Express Yourself Using Medium Rare!

Today is World Graphics Day, a day to celebrate the use of graphic design in communication. Or, as Jane would put it, "This is going to be fun: you doing words, me pictures. It's exciting." Either way, it's an opportunity to get creative. Be graphic!

Um...not that kind of "graphic," though.

Fanfic Update!

• Alone in Crowds (IC: Daria and Jane:Enemies at first sight), by Charles RB (COMPLETE): "Jane had seen the new girl, this Daria Morgendorffer, react fast to the teacher's question and come up with the right answer – and then, after giving an accurate description of manifest destiny as the belief of America's destiny to expand, add in 'but I imagine if they'd seen this class they'd have not thought that'. Whether that was a dig at the students or DeMartino, Jane didn't know, but even Kevin could've told you that DeMartino would think it was a dig at him. Which, of course, he took out on the rest of the class with a surprise quiz tomorrow. Thank you, Ms Morgendorffer. Just what she needed."


• Chair Resurrection (Iron Chef: TAKE OUT TRENT LANE!), by the Quiet reader (COMPLETE!): "Trent Lane wakes up in a room. He looks around to see an egg at his feet. Beside him lay a dead facehugger and a half eater rare burger. 'What's going on here?' He questioned but nobody seemed to be around."


• Daria, or the Confession of a Single Lonely Male, by Arena del Sur (parts 7 and 8): "How the look of my dear love's name even affixed to some old hag of a editor, still makes me rock with helpless pain! Perhaps, she might have be a writer too. Born 1982. Inspired (I notice the slip of my pen in the preceding paragraph, but please do not correct it, Lisandro) The Murdered Journalist. Oh, my Daria, I not even have words to play with!"


• Don’t Look Back (Long Story Challenge #2), by thatLONERchick (COMPLETE!): "'Penny! Where're you off to?' 'Dominican Republic,' she replied shortly. 'They have wonderful beaches there. Have fun!' The door slammed with her exit, and Penny Lane was not seen on that continent again for a decade."


• Falling Short (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by thatLONERchick (COMPLETE!): "As Stacy followed her new friends to the school's main doors, she happened to glance aside. A girl with shoulder-length black hair was sitting cross-legged on the top step, sketching in a large book. When Stacy abruptly halted, the girl looked up and their eyes met."


• Fighting Lawndale (Iron Chef: Lawndale Fighters), by Wassersauefer (COMPLETE): "I survived this school for two years now. I have learned a lot. About survival. About fighting. About respect. I could go to any other school, my grades are good enough, I could go to any boarding school I like, my family is rich enough. But I won't. I hate this place and I love it in the same moment. I don't get beat up by football players, I lose in fights against them There is a difference, a big one. Because sometimes I win."


• Ginger Love (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by GingerLove84 (COMPLETE!): "Mack groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as a brawl threatened to explode. 'Guys....GUYS!' Mack bellowed, shocking them into silence. 'My point is... why do you do it? What is so special about Quinn that makes you all act like buffoons?'"


• God Save The Esteem ep 28: Punk Takes A Holiday, by Charles RB (COMPLETE!): "'Quinn!' snapped Daria down the phone. 'Did you know supernatural entities were hiring Dad?!' 'Well gawd Daria, don't you pay attention during breakfast? He mentioned the Holidays four fucking times this week.' She thought back over the last week. She remembered hearing something over breakfast, but she'd long ago developed the skill of not hearing a single blessed thing her family said in the morning." (Part 3)


• God sez (Round robin challenge: Why would she do this?), by psychotol: "'Can you hear?' asked the pastor. 'I can hear,' said the 'Formally' deaf man."


• Guinipigs (AUs, Brain Farts and other stuff), by Wassersauefer (part ): "'So, you're a triplet and have yet a younger sister?' 'Three actually.' 'Damn, your father must feel outnumbered.' 'My brothers helps him to fight off the female influence.' 'So you're what, seven kids?' 'Eight.'"


• Historical Inaccuracies (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: It's Friday!!), by Smijey (COMPLETE!): "'You know what William Tecumseh Sherman's going to do now? He's going to go out onto the battlefield and check out his new artillery piece. He's going to read the letter from President Lincoln and think of all the people who admire him. But you wouldn't know anything about that. You're one of those secessionist dudes, always moping about what a cruel country the United States is, making a big deal about it so people won't notice that you're a loser.'"


• Hobbitdale Part 2: Friends with a Half Elf (Iron Chef: Tall Daria), by cfardell_Brenorenz29: "Half an hour later, after driving away a couple of Orcs whom had tried to foreclose on the Lanes (Jane’s parents were somewhere in Harafrica), Jane and Daria were eating pizza in the kitchen. 'So, your mother’s an Elf?' Jane asked."


• Irreverence (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by HolyGrail2007 (COMPLETE!): "'See what happens when you don't listen to me.' Tom replied ambivalently as he looked at the object in his ends. His bravado aside, he could scarcely believe it either. Sitting just before his hands was something Tom could have never dreamed of. Bathed in a glowing light, and with faint sounds of heavenly choirs, was a footed cup, or chalice, if Tom's history was correct."


• Jim North, The Newer Kid (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by Jim North (COMPLETE!): "'Who is that?' Jane asked in wonder, a tone unusual enough to actually cause Daria to look up from her locker and glance around. Her glance immediately turned into a stare as she laid eyes on the more gorgeous hunk of man she had ever seen walk the halls of Lawndale High. Or anywhere else, for that matter. He was an Adonis, allowed to walk the earth so that all others might share in his beauty."


• Lawndale and Sandi Griffin's Genie (Chapter 3), by cfardell_Brenorenz29 (COMPLETE!): "'What are we going to do about about it?' Kristen asked, not sure how the local urban legends that she knew of would be connected to Sandi's mysterious power. 'Keep an eye out for other unusual happenings that cannot be explained by the genie?' Jennifer wondered. 'Good idea, Ms Burns!' Mr DeMartino said. 'What else do we do now?' Kristen asked. 'Wait and see what happens next,' Mr DeMartino said."


• Mad Dog's Legacy Chapter 8: Adult Supervision, by Hyrin (parts 2 and 3): "'We don’t normally allow sitters to use the phone, but your mother told us that you might need…assistance, so feel free to call your house whenever you need. Now, here’s your schedule. As you can see, we've broken everything down into fifteen minute increments. Let's review it together.' They spent several minutes reviewing the paper, leaving Daria amazed at the precision with which it was planned. There was even a 15-minute window set aside for 'Spontaneous Activities.'" (Part 3)


• Mane Joemerl Back! (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by JoeMerl (COMPLETE!): "Twelve-year-old Joey Black sat in the office, squinting hard at a piece of paper as he held his finger under a word. The counselor leaned over her desk, frowning, as Mr. and Mrs. Black gave each other nervous glanced."


• Man of the House (My Best Friend 2), by Smijey (part 1): "I heard low talking in the kitchen area, and lowered my guard (by just a hair), as I recognized Daria as one of the voices. She didn't sound frightened, so I walked into the kitchen to see who our guest was. She looked up at me and, to my surprise, managed a cordial smile. She had hardly changed in the intervening fifteen years. 'Hello, Jake,' Helen greeted. 'You'll never guess who I ran into today at the courthouse.' Daria's flair for sarcasm and understatement was genetic, you see."


• Not So Different 6: False Flag Operation, by J-D (COMPLETE!): "Jane turned away from Sonny and picked up his magazine. 'What's this? Mercenary Times?' 'It's a bit like Soldier of Fortune. You know, that magazine that ...' Jane cut him off. 'You don't need to explain what Soldier of Fortune is.' She flipped through the pages. 'I didn't know there were others.'"


• Not So Different 7: Surgical Strike, by J-D (COMPLETE!): "'There's a blonde here to see you, sport, and I think she's a looker!' Sonny indulged himself in a wince, knowing his father wouldn't notice. 'Does she look like a cheerleader?' 'A cheerleader, too! Way to go, sport! I knew my boy had it in him!' 'Dad, that's Brittany. She's the dimwitted millstone that my teacher foisted on me as a deadweight partner for this lab project.'"


• Not So Different 8: Wisdom Of The Ages, by J-D (COMPLETE!): "The news that Sonny was going babysitting for the Guptys apparently didn’t filter through to his father, because as he was about to leave the house on Saturday evening Jake asked him where he was going on couples therapy night. When Sonny explained about the babysitting, Jake said ‘Babysitting? But isn’t Quinn the babysitter? Is that really your sort of thing?’ Oh no, thought Sonny. One of those conversations."


• Not So Different 9: See What You Want To See, by J-D (COMPLETE!): "Kevin’s interaction with Stoller had begun with the most basic possible misunderstanding: he had introduced himself to her as ‘the QB’, and still had not realised that when she addressed him as ‘Cubie’, it was because she thought that was his name. (He wasn’t the only student she’d renamed. When Sonny had identified himself to her, she’d said, ‘Sunny. That sounds like a hippie name. I think I’ll call you Sally. So much nicer.’ Sonny had seen no percentage in struggling against this.)"


• Oath (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by Lord Yellowtail (COMPLETE!): "It was an absurd, crazy idea, full of possible pitfalls and unseen traps. And Question's cynicism and Power Girl's well-justified paranoia aside, it was the best idea any of them had that didn't involve some sort of massive fraud, or, worse, a reality show. And as the Earth's eight most powerful superheroes talked, deep in the bowels of an abandoned, condemned, burnt out husk of a Denny's, a plan had been worked out. A great and terrible plan that was sure to bite them all in the ass in unforeseen and exciting ways, but in the end, it'd been an 8-0 vote in favor."


• Pashupati (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by Pashupati (COMPLETE!): "'Why are we there, anyway?' 'Well, the Pashupatinath Temple kicked us out after finding out we weren't hindu.'"


• Passion of Revenge (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by the Quiet reader (COMPLETE!): "Reading through a book while sitting in the library he glances up to see a puzzling sight. Two individuals who tried to look like spies were checking out a book which caused the librarian to choke. One was obviously Brittany with her bright blonde hair sticking out under her hat. The other looked kind of like a cross of Sandi with Stacy's pigtails. After a few minutes they left and he went back to reading away till his cell phone went off and he answered it."


• Pie Pie My Darling VS My Best Friend (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: It's Friday!!), by Charles RB (COMPLETE!): "Daria nodded quickly and waddled to the back of the truck, trying not to notice the rude gesture he gave to emphasise his 'joke'. Jane looked up at her, tears in her one good eye; Daria mouthed 'I'm not leaving you alone'. And then sat on something. She sniffed: peanut butter?"


• Promises, by LadieT (COMPLETE!): "A few minutes later, Quinn began to tire. She lifted her daughter's hand to her lips and kissed it. Cleo didn't want to leave, but knew that her mom needed sleep. Cleo waved and blew her mom a kiss as Jane wheeled her out of the room. Daria bent down and gave her sister a gentle hug. 'Take good care of her. I love you,' Quinn whispered."


• Quinn's Code - 02: Invite of the Geek, by cfardell_Brenorenz29 (part 6): "'You know, Tori, that Vice-President position is still open.' 'Really?' Tori asked, whilst in thought. 'Yes. You can, like, help me with my plan for the destruction of that geek's popularity,' Sandi said. Tori didn't hesitate. 'I'm in.' Sandi shook her hand. 'Welcome to the Fashion Club, Tori Jericho.' Something about Sandi's demenor unnerved Tori. 'What have I just gotten myself into?' she wondered."


• Raft College: The First Year, by rglovejoy (part 46): "'You were great, Daria,' he typed as fast as his fingers allowed. 'Yeah!' Elvis stood beside him, laughing. 'We couldn't have done it without you, Daria.' "Uhh, thanks." Daria's cheeks flushed red from the embarrassment of being the center of attention. 'I just did what you asked me to do.'"


• Remembrance, by HolyGrail2007 (part 11): "'But if you own these warehouses, perhaps you can tell me who owns the one I'm interested in.' Mister Sloane paused for the longest time. In truth, he didn't have to cooperate: Kim had no search warrant, to begin with. 'Well, you should know I rent these out. Why don't we go back into my office and I can take a look.' Mister Sloane gave a friendly smile, and now Kim was sure that kind of guy would be just the type for Daria. "


• Reunion, by Hyrin (part 2): "Numbly, Daria walked into the hospital room. Jane lay on the bed in front of her, asleep. Numerous half-healed cuts littered her face, and her left arm was sealed in a cast. The most striking change, moreso than the long black hair Jane now sported, was the obvious spot where the blanket was no longer held up by a right leg. 'Pretty bad, huh?' A soft voice said over her shoulder. She stiffened, trying to push back memories."


• Roentgen (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): "'Your geiger counter, Mr. White, is broken. Aside from a few grams of test material, nothing in this room is radioactive.' 'Yeah,' Jamie said. 'Besides, I got this from Ted DeWitt-Clinton, so you know that it's got to be working.' Everyone looked at each other. Ted DeWitt-Clinton would never let a geiger counter go bad. Not on his watch."


• Rude Awakening Episode 3: Drive, by DIsaac (parts 10 - 13): "SANDI: What did Jeffy do to put himself over the top with you? QUINN: What he did was awesome and thoughtful. STACY: I want details!" (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13)


• A Rude Awakening X-tra (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: It's Friday!!), by DIsaac (COMPLETE!): "JANE: You bastards. When I said I had a fear of dogs, it didn't mean LET DO A STUNT WITH JANE INVOLVING DOGS!!!!"


• Save the Last Trance for Me, by jtranser: "'But I just don't know exactly what I have to do.' 'Tell you what, I'll step next door and put together a guide for you.' 'Oh, just great. It's bad enough I'm couldn't do this on my own, now I'm going to get a copy of "Life Creation for Dummies"!'"


• Second Chance for Tommy, by Wassersauefer: "Finally he found himself on the sidelines of the football stadium again. Although he had no idea how that had happened - he did not remember walking back - he did not really care anymore. There was only one explanation and he did not like it one bit. He was in Hell. He was dead. Closing his eyes he sat down on the ground and began crying."


• Song of the South (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: It's Friday!!), by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): "Satisfied, Helen left her suitcases by the welcome mat and opened the door. 'Jake! Daria! Quinn! I'm home!' Daria and Jane bounded down the stairs. 'Why shut my mouth and call me cornpone,' Daria said with an accent distinctly rural and monotone. 'I do believe it's my dear old mother.'"


• Temppeli (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by Temppeli (COMPLETE!): "'I still wonder why you took that Finnish class, Daria,' asked Jane, who sitted behind the table against Daria, holding a book. 'BFAC has a huge variety of languages, and this language was Tolkien's interest. Please ask those words, Jane. I have a word quiz tomorrow,' Daria demanded."


• Tridecadal, by RLobinske (part 5): "'Happy birthday,' Michael whispered to Daria after hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock. 'It's a birthday,' Daria said, still wrapped in their blankets. 'Happy is still to be determined.'"


• Two Girls, a Guy and a Pizza Place, by TheExcellentS (COMPLETE!): "'I don't get it, Daria. Why are you being so hard on Jake?' 'I'm just trying to make sure that nothing goes wrong,' Daria said in reply, 'You know what his reputation is like.' 'I think you're just refusing to believe that his reputation might have changed for the better, and I can't for the life of me understand why.' Daria sighed, as a clap of thunder rumbled outside. 'I know he's better than ever with his cooking, Jane. But I just can't shake the feeling that something is going to wrong eventually.'" (Part 6)


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: "Ghetto" Daria), by Charles RB (COMPLETE!): "Tom stared in incomprehending awe at Mystik Mayhem, the Zon, the people in the Zon, and even the graffiti on the ceiling that said 'REMEMBER TEDDY-BOY DW-C'. After a while, his mouth began to work and he said the first thing that came to mind: 'Holy crap.'"


• Unnamed story (IRON CHEF - 'Legionnaires on the Air-!'), by psychotol (COMPLETE!): "'Who, is, deadliest?' The voiceover was done over some stock footage from the VR matches that had been released by the USAES and Xavier's Danger Room for the show." (Roentgen's epilogue)


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Stacy's Mom, Where Are You?), by Chris Tucker (COMPLETE!): "'Who am I? I'm the goddamned BATGIRL!. Now talk or hit the sidewalk head first!'"


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: TAKE OUT TRENT LANE!), by psychotol (COMPLETE!): "Jane, now stood at the door, asked 'Where you taking them?' 'Mortuary, don't worry, he's done.' 'Done with what?' 'Existing.'"


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: The Fashion Centipede), by Smijey (COMPLETE!): "Kevin looked at Daria and Jane expectantly, like a beloved puppy who's just killed the baby during a bit of play and thought it hadn't done any wrong. The two girls gazed in dull horror at the writhing mass that Kevin had created with a lot of time and superglue. It was...roughly in the shape of a human, and it wore very pretty clothes (the Cashman's tags still hanging off most of them). A blonde wig topped it off."


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by Hyrin (COMPLETE!): "Trent opened the Classified ads and skimmed down to one specific ad:"


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by J-D (COMPLETE!): "The interviewer leaned back in his chair. 'So, why don't you start by telling me what first got you interested in the possibility of a career with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention?'"


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by Jim North (COMPLETE!): "Yes, switching over from homeschooling was indeed the right choice, he had decided. Unfortunately, one of the downsides was that the school was much larger than his house, and he didn't quite know where everything was yet. After getting turned around for the fourth time in the maze-like halls, he stopped another student to ask directions to his next class."


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: The Name Game), by LadieT (COMPLETE!): "Daria and Jane were sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch when Kevin stood up to do his daily lunch dance offering to the gods. Sighing in agitation, Daria pulled out a tiny pistol and fired it at Kevin. He fell to the ground and immediately started twitching. Daria slid the Deringer-size stun gun back into her coat pocket."


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: What's behind Alter Egos?), by JoeMerl (COMPLETE!): "Daria's eyes widened. 'I can't believe this.' 'Yeah, I know. The head is too small.' 'The head---Jane, this thing is as big as the real Sphinx! How did you manage to do this in just one semester?!'"


• Unnamed story (Long Story Challenge 3, Round 2), by Hyrin: "'Tell me again the fancy name you came up to describe it in that paper you wrote for Sick Sad World?' 'Orgasmically-induced chrono-variance detection.' 'Which is a fancy way of saying I see the future when I get off. I love it!'"


• Winter Interludes, by Chris Tucker: "Connie's crutch occupied the 4th seat. (You would have thought that someone as smart as Connie would have realized that snow and ice on a sidewalk would equal 'slippery as hell'. But no. 19 years living on the Gulf Coast, where ice was something you put in your drink, had not prepared her for life in New England. A badly twisted ankle and spectacularly bruised and colorful bottom was her object lesson.)"


• Worldburner: A Demonstration of Anger, by Brother Grimace (COMPLETE!): "The sky behind them lit up as if the clouds had parted at high noon. Archangel and Ian, Ringbearer and Ringwraith, stood side-by-side and watched as a wall of flame-Judiths – literally tens, hundreds of thousands of the flaming doppelgangers – rushed towards the spot where they stood. Ian kept his eyes straight ahead as he spoke. 'Are you sure this will work?'"


• Worldburner: Reach Out, by RLobinske (COMPLETE!): "'All sensors are working properly. Something is hiding that reality.' 'Hiding?' 'Yes, sir.' 'How in the hell do you hide a universe?'" (Part 2) (Part 3)


• Worldburner: They Were Nine, by Erin M. (parts 7 and 8): "Jane and Daria sat in O'Neill's former classroom. Neely was asleep in Daria's arms, sucking fitfully on a pacifier. Jane kept looking at her daughter, occasionally flicking her glance to the classroom door. 'I'm sure they're fine,' Daria said, trying to reassure her friend. 'I haven't heard any explosions or anything.' 'I know,' Jane said. 'That's what worries me. I really wish we hadn't lost the damn walkie-talkies last week.'" (Part 8)