Russian Machine Never Breaks

shinnycomic:

Our hero chosen to bring her dopey boyfriend to the Caps game instead of her father. Now, we learn how Shinny, an avowed superfan, prepares for a big game — just like tonight’s Capitals bout with the Jets. There are rituals, superstitions, and traditions that must be honored. Everything must be just right or else it will surely spell disaster for the team.
I (Peter) try not to socialize with fans of other teams, so I can’t understand how Shinny could date one. And yet there he is– wearing a crisp, new, powder-blue Penguins jersey to the Caps game and smiling like a goon.
Shinny’s own preparations are something sacred. Whether or not you truly believe your special socks will affect the game’s outcome, we all fall into habits. Maybe it’s a certain beer or a preferred posture– maybe it’s the number of times you clap (four, any more and the cosmic vibrations might disrupt the Caps). You might know it’s meaningless, or you might not even know you’re doing it. But you are. We all do.
Tonight is a big game, and fan anxiety is high. Nothing is certain right now, and in times of uncertainty we retreat to ritual. That’s good– it’s one of the things that bonds us to each other. But there’s always one doof like Shinny’s boyfriend who spoils it.

Huge game tonight. Go CAPS!

Our hero chosen to bring her dopey boyfriend to the Caps game instead of her father. Now, we learn how Shinny, an avowed superfan, prepares for a big game — just like tonight’s Capitals bout with the Jets. There are rituals, superstitions, and traditions that must be honored. Everything must be just right or else it will surely spell disaster for the team.

I (Peter) try not to socialize with fans of other teams, so I can’t understand how Shinny could date one. And yet there he is– wearing a crisp, new, powder-blue Penguins jersey to the Caps game and smiling like a goon.

Shinny’s own preparations are something sacred. Whether or not you truly believe your special socks will affect the game’s outcome, we all fall into habits. Maybe it’s a certain beer or a preferred posture– maybe it’s the number of times you clap (four, any more and the cosmic vibrations might disrupt the Caps). You might know it’s meaningless, or you might not even know you’re doing it. But you are. We all do.

Tonight is a big game, and fan anxiety is high. Nothing is certain right now, and in times of uncertainty we retreat to ritual. That’s good– it’s one of the things that bonds us to each other. But there’s always one doof like Shinny’s boyfriend who spoils it.

Huge game tonight. Go CAPS!

shinnycomic:

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Rachel has returned from parts unknown so Shinny! is back to continue our best story yet. Special thanks to Sfé for filling in for us while Rachel was gone!

When we last left Shinny, she had just procured two tickets to a Caps game. And now, the wrinkle.

Here is the essential challenge of fandom: How do you share it? With the one who brung you– the man who turned you into a fan and with whom you’ve already shared so much? Or do you share it with your special guy and build new memories? It’s tradition vs the future, Cash vs Reznor, GI Joe: Rise of Cobra vs GI Joe: Retaliation.

Which way will Shinny decide? That part’s easy. How she gets there– that’s where the good stuff is.

Thanks for reading Shinny!

shinnycomic:

Rachel’s been on study abroad the last 10 days, so this week’s Shinny! is a guest comic by her good friend (and fellow hockey fan) Sfé M. This week we learn are certain things you don’t say to hockey players, who are a superstitious lot.

The answer, Shinny is: No. He is not listening to himself.

Thanks for filling in for us this week, Sfé! Check out Sfé’s artwork and webcomic, Kyle & Atticus.

Next week, we return to our regular posting schedule, were we continue the story of Shinny scoring tickets to a Caps game.

Thanks for filling in for Shinny! this week, Sfé!!

New comic!! We start a new story arc this week, starting with that awesome moment when you score tickets to a hockey game.

New comic!! We flash back to a conversation held between Shinny and her boyfriend is those pivotal days before the CBA memo.

Also, MECHA-SHINNY

New comic!!! It’s all drama all the time in Caps town, but there’s at least one thing fans can rely on– and Shinny’s boyfriend is here to remind us of that.

shinnycomic:

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And here’s the story we’ve been so excited to tell. In part I the boyfriend wondered aloud how hockey fans are made. This is our answer.

But, as we hope this story that Rachel has beautifully rendered tells, being a fan is more about the connections between people than the connections between people and teams.

There’s Shinny (pre-nickname I assume) at the Cap Centre with her dad, watching the Capitals take on the Flyers. She’s a disaffected little girl, distant from everything around her– particularly her dad.

And then a switch gets thrown. A little girl invests herself in the same silly game as her dad, and now they’ve got something to share. Something lasting. And she begins forming an identity for herself– deliberately– as all kids should be able to do. You build yourself into what you want to be, even if it’s something with a mohawk and an un-ladylike passion for hockey violence.

That’s the off-ice story we like to tell at RMNB. The story of building bonds with a team, with each other, and within yourselves.

Well done, Rachel.