Meta: Nimona
Mar. 1st, 2025 11:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fem_thoughtsThis is spliced together from several of my posts about Nimona.
Why I Love Nimona
I love Nimona.
I love the fact that she's a polymorph who can take any shape. She uses them all with fluid grace and great effect in combat.
I love the fact that she refuses to define herself as more than "Nimona." She won't try to be anything else but what she is. She just wishes other people would accept her for who she really is.
I love how casually destructive and violent she is, especially when it comes to tearing down symbols of the corrupt social order. And she breaks a few things in Ballister that he frankly needs broken. We could use someone like that in local-Earth.
I love how she is wild and fierce and free, a forest spirit even in the city. She brings a breath of fresh air everywhere she goes.
It's not so much one scene as one character, one aspect of Nimona -- that she's chaos incarnate. The trailer really captures that sense; this movie is so, so queer in all the best ways. That's Nimona for you. At least with her, life is never boring.
I grok that.
Video Clips
My favorite canon is Nimona, because out of all characters, she is the most uniquely herself. And so my two favorite scenes are ones that hinge on that...
The Great Escape
But I'm Not a Girl
If you're a shapeshifter, or have to keep explaining that you're not a girl (or whatever) and asking people not to freak out because you exist, or you're some other kind of freak ... this is the movie for you.
A Primer
Seems like we all spend a considerable chunk of our fandom time trying to convince loved ones, friends and total randos alike that our blorbo is in fact the best. This can take shape of anything from watch parties/read-alongs to capslock squee in DMs to relentless gifsets to PhD dissertations.
One of my favourite forms of this is the "fandom manifesto" or "fandom primer," wherein one writes up an outline of what their blorbo is, why it's great, and links to where one can find more (with more or less detail and formality, depending on the venue).
The Canon
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson began as a webcomic, now archived here. You can read that for free.
Then it became a graphic novel, available in various formats:
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (Author)
Hardcover $11.39
Paperback $18.04
Kindle $14.99
Available instantly
Audiobook $0.99
with membership
Finally it became a movie on Netflix.
Watch Nimona on Netflix Official Site
Includes 2 teasers, 1 trailer, details about the show, and signup information for the service.
Overview
... is pretty much all spoilers.
In this science fantasy, the kingdom is surrounded by a high wall and guarded from monsters by the Institute for Elite Knights, established a thousand years ago by the legendary hera Gloreth. Queen Valerin wants to change tradition so that anyone can be a hero. As the first commoner to become a knight, she chooses Ballister Boldheart. During his knighting ceremony, a laser mysteriously emerges from Ballister's sword to kill the queen. Another knight and Ballister's boyfriend, Ambrosius Goldenloin, disarms Ballister by cutting off his right arm. The panicked Ballister flees the scene.
Ballister goes into hiding and builds a prosthetic arm for himself. A young outcast, Nimona, approaches him wanting to become his sidekick. Ballister resists, but Nimona clings to him anyway, and winds up rescuing him from various predicaments. His quest to clear his name uproots his entire worldview piece by piece, and the kingdom with it.
Diversity, Intersectionality, and Representation
This canon is primarily about diversity, inclusion and exclusion, social stigma, and relationships. So it shows a lot of things that usually get swept under the rug, because you can't sweep a giant rampaging dragon under the rug. The main characters have overlapping, interlocking traits ... which again, include lots of spoilers.
Ballister Boldheart -- orphan, commoner, gay, acquired disability, fugitive, homeless, depression
Nimona -- nonhuman, shapeshifter, genderqueer, neurodiverse, either immortal or very long-lived, abandonment issues, homeless, depression with suicidal ideation (possibly manic-depressive due to high energy at other times)
If you count mental illness as a type of disability, then this also passes the Fries Test.
Further Resources
* Ballister & Nimona on Shipping Wiki
Relationship analysis.
* I'm Fine I'm Fine by ND Stevenson
-- Nimona
Illustrated essay.
-- Nimona (the comic): a deep dive
Art with discussion.
* Nimona Archive
The webcomic.
* The Nimona Fan Blog on Tumblr
A blog for fans of the webcomic-turned-graphic novel Nimona, by Noelle.
Mostly art and a little discussion.
* Nimona Fan Forum
Mostly focused on art and discussion.
* Nimona(Netflix)fans
This group is for fans of the netflix movie Nimona based on ND Stevenson's graphic novel of the same name.
Mostly art.
* Nimona Stories on Quotev
* Nimona Stories on Wattpad
Fanfiction.
* Nimona Wiki
Meta about the canon, characters, formats, etc.
More Like This
* 8 Graphic Novels like NIMONA with Murder Teens and Queer Pining
* 20 Best Animated Movies Like Nimona
* Books like Nimona: 51 fan favorites
Recommendations.
* Books Like Nimona: Our Recommended Books
* Movies like Nimona
* Nimona Similar Movies
* Readers who enjoyed Nimona also enjoyed
My Other Primers
Wednesday TV Series (The Addams Family) Overview
Meta: "Why I Love Wednesday Addams" Part 1: Introduction
Meta: "Why We Need Thing" Part 1: Overview
.
Why I Love Nimona
I love Nimona.
I love the fact that she's a polymorph who can take any shape. She uses them all with fluid grace and great effect in combat.
I love the fact that she refuses to define herself as more than "Nimona." She won't try to be anything else but what she is. She just wishes other people would accept her for who she really is.
I love how casually destructive and violent she is, especially when it comes to tearing down symbols of the corrupt social order. And she breaks a few things in Ballister that he frankly needs broken. We could use someone like that in local-Earth.
I love how she is wild and fierce and free, a forest spirit even in the city. She brings a breath of fresh air everywhere she goes.
It's not so much one scene as one character, one aspect of Nimona -- that she's chaos incarnate. The trailer really captures that sense; this movie is so, so queer in all the best ways. That's Nimona for you. At least with her, life is never boring.
I grok that.
Video Clips
My favorite canon is Nimona, because out of all characters, she is the most uniquely herself. And so my two favorite scenes are ones that hinge on that...
The Great Escape
But I'm Not a Girl
If you're a shapeshifter, or have to keep explaining that you're not a girl (or whatever) and asking people not to freak out because you exist, or you're some other kind of freak ... this is the movie for you.
A Primer
Seems like we all spend a considerable chunk of our fandom time trying to convince loved ones, friends and total randos alike that our blorbo is in fact the best. This can take shape of anything from watch parties/read-alongs to capslock squee in DMs to relentless gifsets to PhD dissertations.
One of my favourite forms of this is the "fandom manifesto" or "fandom primer," wherein one writes up an outline of what their blorbo is, why it's great, and links to where one can find more (with more or less detail and formality, depending on the venue).
The Canon
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson began as a webcomic, now archived here. You can read that for free.
Then it became a graphic novel, available in various formats:
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (Author)
Hardcover $11.39
Paperback $18.04
Kindle $14.99
Available instantly
Audiobook $0.99
with membership
Finally it became a movie on Netflix.
Watch Nimona on Netflix Official Site
Includes 2 teasers, 1 trailer, details about the show, and signup information for the service.
Overview
... is pretty much all spoilers.
In this science fantasy, the kingdom is surrounded by a high wall and guarded from monsters by the Institute for Elite Knights, established a thousand years ago by the legendary hera Gloreth. Queen Valerin wants to change tradition so that anyone can be a hero. As the first commoner to become a knight, she chooses Ballister Boldheart. During his knighting ceremony, a laser mysteriously emerges from Ballister's sword to kill the queen. Another knight and Ballister's boyfriend, Ambrosius Goldenloin, disarms Ballister by cutting off his right arm. The panicked Ballister flees the scene.
Ballister goes into hiding and builds a prosthetic arm for himself. A young outcast, Nimona, approaches him wanting to become his sidekick. Ballister resists, but Nimona clings to him anyway, and winds up rescuing him from various predicaments. His quest to clear his name uproots his entire worldview piece by piece, and the kingdom with it.
Diversity, Intersectionality, and Representation
This canon is primarily about diversity, inclusion and exclusion, social stigma, and relationships. So it shows a lot of things that usually get swept under the rug, because you can't sweep a giant rampaging dragon under the rug. The main characters have overlapping, interlocking traits ... which again, include lots of spoilers.
Ballister Boldheart -- orphan, commoner, gay, acquired disability, fugitive, homeless, depression
Nimona -- nonhuman, shapeshifter, genderqueer, neurodiverse, either immortal or very long-lived, abandonment issues, homeless, depression with suicidal ideation (possibly manic-depressive due to high energy at other times)
If you count mental illness as a type of disability, then this also passes the Fries Test.
Further Resources
* Ballister & Nimona on Shipping Wiki
Relationship analysis.
* I'm Fine I'm Fine by ND Stevenson
-- Nimona
Illustrated essay.
-- Nimona (the comic): a deep dive
Art with discussion.
* Nimona Archive
The webcomic.
* The Nimona Fan Blog on Tumblr
A blog for fans of the webcomic-turned-graphic novel Nimona, by Noelle.
Mostly art and a little discussion.
* Nimona Fan Forum
Mostly focused on art and discussion.
* Nimona(Netflix)fans
This group is for fans of the netflix movie Nimona based on ND Stevenson's graphic novel of the same name.
Mostly art.
* Nimona Stories on Quotev
* Nimona Stories on Wattpad
Fanfiction.
* Nimona Wiki
Meta about the canon, characters, formats, etc.
More Like This
* 8 Graphic Novels like NIMONA with Murder Teens and Queer Pining
* 20 Best Animated Movies Like Nimona
* Books like Nimona: 51 fan favorites
Recommendations.
* Books Like Nimona: Our Recommended Books
* Movies like Nimona
* Nimona Similar Movies
* Readers who enjoyed Nimona also enjoyed
My Other Primers
Wednesday TV Series (The Addams Family) Overview
Meta: "Why I Love Wednesday Addams" Part 1: Introduction
Meta: "Why We Need Thing" Part 1: Overview
.
