No One Expects... THE COUNCIL OF TRENT!

Today is a very important day in history because on this day, only 471 years ago, the Pope sent out letters having to do with... the COUNCIL OF TRENT! (DUH-DUN!)

What exactly those letters said is sort of difficult to figure out. People spoke funny long ago, and the way they wrote is even worse. Perhaps you will have better luck (click here). I do not have an alter ego of Trent as either the Pope or a monk, though there is an image of Jake Morgendorffer as the Pope and one of Kevin Thompson as a medieval monk. Mmm, maybe better to just let that whole thing go and just use a picture of Trent answering his duck phone.

Other than that, not much else went on. Oh, well, yeah, it's National Black Cow Day in the USA. Not a bad idea to make one for yourself. The recipe is at the link.

And now it's time for...

N0oOZ!

• Alert fan Mike Richardson was able to capture an advertisement that formerly ran on The N, announcing Daria's severely edited appearance there. Enjoy the clip!
• Disco316 needs help finding an image or two for a link to the DariaWiki. See what you can do.
• OverlordMikey is looking for an artist or two for help with a Daria project.
  

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• Bathing with Archimedes, by RLobinske (Part 1): Jake Morgendorffer drove his Lexus down the scenic, suburban street toward his two daughters' new school. To his right, the elder, Daria sat and stared out the side window, feigning disinterest while the younger sat in the backseat showing apprehension. He said, "Girls, I just want you to know your mother and I realize it's not easy moving to a whole new town—especially for you, Quinn, right?" (Daria/Eureka)
• Daria/Dorian, by LadieT (continued): Dorian decided to jog towards Lawndale High. With it being a vacation week, he figured it would be quiet and vacant. As his feet hit the pavement, his mind began to clear. As he continued down the sidewalk, he began to try to figure things out. He became so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the footsteps catching up with him from behind. He almost jumped when he felt the tap on his shoulder. "Do my eye deceive me or is a Morgendorffer voluntarily exercising?" Jane smiled. "Mind if I join you?"
  
• The Dream of the White Darkness, by jtranser (continued):"...On the appointed hour, when those who hunt pale visions come forth to feed on the weaker dreams, all will be made ready for the final moments, as the keepers of humanity prepare the keys of their own destruction. O Titan VI, that bringest the end of the world, grant us thy peace."
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 48: Filling Sacks of Failure, by HolyGrail2007 (COMPLETE!): All thoughts of some quiet relaxation at home were dispelled when Finn saw there were guests at the house. I wonder what that all is? he thought. He asked his father, who merely shrugged. There was plenty of space to park the Lexus, however, and Finn found his way inside to see a number of people in the living room, running cables and setting up lights. People barked orders to other people. What the hell is this? he thought. Shooting a movie or something? Don’t be a porno, don’t be a porno.
• Finn Morgendorffer 49: Blessed Be This Meal, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 1): "You’re Helen Morgendorffer, who prosecuted a psychotically evil woman and the regime that allowed her reign for torturing innocent young boys. I mean, all you need is a superhero costume and a catch phrase.” “Well, I don’t think it’s like that. Plus, those superhero costumes are so vulgar.”
  
• For Life, by LSauchelli (Part 2): The first year had been full of a cycle of violence and loneliness. Someone would see in her a weak prey to exploit, and she would show them the error of their ways by smashing their faces to a wall.
• The Game Called Life, by Trscroggs (continued): “That was fun,” Daria exclaimed as she appeared in the White Room. “I don’t usually like those crossover lives, but that one was very entertaining. I got to do interplanetary travel, meet new and interesting people, and was well known throughout the galaxy. Whole interstellar civilizations had specific protocols for my arrival. Why, they would turn out whole fleets to great me.” “You are never getting a yellow ring again,” the Old Man said. [This story appears on FF.net but under different names: "A Game Most Divine" and "Daria's Game of Divinity."]
  
• John Lane 46: Substitute Plans, by RLobinske (COMPLETE!): At his new desk, Kevin looked around the room. "Hey, Jodie. I can't see anyone's test." "That's the idea, Kevin," Jodie said. "You mean, I have to fill out the test myself?" "Yes, Kevin." "Aw, man." Feeling the pressure in her right eye, Jodie closed it and turned away from the class.
• Lost in Space, by Tsrcroggs (Part 1): Jane sat up on the bed and carefully surveyed the room she found herself in. She then asked the first two questions that came to her mind out loud. “How in the hell did I manage to fall asleep on a sci-fi set? And why am I naked?”
• A New Set of Rules, by Dennis (Part 13): It was Colleen, of course, who summed up everyone's feelings with a well-turned one-liner on a warm March morning that carried the promise of spring. “Wow, Daria,” she said as the two walked across the quad, “there are days when you're downright cheerful. Are you sure you haven't abducted by aliens?”
• Raft College: The First Year, by rglovejoy (Part 6): When I was a young girl, Daria wrote, my mother told me three things: if a boy tells me that he's had a vasectomy, he's lying; if I'm at a party and someone hands me a brownie, I shouldn't eat it; and if I were to be stranded somewhere, I should never try to hitch a ride. Until my sophomore year in college, I followed her advice to the letter.
• Unnamed story (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: Ouch Time), by Ranger Thorne (COMPLETE!): Daria closed the door as Jane stepped into the house. "How is she?" the raven-haired artist asked. Quinn's eyes opened beneath her bandages. Swinging her feet over the side of her bed, she came to her feet and staggered the few steps to the door. "She's okay, on the inside." "People still having to stay with her?" Peeking around the corner, Quinn saw Daria was distracted enough for her to slip into her parents bedroom, then into the bathroom. "No, just keep her from removing her bandages." "That bad?" [Guess the crossover!]
• Unnamed story (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: Ouch Time), by Greystar (COMPLETE!): The grizzled Starfleet captain sighed and stood up, inspecting the wreckage of the bar and then looking at the other occupant of the table. The auburn haired young woman tossed back the rest of her beer and tried to clean some of the dried blood from her nose as she inspected her broken glasses.
• The Weed of Crime Bears Glitter Fruit, by Kristen Bealer (Part 1): Kevin Thompson, CONTROL agent 86, sauntered into the Chief's office and leaned against the desk. "I came here as soon as I got your message. What's the emergency?" The Chief held up a hand, expression even grimmer than usual. "Wait until your partner arrives," he replied. "This is very important, and you'll both need to hear it." "Aww, but now I'm curious! Can't I at least have a hint?" (Daria/Get Smart)
  

One Last Blast from the Past

It's funny to think about it now, but when I began this blog two years ago, I was afraid I would run out of images very quickly. How naïve.

At left, a special image The-N once sent out to those who completed a quiz to show how much like Daria they were, and managed to score right at the top. One of the neater little things The-N had on its site, along with large-size images of Daria and Jane, and huge unique wallpapers.

Garden gnomes! Who doesn't love garden gnomes? I think the image at upper right was from Wildgoose's old site, Hell Is Other People. Was this scene at the Gupty's house? Don't remember where it showed up.

Oh, just a side note: check out the newly expanded Backgrounders webpage for The Head, the clueless nerd who seems to show up everywhere, sometimes twice at the same time. You know Ms. Li's gotta be running a Professor Xavier-type school here with all the mutant time traveling, shape changing, self-duplicating, teleporting kids around this school. My sincere and heartfelt thanks to UU and Pinhead for the images and labor that are slowly transforming the Backgrounders site into a thing of absolute wonder.

Too bad you can't click the image at right and really get Mystik Spiral to show up at your house. This was from an old MTV Daria page. I seem to have a lot of tiny Tank images from all sorts of places.

Where did the Fashion Club like to shop? Just look to the right and find out (another old MTV image for wallpapering).

At left, an excellent screen capture from Is It College Yet? showing Daria and Jane as bff's in the 1920s. They're wearing flapper outfits. Good jump-off image for a time-travel tale. This was from CyberDaria, touched up a bit. Funny, when you read the first couple of paragraphs about flappers on Wikipedia, it does remind you of Jane and Daria. Mostly Jane for me, but your mileage may vary.

At right is an alter ego that might not look familiar to you unless you've played the computer game, Daria's Inferno. In the end credits for the game, as information on the game's publisher (Simon & Schuster) is being given, this picture appears. (It is quite large. Click on it.) It is Mr. O'Neill, of course, dressed as the Simon & Schuster logo. He looks more like an older version of the S&S logo from 1961, but even more like the original source of the logo itself. The S&S logo was based upon a French artist's work from 1850: Jean-François Millet's The Sower, which surprises us nowadays as it was once considered a revolutionary work. During Daria's time, Simon & Schuster was the publishing wing of Viacom, which also owned MTV. And there you have it: an alter ego with a longer-than-expected history and meaning.

Left: A rare screen capture of Jane Lane putting on lipstick. I forgot which episode this was in and on which extinct website I found it. Oh, well. The image came from fan artist extraordinaire Pinhead, and my thanks to him for it. Love the shot. It's actually rather big. I touched it up a little.

Last, we have what I think is an image from the Mystik Spiral rock video, "Freakin' Friends," though I am not sure. Kind of evocative, the lighter and psychedelic background and everything.

Enough for tonight, moar tomorrow at some point.

LATE NOTE: I've just discovered that some of the images I posted today and credited to CyberDaria actually came from a different goldmine, the recovered files and images from the old Triste Monde Tragique website (also French). I have so many new images I'm losing track of their origins. My apologies for the mix-up.

LATE LATE NOTE: Remember the Lawndale High teachers' lounge?

Flight into Mystery

Nine years ago today, Noggin/The-N began running Daria, though in a rather sliced-up form. We still don't know why they put it through the Vegematic. Hey, at least they ran it.

Speaking of strange disappearances, as we have doing several times in the last few weeks, it was 72 years ago today that Amelia Earhart sent her last radio messages before vanishing forever over the Pacific Ocean with her navigator. Quinn gives us her best impression of Ms. Earhart in today's alter ego at left, though she is wearing what appears to be a fleece-lined USAAF bomber jacket from World War II with her high black boots and jodhpurs.

Hermann Hesse, author of Siddhartha and Steppenwolf, was born this day 132 years ago. Helen and Jake no doubt read his books while they were in college. I was in college about that time and read Hesse as well. It was the thing to do. You had to be there to understand.

Would Quinn really dress like this? It's very masculine for her, but still works.

Bad Braces! Bad Braces!

Derek has posted a tricky new Iron Chef at PPMB: "My braces made me do it." What crime can a young Sandi Griffin blame on her braces? We'll see.

Undefinedlust has presented his notes and commentary on "Love Is a Series of Burning Sensations" (Act 2) , on PPMB.

FF.net

• Camp Pu, by Smileyfax (Part 2): They reached the cave a little past noon. Whatever fire had caused the smoke Amelia observed earlier had apparently grown in intensity, for even Daria could see the far-off plume now. Seeing it only deepened the pit she felt growing in her stomach all morning. Inside the cave, the counselors took the food and set it up at the cave's rear. (It was less of an actual cave and more of a dent in the hill's surface). For a while, the counselors tried to entertain the kids by having them sing songs and play simple games, but after an hour most of them went outside. Quinn's friend Tracy snickered that the counselors had all gone off to 'do it', but most of the other campers didn't know what that meant. ("Do you know what 'do it' means, Daria?" Amelia had asked. Daria just rolled her eyes).
• Just Friends, by Pinkminx (up to Part 10): "Two minutes," Addie said as she slapped a dollar on the table. "One minute," Quinn added, placing her dollar on top of Addie's. "Forty-five seconds," Jane concluded as she added her own money to the small pile.
• Our Time Now, by Charliefox2012 (Part 5): Another week had passed that Daria was staying with Jane. And it was another week that things were still wrong. Jane’s mood had gotten considerable worse since Daria had gone out with Tom on Saturday. Jane didn’t speak much to Daria, unless she had to. They however, did keep things amicable since Daria still had to stay at her house. Jane was still her friend and didn’t feel right kicking her out. She knew how Quinn could be and even through the misery, a part of Jane still wanted Daria around. Jane honestly didn’t want things to be this way; it wasn’t supposed to be this way. She wanted things back to normal, but now, she didn’t even know what that was anymore.
• Sinspiration, by Vlora (up to Part 13): After a few days, Daria has something worthwhile, her lyrics meaning very little – but they were lyrics none the less. After showing them to Jane, she reworked them again and again, until she felt she could show them to Trent. Without giving much of a thought to the issue at hand (such as her mother and Quinn trying to figure out why Trent had come over and insisted coming in) she went over to Jane’s house. Jane seemed more than happy to see Daria interested in something outside of discussing Tom, especially as it seemed more constructive than anything else.
• Truth or Dare, by Smileyfax (Part 1): "Everyone ready for a hike?" Mr. Potts, the owner of Camp Grizzly, asked the assembled former campers. They were attending their five-year reunion, but most of them seemed rather unenthusiastic -- only muted acceptance for Mr. Potts' call to hike was given up. Skip spoke up. "He said, 'Is everyone ready for a hike?'" Skip was unable to rouse more cheer from the crowd than Mr. Potts was able to, though. "I wish Skip would take a hike," Daria griped. Amelia, a hanger-on from last time Daria had been to the camp, laughed.
• Wristcuttters: A Daria Story, by Charliefox2012 (up to Part 13): They had been driving for a few hours now. Mikal had fallen asleep in the backseat and Eugene had the decency to not speak to Daria as she was still fuming at him. She almost lost a good friend because of Eugene. It made Daria angry. If she didn’t lose things because of herself, then it would be because of someone else, making Daria think of Jane’s boyfriend Tom. Daria was just so tired of losing.

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• Cold Comfort, by Doggieboy (Part 6): The first policeman who made it outside of the Sanders County Justice Building happened to be Deputy Jack, who ran to the street, a .30-06 rifle in his hands and angry look on his face. "I'm gonna blow your ass right off that motorcycle, bitch!" he said as he aimed the rifle at Daria's back. Sheriff Dougherty, however, was right behind him, saw the frozen pedestrians between them and Daria and yelled, "Jack, no! There's people in the way!''
• Expecting Trouble, by Legendeld (Part 8): Quinn held the still hand of Sandi Griffin as the machines hooked up to her friend kept up their constant pattern. She didn’t mind the annoying beeps or even the hissing from the ventilator. Every second the sounds continued meant Sandi was still alive. [Contains adult content. You were warned.]
  
• Unnamed story (Crossovers Not Yet Crossed Over), by Pinkminx (Part 1): A Daria/Dead Like Me crossover: "Forget it. I'm out of here, I just gotta return a book to the library and I'm going home" Daria retrieved a large thick text book from her locker, shut the door, and began to walk toward the library.
• Unnamed story (Second Coming of the New Ideas Thread), by Lorenzo Sauchelli (COMPLETE!): "Friends, Lawndale Lions, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Daria, not to praise her."