King of the Seas

Happy Neptunalia to all fans of the Roman Empire out there. Mack appears as Neptune courtesy of MTV art staff (sent to us by renown superfan Pinhead). Today begins Neptunalia, as it were. By odd coincidence, this date also marks the beginning of a strange sea voyage in one Daria fanfic.

This is also a historic birthday date, and I will let you guess who was born today who also made it into the ranks of Daria alter ego artwork. Oh, boy.

And, this day marks one of the strangest and most harrowing aircraft flights of the modern era. Twenty-seven years ago, an Air Canadian passenger jet unexpectedly ran out of fuel and was forced to glide to an emergency landing. As it happened, the pilot was a glider pilot and knew exactly what to do to land safely. A brilliant feat of flying, indeed. Enjoy the TV documentary on YouTube. (Any fanfic ideas from this?)

Moar l8r. Okay, it's l8r now. And if you want to read something good about Daria online, try this. Thanks to InvisibleDan for finding this.

PPMB

• The Continuing Adventures of an ANGRY!!! Young Man, by Charles RB (Part 4): The third date with Claire would be to the cinema. Unfortunately, the chances of Claire liking Valley Forge Massacre—said to be the most violent ‘Nam film ever!—was going to be remote, so Anthony decided to take her to the new chick-flick romcom East Fulham. He HATED chick-flick romcoms. But you made sacrifices for love.
• Daria: Hunter 6—Infectious, by Jim North (continued): Anthony opened his mouth to speak, but the 'bot cut him off with a wave of its hand. "Hold that thought!" not-O'Neill said. "I've found that it's far more difficult to get other members of the opposing team to agree to their own deals with the devil if one of their number has already turned me down. So! Miss Burns, what do you say to—" "You talk too much," Burnout said.
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 54: On the Outside of Love, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 1): “You know, I really like your idea of recompense. You can miss any prom or dance or anything you want.” Finn was out of breath, naked in his bed, as Sierra was dressing. “Cool your heels, hotshot,” Sierra returned. “It loses its appeal when it happens all the time.” “Speak for yourself,” Finn returned.
• The Hallowed Halls of Fielding, by Roentgen (Part 46): "Ms. Morgendorffer, Ms. Timothy," Morioka said, singling out Daria and another student. "You two'll be wearing that hair of yours tied behind your back. I'd hate to see either of you hoisted like the Wicked Witch over the stage because one of you got her hair caught in the gears." She turned her attention to the others. "You have to learn every aspect of the stage, and you're going to get a crash course in shop safety and that means power tools."
• Judith Strikes! Lunch, by Erin M. (COMPLETE!): Reiko frowned. "What? I'm the Senior Guide for that Cluster. You can't pull me now! The only other Guides available are Nabiki and Gosunkugi, and Gosunkugi has his duties split between the Cluster and the Collective." "We know, and we wouldn't pull you otherwise, except that there's an emergency in the Lawndale Cluster," Lazlo replied. Reiko rolled her eyes. "Oh come ON. The Lawndale Cluster has tons of reality defenders inherent there as it is. Any damage done is usually fixed by the Agency anyway. What's so important that the normal Guides for that Cluster can't possibly—" "The locket's in the Lawndale Cluster."
• Judith Strikes! Rest Stop, by Brother Grimace (COMPLETE!): “So... have you come to kill me?” Judith lifted her head as she untangled herself from her red cloak, and saw the hated image of one of her doppelgangers raise up from the bed where she lay in shadows, and thin beams of bluish-white moonlight. “Yeah,” Judith breathed out, slow and angry. “Pretty much.”
• NEW! Judith Strikes! The Rise and Fall of D.D. Morgan and the Sanity Assassins, by Brian Taylor (Part 1): You've seen the video by now, haven't you? The one filmed during her final concert? Of course you have. Sure, you can lie about it. You can say you don't want to see anything like it. It offends your sensibilities. You never liked her music, anyway, you say during parties, eyes darting furtively over to the CD cabinet just to make sure nobody catches you in the lie. But then, you said the same thing about the Zapruder film, and how many times have you seen Kennedy's dying moments? Head goes forward. Head goes back. Lights go out. This is the same thing. Why deny it?
  
• Judith Strikes! You'll Never Walk Alone, by Charles RB (COMPLETE!): The Lawndale Lions was about to play Fielding with a 2000-strong audience, and no one official had spotted her placing agents & conning patsies through the stadium. Judith was having a good day. She began to slip out, heading for the exit (she didn’t want to be seen around when the fuzz cracked down), but she made sure she’d see the chaos that would erupt in the next twenty seconds. Ah, Fielding. Tom’s school. They had this coming. “Five... four... three... two... one...”
• The Lane That Wasn't, by LadieT (Parts 4 and 5): A couple of hours later, Jane woke back up. She was feeling physically better, but mentally and emotionally she was still suffering. She tried to survey the room without hurting her neck. She froze when she saw a taller, skinnier version of Daria staring at her from Daria's side of the room. A smile came over the woman's face as she walked toward Jane. "Ahh, I'm glad to see my favorite niece is up. How are you feeling?" "Hi, Aunt Amy." How do I know this woman's name? I've never heard Daria mention her before? Could it be I am a Morgendorffer, but Daria looks just like her. (Part 5)
• NEW! Night Time Is the Right Time, by Chris Tucker (COMPLETE!): "Swell. I'm naked in the middle of nowhere. Again. I hate this nightmare. Show yourself and lets get this over with so I can wake up screaming and get everyone in the house all freaked out yet again." The gray skies. The featureless plain. Not a single herd of beautiful wild ponies running free to be seen anywhere. "This place sucks." [Part of the "Season in Hell" series]
• Pulp Fiction, by Chris Tucker (Prologue, Parts 1 and 2 and 3): "OK, what makes you think I'm intelligent?" "'Ah, Watson. You see, but you do not observe!' The bookbag is from the Raft student co op. The modestly sized school crest is embroidered upon it. Your polo shirt is also from the co op. I see the collar where it peeps out from the neck of your sweater. A unique shade only available at Raft. Part of the school colors. Further, your bag is obviously stuffed with textbooks. Finally, Raft only accepts the cream of the crop of applications. There are NO stupid people at Raft. Ergo, you are intelligent! And as for being pretty, that's written all over your face. I take it you don't own a mirror. Oh, I hope you're not a vampire. Miserable things, vampires. The very devil to get rid of, you know!" By now, she was laughing out loud. "My name is James Clark Wilder V... and you are...?" "Um, Daria Morgendorffer." (early version of Prologue) (Prologue) (Part 2) (NEW! Part 3) (Daria/Doc Savage)
• Unnamed story, by Ranger Thorne (COMPLETE!): Jane scowled at Alison as she tried to slip around her to the door. When Alison stepped in front of her, the younger woman gritted her teeth and growled, “Alison, I like guys. Now get out of my way.” “Yeah, you like guys and hanging out with bisexuals in their bedrooms.” The smirk returned, “Hey, I even bought you dinner.” “Dinner was settling a bet. And I didn’t know you were bi.” “Sure you didn’t. Sorry, baby, but I never hit on straight chicks.” “I’m not interested in women. Now let me out of here.” “You mean you're not ready to admit it.” She leaned forward, “That’s okay. I’d be happy to —” anything else she was going to say was cut off as Jane, freaked out that Alison had leaned in too close, shoved her. To the surprise of both, Alison was sent flying back into the door, only to have the hinges give way and deposit Alison into the yard on a door that skidded for at least five yards.
• NEWER! Unnamed story (More Crossovers Not Yet Crossed Over), by RLobinske (COMPLETE!): "Professor Daniels asked me to double-check his translation of the Latin inscription." "Busy work? From what you mentioned, he's a gifted linguist." "A joke. He knows the language a hell of a lot better than I do. Anyway, it was still fun." "So what did it say?" "Basically, 'Here Lies Jupiter. Do not open.'" "Jupiter's coffin?" "Like I said, a joke." "Not really," another voice said from the other end of the room. (Daria/Stargate)
  
• The Vision of the Burning Cities, by jtranser (continued): In the cold grey shadows of the dimly lit street stood a great locked wooden gate carved with numerous cryptic glyphs worn smooth by the casual touch of impious hands over the centuries. Trembling, Stacy approached the door and reached for the door knocker. As she touched the bronze ring, the central panel of the door suddenly lit up its carvings with a bright yellow light. Then it appeared to ooze streaks of tar-like red blood as a primitive intercom buzzed and crackled while a suave voice gave her a message: "I'm sorry, but we're celebrating a murder right now. You'll have to come back later."
• NEWER! Two Halves 6: Role Models, by Dark Kuno (Part 3): “Why would the school need bulletproof skylights?” asked Jake as he gave his eldest children a quizzical look from across the kitchen table. “Because the pigeons have upgraded to the heavy duty munitions,” returned Alex. “Pigeons? Damned lousy rats with wings! Every time you wash your car...” Jake began to mutter angrily.
  
• We're 700 miles from Chicago. It's 6 in the morning. We've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of gum and we're both wearing bowling shirts! by Chris Tucker (COMPLETE!): Anthony DeMartino found Jane Lane in his empty classroom. That was the first surprise. The second surprise was that the usually unflappable Ms. Lane was crying her eyes out. He knew Lane was Morgendorffer's best friend. And he suspected that the reason this poor child was crying had something to do with her friend's illness. OK, Tony. Low key. Don't scare her. Softly: "Ms. Lane?" [Part of the "Season in Hell" series]