Weekly Drabble challenge
Nov. 16th, 2012 11:45 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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indeedsir_backupRules:
1) A drabble is, by definition, a 100-word story therefore all responses should be 100 words exactly, no exceptions.
2) You may also choose to respond to this challenge with a five-minute sketch.
3) PLEASE put the word DRABBLE at the top of your post. That way people can easily spot the drabbles in amongst any reader comments they receive.
RATING: I don't think this should be limited so reader beware that they could be any rating (you could put it in the subject line if you feel it needs it)
PLEASE try to remember to make each drabble a comment in response to the original post. That way, if the comments start to collapse, the drabbles themselves should remain visible.
Pre-Canon
Anything you like about the boys before they entered each other's lives
Please tag :)
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Date: 2012-11-20 03:48 am (UTC)Something sinister? Do tell!
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Date: 2012-11-20 12:37 pm (UTC)But really, from the Aunt Agatha perspective...Bertie has managed to get a fiancee very above himself and is reading improving books and doing quite well and suddenly Jeeves shows up and it's all horse racing and Drones and Bertie messing up every single thing she tries to do to help him get ahead.
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Date: 2012-11-22 05:19 am (UTC)You know, I've never really looked at it that way; that Bertie had an "improving" fiance and Jeeves' arrival coincides with Bertie's silly Drones games and behavior. That does give aunts a bad impression, doesn't it? That's super interesting! (Goodness, it makes me want to write Agatha!perspective stories.)
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Date: 2012-11-22 01:54 pm (UTC)It was the affair of old Sippy or something like that... Bertie bought this Asian vase and Jeeves hated it... he hits Sippy on the back of the head with a golf club, knocking him unconscious, then he breaks the vase (or at least this is what he tells Bertie) and at the end of the story and Bertie feels the scales fall from his eyes because he never envisions Jeeves actually doing things like that.
Truthfully, I never really thought about the Agatha perspective until I read the story where she tries to make Bertie into the secretary for this Filmer bird... She is genuinely trying to make something of him...one can almost see her previously molding Uncle Willoughby from a bounder into a boring old man sitting in his study writing his recollections.
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Date: 2012-11-23 12:31 pm (UTC)Oh, yes! I think Jeeves is capable of quite a bit beyond what Bertie generally envisions in any case. I mean, certainly Jeeves is brilliant, but he has to be willing to do what he needs to do in any given sitch to come out on top... And Jeeves is always good at coming out on top. I often wonder how much Bertie misses about Jeeves because he idolizes him so much. (I actually like reading all varieties of Jeeves, but there's always fun, and even realism, in exploring the dark elements that are inherent to him. Psychology of the individual, as he says. I just read this corking ficlet on AO3--Let There Be No More Marriages (http://archiveofourown.org/works/95656) by boynamedjacket--where Jeeves killed a prospective engagement Bertie couldn't escape! Not that Jeeves would go that far in canon, but, well, the seeds are planted, what? And goodness, you know I've been reading a lot of Jooster tonight when I scatter the slang in my speech. ;)
Oh dear, you're making me fond of Agatha, against all odds. Or at least much more sympathetic. Resisting the urge to write Agatha fic...
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Date: 2012-11-24 12:34 am (UTC)Jeeves and Bertie are both kind of morally flexible... after all Bertie spent his formative years pinching biscuits and sneaking looks at his friends' school records. But you are right about the sometimes almost sinister aspect that seems to be lurking behind Jeeves... although I am not at all convinced he'd actually murder anyone.... but I did sort of like that story where Jeeves embezzles all Bertie's money and then runs off with him.
Agatha is misguided (and actually rather mean) so I don't feel very fond of her, but I do understand her points--Bertie really does need to prepare himself for the real world and he is giving Jeeves ideas above his station...
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Date: 2012-11-25 04:15 am (UTC)I tend to forget Bertie's moral flexibility (though he really is), perhaps because Jeeves looks after his needs so well and also that boundless cheer... lol Or perhaps because he's usually doing morally flexible things either in the name of bachelorhood or in the name of helping a friend. I definitely don't think Jeeves could/would murder someone, it's just fun to push his character that far. Like, what if he hit someone over the head again, in the name of protecting Bertie's freedom, but that person was more delicate or Jeeves miscalculated, and said person died from the blow, later. But I couldn't write that. I prefer fluff with only edges of angst. *g*
Oh yes, I just read that embezzlement story a couple days ago! I loved that! Especially the ending. Stories always cause me to wonder how much was happy coincidence and how much Jeeves planned out.
I can really sympathize with the frustrated figure who feels like he/she knows better. Agatha is almost a version of Jeeves who doesn't succeed. She schemes much as he does, only her complex schemes always fail while his work out. Maybe she dislikes him so because they're so much alike in some way. They both try to improve Bertie in their own way, Jeeves is just subtler and Agatha beats Bertie over the head with it. Jeeves slowly sees he might be wrong because he listens to Bertie, but Agatha never thinks Bertie could have a point.
I don't think Bertie's ever really cared about class. Jeeves is a brilliant chap to him, regardless of station, so he has no sense of letting Jeeves get above his station. And he doesn't mind his friends wooing waitresses and so on, sort of ahead of his time on socialist views. Jeeves is sort of funnily the opposite, isn't he? He prides himself on his status but he does get above himself according to the rules he so values. It's like he's walking a line he sees but I don't so much.
And boy, every time I start contemplating Jeeves and Bertie's characters I find them so complex and so flexible I get lost. :) Sorry for going on so long!
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Date: 2012-11-25 05:23 pm (UTC)Bertie had some rough edges as a boy which some people have worked hard to knock off... but in the Soapy Sid escapade he's ready to just keep that pearl necklace (I was deeply shocked). I agree that the greatest danger would be Jeeves accidentally killing someone. But one wonders about how his old employers are all either dead, in prison, or call him to fix their problems (Joy in the Morning) and don't seem to understand that he works for Bertie.
I totally loved that little detail in the embezzlement story where Jeeves puts his arm around Bertie and how it made him (Bertie) swallow. So cute!
I am totally swept away with the idea of Aunt Agatha as failed Jeeves!!! That is the best read of Aunt Agatha ever! And so totally true-seeming. She engages in many nephew-crushing activities and it's pretty clear that she molded Uncle George into a perfectly respectable Lord Yaxley and somehow got Uncle Willoughby to be the proper inhabitant of Easby. (Although I am starting to wonder who is on which side of Bertie's family tree.)
The stories (especially the ones written while having servants was much more common) are SO different from the show... in the stories, Bertie clearly has a very sharp notion of class. Bertie is also very conscious that Jeeves rules the roost and henpecks him and is above himself... Bertie just isn't sure how to handle it because he somehow can't treat Jeeves the way he treats other servants.
... will keep thinking about all these points! Thanks so much for this fascinating conversation!
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Date: 2012-11-27 10:39 am (UTC)Goodness! It's been awhile since I read the books (and I don't think I've read the Soapy Sid incident, come to think of it) that I forget the finer points. I should brush up. It's so hard to imagine Bertie wanted to keep the pearls! But he definitely has had his rougher moments… I suppose, next to everyone else who cons him into helping them, Bertie's rough stuff never looked so bad.
See, when you say dead, in prison, or call him to fix their problems it's so dreadfully hard not to think of sinister serial killer Jeeves. Between you and
I know, right? Now that it's been said I don't think it can ever be unsaid! Agatha = failed Jeeves! *facepalm* So many things make sense now. She was undoubtedly a superb molder in her time, but she grew up into a Dragon Aunt whose lost the subtleties of molding. (Gosh, can you imagine how irked Jeeves would get if he perpetually failed on a project he was obsessed with? Think how pipped he got over Biffy and Mabel.)
Okay, I definitely need to brush up on the books, because I can't remember Bertie being so concerned by Jeeves' mastery over the house. Class relations are entirely fascinating to me, especially in their era when socialism was growing and the serving classes were slowly beginning to fade out, right between the two wars. Especially with Jeeves, he's in such an unusual position, as generally his job would always be in such a fragile position, but Jeeves himself is a brilliant man and his position with Bertie is nearly immovable as Agatha's attempts prove.
I apologize my responses are sometimes slow. I'm in a frustratingly busy couple weeks on campus. But I've been enjoying our conversations so much! Jeeves and Bertie are so layered I suspect I could go on forever, and every time we discuss some point or another new ideas keep developing! lol
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Date: 2012-11-27 02:33 pm (UTC)I quit my job and therefore have some time on my hands so I have been reading these lately out of interest.
Bertie had a rather lively history before Jeeves, what with dropping blancmanges on people, stealing biscuits and policeman's helmets, and riding around in the altogether singing comic songs. I think he just has a sort of flexible sense of honesty--which also allows him not to hurt the feelings of all those women who make his skin crawl.
I must confess that I have a more romantic notion of Jeeves...loved the dead employer like a father and was deeply wounded at the loss, totally unable to deal with the anger and nastiness of the Craye household (maybe Florence had a crush on him?), tried very hard to keep the other, stubborn employer out of chokey (Ring for Jeeves has a theme like this), and thereafter vowed only to work for not-terribly-bright and rather pretty men like Bertie and Bill (Ring for Jeeves). I personally like to think that Jeeves managed to make Lord Worplesdon think that he dismissed Jeeves just to keep the door open as it were. It just seemed weird that they did not invite Bertie to get Jeeves, which makes me wonder if Lord Worplesdon even knows whether Jeeves works for Bertie. (Or maybe all Jeeves's whining about fishing was a ploy because Lord Worplesdon had been asking him to come out and help and offered Bertie the cottage because he did not want him in the house with Florence after their failed engagement.) The only employer Jeeves does not seem to want to leave a door open to is Mr. Stoker.
I think Agatha might just be sick and tired of molding Wooster men. She clearly did a lot of work on Uncle Henry and Uncle George (and Uncle Willoughby) and put a lot of effort into managing Cyril Bassington-Bassington and Claude and Eustace. Only problem for her with Bertie is that he knows he does not want to be molded and is smart enough to avoid her obvious machinations. And let's face it, Bertie is her Jeeves--fixing all that stuff up behind the scenes for her with the help of the real Jeeves (just like Bertie fixes things for Aunt Dahlia).
Hmm... my personal impression of Jeeves is that he does not bother getting irked (luxury item he cannot afford), but rather just sets his mind to 'tact' and uses all resources at his disposal (including Bertie in the resource pile). On the Biffy front, he was totally pipped because he thought Biffy was a cad and a bounder--his very first try at reunion was 100% on, though.
Another thing I've thought for a while is that class division has never really entirely faded out (just read Maeve Binchy or Rosamunde Pilcher). But Bertie actually describes Jeevs as the Mussolini of the home in Thank-you Jeeves. It's a really interesting thing to think about, I think. And being American, it's really especially fascinating because we're so tuned out of our own class system.
No apologies for slowness--this is totally the bomb. Have fun with your campus activities. I'm currently studenting online which is convenient but lacks social qualities.
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Date: 2012-12-01 05:01 am (UTC)I'm sorry you had to quit your job! But I hope the change was a good one! And you're studying online? May I ask what you're studying? I'm dashing headlong toward a degree in English, graduating this semester. I've taken a lot of courses online and find some of them quite satisfying when my peers are chatty. Sometimes online courses can really drag on and feel cut off though.
LOL! Right, Bertie caused no end of mayhem with his friends, didn't he? Jeeves has rather mellowed him out. Or perhaps Bertie's maturing like a nice whiskey. I know he plays dinner roll cricket but it's just hard to imagine he lobbing blancmanges onto unsuspecting people! To be fair though, the policemen could do with a bit of helmet-stealing, to keep them on their toes. *g*
Talking about Bertie's past, and considering Jeeves' vast knowledge on the upper class, I wonder if Jeeves picked Bertie as his next employer because he knew he could mold Bertie/he wanted a less complicated employment, or if he knew being in Bertie's employment would be complicated. Considering Jeeves' past employers and Bertie's biscuit-stealing history, maybe Jeeves picked Bertie because he likes the employer who's flexible enough about the law that Jeeves can go about his business without concern of censure. (Well, without concern of censure beyond the occasional clash over mauve ties. Bound to happen in any household possessing men of iron will and all that. ;) Did that theory make any sense at all?
Bertie's honesty—and his Code of the Woosters—is interesting, because he's willing to commit himself to an ultimately painful and harmful future so he won't hurt a woman in the present moment. I love that Bertie will commit all sorts of bad behaviors and criminal activities to protect the feelings of his fiancés though. He goes to such epic lengths to avoid hurt feelings and it's very sweet. I wonder where he got that from, if it's just his nature or if his upbringing among inattentive relatives brought it out in him.
I'm very, very, very flexible on my notions of both Jeeves and Bertie. I can read them so many ways, depending on the way someone wants to portray them. I largely think of Jeeves as a more romantic figure myself—I'm a big romantic actually.—it's just I see this dark in him that can be used to color his actions, you know? For me at my core thoughts on Jeeves he's a bit of a caretaker by nature and likes to help people much like Bertie does; it's why they make such a great pair, and I think Bertie only brings out Jeeves' better nature more and more over time, and vice versa. But because of Jeeves' position I can see people trying to misuse him a lot—though he's quite capable of avoiding such people by the time he enters Bertie's employ—and so he's more wary and more careful about building his network and maintaining the leverage he gains through time. And for me he definitely very carefully picked out Bertie, who is a pretty optimal employer. I agree, Jeeves would have convinced Lord Worplesdon that he'd chosen to dismiss Jeeves. I don't think Jeeves would want to leave a door open for Stoker for a couple interconnected reasons: he's American and so not socially ingrained with the ways of the upper class and serving class, he's also nouveau riche causing the same problems, and those things make him harder to control so harder to deal with. (OMG. Florence with a crush on Jeeves. I must read this! Does it exist? Or you could write it! That would be brilliant. *beams at you* Bertie would get confused, and then figure it out and be unsurprised—because who wouldn't fall for Jeeves?—and then horrified at the prospect of the brainy nightmare charging his beloved valet.)
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Date: 2012-12-01 05:02 am (UTC)This is true. Jeeves doesn't get irked, does he? But, if pressed with repeated failure despite best efforts, what would he be driven to? (I just read a charming story where he decides to confess his feelings to Bertie, but event after event keeps getting in his way. He was getting quite frazzled by the end.) Perhaps his remaining calm and Agatha becoming irate in these crises has to do with class. As you say, Jeeves can't afford to be bothered, while Agatha can.
Class never entirely faded out of Wodehouse's stories, or still exists in the world? That is very interesting to think about (the former). I do think class division is still quite pervasive, though it crops up in different ways as the years roll on. Americans are definitely tuned out from our own class system though (utterly blind to it half the time), it's rather mind-boggling, and that just really is the fascinating part about studying various other systems… (The British class system has always fascinated me. And now I sort of want Bertie to visit his sister in India, because there's a whole other world that would probably boggle him.)
…and I have rambled for nearly two pages.
I am going to stop now and hope LJ doesn't say this is too big. lolLJ politely told me I was far, far too chatty here. I promise I'll be briefer next time. *facepalm*no subject
Date: 2012-12-05 01:15 am (UTC)Good point! Jeeves can't afford to act or look bothered.
Re: class--I think, both. Someone should do the India Bertie story....that would be fun!!
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Date: 2012-12-13 06:39 am (UTC)Bertie in India would be rather brilliant. Ostensibly to visit his sister, of course, but we all know Jeeves finagled the trip somehow. ;) I have read a story where I think Jeeves goes to India and Bertie follows... I can't quite recall the name... Jeeves and the Monetary Imbalance, I think? If you want a link just let me know and I'll dig up the story properly for you!
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Date: 2012-12-13 03:04 pm (UTC)Perhaps Aunt Agatha had a behind-the-scenes lackey and is afraid that Jeeves will derail his/her work? But it does seem that intelligent women do not care for Jeeves in the least and women of normal or middling or lesser intelligence think him quite OK, really.
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Date: 2012-12-14 10:26 am (UTC)Yes, I've noticed intelligent women are quite put off by Jeeves. I think they're subconsciously aware he's quite a massive threat to their
anarchytyrannyown influence overBertieevents. Normal women--like normal aunts, I suppose?--are less interested in Bertie so they don't need to worry about Jeeves, who in those instances is at worst an invisible valet and at best someone who's thinking up grand schemes to get them out of trouble. I rather expect Bertie's right and Jeeves could be Prime Minister if he wanted to be.no subject
Date: 2013-01-05 05:51 pm (UTC)So, I just read Thank-you, Jeeves this morning and, well, it seems that Jeeves is not always 100% successful with other employers. Mr. Stoker, for example, does not seem to like the way he talks at all, and in Ring for Jeeves, he makes a few blunders. Shocking. Deeply shocking to my tender sensiblities
I completely agree that intelligent women seem not to like Jeeves's influence over Bertie, but they also (in the books) seem more upset because he has ideas above his station more than that they have less influence over Bertie (because that's certainly not the case). Aunt Agatha gets upset because Jeeves is totally not an invisible valet.
I also totally agree that Aunt Dahlia is not interested in Bertie
But then other women (like Pauline Stoker and Jill in Ring for Jeeves, Rosie M. Banks, and Bobbie Wickham) all really like Jeeves... and they kind of are all perfectly OK with Bertie (even if they think he's a bit stupid). And these women are totally not unintelligent. What do you think about the idea that these intelligent women don't like intellectual competition?
Huh... or maybe it's the molding? The intelligent women realize they can't mold Bertie as long as Jeeves is protecting him?
Confused.