Things I Would Like to See in 2024

 I didn’t know what to do for my final Note of the year; I considered a ‘Best of 2023’ thing, but I haven’t actually done that many new things this year? In a review sense, that is. Movies, I could take a shot at, but television shows? Eh. Video games? I don’t think I played a single one that came out this year (which doesn’t mean I won’t, just that I’m not in a rush to get to them). And books? I’ve only read a couple at the end of the year that were released in 2023–which is also why I didn’t vote in the Goodreads awards.

So I apologize that this isn’t that great of a Saturday Note. It’s what I had time to write.

Slowly working through The Atlas of Middle-Earth this weekend.

Things I Would Like to See in 2024

Alright, so the year’s wrapping up, and people have strong opinions about how different things went. Plenty of people are also coming up with what they expect to see next year, and I’m not an expert in anything so I don’t have a clue what’s coming. I want to make a list of things that I would LIKE to see in 2024, though.

There are some obvious things: an end to the wars we see, governments not acting like douchebags, and an election that doesn’t make me want to swallow a spork whole.

Here’s some other stuff, though!

More Original Fiction

I am probably the million bajillionth person to say this, but it is really annoying that so much of the media we consume is built off of remakes, reboots, and revivals of things that already exist. I get it! Picking up something that was already successful is a safe bet to make money, right? Except… as this year’s box office has shown, no, it isn’t. And part of that is because there are just so many of these blockbusters out there that of course people aren’t going to see all of them, and not all of them are going to be successful.

Anyhow.

I want to see more fiction that’s not a reboot or remake or a revival. I want to see movies and shows that are original. Or closer to it! Adaptations are fine, too! I just don’t want to find every movie to be a sequel or re-do of something from years ago. I want people to try new things! I want to see newer ideas! I want to explore worlds I’ve never seen before and hear stories of heroes I haven’t heard before.

[Also, I know plenty of books I’d like to see adapted. Hollywood, just email me.]

Less YA Author Social Media Discourse

At YALLFest, I saw a really long line around the block for Alex Aster on King Street, and it reminded me of how there was a scandal around her book, accusations about how she pandered to the algorithm of what makes it big in publishing through buzzwords on TikTok. Then there was a thing lately about an author who was using Goodreads to give low scores on other people’s upcoming books through anonymous accounts?

Look, first off, don’t be a douchebag. But second of all: the idea that people, and famous people, should always be on social media, has proven to be a disaster. Given that YA authors seem to think they need to preach and be role models to their audiences through social media has been absolutely horrible, and tends to lead to weird author cliques. 

Stop it. Stop it now. I want no more of this.

Hats

More people should wear hats. That is all.

Less Streaming Nonsense

I’m not against streaming services or their content; I am against them being douchebags. I hate how the Streaming Wars have made it so that streamers think that people sharing their accounts is the same thing as stealing, and I hate how so many of them have started just deleting their shows and movies in order to save money.

The entire point of streaming was that we could watch things whenever we wanted on our devices. Now they’re saying you can only watch on certain devices, sometimes, and maybe we’ll charge you more to get other people to use this account. This is nonsense; you don’t charge a subscription fee if I show my newspaper to one of my friends. I paid for it, it’s mine to use. And the idea that you can just delete stuff you had as exclusive to your platform? That’s just rotten, because we’re more and more going into an age when media is being destroyed because some crapmuffin thought it would save them money.

Destroying art is never a good thing. And yet companies are shamelessly doing it.

Cheaper LEGO Sets

Hey, have you noticed that as building LEGO sets as an adult has become more acceptable, it’s also meant larger and more expensive LEGO sets being released? Part of this is plain old inflation, and I remember that from my BZPower days. But it’s also really annoying? Awesome LEGO sets are supposed to be something for kids, that anyone can really, and now we’re seeing them become pricier and that’s just not cool.

Don’t we want more kids to be able to be creative with LEGO sets? Wouldn’t it be better that they were more accessible? And that they can be built by anyone? I like LEGO. I want more people to do stuff with LEGO. It shouldn’t be a luxury toy.

[Also, they should go back to original themes.]

More Dragons

I like dragons, this isn’t hard. Just put more dragons in movies and TV shows.

I don’t think this is an unreasonable request.

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