Jeanie Bottle 725
Jean is a little messy with her painting.
Robert is busy tonight, so I posted the comic. He’ll make any corrections later. (EDIT: He just did)
(Man, it’s been a while since I posted a comic.)
Jean is a little messy with her painting.
Robert is busy tonight, so I posted the comic. He’ll make any corrections later. (EDIT: He just did)
(Man, it’s been a while since I posted a comic.)
Why did Jean do it himself it would be faster with magic right?
Why rush it? It wasn’t like she was on a deadline.
Jean has been shown to be a lazy person who would not do things the hard way without some clear tangible or emotional reward.
Regardless, Jean does still behaves much like a human with his usual activities. Even magic-users do use their own hands to work on things; it isn’t always needed plus it tends to cause unintended complications.
Jeanie also was told by Kazam about the more she uses her magic the faster she will vanish. Perhaps actually doing a job would not use any of her lifeforce. She blew a bunch of that with the 3 idiots. Agent Anderson is getting interested with one of the idiots, so working on her own will minimize being discovered. Besides all that she really looks cute with the paint on her.
On the other hand, Kazom also implied that a normal amount of Genie power can be made to last for four thousand years without being obsessively stingy, which is almost too long for someone with a human mindset to contemplate, plus Jean has all of Blue’s remaining power including that which was stolen from several other Genies, so a lifespan above ten thousand years (i.e. equivalent in lengths to the current age of human civilization as a whole) is not out of the question for Jean.
Additionally, if/when Guano becomes the next Genie Overlord, she will be his First, meaning that she will be able to gain status comparable to Lahab’s.
Providing this comic’s series goes that way. Who knows if CD Rudd will want his protagonist to end up like that or back to his old male self or some other twist ending.
Perhaps, but it makes for one heck of a decision—return to being an ordinary man, or be the nigh-immortal Queen Of All Genies.
I think this is more of a Ranma situation. Sure he whines about his “curse” all the time and say he wants to find a cure, but still exploit it like crazy and is not to proud to done a bunny girl costume.
Very strange that she did not just poof the house’s remodel.
I didn’t see any typo at all. But, why didn’t Jeanie use magic to get the house into shape?
She needs to pass the time somehow .. but maybe physically doing the work is gratifying. She might just enjoy painting.
It would give her a feeling of “I accomplished this myself rather than just magicking it”. Her opinion on being unable to magically duplicate a genuine Kibble Burger herself two storylines ago tells us that she believes that something produced by real skill is more authentic than a magical imitation.
“I accomplished this myself rather than just magicking it”
And what are the odds Neil is going to say she magiced it.
Neil knows Jeanie is not using magic. That’s why he is concerned.
Well, if she leaves the paint on her clothes and hair, I’d say pretty low. Can’t help but notice that we don’t see a trip to store to get paint, so maybe a little magic?
Can Jeanie legally drive? Does Neil have 2 cars or did Rodge pick him up? Regardless, Jeanie is looking so cute in her Rosie Riveter guise. All she needs now is rolled up sleeves.
Jean probably has the skill to drive, but her license is for the male Jean, as the government does not legally recognize “Jeanie Bottle” as opposed to “Jean Nessman”.
If Jean had a car, then it may have gotten poofed to their new house along with Neil’s car and the rest of their stuff. Genie law would say that Jean’s former possessions are now the property of Neil, since she acknowledges him as her long-term Master for the purposes of Genie law, but Neil probably would think of the stuff as hers, just as a husband would think of his wife’s car as hers even if he had paid for its purchase.
That said, given how casually Jean likes to teleport around, she would only be driving for the sake of driving, and not out of necessity. It is likely that she poofed to the store to get the paint, and then poofed back home with it.
(To ijuinkun:) Jeanie probably still has her driver’s license, and all it would take would be a single poof of magic to change the gender marker and picture on it, to match her current appearance. And given the way magic works, it would likely change the records at the DMV, as well. So getting stopped by the police wouldn’t present any issues.
Although you’re correct, she probably just poofs around town any time she needs to go somewhere. So who really needs a car? 😉
Hard work has great pay offs.
We know that using magic uses up her life energy.
Maybe she recharges by not using it and/or doing physical activities.
But she still has the magic the Blue Djinn stole from all those other genies. Jean is basically immortal even by genie standards at this point.
Kazom said that he stopped counting his age at three thousand, and is uncertain off the top of his head how many centuries ago THAT was, plus he does not seem to be worried that he will expire within the next few decades. If that is what a Genie is capable of with a normal amount of magic, then Jean with all of that stolen magic should get several times that. It has not really penetrated yet, but Jean, with her marriage to the heir-presumptive to the Genie Overlordship, is on the path to becoming the nigh-immortal Queen Of All Genies.
Jeanie gets lots of points for actually painting instead of poofing, and I hope Neil gives her credit for that. However:
She didn’t wash the wall first. Paint’s gonna peel.
But that’s a good thing, since she used hospital green paint. No, I don’t care what the color sample card said, any light green turns into hospital green on your walls.
Also, she didn’t mask off the trim. I bet the electrical receptacles are blotched, too.
I think those latter details were omitted to show that she’s actually enjoying doing something for herself and Neil instead of using magic.
Panel 3, eager to get started; panel 9, a look of satisfaction at a job completed.
[grins]Quite likely. Watching it dry is not the only boring part of paint spectatorship.
Jeanie’s evident satisfaction is indeed the important point.
Except the hospital green. That’s always bad.
Neil likes green… maybe it says something about what Jeanie is thinking/feeling.
“what Jeanie is thinking/feeling.”
Green with envy?
Okay, not likely.
I think that the apparent green is just a result of the ongoing color issues that this comic had had with displaying on some people’s monitors, and the paint is meant to be light gray.
Yeah, color on my screen is a greenish blue, but definitely blue, like shallow seawater in Florida.
It’s just the right shade of aquamarine that some people will insist it’s clearly blue and some that it’s clearly green.
She didn’t mask the trim because she’s painting the trim as she goes. I don’t know why.
Because she’s an amateur at painting?
Interesting choice of color; greens are Neil’s theme.
(And I didn’t spot any errors in need of correction.)
I’m expecting 1 of 2 punchlines next week:
1 – Neil: “couldn’t you have just done it with magic?”
2 – some genies appear and destroy all of Jean’s hard work.
Projects always take longer and cost more than you expect.
Yeah… Make your best estimate, then triple it.
I think Neil is now subconsciously seeing their roles in a more traditional sense. Home ownership, beautiful woman keeping house, and him going off to work. They have lived together all this time, and now he worries about her protection. She could turn anyone who attacks her into a cockroach. Now she is the little woman in need of his care. Fun times are-a-coming.
It’s far more likely that Neil is just worried that Jean will get bored, because we’ve all seen what can happen when Jean gets bored.
Last time Neil left Jean home alone, she got his roommates arrested, turned one of them into a girl, and time traveled in order to buy a house. If I was Neil I would be nervous leaving her home alone.
I’m not sure he knows anything about any of that.
Sure, magic may be quick and easy, but it’s not as satisfying as physically doing the job.
Didn’t see the doorknob come off in his hand the first look through.
Is that mold on the walls?
South Florida is very warm and humid for much of the year. If the house has been empty for a while, I could see mold growing.
Hmm. Jeanie seems not to be wearing her red cap, unless it’s hidden under the headscarf. More evidence, perhaps, of her wanting to do something for herself, rather than depending on magic.
I do wish, though, that she had accepted Neil’s offer of help. Maybe he can now help make the house his as well in other rooms, or with other projects.
I noticed the lack of a fez also.
There are other rooms… two bedrooms at least not to mention the kitchen and dining room. Plenty of opportunity for Neil to get his hands dirty or covered with paint.
Jeannie usually has the fez on because it’s so light, and she forgets it’s up there. But today she she couldn’t miss it because she put her hair up with the kerchief. So, no mystery there.
And she has no problem doing things herself when it’s her idea, and something that she wants to do. Remember when she was waiting tables? No magic used there, because she liked it.
I’m not sure she liked waiting tables or if it was the whole pleasing the Master thing she had going on. Boss Hogg was not a plush toy like Neil.
Well, she seemed to enjoy the job, or so I thought.
I noticed she didn’t use a drop cloth to protect the floor but didn’t spill a drop of paint on it. That is good painting. I think she is just being domestic. Finally accepting being female. Probably not. Will she paint his bedroom>
The floor was probably a lost cause anyway. New carpet Everyware. Neil didn’t pay for the house, but the updates are going to kill him. New carpet/flooring, roof, appliances, water heater, electrical, landscape, ect,ect,ect
The restoration doesn’t necessarily have to come from his paycheck—Jeanie may have enough remaining from the lottery win to fund it.
Neil-there is a little set screw that holds the doorknob on. Take the other half to the hardware store and get a matching screw. It is an easy fix.
He’s an engineer and should be able to figure that out. On the other hand, I’ve worked at the business end of a government agency and some of the things that engineers design leave much to be desired.
As an engineer (electrical, audio, broadcast, software) there are other types of engineering that I wouldn’t attempt without more training (aerospace, chemical, mechanical). And I’ve known other technical types (PhD in physics) who I wouldn’t trust to hang a picture on the wall. Yes, Neil can probably figure out the doorknob; it’s not terribly complex as Gary mentioned (unless you’re designing and manufacturing the inner workings), but topics like that don’t generally move stories and plotlines forward.
One of the reasons I like this comic is there is an engineer as a main protagonist, though I’d like to see him MacGyver his way out of situations more often.
And, yes, engineers do sometimes fail to take into account all aspects of new designs. However (as a gentle pushback defense) the people giving the engineer the task do not list every aspect of a thing’s design. They tend to assume the engineer will incorporate the “obvious” elements.
Non-engineer: “Why didn’t you include a safety lock-out on this ray gun?”
Engineer: “You didn’t ask me to. It wasn’t on the list of requirements.”
Non-engineer: “I would think that would be obvious.”
Engineer (paraphrasing Young Frankenstein): “Well, you were wrong, weren’t you?”
One of the best TV shows I have seen was the “Big Bang Theory” episode when Penny asked the guys to help her assemble a bookcase. It reminded me of some of the Engineers I had to work with. Their street designs were beautiful but a nightmare to stake for construction. Given that it is just a doornob it will end up with a laser lock and eye scan I.D. program. What could go wrong if it can’t scan a genie.
Nothing. Genie doesn’t need door.
feel like Samantha in a bewitched moment. why not use magic to get the job done
I don’t know about this. Pretty suspicious all around. The whole arc Jean has been acting weird. Either she has suddenly had a personality shift at the start of the arc either induced by magic, assimilating further into her nature as a geine or making a conchecheness decision of changing how she acts due to recent events, or it’s an impostor.
Or maybe it’s the pregnancy.
I was thinking the same thing. It is called “feathering the nest”.
Looks great.
Now, just watch – Jeannie will get pissed because Neil will come home and fail to notice what she did. Betcha!
Even if he doesn’t look at it, the smell of fresh paint is unmistakable. He’ll certainly be aware that there is paint about.
between panels five and six–it took over two hours to decide on a paint color.
She probably had to go buy some after deciding on the color she liked. Jeanie seems to be doing this the old fashioned way, i.e. no magic.
The 12:14 PM panel shows that she has already completed the visible portion of the wall on her left, so she has been at it for a while already by this point.
If it is the pregnancy how will Neil explain the bumb in his housemate. Jeanie, they make handle extensions for your paint roller. You will not have to stand on the step ladder in the next room. Or you could just make Neil paint it.
He’ll explain the bump the old-fashioned way, Jeanie’s pregnant. Now, explaining who Jeanie is in relationship to Neil, that’s another story.
She’s a friend and housemate. Pretty common today; I’ve lived in mixed-gender situations.
Now, if she starts showing, then explaining who the father is might be tricky. Although it’s really no one else’s affair, and she could just tell everyone to MYOB.
Painting by hand with hard work, after helping improve Neil’s quality of life? What is with this pod person that has replaced the lazy, narcissistic, entirely remorseless and selfish psychopath on the level of Eric Cartman that is Jeanie? Is it going to release its human form or go back to its home planet soon?
Hey, she’s having fun. When she gets tired of it, she’ll probably just poof-paint the rest of the rooms.
She knows that when the three stoners, two dudes and now the dudette, find Neil it will hit the fan. Best get on his good side before it happens.
Jeanie made them forget having ever met her. If she also made them forget Neil, then the likelihood decreases greatly.
Maybe Neil already believes she’s pregnant, he did ask if Jeanie would be okay there on her own. While perhaps, Jeanie is in denial. Neil not knowing who the father is is trying to be supportive. It is curious how Neil doesn’t seem to be allowed to have a girlfriend when Jeanie’s around which is all the time.