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alpaca-clouds · 10 months

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Iyashikei - The Art of Healing through Stories

Having talked about possible conflicts for Solarpunk novels (and other Solarpunk fiction media) over the last three days, let me now talk about something kind of adjacant. Let me talk about the elephant in the room: Why do stories need conflict?

See, Western Storytelling centers around conflict and always has. And due to the influence of Western colonial societies on the rest of the world, modern media for the most part does in fact feature some sort of conflict no matter where on the world we are. One might argue, that our brains have gotten so used to it, that we might consider any story without it as inherently boring.

This is why I find the Japanese genre of Iyashikei so wonderfully refreshing. Now, let me be clear: This genre is "relatively" new, originating in the 1970s when Japanese society after a large earthquake started to yearn for peaceful stories. The genre name literally translates into "healing type".

But is that not also one thing, that we are trying to do through Solarpunk? Helping people heal from climate depression and all the general trauma related through living in a world of capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy?

Iyashikei stories tend to not feature any sort of larger story or conflict. The genre often gets called "cute girls doing cute things", because especially in anime that is, how it often ends: Just the most slice of life you can imagine. People just making music. People just going shopping. People just going camping. No larger goal. Just hanging out.

In fact two of the older anime/manga, that often also get considered to be Solarpunk, are of this genre: ARIA and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. The first one featuring girls in a city like venezia just taking people around in gondolas. The later features a robot girl just going about her day in a cozy apocalypse.

And I know that it is the instinct to say: "How boring!" But... Well, a lot of the "Cute Girls doing Cute Things" have actually large fandoms behind them. Even in the west. So there clearly is an audience for this.

So... Why not embrace it? Why not tell Solarpunk Iyashikei stories? About people going about their day in a Solarpunk world.

#solarpunk #solarpunk fiction #lunarpunk #iyashikei #hopeful #hopepunk #cozy fiction #fiction writing #anime #manga

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beautifulbookishdisaster · 1 year

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Such a quintessentially Human thing, to express sorrow through apology.

Becky Chambers, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

#page 225 #Becky Chambers #The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet #Wayfarers #Wayfarers Series #Cozy fiction #cozy scifi #scifi #found family #grief #sorrow #loss #book quotes #book quotations #grief quotes

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lou-wilham · 5 days

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You should get caught up on Witches of Moondale because of reasons. . . these are some of those reasons 👀 👀 👀

What's a little necromancy between family?

For the Crow Witch, Icarus "Rus" Ashthorne, Moondale seemed the perfect hiding place. But like they always say, you can't go home again, and Rus finds out quickly that nothing is how she remembered, while at the same time very little has changed. Then she comes face to face with the only woman she's ever loved, Az Elwood, and... well, things get messier than she thought they ever could.

The Elwoods are a staple of Moondale, respected, feared, powerful, and Azure Elwood was always happy with her place amongst them. Happy to play the part of the good little witch, until Rus Ashthorne. Eleven years ago, Rus got on a bus and left Azure behind, but she's back, with two little girls trailing her like ducklings, and enough unspoken things between them to drown the town.

Now witch hunters are knocking at their proverbial door, the council of magic is being a real pain in the ass, and Rus wonders how much magic it'll take to protect the people she loves from herself and the danger following her.

A LGBTQ+ cozy urban fantasy novel for fans of The Ex Hex, and October Daye.

GoodReads | Purchase Link

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wikifuck · 3 months

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Puppylove - Chapter 1 (on Wattpad)

A vampire arrives in a small town in Kentucky USA and gets swept up in the small town drama. He befriends a human teenage girl and partly due to this, the local werewolf family sends their eldest son to monitor him. The son is hella cute though, and fun to be around... Bonus: A fairytale-style short story of a dog and a cook who cooks for the dog.

A cozy romance novella

This is a 1st draft and so subject to minor changes, though that shouldn’t affect your enjoyment.

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sparkling-ariaria · 5 months

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Winter spirit & dazzling lights (BTS, HP & Stranger Things fic rec)

Stories for that excited and soft feeling you get by looking at the bright lights, snuggling up in a cozy blanket and all the memories that come with it~

*Complete fem or non-specific reader insert fics* Updated: 05.01.2024

HARRY POTTER

She's so sweet by magicchai - Harry x gf!Reader Harry returns to the Gryffindor common room to see y/n has gotten everyone to help decorate the living space.

You're my secret santa? by perpetuallydaydreaming - Remus x gf!Reader You give Remus a gift he thought he’ll never have.

Meant to be by proserpina-magnus - Regulus x gf!Reader Regulus and Y/N jumping into the black lake while it's snowing.

Baking gone wrong by justmyheart - Sirius x gf!Reader

Blue Christmas by findmeinasunshower - Sirius x gf!Reader Sirius comes to spend Christmas with you and your family, but you notice the Holiday blues hanging over him.

Snow by roxetteblack - Sirius x gf!Reader Sirius decided to take you on a small weekend getaway in a cabin during winter.

Winter Blurb: Picking a Christmas Tree by of-many-fandomss - James x gf!Reader

Winter Blurb: Gingerbread Houses by of-many-fandomss - Sirius x gf!Reader

BTS

Dreaming of a Christmas with you by myplaceforstories - Taehyung x Reader Just a quick Christmas romance inspired by Tae’s recent Pride and Prejudice photos and the It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas vid.

Daisy by run2yoongi - Yoongi x vet!Reader A late, winter night at the vet clinic brings you closer to your regular client, a cat-loving Min Yoongi and his feline companion, Daisy. When he was unable to stand seeing another stray cat spend the holidays on the cold streets, he agrees to take her in. You didn't anticipate that helping the new cat-dad would help you feel a little less alone these holidays, too.

My Home by purpleyoon - dragon!Yoongi x human healer!Reader It was close to winter, and your medicine was nearly complete for you to use. But when it came to, you helped another whose wounds were life threatening. Now, random items kept showing up on your porch, with each item bringing you closer to the creature you healed.

November by alpacaparkaseok - A small drabble about Namjoon embodying the month November.

December by alpacaparkaseok - A small drabble about Seokjin embodying the month December.

January by alpacaparkaseok - A small drabble about Yoongi embodying the month January.

STRANGER THINGS

Season of giving by rosygaze - Eddie x gf!Reader Exchanging gifts with him.

“Something you wanted.” by rainylana - Eddie x gf!Reader You show up to Eddie and Wayne’s with gifts.

Blurbcember prompt by lovebugism - Steve x shy!Reader Steve finds out the cute girl at the record store likes him and decides to bring her ice cream as a proclamation of love.

Kiss me underneath the mistletoe by eddiesxangel - mechanic!Eddie x Reader Eddie and you share your first kiss.

Under the mistletoe by eiightysixbaby - modern!Eddie x Reader A holiday party, a sweet gift exchange, and an even sweeter kiss.

Sweet dreams of holly and ribbon by forevermoreharrington - Steve x gf!Reader Steve gets his sweet girl an early Christmas gift and she’s dizzy over it.

Maybe this christmas time by headkiss - Steve x sunshine!Reader Working as an elf during the holidays (which he isn’t a fan of) is not how Steve would choose to spend his time, neither is doing a bucket list of your creation. You end up changing his mind.

Merry & Meddling by munson-blurbs - Eddie x shy!Reader Max and Lucas are tired of their friends silently pining over each other but never making a move, so when the Winter Formal rolls around, they take matters into their own hands.

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lyndonriggall · 11 months

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Tea and Coffee on a Winter’s Night: Psalm for the Wild Built, Legends and Lattes and the Welcome Rise of Cosy Fiction

Narrative structures in fiction have traditionally been fairly straightforward: give your audience stakes, the higher the better. If the entire world (or even universe) isn’t in peril, you’re probably not trying hard enough.

That said, as we reach the winter months here in Australia, like a lot of people I have begun to wonder if there isn’t demand for worlds in which the intensity level is set a little lower. During the lockdowns of Covid I sought solace from my fears in the world of the Nintendo videogame Animal Crossing, in which players are thrust into a new life on an idyllic tropical island, making friends with the creatures that live there and gradually improving the infrastructure of the town around them. Those who ask how to “win” the game have to be content with a non-committal shrug: Animal Crossing offers things to do and achieve, certainly, but the concept of ultimate victory is at odds with its essential nature. It is a safe place—all of the pressure of outcome washing away on a gentle tide. Similarly, for years the concept of “escapism” in literature has been a term of derision: a label that implies that both reader and writer are sharing a delusion in order to hide from their own realities. It is intriguing, then, that the genres of science fiction and fantasy—most commonly attacked with this charge—have embraced a recent turn towards an intensified version of this feeling. In “cosy” fiction, the danger is dramatically lowered, the tone is introspective and internally transformative, rather than externally so, and there is a focus on comfort: heart, hearth, armchair and hot beverage.

Cosy novels are cottagecore. They are the kinds of books you might read upon waking from a nightmare, the literary equivalent of a hot drink by the fire on a cold night.

I would love to introduce two of my favourites to you.

A Cup of Tea:

Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Becky Chambers’ glorious science fiction story (winner of the Hugo Award for Best novella) is the story of Dex, a non-binary tea monk who travels from town to town, composing bespoke blends and listening to the problems of the citizens that live in the places they visit. Dex always feels that something is missing, and one day they decide to brave the forbidden wilderness surrounding the urban areas. The wild is home to the world’s robots, who generations ago gained sentience and requested release from human society. One of them, Mosscap, finds and greets Dex. Together they continue their exploration and shared mission of helping soothe the ills of the troubled while finding purpose in their own lives.

Chamber’s book can be read in only a couple of hours, but its effect is longer-lasting. It is a tale that reminds us that acts of kindness may seem small, but their impact has echoes. Tea is the perfect symbol and metaphor for Psalm for the Wild-Built, a novella that is by turns soothing, meditative, and which never fails to warm some small forgotten corner of the human soul.

A Cup of Coffee: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Travis Baldree’s offering to the genre of cosy fiction takes readers to a very different landscape: the fantasy city of Thune. Here we meet Viv, an orc swordswoman and mercenary who has become weary of a life of violence and is captivated by an obsessive new vision: the possibility of starting a coffee shop. Her first hurdle, of course, is that no-one even knows what coffee is, but that is the least of her problems… her old life insists on trying to find a way to squeeze back in and drag her back to battle.

Like coffee, Legends and Lattes is similarly thawing but with a little more intensity of energy and a slightly sharper edge. Baldree creates a sense of community that is perhaps the book’s greatest asset, and both Viv and the reader form deep and enthusiastic connections with the novel’s diverse cast of characters: the hob Cal, the succubus Tandri, Thimble the baker, Pendry the bard and Amity the dire-cat. Watching Viv’s coffee-house gradually develop its menu, popularity and personality is a joy to behold. Quite simply, it allows for the reader to inhabit the part of living in a fantasy world that is lost to so many distant quests for forgotten treasures: community. If in most fantasy novels the reader finds a band of companion warriors, in Legends & Lattes they find friends: the kind that will sit with you quietly by the fire in an armchair, talking about nothing, with a freshly-baked cinnamon scroll to share between you. It is a story about friendship, love, and also about the fact that often in life it is the simplest of dreams that bring us the most satisfaction.

I love cosy fiction. As I explore the genre more, cosy books remind me, fundamentally, that it is okay for a story to just make us happy. We do not owe it to ourselves or anyone else that our literature is always an instrument and metaphor for struggle, personal improvement or academic deconstruction. What books can do—just as importantly—is give us a haven of respite from a chaotic world. A book can alleviate a small moment of human suffering. A book can heal a wound that you can’t see.

Many of us go to a cup of tea or coffee for a brief retreat and a touch of warmth in our bones.

If that’s the direction that fiction is heading in, pour me another.

#cozy fiction #cosy fiction #review #lit #psalm for the wild built #legends and lattes #becky chambers #travis baldree #original

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clarislam · 3 months

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Book Review: "The Very Secret Society Of Irregular Witches" by Sangu Mandanna

What happens when a witch is recruited to teach three young witches to control magic? Find out in "The Very Secret Society Of Irregular Witches" by Sangu Mandanna! #TheVerySecretSocietyOfWitches #bookreview #review #fiction #SanguMandanna #fantasy #witches

Cover of “The Very Secret Society Of Irregular Witches” by Sangu Mandanna. I’m back with another book review, and this time I’m reviewing “The Very Secret Society Of Irregular Witches” by Sangu Mandanna! Here’s a quick summary so we know what it’s about: “As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their…

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#book review #cozy books #cozy fiction #fantasy #fiction #magic #Sangu Mandanna #The Very Secret Society Of Irregular Witches #witches

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jinglebellrockstars · 4 months

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die cozy fiction die

#izzy.txt #writing #cozy fiction

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aliterarydumpsterfire · 1 year

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Home Is Where the Heart Is

This story was written for the discord server Nightshift Writers' bi-monthly prompt challenge, posed by member Ultra. As always, prompts are open to deviation in order to be flexible for writers. As it's clear, I deviated from some details to make it work for me. Here's the prompt:

The house creaked with age and emptiness. Every good natured protest from the home amplified a singular expression. Loss.

It was the loss of all manner of sayings, spells, and words of wisdom, and most of all, of the woman who spoke them.

It was the loss that Evie Price knew keenly as she stood among furniture hidden under sheets of white linen, unable to feel anything else. That loneliness threatened to consume her, forcing a pressure behind her eyes and an ache in her heart.

First Mother, then Grandmama, who’d been so old it seemed she would never retire, in mind or body. But then she did. All at once, Evie’s life… hell, the world, felt unbearably empty. Before Mother’s passing, Evie’s life had been so ordered. So predetermined. University courses, closing shift at the bakery, dinner, homework, rinse, repeat. Even the hint of skipping a short class, or leaving Mother to close the bakery on her own and Evie would earn the sternest of glares. What now, that her university classes were done, the bakery sold, and Grandmama was gone, too?

Resentment welled up. Out of habit earned from one too many stern glares, she pushed it down.

She could almost hear her mother’s voice scold her. No sense in crying over it. But Mother wasn’t here, and neither was Grandmama. Hopelessness dropped from her throat to her belly, and echoed back up like from a great depth. It whispered a lonely refrain.

Alice would be along soon, to help her attend to the home Evie’d not visited since she was a girl. Putting the house in order was a task she didn’t want to think about– when Alice volunteered to help, Evie nearly cried.

She still didn’t know what she wanted to do with the house. There was no one else to take care of it. The thought of renting it out felt like a cruel joke. Moving in though felt just as cruel. Staying here, without Grandmama? She didn’t even know how half the potions or pots in the kitchen worked. Symbols and words of power laced the rim of every implement. It would take a lifetime to learn what her grandmother had not been permitted to teach her.

But Grandmama’s home could never be too silent or somber for long. Somewhere deep in the beams, something started*.* At first it was a whisper, and it grew to a hum. It was a sound she never thought she’d hear again.

“What is that noise, Grandmama?” She tilted her head up, swaying with the quiet music.

The graying witch smiled, and handed a batter spoon to Evie. It tasted of cardamom and honey, with another flavor she’d never been allowed to know, but it was the taste that filled her dreams. In Dreamland, laughing fae that smelled of Grandmama’s fresh muffins danced to the hum of the cottage, but not even dreams could match the love that steeped her time at Grandmama’s in the waking world.

“It’s the song of home, child. Wherever you are in the world, if you hear this song, it is because you belong there.”

It was the humming that drew her to the attic. A warm, nameless tune pulled almost imperceptibly up the loft stairs. It wove up the worn railing, and grew stronger when her feet rounded the last step. She found herself in the attic, staring at a cedar chest. On the chest sat a book that should not have existed, upon a doily of spider-spun gold thread, wrapped in a music that could only be of Grandmama’s making.

Evie blinked and bit her lip, fighting tears that sprang of their own accord. Tendrils of warmth coiled in an almost familiar embrace wound around her as she reached out to the book. So interested was she, she did not hear the gentle footpads that followed after her, even as the floorboards have their croaky report.

“What is it?” came a soft, curious voice behind her.

She shook her head. “I haven’t seen this since I was little. I thought Mother burned it.”

“What is it?”, the voice came again.

“It’s a…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it at first, picking it up with a ginger touch. A layer of dust came away with her fingertips. “You’re gonna laugh.”

“Pffft. Show me!” A gentle hand tugged at her elbow insistently.

Evie stood paused for a long moment. The leatherbound cover was just as she remembered, with raised gold snakes and vines intertwining up pale pillars. At the center was a thinly etched circle surrounded by symbols of which she’d never known the meaning. There was a time she’d been promised that one day that knowledge and much more would be her’s. That was before Mother whisked them away from Grandmama, 5000 kilometers and lifetimes apart, so it seemed. But she would’ve known that book anywhere.

“It’s a spell book. My grandmother’s spellbook.”

Alice’s chin popped over Evie’s shoulder. “For real?”

“Mhm.” Rough paper edges whispered under her fingers as Evie flipped through the pages. Amidst the stiff parchment and flowing penmanship the faintest smell of dust and cinnamon tea came to her, bringing a smile to her lips.

“This book is the reason Mother made us move away.”

Her friend’s voice took on a cautious hush. “Is it possessed?”

“No no, nothing like that.” She snuck a sly smile to Alice. “That I know of.”

A slim arm hooked through her’s, Alice’s gooseflesh brushing over Evie’s own. “That’s comforting.”

The house creaked with a chilly draft in answer. Her companion’s shiver grated like sandpaper against Evie’s skin. The book hummed and emanated warmth. It did not apparently extend to other people.

“Come on, we’ll put a kettle on, we’ll use Grandmama’s special tea.”

The tea, on second thought, was a task Evie wasn’t sure she could complete. There were words, and an ingredient that danced on the tip of her tongue but that she could not find in Grandmama’s innumerable little vials. They settled on a tea Alice had thought to pack with them, and the two sat with the book on a settee of the deepest blue. They scoured each page, sounding out words they’d never heard before, cautiously forming half-spoken spells on untaught tongues. What it all meant, or could mean, was of little consequence to Evie. It was enough to not be alone.

Soon they had mispronounced all of the potions and principles of the first chapters when they reached the incantations. Both curled up, half entangled, tea forgotten, Evie’s heart leapt at the next chapter’s title.

“The Art of Intention, Incantations, and Spellcasting,” Alice read aloud. “Ooooh, like real, real witch stuff? Like wish spells and love spells, and…”

“We could practice,” Evie said, eyes wide. “I always wondered if love spells really worked!” Then the ridiculousness and absurdity of speaking the possibility struck her, and she fell back in a burst of giggles.

Alice joined her, collapsing on the pillows with a flounce and cascade of curls. “Oh, there’s no need for that,” she said softly. The two giggled again, nervous and giddy as they pored over the book.

Evie wished it was true. Then she could stop looking away so fast when their eyes met. She could sink into a comfortable cuddle when Alice sat close. She didn’t have to feel embarrassed when their hands touched, like when she made tea for two. She wouldn’t have to pretend to be apologetic when she stole fries from Alice’s plate at restaurants.

She doesn’t like me. Not like that. The whisper in her brain came with a little pang of loneliness. But at least Alice was here, when she had no one else. ‘Friendship is a special magic. Never doubt the power of love that is given freely and intentionally’, Grandmama would always say.

I should be more grateful. She swallowed back the lump that threatened to break her composure in two and instead said airily, more sing-songy than she could ever possibly feel, “Well, I guess we’ll never know”.

The book above their heads, Evie stared at the next chapter, Incantations with Intention. Unbidden, the image of Grandmama in her kitchen came to mind. There was always some lesson to be had while the octogenarian prepared some potion or another. ‘All the intention in the world can be for naught if you never give it life, child.’

“Can you imagine it, just… casting a spell and having your wishes come true?”

Alice reached up, taking one side of the book in her hand and pulled it closer. “Your Grandmama thought you could.”

“She’d be the only one.” Evie released the other side of the book, letting the back cover hang against the pages, the paper fanning out from the binding. Her friend lowered it, laying the tome down, and slung her arm over Evie as they both settled further into the cushions.

“I believe you can.” The sweet earnestness in her voice and lazy finger tracing swirls and nonsense in her palm melted Evie. For a heart as lonely as hers, once a devoid chasm deeper than the Marianas Trench, a spark flared.

Grateful, she laced her fingers through Alice’s. “Thank you.”

Encouraged by the sweet tones of a familiar humming, Evie rolled onto her elbow and curled into Alice’s embrace. She brushed errant curls from her friend’s eyes. Then she closed her own, and pressed her lips to Alice’s.

A nigh-imperceptible exhale swept warmth across Evie’s cheek. It was followed by a smile, a cupid’s bow curved into her own and the kiss was returned.

The cottage’s hum swelled gently around them both. Evie could have sworn it took on a voice, tender and joyful, as it whispered, “welcome home, my dears.”

#cozy fiction #cozy witches #sapphic witches #flashfiction #aliteral dumpster fire #aliteraldumpsterfire

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danielleurbansblog · 1 year

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Review: Falling into Magic

Synopsis: An accidental journey through a magic mirror. A portal to an enchanted land. A mysterious family she never knew she had. Hayden’s life is upended with the wonder of Destiny Falls. But it is tainted by the danger that brought her here and that threatens her newfound family. Can Hayden and her sassy sidekick remove the threat, so that she can begin her magical new life in this…

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#Amazon #cats #cozy fiction #ELizabeth Pantley #Falling into Magic #fantasy #Goodreads #magic #must read book #mystery #mystery thriller #new #New Release #novel #paranormal #Partners in Crime Virtual Tour #recommended #YA

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alpaca-clouds · 10 months

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Solarpunk Fiction and Conflict Pt. 3

So, let me talk about the last kind of conflict Solarpunk fiction might have. And to be perfectly honest: This is the kind of conflict, I would love to the more about in general.

And this is... Well, Conflict between People and Conflicts of Self.

Especially in Science Fiction and Fantasy writing we tend to think about conflict mostly as this kind of big thing. If not world ending, the conflict in these genres will usually be at least dangerous to the life of the main characters in some way or form.

But now ask yourself: Why?

Conflict can be a rather simple thing, really. There is a reason why recently we have seen the rise of cozy genre. And by all means: Why not write more Cozy Solarpunk?

Now, Conflict between People tends to be in fact the driving factor of most comedy, romance or drama movies out there. And again, this does not need to be violent conflict. Romance stories tend to be people centric conflicts. Often conflicts due to either some outside forces or the inability of protagonists to communicate. And you can absolutely have a story of people struggling with their families. Again, just because the world is a utopia, that does not mean, that people in it are going to be flawless. There will still be parents struggling to accept what kind of person their child has become for one reason or another. Just as there might be conflicts between friend groups. There might be rivalries between sport teams or between scientists. All these can easily make for a conflict to fill a book with.

Conflict of Self meanwhile is a kind of conflict, that at least we had to read about a lot in school. Let me just not get started on how many of these books were about abled, cis, white guys having their midlife crisis......... I digress. People go through changes and challenges in their life. And those make for very valid conflicts for stories. Maybe someone is finding themselves. Maybe someone learns to deal with life-altering things, as simple as a move to a new place, or as dramatic as surviving a crime. Maybe it is about self-acceptance or about dealing with mental illness. Because I guarantee you: Even in utopia, these will be conflicts, that will occur.

And, yeah. Over these three little blogs, that are the type of conflicts, that I can absolutely think of within a Solarpunk setting. Ranging from the world changing, to the character-centric.

If you can think of any others... Feel free to add them in the comments. :D

#solarpunk #solarpunk fiction #lunarpunk #solarpunk worldbuilding #fiction writing #climate fiction #cozy scifi #cozy fiction #utopia #utopian fiction #writing advice

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