Tag Archives: Tribute

Imagine…

by

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

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

“I am not here to fit in your World – I am here to make my own!”

by

“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

The young Sansa Stark – My personal Vision

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Yes, GoT is over and most of us didn’t like the end… I know BUT – I had no chance yet to post anything Got related, as I did not have the right mood nor the right items that inspired me or that I did not yet already saw posted many times 😉

When I was thinking about doing a Game of Thrones related post, I wanted to do something with an Arya inspired character first, but when I did wander over “The Final Winter” event, I came across that super nice outfit and those mega cute “Dire Pups” from Noxturnal. Another reason was, I wanted to do a post for the “Spencer” head from LeLutka and it has such a sweet and nice look to it, it would not have fit an Arya styled avatar. So what I could do to combine all those facts and still come to a result that I like… the solution was – Sansa Stark!

A young and innocent Sansa, that not yet was marked by life. I remembered, that there were 6 Direwolf puppies – one for each of the Stark kids, including John Snow. The more I was happy to see that Noxturnal even named them after the ones in the series. If my brain did not trick me the one Sansa got, was named Lady and there was a Lady puppy in the pack – that is the one my avatar carries on her arm, while Ghost, Summer, Grey Wind and Nymeria are sitting in front of me… Rickon already picked up Shaggy Dog *grins*

The situation, that did inspire me, was the one where Ned Stark found all the puppies when he was out with with 3 of his sons. I know Sansa wasn’t with them when they found the cute little direwolf babies, but this is my personal interpretation and my blog – so I can imagine and compose pictures like I want them to be *snickers*

Since I picked up so many things already from that event, I thought I could use the wonderful created and decorated sim as well for my pictures 😉 I was hiding behind the stalls in one of the corners and had my fun playing with the puppies. The event will last for a few more days and you should not miss to take a look either to shop a little bit or to make some pictures! They do have a huge dragon flying over the whole sim and if your desire goes more towards the Northern Wall even that you can find right at the entrance – not to mention the Dragon egg hunt thats going on as well – some designers did hide red, blue or green dragon eggs in their stalls with super gifts for all the hunters!

Clothing

Outfit: Orangerie – “Northern Outfit” (Maitreya)

Boots: friday – “Shadow Boots” (Maitreya) – NEW @ The Final Winter

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Wasabi – “Dany” – NEW @ The Final Winter

Body & Tattoos

Head: LeLutka – “Spencer 3.3”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Puppies: [Noxturnal] – “Dire Wolf Pups of the North” (Animesh, Holdable & Decor) – NEW @ The Final Winter

Wolf: JIAN – “Wolf (Static – Lay L Sleep)”

Tree: {RW} – “Weirwood Tree”

Leaves: Orangerie – “Weirwood tree leaves (snowy)” – NEW @ The Final Winter

Location

The Final Winter

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

 

 

Wicca’s Originals @ The Final Winter

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Wicca’s Originals @ The Final Winter // May 30th – June 16th

For this themed event we have created the Jaenya Dress inspired by Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons. This corset-style mini dress is rigged to fit Lara, Hourglass and Freya and is available in light and dark options, with a fatpack option as well if you want ALL the colors. Jaenya will be discounted for the event and regular priced when it comes home to the mainstore, so be sure to swing by the event and get it at a reduced price.

We also have a gift for the Final Winter event’s mini hunt. We have a blue dragon egg hidden in our booth. We can’t tell you what’s inside, but we can tell you that a special one of a kind item can be found inside!

Taxi: The Final Winter

Nocturnal Secrets at the Laboratory

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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 🙂

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 😉 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 🙂

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.  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 🙂

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 for  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

Jackie Skellington – A Tribute to Tim Burton

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I’ve always been addicted to Tim Burton movies. Anyways if it was Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow or Sweeney Todd I do love them all and I saw them and all the others more than once! But I do love the most the “A Nightmare before Christmas” and the “Corpse Bride”. When I saw “A Nightmare before Christmas” the first time I instantly fell in love with Jack Skellington. I even had merchandising stuffs for my study equipment, bed linen and other stuffs in my room like poster and such. I do not why that clicked so bad but it did 😉 So I was so surprised when I was at CURELESS [+] and saw the Christmas Nightmare gacha – How I could miss that one?!? Certainly I had to have that no need to mention I never saw a more cool version for a female counter part of Jack Skellington.

It is hard to explain sometimes that you are not in a bad or dangerous mood if you do dark pictures. I know it might be more common to do colorful country side pictures in SL, but I discover more and more that SL has a dark, artistic fashion corner as well and the more I try the more I really do love it. When I was trained as a model or blogger in the past, people did not approve my styles or pictures to much – not because they were bad quality, more because they were not norm or mainstream conform. Back in the days when I started it was important to have at least more than 50% mainstream and RL fashion trends covered somehow, but the longer I was blogging the more I developed a feeling away from deadline duties and so called “rules” to follow. I wanted more freedom to express myself, to experiment with more than just fashion and I was sick and tired of all the same pictures over and over, without soul but only fashion information stuffed.

So I asked to be released off my blogger duties years ago and left blogger or sponsor groups, to have a fresh start and re-invent myself and my blogging/photography. For quite a while I did pictures without any sponsored designs and not for the purpose of design showcase only. I have to admit at that time it was needed to develop my picture skills and as well my blogging abilities. I thought a lot about what I felt and what I want to express, which I never did that intensive before. Before it was all about how many sponsors I can combine without looking like a clown, but still satisfy as many people and designers as I can with every post I did. It wasn’t bad all the time, but it is a different motivation and focus. Over the past 10 years of blogging, there was times where my pictures changed lightly, but most of the time they were sponsor focused only. After some time you feel a kinda burn out syndrome and past fun turns into work only.. and that killed my motivation at some point. I needed “fresh thoughts” if that makes sense. Pulling back was the right thing for me to do. For the past 1,5 years I started again to apply or take on sponsors/blogger duties, but not as many as I had before. I tried to not have just fashion pictures, I challenged myself to combine fashion with artsy touches and as well with feelings and emotions and sometimes even with a story behind the pictures. That as well made the decision easy, to not have one picture and a style card only, but to have a little picture series and sometimes a little story behind them, too.

I really got a whole new, different point of view about my blogging and the pictures. I still try to do showcases for designers and present their creations in the best light, but as well I try to bring my own twist and emotions – sometimes a little art as well – into the whole process 🙂 It brought back the fun for SL blogging and SL photography to me again and that I guess is all that matters… at least for me 😉

Clothing

Outfit: CURELESS [+] – “Christmas Nightmare / Skeleton Suit” (Maitreya, Gacha, Rare)

Shoes: CURELESS [+] – “Christmas Nightmare / Spiral Plats / Black” (Maitreya, Gacha, Common)

Socks: CURELESS [+] – “Christmas Nightmare / Vamp Stockings / Black” (Maitreya, Gacha, Common)

Accessories

Animal: CURELESS [+] – “Christmas Nightmare /Ghost Puppy / White” (Gacha, Common)

Nails: [CX] – “Essential Dirty Claws” (Maitreya, Bento, Group Gift)

Hair & Makeup

Hair & Hat: no.match – “No.Scary”

Faceart: CURELESS [+] – “Psychopomp Face” (OMEGA Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.3”

Teeth: LeLutka – “Beast Teeth 1.1”

Eyes: Clemmm – “I’m Tired / Black – Regular” (tinted darker)

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Skin: YS&YS – “Immortal Skin” (Maitreya & LeLutka Applier)

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Thauron”

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Set:

:CP: – “Burton Tea Chair Striped”

:CP: – “Burton Rug”

:CP: – “Burton Tea Table”

:CP: – “Burton Tea Chandelier”

:CP: – “Burton Tea Cake Plate”

:CP: – “Burton Art – Arched Cat”

:CP: – “Burton Art – Pumpkin”

:CP: – “Burton Art – Hoot”

22769 – “Tentacle Wallart” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Limp Bookshelf Left” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Limp Bookshelf Right” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Tims Teddy Bear” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Tims Plant Black And White” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “This is Halloween” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Twisted Candle Holder” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Tea with Tim” (Gacha, Common)

22769 – “Jester Console” (Gacha, Common)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Swish and Flick

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“Oh, 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 too  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 – “Noir Pack 06” (LeLutka Applier)

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

Body & Tattoo

Head:  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)”

MadPea – “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*O – “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

Who said being a free House Elf is only fun?!?

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Today I am doing a post I wanted to a while ago and never found time to write something…Not too long ago there was an event called “World of Magic”. It was kinda tribute to Harry Potter and all magic and enchanted things. When I was there it felt like Christmas to me and I nearly could have bought everything if my wallet would have unlimited depth 😉 I love Harry Potter and I love magic, fantasy and everything mystic.

When I saw the “House ELF” head from Hotdog I was instantly in love. Even if it is a little grumpy and doesn’t really fit on the Maitreya mesh body, I had to get it and fool around with it as long as I could make some pictures. Originally the head and skin applier were made for the Louis body from ‘The Prop Shop’ (you can find that HERE), but I did not want to get another body that I not yet know what to do with it besides one post only, so I used my Maitreya body and tried to make it fit. Since the skin applier os an OMEGA applier, It worked on my Maitreya body as well – doesn’t look nice on it but for this pictures I only needed the skin on the hands *grins* The head comes with a little AO for some movements and blinking, but other than that you are not able to customize it. I just needed a jacket or top, which has a high neck collar so I could hide the seam between body and head. With the “Tailcoat” and its inner part that worked perfectly.

Again I faced the problem to find pants that work with the tailcoat. It is a pain in the butt to find pants for a certain top if they are not made for each other. With the old layer clothing, or with sculpts and even with the standard sizes we were able to cheat around a little bit, but with fitted mesh ou have no chance anymore… After trying each and every pants in my inventory that could fit the style of the coat, I found exactly one that worked – the pants of the “Lexi Suit” from Tori’s Stylez. They weren’t too high at the waist and matched the look.

I saw quite a few posts made with that special head and so I had to find an idea to not repeat any of them. First I had something in mind with a little baby elf from Black Bantham from the same event, but that was done so many times so I thought I need t come up with something else. I do like the idea of free elves, that they can choose a job on their own will and just be independent and accepted in the magic society. So I thought  about the idea of Hogwarts having a casino night with some guests from other magical schools and the elves are dressed as concierges or butlers for the luggage of the arriving guests 😉 With that idea even the lightly grumpy face expression did work *snickers*

I really had huge fun doing those pictures and running around as House Elf for a few days… I hope Hotdog keeps making unusual mesh heads, even human ones – I adore his human heads as well, I LOVE edgy faces – and maybe someday even with OMEGA scripts so we can wear some makeup on them *makes puppy eyes*

Clothing

Jacket: Hotdog – “Tailcoat Jacket” (Maitreya)

Pants: Tori’s Stylez – “Lexi Suit Pants” (Maitreya)

Boots: fame femme – “Liana Boots” (Maitreya)

Body & Tattoos

Head: Hotdog – “House Elf”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Skin: Hotdog – “House Elf TPS Body Skin Tone Applier” (OMEGA Applier)

Nails: Izzie’s – “Dirty Nails” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Selfmade

Props:

8f8 – “unexpected Journey – All My Stuff Luggage Trolley” & “Unexpected Journey – Bon Voyage Cage”

Anya Ohmai – “MM. Platform 9 3/4 Bench” & Botanical – “Glass Globe Park Lamp v1.02”

Location

Mischief Managed (landing point)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Crazy for You

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TUNES

Swaying room as the music starts
Strangers making the most of the dark
Two by two their bodies become one
I see you through the smokey air
Can’t you feel the weight of my stare
You’re so close but still a world away
What I’m dying to say, is that
I’m crazy for you
Touch me once and you’ll know it’s true
I never wanted anyone like this
It’s all brand new, you’ll feel it in my kiss
I’m crazy for you, crazy for you
[Madonna]

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: Fellini Couture – “Arrogante” (Maitreya)
Tights: Izzie’s – “Sheer Tights” (Maitreya Applier)
Gloves: CLBlue – “Arm Warmer”
Rings & Nails: FORMANAILS – “Ciri” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Madonna”
Makeup & Lipstick: alaskametro<3 – “New Wave” (LeLutka Applier)
Lashes: alaskametro<3 – “Slay” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”
Body: Maitreya – “Lara”
Tattoo: [White~Widow] – “Izo” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity
Backdrop: [ isuka ] – “Dance Studio Backdrop”

Model & Photographer