Fly with the Dragons

After a rough week again I am able to do a blog post. It is funny how bad you desire some SL blogging when RL becomes stressy and rough, while you sometimes desire RL back when blogging is too overloading ๐Ÿ˜‰

I saw those dragons from E.V.E for a while and did not dare to get them, as I wasn’t sure if I can make it on time. But today I finally got the chance ๐Ÿ™‚

The “Scatha” dragons come with a huge HUD to chnage colors and even the opacity of the head and the tail. Their eyes first did drive me nuts – they kept moving no matter what I was doing – until I found out, they follow my avatar!

While I was thinking for a cool set I remembered the “Sunny Spells”, as well made by E.V.E Studio. The made such a great background that I decided I do not need more ๐Ÿ˜‰

I want to drag your attention to my hands for a little bit. I do know FORMANAILS for a long time, but did you ever hear of it? Ivi Bings is one of the best skilled artists when it comes to nail art and hand accessories. Today I combined 2 of her amazing designs – the “Simple Rings” and the “Chris Claws”. They go along perfectly and with the HUD you can customize each part to what ever you need. If you search for something special, something different and out of the box for your hands, go take a look at FORMANAILS. She recently changed her store and you now go shopping in a huge shopping bag ๐Ÿ˜‰

The hair as well is something new, made ny no.match for the MOM event. The “No.Suffer” hairstyle is am amazing unisex, short hairstyle. I love the hair textures of the no.match hair a lot and with the update from her A version to her B version, they became even more realistic. With my short hair addiction, the “No.Suffer” just was a must have for me ๐Ÿ˜‰

Tomorrow I will be back with some more Halloween looks – I enjoy the dark and scary season way too much I guess ๐Ÿ˜‰

Outfit & Accessories

Top, Skirt & Panties: Casadel – “Jasmine” (Maitreya)

Shoes: UTOPIA@Design – “Noemi” – (Maitreya) –ย  NEW @ UBER

Gloves: CODEX – “Medea” (Maitreya, Bento)

Scarf: Bauhaus Movement – “Apoc Kitty Scarf” (Hunt Gift) – NEW @ Ironwood Hills

Garter: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Rebirth (Rosary Garter)” – NEW @ Kinky

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

Nails: FORMANAILS – “Chris Claws” (Maitreya, Bento)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Suffer” – NEW @ MOM

Face & right Eye: VYC – “Hunter” (LeLutka Applier)

Makeup: Zibska – “Nerio” (LeLutka Applier)

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

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka โ€“ โ€œSimone 3.0โ€

Ears: ^^Swallow^^ – “Darkness Ears”

Body: Maitreya โ€“ โ€œLara 4.1โ€

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

Poses & Props

Poses: Poseidon

Dragons: E.V.E Studio – “Scatha Dragon” – NEW @ Weโ™ฅRP

Lights: E.V.E Studio – “Sunny Spells M03-IRIS” – NEW @ TLC

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Are you ready?

TUNES

Are you ready for a good time
Then get ready for the night line

[AC/DC]

Outfit & Accessories

Coat: A&Y – “Flash Cyber Coat” (Maitreya)

Dress: A&Y – “Lexa Latex Dress” (Maitreya)

Gloves: A&Yย  – “Lorna Armwarmers” (Maitreya)

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

Headpiece: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Kanjiro”

Rings: :Moon Amore: – “Arcano Rings” (Maitreya, Bento)

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

Hair & Makeup

Hair: -FABIA- Mesh Hair – “Saura”

Makeup: .ARISE. – “Crackling Mask / 2” (Omega Applier)

Lipstick: Zibska – “Hildis” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Ears: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Meraxes”

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Backdrop: .:Joplino:. – “Backdrop Shrine”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Dr. Stein grows funny Creatures

TUNES

Once they killed his monster when it went into a trap
Now he’s making better ones on a higher step
[Helloween]

It is not a secret, that this time of the year is my personal favorite. The weather becomes bearable, the sun is not burning down like crazy anymore, the days become shorter – I always was more a creature of the night and certainly the spooky times arrived ๐Ÿ˜‰ Now I can do weird, crazy and morbid stuff without being asked if I am alright ๐Ÿ˜‰

What inspired me a lot for this post, was the actual hunt and the latest releases from DRD as well as the amazing group gift from CURELESS [+]. I got kinda an addiction to the incredible detailed torsos from CURELESS [+ ], that they have in various releases, which I showed already in previous posts. When I saw that they even released one of those as a group gift I first could not believe it. It was one of the best group gifts I ever got! Speaking of kick ass cool group gifts – the hair I am wearing as well is a group gift coming from no.match. You can wear it with and without the hat!

There is 2 events going on at the moment that really got me excited and after completing both of them I am kinda sad that it is already over… such thingsย  I could do forever ๐Ÿ˜‰ . The fist one would be the Ironwood Hills event called Haunting 2018. It is the 3rd event in a row – and all 3 belong to each other – and I immensely enjoyed them all. While we hunted for little charms for a charm bracelet laying inside a book, this time we got a tablet, that guided us through the whole story and hunt. You do not need to collect something this time you just need to find the right people one after another and solve their riddles. It is a great way to explore the sim as well if you did not do that before as it drags you across the whole sim. As if that would not be already enough for amusement, you get as reward over 40 gifts from the best designers on the grid. All of them as well made special Exclusives, scary, spooky themed for the event – It is a shopping paradise for all those who love the darker side of life ๐Ÿ˜‰

Speaking of the best designers on the grid, I cannot miss DRD. Deathrow Designs, is one of my all time favorites anyways if it is clothing, accessories or structures/buildings. They have a certain way of their designing and texturing, you would discover them under a million of other designers. The skills of the whole team is incredibly amazing and incomparable. They as well are part of the Ironwood Hills event with their mega amazing Reanimator Gacha – you can gamble for it or just buy the whole set. The whole set screams Dr. Stein with the tower and it’s furniture as well as the reward gift for completing the Ironwood Hills hunt. Last year round about the same time they introduced their Shadow Box. A monthly subscription box over 6 month with a final reward gift if you bought all 6 of them. My today background is exactly that final gift with various furniture items that were in the shadow boxes. Obviously I used the dark version – for the Shadow boxes you always got one light and one dark version.

DRD has as well an event going on, the Reanimator Hunt. You just have to grab the hunt HUD at the landing point and roam around the DRD sim along a path they mentioned in the NC. While walking around, you will find little skulls and just by clicking them you will get your hunt items until you collected all and can grab your final 10th gift back at the landing point. What I loved is that the skulls are not permanent. As soon as you lick them they vanish and spawn somewhere else randomly. That makes sure everyone has the same hunting experience ๐Ÿ™‚

As a little plus and for all that love to collect things they have a neat addition to the hunt The Steins – 11 unique, in character dressed avatars of their staff – appear randomly on the sim and you have to ask them a specific question (you find that one in the DRD group notices). If you asked the right question each of them will hand you a unique, personalized journal – I still miss 3 of them but I will keep hunting them down ๐Ÿ˜‰

Don’t miss either Ironwood Hills or the Reanimator Hunt @ DRD, before October is over – There is not many chances for free hunts and games in such an amazing quality!

Outfit & Accessories

Torso: CURELESS [+] – “Cadavre Exquis” (Maitreya) – NEW Group Gift

Panty: CURELESS [+] – “Anatomic Doll / Skeletal System / Panty / RARE” (Maitreya, Gacha)

Collar: Asteroid Box – “Caelum Collar” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Red Light District

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

Bracers: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Trinity Bracers [Black]” (Maitreya, Gacha)

Bracelets (Incl. Blood Tattoo): CURELESS [+] – “Barbedwire Cuffs”

Nails: Meva – “Bento Claws Dark” (Maitreya)

Bunnies: CURELESS [+] – “Bunny Dool” (Group Gift)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: no.match – “No.Scary” – NEW Group Gift

Makeup: CURELESS [+] – “Undereye Lines & Eyeliner” (Omega Applier)

Lipstick: Zibska – “Folia Lips” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka โ€“ โ€œSimone 3.0โ€

Body: Maitreya โ€“ โ€œLara 4.1โ€

Eye: Clemmm – “I’m Tired / Red Bloodshot” – NEW @ Ironwood Hills (Gift)

Ears: .:E.A:. Studio – “Elf Dior Ears”

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Set: DRD – “Shadow Mansionย  – Furnished- Dark” (Shadow Box Bonus Item)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Fantasy is Escapist, and that is its Glory

โ€œFantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!โ€
[J.R.R. Tolkien]

Isn’t Second Life a place where we can escape reality? Isn’t Second Life a place to experiment and live visions and dreams? – To me it is!

I am not saying my way is the best or the only one, as Second Life is a platform where everyone can do and life what ever they want. It should be a place where you can do everything that you can imagine and dream of for yourself. As kids we played Barbie or enjoyed various roleplay like Cowboy and Indian, Robin Hood and the Lady Marian or what ever we wanted. To me Second Life is just an extension of that.

I can dress up with everything my mood is leading me to. Mostly it is something I could not wear in RL. Sometimes it can be casual as well but usually it has some twist on it to make it my own. Often I was told, you need to decide to a certain direction to set a trademark or make yourself a brand – I never could decide for one and why should I in a world that gives you like nearly unlimited options? I thought by myself if it could not be my trademark to not have a certain look or style ๐Ÿ˜‰

Since I decided about that, I felt so much more free to experiment and play with all kind of things. There is only a few things, I set as my own limits to myself. I never would do porn, as I personally think there is no need to do that on a virtual fashion blog, as you can do so much more with nudity or semi nudity in an artistic way and it is nothing that I would like to share with a wide range of people anyways. As well i never would touch any illegal things, that go against common sense or the law, I never felt the desire to do such at all. That said, I just have fun playing with several things and lately I do love creating my own sceneries and backgrounds or add something personal to places I do love to snap at.

One of my favorite sim collectives for fantasy themed pictures is the Ippos Collective. A consortium of 4 sims. Sylpha, Nymphai, Ippos and Pegasoi. Each sim has a certain theme to it and all of them are decorated in an amazing way with much love to the details. All of them are changing their seasons, which always gives new things and settings to discover. There are a few parcels that are rented, but as long as you respect their privacy you can even rezz some props and pose stands to make your perfect shot. The owners are extremely sweet and kind and always have an open ear if you need help or advice. Most of them do amazing pictures like for example Duchess Flux. I am very happy to be allowed to call her a friend. She was there, backed me up and trusted me in some of the darkest hours of my SL. I won’t ever forget that – Thank you Duchie โ™ฅ

I only can give a rough view of the sims as no words I know would satisfy the beauty of those very special places. You need to wander all across the collective and even then you won’t see everything on your first walk ๐Ÿ˜‰

Ippos is mostly a residential sim. It has a beautiful landscape of a fantasy world, like a hidden treasure in the middle of a forest. No wonder that it is built in such an beautiful way, since well known SL bloggers and photographers call that palce their home and the parcels are really desired and not often open for new rentals.

On Nymphai you will find all the amazing events like the Enchantment or the Secret Affair as well as some main stores of fantastic and creative designers.

Pegasoi to me looks more like the romantic and sweet fantasy part of the group. You will find the Lady Garden Cabaret there, which shows monthly shows of amazing and creative artists.

Last but not least we have Sylpha, the water sim. Any desire you have for water based pictures you will find there. Weather you would like to do some peaceful island pictures or you actually would like to really swim in Linden water together with fishes and dolphins – everything is possible!

If you like more and detailed info about the Ippos Collective just take a look atย https://threadsandtuneage.com/ippos/

If you are in such an amazing fantasy environment you have to dress up to fit in there ๐Ÿ˜‰ This time I wanted to showcase one of the amazing hats from Spartin Parx. The “Milli” hat comes with a huge HUD. You can change the base to 6 different colors and the sweet roses on the top have a variety of 9 colors to chose from.

I thought a long time about how I could style it to not loose the focus on the hat but as well have a cute fantasy look. First I thought about something uniform based, I do not know why and I discovered very fast that this was not the way it would work out. The hat had a Victorian touch to me and finally I found a sweet doll looking outfit that just did the trick ๐Ÿ˜‰ For the boots I went with the “Kora” boots form UTOPIA@Design. I do have an addiction to over-knee boots, maybe because I do not often have the opportunity to wear them RL, as they would not fit into my everyday job most of the time ;). With the laces in the front, they totally matched the Victorian look, while the steel caps in the front added some strong, modern feelings to the whole look, which i loved a lot for the whole photo composition.

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: Violent Seduction – “Madame Chevaliere” (Maitreya,Gacha – Bra, Corset, Paudrons & Skirt)

Gloves: Maddict – “Starlet Gloves” (Maitreya)

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

Hat: Spartin Parx – “Millie”

Collar: Zombie Suicide – “Willow Collar”

Hair & Makeup:

Hair: No.Match – “No.Call”

Makeup: Slackgirl – “Kam” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: Zibska – “Chooli” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Poses & Props

Poses: Foxcity

Props: JIAN – “Wolf Pack & Companion” & Moon_Sha – “Cinderella’s Pumpkins” (Gacha, Ultrarare)

Location

The Ippos Collective

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

 

 

 

 

What a strange world we live in…

What a strange world we live in…

[Alice in Wonderland]

Red Queen – My Vision of a Modern Queen of Hearts

I always adored the novel Alice in Wonderland and the actual round of Enchantment had exactly that as a theme for their event. So the story was stuck in my mind again and when I saw the new “Lexa Latex Dress” from A&Y Cybernetics in that stunning, strong red (there is 5 colors in total to choose from) I got the idea to try for a modern, fashionable & lightly kinky Queen of Hearts ๐Ÿ˜‰

Latex is always tricky in SL, but Anabel Crystal, owner and designer of A&Y did an amazing job with it. What I love the most is that the HUD allows you to texture the dress, the straps and the metals separate.

I do not know why but if I wear a short dress, I always have the feeling I want something on my arms and legs, especially the legs if I do wear no high boots. This time I chose gloves from Codex, as they had a perfect latex possibility in their HUD and for the knees I went with some cool leg garters from Tabou. The shoes, which matched the style so perfect, are made by UTOPIA@Design. The “Cinzia” heels. Made of zippers that are wrapped around your feet and with a super sexy, high heel and platform sole they are simply a must have for every fashionistas wardrobe!

Often I was asked if I do sometimes use particles for my pictures. Particles are not always easy to snap, depending on how they are made and how string your graphic card is. Sometimes they just create weird colored ‘shadows’ and then it is easier to make those effects in Photoshop.

But not with the particles and effects form Cole’s Corner. ColeMarie Soleil has a great way to make her particles and effects, so that you can use them for pictures most of the time and they still show clear and crisp. For the actual round of the Enchantment, she made the amazing “Queen of Hearts Aura” and the “Queen of Hearts Halo”. Both colored in red, the Aura even spreads the typical signs you find on the cards like the hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. Since a simple photo usually doe snot show particles properly I tried this time to make a short gif, so you can get an idea of the sweet effect ๐Ÿ™‚

A cool style needs a great makeup too that matches the look and even gives the perfect finish to it. I know I said that already and not only once but I LOVE the makeup and lipsticks from Zibska for such strong and intense styles. It always adds even more dramatic vibes to the whole look. When I went to the Zibska main store to see what new releases she has, my view fell on the group gifts again and I saw one that I not yet had… how could that happen O.O

The “Themis” head piece did fit so nicely to the look and again lifted it o a higher level for me and together with the “Arie” eyeshadow and lipstick it just looked complete to me. Complete for my modern, fashionable Queen of Hearts – My Red Queen ๐Ÿ™‚

Outfit & Accessories

Dress: A&Y Cybernetics – “Lexa Latex Dress” (Maitreya) – NEW @ XXX Event

Gloves: CODEX – “Medea Bento Gloves” (Maitreya)

Legs: Tabou – “Diana Leg Garters” (Maitreya)

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

Headpiece: Zibska – “Themis” (Group Gift)

Nails: Slackgirl – “Catarina” (Maitreya)

Particles: **CC** – “Queen of Hearts Aura” & “Queen of Hearts Halo” –ย  NEW @ Enchantment

Hair & Makeup

Hair: [KoKoLoReS] Hair – “Oakes” (color modified)

Makeup: Zibska – “Arie Makeup” (LeLutka Applier)

Lipstick: Zibska – “Arie Lips” (LeLutka Applier)

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Tattoo: Redfish – “Gift Paro” (Maitreya Applier, Hunt Gift Ironwoodhills/Paranoia Event)

Poses & Props

Poses:

HelaMiyo

Props:

Chair: [Since1975] – “Scorpion Throne” – NEW @ ROMP

Lights: Selfmade

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin