Guilded Age

E-Merl having some kind of freakout at being left behind was only logical. Kur’Ik going ballistic is a lot more surprising, and I think it works as a comedic echo of E-Merl’s more serious issue. Not that you couldn’t play this seriously…this is hardly a deliberate snub by Syr’Nj, but it still feels like that to Kur’Ik, and it comes right after she nearly gave up her life for Syr’Nj, even. Her whole purpose is recording knowledge: if Syr’Nj can just take that over on her own, then what does that say about her? But with WAV in the mix and the tonal rhythm of the chapter at work, a lighter scene was a more natural way to go.

Still, I am left with the impression that we ended up removing Kur’Ik from the roster just as she was getting a lot more interesting.

There are moments as a writer where I get the exhilaration of just coming right out with something that strikes me as clever, combined with a sort of ache because I know it won’t flow nearly so smoothly next time. I had such a moment when composing the Facebook ad for this strip: “In today’s GUILDED AGE, WAV plays some pomo, but Kur’Ik has FOMO.”