Otherworldly

Happy new year and time to get used to writing 2023! I’ve had the usual lazy first day of the new year, which has involved a few hours (or so…) in front of the computer. Part of the time was spent setting up a medieval kitchen from Del-ka Aedilis and taking some photos of a bit of virtual cooking, which is about all the cooking I am up for right now after the holidays. I should probably stick to virtual food for a while as well. ;)

The kitchen set includes the hearth, a table setup for sausage making, a sideboard with a basket of vegetables and cutting boards and a simple stool. The set is rustic and nicely detailed, with a very authentic feel. The only animations are in the stool, which has a few basic sits. For the photos, I used animations from Dutchie’s New Amsterdam Kitchen. I would actually love to see a HUD with various simple roleplay animations, perhaps one you could expand with different animation sets. That would be great for matching with sets of furnitures and props that don’t come with their own animations.

With the holidays coming up, one question is likely to crop up more than once—what am I going to wear? I think I have decided what I am wearing for Christmas IRL, but my virtual self is even more indecisive. Not to mention that she has a much, much bigger wardrobe in her overflowing inventory.

What better way to illustrate that well-filled wardrobe than with the latest release from Dutchie, the complete women’s walk-in closet (matching the complete men’s walk-in closet released earlier this year). This modular closet set includes 11 different closets, 3 that are closed and 8 that show different sets of clothing, shoes and bags. A colour-change menu offers the choice of 6 wood colours and if you are comfortable editing and tinting you can customize the clothing within the closets as well. Additionally, extra clothing and accessories are included in the full package (and available for purchase separately), for example the red and black dresses shown in the image. These pieces are perfect props for photos or for personalizing your living space in Second Life with a bit of stylish clutter.

Have you been to the SL Christmas Expo yet? The 12th SL Christmas Expo & Winter Breedables Fair runs from December 2 to December 11th and raises money for the American Cancer Society. The theme of this year’s expo is “The Magic Of Holiday Stories” and the beautifully decorated sims offer some amazing winter wonderlands to explore. There is lots of shopping available but also several exciting events. Don’t miss it!

In the words of Siddean Munro:

“I am holding a huge 50% off everything in the store sale - Slink, One Bad Pixel and Cinnamon and Chai - from RIGHT NOW until 11:59 on November the 28th. This sale includes everything. EVERYTHING IN THE STORE. I’ve never had a sale like this, and I never will again! Now’s your chance to grab that thing you have been dreaming about! Only at Slink (Marketplace not included).”

As I have no doubt mentioned a few times, the Slink Physique Original body is my favourite body for a realistic shape. Slink Physique Hourglass is a bit more exaggerated, but I am still very fond of how it handles the stomach and hips. The very best stomach and hips, however, can be found on Cinnamon & Chai, which is the entirely separate body that Siddean launched some time ago. This sale seemed like a good excuse to take a sexy shot of each body, dressed up in clothes and shoes from Siddean’s brands as well.

Sometimes, you just want to do a good old-fashioned romance cover and the “Die With You” couple pose from Be My Mannequin? for The Grid event definitely suited that idea. Did our swashbuckling hero liberate his love from a harem only to run afoul of rival pirates? Because surely he is a pirate too with that shirt. ;)

We’re both wearing gorgeous outfits from toksik, who recently did a 50% off sale on all except their newest release. I paired my Allure set with the Sarabande slippers from lassitude & ennui, a lovely pair of leather slippers that are out for the current round of We Love Role-Play. Ran is wearing the Eternal blouse and pants, with the Bloodlust boots. The ship is Neptune’s Revenge from Maxwell Graf at Rustica.

And speaking of sales, my hair (of which you can’t see that much) is from Magika who is currently doing a 50% off sale on all her hairs. Stock up!

There is certainly no doubt of what inspired the “Green Queen” dress from Old Treasures, the stunning green gown worn by Queen Alicent in episode 6 of House of the Dragon. A great choice for a dress to bring into Second Life, and it looks wonderful in this red gold/copper version as well. It (as well as the icon green version) is included in the Dark pack and there is also a Light pack and a Fatpack.  The Verity necklace and earrings from Random Matter finish off the royal look.

The impressive braid is from Wasabi for Anthem and this has to be one of the best styles they’ve ever released. I just love the way it looks and its handy that the braid can be worn over either shoulder. Optional, unrigged bangs are also included.

Just a moody shot inspired by the season, dark and autumnal and with the Samhain Rune Tree from Del-ka Aedilis as the focal point. With a carved stone set in front of the tree and runes made from twigs dangling from its bare branches, it definitely fires up the imagination. Has perhaps more gruesome things hung from those branches as well?

As promised in my previous post, a closer look at the new Prima Femme body, created by Fizz Savira. I picked up some very minimal lingerie from Faida to show off as much as possible of the body and selected the elegant, expressive “Creo en Mio” pose from Be My Mannequin? for the “fancy” shots. The hair is a new style from Wasabi, a sleek ponytail with a bit of a witchy hair clip. I included a close-up of the same pose to give a better look at the hair, scroll past that for the “review” shots of the body and all the details.

The leaves are turning and there’s a new bite to the wind. Autumn is definitely here and in Second Life things are turning spookier and spookier. Wasabi has released the Nocturne hair for Uber, which can be worn with or without the hat seen in this picture. And they also have out the Baroque Cross earrings for the 15th anniversary market at Fallen Gods. A very witchy look together with the Sera dress from Senzafine, just right for working in DRD’s Voodoo Shoppe. The “Fancy a Slice” pose from Be My Mannequin? adds the finishing touch.

Deep in the woods, by a dark pool of water, sat a pale princess.

Ironically, the pose from Be My Mannequin? that I am using here is called “Sunlight in the Gray”, but what I ended up with was a foggy night-time scene, a little inspired by one of John Bauer’s paintings of Princess Tuvstarr by a forest tarn. The gorgeous long hairstyle is Alizee by Wasabi, which includes four different wear styles. And the pale skin is Delphine from Nar Mattaru.

The Popsicle hair from Wasabi for The Fifty is a style that says party to me. In this case, it turned out to be a pool party where someone forgot to change into more suitable attire before getting into the hot tub. The glass of wine might have something to do with that…

The dress is one of Salt & Pepper’s aquasense outfits and while it won’t react to non-SL water unless the water is scripted for that interaction, the HUD does allow you to set the clothing to wet or dry as you prefer. In this case, you can see how the soaked dress clings like a wet garment would.

The wood-fired hot tub comes from Dutchie and can be had either as a PG or Adult version. Both seat one or two people and include several animations with auto-attaching props like the wine glass.

Puppy, vacation and getting the website ready for House of the Dragon. Those are some of my excuses for why I haven’t blogged for several weeks; while I could have found the time, I’ve been too busy to give inspiration a chance. I stared for two full weeks at the same outfit, trying to figure out what to do with. In the end, I changed it up and decided to head down to the market instead to inspect the clothseller’s wares and perhaps order a new gown.

The Hedeby Clothmaker’s Stall from Del-ka Aedilis is out at Redeux until August 30th.  The set includes a market tent with pennants, a table with bales of fabric and additional fabric in crates and baskets.

My lady is wearing a gown from the Annex and the hairstyle with the two long braids is Aliana from Wasabi. It includes various 80’s-inspired ornaments on the braids but for this post I turned them off. The skin is a special version of Salma from DeeTaleZ, a weekend sale item from a couple of weeks ago. I love the freckles!

It is much easier to shop for a female avatar than a male one, but now and then something shows up for just male avatars that I just have to have even if it means slipping on a male shape for a while. The Montague Doublet from Old Treasures is one such item; I’d love to see it for female avatars too, but I am perfectly happy to admire it on myself in male form as well. ;) But while I have a lot of great hairs for male avatars (meaning longer styles that work on men, since that’s my preference) such as this Ash style from Wasabi, I’ll definitely have to expand my collection of heads and skins if I am going to make this a habit.

The best kind of rain is a soft summer rain and sometimes it can feel wonderful to be on the beach when it happens, perhaps even take a swim in the rain.

Be My Mannequin’s “Feel How it Feels” pose (inspired by Stranger Things and its usage of Kate Bush’s fantastic Running Up That Hill) was perfect for the image of just sitting on the beach and letting a gentle rain wash down over you. The Lemongrass hair from Wasabi is a lovely, summery style which also comes with a hat for an even more beachy look and the Amelia shirt and shorts set from Salt & Pepper is part of their interactive Aquasense range, meaning it can go from dry to wet and vice versa when interacting with SL water and various scripted objects. Selected colours are on sale for the weekend.

The ancient temple lies half-buried by the desert, its secrets swallowed by the shifting sands. But it is said that at times, when the wind has driven the dunes just so, the legendary Mouth of Truth is once more revealed and those who dare may approach it.

The Mouth of Truth, by Fantavatar & Moonstruck, is based on a marble mask from Rome, likely depicting the face of the titan Oceanus. It has a single pose in which your avatar sticks a hand into the mouth. In her notecard accompanying the product, Luna Barak also shares this:

“According to enduring medieval legend, it will bite off the hand of any liar who places their hand in its mouth, or, alternatively, any who utters a lie while their hand is in the mouth.”

For this scene, I made an oracle out of it instead and placed it among the Ruins by Fanatik. My Truthseeker wears the gorgeous new Pandora gown by Tres, which features three different skirt styles: solid side panels, sheer side panels and no side panels. The skin as well as the eyeshadow and the metallic tattoos are all free prizes in the Free Dove & alaskametro hunt. Don’t miss it, there’s a total of ten prizes, including one more skin. The hair is Echo by Wasabi, which comes with two style options and hair clips that can be turned on or off.