This is probably one of my favorite strips so far. The expression on Brighton's face in the last panel is absolutely priceless. This also, of all of Brighton and Kent's interactions, sounds the most like Sarah and me. Which may be another reason I'm so very entertained by it.

I'm slowly discovering the intriguing pitfalls of being the ongoing writer for a comic. Like how moving between storylines is a bit tricky, particularly in that I have to come up with a new story to segue into. Some of them I can mine for a very long time--see the game at Shelly's/serendipitous lesbian sex arc--others only last for a few (in real life) days at most. There seems to be a knack for knowing when to leave off of one story in order to move on to the next, and I'm not sure I've really got the hang of it yet. Also, I have to rein in my rampant character creation impulse, for a couple of reasons. One, I can't just hand Sarah a script the night before the strip is supposed to be up (which is the way we have been working of late) and be all, "Oh, by the way, there's this entire new character I need you to design for this one. Kthnx?" The other reason is that I don't want any unnecessary characters floating around. If there's a character that can even potentially do the job that needs doing in a storyline, I go ahead and use them. Once upon a time that probably wouldn't have been the case. But I have a hard enough time keeping track of everyone that matters, and I don't need supernumeraries clogging my mnemonic arteries.

Of course, the reining in of the aforementioned impulsive character generation is probably good for me. I think it's teaching me about economy of casting as well as forcing me to round out the characters that are already present in lieu of plonking a new one down every time the occasion might call for it. Because a small cast of solid characters is always better than an army of cardboard extras.

Incidentally, I have been playing this odd little flash game of late. It is called My Brute, and it pretty much amounts to dropping your very own virtual barbarian into cage fights and watching what happens. The whole affair is very hands off--customization is limited (read: almost entirely random) and the bonuses/weapons/attribute upgrades handed out when the characters level up are completely random. I find that bizarrely appealing (as an individual who does not enjoy mucking through overly-complex customization mechanisms), though you may not. But if you do, go ahead and create a brute to face off with mine. In doing so, you will become my character's pupil, and (while it has no permanent effect on your brute) extra experience points will be funneled my way as you level up. Which is awesome. For me.

</utterly shameless XP-mongering self-plug>