Where There's Smoke...

Monday again. Today marks the 10th anniversary of the MTV premiere of "Fire!" (probably named for Beavis's favorite saying). Much of the action took place at Le Grand Hotel in Lawndale. Some quotes from the episode, some of them clickable:

• "No, Eric, it's only one a.m. Of course you didn't wake me."
• "I can never forget that giant clog and what might have been."
• "How about Screecher II? I heard those blood-sucking eyeballs look really cool when they burst."
• "Is there really a secret underwater railroad smuggling flounder to freedom? Get on board the sole train, tonight on Sick, Sad World!"
• "Eeewwwwwww! You're making me nauseous!"
• "No, that was the maid. I think she got into the mini-bar. Hey, did I mention they have melba toast?"
• "The Fashion Club will be holding emergency meetings all week on faux-tanning lotions and I don't want you to do anything embarrassing, like show up."
• "Personally, I always had a soft spot for Stalin. Any dictator who changes his name from Dzhugashvili to "Man of Steel" has my vote, so to speak."
• "I can't know everything! I'm not my sister's beeper!"
• "When did I become a third wheel in my own relationship?"
• "You mean... I... almost... went out with... a computer geek?!"

There is a curious footnote about the episode, one of those parallel invention thingers between "Fire!" and the events in Kara Wild's "None in the Family," part 2. We celebrate the weirdness, too.

The CIA is [X] years old today, happy birthday to you. Two of the most famous movie directors of all time were also born on this date in history: Blake Edwards, noted for the Pink Panther series and Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Stanley Kubrick, noted for Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Shining.

Awesome new art of the week: Daria and Trent Forever by breitasparrow. Yes!

FF.net

• Community Service, by ChilombiLite (COMPLETE!): So, first I had to actually agree to go on this date in the first place; I mean, Stan doesn't even have a car, let alone money to take me to Chez Pierre like any other popular guy, but he actually has the nerve to take me hiking? In the mountains! I can't believe this! I'm going to kill Sandy for talking me into this.
• If Nothing Else, by Puggles Master (Part 1): "My God, I can't believe Mary would wear her hair up, most definitely showing her plump-like face," Sandi Griffin droned on. Standing several people ahead of Quinn gave the former Fashion Club President some satisfaction, despite having to turn to observe any facial reaction expressed by Quinn. "Well, it is rather hot out, Sandi," Quinn half heartedly defended. Meekly, the redhead tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before quickly searching the crowd. Well, graduation hasn't quite started. I'm sure they're somewhere. Though Daria was a person almost impossible to miss in a crowd.
• The InDark, by Mediancat (Part 30): Patrice groaned in pain, weaponless, on the top of a building in Topeka. Her wrists were shattered, and so was her chance to kill this Slayer. She wasn't worried about her long-term prospects as a member of the Order; she'd had too many successes to have one failure, even a spectacular one as this, cost her everything. But the healing, the effort to get her out of jail, they would cost her. Her next few jobs would be reimbursed expenses only.
  

PPMB

• Close, by OverlordMikey (COMPLETE!): It isn't really a bad day, just cloudy. Daria stood away from everyone else, looking at the sky. She was a little taller but still the same, although she was wearing black. Her second year in college and here she stood at a funeral. She felt strangely pacified by the breeze. She kept thinking about what people said. You two were so close. (FF.net)
  
• Daria Does Down Under! by TAG (COMPLETE!): [Too silly to sample, sorry.]
• Daria/Dorian 5: Mountain of Truth, by LadieT (Part 5): "Dorian, I want to come, too," Quinn stated. "No, you stay here. Get warmed up by the fire and talk with your friends. We'll be back in no time." Dorian grabbed his backpack. He still had the Pop Tarts, another canteen, and a flashlight in it. Jane gave him a puzzled look. "With the way this trip is going so far, rather be safe than sorry," he grumbled.
• Daria Is Raven's Apprentice 2, by Project Pegasus (continued): "Wait, what?!"
• Driving a Pale Van, by McKeon (COMPLETE!): There was a dull thump as the Tank met the black-clad man. The brakes that he had been working hard gave way, and the black van rolled to a halt on the shoulder. Whoa. This could be trouble. It was about that time that the passenger door of the tank was opened, and a middle-aged woman entered and sat down in the passenger seat. "Excellent!" she stated with a smile. "You killed Death." (Daria/Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series)
• Finn Morgendorffer 54: On the Outside of Love, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 3): “Anyway," said Jane, "I was calling to tell you I won’t be coming home for spring break.” “Where are you going?” Trent asked. “My roommate, her boyfriend, and I are all going to France.” “France?” “I managed to get a trip. Kinda last minute, especially for going overseas, I know. Pretty cool, huh?” “Why are you going to France?” Trent asked. “I’m craving French bread.”
• Grove Hell 2: All the Lawndale People, by Charles RB (Part 3): Daria looked up and saw Upchuck, the most annoying lech in school, heading through the forest on his own, with no way to dodge any fire in time. She grinned nastily. “You know, you’re right. This is great fun.” Bang. (FF.net)
  
• Judith Strikes! The Rise and Fall of D.D. Morgan and the Sanity Assassins, by Brian Taylor (Parts 2 and 3): "From looking at your history, you appear to be what we'd call a solitary kid. Is that fair to say?" "From looking at your tie, you appear to be an idiot. Is that fair to say?" (Part 3)
  
• The Lane That Wasn't, by LadieT (Parts 6 and 7): The road before her stretched endlessly in two directions. Jane sat on the bench. She looked at what appeared to be an oversized laptop's screen. The grey-eyed man who was sitting beside her remained silent. She sat back rubbing her eyes. She turned to him and watched as his face remained expressionless. He pressed the pause button. "So, you are telling me this is what is going to happen when I wake up?" (Part 7)
• Lemon Parade, by Jim North (COMPLETE!): The little girl clambered up the stepping stool and quickly took stock of everything sitting on the counter. She checked, double-checked, and triple-checked, spending more time than she knew was necessary, but the exact right amount of time that she felt was necessary. Everything had to be perfect. Everything had to be right. She was going to have the best lemonade stand ever. (FF.net)
  
• Look! Up in the Sky! by Chris Tucker (COMPLETE!): Quinn hugged her friend as Sandi wept. "What the hell is this all about?" she wondered. Her gaze fell upon the envelope on Sandi's bed. BALTIMORE MERCY HOSPITAL, Juvenile Oncology Department. You know how you can be watching Wheel of Fortune and with only one letter on the board YOU KNOW what the phrase is? Yeah. That. How the heck does that happen? Quinn KNEW what this was all about.
• Politricks Are Not for Kids, by Brian Taylor (Part 7): "Joining us now to tell us more about the aftermath of the Employment Recovery Act is Jane Lane, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sloane White House. Jane, it's a pleasure to have you." "Yo." "So, my first question" "I'd have to say that I would personally stuff a live hand grenade down the Russian prime minister's pants for a Klondike Bar." "Cute." "I really am, aren't I?"
  
• Pulp Fiction, by Chris Tucker (preview): Daria interrupted her friend. "I disagree, Jane. We're more Marvin and Wendy, actually. Waiting for the Super Friends to show up and rescue us. They'd send one of the really lame Friends, like Apache Chief, for Marvin and Wendy." "Yeah! Or Aquaman! The bastards!"
• Surprise! by Chris Tucker (COMPLETE!): "BEST part of the job!" he said to no one in particular as he suited up before entering isolation. "Good news, everybody! Daria, the transplant from Quinn took. You're making cells on your own! Oh, and you might like to know. You're in remission."
• Three-Edged Sword, by NightGoblyn (Part 7): "Tom and I have been... sleeping together... for a couple of months now," Daria said. "As usual, it happened completely by accident." "You're very accident prone around him," Jane said, in an even dryer tone.
• Uncle Anthony's Happy-Fun Esteem Class, by Charles RB (Part 1): "EsTEEM. A TEEN. They don't REALLY rhyme, DO they?" DeMartino barked out every word with loathing, not even trying to sound like he wasn't reading from notes. Daria wasn't sure what she'd expected from self esteem class, but this was preferable either way. "But we are HERE to beGIN realizing your ACTUALITY... Hrrrr. WHAT, Ms. MorgenDORFFER?" "I want to know what 'realizing your actuality' means." There was a long, long pause. "CHRIST on a BIKE, I don't know!"
• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Real Esteem), by Jim North (COMPLETE!): [Too short to sample!]
• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Real Esteem), by Ranger Thorne (COMPLETE!): “In this class,” the teacher growled as he stormed into the room, “there will be no silly phrases or nonsense about how the world would be a worse place without you in it.” Pulling a piece of wood from inside the black robes he wore, he waved it and the windows went dark. (Daria/Harry Potter)
• Unnamed story (Scenes That Should Be: Breakfast of Zombie Champions), by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): Dinner had been rudely interrupted by Ms. Li's call. According to Ms. Li, Daria had failed the psychological exam administered to new students at Lawndale High School. "Is she going to have, like, a breakdown or something?" Quinn asked, "'cause that could really mess me up with my new friends!" "Don't worry," said Daria. "I don't have low self-esteem. It's a mistake." "I'll say!" said Jake, glad that his daughter was being self-affirming for once. "I have low esteem for everyone else," was Daria's calm reply, which brought dinner conversation to a halt.
• What a Rip Off! by Chris Tucker (COMPLETE!): "Daria, good news! Gotta wait and see, but it looks like we're going to kick you out of here in a another week or so." "Thanks. Thanks for nothing, Mac!" "Aaaa... What was that?" "Superpowers! Where are my superpowers? All that atomic energy and all I have is a sunburn on my butt."
  
  

Another Ho-Hum Day in Paranormal Lawndale

We're at the Pizza King during "The Lab Brat," and Daria and Jane are munching away without the slightest clue that the girl in the booth behind Jane is levitating her pizza and her drink. I repeat, LEVITATING HER PIZZA AND HER DRINK. Let's have a closeup of that at right.

Mmkay, that's a go there. We have levitation.

You explain it.

OTHER NEWS: DVDaria has updated.

Animation Anomalies: The Angel of Death?

Here's an interesting anomaly that UU passed along to me while working on Backgrounders. This is the yearbook club from "The New Kid."

Who is the black-draped figure at the far right, talking to Andrea and the girl in bib overalls?

I think I know who it was supposed to be, based on a similar animation error elsewhere, but maybe someone else has a better idea. In our e-mails I remarked that maybe it was the Angel of Death. No one seems upset about this character being here. Weird.

On a related note, everyone is invited to visit Backgrounders and jot down (in Comments, below) any background characters you especially want to see more of, for your own interest or for a fanfic you are working on. Feedback is always good.

Thanks to UU for this excellent shot!

I Admit Defeat

Here we go. I love trying to identify the alter egos MTV stuck at the end of Daria, but in many cases it is just too much. Here are two that escaped ID.

At left is Tiffany, her hair in dreadlocks, with an outfit that makes me think of 1930s cartoons. I cannot find anything like her anywhere.

At right is Jake with a grotesque haircut and a USA shirt, untied shoes, and knee pants. And his tongue out.

Who the heck are they supposed to be? Someone out there has to know.

Let's hear it.

Oh, and the latest DariaWiki entry: The Winged Tree Country Club, thanks to Richard Lobinske.

Axes Are Fun!

Temperance advocate and axe-wielder Carry Nation was born this day 162 years ago. If you don't know about her, even a brief glance at her life story is entertaining and informative, an interesting piece of the great patchwork quilt of the American experience. Plus, Jane Lane knows about her and once said: (click here).

This is also the 173rd anniversary of the birth of Andrew Carnegie, a philanthropist who, among other things, donated money to Louisville (my home town) to start a public library, where I spent a lot of my childhood going through dinosaur books by the ton. It seems appropriate to mention him here, as he is indirectly responsible for a lot of my weirdness.

Today is also the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (yes, it is odd with Carry Nation born today, too, but I'm okay with that) and International Men's Day, but only in Canada and Australia (and a few other places). If I understand this correctly, we guys are supposed to honor the latter holiday in part by honoring the earlier holiday (being nice to women) and by sacrificing something for the sake of family, friends, and country. In other words, we don't get to sit on the sofa and watch TV and drink beer, or whatever. Something to think about, anyway.

And a little birthday present to all....

What if "The Lawndale File" had been right after all? What if aliens really were on Earth, walking among us? What if they even went to school with our kids? (Well, if we lived in Lawndale, that is.)

The answers to all these questions may be found in fanfiction set in a new shared multiverse: LOVESTRUCK ATOMIC TEENAGE INVADERS FROM MARS, brought to you courtesy of this blog plus valuable assistance from Brother Grimace. Behold, and start writing!

LATE NEWS: Page 2 is up! See the link at the bottom of the LATIFA page!

(Remember to click on the pictures. They talk.)

(Also, the new multiverse may be called LATIFA, though you have to use the A in Mars instead of the M, but I think that's allowed.)

(If nothing else, I hope the pages are fun to read and listen to!)

Um . . .

Sort of too busy to post something. Nothing Daria-ish on the calendar . . . lots of fanfiction I haven't been able to read yet, not enough time. Finished another story chapter. . . .

Oh, what the heck, here's a picture of something weird. When life gives you lemons, use them as bait. That's what I always say.

Talk amongst yourselves. Here's a topic. Nova Valdris: Threat or Menace? Post your responses in Comments. Thank you.

Daria Returns . . . to the BBC!

A new live-action Daria show will soon appear on the BBC!

For details, click HERE!













Okay, okay, it was just a joke. Don't get your shorts in a wad. It was an old joke, in fact, one that I found using Archive.org's WayBack Machine. I saw it on PPMB ages ago, too. Here are some other good spots on Is this really Daria Morgendorffer? (an old website no longer in operation).

• Daria's Dream
• Oh my God it's Christmas
• Saint Daria — The Miracle of the Halo
• Church of Daria

It took a mighty sick sense of humor to come up with these. Someone after my own heart.

All seriousness aside, I've been looking through the "Blasts from the past" section at left (way down near the bottom) and am exploring some extinct websites. Amazing stuff there. I've always regretted that I missed almost the entire run of the show and all of the fandom until April 2002, when I finally joined in. Feel kinda stupid about it now, but what can you do.

So, exploring old fandom sites is my thing now. I've found Katherine Goodman's Daria portfolio, four different versions of Lawndale Commons, and some intriguing artwork. The holy grail would be to get the original "Planet Daria" site, but there's some kind of screw-up preventing it from showing up on the WayBack Machine. If you want to try it, the old link was:

http://www.geocities.com/~planetdaria

Using the WayBack Machine, you can get only one hit from 1999: here. But clicking on the link says the site redirects to itself, which the Archive.org people say they can fix, but I've e-mailed them and they haven't gotten around to it. Oh, well.

More news on my time-traveling later. Enjoy your day, and don't get fooled. Too much.

A Cold Frosty Sundae with Nuts

It's snowing outside. I thought we were done with that crap. Rats. Let's see, what's new online. . . . billions and billions of webpages and nothing's—oh, here we go:

Richard Lobinske presses on his mysterious journey into the outer limits of the twilight zone of DariaWiki, adding new pages everywhere. Thanks, man!

The Current PPMB Debate: The importance of the cartoon format to Daria, put forth by Operculum. Add your opinions on how it would have been different if it had used live actors.

From the depths of Fortress CINCGREEN comes an examination of Quinn and Sandi's roles in Daria, and which one is truly more popular.

An all-female (as far as I can tell) message board/blog page/whatever devoted to Daria has turned up, on a site called, um, Team Sugar. Okay, sure, why not. Enjoy.

Richard Lobinske updated the 2008 Visual FanWorks Listing today. Thank you again! Enjoy the fruits of the artists' harvest.

Two significant honors that the Daria show won in its time: In TV Guide's list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time, Daria is #41, just above Wonder Woman. Not bad! And Daria was chosen as one of the "Top 10 Cartoon Nerds Ever" in a poll conducted by G4 TV, which of course is geekness cubed to the nerd power.

And the PPMB updates!

PPMB

• Avalon, by legendeld (Parts 4 and 5): Heading into X-Men territory, crossed over with King Arthur. A wild ride in progress.
• Daria d'Arc, by LSauchelli (Parts 2 and 3): God continues to micromanage Daria's reality, with unexpected results.
• Falling Into College 61: Latitudes, by Richard Lobinske (Part 22): Jake, Michael, Mike, and Q form a karaoke singing group right after Quinn gets laid. These events are not related.
• John Lane 33: Tiptoe Through the Ivy, by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!): Daria reveals her deepest secrets, but Quinn remains dirt-free. Then, family role-playing: “Helen? Jake? Hello? You’re upsetting the other guests.”
• A Little Vacation, by Doggieboy (Part 16): Daria tells her mother the truth. And her mother believes her. What miracles lie ahead?
• The Misery Chicks, by NightGoblyn (Part 15): Great spot to leave us hanging at the end, NG!
• My Sons, by legendeld (Part 6): “I can’t believe my parents think I could be pregnant,” Daria said as she tore through another slice of pizza.
• The Other Side Of Time: And All That We've Won, by The Sidhe (Part 4): Southern Comfort time with the generals.
• Size Does Matter, by BlackHole (Part 17): The Teen Titans remain suspicious, and the student body remains amazed.
• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part II), by jtranser (continued): The assassination of Grand Duchess Daria Yakovlevna, formerly Morgendorffer, as written by parties yet unknown and performed by snipers, animal murderers, bikers and inmates to be named later, only the bikers turn out to be the good guys, I think.
• Turnabout Confusion Part II: All the King's Horses, by Dennis (continued): Some people like to twist the knife. Some people deserve the extra twist.

Finally, we have Scenes That Should Be: Brains for Rent (more strangeness), and the ever-popular...

• Scenes No Daria Fanfic Should Have: Dawn of a New Horror (continued): Come on, get up, get down with the sickness!!!

More tomorrow. Party on, ppl!

Nothing New Under the Sun? Not Here!

Looking for more Daria weirdness on the 'net? You've come to the right post.

First stop, the cast helps explain a peculiar urban legend with religious overtones: Daria In... "Beware Of Smurfs"

Next, we have a page from The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, 8th ed. It's a PDF file. As you read over the entry, do you notice anything glaringly . . . odd about it? How could they screw that up?

Then, there's Mii Plaza, a site that offers various custom elements for your Wii system. In the Cartoon Mii section are various images of Daria sent in by Wii gamers. Interesting gallery.

And now we come to The Daria Test, an online dating exam on OKCupid. I don't see how this is related to dating unless you only want to date Daria nerds. Uh, not that there's anything wrong with that.

On Sleeps.com, someone describes a dream involving Daria . . . and a courtroom case, ABBA music, the singer Meatloaf, and a canoe. Further comment is unnecessary.

Daria as TV therapy. Okay, this one makes sense.

Daria is voted into Mensa, sort of. (Search for "Daria" to find relevant comments.)

And finally, the "Jane Lane" group on Last-FM. I have no idea what this is about. On the surface, it seems to be a "community" of Jane Lane fans who love music, but I feel like I'm missing something here. I think they regard Jane as their role model for life and are trying to live as she would. Maybe I should join.

Happy Easter.

A Blast from the Past for an Italian Outcast

Okay, this one was too weird not to share. While poking through an Italian Daria fansite, I discovered a link to an extinct website: the old Daria section of MTV's Italian website, to be precise. The website can be called up using the Wayback Machine, and here is the link to do it: daria.mtv.it

The site was started in 2001 and discontinued not long ago, but it was big. Skip around the different time links on the Wayback Machine and see how the site evolved and what art and logos they used. This is truly weird. I love it, I love it, I love it.

Have a good night.

Speaking of Aliens, I Forgot About This Guy....

This is a scene from the SF movie Jake was watching in "Aunt Nauseam," just before Trike Girl and her evil minions bombarded him with popcorn. The setting looks like Mars (red landscape, pink sky, two moons in background). You can click on the image to get a larger version of it. I was wondering, what if the alien was real and trying to make a living in Hollywood with bit parts? What if the female astronaut was actually Vivian Taylor and she and the alien had an affair off-camera and they came back to Lawndale to announce their engagement to Brittany but Brian Taylor electrocuted the alien just to see what it would do and Vivian was so distraught that she had an affair with Jake Morgendorffer only Jake didn't know it was Vivian because he had too much to drink in his cheap hotel room after he and Helen had another fight and Vivian got pregnant only she didn't know if the baby was Jake's or the alien's so there was a Very Special Episode of Daria in which everyone had to decide if they would be accepting of the baby even if it had six legs and big yellow eyes and just as Vivian is being rushed to the hospital the ambulance has an accident and Vivian is thrown into the back of the Good Time Chinese restaurant into the wormhole and Jake decides to go in and save her until he develops ringworm and now it's up to Brittany Taylor to rescue her mother and half-sibling and she goes into the wormhole and comes out just as her full grown half-sibling is attacking Tokyo? Wouldn't that be cool? I'm kind of stuck as to what happens next, though. More later.

If It's Sunday, It Must Be UPDATE TIME!

Some help would be appreciated with additions I am making to a DariaWiki page on crossovers. I'm trying to locate crossovers in other fandoms that have used Daria, particularly in comics and animated media. Anyone know of any? Feel free to chip in if so.

Father Martin asks the musical question: "Deref in England" Dariacon - which weekend? Please check this out if you are in or plan to be in the U.K. in the near future, to welcome the famous foreigner, Deref of the Outback! (Not the steakhouse, though.)

And now, some fanfic and art updates.


FF.net

• Death Number 106: Ode to El Kabong, by Alpacca Jo: Poor Tom. Sucks to be you.
• A Little Vacation, by Doggieboy (Part 5 but catching up).
• My Nights at Daria's Anthology: Stacy: Continuing the PG-13 Lawndale variation on Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology.
• My Nights at Daria's Anthology: Sandi: Uh-oh.

Lawndale Online

• I Still Want a New Duck, by Patrick Moore (COMPLETE!): Talk about crossovers!

SFMB

• The Cynic, The Fashionista and The Jackass, by Doggieboy (Parts 8 and 9): Together again, and in deeper trouble than ever before. Plus, Beavis eats his vegetables.
• A Little Vacation, by Doggieboy (Part 9): The natives are restless and hungry, and Daria & co. might soon need to change hotels.
• Size Does Matter, by BlackHole (Part 10): Jane gets ready once more to try her luck with the new giant in town and create a new definition of "kinky."

PPMB Fan Art

• Burnout Girl in College, by Ranger Thorne (discussion here). The eyes have it!
• Iron chef: Burnout girl's other eye, by Wouter: Inspired by Ranger Thorne's artwork, a challenge!
• Iron Chef: Calling All Artists (Part 2), new entry by JennaUsername, a.k.a. The Dramatic Monarch on deviantART (direct link here). Jodie's got a major problem now.
• Quick Tom Sloane, by Lucky Maroon: Not bad for a quickie!
• New Stuff (just outline), by HumberBay: Daria on stage, a WIP (direct link here).

Moar sune.

A Few More Points of Cyber-Interest

Still surfing around, and this morning we have:

Fanfics.org: Daria: A lesser-used cousin of FF.net. The Daria section has only 19 stories in it. Anyone reading this have some stories you'd like to post? Let's get this baby off the ground. LATE ADD: Oh, I wasn't aware of the problems here. Hmmm.

Experience Project: I Watch "Daria": I'm not entirely sure what this is, or even if it is still active. Maybe someone would like to check this out.

Writing.com: Interactive Daria story: Okay, here is a weird one. It's a pick-a-path story, the kind I . . . um, someone I once knew used to write. You read a section of text, then make a choice as to where you will go next. I believe someone else (Mike Xeno?) started an interactive story, but that was years ago. And this story here is about . . . weight gain? You look at it and figure it out. Maybe someone else could start a different story here.

I might add a few more things to this shortly. A weight-gain Daria story. Shades of "Arts n' Crass" . . .

MORE LATE ADDS: Richard Lobinske continues to do the work of Atlas on DariaWiki, adding new material on award-winning stories and fixing irksome errors. A heartfelt "thank you" goes to you. Brother Grimace, Roentgen, and Cyde also have added piles of new material. We are in your debt.

Just found the Daria Fan Club, with 690 fans and club news. It appears to have videos, too. How the heck did I miss this one earlier? Huh. Well, there it is.

A Fandom History Wiki? Who'd've Thunk It?

While cybersurfing® the superwideweb infomercialnet nanoblogwave®, I found another curious website, one where the history of various media fandoms could be posted. And lo! They had a slot open for Daria stuff, and someone had posted stuff thereon! This is the Fandom History Wiki (link goes to the Daria fandom section).

What else was there . . . oh, lupinsmoon12391's Xanga Site, and a weird very pink one called Femslash Ficathon 2007, with a special Daria section. Huh, wonder what that's all about.

More soon after I cybersurf® the next nanoblogwave®. Happy GW's B-day!

Weird Problem

For some reason, though it had worked perfectly fine before now, the little head-bobbing Daria logo in the upper left corner of the blog caused the header to bunch up over it, as if the logo's width defined the margins of the header. I've removed the little logo with much sadness but am working on ways to add it back into the top again. Computers are evil. Anyway, the blog seems to be back to normal. Weird.

Still Pretty Darn Cold Outside, Sometimes

Random bits posted late at night when I am too sleepy to do it right:

• At last! Proof that Lawndale is in Maryland after all! But how did the Russians know before we did? Ohmigod!
  
• Iron Chef: Ashley-Amber Morgendorffer, by RLobinske: Many new nasty ideas added here, interesting.
• Iron Chef: Rule 63, by cyde: "Write a story featuring any male member of the cast as a female. The character may have been born that way, or may have his gender changed due to external influences." Hmmm . . .
• The 1,001 Deaths of Tom Sloane, by tildessmoo: A special fun writing contest for the whole family! And guess what it's about!

NEW ART ON PPMB

• Daria and Jane: sarcasm-o-thon (Now 3 on 5), by Christ Oliver: Daria and Jane in the nursery! (direct link here).

More soon, including my take on Daria's stupidest moment. Have a good night.

Other Janes Than Ours

In most fanfic, Jane Lane is portrayed as a talented artist, much as she appears on the show. (Notice that I said "talented," not "famous" or "great.") In certain alternate-universe and post-canon stories, however, her "occupation" is subject to change based on what other interests she displayed in the series. When this happens, she usually reappears as a track star or marathon runner, spinning off from her successes in "See Jane Run." See Brother Grimace's "Victory Lane," Renfield's "Malice of Absence," or Richard Lobinske's Falling Into College series, for instance.

Sometimes she is a cheerleader in high-school, using "The F Word" as the jump-off point for the AU. Unfortunately, though I remember Jane as a cheerleader in one or two AU tales, I cannot find them now. Duh. Jane as a teacher appears in a few post-canon stories, like Robert Nowall's Daria: 2010 series and, again, Falling Into College.

What else could Jane be, playing off on what the show gave us? Action/adventure fanfics often have Jane in a major role. She just seems like that sort of girl. Several fanfics have generously destroyed the world so she becomes a survivalist/soldier ("Apocalyptic Daria," by Doggieboy, and "Lambda," by SigDiff). These spin off nicely from Jane's "I'm a survivor" comment in "Speedtrapped." The superhero angle is well explored in "Daria’s Web," by Fezenclop; the Legion of Lawndale Heroes series, by Roentgen and Brother Grimace; and "Lawndale’s Finest: The Last Daughter of Krypton," by NightGoblyn. She's an amateur wizard in several Harry Potter crossovers and a time-traveller in some Doctor Who crossovers.

The alter-ego picture of the "Good Mornings with Daria and Jane Show" from Is It College Yet? spawned a number of television-personality adult Janes. Then there's her active dating life, which (alas) results in her becoming a teen hooker in NightGoblyn's "The Misery Chicks." I guess the weirdest one was the emo-nerd Jane from NightGoblyn's "Exchange Students." Wait, I forgot about the submarine commander Jane from Wildgoose's Submariner series. That was very weird. (I'm not counting the "John Lanes" because they turn out a lot like the "Jane Lanes.")

My question here is, what else is possible, either in AU or future tales? Maybe reality has a clue here. What happens to most aspiring artists who leave high school? Do they starve? Fade away? Sell life insurance? (Let's don't bring up the hooker thing again.) Ideas are welcome for other alternate Janes, as is more fanfic and fan art on this topic.

Happy New Year! Party hard, dudes!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope you have your party plans laid out. If you decide to go the Upchuck route and run around the house in your underwear, that's nice too but don't tell anyone about it, please, and make sure no one around you has a camera-phone, or else people at McMurdo Station in Antarctica are going to be laughing at your pictures on the Web.

I am likely to be fairly busy tonight, so if there are no other posts I will make up for it tomorrow if possible. Peace out, my homie g-dogs! (Did I say that right? I heard it on TV once.)

Last Note: Being a former editor, I can't help but draw your attention to the current list of Banned Words for 2008, from Lake Superior State University. (M Man drew my attention to the list first.) I love these people. Bless them, every one, for their perfect storm of organic truthiness and random sweet waterboarding pop that's under the bus. It is what it is.

More, more, more....

Several dozen more links have been added to the left column, in a variety of languages. There are certainly some strange websites out there. Anyway, enjoy poking around therein. Be back later.