Cyberpunk – What is that?

Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a future setting that tends to focus on society as “high-tech low life” featuring advanced technological and scientific achievements, such as information technology and cybernetics, juxtaposed with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.

Cyberpunk plots often center on conflict among artificial intelligences, hackers, and megacorporations, and tend to be set in a near-future Earth, rather than in the far-future settings or galactic vistas found in novels such as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation or Frank Herbert’s Dune. The settings are usually post-industrial dystopias but tend to feature extraordinary cultural ferment and the use of technology in ways never anticipated by its original inventors (“the street finds its own uses for things”). Much of the genre’s atmosphere echoes film noir, and written works in the genre often use techniques from detective fiction.

[Wikipedia]

Classic cyberpunk characters were marginalized, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body.

[Lawrence Person]

Cyberpunk to me is a very interesting style category and not always easy. Many times I saw people confounding cyberpunk with post apocalyptic styles and the other way round. But in the end those are 2 totally different things. While you have kinda nothing to style from for post apocalyptic looks – basically you only can wear what you find, left over after an apocalypse – with cyberpunk you have all kind of fancy, hyper high-tech and futuristic accessories and implants in a sci-fi looking surrounding.

As well for the colors you have a very different choice. While post apocalyptic mostly uses, black, brown and all kind of grey shades, for the cyberpunk stuffs you see a lot of lights, electricity and mostly you have a blue, teal, green, pink and cold/neon looking color palette where you go from – besides black certainly ๐Ÿ˜‰

It is very easy if you just type cyberpunk or post apocalyptic to google and then look at all the pictures and movies you can find. For me a typical cyberpunk movie would be Ghost in the Shell or even the Matrix Trilogy to just name 2 popular ones of so many existing ๐Ÿ™‚

Maybe I will go over post apocalyptic soon too, since we are short before the amazing ‘Thereafter‘ event (https://thereaftersl.wordpress.com/), but I had a desire to do some cyberpunk today, because it is such a great style that rarely gets showcased and I really do love it a lot. We can do all the funky things with implants and not yet existing gadgets ๐Ÿ˜‰

You should try it and be not afraid of looking awkward or funky in the first place.. I just can say when you started, it can become an addiction ๐Ÿ˜‰

Only the sky is the limit since everything is a futuristic dream when it comes to cyberpunkย  – and all of us have different dreams and visions of the future…

 

Details

Outfit: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Samara” (Maitreya)

Shoes: *DL* – “Baggers”

Headpiece: Wicca’s Wardrobe – “Commander Headset”

Hair: EMO-tions – “Stars”

Rings: FORMANAILS – “Rings Simple” (Maitreya)

Weapon: Breach – “USP”

Right Arm: [Neurolab Inc.] – “EV3 Android” (Maitreya)

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

Lipstick: je suis… – “LeLutka Lips no. 006 [blues]” (LeLutka Applier)

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

Poses: Poseidon

Location: [Neurolab Inc.]

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

Basics

Head: LeLutka – “Simone 3.0”

Body: Maitreya – “Lara 4.1”

Shape: Selfmade

Wild Life with [sys]

Amazone 01a

โ€œScars are but evidence of life,” Coquette said.
“Evidence of choices to be learned from…evidence of wounds…wounds inflicted of mistakes…wounds we choose to allow the healing of.
We likewise choose to see them, that we may not make the same mistakes again.โ€
Marcia Lynn McClure, The Whispered Kiss
Amazone 02a
Fantasy is something very precious. Without fantasies I would feel empty, lost and cold.
With the latest releases of [sys] I immediately was caught in a fantasy dream ๐Ÿ™‚
The incredible “Ashera Skin” is available at the current round of The Fantasy Collective event. The skin has some very light hints of a cheetah pattern all over the body, what gives an amazing wild look. With the skin you get a huge load of options and HUDs. BEsides the 4 different shapes you will find a LeLutka Mesh Head Applier, a Maitreya Mesh Body Applier and all needed appliers for the Slink Physique plus Slink Hands and Feet.
Furthermore you get 3 different lipsticks, from which I picked the grey one for this post. The 6 different skins have several options of brows and makeup.
Amazone 04aThe amazing necklace as well is one of the latest releases of [sys] too. You will find it at the We <3 RP event. The “Lakota Necklace” comes with a HUD too that lets you customize the pearls metals and feathers at the bottom.
To complete the look, I put on the “Anaconda” skirt, wich is part of a whole ensemble of EMO-tions. The awesome long hair was the gift from Ayashi for the Hair Fair this year and is called ” Sirena”.
To even more drag the look towards an Amazon, I added the Heartseeker Bow from [The Forge]. I really had fun exploring tropical sims until I found the location where the pics happened ๐Ÿ™‚
The little island and the wide open sea… kinda expressed my feelings of freedom, dreams and… Fantasy.
Amazone 03a
Details
Skin: [sys] – “Ashera” (@ The Fantasy Collective)
Necklace: [sys] – “Lakota” (@ We <3 RP)
Skirt: EMO-tions – “Anaconda” (part of a whole outfit)
Hair: Ayashi – “Sirena” (Hair Fair 2015 Gift)
Bow: [The Forge] – “Heartseeker”
Body: Slink – “Physique”
Hands & Feet: Slink
Poses: PosESioN
Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin

“Wicca the Lioness” – A very special creation from Poulet Koenkamp!

(PurpleMoon – “Wicca the Lioness”, Model: Wicca Merlin, Photographer: Poulet Koenkamp)

Today I have a very special creation of PurpleMoon. This outfit is going to be part of the Back to Black event of Keira Seerose. The Back to Black event is an awareness event of mental health. For all participants Keira gave out several key words, the designer had to work with and make creations and designs according to the given word. The word Poulet got was ‘courage’. But before I tell more about the story behind the wonderful “Wicca the Lion” outfit I would like to add a personal story I have with this incredible design of Poulet Koenkamp, owner and designer of PurpleMoon.

I know Poulet quite for some time and she always was very kind and friendly. Even as I was a very new aspiring model she always supported me and let me blog her awesome gowns. She as a huge past and archived a lot with her clothing. PurpleMoon is one of the most wanted stores for Miss Virtual World designs, as well PurpleMoon supports many charity events if they have a good reputation and Poulet takes part in many different little events for limited and special creations. She dedicates a lot of time to help and support several events and people.

A few weeks ago, as I finished another blog post for her we were talking and I asked her what people have to do to get gowns named after them. It was kinda in a funny mood and meant as a little joke even if I for sure dreamed in forever to have one of her creations named after me. But I actually never thought about this could happen, as mostly very well-known people were allowed to give their names for PurpleMoon creations.

Then she suddenly said “Just ask me.” and I started shivering and still did not really got it. The she asked me to tell her a few words about me so that she could get an inspiration. I told her a bunch of attributes and words that came in my mind if I think about me. In the end I looked my words and was afraid as they totally made no sense together. But Poulet said, it was exactly what she needed to work with and I was even more excited.

Time went by and I started to think that I gave Poulet too much weird input about me, as she suddenly ran in my IM again and told me she wanted to tell me something. We actually talked on voice for the first time ever – she really has a wonderful smooth voice that fits her personality totally – she told me that she did a gown named “Wicca the Lioness” as she was working on the item for the Back to Black event.

Here I would like to steal her words that she put on her flickr as it is the short version of what we talked…

Poulet Koenkamp:

“I would like to share a little bit of the story behind this picture. I’ve known Wicca for long time now and I’ve known myself for even longer than that, but not as long as you are thinking.

Around 12 years ago, I had to go through, what it is so far, the hardest moment of my life. It came like a storm and I thought it was never going to leave me. Depression, phobias, fears, panic attacks, you name it. For a while it was almost impossible to even get out of my house, or stay in a room with more than two people, or teaching my students, or … pretty much feeling that I was going nuts. And as somebody said the other day, whatever your brains tell you, you will believe, it’s your brains, you know?

A month or so ago, I get this invitation to be part of the “Back to Black” event organized by CHIC with the main purpose to raise mental health awareness. Later on I was given the word “Courage” and asked to create an item inspired on the concept of โ€œCourage is not the absence of fear; it is the overcoming of itโ€.

Around the same time, chatting with Wicca we come across the idea of creating an outfit inspired by her and she brainstormed for me a few words that I kept on a notecard.

I struggled for a month. There was no deadline for Wicca’s outfit but there was one for the event. One day, don’t ask me why, I realized two things. One, I was relating a lot with this creation, with the word, with the concept. Courage. It took me a lot of that to get out of the place I was many years ago. If somebody is looking for an advice, what worked for me was therapy, lots of it, and a couple of hours of yoga every day. I found myself, the one that was hidden and afraid. I overcame to my fears; I faced them, battled them and accepted them. They keep coming back sometimes, but I know them already and they are not as strong as they used to be. I keep fighting.

The second thought that came to my head was that the beginning of the outfit I had in front of me was not only about my own courage, there was something else in it. I looked for my notecard and read out loud the words Wicca gave me, they were all there. [16:22] Wicca Merlin: crazy, elegant , tight, extraordinary prims, satin, classy, avantgarde, shiny, adult, non-symmetric

It seems that all these words, thoughts, memories and impressions had been bouncing in my head for while and they all came out in the shape of the โ€œLionessโ€. Who has an armor to protect herself, who has the strength of a lion and the fragility of the feathers; who has an open heart easy to break but that she has learned to protect; she decided it is better to keep it open giving as much love as she can than refrain the power of its love.

A little story that might inspire somebody else, It takes a lot of courage to walk through troubling times, but, you learn so much on the road, it absolutely worth it.

Event opens February 11th
More info: www.chic-management.com/?page_id=1236

With this words I even felt more honred that this wonderful creation carries my name now. I cannot compete to Poulet’s picture at all but I at least wanted to show her how much this outfuit means to me and I tried on by myself as well. It has so many details that just come right of my heart and Poulet made the effort to look behind my outside and she catched so many of my inner that is nearly not to belive… but she did it…

Poulet I have no words that would nearly describe how much you touched my heart and how grateful I am… still… thank you lots and you know how much it means to me ๐Ÿ™‚ *hugs you tight*

(PurpleMoon – “Wicca the Lioness”, Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin)

Details

Outfit (incl. hair, shoes & nails): PurpleMoon – “Wicca the Lioness”

Tattoo: Wicked Tattos – “Live for Today”

Skin: Silken Moon – “Rookie” (special custom makeup)

Eyeliner: Silken Moon – “Wicca”

Lashes: Detour – “Widow”

Bow: Archery Ranges – “Dynamic Archery”

Pose: Wicca Merlin

Apocalyptic Impressions

On the 14th and 15th of January Opium was holding a casting for the new Opium Evolution agency.

They gave 3 themes to all of the applicants. Vintage, Goth Couture or Apocalyptic. All the old opium models were allowed to cast and new aspiring models could try out as well, it was announced as an open casting.

After thinking about what I wanna do I decided to get for the theme that would be my own biggest challenge… I figured that many will go for goth couture as we all have our inventory full with black great clothing and accessories. Vintage… I really like doing vintage styles and I could not decide wich style I wanna go, there are so many like 20s to 70s and in SL you will find a lot of vintage stuff. So I decided to go for Apocalyptic.

With the theme apocalyptic I immediately have movies in mind like, Water World, Riddick, Books of Eli, Pitch Black or Mad Max. Kinda a post apocalyptic theme after a huge atomic world war, where people have to get back to the basics to survive. Ruined cities where a few survivors fight for their rights and surviving.

As you can see on a few pictures I was not the only one that came up with that idea. Malek Sahara as well dressed up for apocalyptic and I just asked him if he would pose with me for a few pics ๐Ÿ™‚

I really had fun with this styling and competition for my self and to collect all the stuff together, that I needed. Together with some cool action poses and using the cool weapons I got it made my ticket into Opium Evolution ๐Ÿ™‚

Details of my styling:

Jacket: Tonk Tastic – “Connor’s Jacket”

Pants: NeurolaB Inc. – “MESH Baggyz”

Shoes: Shiny Things – “Flare Oxfords”

Belt: Tonk Tastic – “Stielhandgranaten Belt”

Piercings: [ni.ju] – “Chain Chop” + “Snake Bites” + “Amped” + “Amaterasu”

Tattoo: Wicked Tattoo – “Live for Today”

Makeup: Nuuna’s – “v3.7”

Earrings: Rozorogalia – “Hydra”

Scarf: grasp – “Skull Desert”

Skin: !Silken Moon – “Rookie” /signature makeup Wicca Merlin not for sale

Hair: EmoTion – “Elements”

Weapons: Breach – “USP” + “MP7”

Guest Model: Maltek Sahara

Model & Photographer: Wicca Merlin