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Queer Fantasy Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries below:

Nimona by ND Stevenson

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are. But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit. Graphic novel, fantasy, adventure, young adult

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family—the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors—hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace. But that god cannot be contained forever. With the aid of Jun, a guard broken by his guilt-stricken past, and Keema, an outcast fighting for his future, the god escapes from her royal captivity and flees from her own children, the triplet Terrors who would drag her back to her unholy prison. And so it is that she embarks with her young companions on a five-day pilgrimage in search of freedom—and a way to end the Moon Throne forever. The journey ahead will be more dangerous than any of them could have imagined. Both a sweeping adventure story and an intimate exploration of identity, legacy, and belonging, The Spear Cuts Through Water is an ambitious and profound saga that will transport and transform you—and is like nothing you’ve ever read before. Fantasy, epic fantasy, metanarrative, experimental, adult

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a series of unfortunate events is just house of leaves for kids and i will die on this hill

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OH I WASN'T IMAGINING THE SAPPHIC STUFF LET'S GOOOOOO

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Something I like to do in FFXIV is designing underclothing outfits.

Waitwaitwaitwait not like that. I mean like, "what's the undershirt look like under the bulky coats and cloaks?" Does anyone else do stuff like this when they think of what their WoL wears? Like so:

Here we have a bulky traveling outfit with everything Alysswith needs. A big ol' backpack full of odds and ends. Boots Vimes would be proud of, a bedroll. But the pack gets put down in the For'ard Cabins and...

We're left with this for wandering a continent. Some bracers for defense, a spare knife in easy reach. Warm cloak with an eminently-adjustable shawl.

And still some pouches for small things! But like, what happens when your character makes camp? Spends a night at the local inn? Do they still wear all their kit and caboodle or is there something more comfortable for the clime? For me it's this:

This shirt is close to the one under the green cloak and connected directly to the "rolled cuffs" you see on the full getup aye? Something to carouse a little in without your skirts getting caught on the furniture.

Uh, so yeah. Stuff like this, it makes some part of my brain happy. It makes designing an outfit a little more real in my head.

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my contribution to the rabbit and steel community

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I'm not done about my Series of Unfortunate Events bullshit so here we go.

The division between good and evil is drawn, quartered, blurred, and then recast several times. It's really interesting stuff and a great thing for this work's audience. But I feel like there's on throughline that doesn't falter in the series. And that is Effort.

Doing good takes effort. It takes sacrifice and courage and wisdom, yes, but above all else it takes effort to do the right thing. Let's say, oh I don't know some random example, there is a house on fire. It's a lot of work to gather people, get buckets, move them along, and rescue anyone inside. It's hot, hard work and what're you rewarded with at the end? A smoldering wreck and a few saved lives if you're lucky. Luck having nothing to do with effort. But it's almost certainly the right thing to do, right? So it won't spread and to create the mere chance to save lives.

I don't think it's any confabulation of childish story that Count Olaf's disguises suck. He puts no effort into them because he simply doesn't have to. He could put a piece of tape over a ship's name, and if anyone chanced to want to uncover it he would firmly put his thumb upon it and shout about property rights. Anything to make it too much effort to bother uncovering at all. He relies on it, revels in how willing people are to take the easiest possible route around him. But by the same token of him guarding his paper plaque it will never stand up to the sea herself. Not forever. So everything around him is in constant disrepair. His nametag sad and yellowed and frayed because engraving and embossing is a pain.

Effort defines good and evil actions more consistently than any other marker in the books, I feel. All evil needs to succeed, after all, is for someone to do nothing, when they could have done something a little uncomfortable.

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A Series of Unfortunate Events

Or, a post which is so terrible, so full of atrocity that it would be best if you averted your eyes. To take this post and print it only to shred it, lest all innocence in the world be lost. We again advise you to please, turn of the computer now and run from it as fast as you are able to and enjoy the great outdoors instead. Perhaps a spot of hiking, which will do you much more good than this meandering misery.

Y'know, I was barely a kid anymore when I read these the first time. My father was actually the one who collected the entire set, the new book on each release and read them through right away. And then he pushed them onto me when he was done. He did that a lot, pushing me toward books he liked and I don't think I ever showed the appreciation I should have at the time.

But this post is more about revisiting them recently and finding out how strongly they aged. I mean certain things and details definitely got caught up in cultural changes, as they are wont to do, but the core idea there?

A Series of Unfortunate Events is about how much people can suck. It's about good intentions always getting run aground by politeness. It's about how a paper thin veneer will stop justice, if not outright use it to its own advantage. Like the maddening marriage scene. All of the adults sitting around going, "Well, it's all legal! There's nothing we could possibly do about this! Oh damn we've been had, we'll be sure to be very cross about this when we read about it in the paper." Like... What the fuck do you mean there's noting you can do go up on the stage and introduce the Count's face to your fist! You heard him say "drop the baby"! There have to be laws about this but no one knows any?

Of course they don't, because an adult is constantly stepping around the carefully-cared-for grass of their neighbor, while a child only sees the cannon pointed at them from the window and wants to hurry.

"But it's such a nice lawn and look, there's a window! He wouldn't break his window to shoot us!" The adult says, noticing and not caring about the lit match in the cannoneer's hand. Or the "I hate windows" shirt.

The metaphor ran wild with me for a moment but I'm not going to apologize for overuse of metaphor when it comes to these books.

And I think that's really the core of what the series is. It's one that remembers how arbitrary and ridiculous people seemed when one was young. And hell, it remembers how ridiculous people still are. It's an endlessly frustrating work where you wish just one person would just listen to (which used here means believe in) you. That something was wrong, or that life doesn't have t o be this miserable. Or that yes we can do something I just need you to volunteer a little of your time and goodwill. But volunteers are few and far between. And so very often put in harm's way.

But, way back when. When Dad first put that book in front of me and said "I think it'll help you." That was the most lifelike depiction of doing good I'd ever seen. It's not a heroic and splendored thing celebrated by parades. It's quiet and tricksy and enjoys spending time in dark alleys and secret tunnels. Where its shadow looks suspiciously like evil and you have to try really hard if you want to separate the two or else get led astray.

In reality, "doing good" is just "doing your best".

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Anatomy of an Alysswith (Dawntrail)

Twinfangs: A gift from Wuk Lamat to replace her battered saberfangs after the Rite of Ascension. Sif thought her old ones were still good for another year, but couldn't say no to a present.

Boots: Very dusty but regularly see a cobbler. They're two years old and could go for eight more!

Pouch: Everyone thinks this is where she keeps potions or smoke bombs or throwing knives. It's usually filled with pretty rocks or her rings.

Coat: It's waterproof! The shawl protects from the rain, while the waistcape protects from puddles. There are layers underneath to adjust comfortably to the weather.

Cravat/Ascot/Neckerchief thing: Hides a deeply embarrassing scar.

Rings: Y'shtola's influence. Sif has gone overboard on her hand jewelry.

Earring: A feather from Meteion. It was blue for years but recently turned red and neither knows why.

Hair: Still faded from events on the First. She's finally taken to growing it out.

Eyes: The left is blinded from her time as a Garlean footsoldier.

Flowers: Flowers :)

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What is the shape of your soul?

featuring Azem, an exploring Alysswith, and Alysswith in the Soul Dimension

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OH THERE'S GUNS IN THIS FANTASY

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Wow, Bloomburrow is so cool. I wanna set a whole story in it, I really wanna. Its vibe is immaculate. I just wish its holder wasn't... all of that. Moon above where would I even start?

Cause the setting itself is ripe for adventure. Oh huge calamity beasts based on massive predators? Rad. Adventurous mice with leaf armour? Rad. Sagacious bats who guard the night and gain wisdom by watching the stars? Rad. Otter mages of lightning and Rabbit communities and just everything. Fucking radical, I love it. Redwall was an astounding setup and this is too.

Just, wish it wasn't so difficult to be a fan of the set. Not only knowing it's gonna vanish quickly but also the everything else.

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developing your ocs is 50% waiting for bursts of divine inspiration like an oracle sleeping next the vapours seeping from fissures in the temple floor and 50% stalking them in your mind relentlessly like a persistence predator until they tire out enough for you to get close and scamper away with the bloody scraps of "eye colour: brown" and "dislikes: people who think they're funny" clutched in your mouth like a hunting trophy

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Me, dropping a bagel: Ah, this too must be The Plan.

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A compilation of out of context XIV memes and shitposts I've made:

and MANY more under the cut:

I am a menace to my friends when I make these

(all were made in good fun)

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Please perceive Alysswith

Okay you've perceived her now :)

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Agliè: "You need to know there's a secret or else there wouldn't be a point to life would there? Everything would only be as it is with no point."

Me, who has been reading this book trying to find out what The Plan is: Hey wait a minute.