#Jeeves and the impending doom

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

“Have you ever noticed,” I said, “how a swan’s eyebrows sort of meet in the middle?” “I have had every opportunity of observing all that there is to observe about swans.” “Gives them a sort of peevish look, what?” “The look to which you allude has not escaped me.” “Rummy,” I said, rather warming to my subject, “how bad an effect family life has on a swan’s disposition.” “I wish you would select some other topic of conversation than swans.” “No, but, really, it’s rather interesting. I mean to say, our old pal down there is probably a perfect ray of sunshine in normal circumstances. Quite the domestic pet, don’t you know. But purely and simply because the little woman happens to be nesting⁠—”

Featured in the latest Letter Regarding Jeeves is this tendency of Bertie's that I find very endearing, but I'm not quite sure how to put it into words. It's in the specific way his mind wanders, I think, with that sort of insuppressible curiosity he has about the world around him. He's in this very unpleasant situation, but he doesn't want to just say "this sucks" and hunker down and wait for it to stop raining in sullen silence. He thinks the swan looks funny, and wonders what's going on in its life that's making it Like That, and is thinking about the swan like it's a person, and he wants to muse out loud about these things and kind of thoughtfully poke at the problem from every angle to find what's funny or interesting about it.

Most people aren't willing to play ball with him when he does this, preferring to be upset about the problem instead of entertaining diverting trains of thought about it, but Jeeves always is, which is another reason neither of them can ever live with anyone else

[themirokai]

“All is well,” I said. “Jeeves is coming.”

“What can he do?”

I frowned a trifle. The man’s tone had been peevish, and I didn’t like it.

“That,” I replied with a touch of stiffness, “we cannot say until we see him in action. He may pursue one course, or he may pursue another. But on one thing you can rely with the utmost confidence⁠—Jeeves will find a way. See, here he comes stealing through the undergrowth, his face shining with the light of pure intelligence. There are no limits to Jeeves’s brainpower. He virtually lives on fish.”

You had better not doubt Jeeves’s powers to Bertram Wooster. He will not hesitate to set you right.

[eirinstiva]

Art for fun's sake

Halloa! New letter for my friend Bertie and it's pure chaos: there's rain, a swan, a possible job and a escape! No engagement, tho~

The story:

Every young man starting life ought to know how to cope with an angry swan, so I will briefly relate the proper procedure. You start by picking up the raincoat which somebody has dropped; and then, judging the distance to a nicety, you simply shove the raincoat over the bird’s head; and, taking the boat-hook which you have prudently brought with you, you insert it underneath the swan and heave. The swan goes into a bush and starts trying to unscramble itself; and you saunter back to your boat, taking with you any friends who may happen at the moment to be sitting on roofs in the vicinity. That was Jeeves’s method, and I cannot see how it could have been improved upon.

My brain: "Jeeves versus the Swan". Graphite pencils on paper.

The story:

“It might be the most judicious plan not to meet her, sir.” “But how can I help it?” “There is a good, stout water pipe running down the wall immediately outside this window, sir. And I could have the two-seater waiting outside the park gates in twenty minutes.”

My brain: "Bertie and the drain pipe dance" Ballpoint pen on paper.

While drawing these Bingo was still lost in a tennis match. Pip-pip!

[ajaxgb]

“He had a grudge against me. And it is the sort of thing only a boy, or one who is practically an imbecile, would have thought of doing.”

[...]

“Yes, sir. I had scarcely left you when the solution of the affair presented itself to me. It was a remark of Mr. Filmer’s that gave me the idea.”

oof

[sukithebrave]

My Man Jeeves

It hit me the other day as I was reading Wodehouse’s “What Ho!” (A great read BTW, no one write comedy like Wodehouse did), when I stumbled upon the section for the character Jeeves. Great stories in this section, like Jeeves and the Impending Doom, Jeeves and the Song of Songs, and The Great Sermon Handicap, just to name a few.

And I don’t know why it took me this long to realize the connection between Wodehouse’s Jeeves and the Jeeves in SpyxFamily. For those who don’t know, Wodehouse’s Jeeves isn’t a butler, but rather a valet for a man named Bertie Wooster, meaning he is responcible for serving specifically Wooster, rather than a whole household as a Butler tends to do. There was a joke that Jeeves could, “Buttle with the best of them,” but I digress.

We know shockingly little about the Jeeves in SpyxFamily, but of the few times we have? I always got the feeling that he would be important, but his character eluded me for so long that every theory I made was little more than baseless speculation. Now, however? I think his overall plot relevance is determenant on which character in SpyxFamily is the standin for Wooster.

Bertie Wooster is the standard English richman, but not a snob like many others in fiction. He’s the type of guy to cheer you on whenever you tell him about an aspiration of yours, and doesn’t look down on other people’s social standing. While at times naive and quite gullible, he has a heart of gold, and his friendship with Jeeves is downright ICONIC. So who do I think will be the one to be the Wooster SpyxFamily needs? Well, it can ONLY be the one, the only, scion of the Desmond family: Damian Desmond.

Well, to be more specific, a Damian who’s a little bit more mature. Look, we all know that Damian right now has… well flaws. He doesn’t fit the whole “not looking down on other people’s social standing”, with him calling Anya and the rest of the Forgers commeners, but honestly? It’s only a matter of time in that regard. We’ve already seen tremendous character growth from our boy, and it will only go up from here. As for everything else, we know he’s selfless (the bus incident speaks for itself), and he’s really starting to step into Wooster’s shoes. Just wait guys, soon we will have the TRUE best SpyxFamily comedic duo, assuming Damian stops being a lil shit and grows up a little more. But the wait WILL be worth it. And the person who helps him get this level of growth? Well besides for Anya, Jeeves, being a butler/valet in SpyxFamily, will also help ground the young boy and turn him into a young man.

This was a VERY poorly put together analysis but I hope I was able to put everything I wanted to say across in a way people understand. This is my first Tumblr post, which I am sure is obvious. Either way, thank you for reading these blocks of text, I shall now bid you adieu!

[gentlemansgentleman]

ABOUT

Name: Reginald Jeeves

Occupation: Valet

Pronouns: He/Him

Age: 35

Orientation: Pansexual

Employment history: In his youth, Jeeves worked as a page boy at a girls' school. After that, a batman (a soldier assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant,) in the military.

Before entering Bertie Wooster’s service, Jeeves was employed as a valet by Lord Frederick Ranelagh, Lord Worplesdon, (resigning after nearly a year because of Worplesdon's eccentric choice of evening dress,) Mr. Digby Thistleton (later Lord Bridgnorth), who sold hair tonic, Mr. Montague-Todd, (a financier who is now in the second year of a prison term, and Lord Brancaster, (who gave port-soaked seedcake to his pet parrot.)

He is currently employed as a valet (not a butler; that is, he is responsible for serving an individual, whereas a butler is responsible for a household,) to Bertie Wooster.

Skills: Jeeves presents the ideal image of the gentlemanly manservant, being highly competent, dignified, and respectful. One of his skills is moving silently and unobtrusively from room to room. According to Bertie, Jeeves noiselessly "floats" and "shimmers.” In addition to being a proficient valet, Jeeves can serve capably as a butler, and does so on a few occasions.

Jeeves has an encyclopedic knowledge of literature and academic subjects. He frequently quotes from Shakespeare and the romantic poets. As a result of his smooth words and romantic notions, he has a wide range of lovers. Often mingling with the maids, cooks, butlers, and valets of other wealthy households, he's well versed in the gossip of the local upper class and frequently used this insider knowledge to the benefit of himself and his current employer, Bertie Wooster.

One of Jeeves's greatest skills is making a special drink of his own invention, a strong beverage which momentarily stuns one's senses but is very effective in curing hangovers. Not simply a hangover cure, the drink can also give energy to someone who needs it, yet calm down someone who is agitated. Additionally, Jeeves is capable of typing and writing shorthand.

Jeeves has knowledge in more dubious subjects as well. He is well-informed about how to steal paintings and kidnap dogs. Capable of action when the situation calls for it, Jeeves uses a golf club to knock out Sippy Sipperley in "The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy", and takes down a swan with a raincoat and boathook in "Jeeves and the Impending Doom". After Jeeves uses a cosh to knock out Constable Dobbs, an astonished Bertie describes Jeeves as "something that would be gratefully accepted as a muscle guy by any gang on the lookout for new blood".

Hobbies: Jeeves often reads intellectual, "improving" books, including the works of Spinoza, Shakespeare, and "Dostoevsky and the great Russians". He also enjoys the works of romance novelistists, and regularly reads The Times.

In "Jeeves in the Springtime", he went dancing in Camberwell, where he was seen by Bertie's friend Bingo Little. Bingo says that he saw Jeeves "swinging a dashed efficient shoe.” Once a week, Jeeves takes the afternoon off to play bridge at his club, the Junior Ganymede.

One of Jeeves's hobbies is fishing, which he tends to do during his annual summer holiday. Appreciating travel in general, Jeeves wants to go on a cruise in two different stories. Jeeves occasionally enjoys gambling.

[thealogie]

we love to see famous gays in literature name dropping other famous gays in literature. (from jeeves and the impending doom.)

[thomaspaine]

Hi! I've never actually read PG Wodehouse. Where should I start?

Well! In my opinion you surely have to start with a Jeeves book, it’s just a matter of which one. I’d say either “Very Good, Jeeves” (which has three of my favourite Wodehouse short stories in it) or “The Inimitable Jeeves,” are good ones to start with. Probably Very Good Jeeves.

[goldkirk]

There’s a knock on the door, the pattern that all of them use at home with each other. The pattern that says it’s me, I’m safe, just us, it’s family here, the taptaptap, TAP-taptap-THUNK that always says let me in, I love you.

“Go away,” Tim mumbles. There’s no way whoever’s outside his door can hear it, but it’s the principle of the thing.

“Timmy!” the voice calls, slightly muffled. “Timmers, Tim-tam, Timbo, open up, little brother. Come on.”

Tim shrinks even further down under the blankets and drags a pillow over his head. They never do block sound well enough.

“Tim. Jason called me. He can’t get out of his exam till 4:45, and until he can make the drive home this evening, I’m it. I know I’m not Jay, but I’m the brother who’s in town, so until Jason gets home tonight I’m it. It’s me or Bruce, bud.”

“No,” Tim hollers back.

“HE’S ALIVE,” comes the returning shout through the door. “IT’S A MIRACLE. JEEVES—“

“Stop,” Tim calls. “Dick. Please. Go away.”

“No can do. You’ve got five seconds to let me in or I let myself in anyway.”

He will, too. Tim takes a deep breath, then rolls once, twice, over the edge of the bed to land with a whumph and probably several new bruises on the hardwood. He heard the lock being jimmied on the other side of the room, and wiggles like the world’s fastest worm until he’s under the bed and wedges against the wall. Nova hops down from the mattress and pokes her nose under after him, whining quietly, but he shops her away just as the door pops open.

Tim shoves the top quilt all the way over his face and tries his best not to exist in the face of impending brotherly doom.

[brooksoli33]

#watercolour #illustration of #pgwodehouse #jeevesandwooster short story Jeeves and the Impending Doom. #greatreads #book #swan (at Rye, East Sussex)

[themirokai]

“What do ties matter, Jeeves, at a time like this? Do you realize that Mr. Little’s domestic happiness is hanging in the scale?”

“There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter.”

Bertie desperately needs Bingo’s domestic happiness in tact so that he doesn’t have to hear about Bingo’s revolving door of love interests again.

Jeeves needs the young master to pay proper attention to his wardrobe goddamnit.

[book-cover-project]

‘Jeeves and the Impending Doom’

Designer: Harriet Russel

Art Director: John Hamilton

Akatre, for M magazine, 2014

http://www.akatre.com

[wotwotleigh-prime]

Oh man, where to start? There are general differences and also specific plot points that differ, so you could break it down either way. I’ll start with a few general ones off the top of my head, and we can build from there:

Music:

-In the books, it’s implied that Bertie is a decent singer and an excellent dancer, but he doesn’t play the piano. He’s a one-finger melody picker-outer at best.

-Which leads me to a more specific difference: the instrument that causes the big breakup in Thank You, Jeeves is a banjolele, not a trombone.

-Also, I don’t think we ever get any indications that Jeeves is musically inclined in the books. He is a good dancer, though.

Age difference:

-Jeeves and Bertie in the show are quite close in age. Wodehouse claimed they were anywhere from 11 to 20 years apart, depending on when he was asked.

Relatives:

-Aunt Dahlia and Aunt Agatha both have young sons in the books who are totally omitted in the show iirc. The aunts are probably also younger than depicted in the show, given the ages of their kids.

-Jeeves has some relatives who are left out of the show, like Uncle Charlie and Cousin Queenie. Charlie is depicted in the Deverill Hall episode, but his relationship to Jeeves is never mentioned.

Rubber ducky:

-Appears exactly the once in the books, doesn’t actually belong to Bertie. It lives in a bathroom at Aunt Dahlia’s country abode.

Animals:

-Bertie has all kinds of hilarious encounters with animals, which are touched on in the show but not fully explored. The swan fight from “Jeeves and the Impending Doom” is sadly omitted, as are most of Bertie’s encounters with cats.

-Book!Bertie is a cat person in a big way, he really loves them. His feelings about dogs are more mixed.

I’ll add more differences as I think of them!

Help Me Out, Fellow Jeeves Fans!

A member at give_satisfaction, the Jeeves comm I mod on Dreamwidth, asked:

Is there somewhere something like a list with the things that are not the same in the books and the TV adaptation? Or could someone here list the main differences? Or do I have to watch them all and read them all? :)

I really need help on this. I don’t think the answer should be “yes”. Please reblog and add your input! @butch-snufkin @oscarwetnwilde @jeevesandwoosterfan @wotwotleigh-prime @tremendousdetectivetheorist

[brooksoli33]

Jeeves and the Impending Doom illustration. #indianink #jeevesandwooster #pgwodehouse #illustration #art #comedy #swan (at Rye, East Sussex)

[brooksoli33]

Jeeves and Bertie Wooster and Rt Hon Filmer, Jeeves and the Impending Doom. #pencildrawing #jeevesandwooster #pgwodehouse #literature #sketchbook (at Rye, East Sussex)