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WHAT EXACTLY IS ROMANTASY
And why is everyone talking about it?
by MARIA NOMDEPLUME
We may live in an era where anyone can be born with a fantastical quirk, but we still yearn for a world of true fantasy—legendary tales of days of yore full of magic and mythical creatures. Take one look inside your local bookstore and you’ll come face-to-face with the latest trend that has taken the publishing world by storm: Romantasy.
What is romantasy? It’s a portmanteau of “romance” and “fantasy”, trying to capture a genre that is greater than the sum of its parts. There are speculative elements of fantasy familiar to many, but beyond that it prioritizes relationships and emotional aspects. Whether these fae, dragons, or knights make sense is not nearly as important as how they make you feel.
...
Still, I can’t help but wonder when the tides will change. Right now, the major published behemoths of the genre maintain cishetero archetypes, but are we losing something by neglecting other potential stories?
Publishers may not be ready to dip their toes into queer stories, even in such a lucrative market, but as per usual the tides of change are foretold in the public amateur writing sphere. On Voltpad, one of the largest amateur writing sites with millions of regular users, when I search the “Romantasy” tag I find over three-thousand works labeled “LGBTQ+”, with the top stories among them charting tens of thousands of views. It may be time for traditional publishers to take a good hard look at what their audience is demanding and consider what stories are going to be at the forefront of the next subgenre wave of romantasy.
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The Blade’s Arpeggio
By JumpingJack
Fantasy LGBTQ+ Adventure Romance
Words: 12,322 Chapters: 6/? Likes: 104 Hits: 2,455
Summary:
Kyoji is a bard who traversed the continent and ended up back where she started: Plucking her lute and singing at her parents’ inn. She surrendered to her obscure yet peaceful fate until the honorable Knight Yao wandered through in search of assistance. Kyoji is drawn to her and her dangerous quest that requires a guide through the tumultuous Ceres region. Though Kyoji is reluctant to return to that perilous life of travel, there is something about Yao that draws her in, and thus Kyoji and Yao begin their adventures together.
...
Aaah I love how shy Kyoji is. When Yao held her to try and protect her from that attack???? EEE they shoulda kissed….. hehehe just cause….
Having fun so far, I’m wondering when the “romance” part of the romance tag here will become relevant… Kyoji’s had some crush-like thoughts about Yao, but there hasn’t been much development between them…
Amina’s Amazing Adventure
By AlienXRipley
Fantasy Romance Adventure LGBTQ+
Words: 9,671 Chapters: 8/? Likes: 109 Hits: 3,647
Summary:
When Momoko, a royal knight injured from a recent mission, stumbled into a dragon nursery, she should have died. But when the local beast tamer, Amina, sees her plight, she can’t help but want to see more of how such a stiff knight can unravel. Though at first Amina just tends to her wounds, when Momoko insists she must continue her quest, Amina decides it’s time for her to finally take her first steps of independence into the wider world with this poor knight who has a penchant for getting into beast-related troubles.
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AAAA I’ve been waiting for this, your note from last chapter about the upcoming festival had me so intrigued. Glad they got to dance together!!!!!
Okay so in the dress-up scene for going undercover in the village celebration, we’ve got Amina putting sakura blossoms into her hair, and as we know sakura can represent new beginnings, like this journey that Amina’s just started with Momoko. This isn’t particularly surprising, but a nice touch. What’s intriguing is the choice for Momoko’s clothes, which includes a dress with clove-flower embroidery along the edges. At first I assumed that was to tease Momoko’s comical lack of cooking skills (as seen in chapter 3) but after looking it up it seems that clove flowers have a variety of meanings including not only dignity but also restraint… like maybe Momoko is holding back or unable to express certain feelings (which would explain her discomfort with Amina’s compliments. We also can’t ignore how many buttons Momoko’s dress is described as having, like there are at least six described and we know it’s only on the top half of the dress suggesting both that there’s a lot of barriers to opening her up, and even when she IS opened up you can only get so far. There’s a lot to be done before Momoko can open up about her feelings.
Anyone else feel like a lot of “romantasy” works are just hopping on a trend?
Austentatious
(Cross posted to Fantasy as well)
So I LOVE going through the “romance” and “fantasy” tags on here, but I’ve been noticing that a lot of the stories are phoning in one or the other. It feels like someone wrote a romance story, then heard that romantasy is really big, and so they suddenly changed it up to try and fit faeries and magic and stuff in there but like… it feels super like they don’t know how to string any mythology together and it’s totally inconsistent.
And don’t get me started on the fantasy stuff that slaps a “romance” tag on to try and court the romance readers! It’s clear they’re just in it for the worldbuilding and adventure stuff, because they MIGHT have a clear main couple, but they avoid doing like ANY development for them, just stringing the reader along.
Personally, when I’m reading something tagged both, I wanna see BOTH a magical and decently thought-out world AND a consistently growing romance along the way. I get so disappointed when it’s clear an author doesn’t want or is unable to actually deliver on both, but they still use the tags.
Posted: 3 hours ago
ADreamOfMistAndSilver
I totallyyyy get what u mean OP, the genre has gotten so big but its bloated by ppl who dont even fr get the appeal
Posted: 3 hours ago
gold-elite
and there’s people who think it’s like bending the genre or whatever but actually it’s clear that they don’t really read or respect it and don’t get why so many people are into it
like I don’t wanna choose one or the other I am enjoying both and refuse to compromise
Posted: 3 hours ago
GUNDUMMY
I get SO NERVOUS about works like this……. Liek I WANNA trust but the more chapters that come out without any real romance I’m like “IS IT ACTUALLY GONNA HAPPEN???”
Posted: 2 hours ago
FifthFin
Ugh it’s hard to tell whether something is slowburn or if it’s an author too scared to commit to the romance element. Tbh as a big romance fan I don’t care if my romantasy has kinda shitty worldbuilding so long as it’s in service of a big romance, but OP I understand your frustration and disappointment.
Posted: 2 hours ago
Wyrm-Whisperer:
Unfortunately a familiar problem…
Posted: 1 hour ago
Message chat: Kyouka
Today 6:21 PM
Kyouka
Hey Momo, are you busy?
Momo
Just studying, but I can take a break.
Kyouka
I’ve been working on that story I told you about, the one I’m posting on Voltpad, and am struggling with a specific part
Momo
I’m honored you’re consulting me for help with it! However, I must caution that I’m not much of a creative writer, I worry I may not be able to provide any advice you need.
Kyouka
It’s not like I need advice exactly, more like I need to do a sort of research
Ugh, this might be super awkward, but could you do me a favor?
Momo
Of course, I love research!
Kyouka
I’m coming over, it’s easier to explain in person
Message chat: Mina
Today 8:15 PM
Mina
Heyyyy momo u know how like EVERY year for the past three years, like every time youve been voted vice rep, youve emphasized in ur opening speech like “I can totes help u guys with anything you need”???
Momo
Of course! Is there something you need from me?
Mina
Lol okay its kinda a long story but
Actually the story is not that long yet
But I wanna make it longer
With ur help
Because I need to like, know how certain things work to write them
Momo
Ah, so this is about a literal story?
Mina
Yeah!!!
Lemme just come over, then I can give u the whole spiel and u can help me
The Blade’s Arpeggio
By JumpingJack
Fantasy LGBTQ+ Adventure Romance
Words: 14,168 Chapters: 7/? Likes: 201 Hits: 4,744
Summary of Chapter 7
When Kyoji and Yao reach New Alaristown, they meet certain pests that they’ll have to be creative to deter.
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Oh! This was so cute, super happy to see a little romantic progress, even if it’s just to emphasize to the guys hitting on them that they’re not interested. Yao phrased it as purely practical, but I feel like the lingering of her gaze afterwards implies more…
AAA they KISSED!!!! It was so chaste tho… it hurts bc Kyoji CLEARLY likes Yao, but it’s unclear if Yao ACTUALLY initiated that kiss ONLY to deter those dudes, or if she’s also crushing on Kyoji too…. Poor Kyoji is YEARNING here, even though she got to kiss her crush!!
Amina’s Amazing Adventure
By AlienXRipley
Fantasy Romance Adventure LGBTQ+
Words: 10,772 Chapters: 9/? Likes: 125 Hits: 5,625
Summary of Chapter 9
It’s the final day of the Bulugaboo festival, and after the bonfire cookout, Amina learns a secret about Momoko.
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Ooooooh yeaaaaaah I’ve been waiting for this… of course Amina still thinks she’s being so friendly. Offering to kiss her friend who’s never been kissed “just so she can see what it feels like”. Sure. Then laying her out like that, going hard, making her stammer and gasp? Then backing off like “Well, there you go!” and leaving her to sleep in a separate bedroll? If I were Momoko I would be a fucking mess.
SetFireToTheTrain
Ooh, glad to see an update! I’ve been curious how they were going to get out of that scrape, so I’m glad the Ambrosos were willing to let them camp there after hearing Kyoji’s music.
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