Otherworldly

The 14th Annual SL Christmas Expo

The 14th Annual SL Christmas Expo invites you to visit and take a journey through Christmas Through the Decades. Across the lavishly decorated winter sims you can shop from the many participating merchants and take part in various events, all for the good cause of fighting childhood cancer. The event is open from November 29th to December 8th.

I found a lovely ice skating pond on sim inspired by Christmas in the 1900s, which seemed like a beautiful place to show off the Heather dress in pink from Viki and the charming little Lunar Glider from Unique Obsession, a touch of magical sparkle that hovers above either hand (and animates the hand into the pose you see).

Click for full-sized image
Rorbuer by Fanatik

The latest release from Fanatik is a beautiful recreation of the Rorbuer, traditional fishermen’s cabins from Norway. These red-painted cabins sit on stilts and look out over the breathtaking beauty of the Norwegian fjords. I did not have any fjords available, but the Patagonia sim surround from Landscapes Unlimited gives a suitably dramatic backdrop vista. I also used one of the islands from Fanatik’s Land Shapes set, but since those do not (yet) have PBR textures, I switched the snow texture for a new one from Studio Skye to better match the beautiful PBR textures on the Rorbuer buildings and docks. The final result makes me crave snow, which alas is not something we got a lot of on the west coast of Sweden in November. Rain, on the other hand…

Anyway, the Rorbuer release consists of two sets, one with the buildings and the stilts and another with docks, stairs and lanterns. The work on the PBR wood textures is fantastic, it looks so real close up, and the interiors are just as good as the outsides, very rustic and cosy. The buildings have separate snow add-ons and the docks and stairs have a regular and a snow option. But be aware that they ship without the scripts in to make them leaner by default, so to change them you need to add in the included script to your linksets. But there are clear instructions included!

Click for full-sized image
Just Follow Me

It is quite safe, I promise. The door is right over here.

Petrichor and Ersch have a new release for The Warehouse Sale, the Elian dress, and talk about something to turn heads in. You may (or may not!) want to add a pair of panties, but either way it looks fantastic. I used the Fabric hud and selected a deep wine colour which came out fabulously in the lighting. The lantern is also by Petrichor, a part of the huge Flareia collection of lanterns, orbs, candles and flames, all wearable on either your left or right hand and with options for the holding animations. There are also crowns and halos, for adding even more sparkle to your life. You will find Flareia at GothCore.

The long, high ponytail is a Truth Collective release by Truth and Wasabi for the Truth mainstore. A scrunchie holds up the pony tail and the style options include which shoulder it falls over and with or without bangs. For once, I went with bangs, I love how to side curls frame the face in that version.

Click for full-sized image
Lumina

A streak of light whips through the air, a familiar buzzing sound accompanying it. The third whip (so far) from DICTATORSHOP is called Lumina and the inspiration is clear when you see (and hear) it. But this is not for fighting duels but rather a tool of discipline, with a full meny animations suited to a mistress of the whip. However, when I saw the way it illuminated my avatar and my closest surroundings, I wanted to do a dark and fantastic photo with it. Fortunately, the November round of We Love Role-Play offered some spikey attire from Secret Witch as well as a suitable fantasy skin from Lumae, transforming me into a warrior maiden dark elf, stalking the depths of a strange forest.

To get a sense of the fantastic mocap animations for the whip, check out the post I did for the first whip in the Tempest series which includes a short video.

Click for full-sized image
Rooftop Rest

Lore has a lovely addition to their Oasis series out at the November round of We Love Role-Play, a rustic desert house and three types of large jars/amphorae, and I set it up together with the Oasis walls and well that were released some time ago. The house consists of a single room, with cracked and worn walls, and a ladder takes you up to the rooftop through a hatch. That is where I decided to setup the Djinn’s Rest, a little lounging area with animations that I picked up from Roawenwood during 25 L Tuesday.

The sexy Astra outfit by Salt & Pepper would perhaps best be described as fantasy lingerie, with ornate metallic accents on both the top and the boots. And these make excellent use of PBR, just like the Oasis house does.  With the fatpack you can mix and match all the colours and textures, allowing for a lot of different combinations.

Very sexy is also the extra long Bora hair from Wasabi for Kustom9. The HUD lets you switch between bangs or no bangs as well as a more windswept style. Here I went sleek and serene.

Click for full-sized image
Timeless Reflections

I am mixing my time periods wildly here with several new releases from the November round of We Love Role-Play, but I love the end result. In the pre-furnished Shadow Mansion from Death Row Designs, I setup the Tudor Wall Table Set from Simply Shelby. It has a really fantastic reflection cube and great dusty textures for the mirrors, making for lovely reflections with a really old-timey look to them.

The dress is by Senzafine, very gothic in its style and beautifully textured. The Zelda pumps by Grasshopper Street are a little late in style, but suited the look nicely even so. And the final touch from WLRP is the very cool Mechanism Hand by lassitude & ennui, a delicate Steampunk-styled replacement hand that comes in four different textures and can be used on both hands at the same time or just on one. Very ladylike and elegant.

Click for full-sized image
The Loneliest Inn

The inn was situated far out on a remote peninsula, with vast woods to travel through before one reached it. However, it was said to serve the best ale in the kingdom to the lonely travellers who would make their way there. How and why that had come to be, no one knew for sure.

Well, I needed some little explanation for why the tavern by NeonSheep—one of several related releases for the November round of We Love Role-Play—seems to be situated out in the middle of nowhere. ;) The tavern building comes in three different versions, with different layouts, and the other releases from NeonSheep provide furnishings and food props such as the oven, the various chairs and the barrels, mugs and plates of food. There are many, many more furnishings and props that I am showing here.

My lonely traveller is wearing two other WLRP releases. First, the Herleif outfit from Rakshasa, consisting of tunic, belt and breeches. As always very customisable in the fatpack, with tons of texture options. Over this outfit he is wearing the Noa cape from Stitched, which comes in two sizes for each body so it can be worn over clothing or over nothing but the body. I love how well these two items went together.

Oh, and look at the Chesnut hair from the Truth Collective, it works on a male avatar too.

Click for full-sized image
Gathering Mushrooms

There’s a really cute new VIP hairstyle from Truth called Lyrical, a loose and slightly messy braid with some strands around the face. I had my farmwife head off to the woods to pick some mushrooms, wearing a simple kirtle from the Annex, and perhaps her hair would look a bit like that by the time she returned to her farm with a full basket.

The farm is a full kit from Del-kae Aedilis, easily rezzed out with everything (even the animals) in place. It belongs to the Medieval Series but could cover a range of periods; its a very classic and rustic farm. And since the houses are unfurnished inside, you can adjust those to the period of your liking.

Click for full-sized image
Sweet Struggles

Make sure you have a solidly built ceiling before you install the new Carriage Chandelier from DICTATORSHOP, especially if you get the version with the animations (it also comes in a decor-only version), as it might just put some strain on the construction once you start playing around with the 80+ different Adult Kink animations, which include both a MaleDom and a FemDom menu as well as some solo animations for when the poor submissive has just been left hanging there. The chandelier is stylishly made in black with bronze details and uses PBR textures. You can choose which lights to have on and also adjust colour, intensity and other parameters.  Here I picked red lights for an appropriately sinful atmosphere. As the Chandelier is part of the Secret Garden range, it might be meant more for outdoor spaces like pavilions, but I think it works in more rustic indoor settings too.

My avatar is not wearing all that much, just some minimal panties as well as sexy gloves and stockings from Miamai (all of it BoM, very handy) that I picked up from the sale at the Shop & Hop. However, I do have to mention the very sexy Chestnut hairstyle, a Truth and Wasabi collaboration for the Truth Collective, as well as the beautiful Esme skin from alaskametro and the sultry At Dusk eyeshadow, also from alaskametro. The skin and the eyeshadow are both from the Spookzilla hunt, which ends tomorrow so hurry up!

Click for full-sized image
Harvest Bounty

Celebrate the bounty of the harvest with the beautiful Vangsta table from NeonSheep, available both with and without the decor (the decor also included separately) and with and without PBR. It has a rustic elegance which works both for a more modern setting and for a role-play setting. Here I have also added apples in baskets and sacks from Lore’s Apple Harvest fatpack. I am also using the holdable basket and the holdable apple. Don’t they look delicious? Each item comes in four different apple textures to represent different apple varieties. Both of these great autumn decor sets are available at We Love Role-Play for a discount and you still have a few more days to get them before this round closes.

My outfit is also from We Love Role-Play, a very pretty Norse-inspired gown by Rakshasa with a coat that has a knitted look belted over it. The gown and the coat can be worn separately and there are also bracers included for wearing over the sleeves. As usual the fatpack offers excellent customisation options where you can mix and match all the available colours. And with it I am wearing the final piece from the event, the Yrsa necklace from lassitude & ennui, with runes inscribed on the central spiral piece. It comes in three colour variants, each of which also includes a blood-streaked version.

Click for full-sized image
My Kind of Library

I love a well-stocked library, and a few grimoires are never a bad idea to have around. Well, they can be a bad idea if you are careless with them, but just handle them with the suitable precautions and all should be well. The set of Grimoire Books from Petrichor for Trick or Treat Lane come with a huge hud of customisation options (you can change both the binding and the edges) and also include several preset holding positions for each hand that will combine nicely with other poses. Now you will never be short a magic book when you need one.

Also from Petrichor are the Vaera Claws, here in a witchy black. These also have loads of options, both for different shapes and for various textures and bump maps. If you want to give yourself that cutting edge, these will definitely do it.

The rest of the outfit combines a cute hairstyle from Wasabi (the headband is of course texture change and tintable) with a sleek and sexy bodysuit from Miamai (on sale for L$50 at the Shop & Hop) and a necklace from Kunglers (a gift at the Shop & Hop).

Click for full-sized image
More Garden Secrets

If the gazebo from DICTATORSHOPthat I showed a while ago wasn’t quite what you were looking for, how about a hot tub version of the gazebo instead? An indulgent warm bath to share with friends while enjoying the cool autumn air and beautiful sunsets in your garden.  It also comes with both water jets and steam for an even more luxurious experience. The look of the gazebo can be modified via presets (24 in total) or by selecting textures for the individual elements.  If you would like to modify it further, it is fully modifiable.

In terms of animations, the gazebo sits up to two couples (m/f) and each couple gets their own menu of couple interactions (PG in the PG version, PG and Adult in the Adult version). It is also possible to swap places, for example swapping woman A against woman B, if that is what you’d like to get up to during your pool party. There’s also a nice variety of socializing animations, including some with various autoattaching drinks.

Click for full-sized image
The Forgotten House

Strange, moss-covered trees, enormous brambles and a persistent mist surrounded the house at the outskirt of the woods. By appearances alone, not the most welcoming place. On the porch stood its current occupant, a pale woman in a wine red gown, at her side a tall black dog. And what was that in the strange cylinder that seemed to float beneath her hand?

Alright, now its time to get spooky, with the Fantasy Witch’s House from Nocturna Deed for We Love Role-Play as the centerpiece. The house comes in a convenient rezbox that makes it easy to setup and place. There’s a whimsical spookiness to the design and plenty of room for decorating inside. On the outside, I mixed items from Fundati, Lore and Botanical to get a creepy forest feeling.

The beautiful gown is by the Muses, a high-waisted and high-necked design suitable for a variety of fantasy and role-play outfits. You will find that at WLRP as well, together with the Cindy skin from Poema as well as the floating reliquary from En Pointe which comes with several options for what bones to have within it.

Finally, we have the Teeglepet Classic Doberman, which was released at the Dog & Pony Show and hopefully should be in the Teegle mainstore now or at least soon.

Click for full-sized image
Palm Tree Sunset

It may be October, but I am holding off on the spooky a little longer, even though there’s actually plenty of it at the brand new round of We Love Role-Play. But for my first post for this month, I just had to show off Zaara’s new male outfit, the Naksh Kurta which consists of kurta, dupatta and pants. I have also added the Kolhapuri sandals, also by Zaara, and a headband from Angelicus which is also from WLRP (technically for female avatars, but it works).

And while sandals would not be my choice of footwear for riding, I did think this was a good opportunity to show the Oasis set from Teegle for the Akhal Teke Teeglepet. The Dog & Pony Show is now closed, but the new Teeglepets and all the accessories for them are now in the Teegle mainstore instead.

The beautiful palm trees are a brand new release with PBR from Fanatik and I am also using a Day Cycle from Fanatik to get this gorgeous lighting.

Click for full-sized image
The Feast

The table has been set for an opulent Renaissance feast. A roast pheasant is accompanied by three additional dishes and of course there is fine wine as well. The pheasant and the three dishes are new releases from Del-ka Aedilis for the SL Renaissance Festival and both are donation items raising money for the American Cancer Society.

The lady hosting the feast wears a gown by Les Encantades, which features a wide variety of colour combinations via the texture HUD, and a beautiful head ornament with matching earrings from Zibska. Along with the skin from Mignonne, these are all Renaissance Festival releases. The skin includes eyebrow options, add-on lipstick and blushes as well as a special version with a powdered face.

Click for full-sized image