#it's like watching a comfort show

[kabretoss]

As someone who does actually enjoy cozy fantasy, I do want to pitch in a little bit here.

You're right. 100%. Tension is the key to making a narrative that incites feelings in the reader! This is a great little class on how to make tension in low-stakes situations!

But look: I'm also exhausted and burnt out and and running on fumes sometimes, and when I'm like that, then you know what? I actually really do want to pick up a book like Legends and Lattes that will take me through a gentle little journey wherein all anybody has to worry about is some heartbreak or a new business venture failing. It might be only 5% of my reading diet overall, but fuck it: sometimes when it's the thing, it's exactly the thing.

Cozy Fantasy and Why It Doesn't Work

I think I am among many who feel like they should love cozy fantasy and have found it an incredibly lacking genre.

This newly branded "cozy fantasy" genre that has taken readers by storm since 2020 and while it is new that books are now marketed as cozy, the genre itself isn't new. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a great example of the genre before it was labeled and also how to make it work.

Cozy fantasy is defined by many as fantasy with low stakes. Fantasy aesthetic but less sword fights. On paper, it sounds great. But the execution has been less than stellar for readers like me. The lack of physical stakes has also impacted the emotional stakes of these books, creating forgettable characters with boring problems. As a romance reader, I find this frustrating. Romance is known for being a predictable and formulaic genre, the now defunct Romance Writers of America defined romances as needing happy endings, a term romances have continued to follow. Yet these romance texts manage to have low physical stakes (how to date your neighbor, how to confront your toxic friends, etc) while still maintaining high personal stakes that keep readers invested and begging for more. So I was initially confused why cozy fantasy authors struggle to write texts that connect to readers like me.

I think I have found the answer which is the genre is just here for vibes. It is all about aesthetic, not even worldbuilding that fantasy is known for as most cozy fantasy I read have so many problems as soon as you ask one question. It is hard to acknowledge that a genre that is pitched to work for readers like me doesn't work for many of us. Especially because occasionally there is one that works beautifully to my taste.

I often say my favorite cozy fantasies that are more contemporary are short and visual, which I plays into the idea of the genre being an aesthetic. The Bakery Dragon by Devin Elle Kurtz is a good example because it is a simple story that is given the perfect amount of pages and gorgeous visuals without dragging on when the message is very clear and easy to understand. Books like The Phoenix Keeper and Legends and Lattes have absolutely nothing for me, their very clear message hitting the reader over and over so the readers don't miss it and focusing on the aesthetic of worldbuilding rather than the reality of the fantastic elements within the world.

I guess my point is. . . I realize this genre isn't for me since I have realized it is more of an aesthetic than anything. .. .but I want it to be. Should I let it go and put my efforts elsewhere? Or should I keep exploring this new trend and find the hidden gems?

[hinamie]

"I'll show you every day that choosing to live was worth it"

some of my favourite scenes from @hijinks-n-lowjinks' fic things i would miss from the other side . this fic tore my heart out fr but like in a good way and i wanted to pay it homage the only way i know how <3

[ruporas]

captain's warm hugs! (id in alt)

[gunsatthaphan]

how it started 😈 // how it ended 💜

[divine-draws]

Simon and Sammy are sick... Johnny absolutely had to wrangle them both into sitting down and is now stressing over kids cold meds lol

[casualavocados]

Chen Bowen as CHEN YI & Chiang Tien as AI DI KISEKI: DEAR TO ME (2023) behind the scenes

[raiiny-bay]

Love, Dhes

Parker,

It's unfair how time with you feels so short. How the last 10 years have felt like no time at all. I like to think there are other versions of us out there, somewhere. Maybe in another timeline, another universe. I like to think we find each other no matter where we are or what we're doing. That we're together and happy and I get to love you in a dozen different lifetimes. That's what I hope, anyway. And I hope when this lifetime ends, we get to start over and do it all again. Because once just isn't enough. Not for me. Not with you.

I hope the next 10 years pass slower.

Love, Dhes

[reikurusu]

Buddy Daddies - Episode 8 Nothing Seek, Nothing Find, Spy x Family - Episode 24 The Role of a Mother and Wife

[creatureesque]

I just love doodling their faces in what little free time i have now. thats it..

[yurayuray]

breaking news: local office worker heartbroken after being rejected by stray cat

[stealingyourbones]

Quick question, has anyone written a fic about Youngblood getting sad and emotional about Danny turning 18 where he’ll never see him again? If not I truly think that would be a wonderful little storyline to explore

[cartoonwishes]

I'M NOT OKAY

[leche-flandom]

Listen, there's "healthy" love and then there's Logan Echolls making eye contact with the police as he beat the shit out of their car for the sole purpose of getting arrested and put into the same jail cell of the guys who hurt his lady

[benevolenterrancy]

@doctorbluesmanreturns so true, so true!

The Big Bad Wolf and his commitment to self-improvement!

book titles all courtesy of @meso-mijali who is funnier than me:

Mirror Mirror: 10 Steps to the Fairest You 7 Dwarves' 7 Steps to Romance, by Doc Red Riding Hood and You: Finding Your Inner Child and Learning to Trust Again Into the Woods: CPTSD and the Self Gnolls, Trolls & Wolves: It's what's inside that matters

(+ "Meyers Briggs: we aren't astrology for STEM, honest!" which didn't quite make it in, but assume it's one of the untitled books u.u)

[mellifera38]

I understand why Watcher wants to try and pull a Dropout TV, I do, advertisers suck etc, but if you want $6 a month from me to watch a glorified youtube channel, I'm gonna need Ryan and Shane to start a weekly DnD game like that's the only thing that could convince me to get yet another fucking subscription service in my rotation lol.

[natjennie]

julian describing himself as a "former politician, brackets, disgraced" is maybe the funniest line of the show