Fairs and events have definitely come to occupy a central position in Second Life. Some love it, some not so much. My favourites are the themed ones; the odds are always good that talented designers will get really creative with those. Such as the World Goth Fair, running from May 15th to May 31st and benefiting the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

I can’t resist a sexy corset and the new Eros corset from Deviance definitely fits the bill. There’s a bit of fantasy element to it as well, with the studded hip skirt having almost an armoured feel, and that never hurts. I paired it with a skin from PXL, new hair from Ploom and accessories from lassitude & ennui and HANDverk. I am also using the newest prop from Glitterati, the Runway.

Have you been to We Love Role-Play yet? This event offers a wide selection of clothing, accessories, weapons and props for role-playing in Second Life—or for simply taking photos that aren’t just about the latest fashion. For myself and Ran, it lets us indulge in bringing something that’s very much on our minds all the time into Second Life. Most of you probably know it as Game of Thrones, but for us it is always A Song of Ice and Fire. We have a particular fondness for the history of Westeros, not the least for the many colourful Targaryens from its past. Thanks to the Muses we now have all sorts of very appropriate clothing for portraying some of them. If you know a bit of Targaryen history, take a guess at who these two are.

Do you roleplay in Second Life? Or do you perhaps—like me—just like dressing up for it? If so, We Love Role-Play is the event for you. Opening tomorrow, May 4th, it is a new monthly event that features clothing, accessories, props and anything else that might be useful for roleplaying in Second Life. There is a recurring roster of creators plus special guests for each cycle.

I am starting off with a look at a lovely mesh outfit from the Library.

Just a few hours remain of this year’s Fantasy Faire, so hurry over to do your last minute shopping and some final admiring of the lovely sims. There is also the first part of the Key of Hope hunt; I did it earlier today and you may be able to manage in the hours that remain.

You still have a couple of days left to check out the Fantasy Faire! The Faire has in fact been extended with a day and will run through the whole of Monday the 29th of April.

For this post, I sent Ran off to take some photos of himself for once, to show that the Faire is not just for girls. He vent off to the underground caves of the DragonSpire; it seemed like the perfect place for this scaly gentleman to hang out.

A new novel by Gay Gavriel Kay is something that I (and Elio) always look forward to with eager anticipation. We have been fans of his writing since the Fionavar Tapestry, which remains my favourite work of his (indeed, it may be my favourite fantasy series of all times) even though the later novels undeniably are more polished. There’s something about the rawness of the Fionavar Tapestry that always gets me. Of course, it is also a much more traditional work of fantasy than any of his other later novels (save for Tigana) and I am, first and foremost, a reader of fantasy. At the heart of my

I had to take a little breather to concentrate on work, but I still have quite a few gorgeous things from the Fantasy Faire to share with you. Such as this lovely hair from Analog Dog, a gown from Bilo and makeup from Beautiful Freak.

Sometimes, fate puts things together. Sometimes, it takes a little help from the wonderful creations available at the Fantasy Faire.

Finally! The Fantasy Faire is open! Get your best low-lag outfit in—there’s one offered at the Faire, courtesy of the Plastik—and prepare for a true shopping fantasy, lasting until the 28th of April. There are new and exciting releases from each of the participating merchants and of course all of them offer specially selected RFL items, allowing you to shop and donate to the American Cancer Society at the same time.

The Fantasy Faire is just a few hours away now! I have had a chance to look through the sims and they are, as they have been the last year, wonderfully creative. And, of course, packed with some truly great creators. I have so many great outfits to show—this is the faire where mesh has broken through big time among fantasy creators—and I will be starting with the Muses. The amazingly productive Nephilaine Protagonist offers four new outfits for the faire, two for women and two for men.

A touch of something more modern before I disappear fully into a world of fantasy. HANDverk has a new furniture release out and I am quite thrilled by their decision to opt for a more realistic size from now one. I have always tried to create my shapes to more reasonable heights and I often find myself a bit dwarfed by the furniture in Second Life. Not so with these new pieces from HANDverk.

New is also the Patrice skin from Adam n Eve, which of course fits with sachi’s hand and feet appliers for Slink.

The Fantasy Faire is just a few days away now (it opens on the 20th), so the time has come for my first look at a new release that will be available at the faire: the Vandariel armour from the Plastik. This is classic sword & sorcery, though I decided to capture my scantily clad warrior in a more contemplative mood by using the Regal Arch pose prop from Coco Creations.

We’re getting closer and closer to the Fantasy Faire each day and that’s a good reason to feature two more outfits from the recent releases from the Muses; the Niniane gown and the Gwydion vest. The gown is one of three different styles featuring a mix of mesh and system layers; it can be worn both with and without the mesh kirtle, or you could just wear the mesh kirtle… The vest also comes in three different variations, some more rugged and some more elegant, and since this very much was the latter, Ran paired the vest with the Gerard shirt and the Etienne breeches from A.S.S.

From one kind of fantasy to another, with a closer look at the re-release of Tuli’s Eva skin, the glove and stocking appliers for Slink’s hands and feet from Adam n Eve and a new hair from Alice Project. Plus a sexy rigged neck corset in leather from Perception and one of the sinfully gorgeous beds from Trompe Loeil, packed full of poses for all sorts of occasions.

Well, it is definitely Game of Thrones-season, because I am finding so little time for Second Life. But, with the Fantasy Faire just around the corner, I will be making time, come hell or high water. I will be blogging the faire this year as well—and I have been assigned some truly amazing creators—and you might consider this a bit of a warm-up even though what I am showing in this post has already been released. Then again, the blog is steadily becoming more and more true to its name, with fantasy and historical wear cropping being the focal point more often than not.

Slink has an exciting new update to their fabulous mesh hands and mesh feet: an applier system (if you use mesh breasts, you are likely already familiar with this) that allows other creators to create textures for these add-ons. In addition to allowing feet and hands that perfectly match a skin without the need for any tinting, appliers can also handle other things. Or how about mesh feet with actual stockings or panty hose on or mesh hands with more nail colours than you can shake a stick at?

One of the very first brands to deliver some goodies for Slink’s hands and feet is Adam n Eve. I decided to pair some of these new goodies with some sexy poses from Elymode.

Mission accomplished, with minimal effort. Now if our plans for Blood of Dragons 2.0 would be coming along just as smoothly, I’d be feeling even better. Just what I need since work has been kicking our butts with vigour since before Christmas.

Now, back to The World of Ice and Fire. Which may include some 2.0 musings on the side; I am so looking forward to working in all the new history, even if it will mean a lot of restructuring too.

The Skin Fair opens today and I’ve got another new release, this one from the Plastik, to show you. The Astrali skin comes with a huge array of options and in a wide selection of tones, allowing it to be used both for regular wear and for more fantastical purposes. I decided to pair it with some recent releases from Gallactic to start with, before stripping down a bit more. After all, the whole skin matters, not just the pretty face.

No, I wasn’t thinking directly of the sin, but I am not opposed to a bit of sinning. However, it was the lovely vintage vanity from Trompe Loeil at this months FaMESHed that inspired the title and provided the setting for this look at another new skin from Adam n Eve set to debut tomorrow at the Skin Fair.

I’ve been doing a lot of fantasy looks of late, but the latest One Bad Pixel release as well as a new furniture set from HANDverk for The Men’s Department obviously lent itself to something very different. With it, I also have another preview of the Skin Fair, this time in the form of a new Tuli skin.

So many gorgeous new things, so little time. That continues to be my bane, though I imagine that is only too common. Plus, these things do have to come together naturally for me to be really pleased with them. Like this one, which definitely grew quite organically. I had had a number of the pieces sitting in my inventory for a while, and then this fountain by DECO showed up at Collabor88 for March and provided the (almost) final piece of the puzzle.

After offering several lovely gowns that Ran could just be jealous of (not that he wants a gown, as such, but something matching for male avatars), the Muses has now released three mesh robes for men. These are absolutely perfect for all sorts of fantasy/historical roleplay. Almost at the same time, the Muses also released three more gowns, but you’ll get to see those in a separate post. Instead, I decided to use the two new mesh gowns from Bilo‘s new line, Bilo Rani, as they also have quite a fantasy feel to them. In addition to that, I am showing two of the newest hairs from Wasabi Pills and we’re using the table, chairs and props from Libertine for the Genre event.

If you’d like to try something new in SL and get a bunch of cool stuff, then Global Domination by Hottie Cooterati might be for you. Its a game that involves searching for items and solving riddles. Some quite easy, some very hard. I played the game right on the launch night and persistent as I am, it kept me up to 4.30 in the morning as I insisted on trying to finish it all in one go. Of course, there was a race at the time to be among the first three to finish to get one of the grand prizes. I didn’t manage, but I was definitely not disappointed by the prizes available to everyone who completes the game. I also enjoyed the actual game play; the scripting of the HUD that you purchase to participate with is well done and the puzzles were fun and engaging.

Need to look your best in space? Then Gallactic may be what you need. They’ve recently released a number of different body suits, each shiny and sexy, some more revealing (much more revealing, even) than others. I picked up a few in my favourite colours, slipped into one of the Nephilim skins from Nomine and dug out some suitable poses from CnS.

I’ve already shown the mesh drapery from Maxwell Graf of Rustica in a previous post, but they most definitely deserve more of a spotlight feature as well. They are lush, versatile and just the thing for changing the feel of a slightly cold and empty room to make it seem more cosy and intimate.

Also shown in these photos is the special Valentine edition of Claire from Tuli, the new Timea ankle boots from lassitude & ennui and the newest hair from Wasabi Pills.

I am in fantasy-clothing heaven. First the Muses gave us the Rainha gown and now the Shieldmaiden has been released. It uses similar elements to the Rainha gown but instead of leather and chain mail you get leather and linen, for an elegant yet slightly rustic look. As with the Rainha gown you can combine pieces from different sets to mix up the colours and this is helped along by a hud that allows you to adjust the colour of the undergown on the mesh part.

I am also wearing one of the gorgeous new hairs from LeLutka—the hair net is such a fabulous detail—and the stunning knotted pearl necklace from lassitude & ennui.

When Nephilaine Protagonist dropped me her newest dress for The Muses (one of her little army of mesh shops!), I knew right away what I wanted to do with it. This regal mesh gown combines leather and chain mail for a fierce, warrior-queen look and when I put together the red gown with the black chainmail, it truly looked like something that Visenya Targaryen could have worn.

Yes, once again I am going on about A Song of Ice and Fire (which you may know as Game of Thrones), but that is because Ran and I have spent a rather crazy amount of time in Westeros lately, working on The World of Ice and Fire together with George R.R. Martin himself. Much of that work has concerned the history of House Targaryen since their arrival in Westeros and one of the most fascinating characters from the past is Queen Visenya, one of Aegon the Conqueror’s two sister-wives. She was a warrior and a dragon-rider, a wielder of the Valyrian steel sword Dark Sister. And I am sure she would appreciate the Rainha gown, though I think she would be practical enough to wear something beneath that chain mail. ;) Because there’s nothing royal about chafed nipples.

It appears we have acquired a particularly dedicated troll on WORA, a bold hero determined to continue his epic struggle to inform the world of the horrors of Blood of Dragons. And the horrors of Firan, too. Somehow he has managed to lodge two sticks up his ass at the same time, a pretty impressive feat I must concede. Apparently he has a habit of randomly dragging BoD into all sorts of topics, just to demonstrate how very unhappy we’ve made him. I was pointed to some choice quotes and one of the most recent was the most amusing, since it referenced a discussion on the Public channel that I witnessed around a week ago. That means that our troll—who signed up to WORA in 2011 and has been bitching about us with some regularity since then—is still on the game. Masochist, much?

Some of my favourite claims follow:

Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel books rank high on my list of best fantasy series, so of course the Plastik’s Namaah set caught my attention. However, there’s much more to it than just a well-chosen name. Composed of a number of pieces—some rigged mesh, some not—and with HUDs for texture changing, this is a unique and versatile set of fantasy accessories. Or a whole outfit, if you’re inclined to show a lot of skin (which I am). I am also wearing one of the latest new hairs from Magika and the Helena skin from Tuli. My poses are from the awesome Music is Life set by Studio Sidhe; these are really full of motion and still so very well balanced.