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Acina doesn't seem to be modest. She doesn't seem to care that she's naked in front of Kade and Dio.

And why did Kade and Dio go BOING after she got dressed?

Also, what's the symbolism of the elephant in Ace's room?

Man I know it's been a while since we saw Grace but she does not look as cute as I remember. That last panel especially is just not a flattering angle, her forehead seems too big, chin is too square, and the position of her eyelids is more derpy than sensual. When she can look like this: http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/oooooh_boy it's a bit disappointing to not see her as hot as she could be.

...what's gotten into her? She was never like this at all...

Frankly, the only character in this story acting remotely as his usual self is Kade.

Dio might've not been a likeable character but he used to have a certain principle; he was so interested in his other party's pedigree, status, and (fantastic) race, a.k.a Vampire, that when Chloe, a succubus, came onto him he seemed more or less neutral about her advances. He also wouldn't want anything to do with sleeping in a 'filthy mongrel's' house. This Dio is pretty much just the usual school bully joke with a genderbend twist; he decides to dress Ace up himself for no reason at all other than to demean him and immediately goes star-eyed (or heart-eyed in this case) at the sight of genderbent Ace.

FemAce/Grace/Acina was never a separate part of Ace's mind except for a single what-I-assumed was a joke when she noted someone was cute. As her, Ace was pretty much still himself, just with his body and sexuality altered. Here, she is a COMPLETELY different person than him.

Cortez wrote:It also seems like she's a different persona from Boy Ace.

As the good backscroll says...

@Osaru Sensei: Scroll back a bit further. Even when the change was starting to alter his sexual preference, Ace was still fighting it.

Very true, he was fighting it. Now it appears he's suppressed his female side and its somehow using his werewolf nature to reveal itself for short periods.
Before anyone screams "That's not an ability of werewolves!", remember; the only people who know exactly what the rules for cryptids are happen to be Dave, Giz and company. If you had asked me back then if succubus blood could shapeshift someone, I'd have guessed no. And as far as being a "valid" werewolf ability; Count Dracula, Lestat and the vampires of The Strain are all considered valid representatives of vampires by their respective fan bases. And we've never bitched that vampires, succubi and werewolves can breed little monsters despite that NEVER BEING IN ANY CLASSICAL FOLKLORE THAT I'VE EVER READ.

Issue is, his 'female side' is supposed to be gone. He passed it on to Kade and then got leftover magic that actually connected him to that period of his life removed. Heck, Kade would make more sense for more genderbending shenanigans than Ace. Along the way, Dio's already somewhat unlikeable character has been further cheapened, AND we've had Ace develop a split personality which means, like usual, he's getting far more of a short end of the stick without the guilty parties taking the blame for it.

This is basically 'But not too happy' ending bonus for Ace. Sort of like Dio and Ash are now permanently stuck with an unwanted attraction to one another.

As I asked Gotoh earlier, why would you take Tia at her word? Besides the fact that she lies constantly, almost everything else about her is sketchy. While the other cryptid students seem to have limited versions of their parent's abilities; hers verge on Deus Ex Machina. We never got an answer about what she is, but I strongly suspect that she's no more a child that Blair is a doll. So, is it possible that she lied about how much of the magic in Ace she drained away? Or how about, she decides later to go back and reawaken Ace's female side, just for kicks and giggles. We probably won't know until the end of the arc.

As for Dio and his "slumming":
He is probably still engaged formally to Layla.
Kade is part of the "Popular crowd"-- he was dating Layla after all.
In addition, Dio likes Nina (and he wants to stay in good graces with her family)
Kade likes Nina, in a big brother kind of way
Nina is popular among her grade. Partially because her sis is Queen Bee of the school.
Nina likes Ace. This makes him part of the popular crowd.
Dio, being a transfer student, has NO allies among the student body other than Layla and family.
It makes sense that Dio would cultivate aquaintances, if not friendships, with anyone who has standing in the school. So, he tolerates Kade and isn't actively hostile to Ace. He's certainly willing to prank Ace with the dress though, maybe even hoping to get some leverage on him, which Dio could then use to make Ace his... bitch?

Lokitsu wrote:As I asked Gotoh earlier, why would you take Tia at her word?

Because we have more than just her word to go on, which I already linked to on the previous page. By all rights, there should be nothing left of orb's effect on Ace.

Lokitsu wrote:I strongly suspect she's no more a child than Blair is a doll.

That makes two of us, since I theorized the same thing whie they were in Layla's psyche.

from what I remember correctly, Tia seems to tell the truth, but they are misleading truths

YES

I am sure she removed the effects of the orb

Yes

I am sure she took out the "maturity enhance thing" ( which was not caused by the orb, BTW ) so waht she said was complete truth.

BUT

there is nothing leading one to conclude she never added a new spell on anyone of her choosing, thus what is happening to poor Ace

wiseguy wrote:I am sure she took out the "maturity enhance thing" ( which was not caused by the orb, BTW )

Yes it was. Re-read what Ace told Kade about how puberty affects werewolf girls. Which was due to Blair changing him with the orb.

wiseguy wrote:there is nothing leading one to conclude she never added a new spell on anyone of her choosing

There's nothing that remotely supports what you're suggesting. We've always been given clear indication whenever she's using her power - whether she's giving a gift (top-left panel, here/2nd and 3rd panel here), or taking it away.

In the scene where she removed the magic from Ace's body, there was no indication that she added anything else in its place. Especially since Brooke told her not to cast anymore magic on them, which Tia agreed not to do.

Be careful Dio and Kade! That's exactly how teen-age were-she-wolves lure in their prey!!!
;)

HUMINA!

Yeah, I also wonder somewhat why certain things did not go BOING! earlier...

Dress does fit Grace pretty well, though. Especially nice knowing she's not wearing anything underneath. ;)