I can, therefore I am!

 

I can, therefore I am!

[Simone Weil]

I already admitted, that I am a boots addicted, especially when it comes to overknee, thigh-high boots ๐Ÿ˜‰

So it was a given, when I saw the “Monza” boots from [Gos], I had to make pictures with them!

[Gos] – “Monza” – Boutique HUD

This thigh high, stiletto-heeled boot features slouched leather, cinched with a wide buckled belt at the top.

The Monza Belted Boots are available in 2 colour HUDs – Boutique and Blueberry. The Boutique HUD includes 16 current, in-season colors perfect for any fashionista and the Blueberry HUD includes 20 colors which coordinate with clothing from Blueberry. Each HUD also includes 5 sole and 3 metal options.

The purchase includes sizes for Lara, Isis, Hourglass, Physique (high foot).

With the 2 closeups I at least wanted to try to capture the amazing color pallet that comes with the “Monza” boots.

[Gos] – “Monza” – Blueberry HUD

For the outfit, I chose one of the latest releases from [sYs]. The “Amirale” coatdress is a perfect outfit for the actual season, plus it really does make a statement. You can style it in many different ways from casual to heavy and industrial like I did it for this post. I loved how both designs, the boots and the outfit are made with materials enabled and reacted amazing to all the light sources around me. You get 4 different colors to choose from, but since I am a black addicted, I certainly had to use black and with the red collar and front button line ๐Ÿ˜‰

The “Amirale” coatdress is available at The Project Se7en in sizes for Maitreya, Belleza, Slink, eBody and TMP.

Details

Outfit & Accessories:

Outfit: [sYs] – “Amirale” (Maitreya) – NEW @ The Project Se7en

Boots: [Gos] – “Monza” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Fameshed

Nails: Slackgirl – “Catarina” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup:

Hair: EMO-tions – “Dessia” (color modified)

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

Lipstick: [LB Lips] – “Eve Set 1” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoos:

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Poses & Props:

Poses: Slouch Poses (store closed)

Background: anxiety – “%rule#1”

Model & Photographer:

Wicca Merlin

Wiccattitude with HelaMiyo!

Pose: HelaMiyo – “Wiccattitude” set

When I saw HelaMiyo has a “Wiccattitude” pose set.. certainly I had to play with it and make some pictures ๐Ÿ˜‰

If you like the more edgy and unusual posesย  and as well love the option of a mirrored version of your pose… then you should take a closer look at HelaMiyo. I got one of my first picture pose set from HelaMiyo and since back then Miyoko Magic never disappointed with new and exciting pose sets!

Pose: HelaMiyo – “Wiccattitude” set

It is always exciting and as well a huge honor if you have products named after you in Second Life, and when Miyoko Magic – owner and designer of HelaMiyo – even mentioned she thought about me when she was trying to find a name for her new pose set, I was completely blown away and certainly had to make a post about it ๐Ÿ˜‰

Like I mentioned before, mostly we all use poses for each and every picture we do. We kinda see poses as matter of course and rarely think about all the work and effort each single pose needs to become real for SL. I often catch myself, to just use poses and not looking at the brand it was made from or even the name which sometimes as well says something about a pose set, for example a special purpose. That is why I made it as a task for myself for 2018 to have more pose centered posts or pose studies, to just do justice to all the amazing pose creators in Second Life, who make all our amazing pictures possible.

The “Wiccattitude” set is a very energetic one, which can be used in many different ways. You can even turn around the poses and use them laying or even 180ยฐ vertical twisted with many different angles to shoot from. Yes, I have to admit I love not just shooting but playing with poses as well, even if they are completely working out different as intended sometimes ๐Ÿ˜‰

Pose: HelaMiyo – “Wiccattitude” set

If you do a shooting focused on poses, the question of the clothing and accessories is not always easy as you want the most flexibility for all kind of movements. I love to use skin tight clothing and look for even those posts the most. This time I started with the boots. The stunning “Syberia” boots from UTOPIA@DESIGN. I have a love for overknee boots, but for many looks you can’t wear them especially if long mesh pants are involved. 99% the pants stick through the boots except if you wear applier pants.

Speaking of appliers, the awesome “Cozy Tights” I am wearing are from .:Avanti:. and I love the details she puts on her fabrics and designs as well as her awesome ideas for appliers.

Pose: HelaMiyo – “Wiccattitude” set

The amazing outfit was made by Salt & Pepper. Originally the “Teisha” was released on We โ™ฅ RP in December but I am sure you can find it in the main store now. I chose to go with the silver/black option for the outfit, that even includes the cool headpiece, that I used instead of wearing hair. On the HUD for the outfit you will find black and white for the shirt color and 5 different metals (black, silver, rose-gold, light gold and gold) for the body suit and the hair part. The outfit as well contains boots with those 5 color, which I did not wear for todays post.

Happy New Year 2018!

Pose: HelaMiyo – “Wiccattitude” set

Details

Outfit & Accessories:

Outfit (incl. Headpiece): Salt & Pepper (S&P) – “Teisha” (Maitreya)

Shoes: UTOPIA@DESIGN – “Syberia” (Maitreya)

Tights: .:Avanti:. – “Cozy Tights” (Maitreya Applier)

Nails: >glyph< – “Apex” (Maitreya, Bento)

Necklace: Codex – “Charlotte”

Hair & Makeup:

Makeup: Zibska – “Araceli” & “Noir Pack 06” (Maitreya & Omega Applier)

Lipstick: Zibska – “Araceli” (Maitreya Applier)

Body & Tattos:

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Poses & Props:

Poses: HelaMiyo – “Wiccattitude” set

Props: ChiC Buildings [Cb] – “SEA Jugs” & DRD – “Gold retreat wall art -reaching – “

Model & Photographer:

Wicca Merlin

Vintage fun with [Gos]

[Gos] having their debut at UBER with a wonderful and sexy peep toe – “Bianca”!

“Zip into Bianca, an alluringย variation ofย the classic peeptoe platform pump. Bianca features a high stiletto heel embellished by a zipper with circular pull.ย You will be spoilt for choice with Bianca’s 55 colour options.” , [Gos] describe their amazing new release. And I really have to agree. I was not able to snap 55 colors without photo bombing you all but I at least wanted to show some colors beside the black ones I used for the pictures ๐Ÿ˜‰

[Gos] – “Bianca” Boutique HUD

Like we know it for all the new releases of [Gos], “Bianca” includes 3 colour HUDs – Boutique, Blueberry, and Metallics. The Boutique HUD includes 21 current, in-season colours perfect for any fashionista, the Blueberry HUD includes 28 colours which coordinate with clothing from Blueberry, and the Metallics HUD include 6 metallics which will have your feet shining. Each HUD also includes 5 sole, 2 metal, and 3 lining options.

 

[Gos] – “Bianca” Metallics HUD

“Bianca” includes fits for Maitreya Lara, Belleza and Slink High feet.

 

When I unpacked my new “Bianca” heels I instantly had an idea, how I wanted them to style. The peep toe did shout ‘pin up’ at me but the cool zipper at the back of the heel said ‘no way you will wear those with a cute dress!’

I wanted to dome rockabilly like style with a cool vintage car at a gas station… and there they were again… the problems if you have something particular in mind and no idea where you find your accessories, clothes or the location.

Ok the look first. To give the heels enough room and to fit the style idea I need some 3/4 long pants – preferred used blue jeans with a tight fit. I do have a ton of jeans, but believe it or not either they are loose fit, bell-bottom style or long down to the ground *grumbles*

The search for that special type of jeans madeย  me work through all my denim/jeans pants and I was able to decrease my inventory numbers significantly *snickers*. It is really funny how much stuff yo find if you dig deep enough in your inventory :p

There they are! My “Ronee Boyfriend Jeans from GizzA. Recently GizzA got re-branded to Giz Seorn and I have to post some of her amazing new releases soon, but some things you simply can’t let go ๐Ÿ˜‰ Next I first thought for a white shirt, or maybe a white cool sporty blouse but I did not find the right one and so i changed my mind and thought even more towards the cool kids rockabilly side ๐Ÿ˜‰ Yes, that looked so much better when I tried the “Kara Vest” from DE Designs. Now I just missed some typical cat eye shaped vintage glasses and since I wanted to go for a gas station for my pictures maybe some fingerless gloves, just in case I want to so some car mechanic pics ๐Ÿ˜‰

While I was looking for gas stations, I remembered a little retro looking one at Netherwood. So I just had to rez the cute vintage pickup from Wetcat and ready to shoot! The “Shelby” pickup has some inbuilt poses, but I just used the one on the first picture. for the other pictures I played around with poses from Foxity and ALIUD. I do not know why but vintage or even more Rockabilly shoots always are fun as I love listen to that kind of music while I shoot and edit my pictures to get in to the right mood ๐Ÿ˜‰

Speaking of… I would like to close todays post with some lyrics, that I just heard, while I was typing and which belong to one of my favourite rockabilly songs… the little bass guitar solo in there was one of the first I learned when I started to play bass :p

Stray cat strut, I’m a ladies cat
I’m a feline Casanova, hey man that’s that
Get a shoe thrown at me from a mean old man
Get my dinner from a garbage can

Don’t go crossing my path

[Stray Cats]

Details

Outfit & Accessories:

Top: DE Designs – “Kara Vest” (Maitreya)

Pants: GizzA – “Ronee Boyfriend Jeans” (Maitreya)

Shoes: [Gos] – “Bianca” (Maitreya)ย  – NEW @ UBER

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

Glasses: HAYSURIZA – “Cat Eye Sunglasses Flame”

Choker: Saltย  & Pepper – “Iris”

Hair & Makeup:

Hair: Truth – “Sadie”

Body & Tattoos:

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Tattoo: Lower: Body Mod – “Vicious Tattoo” (Maitreya Applier) & Upper: Endless Pain Tattoos – “Suicide Girl” (Maitreya Applier)

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

Props & Poses:

Prop: Wetcat – “Shelby Vintage PickUp”

Poses: Wetcat, Foxcity & ALIUD

Location: Netherwood

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

Bound by Prejudices

โ€œWhen dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.โ€

[Dale Carnegie]

โ€œNever judge others. You both know good and well how unexpected events can change who a person is. Always keep that in mind. You never know what someone else is experiencing within their own life.โ€

[Colleen Hoover]

How often you wondered why a certain person is not talking to you, even if you never ever had any conversation with that exact person before?

This post will be very personal out of my own experiences and opinions in my very own past and I will try my best, hoping I will make sense and will be understood right. I am not a native English Speaker so I hope that you will be lenient with me ๐Ÿ˜‰

I am sure you know that situation, if you poke someone, to get some information and then you are being ignored for a long time without any answer. The after some time you dare to ask again, because the information would be really important for you and you could not find any other source of information and again you are ignored completely. you start to be scared and question yourself what you could have done to that person before, but you cannot even remember that you ever spoke to that person before. so you think your pokes might have got lost and you take all your strength and ask a 3rd time because you think your first two attempts failed, since you heard nothing back and all of a sudden you get yelled at O.O Not with the information you asked for – more like how you can dare to ask 3 times after you got ignored already before…

That did not happen too often thank god, but those kind of situations happen here and there again and again. Usually not that harsh but in the end it hurts the same if you just wanted some information and just get silence.

I mean if you could figure it out by yourself… fine then I would not even say a word but sometimes you have to ask for information of you cannot continue working on something.

The other side of the coin… How often you caught yourself avoiding several people just because you “heard” something about them?

I was thinking about that a lot lately. sometimes I just tried to avoid people because good friends of mine had real bad experiences with them and I felt I would betray them by talking to those people or even work with them. One part of my heart – out of loyalty – still believes in that, but seeing it from a business perspective the other part of my heart calls against it.

Maybe it is part of being a human that you try to protect your true friends by not making relation ships with people who hurt them but on a business perspective should you not be open minded and not biased by some things?

What about the phrase that everyone deserves a second chance? Is it not possible to be with people not mentioning or talking about a certain person?

It is a tricky subject I guess and maybe the intensity of what has happened and as well the particular story and facts might have a great influence on that.

It would make a difference if someone was ‘just’ rejected for something or somebody, or if he or she really was personally hurt. That maybe leads to the next problem, that some people take things personal quite fast… and who would be the judge to decide if it was real bad or just a misunderstanding? I guess I did wrong decisions in that case as well but I always try to be as neutral as I can especially if it comes to business stuff. Saying that, if I maneuver myself in such situations without aiming for that (and I am good in that for what ever reason) I try to be transparent and honest with that, so every party knows very well about my role and intention.

All my life I tried to not hurt people in any ways and still it happens sometimes without me knowing it. If that happens I never did want it like that, but it happened. So I have to – if I get the chance to do so – explain why it happened and maybe apologize if that is still possible, as I probably cannot make it undone (I would if I could, ,that’s a given). I had to learn the hard way that if you have an own opinion you might hurt people with it even if you do not want to. Just because sometimes things hurt people, even if you not ever thought about.

My grandfather used to say “You are the only one that decides what can/will hurt you and what won’t”

It took a long time, until I fully understood what that means and even now, I know it does not always work. But I as well learned being open minded for new acquaintances and situations even if people tried to warn me.

Even if I sometimes wish – after having my own experiences – I would have listened, I as well got to know people different, than what I was told. I was allowed to see different and amazing sides of people who I was told to never talk to. Sometimes you need to take a risk, maybe to get your own experiences and your own point of view about people. I just can say for my own personal opinion, I probably would take the risk of being hurt again, over the fact of just being biased or ignoring/blocking people just because I was told to. Even if it is the minority in such cases, I was allowed to meet wonderful people by just ignoring warnings and having my own experiences and I would not want to miss them in my life ๐Ÿ˜‰ . Humans are different. Some do go along and some do not but without having my own experience I at least try (it does not work always 100%) to be open for my own experiences even if I might get hurt again, just because the only thing I dare to judge is myself (if that makes any sense… I hope it does).

Sometimes it is worth it to just slough off the ropes and bands that tie you down, to get up after you maybe got hurt and get rid of the bad feelings, that your experiences might have caused. The possibility that you can have a different experience with a different person is there, it just has to be made.

I try to tell that to myself everyday and most of the time it works. How we all could have learned to walk when we were young, if we would not have stood up all the time after we fell and had bruises and open knees? I am ready to get up again and to take off the blindfold and the bonds of my old experiences to make new ones, better ones and some that I never will forget. I won’t be infallible – I am human being – but I will try – every day again ๐Ÿ™‚

Details

Outfit & Accessories:

Top: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Vixen Bra 1 & 2” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Bound Box

Harness: [Cynful] – “Shamless Top & Bottom” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Bound Box

Pantie: Enfant Terrible – “Locked Heart Chastity Belt” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Bound Box

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

Knee Bracers: .:Avanti:. – “Jersey Knee Warmers” (Maitreya Applier)

Shoes: [MODA] – “Dakota Heels” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Bound Box

Gag: ::Axix:: – “Beloved Nocturnia Gag” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Bound Box

Hair & Makeup:

Hair & Blindfold: +Spellbound+ – “Babygirl” – NEW @ Bound Box

Body & Tattoos:

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Poses & Props:

Sari-Sari – “Puppet Skybox”

Model & Phototgrapher:

Wicca Merlin

 

Blinded by the Light

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

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

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

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

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

 

The evil Necromonger and the white lady that helped Riddick kinda inspired me to the idea of a magician walker, that roam around through the nights of a post apocalyptic environment. And who can say that a nuclear apocalypse with all the energy that gets set free does not change a human being and the skills and abilities ๐Ÿ˜‰

Certainly the kick ass “Wasteland Reaper” from CerberusXing could not miss for that kind of style ๐Ÿ˜‰ I always admired the work of [CX]. The ideas, the amazing details and the love of realistic creations of metals, chains, spikes and leather always fascinated me.

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

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

Since we have 5 more days (only ๐Ÿ™ )for the Thereafter event, that probably is not my last post apocalyptic post, but I hope you enjoy it as much as I do ๐Ÿ˜‰

Details

Clothing & Accessories:

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

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

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

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

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

Makeup & Hair:

Hair: EMO-tions – “Miranda”

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

Body:

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Eyes: Arise – “Blind Eyes”

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

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

Post Apocalyptic – What is that?

As promised, I will today talk a little bit about post apocalyptic styles in comparison to cyber/cyberpunk, which I wrote about in one of my last posts (https://wiccamerlin.de/cyberpunk-what-is-that/).

Maybe lets start again with a general description from Wikipedia and then go from there ๐Ÿ˜‰

Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, science fantasy or horror fiction literature in which the Earth’s technological civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; natural, such as an impact event; man-made, such as nuclear warfare or resource depletion; medical, such as a Pandemic, whether natural or man-made; or imaginative, such as a zombie apocalypse, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, or alien invasion. The story may involve attempts to prevent an apocalypse event, deal with the impact and consequences of the event itself, or it may be post-apocalyptic, set after the event. The time frame may be immediately after the catastrophe, focusing on the travails or psychology of survivors, the way to maintain the human race alive and together as one, or considerably later, often including the theme that the existence of pre-catastrophe civilization has been forgotten (or mythologized). Post-apocalyptic stories often take place in a non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of society and technology remain.

[Wikipedia]

Post apocalyptic is the time after an apocalypse, that means the world like we know it is gone and we have to live from all that is left over. Most likely electricity is not working in general.. maybe via a few generators that are left as long as we have the fuel to run them. Water might be rare, so the everyday shower probably has o be skipped as well ๐Ÿ˜‰

It probably is a martial, warlike environment, where all just try to survive – anyways how.

Let’s think about what you could wear then or what kind of fashion would be most certain…

I would say makeups will be a rare case, maybe we can use coal or clay, maybe even some berries or fruit that survived, to bring color on our faces. I do not see that very colorful or even neon looking.

For the clothing, when we looted all existing warehouses and clothing stores, we most likely have to wear what we can find, or what we can create out of that. Maybe that’s why I love that genre so much as it is very simple but as well can be very creative in terms of fashion and creating outfits.

Because of the fact, that I really do love post apocalyptic clothing and environment, I really was happy when I heard that there will be an event exactly for that. From the 18th to the 27th of August, the Thereafter event is taking place.

A full sim created in a post apocalyptic style, with many amazing designers who designed fashion, furniture, ambience, poses or landscaping items for exact that futuristic imagination.

Thereafter has a tight schedule of many events. Dj’s, live musicians and a cool fashion theatre are taking place! Event Schedule: https://thereaftersl.wordpress.com/event-schedule/

The outfits and props for my todays post are all from the event and as well the pictures are taken there. Don’t you love it when you can go shopping and as well take amazing pictures or walk around in the perfect environment for the event?

For my first post I chose the “Bena” dress with the amazing belt and scarf. The dress comes in many different colors and together with the 2 amazing accessories it just looks totally amazing, even if you can wear the dress without those as well.

From Boom I used the super cool shoulder plates, that are made of car plates – I just love such neat little details!

Last but not least I am wearing the event exclusive from ~isil~, the extraordinary mask of the “Survival Mask & Helmet” design. You can choose to wear only the mask or the helmet with the HUD that comes with it and as well lets you retexture the whole item to many different colors – even the little light in the mask you can colorchange.

For the rest of the look I am wearing many parts of DeathRowDesign, that are as well the creators of the amazing building in the background of the pictures. The “Sewer Shelter” is a wonderful collection with all kind of fantastic furniture and as well a built that you can use as your perfect post apocalyptic hideout ๐Ÿ˜‰

Over the next few days I will have a few more exciting news from the event, as it became an addiction to make pictures on the Thereafter sim ๐Ÿ˜‰

If you like this kid of style as much as I do, or if you are just curious and want a kick ass experience, even if you just love making snaps in cool scenarios – you should NOT miss out on the Thereafter event!

Thereafter Taxi: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sarastro/159/171/26

Details

Outfit: Miss Chelsea – “Bena” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Thereafter

Right Leg: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Naesala Boots” (Maitreya)

Left Leg: DeathRowDesigns – “Post Apocalyptic Prosthetic”

Shoulderpieces: BOOM – “Plate Armor” – NEW @ Thereafter

Arm Armor: DeathRowDesigns – “Female Armor”

Bracelet right: Lapointe and Beastchild – “Swear Holiday Corded Bracelet”

Mask: ~isil~ – “Survival Mask & Helmet” – NEW @ Thereafter

Hair: Discord Designs – “Senay”

Skin Dirt (incl. nailpolish): Izzie’s – “Body & Face Dirt” (Maitreya/LeLutka Applier)

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

Props: DeathRowDesigns – “Sewer Shelter” – NEW @ Thereafter

Poses: Poseidon

Basics

Head: LeLutka – Simone 3.0″

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Shape: Selfmade

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

Location: Thereafter