"Simple, Not Easy" 9/18, Rated R to NC-17

[taraljc]

Title: Simple, Not Easy
Fandom: Thor (2011), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: R to NC-17
Pairings: Darcy/Clint, Loki/Sif, Natasha/Coulson
Summary: Darcy should have seen it coming. She couldn't hang around the spandex crowd forever and not end up with a great big target painted on her back eventually. She was just surprised it took Loki so long.

Comments

[daisybalance]

*iz b-muzeded* Oh, Tony.

Is it weird that I couldn't quite figure why you used the tag "crackfic" until I added [baby sloth] + [Loki's campaign to have more Facebook friends than Thor]...?

Of course then I collapsed in a fit of giggles.

Loving the tone you've got goin'!

[taraljc]

For me, crackfic is usually about how a story takes shape more than anything else. I thought of this as "crackfic" from the start, because the premise--Loki kidnaps Darcy by mistake and they bond over being adopted--is cracky as hell. Then (with a lot of cheerleading from boosette and celli) I dove in headfirst and wrote pretty solidly for 3 months solid, without an outline, or much of a plan, beyond following the premise through as best I could. Sure, it gets hella serious. Sure, it's actually got a plot and character arcs and shit. But in my head, it's still crackfic :) It was DEFINITELY cracky, as I shared snippets of the WIP under flock, because it had been a long time since I had amusing banter to share with folks that cracked my ass up as I was writing.

It's a thing I do sometimes, mixing hilarious absurd banter and plot twists with realistic, grounded characters. I can't help it when things grow a plot. I just keep glorying in the high I get from writing.

Re:

[daisybalance]

mixing hilarious absurd banter and plot twists with realistic, grounded characters.

*Love* this sentiment -- and it is definitely what you've managed to do.

I recently read a remark to the effect that sometimes we get wound up about how 'plain' or 'silly' dialogue seems on the page, because people, particularly writers, forget that these are the conversations we have in real life - especially the 'plain' ones and the 'silly' ones. Strip away the heightened powers, etc., and your characters are real people having real conversations about (slightly fantastic) stuff that happens in real life. :-)

(I can't remember specifically who or where, but I am pretty sure it's not that unusual, so I don't feel completely terrible in paraphrasing and failing to attribute.)

I can't help it when things grow a plot.

My favorite part of *your* remark is the idea that the plot just happened, much like life.

Can't say enough good things about you and this story!!

Re:

[taraljc]

I think what makes fiction work isn't that it's like real life (because it genuinely isn't--in a story, everything is constructed and carefully planned and executed. Everything happens for a reason, either to further the plot or develop a character or--ideally--both) but that it convinces the reader it's realistic. And for me that has to do with characters making choices based on who they are at their core, and making sure what they say and what they do and how they grow and change feels organic and most of all, inevitable. That stuff happens the way it happens because of who these people are. So that's the goal I'm always reaching for, when I write.

It's all artifice. It's all puppets on strings. But if I do it right, then you don't see the strings or the puppeteer. You believe the puppets are alive.

[skippy_peanuts]

haha nice! I loved Clint's reaction when she came down the stairs! brilliant!

Once again, a great chapter! I cannot wait to see what's going to happen next. :0)

[taraljc]

In my head, Clint is definitely a boob man. His brain just kinda short circuits when he sees Darcy in this dress (only in blue satin):

[taraljc]

I really wanted Darcy and Natasha to bond. And Ivanovna cracked me up the whole time I was writing her.

[farwing]

I am grinning like a loon! This is so much fun!

[taraljc]

Hurrah!

[terrie01]

I love the Tony/Steve banter. Poor Steve. Tony just loves to embarrass him. :)

[taraljc]

It's just so EASY.