Jeeves and the Final Whassit round two

[horacebulregard.livejournal.com]

http://fav.me/d5qe5nj
A while back I began a narrative outlining our good friend Mister Wooster's adventures in space. This is slightly more of that motif.
I apologize in advance for any shortcomings with regards to spelling and grammar. I proofread this at four in the morning.
I also must admit that being not in posession of a Jeevesian mind, I cannot at present figure out a decent conclusion to the events set in motion. Any suggestions you lovely, intelligent individuals can surmize would be welcome and most appreciated.

Comments

[derien.livejournal.com]

I'm only a few pages in thus far, but I'm enjoying it. :)

[horacebulregard.livejournal.com]

I am both relieved and gratified to hear it. ^^

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

I think it's just adorable... you have everything set up for an accidental engagement, Spode attacks, space newts, and incursions by intergalatic space police...

[horacebulregard.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, all sorts of different hell is set and ready to ensue. The problem though is coming up with a way to put everything back in its proper place after it's been messed up. XD

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

Oh, Jeeves will figure that out for you...it's his job, after all ; )

But seriously, since you asked before for hints--here's some stuff you can try (feel free to ignore). I spew stuff out, but I had a heck of a time with a couple of the things I wrote, and this is adapted from what helped me.

1. Look at a Wodehouse novel/story and mimic it, adapting bits for outer space. Code of the Woosters and Right you Are Jeeves both feature the cow creamer and you could just plug space stuff in around those plots (it's part of the charm of what you're doing that you can figure out what Jeeves and Bertie would do in outer space).

2. Pick some other outer space story and make the characters and props into Bertie and Jeeves items. Like a Star Trek arc except the Romulans are actually the Bassetts.

3. Read a bunch of stuff or watch a bunch of stuff and then sleep on it for a few days.

4. Trust the characters and see what they do.

[horacebulregard.livejournal.com]

This is true. Unfortunately, however much I natter away at my Galaxy, it seems reluctant to help.

Thank you very much for imparting me with your wisdom, I will indeed implement your advice post haste. ^^

What's hilarious is that I did have a similar idea in mind for the Bassetts. XD

With regards to 4, I'm not entirely sure I can. It's a very odd sensation, writing characters that aren't your own. With my characters I can crawl into their head and just fiddle about as I see fit, but with Mister Wodehouse's they are already established. As an outsider it's difficult to figure out how they think and function, and I never feel fully confident in mimicking them. Know what I mean?

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

I do know what you mean about fiddling with the characters... and I guess that's the point... They are going to do what they want no matter what we try to do. So just kind of go with them and make it all space-y (as in outer space, not mentally negligible, although that's fine, too.)

What's genius about your work is that you so seamlessly worked in angry birds and adobe patches and plugged Bertie and Jeeves into the right intellectual frames. I could never have done that.

[horacebulregard.livejournal.com]

Therein lies the rub. I know my characters well enough that they just do that, and I'm perfectly fine with that. With the cast of the world of Wodehouse I feel like I have to put forth much more effort to try and figure out what they would do. Not all of their underlying thoughts and motivations are apparent. I'm having a hell of a time trying to pin down Gussie with any consistency. Oddly enough Jeeves is the only one I seem to have any inkling on, but that might be because I have researched domestic service more than any one person ever should. XD

You are far too kind m'dear. In true Jeeves fashion, it's very simple to convert and update their context when one simply looks at the bare basics of their underlying psychology and draws parallels to the modern world.
That, and it just seemed really necessary to mention Angry Birds for some reason. XD

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... it is tricky to predict them and Gussie especially is wildly unpredictable, but always pretty lame and in need of rescue... no telling who he is going to fall in love with or what he will do next or when he will enrage Spode...

I was looking up some domestic service stuff, but it all seemed so melodramatic... Have you seen a book called Black Swine in the Sewers of Hampstead? It had a really wack-a-doodle case of domestic servant abuse.

[horacebulregard.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he's a very strange case. Most of the characters more or less adhere to Bertie's description of them like glue and act accordingly, but Gussie doesn't have any real rhyme or reason to him. He's the only one that doesn't have a simple archtype to fall back on, aside from being 'a poop'. It seems that most commonly he pulls frighteningly balls-ey stunts, and they either backfire on him or cause issues for everyone else.

I am not familiar with the contents of that one in particular, though I may have to look into it. I generally try to keep clear of the material that appeals to ones sense of pathos, as it does seem to be rather self-indulgent. I haven't read very much that speaks directly on the subject of domestic abuse, since my focus was more on the trade today.
See, I wrote a book a couple years ago where the main character was a butler, so I looked into it quite thoroughly. I've read text books, memoirs, fictional accounts, articles, wrote a research report for a class, you name it. I even found a forum for butlers once and I was impudent enough to bother them for advice. One was kind enough to direct me.
Their stance on Jeeves is actually kind of hilarious.

To get a better idea of the subject, I found that the most helpful (and not quite so dramatic) items were 'Mrs.Beeton's Book of Household Management' (It appears in one episode of Jeeves and Wooster, actually. It teaches Bertie how to make tea, and it can be found online for free here http://www.mrsbeeton.com/), 'Household Management' by Steven Ferry, 'What the Butler Winked at: Eric Horne's Memoirs' (he mentions abuse in passing), and 'Gosford Park' (which is a movie, and has a few sets that look suspiciously like that of Aunt Dahlia's house).

... And I shall stop rambling at you. I apologize.

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

Agreed that Gussie is unpredictable. It's probably one reason I tend not to work with him...and then I only worked with the already-married Gussie.

I'd LOVE to hear more about what the butlers think about Jeeves.

Agreed also that Mrs. Beeton is delightful. (I also like the whole William Morris, Beecher, late 19th-century cult of domesticity deal.) I like to keep in mind the idea that our views of servitude are melodramatic because it helps me with the type of writing I do. Was just curious because the Black Swine book might be up your alley.

[horacebulregard.livejournal.com]

The moment the notion that I could make him into a big scaly alien fish monster popped into my head, I had to put him in there. Absolutely had to.

Oh man. I kid you not, every single article I read (and I read somewhere between twenty and fifty no problem) while doing that research report prefaced its contents with a statement about how the actual field is nothing like in the Jeeves books. That you don't get to control people, most people aren't as stupid/malleable as Bertie Wooster, people won't be singing your praises, and that Jeeves is actually a valet. In fact, all these different sources getting irritated and mad over the misconceptions instilled in the populace by the Jeeves series was what made me decide to read them in the first place. XD

It seems like there are only two subjects that thoroughly bother butlers no matter what, and those are Jeeves and Paul Burrell, who is essentially the butler antichrist. XD

I've been trying to work against the melodrama for a very long time, with limited success.
It does indeed seem like something I might enjoy, thank you for bringing it to my attention. Once I have barreled my way through the thirteen books I received for Christmas I shall look into procuring a copy. I've already knocked down two and a half, so it hopefully won't be long.

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

Melodrama is rather difficult to escape. I have been completely unsuccessful in that endeavor, so cannot offer any advice.

....must now go and find anti-Jeeves articles.

And, really, I totally, completely LOVE what you are doing. (Last night, I actually had a dream where Hugh Laurie--sadly 'house' HL, but still--was floating around with Angry Birds.) Waiting for further installments with bated breath.

[horacebulregard.livejournal.com]

I know that if I'm not careful my writing just darts to the darkest, moodiest places it can find. It's easier to avoid this if you try not to take things too seriously, remember what tone you're going for overall, stay chipper, and watch a lot of absurd bbc comedy beforehand.
Though the story with the butler that I did all the research for is a lost cause in this respect. That character is just a miserable, melodramatic creature no matter what I do. XD

http://www.modernbutlers.com/category/articles/ There we are, that should speed up the search a bit. It took me a very long time to find that, since butlers really don't want people to know anything about them. I can't recall which ones contain Jeeves exactly, but some are bound to be in there. Those are more specialized articles for the most part, but I know that Steven Ferry has written at least two different articles that make mention of Jeeves. It comes up more in general interest articles, which is all I found when I didn't know where to look.

You are truly too kind, my dear, and that dream sounds absolutely hilarious and amazing. I only hope that future installments will reach your expectations, I'm slightly worried now. XD

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

No worries! I am sure I will love whatever dark/light creation you come up with.

Thanks for the link! I was bumbling about, rather.

And just remember....without dark there would be no light... ; )

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

PS... maybe you could swap out some type of tribble arc for space newts....

[horacebulregard.livejournal.com]

That. Is. Brilliant. XD

[cat94208.livejournal.com]

I was delighted to see that you updated this. This is such an interesting AU, and I love Spode as an Cyborg!