“The way your fingers fit in mine
It’s five plus five, not rocket science
This day in time, that’s hard to find
It’s true the road we’re on ain’t a traffic jam
It’s a Sunday drive on a piece of land
It’s paradise as long as I’m with you”
Florida Georgia Line – Simple
Three posts into my first round blogging The Arcade, and somehow we’ve gone from sitting in a classroom, to having a pillow fight, to ending up out on a farm. There hasn’t exactly been a logical path from one photo to the next, but I think that’s becoming one of my favorite things about this round. I get a collection of things in front of me, start playing around with them, and eventually we end up somewhere I probably wasn’t expecting when I started.
This time, somewhere turned out to be a farm.
A lot of that came from Milk Motion and The Old Barn collection at The Arcade, because when I say I’m using basically the entire set here, I’m really not exaggerating much. The barn became the centerpiece almost immediately, but then I started adding the stable pieces, hay feeder, saddle, wheelbarrow, milk cans, farm cart, crates, bags, ladder, straw bales, old lamp and everything else that came along with it. Somewhere in the middle of unpacking all of that, this stopped being a backdrop and started becoming an actual place.
That’s probably what I like most about The Old Barn. The barn itself is great, but it doesn’t have to do all the work. All those smaller pieces give you the freedom to make something that feels used instead of staged. Hay is stacked wherever it fits, things have been left around the stable, the old cart has definitely seen better days and there are little details everywhere you look. It has that worn, slightly messy character that a farm like this should have, and I didn’t want to lose that by burying everything under a mountain of other decor.
That doesn’t mean I left well enough alone, because we all know better than that. Buttercup, my Hereford cow from LOVE, moved into the barn, and a goat from M&M joined her because Mackenzie and I have livestock now. Between them and a few things I added around the edges, the scene started feeling less like something I’d built for a photo and more like a little piece of a farm that happened to continue beyond the frame.
Then the possums moved in.
Aardvark’s Playing Possum collection is another new gacha at The Arcade, and I ended up using four of them because choosing one or two clearly wasn’t happening. Pie Bandit found the pie down in one corner, On a Roll has apparently claimed the wheelbarrow, and the RARE Mom’s Got This is hanging around overhead with considerably more confidence than I would have upside down. The RARE Under Cover might be my favorite placement of the bunch, though, because you have to actually look into the barn before noticing the little face peeking out from behind the hay.
That’s exactly how I wanted them to work in the finished photo. They’re there, and they’re definitely part of what I’m featuring, but they’re also just doing their thing while everything else is happening. You might notice one immediately and find another after you’ve looked around for a while. At this point I’m pretty sure they were here first and Mackenzie and I are the ones trespassing.
We’re at least dressed like we belong. Mackenzie went toward the cute side of country with the plaid Dixi Top and dark blue Dixi Shorts from .miss chelsea., with the Lizzie Necklace and bracelets from MICHAN mixed in alongside the tattoos and little details that keep the look very much hers. I didn’t want either of us to look like we’d suddenly become completely different people just because I put a barn behind us. Her outfit feels like something she’d actually wear while still fitting naturally into everything around her.
She’s also wearing a.b’s Elodie skin in #4 Porcelain with the matching Elodie #10 Make-Up Set, both new gachas at The Arcade. A skin could easily get lost when I’m putting this much into the scene around us, especially when there are animals, possums and an entire barn competing for attention, but so much of this photo depends on Mackenzie herself that I didn’t want to gloss over it. Elodie has this softer look that works beautifully with the blonde hair, plaid and denim, while still letting Mackenzie look like Mackenzie. Especially when she’s looking at me like that.
I went considerably farther down the western road with the Duke outfit from THIRST. The work shirt and jeans probably would have gotten me there on their own, but once I added the Duke Chaps and Deadwool’s Joe Hat, there really wasn’t any pretending I was only lightly committing to this idea anymore. Add the rings and bracelets from RealEvil Industries, and I think I’ve made a fairly convincing visual argument that I know what I’m doing here, provided nobody actually asks me to do anything involving the farm.
The two looks ended up meeting somewhere in the middle better than I expected. Mackenzie is softer and a little more casual, I’m apparently ready for my new career as a cowboy, and when we’re wrapped up together in the middle of that old barn, somehow both make sense.
That’s also where Florida Georgia Line’s Simple comes into this.
I originally had Dirt in mind. Looking at the old barn, weathered wood, hay and everything else around us, it was an easy song to connect to the scene. The more everything came together, though, the less this felt like a photo about the farm itself. Milk Motion gave us this whole world to step into, Aardvark populated it with a small army of possums, and Buttercup and her new goat friend helped make it feel alive. But when I finally framed the photo, none of that was where my eyes went first.
It was her looking up at me while I had my arms around her. It’s really just us.
There’s no huge adventure happening here. We’re not standing on top of a mountain or wandering through some elaborate fantasy world. We’re standing in an old barn, dressed a little country, wrapped up in each other while a cow watches us, a goat hangs around and several possums take advantage of the fact that nobody is paying attention to them.
There’s something about how uncomplicated that feels that I really like.
That’s why Simple eventually won me over. Not every moment has to be bigger than the one before it. Sometimes the person standing beside you, a place that feels good for a while and some time together are enough. No giant plan for where the afternoon needs to go. No reason to make the moment into something it isn’t. Just the two of us having another one of those little moments together.
Which makes the song choice slightly funny when you consider how much work went into getting here.
There was absolutely nothing simple about building the farm, filling the barn, moving hay around, deciding where every animal belonged, figuring out which possum should be hanging from what and eventually getting Mackenzie and me into the middle of all of it. Apparently I am incapable of doing anything the easy way when there’s a photo involved. Then I get to the end, look at everything I spent all that time putting together, and the part that matters most is pretty simple after all.
I don’t know that Mackenzie and I are particularly convincing farmers. I haven’t seen either of us do any actual work, we’ve mostly been standing around wrapped up in each other, the possums have taken over the barn, and I’m starting to think Buttercup is judging us. I’m wearing chaps, though, so surely that counts for something.
The boots are on, the barn is standing, the animals haven’t staged a revolt, and she’s right here in my arms. Sometimes it really is that simple. Credits for everything can be found below, head on over to The Arcade asap, you’ve got 13 days left!
“We used to live on Instagram
Worry ’bout who all gives a damn
‘Bout where we’ve been and where we ended up
Then I met you and you met me
And all the rest is history; an epiphany
That all we need is us”
Florida Georgia Line – Simple
Credits:
~Scene~
Barn #16: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Old Barn ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Saddle & Horsetack #9: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Saddle ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Harvest Accessories #11: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Wooden Wheelbarrow ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Stable Kit #7: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Long Stable barrier ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Stable Kit #7: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Small stable barrier ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Stable Kit #7: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Stable door ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Stable Kit #7: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Stable hay ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Stable Kit #7: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Hay feeder ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Milk Accessories #13: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Milk can 1 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Milk Accessories #13: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Milk can 2 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Farm Accessories B #3: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Farm ladder ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Harvest Accessories #11: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – bag 1 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Harvest Accessories #11: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – bag 2 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Harvest Accessories #11: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Wooden crate 2 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Harvest Accessories #11: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Wooden crate 3 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Harvest Accessories #11: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Wooden crate 4 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Old Farm Cart #6: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Old farm cart ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Plants Rope #5: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Plants Rope ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Straw #10: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Straw bale 1 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Straw #10: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Straw bale 1 1 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Straw #10: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Straw bale 1 2 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Straw #10: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Straw bale 2 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Straw #10: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Straw bale 2 1 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Straw #10: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Straw bale 2 2 ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Farm Accessories B #3: (Milk Motion) The Old Barn – Old lamp ~ Mauri Lauridsen ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Possum (Bottom Left): 3. Aardvark : Playing Possum – Pie Bandit ~ Dash Pixels ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Possum (Bottom Right): 7. Aardvark : Playing Possum – On a Roll ~ Dash Pixels ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Possum (Hanging): 14. Aardvark : Playing Possum – Mom’s Got This RARE ~ Dash Pixels ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Possum (Top Right): 15. Aardvark : Playing Possum – Under Cover RARE ~ Dash Pixels ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Cow: LOVE – ANIMESH COW – HEREFORD – BUTTERCUP ~ Krystali Rabeni
Goat: M&M GOAT MC ~ MorganPhilips Resident
Pose: SP – Courtly Love (POSESTAND) ~ SweetDaniellee Resident
~Her~
Head: LeLutka EvoX AVALON 4.0 ~ Jaden Nova
Hair: DOUX – Fatima Hairstyle ~ Dam1710 Resident
Body: [LEGACY] [BODY] (f) (1.7.1) ~ MeshBody Resident
Skin: #4 a.b – Elodie – Porcelain ~ Shana Banana ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Makeup: #10 a.b – Elodie – Make-Up set – EVO X ~ Shana Banana ~ NEW GACHA @ The Arcade (Sept 1-Sept 30)
Collarbone Tattoo 1: [Always Never] Birds 75% ~ Dopamine Cloud
Collarbone Tattoo 2: ALBA – Romance Tattoos Bundle (8) ~ Kaiasalvat Resident
Arm Tattoos: HORL – Arm Orn 4 Tattoo [FADED 50] ~ Bree Coy
Hand Tattoos: ALBA – Lore Tattoos Bundle (5 &7) ~ Kaiasalvat Resident
Hand Tattoos: ALBA – Luck Tattoos Bundle (8) ~ Kaiasalvat Resident
Thigh Tattoo: [MI] Bowie ~ LoveeDiamond Resident
Top: .miss chelsea. Dixi Top Legacy Fall Plaid ~ Misschelseastore Resident
Shorts: .miss chelsea. Dixi Shorts Legacy Dark Blue ~ Misschelseastore Resident
Necklace: MICHAN – Lizzie Necklace ~ Meredith Evergarden
Bracelets: MICHAN – Lizzie Bracelets ~ Meredith Evergarden
Belly Button Piercing: ~~ YsoraL ~~ .:Belly Piercing Snake:. ~ Fenixdragon Rau
~Him~
Head: LeLUTKA.Head.NOA.4.0 ~ Jaden Nova
Head Applier: Stray Dog HERVE EVOX TAN (V) NO BROWS ~ Gac Akina
Hairbase: LeLUTKA.EvoX.Hairbase.044 (BOM) ~ Jaden Nova (Comes with the LeLUTKA NOA Head)
Ears: ^^Swallow^^ Gauged S Ears ~ Luciayes Magic
Beard: [MFCNT] Ducky Skunk Beard & Stache ~ LeBarbier Alpha
Beard Layer: PHYSIQUE X – Logan Facial Hair (v1) Tintable ~ PhysiqueX Resident
Body: [LEGACY] Athletic Edition (1.7.1) ~ MeshBody Resident
Skin: VELOUR: PICASSO HOMME Skin for Legacy (FIT/TAN) Picasso Neck ~ Kiria Mama
Nails: Pare.Cure Mesh Nails Both Hands [Short] – Legacy ~ Flazedo Resident
Torso Tattoo: Boscato Vigor Upper Body Tattoo MEDIUM ~ Boston Blaisdale
Shirt: THIRST – Duke Work Shirt ~ AlexanderPowell83 Resident
Pants: THIRST – Duke Jeans ~ AlexanderPowell83 Resident
Chaps: THIRST – Duke Chaps ~ AlexanderPowell83 Resident
Hat: [Deadwool] Joe hat ~ Masa Plympton
Rings/Bracelets: *RE* Atreides Bracelet & Rings ~ Crashnoww Resident
Earrings: = DAE = SXD1 ~ Naomi Darkheart
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