I must admit I was rather bemused with the latest Misfile update, with the angel Rumisiel’s reaction to his first Earth-bound snowfall. There seems to be a common theme with characters going all introspective when they face their first snowfall (no doubt there’s a page on TV Tropes about it, but I’m not going to be evil and track it down and link it). When you consider that Rumisiel is likely hundreds of years old, it seems odd that he’d never have encountered snow on Earth before (as opposed to watching it fall from above the clouds), especially as he’s been on the Earth in the past. Still, I suppose if you’re an Angel out to have fun on Earth, warmer climates would be more alluring.
As a brief aside, I’ve been thinking about how Hazelton sidestepped the idea of Ash and Emily starting a romantic relationship while Ash was still trapped in a girl’s body, and I must admit it’s been starting to bug me. In the past, Ash was perfectly willing to kiss Emily (and she freaked out about it), so her claims that she doesn’t want to “surrender” and start a lesbian relationship with Em (as that means they’re both entering into a lesbian relationship that neither of them really wants) is a load of bull. The thing I’m not sure about is if the cowardice is Ash’s… or of cartoonist Chris Hazelton.
There is, of course, a perfectly reasonable “out” here, and it was hinted at by Ash when I commented on it back in September. Emily might have entered Ash’s “Friendship Zone” (that dread region of relationships which normally happen to guys who are attracted to female friends who don’t find them nearly as interesting). If this was so, it would be a fun twist, especially given that it would be Ash (who was a boy originally) inflicting this on a girl. Ash could be lying to herself when she told Rumisiel she’d consider being with Emily while still a girl as a “consolation prize” and instead is finding herself slowly considering Emily to be a really good friend… but just a friend.
The other alternative is the whole “Moonlighting Syndrome” shtick (where all romantic tension flees when the main characters get together, followed by a decline in viewership and the series’ end), which I consider to be indicative of shoddy storytelling. Yes, the tension between Ash and Emily has long been an integral part of Misfile. However, that sexual tension doesn’t go away just because they start dating or having sex. There would be reasons for keeping their relationship quiet (Ash was already nearly assaulted once already because a pair of asses thought Ash and Missi were a lesbian couple, Rumisiel is staying with Ash under the fiction of dating Ash, and let’s not consider how Emily’s mother would react), and this could cause tension in their new relationship.
It’s about time for Misfile to stop spinning its wheels and start moving forward again. By having Emily and Ash grow together as a couple, it creates more options for the larger story once Rumisiel comes closer to being allowed back into Heaven. If they do find happiness together… then Ash would have to consider whether she wants to sacrifice everything she’s built for herself with her new life, compared to the complete unknown of what her present would be as a guy. And it would be fun to see Em and Ash struggle on how to build a relationship on both emotional and physical bounds.