Around the Bend

What characters do you think are most likely to go around the bend in the future?


Will Stacy finally crack and become a cannibal killer?


Will Mr. DeMartino finally have an unrecoverable dose of Kevin?


Is Mr. O'Neill secretely the long-sought "Inner Child" serial killer?


Will Jake finally have that final knock-down, drag-out with Mad Dog?


Something to contemplate on a slow Friday.

Early Morning Jane

With this colorized edition of an early Jane concept, you have to wonder how the character would've been different if the creators had gone with this concept.

I can see a somewhat wilder Jane that was more likely to do physically involved activities just to see what would happen. Perhaps she would show some of her atristic talent through her earrings by making new creations all the time. Shock ideas like a corpse hanging from a noose might be in order.

Her interaction with Daria would be different (though I can still see this version trapped in Esteem Class for months on end). Being less inhibited, this Jane might have drawn Daria out of her shell sooner.

So many possiblities. What else do you think this Jane would do?

One next-to-last wee bit of Irishness

Had to get Tiffany's leprechaun picture in here somewhere. What would she say about this outfit? What would Daria say? What about Upchuck?

Just had a thought: wouldn't it be great if this was the love-child of Daria and Saint Patrick's Day?

Moar soon. Assuming this blog isn't deleted, which Google has threatened to do. Whatever. That would be the perfect thing for this day, wouldn't it?

NEWS: Lawndale Online reports a problem with fanfiction submissions is being worked on. Only shorter stories can be posted until then. Stay tuned.

Jake: What if he was YOUR father?

This being Jake's fandom birthday, let's look into his role as a cartoon father.

What did Daria and Quinn think about their father? I'm not sure what Quinn thought, but Daria found him both embarrassing ("One J at a Time") and, oddly, heroic ("Of Human Bonding").

We talk about Jake in a distant sort of way, because he's a cartoon dad, but let's make it more personal: What if Jake had been your father? Put yourself in a teenager's position once again, and ask yourself, how would you have handled that?

To be fair, I'll go first. I would have been embarrassed to death. As a teen I was already known to my family as "Mole Man" because I so rarely came out of my room in the basement (severe introversion), but with Jake around, I would have become The Invisible Man. I'm sorry, but the heroic part of Jake, fighting off his own demons, would not have become obvious to me until decades later after I had kids, too.

Quinn appeared to handle this by keeping her parents away from her friends and her friends away from her parents, and everything was fine. Daria had only one friend most of the time, and Jane was around Jake about as much as Daria was. (Misery loves company.) Daria did not want Tom to be around Jake, especially after Jake's awful attempt at a joke on insider trading (and the squirrel thing, too). Come to think of it, Quinn did the same thing, leaving the house as soon as her date arrived.

Your turn. Jake is your old man. How would you deal?

OTHER NEWS: Latest addition to DariaWiki: Maine Escape, one of many new entries from the great and powerful Dr. Mike! Thank you!

Fired Up

Eight years ago today, the episode "Fire!" premiered on MTV. Once again, an unlikely event changes history in the mainstream Dariaverse. Is it possible that Jake could be so stupid as to have caused a house fire in this manner? Did the Morgendorffers have no fire extinguisher? Why is black smoke rising from only one tiny portion of the flames covering the kitchen island, like a volcano?

The AU potential of this tale is considerable. As Daria herself says, when informed that the family will not be staying at the Dutchman Inn: "I can never forget that giant clog and what might have been." Some possibilities:

1. Jake doesn't cause the fire (or puts out the fire himself), so Daria doesn't go to Jane's house and meet Tom up close.
2. The fire injures or kills one or more of the Morgendorffers, or else the house is completely lost and the Morgendorffers must move.
   
3. Helen throws Jake out of the house for being such an idiot. They separate. Helen has more time to chat with Eric when he calls at 1 a.m.
4. The Morgendorffers do stay at the Dutchman Inn. Quinn moves out and stays with the Fashion Club. Daria doesn't meet Tom. Something else weird happens.
5. Bobby Stuart gets away with stealing Le Grand Hotel funds to impress Quinn. She goes out with him. He turns out to be either good (but untrustworthy) or bad.
6. Jane and Tom break up before Daria enters the picture.
7. Daria discovers something unusual/illegal/dangerous that Penny left behind in her old bedroom.
8. Trent convinces Daria that hanging around Tom is a bad idea. She leaves of her own accord. (Not sure this would change anything later, though, unless it delays the looming Jane/Tom breakup.)

Interesting aspects of this episode:

1. Sandi Griffin's instinct for picking out untrustworthy dating partners is very good. She was suspicious of Bobby almost from the start, though part of that might have been jealousy. (She was the only member of the Fashion Club who did not have staff fuss over her at the hotel.) Perhaps it is because Sandi is so accustomed to being underhanded that she is able to recognize the same elements in other people.
   
2. Jane's instinct for knowing when someone is about to betray her is also very good. She saw it coming from a mile away.

This episode pretty well telegraphs what was coming in "Dye! Dye! My Darling." More later.

LATE ADD: I've tried to flesh out the DariaWiki page for "Fire!" If anyone has other bits to add to it, please feel free (especially if I put in something that was wrong).

ANOTHER LATE ADD: Richard Lobinske has updated the list of Daria fan art! Hooray! (PPMB & SFMB)