Not That Tatiana

World-famous Daria screenwriter W. Somerset Maugham was born 136 years ago today. "W" (as his most intimate friends called him) is best remembered today for his script for "Of Human Bonding." Kudos to you, W.

Today's other famous literary-related events vaguely related to Daria in some obscure or ridiculous manner include:

• Virginia Woolf's 128th birthday ("A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction").
• Tatiana Day, a.k.a. Russian Students Day, celebrating student life. St. Tatiana, no relation to the girl in "Camp Fear," is the Russian Orthodox patron saint of students, so of course this holiday is highly relevant.
• Robert Burns Day, celebrated by people of the Scottish persuasion who like both the works of Robert Burns and (eww!) haggis, which somehow go together. It is remotely possible that the Daria character Robert was named for him, but I doubt it.
  
• The 120th anniversary of Nellie Bly's wild circumnavigation of the globe, done in less time than Jules Verne's characters in Around the World in Eighty Days. Nellie Bly (not her real name, but it will do) was a city reporter, foreign correspondent, war correspondent, author, industrialist, inventor (she invented those 55-gallon steel drums that everyone on the planet uses, srsly, this is not a joke), humanitarian, civil rights supporter, and defender of women, children, orphans, the poor, the insane, and everyone being stepped on at the time. She became Lois Lane's idol, too. Yes, that Lois Lane, who of course is one of Jane Lane's relatives. Could Nellie Bly have been an inspiration to Daria, who wanted to be an "inquiring reporter" in Highland? Or was Brenda Starr more to Daria's liking? What was the original topic? Oh, right, Nellie Bly. She was hawt.

Want to get political with Our Heroine? Check out this bumper sticker.

You may go about your regularly scheduled Internet business. That is all.

FF.net

• NEW! Windy Monday Afternoon in Boston, by RangerWill (COMPLETE!): Daria sat down and pulled her jacket tighter around her body. She was supposed to meet Jane at the local Tarbucks to share some exciting news. [based on this picture]

PPMB

• NEW! Daria: Hunter 5—Strictly Business, by Jim North (continued): "Dammit!" Jane suddenly swore. "I'm the sidekick again, aren't I? Why am I always the sidekick?" she asked Daria, who simply shrugged in return.
  
• Daria Is Raven's Apprentice, by Project Pegasus (continued): "All right. So how do we open the Mouth of Hell?" "All we have to do is push this dumpster aside and..." "Wait, please don’t tell me we’re..." "That’s right. The Mouth of Hell is located behind the dumpster of the Good Time Chinese Restaurant."
• NEW! Do I Have to Paint You a Picture? by Kristen Bealer (Part 2): "Kevin!" 99 cried, catching him as he dropped to the ground. "I'm hit," he gasped. "KAOS finally got me." (Daria/Get Smart)
• NEW! Falling into College 72: Valley of Love and Delight, by RLobinske (Part 4): Others from the party that had stayed overnight were scattered around the apartment on chairs, sleeping bags or, in the case of Karen and Derek, on an inflatable mattress. Michael stood and wove between the bodies on his way to the bathroom. He felt like King Harry walking through the aftermath of Agincourt.
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 29: Burn Out, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 1): Finn pushed himself out of bed, only for his mother to burst into the door, still wearing her pajamas. “Finn! The house is on fire!”
• NEWEST! Trapped, by Jim North (continued): Ms. DeFoe's art classroom was exactly as Daria remembered it, save for the darkness and the swirling mass of filthy, debris-choked water passing over the room's skylights. Daria shone her light into it but quickly turned away a second later, stomach churning at the sight of what was floating by the windows.
  
• Unnamed story (Finn Morgendorffer: Chapter 28 - About My Mother), by NightGoblyn (COMPLETE!): "Finn, can I ask you something?" The redhead glanced up at the tone of his older brother's voice. Darius always sounded flat and depressed, but his voice usually wasn't so... hopeless. "Ask away, Brainiac." "If you... have you ever kissed one of your friends' girlfriends?"