Eerie Cuties 27-02-13 This is why you bother me

[Tako]

Ash and Brooke fall in love.
Ash remembers that he's heterosexual and is repulsed by his make outs with Dio.
Dio, who isn't there, still remains in love with Ash and vows to kill Brooke and regain Ash's love.

[Arkadi]

That would be awesome.

I still don't want it to happen

[Odd Man Out]

Also, Ash's pose seems off...

I think it's how his torso is basically a perfect cylinder. It looks strange because even as he bends or turns those lines seem to be staying straight.

[Nezu Chiza]

Anyone else feel like Ash is on the losing end of this battle?

He's attracted to our favorite bisexual Melusine, so he wins no matter what happens.

[Luzahn]

Oh right. It turns out Ash is some sort of mongoose-cryptid.

[TBeholder]

Elminster is even worse, and is widely hated. As a matter of fact, Ed Greenwood has a thing for smartass hairy old wizards who manage to bang all the hottest chicks (goddesses included), and it has been pointed that, being a old fat hairy geek himself, all those old hairy oversexed wizards are his avatars:

That's bird guano, sorry. It's not a secret that Ed got a real author avatar from the very start (before sending the first letter to Dragon) - Mirt, that old fat Conan in retirement who had enough brains to survive getting older and slower (by Ed's own definition). Who still is unable to become a center-of-the-universe character, simply because Ed prefers to sweep far and wide (which is one of the most well-known traits) - why, he even jumped on the insanely half-baked Double Diamond.
Much outcries about Elminster coincide with the period when after making him cosplay Elminster and rejecting his attempts to write about almost anything else (same story with Salvatore, once he outgrew The Angsty Scimitars of Tweenlight level) the Wizbro clowns suddenly turned around and began to blame their own lack of sense on the authors whom they don't let to call the subject of the next book... while continuing on the same road.
That's what almost everyone, ever, gets for allowing a publisher's clerk to decide such things, BTW. So if you want to deploy tar and feathers for this, that's fine - but let's at least bother to walk up to the correct target?

But honestly, I think people are a bit too wary of Mary Sues, and they're seeing some where there aren't any. Sure, Ash is tough, but he's being given a run for his money here.

As others pointed out, it's an attempt to ignore the aposteriori nature of the situation: it's not "here's Ash - he's the best at martial arts in this tough company", but rather "here's the guy who is best at martial arts in this tough company - Ash", and obviously someone have to be.

Ash and Brooke fall in love.
Ash remembers that he's heterosexual and is repulsed by his make outs with Dio.
Dio, who isn't there, still remains in love with Ash and vows to kill Brooke and regain Ash's love.

A more interesting possibility is Ash being zapped out of it and Brooke discovering the "mind control" part... which could have a nice sobering effect on her, as others mentioned here much earlier.
But then, of course, they'd gang on Melissa - so... mission accomplished?

I think it's how his torso is basically a perfect cylinder. It looks strange because even as he bends or turns those lines seem to be staying straight.

...which of course happens because he doesn't as much stand on his own as resists getting crunched into a slinkey.

[Odd Man Out]

Nah, something about the proportions of his waist just seem off. Not freakishly so, but like his muscles are out of proportion there when compared to the rest of his physique. Given how demonstrably lean he is, there should be some tapering that I'm just not seeing. Yeah, exertion to stop the monster-girl from crushing him should cause some flaring but not so much that his chest, waist, and hips are all exactly the same diameter.

[Searcher]

Mel ... Call Layla ... let her resuce Brooke

[Gotoh]

@Searcher: You're forgetting that Melissa hates Layla. Plus, she wouldn't want Layla seeing her in her magical girl getup again, out of fear that Layla might recognize her. So why would she call her? Even if she did, Layla probably wouldn't care (not at first, anyway), unless there was something in it for her.

Mel would do better to call Tiffany... provided she wasn't gung-ho to slay monsters and such.



note: Just so you'll know, I understand you were joking, I'm just saying.

[Spidrift]

Also, Ash's pose seems off...

I think it's how his torso is basically a perfect cylinder. It looks strange because even as he bends or turns those lines seem to be staying straight.

I'm afraid that fight scenes aren't Giz's strong point. Well, the previous Brooke/Ash scenes have had their moments, usually in close-ups of faces (at which Giz is reliably brilliant) but here especially Ash looks like he's a face-on cardboard cut-out, bent into a "dyynamic" pose and glued to the background.

[Chase-san]

She has a point. Which one really is in more danger here. I would have to say Brooke. One because she is in monster form, if anyone saw her. Two Ashe has shown he is more then capable of taking care of himself. Also when Brooke turns back she will be in a predicament.

[vampire hunter D]

Well, Brooke is really angry. Ash is turned on.

Yeah, not sure which one needs rescued from that.......

[The Nick]

Yay, the b****y Mary Sue has arrived.

Who are we referring to here?

Yay, the b****y Mary Sue has arrived.

Oh boy, I was wondering when I would get to use this.

+1

[Odd Man Out]

Also, Ash's pose seems off...

I think it's how his torso is basically a perfect cylinder. It looks strange because even as he bends or turns those lines seem to be staying straight.

I'm afraid that fight scenes aren't Giz's strong point. Well, the previous Brooke/Ash scenes have had their moments, usually in close-ups of faces (at which Giz is reliably brilliant) but here especially Ash looks like he's a face-on cardboard cut-out, bent into a "dyynamic" pose and glued to the background.

A fair description of what I was trying to express. There's just no real movement the way I would expect in something like this. You're right, it looks like someone took his basic template and just moved a few limbs.

Mind, given the rarity of combat scenes in the strip this is one of the most forgivable artistic flaws I can think of.

[TBeholder]

Also of note: in these circumstances, the title phrase sounds damn badass.
Melissa may hate the whole "magical maid" business, but at least she got something out of her little misadventures.