You only have to look at Her straight on to see Her…

TUNES

“The cavern cracked and groaned. Dirt, rocks, and glow worms rained on their heads. With a wave of panic, Andy swung around and dashed into the next cavern. “Run!” The ceiling collapsed. Behind him, Medusa laughed, her snakes still hissing.”
[A.P. Mobley, The Helm of Darkness]

Finally my favorite season arrived… October is here!!!

Now I can be freaky, scary and dark without being asked if I am ok or being called weird and a freak – not that I do really care during the year, but these days I can feel “normal” *giggles*

So the first one today – kinda my annual brake-free – features some new releases from Salt & Pepper and Nefekalum Tattoos and some of my long time favorites like CURELESS[+], UTOPIA@Design, Avanti and one of our latest releases, as it did fit in so nicely.

First I wanted to do a scary Medusa typical picture and the Salt release her “Guardian” for the Salem event. I t looked so cool, that I could not wait for another post and so I gave myself the challenge to find an idea, how I could use both. The result was the vision of a gatekeeper for an old, mystic cave with lots of cobwebs and spiders.

Recently I love to play with lights and projectors, as well as with new Photoshop tricks a lot. The result is, that I tend to use a plain dark background, to be able to add in some layers and basically try create the background in Photoshop. With additional lights and my new drawing pad it is a lot of fun to play with different brushes and as well even draw parts of it – even if iI really need more practice with that damn pad and pencil. Sometimes It feels even more easy to draw with the computer mouse, even if that sounds ridiculous for those who have more experiences with it.

I always loved strong contrasts. With many of my past pictures I wanted more depth as Second Life had to offer and now finally I found a way how I can do that with some tricks I found in Youtube tutorials. It took a while until they did what I wanted, but for me it was worth the time and I really found new inspiration and motivation with learning new techniques. It felt like unlocking new doors to have more possibilities to achieve what I was looking for a long time. I am still practicing and with every new picture I come closer to what I desire.

I lately was talking to a sweet lady, which I recently feel like a good friend. She does the wonderful sweet and smooth art, which I tried a lot of times but never could do – maybe it just isn’t in me or I did not yet find it… it always feels awkward when I try to do this kind of pictures and moods. She helped me with my tribute for Autumn Rose a lot, as that required exactly that way of art (HERE).

In the past it felt like I would have to have the ability to feature all kind of styles, but the more I turn into my personal favorite direction, the more I feel secure and my pictures do have way more impact  – at least it does feel like that!

I am not saying I will not still try other things, but I took the pressure of myself that I HAVE TO do so. For now I will do enjoy the dark season as much as I can and hope that I can get all my ideas done in time, before the cozy Christmas times will start… or maybe the dark times turn into dark scary “Krismus”? *eyes “The Nightmare before Christmas” DVD over there in the shelf*

Clothing

Outfit: Scandalize – “Nicole Harness” (Maitreya)

Gloves: Wicca’s Originals – “Ryn Gloves (Scales)” (Maitreya)

Stockings: .:Avanti:. – “Ripped Nylons V2” (Maitreya Applier)

Shoes: UTOPIA@Design – “Halloween – V2” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Dragon Skelleton & Spider Legs: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “The Guardian” – NEW @ Salem

Collar: [CX] – “Hell’s Harbinger (Black Out+Gold)” (Maitreya)

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

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Medusa Head Dress” (Part of the Outfit Medusa) – NEW @ UBER

Faceart: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Shaman Series – Fire” (Omega Applier) – NEW

Makeup: alaskametro<3 – “Impressionist” (Omega Applier)

Lipstick: Izzie’s – “Black Lipstick” (Maitreya Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.4”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Eyes: CURELESS[+] – “Seerees Eyes”

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses: Poseidon

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

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

“I’ll be there when your reality drowns!”

TUNES

You’ll be seein’ me in your dreams
Even when your reality drowns

There’s a bright side
To every wrong thing
If you’re lookin’ at me through the right eyes
Darkness in my name
Don’t you wanna come and play on the cool side
Don’t be so shy

There’s a pleasure in hidin’ from the sun
No I was never one for pretty weather
I’d rather be a creep, baby follow me into the water
I’ll take you to the darker

[Kailee Morgue]

Again I was in a freaky mood and since the Mermaid Cove event from Flair for Events, I do have a little Siren addiction *giggles*
When I saw the “Liquid Soul” gacha from :Moon Amore:, I was thinking quite a while what I could do with it. I wanted to do something artistic as the whole set screamed for it, but as well I did not want to make it too busy, to not distract from that great design too much. After trying several things from simple black backgrounds to some simple props that didn’t really make any sense, the siren idea came back to my mind and with the awesome halo, that makes the whole look even more wild, the idea was born! The idea to do some water shots again made me excited. While I was again using the sim of a close friend, since I do not have a huge water spot on our land. But all I tried .. Linden water didn’t do what I wanted. So I had to find something different. I went back on my platform to see what I could do to “fake” a water scene. After trying different things I just rezzed a blank white floor prim and put a water texture with a high transparency on top with a certain color I liked. In my case it even was a frozen water texture as the effect was kinda cool :). Later in my post processing, I used some water brushes with some more ripples and did just put it on top of the one I snapped inworld with 30% transparency to get the more rough sea feeling before I added some splashes to add a little action feeling and movement.

I immensely enjoy my freedom lately, to do interesting shoots and have extraordinary outfits from all over the grid, let my freak come out here and there more than usual and just let my mind fly to see what comes out in the end. Sometimes I do not even know myself what will be the end result, when I start fooling around with styling. It is possible, that I start with a complete different idea from what it will be in the end. Sometimes it even takes days until I am completely satisfied with the final result and then it takes me again some times – sometimes days – until I am happy with the post processing. It just feels amazing to have that freedom and time – I am grateful that designers still like me on their blogger list, even if I get dragged away by emotions, feelings, visions and new tutorials for post processing my pictures 😉 It means a lot to me that you trust me, bare with me and my funky ideas and time frames!

Clothing

Outfit: :Moon Amore: – “Liquid Soul / Tales of the Sea” (Maitreya, Gacha, Rare)

Gloves: Wicca’s Originals – “Ryn Gloves (Scales” (Maitreya, Bento) – NEW @ The Ark //September 2019

Shoes: :Moon Amore: – “Liquid Soul / Tap-Tap Shoes – Teal” (Maitreya, Gacha, Common)

Accessories

Splashes: :Moon Amore: – “Liquid Soul / Fluids Halo – Water” (Gacha, Common)

Fishes: :Moon Amore: – “Liquid Soul / Lil Fish – Orange”

Fish: :Moon Amore: – “Liquid Soul / Shoal Fish – Orange”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: :Moon Amore: – “Liquid Soul / Brave Waves Hairstyle – Ginger” (Gacha, Common)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.4”

Skin: CURELESS[+] – “Morphine” (Omega & Maitreya Applier)

Teeth: LeLutka – “Beast Teeth 1.1”

Ears: ^^Swallow^^ – “Ears Elf HD”

Eyes: CURELESS [+] – “Lethe Eyes”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Poses & Props

Poses: Poseidon

Props: E.V.E Studio – “Dancing Bubbles {White}”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Creatures

TUNES

I fall
This is the end of you
Whispers are their weakness

Their weakness
Everyday I must practice
To fake this smile on my face
It’s all the rain that’s putting me to sleep

It’s all the rain that’s putting me to sleep
I’ll let the blood tell the truth tonight, this is my life’s work
11 tracks is not enough, to tell you how I’ve died inside
And love is lost like words

11 tracks is not enough
In spiders eyes a man becomes a fly
In prolonged silence, we all stand defiled
We fall in line with the atrophy of life

The calm before the storm is a defeating silence
I’ve given my all, to this valley of despair
We are the damned, the cursed and the broken
There’s so much more inside us

We are the lost, the sick and unspoken
There’s so much more inside us
I’m drowning in an ocean of the tears that I’ve cried
I tried to drown my sorrows

Instead they’re all drowning me
I tried to drown my sorrows
Instead they’re all drowning me

[Motionless in White – Creatures]

Clothing

Harness: Moon Elixir – “Valentina” (Belleza Freya)

Pasties: .ARISE. – Spiked Pasties / White Silver” (Belleza Freya)

Accessories

Collar & Mask: Zibska – “Maea”

Claws: A&A – “Ornate Flat Claws” (Belleza Freya, Bento) – NEW @ We ♥ RP // September 2019

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No_Industry” – NEW @ The Liaison Collaborative // September 2019

Makeup: Zibska – “Maea” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Eyes: -SU!- – “Aure Eyes” (Group Gift)

Ears: [Trap][Gauze] – “Djin Ears”

Body: Belleza – “Freya V5.2”

Skin: ~JJ~ – “Faceted Skins” (Omega Evolved Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Set:

E.V.E – “SUNNY SPELLS Vol.5 – Splashing Aurea STAR [A]”

E.V.E – “SUNNY SPELLS Vol.5 – Splashing Aurea STAR [B]”

E.V.E – “SUNNY SPELLS Vol.5 – Splashing Aurea STAR [C]”

E.V.E –  “Ivy Tree [M02-No leaves] Silver”

E.V.E – “Ivy Bonsai {Silver}”

E.V.E – “Poison Rain Spikes Grass M01 {White}”

E.V.E – “Poison Rain Spikes Grass M01{Silver}”

E.V.E – “Poison Rain Spikes Grass M02 Fade {White-DelS}”

[FOURTH WALL] – “Mossy Rocks Pack” (Modified: blank white texture with original materials)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

“Fragility”

Today I do have the great pleasure to showcase you the work of an artist, that I do admire already for a long time for his photography. I am talking about Sir Skye Nefekalum. His artwork is just breathtaking and his visions and creativity seem to have no end. Recently he started to create extraordinary tattoos and face paint and – as you can imagine –  I am already addicted. He releases them so fast – nearly one per day – that I have a hard time keeping up, as I do want to create images that maybe can satisfy his incredible style and artwork. I am not yet such a picture pro and I try to learn new things lately. That means it takes me even longer to really be satisfied with what I am trying to archieve, as I do not want to dissapoint Sir Skye for his amazing work.

Anyways, today I have the honor to show you two of the very first designs of Nefekalum Tattoos. The body tattoo is called “Fragility” and he face paint is named “Seer”. “Fragility” is a tintable tattoo (except for Maitreya, as their body doesn’t feature any coloring in the tattoo layers). It comes as an Omega applier, which allows you to use it with any Omega compatible body. I just tried it on my Belleza Freya body and it just works perfect. I tried many different colors and shades until my choice fell to blue. I always had an addiction to blue and white for what ever reason :p

The awesome “Seer” facial art as well comes as an Omega applier and you can play a little with the blending options until you have your perfect look. What I do love the most is that all of his tattoos – the ones I already got – work for male and female and gives the avatar a very special and extraordinary look. all of them do have a very crisp and clean look, which for me is a sign of high quality work. I do have many others that are slightly blurry or do have weird seams, but not the Nefekalum Tattoos.

While I was working on the pictures I had to do a teaser picture for an upcoming hunt gift and I could not resist to again use both of those amazing tattoos in a different color as it just worked so perfect with our gloves *blushes* But that shows how versatile the “Fragility” tattoo is with different colors. As you can see I have a different, more darker blending for the face paint on this picture, so you can see the different possibilities as well for the face art.

I am really curious with what Sir Skye will come up next, while I will try to prepare the next showcase of his amazing work!

Accessories

Harness: Luas – “Azahar Harness” (Belleza Freya)

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

Sleeves: [CX] – “Lance Bracers Femme” (Belleza Freya)

Pasties: .ARISE. – “Spiked Pasties” (Belleza Freya)

Glasses: -SU”- – “Midnight Doll Sunglasses Blue-Silver” (Gacha, Common)

Piercing 1: Blaxium – “Jaiden Chain Piercing L”

Piercing 2: Blaxium – “Venenosa Piercing – Simone” (LeLutka Simone)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: RAMA.SALON – “Rhonda Hair L+”

Face Paint: Nefekalum Tattoos  – “Seer” (Omega Applier) – NEW

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Belleza – “Freya V 5.2”

Tattoo: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Fragility” (Omega Applier) – NEW

Ears: ^^Swallow^^ – “Ears Elf HD”

Eyes: -SU”- – “Phantom Eyes V.2 All Colors” (Group Gift)

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses: Foxcity

Set:

Dogs: {anc} – “flottante puppy. milk”

Background: E.V.E Studio – “SUNNY SPELLS Vol.4 – Splashing Aurea [A]” & “SUNNY SPELLS Vol.4 – Splashing Aurea [B]”

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

Poser Tool: Anypose – “BVH HUD v1.6”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Wicca’s Originals @ Driftwood // August 2019

Wicca’s Originals @ Driftwood (5th August – 5th September)

The Edge Implant. Some say it is a synaptic accelerator, increasing the brain’s own ability to process information. Some say it is able to provide the wearer with augmented reality, through induction points near key optical nerves. Still others claim that it is being used to control the behavior and condition the thoughts of slaves. One thing everyone agrees on is that it looks amazing, and is a must-have for any cyberpunk style! The Edge Implant comes with a HUD that offers you 13 colors to choose from. It is unisex and modifiable so you can size it to fit your head no matter if it is mesh or system.

Taxi: Driftwood

From little Seeds great Flowers grow…

“She limped, unaided around the house, like a bird with its wing broken. Tame, because it couldn’t fly away. All her time was taken up with managing herself, working out new ways to do things. Being a different person in the world.”
[ Joan London, The Golden Age ]

I guess I never had  more opposite posts back to back  than the last and today’s… maybe thats because my life at the moment is a little bit upside down and huge changes are about to come. I do have mixed feelings about it, as I did not really plan those, but sometimes you just get forced to make changes and you have to adapt the situation and make the best out of it for yourself.

But then, like I wrote yesterday… I always wanted the freedom to do what ever I want on my personal blog and so I hope you all don’t mind a black/silver against white/gold contrast 😉

It was always something I thought a lot about. When I started modeling, we were taught, that we should find our personal style. Back then it was like either you are a casual person, a formal one, am avant garde one or one of those kind of styles that we all know. I never felt ‘home’ in one style genre only and so I started to call my personal style weird or crazy to at least have category if I was asked about. I do not know where all that comes from, but it is not only happening in Second Life. In real life I am a musician, but as well a teacher and I do give private lessons for instruments and songwriting and I do work for a record studio playing the bass sometimes, too. I never had the desire to have a nine-to-five job, more than that I even was scared about the thought to have to do the same every day in a certain time frame. Certainly it would be easier and you could plan your free-time better, but I guess I would miss something just having one job.

It isn’t the first time that a chapter of the book of my life closes (sometimes I had to close them my self, too) and so I know if one closes another one will open. Just the time until that happens is sometimes a bit scary, as you never know what it will be. Usually those kind of “in-between” times only happen if you didn’t close the chapter yourself. Mostly they do happen, if you didn’t plan any changes and all of a sudden for no reason others decide to screw you over with lies and gossips that aren’t even true. First I tried to fight against that, but if you have 4 people gained up against you they can pretty much tell everything and being their own witnesses for their lies. First it dragged me down a lot and I was trying to find a way how I still could prove the truth, but the longer it did happen, the more I came to the point that it would be senseless. So I had to change my tactics and just make my peace with it and find new ways for myself. It would have been an unnecessary waste of power and time to keep on fighting in the end.

So I am looking forward to what will come. Things have come up to my mind already and now just need to grow and being developed more. That already feels much better than the time of uncertainty, where you have no clue what you are going to. Maybe that’s why I found parts of my creativity back, too and have fun taking pictures again even if they are a little bit weird *winks*

For now I will be on holidays and try to get some rest from all the past half a year crap. I know things will move on, as they always have and every time it happened, there was something new for  me that I really enjoyed. Even if that sounds old and lame sometimes and in the middle of frustrating and depressing times you neither want to hear or see it – Life has so much to give and there always will be ways to find new perspectives. Recently I found a quote, first I read it was from Sigmund Freud, but when I looked it up, there wasn’t any prove for that and no one really knows where it came from, but it does fit so perfectly for now and I like it a lot. I even thought, if I should put it on a sign and place it at my desktop somewhere, so I can look at it if I get bad feelings about the whole situation again. Maybe it makes a great closing sentence for today’s post *grins*

“Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.”

Clothing

Dress: CURELESS[+] – “Pygmalion’s Bride / M / Galatea Bridal Gown” (Maitreya, Gacha, Rare)

Gloves: CURELESS[+] – “Pygmalion’s Bride / M / Galatea Gloves” (Maitreya, Gacha, Rare)

Accessories

Collar: .Charm. – “Skai Collar” (Store closed)

Piercing: [CX] – “Bitten 2017”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Arrest”

Eyeshadow 1: Nanika – “Gold Eyeshadow” (LeLutka Applier)

Eyeshadow 2: Zibska – “Lennie” (LeLutka Applier)

Face Art: Nanika – “Serena Gold” (Omega Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Legs: CURELESS[+] – “Pygmalion’s Bride / M / Galatea Legs / MARBLE” (Maitreya, Gacha, Common)

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Thauron Ears”

Eyes: .ARISE. – “Blind Eyes / Gold”

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

Tattoo: Nanika – “Gold Sequins Mesh Body Applier” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Poseidon

Set:

E.V.E Studio – “WHISPER Petals {Gold}”  (Gacha, Rare)

E.V.E Studio – “Apple Flower M01”

E.V.E Studio – “Apple Flower M02”

E.V.E Studio – “Golden Apple”

E.V.E Studio – “Flowers of the Golden Apple”

E.V.E Studio – “Petals Path A {Gold}”

E.V.E Studio – “Petals Path B {Gold}”

E.V.E Studio – “Dancing Petals Dystopia in Bronze/Gold”

Air – “Road sign type A stand_gold_CM”

Air – “Road sign type C_gold_CM”

Air – “Road sign type D_gold_CM”

Air – “Road sign type E_gold_CM”

Air – “Lost Bravery stand(gold)_CM”

Air – “Lost Brain stand(gold)_CM”

DISORDERLY. – “Enchanted Extras / Beast’s Library Papers”

Raindale – “Elnaril floor candle holder (light gold)”

{anc} – “mannequin. MermaidPrincess(Adult)” (Gacha, Rare)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Wicca’s Originals @ Mermaid Cove // July 2019

Wicca’s Originals @ Mermaid Cove (July 5th – 26th)

Whether you are the sort of mermaid associated with perilous events or the sort that is benevolent and falls in love with humans, our Amatheia Claws are perfect for any fashion-forward Mer. They are designed to fit Maitreya’s Lara, are Bento enabled, and come with that HUD that offers you 10 colors for the wrist band, chains, shells, and claws.

Taxi: Mermaid Cove by Flair for Events

 

Wicca’s Originals @ Vintage Fair 2019

Wicca’s Originals @ Vintage Fair 2019 (June 7th -16th)

Victorian Steampunk comes to life in our latest original creation – Cecelia. This strapless minidress has a form fitting corset bodice adorned with a delicate chain, gears, studs and a bit of ruffle at the top. It is the perfect starting point for your Victorian Steampunk styling. Cecilia is designed for Maitreya’s Lara and comes with a HUD that offers you 10 color textures and 6 metal textures.

Taxi: Vintage Fair

Wicca’s Originals @ We ♥ RP // June 2019

Wicca’s Originals @ We ♥ RP (June 4th – 30st)

For this round of We ♥ RP we have created the Ava boots. They perfect for your adventures in and out of roleplay. It has a sensible flat heel, studs at the top of the boot, straps down the calf, and strategically placed reinforcements. Our Ava boots are made to fit Lara, Freya and Hourglass. Ava comes with a HUD that offers you 10 texture colors and 5 metal colors.

Taxi: We ♥ RP

Hoverboarding

CyberPunk Fair is over – Sadly!

But I am not yet done with my cyber moods *giggles*. The event had so many awesome new designs and creations, I just cannot stop yet to play with what I got.

Today I had mega fun with the “Samurai Hoverboard” from UNGOD and the matching pose set from Poseidon. Gryphon Vendetta, owner and designer of both brands, included a  more simple looking board in the pose set but I loved the hover board and the katana so much from the UNGOD set that I had to cheat them in 😉

Again I have to say, how much I love Poseidon Poses. They are so full of energy and so well thought through, it really inspires a lot of you have such poses for pictures – they are really poses for special purposes!

And again I am happy to show you another side of the “Simone” head from LeLutka. I do not know how to say, but the “Simone” head, is one of the most versatile ones. I know that some call it edgy and not as smooth as other ones, but maybe that is exactly what I do love. Every skin gives you different looks and with using the editing sliders, you even can force that more. This time I wanted a cyberpunk look and with the blue skin and some modification tattoos it really got a light machine character. The lips do have an amazing shape. I am not a friend of too full lips for my look and with thinner lips most heads do look angry – but not “Simone”!

With the cool face mods from  -[TWC]- and the crone ,paired with some cool cyber looking eyes from CURELESS [+], the whole look really became freaking cool. The smart “EmoTech Lens 1” from Astara, is a sweet little thing too. You can decide with a HUD, what kind of smiley face you want to show on your lens, as well you can choose your color. The cool neko headpiece was made by the one and only Deccan Arida from [The Forge] and it certainly could not be missed for my cyberpunk style today 🙂

What caught my attention as well were the lipsticks from nox. They do give the lips that awesome plastic look and oyu have many colored to choose from.

After all I do hope Flair for Events will make the CyberPunk Fair an annual event as I really miss this kind of things and it was like heaven to find so many in one place 🙂

Clothing

Outfit: :::insanya::: – “Azura Bodysuit Cyber” (Maitreya)

Gloves: [Cubic Cherry] – “{Ekion} Arm Augments” (Maitreya)

Garter: .:Avanti:. – “Mina Garter” (Maitreya)

Socks: *katat0nik* – Boot Socks (dark)

Shoes: L’Emporio – “Cryptor” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Glasses: Astara – “EmoTech Lens 1”

Right Upper Leg: [V-Tech] – “Forbidden Experiment” (Maitreya)

Cables: .Inkhole. – “USB Set” (Maitreya)

Collar: A&Y – “Lorna Collar – Dark – 01” (Maitreya, Gacha)

Headpiece: [The Forge] – “Cyber Neko Headphones”

Face/Nose: -[TWC]- – “Hazard Tube black sick”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: KMH – “CP001 Rigged (Size S)”

Lipstick: NOX. – “Incomplete Lip” (Omega Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Skin: YS&YS – “Pris Elf Skin” (LeLutka & Maitreya Applier)

Eyes: CURELESS[+] – “Spookshow Eyes”

Tattoo: the crone – “Flesh Shell” (LeLutka & Maitreya Applier)

Facetattoo: -[TWC]- – “Hazard – full blk” (Omega Applier)

Poses & Props

Hoverboard: UNGOD – “Samurai Hoverboard Shinto”

Weapons: UNGOD – “Mirror’s Edge (blue)”

Poses (incl. Katana and Board): Poseidon – “Samurai Hoverboard” (Bento)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin