Books and books and books. Because Ancilla takes book porn to a whole new level...
A shy librarian, and a college student who was forced to drop out after being disowned for refusing to undergo conversion therapy, meet in a bookstore. Upon discovering that he is a magus who has certain sexual kinks, she asks to apprentice herself to him both in magick and in sexual arts, including the art of sexual domination.
(Author: Sera Maddox Drake).
Ancilla contains examples of:
- Aggressive Submissive - Massively zigzagged. The protagonist makes the first move on "Magister." And the second. And the third... After their relationship is established, though, she's less aggressive... but she's mostly not submissive. She's a switch who mostly leans dominant... except when she doesn't...
- AM/FM Characterization - "Magister" and the protagonist listen to classical music, including opera. It's implied that this is another way that they're both very cerebral.
- Badass Bookworm - Skill with canes, crops, and blades aside, "Magister" also lets it drop that he's studied martial arts. Given his familiarity with pressure points and his doing kata every day, the implication is that he's skilled at the martial arts he's studied.
- Casual Kink - Downplayed. The protagonist is not casual about her kink, nor is "Magister." They're also not open about it, at least not until the protagonist accidentally talks about her welts in the middle of a gaming session and outs the nature of the relationship to everybody playing the campaign. Once the gaming party knows, though, everyone in the party is perfectly okay with it.
- Coming of Age Story - The protagonist's fall from grace is how she winds up on a path of self-discovery.
- Conveniently Common Kink - How likely is it that a couple of BDSM edge players will just bump into each other in a mall bookstore in a small, conservative city in Ohio, anyway?
- Cunning Linguist - "Magister." Greek, Latin, French, Double Entendre, Egyptian...
- Depraved Bisexual - Defied. The protagonist is bi, and complains bitterly about how neither mainstream heteronormative types not members of the lesbian community take her sexual orientation seriously. Also about how the lesbian community in particular unfairly considers bisexual women to all be heartbreakers.
- Hermetic Magic - The plot is structured on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, and the protagonist is being mentored on a Left Hand Path approach to enlightenment. Her esoteric study includes the study of Thelema and other ceremonial magic systems, and sympathetic magic (especially the use of the four elements) plays an important role in the plot.
- If It's You, It's Okay - An odd example of this, since this trope usually has to do with nominally homosexual characters hooking up with people of the opposite sex, nominally straight characters hooking up with people of their own gender, etc. In "Magister's" case, he's a demisexual who's almost exclusively dominant, except when he's in the hands of the protagonist. This does not extend to sensation play, however - he can submit, but he doesn't have a masochistic bone in his body, and this is one of the reasons why the two of them don't work out. He doesn't want to share the protagonist with another person, not even someone who she could play harder with.
- I Just Want to Have Friends - Type B. The protagonist, although it takes her a little while to figure this out.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy - The reason things do not end happily for "Magister" and the protagonist at the end of the book. The protagonist has needs that can't be met unless the relationship is opened up, but "Magister" is monogamous and doesn't know how to cope with being jealous. He's also worried about swallowing her up and stifling her when she needs to grow.
- Lover and Beloved - Reconstructed and Gender Inverted. "Magister" and the protagonist are both well-versed in the classics, and at one point in the story, the protagonist sees a picture of a calyx krater showing "Erastes and eromenos" and realizes that when "Magister" calls her "eromene," he's calling her "beloved." At which point her pet name for him is "Erastes." There is also an obvious age gap, and the initial reason for the relationship is one of mentoring. However, "Magister" and the protagonist are a male-female couple, while the classic trope is male-male only.
- Magic Is Mental - The protagonist's training is harsh to help her learn how to better focus her mind so that she can direct her power.
- May–December Romance - "Magister" is in his forties for the duration of the story - twenty years older than the protagonist.
- Meet Cute - In a bookstore. And then a second time in the downtown public library.
- Merlin and Nimue - The protagonist being Nimue to "Magister's" Merlin.
- Nameless Narrative - The protagonist never tells us her name, although "Magister" sometimes calls her "ancilla" (servant, assistant, subordinate) and sometimes calls her "eromene" (beloved). None of the other characters have names, either, except for temporary nicknames that are determined by the character's function. For instance, "Magister" is called such when he is in his role as tutor and guide, but the protagonist eventually starts calling him "Erastes" because he becomes more of a lover than a tutor.
- Nerds Love Tough Schoolwork - The protagonist actually thinks the insanely rigorous Oxford-style tutorials "Magister" gives her to intellectually challenge her are one of the most romantic presents he could possibly give her.
- Neurodiversity Is Supernatural - Both the protagonist and "Magister" experience sensory overload, which in the protagonist's case includes synesthesia. The protagonist speculates that this may be linked somehow to their ability to perceive and work with energy.
- Our Vampires Are Different - "Magister" and the protagonist are vampires. They are not immortal. They are not undead. "Magister" drinks blood, but he doesn't have fangs - he has to use blades or other sharp devices to get the blood. He also feeds more on energy/life force and on breath than he does on blood. And oh, boy, do the two vampires suffer when they cut themselves off from their supply.
- Protagonist Title - The term the protagonist and "Magister" agree on to define her function for the duration of her apprenticeship is "ancilla."
- Safe, Sane, and Consensual - More like Risk Aware Consensual Kink. The power exchange in this relationship is not very extreme, but some of the play gets a little edgy...
- Smart People Know Latin - And Homeric Greek. And sometimes even speak it. Conversationally.
- Smart People Play Chess - The protagonist's father was training her to be a chess master. Then she turned six and discovered Barbie dolls.
- Socially Awkward Hero - The protagonist is neurodivergent and not much of a people person. "Magister" is neurodivergent, and is even more painfully awkward than the protagonist is. "Lydia" is awkward. It's safe to assume that any character who is important enough to the plot to get a use-name is socially awkward, and probably somewhere on the autistic spectrum or otherwise neurodivergent.
- Star-Crossed Lovers - The protagonist and "Magister." There is much discussion of Plato in this book, and there's an implication that the protagonist and "Magister" are soulmates in the Platonic sense. Sucks to be them.
- Teacher/Student Romance - For most of the book, the protagonist's dom is called "Magister" because he's teaching her sex skills, esoteric philosophy, and magic. "Magister" is Latin for "Teacher." When he runs out of things to teach her, and when their relationship is strictly a romantic one, his use-name becomes "Erastes," which means "Lover" in Homeric Greek.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods - Implied. Well, not the sex god part. What's implied is that the sex gods in question are vampires.
