A junior engineer working for a small engineering firm in Cocoa Beach. The firm focuses mostly on NASA projects.
Neil is Jean’s best friend. When Jean was turned into a genie, Neil became Jeanie’s master.
He did deserve the dunking, but he’s not Jeanie’s problem.
I want Natalie/Neil to deal with Rodge herself. She needs to be able to rely on her own spine, and not hide behind Jeanie’s poofs. This shows as much spine as I think we’ve ever seen from Neil, and I’m glad to see it.
“how will she act if he’s really nice to her?”
Good question. But, hm, what about if Rodge starts treating her as he did Neil? Basically, under the circumstances, ignoring her as much as possible?
Wouldn’t it be great if Nat was bothered by that, just a little, and started trying to vamp him, just a little? That would confuzzle the heck out of both of them.
Actually in the long run it is Jeanie’s problem as she created Natalie in the first place. Neil has to point out to Jean that what she’s done to him is no different that what has happened to her. And since Rodger knows that Natalie is really Neil, she needs to give Rodger a taste of what Natalie has to deal with.
Jeanie knows she’s doing to Neil what was done to her. That’s why she does this to Neil.
But, as I keep saying, Neil is her Master. It’s his job to direct Jeanie’s powers. He has consistently shirked that responsibility. He hasn’t even properly acknowledged the things she’s done with mundane methods. He’s shown no sympathy for her what so ever.
Nope: Rodge is Neil/Natalie’s problem. She has to learn to watch out for herself, and to manage the considerable powers she now has as an attractive woman, so that she can learn to manage Jeanie’s powers.
Neil/Natalie is a doormat. Until that changes, Jeanie dominates him, not the other way round. And we know that Jean/Jeanie’s idea of “dominance” is unhealthy in the extreme.
Neal must learn to lead, or this kind of thing is going to continue.
heh heh heh. I applaud Nat’s quick moves.
Turnabout’s fairplay, right, Rodge?
I have a feeling we’ve skipped something. What did Rodge do to provoke this?
Now that Nat’s evened the score, I hope Rodge is capable of backing off the dork dial a notch or two. He might actually have a chance if he does,
Umm… made some completely inappropriate innuendo to Natalie (though Rodge actually *called* her by the name “Neil” so apparently he doesn’t care about the person, just the physical body).
I’m thinking the exact opposite. Rereading the current storyline, I am pretty sure that Rodge is being a jerk because he finds it funny to tease his friend about being stuck as a woman as Neil’s discomfort at being stuck as a woman makes him an easy target. Simultaneously with the teasing, he did express concern at how angry Jeanie was when they left not knowing she wasn’t at the house, for whatever that’s worth. In short, in keeping with Rodge’s cluelessness in earlier stories, I don’t think it has occurred to Rodge that the person he’s picking on might not be the person he thinks he’s picking on. If so (and assuming we’re not the ones misreading the situation regarding Neil/Nat), I would expect a radical change in behavior if he finds out. What that change might be is another question.
If the current situation was a case of Jeanie transforming Niel as some sort of punishment for an insult (Jean, is it your time of month?) I can understand Rodge teasing her, but Rodge asked for Natalie to come with him. This was a deliberate choice. Rodge is being a jerk on purpose and has demonstrated that he’s really just another bully.
Jean did transform Neil as punishment. Neil just doesn’t know what he did because he wasn’t there, just his body was. And Rodge may have asked Neil to go as Natalie, but he didn’t say anything about it to Jeanie, Neil did. So the situation is not so much a choice by Rodge but instead a vocalized preference that Neil inadvertently set himself up to grant.
I disagree with your premise that this wasn’t Rodge’s idea. Rodge asked Neil to come on a date as Natalie. Rodge followed him home, still asking after being told no. Jeanie shuts them both up by transforming Neil into Natalie. Rodge demonstrates his maturity with a hand gesture.
I repeat, this was a deliberate choice by Rodge to get Natalie into a bikini.
Page 761
(Rodge whining) “Come on Neil.
(Neil objecting) “Rodge, how many times… ”
(Jeanie) “What’s going on here?”
(Rodge gloating) “Yes!”
Could it be a measure of how much more feminine Natalie is becoming each time Jeanie transforms him into her?
This arc has been showing that quality more and more; the girlie shriek when she’s tossed overboard, the embarrassed look she has when Rodge waves a proto-phallic in her face, the angry girl stance you pointed out.
It seems that Neil is getting more and more comfortable in his female form.
Ahem. “Natalie is getting more and more comfortable with her female form.” Being female forces N. into a sex role, where being a schlumpy male hides it.
I can’t shake the feeling that this is a pivotal strip. We’re seeing a character undergo crucial self-realization.
The funny thing is, Natalie has always been a little bit more successful in life than Neil has, but I don’t think quite enough for Neil to consider making the switch permanent. He may not even realize that she does succeed more often.
Neil is an engineer working at a company supporting NASA. Although Natalie is just as knowledgeable and obviously more popular than Neil, she doesn’t have a job and no real identity (Agent Anderson had the backing of DHS to build a new identity, Neil doesn’t have that level of support). If Jeanie doesn’t return and Neil is stuck as Natalie, how would she survive (and don’t suggest as an escort or exotic dancer, there’s no evidence that she’d roll that way).
Let’s look at the (in canon) success rates of the other victims of Jeanie’s whims. The Greek Captain had 40 tons of gold to buy a new identity. Alex is a parolee from a psych ward. Tiffany is a hostage to her mother’s ambitions and her stepfather’s connections. No, Natalie on her own is in big trouble.
“…exotic dancer, there’s no evidence that she’d roll that way”
Not in this timeline, anyway.
(In that Other Timeline, my personal guess is that Nat learned to at least take some satisfaction in the dancing…and likely dated a few of her better-behaved admirers.)
@ 50srefugee
There are many fans that believe that once Jeanie corrected her past mistake, the alternate timelines simply vanished like Thanos’ snap (not my belief, but it’s out there), and CD has not said anything in canon to contradict that opinion. This Natalie has done nothing to indicate she’s even interested in men (or dancing) that didn’t involve Jeanie slapping a brain whammy on her.
I don’t think she’s vegan, exactly. It’s that when Neil first introduced her to hot dogs, she thought they were made from actual canines. The vegan wieners are meant to reassure her that no pets were harmed in making her meal.
It probably isn’t that, since genies were around long before humans came up with the culture and concepts of Islam. Plus, looking at comic #134, panel 1, she says to herself “Those poor animals…”, so it seems more likely that she’s just thinking she’s being kind-hearted, about cows and pigs, at least.
Some of us, including me, have been wondering, “Is Natalie becoming more feminine?” and “What if Rodge starts treating her better?”
I’ve come to the conclusion that Natalie is quite feminine, and that Rodge is doomed.
Thing is, many, possibly even most, women are attracted to status. Neil, doofus that he is, is still a competent engineer. Natalie is also a competent engineer, and has the added status of being a sexy babe.
Rodge is so incompetent as an engineer that Neil was forced to save his bacon. But for office politic reasons, Rodge got the credit and the glory, while Natalie got a slinky dress and a suitcase of lingerie. Rodge stole Neil’s status, reducing Natalie to his arm-candy, and N. wasn’t too happy about that.
Now Rodge isn’t acting like a high-status leader, he’s acting like a schoolboy. Natalie, disgusted by his low-status goofing, has even physically overpowered him.
This is classic feminine behavior. She’s literally clearing her deck for any high-status male worth her time. What would she do if such a target treated her with nominal courtesy, but let her pursue him? I’d guess, game on!
===
Speaking of low-status goofing, it’s possible that Rodge is actually treating Nat like one of the guys, sharing a locker room joke. But she’s clearly not in the boys’ room, so the gambit fails miserably. His inability to use an appropriate tactic is more evidence of his inexperience and immaturity.
You know that Liam is everything Rodge is not. He has, a lot of money that he worked for, he is very attentive/respecting toward women, intelligent, and he is great husband/father material. If the whole changing back thing doesn’t work out for Nat, she could do a lot worse.
Araceli on the outside, Neil on the inside. Whose to say, he might find Natalie a more intriguing woman, if Araceli is too distant with her thinking about Neil, her future master.
Here’s an interesting scenario. Let’s suppose that Jeanie leaves Neil as Natalie for wherever reason and our girl takes possession of that bottle that appeared in her bedroom. Araceli is infatuated with Neil as her intended Master. What happens to that relationship if Natalie becomes her Mistress instead. It doesn’t matter if she knows who Natalie was because she’ll be unable to reverse Jeanie’s magic. Does Natalie retain Araceli’s services, or does she accept the 3 wishes and send her packing back to Guano?
What would Natalie’s 3 wishes be, knowing from past experience that the spell can’t be reversed.
Wish for Jeanie’s bottle. Rub it and Jeanie HAS to appear. Wish for Jeanie’s spell to be reversed and then something very bad but really funny happen to Rodger.
Rodge deserve that and should be girlified by Jean for a lesson.
He did deserve the dunking, but he’s not Jeanie’s problem.
I want Natalie/Neil to deal with Rodge herself. She needs to be able to rely on her own spine, and not hide behind Jeanie’s poofs. This shows as much spine as I think we’ve ever seen from Neil, and I’m glad to see it.
From the expression on Natalie’s face in Panel 3, she’s ready to dish out more of the same if Rodge tries anything else.
Hmmm, but how will she act if he’s really nice to her?
“how will she act if he’s really nice to her?”
Good question. But, hm, what about if Rodge starts treating her as he did Neil? Basically, under the circumstances, ignoring her as much as possible?
Wouldn’t it be great if Nat was bothered by that, just a little, and started trying to vamp him, just a little? That would confuzzle the heck out of both of them.
“Hmmm, but how will she act if he’s really nice to her?”
Given that we’re talking Rodge, here, I doubt that we’ll ever find out.
It is an adorable expression and sadly I think this is Rodge’s idea of being nice to a girl
Nat will react the same. Rodger is a snake, and not to be trusted. Nat would be a fool to believe he’s changed, and Nat.is not a fool.
Actually in the long run it is Jeanie’s problem as she created Natalie in the first place. Neil has to point out to Jean that what she’s done to him is no different that what has happened to her. And since Rodger knows that Natalie is really Neil, she needs to give Rodger a taste of what Natalie has to deal with.
Jeanie knows she’s doing to Neil what was done to her. That’s why she does this to Neil.
But, as I keep saying, Neil is her Master. It’s his job to direct Jeanie’s powers. He has consistently shirked that responsibility. He hasn’t even properly acknowledged the things she’s done with mundane methods. He’s shown no sympathy for her what so ever.
Nope: Rodge is Neil/Natalie’s problem. She has to learn to watch out for herself, and to manage the considerable powers she now has as an attractive woman, so that she can learn to manage Jeanie’s powers.
Neil/Natalie is a doormat. Until that changes, Jeanie dominates him, not the other way round. And we know that Jean/Jeanie’s idea of “dominance” is unhealthy in the extreme.
Neal must learn to lead, or this kind of thing is going to continue.
I’d support that. Redhead chicks are king.
heh heh heh. I applaud Nat’s quick moves.
Turnabout’s fairplay, right, Rodge?
I have a feeling we’ve skipped something. What did Rodge do to provoke this?
Now that Nat’s evened the score, I hope Rodge is capable of backing off the dork dial a notch or two. He might actually have a chance if he does,
Umm… made some completely inappropriate innuendo to Natalie (though Rodge actually *called* her by the name “Neil” so apparently he doesn’t care about the person, just the physical body).
Something like that, perhaps. Or maybe he tried to nestle the dog in Nat’s swimsuit….
I’m thinking the exact opposite. Rereading the current storyline, I am pretty sure that Rodge is being a jerk because he finds it funny to tease his friend about being stuck as a woman as Neil’s discomfort at being stuck as a woman makes him an easy target. Simultaneously with the teasing, he did express concern at how angry Jeanie was when they left not knowing she wasn’t at the house, for whatever that’s worth. In short, in keeping with Rodge’s cluelessness in earlier stories, I don’t think it has occurred to Rodge that the person he’s picking on might not be the person he thinks he’s picking on. If so (and assuming we’re not the ones misreading the situation regarding Neil/Nat), I would expect a radical change in behavior if he finds out. What that change might be is another question.
If the current situation was a case of Jeanie transforming Niel as some sort of punishment for an insult (Jean, is it your time of month?) I can understand Rodge teasing her, but Rodge asked for Natalie to come with him. This was a deliberate choice. Rodge is being a jerk on purpose and has demonstrated that he’s really just another bully.
Jean did transform Neil as punishment. Neil just doesn’t know what he did because he wasn’t there, just his body was. And Rodge may have asked Neil to go as Natalie, but he didn’t say anything about it to Jeanie, Neil did. So the situation is not so much a choice by Rodge but instead a vocalized preference that Neil inadvertently set himself up to grant.
I disagree with your premise that this wasn’t Rodge’s idea. Rodge asked Neil to come on a date as Natalie. Rodge followed him home, still asking after being told no. Jeanie shuts them both up by transforming Neil into Natalie. Rodge demonstrates his maturity with a hand gesture.
I repeat, this was a deliberate choice by Rodge to get Natalie into a bikini.
Page 761
(Rodge whining) “Come on Neil.
(Neil objecting) “Rodge, how many times… ”
(Jeanie) “What’s going on here?”
(Rodge gloating) “Yes!”
I love how assertive Natalie is
Yes! And I like that she threw in the life saver. Given that she did without one, it’s a bit of a put down.
As opposed to what a milquetoast loser Neil is.
Yup. Nat has bigger balls than Neil.
I believe the best term I’ve ever heard regarding this was “ovarian fortitude”, as compared to “testicular fortitude”, of course.
he needs a black eye
Rodge got thrown overboard by a girl. That’s perfect.
Patience, patience…
Nat does seem more assertive than Neil 🙂 I’m glad.
Neil doesn’t get Rodge hitting on him. That’d tick off anyone.
how did he trip
Nah, he’s just lying to save face. Natalie shoved him overboard.
He tripped over an angry Natalie.
Nat’s pose in frame 3 is classic angry girl. Never seen a guy portrayed that way. (Of course, I’ve never seen a real female do that, either. Hmmm.)
Could it be a measure of how much more feminine Natalie is becoming each time Jeanie transforms him into her?
This arc has been showing that quality more and more; the girlie shriek when she’s tossed overboard, the embarrassed look she has when Rodge waves a proto-phallic in her face, the angry girl stance you pointed out.
It seems that Neil is getting more and more comfortable in his female form.
Ahem. “Natalie is getting more and more comfortable with her female form.” Being female forces N. into a sex role, where being a schlumpy male hides it.
I can’t shake the feeling that this is a pivotal strip. We’re seeing a character undergo crucial self-realization.
The funny thing is, Natalie has always been a little bit more successful in life than Neil has, but I don’t think quite enough for Neil to consider making the switch permanent. He may not even realize that she does succeed more often.
Succeed at what? Attracting dufuses like Rodge?
Neil is an engineer working at a company supporting NASA. Although Natalie is just as knowledgeable and obviously more popular than Neil, she doesn’t have a job and no real identity (Agent Anderson had the backing of DHS to build a new identity, Neil doesn’t have that level of support). If Jeanie doesn’t return and Neil is stuck as Natalie, how would she survive (and don’t suggest as an escort or exotic dancer, there’s no evidence that she’d roll that way).
Let’s look at the (in canon) success rates of the other victims of Jeanie’s whims. The Greek Captain had 40 tons of gold to buy a new identity. Alex is a parolee from a psych ward. Tiffany is a hostage to her mother’s ambitions and her stepfather’s connections. No, Natalie on her own is in big trouble.
“…exotic dancer, there’s no evidence that she’d roll that way”
Not in this timeline, anyway.
(In that Other Timeline, my personal guess is that Nat learned to at least take some satisfaction in the dancing…and likely dated a few of her better-behaved admirers.)
@ 50srefugee
There are many fans that believe that once Jeanie corrected her past mistake, the alternate timelines simply vanished like Thanos’ snap (not my belief, but it’s out there), and CD has not said anything in canon to contradict that opinion. This Natalie has done nothing to indicate she’s even interested in men (or dancing) that didn’t involve Jeanie slapping a brain whammy on her.
Yeah. Right. Tripped.
Probably slipped on all those brains drooling out of his…uh, his nose.
Speaking of, what’s frosting Natalie’s hair in frame 3?
Frosting? Probably water from that splash.
Thier’s is a fiery and turbulent love story.❤
They need couples counselling.
“They’ll make a fine, boisterous couple when they’re married, Captain!”
Top Sergeant Quincannon; She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Did she throw the life preserver to him or at him?
Yes.
YES! it’s about damn time Natalie stood up to Rodge and his BS.
Karma came a knockin’. XD Least he was given a lifesaver. XD
I did suggest last time that she drown him. I didn’t know she was reading the comments.
I didn’t know that Araceli was vegan
I don’t think she’s vegan, exactly. It’s that when Neil first introduced her to hot dogs, she thought they were made from actual canines. The vegan wieners are meant to reassure her that no pets were harmed in making her meal.
It’s also possible that she eats halal, given that she reacted quite poorly to hearing that hotdogs are often made with pork.
It probably isn’t that, since genies were around long before humans came up with the culture and concepts of Islam. Plus, looking at comic #134, panel 1, she says to herself “Those poor animals…”, so it seems more likely that she’s just thinking she’s being kind-hearted, about cows and pigs, at least.
CD should make Araceli a vegetarian rather than a vegan. Vegetarianism is healthier.
she should have shoved that dog in his mouth before shoving him over
would have made a clear statement of her opinion to his comment
She should have shoved it somewhere else on him that I won’t specify in polite conversation.
I hope that rescue ring is made of water absorbing foam.
She should take over cooking. When Rodger approaches the cooking station she should look him in the eye and chop up a hotdog. With a cleaver.
Knowing Rodge, he wouldn’t get the hint.
Never trust a girl who don’t like her meat.
Vegans are generally perpetually angry, because they are perpetually starving
Some of us, including me, have been wondering, “Is Natalie becoming more feminine?” and “What if Rodge starts treating her better?”
I’ve come to the conclusion that Natalie is quite feminine, and that Rodge is doomed.
Thing is, many, possibly even most, women are attracted to status. Neil, doofus that he is, is still a competent engineer. Natalie is also a competent engineer, and has the added status of being a sexy babe.
Rodge is so incompetent as an engineer that Neil was forced to save his bacon. But for office politic reasons, Rodge got the credit and the glory, while Natalie got a slinky dress and a suitcase of lingerie. Rodge stole Neil’s status, reducing Natalie to his arm-candy, and N. wasn’t too happy about that.
Now Rodge isn’t acting like a high-status leader, he’s acting like a schoolboy. Natalie, disgusted by his low-status goofing, has even physically overpowered him.
This is classic feminine behavior. She’s literally clearing her deck for any high-status male worth her time. What would she do if such a target treated her with nominal courtesy, but let her pursue him? I’d guess, game on!
===
Speaking of low-status goofing, it’s possible that Rodge is actually treating Nat like one of the guys, sharing a locker room joke. But she’s clearly not in the boys’ room, so the gambit fails miserably. His inability to use an appropriate tactic is more evidence of his inexperience and immaturity.
Well said.
Rodge did say Neil’s male name before making the hot-dog ‘joke’. Probably in his mind he was engaged he was talking to Neil and not Natalie.
You know that Liam is everything Rodge is not. He has, a lot of money that he worked for, he is very attentive/respecting toward women, intelligent, and he is great husband/father material. If the whole changing back thing doesn’t work out for Nat, she could do a lot worse.
Even if he is not a nice Jewish boy, he is single.
Except that it seems he likes Araceli, if you’ll recall the trip to Cape Canaveral during the I Dream of Separation arc.
Araceli on the outside, Neil on the inside. Whose to say, he might find Natalie a more intriguing woman, if Araceli is too distant with her thinking about Neil, her future master.
Here’s an interesting scenario. Let’s suppose that Jeanie leaves Neil as Natalie for wherever reason and our girl takes possession of that bottle that appeared in her bedroom. Araceli is infatuated with Neil as her intended Master. What happens to that relationship if Natalie becomes her Mistress instead. It doesn’t matter if she knows who Natalie was because she’ll be unable to reverse Jeanie’s magic. Does Natalie retain Araceli’s services, or does she accept the 3 wishes and send her packing back to Guano?
What would Natalie’s 3 wishes be, knowing from past experience that the spell can’t be reversed.
Wish for Jeanie’s bottle. Rub it and Jeanie HAS to appear. Wish for Jeanie’s spell to be reversed and then something very bad but really funny happen to Rodger.
“something very bad but really funny happen to Rodger.”
Oh, YES, please!
(Sorry, but Rodge has gone from merely a pathetic doofus to being a total snake.)
With my faverite holliday coming up I have to ask. Can you bar-b-que corned beef and cabbage? Irish banner?
I think you may be pleasantly surprised soon.