Some of Phil’s distaste for the cliche of wood elves as narrow-minded ecoterrorists, a trope that Naror’Nj more or less embodies, probably influenced me to get more creative with their renditions here. That’s the best explanation I have for the hillbilly shroomhead popping in out of nowhere, as well as my instructions to Erica to make panel 1’s Syr’Nj look like J.D. from Scrubs in the middle of one of his daydreams (I mean, okay, he’s roughly analogous to Syr’Nj at this point in her life, but daydreams are NOT THE SAME AS FLASHBACKS, younger me!).

Silly as Byll’BB (Billy-Bob) is, he does convey a message of sorts. Syr’Nj is remarkable among her people, but she’s not the only one with her own interests and foibles that go beyond the designated “wood elf role” you normally see in stories like these. Get five wood elves together and they may go along with the basic line of “nature good, humans bad,” but they won’t all sound the same.

Which means there’s hope.