#power to yield

[aroaessidhe]

aro & ace books: sci-fi

see sci-fi set in space post here

Firebreak - dystopian, aroace MC

The Meister of Decimen City - superhero, bi ace MC

Cradle and Grave - postapoc/horror, aroace MC

Werecockroach - alien 'invasion' novella, aroace MC

The Art of Saving The World - multiverse, YA, questioning ace lesbian MC

The Butterfly Assassin - YA scifi-adjacent thriller, aroace MC, aro/aroace SCs

Bang Bang Bohdisattva - cyberpunk, 1/2 ace MCs

Blasted Research - alien planet, ace MC

Power To Yield - alien planet, 2 aroace MCs

Sal & Gabi Break The Universe - multiverse, MG, aro (ace coded) MC

Green Rising - climate fiction, aroace major character

Màgòdiz - postapoc scififantasy, 1/6 aroace MCs

Gods, Monsters, & the Lucky Peach - clifi/time travel, ace SC

Quicksilver - YA, ace MC

Hamlet, Prince of Robots - robot hamlet retelling, ace MC, aroace SC

Blood Like Magic - YA scififantasy, demiromantic SC

Sidekick Squad (Not Your Backup) - YA superhero, aroacespec MC

#aspec books / aspec database / tumblr masterpost

info included here is brief! please see my database for full details of the books

[theweeklydiscourse]

Alina’s reluctance to power didn’t make her humble or virtuous, it just made her cowardly. For Alina, rejecting power doesn’t mean rejecting corruption, it means rejecting a fundamental part of herself. It would have been good for Alina to accept responsibility and rise to the occasion as a hero and leader instead of remaining passive. Trying to generalize all forms of power as inherently corrupting ignores the context of Alina’s reluctance and frames her meekness and passivity as a good thing.

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Alan Ross- The Last Binding Trilogy by Freya Marske 

Tam Becket- Yield Under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Rowland

[sunsetsover]

looking back at kantbison's relationship and specifically kant's relationship with submission throughout the show after episode 8 has really put a lot of things into perspective for me.

bc like. it's complicated. i'm not gonna pretend that it's not. there's too much there in kant's character to ever really be able to isolate one thing he says or does before like. episode 6 or so. and be able to say 'this was exactly what he meant, this was his sole feeling and/or his sole motivation here' bc everything's far too intertwined to ever pick apart properly.

that said though. i always felt there was a sense of reluctance in kant when it came to giving bison power over him and specifically the bdsm thing. and i could never quite figure out bc i didn't particularly get the impression that he disliked it either but there was just something that was off about it that i could never quite put my finger on, but i think i've finally figured it out. and it's really not that surprising, bc as this show's gone on it's become increasingly clear that with kant all roads lead to the same place, and that's the issue of choice - or lack of choice, in kant's case.

submission was never really the issue i don't think. kant knows how to submit, is good at submitting - at the end of the day, isn't that what he does with christ? submit to his will, follow his orders? isn't he collared and chained to him? isn't he such a well behaved dog for him? kant knows very well how to submit. but the thing is is that it's not a willing act of submission where christ is concerned. kant submits because, like with pretty much every other facet of his life, he has no other choice. he behaves because he has to.

and then the next thing kant knows there's bison, outright telling him that he'd like him to submit. to let bison take charge and have kant bend to his will, to follow his every whim. and bison wasn't pushy about it - if anything it was the opposite. he was reluctant, assuring kant that it was fine, that he didn't have to, that actually maybe it was better that they didn't. he gives kant the choice. but it's not a real choice. kant's answer is already laid out for him.

and i think that's where the dissonance entered. you see hints of annoyance and frustration before then, but the much more subtle 'off' feeling that i felt started around then. and i think it's bc for all intents and purposes kant was already completely submitting to bison's will. he was already going along w whatever bison wanted bc he had to, bc he needed bison to trust him, bc saying no to anything thrown his way wasn't (and had never been) an option.

but ofc bison didn't know that. he just wanted to dom his boy. but i think he could also feel the reluctance and the confusion around it all. bc despite what he said and did to reassure bison that he was into it and wanted it too, kant was always subconsciously resisting. and as i said i think there's a lot in that too, it's not simply one thing - bison is a murderer at the end of the day, and dom/sub dynamics are supposed to be built primarily on trust, and kant didn't trust bison not to hurt him too much or go too far. it was also clearly a new thing to him considering he didn't even know what a safeword was. and it was maybe even some weird sense of loyalty to christ. you know what they say: you can't serve two masters. and kant already had one. he was already collared and chained, already submitting. and kant's current master had an awful lot of power over him. he knew what kind of punishment awaited him if he disobeyed.

but above all else kant knew he couldn't really say no. and he hated that.

and so we're back to choice again. the one thing kant has never had. here he is getting forced into submission again - not by bison, but by circumstance. and so no matter what he says or does or how into it he really does seem, there's always this subtle reluctance that rolls off of him. there's always just something off about it all. (which, thinking about, may have been one of the reasons why so many people were turned off by kantbison, bc there was just something not quite right in the vibes, but i digress)

but obviously things change. kant accidentally falls in love with bison, despite his best intentions. and, maybe even more importantly, bison falls in love with kant. and that love changes bison - bison, who needed power so desperately when they first met that he turned nearly every interaction they had into a game of tug of war. bison who, despite not necessarily needing kant's submission, would also never ever give in to kant's will, not even a little. but that same bison falls for kant, and he begins to yield. starts to let himself just be, and by extension let kant just be too. bison begins to settle, become a little docile. he lays on kant's chest and kisses his feet. he rolls onto his back and lets kant loom big and dominating over him, despite how desperate he once was for power. and kant is clever, he knows that's what bison wanted. that's why he gave into him all the time. but by letting kant maintain some of the power in their relationship without a fight, he's basically telling kant i would like you to submit to me, but i don't need it. i just want you. and kant hears that. and that changes things. because without knowing it or even really meaning to, he's given kant a choice.

and we all know what kant chooses.

and to be clear, for the most part i think this is all happening on a subconscious level without either really realising it or thinking about what's happening. but the choice is conscious. it's his. and kant chooses the master that gives him the option to choose. that choice changes everything for kant. everything. it recalibrates his whole world view, his whole life. and the minute he chooses (chooses!) bison, he submits himself to him wholeheartedly. he puts the collar on himself.

but we don't get the reality of what that means until ep 8 bc of yknow. all the stabbing and kidnapping and manipulation and retraumatisation and scheming such. but then we do see it. and we see just how deep it goes for kant, that ease of submission, and his desire for it. how he doesn't run despite having many, many opportunities to do so. how he doesn't eat even when bison's nowhere to be found and he has freshly cooked food in his hands bc bison hasn't said he can. how he doesn't untie himself despite being able to bc bison tied him up for a reason. and sure, all of that is love too, and it's also playing nice bc he desperately wants bison's forgiveness. but this is all also an active form of submission, the same way a dog submits to their owner when they say sit, down, stay, wait. a good dog doesn't eat until it's given permission. and ultimately doesn't the fact that kant safewords tell us exactly what kind of state of mind he's in? what he thinks about their situation and their relationship? (and i won't go over it bc i've already talked about in length here but the act of safewording truly said so, so much)

and yknow, thinking about it really it shouldn't even be surprising bc we were literally shown who kant was back when they first met. and what did he do? went when bison said to go, came when bison said to come back. bison said you're not doing this alone and kant sat still and let bison ride him to his heart's content. it was very subtle, but he really was submitting to bison in little ways all the way back then! the signs were there!

and the beautiful thing about it to me is that in episode 8 there is not a single moment of dissonance between kant and bison. there's no more weird vibes. there's just kant and the first choice he's ever got to make. kant and his chosen master. kant and the hand at the end of his leash. kant and bison.

[adhd-merlin]

very interesting that kilgharrah didn't actually tell merlin that mordred would kill arthur... merlin literally jumped to that conclusion himself

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2025: Spring Haul!

My birthday and indie bookstore day are, like, super close to one another, which I LOVE because it means I get So Many Indie Day Deliveries Right Around My Birthday!! Behold: This Year's Stack, featuring purchases and gifts alike!

[bigboysdrinkmilk]

The way I feel completely Butlerian about people using chatGPT to write the simplest of fucking things

[soullessseraphim]

I am spiritually convinced they can fucking slay any kind of fashion event they want and they just... Choose not to-

BONUS ! :D

I just wanted to put them in that funky bandage thing leeloo (liloo?) wears in the 5th element because like............. Because.

It's their pajama now /hj.

[aroaessidhe]

2025 reads / storygraph

Power To Yield

sci-fi/fantasy novella

a student doing a research project looks into a figure instrumental in building their new independent society, and becomes fascinated with him

when she meets him and learns more about the consensual ritual torture he engages in, which is necessary (though ethically complicated) due to the magic planet they live on

both are aroace and neurodivergent

free online (in audio too), also now published in an anthology (which is the cover I’m using here - I haven’t read the full anthology yet)

[lichqueenlibrarian]

I am going to be staring off into space for the foreseeable future while I process Yield Under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Rowland.

[olympe-draws]

their relationship would be soooo demented huh?

[rat-detector]

Is my son a rat?

Some sort of imperial fist successor…tech marine…

I’m sorry but a Son of Dorn could never be a rat. Those guys are all work and no play.

…

I cannot add the rat image due to the images in the ask.

This is a strange situation.

Your son has fortified so much I cannot detect or not detect him officially. Dorn would be Proud.

[weweantica]

the season of soft harvests

[theinwardlight]

The greatest thing we as Friends have to offer our fellow men is our revelation of a living Christ. We express this in many ways in our lives, but perhaps the most vital way of all has been and is, in our relationships with our fellow men. We have found release through some. We have found that personal service has cut through difficulties, hatred and fear, and brought solutions to apparently intractable problems and has brought love and peace. But it is not sufficient that we ourselves have found the Way, and it is NOT sufficient to do the ‘good works’ and hope our achievements will inspire others likewise. Our inspiration is from Christ... If He is not with us, then the actions we do are without life and bring neither the peace nor the love in the doing... from my own experience how in doubt or failure there is so often a sense of ‘going it alone’ and a determination to do better, to lift oneself out of a sense of guilt. But the need is so often not one of trying, but one of trusting Him – the opening and letting in of Divine love, the trust that leads to revealing truth and can accept God’s forgiveness just because we cannot forgive or trust ourselves. Let our lives speak, but do they speak above a whisper?

Robert T. Pearl, Southern Africa Yearly Meeting, 1962-3

[rayroseu-reblogs]

SILVER ARMOR OF DAWN OHHMYGODDDDGHWHFJWJDHESGHWHWS

knightof dawn knight of dawn kn8ght of dawn ce caome come back KNIGHT OF DAWN COMEBACKKK OHHH I CAN FEEL UT ALREADYFYEYYRUE

YOU ARE AS BEAUTIFUL AS THE DAY I LOST YOU !!!!!!!!

YOU CANT SEE ME BUT IM ALREADY RATTLING THE IRON BARS OF HIS ENCLOSURE SET HIM FREE TWST WJHRJWJE I WANT MY DAWN KNIGHT NEOWWWWWW

[acourtofquestions]

He had to have imagined it.

He scanned the starry sky, the slumbering lands beyond, the Lord of the North above.

It hit him a heartbeat later. Erupted around him and roared.

Over and over and over, as if it were a hammer against an anvil.

The others whirled to him.

That raging, fiery song charged closer.

Through him.

Down the mating bond. Down into his very soul.

A bellow of fury and defiance.

It was impossible, utterly impossible, and yet—

It filled him with sound, with fire and light.

As if it screamed, again and again,

I am alive,

I am alive,

I am alive.

And then silence. Like it had been cut off.

Extinguished.

He refused to think of why.

The mating bond remained. Stretched taut, but it remained So he sent the words along it, with as much hope and fury and unrelenting love as he had felt from her.

I will find you.

There was no answer. Nothing but humming darkness and the Lord of the North glistening above, pointing the way north. To her.