Queer characters are a given with Neon Hemlock, but the aesthetic leans toward vivid worldbuilding rather than the style of worldbuilding that explains all the details. (The constraint of novella length might affect things here.) Consider:

• Premee Mohamed's And What Can We Offer You Tonight, which is about friendship between sex workers and questions of revenge. If you're curious about Mohamed's writing but in the mood for something cozier, try her Strange Horizons short By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars, about a wizard dealing with burnout.
  
• Iori Kusano's Hybrid Heart, which is a near-future domestic story about an idol (in the musical act sense) struggling with the constraints of her role. (Content warning for disordered eating on this one.)
  

The Transitive Properties of Cheese is heavy on interrogating tropes of the genre; Dragonfly Gambit has a compelling character voice and a propulsive plot, but though there's no good romance there might be too much hate sex for this brief.