Jeanie Bottle 599
Oct13
on October 13, 2020
at 12:01 am
and modified on December 26, 2022. at 10:39 pm
Chapter: Story 13: I Dream of Separation
This week we’re going to have 2 comics. So come back on Thursday for page 600!
Welcome to
Normally Updates Weekly
Usually Tuesday or Thursday
This week we’re going to have 2 comics. So come back on Thursday for page 600!
Sweet Jean just got told with words tp put him in his place. Congrats Cd and Robert for one more chapter to 600. So the artifact cant be removed. Wait so is Jean pregnant with a genie or is it something else Im confused?
The Hubun Jadid is associated with genie reproduction, but we (the audience) don’t have any idea how that manifests.
I don’t think Jeanie has any idea herself, either…
I have strong suspicion Jeanie knows even less than we do.
@HKMaly: “I have strong suspicion Jeanie knows even less than we do.”
nod-nod
We are interested in actively pursuing answers.
Jeanie, on the other hand, seems to be afraid of some the answers she might find–and not without reason. But that leaves her willfully blind–extremely dangerous.
I am unable to understand her Master’s incuriosity though. He’s a born, trained problem solver. I suspect he’s improperly concerned with invading her privacy or something.
Hoppin’ Havarti!, Lahab revealed the 4th Wall Bustin’ Bombshells of the Millennia! p.s., congratulations on 600 pages of this comic guys.
Yay! Oh, wait. Where did they… never mind.
I guess Lahab could have learned that from Kazom? Guano never seemed to know or care about Jean’s life before becoming a genie.
It may simply be that Lahab is old enough, and experienced enough, to know that appearances aren’t everything. She can just tell that Jeanie is acting more like a male than a female.
I was wrong about Lahab listening to Jeanie’s story. Instead, she already seems to know it. Either way, it looks like Jeanie’s getting a good strong dose of the Truth, which often hurts.
However, Lahab is still delivering this dose in private, and is taking care to explain to Jeanie (and us) exactly what this decision means, and WHY, rather than simply issuing an autocratic decree.
Still, Lahab is asking questions. She’s at least going to listen. This is a huge, huge, step in helping Jeanie find a way to cope with what’s happening.
As you say, Lahab is answering a lot of question for both Jeanie and for the rest of us too as to what the real situation is with the Hubun Jadid inside Jeanie and to whether or not Lahab knows that Jeanie use to be a man and will now deal with that matter too and probably in the next edition too. It time for Jeanie to get a dose of reality and now she going to have to take responsibilities that she did not originally want, but, is going to have to accept whether she want it or not. Lahab is basically giving us the last word on whether Jeanie is pregnant Genie style and all that go’s with being a Genie Mother. Lahab has basically told us that the union between Guano and Jeanie is now locked into Jeanie having a Genie Baby or having an abortion Genie style that is. This probably ends any discussion of substituting Neil for Jeanie for being the father of Jeanie baby too.
“Because you were a man.” Subtle, but a hammer-blow nevertheless. Implication: you WERE a man, but you’re not anymore. You are now a genie, and a female.
And very likely, you can’t switch back.
The Blue Djinn did proved earlier that it’s possible to extract a person into a new body in the last chapter, even Kazom did with giving Jean a new magic-less teen girl body. Yeah, it’s not without side-effects like Jean’s mentality was earlier (not including the first body substitute) but if Jean could insist on it, maybe he could get a new male human body and let the genies’ keep the female genie body with the hubun jahid attached. Just saying to give an alternative solution for this problem.
Something’s off about Jeanie’s art in this strip. Look at the size of her nose, for example, in the last frame. I’m just going to take this as an indicator of her emotional distress.
That might be an effect of how CD drew the page. In the original PSD file, every single mouth on the page was on a layer that was separate from all the art in the panels. So he may have been hurrying, or something, and made a few art mistakes. Not all of which he corrected “in post”, as it were.
Especially apparent in the last two frames.
Still, as I said, I’m going to attribute this to Jeanie’s emotions, not artist error. A meaningful accident–artistic fate, if you will.
I did notice that Jeanie’s mouth seems to be off set from her lips in the last panel, but the oddest part to me was that she seems to be smaller. It was like she lost two inches of height from panel one to panels three and four, in the first panel her eyes are level with Lahab’s ears and by the last they are below her chin. But, that could be a power thing where Lahab is growing larger due to being a bit cross with Jeanie by that point.
I think Lahab is walking around Jeanie as she speaks to her and Jeanine is turning around to keep looking at her, which is why Jeanie is facing away from us in the 3rd panel and why Lahab is so much closer to us in the last panel.
Finally, I think Jeanie’s about to hear exactly what “union” with Guano entails. It may not be what she (and we) expect.
Hm, of course, not even Lahab mentions one of the main reasons Jeanie wants nothing to do with Guano: he’s a pig-headed jerk who doesn’t listen.
Yeah, I wonder if that’ll come up. Because, sure, Jeanie doesn’t want to be in a union with Guano because she’s not attracted to him due to being mentally a straight male. But she also doesn’t like him, ’cause he’s a friggin’ jerk.
And, of course Jeanie knows Guano dislikes her as well. Not a match made in Heaven, in any case.
Okay, seriously can CD finally answer this question? Because after a couple hundred pages it’s getting really freaking annoying:
Is Jean, mentally, a male or female when he was turned into a Genie? Does the person mentally become male or female when they transform?
Because at this point several years have gone by… and the jokes are getting kind of old.
Side note – that’s why I love this chapter. It’s a character calling Jean out on his/her BS. Which feels satisfying toread.
“The question of what constitutes a human being remains unanswered. But one critical characteristic’s human multi-purpose adaptability.”
Gottlos by Colin Kapp
Now to answer your question and it has to be answered in two or three parts section. The first part is the time difference from there time to our time, which is different.
When Jean was still a man in our time 10 years or so ago now, he was obviously all man and a very selfish and self centered man at that, that thought that the world revolved around himself alone. For us it been over 10 years now, but, on there time, it been only a little over year or so, but, not much longer than that. That is the current time difference between there time and our time now.
The next section is the physical Human Male Jean side to the physical Genie Female Genie side part. The transformation was absolute and it was total. It a permanent condition that can’t be reversed. Immediately after the transformation of Jean into Jeanie, we have a fully formed Female Genie, but, we have the old Jean still inside her and she acted like the old Jean did too, but, inside a Female Genie Body.
Next section, we have only half Geniefied Jean which is the body and now we are going to Geniefy the mind or spirit part of Jean into Jeanie. On mind and spirit side of Jean, he was piecemeal into being Jeanie one piece at a time, when it comes to the internal side of who Jeanie is now after over one years time. So the transformation of Jean into Jeanie was a progressive process of starting off with him thinking like a man with Manly Human Desire was absolute and that what was stuck into a Female Genie Body, because, that who Jean was at time of his transformation into being a Genie.
Beside having his body transformed, his mind being transformed into Female Genie Mind too. So what was stuck into a Female Genie Mind after Jean was transformed into Jeanie.
1. The desire to call the person that open’s there bottle Master.
2. They have a Motherly spirit about themselves for there Master.
3. They have Feminine Genie Desires and everything that goes with it.
This whole series revolve around Jean the Old Man with human desire being transformed into a Female Genie by the name of Jeanie with Female Genie desire as her new nature to who she is now. At this point, Jeanie is more female than male in who she is now, than she use to be and Jean is basically just a memory of who she use to be. At this place in the Jeanie Bottle series, Jeanie would be almost as uncomfortable becoming a human male as Jean was at becoming a female Genie. So the transformation is just about complete now. But, there still plenty of good stories out there yet, so don’t worry about it.
Given the nature of the comic I half expect Lahab to follow up “you used to be a man” with “me too.”
One new thing we’ve learned: genie reproduction may not be as messily biological as human pregnancy but it still requires a female genie to gestate the habun jadid. Otherwise Jeanie wouldn’t say “get that freaky lightbulb thing out of me”. Which makes sense, why have female genies if gestation isn’t necessary? Still sounds like Jeanie is stuck having Guano’s kid, but again since it’s magic that could be today, tomorrow, a century or whenever she is ready for it.
Guano and Jeanie are alike in that they are both jerks and their jerkiness appears to be caused by fear. Guano is putting up a front because he feels inadequate, Jeanie is snarky and lashes out whenever she’s afraid. Marriage and motherhood appears to be the very embodiment of everything Jean fears, from commitment to loss of manhood to sexual slavery.
Pilgrim: ” I half expect Lahab to follow up ‘you used to be a man’ with ‘me too.’ ”
Lahab is known to be a Jann, and her natural form is female, ?comic=jeanie-bottle-471
She’s more likely to say, “You think you have it hard, Guano was female with five children when she found her totem. And that’s just counting those who SURVIVED long to have children of their own. Thirteen grandchildren. He’s a jerk now because that’s what her husband was like.
We’re rather hoping that you two can trade notes and maybe take each other’s rough edges off?”
The last frame was a hit below the belt. Come on Jeanie you can do it.
“below the belt”
heh heh heh, literally.
Although it does indicate Lahab is not acting in ignorance, it also means that Jeanie can’t use it as a get out jail free card.
Lahab knows something about Jeanie’s background, and has still decided to endorse her union with Guano. I’m hoping this means that, rather just order Jeanie around, she’s going to explain why she’s made this decision, likely invoking confusion and resentment from Jeanie, and still thinks this is the best choice, why it either isn’t as bad as Jeanie fears, or why Jeanie is going to have to deal with it, and make good suggestions as to how. “Suck it up, bitch!” is not a good suggestion. I’m looking for something that benefits Jeanie herself in terms she’ll understand. “Oh, but to be Guano’s mate is such an honor!” is not something Jeanie will understand.
There may not be any “good suggestion” or benefit. It will still helps if she explains it. Like, starting with the part about “cannot be removed”: It’s not “we won’t remove it”, it’s “cannot be removed”, so begging nor issuing threats won’t help.
Jeanie may not feel “honored”. but she may come to understand that being the First Wife of the next Genie Overlord basically means that she would effectively be Queen of All Genies, which would appeal to any desire for power or glory (or desire to alter all those “stupid Genie rules”) that Jeanie may have.
What I mean by a “good” suggestion is one that doesn’t presume that Jeanie accepts the prevailing genie assumptions. And certainly, she’s not going to accept the assumption that she’s the only jerk in the picture. Not that she isn’t a jerk, mind, but she she’s far from the only one.
Look at it this way: From her perspective, she’s been robbed, and everyone is telling her A) She’s a jerk for resenting it and B) Getting forcibly married to one of the more obnoxious robbers, and then being raped by him, is an honor.
Lahab, I think, is at least going to explain the trade-offs involved. She’s not just old, she’s ancient, she’s seen a lot, and I doubt she got to her position by being an unthinking jerk. She’s experienced enough to have seen it ALL, good and bad, and has accumulated some actual wisdom. She is not respected by the other genies for her position and title alone.
Actually, I see a shot gun wedding here for both Jeanie and Guano to get married to each other with neither one wanting it and baby afterward to complete this deal! OK now you can go Jeanie and do what you want to do when you finished your obligation to being a Genie Mother to a new Genie Baby. I see no other way out of this situation now and I think that that what Lahab going to explain to Jeanie now.
FINALLY someone acknowledges the fact that they were a dude before all this happened! I’ve been wondering why it never came up…
Either they didn’t know about it or care about Jeanie ever being a guy or in Lahab case, there was not reason to bring it up until now, because, we now have a Genie life at stake here in the Hubun Jadid coming to term in a live Genie birth. So Lahab is getting so serious here.
It has been a while since the gender change aspect of Jean’s personality was relevant, I hope this is explored more.
looks like it not a secret to everyone
Or is it because Jeanie likes Neil?
It’s totally not that but I’d have a laugh if that was said lol.
Page 600 here we come!
I want this, more than you know…but I doubt it would work. Neil has carefully avoided any hint of asserting himself as Jeanie’s Master, with one or two exceptions. They’re barely even room mates anymore. And I think whatever it is she might do with Guano is important enough to take precedence.
Idle speculation. I’ll wait for Thursday to say more.
Given what we have seen of Guano’s parents (and his reference of “who let you out of your bottle?”), it seems that Genie couples are not required to cohabit, and that obligations to the rules of their Totem (serving Masters, staying in their bottles to await a new Master, etc.) takes priority over their personal lives.
I was wondering how many remembered. Seems like it’s been awhile since it was, er, relevant.
Jean, for the most part, didn’t chose to get into any of this and that’s why he’s resisting most of this:
1) He didn’t want to become a genie, let alone a female one in the first place; he unfortunately rub an empty genie bottle that took him as its new host.
2) He didn’t want to have to deal with Guano as her overseer or husband, Blue used Jean’s genie body along with the hubun jahid and Guano to impregnate it for a new stronger body for himself eventually. Plus, Guano’s an arrogant cad with Jean and is probably hating having to be in union with Jean such as much.
3) While Jean may not had shown much effort in searching for ways to revert back to his previous body, he regularly from muddling to lamenting and arguing over having to be stuck in a female body yet keep his male mindset intact. He doesn’t seem to mind having genie powers for the most part except not able to change back into a male.
Changing a body may be easy to genies as someone changing their clothes but you can’t really do the same with someone’s mind so easily. Plus it’s somewhat out of their range of magical manipulation unless it is neural biology. Jean doesn’t want to just go along with what the Genies think is easier over getting what he wants, which is to be in control of his own life as his original self again.
A key distinction that may be relevant here is that it was Blue’s soul which participated in the Binding Ritual with Guano, and not Jeanie’s soul. If the bond has any sort of claim on souls and not just bodies, then this will matter in regards to the magic involved.
Good point. GOOD point.
Good enough that maybe it’s the reason Lahab endorses the union: Jeanie’s not actually the one involved. She gets to go back to her Master.
Regardless of how the “freaky light bulb” got there, it is now inside of Jeanie’s body and it will take a hell of a lot of convincing to have the genie Lords and Ladies to even consider removing the “most treasured and rarest of genie relics” from it. They are not going to risk its destruction under any circumstances. I think Lahab will undertake convincing Jeanie that there are significant benefits to accepting her current status and role.
@mike: I’m about to say something without thinking it through–honestly, I’m waiting to see what Labar says in Thursday night’s ep.
But I’ll speculate that it’s not a question of removing the hubun jadid from Jeanie’s body–it’s a question of moving Jeanie to a different body.
Or–hmmm, I think this is far more likely:
Lahab did not bring up the subject of Jean’s original sex as a prelude to gently but firmly explaining that Jeanie has to accept being impregnated by a male she hates, for the good of all genie kind.
It might be typical for the two genies involved to “marry” in the social sense, but I’m betting that that is simply not required, despite the fond wishes of Guano’s deluded Mother.
Lahab is going to explain that sexual union is irrelevant. Whatever the union ceremony involves does not depend on the participants having physical sex. They could both be anatomically male, or be otherwise physically incompatible. One could be fire and the other water; it wouldn’t matter in the least.
In any event, Jeanie is not going to be publicly raped in church, and then have to put up with magical pregnancy for nine months while being Guano’s live-in sex slave and housekeeper.
Sorry, I thought I deleted the above response to mike–it wasn’t showing up in my browser, and I decided it deserved to be on its own.
@Robert or CD: The above post at 3:57 is duplicate and may be deleted.
@50srefugee
“Lahab is going to explain that sexual union is irrelevant.” I agree. By current status and role I meant future First Wife and mother of a newborn genie… about which we know nothing regarding how he/she will gestate. Perhaps a big POOF after baking and Jeanette is a fully formed genie? What sort of training will this new genie receive and who will provide it? Jeanie? Certainly not Guano who has the patience of a hamster. (Insert elderberry joke here.) We just don’t know.
Wait, that thing she/Blue stole is INSIDE of her?
Dang, I feel like I need to re-read some old comics. When did that happen?
I like to say that the argument isn’t about rather Jean was a human or a man. It’s about Choice in the matter. Jean Didn’t have a choice what the blue demon did and none of the main jinns seem to give a F care about what actually happen.
It was Blue in Jean body stealing the relic and it was Blue in Jean body that did the ritual. Jean is an unwilling subject in all this and that’s getting close to uncomfortable territory for me.
I don’t care if it’s ultimately similar to the Q’s ritual in star trek that Q tried to get Janeway involved in. It should be Jean’s Choice and the other Jinn characters should be trying to explain why it’s important for Jean to complete the ritual and there an out later or do every thing in their power to find some way to undo it all.
I was about to comment that this is clearly an allegory on the abortion argument. You have clearly seen that. Everyone else seems to be ignoring or dancing around it. I will be interested to see how it all plays out.
@ranck: I think we don’t yet know enough to say that–and frankly, the situation here is too different from the usual human circumstances. Storywise, it’s rather out of CD’s usual orbit.
I could be wrong. We’ll see.
@50srefugee Lahab’s statement in panel 2 seems to be pretty explicitly framing this in those terms. Sounds a lot like anti-abortion arguments I’ve heard for years. Not taking sides, just saying this seems like an allegory of a current social/political debate. I agree, this seems a bit heavy for CD’s work so maybe it’s unintentional, or I’m just mistaken.
My current WAG:
Lahab did not bring up the subject of Jean’s original sex as a prelude to gently but firmly explaining that Jeanie has to accept being impregnated by a male she hates, for the good of all genie kind.
It might be typical for the two genies involved to “marry” in the social sense, but I’m betting that is simply not required, despite the fond wishes of Guano’s deluded Mother.
Lahab is going to explain that sexual union is irrelevant. Whatever the union ceremony involves does not depend on the participants having physical sex. They could both be anatomically male, or be otherwise physically incompatible. One could be fire and the other water; it wouldn’t matter in the least.
In any event, Jeanie is not going to be publicly raped in church, and then have to put up with magical pregnancy for nine months while being Guano’s live-in sex slave and housekeeper.
Yes. Also: Guano’s been VERY un-understanding.