Merry Christmas and appologies

I'm sorry! I have strips inked and everything, really! But I'm home for the holidays and the only two scanners in the house are connected to computers that are in use most of the time. (And the one that's used to least of those two belongs to a very scary little sister. 0.0; )

But I have the strips inked. Really.

Merry Christmas.

Chapter 6, Page 37 Naval Gazing

I blame holiday and school stress along with way the heck too much manga for this episode. Lack of sleep makes me weird.

My deepest apologies for the near-CLAMP style here. I didn't even think of it until I was halfway done with the inking.

So need more sleep.

Chapter 6, Page 36 What else is real?

The swamp has been losing its ambiance since construction started on the far side, but it still manages to give one the feeling that there's something in there staring at you.

Mary, of course, being somewhat insane, wants to explore the swamp in order to find out what that something is.

The original for this episode was going to feel a lot more like naval gazing, but I realized in time that it would not be in the best interests of the story or my schedule.

Been reading way too much Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou.

Chapter 6, Page 35 The Christmas Rush

Okay, a little break in the action (such as it is) to introduce the problem that faces all gift givers every Christmas.

Come on. *Tell me* this hasn't happened to you.

Chapter 6, Page 34 More things in Heaven and Earth.

Just when you thought it was safe to get in the bed.

Shakespeare was right when he had Hamlet say, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies." Including such things as ghosts, angels, and less, ah, friendly entities.

Yeah. Mary's brain is on the way to being broken.

Chapter 6, Page 33 Define your terms.

It's cliche, but Mary's undergoing a paradigm shift without a clutch. If you smell smoke, that's Mary's brain.

Ghosts are *real?*

Chapter 6, Page 32 No such thing as ghosts.

About time I got back to the topic of the chapter, right? Now, what'll happen next? Was that just the house settling?

If I can manage to get the next episode drawn over tomorrow then you'll find out Friday.

Don't hold your breath.

Chapter 6, Page 31 Shell-shocked pirate.

One of Ruth's specialties comes to the fore. She seriously rocks at origami. Mary, on the other hand, is lucky to get a paper airplane to come out right.

Sigh.

As for Peter's thoughts on the current goings on, I think he's enjoying this about as much as a kitten in the hands of a mob of preschool girls on a sugar high.

Being the only boy is so not fair.

Chapter 6, Page 30 More Toys!

Now, now, Ruth. You aren't exactly innocent in all this, either.

Ah, the energy of youth. If I could only do all my homework and churn out these strips with time to spare. And pack everything for moving. The end of the month is coming.

New apartment! Actual kitchen! Yay!

More things to do! AAA!

Chapter 6, Page 29 Secret Agent Dad

An imagination like Mary's is a dangerous thing.

Just so you know, Mary's Dad isn't a secret agent. He was checking the CIA information data base for story research.

Chapter 6, Page 28 With a kiss

Mom, I just want to let you know that you are a terrible, awful tease. I think it must run in the family. On both sides.

Oh, yes, my readers, Mary is disgusted at the thought of kissing. One might understand if it was the thought of possibly tasting the other person or getting their spit in her mouth, but that's not it. I mean, she has bitten people in the past. (No. Really.) Just kissing is mushy and vile.

Maybe she'll grow out of it. ... Eventually.

Chapter 6, Page 27 Three Pumpkins

Well, it's Monday. So technically I'm on schedule again.

Dad's such a soft touch. ^_^

A progress report

So sorry for the lack of update. T.T I was going to do something for today, but I have a massive project that I have to get done for Monday that should have been finished earlier but I forgot about it in the panic this week over the health of my rabbit. (He's fine, by the way, the bump on his ear is a minor inflammation that should clear up on its own.)

Just to show that I'm not entirely shirking my comicking duties, here's a photo of the progress so far on what should have been Friday's episode.

Chapter 6, Page 26 Punctured Pumpkins

Okay, I admit to upping the volume on Mary's reaction here. I didn't react *quite* that badly.

Still, it was a very emotional situation.

Comics may be a little erratic this week. Not so much school related as fretting over my rabbit. I'll be taking him to the vet on Thursday so a lump on his ear can be looked at. It's a tiny lump, but it has me worried. T_T

Sorry for the delay.

Well, between the excitement of having one of my school projects accepted as a poster for a local hospital's holiday gala, realizing ohmygoshtomorrowisthefirstIneedtogetRabbitWriterready, and having a few set backs in a project that's due Monday, I haven't even started on the strip that was supposed to be up today.

I'm really, really sorry! I'll try to get back on track next week!

Chapter 6, Page 25 Wrong table.

Poor Mary. Or perhaps I should say poor everyone in that building. Mary isn't exactly restrained in her displays of emotion.

Just how bad is the situation? Have to wait for Friday. I hope. Lots of stuff due in a short period of time. That and getting my application for an apartment straightened out.

(Yay! new apartment with an actual bedroom! And a bath tub! And counter space!! YAY!)

Chapter 6, Page 24 Perfect Pumpkin

I think I may have to take a break soon. I've had a terrible cough for about two weeks and it isn't going away no matter what. And all this coughing makes doing pretty much anything rather difficult.

And I hate the thought of taking a break in the middle of a story arc. And, yes, this is a story arc. A short one, but a story arc.

I better stop now before I give myself a headache.

Chapter 6, Page 23 Pumpkin patch.

They're now at the themed farm. Period wagon rides, corn mazes, pick-your-own pumpkin patch, needle in a haystack, little plays. Oh so much fun.

Chapter 6, Page 22 Halloween farm

I am not making this up. No. Really.

I would give two cents to know how that town got the name Lichfield of all things.

Sorry for the lateness of this update. Between difficulty concentrating, class, and checking out an apartment this strip just took up a little too much time. The actual work on it didn't take very long. It was all the spaces in between that took so much time.

Chapter 6, Page 2 Little pixie.

Yeah, I totally forgot about Conny starting school. ~.~ My bad.

Now if I can just figure out what to do for next week.

Chapter 6, Page 20 Not a saint.

Sorry for all the delays! I know I warned everyone about missing Friday but I really expected to have something ready for Monday. But then I missed the field trip and had to write four papers to make up for it. And I could only find books for one of the people I had to write about! So I worked on that all weekend. Didn't touch MQC at all. T.T

But at least now we're back on track. Mary has a somewhat skewed view of what a saint is.

Chapter 6, Page 19 A strange calm.

This was a really hard strip to do and my schedule for the last week has been crazy. That's my excuse for getting this done so late.

And I apologize, but I don't think there's going to be a Friday episode this week. There's a field trip that day for my art history class, and I have no idea how long it's going to last. (Considering that just the trip there and back will take 4 hours, I'm guessing all day.) I didn't even know colleges did field trips.

Anyway, back to the comic. *Really* hard to do. The second panel was bad enough. I had to redraw the fourth panel because the perspective was all off. It probably still is, but at least it's closer.

The second panel was really hard, though. It's supposed to be a shadow caught out the corner of Mary's eye. She also felt a presence she took for Dad. Not easy to portray in a visual medium.

Chapter 6, Page 18 Not going to cry.

Not much to say about this episode, except that I'm really sorry about posting it so late in the day. Perspective is not easy. Wednesday's episode is going to be even worse. (Why do I do this to myself?)

Chapter 6, Page 17 I still have to go?

So this is going to be the first time Mary has gone to Mass by herself. Kinda scary, really.

I'm doing this episode now for two reasons. One, it ties in with Wednesday's strip in that it talks about going to Mass. Two, I really am sick. It's cold and flu season, you know.

Not to mention allergy season. I hate allergies.

Chapter 6, Page 16 A third choice?

Mary likes her parents, really, she just doesn't particularly like going to church. Or sitting next to her parents at church.

Sorry this update is so late! I have been having a problem making time for school and drawing the comic. Also trying to clean, taking care of the rabbit, looking for another apartment (maybe with an actual kitchen?)... Mary's so lucky. She doesn't have to worry about that for a few more years yet.

Chapter 6, Page 15 A different approach

Dad has a very strange sense of humor. I'd probably find it stranger if I didn't share it. lol

Well, it's still Monday, so technically this update is on time. Sorry for my tardiness, I got distracted at school and ended up coming home late. My rabbit wasn't happy about it, either.

FYI, that's a real book. If you're having trouble getting into Shakespeare or just want a lighter touch to the tragedies I strongly recommend it.

Chapter 6, Page 14 She's not you.

To quote Mama Gord from Fraggle Rock, "Oh dear, you've forgotten which one of us you are again."

There are certain problems inherit in having two people so very similar sharing living space. The one illustrated here is that it's easy to forget that there *are* differences. One wonders if Dad was this facinated by Shakespeare when he was thirteen.

Chapter 6, Page 13 We need to talk.

Feel the power of wife.

The McAlisters are of thoroughly Northern European stock, and there's something kind of special about them. Traditionally, they treat their women like human beings.

More than that, their women can be truly terrifying.

What Roman historian said while describing the terror of the barbarians, "And beware lest he call upon his woman, for she is even for fearsome than he!"

The next episode is going to be really tough. There's a lot of talking and I'm not entirely sure how to get it to work in the format. But it will be fun.

Chapter 6, Page 12 Conscience

Of course her conscience sounds like Mom! What else would a conscience sound like? lol

Sorry this is a little late in the day. Classes and the fact that I didn't work on the comic all weekend nearly doomed me. (Bad mangaka. Bad. Bad.)

Chapter 6, Page 11 I don't believe in ghosts.

One can't be too careful, right? Of course, Mary could've used to phone and called Mom to make sure things were all right, but I don't think she was thinking too clearly right then.

So Mary doesn't believe in ghosts. haha

Chapter 6, Page 10 Odd sounds

These scene is really hard to do in comic format. Or really any format. It wasn't so much that I *heard* the door or Mom's voice (the last panel). It was more like I remembered hearing it just the moment before.

Very weird.

Chapter 6, Page 9 Preteen Relaxation

Yeah, not much happening right now. This is mostly set up for Wednesday's episode. It also shows one of the few upsides to babysitting. Video games. Mary doesn't have video games at home. It is so cool.

Chapter 6, Page 8 Jumping Logic

This story assumes, as Becky said, that no communication is possible between Heaven and Earth. Mary doesn't understand the reasoning behind that assumption, but the reason for her confusion goes rather deeper than that.

Actually, it's part of the main plot for this chapter, so I shouldn't give too much away here.

Chapter 6, Page 7 Transition

What, one page in and she's giving up already? Is this the same girl who reads the encyclopedia for fun? What new low is this?

Well, at least the Encyclopedia is written in English! (Modern English, anyway. Shakespeare is in English too, but that's not always easy to tell at first glance.)

Chapter 6, Page 6 TOME

The only thing that's made up is the word "TOME" engraved on the cover. That I did for dramatic effect. The actual title of the book is The River Side Shakespeare. It really is that big and has tiny, tiny type on union skin paper.

A person could go blind trying to read that monstrosity.

Chapter 6, Page 5 Recovering English Teacher

No, Dad didn't actually say that. Yes, he did react that strongly.

He's very passionate about literature.

Oh and sorry about the odd schedule this week. T.T I'm so sorry. Hopefully I'm settled into the new routine now.

Chapter 6, Page 4 Waking Shot

Sorry this is a day late! Sorry! Sorry!

I do have an excuse. I was home for Labor Day weekend and classes have been a tad hectic. I hopefully won't be late with tomorrow's, though. Wait, have I even started tomorrow's? AAAAAA!

Chapter 6, Page 3 Dismount

Ah the world of dreams. If that was reality Mary would be a splat on the pavement in a couple seconds. Of course, if this was the real world there also wouldn't be a horse with wings. ^_^

The boy who owns the horse will recognize himself, I think.

Chapter 6, Page 2 Some Dreams

Just to get this chapter off on a weird foot I'm starting with a dream sequence. I've actually had dreams start this way, though this particular one is a splicing of a couple different dreams and just made up stuff.

Chapter 6, Page 1 The Other Side

This is where MQC starts getting really surreal. Just remember that aside from dream sequences everything you read here is based on my actual experiences. That'll make it even weirder. (And even the dream sequences are likely to be actual dreams I remember having from that time.)

Chapter 5, Page 42 To love and like

Christians are supposed to love everyone and not to hate them. That's not easy. In away, what Mom said made the concept easier to accept. But it's still difficult because the words 'love' and 'like' are so closely connected in people's minds. That and what usually goes along with 'love'.

I think the Greeks had it right in having different words for different kinds of love. So many people hear 'love' and think of romance and sex. But that isn't all there is to it. That idea of love falls mainly under eros. There's also philia, which is friendship. Storge is the affection usually felt among members of the same family. Agape is what we must feel toward everyone. It is general affection and has been used in ancient texts to describe anything from the feeling toward a good meal to the feeling toward a spouse.

It sounds like, well, 'like.' But it's also different, at least to me. I can be sad that a bad person has been killed because they've lost their chance at redemption, but I can also be glad that they can no longer do evil things.

Chapter 5, Page 41 Mean people.

The chipmunk disappeared. Never did find out what happened to him, if he managed to thrive or if he got eaten or if some kid cracked his skull open with a rock. The uncertainty of it bothers me the most. On of the things I like about fiction is that all the loose ends can be tied up at the end. You know where all your favorite characters end up on the last page and just how thoroughly the villain got what's coming to him.

Real life isn't like that. I've started to appreciate fiction that reflects that. I still prefer stories with clear endings. Even if the ending isn't happy.

Okay, I'm done angsting.

Chapter 5, Page 40 Greatest fear.

Sorry for the delay! But here's the comic!

Why was this so late? Well, a few reasons. One, I went home for the weekend and so didn't work on MQC for three days. Two, this was a really hard episode to work on. Three, I over slept. (I blame staying up watching the Olympics. By the by, Phelps is awesome.)

Chapter 5, Page 39 Is it safe?

I've never been good at this sort of thing. Like Mary, I have a need to protect everything. Of course it's impossible, but that's our instinct.

Chapter 5, Page 38 All right for now.

Now is this a good thing or a bad thing? How will the saga of the baby chipmunk end?

I need something cute and soft to hug. Where's my rabbit...

Chapter 5, Page 37 Far out outfield.

That odd shaped thing between the back of the baseball diamond and the mid ground building is supposed to be a propane tank. A propane tank that I remember sitting and playing on a lot. (I know I wasn't supposed to, but that never stopped anybody.)

Sorry that this update is a little late. This sequence is hard enough to write without Photoshop eating my progress. *grumble**grumble**complain*

Chapter 5, Page 36 Not a rat!

Why do people assume that anything small, furry, with beady eyes and a tail must be a rat?

"Shave a squirrel's tail and you have a rat." No, you have a very peeved squirrel. And shortly you will probably be missing most of your face.

Not that I have anything against rats. I think they're quite wonderful and make good pets. (Pause for the groans and squeals of anguish to die down.) I do have a problem with people labeling the entire rodent family as rat=vermin=gross=carrier of pestilence=deserves to be destroyed.

In case you haven't guessed, I'm for live trapping and releasing creatures when they're where they don't belong.

Chapter 5, Page 35 Avoiding pain.

This is one of the hardest sequences for me to draw so far. Partially because it was so hard living it.

I still don't understand how people can be so cruel that their first impulse on seeing a small, helpless animal is to throw stones at it.

Chapter 5, Page 34 A helping hand.

Chapter 5, Page 33 Baby chipmunk!

I like baby animals. I like adult animals. I like all sorts of animals! Huggles! Squee!