Otherworldly

I promised you would be seeing more of the new castle from Fanatik, so here is a view by one of the windows. I really like the wistfulness created by someone gazing out a window like this and I thought it made for a nice contrast with the fiery textures of the new gown from Senzafine for We Love Role-Play. I also added in a further light source in the shape of a brazier from Fantavatar & Moonstruck, also from We Love Role-Play. Which reminds me, there’s a few things I would love to see in terms of decor for medieval houses and castles. Number one on that list? Rushes for covering the floors, that would give a great, rustic look. Storage chests are another nice decor item that is great for filling out a room a bit with.

I have a thing for castles, which meant that when Fanatik announced their latest release, the Dungan Castle, I pretty much knew I would have to get it even before I checked it out. I have already had plenty of mileage as far as photos goes from their previous castle, the Arkaig Castle, and the new one looked sufficiently different that I felt it would be a great addition to the photo locations on our sim. To give a sense of what it is like, I have done a video walk-through. Expect to see more of it in photos in the coming weeks!

Just the other day I had reason to discuss the use of green as a colour to indicate the presence of magic, so it seemed fitting that I would make use of it here as I am showing off the latest fantastical gacha from the Plastik: Spidela. I have mentioned before what I think about spiders—and about having them all over my avatar!—but this is a pretty darn nifty set. It is very sword & sorcery, Spidela could have stepped right out of a Conan comic, and I think it went very well with this Necromancy pose & prop set from chanimations, an old favourite of mine. I also made use of the Petra Chamber add-on for Fanatik’s cave system as the backdrop for a suitably ancient and epic feel.

The final weekend of the Vintage Fair is coming up and I thought I would show another favourite item from it, namely the striking High Council set from Roawenwood. It is perhaps a little more vintage than most, but certainly right up my alley. I knew I had to blog it as soon as I saw it and I love how it looks in the build from Fanatik’s Medieval Village set. To play the part of the lonely ruler, I opted to switch to a male avatar, which also gave me the chance to show off one of the male heads from LightStar as well as the male version of the Elvenne skins from the Plastik.

It is time for We Love Role-Play again, so it was particularly appropriate that I ended up using the Roleplay HUD from Mythril to stage this scene. I have had so much use of it since the Fantasy Faire that I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who takes more story focused shots as opposed to modelling shots. In this case, the story is one of a woman looking out over the sea from high up in a castle, waiting for a ship that does not arrive. The new items featured are from Senzafine, lassitude & ennui and Wasabi.

Pure home & garden posts are fairly rare for me, usually I want to work in an avatar somewhere in the shot. But it can be detrimental to actually showing off larger pieces of landscaping or, as in this case, a whole building. So, when I couldn’t settle on the right look for my avatar or how to compose the shot with in avatar included, I decided to let the landscaping be the sole focus.

The new release featured here is the Small Longhouse from the Dreaming Thicket, with additional decor pieces from Fanatik, the Little Branch and Jian (if the goats will forgive me for being called decor).

A couple of days ago we jumped ahead into summer with temperatures that made sitting at the computer a low priority. Today is a little cooler, enough that I was inspired to do some photos again. This set features a mix of fantasy items items from the Fantasy Gacha Carnival and We Love Role-Play, plus an amazing hair from Stealthic that will be out on the 15th at Kustom9. I headed down into my caves from Fanatik again for the perfect surroundings, and added a touch of magic with these eerie swirls from the Plastik. I also got some more mileage out of the Mythril Role-Play HUD for putting together these pose combinations.

The new round of We Love Role-Play made a bit of a dent in my virtual wallet as there are some very nice pieces available. In particular, I just had to have the Desert Villa and Desert Wall Kit from LORE, perfect for building a little retreat in the desert area of the sim. The red cliffs are of course done using Fanatik’s Lofoten set and the palm trees are a new release from Fanatik with 11 different tree models. The dress is also a We Love Role-Play release, from Dreaming Thicket, and the hair is Wasabi’s latest release.

For the second time in a short while, I head underground for a video, now to show off the full cave system from Fanatik as well as the nifty crypt chamber add-on. My intrepid explorer outfit has been exchanged for another guise suitable for hanging out in caves and secret chambers: a dragon(ess). This gacha by the Plastik offers some very cool accessories for dressing up as a half-human, half-dragon creature. The picture is completed with a fantasy skin from Stargazer Creations.

Lost cities, ruins, mysteries. The past has fascinated me since I was quite young and while I know now that archaeology is rarely about discoveries like Knossos, Mycenae and Troy, it is still fun to let your imagination run wild at times. This is why I just had to have the latest add-on to Fanatik’s cave system, the Petra Chamber. Inspired by the Petra site in Jordan, but placed within a vast underground chamber instead, it looks just amazing. So, of course I had to do a video of it. Do note that this is just about the Petra Chamber, as I don’t actually own the rest of the cave system. For interiors, it can definitely be used as a stand-alone, though I am sorely tempted to get the whole system and the other add-ons too.

I’ve spent most of the last four days at a big dog show in Gothenburg, leaving very little time for sitting at the computer. Which isn’t bad, admittedly, since both my work and several of my hobbies involve the computer. The dog training doesn’t, except of course for talking on dog forums, looking at training videos and so on. ;)

But anyway, I did find myself at the computer in the evening today and I finally came up with a nice idea for how to shoot this cloak from the Dreaming Thicket. I had picked up the Wood Works set in Light wood from Fanatik during their sale, and using that at the edge of our wintry woods gave the feeling of someone venturing out into the woods on their own in the deep of winter.

We Love Role-Play’s May round (with lots of gifts available, as it is the 4th anniversary for the event) is still going strong but without being completely full, so now is the time to check out some of the great items available. In this post, I paired the huge tavern set from Aisling with a gown from Roawenwood, for the perfect rustic scene. I also called in Ran once again, still in his Arthur head from LightStar, albeit with a different shape.

Yesterday was one of those days where I had to indulge in some virtual retail therapy to cheer myself up, so I picked up some landscaping sets from Studio Skye that I have been eyeing for a while and did some rebuilding of the winter corner of our sim. I am rather liking the result and decided to use it as the backdrop for a new video, where I look at another animated/customisable hair from Little Bones and some new makeups from the Plastik.

A dusting of snow on the ground and cold winds that chill the thick stone walls of the castle. Not so welcoming, perhaps, but beautiful in its starkness. And the gargoyle perching on his fountain does not mind, but keeps up his silent watch no matter what the season is. So far, at least, it is not cold enough that the water has frozen. Perhaps there’s a warm spring somewhere under the castle?

Fortunately, I don’t need my voice to write a blog post, because its been mostly gone for the last few days thanks to this virus. I’ve also had an incredibly sore throat and I am just so done with being sick right now. The weather has been glorious (if a bit too hot) and I’ve mostly been coughing in bed. But, enough about my misery and onto a mix of new items from among others Noble Creations, ieQED and Silentsparrow. I decided to setup this scene in our new castle by Fanatik—if I am going to decorate every room, I will need a lot of new furnishings!