Otherworldly

The latest release from Fanatik is called the Azores and includes two large rockformations with mirrors of each and both summer and winter textures. The smaller of the two features a passage through and I thought it would look particularly good at sea.  Here I have it setup (together with both versions of second rock formation) on the Solid Sky Landscape “Kingdom of Islands” from Landscapes Unlimited. The beautiful ship I have featured many times before, but it has a permanent home on this sky landscape; its “Neptune’s Revenge” from Rustica.

Sometimes, you just want to do a good old-fashioned romance cover and the “Die With You” couple pose from Be My Mannequin? for The Grid event definitely suited that idea. Did our swashbuckling hero liberate his love from a harem only to run afoul of rival pirates? Because surely he is a pirate too with that shirt. ;)

We’re both wearing gorgeous outfits from toksik, who recently did a 50% off sale on all except their newest release. I paired my Allure set with the Sarabande slippers from lassitude & ennui, a lovely pair of leather slippers that are out for the current round of We Love Role-Play. Ran is wearing the Eternal blouse and pants, with the Bloodlust boots. The ship is Neptune’s Revenge from Maxwell Graf at Rustica.

And speaking of sales, my hair (of which you can’t see that much) is from Magika who is currently doing a 50% off sale on all her hairs. Stock up!

It is high time for some seasonally appropriate witchery. The Come, Behold Me! pose from Be My Mannequin? is suitably dramatic and here it is embellished with little flames in each hand and a magical aura swirling up from the ground. The altar behind me is from ContraptioN and was acquired for a mere L$50 last Friday, quite the bargain, and it features several texture options for the altar cloth as well as on/off switches for the lights. The build is from a previous Nomad gacha, a stone building with tall windows that works great as a small chapel.

The striking Morticia hair from Magika got even better when I realised it offers the option of a separate colour on a small section of the hair. By picking the multitone white and black texture for that section I was able to get this effect of white streaks at the front of the hair, which I absolutely love and really wish that more styles had. In this particular case, it also sets off the Herne Crown from Bliensen + MaiTai beautifully. You will find this lovely piece at the Narrative even and it offers several metal options via a HUD.

Maxwell Graf, the creator behind Rustica, has been on a longer hiatus from creating in Second Life. But yesterday he dipped his toes back in with the release of a versatile mesh fire, intended as a high-quality replacement fire for fire places, torches etc. Of course, since it is fully modifiable, I decided to do something rather different with it and created a demonic landscape with black crystals and fire. The fire can be turned on and off with a click and you can also edit the way the three different meshes that make it up fit together by editing linked parts.

The pose is Dark Matter by Be My Mannequin? and it is perfect for showing off the striking Draugr skin by Fallen Gods, here with the addition of the Orthae tattoo in silver. The hair is by Mythril and it allows you to set various specular maps; here I went for one with a fiery effect to match the surroundings.

The writer of Gothic fiction is here seen in her natural habitat, at a writing desk in an old mansion on a remote, windy moor, her nearest neighbour a crumbling castle from ages past. She wears a blood-red gown and a streak of white runs through her raven-dark hair.

When I received the latest release from Dutchie, a writing desk with a typewriter and other accessories, I couldn’t resist pairing it with this gown from the latest (and final?) gacha from deviousMind and setting it up in the Carriageway House from Rustica. The Dallas hair from Wasabi, with its option for a splash of a second colour at the front, provided the final touch.

Hair Fair, one of the oldest events in Second Life, is back again after a hiatus last year. Just as before, the event raises money for Wigs for Kids; a percentage of each sale is donated to the charity. The event runs for two weeks, untill July 4th, and covers a total of six sims. The layout this year is super easy to browse through and the sims are very low lag as well. There are gifts from many of the creators and there were quite a few styles for men available.

The first hair that I am going to show off is the Everly updo from EMO-tions. I had already decided that I wanted to put together a vaguely 17th/18th century inspired look for the couple pose “To Live” from Be My Mannequin for the Anti-Event. An elegant updo suited the look very well. Other than that, I decided to raid my inventory for my outfit and the decor, the latter being a mix of items from Rustica and Libertine.

I admit it, I have a thing for big swords. Well, any swords, really. It just looks so cool to be carrying one around and you always look great when posing with one. So when ContraptioN released the Mercenary’s Flambard for the Warehouse Sale, I went right over to grab it and insisted that Ran do the same. After all, while you can pose alone and look cool, a duel looks even cooler. Of course, we needed to dress right too. For Ran’s part that meant a trip to the Engine Room to pick up the amazing Bloodlust outfit from toksik whereas I received a review copy of the Aeon gacha from deviousMind, a very cool steam punk outfit that also is available at the Engine Room.

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.

With the Fantasy Faire just around the corner—it opens April 23rd!—it is time to take to the high seas and sail in search of these mystical lands. While I am not teasing any Fantasy Faire releases just yet (but soon!), I wanted to get into full fantasy mode in preparation for what’s to come. To that end, I climbed the rigging of Rustica’s Neptune’s Revenge wearing a fanciful new dress from deviousMind and fabulous new boots from lassitude & ennui.

The current round of Romp ends tomorrow, so I wanted to squeeze in a look at two things from the event—a furniture set from Roawenwood and a pair of stockings from Luxuria. The furniture has poses for two and three avatars at once as well, but I didn’t have any extra bodies handy for these photos. The idea is that it is a “kennel” bed set (for girls, not dogs, even if my dogs would have liked the lower bed!) with solo animations that include various lays, a set of tasks (knitting, sewing, embroidering) and a set of beauty routine animations. The work animations auto-rez and attach props, but the beauty ones don’t, which I am not sure whether that is intentional or a glitch. There is also a “sisters” menu for two avatars, with hairbrushing and gossping, an adult menu for two female avatars, and a threesome menu (two females, one male) with cuddles and sex. The style of the set is pretty versatile, here I have it in a fairly rustic setting but I could see this kind of wood finish in a more modern room too.

Luxuria’s Heaven Thigh Highs (the writing on the back reads “this way to heaven”), which includes both appliers and system layers, comes in eight colours for easy matching with lingerie—or with nothing at all. ;)

To take in that beautiful evening sun, I am heading out to sea on Neptune’s Revenge by Rustica and wearing the brand-new Sola set from Adam n Eve for the Gacha Garden. Isn’t it pretty with the beaded strings on the top and the panty as well as the cute little sarong tied off to one side? The Sola gacha includes 10 commons (3 footbead sets, 4 sarongs, 3 slushies with holding animation), 5 uncommons (1 pair of sunglasses with steel rims, 4 bikini sets), 4 rares (colour-coordinated fatpacks that include footbeads, sarong, bikini and sunglasses with gold rims) and finally an ultrarare that includes everything plus the sunglasses with rose-gold rims. The Seed of Inspiration is a matching beaded bracelet. The available fits are Maitreya Lara and Slink Hourglass.

No, indeed, it is not. Fantasy Faire 2018 was supposed to end today, but the Fairelands will now be around until May 7th. Official programming will still end today, but you will be able to continue shopping, exploring, doing the quest and of course donating to RFL. I will be gone for a couple of days myself and when I come back I do have some non-Fantasy Faire blogging lined up, but I hope to show a few more favourites before the 7th.

To celebrate that today is not the end, both Ran and I went shopping at Silvan Moon Designs, picking up a nice set of RFL retexturings of a pair of her outfits which we both paired with Wasabi hairs. I also added a jewelery set from Acios and used the Mythril Roleplay HUD for the bow and the curtsey. The house and the furniture set are from Rustica.

When I first tried posting this entry, we ran into some persistent uploading issues on the site. As a result, I am posting this well after I already put up the images on Flickr, and more as a place-holder than an actual blog.

Over the weekend, while I was off at a dog training camp, I was reached by the news that Maxwell Graf of Rustica has ended up in a dire housing situation in RL. He writes about what has happened here. Since Maxwell happens to be a fabulous creator, you can easily help him out by visiting the lovely Rustica sim or his Marketplace store and buying one of his excellent creations. That’s what I call a win-win situation.

Two of my favourite creations from Maxwell are shown below and those of you who have followed my blog for a while have no doubt seen them used in a number of photos. Neptune’s Revenge is a gorgeous pirate/fantasy ship and although not mesh, the Carriageway House is a great build. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be for sale any longer, but there are some other houses available both in the Marketplace store and on the sim.

For some reason, I had the hardest time getting this photo sorted out. I don’t know how many different locations and backdrops I tried before finally deciding to slip into this new dress from the Muses and all of a sudden getting the idea that it looked a bit pirate-y. The tattoos from Silentsparrow (for this past 50 Linden Friday) may not be classical pirate tattoos exactly, but why be limited by that? I am also giving you a second look at one of Adam n Eve’s Skin Fair exclusives, subtly made up with some makeup from alaskametro.