Archived fic rec - Strength You Need

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: Strength You Need

Author: storiesfortravellers

Fandom: Avengers / MCU

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Clint/Coulson

Warnings: explicit sex (gay), BDSM, rough sex, angst, consent issues

Other notes: kink meme fill

Length: 5k

Summary: For the prompt at Avengerkink: Clint thinks a safeword will make him look weak and so he refuses to ever use it.

 

 

And I’m back to BDSM fic somehow.

I’m pretty sure I’ve given the consent issues lecture before, as well as the BDSM isn’t about actually hurting your partner lecture.

Still, this is such an excellent illustration both of safe BDSM practice–via Coulson–and unsafe expectations–via Clint. I like how the fic gets into how an unsafe relationship hurts both parties. Clint isn’t getting what he wants, because he can’t differentiate between using pain to deal with his issues and using pain because it’s the only thing he knows how to use. Coulson isn’t getting what he wants, because Clint is pushing him to actually hurt him.

It’s actually fascinating to see a fic where the issues don’t come out of ignorance of safe practices. Coulson is straight up doing everything he can to make everything perfectly consensual. But if your partner doesn’t tell you anything is wrong, what can you really do, except stop everything completely?

I also like that the ultimate “breaking” of Clint comes, not from sex or from pain, but from talking. I’ve seen a lot of the former two, but this was a nice change. I also think the author managed one of the best images of festering resentment I’ve read recently. The scene where Clint pushes himself through the increasingly-painful caning, mixing up his own twisted pride with his irrational anger at Coulson for not stopping, despite his own repeated requests to Coulson to do exactly that, is such a perfect rendition of the feelings someone might experience during everyday life. I can’t be the only person who empathizes with that sort of helpless, impotent anger you get when you can’t quite tell someone outright what you want, yet you still expect them to know? It’s terribly selfish, but it happens so often.

There’s actually another fic on this topic that comes to mind. Sorry, more BDSM tomorrow.

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Originally posted on tumblr on 12/15/12