#Mike and Psmith

[dickensianenglishbulldog]

Psmith runs past Mike on the street.

Mike: Psmith? What on Earth? Why are you running?

Psmith: Comrade Jackson! The disruption of my usually stately demeanour may be attributed not to a wish for exercise but to flight!

M:eh?

Bertie Wooster, Oofy Prosser, Monty Bodkin, Bingo Little, eggs, beans and crumpets (shouting):“Stop him! He’s got the club brain cell!”

#literature #booklr #hilarious #pg wodehouse #bertie wooster #psmith #Monty bodkin #jeeves and wooster #Mike and Psmith #bingo little

[fictionadventurer]

I don't have ideas for a full-fledged Psmith superhero AU, but I do think that Psmith should have "ghosting" powers. Able to phase himself/others/objects through other solid matter. Which allows him to literally throw intruders through the window and hide the shoe literally inside the chimney.

#random thought of the day #psmith #p.g. wodehouse #mike and psmith #this occurred to me when a superhero au was brought up #but it recently came to mind again #since we already have an au where he has mind control powers this is a possible alternative

[isfjmel-phleg]

"I say, Psmith," said Mike suddenly, "what really made you tell Downing you'd done it?" "The craving for—" "Oh, chuck it. You aren't talking to the Old Man now. I believe it was simply to get me out of a jolly tight corner." Psmith's expression was one of pain. "My dear Comrade Jackson," said he, "you wrong me. You make me writhe. I'm surprised at you. I never thought to hear those words from Michael Jackson." "Well, I believe you did, all the same," said Mike obstinately. "And it was jolly good of you, too." Psmith moaned.

Mike and Psmith, P. G. Wodehouse

#Psmith Pseptember #Mike and Psmith #P. G. Wodehouse #their friendship works because they see each other for who they really are! #and Mike sees the good in Psmith and won't let him hide from it #(meanwhile - although we don't see it here - Psmith's always going on about how intelligent and valuable Mike is #quiet socially awkward Mike but Psmith sees what's underneath and values it) #also this bit is hilarious because it's where it sinks in that that's been Mike's name the whole time

[muse-write]

I’ve just started Mike and Psmith! I figured that I should go through the Psmith series in order now that I’ve read the last book. Quick question for anyone who can answer: how old are the characters in the school stories? In Leave it to Psmith they’re early 20s, so I’m thinking that here they’re around 16 or so? Anyone have more confident answers?

#pg wodehouse #mike and psmith #psmith #books

[aceredshirt13]

one thing i love about p. g. wodehouse is that the answer to "didn't wodehouse write a short story where heteronormativity is framed as the villain?" is "which one?"

#red randomness #p. g. wodehouse #mr. mulliner #golf stories #honeysuckle cottage #a woman is only a woman #<- just finished reading that story. so charming and cute #i didn't know what the hell they were talking about for most of the golf bits #but that's true of the cricket bits in mike and psmith as well so it's fine #read part of a really good unpublished monograph on honeysuckle cottage last night #and have a strong mind to add A Woman Is Only a Woman to my queerness in wodehouse essay wip #(also amusing myself with the fact that both these stories + ukridge have dudes with queer vibes named James) #(least straight name according to p. g. wodehouse)

[lesbworth]

if gay marriage had been legal in edwardian england, psmith and mike would have got married for tax benefits

#do you michael jackson take rupert psmith to be your lawfully wedded bestie #psmith #p.g. wodehouse #still kills me that mike's full name is michael jackson lmao #i forgot i had this post in the drafts hahaha i was so right

[dtolemy]

{ KEDAR WILLIAMS-STIRLING, 19, CIS MALE, HE/HIM } Is that DARIUS PTOLEMY? A SOPHOMORE originally from PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE, they decided to come to Ogden College to study BUSINESS on a ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP. They’re THE HOMEGROWN HERO on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance. 

pinterest | spotify | spotify+ (warning: bubblegum pop and the gummy bear song)

WHO?

full name: darius ezekiel ptolemy

birthday: october 25, 2003

pronouns: he/him

personality: exuberant. galvanizing. insatiable, imprudent, impetuous. insert other sat words he uses incorrectly to sound intelligent, which he is capable of being strictly in the contexts of sports and the pizza prices of every take-out place in a statewide vicinity. where he remains oblivious to his faults, darius thrives, and where he is forced to confront them, darius falters, snaps back with something stolen from the climax of an academy award loser, and goes back to thriving. he’s a personality, a figurehead, a trophy that needs to win itself more trophies. he thinks of getting people to like him, love him, hate him, focus on him, in any way, to be just as important as getting good grades. despite this, he’s anything but a hard partier, and claims designated driver like it’s his eternal duty. no better way to make people fall for you than by being a goody-two-shoes, right?

appearance: darius’s wardrobe is a miscellany of colors, thrown over a toned body with a meticulous dishevelment that takes more time in the morning than his three showers. his stature is asserted to be 6’0 but more accurately 5’10 with the help of high top sneakers, while its presence is mostly felt in him darting about campus with an agility only achievable through years of training and an abject inability to read maps properly.

WHAT?

sports & extracurriculars: tennis, diving & swimming, table tennis

tropes: homegrown hero. if anything’s to thank for his rise to the top and unaccountable social claustrophobia, it’s the prestigious town of portsmouth, new hampshire. | small name, big ego. but also, his success is sort of totally, entirely his doing. even if said success isn't quite that recognized outside of the country. | mr. vice guy. pride, lust, relating to holden caulfield, etc. he didn’t pay much attention in sunday school, honestly. | | attention whore. no point in doing anything if nobody’s around to post a fancam of it. | the nicknamer. because having a coherent contacts list is for losers.

relationship to greer: greer’s recruit.

Maybe it was because he was playing with some of the finest New Hampshire had to offer, or maybe it was because his attention was thoroughly divided between warming up and making the varsity team warm up to him, but Darius put more effort than ever into preparing himself for the life of an Ogden student. Specifically, the life of an Ogden student in Greer’s inner circle. He sought her time with a dogged determination that could only be dampened by explicit refusal, analyzing every letter of her posts (which were probably drafted by a PR team with more experience than a lifetime in the industry could merit, but a man could dream, and dream he did) as well as reading Cosmopolitan magazines behind his textbooks. Thus, freshman year was filled with professional, totally subtle butt-kissing and a whole lot of scampering around campus to spend his old rackets’ insurance on… whatever it was that Greer liked, anyways. He knew he wanted, needed, to become like her other friends, a shiny thing out of reach from anyone below their level, but how?

hobbies: cycling, yoga, taking selfies at inappropriate times

inspirations: randall “pink” floyd (dazed and confused), jeff sadecki (yellowjackets), mike jackson (the psmith novels), emily cooper (emily in paris, i promise i can explain)

WHY?

tl;dr: ambitious, discontent, and brilliant at acting like he’s neither of those, darius was born to the most mind-bogglingly middling family ever to throw their name in the genetic lottery in the most average neighborhood to have ever been built. his father an electrician and amateur pastor, his mother an insurance agent, and his grandmother a dispenser of morally dubious advice from her rocking chair, he took the burden of being an interesting person onto himself at a young age, idolizing the grand slam GOATs of television and desperate to become one of them. he and his coaches molded him into the underdog of his hometown’s dreams, but now that he’s been thrust into a world where people actually go places for vacation and expect better than the best of him, he doubts he can keep up without some elbow grease.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION…

connections: tba! aside from the suggested connections for the skeleton, however:

platonic. sports buddies, role models, study groups, fitness friends, ride or dies with a probable emphasis on dies

antagonistic. rivals on the court, mutual jealousy, academic opposition, bad influences, competitors in popularity

romantic. fleeting flirtationships, unrequited crushes, awkward dating app matches, friends with benefits, enemies with benefits

plot summaries: tba!

thread tracker: tba!

headcanons: 

hates table tennis and sucks at it big time but continues playing under the incorrect pretense that he will improve. either misses the ball entirely or hits it with so much force that whichever surface the poor thing lands on will be permanently scarred.

most active social media is linkedin. he is aware that this is humiliating but mentally maintains that he will be nothing without an internship to one of the many, many insurance companies whose employees he texts night and day.

favorites:

books. adventures of huckleberry finn by mark twain, losers take all by david klass, a separate peace by john knowles, winning ugly by brad gilbert, looking for alaska by john green

movies. fast times at ridgemont high, napoleon dynamite, sunday school musical, big time adolescence, teenage mutant ninja turtles (1990)

music. lecrae, nirvana, daft punk, weathers, sue sylvester’s super bass cover

#ogdenintro

[incomingalbatross]

Perks of doing a lot of lit research for finals on Internet Archive:

Free

Accessible

Unexpectedly reminded me of the Mike and Psmith Summer Camp AU

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

Hi tales

Can you give me a metaphor to describe each of your blorbos?

Hmm, this is tricky! I know I've used metaphors about my blorbos, but for the life of me I can't remember any 😅 So, since I've been reading P. G. Wodehouse lately, I'll quote some of his metaphors (and similes, etc.) to describe some of my OCs instead ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Abi when she finds out about the zombies:

"She came leaping towards me, like Lady Macbeth coming to get first-hand news from the guest-room." — Joy in the Morning

Diarnlan in general:

"... the glimpses I had caught of his face from the corner of the eyes had told me that he was grim and resolute, his supply of the milk of human kindness plainly short by several gallons." — Jeeves in the Offing

Konstantine when he meets Rusudan:

"Mike nodded. A sombre nod. The nod Napoleon might have given if somebody had met him in 1812 and said, 'So, you're back from Moscow, eh?'" — Mike and Psmith

Yo-han at the end of Silver Glass:

"He was rigidly truthful, where the issue concerned only himself. Where it was a case of saving a friend, he was prepared to act in a manner reminiscent of an American expert witness." — Mike and Psmith

Máté in general:

"A melancholy-looking man, he had the appearance of one who has searched for the leak in life's gas-pipe with a lighted candle." — The Man Upstairs and Other Stories

#ask #sleepyowlwrites #my characters

[someitems]

Dear Yuletide Author 2022

I’m so excited that it’s Yuletide time once again, and I can’t wait to see what you create!

Do not wants/dislikes: No E-rated fic, please (M or lower is fine). If a character is injured, hospitalized or suffers a medical emergency in the fic, please warn/tag for it even if it’s a minor character and even if it spoils the plot.

What I like: I’m all about characterization - what makes these people tick? Why do they like each other so much? - and I’m an especially big fan of when characters who seem wildly different are inexplicably drawn to each other. In stories where I’ve requested multiple characters (or no specific characters), I’d be just as happy with an ensemble story as with something focused on one or two characters specifically. If you bring your love of the canon into your writing and focus on what makes the world and the people in it so special, I know I’ll love whatever you write!

My requests:

ヒヤマケンタロウの妊娠 | He's Expecting

Hiyama Kentaro, Seto Aki

This was my favorite show I watched in 2022, and one of my favorite shows in a long time. It was so smart and incisive on issues of gender, reproductive health care, childrearing, and misogyny, while also being wildly funny and introducing us to so many endearing, relatable characters. While I respected the show’s decision not to bring Kentaro and Aki together, it also made me a little sad because I think they would be a great couple. I’d love fic about them getting together, whether it’s during the events of the show or afterwards. Any way you want to bring them together is fine, but please try to keep it to the spirit of the show and don’t have them capitulate to social expectations for their relationship. 

消えた初恋 | Kieta Hatsukoi | Vanishing My First Love

Aida Hayato, Aoki Souta, Hashimoto Mio, Ida Kousuke

I was so charmed by this show and everyone in it. I’d really like a fic about what happens once these couples pair off and move from the initial stage of getting together to building more established relationships. How do they avoid the misunderstandings that kept them apart initially? How do their friendships with each other change now that they’re a group of two couples instead of four friends? What horrifyingly awkward high school events will they have to navigate next? I’m including all four characters here because I’d like them all to be in the fic, but whichever couple you decide to focus more on is up to you.

Piranesi - Susanna Clarke

The House, Piranesi | Matthew Rose Sorenson

Piranesi hints at so many wonderful adventures in The House that take place around and before the events of the story. I’d love fic about one of those adventures, whether it’s learning a new skill, exploring a new room, or discovering a new statue. You can choose to flesh out one that’s mentioned in the story, or you can invent one of your own. You can bring in other characters if you’d like, but keep it focused on Piranesi and his relationship with The House.

Psmith - P.G. Wodehouse

Mike Jackson, Rupert Psmith

After years of being a Jeeves and Wooster stan, I finally delved into the Psmith oevre this year, and I can’t believe it took me this long. Psmith is such a funny, chaotic whirlwind of a character, and Mike is the perfect foil to him. It’s obvious to me that Psmith is in love with “Comrade Jackson”, despite their many opposite ways, and I’d love either a story about the two of them getting together, or established relationship fic where they’re navigating some shenanigans together. Anyone from Psmith’s world is fair game to include as supporting characters.

#yuletide 2022

[spinda-draws]

Omg, Hacker as Psmith would kill me. 

“Communism teaches us that goods must be divvied up among the masses. Which means, Motherboard, you must share Cyberspace with me. Thank you, Comrade.” 😏

Actually I think Marbles is more like Mike’s father who is serious, but still as loving as a Edwardian father can be. Psmith’s dad always seemed kind of eccentric to me, but I like the idea of Hacker as Psmith much better. 

And maybe... tell me if I’m way off here, Marbles could be someone like Emsworth or Sir Watkyn Bassett? I know they’re completely different characters, but Emsworth has Marbles’s friendly helplessness and Sir Watkyn has his ‘I have no idea what’s happening but I’m going to be in charge anyways’ attitude.

#cybertalk;

[fictionadventurer]

It is now time for Relatable Introvert Moments with Ulysses S. Grant.

Here I met for the first time Andrew Johnson, Military Governor of Tennessee. He delivered a speech of welcome. His composure showed that it was by no means his maiden effort. It was long, and I was in torture while he was delivering it, fearing something would be expected from me in response. I was relieved, however, the people assembled having apparently heard enough. At all events they commenced a general hand-shaking, which, although trying where there is so much of it, was a great relief to me in this emergency.

This has been Relatable Introvert Moments with Ulysses S. Grant.

#history is awesome #presidential talk #all i could think about when reading this was mike jackson in 'psmith in the city' #grant has a fair amount of mike energy come to think of it #which would make lincoln his psmith and that's very simplistic but also makes a weird amount of sense

[isfjmel-phleg]

Wodehouse did not have to go that hard with Adair's characterization.

He could easily have been the stereotypical over-achieving classmate and served the same purpose in the story.

He could easily have been an exaggerated critique of the schoolboy ideal, designed to make Mike and Psmith's nonconformity look more reasonable/desirable.

He could have been just An Antagonist with no particular backstory or unique characteristics.

Instead, Wodehouse gave us Irish orphan Adair, who is passionately dedicated to his school because it's the closest thing to a home he's ever had, whose one goal is to give back to his school by making it successful and well-respected, who, despite being the hardest-working student in the entire establishment, worries that he hasn't really done much. He's a fleshed-out character with his own background and goals and struggles, and despite his fairly limited appearances, we get to know him pretty well.

(For instance: we learn that he missed a chance to box for the school at Aldershot because he sprained his wrist--which must have been incredibly disappointing and frustrating and explains why he's so anxious to give Sedleigh a chance to play a well-established team in cricket. The competition in question is the one that features in the climax of The White Feather, and if things had gone differently, Adair could have been up against the representative from Mike's old school! This isn't really important to the story, but it still comes up, and it gives some additional depth to Adair's background.)

He's such a good foil for Mike too. His strengths are Mike's weaknesses and vice versa.

It's a pity we never get to see more of Adair in any other book, but I am convinced he grows up to be headmaster of Sedleigh.

#Psmith Pseptember #Mike and Psmith #also I wish we knew his first name!

[gaytobymeres]

I actually get so emo thinking about mike and psmith…

[myrnadalgleish]

why does my library have every other psmith story except mike and psimth :( where am i supposed to start now

[awolfinpeopleclothes]

I finally got all the Psmith books. Maybe I should reread then in the correct order.

#p. g. wodehouse #psmith #mike and psmith #psmith in the city #psmith journalist #leave it to psmith #books #book covers