Hey everyone it’s that time again when I have stuff and things to tell you about 🙂 . Although most of this blog won’t be my words this time because someone else can say it better – we’ll get to that later – so here we go…
As always before we get into the huge new news, info, and mini features about some of our wonderful community members I need to share info you might find helpful if you’re new to my blog or FSG (Femboy Style Guide):
https://discord.gg/gGCkkU6Ccc – FSG Discord Server.
https://www.flickr.com/groups/femboystyleguide/pool/ – FSG Flickr Group.
https://www.flickr.com/groups/fsg-x/pool/ – FSG-X (NSFW Flickr Group).
https://semysays.com/2024/05/01/semy-says-saturday-slapdown-raw/ – my previous blog entry.
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Desire%20Island/30/206/1259 – Femboy Style Guide SLurl.
As always if you visit FSG look out for the handy teleport pads which are also sign posted. There might even be new additions to the spots you can visit which this mysterious Cat isn’t sharing here (OK it’s an old pic lol):
So if you missed it (I hope you didn’t) at the start of this month (June 1st) we opened our brand new exclusive members only location Sui Spa 🙂 . We had an awesome launch party with Esmi and London as DJs; folks got to explore Sui Spa and discover the stunning location Esmi had built plus anyone who joined the group has lifetime access (don’t worry you can join too if you want).
The idea for Sui was born out of wanting a Second Life spa location that feels more community driven and friendly. I know there are other SL spa locations but we felt a more LGBTQAI+ welcoming place was needed; hopefully Sui Spa will be that for you too. Anyhow rather than ramble on I’m going to share some important Sui Spa info – and pics of course – then let Esmi’s words tell you how Sui came to be because it really was/is a passion project for him.
(By the way a huge thank you to everyone who has visited and taken pics at Sui. I’ll be sharing shots below which have been submitted to our Flickr group).
https://www.flickr.com/groups/sui/pool/ – Sui Spa Flickr Group.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Desire%20Island/216/17/21 – Sui Spa SLurl.
Esmi’s thoughts about Sui Spa:
I have a lot to say about this place we’ve built. Things I need to explain and this feels like the best place to do it. So here goes..
I want to talk about three or maybe four key moments in the development and creation of Sui that really stand out to me as important. Once we had settled on a theme – a Japanese Onsen-style affair – we searched for a name and Semy found “Sui”.
But what is Sui?
“Sui is one of the five Godai the fundamental elements of the world; its simplest definition is simply “water’” but it also “represents the fluid, flowing, and the formless things in the world. Outside of the obvious example of rivers and the lake, plants are also categorized under sui, as they adapt to their environment, growing and changing according to the direction of the sun and the changing seasons. Blood and other bodily fluids are represented by sui, as are mental or emotional tendencies towards adaptation and change. Sui can be associated with thought, defensiveness, adaptability, flexibility, suppleness, and magnetism.”
(Quotation taken from: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godai_(Japanese_philosophy)) )
At the time Semy was coming to terms with their non-binary feelings so when you couple that with the general idea of our community being queer and trans this name seemed to fit a little bit too perfectly to pass on. So Sui Spa was born!
The second important moment was getting a parcel on the Burning Island sim; right beside Sheboys, Blacklist and FSG. It was very important to us that we kept that sense of community and togetherness that having a close geographic location could provide.
The third moment was about halfway through the build where I truly began to grasp the enormity of this undertaking and started to feel some pressure. It took a long time to put Sui together; with the opening date pushed back by a month or two eventually – simply because everything rested on me – and it was a lot. I had a weeks long break where I didn’t even look at the build and part of me very much wanted to ditch it altogether. Another part of me was panicking that I’d build it all and then PBR would come along and make the whole thing obsolete. I am very glad it hasn’t – so far anyway – although another part of me was panicking that we wouldn’t find enough stuff to fill the build.
Eventually I got back to it after some gentle nudging from Semy and I am glad I did.
https://gyazo.com/02827bf27ab9976bba4b24314c489b9c – Jade and Ceebee practicing blade dancing at Sui Spa -shared in the FSG Discord by Ceebee!
The fourth moment where things really came together was during the last week before the opening when I’d finally nailed the EEP and entrance experience just how I wanted. If you visit Sui and use the Shared Environment EEP (which I recommend) you will see Mount Fuji hanging over the red entrance torii. This single feature is so important to me – way beyond words – but I’ll try to explain it here.
A few years ago I was lucky enough to visit Tokyo, Kamakura and Kawaguchi in Japan over the course of a week. The entire aesthetic of Sui is taken from a couple of temples in Kamakura ( https://www.kamakura-zuisenji.or.jp/ https://www.hasedera.jp/ ). Whilst at Kawaguchi I was lucky enough to spend a day basking in the perfect view of Mount Fuji; to some people it is just a mountain but to me it’s the most beautiful, most perfect thing I have ever seen and I actually feel quite emotional just typing this now when I think about how important that day was.
Nailing the EEP; replacing the Moon texture with an image of Mt Fuji so it can watch calmly over Sui meant the world to me because I could now share how that view made me feel. The peace and happiness I experience looking back on that day; if I can just provide a visitor with the tiniest fraction of that moment – then it was all worth it.
Sui might just be pixels, prims, and poses to some people but really it contains very personal meaningful parts of me – core memories and emotions that still reduce me to tears five years after my visit – that I hope you feel to some degree when you come to Sui.
The fifth and final moment I want to talk about is the opening party. With everything leading up to that moment the pressure was real – so real – but the feedback from everyone was so positive and watching people wander around and explore what I’d built was the best feeling ever. So thank you; all of you. I am overwhelmed at the response to Sui and everyone’s comments have made the stress and pressure so worth it in the end. Sui is the best thing I have built in almost 18 years of Second Life; using every part of my knowledge and experience in landscaping and I am truly proud of it. Thank you once again for being part of it.
What’s next for Sui?
The build is mainly settled for now. It will slowly evolve here and there as new items are released and I gradually add them; replacing some older parts. I hope eventually to have many more sitting spots built into the fabric of the central pool area. I’m also going to continuously work on the EEPs with a view to one day having a full day cycle implemented and make the EEPs available to members to take away with them. We’re also hoping to get one or two more sponsor items to compliment the already wonderful shades that Chise of sacredsquare made for us – at very short notice; bless her – that we are eternally grateful for.
I am going to close this with some pics from my trip to Japan but before that I want to say thank you to Semy; for nudging me when I needed nudging, inspiring me when I needed inspiring, and for being an amazing friend and making Sui possible.
Lovely words from Esmi there. It truly means the world to me that I got to be part of such an awesome creative journey for him which resulted in a location that is so serenely stunning. We both hope you’ll visit Sui Spa soon and enjoy it as much as we do.
Handily Esmi mentioned earlier that Chise (from sacredsquare) made some awesome Sui Edition sunglasses – all members can claim a pair from the vendor next to the entrance torii – because firstly that was wonderful of Chise but secondly it’s a great way for me to move onto the other topic for this blog which is highlighting the amazing things some of our community members have been doing/creating…
Chise’s store sacredsquare sells stunning sunglasses for Second Life and she’s a long time regular at all sorts of community events and parties so I asked her to tell me about things she has been doing (plus has planned). I’ll share her words next…
“sacredsquare. Original, sleek, minimalistic style. Made with time and love.
I will be participating in the Cosmopolitan this month the 10th through the 22nd of June with an all new release:
Later this month I will have a booth with freebies again at the Blacklist Pride and of course I will be returning as a sponsor for the FSG Fashion Show later this year.
And I will be participating in the Spoonful of Sugar Event in September – with all sales going to Doctors Without Borders, an amazing organization that is of importance to me in RL as well.”
If you want to know more about sacredsquare or even go and buy a gorgeous pair of Chise’s sunglasses here are some links you might find handy:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sacredsquare/ – sacredsquare Flickr Group.
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Renzio/15/7/22 – sacredsquare SLurl.
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/133402 – sacredsquare Marketplace.
But there’s more… Geo (one of our epic FSG Thursdays DJs) recently started creating items in Second Life and has a new Marketplace store.
You can find her awesome and super varied collection of items using the following link:
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/259831 – GeoZ Marketplace.
Chise and Geo knew that I was going to feature them in this blog so I thought why not surprise someone by featuring a third wonderful community member and the things they have been doing…
If you don’t know Theo already then you totally should. They have two awesome blogs which help keep us all up to date with fashion releases – especially for flat chest variant users.
https://queerbodysl.wordpress.com/ – for V-tech, Lara X flat, Maitreya flat, and Kups Flat.
https://boybodysl.wordpress.com/ – for Anatomy Body.
You can also peek Theo on Flickr where they have just posted some Pride eyeliners: https://www.flickr.com/photos/196375662@N03/
Or check out their Marketplace store: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/78887
They’re also creating sweet custom HD digital avatar stickers so if you fancy seeing yourself in sticker form now is the time to drop Theo a message.
Seeing as I was mentioning community members I decided to share a lovely shot taken by Dal 🙂
Anyhow before we get to my final comments I’d like to share stuff that’s happening or coming soon…
I’ll be DJing on the 26th as part of one of two “Femboy Style Guide Takeover” days during Blacklist Pride week!! Hopefully you can make it to as many of the sets as possible as Blacklist Pride is one of the highlights of the year – plus all the DJs are amazing – and there will be another super unique build specially created for the week.
We’ll also be announcing the winners of the Pride Photo contest on the 27th during the party! If you haven’t entered already don’t worry; you still have time. All the rules and info are posted in the FSG discord sever:
https://discord.com/channels/964898637190672495/1108354336523817021/1246800169790476300
There’s more huge news though!! Today another wonderful neighbouring community venue opens on the Burning Desire island sim. I’ve had a quick sneak preview and the Cats and Birds Club is going to be a glamorous addition to the collection of clubs – plus Gaby’s gallery of photos is a delight by the way – so hopefully I’ll see you there for the launch later today at 12pm SLT.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Desire%20Island/87/117/3005
Semy Says…
(So I didn’t have a recent photo of me I haven’t already shared so you can all peek at Kelis instead 😛 ).
Anyway back to my final thoughts… It’s been a busy few months. I had to take a bit of a break after Sui opened just to recharge mentally (and do some gaming) but it’s great to be back in the swing of things now. There’s awesome stuff coming up over the next few weeks and once Pride month ends I’ll be sharing the date and other news about the FSG Fashion show!
Take care you bunch of beautiful people xoxox.
Semy Says... 
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