Tag Archives: deathrow design

“Loving the monsters always ends badly for the humans. It’s a rule.”

by

Made for Eclipse Magazine // January 2021 // https://issuu.com/eclipsemagazinesl/docs/eclipse_magazine_january_2021

“Loving the monsters always ends badly for the humans. It’s a rule.”

[- Laurell K. Hamilton -]

For the current issue of the Eclipse Magazine, again I was allowed to showcase a role play genre. My choice this time was Vampires. I wanted to cover the more traditional and vintage side of it as well as the modern one.

For the more traditional, Victorian one I had the great pleasure, to get some company from Vivien Delancoure. It is always fun to do picture with friends, but usually I just do not dare to ask, as sometimes I take ages until I have my final pose, shot and background. I hate to waste others peoples time. With Vivien it was different. She is a blogger as well, making wonderful pictures and creates most of her poses by herself – Just take a look at her Flickr HERE. So she knows how long it can take and that made me brave enough to ask her, if she would like to join me for a picture. Her style is usually goth-romantic or dark romantic, which already was perfect for what I was going for. She was so sweet and patient and made the whole shoot to a lot of fun combined with a lovely chitchat 😉 I have a feeling, that this will be not our last shoot together as it really was awesome to work with her.

Thank you Vivien, for your time, patience and a new growing friendship I do not want to miss again 😉

My style you can find – like usual – below this post. For Vivien’s look, just take a look at her blog HERE.

Clothing

Coat: Hotdog – “Bloodsucker Tailcoat” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Glasses: -SU!- – “Midnight Doll Sunglasses”

Rings & Nails: [CX] x BUENO – “Welded Eye – Gold” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Magika – “Irene”

Face Scars: . The Rotting Lab . – “Waster – Scar – Pale”(BoM)

Eye Art & Sclera: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Hunger” (BoM, Materials enabled)

Head, Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLUTKA – Erin 2.5″

Ears: [CX] – “Ostium Impaler Ear”

Eyes: Madame Noir – “Sarah Eyes”  (LeLUTKA Evo. HD Applier)

Body: Maitreya – “Lara V5.3”

Poses, Props & Tools

Pose: oOo – “Taste Two” (slightly edited)

Scenery: DRD – “Bloodcroft Castle” (Gacha)

Pose Tool: Anypose – “BVN HUD v1.82”

Face Animation Tool: LeLutka – “Axis HUD Face 1.1”

Models

Vivien Delancour & Wicca Merlin

Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Hide from the World Outside…

by

As I look out of my bedroom window
I see the chaos that’s calling me
So the wind blows wherever it will go
It’s all too much for me

[- Pretty Reckless -]

Lockdown, lockdown light, back to normal, all open , all closed… This pandemic really becomes a huge mess as no one dares to make decisions anymore. I am not one of those denying that the pandemic exists, I am not one of those who tries to cheat and avoid masks and I see the danger of that virus very clear – I lost people to damn Covid already. What makes me crazy is the way how our government handles certain things. Why conferences, which debate about school rules and changes, have to be on a Sunday (and being alive already on Monday – the next day), when parents need to be informed and need plans to take care of their children on Monday? Why kids may play soccer on the school yard but in the afternoon the clubs for free time activities (as well soccer) are closed? Why kids must sit shoulder on shoulder in school with a mask, while they are not allowed to play with more than one certain friend in the afternoons? More and more doctors speak up saying that it is the kids that transport the virus without having any symptoms and our minister of education still preaches “Kindergartens and schools have to stay open!” I can see that there is a need of having a place where kids can go, if their parents have systemically important jobs or if the only have one parent that takes care of them – but why keeping schools open like mad while it is more and more clear that a huge part of the spreading happens through the classes where 26 and more people share one room the whole morning from 8am to 2 pm? This lockdown “light” crap destroys more than it helps as the number still go up and more and more small stores, theaters, cinemas, bands, musicians and bars/restaurants cannot even plan when it will have an end. A harsh 3 or 4 weeks lockdown might have been better and we know since September (school started over here by then) that we are running into that problem, because number started to go up when school started after summer and autumn came… it just starts feeling idiotic and despotic at the moment. It only feels like reaction to whats happening, but not anymore like intelligent action.

I as well could vomit when I see people going out on the streets wearing no masks and denying the pandemic would exist… did we not have enough death, not enough suffering and loosing people we loved? They claim they go out on the street for their rights – what about the right of  those who want to be protected, those who wear masks and follow given rules to get this pandemic stemmed? While they shout on the streets, people who care and try to protect themselves as much as they can, are forced to pass that crowd of people without masks. Recently they even started to use kids for their idiotic speeches making them say they would feel like Sophie Scholl or Anne Frank – I was so shocked when I heard that and my first thought was, what people would think who had to go through the cruel time of that times… for me an inexcusable affront to all those people!

All of that went trhough my mind when I was setting up the “Neclected Bedroom” from DRD. The idea of a messy bedroom, which you can hide from the world and read some books that even help with that – dive in a fantasy world and just forget all that madness out there and if you are lucky you have a little company from your kitty or the pet you chose for your life 😉 The kick ass cool boots I recently found at L’Emporio and could not pass them without getting my pair :p .

I hope you are well and afe and I wish you a wonderful pre Christmas time, even if it will be in a smaller circle than usual – it still can be nice and cozy ♥

Clothing

Shirt: ORPHIC – Layered Shirts – !Crop Only!” (Maitreya)

Bra: -:zk:- – “Kim/Bra/Black” (Maitreya)

Pants: Mossu – “Samanthe.Shorts – Grunge” (Maitreya)

Gloves: {PSYCHO:Byts} – “Riot Kidz” (Maitreya) – NEW @ The Warehouse Sale // November 2020

Shoes: L’Emporio&PL – “Wattie” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Piercing: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Vertebrus Septum MOD B” (Gacha, Rare) – NEW @ Kinky // November 2020

Collar: *PH* – “Knit Choker”

Nails: [CX] – “Fallen Filth Claws” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Necrosis // December 2020

Knees: .:Avanti:. – “Knit Knee Warmers – Black” (Maitreya)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No_Freak”

Eyeshadow: CAZIMI – “Holiday Glitz – 1 Silver – 95%” (BoM) – NEW @ Saturday Sale Dec 11 – 13

Lipstick: CAZIMI – “Delightful HD Lips HUD 03” (LeLUTKA Evo. HD Applier) – NEW @ Pretty // December 2020

Head, Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLUTKA – “Erin 2.5”

Ears: [CX] – “Ostium Impaler”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara V5.3”

Tattoo: .:Vegas:. – “Tattoo ( Dark ) Sweet as a Sin” (BoM) – NEW @ Kinky // November 2020

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses, Books & Cat: Le Poppycock – “Book Lovers” (Bento)

Furniture: DRD – “Neglected Bedroom”

Skybox: .:SkN:. – “Skybox Attic”

Model, Stylist & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

You’re Forgiven not Forgotten…

by

TUNES

All alone, staring on
Watching her life go by
When her days are gray and her nights are black
Different shades of mundane

And the one favorite toy that lies upon the bed
Has often heard her cry
And heard her whisper out a name long forgiven
But not forgotten

A bleeding heart torn apart
Left on an icy grave
In the room where they once lay, face to face
Nothing could get in their way

But now the memories of the man are haunting her days
And the craving never fades
She’s still dreaming of a man long forgiven
But not forgotten

Still alone, staring on
Wishing her life goodbye
As she goes searching for the man long forgiven
But not forgotten

You’re forgiven not forgotten
You’re not forgotten
No, you’re not forgotten

[- The Corrs -]
Clothing

Outfit & Headpiece: :Moon Amore: – “Misanthropic Veil – Tight” (Maitreya)

Poses & Props

Pose: Foxcity – “Devilish-6m” (Bento)

Set:

DRD – “Forgotten Guestroom Bed – Grey (PG)” – NEW @ The Warehouse Sale // October 2020

DRD – “Forgotten Guestroom – Side table” – NEW @ The Warehouse Sale // October 2020

DRD – “Forest Ritual Site – Tree Trunk”

DRD – “Forest Ritual Site – Treestump”

DRD – “Agony Statue Collection – Confrontation”

DRD – “Asylum – Papers A” (Gacha, Common)”

DRD – “Old Gazebo Bench – Post apoc”

DRD – “Halloween Collection – Halloween Bottles”

DRD – “The Cemetery – Ground Roots – Large”

DRD – “The Cemetery – Ground Roots – Small”

22769 – “House of Lost Souls – Stepstones” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “House of Lost Souls – Broken Fence” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “House of Lost Souls – Fence” (Gacha, Common)

LAQ Decor – “Mossy Stonewall”

LB – “GiantCedar{Animated}*Seasons”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

“We can change the world if we change ourselves…”

by

“We can change the world if we change ourselves. We just need to get hold of the old patterns of thinking and dealing with things and start listening to our inner voices and trusting our own superpowers.”

[- Nina Hagen -]

So many new releases I just had to do another post today!

I would like to highlight some really exciting news. Lets start with the extraordinary eyes and glasses of my more casual looking styling – at least for me that would be casual :p

The glasses and the eyes are made by Madame Noir. Known for her incredible and extraordinary eye designs she started  – for quite some time now – to make amazing fierce accessories. For example the “Aniquilation Glasses” – on the first view you just see those awesome shaped glasses with the huge side parts and if you take a closer look you see those nasty little claws that point right into your eye. Paired with the new “Spectro” eyes, it gives you a totally wicked look.

Since we are already looking at the closeup picture – LeLUTKA has again updated their new Evolution line heads! Now they are all boundless… what does that mean… they now have unrestricted bones! Yu can even customize your heads more than ever and if you absolutely don’t like it you still get the option with the ‘dated’ heads as  well included in the new update pack. The great HUD git an update too and was polished even more. Omega was removed for skin and lashes layers, a second HD eyeshadow has been added, we got a new HD brow layer and a tear line has been added. While we already had so many awesome moods for our heads, we now even get more – 64 moods in total! The face expressions got reworked too and even there we got more now \o/.

What I totally love is, that you now do not have to wear all piercings single anymore. Now we have 3 different sets: Ears, lip and nose and an extra HUD. With that HUD you can hide/show the piercings way easier and detailed.

The super cute and to the same time mega cool shoes, are made by DRD. The “Girlie Stompers” You get a rigged and un-rigged version so you can make the best fit even with pants, which usually require a wider shape. With the color HUD you get different options and colors for laces, bow, shoe base, shoe tip and the platforms. Since  am a DRD addicted, I could not resits to use the cool “Gypsy Claws” as my hand accessories and all the amazing decoration of my set you can see, is made by DRD too (I credited them all detailed below).  To finish my look I used one of the lates releases from Vegas Tattoo – the “Dark Body and Soul” tatoo available at the current round of UBER.

I could not resist to put that little, cute kitty from JIAN into my pictures, as I loved the little distraction to the whole scenery, which that little boy brought to the set 😉

I hope I did not scare yo with all the little pictures and details, but I felt they needed to be shown for the new 2.5 update of LeLUTKA, which I immensely enjoy 😉

Clothing

Outfit: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Roxy” (Maitreya)

Stockings: .:Avanti:. – “Ripped Nylons – V1” (BoM)

Shoes: DRD – “Girlie Stompers – Colors Rigged” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Glasses: Madame Noir – “Aniquilation Glasses” – NEW @ Salon 52 // October 2020

Hand Accessories: DRD – “Gypsy Claws – Colors” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Action Inkubator – “Neo”

Eyeshadow: CAZIMI – “Vamp HD Makeup” (LeLUTKA Evo.HD Applier)

Lipstick: -SU!- – “Cyber Necromancer Lips Gloss” (LeLUTKA Evo.HD Applier) – NEW @ Necrotize // October 2020

Nose Tattoo: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Sigurd – Scar Nose Plaster ( LeLEvo )” (BoM, Gacha, Common)

Cheek Tattoo: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Sigurd – Scar Cheekbone Psycho ( LeLEvo )” (BoM, Gacha, Common)

Head, Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLUTKA – “Lake 2.5” – NEW Update 2.5 – Boundless

Eyes: Madame Noir – “Spectro HD Eyes” (LeLUTKA Evo.HD Applier) – NEW @ The Darkness // November 2020

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Kanji Ears” (Gacha, Rare)

Body: Maitreya – “Lara V5.3”

Tattoo: .:Vegas:. – “Tattoo Dark Body and Soul vBlack” (BoM) – NEW @ UBER // October 2020

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses: Foxity

Cat: JIAN Curious Kitties :: Companion Tuxedo

Set:

DRD – “San Mora – City Trash – Pile – B”

DRD – “PA – Constructed Outlook – Tire Pile”

DRD – “Scrappy Scooter – Rusted Black”

DRD – “Beer Stand – Crates and Kegs”

DRD – “Beer Stand – Crate Pile”

DRD – “Beer Stand – Crate Stack”

DRD – “post apoc camp sitting crates 1”

DRD – “post apoc camp sitting crates 2”

DRD – “post apoc camp sitting crates 3”

DRD – “GFYH – Fund Cup – Buy DRD”

Backdrop: .PALETO. – “Backdrop:. Detroit Streets”

Model, Stylist & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

“You’ve sensed that something’s watching you”

by

TUNES

I am a man who walks alone
And when I’m walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park
When the light begins to change
I sometimes feel a little strange
A little anxious when it’s dark
Have you run your fingers down the wall
And have you felt your neck skin crawl
When you’re searching for the light?
Sometimes when you’re scared to take a look
At the corner of the room
You’ve sensed that something’s watching you

I have a phobia that someone’s always there
Have you ever been alone at night
Thought you heard footsteps behind
And turned around and no one’s there?
And as you quicken up your pace
You find it hard to look again
Because you’re sure there’s someone there
Watching horror films the night before
Debating witches and folklore
The unknown troubles on your mind
Maybe your mind is playing tricks
You sense and suddenly eyes fix
On dancing shadows from behind
I have a constant fear that something’s always near
I have a phobia that someone’s always there
Fear of the Dark

[- Iron Maiden -]
Clothing

Dress with Hood: Bauhaus – Melinoe Dress (Maitreya) – NEW @ Necrotize // October/November 2020

Shoes: Eudora3D – “Vertigo Boots” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Necrotize // October/November 2020

Tights: Izzie’s – “Tights Orange” (BoM)

Accessories

Nails: FORMANAILS – “Claws XXL” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Face Art (incl. Eyes & Mouth Lights): .:Soul:. – “Makeup – Pumpkin Face & Eyes” (BoM)

Head, Body & Tattoo

Skin: YS&YS – “Immortal NO Brows” (BoM)

Head: LeLUTKA – “Ryn 2.5”

Ears: [CX] – Ostium Impaler”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara V5.3”

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses: Foxcity

Camp:

DRD – “Forest Ritual Site – Cauldron”

DRD – “Forest Ritual Site – Treestump”

DRD – “Forest Ritual Site – Altar”

DRD – “Forest Ritual Site – SpellBook”

DRD – “Forest Ritual Site – Tree Trunk”

DRD – “The Cemetery – Dirt Pile – One”

DRD – “The Cemetery – Dirt Pile – Two”

Animal: *HEXtraordinary* – “Snail Wanderer – Achatina”

Weapon: [CX] – “Wasteland Reaper”

Tree 1: LB – “GiantCedar{Animated}*Seasons”

Tree 2: LB – “OldOakTree{4Seasons}*Animated”

Shrubs: [we’re CLOSED] – “shrub large bare”

Roots: DRD – “The Cemetery – Ground Roots”

Leaves: +Half-Deer+ – “Fallen Leaves – Autumn – Ground”

Model, Stylist & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

“If you want to survive, you’re going to have to learn to be more ruthless.”

by

“If you want to survive, you’re going to have to learn to be more ruthless.”
[- suzanne Low -]

It is incredible how many amazing terrifying designs jump on the grid at the moment! I know why I keep saying, the actual season is my personal Christmas season *grins wickedly*

At the moment I am watching TWD again and when I saw the new mask from DRD, it instantly reminded me about the “‘Whisperers”. With the flesh and metal parts it is a perfect combination of a scary, horrifying mask. The details are amazing crisp, but that we already know from DRD *winks*

For the top I wanted something rotten, ripped too and CerberusXing had the perfect design for that. Matching the basic apocalyptic scenery, I wanted some cool and special weapons and strapped, used shorts to still let the amazing stompers from DRD shine.

The collar is one of our latest releases for the Hallow Manor event and made the perfect finish for my look today, but I still would love to drag your attention to the closeup below… The incredible cool eyes are made by Madame Noir for the Salon 52 event. Together with the messy eye-shadow and lipstick from CAZIMI they completely kicked my imagination about what this woman could have been gone through, before she ran from that huge fire explosion. Certainly such a strong and powerful woman cannot be without a tattoo and it was no question what ink master she chose when she got it – Vegas Tattoo!

Clothing

Collar: Wicca’s Originals – “Lamia” (Miatreya) – NEW @ Hallow Manor // October 2020

Top: [CX] – “Ragged Tube Top – Camo” (Maitreya)

Shorts with Garter: Eliavah – “Vixen Shorts [Bluesy]” (Maitreya)

Stockings: .:Avanti:. – Ripped Nylons – v4″ (BoM)

Shoes: DRD – “P.A.N Stompers (Coal)” (Size 2)

Accessories

Mask: DRD – “Skinner Mask – female” – NEW @ Necrosis // September 2020

Saws: cinphul – “Mongrel Saw [Black]

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Action Inkubator – “Liberty”

Makeup & Lipstick: CAZIMI – “Exiled HD Makeup” (LeLUTKA HD Evo. Applier)

Head, Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLUTKA – “River 2.0”

Eyes: Madame Noir – “Queen Eyes” (LeLUTKA HD Evo. Applier) – NEW @ Salon 52

Ears: [CX] – “Ostium Impaler Ears”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara V5.3”

Tattoo: .:Vegas:. – “Tattoo ( Dark ) Never Dead” (BoM) – NEW @ The Dark Style Fair // October 2020

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses: Poseidon

Location

Bartertown

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Come inside, don’t be afraid, I’ll keep you safe…

by

TUNES

Hey there, little girl
Come inside I’ve got some sweet things
Put your hair in curls
Paint you up just like a drag queen

I don’t mind decay?
‘Cause you are the night that saves my day

[-Pretty Reckless-]

Today I have a picture for you, which I created for my exhibition at the L’autre Oeil Gallery. They asked me to create 3 pictures for a special exhibition called “Halloween & Goth”. When I saw the Incredible “Plague Skeleton Creature” mask and hands from DRD, released at The Warehouse Sale, it was a must to use them for the picture idea that I had! The hands even come with a BoM layer to make a smooth seam between the hands and arms. While I was styling, I realized that CerberusXing just released new horns at Necrosis another cool event for this season you should not miss out!

The cool tattoo, which perfectly matched the look, I found at Nefekalum Tattoos and the awesome, filigree outfit was made by ERSCH.

This time of the year is like my personal Christmas season. I do love all the dark, mystic and scary things – I know… no news so far – and I can promise, that I already have a few more ideas in mind in that kind of style, for my next few blog posts 😉

Clothing

Outfit: ERSCH – “Vena” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Horns: [CX] – Apis Horns” – NEW @ Necrosis

Mask & Hands: DRD – “Plague Skeleton Creature” (Hands: Maitreya, Bento) – NEW @ The Warehouse Sale

Hair & Makeup

Hair: MINA Hair – “Karen”

Head, Body & Tattoo

Body: Maitreya – “Lara v5.3”

Tattoo: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Icarus Brans” (Maitreya Applier, Materials Enabled)

Poses, Props & Tools

Pose: Poseidon

Lamp: DRD – “Voodoo Shoppe – Spirit Lamp – Long”

Mobile: DRD – “Voodoo Shoppe – Bone Mobile – Long”

Gallery Location

L’autre Oeil Gallery

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Stand up for your Rights!

by

TUNES

Preacher man, don’t tell me
Heaven is under the earth
I know you don’t know
What life is really worth
It’s not all that glitters is gold
‘Alf the story has never been told
So now you see the light, eh!
Stand up for your rights. Come on!
Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight!

[Bob Marley]

When I was styling and shooting todays pictures, I saw a lot of things on the news that made me sad again. It is so embarrassing, that in the 21st century we still have to talk about human equality – it should be our nature by now and not something we still need to debate about! We are all humans anyways what skin color, religion, ethnics or countries we have or come from. I was raised that way, that I should always see humanity in people first, get to know them and then decide if I like them or not, but not because of their visible trademarks.I am very happy that according to the news there is many people who think the same – sadly not yet all. There are enough things to dislike someone, but that only should be about character attributes and nothing else. I am not a dreamer… not everyone can go along with everyone else – we have our own character as well – but it shouldn’t be any thing that we judge about, before we actually know the person itself and know what we dislike about a certain person! In a world where we can fly everywhere in the world and can live where ever we choose, those idiotic, racist thoughts should be gone – ALL kind of them! We all have our traditions and no one will take them away, just because we allow another one to be close and have their own traditions and culture – it even can be interesting and exciting, at least for me.

So yes, STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS if someone tries to take them away from you!

Clothing

Top & Sleeves: Salt & Pepper – “Daphne” (Maitreya)

Shorts & Belt: Salt & Pepper – “Colette” (Maitreya)

Shoes: DRD – “Rosie Plattforms” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Vintage Fair 2020

Accessories

Glasses: EarthStones – “Eyeglasses – The Yesterday (S)”

Septum: [CX] – “Drop Septum (Gold)”

Necklace 1: Kunglers – “Chris necklace O.O – Citrine”

Necklace 2: MG – “San Juan Skyway – Gold”

Rings: *elise* – “Mathilde” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Dope” – NEW @ Cosmopolitan //June 2020

Eyeshadow: CAZIMI – “Dahlia Eyeshadow – 8 Green – 90%” (BoM)

Lipstick: CAZIMI – “Trending HD Lips (LeLutka) Set 02” (LeLutka Evo. HD Applier)

Shading: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Cheek and Nose Contour” (BoM)

Head, Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Lake 1.2”

Freckles: Izzie’s – “Pores & Blemishes – Freckles” (BoM)

Body: Maitreya – “Lara V5.1”

Tattoo: .:Vegas:. – “Tattoo Dark I see you” (BoM)

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses: Foxcity

Cigarette: NikotiN – “Cigarette Dirty V.2”

Lighter: Foxcity – “Night Owl-4 Lighter Prop” (from the Night Owl Bento Set)

Bottles: BellePoses – “Beer 3M” & “Beer 01M” (Aylla Pose Set)

Car: DRD – “The Stranded Pack Rat”

Guitar: DRD – “Vagabond – Guitar”

Dreamcatcher: DRD – “GG – Catcher – One”

Pose Tool: Anypose – “BVN HUD v1.6”

Face Animation Tool: LeLutka – “Axis HUD Face 1.1”

Location

Bartertown

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Imagine…

by

TUNES

You, you may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

[John Lennon]

Clothing

Top: neve – “Milla” (Maitreya)

Pants: Blueberry – “Pride Shorts” (Maitreya, SL16B Gift)

Shoes: [Gos] – “Emelie Sandals” (Maitreya) – NEW @ UBER // August 2019

Accessories

Legwraps: Storybook – “Savage – Brown” (Maitreya)

Necklace 1: Eudora3D – “Eithne Necklace Gold Materials”

Necklace 2: MG – “Leather Alexa Choker – Design 3”

Rings: Meva – “Bento Maitreya Rings Gold” (Maitreya, Bento)

Glasses: EarthStones – “The Yesterday”

Headpiece: DRD – “Vagabond – Flower Crown”

Bangles (l): DRD – “Chunky Bangles – Flower”

Bracelet (r): [ kunst ] – “Conrad Bracelet”

Piercing:  [ kunst ] – “Piercing #10” (Gacha, Common)

Septumn: [ kunst ] – “Anuket Septum Ring”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Weird” – NEW @ COSMOPOLITAN // August 12th, 2019

Makeup: Zibska – “Noir Pack 06” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: alaskametro<3 – “London” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Ears: CODEX – “Marley Ears”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Tattoo: ((Mister Razzor)) – “Dante” (Omega Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Set:

DRD – “The Stranded Pack Rat”

DRD – “Vagabond – Guitar” (Groupgift

DRD – “Post Apoc Camp Sitting Crates 1”

DRD – “GG – Catcher – One” (Groupgift

22769 ~ [bauwerk] – “Beertray Sidetable Green” (table made transparent to use ashtray and cigarettes)

Location

…:::Bartertown:::…

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

The Dark Nun – My Journey of Blogging

by

It is still sunny and hot outside but I already desire the dark months again… maybe exactly because of that. I hate hot weather and I never was a huge friend of the sun.

Recently I watched the movie “The Nun” again. I do love mystic, horror movies a lot and the 2 Conjuring movies with the spin-offs of Anabelle and The Nun are just a must if you love that kind of genre 😉

So I guess The Nun was my inspiration for this when I saw the “Lost Saints ” gacha from ANTINATURAL[+] the first time. Like usual it took me a while before I found all my components and parts for my pictures, but I got used to that. I have a huge respect for those who get something at the release day and instantly have a cool idea what they could do with it for their pictures. I am not talking about the usual blogger pictures that are just showcasing the outfits (nothing wrong with them), but about those who make pictures that kinda tell stories or being made in an artistic way.

I remember times when I just blogged for blogging purposes like reviews, showcasing items, putting a simple stylecard and doing promotion for designers. Like I said before there is nothing wrong with that, but after 10 years of blogging I had to find something different for me as blogging started to feel like a duty only and the fun started to vanish. I started originally with one picture and a style card and never had more than one or two sentences to it. Back then it was cool as I could kinda pump out up to 7 posts per day. Back then we didn’t have any kind of windlight, shadows or meshes, so it was way more easy to shoot pictures and post process them lightly. Usually the only thing I did was to put me in front of a colored background, have more than one view of myself or closeups in the picture and in the end I added a shadow to give it at least some depth (EXAMPLE). Back then I felt really cool with doing that, as it did it’s purpose to showcase designers work as best as I could. Those damn shadows and the desire to have myself more than once on my pictures or have some closeups were the reason why I started to learn Photoshop back then *giggles*

Over the time I tried various things to develop my picture skills and to find new ways how I could showcase designers work properly. I tried simple backgrounds, busy ones and I tried the green-screening and having completely different backgrounds that did not came from Second Life. The last one I did not try for too long as it did not look right for me and I really wanted to keep my pictures taken in SL. I never had the desire to merge SL snapshots into RL pictures or backgrounds and so I gave up on that trend relatively quick. While I started with square pictures (512×512) I figured out fast, that other rations can look way more interesting and attractive. After experimenting quite a while with sizes and formats, I found out that I do love 4:3 (3:4 as well) ratio the most.

Back in 2009, blogging wasn’t as popular as it is today and as a model we were told we should do pictures of have a blog to showcase our styling skills away from the runway shows and vendor shots where the designers kinda put their own visions on us. It was a way to interpret clothing different than the designer initially did, but still it was a way to promote the designs and show that they could have different ways of styles and could attract different groups of people. I had the most fun to fool around with gowns, away from being just beautiful and pretty *grins*

First I was told if I keep on doing such things, like wearing gowns with shaved hair and piercings,  pull simple casual outfits to something wicked and dark with accessories and the location/set I was using, mix and match different outfits together or even use accessories away from their original purpose, I would damage my reputation and no one ever would give me things to blog anymore. I was new into the business back then and a little scared that those who already worked in the fashion industry would be right. So I calmed down again and went on with mainstream pictures again. Then something really funny happened. Designers, fellow models and some other people IMed me asking me why I would go back to those “boring” styles again. That was a wakeup call for me. Even if my ideas were unconventional and different, there were some people who enjoyed that as much as I do. I screwed the thought and the anxiety about my weird ideas and went back to what I really enjoyed. But I always made sure to not distort designers work with too weird poses and later on, when we got windlight, shadows and lights, to not change the color of an outfit or have things too dark so you could not anymore see them. I wanted to have more than one picture, so that I could tell a little story with them. To the same time it would give me the possibility to again focus on details in different pictures. I made the decision to put more pictures on my blog post and have one reference picture (mostly the one I loved the most) displayed on Flickr.  That all kept my pictures weird for my styles but in general relatively simple, as they looked flat without any emotion and depth. For quite a while that was ok for me and I enjoyed, that I could live my craziness of styles and got new sponsors now and then (EXAMPLE).

Again I came across a point where I had the desire to change something as I wanted to have more emotions and feelings in my pictures. When we got windlight, shadows and lights, I found out that you can create cool, dramatic shots with a strong light and shadow combination and a powerful windlight. But there was the other side of the coin… with deep shadows some details started to vanish and first I had the feeling I  should not do that as it does hide designers work too much. The more I tried, the less I could resist to all those new features and I that seriously put me on the horns of a dilemma. I wanted to do more artistic pictures that have more content than just the clothing that I was wearing, but how I could do that if I loose details to the dark. When bento came to Second Life it was even worse, as pose creators started to make more crazy poses and with my 4:3 ratio pictures I didn’t want to use standing poses only anymore where I had more background than avatar on the picture. I had so many awesome sponsors (if I now look back, it were too many) and I wanted to satisfy them all. I wasn’t able to have a combination of blog pictures and personal pictures done, as I had so many deadlines and outfits that I had to blog. There was a point where everything became too much and blogging or making pictures became a burden and nearly all the fun had vanished. I had to make a decision – either I go on like usual and loose all my interest in blogging, Second Life and everything I loved, or I have to change something drastically and revamp my blog.

It wasn’t an easy decision as I had the feeling I do have to let my sponsors go, when I cannot satisfy them anymore. I left a few and as well explained to them why I had to. A handful of my sponsors really surprised me, when they told me they would still like to keep me and see where my journey would go to – I never ever expected that!

I took a few weeks off and started to reconsider my blog and pictures. During that time I watched a lot of Photoshop tutorials and learned a lot of new techniques about photo editing. When I came back I was full of energy and started to play with lights, projectors and shadows and experimented with all the new things I learned in Photoshop. It was a complete new freedom and feeling and I found all the fun back, that I missed so much. I am a very self-critical person and so even if the fun was back I felt there was missing something, as many times the pictures looked ok but not “cool”. That was when Silly told me about VISONAIRE. First I thought, why I should take a course if I can have all the tutorials and information on the Internet as well? But the more I thought about the more I did remember, how much I loved attending classes and workshops in my life. So I signed up and I have to tell you, I do not regret any second! (If you want to know more about my VISIONAIRE experience you can look HERE) It was a completely different experience and it did teach me a lot about things that I never thought of and just did because I felt it looks nice. What was again a huge surprise, with my new way of pictures (I did not dare to apply as a blogger at too many places anymore) I got requested as a blogger or even got flickr mails where designers or blogger managers invited me to join their blogger team. That certainly was the most awesome thing that could happen – I do what I enjoy and others do enjoy my new way of blogging too!

I am sure, there will be times, when the desire of changes will come up again, but for now I really do enjoy blogging and taking pictures again 🙂

Clothing

Outfit: ANTINATURAL[+] – “Lost Saints / Unsainted Nun / Mini” (Gacha, Rare)

Veil: ANTINATURAL[+] – “Lost Saints / Unsainted Nun / Veil” (Gacha, Rare)

Shoes: ANTINATURAL[+] – “Lost Saints / Leather Boots” (Gacha, Rare)

Accessories

Wrist Armor: ANTINATURAL[+] – “Lost Saints / Gold Gauntlets” (Gacha, Rare)

Tounge Piercings: LeLutka – “BDYART-TBRBL” (Bento)

Headpiece: ANTINATURAL[+] – “Lost Saints / Sacred Silence / Gold” (Gacha, Common)

Horns: ANTINATURAL[+] – “Lost Saints / Gilded Horns / Gold” (Gacha, Common)

Rings: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Tunderstrike Rings” (Maitreya, Bento)

Nails: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Obsess Claws” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Entwined – “Jana”

Eyemakeup: CURELESS[+] – “Undereye Lines & Eyeliner” (Omega Applier)

Forehead: CURELESS[+] – “Onibi Markings” (Omega Applier)

Wounds: .{PSYCHO:Byts}. – “Badass Fighter” (Omega Applier)

Lips: LeLutka – “Beast Applier” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Korina 3.3” (Bento)

Teeth: LeLutka – “Beast Teeth 1.1” (Bento)

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1” (Bento)

Skin: *YS&YS* – “Immortal Skin” (LeLutka & Maitreya Applier)

Eyes: ANATOMY – “Reflect Eyes – Albino”

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Gormory Ears”

Poses & Props

Poses: Poseidon – “Evil Nurse”, “Puppeteer”, “Hil Nurse” & “Morgue”

Background: SEMPITERNAL – “[The Forbidden Room]”

Table & Dishes: DRD – “Black Widow Tea Table”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin