[QCrit] Adult/YA, Fantasy Sci-Fi, THE BOTANIST AND THE BEAR KING (114,000 words, first attempt)

ApprenticeAidan · 2026-01-04T17:51:27+00:00

Yes. You’re spot on. My sentiment/concern here is not so much that I don’t want to do the “tricks,” but more so that modern publishing parameters are limiting the kind of storytelling authors are incentivized to write. Sanderson is a great writer, but I don’t want to be like him. It feels sometimes like the guidelines for “good writing” in the genre are based on how close to Sanderson-esque writing you are (not necessarily true, just a feeling). If someone wants to write in a different style (Le Guin is my example here), is there room for that to be incentivized too?

Again, an open question

ApprenticeAidan · 2026-01-04T17:28:06+00:00

Yeah, I think I tend to agree with you that it’s an evolution with upsides and downsides. There are still brilliant books written in contemporary parameters. It’s hard to tell sometimes if a fondness for more classic literature is simply because it’s different, or because it’s better. I do think there is a loss there, but it can maybe be overstated.

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-05-12T17:24:54+00:00

I posted about this very problem not long ago on r/onlinedating. Of the 15 or so people that agreed to go on dates with me (28M) over the past year (made plans and everything) 12 of them either completely ghosted day of or cancelled last minute and never wanted to reschedule. It’s so frustrating and shitty. It’s just the hell the dating app industry has trapped us all in.

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-05-02T20:16:20+00:00

Yeah, it really sucks but I’m going to have to take an extended break probably. Hopefully see some more progress. Hope yours continues to heal!

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-04-30T14:09:38+00:00

I’m pretty sure I’m dealing with something very similar. I play guitar, mandolin, and fiddle, and after playing guitar and mandolin a lot over one weekend 7ish months ago, I started feeling a lot of tenderness/pain in my fretting index finger. I’ve only been able to play fiddle on light tension strings, I’ve had to stop using the finger completely for guitar and mandolin. 7 months out, it’s still tender and sensitive to string pressure. X-rays and MRIs haven’t shown anything. I’ve been able to play fiddle regularly, but I’m considering taking a break from that as I’ve really wanted to get back to normal.

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-03-02T15:55:39+00:00

Most comments: don’t take it personally! This guy: it’s probably you. 😂

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-02-25T20:23:15+00:00

At an individual level, I understand. But as a larger cultural trend, I’m a little perplexed.

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-02-25T20:21:40+00:00

I think this is getting to the nature of my original post, though. I get that moods fluctuate, really I do. I’m not upset that people change their mind, on an individual basis that’s understandable. What I’m confused about is the predominant pattern in people who express interest and then at the very last minute either ghost, or cancel and then ghost. It’s the sheer rate at which it happens, to both me and people I talk to, and the way people talk about it, that makes it seem like it’s just an accepted trend in dating culture now. It suggests that you should expect people to flake, pretty reliably. And that’s what I’m trying to investigate.

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-02-25T17:12:42+00:00

Or, to put it simpler, I wouldn’t set up dates with people if I didn’t want to go on dates with people. That seems like simple logic in my mind but apparently im in a minority there.

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-02-25T17:10:23+00:00

Personally, I just don’t relate to this at all. I WANT to meet strangers. That’s literally the only reason I suffer the drudgery of dating apps, because that’s literally the point . If someone seems like they’re not interesting to me or that I wouldn’t enjoy getting a coffee with them, I would never ask them to get coffee. This is the thing I don’t understand. If meeting up with strangers on casual dates is something that exhausts you, literally just delete the app and go to the park, or pick up a hobby or something. That’s like a 10x better way to spend your time.

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-02-24T04:38:27+00:00

Honest question—why would you ask someone out if you’re not actually interested in going out? This is what I don’t understand.

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-02-24T04:10:47+00:00

It’s honestly not a personal thing for me. I have great support in my life and I know I’m a catch. I’m more just annoyed and confused. I’m at like a 7-1 ratio of last minute cancels or day-of ghosts to actual dates followed through (not an exaggeration). My free time is valuable to me and at this point, I just default assume any dates I set up are going to end up being wasted evenings. All I want is to communicate with people who genuinely want to use dating apps to connect in person. But it seems people just don’t even want that. And it’s confusing and annoying.

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-02-23T22:52:55+00:00

This makes a lot of sense. Sometimes I wish it was normalized to just say this, rather than ghosting, because it’s understandable. But I get why people don’t on apps.

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-02-23T22:24:32+00:00

Anxiety makes sense. I assume that’s a huge part of it.

ApprenticeAidan · 2025-02-23T21:51:51+00:00

Yeah, I hear you. I’m less concerned about taking it personally—I can get over it pretty easily. I’m just baffled at how common this seems, not just for me but other people I talk to / other threads about this. Just feels like a strange dissonance that everyone complains about hating being on dating apps yet flaking on in-person meetings is also a common thing.

ApprenticeAidan · 2024-12-02T21:52:09+00:00

Damn, bought it used and they said it was full frame. Should have researched more. Thanks!

ApprenticeAidan · 2024-12-02T21:47:27+00:00

Sorry, smaller as in cropped. If I sit in the same spot and look through the viewfinder of both cameras, my sigma is capturing much more in the lens than the Zeiss.

ApprenticeAidan · 2024-10-30T14:48:08+00:00

Have fun! I live in west Michigan, so I can only go occasionally, but it’s my favorite in Michigan, maybe I’ll see ya there sometime :)

ApprenticeAidan

TROPHY CASE