"If you get thrown off a horse, you have to get back up and shoot it, right?"

Helen and Jake are celebrating the anniversary of the day Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973, but I think we all wish they'd have chosen an activity that wasn't quite so creepy. Daria and Quinn in particular are most likely fleeing the house, searching for brain bleach, or both.

Let's just hope Helen and Jake don't find out that today is also National Sex Day, although whenever they have the house to themselves they don't usually need much of an excuse. I just hope Daria doesn't get caught up in any more middle-of-the-night misunderstandings, because I don't think Jake could handle the trauma a second time.

Finally, the episode "Pinch Sitter" first aired on this day in 1997. The word of the day is "indemnification," and I hope everyone enjoys this brainworm: "I am cool and that is it, and everyone else is full of, full of, full of--"

Fanfic Update!

• Daria's Party Addition, by DrT9999 (parts 20 and 21): "It was a rather haggard-looking Daria who showed up for lunch Wednesday morning." (Part 21)

Ew, La La!

Mr. DeMartino is clearly interested in National Sex Day, although I don't think anyone else is going to take him up on the offer. If you want to have some real fun, ask Daria about her black high heels.

Today is also the anniversary of the episode "Pinch Sitter," which aired on this day in 1997. No sex in that episode, thank goodness, but we did learn a lot about deprogramming brainwashed children.

Fanfic Update!

• American Boy, by Lady Evil (part 1): "'Ouch!' Daria yelped as the saleslady stuck her with a pin. 'Hold still.' The saleslady scolded. 'I'm having a hard enough time with your body as it is.'"


• Call Of The Mild, by wilddogjj (COMPLETE!): "Quinn, Jim, Tommy and Teddy are seated in the audience. Timmy is notably absent. Quinn has a proud smile on her face."


• Hell-o-ween, by wilddogjj (COMPLETE!): "The trees are now a wonderful collage of red, brown, orange and yellow which, combined with all of the Halloween decorations, let's us know it's fall. In the garage of Casa Carbone Kevin was lying dead on the floor while Jim draws a chalk line around him." (Part 2)


• Her Last Words, by Sheila Wisz Ellayn (parts 24 and 25): "Anna's house looked sad and almost lifeless that night from outside with just a few windows glowing softly here and there, the great hemlock tree swayed a little as a cold wind whispered through Layndale and everything was quite silent and peaceful that night." (Part 25)


• The Snake, the Crossover and the Dog, by Blake C Stacey (COMPLETE!): "'It's hard to imagine how Daria, of all people, could have gotten into trouble,' said Ramses Emerson as he stepped from the carriage into the remnants of a London fog."

The Joys and Horrors of Sex

Let's see, what's today. This is the 170th birthday anniversary of the founder of sexology (seriously, no kidding), Dr. Richard von Krafft-Ebing. Were it not for him and all the other courageous sexologists, everything we knew about sex would still be dirty (the bad kind of dirty, not the good kind like we have now). Thanks to the pioneering work of Dr. von Krafft-Ebing, we have Sex and the City reruns and movies (see Mrs. Bennett at left), plus Daria and Jane as alien sex goddesses. And that's a good thing. We also have Mr. DeMartino in an American Beauty alter ego (right), which is a bad thing. Very bad. The horror.

This is also Lina Wertmüller's birthday, but we've covered her and the Tiffany alter ego before.

And now for the

N0OoZ!

• NEWER! Raskolnikov has begun a new Iron Chef with a clever title: The Objectivization of Women. Write a Daria fanfic that makes use of Ayn Rand or her philosophy, Objectivism. (See "Gifted" for a hint.)
  
• NEWER! Both Minx and Charliefox2012 are asking readers to decide which of their unfinished fanfics should be finished first. Click the links and vote.
  

FF.net

• Broken, by Albatrocity (Part 3): The days following the attack were a blur to Daria. She had been in and out of the hospital more times than she could remember. She stayed with Jane for hours, sometimes getting rewarded with brief bouts of wakefulness before she would drift off again. At least she was in the clear now. Technically. From the few words that Jane had said upon first awakening, she had not been herself. Granted, she was in the hospital with a pretty substantial head injury, but Daria worried for her friend. She knew this ordeal will have changed her for the rest of her life. Daria only hoped that with some time, Jane would be her old self again.
• College Wry, by LibertyBellJar (Part 6): Quinn threw open the doors to her closet, ignoring how her legs trembled after walking all the way back from the mall. A handful of striped socks flew out of the wardrobe, followed by a pair of muffin-top-inducing jeans. After only a few minutes, dozens of disposable articles of clothing were spattered across the rose-colored carpet. Quinn sank to the floor and couldn't help admiring the rainbow of cheaply-made fabrics and indecorous sequin creations. She thought of it as a cleansing experience, tossing half her closet out when it became too untrendy and donating it to some poor, unwitting charity. She was physically separating herself from unpleasant memories and (fashion) mistakes of the past, and with her lightened wardrobe would come a lighter soul.
• The DT Files: 205 That Was Then, This is Dumb, by SSJ04Mewtwo (COMPLETE!): His sleep was interrupted by the sound of his sister talking. Deciding to stay quiet and listen, he noted how his sister was teasing Daria. He was quite curious why she'd been watching him sleep. The way Jane was acting... Could Daria have a crush on him? "You sure, man? You were just waking up," Jessie comments as the two boys sit in the basement trying to stay up so they could leave at six the following morning. "I'm positive man." Trent replies. "Janie is probably just messing with her."
  

PPMB

• The Alter-Ego Chronicles 2: (Change The Story) Morning Glory, by TheExcellentS (Part 1): “Welcome back to Good Mornings with Daria and Jane, the breakfast show for people who hate breakfast. It’s 12 minutes to 9 o’clock.” “On most other shows, they would bring in an expert to show you, the loyal puppets... I mean viewers, how to do normal things. Be it cooking, craft stuff, whatever. On our show, we throw all that out the window and give you the best of our more quirky occupations.” “That’s why today we’re going to have an honest-to-God mummification in the studio!” “Hmm... so who’s the lucky volunteer getting sent to the Egyptian underworld?” “You are, Daria.” (TAEC1 is here.)
  
• Caught, by Ravenramsey (COMPLETE!): [Contains adult content, you are warned. A fanfic from some years ago has reappeared, just in time for the sexology anniversary. How weird....]
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 56: A Journey to Eternity, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 1): “So, Daria, you met a boy?” Helen asked her daughter at the dinner table. I’m going to kill Finn for this, Daria thought. “I did not get another boyfriend,” Daria was quick to state. “He is male and I work with him on making films.” “That you had in a film festival. And you didn’t tell us?” Helen returned. “It was too far away for a trip. I just didn’t want you two to be beating yourselves over not coming.” Daria had crafted a lie for this occasion, and it worked well. “So, tell me about this man," Helen asked. "When do we get to meet him?”
• NEWER! The Lane That Wasn't, by LadieT (Part 18): "That conversation really took its toll on you." The old man handed Jane his handkerchief. Wiping tears away from her tired azure eyes, Jane nodded. "I want that sense of family. For that five minutes—I felt a sense of belonging. I don't have a good relationship with my two sisters. Seeing how I am with Quinn and Daria affected me some, but not like hearing Daria say to me that she loved me. The only person I ever remembered telling me that was Trent. I know she didn't realize that what I was saying was true, but when she said that she would choose being my sister over being able to walk... she meant it."
  
• NEW! Legacy, by Getrealordie187 (Part 5): Jake leaves and Erin turns to Daria where she's sitting on the Lazy Boy. "Ok. What are we doing tonight, D? Yesterday you took me to a grunge club and the day before that we went to the arcade. Tell me you've got something awesome planned." Daria's eyes stay on the tv. "We're not doing anything tonight. Me and Kevin are gonna finish watching the game and then Kevin's going to help me put together the bedroom furniture Grandma Barksdale sent you down here with. Relax; you've been dragging me all over this dang town. Now shut up and watch the game."
  
• Something They Don't Have, by OverlordMikey (COMPLETE!): She sat in the classroom unconcerned. She flicked back her hair and let out a little laugh. Yeah, call me a slut. I'm still the one with two men in a bedroom waiting to make me feel good. Go ahead and assume I'm some petty little blonde bimbo who doesn't know what I'm doing and is to dumb to make it in this world. I've got something none of you have. She laughed to herself again as she looked around the room at some of the other students. She was enjoying life and... Just then the teacher handed her a test they took. The score was no surprise. It doesn't matter, I am enjoying life.
• NEW! Unnamed story (Life in Highland: The Early Years), by Chris Tucker (COMPLETE!): It had been almost a month since Daria and Quinn had settled in with Helen and Jake. They were a much nicer Mommy and Daddy than the other ones. Quinn adapted fast to the change, Helen was "Mommy" and Jake was "Daddy" almost from the first day they arrived in Highland. Daria had been reluctant to use such familiar words. She wasn't quite ready to trust another Mommy and Daddy. Not after what she saw back at the old house. Not after what was done to her back at the old house.
  

A Daria Photo Album of Love

For the romantic among us, the Daria Fandom Blog II presents a Very Special Pictorial of Romance, those wonderful moments in Daria that set our hearts all aflutter. Away we go!

Ah, love, sweet sweet love, it makes the world go 'round!

Stay tooned.

"Is that thing radioactive?" "Isotope so!"

Today is the 142nd anniversary of the birth of Marie Curie, who studied radioactivity but wasn't as careful with her samples as she should have been. DON'T TRY TO FIND OUT IF RADIATION HAS A TASTE! DON'T CARRY RADIOACTIVE ITEMS IN YOUR POCKETS! That should do it. (Thanks to the almighty Pinhead for the image.)

Albert Camus would be 96 today had he not died in order to avoid seeing himself mentioned in "Quinn the Brain":

Quinn: By the way, do you know what existential means? Because today someone told me my writing was existential, so I thought I should coordinate, you know, with wardrobe.
Daria: Yeah, that's what Camus would have done. For your purposes, existential means "pseudo-intellectual poser with accessories from the street fair."

Camus was also mentioned in a Daria essay by Guy Wheatley. Good show.

Engineers celebrate this day for its value in teaching us about bridge building (as in, how not to). Love that video!

And you should know that this is an important date in a fanfic in which Jake Morgendorffer and Amy Barksdale conduct a torrid secret sexual affair that causes Daria to have brain damage. So, Amy likes his "fortitude," is that it? Yeah, right.

ART GNUZ

• In almost no time at all, Jim North produced a superb rendering of Albino Quinn from "In Silence Sarcastic." Click to the pic and tell him he is an awesome dude.
• NEW! Pinhead's "Strange Dream." 'Nuff said!
  

PPMB

• Anti-Trope, by Pinkminx (Part 6): “Self-esteem is important because..." Mr. O’Neill read the first question tentatively and glanced up at Dean. “It's a quality that will stand us in good stead the rest of our lives.” Dean replied in perfect monotone. (FF.net)
• Apocalyptic Daria: Scarlett's Tale, by Doggieboy (Part 14): Within fifteen minutes of starting their walk, Scarlett and Roger lost sight of the church or anyplace remotely familiar. The teen stopped briefly, looked back, then turned around and walked on ahead. (SFMB)
  
• Chances, by Coonassblondie (Parts 3 and 4): “So Jesse gave you his jacket, huh? Guess he’s pretty serious,” Trent said as he turned toward his sister as they sat at a traffic light, smiling softly at her. “To tell the truth, Trent, I don’t really know. I don’t know that much about him. Until tonight, I wasn’t aware he could form coherent sentences.” Trent only laughed in response, ending in his hacking cough. “Guess you learn something new every day, huh?”
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 12: Carnivore, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 2): “You owe me big for waking me up at 9 AM.” Jane’s eyes were bleary and tired looking. “You get up earlier to go to school.” Daria reminded. “The keyword for that is school.” Jane returned. “And the keyword in your earlier speech is AM. It’s a sin to wake a Lane before lunch.”
• In Silence Sarcastic, by Trscroggs (continued): Wednesday afternoon, three days after the Morgendorffer move was official, Quinn gingerly stepped out onto her back porch. While she would never admit it, Quinn was silently glad that the bulk of the house blocked light from the descending sun. Regardless, her prescription sunglasses were firmly in place as she looked out over the back yard. Standing in the middle of the yard Daria swung a bokken through a complicated weapon kata. Coming to a stop, Daria looked over at her sister.
• Iron Chef: Daria is Raven's Apprentice, by Project Pegasus (continued): "You're going home to visit your demon family for the holidays, aren't you?" "Maybe." "Let me go too! It'll be fun!" "No! I'm going alone. It'll literally be Hell enough going down there by myself." [Thanksgiving comes....]
  
• Regifted, by Ajar (Part 22): “Calm down, Stacy,” Quinn said. “We're almost to the bathroom. No one will even know that we're going to see that blemish.” “Blemish?” Stacy was confused. “What blemish?” “You know, the thing we're seeing in the bathroom.” “Ohh... that blemish.”
• NEW! Unnamed story (S-crap-s), by Raskolnikov (COMPLETE!): —Daria? What are you doing in my dream? —Excuse me? What are you doing in MY dream?
  

X-Day Marks the Spot!

Last, but not least, today is X-Day! What is X-Day, you ask? That is sort of hard to explain to anyone who is not a member of the Church of the SubGenius, which worships (in a manner of speaking) J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. See, the world was conquered and enslaved by alien invaders ten years ago today, and now . . . um, maybe it's better if you just click on the link and read about it there.

At left we see J. R. "Bob" Dobbs and his wife Connie Dobbs, the Blessed Anti-virgin, who have just finished an exhausting ritual celebrating the coming arrival of the Sex Goddesses (not Daria and Jane, although they could be Daria and Jane) on X-Day, which happened ten years ago but you and I missed it. See, I told you it was hard to explain. The official website is here. Strange how much Jake with a pipe looks like "Bob," isn't it?

Has anyone used "Bob" in a Daria fanfic? An avatar of "Bob" appears in "Drive," chapter nine, but that's the only one I know of. Any others?