Otherworldly

I had hoped to do more Fantasy Faire posts, but the past weekend was a bit of a blur with both a dressage competition and a dog show. Now I am trying to catch up on RL work (not sure what possessed me to squeeze in a Literature class amidst everything else!) so my blogging backlog has grown even larger. However, a bit of a break for some creative fun is good for recharging, so I took some time off to setup a scene with a charming prop from Noble Creations. The table, that is, not Ran. Though he’s a pretty charming prop too. ;)

The March round of We Love Role-Play opens at 3 pm today. I wont be home by then, so I will have to check it out in a few days, but fortunately I have some shiny things to show you as a sneak peak. Judging by the previews, this round will have a good mix of items, but the jewellery may be particularly outstanding this time as evidenced by these releases from Luminary, Aisling and ieQED. You are also getting a better look at the Rebecca skin which Adam n Eve will be releasing the Skin Fair.

It was a bit uncomfortably hot here today, so when it came to photoing, I headed off to the corner of our sim where winter always reigns. But I did bring something hot and fiery with me, in the shape of a new dragon mount from Alchemy. Also featured in this post is a new dress by Luminary and a new hair by Exile.

It is one of those rare occasions when Ran finally has something new to wear, this time courtesy of Anachron. He’s also got a nice new long hair from Calico, a Hair Fair release just like my veiled style from Oblivion, which is matched to a new gown from Luminary. In the background, curtains by Paper Moon provide a dash of colour.

I can’t believe it is already June (the fact that the weather feels more like April—at best!—probably has something to do with it), but apparently it is true because the June round of We Love Role-Play is about to open at 3 pm SLT. This time, I find myself fully kitted out in new releases from the event, from creators such as PXL, Calico, Luminary, lassitude & ennui and ieQED.

From a wintery wood to a camp in the desert, to show off new releases by Jian, Luminary and ieQED, matched with older ones from Tuli and Exile.

The Fairytale Tower pose prop from Exposeur was another find at the One Word event. I actually used it as the setting for my previous post too, setting up a throne in the inner room of the tower, but of course it needed its own post too. The prop includes five single poses (and mirrors of each) as well as three couple poses. The single poses are my favourites, each capturing a classic “princess in a tower” pose. The couple poses also capture a very fairy-tale like feel, especially the one which has the dashing prince climbing over the railing to steal a kiss, but as with all couple poses they can be a bit fiddly if your avatars aren’t of the expected sizes. The tower itself actually makes for a very nice decorative structure as well; I can definitely see having this out permanently, perhaps with some trees and other landscaping around.

It is time to beat down the doors to yet another event; We Love Role-Play‘s February round has just opened. My first post features items from Luminary, Calico and ieQED, which came together for a rather Dornish-inspired look that I headed off to Kingdom of Sands to photo.

February 1st is drawing near and with it will come the final round of Enchantment, the fairy-tale inspired stamp rally event. The theme for this round is Beauty and the Beast and the enchanted rose is a red thread throughout many of the designs. As with previous rounds, you buy qualifying items in the mainstores of the participating designers and each qualifying item gives you a stamp card. You stamp these by visiting all the participating stores and when your cards are full you head to the prize location to claim one exclusive prize per card.

It is the 4th of the month, so We Love Role-Play is almost ready to open (the start time is 3 pm SLT). The previews are looking great and fortunately I’ve got my hands on some of my favourite releases already, such as this beautiful gown and cape combination from Luminary. My hair is also perfect for a fantasy/roleplay style, but it is a new mainstore release at EMO-tions rather than an event release.

I tend to be the kind of person whose mind turns to endings rather than beginnings, so even though we’re at the start of a new year, I found myself drawn to using this pyre from Artisan Fantasy for my first blog of the year. Of course, for those who are more of the “glass is half full” mindset, a pyre might just call to mind the phoenix, rising reborn from the ashes.

I’ve been a very absent blogger these last two weeks, apologies! It has been quite a hectic month and somewhere along the line, my photo ideas seem to have been misplaced. But for the last week or so, I’ve been toying with a themed series of shots and after a few false starts (trying to find appropriate prefabs proved to be a bust) I think I know how to do them. The basic idea? Portraits of various characters that appear in The World of Ice and Fire, the book that Ran and I released together with George R.R. Martin exactly a month ago.

So, this is the first such portrait, showing Rhaenyra Targaryen, one of the two siblings who fought over the Iron Throne in the Dance of the Dragons. This portrait is showing her towards the end of her life, not long before she will be devoured by her half-brother’s dragon, Sunfyre. She wears a rich, but more modest gown and several pregnancies has left her plumper than in her youth.

A Tattered Page is a new event in what has become a veritable ocean of events, but this one really stands out and deserves recognition if you, like me, love books. Each round is inspired by a book, but for this event the inspiration has to be supported by a citation from the book. I have certainly started feeling that many themed events are becoming increasingly filled with items that only have a very tenuous connection to the theme so this is a welcome change of direction. If I have read and loved a book, I want to be able to really see what aspects of that book that the event creators also have fallen in love with, that makes their items all the more special to me.

For the first round of A Tattered Page, the participating creators have read and been inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I admit, it has been quite some time since I read Frankenstein, so I am not as familiar with it as I ought to be. What little reading time I’ve had this last month has been eaten up by reading for a class, alas, so I wasn’t able to brush up on it either.

As soon as I put on the Dona gown from Luminary for the next round of The Fantasy Collective, I knew I had to do something inspired by Renaissance paintings. It isn’t just about the style being perfect, it is about how spot-on the drapery of the gown is. Those folds look like they came out of a painting!

Need a new gown in your Second Life? Then pay a visit to Luminary‘s booth at Mystic Realms Faire and find your favourite(s) from four new releases. I’ll be showing two in this post, both against the backdrop of 22769 ~ [bauwerk] and their Game of Kings gacha from The Gathering.