On one hand, I believe "fantasy" is the technically the most popular genre right now, but on the other hand, hardly any of it is anything like what would traditionally be understood to be "fantasy" stories. They are either an entirely different genre arbitrarily placed in a fantasy setting (such as with the "romantasy" genre) or are in reality only tangentially related to fantasy, but are really about something else ("LitRPG", for instance, is really more about video games than what is traditionally understood to be fantasy).Why is this? Why is there suddenly so much interest in fantasy, but more as an aesthetic than as a genre?
>>25559229Because the real world is so abhorrently dysfunctional that something as simple as a good ending requires straight-up magic to feel credible.Next question.
>>25559239Really? That's it? You can't just write a book about coffee shop lesbians, it needs to be an lady orc and a succubus in a generic RPG fantasy world to feel credible?
>>25559274That's it.
>>25559229Capitalism. Trannies, faggots and women got into D&D recently and they all love throwing money away like the hylics they are, so there's profit to be made in churning out surface level fantasy pulp drivel.
>>25559229>I believe "fantasy" is the technically the most popular genre right nowNah. It's still romance. For a while romance authors were masquerading as fantasy authors, but now they have their own sub-genre called "Romantasy" because of how much their shit was clogging up the fantasy genre proper.
>>25559274You need the fantastic elements so people don't get bogged down with "realism". The more familiar and realistic the setting is, the more people are disinclined to believe that good things can happen in it. >how is her business surviving when X Y Z make it impossible?>how can she afford rent on that apartment in [whatever big city] running [small, unpopular business]?And so on. The fantasy setting gives you immense leeway to simply change inconvenient things about reality.
>>25559594Okay, but why is it fantasy specifically? Why not an alternate reality "Somewheresville" setting like Springfield in the Simpsons or some near-future faux sci-fi setting like some capeshit is set in? I get why you would want a fictionalized setting that puts some distance between your plot and the real world, but not why it seems to be fantasy in particular.
>>25559229Look at the other top selling genres, they're all dark
>>25559628NTA but because fantasy is very simple and fast to explain.
plummeting iq, the fantastic element of literature is supposed to come from the inventive and surprising use of words, most people are now too dumb to enjoy or even experience this while reading, so writers include more and more 'fantasy' in their books
>>25559586Unfortunately they still clog up the sff shelves.
>>25559348>Trannies and faggots got into D&D recently>recently
>>25559229Legends & Lattes SPECIFICALLY only ever got popular because the 'author' was the voice actor for Cradle, which was with some releases the at-the-time #1 self-pub within its genre on Amazon.tldr nepotism
>>25559725I feel like "Somewheresville" is faster to explain. Sure, if you say its a coffee shop in NYC, you'll get scrutinized, but if you say its in Buttfuck, Kansas, people understand that the setting is "somewhere in sleepy, small-town America" and that's basically all the explanation they need.
>>25559229So what happens in this book? "Two lesbians running a coffee shop" sounds like a tremendously boring premise, and that is being generous with the term.
>>25559229>fantasy" is the technically the most popular genre right now, but on the other hand, hardlyIn literature or in general? I think across all media sci fi has it beat
>>25559851But isn't this book specifically targeting the drama-kid-who-watched-critical-role demographic?Basically targeting redditors.
>>25559229>Faux FantasyJust because it isn't dudes with swords fighting stuff doesn't mean it's not fantasy. It be like saying something isn't "real" sci-fi because it doesn't have space ships or robots. I mean are you too young to remember when urban fantasy was huge? Or maybe read a magical realist book or two? Or science fantasy stories?Or whatever the fuck is going on in final fantasy and inspired works?Fantasy is a extremely diverse genera. Cozy fantasy, romantacy, and similar recent trends still easily fit within the genera. Tons of other kinds of fantasy is still being published including whatever your no-true-Scotsman version of fantasy is. Find authors who make stuff you like and be happy. Much better than being mad at people who you don't know enjoying something you don't in a way that doesn't actually effect you in any way.
>>25559229blame harry potter making the fantasy world main stream becuase 'lol he lives in a cupboard' and 'muggles! tee hee'
>>25559991
>>25560041
>>25559348It’s a good thing because it means some nerds (high IQ males) will find a female woman and produce high IQ babies with her.
>>25559991Fantasy isn't just shit with dragons and magic in it. It has its own structure and themes. You wouldn't call Twilight a horror novel just because it has vampires and werewolves in it.
>>25559944Boring = comfy
I think what makes me the most sad is the idea that even in Fantasy people are terrified to take risks and of danger.
>>25560073You wouldn't even argue if you bothered to look up what fantasy as a genera means rather than make up a personal nebulous feeling.
>>25560106Fantasy has its own themes and structure, but sure it is a vibe to a certain extent, and you just sort of know what it is and what is another genre wearing its skin. The same goes for sci-fi. I wouldn't categorize every piece of media that technically takes place in the future as a work of sci-fi.
>>25560113>I am not going to learn what words actually meanFine, I will do it for you since you insist on being ignorant. https://www.britannica.com/art/fantasy-narrative-genre[fantasy, imaginative fiction that relies on strangeness of setting (such as other worlds or times) and of characters (such as supernatural or unnatural beings). Examples include William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1600), Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726), J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (1954-55), T.H. White’s The Once and Future King (1958), and Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015).Science fiction can be seen as a form of fantasy, but the terms are not interchangeable, as science fiction usually is set in the future and is based on some aspect of science or technology, while fantasy is set in an imaginary world and features the magic of mythical beings. “Romantasy” is a subgenre that blends fantasy with elements of the romance novel genre; it became popular in the 21st century, pioneered by such writers as Maas and Rebecca Yarros.]
>>25560115You're pretty committed to this bit of believing that there's someone out there who gets an absolute final say on what words mean and that their word is law, huh?
>>25560147Words are meant to communicate meaning. For them to do that both the person using the word and the person receiving the world must have a mutual understanding of that word. If you just make up whatever personal special snowflake meaning exclusively based on your subjective feelings that no one else shares then your use of the word isn't communicating meaning. The word 'Fantasy' in the context of narrative fiction has meant something in particular for long before you ever existed and will endure for long after you are gone. Your special snowflake meaning based on vibes doesn't communicate anything other than your own confusion and ignorance that you INSIST you must inflict on everyone else to the point of argument. Stop making your ignorance other people's problem. Learn what words mean, or better yet what words on a first principle bases are even for in the first place before you ever say anything so retarded again.
>>25559851Buttfuck Kansas is still in the real world and people are allergic to reality.
>>25560182Everything set in the real world these days tends to be blatent irritating low effort propaganda. People want a escape from such bullshit all the time. People are tired of always being demoralized or depressed by the hopelessness and slow decay of our age. Hope is for somewhere else far away and long ago.
>>25560170In the case of genre fiction, the words indicating a genre basically group together books and stories that readers actively seek out based on similar themes. The mystery fiction genre, for instance, is ultimately "books and stories that are like Sherlock Holmes and the books that were inspired by Sherlock Holmes" and any attempt to define the mystery genre is ultimately going to be an attempt to define what that means. But what makes these works similar to each other can include things like similar structure and elements, but often boils down to a kind of nebulous essence that can be hard to define.Ultimately, the fantasy genre as it actually exists is basically "stories like Lord of the Rings and stories that were inspired by Lord of the Rings and also stories that were (re-)popularized by interest in Lord of the Rings." You can attempt to define the essence of what that is, but that can be hard to do and even in your example, it's definition is so broad as to include sci-fi under the umbrella of "fantasy" even though most readers would agree that these are two very separate genres.
>>25560203>willfully ignorant idiot wants to continue to inflict their stupidity on youJust fuck off retard. This conversation is done. Any other attempts to keep this argument going are just going to be responded to with insults. I am done tolerating you.
>>25560205Dictionary pedant.
>>25560206Retard who doesn't know what basic words mean
minotaur pingas
>>25559628> why is it fantasy specifically? Why not an alternate reality "Somewheresville" setting like SpringfieldThe Simpsons was close to reality because it was a satire on reality. It’s core identity isn’t just a comedy setting, it’s not made to be “cozy”, it was deliberately designed to be offputting, from the three eyed fish to dysfunctional schools and abusive family. The “heart of gold” shit is secondary. The “Homer goes to space and meets the president” shit was mocked on the show in like season 5 or 6? > near-future faux sci-fi setting like some capeshit is set inAgain what are stories told in that setting coded as? Dystopias, problems with technology, social issues. You’re looking at a genre of escapist nonsense and wondering why it’s coded as a fairytale by putting it in a fantasy setting where everyone’s a quirk chungus and life just plods along with some minor mishaps and adventures.Is there tryhard grimdark fantasy? Yes. But GURM or Moorcocksinhismouth are noted as exceptions to the format. You have to bend the genre to insert the dreary social criticism. It’s coded toward dreamy idealism even in the hardest of circumstances, and you’re looking specifically at the cozy fantasy shit subgenre.
>>25560041Why *shouldn't* you let people enjoy things?
>>25560073>It has its own structure and themes.Such as?
>>25559851> but if you say its in Buttfuck, Kansas, people understand that the setting is "somewhere in sleepy, small-town America"Hallmark movies in a nutshell but that’s still its own thing. Those readers want to choose between the semi-realistic scenario of having her city millionaire and the hometown highschool fling both simp for her. The demands on a current day bumfuck USA setting is still higher than Glorptown.
>>25560282Because some things violate the dignity of a person. Believing in "we're just animals bro its all just chemicals" is maladaptive behaviour as studies show it reduces self control, and self control improves life outcomes.>but i just care about feeling goodThen take a loan and take increasing doses of opioids until you die of overdose. This maximizes feeling good and minimizes feeling bad. You won't do that, because you don't really believe that "feeling good" is the name of the game. You now there is something more.
>>25559229what actual fantasy elements are in this story because if you remove the horns, ears, tail and make it grayscale the setting just looks like shaniqua and some egirl in a coffee shop
>>25560358The fantasy element is the functional multiracial society and the homosexual diversity comes from you, the reader.
>>25560358Nothing. It's just a skinsuit designed to sell you the mundane, anti-fantastic reality of working a pointless shit job.
>>25560295>die of overdoseThat doesn't sound like it feels good, so I won't.
The obsession over "fantasy" worlds is in fact a fetisihization of white culture. European castles, European dresses, European armor, elves, gothic aesthetics, Mediterranean aesthetics, Celtic aesthetics, Norse aesthetics. These writers and readers love, love, love dying white cultures and white values. Even this faggy Legends and Lattes book, with the butch dyke orc, which likely has a "fuck white people" moment and monologue, at its roots it's a story of white culture, because only in a white society would a mixed race lesbian couple be able to open a business. It's their dumb modern sensibilities of Starbucks capitalism and LGBTQ flags projected onto a culture that would have drawn and quartered them. >>25559628because it's not white enough.
>>25559229This book sucked.
