Tag Archives: mesh head

“Insufficient facts always invite danger.” – Mister Spock

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“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before”

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Treck: The Next Generation]

I was a Star Treck addicted since I saw the first episodes on TV back when I was a kid. I always was a little dreamer and the idea of having worlds out of reach, that no one yet had explored and either Captain Kirk or Captain Jean-Luc Picard just took us on their journeys to do exactly that, was just amazing. How often we sat, with the family or with friends, together in front of the TV and watched with excitement, what they would find and if it would be good or bad. For my age it first was Captain Jean-Luc Picard. I was about 10 years old when the first season came out on TV and when my mom realized I do love the whole story, she introduced me to the “older Star Treck” episodes with Captain Kirk and Mister Spock. Even if Jean-Luc will be my all time favorite, I did enjoy the older ones too, especially Mister Spock. The idea of having a life with no emotions, can be attractive if you are a very emotional kid and run into problems all the time*snickers*

That addiction to unknown space and fantasy stories did never go away… it did even grow over the time. Nowadays I still love Star Treck but as well all kind of post apocalyptic movies like Resident Evil, Mad Max, Book of Eli and many more. Fantasy or Sci-Fi as well is a genre that I do love a lot. The idea of machines that get some kind of personality like I Robot, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report or Ex Machina as well are an amazing yet dangerous idea… if artificial intelligences decide, that humans are the major problem in the the end – I would not wanna be part of that. What was an interesting movie as well and maybe a future vision of Second Life, was Surrogates. A world, where people never leave home again and just operate machines to do their jobs. When I saw the movie first, I thought it would be a cool idea, but the more I was thinking about that it was a scaring vision to me. I do have a love for such fictions and I am sure a few were part of what inspired me for todays post.

When I saw the “Space 2099” gacha set from Salt & Pepper, I instantly felt the 60s/70s, retro mood of the old Start Trek series. Then I saw, that Ex Machina made a matching scenery to exactly that gacha, there was no way that I would not blog that amazing collaboration. 2 of my favorite designers, collaborating on a sci-fi inspired set – priceless!

The gacha set from Salt & Pepper contains a body, shoes with long leg parts, sleeves and 2 different interactive tools that cooperate with the clothing AND with the matching props and skyebox from Ex Machina!!! While you can have 5 different colors for the clothing you get 3 options of guns. each gun shoots a different color (slime, hexagon glitter, holo swirls), while you can remove all the splashes with the scanner, which as well is part of the gacha. Sadly I found no other person, as I first had the idea of having a pixel fight with someone and colored slime splashes all over, but then I came on a different idea anyways. Maybe I will do some fun with that interactive gacha in the future ;). The VIP prize, a visor with a color HUD to match the clothing colors. The matching gacha from Ex Machina, as well called “Space 2099”, contains various props, a modular tunnel system and a skybox as rare.

For todays post I used the 2 gachas, but as well some other matching designs from Ex Machina. Hatris Panacek recently released some amazing sci-fi items that just were perfect to furnish the skybox. I first made one level with the modular tunnel system and all the gacha props. When I rezzed the skybox, I immediately had the idea of having a laboratory inside of it as a second level of my interstellar home *grins*. Who does not dream of a separated work/life balance *winks*

When I was done and satisfied with the look (I will credit all parts properly in the end of this post) I again came back on my initial idea of foreign spaces and forms of life. That brought up the neat idea with the little dragon , that just was born in my laboratory. First it looked super cute and then it did demonstrate it’s power and I had to run :p

I do love to tell little stories with my pictures and with that amount of items I wanted to showcase, it had to be a few more pictures than usual, but they all went so well together that I did not want to part them for a post.

Again I used the Axis HUD from LeLutka to animate my face. I know there is various face expressions out there at the moment, but I still think, that LeLutka had the most genius idea with that animation HUD. I already did talk about my first steps and tries wit the Axis HUD (HERE), but I seriously cannot stop to tell how amazing that HUD is. you can make expressions completely personalized and to exact purpose you need it. Sometimes I even modify existing expressions (certainly I mostly use the awesome, pre-made expressions from LeLutka as well), if I just want a little tweak and like the general attitude of the expression. If you not yet tried it, you really should. There is as well a demo HUD available where you can test the way how it works at the LeLutka main store.First I wanted to include a gyazo of my LeLutka HUD in action, with all the worked bones, but  with all my excitement about taking pictures… I again forgot to do that. I will try to remember that for the net time, when I have it excessively in use 😉

Clothing

Body: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Space 2099 Body” (Maitreya, Gacha, Common) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Sleeves: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Space 2099 Sleeves” (Maitreya, Gacha, Common) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Shoes: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Space 2099 Boots” (Maitreya, Gacha, Common) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Accessories

Face Implant: Wicca’s Originals – “Edge Implant” – NEW @ Driftwood August 2019

Leg Lights: Normandy – “Leg Implants” (Maitreya)

Nails: [CX] – “Shredder Claws” (Maitreya, Bento)

Heart: NeurolaB Inc. – “Heart Reactor MK-6”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: lock&tuft – “Stranded (woman fit1)”

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

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

Body & Tattoo

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Head: LeLutka – “Aida 3.3”

Skin: ~Jeanette’s Joint~ – “Android 2.0 Skin and Tattoo” (Omega Applier)

Eyes: CURELESS[+] – “Spookshow Eyes / Dialated”

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Nepthune V2”

Facetattoo: the crone – “flesh shell” (LeLutka & Maitreya Applier)

Metal Tattoo: *YS&YS* – Pris Tone ELF” (LeLutka & Omega Applier)

Poses, Props & Tools

Poses: Poseidon

Set 1 (pictures 2 & 3):

Ex Machina – “Space 2099 SkyRoom” (Gacha, Rare) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Ex Machina – “THX Sci Fi Botanical Lab”

Ex Machina – “THX Sci Fi set” (Console, Cannister, Crate)

Ex Machina – “THX Sci Fi set 2” (Vertical Console, Suspension Pod)

Ex Machina – “Advanced Teleporter Pod v1.5”

lassitude & ennui – “Dragon whelp – mystic” (Gacha, Rare)

Set 2 (pictures 1, 4 & 5)

Ex Machina – “Space 2099 Corridor Ending A” (Gacha, Common) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Ex Machina – “Space 2099 Corridor Ending B” (Gacha, Common) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Ex Machina – “Space 2099 Corridor” (Gacha, Common) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Ex Machina – “Space 2099 Intersection” (Gacha, Common) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Ex Machina – “Space 2099 Crate 1-3 Black & Teal” (Gacha, Commons) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Ex Machina – “Space 2099 Power Washer – Black & Teal” (Gacha, Commons) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Ex Machina – “Space 2099 Sign 1-3 Black” (Gacha, Commons) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Ex Machina – “Space 2099 Info Center – Teal” (Gacha, Common) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Ex Machina – “Space 2099 teleporter” (Gacha, VIP prize) – NEW @ Epiphany July 2019

Ex Machina – “Planetary Holographic Scanner”

Tool: LeLutka – “Axis HUD Face 1.1”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

 

Imagine…

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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

Demons in my Mind…

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TUNES

Tell you all the things that are tearing me apart
Tell you every little thing thats been bleeding out my heart
Nothing that I say can make you change your mind so doesnt matter
What I do it doesnt matter where I start
Yeah ive been feeling down
No ones been around
My mind is foggy
I can’t tell you what is left or right
No matter what i say you always find a fucking way to twirl it
Demons in my mind they never listen

[plxntkid]

The nice part of having holidays is you have more time to fool around with things you always wanted to learn before. For me that is watching a lot of new tutorials for Photoshop and trying if I can use what I learned in my own ways on my pictures. Even if it takes a lot longer to try new skills and techniques, it is a lot of fun, too.

Today I wanted to do something editorial and I wanted to involve the incredible amazing designs of Zibska. When I put on the “Ruina” collar and makeup, I instantly knew, that I do not want too much things in the background that would distract from the design itself. The collar has 2 orbits with  with fishies and hooks which I am not wearing for my todays picture as it added too much cuteness for my idea*giggles* While I was standing in my black spot and fooling around with lights I realized how cool the “Ruina” collar does reflect the lights and I just rezzed one, pulled it super huge trying t see what it would look like… like you can see on the pictures, I loved the idea :p I even stretched it a little more, rezzed another one, shoved them around and finally played with the color HUD. That again proves, that Zib Scaggs is truly an artist, you even can use her creations totally out of purpose and still they add an artful touch to your picture 😉 For a matching expression to that powerful picture, I again used my Axis HUD from LeLutka. I already wrote about that (HERE), but I just cannot tell it often enough, that it does open a complete new world for me for pictures with some kind of mood or emotions 😉

Clothing

Pants: Decoy – “Apple Shorts” (Maitreya)

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

Accessories

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

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

Shoulderpiece: Zibska – “Ruina” – NEW @ Driftwood August 2019 – NEW @ Driftwood August 2019

Collar: [CX] – “Hells Harbinger (Black Out+Silver)” (Maitreya)

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

Mask: L’Emporio – “Cat Skull – 03 Lather Covered”

Arm Straps: L’Emporio – “Harness Arm” (Maitreya)

Pasties: .ARISE. – “Spiked Pasties / Black_Silver” (Maitreya)

Chains: -SECRETS- – “Danita Nipple Chain – Silver” (Maitreya)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: KoKoLoResS – “Oakes”

Makeup: Zibska – “Ruina” (LeLutka Applier) – NEW @ Driftwood August 2019

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

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Poses & Props

Poses: Poseidon

Background Structures: Zibska – “Ruina” – NEW @ Driftwood August 2019 (rezzed and resized)

Model  & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

The Dark Nun – My Journey of Blogging

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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

There is so much Life underneath the Water that we don’t know about…

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“And everywhere, just as there were animals on land, were the animals of the sea.
The tiniest fish made the largest schools- herring, anchovies, and baby mackerel sparkling and cavorting in the light like a million diamonds. They twirled into whirlpools and flowed over the sandy floor like one large, unlikely animal.
Slightly larger fish came in a rainbow, red and yellow and blue and orange and purple and green and particolored like clowns: dragonets and blennies and gobies and combers.
Hake, shad, char, whiting, cod, flounder, and mullet made the solid middle class.
The biggest loners, groupers and oarfish and dogfish and the major sharks and tuna that all grew to a large, ripe old age did so because they had figured out how to avoid human boats, nets, lines, and bait. The black-eyed predators were well aware they were top of the food chain only down deep, and somewhere beyond the surface there were things even more hungry and frightening than they.
Rounding out the population were the famous un-fish of the ocean: the octopus, flexing and swirling the ends of her tentacles; delicate jellyfish like fairies; lobsters and sea stars; urchins and nudibranchs… the funny, caterpillar-like creatures that flowed over the ocean floor wearing all kinds of colors and appendages.
All of these creatures woke, slept, played, swam about, and lived their whole lives under the sea, unconcerned with what went on above them.
But there were other animals in this land, strange ones, who spoke both sky and sea. Seals and dolphins and turtles and the rare fin whale would come down to hunt or talk for a bit and then vanish to that strange membrane that separated the ocean from everything else. Of course they were loved- but perhaps not quite entirely trusted.”
[Liz Braswell, Part of Your World]

As I promised before, with all the amazing designs at the Mermaid Cove event, done by Flair for Events, I could not resist and do a second post. This time it isn’t quite a Mermaid, more an underwater creature, as I did not want to post my favorite mermaid tale again, plus I wanted to showcase those amazing leg wraps, which I found at the Mermaid Cove as well 🙂

To do an underwater picture, but actually not being under water was quite a challenge I have to admit. I first tried to set up everything underwater, but with the windlight and lightning I wanted to have it did not really work out that well plus, I realized that underwater in SL… doesn’t look like it should anyways. So what I did was, I created a small set with rocks and some grass, which I tinted in blue, purple and white color and some underwater creatures beside my self. To get a little bit of an ambiance I used some designs from E.V.E Studio with inbuilt lights and some glitter. All the bubbles and plants I had to add in Photoshop afterwards, as I could not find any non-flexi plants, that did look right for what I had in mind.

It was something new and I even learned some new Photoshop tricks about fx styles, so it was a win-win situation to try something new and non familiar. I hope you enjoyed my underwater creature as much as I did and for now I do not have any plans for more mermaid or underwater styles 😉

I am happy with the result, even if it was a little bit of a rock road until it came together as I imagined it 😉

Clothing

Top: SynCo – “Mermaid Bralette” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Pants: -:zk:.- – “Bella Panty” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Head- & Shoulderpieces: Zibska – “Helmine”

Nails: Ama. – “Mermaid Claws” (Maitreya, Bento) – NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Handjewelry: .Drastic. – “Tentacle Jewelry” (Maitreya, Bento)

Legwraps: *Merlific* – “Sea Stars Pearl” – NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Toerings: Elle Boutique – “Talluah” (Maitreya, High Feet)

Feetchains: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Keisha” (Maitreya, High Feet)

Tentacles: – Fika – – ” Sirens Song – Hip” – NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Collar: .Quirky. – “Scales Collar” – NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Bracelets: E.V.E Studio – “Scorpion Spikes Bracelet” (Maitreya)

Hair & Makeup

Makeup: Zibska – “Araceli” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – Simone 3.3″

Faceart: .Arise. – “Face Scales 3” (Omega Applier) – NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Meraxes”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Bodyscales: ~ Cynefin ~ – “Body Scales~Shades” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Fashiowl – “Undersea – Pose Set” – NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Set:

Rocks: Fashiowl – “Undersea – Pose Prop” – NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Grass: Little Branch – “WildGrass*1Li{Lavender}” & “Grass1l{Winter}” (partwise tinted)

Fish: 22769 ~ [bauwerk] – “Floating Fish Iron”

Jellyfishes: *HEXtraordinary* – “Jellyfish” (Gacha)

Ambience: E.V.E Studio – “Sunny Spells [M1] W/Tile”, “Dancing Bubbles {White}” & “Sunny Spells M02 – KOI Glitter”

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

Sirens – The Dark Side of the Mermaid Family

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Ok, if someone would have told me, that I would do a mermaid post… I would have broken down laughing. I always faced mermaids as the sweet and cute pink, purple or pastel colored girly sweethearts… until I came across a TV show called Sirens last year. I read about the dark side in some mermaid stories but I never saw them so dark before that show. I love the events from Flair for Events and when this year the sign up for the Mermaid Cove came out, I could not resist to apply as a designer, thinking we could do something that works for those dark sirens.

We did –  we made the “Amatheia” claws. A combination of bracelet and claws, connected by chains and decorated with some shells. When we set up our booth, I saw the super awesome cool release from The White Crow right beside us. It must have been fate, that we were assigned right beside each other, both enjoying the darker side of the theme :p

-[TWC]- made those amazing tentacles, which come out of your nose and mouth together with a cool matching makeup/lips combo. I so loved the “Sea Witch” I had to make a dark and scary siren using  that one 🙂

There were so many other cool items, so the look came together really fast. Arise made those neat face scales in 3 different styles and the super cool “Sea Ghoul Eyes” with a matching makeup were made by BLAXIUM. I realized, that I discovered BLAXIUM for me lately as they to kick ass cool designs and piercings, that are not mainstream focused only.

First I tried to set up an underwater scene but, since SL water doesn’t really do much from below the water surface, I decided to go for a little dark cave, only lighted by a few moon beams, that come through the ceiling of it. When I had placed my siren on the awesome rocks (I really love their materials!) with the cool poses, that WetCat released at the Mermaid Cove event, I missed something in the back. Just open sea looked kinda boring and I decided to put a ship, that hit a rock because of the siren singing in front of the cave aka into my back.

To get a feeling of a rough sea, I had to cheat in Photoshop as I could not find waves and foam in SL that did what I wanted it to do. With most of the stuff I found, I ended up with weird pixelated white “something” in my back.

First I thought I do have to wear any kind of clothing to cover my chest, but the combination of the “Sandra” hair from MINA and the “Body Scales” from Cynefin did hide everything needed.

I had so much fun doing those pictures… I can’t promise that I won’t come up with another dark mermaid look and pictures in the future 😉

Accessories

Horns: [Eternus] – “Kirin Horns” NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Collar: .Quirky. – “Scales Collar” NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Hand Tentacles: .Drastic. – “Tentacle Jewelry” (Maitreya)

Handaccessoriess with Claws: Wicca’s Originals – “Amatheia Claws” (Maitreya, Bento) NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Face Tentacles: -[TWC]- – “Sea Witch / Dark Green” NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Bellypiercing: PUNCH – “Navel Piercing / Diamond Pearl” (Maitreya) NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Hair & Makeup

Hair: MINA Hair – “Sandra”

Facetattoo 1: -[TWC]- – “Sea Witch Ink -Full-” (Omega Applier) NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Facetattoo 2: ARISE – “Face Scales Style 2” (Omega Applier) NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Eyes & Eyeshadow: BLAXIUM – “Sea Ghoul Eyes” NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Skin: Lumae – “Eirtae – Storm” (LeLutka/Maitreya Applier)

Body Scales: ~Cynefin ~ – “Body Scales (Shades)” (Maitreya Applier)

 Tail: ~ Cynefin ~ – “Lorelei Bento Mermaid Tail (Shades)” (Maitreya, Bento)

Poses & Props

Poses: ::WetCat:: “‘Part Of Your World’ Mermaid Prop” (Bento, arms lightly edited with anypose) NEW @ Mermaid Cove

Rocks: [FOURTH WALL] – “Mossy Rocks Pack”

Ship: MUSHILU – “JonJamesV – Caravel”

Skull taken of the La Catrina pose set from Poseidon

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will…

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TUNES

She is waiting to kiss my hand
But she will wait for my command
My chains and collar brought her to her knees
She now is free to please

[Manowar]

For those who know me, I am not a huge friend of nude pictures in general, besides some very artistic ones. I mostl try to cover my bits, but when it comes to fetish clothing, sometimes you have to make compromises, as many do show a lot of skin. I usually try to hide a little bit with poses and angles, most of the time that works out pretty well. I love to hide the “facts” and try to just give room for imagination 😉

For today my base to start from were the “Marie Ankle Boots” and the cool short hairstyle called “No.Commitment” from no.match. I had put on those 2 designs and was rambling through my inventory, to find some other things I could use for my pictures. When I stumbled over the “Elegents Harness” from Sorumin, I was clear it will be a fetish style. I loved the way how that huge ribbon at the front of the neck gave a contrast to the strong leather harness with its chains. Sadly it only came as a top and so I had to find some pants. I first tried with jeans and leather pants, but nothing really kicked my mind until I found the “Jennie” shorts of JF Design in my inventory. High wasted pants but not wit those mainstream looking high, sexy leg cut outs – had nearly had a light vintage touch to me with their shape (I hope that made sense*snickers*)

The “Marie Ankle Boots”, as usual for [Gos] designs, come with a huge HUD of 21 colors for the shoe and 4 different colors for the sole – I always love the red sole, it reminds me of the Louboutin shoes in RL*giggles. The booties are no leather boots, but some kind of stretch fabric, which is kinda unusual to find in SL and I immediately loved that.

More and more I love the extra ears you can get at many different places. One of my personal favorites is Eclipse Art Studio. I do love her ears and as well her accessories, like the “Thunderstrike” Nails and rings. They are available for all popular mesh bodies and bento enabled. With a HUD you can change the metal and nail colors.

It felt so naked with the harness only and I decided to have a cool, huge tattoo besides my 2 little duck-tape pasties – with tattoos I usually only feel half as naked :p

I enjoyed to do a black & red shoot again so much, that I certainly ended up with way more pics than I could use for this post, but sometimes just shooting is a cool learning process for me too as I always discover new angles and possibilities. I always find something new even with playing with the windlight options… I am really looking forward to the offical release for the new EEP viewer with all the new graphic options!

Clothing

Top: -Sorumin- – “Elegents Harness” (Maitreya)

Pants: JF Design – “Jennie Shorts” (Maitreya)

Pasties: CURELESS[+] – “Sterile Pasties” (Maitreya)

Shoes: [Gos] – “Marie Ankle Boots” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Rings & Nails: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Thunderstrike” (Maitreya, Bento)

Septum: [CX] – “Drop Septum”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Commitment”

Lipstick: Sintiklia – “Lipstick Zipper” (Omega Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Akasuna”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Tattoo: Redfish – “My Soul” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Pillows: Stockholm&Lima – “Pillow Pile (PG)”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

“Time of my Life!”

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Vintage Fair is going on at the moment and even if the oder was “pre 80s” for the theme at the event, I could not resist to do another colorful 80s post with some items and designs I found there. The center of my style this time was the cool “Discordia” top from The Annex. Certainly you can style that top in a 70s style as well, but as you can see 80s works too.

Believe it or not, the Vintage Fair is one of my favorite events in Second Life. I know many of you know I am a friend of weird and dark things, but vintage styles especially the 20s to 50s are times and styles that really touch me somehow. Maybe it is because of the music. I love Swing, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Rockabilly! I do have some more vintage posts prepared, but I wanted to start with that cool top as it caught my attention from the moment I put it on the first time. The top is available in 5 different colors and made for Maitreya.

What perfectly fit the 80s look where the “Star Boots”, made by [Gos]. The certainly come with a color HUD, but that silver colors was so perfect for that look. On the picture above you can see a few more colors, but not all of the them 😉 In total you get 15 colors for the main boot, 5 for the lining, 2 for the heel, tread and laces and 3 different metals. For the heel, if you want it the same color as the shoes, you simply can chose the main boot color as that includes the heel, too.

Another cool thing I wanted to talk about is the LeLutka Axis HUD. I know, it is around for a while, but I still get asked how I do my facial expressions apart from the ready made ones you can buy for the LeLutka heads. The HUD is not limited to LeLutka only. You can animate other brands heads as well. I tried it myself with LAQ and Logo and I was asking a friend, that uses Catwa and she said it works too. The only tricky part is expressions with the tongue involved as those seem to react a little different. Other than that, the Axis HUD worked on the other heads just fine for me (You always can try the demo). If you want the full information, you always can look at the LeLutka website (http://lelutka.com/blog/axis-hud/)

That HUD opened a new world of close up pictures for me – not only close ups but there you can see the most impact certainly, if you have the face in your focus. With the Axis HUD you can either create a fully new expression OR you can alter expressions that you already have for your head. Since my English is not the best I would like to quote something from the website that explains the most important infos of the HUD:

“Most of what you need to know about getting started can be found on the info pages which show on HUD itself when you first wear it. You can return to those info pages at any time you like by clicking the “i” button on the top of your HUD.

You can click and drag on the point grids to rotate each facial bone on one, two or three axis, depending on the bone. Three axis bones such as the lip bones have an extra row underneath the main point grid which you can use to rotate the bone on the third axis. There are also larger circles at the edges of the brows and lips which allow you to move several bones together. Once you have the expression just how you like it, you can save your animation set into a savorite at the bottom of the HUD if you want to recall it later.

You can also target up to three other avatars and individually set up unique facial animations for group photos or just a bit of fun.”

I tried the HUD not only o myself, but as well with my partner and me no a picture and it worked perfectly.I was wearing the “Simone” head while he was wearing a Catwa one and it worked without any issues (https://www.flickr.com/photos/wiccamerlin/45078595804/in/dateposted-public/)

I was able to create way more moods and expressions, what really raised the bar for my pictures in my view. I am able to even more expressing emotions or having fun moments that without that HUD!

Last but not least – yes that again is a longer post, but there was so many details that should not be overlooked 🙂 – I would like to draw your attention to my hairstyle. It was made by no.match and is called “No.Stress”. You can find it at the actual round of eBENTO. Usually I prefer blond, because of my no eyebrow trademark. But today, for my 80s look I felt I should have some more colored hair, that as well is one of the reasons for me wearing eyebrows today 😉 For me it was the first time, that I touched the ‘unicorn’ color HUD from no.match – after seeing it I know it will not be the last time :p

I hope you enjoyed my little 80s trip as much as I did, tomorrow we will go back a little more in time I guess 😉

Clothing

Top: The Annex – “Discordia Top – Red” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Vintage Fair

Shorts: adorsy – “Sharon Jeans Shorts” (Maitreya)

Shoes: [Gos] – “Star Boots” (Maitreya)

Gloves: L’Emporio – “Fingerless Gloves” (Maitreya, Bento)

Stockings: {Luxuria} – “Spring Summer 19 Knee Heighs” (Maitreya Applier)

Legs: [ SAKIDE ] – “Yleria” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Headphones: BONDI – “The Retro Headphones” – NEW @ Vintage Fair

Collar: -[ darkling ]- – “Angelique Collar” (Maitreya)

Upper Arms: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Pyper 69 Upper Arms”

Piercing 1: BLAXIUM – “Dangerous” (LeLutka Simone, Bento)

Piercing 2: BLAXIUM – “Jaiden Chain Piercing”

Nails: BLAXIUM – “Mikah Nails” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair &  Makeup

Eyebrows: Izzie’s – “Vintage Summer Brows” (LeLutka Applier)

Hair: no.match – “No.Stress”

Eyeshadow: ALMA – “Alba” (LeLutka Applier)

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

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Tattoo: ((Mister Razzor)) – “Betina Tattoo – 75%” (Omega Applier) – NEW @ Vintage Fair

Poses & Props

Poses: Poseidon – “Hip Hop” & “Idols”

Set:

Backdrop: Foxcity – “Photo Booth – Neon Storm”

Couch: Foxcity – “Tasty AF (2) Diner Sofa” (Gacha)

Speakers: Daffy’s Gadgetmania Club Equipment and Structure Designs – “-[GFX- 800]- Mesh Advanced Speakers”

Clock: Visual Magick – “Retro Neon Clock – Bepis Cola”- NEW @ Vintage Fair

Sign: Saintstreet – “Neon Lady Symbol” (Gacha)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

What now?!?

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“Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do
Though I’m past one hundred thousand miles
I’m feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go…”
[David Bowie]

Yes, I know… Cyberpunk Fair is over, but it seems I am not yet done with my sci-fi moods :p

Today it is less cyberpunk that actual real sci-fi I guess, but that doesn’t matter – I love both anyways 🙂

Today I was going to try something in a space capsule, like I would be on a mission to a new planet. I guess I watched too much movies like “Elysium, Interstellar, The Martian or my absolute favourite one – Serenity including the series of Firefly” again, which dragged me in such a mood. But that was cool, as I anyways wanted to showcase the new “THX Sci-Fi Set 1” from Ex Machina. The whole set contains console, cannister, crate and lamp… the lamp I will have to add into another post, as it did not look right for my picture of a space capsules cargo bay and that was what I was going for.

I do not know what it is, that attracts me so much about futuristic thoughts – Maybe it is the desire to know what will come? Maybe it is the desire to see something new? Maybe it is just something very human that you start thinking where you could go if the human race finally destroyed the earth completely? I have no idea, but I do enjoy movies and stories about that, as well I like to play with those thoughts in Second Life.

The cool backdrop was made by The Bearded Guy for a gacha set and I guess it was the rare piece of that gacha. I loved the way how you can look out the back window and see another planet. That gave such a cool cargo bay feeling that the “THX Sci-Fi Set 1” did fit on so perfect. The idea behind the scenes was, that I was on a mission and something went wrong and I tried to figure out what to do next, to not screw up completely. That as well gave me a brief idea for my pose choices.

For my outfit I chose some parts that I got at the CyberPunk  Fair from Flair for Events, which was ending not too long ago, but I think most of the creators will have their items in their main stores by now.

A few of you asked me, why I am wearing the same makeup for a few posts now already… that has  simple reason. I do have an everyday look where I do use an eyeshadow from Zibska and a natural lipstick from alaskametro<3 and for a casual look, or even a mechanics look I would feel weird wearing heavy makeups. There is ties where you just do not need makeup, even if your inventory is full of it and you got already more than you ever can use *snickers*

Another reason is, that I sometimes do want to show the heads more pure than covered in tons of makeup, to show that they are still mega versatile even without makeups and fancy face paints 😉 Like today, I am wearing the “Simone” head from LeLutka again – my everyday “Wicca Face” head. Today I wanted her to have a more bad girl, cool chick with the focus on the face it self and on the piercings. Plus the glasses would have covered anyways most of the eyeshadow.

I hope you enjoyed my little Sci-Fi mood today – Now I have to jump back into my GoT mood for my next post 😉 That is one of the nice things about Second Life… you can change looks, times and genres in like seconds!

Clothing

Outfit: AsteroidBox – “Erebus Outfit” (Maitreya)

Jacket: {Psycho.Byts} – “N.i.x – N.i.g.h.t – Vest Green” (Maitreya, Gacha)

Gloves: Wicca’s Originals – “Roadie Gloves” (Maitreya, Bento)

Accessories

Necklace: Avada – “Denari”

Upper Arms: :::SOLE::: – “SA – Armtech Mk.4”

Glasses: :::SOLE::: – “SA – Glasses Shinkan White (Black)”

Piercing 1: :Z.S: – “Spiked Snake Bites” (LeLutka, Simone)

Piercing 2: BLAXIUM – “Venerosa Piercing” (LeLutka, Simone)

Nails: Meva – “Bento Nails 3” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: .shi – “Kuwn”

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

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

Body & Tattoos

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Aksuna”

Tattoo: THIS IS WRONG – “Falken” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Backdrop: The Bearded Guy – “Going to The Hole *RARE* – SCI FI Backdrops” (Gacha)

Furniture: Ex Machina – “THX Sci-Fi Set 1”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin