Tag Archives: DRD

In Darkness let me Dwell

by

TUNES

In darkness let me dwell, the ground shall sorrow be
The roof despair to bar all cheerful light from me
The walls of marble black that moistened still shall weep
My music hellish jarring sounds to banish friendly sleep:
Thus wedded to my woes, and bedded to my tomb
O, let me living die, till death do come

[John Dowland]

Again I was in a more dark mood and had fun with the dark side of life 😉

I wanted to show off some new releases from CerberusXing, which completely caught my heart. The “Industrial Valkyrie” gacha set is a complete must have if you want to be one of the cool kids. The set contains top, skirt and the thigh-high stomper boots, which are decorated with some amazing chains at the foot. The black top and skirt are the rarely while you have 6 more colors, including white, in the commons. The colors are so very well compatible you can even mix and match different colors and have an amazing look.

The incredible detailed face chain as well was made by CerberusXing. The “Tyran’s Chain” is available in gold, silver and onyx at FaMESHed. It reaches over half the face from the ear towards the nose where it is ending in a little ring-shaped nose piercing. I found out that it perfectly goes with the “Ostium Impaler” ears as well made by [CX].

The perfect matching tattoo was made by Nefekalum Tattoos. It wasn’t meant to be word with the outfit intentionally, but for me it was the perfect match! It has long black arms and some amazing devilish ornaments across them and over the chest. The tattoo comes with materials, appliers and as BoM layers, so you really can choose what fits your style best or what you like most.

I will now go and try again all the other colors of that great gacha and make my personal mix and match with them for an everyday use – just to prove that I am not ONLY wearing black all the time *giggles*

Clothing

Outfit (incl. shoes): [CX] – “Industrial Valkyrie” (Maitreya, Gacha) – NEW @ Epiphany // April/May 2020

Accessories

Piercing 1: [CX] – “Tyrant’s Chain (Silver)” – NEW @ FaMESHed // April/May 2020

Piercing 2: -SU!- – “Medusa Piercing” (Group Gift)

Nipple Piercing: [CX] – “Teared Entrapment – Silver” (Maitreya)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: adoness – “Vonks”

Makeup: LuluB! – “Warrior – Full Face Makeup w/o lipstick” (BoM)

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

Head, Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLUTKA – “Lake 1.2”

Ears:  [CX] – “Ostium Impaler Ears”

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

Dimples: P O E M A – “Jude – DIMPLES” (BoM, Gift)

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

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 5.1”

Tattoo: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Sanctified” (Maitreya Applier+Materials)

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses: selfmade

Set:

Backdrop: #Cranked# – “Backdrop Madhouse Horror Scene ( LI 40 )”

Crate: floorplan. – “old crate stack’

Pillow: Amacci ~ “Unisex Pillow – Red”

Lights: ::Static:: – “Vintage Lighting – 15 Bulb Lamp”

Coffin with Deco: crate – “Lost Souls Coffin”

Trashbin: DRD – “EL – Themepark Tashcans /EL trashcan2 c/m” (Gacha, Common)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Breathing Underwater

by

TUNES

Breathing Underwater

There’s a light in the dark where the sky splits apart
Where the stars find a way to shine through all the spaces in between
Here we are, face to face, all alone in this place
And the night is finally coming down to you and me
Tell me where you been hiding
Oh, I want to know, oh
You’re my silver lining covered in gold
Tell me what am I feeling
Well, it’s hard to explain
Like underwater breathing, swimming in rain

Wanna fly through the blue bay on the bottom with you
Getting lost in the waves, let the world slip away
Where nobody can find us, I don’t wanna be safe
Leave it all behind us, make an escape
Oh, tell me what am I feeling
Oh, it’s hard to explain
Like underwater breathing, swimming in rain

Wanna go to the edge
Wanna dive in again
Here we are, face to face
All alone in this place
And it’s finally coming down to you and me
Breathing under

Oh oh, all I really wanna do, do
Is fall a little deeper with you, you
Never come up
Breathing, breathing underwater
Weightless with every little kiss you steal, boy
You are m-making me feel, feel
Like I’m breathing
Breathing, breathing underwater
[Marié Digby]

Clothing

Dress:[CX] – “Vicious Vaccine – Pack A” (Maitreya, Gacha, Rare)

Bra: [CX] / [CntrpN] – “Clam Yo Tits – Kelp” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Piercing : [CX] – “Vermin – Silver – L”

Lip Piercing: [CX] – “Bitten 2017 Update (Silver)” (Bento)

Collar: [CX] – “XenoCircuit – Ocean” (Maitreya)

Head Piece: DRD – “Wasteland Helmet – Metal Mohawk”

Hair & Makeup

Face Art: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Selkie” (BoM+Materials Applier – Part of the Body Tattoo)

Lipstick: Izzie’s – “LeLutka Holo Metallic Lipstick 10” (BoM)

Head, Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLUTKA – “Lake 1.1”

Ears: [Trap][Gauze] – “Djinn Ears”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 5.0.2”

Skin: Human Glitch – “MNFRM Skin / MTL” (BoM)

Arms: [Cubic Cherry] – “Ekion Arms” (Maitreya, Bento)

Legs: [Cubic Cherry] – “Altered Legs” (Maitreya)

Tattoo: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Selkie” (Maitreya Applier+Materials Applier)

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses:

Picture 1: Body Talking – “Silent Mermaid 2” (store closed)

Picture 2: selfmade

Picture 3: an lar [poses] – “The Ariel Series – Three”

Picture 4: .MILA: POSES – “In My Bed 6R”

Picture 5: an lar [poses] – “The Ariel Series – Two”

Picture 6: an lar [poses] – “The Ariel Series – Five”

Particles: *CC* – “Hot Blue Fizz” – NEW @ UBER

Pose Tool: Anypose – “BVN HUD v1.6”

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

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

I hate the world today…

by

I hate the world today
You’re so good to me
I know but I can’t change
Tried to tell you
But you look at me like maybe
I’m an angel underneath
Innocent and sweet

[Meredith Brooks]

Clothing

Top: [CX] – “Mucronate Top – Leather” (Maitreya)

Pants: .: ryvoltzer x nu :. – “Marly Distressed Shorts” (Maitreya)

Stockings: .:Avanti:. – “Ripped Nylons – v1” (BoM)

Shoes: : CULT : – “Bad Mood Boots” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Collar 1: [CX] – “Summer Hater” (Group Gift)

Collar 2: -SU!- – “Lynexia Collar 1” (Group Gift)

Eyepatch: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Falkor Patch Gear (R)” (Gacha, Rare) – NEW @ Kinky January 2020

Mask: [CX] – “Mucronate Mask – Black”

Nails & Rings: [CX] – “Creature Claws – Onyx” (Maitreya, Bento)

Sleeves: [CX] – “Lance Bracers Femme – Black” (Maitreya)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Comission”

Makeup 1: -SU!- – “The Bride FX Makeup /Smokey/” (BoM)

Makeup 2: -SU!- – “The Bride FX Makeup /Zombie/” (BoM)

Head, Body & Tattoos

Head: LeLUTKA – “Erin 1.0” – NEW @ Mainstore

Face Skin: [Glam Affair] – “Blake Layer [LeLutka] 003 E” (BoM)

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

Contour: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Cheek & Nose Contour (Tintable)” (BoM)

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

BoM Relay: Maitreya – “Bakes on Mesh Relay HUD”

Body Skin: [Glam Affair] – “Body – Normal [Maitreya] 003” (BoM)

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Ears Akasuna”

Tattoo: Von Noir Tattoo – “Persephoneia (Fresh)” (BoM)

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses: BellePoses – “Aylla” (Bento, Beer Bottles included)

Prop: DRD – “Sidewalk Penthouse” (Group Gift August 2018)

Location

Wicca’s Originals

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Crime Scene!

by

TUNES

As he came into the window
It was the sound of a crescendo
He came into her apartment
He left the bloodstains on the carpet
She ran underneath the table
He could see she was unable
So she ran into the bedroom
She was struck down, it was her doom

[Michael Jackson]

Do you know that feeling, if you have gotten something you totaly like and then you have no satisfying idea how to showcase it in a styling? You do not want to make a compromise, nor you want to waste it in something it doesn’t belong 100% to? This I an fighting for 2 different things for weeks now and finally one design just made it into something I do like *smiles all over*

That is one reason, why I am wearing my Simone head from LeLutka again instead of one of the new Evolution line (that will be my next post again!) I was a longer process this time – it started way before the new head line from LeLutka was released *giggles*

When I finally had my look together, the huge problem of the background/scenery started again. Lately that is one of my biggest problems as I rarely find good places when I need them, they usually pop up way after I posted something and then I get into the “Damn, would you just have waited” mode. But if I wouldn’t have the pictures already, that moment would not have happened most likely…

I am pondering if I just over-think things sometimes and that becomes to the problem that I do not like anything I am doing, or if it is just an episode in my life that I question everything at the moment – I have no idea.

But this time I was lucky again and found my perfect background with the “Slum Riverside” backdrop from Paparazzi and some deco elements from DRD and floorplan to make it look like I wanted.

My item I was trying for so long to find the right look was the “Crime Scene” face art from Nefekalum Tattoos. It was a gift for the Hallow Manor. It is an amazing alteration of the “Seer” face tattoo, which I was already in love with and showcased before already (HERE).

Yellow usually isn’t a color I am very familiar with as I love black and red or white the most . Sometimes even blue but the warm, bright colors are something I struggle a lot with. Even more I wanted this pictures to be perfect and cool 😉

CerberusXing is one of my favorite places to go, if I am looking for something edgy, extraordinary or outstanding. I love his dark moods and designs a lot and they do inspire me a lot for many of my pictures. His texture work is incredible with so many different fabrics and his leather textures are just stunning.

Today I am wearing a mix and match of many of his designs. I combines the “Hiniata” net dress with the “Pantsu Codex” panties and the amazing detailed “LSD Fishnet” stockings. I will have another post for the stockings soon since I am hiding half of the beauty in my “Monster Boots” from Psycho Barbie.

I wanted to bring the yellow once again and I digged deep in my inventory to find something yellow that would work with the amazing face art. Yellow isn’t automatically yellow, something I tried to tell people for years. Even if it is the same color or color range it still might clash if you pair the wrong shades, but I rarely get heard with that *rolls her eyes*

It is the same when people keep saying red and pink do not go together – damn hell they do if you picture the right shades… anyways, lets focus on yellow and black again *winks*

I know I used the earring/piercing gacha set from Eclipse Art Studio already for my last picture but it is just so amazing I had to use it again for this post. I even loved that kind of piercing in RL and as well had one of those for a long time, where the nose piercing was connected to the ear – maybe thats is why I love it so much, as it reminds me on my 20s. Even if I have no clue anymore how I could sleep with that chain across my cheek… must have worked as I had for quite a while! I always loved long earrings more than short ones or studs only, even if sometimes my long hair totally became a mess when they tangled up with exactly that. The long earrings I used to take out at night and changed them kinda everyday.

The whole style remembers me on my 20s somehow even if I would have not worn that tiny, little nothing of that sexy net dress like that… but hey, that is what we have Second Life for!

Now I will crawl back to my platform and work some more on the new “Nova” head from LeLutka, so that I can show that to you next 😉

Clothing

Outfit: [CX] – “Hinata” (Maitreya)

Top: Apple May Designs – “Tigress Sliced Tops – Black” (Omega Applier)

Panties: [CX] – “Pantsu Codex” (Maitreya)

Stockings: [CX] – “LSD Fishnets – Black” (Maitreya)

Jacket: Vinyl – “Lenka Rain Jacket” (Maitreya)

Shoes: +Psycho Barbie+ – “[Monster Boots] (Maitreya)

Accessories

Earrings & Piercings: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Gacha Set Blade/Tag/Heart Broke ( Bloggher Pack )”

Nose Plaster: [CX] – “Vice Crew / Nose Bandage – Black” (Gacha, Common)

Collar: [CX] – “Hells Harbinger” (Maitreya)

Necklace: DRD – “Anarchy Necklace”

Nails & Rings: [CX] – “Creatures Claws – Silver” (Maitreeya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Face Art: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Crime Scene” (LeLutka Applier, Hallow Manor Gift 2019)

Hair: no.match – “No.Arrest”

Body & Tattoos

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.4”

Eyelashes: alaskametro<3 – “Slay False Eyelashes” (LeLutka Applier)

Ears: ^^Swallow^^ – “Pixie Ears – Protruding”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Backdrop: Paparazzi – “Slum Riverside – BACKDROP – classic”

Crates 1: DRD – “Beer Stand – Empty Crates” (part of the Beer Stand Collection)

Crates 2: floorplan. – “Old Crate Stack”

Table & Deco: DRD – “PA – Sewer Shelter – Table” (part of the PA – Sewer Shelter)

Deco 1: DRD GG – “Post Apoc Radio/Receiver – Yellow” (Group Gift January 2017)

Deco 2: DRD GG – “Post Apoc Transceiver – Yellow” (Group Gift January 2017)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Me, myself and I

by

Recently I was asked, why you never do casual anymore? Are you only going to do scary and creepy pictures now? Are you going to give up your versatileness?

The simple answer is… NO!

But what I gave up is to let others dictate me what I am doing or how I am showcasing things on my blog *winks*

I am in Second Life nearly 13 years now and I tried a lot of things on my blog. When I started I thought I have to have as many posts a day as I can pump out on one day and that 7 days a week. I had times where I ran though 5 to 7 “posts” a day – Posts in terms of I do a quick snap shot and post a style card. That didn’t satisfy me after some time and I started to write something to every picture. First the facts about the clothing, like what kind of HUDs, how many colors or what special features they had. Later even a little bit of a review about what I liked most of the items and designs I was given to blog. Again I felt at some point that that wasn’t the only thing what I liked to do and I dared to write a little bit about things in SL that bothered me, or about certain topics to explain them better as I had a feeling they were misunderstood and underestimated a lot. That I still like to do and sometimes my blog even was a place to vent for me and write things just off my soul to get rid of them. In my view a blog has to be more than just a style card. If I just would like to have style cards nowadays, I would just blog on Flickr I guess. But since I usually need or want more than one picture to showcase my styling, to as well highlight the details, I decided to keep my blog and continue to write what comes to my mind or sometimes even just post lyrics and tunes if I feel like it or have nothing to say.

 

Today I really felt kinda casual, or better I felt like doing my way of casual styling. When I showed my look to a friend and said I felt casual, she laughed her ass of and said: “Yeah, maybe for you that would be casual… could you ever imagine to go out like that?” My answer was: “Oh yeah… I did that in my 20s”. she stopped talking and asked if I would be serious… yes, I am serious. I was a little rebel in my RL as well – probably I am still one, but my temper might be more adult now as it used to be *snickers*

So lets take a look at the style… I wanted to use the “Fianna” face tattoo from Nefekalum Tattoos, parts of the “Voodoo Dolls Backpack and Mouthdoll” gacha set and the brand new “Infernal Claws” from .:E.A.Studio:. , the “Pepper Ankle Boots” from [Gos] and the “Heavy Duty Collar” made by CerberusXing. So I put that all on and looked at it thinking how the hell I could make this work as a look that I would call casual…

Maybe lets take a closer look at the “basic” parts I just had put on and then go from there. The “Pepper Ankle Boots” from [Gos] are a perfect pair of shoes for many kind of genres you want to style for. You can wear them to jeans, skirts, dresses or even to lingerie. With the edgy tip of the shoes and the huge, heavy heel it is very versatile as it combines the smart with the elegant for me. With the possibility to choose from many leather colors as well as from metal, shiny colors it allowed a huge range of use.

The “Voodoo Doll Backpack” is part of a gacha from .:E.A.Studio:. it is one of the rares and comes with a huge HUD to customize it for different colors and outfits. It is designed to wear it over one shoulder with a little buckled strap. The “Infernal Claws ” you will find at the 3rd Edition of the Fetish Fair at the booth of .:E.A.Studio:. until the 27th of December. You can choose if you want to wear only the rings or the nails or the whole set of it. With the HUD you have the possibility to color the metals and leather, the claw itself on the middle finger, the rings and the you even can color and hide all the nails separate for each finger. An amazing set and a must have for every Gothic wardrobe!

The “Heavy Duty Collar” from CerberusXing lives up to its name. It is a heavy iron collar, which lays around your neck with an attached leash in the front. It really has a martial look but I do love the feeling when a heavy cold metal collar gets locked around my neck *grins wickedly*. The face tattoo, even better the Face art comes from Skye Nefekalum for his brand Nefekalum Tattoos. It is very special and for me it did support the martial look of the collar perfectly as it as well is very harsh and dark.

To me that makes a perfect “Wicca Casual” and even if I am aware of, that this might not be a casual for everyone… this is my blog, my Second Life,  my personal fun and creativity and the spot where I can be 100% me, myself and I *winks*

Clothing

Dress: Bombshell – “Fanatine” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Fetish Fair 3rd Edition // December 2019

Sleeves: [NC] – “AmazonQ – Arm Spikes” (Maitreya, Gacha, Ultrarare)

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

Shoes: [Gos] – “Pepper Ankle Boots” (Maitreya) – NEW @ FaMESHed //December 2019

Accessories

Backpack: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Voodoo Dolls Backpack and Mouthdoll” (Gacha) – NEW @ Kinky Event // November 2019

Nails & Rings: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Infernal Claw Ring Set” (Maitreya, Bento) – NEW @ Fetish Fair 3rd Edition // December 2019

Earrings: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Tenebra Earrings”

Collar:[CX] – “Heavy Duty Collar – Rusty Filth (Un-Rigged)”

Glasses: SU!– “Poison Sunglasses”

Piercing: [CX] – “Mostrum Catena – Silver”

Bracelet (left): [CX] – “Ring Bracelet (L)”

Bracelet (right): amias – “JAASNA black right”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: .Shi – “Gavri’ela”

Faceart: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Fianna” (Omega Applier, Materials Enabled)

Lipstick: .{Psycho:Byts}. – “Hecate Lipstick” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.4”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Ears Vodoo”

Horns: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Horns Dracarys”

Tattoo: -Endless Pain Tattoos- – “Clary” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses: Foxcity

Set:

Backdrop: Paparazzi – “BACKDROP – Grime Block Balcony”

Cases: DRD – “San Mora – Survival Storage – Durable A & B”

Trash: DRD – “San Mora – City Trash – Bins”

Cat 1: JIAN – “Curious Kitties :: Wanderer Gry Tabby” (Gacha, Common)

Cat 2: JIAN – “Curious Kitties :: Wanderer Calico” (Gacha, Common)

Rat: JIAN – “Rascal Rats 2. Black Companion” (Gacha, Common)

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

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

“The worst is just around the bend.”

by

TUNES

“It was a long time ago, longer now than it seems,

In a place that perhaps you’ve seen in your dreams.

For the story that you are about to be told,

Took place in the holiday worlds of old.

Now you’ve probably wondered where holidays come from.

If you haven’t, I’d say it’s time you begun.”

[The Nightmare before Christmas]

Clothing

Outfit: * Les Sucreries de Fairy * – “Sally” (Maitreya, Gacha, Rare)- NEW @ The Dark Style Fair

Shoes: **UTOPIA@Design** – Sadie” (Maitreya) – NEW @ FaMESHed // October 2019

Accessories

Mask: [Since1975] – “Clown Mask”- NEW @ The Dark Style Fair

Earrings: BLAXIUM – “Nocturna Earrings” – NEW @ The Dark Style Fair

Collar: *PKC* – “Risque Collar”

Rings: *Merlific* – “Back to School Rings” (Maitreya)

Nails: !TBL – “Ingrid Nails” (Maitreya) – NEW @ The Dark Style Fair

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Private” – NEW @ Tres Chic

Faceart: { Speakeasy } – “Moon Child” (Omega Applier) – NEW @ Black Fair

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.4”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Handtattoo: Mug – “Rory Murder” (Omega Applier)

Poses & Props

Pose 1 (with Chainsaw): Belle Poses – “Martha” (Bento)

Pose 2: Poseidon Poses

Set: DRD – “Burtonized Skybox” (only parts of that and a super old item)

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

“I am not here to fit in your World – I am here to make my own!”

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“It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble. An animal perfectly in harmony with its environment is a perfect mechanism. Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change. Only those animals partake of intelligence that have a huge variety of needs and dangers.”

[H.G. Wells, The Time Machine]

Steampunk always had something that pulled me closer… I do not know what exactly it is, but maybe it has to do with today’s title. It always had something active to me… something that develops forward never staying still somehow. Maybe that is part of the attraction it has to me 🙂 The Victorian epoch, was a time of inventions, so no wonder that the steampunk era was put into that time frame somehow. But what exactly is steampunk? Lets see what Wikipedia has to say 😉

“Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction or science fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Although its literary origins are sometimes associated with the cyberpunk genre, steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the 19th century British Victorian era or the American “Wild West”, in a future during which steam power has maintained mainstream usage, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power. However, steampunk and neo-Victorian are different in that the neo-Victorian movement does not extrapolate on technology while technology is a key aspect of steampunk.

Steampunk most recognizably features anachronistic technologies or retro-futuristic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them, and is likewise rooted in the era’s perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art. Such technologies may include fictional machines like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or of the modern authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld, Stephen Hunt, and China Miéville. Other examples of steampunk contain alternative-history-style presentations of such technology as steam cannons, lighter-than-air airships, analogue computers, or such digital mechanical computers as Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine.

Steampunk may also incorporate additional elements from the genres of fantasy, horror, historical fiction, alternate history, or other branches of speculative fiction, making it often a hybrid genre. The first known appearance of the term steampunk was in 1987, though it now retroactively refers to many works of fiction created as far back as the 1950s or 1960s.

Steampunk also refers to any of the artistic styles, clothing fashions, or subcultures that have developed from the aesthetics of steampunk fiction, Victorian-era fiction, art nouveau design, and films from the mid-20th century. Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical “steampunk” style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.” [Wikipedia]

So steampunk is nothing that really existed back then, but was invented by the desire of the thoughts what time back then could have been with its future thoughts… yeah sounds crazy, but it does make sense if you get deeper into it 😉

Maybe it is as well the colors that are assigned to that kind of styles. I love the combination of muted, dark colors and the gold and copper metals. It just falls together so well most of the time and you always get a lightly elegant touch even if you do not wear a long gown :p Maybe it is the feeling of strength, that all the gear and leather gives most of the outfits and the huge buildings, vehicles and structures you can find if you look up steampunk in SL or google about steampunk in RL.

Whatever it is, steampunk does have a huge fascination for me and I do enjoy those styles and looks a lot, so that won’t be the last time I am styling up like a Victorian steampunk or a dieselpunk ‘Conqueror’ to discover new and unexplored space and maybe get more information about the mystery of the time machines 😉

Clothing

Dress: Wicca’s Originals – “Cecilia”

Sleeves: Wicca’s Originals – “Amity Arms” (Maitreya, Gacha, Rare)

Shoes & Socks: Eudora3D – “Yana Boots” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Mask: [ContraptioN] – “Maskineri II Eye *???*”

Necklace: Codex – “Vintage Time”

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

Nails: Formanails – “Cris Claws” (Maitreya, Bento)

Wings: Luas – “Steam Commander Bento Wings Beige” (Maitreya, Bento, Gacha, Common)

Hair & Makeup

Makeup: alaskametro<3 – “Molten Eyeshadow” (LeLutka Applier)

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

Hair: no.match – “No.Ring” NEW @ Salon 52

Body & Tattoo

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Head: LeLutka – “Piper 3.3”

Skin: *YS&YS* – “Petal Tone 02 Skin Applier” (LeLutka/Maitreya Applier)

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Nepthune”

Shape: .{ wren’s nest } – “Piper Shape for LeLutka Piper Bento Head”

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Set:

DRD – “Steampunk Airship – Ground”

22769 – “Steampunk Salon – Antique Gramophone” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Steampunk Salon – Drum Table” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Steampunk Salon – Pipes Lamp” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Steampunk Salon – Armchair” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Steampunk Salon – Bike Figurine” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Steampunk Salon – Cart Table” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Steampunk Salon – Glass Of Red Wine” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Steampunk Salon – Wine Bottle” (Gacha, Common)

::Static:: – “Vintage Lighting – 15 Bulb Lamp” (Gacha, Common)

::Static:: – “Vintage Lighting – 11 Desk Light” (Gacha, Common)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Tonight is the Night!

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As promised… one more Vintage Fair post, even if Vintage Fair ends today. But while you have a last chance today to go shopping, I am sure you will find all the great creations and designs at the main store of all brands soon.

Today the main inspiration was the idea to prepare for a first date back in the good old days 🙂 The amazing gown from Salt & Pepper and the incredible jewelry from Tres Beau made me do a classy and elegant  post! Not happening that often, but with that awesome designs, I could not resist 😉

As I mentioned in my last post, I really do love The Vintage Fair – I do have to admit I do have a weakness for vintage looks, even if usually show my dark side mostly. Most of my addiction comes from the music of that times. Music was/is always very close connected with fashion at all times and sometimes musicians even were style icons. The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, Edith Piaff, ABBA, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Grace Jones, Marlene Dietrich, Ray Charles, Paul Anka anyways what name I would drop, I am sure you could easily recall how they have looked 🙂 Being a musician in RL myself, I always looked about the development of music – maybe thats why I like some of the vintage styles, when I do like the music that belongs to that certain time.

Let’s go back to the actual purpose of my post today. It was really fun to use some poses I never had used before, but they made total sense in this picture series. It started wit the cool “Eau De Parfum’ Prop Set” from WetCat, where my idea was born to kinda go through a whole series of how you prepare before you go on a date :)you make your way into your room, sit down and think about what you would to look like and then you start doing your make up and perfuming 🙂

I have to go back to the 2 amazing designs, that are center of my today’s style and post idea. The “Evelyn” dress from Salt & Pepper certainly comes with a texture HUD to change the color of fabrics and metals. and  is rigged for Slink Hourglass, Belleza Freya and Maitreya Lara. The way how Salt created and formed her fabric is just awesome as it does make it look so realistic. The shape of the dress already screams vintage all over but the colors really underline that too. The outfit usually comes with a matching head-wrap too, but I wanted to use the amazing hat made by Tres Beau for this post.

The delicate veil and the amazing feathers as well as the “Betty” jewelry really caught my heart. I adore Kimmera Madison for years, not only because she is my sister, but as well for her incredible awesome skills of designing and texturing. Kimmera was the first who released the first Wedding Gown in SL, her brand Tres Beau is one of the oldest fashion brands in SL. When she started back in 2004, ther was not even an idea about flexies, scupties or even mesh… she started the hard way with pure system layers painted on the avatar itself and made her way through all the changes Second Life made about designing. You rarely find designers, that are still around and in business after such a long time and all the changes! To me that is something I highly respect – we all saw how many designers left Second Life, when mesh was invented.

Even if this post and style is something non usual for me, I do enjoy it immensely. Maybe you noticed, that I do not wear my regular “face” for this post. I decided since Wicca is not really an elegant person, that I would like to try the “Cate” head from LeLutka. Cate looked very young to me on the vendor, but after fooling around with skins, I was able to give her a ‘grand dame look’.

Clothing

Gown: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Evelyn” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Vintage Fair 2019

Accessories

Hat: Tres Beau – “Featherd Pill Hat” – NEW @ Vintage Fair 2019

Veil: Tres Beau – “Veil White” – NEW @ Vintage Fair 2019

Jewelry: Tres Beau – “Betty” – NEW @ Vintage Fair 2019

Bracelet Right: Kunglers – “Elvira Combo Crystal”

Bracelet Left: Kunglers – “Misha Crystal”

Nailpolish: DP – Koffin Nails – “Flapper Fancy” (Maitreya Applier)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: KMH Hair – “F112” – NEW @ Vintage Fair 2019

Makeup: alaskametro<3 – “Soiree” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: Navzar – “Wild Lipstick Palette” (LeLutka Applier) – NEW @ Vintage Fair 2019

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Cate 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Skin: Navzar – “Ashley” (LeLutka / Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity & WetCat

Perfume Flask (With Pose): WetCat – “Eau De Parfum’ Prop Set” (Bento) – NEW @ Vintage Fair 2019

Cigrette: +Dreamcatcher+ – “Cigarette with mouthpiece”

Lighter:  :BAMSE: – “Shabby Gifts – Golden Lighter” (Gacha)

Backdrop: Hive – “Simple Skybox”

Furniture:  DRD – “Gold Retreat Vanity”

Book & Birds: Serenity Style – “Bella Dreams – Magic Book” (Hunt Prize)

Hand Mirror: Serenity Style – “Bella – Broken Mirror”

Light: ::Static:: – “Vintage Lighting – 11 Desk Light” (Gacha)

Wallart: DRD – “Gold Retreat Wall Art – Protection – Gold”

Wallflowers: ChiC buildings – “Wallflowers Gold”

Flowers: ChiC buildings – “SEA Flower Art – Brass”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin