Chapter 12, Page 2 The Fantasy Starts

There are some things that your typical gamer doesn't think about. Like the cost of living, how to find work, things that affect them in real life but they don't expect to come up in a game. Obviously, they never had Dad as a game master.

Chapter 12, Page 1 Warm Bed

Dang it. I actually know what I'm going to be doing now and my pen dies on me. I just barely got this episode inked. So I gotta buy a new .3 graphic pen before I can finish any more strips.

Other than that, life's pretty good.

Chapter 12, Title Page

And here's Chapter 12. The title comes from something my Dad said about roleplaying games. "Building castles in the clouds is fine, until you try to collect rent."

I don't know if he was quoting someone or if he came up with that himself. He does like to quote people and he seems to have at least one for every occasion.

Anyway, I thought this chapter it'd be fun to focus on The Game, thus the chapter title.

Chapter 11, Page 24 Weather

Well, I feel stupid. I had this ready to go last week but totally forgot. *facepalm*

Oh well. Next is Chapter 12. If I just remember to color the title page.

Chapter 11, Page 23 On the upside

Yeah, that really helps lighten the mood, Dad. But at least he's trying, right?

You know, when this arc is over I'm going to have to figure out what to do next. I have a bunch of idea files, but I'm starting to realize how few of them include material from my teen years. They couldn't have been that uneventful, could they?

Chapter 11, Page 22 Panic rises

Sorry about the delay. I really have no good excuse. Well, I guess house sitting for my little sister for most of the month kinda counts, but it's still bad.

Anyway... Uh, yeah. I actually did lock myself in the back of a cop car. Not my best day.

Chapter 11, Page 21 The driver reboots

Sorry. I couldn't resist that pun.

Hmm. Other than that I think this episode speaks (or screams) for itself.

Chapter 11, Page 20 System crash

Pretty self-explanatory, I think. Mary's systems crashed, and so too will the family van.

Chapter 11, Page 19 To quote Tennyson

Neither I nor Mary have much patience for poetry, with the exception of Tennyson. Particularly his poem, Ulysses. It helps that it's a pretty straight forward poem, which almost sounds like an oxymoron.

In any case, this is mainly a little character sketch of Mary and Ruth. I still don't understand why Ruth would want to dress like a grandma on a regular basis.

Chapter 11, Page 18 Doing Both

Gotta love little red wagons. I think every family should have one. I always wished I could go on the sort of rides Calvin and Hobbs went on, but there wasn't a national park in my backyard. Oh well.

Chapter 11, Page 17 Not road ready

I'm back! Miss me? Well, know that I have house sitting and visits out of the way (nice seeing you, Dan!) I think I should be able to keep a better schedule. Or at least a slightly more consistent one.

Poor Mary. If she thinks this is nerve wracking... Let's just say I have a very good reason to not like driving.

A delay

I'm having a really hard time figuring out how to show the level of panic Mary feels behind the wheel. There are also a couple events coming up in story and in real life that are going to make things interesting for me. Uff da.

Anyway, I'm hoping the delay won't be long, but I wanted to give some warning, anyway.

Chapter 11, Page 16 With great power...

So which has Mary frightened more? The van or her Dad? It might be equal portions of both, actually. Having that much power, that much potential for destruction, at your potential control is a rather uncomfortable feeling. At least for her.

Chapter 11, Page 15 Permit, sort of

It's hard to write the way Mary (and by extension, I) really talk. Wall o' Text doesn't even begin to describe it.

That same difficulty may also explain why I haven't put Dad in the comic much.

Chapter 11, Page 14 It falls to her

Let's be fair, first of all. Dad could sleep through an air raid siren, a little thunder and a screaming baby aren't going to even register. Besides, Mom is the one with the nurturing instincts. Dad's job is to chase bats out of the bedroom.

More on that later.

Chapter 11, Page 13 Blue Girl

One of the problems with not having any extra padding is that there's nothing to protect you from the cold. Another is that you don't float very well. Both these problems make swimming rather difficult. Even unpleasant. It's too bad. I like swimming. Conny, not so much.

Chapter 11, Page 12 Not at home

What I remember is blinking and seeing my sisters making the strangest faces at me. Apparently they'd been trying to get my attention for some time. Dreaming with my eyes open? Stranger things have happened.

Chapter 11, Page 11 Distracted

So Mary is back in driving class. Or, at least her body is. As usual, keeping her mind in the same reality that her body inhabits proves a little too hard. Maybe if the classroom didn't feel like a rainforest.

Chapter 11, Page 10 Bloop

I really hated that swimsuit. It was quite possibly the worst design I have ever seen, just in terms of practicality.

Really.


What the heck were the designers thinking?!

Chapter 11, Page 9 Fuzzy Blue Trunks

You really should see the real thing. Or not, depending on your tolerances. Seriously, fuzzy blue swim trunks?? Who thought that terry cloth would make a good material for this? And why did Dad buy the thing?!

Pretty sure those trunks are significantly older than Mary, and it's starting to show.

Chapter 11, Page 8 A growing fear

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had a bad experience with those scare-'em-straight driving videos. You know, the ones that go into gruesome detail on what happens if you drink and drive or otherwise behave like an idiot behind the wheel. As if Mary's imagination really needed fueling.

Chapter 11, Page 7 Summer Teacher

The justification is that this makes the future drivers aware of how much they have to learn. I can't help but feel there might be another reason.

Gah. The end of the month is coming. Bills, deadlines, hoo-boy. I will try hard not to let it affect the update schedule.

Chapter 11, Page 6 Fairies?

I honestly don't know now if that's what they meant when they said they were fairies. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not.

Mary, however, has, like I did, jumped to the conclusion that they must be in a play. She's got Shakespeare on the brain right now, so it's kinda justified.

Speaking of which, I just picked up a 1999 adaptation of that play from the library. Hope they did a good job with it. Adaptations of Shakespeare plays seem to be highly variable in quality.

Oh, and Mary is on her way to her first driving class. That was probably about as clear as mud from the context.

Chapter 11, Page 5 Unscientific research

There are times when it seems that to be fine dining the dish should bear no resemblance whatsoever to the food it started out as. Not to say that I haven't had fancy food that tasted good, and looked like it did. I have. Even then, however, an individual with a sensitive stomach has to be careful. It's impractical to do a thorough lab analysis on everything that might possibly end up on your plate. That's where things like this pendulum come in. It's just a normal metal washer on a string, so I guess I can see where people would be dubious. Still, to call it occult? And to prove it doesn't work by removing it from the source of the electromagnetic fields (or whatever) that it would be interacting with? The explanation that it works by the subconscious manipulating the involuntary twitchings of the hand holding the pendulum seems rather silly, as well. Especially since the thing has indicated that foods I *like* are bad for me to eat. (I happen to like raw tomatoes. I can't eat them as they give me heart burn.)

*headdesk*

Simply a reminder that just because you don't understand something that doesn't mean it's supernatural.

Heat related intermission

It's way too hot. And I don't have A/C. Because of that, the next episode is going to be delayed a bit. My brain is melting, my skin is becoming one with whatever surface it comes in contact with, and you do not want to know about my digestion.

By the end of the weekend I should (I hope) have A/C and will be able to complete the last couple of steps necessary for the strip without having to dive into the freezer every 30 seconds. Thank you for your patience.

Chapter 11, Page 4 Permit to panic

Not really sure if that first panel is clear. Mary's supposed to be eating a sandwich. And talking with her mouth full. Bad manners!

Anyway, Mary finds out that she's going to be taking driver's ed so she can get her permit. Funny how I (er, Mary) tend to find out about these things after they've been set up.

Sorry about the delay. I was visiting family for most of last week. My sister has an absolutely adorable little baby wood mouse that she rescued.

Chapter 11, Page 3 Same old Mary

Teenager or not, Mary is still Mary. And her sisters still think she's nuts.

They're probably right. Mostly.

Chapter 11, Page 2 Ill timed freakout

Talk about flawed logic, though she does have some reason to be concerned. There are few thoughts as horrifying as the possibility of being mistaken for your Dad's wife.

Not that Mary has much to worry about there. Most people mistake Dad for being in her grandparents' generation. But Mary is used to the way her parents look, so she doesn't consider this.

Chapter 11, Page 1 Growth Spurt

Actually, I should be drawing Mary a bit taller right now, but it's still rather difficult for me to picture a child being taller than her parents. Even though there's no rule that says that can't happen and in fact it seems to almost be the norm. Especially in a case like this when the parent in question is a couple inches from being clinically a dwarf. Or is that midget? I get the two terms mixed up sometimes.

Chapter 11, Title Page Rite of Passage

New chapter! Finally! I would have gotten on this sooner, but I've had a really bad cold. I've been barely able to play video games let alone do anything productive. I'm starting to feel better, so hopefully I'll get MQC back on track.

Anyway, Mary's 15 now, so there are certain things she'll have to experience this summer. Good luck!

Chapter 10, Page 18 Misunderstanding

Mary is referencing Calvin and Hobbs here. For those of you who know Yiddish you may be able to guess what word Mary found.

I feel for Mom sometimes. She's the one sane person in the house more often than not.

Chapter 10, Page 17 Language hazard

Well, Dad certainly does have good lungs.

Yiddish is a very, ah, colorful language.

Chapter 10, Page 16 She's a goy

In case the title is confusing, 'goy' is Yiddish for non-Jew, goyim is the plural. Now, why would such a thoroughly goyish family have a book on Yiddish? For that matter, why would that family have an Elijah cup? (A cup traditionally used during the Passover.) Well, why not? We worship a Jew, after all.

Chapter 10, Page 15 Lint!

You think I'm making this up, don't you? And, yes, that's my Dad's blog. One of them, anyway.

Sorry for the absence, to those of you still reading this (about half a dozen if I'm lucky). I'm hoping that graduation will free up my schedule somewhat, but you never know.

Oh. And as an added bonus for staying with me, try to guess what cartoon Mary's been watching.

Chapter 10, Page 14 Subconscious anxiety

I honestly don't know which one is worse, this dream or the one where the car goes from being in park to rolling uncontrollably downhill. Backwards. Naturally, the pedals do nothing.

There have been times when I've thought that my subconscious must hate me.

Chapter 10, Page 13 Still awesome

Ever notice that the games on display in Walmart and the controls under them seem to be completely disconnected? That is, when you pick up the controls and mash buttons nothing happens. You'd think these demo displays would allow you to actually play the games, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Oh well, it's still cool to pretend.

Oh, and feeling like an idiot for not getting this out on time. I know updates have been a little irregular of late and I've been trying to get back on track. I even had this all ready to go yesterday. But, dumkoff, I forgot to actually post it. GAA! Oh well.

Chapter 10, Page 12 Sacrifices for fashion

Could someone please explain why it's necessary to freeze our ears off in the name of beauty? It's especially cruel right after a hair cut when one's hair is still slightly damp from the washing and all the weird spray stuff they use.

And people wonder why I have an attitude.

Chapter 10, Page 11 Explain then cut

I think I would have taken the notion of beauty parlors and clothes shopping a bit better if they hadn't involved, well, this.

Seriously, people, is it really so hard to explain what it is you're doing before you subject a girl to it? This isn't fun at all when you don't know what the heck is going on.

Actually, a picture book with various hairstyles to choose from might've been a good idea.

Chapter 10, Page 10 A trim doesn't count

Yeah, apparently a parent cutting your hair doesn't count as getting a hair cut. Whatever.

Sorry for the delay, I will try to get this sequence uploaded before the weekend.

Chapter 10, Page 9 Anticipating birthday

Well, as I write this I will be 27 in about 11 minutes.

That still seems old to me. Maybe because it doesn't seem that long ago when 20 sounded ancient.

Anyway, this is actually going to be Mary's first sleepover. That is, the first time she's been to a sleepover that wasn't at her own house. You might remember that she did have a couple, ah, friends over night once before.

Chapter 10, Page 8 Big girl?

Oh, and in case the reason for this conversation isn't clear (it will be on the next update, but anyway), my birthday is next Monday. Can't believe I'm turning 27. That's *old!* It was kinda weird realizing I was old enough to drink and that was years ago! oO

Chapter 10, Page 7 Be careful with your gaming

Yeah, it is dangerous to get obsessed with RPGs, or video games, or fantasy novels, or chocolate sprinkles, or... It's dangerous to get obsessed with anything. Obsession is a bad thing, some people get a little focused on certain things people can get obsessed with, though.

For understandable reasons. It's especially concerning if you're dealing with a kid with a tendency toward obsession. But at least Mom's giving them a chance.

Chapter 10, Page 6 Ask your mom

So sorry for the lack of consistent updates! I wonder if I still have any readers. School has been intense this semester, so I've been focusing more on that. Of course, I have tried to relax, which is where my new video games come in. (Ike rules!) Also been trying to get the apartment in some semblance of order, which is starting to look less like an exercise in futility now.

Anyway, I finally get around to Mary asking to play 'The Game.' Yeah, I doubt Wizards of the Coast would bother suing me if I used the actual name, but we very rarely called it AD&D, anyway. It was 'The Game,' a highly mutated version of the commercially available system using rules from a couple different editions (at least) with some parts made up out of whole cloth.

Fun times.

Chapter 10, Page 5 The lyrics are...

Of course, it would probably help if Mary actually knew the worlds besides some bits around the refrain.

Well, then there are the songs she does know all the words to that involved drunkenness, murder, philandering... And these are songs her parents listen to!

And she's still pretty oblivious. Probably helps that the oldies tended to be a bit more subtle than some more current songs.

Chapter 10, Page 4 Taking advantage

Children may not be aware that their parents are ill, but they will know how to get away with stuff.

Chapter 10, Page 3 Doctor, your patient is dead

Sorry for the continued inconsistency with the schedule. Along with school being demanding we've got some rather interesting weather on the way. Gotta make sure I won't run out of necessary supplies if I get snowed in.

Chapter 10, Page 2 Your spell is Zippo?

Hey, you play games to have fun, right? And some people have fun by playing with words.

Maybe that's why Dad always likes playing the wizards.

I wish to apologize for the lack of updates since the chapter started, I'm having a little difficulty getting my Real Life schedule worked out this semester. Doesn't help any that I'm supposed to be exercising, too. Which is what I should be doing now, come to think of it. Oh well.

Anyway, I will be trying to make more regular updates on an actual schedule. In the meantime, I don't know how many of my readers are also on TVTropes, but a page for MQC would be great. ^_^

Chapter 10, Page 1 What not to wear, D&D

For those of you wondering what the title of this chapter indicates ... uh, yeah. This isn't actually the focus of the chapter. Though she does raise a good point.

The answer: These games are marketed to late teen, early twenty males who suffer from severe (and self inflicted) babe deficiency.

Or if they aren't, they sure do a good job looking like they are.

Chapter 10, Title Page Awareness

I'm back!

Christmas was fantastic. Family, presents, my rabbit, presents, spiritual nurturing, more presents...

And incredible bitter cold. Yay, winter. (Ugh.)

Anyway, school is starting, I've got a few strips inked and a couple more penciled, might be able to stay on track. Or not. Here goes. ^_^

Oh, and to those of you who lurk around TVTropes.org (you know who you are) I wouldn't at all mind a trope page for MQC. Really. Okay. Done with the blatant promoting.