Jeanie Bottle 798
Jun11
on June 11, 2024
at 12:01 am
and modified on June 15, 2024. at 8:19 pm
Chapter: Story 17: I Dream of Home Sweet Home
Someone may be a little crazy. I hope it’s not me.
Want to know Who Ifta and Kiran are? You can read about them in this story, Ifta’s Backstory by Shadowrnnr
So, a genie with a story to tell I like this.
Wait if Kiram was inside the bottle how come nobody checked to see if Ifta was even inside?
My running theory is that most genies are stupid.
Yup. Usually, they just do what their Masters tell them to do, and they don’t have to think about how to use their powers.
Oddly, Neil overthinks things to the point where he’s useless as a master. Which is too bad, because I think if he took the role seriously, and respected the dignity of his genie, he’d be a great Master.
Natalie, though, would frankly be a terrible genie, worse than Jeanie. And we’ve already seen, in an alternate reality anyway, that Jean would be a terrible master, no fun for his genies at all.
So smarts and wishes seem not to go together.
Why would Natalie be a terrible genie given a Master that is not Jean?
That probably depends on what your definition of a “good” genie is. If “good” = “dumb”, then Natalie wouldn’t fit.
“Not Jean”? Oh, how about Master Rodge? That kind of Master is, I suspect, quite common.
In essence, Natalie would not be a good genie because she, like Neil, is a drudge. Her wish-granting would be lackluster, dull, empty of pleasure for both her Master and herself. She has been unable to work with Jeanie to craft interesting wishes, fun and fulfilling for both of them, and that trait would be double as a genie–she’d resent her role, but would submit anyway.
Remember the blue genie in Disney’s Aladdin? Powered by Robin Williams, of course, but still: his wish-granting had style, energy, bubbling over with sheer fun. I don’t think Natalie in a thousand years could manage that.
Aracelli might be almost as good, given a few more decades to hone her skills and control her own bubbliness. She truly wanted to please her Masters, and it showed.
One possible clue to the contrary: Natalie the exotic dancer. We see her tearful relief at Jeanie’s rescue, but she evidently did quite well as a dancer, fulfilling the erotic if non magical wishes of her audience. I have a sneaky suspicion that she took some pride and even pleasure in crafting her act. (I confess to having seen a few such acts, and there were girls who went through the motions by rote, and girls who at least pretended to enjoy the act. The one was more boring than I would have imagined, for a mostly naked girl bouncing around the stage; the other was riveting, even with an extra scrap or two of costume. Natalie, it seems, was the second kind, and good for her.)
I don’t know if she “dated” sufficiently spendy audience members, but I wouldn’t be surprised, and if so, I’d bet she was good at that, too.
And if I’m right about that, she might well learn to be a pretty good genie.
@50srefugee: There’s a possible flaw in your comparison between a Neil/Jenie master/genie relationship with a Rodge/Natalie relationship. Neil and Jean were childhood friends, lifelong buddies which might explain their continuing dynamic. Neil still cannot get past their past and that bleeds into their current relationship. Natalie has no such baggage in a relationship with Rodge.
Exotic dancer Natalie grew up female, a big difference to a snap transformation because she had plenty of time to adjust and get to know herself. Genetics certainly helped.
If (a big if) Neil ended up bottled and emerged as a genie we have little idea of what his interpretation of what a genie would resemble except for a brief glimpse on page 686, panel 3. A rather plain interpretation (which follows your theory) and emotionally sad (panel 4). Jean quickly showed her what a genie should look like and although she was compelled to grant his desires the sadness seems to have vanished. Perhaps she was adapting to her role.
Honestly there is sense to that. People with lots of power will tend not to need to use their wits often, and so may get a little soft in that regard.
People hardly ever check the contents of returned items. They look at the packaging and assume that what is supposed to be inside is what actually is inside.
Kiran calls Ifta “Itfa” in the last panel. Presumably a mistake?
Whoops, missed that one. Spellcheck didn’t recognize Ifta, so when it complained about Ifta, I assumed it was just the same issue again. Will fix momentarily…
Where would you be without your flesh and blood spellcheckers. I can see, without a magnifying glass Ifta and Itfa look remarkably similar.
So, Karim wished to know what it means to be a genie and his wish had them swap places granting Ifta freedom inside Karim body. While Karim stayed sealed inside the lamp till now a loophole wish has been discovered.
But I wonder if Kiran has realised yet that he is in Ifta’s body.
Jeanie may be able to relate to another mortal male who unwittingly ended up becoming a female genie.
Yeah, this should be interesting!
Actually, we don’t know yet who ‘Kiran’ is, and what gender he/she originally was. But yes, it does sound like an empty totem captured a mortal.
Well, IMO the linked back story tells us enough about you he was and where he came from. ‘He’ being the operative word.
Haven’t seen it, but I’ve learned not to try and second-guess CD’s intentions.
I definitely suggest reading it. Shadow’s fanfics are great, and this one gives a lot of backstory to this new character.
Maybe, but I doubt that CD would feel bound by fanfic, no matter how well written.
My understanding is that this character was created by Shadowrnnr, and CD incorporated them into the story.
I was actually commissioned by CD to write that backstory.
Loved the story, in one shot it provided much needed background information about the new character without CD having to spend time away from the main story line. I would love to see stories like this concerning some of the other characters that have little or no history.
CD is the one who shared the link to the fic, so I don’t think there’s a lot of guessing at his intentions for Kiran’s origins.
Oh brother. The genie hierarchy really are so stupid. Why can’t you put trackers on genies! Who ever is in charge needs to retire.
The whole genie gig: Phenomenal cosmic powers! Itty bitty brains!
Well Haji DID retired …
The problem is that the one set to replace him isn’t that bright either.
No kidding. In fact, I think Guano is actually quite a few IQ points down from Haji, who at least seems to have kept a lid on things for a long time.
Serious question for CD. I’ve done some writing in the past for me personally. This year I’ve just run out of interest and steam in writing. A lot of my stories feel like they’re going in circles.
It also doesn’t help that I’ve accepted I’m better at coming up with ideas than fleshing out a story long term.
My question is – how have you been able to do this so consistently without reaching burnout? Jokes aside – nearly 800 pages is incredibly admirable. I’ve never reached anywhere near that page count in my time 🙁 It also doesn’t help that I can’t draw. And have to hire someone else to do this. And it hits my wallet hard.
Example: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1byMzU5Fo_nCq0dIdh_Mu3qAX0O8U8H8H?usp=drive_link
I also have a bad habit of getting in my own way when writing. I’ll get an idea and stubbornly refuse to be flexible and leave it on the chopping block -_- uh so much time and money wasted because of that.
I have a similar issue. I’ll start writing a story, get about 10 chapters in, then drift away from it and kind of abandon it there.
So many cool ideas, none of them actually followed through to anything like a complete novel or anything.
So Frustrating.
Nearly 800 pages is great for comic, but compared to written novel it’s no so big amount of story. Definitely nowhere near 800 pages of written text. I would say that you should start with deciding if you want to make comic or novel first, those require different skills, different pacing and so …
Before I stepped away from writing the policy I had was if you know how the story is going to end then everything leading to that point will become clear.
When speaking to students that is the one thing I stress. Starting out with a good idea is necessary but if you do not know how everyone is going to finish it is easy to lose the trail.
The interesting part is often the planned path goes a different direction and the action moves from what was intended and new characters materialize that eventually become important parts of the tale.
@bossrhino, @elfguy; I’ve never tried writing a comic, but based on my experience with other types of stories, I might suggest that you try doing some outlining.
The strategy I usually suggest is to start out wih 4 sentences. Number them, leaving spaces: 1, 2, 3, 4.
You begin with Sentence 4. Write one sentence describing (briefly) how the story ends. The hero saves the day, or the cavalry comes over the hill, or what have you. This gives you a goal to achieve, a destination to work towards. It’s hard to get anywhere if you don’t know where you’re going.
Now go back and write Sentence 1: This describes how the story begins. Lay out just the broad strokes, no details; Treasure Island starts in an inn; Star Wars starts on a backwater planet; Dances With Wolves starts during a Civil War battle. Just define a start point, and don’t overthink it. Name your protagonist.
Then, fill in Sentence 2 and Sentence 3 with how the story gets from 1 to 4. Don’t try to write a novel all at once; this is just a two-sentence summary, so you have to gloss over all the details and just mention the extreme high points. Like saying that you get from L.A. to New York by way of Las Vegas, Denver, Kansas City, Cincinnati and Pittsburg.
Sentence 2 should build to a climax, then there should be a bit of a reversal of some sort, and Sentence 3 should build to another climax.
Now you have the basic skeleton of your story. The next step is to start to add flesh to the bones. Do this by expanding each of your four original sentences to a short paragraph each, by adding more information to the descriptions, and introducing more detail and salient events.
Now make another pass by doubling each paragraph into two long paragraphs. Add twists and turns, but maintain pacing by making sure that each event that occurs continues to move the story ahead – even if the events occasionally frustrate the characters or prove to be a setback.
At this point, you should have about 6 to 8 pages, and the general plot of your story should be starting to appear. You then continue the process, on to 12-to-16, then 24-to-32 pages, which should provide enough material to start suggesting other subplots, diversions and innovations to give your story scope.
This technique doesn’t guarantee a great sory, of course; only your writing skill and experience can manifest there. But at least it should serve to keep you headed in the right direction during the earliest stages and avoid the most common problems of narratives that sort of wander off and get lost because the writer never really made any plan ahead of time, as to where they were headed.
There are plenty of good texts on fiction writing; I would encourage you to take a class or three, no matter what your skill level. Good writers are made, not born. Hope this helps!
As was mentioned, writing novel, writing a script and writing comics are different, yet the same.
My method of writing isn’t too complex.
First I choose a general plot. For example, “Jeanie goes to a comic convention with Neil and Rodge. While at the convention, Jeanie meets an alien that wants to marry her.”
Now that I have the plot, I work out other elements, such as the B and/or C plot (what else is going on, that the main plot can switch too occasionally). Is there any plots holes or conflicts that would have to be worked out? What else do I want to have happen during this plot that may require more planning
So for my example, B plot would be “Neil and Rodge’s quest to find a rare war-mallet figurine.” Meanwhile I want to add Melvin C characters in and we all know Jeanie likes to dress up in costumes, so what costume will she be in and will this effect the plot? Why won’t Jeanie just use her powers to get away from the alien
After I work out these details, I then work out mile-markers for the A and B Plots. So Sticking with the A-Plot, the mile-markers could be.
1) Introduction to the con idea
2) Jeanie’s costume for the Con
3) Attending the con
4) Meeting up with Rodge (This is where the B-plot would start)
5) Jeanie Meets alien (in disguise)
6) Alien follows Jeanie
7) Alien Kidnaps Jeanie and declares his intent to wed her.
8) Jeanie discovers her powers don’t work inside the alien ship
9) Jeanie tricks the Alien to think that marrying her isn’t worth it.
10) Alien Releases Jeanie
11) Jeanie Returns to con, and find out Neil and Rodge spent all day in line for a rare figurine (B-plot)
12) Conclusion.
Finally after I figure out the mile-markers I write to go from marker 1 – 2 – 3 -till the story is over.
I find the car drive too and from work a great place to mentally figure out the story and how I’m going to get to each marker.
A couple things (at least for comics) I’ve learnt is, Not to stick with a single scene for too long. Sometimes you have to in order to tell the story, but if you can change settings or jump to the B plot then back to the A plot, it helps keep up the interest. I Generally like to stick with 3-4 comics on a single scene.
Also keeping a sense of “what’s going to happen” without being too obvious helps keep readers interested. If you do it TOO much, the reader will get turned off, so don’t always make cliffhangers at big moments, but making sure the audience has something to look forward to finding out will often increase the engagement.
The BIGGEST problem I have is it often take so long to tell a story in the comics, I often have other plots thought out, but never get to. I’ve had a number of JeanieBottle plots that will never be told, cause I decided other plots better or more important to get done. I also often plan seeds of a future story into the current or past story.
Now there’s a plot I want to see in the comic!
Hey Boss. I finished my novel, only took me ten years with a back up short story. For inspiration I have a picture of Teri pounding on his writers block cube. Most boring book you could ever read but then again an artist or a writer is always his own worst critic. Hang in there.
Teri needs a better block.
https://sailorsun.org/?comic=filler-writers-block
Glad you’ve finished it. Feel free to post a link to where people can download/buy/look-at your book.
Right now I am studing “Elements of Style” . I didn’t study grammer enough in grade scool. That book is reccomended by Stephen King in one of his non fiction books. He also said “If you can tell a story you can write the story”. I need to go back and do a grammer do check. It is basicly a formula plot.
Thanks for the help. With my computer skills I would not know how to start to do that. But thanks, It helps.
Wow. I usually check in on Mondays for the latest stories. I didn’t expect so many responses. I will read them tonight.
Thank you @CD and @here. Appreciate the responses.
Than is the tag wrong? Maybe Ifta crossed out, Kiran?
Read the backstory. You’ve gotta be careful what you say around genies.
Centuries passing like years. Makes sense, places outside of the physical realm exist outside of time. This is why a child can go missing and still be found as a child wandering the woods 50 years later or have aged 50 years seemingly over night. Got to know how to work those entry points work. Perhaps some time travel will be involved to get Kiran and Ifta back into the right bodies.
I have the feeling getting Ifta restored is never going to happen.
Yeah, not with gunshot wound received 125 years ago in a mortal body without genie powers.
Actually, Jeanie MIGHT have power to do that. She already proved to be able to time travel. Not sure if it would be good idea, but …
Good idea or not, there are obstacles to overcome such as not knowing what actually happened to the original Ifta. There was only 1 witness to “Kiran’s” death, and he wasn’t likely to brag about it.
Jeanie: The bad news is that you are stuck with Ifta’s body and genie role. The good news is that you have all of her power and lifespan, and high status in genie society.
Kind of hope she does do something as that’s a very sad ending to Iftra otherwise.
does this mean Jeanie next trapped in bottle
I sence a time trip to rescue Ifta. But then what do you do with Kiran?
Maybe a bottle with bunk beds?
Poor Jeannie was so shocked at the irony her navel fell off!
Fixed!
The Sports Illustrated issue came out. I wonder if Jeanie could arrange an issue with our girls.