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[[File:normal_misfileposter1.jpg|frame|The four main characters.]]
{{quote|
A [[Web Comics|webcomic]] by Chris Hazelton, ''[
▲{{quote| ''"In one little corner of the universe, there's nothing more irritating than a misfile…"''}}
▲A [[Web Comics|webcomic]] by Chris Hazelton, ''[http://www.misfile.com/ Misfile]'' ([http://www.misfile.com/?page=1 first page]) is the story of "a girl who was a boy, a Harvard-bound genius missing two years of her life, and the pot headed angel who did it to them" via a Celestial filing accident. In the small hillside town of Tempest, Massachusetts, Boy racer Ash was turned into a girl, studious Emily had the past two years of her life erased—including her admission to Harvard—and angelic loser Rumisiel was exiled to Earth for his incompetence. Fortunately, due to a side effect of the accident, only these three remember the universe-as-it-was. Lucky, because Rumisiel fears his superiors would likely 'correct' the misfile by making it permanent.
Mixing street racing, girl-bonding, and car tuning sessions with angels, supernatural weirdness and the trials and tribulations—from getting hit on by guys to bras—of a boy suddenly transformed into a girl, ''Misfile'' defies simple categorization as the two heroines struggle to deal with the craziness that has taken over their lives while trying to get Rumisiel back into heaven so he can fix his mistake. Complications arise, of course, not the least of which is Rumisiel's [[Lazy Bum|perpetual slacker]] nature.
The comic is notable for dealing with a [[Gender Bender]] plot in a much less [[Fan Service]]-ey way, and with much more emotional depth and serious character consideration, than is the norm. Essentially, if you left out the supernatural and fantastical elements of the story, you'd still be left with a good tale about the challenges faced by a [[
Has a [[Misfile/Characters|character page]] that [[Needs More Love]].
{{tropelist}}
* [[Abridged Series]]: [http://www.napalmluck.com/index.php?showtopic=8205 Right here]{{Dead link}}. (Requires a Napalm Luck account to read).
* [[Aesop]]: Ash not only gets the usual aesops about sexism and the [[Double Standard]] but also gets some unexpected ones about [[Positive Discrimination]]. Meanwhile, Ash also provides some unexpected Aesops to Emily due to her outsider perspective on female behavior. Finally, the readers get some insights about the battle between the sexes that Ash and Emily are either too obtuse to get or too proud to acknowledge.
* [[All There in the Manual]]: If you really want to understand how the Celestial Depository works and the effects of reversing the [[Ret-Gone|misfile]], and find out just how Tempest has such a cool mountain racetrack you need to have read the "about" section on the website, read the [[Fourth Wall Mail Slot|Ask Ash column]], and ordered the print books so you could read the liner notes.
* [[Almost Kiss]]: A few times, the first being [http://www.misfile.com/?page=132 here].
* [[Analogy Backfire]]: Regarding the [[Chainmail Bikini|obvious sexual characteristics]] of the knight costume Missi made for Ash for Halloween.
{{quote|
'''Emily''': Wasn't she burnt at the stake for [[Sweet Polly Oliver|dressing like a man]]? }}
* [[Anchored Ship]]: Emily and Ash's relationship has been drifting closer for a while but hasn't truly gone anywhere.
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** To be fair the guy looks normal and cars talking back isn't exactly related to ghosts or angels.
* [[Archangel Gabriel]]: Rumisiel and Vashiel's father. Seen in flashback only (so far).
* [[Armored Closet Gay]]: While the applicability of the word 'gay' to Ash is debatable, Ash still pretends to be a straight girl because she is afraid that coming out of the closet as a girl will carry over to her male life when the misfile is eventually corrected.
* [[Art Evolution]]: Over the years, the main characters (of both sexes) have filled out and/or bulked up noticeably, and the girls' anime-style eyes have become much smaller.
* [[Author Appeal]]: Amateur street racing in this case.
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** Given how she's treated when dealing with any other angel (on official business or not), Cassiel also seems to be one.
* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: Rumi and Ash appear to have this, but in reality he's [[The Beard]].
* [[Berserk Button]]: Vashiel gets one that's closer to a 'Berserk Light Switch' from how quickly he can turn it on and off. When Cassiel comes calling and he's the only one home, he ''threatens to wreck Satan to get to her'' if she brings any harm to Rumisiel or Ash. From Cassiel's reaction to his reminder not to forget his history, and the simple fact that he can't lie or deceive, ''he fully means every word of it.'' The next page, he turns on a dime back to his polite self and offers to get the door for the now terrified Cassiel.
* [[Beta Couple]]: Harry and post [[Character Development]] Kate.
** Also, possibly Eponine and Logan.
* [[Big Breasts, Big Deal]]: Type 2.
* [[Big Eater]]: [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1797 Missi.]
* [[Bi the Way]]: The jury's still out on Emily… there have been [http://www.misfile.com/?page=714 signs], though she more likely falls under [[If It's You It's Okay]] or possibly even [[Single-Target Sexuality]].
** The jury just came back: {{spoiler|1=[http://www.misfile.com/?page=1881 guilty] on [[If It's You It's Okay]], thought they still haven't rendered a verdict on [[Bi the Way]]}}
** Missi also fits, saying she likes boys but openly lusts after Ash.
* [[Bizarre Alien Biology]]: Turns out angels aren't born, they just sort of...become. They only have genders and so on to interact with humanity. Rumisiel doesn't actually have any biological relation to his brother or [[Archangel Gabriel|father]].
* [[Bond One-Liner]]: [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1815 That can be SO addictive…]
* [[Boring but Practical]]: Vashiel gets a [[Awesome but Impractical|flaming sword]]. Rumisiel gets [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1545 a multi-purpose filing tool]. Guess which has a better chance of being used in a "real life" (or, Ash's life) situation?
* [[Brand X]]: "Beer" and "Cola".
{{quote|
* [[Broken Bird]]: Kamikaze Kate.
* [[Can't Hold His Liquor|Cannot Hold Their Liquor]]: While Rumi's liver could probably be used to sole and heel army boots by now, when Ash and Vash get sloshed it leads to the [[Hilarity Ensues|inevitable results]].
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* [[Cat Fight]]: [http://www.misfile.com/?page=667 Cassiel vs. Jenny], at the modeling event.
* [[Celestial Bureaucracy]]: The Celestial Filing Depository. Comes complete with corruption and errors.
{{quote|
* [[Cerebus Syndrome]]: {{spoiler|The murder of several high ranking angels, including "two keyholders"}} has heralded in a steadily darkening plotline. However, for the most part the story remains dark only when the story focuses on the angels. One might say that the knights of God are in fact [[Knight of Cerebus|Knights of Cerebus]].
* [[Chainmail Bikini]]: The Halloween costume Missi made for Ash, [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1565 who naturally] [[
* [[Character Development]]: Nowadays, [http://www.misfile.com/?page=13 flipping someone off] would be considered [[Out of Character]] for Emily.
** Averted with Missi, which is one of the problems with her character. There was that one time in the shower where she mentioned her parents being neglectful and her feeling like an outsider with Ash and Emily, but that revelation seems to have mostly been ignored.
*** You want [[Character Development]] for Missi? Would ''[http://www.misfile.com/?page=1791 these]'' [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1792 pages] [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1793 here] [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1794 satisfy] [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1795 you]?
* [[Cheeky Mouth]]
* [[Chekhov MIA]]: Ash's mom. Emily's dad could become one of these, but it hasn't happened yet. The other angels in Vashiel's old division also qualify.
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: The Monster XR.
** Also, Emily's [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1148 promise] to {{spoiler|give Ash a kiss}} in return for a perfect test score.
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* [[Don't Think, Feel]]: This is how Ash drives. [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=197 Emily can't drive that way].
* [[Double Standard]]: invoked after the fight with Tom.
** Also occurs in the forum. When guys can't take a hint, they're douches. But Missi can shove her face into Ash's cleavage in front of their schoolmates, even though Ash has repeatedly he is not interested in a relationship, well then it's cute and funny.
* [[Dramatic Wind]]: When Kate first shows up.
* [[Dude, She's Like, in a Coma]]: Well, asleep. {{spoiler|Emily kisses Ash.}}
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* [[Everything's Better with Princesses]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] [http://www.misfile.com/?page=427 here].
* [[Expressive Hair]]: Missi's pigtails help convey her mood [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1605 here].
* [[Expy]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20121117064544/http://www.building12.net/issue6/cover.htm This] is the cover of Issue 6 of Hazelton's first webcomic, ''[[Building 12]]''. Guess which one's the female lead.
* [[Face of a Thug]]: Brent might qualify.
* [[Failure Is the Only Option]]: Because success [[Reset Button|ends the story]].
** Potentially, there's a window after the Misfile is corrected where Ash needs to get used to being a guy again. Missi's feelings and how they are affected by him being a boy, his relationship with Emily as well as with his mother, James (who {{spoiler|she had sex with but}} he was just friends with), dealing with Kate (who cooled her jets a lot toward Ash because Ash was a girl), on top of getting used to NOT walking into the girls locker room and other such everyday things. There's a lot of comic to cover, even after the Misfile's fixed; at least a good year's worth, if the author wants to go that route.
* [[Fan Service]]: And lots of it.
* [[Filler Strips]]: 39 fillers and over 1800 comics. Pretty good record. Fillers usually are for major holidays and 'Day of Remembrance' pages, but there have been extenuating real life issues (such as the artist's wife going into labor).
* [[First Girl Wins]]: Not exactly confirmed yet, but on track like a heat-seeking missile.
** That missile just had a [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1881 near miss], but Word of God says {{spoiler|it's eventually going to score a hit.}}
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* [[Home Porn Movie|Home Porn Photos]]: causing Eponine, Logan, and Ash some difficulties.
* [[Homoerotic Dream]]: [http://www.misfile.com/?page=578 Ash has one about Emily] while they were asleep in the same room. Emily figures it out, but she isn't bothered at all--''she's'' had one about a friend of hers too. [[Transparent Closet|Not that it says anything about her]].
** No more than having a lesbian dream says anything about Ash, anyway. [[Second Law of Gender Bending|Sure you want your manhood back, kiddo?]]
** [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot|One would think that that's still part of the way back.]]
* [[Honest John's Dealership]]: Played straight, but gleefully twisted when Ash turns the sleazebag's own game on him.
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* [[If It's You It's Okay]]: Em/Ash, somehow. Either as the ([[Alternative Character Interpretation|possibly]]) het Em's [[Single-Target Sexuality|one female love]], or as the one person that Ash trusts enough to allow to see him/"her" getting all girly.
** [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1795 Missi eventually becomes a deconstruction.]
{{quote|
* [[I Have Boobs - You Must Obey!]]: Missi fantasizes about what she'd do with Ash's figure.
** [http://www.misfile.com/?page=888 "THE POWER OF BOOBS COMPELS YOU!"]
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* [[Interrupted Intimacy]]: Ash and Emily walk in on Harry and Kate right on the verge of having sex. Kate takes it rather well, but Ash's initial reaction screamed "[[Brain Bleach]]".
* [[The Internet Is for Porn]]: Rumisiel has an angelic multi-tool that can do sound recordings, take pictures, and go online. Ash assumes he just uses it to look up porn.
{{quote|
'''Rumisiel:''' No! I'm sending it back into the ether! It's not for mortal eyes! }}
* [[It's a Wonderful Plot]]: Subverted. Despite Ash's angst over it, the world does seem to be much better off thanks to the misfile. Of course, the fact that everything IS better just adds to the [[Humiliation Conga]] for Ash.
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* [[The Masquerade]]: Rumisiel claims that the misfile must be kept secret or his erstwhile superiors will cover their asses by making it permanent. Maintaining it becomes increasingly difficult once Vashiel and Missi join the crew.
* [[Master of the Mixed Message]]: Emily. Particularly [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1148 here].
* [[The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body]]: Largely averted, unless it's Ash's time of the month, but Ash's worst nightmare nonetheless.
* [[Mistaken for Badass]]: Not that Ash is bad at racing, but [http://www.misfile.com/?page=715 there are some things that just happened by accident.]
{{quote|
'''Ash''': "HOLY SHIT! I ALMOST HIT THAT LIGHT POLE!" }}
* [[Moment Killer]]: [http://www.misfile.com/?page=132 Rumisiel], then [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1113 Missi].
** Book ten was littered with these.
* [[Morality Pet]]: [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1627 Eponine] [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1628 appears] to be becoming this for Cassiel.
* [[Ms. Fanservice]]: Though all the women take their turn, Missi and Cassiel have the highest percentage of their appearances being [[Fan Service]].
** Not to mention that this is basically what Ash's mom used to do for a living.
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* [[Mugged for Disguise]]: [http://www.misfile.com/?page=655 This poor model], who ran into Cassiel when she needed a dress.
* [[My Beloved Smother]]: Ms. McArthur makes great efforts to get Emily to study so she can get into a respectable (read: Ivy League) college. The problem is that most of her efforts don't leave room for Emily's growing social life.
* [[My Girl Is Not a Slut]]: Ms. McArthur overhears Ash telling Emily about his girl self sleeping with James the previous year and believes the worst until Emily assures her that Ash was horrified by the incident and won't do it again. Okay, Ash and Emily aren't dating, but we all know what's going to happen in the end.
* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: Ash goes through a freakout after {{spoiler|hitting a girl, which he/"she" views as tantamount to surrendering his manhood in a [[Call Back]] to an early strip when Emily told Ash that he can hit a girl only if he is willing to admit to being a girl himself.}}
** Emily has one [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1187 here], after she and Missi piss off Ash enough with their sniping so that she quits talking to either of them.
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* [[Not What It Looks Like]]: Subverted; it's exactly what it looks like.
* [[N-Word Privileges]]: Not exactly the infamous N word, but this trope is invoked during a conversation very early on in the comic:
{{quote|
'''Emily''': Oh, so now you accept that you're a girl?
'''Ash''': No!
'''Emily''': Well then you can't hit me. }}
* [[Oddly Visible Eyebrows]]
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* [[Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping]]: the attempt to represent Harry's Welsh accent comes across as some kind of weird Sarf London… thing
** Which is why in his initial appearance Emily [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded it]] by saying she couldn't place it… [[Fridge Brilliance|causing him to identify it for the reader.]] The best part is that implies it's just as weird in-universe.
* [[Open-Minded Parent]]: Both of Ash's parents are amazingly accommodating towards what are, from their perspective, complete strangers, as well as their "daughter's" racing habit. Ash's dad knows that his wife left him because he was too controlling, and has resolved not to lose Ash the same way. Ash's mom, on the other hand, is just cool like that.
* [[Operation: Jealousy]]: Cassiel has convinced James to act like a couple, thinking that they can get Rumisel to blow up and destroy his relationship with Ash. [[Dramatic Irony|What they don't know...]]
* [[Our Angels Are Different]]: They are ''far'' from perfect.
** Not just that, the way they look is usually more like elves than [[Winged Humanoid|Winged Humans]]. And demons (if Cassiel is any guide) are basically just angels with authority over evil.
* [[Our Ghosts Are Different]]: {{spoiler|Kamikaze Kate's sister}}.
* [[Out-of-Clothes Experience]]: Kate and Angelica.
* [[Pair the Spares]]: [http://www.misfile.com/?page=2030 Cassiel and James]. In romantic comedies, this "make the other jealous" setup invariably winds up with the two meddlers falling for each other.
* [[Peek-a-Bangs]]: Ash. Not for any of the usual reasons listed on the trope page, he/"she" just wears it that way. Apparently he had the same style before the [[Gender Bender]].
* [[The Peeping Tom]]: Ash apparently had a fantasy about peeping into the girls' locker room. However, after a [[Gender Bender]] transformation, it loses its appeal and Ash is [[Squick|squicked]] out when ''she'' finds herself on the receiving end of it actually happening.
* [[Pettanko]]: Missi.
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Cassiel, seen [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1628 here].
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* [[Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory]]: Ash and Emily and maybe angels.
* [[Romantic False Lead]]: Missi.
* [[Rule 34]]: Invoked by [http://www.napalmluck.com/index.php?showtopic=6165&st=20 the forum members]{{Dead link}} (you have to have an account to view this page.)
* [[Sadistic Choice]]: "Emily or your manhood" seems to be looming on the horizon.
** Not necessarily. When Rumisiel gets back into Heaven he can replace Ash's file but doesn't necessarily have to put Emily's pages back. Of course, complications will probably still result, but it doesn't have to be a plain and simple either/or choice.
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* [[Shower of Angst]]: [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1108 Ash, during a] [[Heroic BSOD]].
* [[Shown Their Work]]: Although Tempest itself is a fictional town, apparently somewhere out in the Berkshires, the scantily-clad-waitress restaurant where Ash worked for a summer on Cape Cod actually exists and was a Hooters at the time the strip was drawn (It's an Irish pub now).
** Not only that, but Tempest is similar to a small town in the Berkshires, [[wikipedia:Adams, Massachusetts|Adams.]] Count: The [[wikipedia:Hoosac Valley High School|local high school]] is a couple miles walk on a mostly open road (As shots of Ash walking home has shown). The schools sports teams are even called the Hurricanes, and have a lightning bolt as a mascot! The town is also only a few miles away from [[wikipedia:Mount Greylock|Mt. Greylock]], the largest mountain in the Berkshires. In addition, it's a town in between two small cities (allowing some of the city and town locations shown in the comic to happen in the local area), it snows fairly early in the season (It's snowing just after Holloween in the comics), snows often (As Ash said in the Q&A), and the first snowfall almost never sticks around (As stated by Ash).
* [[Shy Finger-Twiddling]]: Rumisiel engages in this [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1507 here]. Missi does the western version [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1605 here].
* [[Single-Target Sexuality]]: One possible explanation of Emily's attraction to Ash. Hotly debated in the fandom.
** Emily and Ash thought Missi was a case of this when she was first introduced, but it would be impossible to verify if Missi would have liked Ash as a guy.
*** As of June 2011, this seems to definitely be [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1795 Missi's case]. She outright states she doesn't actually like girls, but she still is very attracted to Ash.
* [[Skinship Grope]]: [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=770 Ash invites one from Emily] and [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=771 Emily actually complies], shocking both of them. [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=772 Turns out Ash was only teasing.]
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* [[Squee]]: You can't call yourself an AshXEm shipper if this wasn't your reaction to [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1113 this] or [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1203 this]. But especially [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1336 this]. Also [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1552 this]. [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1554 Or this…]
* [[The Stoner]]: Rumisiel, at first. Ash seems to have beat it out of him.
* [[
* [[Straw Misogynist]]: Averted, notably, with the Arthur arc (starting [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1597 here.]) Arthur is a significantly more common type of misogynist; he doesn't try to tell Ash to [[Stay in the Kitchen]], but he refuses to see her as ''anything'' but dating material, cannot wrap his head around the idea of hanging out with a girl platonically, and is generally an objectifying ass.
* [[Strip Buffer]]: The forums are rife with speculation about the next day's comic, but that comic was completed a week earlier.
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* [[Taking the Heat]]: Molly does this for Emily before [[Calling the Old Man Out|calling the old woman out]].
* [[Talk to the Fist|Talk To The]] [[Groin Attack]]
* [[Tarot Motifs]]: [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=935 Bronwyn] tries to divine her future with her boyfriend… and lays the Misfile. '''''PERFECTLY.'''''
** The Hanged Man: Rumisiel. Self-sacrifice for the sake of enlightenment, bindings that make you free, paradoxes, and hanging between heaven and earth: in other words, exile to Earth to learn responsibility, where he has more freedom than he did in Heaven, enhances people's lives by ''accident'', flying around... A [[Messianic Archetype]]: he's a friggin' ''angel.'' [[Death Trap|Traps]], [[Self-Inflicted Hell|self-entrapment]], [[Apathetic Citizens|passivity]], and [[Despair Event Horizon|giving up]]... yeah.
** The Lightning-Struck Tower: The Celestial Filing Depot. Umm... "A straight Tower of Babel allegory about pride preceding a fall. Often associated to overly [[Pride|arrogant]], prejudiced, and authoritarian organizations (including [[The Government]]) which walk to their own [[Death by Irony|ironic]] [[Karmic Death|demise]]." Subtle. Also, "...more generically used as an [[Foreshadowing|omen]] of [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|doom and disaster]], at least by those who know better than to use Death for that or who think that Death alone [[Evil Tower of Ominousness|isn't ominous enough]]." [[Cerebus Syndrome]], anyone?
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* [[Ultimate Job Security]]: Doc Upton. Never mind [http://www.misfile.com/?page=877 not getting sued], how does he ([http://www.misfile.com/?page=1086 and his "nimble fingers"])still have a medical license? (Unless, of course, he's deliberately [[Squick|Squicking]] out the girls.)
** Nope. Apparently he [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1619 squicks out everybody.]
{{quote|
* [[The Unfavorite]]: Missi perhaps, as her parents are constantly visiting Tom at college while leaving her alone and apparently unsupervised. She's clearly seeking attention.
** Rumisiel may be the Unfavorite because he [[Can't Catch Up]].
* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]: James has become this, poor guy.
* [[The Un-Reveal]]: Emily asks Ash what boy-Ash looked like, which is something readers have been wondering for years. We only get a vague description and just a silhouette of girl-Ash with arrows pointing where the shoulders would be wider, hips slimmer, etc.
* [[The Un-Smile]]: Ramael is often sporting one.
* [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight]]: Rumi's and Vash's [[Unusual Ears]].
** Apparently they use some of their more subtle angel powers to accomplish this.
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** In fact, the only guys who invoke this trope (Tom) are shown in a very negative light and usually get their comeuppance.
* [[Word of God]]: The author has weighed in on certain questions by the fans in the forums.
* [[World of No Grandparents]]: Ash and Emily seem to have no other relatives besides their parents.
* [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl]]: Ash. {{spoiler|1=Finally does, and has a [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=1313 freakout] after doing so.}}
* [[Wrench Wench]]: Ash and Missi. Emily is a [[Wrench Wench]] in training. Kate's obsession with street racing implies that she's a [[Wrench Wench]] too, but Harry brags that he did all the work on her latest car himself.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Web Comics]]
[[Category:Webcomics Long Runners]]
▲[[Category:OEL Manga]]
[[Category:Embellished Webcomics]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:Web Comics of the 2020s]]
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