Otherworldly

The mists are parting and the Fairelands are almost with us again…. From the Press Release:

“Celebrating its fifteenth year, Fantasy Faire 2023 is the largest gathering of fantasy designers, enthusiasts, roleplayers and performers in the virtual world. From Thursday, April 20 to Sunday May 7, treat yourself to shopping, dance and theater performances, DJ parties, auctions, questing, our Literary Festival, fantasy art, events and roleplaying as thousands of Second Life residents and creators bring their own visions together to support the American Cancer Society’s vision of a world without cancer.”

I will be bringing you as many photos and videos from the Fantasy Faire as I can manage to squeeze in and I am starting with a little sneak peek featuring Petrichor, KMH and Dreadfully Dark. A spell is being cast to summon the Fairelands back to us.

There’s a brand new release from Dutchie at FaMESHed and this is my favourite kind, a fabulous bed with plenty of naughty options. I’ve focused on those in this review, but rest assured that there are many other great animations as well if PG or plain Adult are your preferences rather than BDSM.

The Antique Iron Bed features a beautiful frame that definitely lends itself very well to tying someone up, which is what you will be able to do if you opt for the Maledom BDSM version of the bed. In total, this version has 210 couple animations, with 70 of them being specific to it. I found the animations using props particularly nice, such as the wax play (the candle even functions as a light source) and the feather teasing.  There are also many great choices among the other sex menus as well as the PG menus, such as some very sweet resting together animations and a sleeping animation where the bed rezzes the covers on top of you. Very cosy!  All versions of the bed are AVsitter experience enabled, so props will auto-attach, and the adult versions have automatic tilting for Aeros and the Physics Cock. The BDSM version also adds RLV options.

Of course, it isn’t just about the animations, even if they are very important! The bed is also beautifully made and offers 9 colour combinations for the blanket and spread and 3 metal options for the frame.  The style is a classic that will fit a variety of homes. And to help furnish your bedroom, there are a few additional items released alongside the bed: a lovely wooden chest, a lamp that comes in a floor version and a table version and some smaller decor items.

Below you’ll find eight images showing just a fraction of the animations. And yes, there’s NSFW content.

Musa has a lovely set of five poses (plus mirrors) at We Love Role-Play and these served as the inspiration for this setup. A beautiful young girl, vaguely Grecian in her garb, dancing for unknown—perhaps imagined—audience. The Hypatia dress from Belle Epoque features an ornate metal harness and a short skirt and goes well with the Astrid foot wraps from Sass, especially in this kind of scenario. The texture HUDs for both pieces allowed me to match them up nicely.

The skin I am using is a brand-new Skin Fair release from alaskametro called Elle, for LeLutka EvoX. The alaskametro “Fit” body skin has also received updated shading for the Fair, so if you own that since before make sure to redeliver it. Also new, but a mainstore release, is Magika’s Cordelia style, a simple updo with an optional leaf accessory on one side that can be textured in natural colours or as metallic. For the decor I used Nomad’s Aqua Spadanae set, which was out for this weekend at a sale price.

Few were granted the honour of meeting with the King’s favourite in her private apartments, from where it was said she ruled the King and thus the kingdom. She was beautiful, garbed in green and gold, and very dangerous.

From Zaara comes the beautiful Kashmira Lehenga, consisting of a beautiful, embroidered top over a skirt and accessorised with a scarf.  The fatpack allows you to mix and match all the colours, for some lovely combinations. The elaborate hair jewellery is made by Antaya and the HUD includes a good range of colour options for each section, so it was easy to match it to the outfit. Finally, I added part of the Ceres tattoo from Nefekalum, with materials for an extra bit of golden sheen.  All these new releases are from We Love Role-Play, whereas the decor consists of older releases from Old Treasures, Del-ka Aedilis, Libertine and Paper Moon.

What better way (since I am not really a gamer) to test out my brand new computer than by doing a 4K video at 60 fps in Second Life? I thought I had a pretty decent setup, but it was getting on in years, and the new rig is something special. Everything is just so smooth and fast and once again I can run SL, Photoshop and a bunch of Chrome tabs all at once.

However, this is not a computer review! It is, in fact, a look at Dutchie’s latest release, the covered massage table which is available at the February round of FaMESHed.  I’ll start you off with the video, which shows the (SFW) massage animations, and below that you will find a few NSFW photos of some of the adult animations as well as some more details. Despite my best efforts, the video ended up age restricted by YouTube, there’s nothing naughty on display but it seems the algorithm saw enough naked pixels.  And just in case you don’t want to scroll down past the NSFW content, I’ll put some quick credits here. The hair I am wearing is Wasabi’s Amani, available at Anthem, and the lingerie is from alaskametro, a gift at the Valentine’s Shop & Hop.

The massage table comes in a PG and an Adult version, where the PG version has 50 massage animations and the Adult has that plus 80 adult animations. Each version also includes one with the self-rezzing modesty towels as well as one without. The table uses experiences for auto-attaching props and the adult animations are compatible with Aeros and the Physics Cock for automatic tilting. The matching spa sink with decor has three single animations and includes the decor as separate items as well.

A taste of what will be on offer in the upcoming round of We Love Role-Play, which I have gotten a chance to become a blogger for. Since it has been my favourite regular event for years, I am thrilled and hope to have lots of fun with it. Trying more new-to-me roleplay-oriented creators is always a delight!

The massive Multi Map War Table from Cosmos features three different maps options: Westeros, Gor and Witcher. The illumination of the table and the candles can be turned on and off and former has a nice effect where it slowly fades in or out when toggled.

My outfit is, believe it or not, an applier layer. It reminds me of the great work that Chaospire used to do, but this is by Reviver, a brand I have not noticed before. It has baked on or painted on lighting and while I would not have minded a materials add-on, it works quite well as it is. The applier also works for both male and female avatars.

The final piece from WLRP is the Isolde Crown from Sacrilege.  Despite the name it is unisex and the included HUD offers six metal textures, three accent colours and five jewel textures.

We Love Role-Play opens on the 4th of February and there will be a new SLURL, so keep your eyes open for that.

Another delicious round of Midnight Order has opened and my visit there resulted in quite a bit of shopping. I absolutely had to have the gorgeous sabatons by Static (and, of course, the matching gauntlets as well), though instead of wearing it with something that might combine more naturally with pieces of armour, I couldn’t resist wearing nothing but the stunning Porcelain tattoo from Fallen Gods. With the right choice of hair and some carefully selected poses and camera angles, I am almost decent. ;)

One can do worse for exotic glamour than taking inspiration from the flamboyant peacock, as Chandra Meehan has done for her Parvani set, available at the NextUp event both in a NextUp version and in a fatpack of all commons and rares. There’s 25 pieces in total in the set; 22 commons divided across tops & panties and belts & tails, 1 rare full outfit, 2 rare props. Two of the common sets feature peacock markings and I am showing one of these, “Lapis Peacock”, together with one of the props. The column includes two leaning poses for showing off your fancy new outfit.

Happy new year and time to get used to writing 2023! I’ve had the usual lazy first day of the new year, which has involved a few hours (or so…) in front of the computer. Part of the time was spent setting up a medieval kitchen from Del-ka Aedilis and taking some photos of a bit of virtual cooking, which is about all the cooking I am up for right now after the holidays. I should probably stick to virtual food for a while as well. ;)

The kitchen set includes the hearth, a table setup for sausage making, a sideboard with a basket of vegetables and cutting boards and a simple stool. The set is rustic and nicely detailed, with a very authentic feel. The only animations are in the stool, which has a few basic sits. For the photos, I used animations from Dutchie’s New Amsterdam Kitchen. I would actually love to see a HUD with various simple roleplay animations, perhaps one you could expand with different animation sets. That would be great for matching with sets of furnitures and props that don’t come with their own animations.

Have you been to the SL Christmas Expo yet? The 12th SL Christmas Expo & Winter Breedables Fair runs from December 2 to December 11th and raises money for the American Cancer Society. The theme of this year’s expo is “The Magic Of Holiday Stories” and the beautifully decorated sims offer some amazing winter wonderlands to explore. There is lots of shopping available but also several exciting events. Don’t miss it!

In the words of Siddean Munro:

“I am holding a huge 50% off everything in the store sale - Slink, One Bad Pixel and Cinnamon and Chai - from RIGHT NOW until 11:59 on November the 28th. This sale includes everything. EVERYTHING IN THE STORE. I’ve never had a sale like this, and I never will again! Now’s your chance to grab that thing you have been dreaming about! Only at Slink (Marketplace not included).”

As I have no doubt mentioned a few times, the Slink Physique Original body is my favourite body for a realistic shape. Slink Physique Hourglass is a bit more exaggerated, but I am still very fond of how it handles the stomach and hips. The very best stomach and hips, however, can be found on Cinnamon & Chai, which is the entirely separate body that Siddean launched some time ago. This sale seemed like a good excuse to take a sexy shot of each body, dressed up in clothes and shoes from Siddean’s brands as well.

Del-ka Aedilis latest release is a Roman tavern table (though it will fit into many historical/fantasy scenarios) that offers a selection of single and couple animations, for male and female avatars. Some of the animations, like the eating and drinking ones, include auto-rezzing props. I setup the table in one of the builds from Fanatik’s Roman village set; this one is technically a warehouse but works nicely as a tavern as well. The decor in the background is also from Del-ka Aedilis.

Proper Roman clothing for women is pretty hard to come by in SL, so I opted for more of a fantasy look with the Pandora gown from Tres. The Celeste hair from Magika isn’t all that Roman either, but very pretty. Red hair was quite popular, often achieved with various more or less disgusting bleaching methods and then henna on top of that.

Royalty is the theme for the current round of Enchantment and Fantavatar & Moonstruck has made a chest fit for a queen, with elaborate painted decor on all sides. The chest is scripted so that you can open the lid and use it for storage. At the default size, I think you might even be able to hide a body in it, should the need arise. ;) I’ve sized it down somewhat for these photos and set it up next to a furniture set from the same creator.

The pretty gown is Alisse from Senzafine and the Maia hair another find from Magika’s 50% off sale that is still going on. The castle is one of my favourites from Fanatik, the Dungan Castle; I really love this sitting room with the large fire place and have appropriated it as royal quarters.

There is certainly no doubt of what inspired the “Green Queen” dress from Old Treasures, the stunning green gown worn by Queen Alicent in episode 6 of House of the Dragon. A great choice for a dress to bring into Second Life, and it looks wonderful in this red gold/copper version as well. It (as well as the icon green version) is included in the Dark pack and there is also a Light pack and a Fatpack.  The Verity necklace and earrings from Random Matter finish off the royal look.

The impressive braid is from Wasabi for Anthem and this has to be one of the best styles they’ve ever released. I just love the way it looks and its handy that the braid can be worn over either shoulder. Optional, unrigged bangs are also included.

As promised in my previous post, a closer look at the new Prima Femme body, created by Fizz Savira. I picked up some very minimal lingerie from Faida to show off as much as possible of the body and selected the elegant, expressive “Creo en Mio” pose from Be My Mannequin? for the “fancy” shots. The hair is a new style from Wasabi, a sleek ponytail with a bit of a witchy hair clip. I included a close-up of the same pose to give a better look at the hair, scroll past that for the “review” shots of the body and all the details.