Posted May 4, 2015 at 2:38 am

- NO BOOKSTORE

- Bookstore sighted

- Get into a zone

Ashley's zone out behavior in book stores is 100% based on real life behavior I have observed. In more than one person I've been friends with. All of whom have been women. Granted, the only friends I've had who have been interested in hanging out in bookstores or libraries have been women, and it's not like I was conducting a scientific study or anything.

That said, with one exception I can think of, 100% of women I've been friends with have been bookworms. I know rationally that not all women are into books, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little sexist about expecting women to like books. It's one of those prejudices I try to dissuade with logic that lingers in my feelings regardless. A woman who doesn't like reading feels like an anomaly to me.

In any case, this real life inspiration made it feel very important to me to show Ashley sitting like that in full in panel three.

- EGS:NP