5: The New BJ
Sep13
on September 13, 2018
at 12:00 AM
BJ’s not just blowing smoke about being a “New BJ”. Remember how Melvin unknowingly made him see how much of a creep he’s been?
And for those who don’t recall, BJ felt a connection to Clamor, and she may have reciprocated, if Kazom hadn’t scared her master away.
Note from the Editor:
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1st of all, cute new design on Clamor. 2nd, who’s the new character next to BJ? and 3rd, why does she have the same neck band as 1 of the ninja from Naruto?
I suspect that character is BJ’s little sister, and that she’s a Naruto fan.
Heck, her whole look reminds me of early-seasons Sasuke.
Hinata Hyuuga.
First, nice job on Clamor’s redesign. Second, good to know that at least one protagonist has siblings. JJ, huh? Wonder how much she knows about all the weirdness going on? Third, is that Not Holly in Panel 2?
I don’t think any of them are Holly. She’s a blonde with square glasses.
@Kattgirl – “Not Holly” was the only identifier I could remember for the cheerleader Jean tries to set up with Melvin, and I thought that the short-haired cheerleader in Panel 2 might have been her. Hence capitalizing the “n” in Not.
@He Who Abides: Oh. Right. Sorry. Thought the capitalization was a typo.
So I assume that Melvin, BJ and Red rescued Clamor, because, last time we saw her, she was captured by either private company or government agency people. We missed the rescue scene where BJ come in and saves Clamor. Aww!
Yes, that girl next to BJ identifies herself as BJ sister. She would have to be about a year younger than BJ. That would make BJ 16 and BJ sister about 15.
OR – Clamor might still be in custody. Just because BJ hasn’t seen her, doesn’t mean anything.
If it’s her first (freshman) year in high school, that would make her about 13 or 14. And we don’t actually know how old any of the guys are – but Jeannie said they were in JUNIOR high school, which might make her 11 or 12.
We have a rough idea how old BJ, Melvin and Red, because, they were freshman last year. So BJ is about one year older than his sister is right now, because, there is about a years difference between there ages.
Actually, in Bewitched, Samantha did some time travel too, to find out if Daren actually loved her. Instead of telling Daren after they got married that she was a witch, she told him before she married him that she was a witch. She had a bet with her mother, which is what is why she did it. Daren ran away from her. She wake up all downtrodden and such, but, then Daren walk in and ask why she so downtrodden and such and she tell him. Then he responds, I am still here aren’t I and then she decides to find out what really happened and watches the whole thing, with Daren came back.
I would like to see Carlos do a backward time loop with Bj and Clamor and cats go into heat too. Instead of being his sister, I would have had Clamor being her mother and she look like look like BJ with long hair. boobs and has to pull in her cat ears and tail in. I would have Clamor fall out of the time loop with her daughter about 14 or 15 years old. But, this will work too, BJ having a sister and then some female show up looking like BJ, that would be funny and create all kinds of situation for both Clamor, BJ, Melvin and back story that goes with it. You can leave the more dicey stuff out and deal with the result of what they did, like them having a female cat girl between them.
So, yes, there a lot we don’t know here and we are waiting to find out what happened here. A good story teller doesn’t tell you everything all at once, but, will throw in bit and pieces every now and again to keep the story interesting. Carlos can also do a back story on Red too, because, she been a Girl for five of six month now too. He can also do a back story on Melvin, Kazom, etc. It really all depends on which way Carlos want to take this story and stay some what in sink with Jeanie Bottle, because, this is a spin off of that comic too.
Something just jump out at me. BJ sister knows about Red situation and Melvin attempt to help her. Also, BJ sister may have a crush on Melvin too, because, she watching him like she might be interest in Melvin or she may just be interested in what Melvin intends to do to Red too. Only time will tell!
@Larry:
Actually, Melvin and the others were not freshmen last year. In JB #95, it’s stated that they were in junior high last year. Since they haven’t changed schools, that means they are in (at most) 9th grade now. (Assuming that they are in a three-year junior high school, rather than a two-year.)
That means that Melvin & BJ are now about 13 or at most 14, and the sister is therefore around 11 to 12. Possibly still 10 if her birthday fell in the right month.
You know how wild cats are. They’ll go and then they’ll come back, to suit themselves.
The two girls in panel 2 could be Holly with her new contacts and Saachi with her new glasses. I have tried to piece the poster on Melvin’s wall together like a jigsaw puzzle. Any chance that it will be posted full size?
Yes, the War Mallet poster on Nelvin’s wall will be posted in full. Most likely as a Jeanie Bottle hiatus image.
Aaaaand I misspelled Melvin. Thanks for nothing, autocorrect!
Okay! it seems I have to answer for a couple of things and instead of replying to each comment one by one, let me answer some of your questions from here:
1- We are going to learn more about JJ next week.
2 – @He Who Abides: That it’s indeed Not Holly! I was honestly curious if someone would catch that!
http://jeaniebottle.com/?comic=jeanie122-sm
3 – @Larry @Kattgirl: Ok, this one may be a consequences of this story going through so many writers, but our main cast is around 15 years old, that was something that Luna stated way back on the first page(EDIT-it was actually on the comments of the second page, “Not Red Sonja”), an I am working with that ages on mind, except BJ who now is 16, all of this would be important later. CD is aware of this and actually page 95 of JB was something that never came up while working on my script, but looking back, is Jeanie who we are talking about, are we expecting her to differentiate students of junior high from high school?
4- Also, there is a lot about Clamor I have yet to tell, I haven’t forgot where her plot was left out, but for now I am glad that you are liking her new design!
5 – @gary: As Robert just said, the new Warmallet poster will be post at the JB site during this hiatus, alongside other pics of mine, so don’t forget to check the site during this next months! Also, those two girls aren’t Holly nor Saashi BUT they aren’t completely new either.
Hi, Carlos;
Stepping out of character for the moment: From a story standpoint, I’ve come to realize that sometimes it’s neither necessary nor beneficial to articulate every detail. (Like, for example, the exact age of a character.) You can just let some details be undetermined, and leave the reader to draw what conclusions they care to. For example, in one script i worked on, there were two characters that clearly knew each other, but it was never mentioned exactly where or when they had met. This bothered the hell out of one editor, who only gave up after I pointed out that it was more fun for the viewer to try to work out that detail from clues provided by the character’s interactions. Truthfully, I actually hadn’t included the info because it wasn’t important to the story; it was enough that they were friends, and that was that. I call this the “Reverse Chekhov’s Gun” principle – that if something ISN’T mentioned, that it’s because it’s not important and the viewer doesn’t need to know about it.
Ok, now back to your point 3: Of course, even being 15, they could still be in junior high – if they’d just been held back a couple of years, for bad behavior, say. 😉
Not to be argumentative, but I just flipped back to the first page, and read through all the comments, and I don’t see anything there by Luna about ages… Just 50sRefugee’s comment about how they all seem to be about 12.
It’s okay; doesn’t matter, I suppose. 15 it is.
I thought it seemed pretty obvious that these are high-school-aged kids. 13-year-olds don’t act like they act. 13-year-olds certainly aren’t as developed as they are (especially Red, though none of the girls in her school look like pre-teens). And with BJ mentioning that he’s starting a new year at the same school as his old one, the kids in his age group can’t possibly be younger than 15. No high school I’ve ever heard of starts before 9th grade. There are middle schools that do 7th – 9th, but none that just do 7th and leave 8th for high school.
Actually, this thing about high and middle school is kind of messed up. 7th and 8th grades are considered middle school grades which is neither grade school nor High School either. Also 9th grade is first grade to be considered a high school grade even though most places will group the 9th with the two middle school grades and they will refer to it as a Junior High School and then group 10th, 11th, 12the grades into another school call a high school. In grade school they generally start the kids out at 5 years old, we have kindergarten so we have about 7 year, give of take a birthday or somebody getting left behind.
So the age break down is something like this, depending on birthdays and such.
1. Grade school plus kindergarten is 5 years plus 7 years of the kid is now 12 years old.
2. Junior High School 12 years plus 3 years or 15 years.
3. High School 15 years plus 3 years of 18 years old when they graduate from high school.
So if we know what grade there in, we can get a rough approximation to within maybe one year or so, depending on when there birthday is they may be a year older and that assuming that they didn’t get left back a year.
@Kattgirl Don’t worry, also, my bad, Luna stated the ages in the second page “Not Red Sonja”, and I do get what you said about not everything needing an explanation, it’s just that, again, the previous run was made with a highschool on mind (hence the location tag) and with the ages of 15, specially for Red, whose model career plot is funny as a teen, but a little messy as a preteen, and I started to work my plot with that on mind.
Also, due to the nature of spin off of this comic, plus the circumstances on which I start to work on it, I have to work in a personal timeline of the plot, including events that aren’t still to clear (eg. Thomas Clarck back story) just so I can work in future storylines and for reasons that would be clear in about a couple of moths with this schedule, the ages of this characters it’s something that will be of actual relevance.
Sorry for the confusion so far, I just have a chat with CD, and the only mention to Junior High came from that one comment from Jeanie (I just read the whole story to be sure), and only in regards her clothing, and she was annoyed to be dealing with Melvin, so we both think it’s not that relevant, there could be other reasons, but that would requirente check the differences between the education on California with the on in Cincinnati, and honestly it would be overcomplicate things just for a line of dialogue.
@Robert:
I was going off of the original behavior back in IDoJB. Plus Jeannie’s comment in JB #95 as being the only canon mention of age. As 50sRefugee noted back then, the behavior was very definitely middle school, pre-teenage. Through the course of “Melvin” during Bach-Mann’s time, the characters’ evolved and the behavior changed so that yes, it’s more high-schoolish now. Hey, that’s the nature of the way things happen.
Uh, guys, including Robert, the cheerleaders are wearing the same uniforms as before, which should be a good indication that it’s the same school, and that school would be junior high, which was established way back in I Dream of a Nerd. And 12-year-old boys were actually discovering girls way back in 1962 Idaho because I was one of them.
There is also the fact that I actually take the effort to redo the original school 😉
http://jeaniebottle.com/?comic=jeanie-bottle-94
Ok, I just want to avoid any more confusions in the near future, MC has always made with a high school setting on mind and with a cast around their 15s, this is something that actually precedes my run, the high school tag has always been there after all, and ever since I take over the comic I have been working with that setting on mind. Also, I just check all of the Melvin storyline back at JB, both I Dream of a Nerd and I Dream of my Old Bottle, there was only one mention to Junior High, and it come from a very tired Jeanie in regards the clothes she wore back in the day, you could also count Kazom comments about turning Jeanie into a preteen, but both lines of dialogue aren’t really that relevant for the setting, specially when both character are famous for not really caring that much about others (well, Kazom cares for Melvin, Susan and little more in his current state) and just looking back to Red’s design, and most of the girls in general:
http://jeaniebottle.com/?comic=jeanie-bottle-154
https://melvin.jeaniebottle.com/?comic=her-name-is-red
Is really hard to sell the idea they have only 12-13, we are not Pokemon. Again, I am really sorry for all this confusion, this story as I said have been through a handful of writers including CD back at JB, and there may be some discrepancies, and I am really working the best I can to kept a consistent plot, just in this case I miss that one line at page 95 of JB and even then, the plot at MC always took place in the High School, so it wouldn’t made that much of a difference.
Also, one behind the scene fact, the whole notion of Junior High, High School and such is a little alien for me besides what I watch on TV, I was trapped on the same Catholic School since I was six until I graduated at 17, so my apologies for any incongruousness in the future, I will do my best to educate myself about how this things work.
It’s all good, Carlos; this is what retcons are for. 😉
I went to a Catholic School too!
For all of one grade… Then I was homeschooled the rest of the way, so if you think high school is foreign to you… imagine how foreign it is to me! lol
Is anyone else beginning to feel like BJ is trapped in a situation where he can’t win where it comes to the opposite sex?
Maybe that why he thinking about Clamor so much. I hate mix marriages. Clamor to the rescue. It going to make for an interesting relationship and possible different outcomes too.
Isn’t that pretty much the definition of high school? (And college, and work, and life…)
More specificly he realizes that whenever he tries to ask them out he fails because he unintentional comes out like a creep, now hes just standing there doing nothing and he finds out he STILL comes off like a creep. Talk about a lose-lose situation.
@Ben:
You’re right. Well, that only leaves BJ one option: talk to the girls, but DON’T ask them out. That’ll really blow their little minds. They may take it as a challenge. (Except for Holly, who’ll probably think he’s been replaced by an alien.)
@Kattgirl? You mean play hard to get? I am not even sure if I am joking or not.
@Ben: Oh, no, don’t go there! Never say the word “hard” around BJ. 😉
So like playing hard to get? Note: I am not even sure if I am joking or not.
Maybe Melvin could accidently turn Clamor into a real girl?? Accidently. From the wall poster it looks to me like Honey Hart may have also had a measurement adjustment or is she wearing one of those underwire push up thingies.
Underwire push up thingie.
https://melvin.jeaniebottle.com/?comic=a-different-type-of-support
This is totally fact and not a made excuse from me for messing up her measurements after coming up with the chest part of her costume 😉
Could they have photoshop in this universe? Maybe her measurements have been digitally enhanced.
Don’t be so afraid of Junior High/Middle School. Sailor Moon was in middle school for four out of the five seasons of the original series. CD drew the original Melvin, BJ, Holly, and Red shorter in proportion to the adults than is realistic; this is extremely common for cartoon characters. Your versions have more realistic proportions. Look how towering the adult Jeannie, Grace, and Red’s parents are compared to Melvin-tachi in I Dream of a Nerd and I dream of my old bottle.
If CD is OK with retconning Melvin and his gang into high school, I’m cool with it.
@Gary:
Knowing Melvin, he’s more likely to solve the issue by turning BJ into a housecat.
Jeannie turned BJ into a puppie with her sneeze-magic in I Dream of a General.
@Tom:
There, see? Precedent!
@Tom Sewell and @Kattgirl Thanks for understanding and again, sorry for the confusion, as I said the whole highschool thing is something that precedes my run and that I have already incorporated it into my current scrip and for the timeline I am working on, and in all honestly, after my chat with CD, neither of us was aware that there was a retcon on the plot already!
The age of the characters is particularly relevant for my script on the near future, in all honestly this part is not that important for BJ, but there are a couple of reasons as to why is important for both Melvin and Red to be close to reach their sixteens now, in the case of Melvin you will find out soon, as for Red, that may take sometime, but I will leave you to figure that out.
Hmm isn’t sixteen supposed to be a coming-of-age point for the Bewitched version of witches, upon which the JB/MC witches are based?
@Carlos:
Nothing to apologize for: you are the author, and we are but your loyal readers. Where you lead, we humbly follow.
Carlos, pay no attention to me. It looks like you have an awesome comic in the works. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Does anyone else want to see Red turned into a frog, or is it just me?
IIRC they are in California and I am reasonably sure that high school is grades 9-12 statewide not just countywide, while junior high was just 7th & 8th grade and frankly I never heard the term middle school until I started reading “Megatokyo” so I suspect that different states, and countries, use different terms for school years.