Avengers: Modern Marvels

[awanderingbard]

Title: Modern Marvels
Characters: Tony, Steve, JARVIS
Rating: PG
Warnings/Triggers: some references to unnamed, off-screen deaths
Spoilers: quick reference to an event in The Avengers
Pairings: none
Word Count 1,736
Summary: Tony and Steve have a late night chat, and Tony discovers that Steve's favourite modern marvel is something pretty simple.

Comments

[joonscribble]

Aw, Tony. You have an arc reactor of gold.

I really like the detail of Steve handwriting letters to the bereaved. Because even in his day these were probably written via typewriter with the only human touch being a handwritten signature at the bottom. But it's very Steve that he feels its important to personally write a letter in his own hand. You're the best, Steve!

“You don't know how amazing this is. To have something that writes smoothly and doesn't smudge or leak. You don't have to refill it. The nib doesn't break. The ink isn't corrosive. It doesn't poke through the paper. This is amazing.”

“You have got to get out more,” Tony said.

I heard this exchange perfectly in my head with Chris Evans and RDJ's voices and facial expressions.

“Should I be operating under Intoxication Protocols?” JARVIS asked. “This sounds very much like the Cheese Incident.”

As always, sassy and practical!JARVIS is my favorite character.

I'm pleased our late night geeky jam sessions were productive for you!

[awanderingbard]

But it's very Steve that he feels its important to personally write a letter in his own hand.

I sort of had it in my head that there were form letters that were sent out, and then Steve took it on himself to write a handwritten one to tell family how much he appreciated working with their son and how sad he was about what had happened, etc. because he felt the form letters were too cold.

I heard this exchange perfectly in my head with Chris Evans and RDJ's voices and facial expressions.

Good, because I had my mental actors rehearse this story over and over again until it sounded close to them in my head. Mostly to keep adding stuff RDJ might have adlibbed, because Tony never says anything without going off on a slight tangent along the way.

I'm pleased our late night geeky jam sessions were productive for you!

Thank you!

[donutsweeper]

I love Cap's sensibilities in this and the whole discussion about the pen and how things have changed so much- there's just so many amenities today that someone from the 30s and 40s would boggle over. Many wouldn't phase them, but something as everyday as a pen really would.

On a beta minor note, if you don't mind, "bursaries" isn't a term I was familiar with and I had to look it up. It seems like the context you used it in is only a UK/Canadian one, I'm not really sure what the US equivalent is other than "scholarships" which is a little more educationally oriented than you seem to imply.

[awanderingbard]

Many wouldn't phase them, but something as everyday as a pen really would.

Yeah, that's a good point. There's a difference between 'here's something you've never seen before, I'll show you how to use it' and 'here's a thing you know how to use, but now it's completely different'.

On a beta minor note, if you don't mind, "bursaries" isn't a term I was familiar with and I had to look it up.

Huh, there's one of those words you don't even worry isn't right. Would 'grant' work? Or maybe just 'financial aid'. In Canada, I swear we use it more to mean 'money given as a means to help you pay for things'.

Thanks for commenting and playing beta! I always appreciate both. :-D

[donutsweeper]

Honestly, I think you could just cut out that sentence, if there is a memorial fund, it's implied that the fund gives out money for people to use in various ways. Maybe expand on the "their families can use it" to say which families- families of fallen/wounded agents or whatever.

[awanderingbard]

Yep, the next sentence is just clarifying what the bursaries do, so I cut that line and got to the point. Thank you ma'am!

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Yes! YES! To the pens! I don't know how they managed. I would mess up every single piece of paper I tried to write on. But Steve would learn good handwriting, and he'd still use it, even in 2014, even if (or especially if) Stark mocked him.

Learning that he was writing to the families of the dead really changed the tone, and Tony didn't know how to handle it and defaulted to Jerk Mode, because he has been a "heartless bastard" in the past and frequently relapses. His voice is pitch perfect here. And so is Steve's.

Intoxication Protocols! Very important.

[awanderingbard]

Yes! YES! To the pens! I don't know how they managed. I would mess up every single piece of paper I tried to write on. But Steve would learn good handwriting, and he'd still use it, even in 2014, even if (or especially if) Stark mocked him.

I actually write better with water-based inks with sharp nips, but I don't think I could handle a fountain pen. Especially since if you leave it for a second, it leaks the big puddle of ink, so you would have to be very sure you weren't going to stop halfway through your sentence.

And my childhood was plagued by my awful handwriting which has never improved, so I'm very happy most things are computer-based now. I don't know how authors wrote before typewriters.

His voice is pitch perfect here. And so is Steve's.

Thank you very much! They're a bit rusty, so I'm glad they came off as appropriate.