Otherworldly

The sand storm delayed her and left few tracks to be followed, but eventually she found the site of the battle. But she was too late.

Be My Mannequin? is a pose store that I discovered quite recently and then was fortunate enough to get accepted as a blogger for. They offer single, couple and group poses of the “storytelling” variety, meaning they are great for building a scene around. That suits me perfectly, since I rarely have much of a need for straight-up modelling poses but instead want to show a moment from a story.

This particular pose included two variants for different shapes and I found that even though mine and Ran’s shapes tend to differ a bit from the SL average, the fit of the alternate version was very good. I also wanted to show how different a single pose can look depending on the angle, so I setup two similar shots from different angles.

Synergy Lab is currently running an Ice & Fire event, which naturally meant I was over there to check things out as soon as possible. Creators are allowed to use both the books and the show as inspiration. I would have liked to see a few more items that were clearly inspired by either (without infringing on any copyright) rather than being more generic fantasy/medieval, though that is always welcome as well!

Two creators that brought some very nice decor items were Del-ka Aedilis and Fantavatar & Moonstruck. The former has created a set inspired by the furnishings seen in Stannis Baratheon’s study on Dragonstone whereas the latter has made a safe that might even suit the Iron Bank of Braavos!

As the first entry in a clothing line, Old Treasures has released the Gentilhomme set for the Fantasy Faire. As soon as the Faire opened, I sent Ran over there to get the doublet (he felt the pants looked a little too muscular in the shading for his tastes) and he opted for the very well-priced mixed colour pack in the RFL vendor. This kind of well-made medieval clothing for men is not exactly common in Second Life, so we were both happy to see Old Treasures move into this market. And since he dressed up so prettily, he gained himself an invitation to my private chambers (mild nudity at the end of the post).

It is (almost) that fantastic time of the year when the Fairelands return to us. Yes, it is time for Fantasy Faire 2021. From April 22 to May 9th, you will be able to enjoy 21 amazing sims! I will be blogging the Faire this year as well and I thought I would start with a little sneak peak from Nefekalum, paired with a bunch of fantastical goodies from a couple of other events. So dive in!

Alaskametro recently released an update to her current body skin, the “Fit” series, which includes updated shading and a materials applier. If you have bought the skin previously, you can get a redelivery of this new version. I was excited to try it out and see how the materials would look, which meant a good opportunity to get (nearly) naked. And I don’t pass those up in SL!

I opted for the Slink Physique Original body (my favourite by far) for showing the skin on; the body jewellery is an older set by Voluptas Virtualis from when they were still releasing items for this body. The head is also by Slink, the lovely Ashlynn head which looks really stunning paired with the Abigail skin from alaskametro. Having the face framed by the most recent release from Stealthic, the gorgeous Metropolis hair, certainly doesn’t hurt either. The curl textures of this one are to die for. This hair also represents a big update for Stealthic that includes new colors, new sizes and new pricing.

The poses are also from the depths of my inventory, a set by HopScotch which features some very classic water bearing poses. So much more interesting to photo these than regular modelling poses, props don’t have to be complicated to add a sense of story to a pose.

In my last post, I did a tour of Hope 9, one of the Home & Garden Expo sims. I teased the upcoming releases from Teegle and gave you a look at the other creators on the sim, such as RVi Design. Now the time has come for a closer look at the Horse Ranch Homestead from the latter as well as the Teeglepet Fjord Horse and Teeglepet Connemara Pony.

Carpe Noctem has a sweet set of five bento poses (with mirrors) at La vie en pose, each with a pre-positioned rose prop. I really liked the proportions of these poses, they worked very well with my avatar, which is not always the case. Arm length especially tends to be an issue but here it worked really well.

I definitely wanted to embrace the “boudoir” part of the name so I used the room where I have a selection of Libertine furnishings setup, including the Marquis set. Lounging on the floor among some pillows, candles and trays of wine and fruit seemed appropriately decadent. The strategically placed tray also allowed me to skip clothing while still keeping a little modesty. The beautiful Clarity style from Stealthic and features a lovely curl texture and a very natural fringe that effectively takes the place of a hairbase. It fits well on the LightStar Maya head, though the closeness of the fit does mean that there are some heads that it doesn’t work with, so make sure to demo.

I’ve gift-wrapped myself today in this little number from Voluptas Virtualis that I absolutely adore. It seemed appropriate since so much of what I am wearing are gifts from generous creators, whether at their stores or at the Winter Shop & Hop. And while the skybox and the furnishings weren’t free, they were bought at Apple Fall’s incredibly generous Black Friday sale.

This is also my first photo on the new Firestorm release, with EEP instead of Windlight. So far, I am finding it incredibly useful to be able to flip through skies using the Quick Preferences but also annoyingly slow to import windlight settings and difficult to use the new way of adjusting the sun and moon. We need batch importing and we need to be able to get and set exact numbers for the sun.

There’s a new event in town, the Itty Bitty Titty Committee, which features items for Legacy Perky, Maitreya Lara’s Petite add-on and the Petite add-on for Slink Physique Original and Slink Physique Hourglass. In short, the body variations that offer support for a smaller bust. In this post, I am featuring a tunic by Faida & Velvet Whip which I am wearing on the Legacy Perky body. To set the scene, I am using two different releases from Roawenwood plus a very atmospheric backdrop from Paleto. I am also wearing another skin from the alaskametro Garden Party hunt.

We’re off on vacation right now and the weather has actually turned quite lovely, so what am I doing at my laptop? Well, a lazy morning never hurts and I did want to share the latest release from Slink, the very sexy body jewellery set Leila. This style of “clothing” is hardly unique in Second Life, but if you are a Slink body lover just like me you are not spoiled with many such releases. This set comes fitted for both Slink bodies, plus the petite chest variations. Via the included HUD it has a very nice selection of metal textures and includes a naughty and a nice mode (I am wearing the latter here).

The poses I am using are both from WetCat’s Spiral set for La vie en pose, which are made for a particular staircase but also suit others, and the backdrop is by Paleto.

La vie en pose has opened its anniversary round and I am going to share two more items from the event. From Spyralle comes another set of Pinnacles, meant to set you off against fantastic Windlight/EEP skies. In this set we have the Colonnade (seen here), Column and Monument. These sets are great for fantasy photos but also model photos as long as you are able to rez them somewhere up in the sky. The poses used are from Diversion and while this set is actually for teasing a partially removed bikini, I liked the attitude of them so much that I couldn’t resist using them with a fantasy staff instead.

The unusually warm weather has changed into a regular Swedish summer with cooler temperatures and plenty of rain. Time then, to bring the heat in Second Life, with some naughty play using a bondage wall rack from Roawenwood that comes in an RLV and a non-RLV version. This decorative set includes an array of whips, floggers and paddles and includes 20 couple animations. There’s definitely nothing PG about this set, though there is a sweet cuddle for use at the end of the play session. The bondage rack is part of the Kivna Karcero series of furniture and decor so there are several matching pieces out already.

I am, btw, absolutely in love with the curl texture on the latest Stealthic release, Embers. I hope we’ll get more styles using it.

I’ve had this build, using components from Jammin, sitting around half-finished for ages. But this week I tired of that corner of the sim looking less put together than the rest and with considerable help from Ran with the alignment of the pieces it finally got sorted out. The decor might still get a few things added to it, but I am pretty happy about where it is at now. Not so coincidentally, it turned out to be the perfect spot for showing of some new pretties from Skin Within, deviousMind and Stealthic.

La vie en pose, the naughty edition, is now open. Infiniti is taking part with a set of single poses and a couple pose using a riding crop, and this time I elected to focus on the couple pose. It is called Behave and I love the dynamic it creates between the characters—just who is in charge here?

For the outfits as well as the decor, both Ran and I dug into our inventories. Ran is wearing Stitched and I am wearing Roawenwood, whereas the decor is a mix of Roawenwood and Senzafine.

Sometimes, the right place for a bit of romance (alright, naughtiness) is a secluded corner of the castle, leaning up against a tapestry that keeps the cold stone wall away from you. After all, beds and couches can get a bit tedious in the long run. That’s when Roawenwood has your back (quite literally) with this new release for We Love Role-Play. The “Up Against the Wall Hanging Tapestry” offers nine different textures, 1 casual talking animation, 17 cuddles & kisses and 19 adult animations. I quite like the animation selection and it is a really nice way to have access to couple animations in locations where, for example, a bed would be out of place.