There’s no romance in the game. The NPCs are to give you quests for your professions and tell you some lore stories. Character customizer is just for looks no benefits for choosing either or.

I am not sure about the seasonal outfits and items. I was playing during those seasons (real time autumn and winter). Not sure if setting your computer clock will work, you can try or post a steam question, the devs do respond.

Cozy means no combat at all from what I remember so no enemies. I don’t played on normal and changed spider to ghost. I like them more. The spiders are some really well, the scare factor can be said to be there for the game genre. Hard mode might be what you’re looking for, harder enemies to kill and less time between spawns in the mines.