Otherworldly

The last weeks of summer are here, lazy and golden. I don’t have a swing in my garden, so I have to settle for lounging on one virtually instead, again courtesy of Dictatorshop who has released three different styles of swings recently. I already showed one suited to a beach and here is one of two intended for a garden setting. The other is a single-person swing whereas this one offers male and female single poses but also couples cuddles and a version with adult animations to take your swinging to new heights. Pun definitely intended.

This Loveseat Swing from the Secret Garden series includes texture options for both wood and fabric as well as foliage options for the tree for different seasons. There are 70 PG couple animations and 180 Adult Vanilla options.

The fanciful outfit is a new NextUp set from deviousMind, featuring a roses & thorns motif with swirling skirt attachments. There are several different ways to wear it depending on which sets you manage to win.  Worn with it is the latest Truth Collective release from Truth and Wasabi, a high ponytail which falls over one shoulder and can be worn with and without bangs.

I am heading off on vacation tomorrow and will only have my laptop for a couple of weeks, so I am not expecting to do much—if any—blogging. But before heading out, I just had to show a few more pieces from We Love Role-Play.

Alia Baroque’s Libertine brand offers decadent furnishings and the Swan daybed is no exception. Rich textures (there’s a variety of fabrics included) draw your eye, inviting a virtual touch. The Swan comes in Adult and Mature versions, with both single (male and female) and couple poses (cuddles, sex, vampire).  In the background, I added the rustic mirror from Constraint, well suited to the roughness of the bare castle walls. Finally having real mirrors can add so much depth and life to a scene.

I thought the Leigh fantasy lingerie from deviousMind was a great match for the Swan, seeing as its a fanciful mix of pearls and feathers. Very minimal and very pretty.

The magical isle of Avalon, Alia Baroque’s creation for this Fantasy Faire, became witness to a meeting between two fantastical beings. One, a fae called to this realm as the dragon nearly woke from his slumber. The other, a spirit horse lured down from among the clouds and starts by magic required to send the dragon back to sleep.

At the Jail & Bail for Alia, I bought the Ancient Spell version of the special skin. I was really curious to see how the sim would change if the dragon awoke, but alas, that did not happen. But I knew I wanted to create a post with this skin and when I got the opportunity to blog the Qamariki mod & texture kits for the Teeglepets, created by Tutto E Vanita, I had an idea for bringing the two together.

For the rest of the fae’s look, I used one of the RFL releases from deviousMind together with one of the new colours of the SteamWings released for the Faire and a crown from Les Encantades.

As for the Qamariki, I modded my Teeglepet Pegasus with the kit as I have a copy version of the Pegasus. The first time I tried I managed to skip one step and had to start over, but once I actually followed all the instructions it was not difficult at all as long as you have some basic understanding of how to use the editing tools. The Qamariki mod kit is available for most Teeglepets, including even the new Kelpie and Hippocampus pets. In addition to the mod kit, you need one of the special texture kits and the toughest part about that will be to pick your favourite. This is a really fanciful mod kit and the texture kits use glow and emissive marking for an ethereal appearance.

The beautiful, steampunk-inspired wings from deviousMind absolutely insisted that I should take to the skies. These wings include both rigged and unrigged versions as well as PBR and non-PBR versions for each. I am using the rigged PBR wings for this shot and I think they light really beautifully. This is the first PBR release from deviousMind and a bit of a proof of concept, so there will be more gorgeous colours of these wings later on (the plan is, I think, for the Fantasy Faire).

I paired the wings with the Cleopatra dress from Aurora, which comes with some nice texture options for both the fabric and the metals, as well as sheer/opaque option for the dress. And to keep me company, a beautiful swarm of butterflies from Puke Rainbows. All three of these items are We Love Role-Play releases, whereas the wild curls from Analog Dog are a new mainstore release.

Short Leash has a fun set called “Charm School” out at We Love Role-Play and it served as the inspiration for a school-themed setup. The set includes the globe, the inkwells and the candle and includes a HUD with texture options. As my outfit I picked the flirtatious Thirteen from deviousMind, which definitely has a gothic school uniform vibe. The lovely amethyst colourway is matched by the eyeshadow from Rubedo, also available in several other colours and with matching lip tints. The dress and the makeup are also from WLRP, and all items have a discount of between 15% and 30% for the event.

The cute hairstyle is another excellent Truth Collective release, a collaboration between Truth and Wasabi. I also wanted to mention the head I am using. It is the rereleased Bella from Logo, now with EvoX support, and I have to say it is much more versatile now. A very nice update!

With Ryo, the latest NextUp release from deviousMind, you too can become an exotic sword dancer, wearing silk and jewellery and both enticing and intimidating with your skills. This set paired beautifully with an old pose set from HopScotch called Dancing Blades as well as with a brand new hairstyle from Navy and Copper for the Hair Fair. This gorgeous braid can be worn over either shoulder or down the back and the accessory and be hidden for a less ostentatious appearance. But for this, the jewellery was the perfect touch.

Hair Fair runs until July 2nd and as usual the event benefits Wigs for Kids, with all styles sold at the Fair donating a percentage of the sale price. Many sellers also offer lovely gifts, so make sure you browse all the booths on the six sims.

The tavern was lit by flickering torches and candles, adding a play of light and shadow to the performance of the graceful dancer. The man seated at the table watched her every undulating move.

We return to the Hot Pot Inn by Cosmos, this time for some of the evening entertainment. I love the Estrelle set from deviousMind, sexy and sparkly with minimal coverage and lots of gemstones. It leaves plenty of skin bare, which makes it perfect for showing off the Flourish tattoo from Nefekalum. To this I added a brand new hair style from Analog Dog called Fanta, a beautiful set of wild curls.  The poses are from Nantra, a set called Kismet, and the idea for the dancing girl on the table was all Ran’s, I was stumped for a good way of showing this set.

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.

The Truth Collective is a collaboration between Truth and, at the moment, Faga and Wasabi. The Rowena style is by Truth and Wasabi, with Wasabi making the mesh and using Truth’s regular textures. The style comes with and without bangs and with the long ponytails either thicker or thinner.  Its a pretty cool idea, this kind of collaboration, and it will be interesting to see what other styles come out of it.

The outfit is called YingShui and it is from another NextUp collection by deviousMind.  Yellow isn’t usually my thing, but if you call it Gold or, as here, Saffron, I am all for it. ;) The collection includes two types of commons, the shorts & top shown here and a dress, as well as several rares. The tattoo is again Ceres from Nefekalum, but here I am using the golden base and the red overlay together.  The pose comes with the couch, which is by Roawenwood.

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.

I love the We Love Role-Play release from deviousMind, “Mistletoe”. Not only is it a sexy holiday dress, but the little scythe for harvesting mistletoe hanging from the belt is the icing on the cake. Perfect for the girl who wants to ensure that there’s mistletoe hung wherever it is convenient. Alternatively, if she has any Norse gods to slay and needs to fashion herself a few arrows. The set includes an unrigged piece of mistletoe as well, which you can spot in the background. The rest of the decor is from various holiday sets from Libertine, including the awesome decorateable tree.

Under a red sky cut through by lightning, the dark priestess sought to learn the future, calling up eldritch magic to do her bidding.

I love this EEP setting (Daves HD Thunderstorms 9), it is just the kind of dark drama that this scene needed. The centerpiece is the Silver Scrying Bowl from HEXtraordinary, with the magic effects coming from Dreaming Thicket. The hair from F&M Oblivion was first out at the Hair Fair and is now available at the Fantasy Room. And my outfit? Who else could it be from but Chandra Meehan of deviousMind. Its dark, sexy and full of attitude.

This dynamic pose from Be My Mannequin called for cool outfit and a cool location. I think I found it in deviousMind’s Yuna outfit and in Dystopian Nights, a small Blade Runner-inspired build.

The pose, called All My Rage, is available at Tokyo Zero together with two other new poses. They are sold as singles or in a fatpack with a 10% discount. The gun prop is included with the pose.

Yuna is sold in a NextUP vendor (or as a fatpack) at the NextUP event. There are two types of commons, the Silk Dress and the Top & Glove set, and three rares: Leather Corset, Silk Fan and Parasol. The dresses are gorgeous and elaborate, so you don’t need to spend tons to get a great outfit, and the rares are really cool additions.

This week, I was one of the lucky winners when DeeTaleZ did a social media giveaway of their latest skin, Hope. I used to wear DeeTaleZ quite a lot, but lost track of the brand a bit in the transition to mesh heads, especially when Catwa became dominant and I didn’t wear those heads at all. Now their releases are almost entirely for EvoX, which I do wear. Hope caught my eye and I entered into the draw and a few days later I was surprised to have the full pack including add-ons sent to me. Naturally I had to give it a thorough look, but first I had to go shopping for the new body skins. In the process of doing so, I managed to buy one tone for the wrong body…oops. Too eager to get setup!

Be My Mannequin has a set of poses inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas out at Enchantment’s Burton-esque round. A strange choice for this summery scene, one might think, especially as I picked the pose with the snowflake prop. But I love the incongruity of this combination and the reminder that no season—or anything else—lasts forever. As usual the fatpack (called Weary King) of all three poses is event-exclusive and offers a 10% discount. Also available at Enchantment is the Helena hair by F&M Oblivion, a large and quirky updo very well suited to the theme. Here I went for a light colour and a more whimsical feel.

The lovely butterfly swarm is by deviousMind and available at We Love Role-Play in a range of colours. These can be worn with most bodies and include an optional particle effect of additional butterflies. I matched it with the butterfly and bee decorated April bikini by deviousMind.