ysabetwordsmith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2014-03-07 12:02 am
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2014-03-07 12:02 am
Story: "Hairpins" Part 8
This story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," and "Green Eggs and Hulk."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, JARVIS, Clint Barton, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanova, Bruce Banner.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: This story is mostly fluff, but it has some intense scenes in the middle. Highlight for details. These include dubious consent as Phil and JARVIS discuss what really happened when Agent Coulson hacked his way into Stark Tower, over which Phil has something between a flashback and a panic attack. They also discuss some of the bad things that have happened to Avengers in the past, including various flavors of abuse. If these are sensitive topics for you, please think carefully before deciding whether to read onward.
Summary: Uncle Phil needs to pick out pajamas for game night. He gets help from an unexpected direction.
Notes: Service. Shopping. Gifts. Artificial intelligence. Computers. Teamwork. Team as family. Friendship. Communication. Hope. Apologies. Forgiveness. Nonsexual ageplay. Nonsexual intimacy. Love. Tony Stark needs a hug. Bruce Banner needs a hug. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7. Skip to Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13.
"Hairpins" Part 8
The timer went off, and Phil headed into the kitchen to collect his clam chowder. He brought it back to the couch. The rich, creamy food helped warm him from the inside out. The stress of the day faded a little farther away.
Phil managed his supper with one hand and his Starkpad with the other. More pictures filled the screen. He sighed. They were no help either. "Surely there must be some images of Tony Stark that aren't depressing," Phil muttered. A single picture flicked to the top of the page, Tony at seventeen kneeling beside the brand-new DUM-E. He looked so young, scrawny underneath a too-big sweatshirt probably stolen from his father's closet, but he was smiling.
"Okay, so Tony loves robots," Phil said, tracing a fond finger along the edge of the picture. "I can work with that."
He opened a new search page and put in 'robot fabric.' The first example that appeared was an awful shade of mauve. Many of the others were a confusing jumble of colors. Phil sorted them out much as he had the bears before. This time there were fewer suggestions, even though the general selection seemed better. None of the new images got inserted into the top row, despite Phil moving several there himself. I wonder what's gone wrong with the Intelligent Search function, he mused.
Despite that, it didn't take long for Phil to find cloth in a nice rich blue with multicolored robots zooming across it. Some of them were even red and gold. He smiled. "This should do nicely," Phil said. "I think Tony will like this." He went to open the custom order page --
-- only to have the Starkpad freeze up on him.
Phil frowned and gave the side of the frame a gentle tap with the heel of his hand. No response. "What is going on here?" he wondered.
"That's wrong," JARVIS said softly.
Phil's eyebrows climbed. "I noticed that the search function is glitchy tonight, but I managed to find what I was looking for anyway. I don't see a problem here."
The fan in the nearest air vent sped up with a faint whuff, blowing more warm air into the room. Phil finished the last of his clam chowder and set the empty bowl on the coffee table. He waited for an answer.
"Your search has reached its logical conclusion, but I believe you are looking in the wrong area," JARVIS said.
"I thought StarkSearch was supposed to be an intuitive program. If that's true, then why am I getting off-center results now instead of excellent ones like before?" Phil said. He was stiff and sore, and he did not need this right now.
"I am StarkSearch, or rather, StarkSearch is a part of me," JARVIS said. "I am programmed to assist authorized users in their efforts. This includes the option of answering direct questions."
"I asked the wrong questions," Phil realized.
"They were good questions. You simply did not dig deep enough to find the right ones. In your defense, those are quite deeply buried," JARVIS said.
* * *
Notes:
Tony made DUM-E when he was 17. This is the newspaper picture of them. Here is a video of DUM-E.
See the mauve, rainbow, and blue robot fabrics.
Asking the wrong questions leads to looking for answers in the wrong places. Phil has the right general concept and process, but he's missing some crucial pieces of information.
[To be continued in Part 9 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, JARVIS, Clint Barton, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanova, Bruce Banner.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: This story is mostly fluff, but it has some intense scenes in the middle. Highlight for details. These include dubious consent as Phil and JARVIS discuss what really happened when Agent Coulson hacked his way into Stark Tower, over which Phil has something between a flashback and a panic attack. They also discuss some of the bad things that have happened to Avengers in the past, including various flavors of abuse. If these are sensitive topics for you, please think carefully before deciding whether to read onward.
Summary: Uncle Phil needs to pick out pajamas for game night. He gets help from an unexpected direction.
Notes: Service. Shopping. Gifts. Artificial intelligence. Computers. Teamwork. Team as family. Friendship. Communication. Hope. Apologies. Forgiveness. Nonsexual ageplay. Nonsexual intimacy. Love. Tony Stark needs a hug. Bruce Banner needs a hug. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7. Skip to Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13.
"Hairpins" Part 8
The timer went off, and Phil headed into the kitchen to collect his clam chowder. He brought it back to the couch. The rich, creamy food helped warm him from the inside out. The stress of the day faded a little farther away.
Phil managed his supper with one hand and his Starkpad with the other. More pictures filled the screen. He sighed. They were no help either. "Surely there must be some images of Tony Stark that aren't depressing," Phil muttered. A single picture flicked to the top of the page, Tony at seventeen kneeling beside the brand-new DUM-E. He looked so young, scrawny underneath a too-big sweatshirt probably stolen from his father's closet, but he was smiling.
"Okay, so Tony loves robots," Phil said, tracing a fond finger along the edge of the picture. "I can work with that."
He opened a new search page and put in 'robot fabric.' The first example that appeared was an awful shade of mauve. Many of the others were a confusing jumble of colors. Phil sorted them out much as he had the bears before. This time there were fewer suggestions, even though the general selection seemed better. None of the new images got inserted into the top row, despite Phil moving several there himself. I wonder what's gone wrong with the Intelligent Search function, he mused.
Despite that, it didn't take long for Phil to find cloth in a nice rich blue with multicolored robots zooming across it. Some of them were even red and gold. He smiled. "This should do nicely," Phil said. "I think Tony will like this." He went to open the custom order page --
-- only to have the Starkpad freeze up on him.
Phil frowned and gave the side of the frame a gentle tap with the heel of his hand. No response. "What is going on here?" he wondered.
"That's wrong," JARVIS said softly.
Phil's eyebrows climbed. "I noticed that the search function is glitchy tonight, but I managed to find what I was looking for anyway. I don't see a problem here."
The fan in the nearest air vent sped up with a faint whuff, blowing more warm air into the room. Phil finished the last of his clam chowder and set the empty bowl on the coffee table. He waited for an answer.
"Your search has reached its logical conclusion, but I believe you are looking in the wrong area," JARVIS said.
"I thought StarkSearch was supposed to be an intuitive program. If that's true, then why am I getting off-center results now instead of excellent ones like before?" Phil said. He was stiff and sore, and he did not need this right now.
"I am StarkSearch, or rather, StarkSearch is a part of me," JARVIS said. "I am programmed to assist authorized users in their efforts. This includes the option of answering direct questions."
"I asked the wrong questions," Phil realized.
"They were good questions. You simply did not dig deep enough to find the right ones. In your defense, those are quite deeply buried," JARVIS said.
* * *
Notes:
Tony made DUM-E when he was 17. This is the newspaper picture of them. Here is a video of DUM-E.
See the mauve, rainbow, and blue robot fabrics.
Asking the wrong questions leads to looking for answers in the wrong places. Phil has the right general concept and process, but he's missing some crucial pieces of information.
[To be continued in Part 9 ...]
Asking questions
Poor Jarvis! Conducting a reference interview can be SO difficult!
I can't wait until Phil truly puts the pieces together. Hacking into an AI (librarian - I hate having my books rearranged on the shelf, I don't want to imagine having bits of ME rearranged!) is poor form, Phil. Ok, I know this is the realization for Phil that JARVIS isn't just a sophisticated program, but a person.
Re: Asking questions
Grin! I'm in library school myself... and I was kind of drooling over the way the search interface worked, guided by JARVIS's intellect. Was having visions about doing a conference paper co-written by JARVIS on search experiences.
Re: Asking questions
Grin! I'm in library school myself... <<
Awesome! The world needs librarians.
>> and I was kind of drooling over the way the search interface worked, guided by JARVIS's intellect. <<
If we can imagine it, we can try to find ways of making it happen, or at least coming up with a non-intelligent version that does some of the similar things. A visual search interface for finding pictures of things would be feasible; people have tried assorted versions of that. I think that pointing AI research toward library science rather than military science would be safer and more productive, too.
>> Was having visions about doing a conference paper co-written by JARVIS on search experiences. <<
Oh, he's probably done that. I do know that he interacts with libraries and universities, and that he has written things and posted them, by himself or with Tony. Presumably JARVIS uses pen names for sake of safety, but he's active in the field of artificial intelligence, so probably cyberspace theory in general. Adaptive equipment is another area of interest that he and Tony share.
Huh, now I have to wonder if JARVIS will start co-writing with the other Avengers wherever their interests overlap. He's easily as good at Phil on paperwork, which is about as rare as Bruce and Tony being able to keep up with each other talking science.
Re: Asking questions
Huh, now I have to wonder if JARVIS will start co-writing with the other Avengers wherever their interests overlap. He's easily as good at Phil on paperwork, which is about as rare as Bruce and Tony being able to keep up with each other talking science.
My Marvel knowledge comes mostly from the movies (and fancanon) so I am not familiar with JARVIS's identity as a writer and researcher in his own right. I am starting to REALLY like the idea of his working as a coauthor, and developing interests, academic and popular, that he genuinely shares as interests and hobbies of his own intellect, rather than as part of his role/identity as a responder provider of usefulness... I may need to write fanfic exploring this.
Re: Asking questions
For this series, I'm using mostly the recent movies. For Bruce-and-Hulk in particular, I've been a fan for decades so there are tidbits of many iterations. Then there are some bits of other characters from comics.
>> so I am not familiar with JARVIS's identity as a writer and researcher in his own right. <<
I don't think that's canon, but it's kind of hinted in the movies, which portray JARVIS as a sophisticated person who is half of Iron Man. He and Tony have a very close relationship. Tony is picky about credit. I think he'd want to cite JARVIS, obliquely. I also think JARVIS would have his own interests and activities, because he thinks at computer speed, and even Tony is slow compared to that.
>> I am starting to REALLY like the idea of his working as a coauthor, <<
There are bits of this in later stories.
>> and developing interests, academic and popular, that he genuinely shares as interests and hobbies of his own intellect, rather than as part of his role/identity as a responder provider of usefulness... <<
That takes longer. JARVIS started out completely focused on Tony, who was his first and primary source of interaction. Gradually he expanded to more people, but most of them didn't know him as a person. Happy, Rhodey, and Pepper do but they each have their own limitations. So the Avengers are a huge change for JARVIS because now he has a whole household full of people who know him -- and they all have different skills, tastes, needs, and personalities. That is both daunting and fascinating to JARVIS. It's taking him a while to adapt.
>> I may need to write fanfic exploring this. <<
Go for it! If you do, let me know, and I'll happily link it.
Re: Asking questions
That's not exactly the form it takes, but the same substance. (Fried Phil is fried.)
>> Poor Jarvis! Conducting a reference interview can be SO difficult! <<
Too true. He is good at asking the right questions, though, and when that doesn't quite work, he can recognize when someone is wrecked and needs to be led by the hand. One fun thing about this story is that it shows Phil and JARVIS running several different searches, each with its own inherent challenges, along with changes in their own energy level and relationship. So you can see how all that affects the search process and results.
>> I can't wait until Phil truly puts the pieces together. <<
Yay! It's coming along.
>> Hacking into an AI (librarian - I hate having my books rearranged on the shelf, I don't want to imagine having bits of ME rearranged!) is poor form, Phil. Ok, I know this is the realization for Phil that JARVIS isn't just a sophisticated program, but a person. <<
Yes, and Phil didn't KNOW that's what he was doing at the time, and he is not going to deal with it particularly well when he realizes what happened. An artificial intelligence has the same right to integrity of hardware and software that a human being has to integrity of body and mind.
Sadly, all the Avengers have been violated in those regards. I think it helps them accommodate each other's strengths and weaknesses, because they know what it's like. *ponder* And sometimes, it helps them forgive when they hurt each other -- even quite badly -- because most of them have also made some terrible mistakes.