OCD vs Marvel
Apr. 26th, 2011 10:39 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
gunitneko.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
indeedsir_backupI wish to start a discussion. How much of Jeeves work is Marvel and how much is undiagnosed OCD? Thoughts! GO!
(and are there any fics?)
(and are there any fics?)
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no subject
Date: 2011-04-27 02:09 pm (UTC)Mmmhmmm
Date: 2011-04-27 04:53 pm (UTC)Re: Mmmhmmm
Date: 2011-04-27 06:29 pm (UTC)I think if you want to make Jeeves more realistic, you can look at the clues we get about the man behind the valet facade. If you're looking for flaws specifically, he's a proud, stubborn, sometimes manipulative man with a, shall we say, interesting approach to morals. If you're just looking to round him out more, we get glimpses into his private life, his hobbies, his wicked and very dry sense of humour. That he is also exceptionally good at his job is only one aspect of the man, and certainly not something that's outside of the realm of probability.
Looking to a mental illness to explain Jeeves is a bit of a stretch, I think. I apologize if I'm being harsh. I'm a bit touchy about mental illness being used as easy (and often heavy-handed) angst. That said, even though it should be even more problematic for me, being close to home and all that, in the hands of a good author, I absolutely eat up secretly depressed Bertie stories, so take that for what it's worth.
Re: Mmmhmmm
Date: 2011-04-27 07:22 pm (UTC)My only defense that I still haven't read the stories for myself. I'm going strictly off of fanfiction. I should really amend that.
Re: Mmmhmmm
Date: 2011-04-27 08:29 pm (UTC)I definitely recommend you read the canon. Not just because it's canon, but because it is utterly charming and delightful and full of wonderful turns of phrase and adorable details - for instance, Bertie once one a prize at school for having the best pressed flower collection, which is about the cutest thing ever.
Re: Mmmhmmm
Date: 2011-04-27 08:27 pm (UTC)These exist??? I mean, complete ones. I've seen a lot of WIP ones around. Are there any complete ones you can rec? Even if they're completely obvious? (I suck at finding things. I've got lost in trailer parks before, where all of the roads lead to the entrance/exit, if that tells you anything.)
Re: Mmmhmmm
Date: 2011-04-27 09:06 pm (UTC)Re: Mmmhmmm
Date: 2011-04-28 04:09 pm (UTC)Re: Mmmhmmm
Date: 2011-04-28 02:36 am (UTC)This. Yes. My boss and coworkers seem to be constantly amazed at the things I can do with Excel - and all I did was borrow a workbook for a basic Excel course for a week.
I suppose Jeeves could conceivably be marginally OCD. I have strong OCD tendencies (sadly they do not extend to housecleaning) and sometimes have to stop myself from going overboard (in the "it bothers me when you put the mouse pad in the middle of the computer desk when the proper place for it is the lower right corner" kind of way), but I'm nowhere near needing meds or therapy, and I could see Jeeves being like that.
But that doesn't really make for exciting storytelling, does it?
Re: Mmmhmmm
Date: 2011-04-28 05:51 am (UTC)Re: Mmmhmmm
Date: 2011-04-28 08:23 am (UTC)*ponderponderponder*
Date: 2011-05-04 06:54 am (UTC)And while he might not have anything diagnosable, he is peculiar. Although, I've always put down his stuff about clothes to fetishism. Both sexual and non-, actually. It's important to make Bertie look right, because not only does it reflect on him, but the clothes have talismanic power. And give him an enormous boner, both valet-y and non. XD
And I was just explaining secretly depressed Bertie stories to a non-fan friend, and telling him about how, despite their oddness, they're usually good, since in my experience, only good writers have the balls to do it. I love Green Ice and its companion whose name I cannot recall, and other stories with veteran!Bertie, but in my headcanon, he was born in 1900, making him too young to have been in it, which to me seems like a big part of his personality.
Finally, since this is already too long and I'm already off-topic, if you wanna read a character who is almost certainly mentally ill, pick up the Sherlock Holmes canon. Boy practically had BIPOLAR stamped on his forehead.
Re: *ponderponderponder*
Date: 2011-05-04 02:45 pm (UTC)The companion to Green Ice is called Armistice, I believe. I go back and forth on whether Bertie is a veteran in my headcanon. I think I lean towards yes, because of the interesting possibilities it opens up, but only for the last year or so of the war, with him being too young before that.
I've always shied away from Sherlock Holmes, because I get the impression the Holmes is pretty callous and unfeeling, and that doesn't appeal to me. Please correct me if I'm totally off base.
Re: *ponderponderponder*
Date: 2011-05-05 01:55 am (UTC)I love them both, and feel so bad for Wimsey in Armistice. Watching the freakout can be worse than having it.
And you're utterly wrong about Holmes, but I don't blame you. He wants to be a computer, and so pretends to be one. He's actually what happens when you cross-pollinate British analysis with French romanticism. And he LOVES his Watson. He plays the man to sleep with his violin, worries about his war wounds and his nerves, and has actually told Watson he would be lost without him. He can be a dick to him, but it tends to come in four forms:
A: He's hot on the trail and has forgotten that other people need to eat and sleep.
B: He's in his depressive swing and accordingly cranky
C: He feels jealous and/or deserted for a chick
D: Like Jeeves, he needs a pawn, even if it's someone he loves dearly.
If you really want to get to know him, read The Three Garridebs (ACD writing h/c), The Devil's Foot (again), The Dying Detective (contains dickwad!Holmes, but in a good cause and it's slashy as fuck), The Six Napoleans (for me at least, deeply touching, and rather slashy, in a quiet way), The Noble Bachelor (GAAAAAAAAAAAYYY), and finally, The Sign of Four, even though the Holmes novels are never as good as the short stories. Hound of the Baskervilles excepted.
Re: *ponderponderponder*
Date: 2011-05-05 01:54 pm (UTC)Re: *ponderponderponder*
Date: 2011-05-06 01:00 am (UTC)As to Bunny and his ex, despite all the GAAAAAAAAAYYY he has for Raffles (he makes Watson's constant handporn of Holmes look nearly straight), I think he's the bi one. In my fic, Raffles never lets him top, and it would annoy him anyway, but there's this extra layer of DAMMIT, YOU'RE THE GAY ONE!
no subject
Date: 2011-04-28 08:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-28 09:48 am (UTC)I have had a secret theory for some time. Jeeves is the descendant of Beau Brummell, whose grandfather was a valet. That explains all!
(Either that,or P.G. just wanted him to be a combination of the Beau and Sherlock Holmes, just because).
no subject
Date: 2011-05-04 06:56 am (UTC)Holmes: ...*stare* ....*STAAAAAAAAAAAARRRE*
Brummell: ...*slightly nervous*
Holmes: ....Your hat. It's too fabulous. I am undone. Take me now!
And thus was the Jeeves dynasty founded. XD
no subject
Date: 2011-05-04 10:40 am (UTC)I think though, that the Beau would be used to being stared at, assuming everyone was admiring him. After all, he was a former soldier, no wonder he was neat as a new pin.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-05 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-04 10:27 pm (UTC)