Red’s First Steps: Page 18
Jul18
Mary’s being quite sensible, I think.
And while Carlos told me to give you guys an extra treat, due to this page not coming out before Saturday ended… it is still actually Saturday here in California (for the next 5 minutes). Which is where Red lives, making it relevant!
But I’ll be magnanimous, and give the gift anyway:
(Remember to click for full size)
I wish Mary would get some common sense knocked into her noggin, and agree with Henry on this one.
You think Henry is the rational one, here? He can’t even properly form coherent sentences in panel 2, lol. (Yes he’s intentionally incoherent).
Even considering Mary ulterior motive and all, she does have a point here when it come to Red future even if she intend to push it onto Red. Mary intends to make Red a high class modal, actress etc. for her future as apposed to a nobody in Walmart store as an employee or something like that, which would probably be the other alternative for Red life in the future. Red might actually have a better future as a girl than as a guy, even if it was unintentional and unforeseen at the time that Jeanie turned Red into a girl. Red was on the path to being a nobody before this transformation happened.
Now Henry has a more benevolent and probably more pure intention and desires for Red than Mary does and it appears that he care form for Red for who he is and want to fix it as apposed to Mary wanting to take advantage of the situation.
Ethics and emotions aside, Mary should really have had her child complete a crash course in makeup-and-dresses-and-other-womanly-things BEFORE throwing said child into a sink-or-swim environment where such skills are vital.
Such a crash course can easily still happen between the entrance interview and Red’s actual transfer into Southeil.
Besides Jeanie magic and Melvin Magic being used on Red, somebody else could have also use magic on Red too, including Mary and maybe other people too that she may know also. We don’t know who else is involved in casting spells on Red, beside Jeanie and Melvin and may also get mex up into what Red finally becomes in the end as a person. There could be more than the transformation that Jeanie coughed going on here too with Red. That in addition to what Robert is talking about like a ladies finishing school or course for young ladies or other such things as that.
Larry:
The Witches would probably be overlooking any Walsh magic (Mary), since it’s Red’s own bloodline and they may be mistaking it for Red’s own latent potential.
We have a super model mom with a son turned into her younger Double. Sending him to a School of Witches. and giving him a future as a model/Actress.
Sounds like Red’s life is going to be way better, now, tbh. 🙂
I mean, besides the whole “turned into a girl” thing.
It both good and bad at the same time. He or she will probably have a better life, but, it not what he want either at the same time.
So many conflicted emotions here.
Considering the full context of this and that this happened completely without Red’s consent . . .
I don’t know, it just seems odd that the Mafia Boss is the one who’s probably treating this situation correctly. Like, this has messed up Red’s life and he’s the only one who’s acknowledging it.
The drawing of Red here clearly shows that Clarence is still in there. This is subtle mastery of line and color. Kudos to Hollum.
I mean, maybe the exorcist could be qualified there, Mary. Once you’ve got someone convinced they’ve shapeshifted, then they are on the supernatural fix-squad. How did Clarence convince them he was him when she looked like her anyway? I’m still not sure that that is an appropriate outfit for a school interview, but that is for regular schools though.
I don’t know, it is kind of spellbinding. 🙂
Exorcist wouldn’t be qualified.
We know that “fixing” genie magic is very hard for anyone except the genie who did that. Henry doesn’t and rationally wants to try. Now, question is: does MARY know? If she does, why doesn’t she mention it?
Does Mary even know that genies are involved, here? Red’s been very cagey about what actually happened, and has apparently only mentioned Jeanie’s name.
Well, we know that Mary knows about witches, because, she went to Southeil school for girls where they recruit girls into the witches guild there and they tried to recruit Mary and she probably a either of low level or untrained witch herself. Whether they filled her in on the genie side of the equation of this magic thing, we still don’t know for sure and it still in question. We do know, it seem like Mary got what she wanted and she going to run with it without looking a gift horse in the mouth to see what there.
Exorcist wouldn’t be qualified.
Yes, clearly in a world of witches and genies, an exorcism is complete fiction. That seems like arbitrary line to draw there.
@Doug even in a world of magic and fiction there must be limits to plausibility, like exorcists, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy or the Queen of England.:)
@Dagor: THE EASTER BUNNY IS REAL!
What is the worst part for Clarence, having lost his masculinity possibly forever, or the fact than everyone else starting with his own mother prefer his new self?
P.E: except Melvin, of course.
I hear ya. Mary is just shoving Clarence into a whole new lifestyle on full throttle without giving him even time to process these changes emotionally, let alone letting Clarence make these decisions for himself. Good intentions or ulterior motives for doing these things for her kid, she’s not really showing that Clarence’s real self matters to her as much as her “new” daughter does to her now.
Mary got what she had always wanted a daughter who is the spitting image of herself when she was younger. She never really wanted a son by the way she reacted to Reds change.
Why wouldn’t Mary consider this an opportunity or an upgrade? From an old-school perspective a nerd like Clarence didn’t have much masculinity to lose. From Mary’s perspective masculinity probably wouldn’t even be considered a loss. Masculinity benefits men but it’s just a burden on women. Red has gone from someone with no prospects she didn’t understand to someone with bright prospects she can understand. Mary appears to believe she is acting in Red’s best interests. Southeil may actually be the best place for her magically afflicted child. Imagine trying to convince a mundane public school that Red is not just transgender but has actually undergone a complete, and completely impossible, physical and genetic sex change overnight.
The gist I get is Red’s change has clearly thrown her parents for a loop and they are both trying to do what they think is best. They just don’t agree on what’s best. Henry wants to step back, Mary wants to charge forward. Who is to say which is wrong at this point? Parenting is hard. Sometimes it’s best to push your child, sometimes it’s better not to push, and there is no magic guide on what to do when. And as for wanting your child to be a success as a reflection on you? Some degree of that kind of thinking is inevitable. You’re definitely going to get the blame if they fail.
It seems like Melvin is the last person Mary would want her daughter to be part of the new life she has planned for “Tiffany”. And yet the headmistress of Southiel is scheming to bring Melvin there, isn’t she? Either Mary is doubly devious or she is a clueless muggle with absolutely no idea what’s really going on.
I think it a little bit of both being devious and also be being clueless too. I think even in Mary twisted thinking that she still want the best for Tiffany as her mother. Mary see a good future for Tiffany and that why she pushing her into it so hard. Mary is completely and totally disregarding who Tiffany to do it, but, that life.