Favorite fics #4: needs must
Mar. 30th, 2020 06:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
goseawardFourth in my series of all-time recs: needs must by thatotherperv. Suits, Harvey/Mike, 99k.
Ugh. I just love this fic SO MUCH. I mean, that's the whole point of this series, but really...it's so good. You don't need to have seen the show to appreciate it, although a couple of events get glossed over assuming you'll fill in from the show's plot. The only one that borders on confusing is a mock trial, but even then you can get the gist without canonical knowledge--or at least I did, as a first-time reader who'd never seen the show, back when I first read it.
The basic premise is that one of Mike's part-time gigs is working as a paid submissive (through an agency run by Louis). To get the money he needs for his Gran's care, he agrees to a job he's turned down before: long-term, exclusive submission to a guy he's never met. Of course, the dom in question is Harvey. Also of course, they're wildly suited to each other; also of course, Harvey eventually notices that Mike's a brilliant guy, and helps him start on a basically above-board legal career (above-board except for the fact that Harvey's patronage is because they're fucking).
This fic takes seriously the fact that Harvey and Mike don't really know each other when they first meet, and Mike in particular doesn't have a lot of reason to trust Harvey. Watching their relationship develop is a real joy: you get to see affection and trust build and barriers fall away. The kink is part of it, too. They both benefit from that aspect of the relationship and it's an essential part of their connection. When I think of good examples of kinky things also being hella romantic, I think a lot about this fic. While Mike has been a paid submissive for a while in this fic's universe, he hasn't really realized that it's something he's into personally, so it's also Mike's Journey of Submissive Discovery. And there is some discussion of what Harvey likes about domming too--one particular conversation, about why he likes having a sub at home even though he orders people around professionally, is one of my favorites in the story. (And in general I appreciate that the story treats dominance and submission on an equal footing as kinks--none of the stuff you sometimes see where dominance doesn't need explanation but submission does.) The story is also really good about exploring Mike's agency and Mike's decisions separate from, but not in ignorance of, his submissiveness.
Have I mentioned that the sex scenes are really hot? Because, uh, they're...REALLY hot. And there are a lot of them, particularly at the beginning of the fic.
Not everything about the fic is happy-go-lucky--in fact, a lot of it isn't. Mike is undergoing a lot of personal growth and sometimes that is difficult. Harvey has his own difficulties and doesn't like sharing them with Mike. There are some things about the backstory you learn later that are unsavory (not on Mike or Harvey's part). But the bulk of a story is just two people growing--growing as individuals, growing closer with some necessary bumps big and small--and that's the focus of the fic, since most of the wordcount is really just devoted to letting that story develop at a believable pace. There's some plot stuff here, but it's almost all character work, and regardless of the bumps along the way, I always come away from it feeling really happy overall. I don't have a precise count of how many times I've read this, but it's certainly near the top of my list of rereads, because if anything it gets better over time.
Ugh. I just love this fic SO MUCH. I mean, that's the whole point of this series, but really...it's so good. You don't need to have seen the show to appreciate it, although a couple of events get glossed over assuming you'll fill in from the show's plot. The only one that borders on confusing is a mock trial, but even then you can get the gist without canonical knowledge--or at least I did, as a first-time reader who'd never seen the show, back when I first read it.
The basic premise is that one of Mike's part-time gigs is working as a paid submissive (through an agency run by Louis). To get the money he needs for his Gran's care, he agrees to a job he's turned down before: long-term, exclusive submission to a guy he's never met. Of course, the dom in question is Harvey. Also of course, they're wildly suited to each other; also of course, Harvey eventually notices that Mike's a brilliant guy, and helps him start on a basically above-board legal career (above-board except for the fact that Harvey's patronage is because they're fucking).
This fic takes seriously the fact that Harvey and Mike don't really know each other when they first meet, and Mike in particular doesn't have a lot of reason to trust Harvey. Watching their relationship develop is a real joy: you get to see affection and trust build and barriers fall away. The kink is part of it, too. They both benefit from that aspect of the relationship and it's an essential part of their connection. When I think of good examples of kinky things also being hella romantic, I think a lot about this fic. While Mike has been a paid submissive for a while in this fic's universe, he hasn't really realized that it's something he's into personally, so it's also Mike's Journey of Submissive Discovery. And there is some discussion of what Harvey likes about domming too--one particular conversation, about why he likes having a sub at home even though he orders people around professionally, is one of my favorites in the story. (And in general I appreciate that the story treats dominance and submission on an equal footing as kinks--none of the stuff you sometimes see where dominance doesn't need explanation but submission does.) The story is also really good about exploring Mike's agency and Mike's decisions separate from, but not in ignorance of, his submissiveness.
Have I mentioned that the sex scenes are really hot? Because, uh, they're...REALLY hot. And there are a lot of them, particularly at the beginning of the fic.
Not everything about the fic is happy-go-lucky--in fact, a lot of it isn't. Mike is undergoing a lot of personal growth and sometimes that is difficult. Harvey has his own difficulties and doesn't like sharing them with Mike. There are some things about the backstory you learn later that are unsavory (not on Mike or Harvey's part). But the bulk of a story is just two people growing--growing as individuals, growing closer with some necessary bumps big and small--and that's the focus of the fic, since most of the wordcount is really just devoted to letting that story develop at a believable pace. There's some plot stuff here, but it's almost all character work, and regardless of the bumps along the way, I always come away from it feeling really happy overall. I don't have a precise count of how many times I've read this, but it's certainly near the top of my list of rereads, because if anything it gets better over time.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-30 11:38 pm (UTC)