a weird mirror to the "comfort character" phenomenon I am noticing lately is that for many people it goes both ways. they have a character that brings them comfort; they also only want content where that character is comfortable, and happy, and mentally well.

on the face of it of course there& #39;s nothing wrong with this. happy stories are good! especially when we& #39;re talking about fanfic, low-stakes cozy content is wonderful, and when you have a comfort character bc you relate to them it can be really healing to consume that content.

but I think there& #39;s something a little bit flattening and insidious about focusing on the comfort of a character over the needs, themes, and meaning of the story within which they exist

I haven& #39;t fully thought this thread through but there& #39;s something in here about thinning boundaries between creators and fans, and the demands made on specifically queer creators to create exclusively happy content, and individual joy over societal message... idk.