AAaA Shanna 1
I was tapped to do the Shanna questions, which (apart from helping out with a punchline or two) makes this my first AaA work, so far.
I think “I go to the movies sometimes” is as close as either early version of Shanna will get to admitting her fantasy life isn’t entirely dead. She doesn’t even catch herself and insist she only watches documentaries.
(On the other hand, yes, she subconsciously knows she’s getting “sky gnomes” and “painter warriors” wrong, and your nerd-rage only feeds her.)
“My childhood best friend” is a reference to the recently-mentioned Katherine of Fans. In that series, Katherine was one of the few friends Shanna had for a long while, and their bond was the second most important reason she got involved with the Science-Fiction Club and its adventures, the first being their newsworthiness. In this timeline as in that one, the two women drifted somewhat apart as adults, but not so much that they didn’t stay in touch.
“Indefinite leave to bring this story in” is sure a huge show of faith from her boss in this situation, even if I doubt that leave is with full pay.
I ship it
The only thing that throws me about Shanna getting the terminology wrong, is the way the commentary on these keeps expecting that to be really offensive. I mean…it doesn’t reflect on anyone but her. If I was a gamer in her world, even one who obsessively played Kingdoms of Arkerra, my reaction to her saying “sky gnomes and painter warriors” wouldn’t be “rarg how dare you be so disrespectful”(?) but, “You’re…none too bright, are you?”
There are petty and insecure people in any fandom that will argue at a drop of a hat if they feel you are not taking them seriously (ran into a few myself at the local comic store) but Shanna’s problem is she thinks every gamer is that person. The fact she automatically gets nervous when Mr ‘Tap Out’ sits next to her speaks volumes.
I think she’d be nervous next to this dude no matter what was on his shirt.
I actually have no idea what the significance of that shirt is, but the scene still works fine for me.
Pretty sure that with “nerd rage” they don’t mean that people get actually offended or mad. It’s more about the necessity to answer in a belligerent and/or mocking way instead of simply not letting the matter go.
“Hi, I’m Shanna from Sepia World, and even though I’m running for my life, I’m here to answer your questions. This one is a double question from ‘Definitely Not A Hitman’. He asks: ‘Miss Cochran, would you mind disclosing your next two stops? Also, where do you stand on gun control laws? Do you own any?'”
:-D