“Stars are gonna light up the midnight sky
The sun’s gonna burn on the fourth of July
Tides are gonna turn with the pull of the moon
And I’m gonna love you”
Cody Johnson – I’m Gonna Love You [Ft. Carrie Underwood]
I think there’s this misconception, especially from people who’ve never spent a real minute in Second Life, that love here isn’t “real.” That it’s role play. A digital high. A phase. A fantasy. Something you turn off like a computer, log out of like a game. But that tells me one thing, they’ve never met Mackenzie. Because if they had, they wouldn’t be saying that shit. And if they did meet her and somehow didn’t feel it, didn’t see what I see… well, that’s their loss. Also, I have questions, not about her, but them. (She’ll get that line, trust me.)
When I joined Second Life, I came in like a lot of people, curious, guarded, and fully skeptical, mostly looking for an escape from the real world at a time when it was much needed. I’d found a rhythm in here: taking pictures, writing posts, messing with windlights and angles, occasionally falling through the world or crashing mid-photo (or teleport, god damn that’s still annoying.) I thought I had it figured out. That most of what you see here is surface-level, pretty but fleeting. There is a lot that is surface-level, a lot that is temporary. But there are also people you’ll form a bond with that ends up being unbreakable even if there are many many miles between.
I didn’t log in expecting to find someone like her. Then she showed up. She didn’t come in loud. She wasn’t all flash and sparkles (she is gorgeous). She came in, fully herself, and let that be enough. And it was. She felt steady. Like someone who didn’t need to convince you she was different, she just was. I think what got me first was her presence. And then of course her patience. She didn’t overly try to impress. She didn’t push things. She just hung out and typed for hours. Stayed standing in my house at that time not asking once to sit down, until about four hours in. (Which, yes, it really took like four hours because I’m great at taking forever to notice the obvious.) But once we did? That was it. One conversation and I was done for. Still might be the best conversation I’ve ever had, in or out of Second Life.
The other night I had my Spotify just randomly shuffling through songs on a playlist and I heard “I’m Gonna Love You” for the first time, I didn’t even know it was on one of my playlists. (I honestly didn’t even know who Cody Johnson was. Then you add Carrie Underwood to it and, of course I know who she is.) It just started. But I didn’t skip it. I listened and somewhere around the second verse, I wasn’t just listening anymore, I was feeling.
It hit me, loving her felt that natural. That certain. It wasn’t fireworks. It was tides, seasons, gravity. One of those truths that doesn’t need to be shouted to be known. The kind that just is, no matter how quiet. Loving Mackenzie is like that. It’s not the kind of love that needs to be plastered across group notices or flaunted on every sim. It’s quieter. Deeper. The way her voice softens when she says my name. The way she listens without interrupting (that’s an area sometimes I’m really good at, sometimes I interrupt, work in progress). The way she always knows when something’s off, and she always does, even when I haven’t said a damn word. She sees the cracks and stays anyway.
Let me tell you, there’s a kind of peace in knowing someone chooses you. Not just on the good days, but on the ones where you’re scattered and disconnected. Where you log in but don’t have the energy to landscape, shop, or shoot a picture. Where you’re short-tempered, or distracted, or anxious for reasons even you can’t explain. And still, there she is. Always showing up. Always making space for me even when her bandwidth is as low as mine. Always reminding me, without trying, what home feels like. Mackenzie’s not just my person in Second Life. She’s my person, period.
Loving someone here isn’t as easy as people think. Second Life tests you a lot. Hell, real life tests you even more. Time zones. Burnout. Real-world distractions. The endless lag and chaos of it all. But love that lasts here isn’t just about dances, cuddle poses, or who’s standing where. It’s about the everyday choosing. The -intentional- staying. She does that. Every day. Even when I give her reasons not to. (And yes, I’ve given her reasons. A few too many if we’re being honest.)
“Earth’s gonna shake every now and then
Some runaway roads are gonna dead end
And on those days when the world feels cruel
I’m gonna love you.”
Those lyrics? That’s the center of everything I feel. Because life shakes and things break. We all change. Second Life glitches. Real life hits when you really don’t want it to. You wish you had more control over things then you ever could. But even then, especially then, I look at her and I know, she’s the one thing I want beside me when the world feels upside down. When we’re just quietly hanging out on our platform sorting inventory. Even if we’re half-lagged at an event or goofing off with landscaping ideas that we’ll change ten minutes later (more times that either of us can count). If everything around us falls apart, I want her here still.
This place changes a lot. People come and go. Hell, I’ve changed. She’s changed. We’ve both grown since our first night. But my love for her? That’s not a phase. It’s not a sim or a snapshot (we’ve got A LOT of snapshots). It’s a part of me now. Woven into how I breathe, how I log in, how I move through this world. I don’t care what the future holds. I don’t care how pixelated it gets or how loud the world screams. She’s still it for me.
Not just in some overly romanticized “always and forever” speech people toss around like it’s nothing either. I mean the real thing. The less convenient kind. The kind you don’t advertise because it’s too sacred to “perform.” The kind that doesn’t fade when the newness wears off. She deserves that. Because she is that. So yeah. I’m betting on her. And if you know me, you know what that means. I don’t bet lightly. I don’t gamble with things I care about. But this? Her? Us? That’s worth everything. Because no matter what happens, no matter how crazy life gets, no matter what shape this world takes, I’m gonna love her.
Apologies again for the lack of credits (I do have some though). Life is crazy busy all over the place and when I shot this I’m sure I wrote the credits down somewhere but I can’t for the life of me find them now. Hopefully it’ll get back to the norm sooner than later but I don’t like not posting things, especially when I’m feeling the feels.
Time’s gonna put a few lines on our face
We can cover it up, but hair’s gonna gray
Life’s gonna fly and be gone too soon
And I’m gonna love you
Baby, I’m gonna love you
Cody Johnson – I’m Gonna Love You [Ft. Carrie Underwood]
Credits~ish:
~Lucky~
Head: LeLUTKA.Head.NOA.4.0 ~ Jaden Nova
Head Applier: STRAY DOG – GREG – LELUTKA – TONE 04 ~ Gac Akina
Hair: Stealthic – Haunting (Brown) ~ Stealthic Resident
Hairbase: LeLUTKA.EvoX.Hairbase.044 (BOM) ~ Jaden Nova (Comes with the LeLUTKA NOA Head)
Eyes: Avi-Glam. Delirium Eyes – 5 ~ Eye Daddy
Ears: ^^Swallow^^ Gauged S Ears ~ Luciayes Magic
Ear Tattoo: RichB. Ears Tattoo #08 ~ Salvy Hexem
Beard: [MAGNIFICENT] Ducky Skunk Beard & Stache – LeBarbier Alpha
Beard Layer: addon+ Irving Facial Hair ~ Vondavolkov Resident
Body: [LEGACY] Athletic Edition (1.7.1) ~ MeshBody Resident
Skin: STRAY DOG – Legacy Skin – TONE 04 (BOM) ~ Gac Akina
Hand BOM: K.O.K.O.S SHOP – SEXI MAN HANDS-BOM ALL BODY. ~ Aleric Dallas
Nails: Pare.Cure Mesh Nails Both Hands [Short] – Legacy ~ Flazedo Resident
Torso Tattoo: DAPPA – Zebani Tattoo. [FADED] Lelutka EvoX. ~ Devil Fae
Top: [Deadwool] Volpi Polo Shirt ~ Masa Plympton
Pants: [Deadwool] Dean jeans ~ Masa Plympton
Ring: [VEX] Lexington Wedding Band ~ Vexiin Takeda
Earrings: = DAE = SXD1 ~ Naomi Darkheart
~Eighty~