#this conversation cheered me up

[shanlonwrites]

I recently read a cozy fantasy, and I enjoyed it, but I was always struck with the poor technique. Characters outright state everything. We are reminded every five seconds of the traits of the characters instead of allowing the characters to demonstrate those traits. It felt like the author didn't trust the reader. It felt...well, a lot like mediocre fanfiction. One of the points above: it felt like we were both expected to already know and relate to the characters, while also being beat over the head with telling.

I still enjoyed the book! There were big external stakes in this one, but the prose took time to be slow and gentle in more personal areas, and I enjoyed that. I liked the balance. It was poorly constructed, poorly executed, but I could see the diamond in the rough (and technique improved through the course of the book). There was also some tension, even if I knew everything had to turn out okay in the end because of the genre. But that was part of the comfort of reading it: the world is incredibly distressing right now, so I want to know everything will turn out just fine even if there are exciting bumps in the road on the way.

So I think I can see where cozy horror would fit!

That feeling of safety is, I think, very important in cozy genres. It's why cozy whodunits took off after WWII: the victim is never very well defined for the audience, and the events play out with low stakes, relying on the combination of mystery, and exploration of tension between the characters, to drive interest. But we know that, in the end, Miss Marple, or Poirot, or Nancy Drew, will succeed. They have to. That's the safety of the genre. And that can make cozy horror difficult, but I don't think impossible!

Horror often comes with high stakes, but the very best horror is more about tension. If it's all-stakes-low-tension, that's an action plot! So to me, a cozy horror would focus more on the psychological, less on life-or-death, and will have an ending that feels safe: if characters die, they aren't the ones we've come to feel attached to, and we can rest easy knowing that.

One source of possible cozy horror is the collaborative SCP Foundation project! There are so many different stories, only a few would fit "cozy horror", but I do think SCP-3004 might fit the bill. We know from the very beginning of the file that this is no longer a threat, it is neutralized, but the stories contained in the attached files are chilling and fascinating. There's a distressing question at the heart of the story, which the best horror often has, and no clear answer to that, though we can still feel safe even while exploring the horror contained.

I also have to wonder: Does House of Leaves fit into cozy horror?

Or maybe I'm too much of a horror fan to the point I find found footage genre to be...kind of cozy by nature. I don't know! But it's really interesting! :)

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?

[soul-of-cinduh]

Chat, I'm locked in... dear God...

You can snog me AND my pogwall anytime ;))))

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

if you’ve recently sent me an ask/dm/commented on my fic and i haven’t sent you a reply yet, i promise i’m not ignoring you! i’m just going through a difficult time at the moment and have very minimal mental energy, so everything is taking me a little longer than usual. please know how much i cherish hearing from you and being part of this space, and how much i can’t wait to get back to normal 🫶

[lightbulb-warning]

fucks me up that conversations are treated like something spontaneous and easy to do?? you gotta say so many words?? in order????? CONTEXTUALLY??? and they also need to have cohesive meaning???? and then they say a bunch of words back to you?????? and those have meaning?????????? and then it keeps going????????????????????????

and you're telling me "overthinking it to the point of paralysis" is the statistically unlikely thingy????? no way.

[bitchliteraria1906]

Kel is the friend you call for a pick me up. Going out together, taking your mind off of things. Maybe practical advice.

Basil is the friend you call for crying sessions and some hours of comfortable silence in bed until you feel better.

The only thing they have in common when it comes to how they comfort someone is that both of them will do it even when they're exhausted, upset and stressed. Even when they're the ones who should be asking for help.

[sieglinde-freud]

IM PULLING MY HAIR OUT OF MY SCALP

[wildstar25]

What physical part(s) of Arsay does her partners find the most attractive! Is it the same for all partners or does it differ between them?

(also optional bonus ask of what part(s) of/about Arsay generally do they love the most, physical or not!)

Meanwhile, if you were to ask the same of Arsay:

[emilyskinners]

jackie: there are some people i have to talk to. you, go ahead and mingle.

shauna: mingle?

jackie: you know, have an interaction that's not agenda driven. a conversation instead of an interrogation.

shauna: why?

jackie: you need some practice on your small talk.

shauna: i know how to make small talk.

jackie: sometimes you're confrontational.

shauna: am not.

jackie: like right now.

shauna: i am not.

[immortalsins]

the end of exams has been the biggest goal for me to get to for a couple of months but now it's here i'm realising everything is still awful even if i don't have to study for hours on end

[cosmicrhetoric]

swagless "dont kill your assaulter youre better than that" narratives vs. cbs elementary taking two full episodes to say "well killing your rapist is always morally correct and you have the means so if that's what you want then do it. but you also can leave it to the system and thats your choice and no matter what happens we support you" and the girl in question is like ok and pours acid on the guy's head

[a-mysteriouys-batsrard]

thinking about the fact that on st patricks day one of the ppl i was drinking with (who is Irish American diaspora) raised his glass and said "fuck the ira" as a cheers and I still don't know what possessed him to bring that up out of nowhere cause we literally were not talking about it even a little

[shayberri789]

I'm a little hurt by some of my irl friends and have two courses of actions, but which will both have similar outcomes

Basically, I have three creative irl friends. Every time they share their writings with me (be it fics, poems, stories or creative non fic), I ALWAYS read it as soon as I'm able and give feedback + healthy amount of gushing.

But whenever I write something I am proud of and I share it with them, none of them acknowledge it. Its like they don't see the link you know. And its fine because I just say "I wrote a thing" and give a link. I'm explicitly asking for feedback or validation. I can't be upset because they're not mind readers

But sometimes I explicitly DO ask them "hey did you see what I wrote?" "Hey, what do you think of this?" And i get half assed responses at best. "Oh its good" "uh ill read it when I get home *never hears about it again*". And that's a little more frustrating.

Earlier today I needed to put together a portfolio, and asked my two best friends to please read through it, because it was important and I needed their input on (1) thing, and I needed it *before the end of the day*. It was three pages of easy reading. Its not like I was asking for concrit or editing or something time consuming.

One of them skimmed it and gave me feedback. The other one is adhd and forgot. Said she'd read it later when I reminded her. When I reminded her again, she said she forgot and had made plans, can she do it in the morning?

And normally I'd say that's fine! Because I don't expect immediacy from my friends online, esp for favours. But I had a deadline, and this was the third time this particular friend has done this. There's only so many times I want to poke someone to read my shit before I start feeling like I'm bragging/attention seeker/being entitled and demanding. So I just went and asked someone else.

I know I'm valid to feel hurt about this, and frustrated. I also know that my friends don't mean to make me feel like this, or forget. I know they want to support me. But I'm also tired of getting burned so I'm just going to fucking stop trying to share my writing with them because instead of validation I'm getting pain.

My two options are either a) telling my friends that actually their silence and forgetfulness hurt me or b) just lettint it go

Either way, I'm not reaching out again. B) seems like the option less likely to hurt my friends/make them feel bad, so I'm leaning to that. If the roles were reversed, I'd rather option A), because when people tell me these things I do genuinely try to do better in the future, and I know my friends would feel the same. But I've also lost faith in their ability to do so in this area. Idk what I should do

[nicnacsnonsense]

God I can’t believe we’re still dragging out the Clark and Lana ship. And I still have another full season of this to go plus the little arc in s8. I am so tired of this “Clark&Lana foreva!!!! they are meant for each other 🫶” nonsense, as though Lois hasn’t been running around for 3 season now.

What they should have done is have Lana break up with Clark in both versions of the “Reckoning” timeline, the first time around because she has PTSD from the black ship Kryptonians and finding out Clark is also an alien, the same kind even, is something she needs time to process and she wants them to take a break. And then obviously in the do over timeline she breaks up with him because she can’t handle the constant secrecy (plus honestly it would be pretty of shitty of Clark to continue to date her once he knows for a fact she wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with him if she knew the truth).

This, her breaking up with him regardless of whether he tells her his secret or not, should have been the wake up call he needed that maybe the girl he had a crush on in high school isn’t his one true love. And after that the Clana ship should have been dead. They can still care about each other and we can even have a few moments of implied lingering feelings, but the idea of them actually having a romantic relationship should be completely off the table.

[vixvaporub]

Last night just felt rewarding at work

[badnew2005]

i love wins the big game soooo much i don’t care. i don’t even care about sports. i just like community and hope and faith. it’s a cute episode !

[mieczyhale]

knowing my dad is transphobic and witnessing it are somehow two different experiences every time and they both are fucking shit