Pleasant Realms
Well the windows are open on the Eastern Seaboard and I'm trying to shake off a Late Winter Lull that blossomed perversely into a languid Spring Fever. Historically I've always started projects around this time, signalled by the blossoming of the rhododendrons (late May, early June), so that's what I'm doing. This one is a writing project, weekly, limited in subject. The format is email list, and the topic is PLEASANT REALMS-- by this I mean mild, non-narrative videos, of the type that thrive silently on YouTube.
I'm talking about mud hut building, kinetic sculpture, niche sports, clever fish trap, efficient street food preparation, invertabrate pet blog, bonsai diary, ASMR-adjacent, renaissance instruments, machine sounds, slow hobbies, lizard review, castle tour, Japanese woodworking, submarine highlights, trains, rust removal... There isn't really a catch-all term for this sort of thing so they're hard to search for (in a sea of garbaggio), but I love finding them and I look forward to sharing my notes. I think this kind of video is really special and underappreciated. And from a personal standpoint, I think it'll be helpful for me to limit my personal writing assignment, especially considering that I've been dormant for awhile. It's much easier when you already know what you're going to be writing about. Anyway the first one is up now, and the link is here:
You will notice that Pleasant Realms is a separate email list, separate from what you're reading right now. After much internal debate and one (1) vote of support from an external source I've decided that this is how it's going to be. I want to keep using Fujichia castle for weird stuff, rambles, announcements, dollhouse news, etc., and then have this other thing be something in a very regular format that you can easily share without backstory to a co-worker or family member who loves train videos or whatever and maybe requires a more traditional façade for their media object. But yeah, the castle will remain open and I'm thinking new posts are still going to drip out. I've also been working on a few new rooms, including but not limited to a bathroom closer to the Library, which many of you have been asking for.
Alsoooooooo wow I still feel torn about this but I've decided for maybe the first time (?) in my magnificent career to invoke a paywall for something-- right now I'm thinking a quarter of the posts will be for paid subscribers only ($5/month). This is partly a motivation thing for me, to keep me on the path of regular publishing and to stay ambitious about accumulating new readers. But also... I mean, getting some money would rock. Let the record state that this is my first digital paywall and I've been in the game since 1999! Incredible.
Paid or no, I'd love it if you guys signed on to check it out. I'm trying to make each post just about a coffee break worth of material, nothing heavy. I love a pleasant realm and I'm excited to share my notes, and hopefully people send me some of the realms they've found. In any event I think it'll be nice to focus for a little bit every week on something plain and slow and nice, something of life. If you agree then blast the link. Subscribe, comment, like the post. Respect to the original uploader. :)
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Archives of previous posts is here, in the coat room: [coatroom]
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As always, if you're bugging out or need a respite from endlessly scrolling the feed, you are welcome to hang out in the castle as long as you want. :)
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