The Belly-Button Show!

"Pierce Me" was a great episode. We learn that Daria is book smart but will do anything to get her man, even have her belly button pierced because her man thought it would look "hot." Why was her kiss with Tom Sloane such a surprise?

Let's look at the highlights.

1. When is Jane Lane's birthday? I WANNA KNOW, DAMN IT!
   
2. Why does Quinn call Daria a "pain wimp"? Does Quinn have secret powers of mind to overcome pain? Apparently so. Could she be a superhero?
   
3. The phone call from Trent is hysterical, one of the great extended comic scenes of all time. I adore it.
   
4. Daria has the worst romantic fantasies I've ever heard of. Bad for her, I mean, but great for the rest of us. ("Silly, Little Self-Deluded Girl. Why Would a Cool Guy Like Me Ever Write a Song About You?") No self-confidence at all where romance is concerned.
5. Jake's advice to Trent, thinking he was Quinn's date: too funny! ("Gee, I'm sorry, young man, but you know how girls can be. Just give her some time, son. Give her some time.")
6. "Mystik Spiral, but we're thinking of changing the name." First time Trent says that?
7. "Anything for Jane." A great story title. Too bad Daria didn't really mean it.
8. "Quinn, I need my coffee." Helen, the caffeine freak. I love it.
9. "And I can't set foot in a bookstore. Don't ask me why, Daria. I just don't want to talk about it." This line from Trent spawned several fanfics (click here: 1, 2, 3).
10. What if Daria did buy and wear that retro outfit later, the one she wears in her alter ego (see image)? What if she got it to look hot for Trent? What if she caught someone else instead? What would her life be like if she decided to dress like that all the time?
    
11. "That's not 'uvula.'" Another winning line! What if instead of her navel Daria had—um, forget it. One AU I'm not going to visit.
    
12. "Daria, it would look really hot." Someone wrote a fanfic in which Trent's use of this line leads Daria into a life of complete sexual degradation. That was awesome! Where is that fic?
13. Monique's a nice girl. Too bad early 'shippers made her such an evil person when she's sweet. Still wonder about the Harpies. So much fanfic potential.
    
14. Eric is buying his niece a dress? Cool. Jasmine already knows he's a sucker, so she's going to soak him. I used her in a fanfic as a friend of Veronica in an AU.
    
15. "Oh my God, what have I done?" Both Daria and Helen say this line. Nice touch.
16. Enter the Talking Toilet. Big fun. And it turned into an award, too!
    
17. "Boy, Daria, you have the weirdest sex dreams." Another winner!
18. Tiffany's rental "mom." You gotta wonder about that.
19. Would the world have been any different if Quinn and Helen had won the catwalk? No. Same old Helen-Linda rivalry. The archery thing in "Fair Enough" was cool, though.
    
20. "Little sister, little sister, you came into my life like a twister. What can I get you that you haven't taken?" Implies that Jane takes whatever she wants around the house. Figures.
21. The whole bit with Quinn at the end, totally great, comedy at its best AGAIN! ("She was pierced! Pierced, I tell you! Oh, the humanity!")

Good job, MTV people! Good job.

LATE ADD: Richard Lobinske did a nice AU of this episode: "Ring of Champions."

ANOTHER LATE ADD: WacoKid was the one responsible for the great ficlet jumping off from #12. His ficlet is in this thread on PPMB, on page 2, entry for June 29, 2005. WacoKid, you rule.

Here they are, The Harpies! Or whatever.

We learn from her brief visit to Axl's in "Pierce Me" that Monique No-Last-Name was once in a band with Trent Lane, she's currently a member of a band called The Harpies, and she's thinking of leaving them "for real this time" to start her own band. This was in Season Two, usually placed around the 1997-1998 school year.

There are several literary ways to handle this. Fanfics could cover Monique's time with the Harpies, assuming she decided to stay with the group under improved conditions. At least three authors so far have written tales in which the Harpies appear, even going so far as to name the other members of the group: Bacner (twice), Richard Lobinske, and Crazy Nutso. One could even do a short series of stories on Monique's musical adventures with her bands. (The Harpies is, if the name is any clue, a girl band like Splendora.)

Or, we could get a look at Monique's future, what she was doing during Seasons Three through Five, having started a new (assumedly alternative rock) band in the Lawndale area. Who else would she have in the group? There aren't a lot of twenty-somethings around in the show, excluding Ashley-Amber Taylor for obvious reasons, but it's fun to guess. Off the top of my head, I can think of one drummer who might show up to help with the band now and then. It's a fun thought, up for grabs if anyone likes it. More later.