Jeanie Bottle 444
Aug15
on August 15, 2017
at 12:00 am
and modified on November 27, 2022. at 1:37 am
Chapter: Story 11: I Dream of an Escape
Ah, so the elder knows at least a little of Jeanie’s past. Intriguing…
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Ah, so the elder knows at least a little of Jeanie’s past. Intriguing…
1: being Haji’s 1st wife, she’s gained enough knowledge of every genie through all the Realms. 2: I’m surprised Jeannie knew how to pronounce those words in the 2nd panel. and 3: Alya, have we got a story to tell you.
2. I get the feeling Jean’s used neuro-chemistry before to excuse his jackassery many times. He’s probably practised that line to sound smart.
yet his girlfriend’s been seeing guys behind his back, he turned into the bottle’s new genie.. and he still has the mind of a guy. so who’s the dumb one in this comic?
It’s Jean, of course. I said he tries to sound smart, not that he is.
@Rock: I actually knew someone who did just that: used big words to try to sound smart.
Unfortunately, she didn’t bother to find out what they meant, so she would often misuse them in [unintentionally] hilarious ways. Which, of course, made her sound like an idiot, instead.
@Kattgirl: In Jean’s case, she’s both stupid and a selfish narcissist.
I picture him saying something like this:
“No, I don’t love you, and you don’t love me. Love doesn’t exist, babe, we just have good chemistry. No, don’t start crying, that’s emotional blackmail. Man, why can’t chicks just deal with reality and enjoy the ride?”
I’m sure Jean learned those words just to impress women with them. However he can’t be totally stupid, he’s a published and award winning writer.
Going by Jean’s reaction, guess she assumed no one knew she used to be mortal.
I think she’s still reacting to the elder genie giving her a backhanded insult about showing respect.
Probably a bit of both. No other genie seems to know her/his past. This one seems to though. I wonder if she knows the whole story, or can just tell that she was a human converted to a genie.
And Jeannie does not look happy to be dressed down like that either! Hopefully she knows better than to mouth off to this lady.
I’ll bet one factoid First Wife doesn’t know is that Jean used to be a man.
Would she care? Jean’s an uppity genie now.
Seeing as how Wife #1 knew that Jeanie used to be a mortal, I’d bet that she does know Jeanie used to be a man as well and doesn’t care one little bit. Wife #1 probably figures that Jeanie’s past is the past and is no longer relevant to her current situation and wants her to get with the program.
Agreed 100%.
Finally, one of them actually brought it up with “him”, plus cared to ask if Jean was a human before! And it’s much like I expected; they don’t seem to care that Jean used to be human, just to behave like a genie now. However, that won’t stop Jean from pressing the higher-ups for answers on this.
I’m beginning to think that genie society has no concept of consent. Pick up an empty bottle? You’re a genie now. What do you mean you don’t want to be? You’re a genie now, you have to be okay with it. Got picked to be the 3000000th member of the genie boss’s harem? What do you mean you don’t want to, you’re a genie, you have to!
I guess that’s why they always grant people’s wishes. It’s not that they’re forced to, they just don’t have any concept of being able to refuse.
Nobody consented to existing, nobody consented to being born, nobody gets to choose their form, sex or anything. Not even genies.
Though to be fair genies probably see this as an upgrade. Near immortality, magic power, the ability to change the world… but there are rules. It’s possible they might see Jeannie as very ‘unworthy’ and that might be a worse fate. We just don’t know.
… You are arguing that becoming the genie boss’s wife is akin to a biological necessity such as puberty. Now there could be some stupid magical cosmic rule as such, current evidence is inconclusive. However, if that is the case, and given that this universe literally has magic, I feel justified in saying: Who the frig came up with that!?
“Nobody consented…”
Yes. Sometimes, all that matters is what you do with what you have.
@vindcara yeah my comment was a bit trolly on reflection sorry about that.
There are parallels in human culture which are very disturbing. Though these beings are not human so I’m cautious in drawing too close to those parallels. We don’t know for certain how they procreate and this has been a burning question to me. Their ritual here sheds some light but raises more questions.
Haji doesn’t seem to want to hurt his genies… In this culture being the next concubine is a mark of status, power and respect against those who are not in this inner circle. Much like marriage to humans in the old days. You are gaining Haji’s protection in a place where he rules. Who wouldn’t want to be in it? Keep in mind the only reason Jeanie is here is for her protection but culture demands a reason for them to be in the palace
Though if this were a human culture I would be very concerned…
Jeanie had best be cautious. This could be either heaven or hell for her. She still hasn’t got in her head she could exist practically forever in a bottle.
You make being a genie sound alot like being picked for jury duty! 🙂
I think more like a certain middle eastern cultures slave soldiers.
Well, bear in mind that that’s the way it was for most of history. Everyone did what the folks above them ordered them to, or else. Divine right of kings and all that. Equality and individual freedom are pretty recent concepts, and are still not unlimited, at that.
Divine right lasted as long as nobody put a shiv between their ribs or a crossbow bolt through their pointy heads or just poisoned everyone in the castle with some plague.
I love seeing people shut Jean down. 🙂
Yup, seeing her get put in her place is fun. 🙂
As Melvin from Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged would say “You really have no clue who you’re fucking with, do you?”
As far as how to be more respectable towards others, yes! Being forcefully converted into a different species and just expected to immediately adapt to it however…
@ Jenny: Wasn’t talking about that AT ALL. I just like it when people make Jean shut up or show him up for the selfish jerk he is.
Warping his shape and hitting him with unfair expectations and rules is not cool, I agree.
As for the expecting Jean to adapt part, originally Kazom was expected to train Jean for weeks or months until she had learned all of the necessary things for functioning as a genie. Kazom decided to skip it in order to pass the headache of managing Jean back to Guano. It is probable that only a few genies (Araceli, Guano, and we don’t know who else) are aware that Jean’s training has thus been mostly skipped. In genie terms, Jean is an elementary school dropout in a society where it is assumed that she graduated high school.
Finely some one that can put Jeanie in her place and make it stick. Also, it look like we are going to have a curios Alya asking Jeanie all kinds of question of what it like to be a mortal girl. Oh, you were not a mortal girl, but, a mortal man? That interesting!
Oh man, that last panel
Wow, Jeannie, watch out with those big words you’re using; you might burn out your lone brain cell.
Hey, I was right about Alya! She was clearly born a genie. This conversation is going to be interesting for her.
And it will be even more interesting to see her reaction when the Jeannie-double shows up.
I wonder if anyone has noticed that there are two genies there that look identical yet?
Seems like something that would be noticed and be of interest. And I wonder how many of those genies recognize her from the show. I am sure that the genies that have been out of the bottle and in civilized society would know of the show, since it is about genies,and sure to have caught their eye.
It kind of depends on how much notice genies give to external appearances. Given that they can shift forms instantly and effortlessly, they may not place much importance on the fact that two genies just happen to be using the same form at a given moment, any more than we might notice that two people at a convention are wearing the same brand of pants.
After all, Kazom noted that numerous genies in recent years had acquired the form of the genie from Disney’s “Aladdin”, so clearly there have been other instances of having multiple genies who look alike.
Purely as speculation, it might be that genies can identify each other by magical means, without relying on visual cues. For beings that can shape-shift, that would seem to be a reasonable ability to have evolved.
(Of course, Guano mistaking Natalie for a genie speaks against this, but then again, Guano has never been noted for being the sharpest knife in the drawer.)
There is also the somewhat unsettling possibility that transformation by totem results in a limited series of default forms, simply because the elder genies couldn’t be bothered to tailor the transformation to the mortal unlucky or stupid enough to put their hands on an empty totem….
It proves Alya was always a genie, but remember that Kazom said that there were three ways new genies are made.
The third being an act of congress. 😉
IIRC the three ways were:
1: Being created as an adult Genie whole cloth (probably takes a lot of power to do–maybe only Haji Himself and a few godlike beings can do it)
2: Being converted from some other species by becoming linked to a Genie Totem (as Jean did)
3: Being born as a child Genie to Genie parents–Alya mentioned that a child was expected eventually from a marriage of Genies (it may be possible that a single Genie parent is all that is needed).
What about wishing to be a genie?
Wishing to become a genie would probably be a special subset of case 2 (being converted from some other species into a Genie). The newly Genie-fied person would have to be given a totem, since it appears that there are no Genies without totems.
I wonder if those same rules apply to magically-induced love? Such as what Natalie is currently feeling….
Hmmm. Remember that it was established in Melvin that the Blue Djinn also recruits witches into his merry pranksters? Witches aren’t necessarily limited in the same ways as genies.
What Natalie is currently feeling looks more like lust, as might be caused by a – admittedly misnamed – love philtre.
Keep in mind Jean writes book and movie reviews. She is most likely well read and has an analytical mind, even if she only really applies it to her writing. She demonstrated this earlier when she was bottle swapped and got her new bottle sent to Coco Beach. One advantage Jean has over some of these genies lies with her knowledge of the modern mortal world. Jean is still at a disadvantage about the genie customs and courtesies.
I thought it was Araceli who got the bottle shipped to Coco Beach?
And we don’t know what kind of books and movies Jean reviews. If could all be entertainment.
No telling how familiar the rest of the genies are with the modern world – yet. Guano, admittedly not the brain trust of the operation, was familiar enough with it to purchase himself a cell Phone, and implied Haji also had one.
Araceli was still at Coco beach at the time. Jean had those Greek fishermen mail her bottle back to Coco beach after making the one guy a wealthy boat captain and a dutiful wife.
Let me guess, the other jinn used to be a cat, that is why she is so excitable.
Jean, friggin EVERYTHING is dopamine! It’s one of the most common neurotransmitters! So unless you want to give up ALL your emotions your argument is… well stupid if nothing else.
Your point being? 😉
Jean is not the master of reasoning (s)he thinks to be.
I want to know how Jeanie’s argument applies to poor, lovestruck Natalie. Can’t help thinking there’s a connection.
Somehow, no matter how often I throw it away, I keep stumbling across the idea that Natalie is experiencing emotions that Jeanie herself is supposed to be having–although not about Rodge.
We still don’t know if it was Jeanie that transformed Neil into Natalie and could just as easily been another Genie with another motive like the Blue Djinn. It that the case, then what your thinking are unrelated to each other. There are other possibilities out there.
Of course. The idea just nags at me, is all.
I wonder if C.D. has given thought to a few things. First Wife is saying that genies don’t follow the same rules as mortals. But what the heck are the rules for genies?
Why exactly did Haji wait until 1944 before he shut down Eevi? Contrast with what Haji did with Rouyah for bumping up NASAs budget a few million bucks.
Why did Haji screw over Kazom? Supposedly because Kazom was working with a witch (Melvin’s father). So Kazom’s bottle just happens to find its way into the hands of Melvin? And then Guano sends Jean to work with Kazom?
Okay, Guano’s an idiot. But how did an idiot defeat the Blue Djinn, or at least take credit for defeating the Blue Djinn? Remember that Rouyah talks to Guano before he was a genie lord about defeating the Blue Djinn and before Kazom stopped being a genie lord and started being a talking cat.
I’m beginning to think more and more that the Blue Djinn has a point.
But, even in there dysfunctional state, Haji at least try to make some kinds of rules and such, but, things happen anyway. However the Blue Djinn is obviously suppose to be the bad guy according to the present power structure. But, it could be argued that only an absolute could be considered good or evil.
Since Hagi and the Blue Djinn are the two most powerful Genie’s there is. The winner of any fight will declare the other one evil and themselves good. So which one do you declare good or evil. I will tell you when I find out who wins the fight.
Haji seems to be leading Genies to be beneficial wish-granters (more or less) to humans and other mortals, however in servitude and with not much or no choice. The Blue Djinn became the first renegade to oppose Haji’s laws for whatever reasons and made a new faction that aren’t obligated to follow those laws.
At this point of the whole series (more or less), we haven’t got to see what Haji or the Blue Djinn are truly like in person. I would like to see or learn why they build the societal rules that they did for their two groups’ histories.
It’s been implied that Guano didn’t actually beat the Blue Djinn – if I recall events correctly. Didn’t he say he doesn’t quite remember what happened back then? And we’ve seen Neil and Jean in the past, suggesting they may have had rather more to do with Big Bad Blue’s defeat than Kid Guano did.
There are several possibilities here. It obvious that Guano isn’t some high powered I can do anything Genie. Actually, he a wimp and do nothing with no self esteem or anything like that.
Since he is that way, he basically snuck in the side and happened to be in the right place at the right time and got stuck with the honors of beating the Blue Djinn by either leaving Melvin Father and Kazom high and dry or he just happen to just be there at the right time.
Also Kazom refers to the double cross that Guano did to both him and Melvin Father too. Which ultimately lead to Melvin Father making the supreme sacrifice to save the world and his family.
So there more to just Guano the Kid Hero that saved the Genie World.
Tom, you raise some good questions.
But what the heck are the rules for genies?
Well, we know some of them, from the Genie Manual. And we’re hearing other tidbits now and then, like from Kazom.
Why exactly did Haji wait until 1944 before he shut down Eevi?
We don’t actually know that he did. Maybe he cut off her power before that. It’s hard to say what exactly she did to help her master along, and certainly Germany’s major successes occurred earlier in the war. The timing of exactly when Haji cut her off is uncertain, and even after that, the momentum would have carried the war along for a while.
Contrast with what Haji did with Rouyah for bumping up NASAs budget a few million bucks.
Yes, but maybe Haji was over-reacting, based on the earlier bad experience with Eva. Once burned, twice shy.
Why did Haji screw over Kazom?
Are we sure that he did? I don’t recall the exact circumstances; I thought getting turned into a cat was more of an accident involving Melvin’s father.
So Kazom’s bottle just happens to find its way into the hands of Melvin?
I don’t think we’ve even seen Kazom’s bottle. For that matter, he might not have one. After all, the reference to “bottle genies” kind of implies that there are other types, otherwise there’d be no need for the distinction. So maybe he’s a non-nottle genie. (“Decanted”, maybe?)
And then Guano sends Jean to work with Kazom?
Kazom doesn’t think much of Guano, but Guano clearly still respects Kazom; for his seniority, if nothing else. So, yeah.
But how did an idiot defeat the Blue Djinn, or at least take credit for defeating the Blue Djinn?
If you recall, to begin with, Guano really DIDN’T want to take credit, even claimed that he really didn’t do anything. (And that Kazom agreed with that assessment.) I sort of took it that it was an accident, kind of the way Gilligan always managed to accidentally win out in the end.
I’m beginning to think more and more that the Blue Djinn has a point.
That’s possible, too; we only have the implication, so far, that he’s a bad guy – he may have some justifications for his actions. Time [and CD] will tell.
I wish to address a couple of these comments.
“Why exactly did Haji wait until 1944 before he shut down Eevi?”
I always had the idea the she used up the majority of her magic in creating those early war victories. She then had to severely restrict herself later on because she knew she was running low on magic and eventually running out at the end when she and Hitler died.
As for Kazom, I seem to recall it was stated that he chooses to be a cat so that it is easier for him to live with and keep an eye on Melvin. Someone would need to archive dive to verify this. It might have been said in the Melvin Chronicles.
I don’t think Kazom’s bottle is shown in any of the comics, but he does have an official bottle. Check out the Cast page. His bottle is green. And Guano has a lamp.
The original Aladdin story also has a ring genie, so maybe one of those will show up eventually. Hey, could it be that the Blue Djinn’s totem is a ring last worn by a certain Frodo?
@Tom: Ah-ha! Another tidbit of info. OK, so Kazom DOES have a bottle. Good to know.
Hm. It seems wrong for Guano to have a lamp. Shouldn’t he live in a manure spreader or something?
Jean, I suggest you do not mess with her.
No, no, let Jean go ahead. 🙂 I’d love to watch her get curbstomped by Wife #1.
If there’s a Genie Union, can’t they go on strike for better working conditions?
I don’t think an ancient society like the Genies would likely understand, let alone make practice of an organization that helps improve work conditions for themselves. Unions are honestly a relatively-new concept that were introduced into the economy in the last century. Compared to how for most of our known histories, the rulers or ruling class made all the rules and common/working classes were just expected to follow them and not complain too much about it or else. The bad rulers, tyrants or despots anyways.
As the First Wife just said, Genies don’t apply themselves to the same rules as mortals. Not to say that their laws are made in the same nature as ancient human societies were but more likely, their rules would be based from an older way of thinking and may had no reason strong enough to be changing them to the same laws that our modern societies are govern by today.
@Jenny: Although there WERE guilds, which did perform some of the functions that unions have taken over, including looking out for their members and policing the actions of their respective industries. Maybe there’s a Genie Guild.
If so, they seem to be slacking off.
Labor unions were descended from mediaeval trade guilds and became significant in the economy in terms of the industrial workplace in the last quarter of the 19th century. Unionization peaked in the 1950s and has been declining in the private sector since then. Only govt employee unions have been growing since that time.
It’s not clear what the nature of djinn economics is, but magic powers raise questions. So how would a genie union strike work? Would it be different in any way from just plain rebellion? Or a jacquerie, since djinn society is evidently feudal/authoritarian?
Economy works on supply and demand. Genies have near infinite supply and no demands… except to grant wishes to mortals which they -must- do…
I think their economy works on ‘what will keep me less board this century.’
That’s why the elves at the North Pole couldn’t unionize.
@Robert Nowall: Really? Are you certain? Because I’m pretty sure Santa’s reindeer are represented by the Teamsters.
I said elves. Certainly the reindeer are represented. How else would Blitzen be able to get time off for high holy days?
I wondered why some of the reindeer were wearing yarmulkes.
I guess that means Rudolph is a scab. No wonder the rest would call him names and not allow him to join in.
The moral of the story of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer is “they’re not your friends until they want something from you.”
Yeah, the elder knows of Jeanie’s past… and isn’t doing anything to fix it. The higher-ups either can’t reverse what happened to Jean, don’t care, or want “him” to live as a “her.”
I’m gonna go with “don’t care”.
The more I look at her knitted brow in the last frame, the more i think Jeanie’s going to make a bloody nuisance of herself.
Are telling us that Jeanie doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut, to keep her from getting into trouble?
Well, we already knew that! But, if Jeanie doesn’t do that, we wouldn’t have a story, would we?
Well, it would be a different story…
Yeah, that would be The Handmaids Tale.
[yes I detested that book]
@Annonymouse: Yes, that was a really awful book. The fact that it won awards shows how low our standards have become.
Jeanie just told us what was wrong with Natalie. Before she poofed she pumped his little brain over full with Dopamine, Adenaline, and Norepinephrine.
There is one thing that has been bugging me. “The rules” … in this case I think she’s referring to the rules of biochemistry. Jeanie is.. not entirely wrong. Humans are chemical based life like all other life, scientifically. However we have seen genies affected by poison or get allergy from ‘something’ in that bottle of alcohol. So if the rules don’t apply… what the heck was in that bottle of alcohol! Can a genie get drunk? Jean has drunk before and never seemed to have issue … can’t help but think this might be significant.
It would of been interesting if Neal had purchased a DNA kit. You wipe the inside of the cheek with a cotton swab that is placed in a vial that is mailed in for DNA analysis. The results might be weird, but would show that Jeans has two female XX chromosomes instead of a male XY chromosomes. Of course the genetic results might be really weird, Jinns might not have recognizable genetic code.
As to Jean’s attitude I have a feeling that she’s going to have a major readjustment and psychological reconditioning.
It could also be the other way around. Jeannie could have XY chromosomes and still appear female – there is an actual condition like that, called Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS), where genetic males are externally female. It occurs in somewhere around 1 in 20,000 births.
Yeah, good luck on getting Jean to go to psychological counseling. That’s not gonna happen.
Why would genie jeanie have genes? 🙂
Because they’re so fashionable and just wearing harem pants gets boring? :p