Keep on Truckin', Indeed

Robert Crumb turns 66 today. He is perhaps the most famous of the underground comics artists of the 1960s and '70s, the one who gave us "Keep on Truckin'!" and Mr. Natural and girls with enormous butts and thighs. This rendering of Quinn in Crumb's style (an alter ego by MTV's artists) was surely done without her knowledge. Many of his drawings are online here.

The Moscow-Washington, D.C. hotline, a.k.a. The Red Phone, celebrates its 46th birthday today.

Writer Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, who at the age of 19 forever changed the face of fantasy, horror, and science fiction when she wrote Frankenstein, turns 212 today. (Read the book here.) Think about it: she was a teenager when she did this. Doesn't that just blow your mind?

In fact, speaking of Mary Shelley's most famous creation, we see a lot of Frankenstein (the book, the doctor, and the monster) in Daria fanfic and even in the show itself. The theme is ubiquitous. We have Frankenstein-related fan art, fanfic Halloween costumes and humorous character costumes, quotes in fanfiction, fanfic plot twists, Sick Sad World fodder on TV, movies on TV, Daria's reading material, someone else's reading material, and several fanfic scenes where the book is discussed in Mr. O'Neill's classes (here, here, here, and here). We even have an official MTV alter ego of Helen as the Bride of Frankenstein. Frankenstein has to be one of the most frequently referenced icons in the series.

Mary Shelley was one heck of a teenager, wasn't she?

FF.net

• D Is for Daria, by Fringeperson (Part 3): “Wow, you weren't kidding,” Jane said, staring at the mail bag that had D for Detriment written in red type across it. It looked heavy, to say nothing of how full it was. One lump in the side even looked like a parcel rather than a regular letter.
  
• Falling Into College Year 4: Two Intents, by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!): In the Channel 12 newsroom, Blythe Lincoln paused for a moment at the door to her producer's office. Being called into the office right after he'd handled a lengthy phone call was usually a sign that something was up and, in this case, Blythe had a good suspicion it was her latest story proposal. She took a deep breath and opened the door. "Yes, sir?"
• Pigskin Caduceus, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 5): It was too late to do anything when I got back home on Saturday, so, on Sunday, I spent the entire day cleaning the house. I couldn’t remember the last time I did it; I never invited people over, so there was no need to make it look good. And my father certainly wouldn’t expend the effort.
• Tales of the Ringbearers: With New Responsibility, by Richard Lobinske (COMPLETE!): Dressed in his flight gear and carrying a helmet with "Archangel" painted across the visor cover, Capt. Gerald Wright angrily marched away from the campus helipad toward the Curtis E. LeMay College of Military Studies.

PPMB

• Extracurricular Activities, by thatLONERchick (COMPLETE!): Jodie Landon left yearbook with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. A few people called out to her as she walked, and she smiled at them or waved as she turned down a hallway. A moment later she came to a door. A pane of pebbled glass made up the top third. PRINCIPAL was written across in black paint and nothing more. Smiling a very different smile, Jodie knocked.
• Iron Chef: Daria Is Raven's Apprentice, by Project Pegasus (continued): "My paper! No! I time-traveled back to the Globe Theater for that paper! Oh, the things I did for the Bard to get him to write a sonnet for me..."
• Knockin' on Heaven's Gate, by HeirofNorton (Part 4): I certainly couldn't fault my friends for their near obsession over the stunning Miss Morgendorffer. Quinn was beautiful beyond compare. I reminisced then—as I assumed my now silent comrades were also doing—about the lovely girl.
  
• Rainbow Disconnection, by Disco316 (Part 4): Quinn gathered around the ladies’ room mirrors, checking her makeup and applying touch-ups where necessary, along with her friends Sandi and Tiffany. “So I told him, ‘What difference does it make whether you order the buffalo wings or not? Even bringing them up has already cost you a second date!’ And then he says, ‘Oh, then I might as well get a double order!’ Can you believe some guys?”
• Schrödinger’s Tiger, by TAG (COMPLETE!): “Explain it to me one more time,” said the tired detective, “but start over at the beginning, and speak slowly.”
  
• Touchdown, by thatLONERchick (COMPLETE!): The bell rang, signaling the end of yet another intense history lesson. Students trickled out into the hall in small groups, laughing and talking and carrying on. Jodie Landon hung back by her boyfriend Michael Mackenzie's desk as he straightened papers from a spilled folder. Just as he had gotten things together, Anthony DeMartino, the graying, maniacal history teacher, called out to him.
• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Unwanted alien pets! Next, on Sick Sad World!), by NightGoblyn (COMPLETE FRAGMENT!): Charles leaned back, away from the piano, and let his fingertips lightly brush the keys. He was depressed, again. "All you do is sit in here and mope," Scarlett had said, rolling her eyes at him. "Sometimes I wonder if we're even related."
• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Unwanted alien pets! Next, on Sick Sad World!), by Wraith (COMPLETE FRAGMENTS!): Daria stood with her back against the wall in the large room. The only source of light was the door next to her, open on a small room where Jane was putting on her jacket. "Say, Jane. It seems you're eligible to be the Rose Bride. And then I'll obtain the Power of Dios and make the secret of eternity ours." "If you say so, Daria."
• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Unwanted alien pets! Next, on Sick Sad World!), by Wraith (COMPLETE FRAGMENT!): "No matter... how much I try... to be his friend,... no matter... how much I... think about him, his heart... has belonged to..." "What? Sports? Cars? Porn? Big Bird? What?!"