Annotated 33-14
You can tell Shanna is eating up everything Xan is putting down here because she actually defines Kingdoms of Arkerra accurately and without one iota of geek-tweaking snark.
And another piece of the puzzle drops into place, followed by what looks to be a corner piece. (I’ll discuss these “player characters” at more length when they get speaking parts, but suffice it to say we had them mapped out pretty well already.)
Xan’s distinction between real friends and “social media friends,” implying one shouldn’t forget the former are more valuable, reflects my own attitudes. It’ll also make things easier for him in the course of this series, which will involve a lot more socializing in realspace than he seems used to. But it is a little surprising coming from Mr. “The Digital Flow of Information Will Bury You Print Dinosaurs and Use Your Bones for Fuel.” In my own headcanon, this lends credence to the idea that this is Sketchies’ version of Xan, who at least had a phase in his life sharing formative experiences with the people physically around him. He may have, er, regressed a bit since graduating and getting out of comics, but he’s still got the memories.
I like the way both Sepia scenes end with a single wordless scene-changing establishing shot. It sells the convergence of the JJ and Xanna threads, which will meet before much longer.
In retrospect, I am a little surprised JJ would drive such a flashy car. I get that he is already sepcifically memorable, given his size and ‘stache, but a convertible sports car feels like something someone whose real work is staying under the radar and unnoticed would avoid. A minor quibble, of course. Maybe he just likes to treat himself once in a while.
Maybe it is one of those things where it is such a nice car but not necessarily the driver?
*where it is such a nice car that they remember the car not the driver
Sorry, my brain thought faster than I could type without me noticing
The moustache is also a stylistic choice of his, as is the hairdo (I still believe at least one of them is false, by the way). So I suppose he is deliberately trying to leave a lasting impression with the people he … convinces to respect his employer’s priorities.
My secret hypothesis is that he’s wearing also the false moustache so that he can throw it away, shave his head, get in some nondescript car and be hard to recognize. If someone has one or two features that stand out a lot, it becomes harder to remember much else about their appearance.