Zzzzzzz....

Daria's getting a few extra winks because today is Festival of Sleep Day. Trent, of course, considers this to be a year-round holiday.

For the Lord of the Rings fans out there, today is also the anniversary of author J. R. R. Tolkien's birth in 1892. To celebrate, Helen is going to dig out the hobbit candle Jake made for her and Jake is going to shriek in terror at it.

Fanfic Update!

• Apocalyptic Daria: Twilight Friday, by Brother Grimace (parts 1 - 6): "She slinked away from her desk, batting her eyes at her husband - and her faux-seductive demeanor sloughed away suddenly as Denny held up a small, slightly beaten-up brown strongbox. 'Oh, Denny...'" (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6)


• "Aw Mama...Can This Really Be The End?", by Scissors MacGillicutty (part 7): "'...and with that, I'm going to turn the meeting over to some of the resident and post of duty offices in the Washington D.C. division. I'd like to start with Agents Hauser and O'Brien in the Carter County post of duty office and then go to the Baltimore division office. Agents Hauser and O'Brien—are you there? I haven't seen any video from you since the start of the meeting.'"


• Battle-Axe, by meowarts (part 4): "It had been two months since the Morgendorffer's moved into the quiet suburban life Lawndale offered. And life went on despite her silent protests."


• A Capital Honeymoon (Shorty Shorts), by ognawk (COMPLETE!): "The two couples arrived at their hotel, ready for their joint honeymoon. Checking their room numbers, they discovered they were next door to each other."


• Credence, by Astrocar82 (parts 6 and 7): "'It's a chemical compound that dissolves in the oil that hair produces. Squeeze it on your hands, run your hands over someone's hair and, presto, foul smelling liquid starts to foam on them that eventually drenches their body. My mom got kicked out beauty school for it.' 'It's perfect, but how do we get it on her? She'll notice us coming near her now.'" (Part 7)


• The Crimson Queen's Daughter's, by macross (part 5): "It wasn't the fact that the commander seemed completely unsurprised by the man's presence, in fact it seemed like he was expecting him; no the thing which had caused all of the rage fueled valor to flow out of him was the little girl with bright red hair slumbering in the Commander's arms."


• Dead Inside (Scenes No Daria Fan-Fic Should Have: Do What Now?), by Shiva (COMPLETE!): "As a chap named Tom Sloane shook his twenty-something booty while working the stripper pole, his pink thong already filling up with cash, it took everything that he had not to cry."


• It's All An Illusion...Maybe, by Doggieboy (part 1): "The man in the long dark brown robe searched the closet, and tore through piles of clothing and forgotten papers, a despearate expression on his face."


• Jane, by PrecambrianStudios (part 4): "'So, what would you like to sculpt?' Cassandra asked as she and Jane reclined on the couch inside Jane and Trent's apartment."


• Lawndale and Sandi Griffin's Genie: Future Excerpt 1, by cfardell_Brenorenz29 (part 1): "'And Lawndale is currently embroiled in a crisis brought on by the discovery of a Genie. Correct?' the new arrival asked. 'That is correct. What is going on?' Kyra asked."


• Loss of Heart, by RLobinske (COMPLETE!): "Wadding up her paper napkin and dropping it on the empty lunch tray, Daria said, 'After a rough start with Mr. O'Neill, the day hasn't been that bad. Mrs. Bennett kept things in hand and Mr. DeMartino was surprisingly supportive.'"


• Mission: Impawsible, by Kristen Bealer (COMPLETE!): "Mr. Whiskers crept over to the corner of the house to peer around to the front, but suddenly scrambled backward as J. B., Snuffles, and Odette raced around the other side. Odette growled fiercely, and Taylor bared her claws and hissed. 'Stop!' cried both Fluffy and J. B. at the same time."


• Mysteries of Lawndale 1: Esteem of the Investigator, by cfardell_Brenorenz29 (part 1): "Daria entered the school. Instantly she noticed many things that didn't seem right. 'Of course, Highland wasn't 'right' either,' she thought. Her trained investigator's eye saw a great many security cameras along the length of the corridor she was entering. 'There are at least eight. That's overkill.'"


• No Unfinished Business, by thedefiantone (COMPLETE!): "'I am definitely over it,' she said, flexing her tired, numb fingers until some feeling was restored. She had been writing all night; or rather, she had been writing the same thing all night, hoping that, by dint of repetition, it would magically be rendered true."


• Quinn the Psychopath, by SacredDust (COMPLETE!): "It was a done deal, Sandi thought with a smirk of triumph. Her plot to oust Quinn as any sort of a threat to her status at Lawndale High had been a smashing success."


• Sisters and Friends, by metameric1 (part 19): "Quinn smiled. He was so unassuming, but so capable at what he did. He carried himself with a quiet confidence, and he somehow managed to bring calm to a tense situation. She had been grateful for that; even over a videocall he managed to keep her centered and focused during the final software integration check."

"Brown is so...soothing."

On this day in 1892, J. R. R. Tolkien was born. Bikini-clad Helen invites you to join in the celebration as she displays this handmade Hobbit candle. Although I'm willing to bet that at least a few blog readers have only just noticed the candle she's holding....

Dennis has started (but not finished) a Daria/Lord of the Rings crossover called Shadows of a Timeless Song. Is it pitchforking time? But of course! First, though, some fandom news:

• There's only one week left to nominate works for the Daria Fanworks Awards! Were there any fanfics or fanart that you really enjoyed? Now's your chance to make sure they get recognized!


• The SFMB is having technical difficulties. Deref and Gamer are working on it, though!


• brnleague99 invites you to play a game for the paranormally inclined. How many people are in the picture?


• What did you think was the worst music of 2010? Share your thoughts in Wouter's thread.

The Great Frozen North, The Wild Wild West

Alaska became a state 51 years ago, about a century after being purchased from Russia. A number of alternate histories have supposed that the sale hinged on the Union winning the American Civil War. What if the Confederacy had won independence? Would "Seward's Folly" have still been acquired? If gold had been discovered in large quantities by Russian prospectors before the sale, would a Russian Gold Rush have kept the territory in the Empire? Would Great Britain have invaded Alaska from Canada to seize it for themselves? Most importantly, would any of this have made any difference to the background of Daria? For storytelling, I mean. Probably not. Oh, well, just tossed that out there for the fanfic writers. Can't say I didn't try.

NEWER! Three Daria fanfics that feature Alaska up close: "North to Alaska, South to Lawndale," by Robert Nowall (in which Trent gets involved in a gold rush); "White Out," by Wouter (in which runaway Jane and her canine pal Zippo check into Fairbanks; and "Baked Alaska," by Brother Grimace, a Daylight story in which the Legion of Lawndale Heroes and the Alliance have their hands full saving a part of the world. Good times. (Why is it the Lanes who usually go to Alaska, and no one else?)

J.R.R. Tolkien was born 118 years ago today. Did Daria ever read The Lord of the Rings? Officially we don't know, but Tolkien is named in a number of Daria fanfics. Daria's Sick, Sad Life Planner does mention the event, however. (See below, and ignore the grammatical errors.) At least Mr. O'Neill appears to have read Tolkien's works. One very good Daria/LotR crossover in progress is "Shadows of a Timeless Song," by Dennis.

And Sergio Leone, King of the Spaghetti Westerns, was born 81 years ago. He is most famed for his crossover movies "Once Upon a Time in Lawndale" and "The Cynic, The Fashionista, and The Jackass." Excellent work, both of them. (And thanks to UU and Pinhead for both images!)

I plan to begin the 2010 fanfiction listing before the end of January, but for now I am taking a break from worrying about it. Updates will be posted here until then.

Cool discussion threads on PPMB worth reading:

• The Three Types of Arguments in Fandom (by Roentgen)
• Looking Back at 2009 in Fanart: What Happened? (by Kristen Bealer)
• Looking Back at 2009 in Fanfiction: What Happened?

Lot of posts on Facebook's Daria site, but... eh, they're the ones who'll buy the DVDs, so I have nothing to add. More power to them, all 260,000 of 'em. Buy! Buy! My Darlings!

Tom and Tolkien

Today being the birthday of J. R. R. Tolkien, I decided to present an alter ego of Tom Sloane as one of the great and terrifying Trolls of Mordor, from The Lord of the Rings. Trolls were feared for their enormous height and great strength, and if you rubbed their colorful hair you could make a wish but nothing would happen except the Troll would eat you. Note that this is also the only alter ego of Tom in which he is completely naked. Now I can understand why Daria wasn't exactly thrilled to sleep with him in season five.

As pointed out earlier, the list of 2008 Daria Written Fanworks is complete. Check it for errors, then nominate for the big one!

Helen Morgendorffer has been accused of many things, but this one has to be the strangest accusation of them all! Thanks, ninetwelve.


FF.net

• Daria One Half, by Batlurker, a.k.a. Lorenzo Sauchelli (Parts 1 and 2): This Daria/Ranma 1/2 tale starts off with a little surprise for the Morgendorffer girls from dad Jake.

PPMB

• Arrival, by Legendeld (Part 7): Jane Lane found herself trying to figure out where her life went wrong as she scrapped herself off the floor of the bar. Her head was ringing and she was pretty sure it wasn’t sweat running down her chin.
• Fundamental Daria: I'm With Stupid, by Disco316 (COMPLETE!): Oh, Jodie Landon, you sneaky little devil you.
• John Lane 38: Yeah, It's Summer, by Richard Lobinske (Part 4): Daria, John, and Alison have a threesome in the woods, while Quinn hooks up with an underage male named Link.
  
• Once Upon a Time in Lawndale, by Disco316 (Part 2): Amanda Lane looked down the sight of her shotgun. Her targets were in sight, so she pulled the trigger.
• Order and Chaos, by Legendeld (Part 18): Quinn jumped above the flying metal before flipping in mid air to land behind Darth Bane. Her double bladed attack was blocked as he spun and snarled at her.
• Scenes No Daria Fanfic Should Have-Who's Holding Daria Now? Some interesting ficlets here, all worth reading.