#joy in the morning jeeves

[therearenomorevalidblognames]

My reaction to that:

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

you can’t make this shit up

[beetle-goth]

So Jeeves’ heart leaps when he sees a rainbow in the sky 🏳️‍🌈🤔

[andyoullhearitagain]

[my-mistake-lets-do-this-again]

magically, cheesewright is even more annoying in the book than the show. i’d only reread this for the jeeves and bertie garden conversation. the story is fun but too many characters are too annoying for me. i know it’s funny in a lot of ways but i cannot with like most of these characters

[mage8]

This reminds me of nothing so much as this excerpt from Wodehouse's "Joy in the Morning".

Perhaps Bertie and Aziraphale can together commiserate over having lost their ruminants.

"My dear" has become deeply entrenched and deeply beloved fanon; most fanfics have Aziraphale calling Crowley that as a regular thing. I know, I know, it appears just ONCE in the book, along with a "dear boy" and a "my dear boy," and there's a "my dear fellow" in S1E3… Luckily, rationality is NOT a requirement for membership in the Good Omens fandom, lol!

Anyways: Season 3 is our final chance to hear Aziraphale call Crowley "my dear." And therefore, my ask is: Would you please please PLEASE give us a "my dear"? You know what I mean, NOT a, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" kind of "my dear," but one where Aziraphale does the big blue eyes look (you know the one I mean, or if you don't, Michael will know), and then says it.

PLEASE can we have a "my dear"? PLEASE?! Please please please?! {grovels shamelessly} Please, Neil, PLEASE give us a "my dear"! A small one?! If Good Omens finishes without a "my dear," I will absolutely DIE! {swoons dramatically}

{cracks one eye open to see Neil's reaction}

Good news! Crowley will be transformed into a deer at the start of season 3, and Aziraphale will ask if anyone has seen his deer repeatedly.

[notanartist143]

been listening to the jeeves and wooster series books! Really enjoyed Joy in the Morning so I sketched a little cover as I finished it.

support me on Instagram :3

[moscowlit]

Reading Joy in the Morning for the first time (I know) and Bertie buying Spinoza for Jeeves is an ACTUAL PLOT POINT?? How and why did I not read this story before.

Also, Wodehouse's preface to this story is just precious. Shy birds of butlers buttling away.

[szappan]

ohohoho end of the year book asks!! i'd love to hear your answers to 2, 14, 17, and 25 if you'd be so kind :^D

oho thank you so much for the ask! id love to ask you some things as well if you feel up to it!

2. Did you reread anything? What?

Yes actually, I reread quite a lot of Gerald Durrell and Lázár Ervin books this year because they were my absolute favourite authors when I was little and I took them with me to Finland for comfort. :-) A halak jelleme was my favourite I think and it was interesting to see how much more I understood of it now that I'm both older and know what the UK is.

14. What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

There are 3 Jeeves novels I haven't read yet and I'd like to read them soon but also I've been putting them off because I don't want to finish them all yet. A conundrum! I'm nearing the end of Joy in the Morning right now but I haven't been reading it for the past few days because so far it's my favourite Jeeves novel and I want it to last!!!

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

Not really. I don't often get surprised as a rule because I don't have expectations but maybe Alan Davies's autobiography, Just Ignore Him, fits this the most, because it exceeded the expectations I didn't have. It's really very good. I sort of surprised myself with the fact that I read not one but two autobiographies this year, the other being Brent Spiner's book, but that one wasn't very good. I also read the Naked Sun by Asimov and I ended up liking it less than I wanted.

25. What reading goals do you have for next year?

THE NAME OF THE ROSE PLEASE GOD FINALLY. I've been wanting to get on with it for YEARS. Also finishing Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell! And just reading More. I read more this year for fun than in the past 3 combined and I enjoyed myself immensely so it would be nice to continue in this vein. :-)

Thank you again!

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

yes yes yes I have SO MANY FEELINGS about this scene I love Joy in the Morning

(I had written out most of the following in tags and there were so many that the app started glitching on me, so FINE I’ll rewrite it with capitalization and commas up here. Tumblr is shaming me for having a tag problem)

I’ve been taking note in all the books following Right Ho, Jeeves of how Jeeves and Bertie are starting to talk to each other more and more like friends and less like employer/employee. I have a whole essay on this in the works (tentatively titled “Thank You, Jeeves is Supposed to Take Place After Right Ho, Jeeves and I Can Prove It”) so I’m trying not to rehash (pre-hash?) the whole thing here. I have no self-control about Jooster.

Anyway. As hilarious as it is how Jeeves will insert a ‘sir’ in the middle of a direct quotation, you’ll notice he doesn’t do that the second time, and also drops the ‘sir’ from one of his lines further up. In this book as a whole he’s much friendlier and less stiff with Bertie than he used to be. He initiates conversations instead of just responding or reacting, which indicates that he enjoys talking to Bertie just for the sake of talking. He lets a lot more emotion seep through his mask.

For Bertie’s part, Jeeves is being a real Madeline Basset right now and the fact that the only thing Bertie is complaining about is the timing speaks volumes

i think about this part of Joy In The Morning all the time. As far as Jeeves knows, Bertie was just randomly in that garden in the middle of the night, no wonder he tried to flirt. I'd be FUMING if I got told to 'switch it off' when im dropping the most romantic shakespeare i can think of

jeeves had really no reason to begin quoting verse- he didn't even pry to hard into bertie's excuse for being out. in fairness they were already on holiday together because "my valet wanted to go fishing" is bertie's sole reasoning for the entire book, so i suppose jeeves decided to be fair and woo him as well. what a gentleman

feat. my written comments as i read the book lmao

[therearenomorevalidblognames]

Jeeves, making Bertie do his bidding in the guise of a solution to Bertie's or his friends' problems:

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

Left: Psmith having an unexpected nocturnal meeting with his future wife, who’s currently preoccupied with other things

Right: Jeeves having an unexpected nocturnal meeting with his employer, who’s currently preoccupied with other things

Spot the difference

[beetle-goth]

please share your goth jeeves thoughts i am very interested

Goth Jeeves thoughts let’s go!!

I’ll start with my least coherent and go towards my most

Honorable mention: music is tough. The first real instance of goth music came in the 50’s and in the one story that took place in the 50’s we hear no mention of music. However, Jeeves is not a fan of popular music or showtunes and shows preference for classical music. Not goth, per se, but Bach and Beethoven do kinda have some goth-y vibes.

First, he’s very into serious literature and poetry. Which isn’t saying much but gothic poetry and literature was very prominent in forming the subculture and it sort of seems like the stuff that Jeeves would be into. He likes philosophy and lots of gothic literature has overarching philosophical thought on the nature of good and evil, man vs creator, the nature of death and mourning. And for poetry, the stuff he quotes in Joy in the Morning makes me feel like he’d enjoy Edgar Allan Poe, especially his more romantic stuff like Annabelle Lee and The Raven

“ "It is indeed, sir. I always feel that nothing is so soothing as a walk in a garden at night."

"Ha!"

"The cool air. The scent of growing things.

That is

tobacco plant which you can smell, sir."

"Is it?"

"The stars, sir."

"Stars?"

"Yes, sir."

"What about them?"

directing your attention to them, sir.

Look how the foor of heaven is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold."

"Jeeves

"There's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest, sir, but in his motion like an angel sings, still guiring to tho young-eyed cherubims."

"Jeeves-

"Such harmony is in immortal souls. But whilst this muddy vesture of decay doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it."

"Jeeves-

"Sir?" “ —pages 107 and 108

Second: his fashion! My man does not like colors and while we mostly see him in his uniform, I feel we can make some assumptions based on his non-uniform clothes and the way he tries to dress Bertie. His black, calf length outdoor jacket is such a goth win! Bertie doesn’t own anything like that and we rarely see other domestic staff wear something like that so it’s easy to assume that Jeeves picked that out for himself. He will wear tan, we’ve seen him wear tan clothes coming back from his vacations but that could be because of class status and/or the standards of driving clothes. Because when we do see him on his nights off, he’s still wearing clothes that look like his valeting uniform (black waistcoat, black tie, black jacket, ect). Bertie also mostly wears tan when he’s driving bc it hides the dirt better.

What’s interesting is how he tries to get Bertie to wear dark and subdued colors. Lots of navy, lots of greys. It makes you wonder if that’s how he’d choose to dress if he had the option. Also related to clothing, Jeeves shows an interest in both jewelry and silver in Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit and Jeeves in the Offing, respectively. He was a jeweler apprentice briefly under his cousin. Accessories, especially feminine jewelry and silver, is very goth.

Third: he’s simply a spooky bitch! Season 2 episode 5 he immediately knows a local folktale about a boogeyman called Old Boggy who roams the streets. In a town he doesn’t live in, at night where he cannot access a library. Which leads one to believe that he reads about the folklore about places he and Bertie visit with special focus placed on ghost stories. And in Right Ho, Jeeves he has this whole section.

“'You smile, Jeeves. The thought amuses you?'

‘I beg your pardon, sir. I was thinking of a tale my Uncle Cyril used to tell me as a child. An absurd little story, sir, though I confess that I have always found it droll. According to my Uncle Cyril, two men named Nicholls and Jackson set out to ride to Brighton on a tandem bicycle, and were so unfortunate as to come into collision with a brewer's van. And when the rescue party arrived on the scene of the accident, it was discovered that they had been hurled together with such force that it was impossible to sort them out at all adequately. The keenest eye could not discern which portion of the fragments was Nicholls and which Jackson. So they collected as much as they could, and called it Nixon. I remember laughing very much at that story when I was a child, sir'

I had to pause a moment to master my feelings.

'You did, eh?'

'Yes, sir.'

'You thought it funny?'

'Yes, sir.' “ pages 765 and 766 of the Jeeves and Wooster omnibus.

Smiling?? He laughed very much?? This story stuck with him into adulthood?? So much so that he thought it would be funny to tell Bertie this story moments before Bertie has a late night bike ride?? No matter how you interpret this scene, Jeeves is a morbid and spooky bitch for this. Rip Jeeves, you would have loved watching the Final Destination movies.

My point is that if he could, he would have loved being goth. He’s spooky and morbid, he loves dark, subdued colors, his loves poetry and literature with philosophical themes, he likes silver and jewelry and he likes slower, more subdued music without saccharine and cheery lyrics (let us not forget his disgust while Bertie was singing Sunny Disposish)

Hopefully I didn’t forget anything important but I feel like I’ve covered my bases on this headcanon

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

Quoting unsolicited romantic Shakespeare monologues at my boss when I run into him in a starlit garden, but inserting a couple sirs in the middle of it because I wasn’t raised in a barn

my favourite thing jeeves does is when he quotes something at bertie but ever so slightly changes the text to directly address bertie.

what a nerd. i like him so much

[vensre]

Forgive me if I already asked you this (my memory is terrible), but where might one start with the works of P.G. Wodehouse?

You may have, but there's recent advancements in reading/watching the Jeeves and Wooster series at least, so there are new answers!

There's a substack going called Letters Regarding Jeeves that distributes the short stories in bite-sized form.

And the YouTube to watch is this one! It's remastered and the quality is very good.

If you wanted to get your hands on one or more books or listen to audiobooks, the omnibus is called The World of Jeeves, the first novel is The Inimitable Jeeves (pictured, check out this cool cover!), and my own favorite book of the series is called Joy In The Morning. 💕

[eirinstiva]

Perfect storm

Letter!!! Bertie Wooster sent a letter and I'm already scared because maybe Bingo Little will be here~ Brace yourself, this can get rummy...

Claude and Eustace are so dangerous together, I like that, the image of them doing stupid things like in the manga Please, Jeeves (by Morimura Tamaki and Katsuta Bun) lives rent free in my heart.

I handed this to Jeeves. He studied it thoughtfully. “What do you make of it? A rummy communication, what?” “Very high-spirited young gentlemen, sir, Mr. Claude and Mr. Eustace. Up to some game, I should be disposed to imagine.” “Yes. But what game, do you think?” “It is impossible to say, sir. Did you observe that the letter continues over the page?” “Eh, what?”

Jeeves has Kowalski vibes~

Great pals we’ve always been. In fact, there was a time when I had an idea I was in love with Cynthia. However, it blew over. A dashed pretty and lively and attractive girl, mind you, but full of ideals and all that. I may be wronging her, but I have an idea that she’s the sort of girl who would want a fellow to carve out a career and whatnot.

Bertie has a girl friend, a friend who is a girl, a friend called Cynthia~ that's cute. I really like to read about friendship between people of different gender.

“Young Bingo Little. Great pal of mine. He’s tutoring your brother, you know.” “Good gracious! Is he a friend of yours?” “Rather! Known him all my life.” “Then tell me, Bertie, is he at all weak in the head?” “Weak in the head?” “I don’t mean simply because he’s a friend of yours. But he’s so strange in his manner.”

Well, Cynthia has an opinion™ of Bertie and his friends, but there's a chemistry between them like ex lovers turned into friends, or that weird relationship that some people have this their first boyfriend/girlfriend/idon'tknow that can be so cute and weird at the same time. I love that kind of relationship. Platonic? Maybe, I can't find the words right now.

“Well, you might have let your pals know where you were.” He frowned darkly. “I didn’t want them to know where I was. I wanted to creep away and hide myself. I’ve been through a bad time, Bertie, these last weeks. The sun ceased to shine⁠—”

Bingo is heartbroken and Bertie can't sense that. Read the room, dear Bertie~ but Bingo falls in love so easily that it's not a surprise that he fell in love with Cynthia. The surprise factor is the poetry:

“When Cynthia smiles,” said young Bingo, “the skies are blue; the world takes on a roseate hue: birds in the garden trill and sing, and Joy is king of everything, when Cynthia smiles.” He coughed, changing gears. “When Cynthia frowns⁠—” “What the devil are you talking about?” “I’m reading you my poem. The one I wrote to Cynthia last night. I’ll go on, shall I?”

Let this poor man have his morning tea!

Claude and Eustace are troublemakers with brilliant minds, but instead of to use those brains in solving problems like Jeeves, they try to earn money in a easy way. They could start their own multi-level marketing, Ponzi scheme, or even become gentlemen thieves like Raffles and Bunny (but with two Raffles and no Bunny... unless Bertie is Bunny... anyway~)

“I say, old man,” I couldn’t help saying, “aren’t you looking ahead rather far?” “Oh, that’s all right. It’s true nothing’s actually settled yet, but she practically told me the other day she was fond of me.” “What!” “Well, she said that the sort of man she liked was the self-reliant, manly man with strength, good looks, character, ambition, and initiative.” “Leave me, laddie,” I said. “Leave me to my fried egg.”

So we have a possible romance between Bingo and Cynthia, some plan of the mischievous twins, and Jeeves is interested in this deal... Is this the recipe for a perfect storm? Let's see in the next letter. Pip-pip!