Something I really love about A Day of Fallen Night specifically, that we donāt get in a lot of queer fantasy, is that we get a sense for some of the characters that their queerness is innately important to them.
Donāt get me wrong, I do love the idea of a society where nobody blinks at two women falling in love, or the classic āwhat if you were my sisterās widower and I married you and we raised your children as ours (and we were both boys?)ā, or the way Master Kipron is immediately accepted without question by the gang- who were expecting a woman.I absolutely adore how much queerness is woven into the fabric of the world to the point that bisexuality is the social norm- as it is in The Locked Tomb, and several other queer fantasy books. Queerphobia is not a part of any society in these worlds and thatās absolutely wonderful- 10/10. But as someone whoās identity as a queer person is so close to my own heart and so entangled in my identity- itās sometimes a little bit alienating that characters donāt see any difference at all between marrying a man or marrying a woman or falling in love with a non binary individual. I get why- often, the importance of these identities is moulded by a community in the face of prejudice, so in a world without such prejudice, why would the distinction matter? But it can sometimes feel a bit like āeveryone is allowed to be bisexual, so everyone isā (This is not a bad thing, necessarily, but I sometimes think it can lose nuance- for instance the fact that their often referred to asāthe lesbian dragon booksā when Sabran at least is bisexual)
Which is why I ADORE that we have characters in ADOFN that care? I love that both Demaie and Tunova get to have little moments where theyāre like āactually, I only like womenā. Wulf is a hopeless bisexual who doesnāt realise heās in love with his best friend, nor that the feeling is mutual- and that the first time he has feelings for Thrit heās like āwtf are these???ā despite the fact that heās got two dads, at least one of whom is bi. I love the fact that Glorian is aroace and how much that means to her, and how heavily it influences the tragedy of her arc. And I love that some characters do fall into the category of not caring about who they are- because thatās real as well
Idk itās a little thing but it means a lot and I just adore these books
gummygunk
jbbartram-illu
theartofmadeline
2087
dededos
yousharknotpass