Otherworldly

The latest outfit from Petrichor and Ersch seemed like a good excuse for some pinup-inspired photography using my old collection of Boudoir Rouge poses.  The Zelai dress is made up of two halves joined by straps, though it is more open than not! There is a regular and a scaled version and several HUDs with different fabric types and patterns.  You’ll find Zelai at the current round of Kinky Monthly.

Del-ka Aedilis has three new releases for the A Thousand and One Night event; a large divan, an elegant tea table and a matching floor cushion that is available either at the event or as a group gift at the main store. Each piece is offered with a 25% discount at the event which lasts until June 25th. Three fabric colours and three shades of wood are included where applicable and the divan and the floor cushion include animations; singles only for the cushion and singles and couple (including adult animations) for the divan.

To complete the decor of the room, I used pieces from Libertine, Paper Moon and Senzafine. The outfit is from Salt & Pepper with the snake armbands being a gift at the Shop n Hop from AtaMe. Another gift from there is the subtly metallic lipstick from alaskametro.

The “Become the Beast” couple pose from Be My Mannequin? inspired me to do a rather NSFW photo using the Qismat Harem from Del-ka Aedilis. Clothing just didn’t seem right for it. ;) Well, at least not beyond the little chain harness from Aisling/Voluptas Virtualis, back in the good old days when they still did sizes for Slink Physique. No reason to let excellent mesh gather dust in my inventory just because its some years old.

I love how this image came out, both moody and seasonal. I’ve been struggling a bit with ideas again, but I think it is partly because I have been trying to force myself to blog the wrong things. For next year, I will need to rethink my blogging commitments. On the one hand, if I don’t have some things I actually have to do, I can get too indecisive and just never get anything done because I keep waiting for the perfect idea. On the other hand, if I have to work too hard to get inspired it can be draining.

Anyway, when I saw this lovely dress from Faida and Velvet Whip at Redeux, I knew I wanted to do something with it. But I’ve wandered about in it for a few days now without just the right idea (see above), until I remembered the Starlight Lantern from Contraption that I picked up a few weeks ago. Off to my little winter landscape in the sky I went and then the magic happened.

In a few hours, there will be a new girl in town and I think quite a few of you might want to be just like her. Cinnamon (and her “sister”, Chai) is a new mesh body from Siddean Munro, the creator behind the Slink brand. This is NOT an update of the Slink bodies, nor does it mean those are being retired. Cinnamon & Chai is a completely separate brand and these bodies have been built anew from the ground up.

Why another body, you might wonder? What does it offer that we don’t already have plenty of in Second Life? Well, I am glad you asked and to answer, I prepared a little video. Note, there is pixelnudity in it.

If you prefer to read about the bodies, I urge you to check out the Cinnamon & Chai website, which has an excellent FAQ. As for the quick version of my opinion of the body (there’s of course a more in-depth review in the video),  I love the lower half of the body but would have preferred smaller or at least more natural breasts. I also think the new UV is a really cool and bold move and the seamless waist and ankles look fantastic. And the animated feet are great.

I’ve also included some shots of the body below, if you want to get a quick look at it without seeing the video. Again, pixelnudity follows. The poses used for the nude shots are from XTC and available at the new round of La vie en pose. Full credits are at the end, but since the store is not yet open the landmark will be added later. To be notified immediately when the release happens, I suggest joining the Cinnamon & Chai group.

Another day, another portrait between (re)packing our bags for Monday. Chronologically, this one fits in before the previous portrait, as Barba Bracken preceded Melissa Blackwood as a mistress. The Brackens are described as a bit stocky and I imagine Barba as pretty but less fineboned than Missy. I thought the Logo Bella head (with its matching skin) might suit that. I also opted for a more casual hairstyle for her vivacious personality. As Barba was particularly known for being buxom, I picked a gown from Faida and Velvet Whip that highlights this very well. The dragon egg necklace would obviously be a present from King Aegon, perhaps as he learned she was pregnant.

I was supposed to be on vacation and thus a blogging hiatus. But our car broke down last week as we were on our way to our summer cottage, so for a few days more I am stuck at home with much less to do than I had planned. Hence, blogging. Fortunately, there are some great events right now, including a new round of the Epiphany. I couldn’t resist the SultryGarden gacha from deviousMind, which features a ribbon harness with intricate lace appliqué. I tried out the first colour that I won and said to myself that there was almost something bridal about it. I gave it another try and fortunately it gave me the Pearl next time, perfect for my idea!

Of course, this would definitely be something for after the ceremony, unless you are having a very unconventional wedding. ;) I am still wearing that ridiculously pretty hair from Stealthic, Lavish, and my favourite skin and head combination even though they’re far from new: PXL’ss Ava on LeLutka’s Cate.

She had come to the ancient ruin, half-buried by the desert sands, to learn if the tales were true. Did a dragon of flesh and blood still roam the deep desert? The bones of such creatures, bleaches by the sun, were occasionally revealed by the shifting sands. But no man, or woman, had gazed upon a living beast for centuries.

The single pose “Hurt” from Be my Mannequin? immediately suggested to me someone looking upwards with a sense of wonder on their face. What an excellent opportunity to bring out our wyvern avatar from Prehistorica again! I had also had my eye on Zaara’s latest release and decided to appropriate it for a desert fantasy look, beautifully completed by the latest release from Stealthic, Lavish. The scene was set using the a sky landscape from Landscapes Unlimited and the Ruins kit from Fanatik.

The sand storm delayed her and left few tracks to be followed, but eventually she found the site of the battle. But she was too late.

Be My Mannequin? is a pose store that I discovered quite recently and then was fortunate enough to get accepted as a blogger for. They offer single, couple and group poses of the “storytelling” variety, meaning they are great for building a scene around. That suits me perfectly, since I rarely have much of a need for straight-up modelling poses but instead want to show a moment from a story.

This particular pose included two variants for different shapes and I found that even though mine and Ran’s shapes tend to differ a bit from the SL average, the fit of the alternate version was very good. I also wanted to show how different a single pose can look depending on the angle, so I setup two similar shots from different angles.

Synergy Lab is currently running an Ice & Fire event, which naturally meant I was over there to check things out as soon as possible. Creators are allowed to use both the books and the show as inspiration. I would have liked to see a few more items that were clearly inspired by either (without infringing on any copyright) rather than being more generic fantasy/medieval, though that is always welcome as well!

Two creators that brought some very nice decor items were Del-ka Aedilis and Fantavatar & Moonstruck. The former has created a set inspired by the furnishings seen in Stannis Baratheon’s study on Dragonstone whereas the latter has made a safe that might even suit the Iron Bank of Braavos!

As the first entry in a clothing line, Old Treasures has released the Gentilhomme set for the Fantasy Faire. As soon as the Faire opened, I sent Ran over there to get the doublet (he felt the pants looked a little too muscular in the shading for his tastes) and he opted for the very well-priced mixed colour pack in the RFL vendor. This kind of well-made medieval clothing for men is not exactly common in Second Life, so we were both happy to see Old Treasures move into this market. And since he dressed up so prettily, he gained himself an invitation to my private chambers (mild nudity at the end of the post).

It is (almost) that fantastic time of the year when the Fairelands return to us. Yes, it is time for Fantasy Faire 2021. From April 22 to May 9th, you will be able to enjoy 21 amazing sims! I will be blogging the Faire this year as well and I thought I would start with a little sneak peak from Nefekalum, paired with a bunch of fantastical goodies from a couple of other events. So dive in!

Alaskametro recently released an update to her current body skin, the “Fit” series, which includes updated shading and a materials applier. If you have bought the skin previously, you can get a redelivery of this new version. I was excited to try it out and see how the materials would look, which meant a good opportunity to get (nearly) naked. And I don’t pass those up in SL!

I opted for the Slink Physique Original body (my favourite by far) for showing the skin on; the body jewellery is an older set by Voluptas Virtualis from when they were still releasing items for this body. The head is also by Slink, the lovely Ashlynn head which looks really stunning paired with the Abigail skin from alaskametro. Having the face framed by the most recent release from Stealthic, the gorgeous Metropolis hair, certainly doesn’t hurt either. The curl textures of this one are to die for. This hair also represents a big update for Stealthic that includes new colors, new sizes and new pricing.

The poses are also from the depths of my inventory, a set by HopScotch which features some very classic water bearing poses. So much more interesting to photo these than regular modelling poses, props don’t have to be complicated to add a sense of story to a pose.

In my last post, I did a tour of Hope 9, one of the Home & Garden Expo sims. I teased the upcoming releases from Teegle and gave you a look at the other creators on the sim, such as RVi Design. Now the time has come for a closer look at the Horse Ranch Homestead from the latter as well as the Teeglepet Fjord Horse and Teeglepet Connemara Pony.

Carpe Noctem has a sweet set of five bento poses (with mirrors) at La vie en pose, each with a pre-positioned rose prop. I really liked the proportions of these poses, they worked very well with my avatar, which is not always the case. Arm length especially tends to be an issue but here it worked really well.

I definitely wanted to embrace the “boudoir” part of the name so I used the room where I have a selection of Libertine furnishings setup, including the Marquis set. Lounging on the floor among some pillows, candles and trays of wine and fruit seemed appropriately decadent. The strategically placed tray also allowed me to skip clothing while still keeping a little modesty. The beautiful Clarity style from Stealthic and features a lovely curl texture and a very natural fringe that effectively takes the place of a hairbase. It fits well on the LightStar Maya head, though the closeness of the fit does mean that there are some heads that it doesn’t work with, so make sure to demo.