"...we are compelled to ask, what is love?"

Yes, my friends and followers, love is in the air, dropping like nuclear fallout across the world, irradiating us with its rosy glow, weakening us with the sickness of desire. It's St. Valentine's Day, and Cupid is shooting his Love Taser everywhere. Will you feel the shock of passion? Will you collapse with romantic tingles when the Love Taser finds you? Beats me.

Seventy-six years ago, love touched someone in a Daria fanfic. And ten years ago in another fanfic, an important message had to be delivered by this date. Was it a missive of desire? Read the story and find out!

BTW, TelevisionWithoutPity.com has a very active message board of late about Daria and the DVDs. The link takes you right there.

Stay tooned.

Just Ourselves and Immortality

Welcome to the 179th anniversary of Emily Dickinson's birthday. Almost completely unknown in her lifetime as a writer, it was only after her death, when her sister discovered her writings (in a closet, I think) that anyone had any idea that she was doing anything at all. Once again I must reference one of my most favorite Dickinson poems, about faith. Good Readers, what are your favorite Emily Dickinson poems? And what would Daria & company write, if they were to create poetry in Ms. Dickinson's style?

Did you know Ms. Barch is a Dickinson fan? (Do a word search there.)

I learned something interesting in rewatching "Write Where It Hurts" to get this image. Quinn, in Daria's imagination, refers to Jesse in an interesting way. She sees Trent and Jesse on horseback, and cries: "But look! Here approaches Mr. Lane himself, along with his sister's admirer, Mr. Moreno." This means Daria believed Jesse was sweet on Jane.

So, given that the episode's write was Glenn Eichler, I guess Jane Lane and Jesse Moreno, at least until the end of the second season, were... you know... mutual admirers. Jane/Jesse turns out to be a FACT, not a supposition. When Jane and Jesse lean on each other in the van in "Road Worrier," it really did mean something.

Well, duh. The things you learn from cartoons. I feel sorta stupid for all the times I thought it was just made up. Sorry, all you Jane/Jesse writers, for thinking you were stupid mislead!

Oh, and Minx (ex-Pinkminx and some other name) has an AWESOME sketch of Jane and Daria. Whoa!

That New Kid

Eleven years ago, Ted DeWitt-Clinton appeared as Daria's potential new, first-ever boyfriend in "The New Kid." The episode stirred up a storm of controversy at the time, as not many people wanted her to hook up with him. They need not have worried. I still think Ted was gay.

Robert, however, was Daria's first real date. Not likely he'd show up on her date planner in the future, either.

Ted and Robert, however, came to be great friends. Maybe we'll see a Ted/Robert 'shipper one of these days. It could happen.

Moar l8r, stay tooned.

L8R: There's more fanfiction, but it will have to wait, got to go out for a while.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: A well-known fan artist has generously allowed DFB2 to premiere a brand-new artwork this coming week. You MUST stay tuned for more. It is AWESOME.

Jazz.com has a note that there is a new jazz singer in the D.C. area who, if I understand the blog post correctly, looks like Daria. Here's a pic of her with The Bad Plus, the jazz group she's with. Hmmm, I dunno, we have people in the fandom who look more like Daria than she does [COUGHKristenCOUGH], but I understand the resemblance.


PPMB

• Complications, by Legendeld (Part 6): “She shows up at my house and wants to make out, then she freaks out and starts screaming for me not to touch her. I’m done with her.” He turned back to the driveway. “And I’m sending a bill for the water damage to my car.”
• Lawndale's Finest: The Dark Knight, by NightGoblyn (Chapter 2, Part 2): “You think you could dial the pep down a little?” Jane asked with a smirk. “Nope,” Stacy said, smiling broadly. “I got some good news this morning, and I’ve been up all day. Not even Mr. DeMartino could get me down.”
• Things Fall Apart, by Doggieboy (Part 4): “We have an emergency on D-159. A very bad one, I’m afraid.” “Oh?” “A class-3 zombie outbreak. One of their DELPHI operatives is waiting for us at the office.”
  

A Valentine's Day Special Message from Brittany

It's that time of the month again when love sprinkles its golden showers o'er us and we guys get the wrong things for our Significant Others. Brittany has a few thoughts about that.

Brittany also wants to share a romantic thought for those who have undergone a bit of stress in their relationships.

And who could forget this unforgettable moment, so appropriate for St. Valentine's Day?

Usually on holidays like this I list a lot of appropriate fanfiction to read, but instead how about YOU suggest which 'shippers are your favorite in all Daria fandom. Write down however many 'shippers you think MUST be mentioned on this day.

Not sure if I will be able to post much tomorrow, for obvious reasons. Have a nice one.

There's the Bride, But Where's the Groom?

Nine years ago, Brielle Potter wrote a brief essay addressing the Jane-as-yenta meme in Daria fandom. This goes along with Martin Pollard's essay mentioned two days ago. More food for thought on where the fandom was so long ago, regarding romance stuff.

Speaking of romance stuff, guess what? Today is the fifth anniversary of the first wedding ever conducted in which one party was on Earth and the other was in space. The lucky man was Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko (the Russians always have to be first in everything), who married his fiancée Ekaterina Dmitrieva while he was 240 miles above New Zealand. (She was in Texas.) Brittany gives us Ms. Dmitrieva's role in the ceremony in the pic at right.

As long as we're talking romance, we'll talk chocolate, which is important to nearly all Daria fans named Kristen (and to Jane Lane, who enjoys illegal chocolate as per "Boxing Daria"). One of the inventors of milk chocolate was born 194 years ago today, and you might have heard of the company named for him: Nestlé.

Finally, it is impossible to say who declared that this was National S'Mores Day, but it is, so you might as well celebrate it. Eat, drink and eat s' more. Why isn't this day ever discussed in Daria fanfic? They didn't even eat s'mores in "The Teachings of Don Jake." Dang.

SPECIAL NOTE: Alert reader Vadim Gershteyn drew my attention to a page on Amazon.com where you can sign up to be notified if Daria ever does come out on DVD. This does not mean the DVD is coming, but if it does, you'll know about it by e-mail. Can't hurt, I guess. Thanks, Vadim!

Roll On, Big Mimeo, Roll On!

Today is an important date for fandoms everywhere, whether they know it or not. Thomas Edison received a patent on this date 132 years ago for the mimeograph machine. For years this device formed the foundation of communications between members of every fandom, as newsletters and fanzines were painstakingly typed out and mass-mailed to the faithful, fanfics and fan art lovingly included. (The blue-tinted text at right strongly resembles what "mimeo" papers looked like. I should know, as I used mimeographs for school projects back in the Cretaceous Period.) Find a middle-aged Trekkie and ask about "the good old days" if you want more information on this topic. Or, you know, don't.

A mere nine years ago today, Martin J. Pollard wrote and posted his essay, "Shipping Out," about the problems he saw in Daria/Trent (and other) romance stories. Follow the link and see what was on everyone's mind in 1999.

Swimmer par excellence Esther Williams was born 87 years ago today, but we've covered her in another blog entry. The world's first paying space tourist was born 68 years ago today. What a wild world we live in. If you think that is weird, however, wait until August 10th and see what happened then in history. Mohr laytr.

When MTV Poked Fun at the Fans

Does the image at right look familiar? It's found in one of the little side corners of the current MTV Daria website: "Guy vs. Guy: The Trent/Tom Debate." This is the opening page to two others in sequence, in which two imaginary Daria fans debate which was Daria's true soulmate, Trent or Tom. It is reminiscent of the infamous rant by William Shatner on Saturday Night Live in which he said Star Trek fans should get a life. I think that's what MTV was doing here, too, giving us an unsubtle hint to get over it. In a funny way, I could see Daria doing that. It would be like her.

The two pages of "debate" do indeed skewer some of the long-ago screaming and shouting that went on in the fandom over T 'n T. Given some of the discussion that went on between fans on this issue (based on what I've seen of the rubble left over), perhaps this tongue-in-cheek debate is closer to the mark than some of us would like to recall. But hey, it was fun, wasn't it? It meant we really liked the show. It hit a chord with us, and it hit it hard enough that years after the show is over and gone, we're still hanging around waiting for it to come back. That's not especially pathetic, since that very tactic worked to bring back some shows like Family Guy. And Star Trek. We can always hope.

Ah, what the hell. If Daria doesn't come back, it doesn't come back. It was a hell of a show, though, wasn't it? A show about smart people who don't fit in, who don't go along with the rest of the herd. That couldn't possibly be the situation with any of the fans, now, could it? If MTV wants to make fun of us, it can do its worst. It had its bright and shining moment, and we saw it, recognized it for what it was, and cherished it when it was gone. We weren't the ones who let it die.

And, I have to say, Tom and Trent both completely sucked as soulmates to Daria. She should forget about getting married and just get some cats. It's a better move for her in the long run. 'Nuff said.

The Great Missed Opportunity

Before there was Tom, there were Brett and Brad, Upchuck's much cooler cousins (last name assumedly Ruttheimer but we aren't sure). We meet them for a brief, wonderful period in "Daria Dance Party," and then Daria and Jane perform a horrible cop-out and run away, only to fall into the clutches of EVIL THOM, AH HA HA HA HA HA whatever.

If there was ever an AU begging for a writer, this one is the one. I mean, among all the other AUs begging for writers. I know a couple of people have taken shots at this one, but I don't recall any long-term relationships coming out of them, and there really should be. They were perfect for each other, the four of them. *sigh* What could have been . . . and could yet be. Maybe they'll meet again in Boston, who knows. Anyone up for this?

Meanwhile, over at SFMB . . .

On the Sh33p's Fluff Message Board there has not been a lot of activity of late, even in the Sims2 mega-thread in "Jibber Jabber." A few recent additions are worth mentioning, however.

Under "Fan Fiction," the two-year-old "Odd Ships" thread begun by Scarlett (the IUF member and fan, not the character) has been revived, with more truly odd but potentially useful shipper pairs suggested by playful fans.

"Cybercity Lawndale," a cyberpunk Daria story by JJXB, was continued in November. The only serial story seen here that also appears on PPMB is "Apocalyptic Daria," which has a separate thread of reader-supplied alternate-universe changes and endings.