Big changes are coming to Hello Future Me. (Patreon)

The TLDR is this: I'm moving to Europe for the next 2 years—to live, more than travel. I'm absolutely going to continue working, though I'm planning to open 2024 with a massive video—which means it probably won't be out till February, as I'll need a bit of time to settle in and get to work. It also means there won't be a writing workshop in January, but I'll make up for it with an additional workshop in 2024.

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The not-TLDR is this: 2023 has been a busy year for me. I got married, went on my honeymoon, have launched 2 whole books at once (with the calendar on the way), and now I'm moving my entire life to Europe. That business hasn't necessarily been visible in the videos, but it has been there in the background. I'm not gonna lie. It's been stressful, but I couldn't have done it without all your support.

Will I still be making content in Europe?

Yes! In fact, I plan to incorporate my travels into my videos. Filming in ruins, telling more stories from history, experiment with filming locations. I was worried for a long time that moving away might drop the video quality, but I'm planning to embrace where I am and hopefully do some more creative things with the fact I'm in such a different place. Really lean into it.

Where are you going in Europe, and will there be meetups?

We are planning to do each country a few months at a time, but the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Czechia, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, and Portugal are all on the list so far in some way, and I'm sure we'll find our way to other countries too. I'd love to know where we should go in your country!

Meetups are on my to-do list, though I'm not sure how I'll do them. I'll be at May London Comicon, so if you see me there, say hi! And if you see me out in public, you're welcome to come say hello. Living in New Zealand, I'm not around a huge number of people who watch the channel, so I'm excited!

How has the channel been going?

The channel has done pretty well this year, especially given I haven't had nearly as much time as previous years. I've experimented a lot with packaging (thumbnail/titles/framing) to work with the videos. I'm planning to bring on an artist to hopefully refine our style a bit further and maybe to do some more creative visuals (like you saw in the recent Exclusion Clause) video. Over the years, I've published fewer videos but more polished, higher quality, and much longer. I still remember when I said a 2500 word video was the 'longest video I've ever made', while now I think the average is around 4500, and some videos have gone up to 30-40,000, and that's not including research.

I am only able to write videos like this because Patreon and book sales allow me the opportunity to.

This year the channel got 18.2M views, which is down the 28M views in 2020, but I'm a lot more financially stable because those views came on longer videos. Basically, longer videos = more ad revenue. Especially considering how much less time I've had, I'm pretty happy with it.

My best videos this year were definitely on the Japanese War Crimes at the start, AI art in the middle, and Studio Ghibli's Apocalypse towards the end. Both were received really well, so I'm happy to know the channel is going in the right direction.

One thing I've struggled with personally is when videos I thought would do well don't. The big shock to me was my one on musical magic systems. Magic systems have always been a very popular video, but that came through as my least popular video in a long time. I was quite taken aback. Hence why I've been experimenting with thumbnails and titles. 

YouTubers always need to evolve. If you don't, then the platform moves on. I always try something new each year. New topics, new styles, new formats. They don't always work, but it's important I try them. 

When is your book coming?

I dropped On Writing and Worldbuilding Vol III as well as A Catalogue for the End of Humanity this year, but I do have another book out with agents. That has been another thing going on in the background this year. I've been sending it out to agents, corresponding, trying to find somewhere to take this scifi book. I have had some luck! However, traditional publishing is much slower than self-publishing. I will still continue to submit and publish with magazines though, as they really boost my confidence and make me feel good about my writing.

I was just recently nominated for the Pushcart Prize for my story 'Flight of the Ten Million Moths', and 'Two Robots' was selected by Utopia's 5 year anthology. Both were a real honour and confidence boost.

I have always wanted to be an author, and this year I really pushed for that be the case. I plan to continue doing more of that and sharing those stories with all of you. 

What's next?

One thing the Unit 731 video showed me was that I could make more of those history/documentary videos. Especially as I move to Europe, immersed in a history I find fascinating, I'm hoping to produce more videos like that. I know a lot of people enjoy the balance I strike between historical commentary and fictional worldbuilding, and videos like Ghibli's Apocalypse talk about the connections between the real world and fiction. That's always been a place I thrive in, and so I'll be looking to do more of that—but perhaps with a more historical lens.

I'll also be looking to do more writing and worldbuilding content, of course. Depending on how things pan out, we might do more short stories turned video-stories like Exclusion Clause. 

While I still very much love Avatar, I'm looking to do more of that on the second channel. I want to grow a second presence where I can talk more casually about fiction, media, books, and things like Avatar lore. As the channel has evolved, my interests have evolved with it. A huge thing for me has always been 'Am I the only one who could make this?' or 'Am I doing something bigger/better/harder than those before?' I've experimented more and more with how I talk about Avatar. For example, the videos based in-world at a university, talking about Avatar lore from a historiographical perspective. I love doing those, as they seem to really add something. In terms of pure lore videos though—they feel a little lazy at times. I've done them before because I haven't had time to prepare something else. I also want my main channel to cover a variety of topics. As such, I'll be looking to move those discussions to the second channel (@TwotheFuture) in the future. But of course, I don't know how much moving to Europe will throw my life out of whack, so who knows if I'll even be able to do anything at all? 

2024 will likely start off with a massive video. It's been a bit of a tradition, I realise. The Last Airbender breakdown, Unit 731, and now this will all have been released as big returns at the start of the year. What will it be on? Possibly Rings of Power, and possibly... Attack on Titan, though not in the way I suspect you expect.

As I travel with Laura (my wife), I also do plaaaaaaan to make videos about each city we live! Not quite a vlog (well, I guess a vlog), but talking a bit about the history, the food, the life there. When we first talked about moving to Europe, I always said: I don't want to do a tiki-tour. I want to know what it's like to shop for groceries there. To navigate daily life. So that's what we'll feed into.

The Year of the Future You

2024 is the Year of the Future You. It follows on from A Catalogue for the End of Humanity, which has 12 stories (and 2 poems). Reading one each month so that we can discuss it over on the second channel. There's also going to be the calendar (which isn't out yet). But it's basically to encourage you all write, read, and think critically about your work. The discord will also be opening up to the public to create a bub for the YOTFY community. More to come about that.

How am I personally?

This year has been full of some highs and lows. I got married, which was one of the best days of my life. I finally got out A Catalogue, a book full of my published and original fiction—which has meant to a lot to me. Moving to Europe, I won't lie, is kinda terrifying for me. It'll mean saying goodbye to my friends and family, and I am very much a homebody. I like my home. I like my habits. I like being in a place I know.

I often think more about the things that'll go wrong than those that'll go right. When you're self-employed, it's simultaneously a blessing and a curse: it keeps you on your toes, proactive, but it also means you constantly feel like everything is falling apart all of the time—something I am definitely going to make a video on.

For the month leading up to the book release, I was pulling 12-16 hour days 5 days a week. I was constantly on the verge of a breakdown, trying to get everything together—but it did come together, and I'm okay now. I have some time to rest. The videos coming out for the rest of the year are already finished on my end, and I just have to upload them.

Getting my books out and being able to write a lot more has been a real blessing for my mental health.

A thank you

Despite how busy 2023 has been for me, you have all supported me—watching, subscibing, over on patreon, following on social media, sharing, and saying such kind things. I know I can't always reply to comments, but I do see them, and it always means a lot.

A special thanks to Lalit (and also Federica) who has edited my videos over this year. He is the other half of this channel in so many ways and brings a lot to the table. 

I'm excited for 2024. I'm going to Europe! I'm gonna see castles! And old things! And try amazing food! But I'm also gonna make cool stuff for you, and I'm excited to share it.

Stay nerdy, and Merry Christmas!

Tim