Summertime and the living is easy…

June 24, 2018 by Wicca Merlin

… for those who like summer most likely yes *giggles*

Thank god in SL you do not feel any temperature and can enjoy summer quite a little more, without sweating all the time like in RL.

I again found a bikini, which I truly like and again I was facing the question… what else than laying on a beach or hanging out in a pool I could do for a picture. I mean there is nothing against those scenarios, but I do not like to do that in RL plus that would make just another of those kind of summer loving pictures. A&Y always is special to me – I love her designs, I love the way how the textures are and I do love the futuristic character that all her creations have. Because of that, I just do not wanna make an easy picture with it. To me it alway requests something strong and special.

For the “Electra Cyber Bikini” from A&Y you have the option to wear it as a full set (already linked) or you can wear only top or pants single as well. As usual you have the amazing HUD that we all know from A&Y to customize the bikini itself (2 parts), straps and metals. To underline the amazing straps I added an arm harness from L’Emporio.

While I was looking for shoes, I saw the latest release from [Gos] and it felt like the shoes were made for my look! The “Bella Thong Platforms” are part of the actual round of FaMESHed and with the straps all over the feet and around the toe they completely matched the outfit. Like always the shoes come for all the popular mesh bodies and with the Boutique, the Blueberry and the Metalic HUD. What I do like a lot os that [Gos] includes a materials and a non materials version for the shoes. You can decide if you want to take a picture with the ambiance occlusion shown or jut have a clear view on the shoes.

Yesterday I was talking to Falbala Fairey again after a long time. We both were busy with RL and even more I was happy when I saw her in the audience, when I did that interview with Trouble and Kess for SL15B (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=F8lihXKTySk)

After the interview we did a call on Discord and had a nice long chat about what has happened over the time. Many good news and a things were shared and I was in a really good mood when she suddenly asked if she could show me something. Certainly she could :p. A few minutes later I had a folder and very shy sis in my ears when she said “Maybe you can try them and tell me what you think?” I peeked and it was… POSES! I love poses and the more I love them when they come from a person I feel close to 🙂 Little sis makes poses now! Here store is called Fairey Poses and what I instantly felt, when I tried the poses, was that those poses are done by someone that blogs fashion for along time. All the poses I got were strong and well thought poses for fashion photography. It was refreshing to see some edgy poses as well and especially the crouch and lean against the wall poses made their way right into my heart. It is so rare to find really cool and swag poses for fashion photography. The more I was happy to find exactly those 2 kind of poses made by Falbala!

Enough for today… I need to take a look at Fairey Poses now, to see what else Falbala made!

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: A&Y Cybernetics – “Electra Cyber Bikini” (Maitreya) – NEW @ Good Vibes Fair

Shoes: [Gos] – “Bella Thong Platforms” (Maitreya) – NEW @ FaMESHed

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

Legs: [ Sakide ] – “Yleria Leg Straps” (Maitreya)

Collar: Happy Undead – “Charming”

Glasses: .::Nanika::. – “Agnes Sunglasses Silver”

Nails & Rings: [CX] – “Shredder Claws” (Maitreya, bento)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: [NYNE] Hair – “Penny”

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

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Tattoo: .pichi. – “Pretty Blossom” (Maitreya Applier)

Poses & Props

Poses: Fairey Poses – “Crouched 1″ & ” Waiting for you 1″

Seat: .birch. – “Mery Ottoman Black & Silver”

Background: Foxcity – “Photo Booth – Short Circuit” (Gacha, Rare)

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Expand your Horizon!

June 8, 2018 by Wicca Merlin

Summer is coming without mercy… I am more of a winter type and the heat in summer just knocks me out usually. What is nice about the fact that you sweat with every movement and cannot even sleep tight and without any breaks because it is just too hit and not even at night it cools down to a ‘proper’ temperature…?

I never got that 😉 So I just suffer every year and shower like 10 times a day until autumn is coming again and rescues me again…

I lately took a look at the Pantone colors for Summer 2018. I love how they name their colors and sometimes it is even a little bit funny. This time I found 2 colors that did touch me somehow and I did not even know why. Especially because they were so bright and kinda pastel looking – Meadowlark and Arcadia. Comparing those 2 I got a strong and intensive vibe. As you know usually I am no the most ‘colorful girl’ but some colors just pull a trigger for some reason. The more I was happy when I saw one of the latest releases of [Gos] having exactly those 2 colors in their amazing huge HUD. The “Bella” crop top and shorts are the actual release of [Gos] at UBER.

What I do like a lot os the way how the top is wrapped or twisted under the chest. It gives the whole look something loose and cool and the wrap looks amazing realistic as well. The pants do have the option to be worn with or without belt and certainly both are made for the most popular mesh bodies.

To complement such a great outfit, you certainly need matching shoes and as well the right makeup and accessories 😉 To match the colors in a perfect way I chose the “Monza Belted Boots” as well made by [Gos]. For the shorts I loved the look of the over-knee boots, and the color perfectly matched to the belt as well.

With pastel and bring colors, I certainly had to find hair, accessories and makeup, that feature that kind of colors even more.

Sintiklia became one of my favorite hair stores lately. I love her hair textures, the possibility of the tint HUD, the way how the hair connects to the head (you sometimes do not even need a hairbase) and the most I do love her styler HUDs. How often you wished your hair strand would come down on the right side and not on the left? How many times you thought about pushing your hair back just for one pose in a picture series? Exactly that you can do most of the times with the Sintiklia styler HUDs!

With the tint HUD (included in the fatpacks or available as single item) you can tint the monochrome hair packs to unusual colors without making them look dirty or just over colored and you can pimp certain hair colors with it as well. To me all those possibilities paired with amazing hair textures are the future for hair styles.

Who else that Zib Scaggs, owner and designer of Zibska could make such cool colored makeup *winks* She again made an amazing combo called “Delia”. You can find “Delia” at the actual round of the Blush event.

It is always exciting to me to experiment with colors since that really is way out o f my personal comfort zone, but I have to admit – each time I do it, I feel like I expand my horizon a little more again 😉

Outfit & Accessories

Top: [Gos] – “Bella Crop Top” (Maitreya) – NEW @ UBER

Pants: [Gos] – “Bella Shorts” (Maitreya) – NEW @ UBER

Boots: [Gos] – “Monza Belted Boots” (Maitreya)

Nails: *PL* – “bento nail #27” (Maitreya)

Necklace: Zibska – “Bellie Necklace”

Hair & Makeup

Hair: Sintiklia – “Mimi”

Makeup: Zibska – “Delia Eyemakeup” (LeLutka Applier) – NEW @ Blush

Lipstick: Zibska – “Delia Lips” (LeLutka Applier) – NEW @ Blush

Body & Tattos

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

Poses & Props

Poses:

Pic 1: Belle Poses – “Santa Honey 2” (Bento)

Pic 2: Belle Poses – “LadyCrow 2” (Bento)

Pic 3: Belle Poses – “Mi 3” (Bento)

Pic 4: Body Language – “FineSand 2m” (Bento)

Background: /\/.ɪᴄᴇ – “The Mod Backdrop – Yellow”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

If I had known the world was ending…

May 29, 2018 by Wicca Merlin

I never was the typical pretty, beauty or girly type – neither SL nor RL – even if sometimes I even enjoy doing that for SL looks, but thats more rare i guess ;). I never was cagey about my addiction to strong, different and attitude looks and styles. The more I was happy when I saw the “Inana” outfit from [sYs]. It just called for something strong and edgy and since I started watching post apocalyptic soaps on Netflix again… I had a feeling that this could go exactly in that direction 😉

I am well aware that I probably would not survive looking like that in such a futuristic environment, since running on high heels always fails at some point, but since I do love fashion, I want to combine both of it and create a modern, strong looking style. The outfit comes with top and shorts as well as the straps. You have the choice to add the harness or just leave it be and wear only top and shorts. The fatpack has a HUD to change several parts of the outfit to 16 colors and 2 metals. Typical for [sYs] it comes in all popular mesh body fits.

The super cool boots were made from Elisabetta Hyun, owner and designer of UTOPIA@Design. I already said so many times how much I admire her skills for sharp and crisp texture details. The “Mirka” boots do not disappoint about that either. It is just amazing how much details shoes can have, from the basic fabric to even the most tiny seams – stunning! Another neat advantage for shoes from UTOPIA@Design is the HUD. You get 2 pages on the HUD, one with some ready made presets for a quick styling and the second page for a detailed color customization. As well on the first page you will find another cool feature on the bottom typical for UTOPIA@Design. You have 5 different glossiness options. With those you can have every feeling from leather to nearly latex on some boots, which makes them very versatile.

The hair I found in the latest Bound Box. Bound Box is a quarterly subscription box for fetish and kinky lovers. Spellbound’s contribution was the “Control” hair with that amazing face harness. To make sure it does fit on every head, Spellbound included 2 jaw shapes for the harness, but you as well can resize it via a script (just left click the hair) if it doe snot fit 100%. I did not have to change anything that just move it forward slightly – you just can use your edit tool for that. What as well is a neat detail – The hair comes with a styler HUD for 4 different versions of the hair. If you have the hair in front hanging down over your chest you even get a small and a large version for that particular style.

The poses as well as the crossbows are part of the “Post Apox” set from Poseidon. Poseidon is still one of my number one stores for dramatic and action poses with attitude. Since Gryphon Vendetta, owner and designer of Poseidon, provides mirror poses most of the time, it is really easy to adjust your poses to your set and picture.

Again I had way too many pictures for the post and it was really hard to choose 3 for today. Do you know that feeling if you like a setting, the background and then find like 50 poses that would work and in the end you have to decide which pictures you will post process and use for the post.

Outfit & Accessories

Outfit: [sYs] – “Inana” (Maitreya)

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

Bracelets: .:E.A.Studio:. – “Mordrem Cuffs”

Rings: *elise* – “Brenda” (Maitreya)

Hair & Makeup

Hair: +Spellbound+ – “Control” (BoundBox May 2018)

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

Body & Tattoo

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

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

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

Poses & Props

Poses & Crossbow: Poseidon– “Post Apox Set”

Background: VARONIS – “StarDust Background”

Model & Photographer

Wicca Merlin

Wicca’s Wardrobe @ Whimsical May 2018

May 23, 2018 by Wicca Merlin

Wicca’s Wardrobe @ Whimsical (May 18th – June 18th)

We are thrilled to be a part of Whimsical! For our inaugural round we have created Merida, a full length ruffled gown with arm sleeves and a ruffled neck.

Merida is perfect for your most fanciful stylings. Designed for Maitreya’s Lara only. Available in a few selected single colors, a light pack, a dark pack and HUD controlled fatpack with all options included.

Taxi to Whimsical: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fuyumi/51/125/35

Who are you behind the screen?

May 22, 2018 by Wicca Merlin

Are you a guy or a girl behind the screen?

That is a question, I heard so many times in my SL life. In the beginning – over 10 years ago – I had a different RL partner, who played a girl in SL and so he did not want me to voice or skype. He was afraid, that he would be ‘discovered’ as a guy, if ambiance noise or background phone calls were going on and that others would not RP or talk to him anymore if they would know. I respected his wish during our relationship and only typed. I never even thought about that being an issue for anyone, since I never requested myself being a female*lmao*, but when it happened the first time, I remember I really felt hurt somehow. I can not even say why, but it hit me right out of nothing when I got told “If you are not voicing you are a guy that tries to hide”

That was years ago and after I broke up with my partner, I did voice and prove more than once with it, that I am a real female.

But for about 2 years, it really kept getting more and more annoying and the more I was told if I don’t voice I must be a guy that I became stubborn as well and in the beginning I did not even wanna voice just because of all that. I did not want to let them dictate me and what I need to do. When I finally started to voice with some people that I always felt close and who never accused me to be a guy in RL It really was fun.

When I started modeling, I again stumbled over that fact. In some competitions they asked for voice checks, some designers where requesting voice verifications and at some modeling schools you had to prove, that you are a girl when you play a girl avatar. That really made me think… Why it would be so important, to know if a girl avatar really is a girl in RL? I mean we are not talking about relationships or cheating on other people who fell in love on wrong informations. There were some girls who told me in privacy that they would be guys and they would be afraid to say it, because they thought then they would not be allowed to model anymore as girls. And the ‘Why’ in my heads became bigger and bigger. What would make the difference on a SL model, designer or any other kind of roleplay if you don’t take it to RL, if that person is male or female or gay, lesbian or hetero? Does it matter for styling abilities? Does it matter for walking the runway?

Isn’t Second Life a place where you can be what you want? Isn’t Second Life a place where you can live your dreams? Isn’t Second Life a place where you can release a side of you that you can’t show in RL? Maybe there is a reason why a person does not voice even if they are the gender in RL, which they are playing in SL? Maybe someone cannot voice because they are not able to talk in RL, because they are deaf or mute?

The more I got into that, the more I hear things and read bad posts about people that were ‘discovered’ by others. Those people who did that always felt right about, that they revealed something ‘important’ and had to tell the whole world?!?! Who gave them the right to do that? Who gave them the right to hurt others with their stories? Who are they, that they think they need to be the Second Life police for that?

Again I am not talking about SL relationships that were meant to go RL and one got badly tricked, but I always said I do not care about what gender people are behind the screen as long as no one gets hurt. I know a few super, mega top models in SL that do a great job and be admired by many people and they are not the gender, which they are playing in SL. Who cares? They do an amazing job, otherwise they would not have made it so far. It is just sad, that they had to ask friends to do their ‘voice verifications’ for them, to be allowed to do what they like and enjoy.

I hope one day – in a world where transgenders in real life more and more get accepted and as well get popular and famous – people in Second Life can be as tolerant as they became RL.

I wish – in a world where creativity is a gift and all are aiming to be more creative – that all who only stand up to think about how they can hurt, slander and defame other people get a life and find joy and satisfaction in being productive instead of being constructive.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
[Bernard M. Baruch]