I could take your hand…

TUNES

Knowing that, nothing lasts forever
I didn’t care, before you were here
A distant laughter, with the ever after
But, all things change, let this remain

Hear the sirens covering distance in the night
The sound, echoing closer, will they come for me, next time?

[- Pearl Jam -]
Clothing

Harness: [CX] – “Ophanim Harness – Black” (Maitreya)

Bracers: [CX] – “Ruffian Armguards – Black” (Maitreya)

Pants: *LD* – Latina Short” (Maitreya)

Stockings: Viena. – “Nana Fishnet Leg Sleeves v1” (BoM)

Shoes: [CX] – “Nox’ Curse – Silver” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Midnight Order // January 2022

Accessories

Earrings: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Earring Mads all linked” (LeLUTKA EvoX female/human)

Ear Lobes: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Inazuma Plug” (LeLUTKA EvoX female/human)

Piercing (Nose): Wicca’s Originals – “Jadeon Piercing” + “Tegan Piercing Set” (unrigged)

Piercing (Mouth): LittleFish – “EziliV2” (Lel. EvoX, Avalon)

Gag: [Yomi] – “Prickle Gag” – NEW @ The Warehouse Sale // January 2022

Collar: Skellybones – “Chained Heart – Choker” – NEW @ The Warehouse Sale // January 2022

Fingers: L’Emporio&PL – “Essentia” (Maitreya, Bento)

Nails: RAWR! – “Heavy Metal Nails” (Maitreya, Bento)

Body Tentacles: {Aii&Ego} – “Forbidden Ritual Body Tentacles (F)” (Maitreya)

Arms: Gemini – “Sis Bracelets – Up” (Maitreya)

Legs: Gemini – “Sis Leg Bangles – All Linked” (Maitreya)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Exile – “Shiloh” – NEW @ FaMESHed // January 2022

Makeup: Rubedo – “wicca – EvoX 12” (LeL. EvoX BoM)

Head, Body& Tattoo

Head: LeLUTKA – “EvoX Avalon 3.1”

Teeth: [CX] – “Strigoi’s Fangs – Silver Type.1 ( Size E / Wider )”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara V5.3”

Tattoo:  .:Vegas:. – “Tattoo ( Dark ) Optimism vBlack” (LeL. EvoX BoM)

Poses, Props & Tools

Pose: selfmade

Tentacles: Black Cats Creations – “Tentacles Prey FATPACK”

Deco: Mannequin – “Merskelle Decor”

Model, Stylist & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

The Engine Room – Part II

As I was threatening in my last post – her is the Engine Room part 2! *snickers*

Today with something more naughty, but still in a vintage, maybe today more dieselpunk looking way. Now you might scratch your head and think… usually she talks about steampunk and now she throws in a new word called “dieselpunk”, but actually it is a different genre, even if there is a lot of cross over happening in fashion. Lets take a look at the “Dieselpunk Encyclopedia“…

“Dieselpunk is a style and a budding sub-culture that combines the zeitgeist of the interbellum period through World War II and ending before or at the early 1950s with postmodern sensibilities from a counter-cultural viewpoint…”

“Dieselpunk fashion blends the styles commonly found during the diesel era with contemporary styles to create a fusion of both. The “punk” nature of the subculture comes from expressing a more complete presence in public akin to the fashion styles popular during the diesel era such as waistcoats, covered arms, hosiery, styles of shoes, and head wear to name a few. Military and paramilitary also counts, especially related to genre icons. Dieselpunk emphasizes the inclusion of such accouterments to render one’s look “complete,” in defiance of modern custom.

The now defunct blog Gearing Up was one of the first web sites dedicated to dieselpunk fashion. Despite its domain name (dieselpunk.net) it promoted mostly steampunk costumes and accessories but also helped to define the style and to point out the difference between Diesel and Steam… Generally, dieselpunk fashion is not (and never was) restricted to formal dress or military uniform. It includes a broad range of styles, from 1930s colonial to 1940s bomber jackets, from posh zoot suits to humble working-class overalls. Sometimes a light touch of style, like a vintage wristwatch, a pair of Art Deco earrings or an old-fashioned petrol lighter, is sufficient for a fashion-conscious dieselpunk.”

I tried to archive that look with some of the releases from the Engine Room certainly 🙂

When I saw that awesome bondage crane from Dictator Shop while I was wearing that super naughty, but kick ass cool and military looking “Disciplinarian” dress from CerberusXing, the dieselpunk idea was born in my mind. I do love the combination of steel and military inspired fashion with a little touch of fetish as well 😉

First I was tempted to cover up my chest with a black bra, but then I thought that would drag away the attention off the dress too much and when I found that cool nipple piercings in my inventory, which had a touch of a military decoration, the desicion was made.

The incredible detailed and interesting face art was made by Skye Nefekalum, an artist and friend which I do admire for along time for his creativity and skills. The “Shaman Series – Earth” is one of an amazing series of the 4 elements and it does come in black, color and one white/tintable version as an Omega applier. With that it is compatible with most of the mesh heads in Second Life.

What really caught my eyes are the “Mistic Glasses” from The White Crow. They do come with a tattoo for face and body, but for this post I only used the body part or it to not mix up the face art I already was wearing. The interesting part of the glasses are that they are “pierced” into your nose and do not have frame temples at the sides – those of you who know me, know that I LOVE such things 😉 They are available in 3 different colors and are resizable so you can customize them perfectly to your head.

To get an even more dominant touch for my pictures, I did add three of the “Unfortunate Destiny Mannequins” and put the new “Plague Masks” on them, which you can wear yourself a well as you can see in my last post (HERE) – so I was able to show all the colors that are available at the event 😉

The Engine Room is open until the 20th or October and again this will not be my last post – I am already working on the next look and pictures *winks*

Clothing

Dress: [CX] – “Disciplinarian – Original” (Maitreya) – NEW @ The Engine Room // Sepetmber/October 2019

Accessories

Hat: !R! – “Peaked Cap/Wearble” – NEW @ The Engine Room // Sepetmber/October 2019

Glasses: -[TWC]- – “Mistic Glasses – Reading” – NEW @ The Engine Room // Sepetmber/October 2019

Collar: +AH+ – “Pampering Collar”

Piercing 1: IMMODEST – “Downfall Septum”

Piercing 2: Blaxium – “Dangerous Bento Piercing – Simone” (LeLutka Simone, Bento)

Piercing 3: .::Supernatural::. – “Sweet angel Nipple Piercing [Gold]”

Bracelets: Gemini – “Sis Bracelets” (Maitreya)

Rings: : CULT : – “Rou Rings Set” (Maitreya, Bento)

Nailpolish: DP – Koffin Nails – “Neo-Victorian Keys” (Maitreya Applier) – NEW @ The Engine Room // Sepetmber/October 2019

Hair & Makeup

Hair: .Entwined. – “Nyx B”

Face Art: Nefekalum Tattoos – “Shaman Series – Earth (White/Tintable)” (Omega Applier) – NEW

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

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

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.4”

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Ears Akasuna”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Right Arm: Wicca’s Originals – “Eagleden Arms” (Maitreya, Bento) – NEW @ The Engine Room // Sepetmber/October 2019

Tattoo: -[TWC]- – “Mistic” (Omega Applier, part of the glasses) – NEW @ The Engine Room // Sepetmber/October 2019

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses: Foxcity

Set:

[Ds] – “Vindustria Bondage Crane – Adult OMNI v1” – NEW @ The Engine Room // Sepetmber/October 2019

::Static:: – “Unfortunate Destiny Mannequin” – NEW @ The Engine Room // Sepetmber/October 2019

::Static:: – “Plague Mask – Caged {Worn Hide}”, “Plague Mask – Aperture {Worn Pale}” & “Plague Mask – Caged {Worn Coal}” – NEW @ The Engine Room // Sepetmber/October 2019

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

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

It was one of those days again…

TUNES

Illusion

Being like you are, well, this is something else
Who would comprehend? But some that do lay claim
Divine purpose blesses them, that’s not what I believe
And it doesn’t matter anyway
A part of your soul ties you to the next world
Or maybe to the last but I’m still not sure
But what I do know is to us the world is different
As we are to the world, I guess you would know that
Please don’t go, I want you to stay
I’m begging you, please, please don’t leave here
I don’t want you to hate for all the hurt that you feel
The world is just illusion trying to change you
[VNV Nation]

It was one of those days again…
It was dark, cold and misty outside and sometimes it mirrors to my inner. I would not say I hate that days, they bring out a certain type of feeling and emotions and they make you think about yourself a lot more and as well different. Life taught me to not stay too long in that moments, but as well not try to skip them either. I need them as a part of me and if they happen, I just let them for a while. I have no idea if that makes sense – I hope it does and those who had those moments too, I thin you know what I am talking about.
If I am in Second Life on such days and try to style up a look, it does something to me and my looks. It takes me longer to finish a style and the thought s and emotions go way deeper than with a usual look. It is hard to explain as 90% about it is feelings and emotions and you know how hard those are to describe 😉

Usually on such days I start off with something I bought longer ago and never had the right mood to work on it.
Today it was the “Black Parade Uniform” from CUREMORE. I fell in love with that outfit ages ago and when CURELESS [+] had their sale I could not longer resist and got the fatpack. I adore the way how CURELESS [+] as well as Moon Amore do obviously cute and frilly outfits, but they all have kinda a morbid feeling to them still. The texture work and the mesh details are amazing. Initially I had something Circus like in mind, but the more I was looking at it, trying several things the vision changed. First I added the awesome “Kate Thigh High Boots” from [Gos], which they released at UBER. I am a high boots addicted so those super cool boots were a no-brainer :p, I could not miss them in my wardrobe.

As usual the boots come in all the popular mesh body sizes and with the 3 amazing HUDs from [Gos] – Boutique, Metallic and Blueberry. You do not only have a wide variety for the colors – Even for metals and sole you get several options. As if that would not be already enough, for the “Kate Thigh High Boots” you get the option to chose from a thick or thin heel as well (like shown in the picture above)!
I do not know why, but while I was staring at my pixels to think about what I could do all of a sudden, the “Black Widow” collar from DRD popped up in my mind. First I thought it wouldn’t fit, because the uniform already had such a high neck… but it turned out, that exactly that made it fit perfectly! Sometimes it is kinda fate I guess.
For the poses and props I immediately had an idea after I added the huge back collar. I had blogged some poses of the “Necromatic” pose gacha with the skeleton, but I as well had some violin poses seen in my folder and I had a feeling, those would fit perfectly. First I used the violin and the bow that the pose had included but with the brown violin I felt a little disturbed from my vision. When I started to look for a black violin on MP I remembered I had a black skull violin from Grollwerk like in forever – I have to admit it is an old prim violin and the store already seems to have closed down, but for a picture it would do it I thought and it did 😉
I wanted to wear such a little, cute hat that makes no sense, but looks good and so I had to find a special hair, which is close to the head and not too high at the top. Certainly I found one at no.match 🙂
I love the textures and the way how no.match does their hair. I rarely have alpha glitches even with longer hair and she has the perfect size as well if hair goes down over my chest. If you followed me for while you will know, that I use no,match hair a lot :p.
Now I only needed a special makeup to satisfy my mood. I recently had the honor of being chosen to do a makeup spread in the Eclipse Magazine for ALMA (HERE). That brought ALMA back to my plate – I have to admit I know them for a while but sometimes you forget about cool stores and the more happy I was when I discovered it again and found so many new cool makeups and face art. If you are looking for something out of the box, vibrant colors or really complete, extraordinary face art, ALMA is your place of desire.
Finally after hours I was happy with my look and it did mirror exactly what I was feeling while doing it. That does not happen too often I have to admit, but I do enjoy that immensely.
Then comes that next challenge… what to use as background or scenery?!? Nothing too colorful, nothing clean but as well nothing too dark and nothing too dirty… initially that always feels like a challenge I never can work out. Sometimes I even get frustrated if I can not find the right location or built the right scenery and then I just delete my whole look as on those special days, where I am in that special mood I do not want to make any compromises as they just feel wrong and take all of the depth from the picture. Thank God there is Ironwood Hills! Ironwood Hills has so many different corners and places, that I usually find what I am looking for if I wasn’t able to built something or get an idea of what I would like to have. This time it was the old, rotten theater from Marcus Inkpen, that they have rezzed out there near the landing spot. I just had to add my music items and some broken furniture and it looked exactly as I imagined it and … the best part… it did match my feelings!!! You really should explore Ironwood Hills and I swear you won’t discover all the little details and corners on one day 😉

Clothing

Outfit: CUREMORE – “Black Parade Uniform” (Maitreya)
Shoes: [Gos] – “Kate Thigh High Boots” (Maitreya) – NEW @ UBER
Tights: .::Nanika::. – “Alina Tights Black” (Maitreya Applier)

Accessories

Hat: *BOOM* – “The Baroness Hat”
Collar: .:Avanti:. – “Vexie Collar” (Rigged)
Back Collar: DRD – “Black Widow Collar – Frost”
Rings: [Since1975] – “NoMercy Rings” (Maitreya, Bento)
Nail Polish: {ZOZ} – “Time Reds Polish” (Maitreya Applier)
Instrument: [GW] – “Skull Violin” (Store Closed)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No. Comission”
Eyemakeup: ALMA – “Isola” (LeLutka Applier)
Face Art: ALMA – “Being Human” (LeLutka Applier)
Lipstick: Zibska – “Bussaba” (Maitreya Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”
Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”
Eyes: CURELESS [+] – “Seeres Eyes”
Skin: *YS&YS* – “Ginny Vamp Skin” (LeLutka & Maitreya Applier)
Tattoo: [White~Widow] – “Izo” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses (incl. Stool): Le Poppycock – “Necromantic – The Oldest Song” & “Necromatic – Grim Anthem” (Bento, Gacha)

Note Stand: Fancy Decor – “Music Stand”

Notes: Nutmeg – “Old Music Sheets Floor” & “Old Music Sheets Standing”

Furniture 1: [ zerkalo ] – “Last Refuge – Dirty Matress – PG”

Furniture 2: DISORDERLY – “Overgrown Patio – Table & Chairs” + “Burried Treasure”

Location

Model & Photographer

Cheeky Bunny

I do not know what it is, but something changed in the past month for me when it comes to taking pictures. I worry about a lot of things, I never thought about before, I do like playing with lights, projectors and “no light” or “low light” windlight settings. The less light you have around you, the more control you get about the lights around you. In the past I first chose my windlight and then added one or two lights or projectors – lately I do it the other way round. I first set up my lights and then look for a windlight, that supports my idea. In the beginning it felt weird to set up out of the darkness, but it becomes better with each try. As well I discovered different desires, which I would like to have for my pictures and so I started a few new “learning projects”. I watched a lot of tutorials, practiced a lot and learned many new things.

One project that started – I tried to start that, since my vacation had begun – was to paint hair. I do have a graphic tablet forever but besides using it for textures I never touched it for pictures, as my mouse felt so much better with that. But try to paint hair with your mouse.. even if you really think you can control your mouse perfectly, but things like the pen pressure, I only get with the tablet. I forced myself to play with it and watched many tutorials. Slowly it starts working, but it really needs a lot of practice and I am not yet ready to show it off  more than a few strands of hair 😉

To not loose my motivation, I started to play with some ready made hair strands and wisps as well as hair brushes for Photoshop, as those as well helped me a lot to understand the basic hair drawing. When I found the strands from Rayne Morgan, I was completely speechless. I rarely saw such a well drawn hair in all it’s details and if you are willing to credit her work, she even offers a few free downloads on her Deviantart site (https://www.deviantart.com/raynemorgan).

There I found some interesting ready made hair as well for instant use. I always had wondered, how some photographers were able to paint or photograph hair and have such amazing results on Flickr. When I saw the website of Rayne Morgan… I immediately did know how a few did that 😉

It is really breathtaking how that hair can change a Second Life picture like it did for the closeup above. You get the hair as a PSD file. You are able to color and as well warp it, until it matches your Second Life snapshot. I could not resist, to even work on that one by adding some more wisps and paint some little strands myself. It is not the end of my hair-paint experiences, as I really want to archive painting my own hair completely one day, but I wanted to share the progress and as well the way of keeping up my motivation to do so 🙂

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: //Ascend// – “Diora” (Maitreya) – NEW @ The Fetish Fair 2018 – 2nd Edition

Panty: .:Avanti:. – “Adara Panty” (Maitreya)

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

Hand & Rings: [Since1975] – “No Mercy Rings” (Maitreya, Bento)

Mask: FnH – “Bunny Mask”

Earrings: Elle Boutique – “Jaclyn Earring”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Besom – “Piggy Bank”

Makeup: Zibska – “Radi Eyemakeup” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: Izzie’s – “Metallic Lipsticks” (LeLutka Applier)

Hair for Closeup: Rayne Morgan

Head & Body

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Legs: Zibska – “Wild Thang” (Maitreya Applier) – NEW @ TheSecret Affair

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Set:

Couch: [Ds] – “Contempo Ladies Chaise” – NEW @ The Fetish Fair 2018 – 2nd Edition

Lamp: Trompe Loeil – “Wiggle Modern Light”

Statue: NOMAD – “Bright Headed Mannequin C”

Mirror: [Figure 8] – “Narcissus Mirror Silver”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

“The most beautiful makeup for a woman is passion…”

“The most beautiful makeup for a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.”

[Yves Saint Laurent]

And again I find myself doing black & red tones pictures… I do not know what that is, but to me lack & red are a very strong color combination especially if you have a deep hued saturated red 😉

For the set I used several items from E.V.E Studio. I love the way how she does her designs, as they can be used from casual to fantasy up to artistic surroundings.

When I unpacked the “{The Wall} Mural Tir Na Nog ” pack from E.V.E Studio, I was totally in love with all this tiles that make a wonderful structured wall and ground. playing with projectors was fun with this wall as the tiles reflect the lights in such an amazing way 😉

The cool dress comes from [sYs] and I found out it’s ‘secret’ when I put on the HUD. Each color comes with a HUD and you can color 2 parts of the dress separate! If you own more than one HUD you can even mix the different colors :p

Tattoos – I rarely wear other tattoos that the amazing art pieces from [White~Widow]. Julie Hastings really is a genius with her tattoos and I rarely found such original, filigree and detailed tattoos somewhere else. Usually you have RL tattoos that, someone brings to SL, but Julie seems to hand draw hers one by one and it looks like her creativity has no limits 😉 The “GetOut” tattoo you can find at the actual round of the Kinky event.

If we take a closer look on the glasses and the shoes you will remember both being made by Glamistry. The shoes come – as usual for Glamistry –  with  several HUD options so you can customize them to your likings. The glasses are made the same way 😉

I more and more like playing with projectors in combination with the SL windlights and I am sure, I will have something more for you soon 😉

Details

Dress: [sYs] – “Symetra” (Maitreya)

Shoes: Glamistry – “Angelica” (Maitreya)

Gloves: .:Avanti:. – “Tessa Gloves” (Maitreya Applier)

Collar & Headpiece: [[RH]] – “Zakuro”

Glasses: Glamistry – “Sunglasses PU2004”

Hair: Fabia – “Luida” @ Vintage Fair 2017

Tattoo: [White~Widow] – “GetOut” (Maitreya Applier) @ Kinky

Lipstick: La Boheme – “Eve Set 1” (LeLutka Applier)

Set: E.V.E Studio – “{The Wall} Mural Tir Na Nog”, “‘Army of me’ Ink Flowers” & {anc} – “Mannequin [alice]”

Basics:
Head: LeLutka – “Simone 2.7”
Body: Maitreya – “Lara V4.1”
Eyes: IKON – “Hope Eyes”
Shape: Selfmade

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

Opium Tales – Mannequins…review of a fantastic show and fantastic accessories!!!

(Model from left to right: Arisia Ashmoot, AngeXX Quandry, Wicca Merlin, Sequoia Nightfire – Picture by Romeo Torvalar)

Lastly Opium Fashion Agency had another amazing and fabulous show. “Opium Tales Mannequin – It’s all about the accessories” Not the avatar was focus of that show neither clothing designs… just the accessories that make every outfits to something special. I liked this show so much that I would like to review the stunning things I was given for that show 🙂 and for sure all the fabulous Stiletto Moodys I got! Stiletto Moody sponsored every outfit with one pair of the fantastic and wonderful heels!!!

My first outfit was a mixture of Haysuriza glasses, a Lady Flora, belt from Gabriel and fingernails from Talon Faire…AND the amazing Stiletto Moody “Bare Ava” in rocking aubergine!!! As you can see the skin tone of the bare foot can be matched to every color of skin even black!!!! The combination of the color the sharp spikes and the shining gems are an awesome way to show character and make your shoes the center of your outfit 😉

For the next round I was wearing a combination of a lovely daisy outfit from Talon Faire, a Fyreworks Necklace, hair from Tukinowaguma and the fantastic new “Bare Fay” wild set heels from Stiletto Moody. This fresh and wonderful colors and textures a totally eye catcher with the animal print combined with that light blue..simply amazing and outstanding! Stiletto Moody again raised the level for stylish and perfect designed high heels!

My 3rd outfit contained jewelry from MC Designs, Tukinowaguma hair and again one version of the amazing new Stiletto Moody “Bare Fay” wild set colors called kaleido. The kaleido texture is available with 3 different colors for the “Bare Fay” style. For me the light blue one was matching this out fit best. And not only black is possible for an unusual skintone…even the white tone of the WDB Fantasy Skins could be matched for the bare foot tone of the stunning  Stiletto Moodys!

Again in the metalic black skin of Yabusaka I was allowed to show another set of the MC Designs jewelry,the Swirls2 Eye tattoo from Talon Faire,  a cloche from House of Nyla and another style of the new spring collection of Stiletto Moody. The ” Bare Robin” ankle boots here shown in red python. *rooooaar* This texture is definitely some for the brave fashionista that dares to show color and style. The amazing, shining, red colored python texture is so amazing detailed…breath taking realistic. Also the zipper that is open in this version so that the sweet ankle straps show off and the stitched leather turns inside out… simply wonderful!

My last outfit was made of another WDB Fantasy Skin, a wonderful black, flexible boa with Bangles from Myth and again another version of the fantastic Stiletto Moody “Bare Robin” ankle boots here in the kaleido color and with a closed zipper. The options of opened and closed zipper and also the different colors for the metal parts are part of this great pair of Stiletto Moody also. You can choose by yourself, if you wanna wear “Bare Robin” with open or closed zipper, or with or without ankle straps. The kaleido texture gives a perfect spring and summer feeling with its amazing colors!

(Models from left to right: SC Tracy, Wicca Merlin, dancer Dallagio, Seth Diabolo)

For me it was an amazing opportunity to walk this show and I would like all the designers and the Opium Family that made this show possible… for me it was something new in SL to have only the accessories in the focus of a great show.

All shoes by Stiletto Moody

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin