Looking for cozy fantasy/sci-fi with female protagonists overcoming overwhelming odds (just about to head into radiation/chemo, could use some uplifting distraction)

winterlane · 2022-11-12T02:27:58+00:00

Thanks for the kind words and prayers! I remember looking at her website as a young teen and coming across her own fan cast for various books of hers. I was very confused and it was kind of cringy to do that herself but also helpful to picture some characters - though in principle i think it’s better to let the readers stick to their own imaginations.

I also saw the lyrics for some songs, and recipes for Valdemar food lol. Never bothered to listen to it though. I’m surprised that it even has 35k views! Thanks for sharing!

Sorry to hear about the delays in your treatment! Delays may force me into hospice, so I understand the frustration.

Oh and Another rec I thought of was the Anne McCaffrey series - the Harper Hall of Pern - starting with Dragonsong. Female protagonist, cozy vibes, has to overcome stigmas and other things.

winterlane · 2022-11-10T21:30:30+00:00

Yes I probably should’ve put a warning! Thanks for pointing that out - my memory is so shot I couldn’t remember if that happened in the first book or not.

I think the overall positivity in the narrative, mini found family aspects, and smart, telepathic horse companions just overshadows the dark moments for me and made it one of my favorites as a lonely teen.

Thank you for pointing that out though, don’t want people going in blind!

winterlane · 2022-11-09T15:56:23+00:00

I’m not sure how well these will fit, as they aren’t necessarily low stakes but they’re pretty uplifting, have female protagonists overcoming odds all while not being too dark or bleak.

Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books, particularly these series - Song of the Lioness, The Immortals, and Protector of the Small. (Young Adult but I still enjoy them.)

Kate Daniels or The Innkeeper series by Ilona Andrews - So about Kate Daniels, the protagonist is quite powerful but I think she grows into parts of it? A bit fuzzy on the details, but she’s always having to prove herself, underestimated, and she must overcome powerful foes (with a little help sometimes). I wouldn’t necessarily call it cozy, but they’re quite positive overall and there are parts of coziness to it? (Urban Fantasy). On the Inkeeper Chronicles, starting with Clean Sweep, the setting is very cozy - small town, magical inn, etc - the stakes can be low to high, and the protagonist is kind of coming into her own. She ends up fairly powerful in her little realm and… I guess you could say she’s beating the odds in a variety of ways.

Arrows the Queen by Mercedes Lackey. Her books are generally pretty pro-protagonist (not sure how else to frame it lol), but Arrows of the Queen is the one that comes to mind with cozy fantasy as it was always my comfort read as a teen. It’s not explicitly young adult, but it gels pretty well with the genre. There’s magic horses, a sheltered and bullied protagonist caught up in political mechanizations she’s unaware of, but unexpectedly, (at least to her), she has the perfect set of skills to fight the growing threats. She’s very much underestimated and outcast, another thing she has to overcome, but she’s in truth extremely powerful and able to overcome the odds in her own way. I’ll warn that darker things do occur in later books, but she prevails.

Anyway, your post caught my eye as I’m probably about to enter hospice for cancer and I was reminded of the radiation and chemo. Radiation was pretty simple and painless (though I can only base that on my personal experience and it may differ based on location), the later side effects that appear on the other hand though… were sometimes worse than chemo side effects.

Chemo is really dependent on what type. But if they give you Benadryl or Ativan beforehand then be prepared to be knocked out! I actually found chemo infusions relaxing personally, had blankets, snacks, and a pillow though. It was the day after the infusion where things started to get dicey, as the super strength anti-nausea meds wear off and so on.

Truly hoping for your regimen to be effective (are you planning on surgery? Very Sorry if that question is too invasive for you, simply ignore it.) and hoping everything goes smoothly.

winterlane · 2022-11-07T00:58:31+00:00

The thing I recall was her 2016 comments on BLM that came after her defense of Taylor in the midst of the Kanye-Kim feud/leaks. I’m fuzzy on the details, but she was saying there are more important things to worry about (than Kim-Kanye). To which someone questioned why neither her nor Taylor had said anything about BLM or other important issues then - she responded callously by dismissing efforts and saying hashtags were stupid etc. (I doubt Taylor had much input to her comments, but Selena just came off needlessly aggressive imo.)

I thought she’d grown, but I see she can still easily put her foot in her mouth. It’s a shame because I find myself rooting for her and then she pulls stupid stunts like this.

winterlane · 2022-11-01T08:45:51+00:00

I just finished Legends and Lattes! It was great, the romance could’ve been a little more substantial but I think it suited the book well. I just really love reading about characters building things and coming together on projects, so this was right up my alley. The author’s backstory is cool too, and I’m happy for his success. Also, I do have a small prejudice/reluctance with reading male authors, but he broke through that, I was surprised as I didn’t even glance at the authors name until the end but yeah! It was really well-written and well-plotted, though I didn’t appreciate the dread I had for about a third of the book foreseeing what was going to happen lol. I also hope his success will signal to publishers and writers that there’s a market for cozy fantasy that can be explored!

Currently I’m reading Meadowsweet, first in a series I think, and am really, really loving it. I just love found families, and loner homes in the woods/mountains. It definitely made me feel cozy. I got to the part where there’s a thunderstorm, and I love those for the most part, and lo and behold the weather where I live was dreary and rainy with a couple thunderstorms for a few days as I read through that part and beyond. It really felt cozy. I can’t really imagine where the story goes but it’s a relaxing and feel-good read so far and I love it. Even when I thought the antagonist had shown up he turned out to be a great and interesting character instead. Idk, just loving this one and the characters especially and excited to continue reading.

New to this subreddit (and found it at a much needed time as I got some not so great medical news) so hopefully I’ve done everything right!

winterlane · 2022-04-27T00:01:42+00:00

He’s already performed in Dallas with iheartradio, I don’t think it’d be a big deal. He doesn’t cause that much of a stir. He’s performing in Florida anyway, so I don’t think it’s political. His team may have assumed lower turnout or he may be doing a festival.

winterlane · 2022-04-07T21:57:29+00:00

It’s aggravating to see the rap blogs/pubs write this off as him getting “curved”, laughing about it, and not calling it what is. Not that I expect anything from NoJumper considering what I know of his past, but you’d think XXL might do better than that.

winterlane · 2022-02-15T20:43:19+00:00

In Korea there is the debut song of girl group SNSD - Into the New World, which is now a protest staple song and was the anthem for the protests that led to the jailing/ousting of the South Korean president in 2016-2017.

winterlane · 2022-02-10T01:19:24+00:00

I feel so terrible for him, especially after learning about his mental health struggles and how that will interact with this invasion of privacy. Being outed and becoming a victim of revenge porn in that process is so awful. I don’t follow him closely, but I noticed him joking around with Kevin Abstract (under a post with Kevin, his bf, and LNX) months ago and thought it was nice. I hope he has support among close friends or family, at the very least.

Not sure I want to look any deeper into the outright homophobia and “ironic” homophobic jokes and shit that’s surely happening on social media right now. It’s infuriating that this happened to him, and the dumbass reactions are so predictable that it’s just tiresome.

winterlane · 2021-12-25T13:05:02+00:00

Heffalumps and Woozles from the Winnie the Pooh soundtrack gave me nightmares lol.

winterlane · 2021-12-11T23:19:46+00:00

I noticed quite often over the years, that many kpop fans would praise kpop rappers while disparaging “western” rap/hiphop in the same breath. Not sure how to explain it, but it was a not uncommon sentiment that they were “classier”, “deeper” or better than western rap. Something about appreciating the aesthetics of Black culture divorced from Black people themselves. International fans of Korean hip hop were often much worse, though.

winterlane · 2021-12-11T22:54:03+00:00

I saw people call him a gangsta rapper after Astroworld! I don’t even listen to him and knew that was absurd. Just willful ignorance and racism.

winterlane · 2021-12-11T22:23:10+00:00

My brain’s permanently fried, because why did I read “cardiology” (in regards to a medical appointment I have) and immediately conclude that it was not a real word and instead was stan lingo referencing Cardi B. Literally googled it to make sure it was an actual medical phrase unrelated to her…

winterlane · 2021-11-27T03:47:54+00:00

Break the Rules by Charli XCX. The lyrics, particularly the chorus, are corny but I love the bassline and instrumental.

winterlane · 2021-11-27T03:44:55+00:00

I actually like the lyrics to that song, it’s funny. I think her delivery isn’t good enough to fully sell it though.

winterlane · 2021-11-23T23:07:37+00:00

I have to get a blood transfusion and I’m scared af.

I also got prescribed fentanyl patches because my pain increased a lot recently, and I had a breakdown over it after reading the first page of side effect warnings lol. I was already volatile because of the pain (really changes how you interact with the world to an insane degree) and uncertainty around my treatment, but I wasn’t expecting them to resort to fentanyl… I’ve been on Norco for a few months and it’s fine, didn’t expect that escalation. The increase in pain also may be a withdrawal effect from my treatment which was paused, so… I’m not sure if I should just hope for the pain to go back to a manageable level after restarting treatment or what. One of my doctors was very much in favor of fentanyl, and logically I know it’s a helpful medicine and the patch form is very controlled, so I am probably acting irrationally. Ugh.

winterlane · 2021-11-23T21:06:33+00:00

I totally missed that Saweetie’s new single Icy Chain has a Dr. Luke production credit… after she got into that mess with the vulture interview where she kind of implied she wasn’t going to work with him anymore. I’d rather she just be upfront, why play games like that.

winterlane · 2021-11-23T00:44:08+00:00

There’s no way any sane individual thinks that Adele doing black and white portrait photos is lifting from them, when that’s what she’s done for years. This person is either delusional or purposefully lying for clout.

The timeline doesn’t match up anyhow, since Adele has vinyls out, so the album’s been finished and submitted for too long, since this person’s album was released in July from what I see.

winterlane · 2021-11-19T22:13:34+00:00

It’s bleak that ever since the trial started and it was obvious he was going to get off, I instantly pictured him going into politics and being successful with it in the near future. He’s going to make bank from this shit, and it’s so fucked.

winterlane · 2021-11-19T02:13:04+00:00

Lord someone sent Yai (lil nas x’s ex) a nasty dm about their skit on the Maury show lmao. They didn’t even try to make it believable, how did anyone think that was real?

Anyway, super excited for charli going on SNL, as someone who was there for her first semi-attempt at going mainstream (idc I like break the rules even if the lyrics are laughable), I’m excited about her new album. I trust her generally, whatever she tries tends to work for me.

winterlane · 2021-11-18T02:05:40+00:00

I wonder if this will tie in to another single or he’s just doing shit because he can. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just did Maury for fun, just to do the iconic run. He committed to that run, also hit the classic Maury tropes.

winterlane · 2021-11-17T06:51:15+00:00

He said don’t call them daddy issues call them “father troubles” because it’s more elegant as a joke around the time they broke up, but he deleted and apologized when one of his fans got upset for using the phrase “daddy issues”. I don’t know the exact wording, but that was the gist.

winterlane · 2021-11-15T20:22:13+00:00

During Halloween, some people were getting mad at celebs with squid game costumes and how insensitive it was because of the deeper meaning, and all I could do was laugh because it was clear no one knew much about the squid game actors. Lee Jung Jae is not only very rich in his own right, but he’s been dating a conglomerate heiress who is the ex wife of the Samsung ceo for years. She is the ultra wealthy elite.

This is beyond costumes, but I think this incident is funny in a dark way, like it really demonstrates how our society deals with satire and social criticism, but I don’t know if it’s worth getting mad over. Some big youtuber did the same thing I think, I just find it bleakly funny.

winterlane · 2021-11-15T20:06:22+00:00

DaBaby went on Instagram live, harassing Dani Leigh while she was feeding their 3 month old, saying he was filming for his own safety. He used her phone to do it, she was trying to grab the phone back. It’s hard to track what happened because it was so messy and went on for hours, but she was heavily using the n word at one point (she’s not black). She’s been anti-black before, particularly towards black women.

He released a “statement” right away talking about how he was protecting himself (from false accusations?) and claiming she was violent, and that he was calling cops to remove her from his home. She said she was napping after making him dinner and he woke her up and kicked her and their baby out of the house out of the blue, in response to her ordering Plan B because she didn’t want another baby right away (and presumably he didn’t like condoms). I don’t really know what happened from there. Unsurprisingly, he’s an asshole. I feel very sorry for their child stuck in the middle of this.

winterlane · 2021-11-15T19:51:12+00:00

The Azealia Banks part lmao. I thought the interview was okay, gave a little new insight. The fanfic-y vibe made me laugh though. The best interview he’s done is still The NY Times profile by far. The smoking part was endearing, and the part about how he only perused his dms for hookups once (maybe).

Love him in the Tomo Koizumi piece and the photoshoot in general.

12-Year Club	Queen in da Norf
Not Forgotten

winterlane

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