Hello Future Me

I'm going home. After 2 years of living and working abroad, I'm finally going home. Undeniably transformative and wonderful; you will never convince me that humanity is not the most miraculous thing the universe has ever dreamed up, and this odyssey is testament to that—and yet this has also been one of the most difficult periods of my life for many unrelated and personal reasons. I am not someone built for travelling. I, like a hobbit, love home and routine. I need to say: thank you for coming with me on this journey. I am so fortunate to be able to do my job.

We made some incredible videos over the last 2 years. Tens of thousands of you joined the HFM community. It's my greatest privilege and joy to be able to speak about writing and fiction and history. We brought on a new artist to help bring these videos to life. We kickstarted an amazing book! We can and will do amazing things.

The bottom line is: thank you. I cannot wait to keep doing this in the future.

And yet I am ever so tired. More than I have ever been. I feel stretched thin, like too little butter scraped over too much bread, and I need to rest. I need to stop, pause, cease, halt, choose your word.

I'll be back, but I don't entirely know when.

Stay nerdy,
Tim

ps. Bilbo is right. “It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” And yet, Bilbo and Frodo both needed to go, did they not?

pps. By the time you read this, I'll be on a 15 hour flight home, the long way round.

1 week ago | [YT] | 9,299

Hello Future Me

Merry Christmas all! I'd be very bad at my job if I didn't at least remind people that I do, in fact, ✍️🔥✏️ write books! ✍️🔥✏️ Over 100,000 of you have kindly bought them so far. If you find my writing and worldbuilding videos helpful, then I've compiled those discussions into these 3 easier to read and reference textbooks—with lots of extra stuff in them! Each one is completely different. You can also get my fiction book, A Catalogue for the End of Humanity. So maybe put this on your Christmas list if this sounds up your alley!

HERE >>> linktr.ee/timhickson <<<

Stay nerdy!
Tim

1 week ago | [YT] | 1,486

Hello Future Me

This is it. The final 24 hours of the ⚔️✍️💥LABYRINTH ⚔️✍️💥 campaign. The end of all things—and your last chance to get in on the campaign before it's over. It's already a massive success; the only questioning remaining is: can we hit $200,000 and the final stretch goal with just 190 more backers? That's it. I know we can.

BACK IT HERE www.kickstarter.com/projects/wraithmarked/labyrint…

LABYRINTH is packed full of amazing stories, including my own epic fantasy, incredible art, and it's all in a stunningly beautiful piece for your shelf.

Regardless, not only is this one of Wraithmarked's most successful campaigns of all time, but you TRIPLED my expectations. I lie in bed awake, astounded at what we've accomplished. Early on, I remember nervously wondering if I would even get 1500 backers, but just in the *last 3 days* almost 1500 of you have joined. I want to do a bigger write up about this whole process, the journey that brought us here. I'm sure you have questions! From here, all sorts of things are possible.

The bottom line is thank you.

Stay nerdy!

Tim

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 819

Hello Future Me

VOTE to help me decide which artist/style I should bring on to Labyrinth next when we hit our next stretch goal (which you can help with)! Over 3000 backers on Kickstarter already, and next up: 🔥✨✍️🐉 a custom Labyrinth bookmark 🔥✨✍️🐉ONLY 5 DAYS LEFT. Back Labyrinth HERE before it's over www.kickstarter.com/projects/wraithmarked/labyrint… Stay nerdy!

~ Tim

ps. I can't guarantee a certain artist (legal/negotiations/scheduling etc), but your votes help me decide who you vibe with!

pps. if there's an artist I definitely need to check out, let me know down below. I'm always looking for new artists to work with.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 488

Hello Future Me

How BEAUTIFUL is this art? 🔥🔥🔥This is by Aria Fawn, my favourite artist, who is now creating original art for my new book, LABYRINTH, all thanks to YOU hitting our stretch goals. LABYRINTH is already a massive success with 🎉🎉over 3000 backers 🎉🎉 on Kickstarter, but if you want your own copy, there are 💥💥 ONLY 6 DAYS REMAINING 💥💥Plus, with your help we can hit more stretch goals for more stories, a custom bookmark, more art! www.kickstarter.com/projects/wraithmarked/labyrint…

Aria has this wonderful, ethereal, otherworldly creature art AND will be breaking down their process so you can see how beautiful works like this are made. Seriously, go check their work out. I've been supporting them on patreon for years, so it's a real privilege to be able to work with this an artist like this. I remember when I first came across it. It was the sort of thing I looked at once and immediately thought, 'wow, I've never seen any art which makes me feel quite like this'. It's somewhere between uncomfortable and utterly enchanted. A world where humans are of little importance—and perhaps we already are.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 2,906

Hello Future Me

my face upon seeing we have already hit 2900+ backers on the LABYRINTH kickstarter

thank you <3 I owe all of you so, so much—and I'm never quite sure how to say that.

can we get to 3000? back here www.kickstarter.com/projects/wraithmarked/labyrint…

1 month ago | [YT] | 887

Hello Future Me

💥💥💥 2000+ backers on my new book's kickstarter in UNDER A WEEK💥💥💥Way faster and way more people than expected! Can we do 3000? I know we can. It's ambitious, but it's not hubris if we're actually that good—and we are. Join HERE www.kickstarter.com/projects/wraithmarked/labyrint…

ps. This photo is actually of perhaps the best fast food I have ever had. It's from Dublin, a spice-bag: a mix of spiced fries, fried chicken, pork, and a few vegetables, all perfectly crisp and wonderfully seasoned. I was utterly blown away and am heartbroken I will never get to have that spice bag again.

1 month ago | [YT] | 1,078

Hello Future Me

Farewell America. Someone asked me a while back what the "most American thing I've done" is. What is America? What is American? I had apple cider doughnuts in Vermont; I drove the endless wilderness of the Pacific Northwest for days; I experienced the turning of the seasons, a real American Halloween and Fall, in New England; I've lived in rural Washington and Brooklyn NYC; I went to Trader Joe's and bought way too many snacks which were surprisingly good; I ate too much pizza; I had to purchase exorbitantly high insurance; I bought a poem from a busking poet in NYC; I went to medieval times and renaissance fairs - perhaps the most American thing: garish and blunt and over the top but completely earnest and involving and liberating.

I was in a supermarket in rural Oregon speaking to a man a month back. I said I was happy to be here, in the "Land of the Free", somewhat jokingly. He said, "Well, it sure as hell used to be." What "America" means has come under strain over the last decade. Who is "American" even more so.

America has a culture of publicly signalling allegiance and causes. American flags, pride flags, local election posters, union membership, state flags. It is... foreign to me. Perhaps that is the most American thing: to wear onself on one's bumper stickers.

I saw thousands of protesters marching of all ages and creed demanding an end to blatant corruption and abuse of power. I saw people fighting for a better tomorrow - often harder than I see in my own country. Perhaps that is the most American thing.

In New York, we took the Staten Island Ferry. The Statue of Liberty, which once represented those now fading values, was smaller than I expected. The image in my head was warped by film and TV, and perhaps there is something symbolic in that.

America is many things, maybe every thing. It has room for all things, good and bad. It is deeply human, warts and all, and it is not afraid to wear its humanity on its sleeve.

America is a crossroads at which at all paths meet and all paths diverge. I am not sure I will ever know it fully, but I am lucky to know the part I do.

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1 month ago | [YT] | 5,718

Hello Future Me

You hit our funding goal in just 🔥🎆⚔️ 39 MINUTES! 🔥🎆⚔️THANK YOU. $44,000 in a single day. But there is more work to do. We want LABYRINTH to be a place you can submit YOUR stories, your writing one day, paid at professional rates, and to do that—we need to go for stretch goals. Back it HERE www.kickstarter.com/projects/wraithmarked/labyrint… limited time! Let's go for 50K!

Stay nerdy!
~ Tim

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,667

Hello Future Me

Imagine a world where art is magic, where magic comes from a gargantuan jellyfish in the skies—and a painter leads a revolution. This is the world of my epic fantasy story—coming in ✨⚔️🪼 LABYRINTH VOLUME ZERO ✨⚔️🪼Join the other 1500 people who have signed up! >>> www.kickstarter.com/projects/wraithmarked/labyrint… <<< Get us to 2000!

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 947