Daily writing prompt

What do you think gets better with age?

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Hello!
Yes, I know, I skipped yesterday’s prompt for tomorrows. Writing about one’s bed schedule felt a bit drab, so I fancied something a bit more relevant to novelry. Anyway, you will probably get to read it tomorra’.

Today’s question – What do you think gets better with age? Well, I’m not an alcoholic, so wine’s out of question. In it’s place, I might offer nostalgia, but not entirely for positive reasons. Nostalgia is kind of the result of dwindling endorphin count and dramatically inflating standards. Let’s apply this to reading – say the first fantasy novel you read is a Hungry Caterpillar meets the hobbit fanfiction (On wednesday, the caterpillar ate through three ents, but he was still hungry etc). This is your first epic: the writing seems exhilirating, the characters all memorable and the plot conventions seem fresh. That will be your new standard. Say you read Trudi Canavan or something next. The story might actually be more exciting, more surprising than the first, but you will not feel the same hype you did originally because it wasn’t your first novel and because your endorphin immunity has grown a little.

This starts a downward trend. Soon, all new fantasy books don’t quite compare to the original HCMTH experience, which is more difficult to achieve because you need a bigger high to really feel it. Eventually, everything seems crap by comparison to the “old ways” – the original source of nostalgia shines out like some golden paragon of literature. In that respect, the first book becomes better with age, even if it destroys your appreciation for the new.

You can see this sort of behaviour everywhere, especially in the gami ng community (Genwunners are a bold example) – the older the original product someone messed around with, the better it seems in the eyes of the person…even if the product itself wasn’t actually that well designed! We find unconventional ways to exalt it because it has some special status in our past – because it gave us the purest high in memory. Sounds a lot like drugs, don’t it?

Well, that was pessimistic of me. Got anything cheerier that truly gets better with age? Let me know in the comments…or tell me what you thought of my suggestion in the comments if you think it’s rather crappy. I am open to criticism.

Have a good day!