>> *could Shiv handle working through his intimacy issues with kink?*
Probably, and I would cite the poem above as a pretty good reference for it, since Dr. Bloch is dual acting as a Top here. <<
True. That dual function is why Shiv is so much more willing to mind Dr. Bloch, compared to how Shiv tends to ignore most people. Shiv has a subordinate mode, it just almost never appears because he only does it with people he respects, and there aren't many of those. But Top voice will bring it out, and Shiv is new to that, so it still startles him sometimes when he obeys without thinking about it. Which is adorable.
>> You have the socially recognized dynamic aspect of Medical Authority <<
One interesting thing is that Shiv doesn't share most of the "socially recognized" authority responses. He's had too many negative experiences. For him, medics are more suspicious than average people, not less. Dr. Bloch managed to surmount that enough to earn real respect, which is impressive.
Another interesting thing is that Shiv doesn't have a medical kink, he has a kink for sharp things, but they overlap enough that it works as a medical kink in some contexts. That's a subtle but important difference.
>> and the implicit and almost intangible but very real nature of the trust that Shiv is putting in Dr. Bloch not to poison him with unknown substances which he SAYS will be effective and will help Shiv (Which is what Nightingale or whatever her name was did and look how that turned out!) <<
Turtledove, and she really is trouble. She doesn't mean to be, but she is. She's terrible at taking care of soups and won't quit doing it.
This really is a tremendous amount of trust for Shiv, and he doesn't even know what it is. Part of it's just being charmed by the sharp things, but he's had enough adverse reactions to be very alert to the risks. So more of it is Shiv starting to hope that Dr. Bloch can actually fix some of the ways that his body bothers him.
>> and then you have the nature of the Top that says "I'm going to cause intentional discomfort not once, but SIX times, <<
Another fascinating thing about Shiv is that, like some masochists, pain doesn't feel to him quite the way it does to other people; and unlike most masochists, he doesn't need to be doing anything erotic to flip that particular switch in his head. It just depends on the type of pain, and to a lesser extent the context. He's more than capable of learning to extend this beyond what he can do now. I think the intentional aspect matters, too. Shiv likes knowing what's going on. That stack of anticipation pushes him deeper than just one round does.
>> and I'm going to cradle you through it and explain how we can work together to make the experience something not only pleasant but endorphin rush worthy" <<
Dr. Bloch is very good at that, both as a doctor and as a top. Shiv is starting to rely on it, which is probably more than he's leaned on anyone before. What he has with Boss White is intimate in its own way, but very different. I think there is a part of Shiv that's very hungry for being taken care of, but it's deeply buried; had to be, for survival's sake, since the people taking care of him in the past were damned unreliable.
>> and Shiv goes "GUSH" and even takes his shirt off and stays pretty relaxed throughout. <<
Ah, you caught that. Shiv is extremely body-shy. I can't think of him willingly taking his clothes of for anyone else, at least so far. Even if he's injured, he tends to pull fabric out of the way only as far as necessary. So for him to peel off even an outer layer like that is huge progress.
>> It would take a long while for him to get to the place where he had enough comfort level to build trust for a kink relationship to work on the sort of therapeutic level where Shiv could communicate what he needs, but it could be done if he wanted to do it. <<
That's true. The more I think about it, the more I suspect that he's demisexual. He's very slow to warm up to people.
>> and that's the real kicker, he'd have to want to do so. <<
I think, if it involved the kind of pain he likes, Shiv would go for it. Another lure would be the possibility of unrigging some of the triggers he has, which are no fun when tripped. So it's possible, as long as it's either his idea or comes from someone he already trusts. You couldn't push him into it, and he hasn't had much self-guided repair interest yet. But he might get there.
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dancing_serpent
Re: hmmm
Date: 2016-12-01 05:53 am (UTC)Probably, and I would cite the poem above as a pretty good reference for it, since Dr. Bloch is dual acting as a Top here. <<
True. That dual function is why Shiv is so much more willing to mind Dr. Bloch, compared to how Shiv tends to ignore most people. Shiv has a subordinate mode, it just almost never appears because he only does it with people he respects, and there aren't many of those. But Top voice will bring it out, and Shiv is new to that, so it still startles him sometimes when he obeys without thinking about it. Which is adorable.
>> You have the socially recognized dynamic aspect of Medical Authority <<
One interesting thing is that Shiv doesn't share most of the "socially recognized" authority responses. He's had too many negative experiences. For him, medics are more suspicious than average people, not less. Dr. Bloch managed to surmount that enough to earn real respect, which is impressive.
Another interesting thing is that Shiv doesn't have a medical kink, he has a kink for sharp things, but they overlap enough that it works as a medical kink in some contexts. That's a subtle but important difference.
>> and the implicit and almost intangible but very real nature of the trust that Shiv is putting in Dr. Bloch not to poison him with unknown substances which he SAYS will be effective and will help Shiv (Which is what Nightingale or whatever her name was did and look how that turned out!) <<
Turtledove, and she really is trouble. She doesn't mean to be, but she is. She's terrible at taking care of soups and won't quit doing it.
This really is a tremendous amount of trust for Shiv, and he doesn't even know what it is. Part of it's just being charmed by the sharp things, but he's had enough adverse reactions to be very alert to the risks. So more of it is Shiv starting to hope that Dr. Bloch can actually fix some of the ways that his body bothers him.
>> and then you have the nature of the Top that says "I'm going to cause intentional discomfort not once, but SIX times, <<
Another fascinating thing about Shiv is that, like some masochists, pain doesn't feel to him quite the way it does to other people; and unlike most masochists, he doesn't need to be doing anything erotic to flip that particular switch in his head. It just depends on the type of pain, and to a lesser extent the context. He's more than capable of learning to extend this beyond what he can do now. I think the intentional aspect matters, too. Shiv likes knowing what's going on. That stack of anticipation pushes him deeper than just one round does.
>> and I'm going to cradle you through it and explain how we can work together to make the experience something not only pleasant but endorphin rush worthy" <<
Dr. Bloch is very good at that, both as a doctor and as a top. Shiv is starting to rely on it, which is probably more than he's leaned on anyone before. What he has with Boss White is intimate in its own way, but very different. I think there is a part of Shiv that's very hungry for being taken care of, but it's deeply buried; had to be, for survival's sake, since the people taking care of him in the past were damned unreliable.
>> and Shiv goes "GUSH" and even takes his shirt off and stays pretty relaxed throughout. <<
Ah, you caught that. Shiv is extremely body-shy. I can't think of him willingly taking his clothes of for anyone else, at least so far. Even if he's injured, he tends to pull fabric out of the way only as far as necessary. So for him to peel off even an outer layer like that is huge progress.
>> It would take a long while for him to get to the place where he had enough comfort level to build trust for a kink relationship to work on the sort of therapeutic level where Shiv could communicate what he needs, but it could be done if he wanted to do it. <<
That's true. The more I think about it, the more I suspect that he's demisexual. He's very slow to warm up to people.
>> and that's the real kicker, he'd have to want to do so. <<
I think, if it involved the kind of pain he likes, Shiv would go for it. Another lure would be the possibility of unrigging some of the triggers he has, which are no fun when tripped. So it's possible, as long as it's either his idea or comes from someone he already trusts. You couldn't push him into it, and he hasn't had much self-guided repair interest yet. But he might get there.
:D