No Joy in Mudville

A little-known anniversary in American folklore and literature arrives today. This is the 122nd year since the famous sports poem, "Casey at the Bat," was first published. Jesse does the honors. The legendary poem is here, complete.

Silver has come up with a new shared Dariaverse idea: The Great Game. Contributions and suggestions are welcome at the thread link.

The newest Iron Chef is Obey Your Master, from brnleague99. Someone in Daria-land earns a Masters degree—and things get a little crazy as a result.

Some really excellent fanfic on tap for you. Enjoy.

FF.net

• NEW! The InDark, by Mediancat (Parts 3 to 6): Tommy Sherman watched the people fleeing the pizza place. Didn't see the chick Ms. Li wanted dead, so that was good. Meant she was inside. Li'd told him that he had a few dozen Bringers, but only a few right now. That was cool. First he'd see how this chick handled these guys with knives. Way, way creepy. Tommy Sherman didn't mind saying that. But they could handle themselves in a fight. (Daria/BuffytVS)

PPMB

• Daria: Hunter 6—Infectious, by Jim North (continued): "How long do I have?" "It's hard to say since I still haven't completed my study of the doctor's newest creation," Ted told her, "but from these readings, I'd say you'll be okay for at least a day or two, as long as you don't get infected any further and nothing horrible happens to your immune system."
• NEW! The Dream of the White Darkness, by jtranser (continued): The driver brought the car to a halt on the road shoulder and, instead of getting out, grabbed a mic, thumbed the push to talk button and called dispatch for a backup vehicle. He was informed one was on the way, along with escort cars to insure his human cargo would safely arrive at the airfield. He acknowledged the transmission, hung up the mic and waited. Shortly thereafter, three black Crown Vics pulled around the curve, and the driver got out to open the door and trunk and transfer his unwilling passengers. After he did so, he was surprised to see one of the reinforcements come over to him, smile and zap him with a cattle prod.
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 48: Filling Sacks of Failure, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 3): The following Sunday, Helen picked up the copy of the Lawndale Sun with an unusual interest. She always followed the press interest in the cases she was on. While there was a story about it on the front page, it was not written by the man who spoke to her yesterday. In fact, it didn’t even mention her, or the firm, at all. The entire story was written by someone named Terrence Jacobson, and, from start to finish, it dealt only with Congressman Sacks, and his response to the case. How he thought the case was a get-rich quick scheme, how they were out to profit off of kids, all of the half-hearted lies she thought that two-bit bribe-taking Washington man would perform.
• John Lane 46: Substitute Plans, by RLobinske (Part 4): Jodie wrote on the blackboard, "Test Tomorrow." Hearing the student groans, she turned around. "Look at it this way. You only have to answer the test once. I have to read every one of them. Trust me, I'm going to be far more tired of the questions than you are." Kevin said, "So... you're going to read each test paper?" "That's right, Kevin." "But, um, don't they all say the same thing?"
  
• Mission: Implausible, by Admonisher (Part 1): "Here's a road sign. 'Lawndale.' Look it up." "'Home of the giant strawberry.' Pretty good-sized population. Next door to a large university..." "Perfect! Zonker, turn off here." (Daria/Doonesbury)
• Morgendorffer, by Lord Akiyama (Part 2): "You're sounding awfully quiet this morning, Daria," Jane commented aloud, breaking the long silence between them. "As we probably both should be, Jane," Daria responded. "I don't want to jinx our good fortune for however long it can last." "What good fortune would that be?" Jane asked curiously as she continued painting. "Not being summoned to work," Daria answered. (Contains the great line: "You mean there are people out there who would want to know the definition to sausage?") (FF.net)
  
• NEW! Raft College: The First Year, by rglovejoy (Part 3): "Hello, Daria?" "Hi, Mom." "I'm sorry I didn't call sooner, sweetie. How is everything?" "Fine. The dorm they put me in kind of sucks, but my roommate seems cool and so is my academic adviser. I'm going to be in his seminar on writing short fiction and I'm also signed up for calculus, Western Civilization and Macroeconomics." "Well, that sounds very well-rounded. By the way, your father and I received something in the mail about a parents' weekend in October. Columbus Day weekend I believe. I never did get a chance to see your campus, you know." Daria covered the microphone and let out a low grumble. "It's okay, mom. It's kind of a hassle for you and Dad to come up here just for a weekend." "Oh, nonsense. We can take the time off. And Quinn wants to look at colleges up in your neck of the woods anyway." Daria choked. "What?! You can't seriously think she wants to apply to Raft, do you?"
  
• Regifted 2: I Put Away Joyless Things, by Ajar (Part 7): “Oh, you know,” Kevin stuttered. “The, uh, r-rumors about... please don't turn me into a newt.” “Relax,” Mack said. “She's not going to turn you into a newt.” “But she was talking about the devil and then I caught her. She's going to drown me or burn me at the stake, or something.” (Contains the great line: “Eggplant skirt with a burgundy top. God, Daria. I knew you were bad but this...”)