Suburban Gothic

Daria and Tom look pleasantly agricultural in honor of National Farm Workers Day, but I seriously doubt either one of them has so much as planted a flower in their lives. Trent, however, might still reach that hypothetical goal of becoming a farmer paid not to grow crops.

If he does actually raise any crops, I would recommend potatoes because it's National Tater Day and those cheese fries have to come from somewhere. Just don't let Quinn see them, or else she might complain about Angela's Ashtray again.

Finally, the episodes "Malled" and "The F Word" aired on this day in 1997 and 2000, although neither of them featured anyone growing potatoes.

Fandom News!

• R.I.P., Richard Chamberlain.

She Prefers Her Potatoes in Cheese Fry Form

I don't think National Tater Day is Daria's favorite holiday, but maybe if you threw in some sour cream and chives she'd like it a little better. Hopefully it's at least been cooked, although knowing Jake's cooking skills and short attention span, it's kind of a toss-up.

If you have potatoes or other produce, be sure to thank a farmer because today is National Farm Workers Day! No word on whether or not Trent ever became a farmer paid not to grow crops, but I'm sure Daria wishes he had refrained from growing that potato.

Finally, today is the anniversary of both "Malled" in 1997 and "The F Word" in 2000. The only potatoes eaten were the fries at the mall food court, and the students utterly failed to succeed at doing any farming.

Teacher of Choice

Mr. DeMartino is wishing a happy (and intense) birthday to Christopher Walken, born on this day in 1943. Since Mr. DeMartino is supposed to be based off of the actor, that only seems appropriate. Also, please enjoy Peetz5050's image manipulation of DeMartino/Walken, Weapon of Choice.

This is also the anniversary of the episodes "Malled" in 1997 and "The F Word" in 2000. Both episodes involve the Fashion Club going to the mall...but only one features kiwi-flavored lip gloss!

Fanfic Update!

• Book Club (Daria and the Gang Thread II), by Roentgen (part 2): "Over the following week, Daria pondered her brief interaction with Sandi Griffin in the school lobby. She marked it down to Sandi's love of noir lit being an 'oddball characteristic', like that character in Charles Dickens (she couldn't remember who) that was businesslike at work but who had made his house into a miniature fort or something to repel borders."


• Danny Morgendorffer, by ST91 (part 35): "Daniel, furious for what had happened, marched with his head down toward Lawndale High."


• Daria: In Another World?, by starwater09 (part 5): "'So the camping trip should be fun.' Mack says to Kevin as they pack up their things after football practice. 'It'll be nice to get away for a bit.'"


• Daria of Morsang-sur-Orge, by Rémi (part 1): "It was Daria’s favorite part of the day, in fact the only satisfying part of it. It was still dark, although she could tell the sun was about to rise, and in the dark at least she wasn’t at a disadvantage."


• Edicius, by elainefr (part 26): "They stood at the Morgendorffer door her looking up at him and him looking down at her. They leaned in and gave a gentle brush of their lips."


• If Quinn Had Stayed... (IC : Quinn stayed at Stacy's place), by Shiva (COMPLETE!): "'What are you wearing?' Quinn asked as she stared at Stacy. The answer however was obvious, her bestie Stacy was wearing an exact copy of Quinn's favorite outfit, a pink baby-t with the smiley face and halo along with a pair of low cut jeans."


• It's Only Just a Pandemic, by DIsaac (parts 1 and 2): "We see Dani Moreno just sitting there. Eating and reading her show rundown when Jodie Landon the General Manager of the station and Daria Morgendorffer the Programming Director comes in" (Part 2)


• Sitting at Home (Iron Chef: QUARANTINE!), by JPAGC (part 1): "Sitting at her working desk in her home office, Daria Morgendorffer sighed for the umpteenth time as she surveyed the half-written, half-blank page displayed on her laptop screen."


• Shiva's Self Insert: The Sucksteemers (Scenes No Daria fanfic should have: The Closing Walls of Scholl Morgendorffer and Casa Lane), by Shiva (COMPLETE!): "So... Amidst the chaos of the beginning of 2020, what with the virus outbreak, the continuing train wreck of a certain orange-blob in the Oval Office, and the ever-looming uncertainty of loosing my lucrative job and a lack of credentials beyond 'College Dropout', stuck in quarantine I was spending my time at home, trying to conserve my resources, binging on Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube, and spending much of it in a drunken haze due to not having anywhere to go."


• The Stories in D, by Lady Evil (part 8): "Lark opened the rounded portal and had to squint at the blinding bright light that came spilling in. Just as her eyes started to adjust to the light, dozens of butterflies came at her and surrounded her."

Happy BIRTHday!

Mr. DeMartino is wishing a happy--or perhaps a creepy--birthday to Christopher Walken, who was born on this day in 1943. Since DeMartino is supposed to be based on Walken, does that mean it's his birthday, too?

Today is also a double anniversary for the episodes "Malled" in 1997 and "The F Word" in 2000. In both, Daria succeeded at failing to avoid a trip to a mall, but the second time around she was able to convince Mr. O'Neill to take her place.

Fandom News!

• Please remember to vote for your favorite written and visual works for the 2018 Daria Fanworks Awards!


• Share your theories about Daria characters in the digital arena.


• Offer advice on how to write a songfic.

Happy BIRTHday, Mr. WALKen!

Mr. DeMartino wants to wish Christopher Walken a happy birthday, particularly because the character is supposedly based on Walken. I don't think I've ever seen Christopher Walken reach those DeMartino-levels of rage, but then again he's never met Kevin Thompson.

Today is also the anniversary of the episodes "Malled" and "The F Word," which aired on this day in 1997 and 2000. Both featured teacher-accompanied mall shopping for Quinn, but otherwise there isn't a whole lot of common ground between them.

Fandom News!

• What do you think of Blizzard releasing a remastered version of Starcraft?


• Discuss the return of Iron Chef.


• The list of 2017 Daria finished fanfiction has been posted.

Happy BIRTHDAY, Mr. Walken!

Mr. DeMartino is wishing Christopher Walken a happy birthday, as the actor turns 71 today. Considering DeMartino is supposedly based on Walken, this seems appropriate. Also, anyone who enjoyed Walken's appearance on the music video "Weapon of Choice" may like Peetz5050's fanart by the same name.

Today is also a double episode anniversary, as both "Malled" and "The F Word" aired on this day in 1997 and 2000. Daria succeeded in failing to keep her lunch down at the Mall of the Millennium, although I'm pretty sure that wasn't intentional.

Fanfic Update!

• Loose Ends (1,001 Deaths of Tom Sloane - Part III), by SacredDust (COMPLETE!): "'So,' Tom said to break the ice in the rather chilly dining room. 'So.' Elsie agreed, staring back at him over a glass of brandy. '...So Mom and Dad are dead.'"


• The Only Pair, by SentrytheDefiant (part 7): "'Erin's finally getting a life of her own.' One can only hope she doesn't take after her mother, Helen thought bitterly. 'I can't believe it. Little Erin getting married. She's not rushing into this I hope.'"


• Out of Place, by PrecambrianStudios (part 5): "'I'm serious! It's not like we're going to go back and it's the apocalypse or anything like that. Worse case scenario, we go back and we've been missing for a while.' 'No. Worse case scenario is we never leave.'"


• Reclamation, by SacredDust (part 1): "Things had not worked out with Jane. There were a number of reasons, but Tom chalked it up to natural differences."


• When Gay Marriage Bans Go Horribly Wrong (Scenes No Daria Fan-Fic Should Have: No longer in the 1%), by Shiva (COMPLETE!): "'Huh, Daria?' Jane asked as she stared at what was going on around her in total shock."

Upchuck's Easter Miracle

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it! The bunnies on the right aren't delivering colored eggs, but I don't think we'll hear Upchuck complaining about it. The rest of us can enjoy these Easter-themed fanfics and fanart courtesy of the Sh33p's Fluff:

• Cotton-tail Lane by Deref


• An Easter Gift by Deref


• Colorful by Thea_Zara


• Easter Eggs Need Color by Brandon League


• Where Kisses Come From by Thea_Zara


• I Saw Mommy... by Thea_Zara


• What's In a Name? by Wyvern


• Egg-citement by Thea_Zara


• Eggcelent by Steven Galloway


• Hunt by Roger Moore


• Bunnies by Tafka


• Springtime Daria by Tafka


• Peeps by Isa Yo-Jo


• Daria's Easter Bonnet by Thea_Zara


• Quinn's First Easter Egg by Angelinhel


• Eggs-communicated by Milderbeast


• Easter Encounter by Richard Lobinske


• An Easter Treat by Deref

Today is also the anniversary of both "Malled" and "The F Word" in 1997 and 2000. Not a whole lot about rabbits or eggs there, but we did get to find out about Mrs. Bennett's Fuzzy Wuzzy Wee-Bit addiction in one and get a disturbing glimpse of Mr. O'Neill's apartment in the other.

Back Again, and Glad of It

Just got home a few hours ago. Had the misfortune to get sick literally as soon as we arrived at the hotel on vacation (see simulation from "Malled" at right), spent the whole weekend in hotel room. Woozy but okay now.

Thank heavens it's back to Daria again! Fanfic update tomorrow.

Endings and Anniversaries

The end of an era has come. Richard Lobinske's epic Falling into College series has concluded. (I missed that little point over the last day or two, still believing there was more coming. Silly me.) If you have been a fan of this series, post your comments at the link. What epic series will he create next? The fandom awaits with baited breath.

"Malled" premiered 13 years ago today, and "The F Word" 10 years ago. Jake reminds us that Angus Young of AC/DC turns 55 today, still rockin' away too.

Today is Thomas Mundy Peterson Day in New Jersey, Cesar Chavez Day in the southwest USA, and Hanami (flower viewing day) in Japan. It's the 126thth birthday anniversary of astronomer Adriaan van Maanen (famous in Daria fandom because of this shared world). The Motion Picture Production Code that prevents us from seeing cartoon boobs on TV was enacted 80 years ago today. And this is the 414th birthday anniversary of philosopher René Descartes, who said "I think, therefore I am" and won a little mention in Daria fanfiction for that.

Tomorrow... we have a lot of jesters. Stay tooned.

PPMB

• An End to War, by The Sharpie (COMPLETE!): “It has been thirteen years since that day. As the fires burned above ground we were some of the lucky few who were in The Caves. I wasn't supposed to be there, but my company convinced the government that since I helped write a key part of the new program I should help install it,” Daria told her daughter....
• NEW! Anti-Trope, by Minx (Chapter 2 COMPLETE!): "So how was Bobblehead Bobby? Will you be seeing him again?" Dean asked. "I doubt it," Jane said with a smile. "I like my men with a normal head to body ratio." (FF.net)
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 40: Higher Learning, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 3): “So, when do you suppose they do the brainwashing?” Daria asked. “Freshman orientation," said Tom. "That way, even the dropouts send in their last dime.”
• Lawndale's Finest: Action Stories #4—Power Struggle, by Jim North (continued): Then, just as she was ready to reach down and reset the entire system, windows began to pop up, close down, and move around, seemingly at random at first but finally in a pattern that she recognized as all the command attempts she had been making before, all executing at once. "No no no no!" she screamed, grabbing the sides of the monitor and shaking it in frustration. When the window containing the article she had been writing shut down without saving, she slumped forward to rest her forehead against the screen.
• NEW! There's Something Furry in Denmark, by LadieT (COMPLETE!): Over the next couple of weeks, Jane noticed odd changes in her behavior. Her leg would start bouncing whenever she had an itch. She felt the urge not to use a spoon when eating something out of a bowl. If Trent played a high pitched note, she would have to cover her ears. She tried to block the strange occurrences out of her mind. (FF.net) (OD)
  

A History of Violence, Part 1

It has been mentioned before that LHS head cheerleader Brittany Taylor has serious anger-management issues, but it is helpful to have visual evidence of this rather disturbing trait. As it happens, there's quite a lot of said evidence. Seriously, what is up with this chick? Everyone remembers her performance in "The Daria Hunter," but do you remember these special moments? (By the way, a special "thank you" goes out to the magnificent UU and Pinhead for some of these superb shots, which had to be shrunk down to fit on the page. The images that don't look as nice are my own. So sue me.)

Brittany can do major damage without half trying (mainly to Kevin, but any male who insults her is fair game). She elbows and foot-stomps Kevin in "Malled," smacks the hell out of the much bigger Tommy Sherman in "The Misery Chick," and (may as well show it) goes Buffy-ballistic in "The Daria Hunter." Plus, she knows squad-level military tactics. By heart. And she's supposed to be a moron. How can she do this? What happened to turn her into the teen-girl version of Nick Fury? She doesn't appear to be afraid of anything or anyone, to my knowledge.

I recall reading one of Nemo Blank's epic tales, "Ring Toss," and thinking that his view of Brittany as violence prone was taking things too far. A typical quote from that story (quoting from Kevin's thoughts):

Brittany would kill him if she found out about it. Really kill him. She was a black belt and liked to break bricks in her backyard. She was getting physical with him in more ways than one, these days.

...and...

Brittany's fists clenched and her features hardened into an all too familiar mask of rage. "You big jerk!" It came out as a scream of pure hatred. Kevin backpedaled, eyes widening... She moved so fast that he never even glimpsed the blow that felled him.

This is as good a time as any to announce that I was wrong. My bad! Nemo apparently got it right, although Brittany doesn't appear to know karate. She's more of a gymnastic but undisciplined (thankfully) dirty fighter. Nemo even explained that Kevin wears his football pads all day long to absorb some of the blows Brittany deals out, which makes sense. Then he gave Brittany a massive multi-drug addiction originally meant to contain her rage. Wow.

Okay, to be sure, the above examples (plus her spontaneous rodeo pile-driving of a striker who hit Kevin in "Monster") come from the first two seasons of Daria. Maybe she mellowed out later on.

As we will see in Part II, the answer is painfully plain.

Caption Contest Time!

This image needs a really good caption. Go for it.
(Responses go in Comments.)

Give Me an F!

"Malled" premiered 12 years ago today, and "The F Word" 9 years ago. Interesting that Jane tried out a number of roles in the course of the show, but Daria tried out only one. Jane went for cute girl (at right), track runner, retro girl, cheerleader, all sorts of stuff. She even tried out as a tattoo.

I think Daria will still be working on that one lone role when she turns 30. Not Jane, though. "Daria, don't you think you have enough cats in this apartment?"

Big surprise coming soon. Get ready for it.

MOAR GNUZ: The Daria Fandom Drinking Game has gone into overdrive. Bottoms up!

Brother Grimace is searching for information on zombies. I am sure he has a perfectly valid reason for doing so. If you can help him out, click the link.

Some interesting, newly expanded webpages on DariaWiki:

• Dennis
• Great Zack Walkabout
• Mack Mackenzie
• Paperpusher's Message Board
• Ringbearers

FF.net

• Apocalyptic Daria: Brave New World, by Doggieboy80, a.k.a. Doggieboy (Part 7): Everyone gathered in the driveway at a little before ten. Trent shook everyone’s hand, except Daria, who he hugged briefly. “Take care of Martin,” he whispered in her left ear. “I think he likes you.” The auburn-haired teen felt a tear well up in her right eye and smiled. “I think so, too,” she whispered back. “I hope you and Pam stay happy together.”
• Apocalyptic Daria: Scarlett's Tale, by Doggieboy80 (Part 7): Scarlett learns a lot about proper meat preparation, but she still forgets to get enough barbecue sauce beforehand.
• Lambda, by SigDiff (Part 7): "Get up, you vile, bastard male!" Anthony DeMartino was fairly certain he had woken up in hell, until his vision cleared...
• A Twisted Little Corkscrew, by Dennis (COMPLETE!): "I hate this place," Daria grumbled as she handed over her shawl to the tuxedoed coat check boy. The youth—probably in his twenties, and already on the make, Daria thought—gave her an odd look, but said nothing. She took her claim ticket and gave him a sneer before heading into the main hall.
• Unnamed Crossover Fanfic 1, by Pinkminx (Part 3): Daria poked the reheated lasagne that sat in a sloppy wet mess on her plate and glanced up watching the mirrored movements of her sister "Ugh this is disgusting, Mom promised she'd be home tonight for dinner, she made me cancel my date for this." She whined as she pushed her plate across the table.

PPMB

• Rings and Things That Cannot Go Together, by Ranger Thorne (continued): As a figure crashed through the wall of the training room they almost hit Jane. Jumping back as she yelled in surprise, she raised her ring toward the man pulling himself off of the floor. “Robert?” she asked the familiar figure. “Busy now,” he said, diving back into the room.
  
• Something Is Rotten in the State of Lawndale, by Kristen Bealer (Part 1): Daria does Hamlet? You ain't never read great Shakespeare till you've read this! SAMPLE: Daria Hamletdorffer trudged down the stairs, feeling melancholy. Part of her unhappy mood came from the dreariness of the evening. Part of her unhappy mood came from being saddled with a last name like "Hamletdorffer."
• Unnamed story (Scenes No Daria Fanfic Should Have: TGIF), by Brother Grimace (COMPLETE!): Daria meets Bill O'Reilly on FOX News. Ouch. At least it was balanced and fair.