8 Comments
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K.M. Carroll's avatar

I love these thoughts. It goes way deeper than any cozy fantasy actually does. I always thought a teahouse would make more sense. But then, cozy fantasy doesn't make sense to me anyway. Taverns already exist.

Mary Catelli's avatar

Pondering the cozy fantasy essay even as we speak.

Eugine Nier's avatar

> But then, cozy fantasy doesn't make sense to me anyway.

It strikes me as wanting the excitement of fantasy without the excitement of fantasy.

Mary Catelli's avatar

Yes? And?

Paul (Drak Bibliophile) Howard's avatar

If you add coffee to your story universe, don't mix coffee with cream. That makes mud. [Crazy Grin]

Mary Catelli's avatar

Alas, you may have characters who like mud. They can be odd like that.

Tristan Trim's avatar

This is cool! It shows that the readers sense of coziness and the characters sense of coziness may be in conflict... if the goal is to fascinate readers, stretching their minds to empathize with characters who are different from themselves, then the schism may be a good thing, but if the goal is to create a cozy atmosphere for the reader, then the author either needs to do extra work to present a space that makes sense as cozy to both the characters and the readers (this is cool, but difficult). Alternatively, the author could make the world shallower, presenting a familiar location for the readers, but with fantastical elements sprinkled into it (this is more common, but kinda sucks, doesn't it?).

Mary Catelli's avatar

It isn’t very cozy, for the reader who realizes it’s just stuck together elements that don’t really fit.