Otherworldly

More often than not my posts are firmly anchored in fantasy and/or history, but when it comes to roleplay and character creation in Second Life there are of course many more options. For example, the Cyber/Punk Fair is still open (until June 7th, in fact) and it showcases a very different realm of possibilities. To do justice to the Novianna set and Sinon visor from Petrichor, I headed over to one of the longest-running sims (or sim collections, rather) in Second Life: InSilico.

The latest releases from Voluptas Virtualis are both for the current round of the Fetish Fair, so it is no wonder that they paired very well with the Kivna Karcero Throne from Roawenwood which features both maledom and femdom animations, with more room given to the latter. The Angela outfit with the Duchess ballet heels definitely called for the poses from the femdom menues, so I called in Ran to be my boytoy.

Today is the final day of Fantasy Faire for this year, the final hours before the Fairelands disappear into the mists once more. But, they always return, in one form or another. For my final post, I thought it was fitting to commemorate this by incorporating some items from previous Fantasy Faires together with some key pieces from this year.

I ran out of a bit of steam after the first week of more intensive Fantasy Faire blogging, but now I am back to remind you that you have until May 10th to explore and shop at the 18 sims that make up the Fairelands. For this post, I decided to focus a lot on decor items, featuring pieces from Harshlands, the Looking Glass and Roawenwood, as well as a lovely dress from Belle Epoque which actually is a tie-in to the pieces from Harshland.

I’ll have to start off by admitting that I cheated. I really wanted to take this photo on the Zodiac sim at the Fantasy Faire, but the lingerie from Voluptas Virtualis is too revealing for that. So, I used my favourite new workaround—I wore a dress over it that I derendered! A bit cheeky, perhaps, but perfect for when you need to show a lot of skin, such as for a skin review. You see, I am wearing a brand new release from a returning brand that I am really excited about. Skim Within, by Ayesha Bisiani, used to offer some of the most unusual skins on the grid, covering a range of looks and ethnicities. They also included some of the more elaborate makeups for its time. And now Skin Within is back and I am wearing the brand’s first new release, Aaliyah.

The beautiful wings from Static was the seed of inspiration for this post. As soon as I unpacked those among the blogger boxes, I knew I had to put together an outfit that used them. However, it took a week before I settled on the other key piece, namely the Viscivorus skin, a collaboration between the Plastik/Petrichor and Trap. Or rather, I am using the included tattoo of the markings, which I feel have something of a feather-like quality to them. The flexibility of being able to use the markings from the skin on an altogether different skin is quite a bonus, I must say. The skin also includes materials appliers for both body and face, though I was not able to get it to work on the face. Finally, I am also wearing the Hayden hair from Wasabi that you saw on Ran in my last post; this unisex style works great for both male and female avatars.

As always, remember that the Fantasy Faire raises money for Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society, so do keep an eye out for the RFL vendors and donation kiosk when visiting the Faire! Today is the last day of events and organised programming, but the Faire sims stay around until May 10th.

In Welsh myth, you can recognize the creatures of Annwn—the Otherworld—by their white coats and red ears. If a pack of white hounds with red-tipped ears races through the woods, take care because the rest of the fairy hunt may follow. This seemed like a very appropriate subject for today. Walpurgis Night, the night before Beltane, is the last day of the Wild Hunt, their last chance until Samhain to cause havoc. Here in Sweden, bonfires are traditionally lit to scare off various supernatural creatures that are about on this night (though in some parts of the country, the bonfires have moved to Easter instead, when they primarily scare away witches).

I did promise you would see more of the Teeglepet Pegasus and here’s a whole video, complete with lots of rambling from me as I attempt to fly a whole circuit of the Fairelands. If you just want the nitty-gritty of what I am wearing, I go through that at the beginning (there are also credits at the end of this post) and then you can skip through to see examples of Mythos in flight. Of course, you are welcome to watch it all, too! I’ve also included a couple of stills to give a good look at the Pegasus and at my clothing. Taking a focused picture of yourself while on a hovering Pegasus was anything but easy, but I am pretty pleased with the end result.

And, as always, keep in mind that Fantasy Faire is raising money for Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society. If you visit any of the linked vendors at the Faire, keep an eye out for the special RFL vendors that donate all or part of the proceeds of their sales!

Somewhere deep in the woods stands a tall tower, where a man wearing a mask has arranged for a secret meeting with a lady. Who is the man who will not reveal his face? And why has the lady agreed to meet with him in such a secluded location? Is there a scandal in the making, perhaps? Or does he know some dark secret that he is using to blackmail her with?

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.

A somewhat unusual choice of colours for me, it tends to be the blacks and the bold reds that draw my eye. But since every colour in the Jodha Lehenga collection from Zaara looks fantastic, I wanted to pick something different. And when I decided that the scene needed something more, it turned out that the ivory version looked really good against the albino texture for Jian’s peacock. I played around a bit with the windlight as well and I think the pink sunset light made for a very pretty contrast.

Until Sunday the 12th, Dictatorshop is offering a L$1000 gift card for just 1 Linden if you are a member of their group. If you aren’t a member, it is free to join! Dictatorshop has a very large selection of adult furniture in various styles and of course both Ran and I thought the offer was too fun to pass up. We came away with a couple of pieces from their Smuggler’s Cove range, one of them being a pillory. As you might guess, there’s NSFW content inside this post, even if this first image is entirely safe (and shows off the new Indigo hair from Wasabi for Anthem very well.

Like many others, no doubt, I find myself rather stressed and distracted of late and it is impacting my creativity and my concentration. It took me much too long to figure to be happy with this setup, though I am fairly pleased with the end results. I had forgotten that this pose/backdrop set from Exposeur was sitting in my inventory and it turned to be just what was needed for the rather raunchy Belit set from Voluptas Virtualis. I am also wearing their Nene nipples on my Slink Hourglass body and a piercing from their latest add-on set as well. Other than that, I am not wearing much!

My skin is Zara by Adam n Eve, which was released for the Skin Fair and now that that has ended it is available in the mainstore. The hair is Maite from Wasabi, a second style with windblown options and petal add-ons. It is available at Uber.

I didn’t feel like switching out of Slink’s Miranda head just yet, so I found another new skin from the Skin Fair to try on her, namely Gwenyth from 7 Deadly s[K]ins. A pretty match, I think, and I also like the look of the eyeshadow and lipstick from alaskametro’s Fire collection. Very sassy, just like the Amber bodysuit from Voluptas Virtualis.

The beautiful hair is Hanami by Wasabi, which includes both a regular (second image) and windblown (first image) version. There are also add-on petals for the windblown version. The decor (rug, candle, book) is all from Libertine.

Skin Fair isn’t just about skins any longer. Mesh body parts and mesh heads are a big part of it as well and one of the new releases this year comes from Slink. Miranda is the 6th female head in the Visage Redux range of Bakes-on-Mesh heads. She has lovely dimples and a narrow chin, making it easy to create a heart-shaped or a bit foxy look. I decided to pair her with the new Andy skin from alaskametro, also a Skin Fair exclusive. This is meant as an androgynous skin and has quite marked cheeks. The result on Miranda is strong rather than conventionally pretty, but I really like the effect.