Fantasy is Escapist, and that is its Glory

β€œFantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
[J.R.R. Tolkien]

Isn’t Second Life a place where we can escape reality? Isn’t Second Life a place to experiment and live visions and dreams? – To me it is!

I am not saying my way is the best or the only one, as Second Life is a platform where everyone can do and life what ever they want. It should be a place where you can do everything that you can imagine and dream of for yourself. As kids we played Barbie or enjoyed various roleplay like Cowboy and Indian, Robin Hood and the Lady Marian or what ever we wanted. To me Second Life is just an extension of that.

I can dress up with everything my mood is leading me to. Mostly it is something I could not wear in RL. Sometimes it can be casual as well but usually it has some twist on it to make it my own. Often I was told, you need to decide to a certain direction to set a trademark or make yourself a brand – I never could decide for one and why should I in a world that gives you like nearly unlimited options? I thought by myself if it could not be my trademark to not have a certain look or style πŸ˜‰

Since I decided about that, I felt so much more free to experiment and play with all kind of things. There is only a few things, I set as my own limits to myself. I never would do porn, as I personally think there is no need to do that on a virtual fashion blog, as you can do so much more with nudity or semi nudity in an artistic way and it is nothing that I would like to share with a wide range of people anyways. As well i never would touch any illegal things, that go against common sense or the law, I never felt the desire to do such at all. That said, I just have fun playing with several things and lately I do love creating my own sceneries and backgrounds or add something personal to places I do love to snap at.

One of my favorite sim collectives for fantasy themed pictures is the Ippos Collective. A consortium of 4 sims. Sylpha, Nymphai, Ippos and Pegasoi. Each sim has a certain theme to it and all of them are decorated in an amazing way with much love to the details. All of them are changing their seasons, which always gives new things and settings to discover. There are a few parcels that are rented, but as long as you respect their privacy you can even rezz some props and pose stands to make your perfect shot. The owners are extremely sweet and kind and always have an open ear if you need help or advice. Most of them do amazing pictures like for example Duchess Flux. I am very happy to be allowed to call her a friend. She was there, backed me up and trusted me in some of the darkest hours of my SL. I won’t ever forget that – Thank you Duchie β™₯

I only can give a rough view of the sims as no words I know would satisfy the beauty of those very special places. You need to wander all across the collective and even then you won’t see everything on your first walk πŸ˜‰

Ippos is mostly a residential sim. It has a beautiful landscape of a fantasy world, like a hidden treasure in the middle of a forest. No wonder that it is built in such an beautiful way, since well known SL bloggers and photographers call that palce their home and the parcels are really desired and not often open for new rentals.

On Nymphai you will find all the amazing events like the Enchantment or the Secret Affair as well as some main stores of fantastic and creative designers.

Pegasoi to me looks more like the romantic and sweet fantasy part of the group. You will find the Lady Garden Cabaret there, which shows monthly shows of amazing and creative artists.

Last but not least we have Sylpha, the water sim. Any desire you have for water based pictures you will find there. Weather you would like to do some peaceful island pictures or you actually would like to really swim in Linden water together with fishes and dolphins – everything is possible!

If you like more and detailed info about the Ippos Collective just take a look atΒ https://threadsandtuneage.com/ippos/

If you are in such an amazing fantasy environment you have to dress up to fit in there πŸ˜‰ This time I wanted to showcase one of the amazing hats from Spartin Parx. The “Milli” hat comes with a huge HUD. You can change the base to 6 different colors and the sweet roses on the top have a variety of 9 colors to chose from.

I thought a long time about how I could style it to not loose the focus on the hat but as well have a cute fantasy look. First I thought about something uniform based, I do not know why and I discovered very fast that this was not the way it would work out. The hat had a Victorian touch to me and finally I found a sweet doll looking outfit that just did the trick πŸ˜‰ For the boots I went with the “Kora” boots form UTOPIA@Design. I do have an addiction to over-knee boots, maybe because I do not often have the opportunity to wear them RL, as they would not fit into my everyday job most of the time ;). With the laces in the front, they totally matched the Victorian look, while the steel caps in the front added some strong, modern feelings to the whole look, which i loved a lot for the whole photo composition.

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: Violent Seduction – “Madame Chevaliere” (Maitreya,Gacha – Bra, Corset, Paudrons & Skirt)

Gloves: Maddict – “Starlet Gloves” (Maitreya)

Shoes: UTOPIA@Design – “Kora” (Maitreya)

Hat: Spartin Parx – “Millie”

Collar: Zombie Suicide – “Willow Collar”

Hair & Makeup:

Hair: No.Match – “No.Call”

Makeup: Slackgirl – “Kam” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: Zibska – “Chooli” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Face: Izzie’s – Pores & Blemishes” (LeLutka Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Props: JIAN – “Wolf Pack & Companion” & Moon_Sha – “Cinderella’s Pumpkins” (Gacha, Ultrarare)

Location

The Ippos Collective

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

 

 

 

 

Blinded by the Light

First there was a short, glaring light and then a long following darkness…

Today I again will showcase some of the amazing designs of the Thereafter event, but this time in a slightly different way. I really do love the post apocalyptic scenarios with all the trash and chaos, the dirt and the abandoned cities. But this time when I put on the cool wrap from Bauhaus and added the amazing “Andromeda” makeup made by Slackgirl, I had a totally different vision.

If you saw a short harsh light followed by a huge explosion and then all around you became dark and silent… and then you figure it is not night, you do not see any contours, outlines of shadows as you used to at night?

With that vision I went on styling and put in the amazing top from Vinyl, as well an exclusive for Thereafter and the collar from Noir. The first vision of my idea for today slowly fell together.

The more I played with it, the more the vision again changed and since I have some fantasy moments as well, those influences added up to my original first vision. Probably it did not help that I was watching ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’ while I was editing my pictures :p

 

The evil Necromonger and the white lady that helped Riddick kinda inspired me to the idea of a magician walker, that roam around through the nights of a post apocalyptic environment. And who can say that a nuclear apocalypse with all the energy that gets set free does not change a human being and the skills and abilities πŸ˜‰

Certainly the kick ass “Wasteland Reaper” from CerberusXing could not miss for that kind of style πŸ˜‰ I always admired the work of [CX]. The ideas, the amazing details and the love of realistic creations of metals, chains, spikes and leather always fascinated me.

I did not want to use a busy background, as it felt wrong for my kind of idea and so I just played around with windlights until I found that amazing blue/green sky with a light blue-ish moonlight falling down on my body. After fiddling a bit with it and tweak it hee and there, it really got the feelings that I had for this pictures. Sometimes I really do love simple surroundings as they can look so very dramatic and thrilling even if you just use lights and shadows.

That was not the first time that the original idea turned while I put my style together, but to be honest I enjoy those moments when your vision turns around and it goes in a different direction as you planned on it.

Since we have 5 more days (only πŸ™ )for the Thereafter event, that probably is not my last post apocalyptic post, but I hope you enjoy it as much as I do πŸ˜‰

Details

Clothing & Accessories:

Top: Vinyl – “Twenty Turtleneck” & “Matchbox Bustier” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Thereafter

Pants: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Omira Pants RARE” (Gacha, Maitreya) – NEW @ Fantasy Gacha Carnival

Headwrap: Bauhaus Movement – “Cypriss’s Apoc Part.II / Fem Wrap” – NEW @ Thereafter

Collar: Noir – “Furiosa Choker” – NEW @ Thereafter

Weapon: [CX] – Wasteland Reaper” – NEW @ Thereafter

Makeup & Hair:

Hair: EMO-tions – “Miranda”

Makeup: Slackgirl – “Andromeda” (Omega Applier) – NEW @ Thereafter

Body:

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Tattoo: Letis Tattoo – “Rigel Princess” (Omega Applier)

Eyes: Arise – “Blind Eyes”

Poses: Drunk Panda – “No Option Left”, “Proove them Wrong” (fingers of the left hand edited for the light ball) & “Stronger than Before” – NEW @ Thereafter

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

Golden Angel

And through it all she offers me protection
A lot of love and affection
Whether I’m right or wrong
And down the waterfall
Wherever it may take me
I know that life won’t break me
When I come to call, she won’t forsake me
I’m loving angels instead

[Robbie Williams]

When I unpacked the “Posh Body Suit” from GizzA, which is sold at the actual round of Tres Chic, I immediately had the feeling of a dreamy angel and some fantasy ideas.

The outfit comes with the amazing body suit, the leg jewelry and the wings. You can purchase many different colors and I decided to go with the stone color, as it worked best with the windlight I was using, plus I planned the gold/copper look and for that it did reflect the lights best for that purpose. You get a 3 HUDs as well that allows you to change the gems of the Bodysuit, the leg and the head gemstones to 9 different colors.

I wanted some very filigree, delicate shoes for the look to not overpower the dreamy, light feeling of the outfit. I tried a few and in the end I chose the “Camilla” heels from Glamistry. With all the laces and as well the high platform they just looked perfect to the whole look.

For the set, I used the I used the “Golden Moon”, a rare item from the Golden Dreams gacha of Yokai. It has some poses in-built, but I went with my own, because I already had a special idea how I wanted to pose πŸ˜‰ The moon comes with cute little particle stars, which fall down from the top.

The amazing golden particles and the delicate golden leafs do come from E.V.E Studio. I love to use Noke’s awesome creations for my sets as they always add something dreamy or artistic to them πŸ˜‰

I do not wanna miss a close up for the makeup and the stunning hand piercings.

The exquisite eyeshadow was made by Slackgirl. I love the smooth shadow, the delicate little dotted ornaments upper the eyelid and the smokey, smooth gradient down to a solid color. The “ColrUs Shadow” HUD comes with 8 colors, available for Catwa, Akeruka and as Omega applier.

The stunning hand jewelry was made by Mea Carnell, owner and designer of MEVA. To be precise, it is not just normal hand jewelry… even better they are piercings! How cool is that?!

Everyone can wear rings and bracelets but who dares to have piercings in their hands πŸ˜‰ ? I do! :p The “Bento Hand Rings” are made for Maitreya bento hands and they are rigged so perfectly. It is great to have a creative alternative to rings only, especially if you look for something etxra ordinary.

The cool bronze lipstick, which completed my makeup perfectly, was made by Zibska. It is included in the “Leyla” lipstick palette with 29 other amazing colors.

I do not often have dreamy angel moments but I quite enjoy it right now πŸ˜‰ Lets see, if I can make some falling stars so you can have some wishes β™₯

Details

Outfit (incl. Wings & Headpiece): GizzA – “Posh Body Suit” @ Tres Chic (Maitreya)

Shoes: Glamistry – “Camilla” (Maitreya)

Hair: EMO-tions – “Maureen”

Hand Piercing: MEVA – “Bento Hand Piercing” (Maitreya)

Makeup: Slackgirl – “ColorUS Shadow” (Omega Applier)

Lipstick: Zibska – “Leyla” (LeLutka Applier)

Set: Yokai – “Golden Moon” (gacha, rare), E.V.E Studio: – “KOI Glitter Basket Star {gold}” & “Petals Path A {gold}”

Basics:
Head: LeLutka – β€œSimone 2.7”
Body: Maitreya – β€œLara V4.1”
Eyes: IKON – β€œHope Eyes”
Shape: Selfmade

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

So take me as I am…

So take me as I am
This may mean you’ll have to be a stronger man
Rest assured that when I start to make you nervous
And I’m going to extremes
Tomorrow I will change
And today won’t mean a thing

[Meredith Brooks]

The styling today I made with some goodies of the WCF 2017. The fair is now over but I am sure, you will find all the creations and designs in the mainstores of the designers πŸ™‚

Sometimes you plan on blogging something and then all of a sudden you RL comes in between and disturbs that plans.

But I loved the look too much to just trash it and go on with all the new stuffs πŸ˜‰

The outfit is a mix and match of several designers and as well of mesh designs and appliers.

The cool top, that mainly is made of chains with some cloth at the sides was made by [sys] as an exclusive for the WCF 2017. Since I wanted to cover up my private parts a little bit, I added the “Sexy Lingerie” from Cherie underneath the “Shane” top.

The hair as well was made as an exclusive to the WCF 2017 and it doesΒ  come from no.match. At the moment I have kinda a top 3 for hair designers and I could not say which one of those I love most , since they are all do different. No.match, EMO-tions and enVOGUE I use the most as I just simply love their ideas and textures the most. Certainly I have hair from all over as there are hairstyles I see and like instantly like DeLa, .shi or so many others but when I pull up my hair folder those 3 have the highest numbers for a reason πŸ˜‰

For the WCF 2017, no.match made 2 different version with a hat. one as a braid and one – the one I am using today – with open hair. One has the cap set on forward and the other one has it 180 degrees turned like the cool kids usually have it :p

The cool gloves were made by Real Evil Industries and I really love the details as well as the huge HUD that does let you customize so many parts to match your outfit.

The tattoo certainly comes from White Widow. I just love Julie’s tattoos and I rarely find good ones which do not get blurry or are way to colored or just uploaded RL tattoos. I do love the creativity and as well the painting skills that Julie brings to her tattoos and I am totally amazed that this creativity seems to be never ending πŸ˜‰

Details

Shirt: [sys] – “Shane” (Maitreya)

Lingerie: Cheeky – “Cherie – Sexy Lingerie” (Maitreya Applier)

Gloves: Real Evil Industries – “Jassy Corset Gloves”

Shoes: UTOPIA@Design – “Akira” (Maitreya)

Collar: [evolove] – “Mandy – Horn Choker”

Cigarette: Nikotin – “Cigarette Dirty”

Glasses: *agp* – “Johnny Sunglasses”

Hair: no.match – “No.More”

Tattoo: [White~Widow] – “Insidious” (Maitreya Applier)

Nail Polish: .alme – “The Edge Light” (Maitreya Applier)

Lipstick: je suis… – “LeLutka Lips no. 005 (greys)”

Set:

Background: RAMA – “Passage Side”

Bus Station: 22769 – “Art Nouveau Bus Stop”

Basics:
Head: LeLutka – β€œSimone 2.6”
Body: Maitreya – β€œLara V4.0”
Eyes: IKON – β€œHope Eyes”
Shape: Selfmade