Tokyo after Dark

Being still in my dark period, I was in a dark casual mood today πŸ˜‰

I love the “VoDoo” ears so much, I had to do another post with them. I am not a fan of elf ears for everyday looks but sometimes – for what ever reason – I love them not just for a fantasy style.

Today I wanted to showcase one of Ex Machina’s awesome buildings. I rarely saw better structures that are made with more love for the details, than the designs from Hatris Panacek, owner and designer of Ex Machina. It is no secret , that I adore her work, otherwise we never would have asked her to make a custom built store building and most of it’s interior for us. Hattie has amazing skills when it comes to building and as well to texturing. She works so hard to get her realistic looking surfaces done and it pays of every time she does a new release. The “Tokyo after Dark” building is one of her latest creations. On her vendor she states, that his is the first in a set of urban, Japanese, cyberpunk styled buildings. That mean for me we can hope on more of those, which would make me super duper happy, because I LOVE that kind of style πŸ˜‰

For my pictures I used 2 of the buildings and the amazing street components she delivers with the building. I just turned one of the buildings 90 degrees, so I could showcase the front and the backside as well – I really loved the stair case in the back a lot. I snapped over 10 pictures and I liked all of them. Making a decision was really not easy this time. When I started I just wanted to showcase the amazing “VoDoo” ears and the awesome “Tokyo after Dark” building. But the more I was fooling around with a style the more I got my vibe for that dark urban look. I used the amazing “Bella Leather Pants” from [Gos]. I already blogged those before, but in a more sweet casual style and I wanted to try if they do work for some more dark looks as well – They do!

What as well caught my attention a lot was the new tattoo from Mister Razzor. I love when tattoos go up till parts of the head, but not many are really seamless. The “Dante” tattoo, which was released at the Black Fair not too long ago, did not disappoint in that matter πŸ™‚

Again I am wearing my everyday head from LeLutka. I know the “Simone” bento head was one of the first heads, that LeLutka released when the new bento generation of heads came out, but it is still my absolute favorite one, even if I more and more enjoy the new Korina head as well *winks*

The “Simone” head with a skin from the Skinnery became kinda my trademark. When I first put on the “Simone” head, I wasn’t really sold on the first try, as it looked very young with the default skin from Glam Affair. Since I am in Second Life now for over 10 years I wanted a more adult look for my pixels. I did a lot of things and I did grow up lightly too during my Second Life journey. That I wanted to mirror with my avatar as well. I remember very well the moment when I put on “my” skin. As models we all had quite some trouble when the first mesh heads came out and we all looked the same more or less, while we were told ALWAYS, tht our face would be our trademark in the modeling business. But the bento generation changed that “issues” pretty fast, when we were able again to at least customize our heads a little more again. From that moment on I was in love with my “Simone” head. I tried all the new bento heads from various brands but none was able to satisfy my needs as LeLutka did. What I do love the most on the “Simone” head (and as well on the Korina one), that it is not the usual mainstream beauty. It does have edges and give – depending on the skin – a very characteristic look. With my Skinnery skin and some face modifications from Izzie’s, I was completely sold with my new look and never really changed it drastically again – just some minor shape and other changes here and there πŸ˜‰

Clothing

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

Pants: [Gos] – “Bella Leather Pants & Belt” (Maitreya)

Shoes & Leggings: Eudora 3D – “Aerendyl Boots” (Maitreya)

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

Accessories

Glasses: BONDI – “The Extrovert Sunglasses”

Collar: VOBE – “Stzar Prision Choker”

Piercing: [CX] – “Drop Septum”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Dura – “Collaboration02_Bob2” (Gacha, Common)

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

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

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. (Eclipse Art Studio) – “Ears VoDoo”

Tattoo: Mister Razzor – “Dante” (OMEGA Applier)

Poses & Props

Set: Ex Machina – “Tokyo after Dark – The iKON”

Poses: Foxcity

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Nocturnal Secrets at the Laboratory

They mix some DNA, some skin and certain spray
You can watch it on a laser screen

[Dr. Stein – Helloween]

And again I have to quote 2 lines from the phenomenal band Helloween (yes it is spelled like that!) to start my post with… I have to admit “Dr. Stein” is one of my favorite songs by Helloween, even if they to have a lot of good ones πŸ™‚

I do have the “First Aid” gacha set – made by Salt & Pepper – for a little while now and I was thinking all the time, what I could do with it. I saw many amazing posts in the typical latex, fetish style and thought, I have to do something different with that amazing set. As a side note… I LOVE the humor of Salt and if you take a look at the Epiphany Exclusive you will know why :p She made one of the infusion bags on the stands filled with coffee. THAT made my day. So often I was thinking about having coffee intravenously, when I was tired and had to work longer than expected πŸ˜‰ I really do adore a good sense of humor!

Ok so now back again to the whole set and a freaky idea how to showcase it without having the designer murder me. It is true that I always try to pull things away from the usual look, not because I think I am special, more to see what can be done with it and how much I can stretch out my fantasy and creativity, without looking the focus on the item. I do like to see thinks in different way and discover new possibilities.

This time it was not hard as I did know I want to do something that still has a clinic, hospital or medical science style, just not in the typical fetish way. It is not a secret, that I do have an addiction for steam punk, sci-fi and all kind of fantasy stuff, especially with a touch of creepy, funky elements. I was roaming through Marketplace again, to see whats new and to find some new things I could use to blog when I saw that amazing “Alien” movie/HR Giger inspired creature. The idea was born and the amazing “First Aid” gacha set from Salt & Pepper should have its very own special spotlight πŸ™‚

The set contains – like a gacha set usually does – 5 different color versions (black, blue, green, red & white) of the lab coat, undies & pasties, gloves and cap as commons. As well commons are the 2 stands and a stethoscope.Β  The amazing dress and boots are the 2 rare items and as well have the 5 colors in a HUD. The 2 Syringes are the VIP gift (one bento to hold and one prop to rez), which you got when you spent 1000L$ on the machine. The whole outfit is made of latex and you can wear all parts layered as well, like you can see in the first picture, where I have the coat over the dress. I do love if you have gacha items, which you can wear single as well as a full outfit. In that way it never feels like loosing your money on a machine, to just have the one item that completes the outfit, while you can not wear anything without that one part! You always can wear everything what you win either as a full set or for a mix and match outfit. That makes gacha fun to play for me πŸ™‚

All the medical equipment I used for the pictures I found on Marketplace as well and I linked the store in the credits below the post like usual. The Cryo Tank, Is a very special item to me. It was made by Gryphon Vendetta, owner and designer of Poseidon & UNGOD. He filled that amazing tank with super cool and creepy poses, which I do have to highlight in another post again. The tank was so perfect for my science experiment idea, that I just had to sneak it in as a prop.

It was so much fun to play with the whole set and like always it does hurt a little, to delete it. But I realized I cannot keep all my sets rezzed, as I will run out of prims really fast and can not build new sceneries *chuckles*. That enjoy as well and so it is a good compromise, to keep the pictures as a memory and let the actual sets go forΒ  new ones!

Clothing

Outfit: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “First Aid” (Gacha, Maitreya)

Gloves: AE – “Natalie Opera Gloves” (Maitreya Applier)

Accessories

Glasses: CONVAIR – “Sunglasses Selena White”

Collar: .:Avanti:. – “Nayomi Collar”

Cuffs: [ abrasive ] – “Discipline Vinyl Wrist Cuffs”

Syringe: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Syringe Bento Hold VIP” (Gacha, VIP Gift)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Commision”

Eyeshadow: Izzie’s – “Fae Eyeshadow” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: Izzie’s – “Fae Lipsgloss” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Poses & Props

Poses: Poseidon

Set:

Building: ~isil~ – “Surface Modular Habitat Pod”

Cryo Tank: Poseidon – “The Lab Tank”

Hospital Interieur: [P.0.E] – “Hospital Kit Masterpack Crate 1.1”

Stand 1: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “FA IV stand Blood” (Gacha, Common)

Stand 2: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “FA IV stand Sodium Chlorid” (Gacha, Common)

Stand 3: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “FA IV stand Coffee” (Gacha, Epiphany Excluisve)

Creature: QUTWORLD – “3D Xeno Raven”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Dark Vision

Have you run your fingers down the wall
And have you felt your neck skin crawl
When you’re searching for the light?
Sometimes when you’re scared to take a look
At the corner of the room
You’ve sensed that something’s watching you
[Iron Maiden]

Challenge Today: Combine Sweet Shoes with a Bow and Scary Gloves with Teeth & Tongue!

Lately I do have a lot of fun to give myself little ‘challenges’ for my styles and trying to complete the task. I thought about a way, how I can re invent my view on my blogging pictures. Certainly we do have our ‘duties’ too with deadlines and blogging rules, but I do not wanna see it just as a job. I realized if I just do pictures without any special thoughts behind them they start looking the same. I do not want to have the same look over and over again and those little challenges as well remind me what I do have in my inventory. After 10 years of blogging, you easily can loose track of what you have, but with little challenges and the fact that you force yourself to not just buy new accessories, but use what you already got, it really gets an interesting aspect again. Plus it has another great advantage, you stumble over things you would never wear again, as they are outdated or used too often already and you can just delete those and make room for new stuff πŸ˜‰
Actually todays challenge was a fun one, as I really could go crazy again. Do you know that, if you got something because you likedΒ  it and then you have no clue what you can do with it? That was what happened to me with the cool “Koronay Veil” from cinphul. I saw it and thought I need to have that and then I was sitting and staring at it a little frustrated, as nothing wanted to come to my mind besides that I love it. Sometimes you have to put things aside until they talk to you πŸ˜‰ This happened today while I was trying to combine those awesome, sweet “Desir Stilettos” from Poison Rouge and the kick ass, uber cool “Voracity Gloves” from Cubic Cherry. I do have an addiction to scary, dark stuffs – and that felt like it could go directly into that direction.
As you can see.. it did :p

Clothing

Top/ Headpiece: cinphul – “Koronary Veil” (Maitreya)

Pasties: Moon Elixir – “Gothique Onyx Pasties” (Maitreya, Gacha, Common)

Panty: [CX] – “Pantsu Codex” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Eclipse – October never dies! \\ March 2019

Gloves: [Cubic Cherry] – “Voracity Gloves” (Maitreya, Bento)Β  – NEW @ Eclipse – October never dies! \\ March 2019

Shoes: Poison Rouge – “Desir Stilettos with Bow” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Wings, Halo & Horns: C L A Vv. – “Shattered Angel” (Gacha)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Entwined – “Jana”

Faceart: THIS IS WRONG – “Nightmare” (LeLutka Applier)

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

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Tatoo: THIS IS WRONG – “Nightmare” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Background: :Fanatik Architecture: – “Lake Chamber PG”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Swish and Flick

β€œOh, are you doing magic? Let’s see it, then.”

[J.K Rowling – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone]

Like I did mention in my last post, the “World of Magic” event sadly is over, but I still want to post all those amazing things – it gives me the feeling it would still going on :p . I am sure you will find all of the creations at the main stores of all brands by now.

This time I have the whole scene built out of designs of the event and for the clothing I as well only used items from the “World of Magic” except the shoes.

I love Trouble Dethly’s events, he always picks interesting themes and does invest a huge effort in the sims and event places and builds. What I do love as well are his ‘Fashion Theaters”. To me that is the future of fashion shows in Second Life, as most of the main grind users are sick and tired of boring runway shows. Every thing has its time and realistic, real life like looking fashion shows had their time in the past. When they were new, many people went there and the audience was more than just 10 to 15 models and designers. I remember times, when we had to cap sims at 45 people, to make sure shows could run smoothly, or we even had to have 2 different sims beside each other – one for the audience and one for the models. Those times are gone. I really think there were tooΒ  many of those shows in a short time. Certainly there are a few agencies left who still try to do shows, but designers as well found a different way for marketing with all the monthly events. I would not choose one over the other, both ways have/had their advantages and times.

The “Fashion Theater” that Trouble more or less invented in Second Life, combines fashion shows and theater. Usually we have different scenes like in a real theater, and in the beginning of each scene the credits getting read out before the actual scene starts. So it is as well informative about fashion, designers get highlighted and used decor gets it’s spotlight, but at the same time it is entertaining with the story itself. Even as a model – I do have to admit – it is a lot of fun as you prepare different, it is a new challenge. You style up like you would do for a normal fashion show, but with posing you have to be way more creative and it is way more work intense to find the right poses, or even short animations, for the story that is going on, as your character has certain “tasks” to implement in terms of acting what the story determines.

Thereafter was the first Fashion Theater I did and it was a huge success. Back then we did a post apocalyptic version of the ‘Taming of the Shrew”. The story was adapted to the different genre and lightly changed, but the essence was the same. The last one we did was “The Tale of the Three Brothers”, an adaption or a tribute to the wizarding fairytale told to young witches and wizards in the world set by JK Rowling. Within canon, it is believed to have been written by Beedle the Bard and published as part of his works called “The Tales of Beedle the Bard.” Most believe it to be a story that teaches children the virtue of humility and wisdom. Others, feel that it is in reference to the Deathly Hallows. For the Potter fans, the concept made it’s debut in the seventh book and are considered three highly powerful magical artefacts.This time we had a very small cast, but we had tons of fun.

I would like to thank Silly Avro, Luka Benton, Sungyoung Holloway, Redclaw Inshan and Trouble Dethly for an amazing time, lot of fun rehearsals and 3 wonderful evenings of acting. Trouble had the most work since he wrote the whole thing and had to coordinate our chaos troupe and he did a hell of a job with that.

I can’t wait for the next one and I do not want to tell too much yet but… I have a feeling it will have to do something with doing a tribute to GoT and I will keep my fingers crossed to be casted as the Dragon Lady!

Clothing

Outfit: Nishi – “World of Magic – Uniform” (Maitreya) & “World of Magic – Memvial”

Shoes: NYU – “MaryJane w/High Socks” (Maitreya)

Accessories

Wand: [The Forge] – “Fibia Wand”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Wasabi – “Queenie”

Makeup: Zibska – β€œNoir Pack 06” (LeLutka Applier)

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

Body & Tattoo

Head:Β  LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Poses

Poses: Le Poppycock & Poseidon

Set

{C&C} – “The Serpent’s Lair”

22769 – “Sloppy Rug” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Worn Rug” (Gacha, Common)

KOPFKINO – “The Magic Traveller Chest”

KOPFKINO – “Magic Potions and Books”

KOPFKINO – “Magic Papers”

DISORDERLY. – “/ Book Magic / Magical Potions”

DISORDERLY. – “/ Book Magic / Not so Magical Potions”

DISORDERLY. – “/ Book Magic / Magical Suitcase”

DISORDERLY. – “/ Book Magic / Not so Magical Suitcase”

DISORDERLY. – “/ Book Magic / Magical Birdcage”

Raindale – “Magic World pensieve +particles”

Elm. – “Trunk Shelf [Tan]”

Elm. – “School Supplies: Pointed Hat”

Elm. – “School Supplies: Single Scroll”

Elm. – “School Supplies: Brass Scale”

Elm. – “School Supplies: Glass Phial Set”

Elm. – “School Supplies: Scrolls Stack”

Elm. – “School Supplies: Crystal Ball”

Elm. – “School Supplies: Wand Box”

Elm. – “School Supplies: Cauldron”

Elm. – “School Supplies: Broomstick”

MadPea – “Potion – Elixir of Life (Gift)”

MadPeaΒ – “Potion – Snake Oil (Gift)”

MadPea – “Potion – Love Potion (Gift)”

MadPea – “Potion – Lost Souls (Gift)”

O*O – “Sitting doll 1 (Static) – Snake”

O*O – “Sitting doll 2 (Static) – Snake”

O*O – “Sitting doll 3 (Static) – Snake”

O*OΒ – “Sitting doll 4 (Static) – Snake”

[Merak] – “Hermione’s Desk”

[Merak] – “Hermione’s Chair”

[Merak]– “Hermione’s Study Board”

[Merak] – “Hermione’s Bag”

[Merak] – “Hermione’s Pendant”

[Merak] – “Hermione’s Notes”

[ContraptioN] Decor – “Eccentric’s Curios Mysterious Box”

[ContraptioN] Decor – “Eccentric’s Curios Orbitus”

[ContraptioN] Decor – “Eccentric’s Curios Reflector A”

[ContraptioN] Decor – “Eccentric’s Curios Reflector B”

[ContraptioN] Decor – “Eccentric’s Curios Reflector C”

Noxturnal – “Magic Witch Ball – Silver”

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 πŸ˜‰

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 πŸ˜‰
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 πŸ™‚
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 πŸ˜‰

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

Just the Way I am

TUNES

Maybe I’ma get a little anxious
Maybe I’ma get a little shy
‘Cause everybody’s trying to be famous
And I’m just trying to find a place to hide
All I wanna do is just hold somebody
But no one ever wants to get to know somebody
I don’t even know how to explain this
I don’t even think I’m gonna try
And that’s okay
I promise myself one dayI’ma tell ’em all that you could either hate me or love me
But that’s just the way I am
[Charlie Puth]

I rarely dress up to go shopping, clubbing or socializing – Usually I just wear the last outfit I blogged as I had that styled up anyways :p But today I felt not really blogging and I just put on some things I bought lately. With each piece I added I liked the look more – something I really did not feel for a long time and I have to admit… I like it! So this will be an “unscheduled” just the way I am picture series πŸ™‚ This look could be something I could imagine wearing on tour, or on stage with the band as well.

Yesterday I had a blast and it happened out of the blue… Nefertiti Kimagawa IMed me! I did not hear from her in ages and I was totally excited when I saw her IM popping up. We talked a little while about what we had done in the meantime and when I told her, I did open my own store she came over to see it. Certainly I had to TP down and when I landed I saw a tall, awesome demon. It really reminded me of good old times and we indulged in reminiscences about her store and as well about Claim the Fame, a designers contest we did years ago with SL Art Couture. Nefer was one of the contestants. I even still had a vendor picture where she used me as a model for an outfit and helmet called Wicca – I still remember how honored I felt when she named it after me. All of a sudden I saw an orange cloud right beside us – Nefer TPed someone… it was Kalyabreeaa Capelo! The designer of Mad Diva and my personal hero for the first avant garde bikini back in 2011 (https://wiccamerlin.de/can-swimwear-be-avantgarde-or-couture-mad-diva-shows-it/) It felt so crazy, to have 2 old friends in our store now, while I was blogging for them years ago, when I worked as a model *snickers* I tried to convince both of them to design again, as I really miss their awesome, crazy and avant garde ideas!

I never thought it would be so much fun to roll back in time for a few moments and think about all the cool things we did – but it really felt amazing and it put a smile on my face. I hope that it won’t take as long until we meet again πŸ™‚

As if that would not already have been the best evening for ages, Kaly mentioned she would TP another “model granny” over and before I could ask – Latrelly Flux rezzed in! OMG that really became a dinosaur revival :p I did not see all of them in ages, neither we talked, but it felt so good to se them again and while we were talking, it became more and more as we would have never stopped talking. I again felt like the dwarf between those ladies – as always – even if I am now not as high as I used to be as a model… even back then I was the tiniest πŸ˜‰

I do not wanna roll back the time, but we really had great times back then. Modeling was completely different.. and alive.We did not have as many events and designers really created full collections a few time of the year and not just one new outfit for a monthly event. We had Fashion Weeks or Designer Showcases to release their newest collections and it was really fun. They booked us for vendor shoots and I remember very well how honored and proud we felt, being used as vendor model – It really was a privilege and sometimes we even got paid for it.

I do not want to say, in the past everything was better – things change with time and future not just brings negative things, if you are able to develop and adapt new ways of doing tings. It is hard to release the past, especially if it was a nice one, but even if things change and force you to change it can be something good. Most of the time if you stick too hard to the past, it will hurt you and as well it will stop you from developing forward. I learned that more than once, but if you made your peace with that – it isn’t that painful and more and it happens way faster and easier, as if you fight against it everyday πŸ™‚

I hope I made sense with what I was trying to say… in the end I am no native English speaker, but I try my best πŸ˜‰

Outfit

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

Pants: adorsy – “Marilice Pants Jeans Original” (Maitreya)

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

Accessories

Necklace: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Borg Necklaces (Girl)”

Bracelets (right): [ kunst ] – “Conrad Bracelet / Female” & Taylor Bracelets (F)”

Bracelet (left): amias – “Jasna black”

Rings: FORMANAILS – “Accessories for Maitreya Bento – Rings Simple” (Maitreya, Bento)

Nailpolish: Dark Passsions – “Koffin Nails – Mist Connection” (Maitreya Applier)

Septum: [ kunst ] – “Anuket Septum Ring”

Lips Piercing: [CX] – “Spiked Gloss”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: .shi – “Eirene / Her”

Body & Tattoo

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Ears Gomory”

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

Poses & Props

Background: Pseudo– “Paul T Scene Backdrop” (Gacha, Rare)

Poses: Foxcity – “Legs for Days” & “Sits Vol1” (Bento)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

 

Electric Blue

TUNES

I just freeze every time
You see through me
And it’s all over you
Electric Blue

[Icehouse]

It was time again for some futuristic ideas πŸ˜‰ Some times I do like to give myself some challenges and today, I wanted to bring together the awesome “Aglaya Latex Cyber Collar” – made by A&Y – and the super cute “Frenchie Ankle Boots” from [Gos]. Latex collar and some rough cloth looking ankle boots with a shiny leather tip. I made it a challenge for me to combine 2 complete different fabrics and none of both should look out of place, or have more impact than the other – if that makes sense. I wanted them to shine together with each other and not compete against. I looked though my inventory to balance out the style. The first day I tried it I was nearly giving up as nothing seemed to work – I already was about to use the full “Aglaya” set from A&Y as it goes so perfectly together. But I already blogged the other parts a few times (I still do love them like mad), plus I did not want to throw my first challenge of the year so quickly πŸ˜‰

I had to find the right balance and fabrics to put together my look. After a while I found a top, that played directly in my hands with those different fabrics and so I had hope again that this could work out nevertheless! The “Ellie Corset Top”, a collaboration of Azuchi and Vinyl. I do have that for a longer time and for today it was the perfect choice. The top has a matte fabric, while the corset has the perfect shiny look. For the arms I used one one arm some classic opera gloves, which I pimped with the cool “Pyper 69 Upper Arm” bracelet. On the other arm I went with the bento enabled “Nemesis Arms” from Wicca’s Wardrobe with the shiny metal plates. The latex skirt from United Colors and some Nylon stockings connected the upper with the bottom and the crazy “Medusa Cyber Hair”, as well from A&Y, combined with the “Disco Glasses from #187#gave the whole style a futuristic look. Since the look already is so full of details I decided to use a more simple background to get a more editorial looking picture.

Let’s see what mood I am in for the next post πŸ˜‰

Outfit

Top: Azuchi+Vinyl – “Ellie Corset Top” (Maitreya)

Skirt: United Colors – “Jen Skirt” (Maitreya)

Left Arm: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Nemesis Arms” (Maitreya, Bento)

Gloves (Right Arm): AE – “Natalie Opera Gloves” (OMEGA Applier)

Stockings: .:Avanti:. – “Harlot Stockings” (OMEGA Applier)

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

Accessories

Collar: [A&Y] – Aglaya Latex Cyber Collar” (Maitreya)

Glasses: #187# – “Disco Glasses Black”

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

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

Hair & Makeup

Hair: [A&Y] – “Medusa Cyber Hair 1”

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

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Poses & Props

Backdrop: Foxcity – “Photo Booth – Limitless LTD EDT”

Poses: Foxcity, <EMOZIONE> & .::shi.s.poses::.

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Painting – I swear it was supposed to be on the Canvas!

TUNES

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
Next year all our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away
Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Will be near to us once more
Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now
[Judy Garland]

After a rough week I finally can do a post again πŸ™‚

The time before Christmas seems to be a hard time for many people. I feel it a lot lately with the kids at school. The quiet time, the time of love and family – for some it seems to be the opposite of that. Maybe it is because they miss that feelings at home, or they do have problems they try to hide the whole year and when Christmas comes close they start to realize even more. I do not know what it is, but some do need more attention and care. I try as much to give them what they need, in a way I am allowed to, but I realized it really soaks a lot of power and energy off myself – more than usual and more than in any other year before. That means to me I need to find moments and ways to refill my own ‘batteries’ and making pictures in Second Life is one of them πŸ™‚

I had the great pleasure to meet Hattie Panacek – owner and builder/designer of Ex Machina – when she agreed to built us our new custom made Mainstore for Wicca’s Wardrobe. I never dared to even think about her as the builder for our store, as I know she usually not does any custom builts. Salt from Salt and Pepper encouraged me to ask her and even offered herself as reference. I hesitated for a while… I looked around to maybe find a store that would fit to us, our designs and our imaginations, but all that I found had one of those criteria but not more than one at the same time.

So I gathered my courage, took a deep breath and opened an IM to Hattie. I kinda was prepared to get a no to my request, but what I had to loose? I was a little worried, that she would be too busy to answer and so I thought it would take a while for her to come back on me and after I typed my proposal I closed the IM – maybe I just closed it so fast, as I was scared about the answer *snickers*

You know what?!?!?! It turned out to be one of the most amazing talk I had in Second Life. She replied kinda instant and I nearly fainted as I really didn’t expect that. She got our vision after just a few seconds and already had even some ideas for it. When she said she looked at our stuffs and liked the way we design and some of the stiff we do… I really was close to just pass out *giggles*. She pointed out some things and even did let our vision grow with her input. It felt like I would talk to an old friend – unbelievable. I always admired her work, her ideas and building skills and as well her incredible textures. She makes things look like used and not just shiny and nice – even if she certainly can do that as well πŸ˜‰ I just really really adore her way to do things. The more we talked when we met for sneak previews of what she was building for us, or for some more talks about specific things for the built, the more she became a friend to me as well and we discovered, that we share a lot of things, thoughts and likings.

One day she showed me her newest release for an event and I instantly loved it. I already did showcase the right side of that amazing backdrop before (https://wiccamerlin.de/late-autumn-soon-i-need-to-turn-on-the-heating-again/) and today it is time for the left side πŸ˜‰

I am talking about the “Atelier Baudelaire – By Ex Machina” backdrop.

The left side is a neat little atelier of a painting artist – according to Hattie the whole backdrop was inspired by the great French poet Charles Baudelaire. The backdrop has it’s own lights but since it is modify you can even turn them off if you want to use your own light setting. Did you ever see such an amazing love for the detail for just a corner of one room? The different paintings, the cool ‘used look’ details for the walls even behind the paintings and then the cardboard with the brushes and spilled paint… simply incredible and stunning. The more you look at that stunning backdrop the more details you will find like the awesome pipes at the ceiling. As well the materials are super awesome! If you are able to turn on materials the whole backdrop is like a new experience again. It does look already cool without but if you turn the advanced lighting model on in your graphics it does look like as you could even feel the little crackles or the bricks at the wall when you touch it – just breathtaking!

 

All the paintings, paint buckets and brushes reminded me of a fun mesh head/body applier of paint from Izzie’s I always wanted to use and never found the right chance to do so. The same I had with the super cool and amazing Paintball gacha set – I had no one yet playing that with me – where I had Redclaw shooting at me to get the paint splatter effect on the top πŸ˜‰ I guess I drove him nuts with that, as I wanted too have as many colors as possible on my short and he had to change between the guns all the time until I liked the way the paint applied to myself and the shirt *giggles*

Overall todays pictures where a lot of fun and I wasn’t able in a long time to just fool around with items, poses and things as my RL kept me so much. I hope the next days it will be a little easier going and I have more room for creative pictures and stuff to fool around with and getting inspired again πŸ˜‰

Outfit

Shirt: Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Paintball Tank” (Maitreya, Gacha, Common)

Pants: Neve – “Pant – Destroy” (Maitreya)

Shoes: DECO – “Classic Sneaks”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: [INK] – “Colored Pencil w/Tanbarumori” (Gacha, Common)

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

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Tattoo: Izzie’s – “Color Explosion” (LeLutka/Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Le Poppycock – “Just Alice” (with ladder, paint bucket & brush)

Backdrop: Ex Machina – “Atelier Baudelaire”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Surreal Dreams

I just realized I had a lot of unpacked gacha items in my inventory and so I was cleaning and sorting that huge folder, when I stumbled over the boxes of the Selenopolis gacha…

When I unpacked all the boxes… the more I saw the more I got excited! How I could I not yet have used those for pictures ?!?! I love all kind of cyber stuffs and with that kind of clothing and body modification, you can do so cool and amazing, surreal pictures.

With that kind of look, the set screams for being futuristic and surrealistic. What else than the amazing designs of E.V.E Studio would fit so amazing to that kind of style? I love the way how Noke Yuitza visions his dream worlds and with his creations it is really easy, to set up a surrealistic environment. I mixed and matched all kind of newer and older items together to create my background.

I guess I do have to unpack more and see what else got hidden in my inventory mess πŸ˜‰ Maybe I discover some more cool stuff for new pictures!

Outfit & Accessories

Dress: CUREMORE – “Selenopolis / Maschienenmensch Arms & Claws” (Maitreya, Gacha, Rare)

Arms & Claws: CUREMORE – “Selenopolis / Ultima Dress” (Maitreya, Gacha, Rare)

Boots: CUREMORE – “Selenopolis / Robotrix Boots (Silver)” (Maitreya, Gacha, Common)

Hair & Makeup

Hair + Hairbase: A&Y – “Zeo”

Body & Tattoo

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Skin & Tattoo: *YS&YS* – “Pris ELF” (Maitreya& LeLutka Applier)

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Nepthune”

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

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

Poses & Props

Poses: Poseidon

Set:

E.V.E Studio – “DYSTOPIA Room Divider “

E.V.E Studio – “Broken Souls {Black} Spikes”

E.V.E Studio – “Kira ” (Gacha, Ultrarare)

E.V.E Studio – “Rapunzel in Evie Tower”

E.V.E Studio – “DYSTOPIA Cyber Flower Pins”

E.V.E Studio – “E.V.E Ivy Bonsai”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Late Autumn – Soon I need to turn on the Heating again!

Pose: – “Blasphemous Sister” (hand animation altered)

Todays post is filled with items from people I highly value, respect and I am happy to be able to call some of them friends as well πŸ™‚

After I had a blast with creepy and unusual looks, I thought it would be time for a autumn casual one – not that I will give up on the other though!

First of all I would like to mention the backdrop. The “Atelier Baudelaire” backdrop again shows the incredible skills of Hattie Panacek. I rarely saw such amazing detailed and realistic textures, as you can see it on all of her creations. What I do love the most is that she not just does clean and tidy textures, she allows as well non perfect and dirty spots. To me that gives the designs even more life and realistic feelings – nothing is perfect in RL and if it is it looks like a display in a warehouse but not like a realistic “used” place. Especially if you have materials on, her designs will blow you away in a good way!

The “Atelier Baudelaire” backdrop is a huge loft looking backdrop with 2 sides. The right side you can see on my todays pictures. It shows the desk of an artist or designer while the left side shows the actual working place of an artist- soon I will showcase the other side as well, but that backdrop perfectly shows, that you can use it for more than just one picture if you just use the right angles and crops. I do like it a lot, when you can use a backdrop more than once. Often enough you only can use backdrops only once, as they will be recognized instantly again on your flickr or blog.

Pose: Foxcity – “On Point-4m”

The amazing coat was made by Salt & Pepper for the UBER event. The coat can be worn with or without the turtleneck shirt and certainly you have a color HUD to mix and match the whole design to your likings. Certainly you can color the shirt and the coat separately. What I loved the most on that coat was the texture. All the tiny leather details and the lightly used look completely caught my attention.

The hair was made by no.match and it was released for the last round of Tres Chic, but I am sure you will find it at the main store by now. The hair is a more loose style with a huge hair band that brings the hair down the left shoulder to the front. To me it looked perfect, it did underline the loose look of the trench coat so nicely. I love the hair textures of no.match a lot and especially the blond pack has a blond tone that I completely fell in love with. I do like the fact as well that you have a so called “Essential” pack for nearly every hair style. Even if my personal favorite blonde is not included in that one, it gives you the possibility to have more than one color, even if you do not want to buy the whole fatpack. Sometimes I want more than just color, for different possibilities on pictures, but a full fatpack sometimes is too expensive for a hair style you just want to use for a picture πŸ˜‰

But now I need to work on the picture for the left side of the amazing “Atelier Baudelaire”… I hope you enjoyed my first fall/winter post, even if it was a more casual looking one again πŸ˜‰

Pose: Le Poppycock – “Keep On Believing”

Outfit

Coat: Salt & Pepper – “Trench Noemi” (Maitreya) – NEW @ UBER

Leggings: lassitude & ennui – “Hisa Leather Leggings” (Maitreya Applier)

Accessories

Bracelet (right): Kunglers – “Isis – Malachite”

Bracelet (left): Kunglers – “Bromelia – Ebony”

Rings: FORMANAILS – “Rings 1” (Maitreya, Bento)

Nails: FORMANAILS – “Stiletto 1” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Makeup & Lipstick: alaskametro<3 – “Fall Runway” (LeLutka Applier)

Hair: no.match – “No.Caution”

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Eyes: IKON – “Hope Eyes – Quicksilver”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Poses & Props

Poses: <EMOZIONE>, Foxcity & Le Poppycock

Backdrop: Ex Machina – “Atelier Baudelaire”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin