Otherworldly

Sometimes, it is a struggle to come up with a good idea that results in a pleasing image at the same time as it shows off the item(s) being blogged in a good way. Other times, the idea leaps into your head almost fully formed. That was the case when I opened the latest blogger pack from the Dreaming Thicket, the Ladies’ Crowns Gacha from the Fantasy Gacha Carnival. The idea that came to me was of a woman on a throne, wearing one crown but choosing from a selection of others, including some more “powerful” ones.

I lost a bit of enthusiasm for writing this post due to that bloody football match that should have ended a minute or so earlier and/or had a penalty call for Sweden in the first half. But not that I am bitter or anything… ;P

Anyway, I wanted to get another Vintage Fair post out before it closes and since I also have a few more LightStar heads to show off, I decided to do both at the same time. Today’s head is Lin, one of the more distinctly ethnic heads from the range, and like all the other heads it is now down to just L$1000. I am wearing it with an Asian-inspired skin from Alaskametro and a Chinese-style gown rom Senzafine. The gown and the shoes (by Eclectica) are from the Vintage Fair, as are the poses by An Lar used for these shots.

It is time for We Love Role-Play again, so it was particularly appropriate that I ended up using the Roleplay HUD from Mythril to stage this scene. I have had so much use of it since the Fantasy Faire that I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who takes more story focused shots as opposed to modelling shots. In this case, the story is one of a woman looking out over the sea from high up in a castle, waiting for a ship that does not arrive. The new items featured are from Senzafine, lassitude & ennui and Wasabi.

A couple of days ago we jumped ahead into summer with temperatures that made sitting at the computer a low priority. Today is a little cooler, enough that I was inspired to do some photos again. This set features a mix of fantasy items items from the Fantasy Gacha Carnival and We Love Role-Play, plus an amazing hair from Stealthic that will be out on the 15th at Kustom9. I headed down into my caves from Fanatik again for the perfect surroundings, and added a touch of magic with these eerie swirls from the Plastik. I also got some more mileage out of the Mythril Role-Play HUD for putting together these pose combinations.

As soon as I unpacked the Memorial Monument set from Artisan Fantasy, I knew I wanted to do something with it, but it took a while before all the pieces came together. However, once I received the Rihtual set from the Plastik as well as the Helianne headdress, I had an idea for how I wanted it to look. Of course, then it ended up spending an hour testing windlight settings and remodelling my surroundings because the framing of the shot just didn’t come out as I had imagined it. Sometimes it can be a bad idea to have too strong an image in your mind before you setup a shot and this was definitely one of those times. I finally arrived at something that I was mostly pleased with, even if it wasn’t quite what I had wanted from the start.

No Fantasy Faire post from me yesterday as both Ran and I were busy doing not just one but two LitFest events for their George R.R. Martin day. First was a presentation we did together (with the excellent Saffia Widdershins as moderator) about how we ended up collaborating with GRRM and some of the things that has resulted in over the years. At the end of it, Saffia invited us to also take part in her panel discussion on adaptations, which given the theme of the day was focused on A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones. It turned out to be a lot of fun so we were glad we stayed up for it. But it didn’t leave much time for blogging, so what you are getting today is a look at my outfit from the LitFest.

I am taking a brief break in my Fantasy Faire coverage to take a look at a gacha collaboration between Stealthic and Toksik called the Off-Stage collection. The hair is of course made by Stealthic and the photo studio, backdrop and various props (lights, toolbox, ladder, chair) by Toksik. The rares are the hair and the photo studio itself but there are several other pieces that you can use on their own as well. The backdrop, for example, makes for a nice photo backdrop and all the lights are functional light sources.

Lost cities, ruins, mysteries. The past has fascinated me since I was quite young and while I know now that archaeology is rarely about discoveries like Knossos, Mycenae and Troy, it is still fun to let your imagination run wild at times. This is why I just had to have the latest add-on to Fanatik’s cave system, the Petra Chamber. Inspired by the Petra site in Jordan, but placed within a vast underground chamber instead, it looks just amazing. So, of course I had to do a video of it. Do note that this is just about the Petra Chamber, as I don’t actually own the rest of the cave system. For interiors, it can definitely be used as a stand-alone, though I am sorely tempted to get the whole system and the other add-ons too.

I mentioned Skin Fair 2018 in my previous post and now it is time to start with some proper coverage of the event. My plan is to mix it in with my regular blogging by opening up each skin fair blog with a regular “on location” photo as opposed to a plain studio shot of a skin. Then I will give you a good look at the front and back of the skin and a close-up of the face. I do plan to do some more detailed skin reviewing in the write-ups as well, especially if I try any new brands. However, the first post focuses on Adam n Eve and one of the shapes I’ve made for sachi’s new skin under my Kanon brand, so this one is more informative than a proper review.

Today, I will have to settle for being predictable with the mood of my post. I really couldn’t do anything else once I tried out the Heartstones Lovers Dance Circle from Roawenwood; it has a really lovely selection of standing couple poses, something I suddenly realised I have way too little off. I had a very hard time picking which poses to shoot and I kept wishing I had done this as another video just to show more of it. It also turned out to be an excellent way to show off two new We Love Role-Play releases—a gown from Senzafine and a hair from Tableau Vivant—and a Noble Creations release for Enchantment.

The first Shadow Box series from Death Row Designs has finally been completed with the release of the sixth box and of course I have an unboxing/reveal to share with you. If you have been following the series, you also know that not only do I have the new Light & Dark furniture sets to showcase but also the bonus Light & Dark houses where all your Shadow Box furniture can be displayed. I have been awaiting these bonus houses very eagerly and I can tell you right away that you will not be disappointed. This time around, I have included two extra still shots with the blog to show the exterior of the houses, but if you prefer to see them first in the video, you can go straight to it instead:

You may be seeing horses in a lot of upcoming posts, thanks to the new bodies for the Teegle Bento Horse Avatar. Here, I couldn’t resist pairing the baroque horse with a black coat with this striking red outfit created with a Senzafine gown and accessories by Noble Creations. I love the effect of those strong colours against both the snow and the pale skin from Imabee.

While many of you are celebrating Christmas, the 25th of December is the second laziest day of the year in Sweden, with most everyone recovering from food-induced coma after eating way too much Christmas food on the 24th as we celebrate on the eve rather than the day. This left me with plenty of time free today (leftovers for dinner, yay) and after visiting the stables where I ride I decided to continue with the horse theme in Second Life to review three of the five new full body mods for the Teegle Bento Horse Avatar; the Baroque Horse mod, the Light Horse mod and the Pony mod. Please note that you do need to own the base avatar to use these body mods.

I had also planned to review the Spanish Walk and Spanish Trot from Teegle, but I wasn’t able to get these working with the riding system, only with the horse moving on its own. I just haven’t messed around enough with the AO to know whether this is something you can work around or not, but since the horse is more geared towards being used as a stand-alone avatar as opposed to a riding horse, some things don’t work when it is being ridden.

Just in time for the Black Friday/Weekend sales, Vista Animations released their first bento mesh head, Lia. I had heard nothing of it until I saw it mentioned on Plurk and to be honest I wasn’t expecting that much when I went to demo it. I have fairly particular tastes in mesh heads and I have demoed and discarded a large number. But, I was very pleasantly surprised and that, together with the excellent introductory price of L$2000 (20% off the regular price, which is still a great deal), led to one of my fastest mesh head decisions ever. In fact, I was so pleased with the head that I simply had to launch into making a review video for it. It should have been up earlier today, but I had some uploading issues. Fortunately, the sale price is still on at the store right now.

Also featured in this video is a new hair by Wasabi, a new tree by The Little Branch (who just opened up their mainstore) and clothing by Senzafine.

The third Shadow Box in the first series of six from Death Row Designs was released yesterday. As with the second one, I decided to more of a reveal than an unboxing, to show the items in a planned setup. I admit, the theme of this box threw me for a little loop at first, since it is not the kind of furnishings that I tend to use in Second Life. However, after rezzing everything out, I really took a liking to the Dark version in particular.

To learn more about Shadow Box and how to subscribe, make sure to visit the DRD website linked above. And remember, if you get all six boxes in a series, there is a bonus item at the end.