With the help of some items from Del-ka Aedilis for the anniversary round of Redeux (which has been extended until the 23rd of April at noon) I am continuing to stay with the fantasy feel and this time I do have a little Faire preview included. Read on to see!

Del-ka Aedilis has another building in their Civitas series available at a 50% discount at the current round of Redeux (which ends in just a few days!). The Ludus Magnus is a villa with an attached gladiatorial school. Those who watched the Spartacus TV-series may recognize the design of this complex. I decided to focus on the gladiatorial arena for my photos, though the rest of the villa is a very nice build as well. The arena is nicely sized and surrounded by the cells in which the gladiators lived; the gladiatorial school was essentially a prison.