It's Anti-'Shipper Day! Hooray!

Martin J. Pollard, webmaster of the renown Outpost Daria, invented the term "anti-'shipper" in an essay for this fandom eleven years ago this very day. Thus, today is and forever will be Anti-'Shipper Day. He created the term in honor of Kara Wild's story, "'Shipped Out," which he credits as being the first anti-'shipper tale in Daria fandom. Ms. Wild's tale was written in June 1999.

How does one celebrate Anti-'Shipper Day, you ask, and well you should. The day may best be appreciated by pausing to reflect on the elements working against any romantic pairing displayed either on Daria itself or in Daria fanfiction. Daria/Trent? She's too young, Trent's a bum, and Daria is too obnoxious anyway. Daria/Tom? Tom's a bit too conceited, and Daria is too obnoxious anyway. Daria/Anyone? Daria is too etc., etc. What about Jane/Anyone? Daria will sabotage the relationship to have Jane for herself. You get the idea: always blame Daria, because she deserves it.

Today is also the anniversary of a famous alter-ego birthday, and it is International Friendship Day. For more information on the latter, here is a refreshingly cynical essay describing it. Winnie the Pooh is the holiday's mascot. He is shown at left in a candid moment.

More shortly. Not awake yet.

GnuZ!

• Less than two weeks to go until Midwest Dariacon 2010!
• Tiffany: does she suffer from narcissistic disorder? Does a wild bear use Charmin in the woods?
• NEW! A year ago here, I had a sort of mini-contest for artistic fans to find creative things to do with an old MTV screen background I discovered using the WayBack Machine. Anyone up for trying this again? Can you turn it into a neat-o wallpaper for Daria fandom computers?
  

PPMB

• Daria/Dorian 6: Christmas Chaos, by LadieT (Part 5): "I called your house. Your dad said that your aunts brought you and Janey here. He told me about her ankle. Is she okay?" "Yeah, she's doing okay. She is going to be glad to see you. She's really missed you." "I missed her, too. Do you know what store she's in? I really need to talk to her." "Is everything alright?" "No."
• NEWER! Jane Lane: Ace Attorney—Turnabout Teacher's Pet, by LSauchelli (Part 8): Jane carried on: “Did you see the way she talked to me? Like I was just one of the little idiots we used to make fun of in High School!” She spared a moment to look at Charles, “No offense. But how dares she do that?! What the hell is her problem! I mean, I expect that kind of treatment from Sandi, I’d be retarded not to, but Daria?! Daria?! This is the girl I survived high school with!” “You do realize you’re starting to sound a lot like that old witch at the gym?” said Charles.
• NEWER! MST version of TAG's "Daria 2007: The Girl from Hope" by Charles RB (Part 1 of 9,000 parts): [Won't spoil it for you!]
  
• Pulp Fiction: A Cup of Tea, by Chris Tucker (COMPLETE!): It had been two months since the subway bombing, and James had been, as he put it, "busy". His contacts with Daria and Jane had been minimal, the odd phone call, a quick coffee 'date', and so on. So, it was with some surprise when Daria heard her name called across a noisy Downtown Crossing intersection in a very familiar voice. A quick embrace between friends. "So, what brings you 'round here?" "I got a Border's gift card from my sister for Christmas, and I've finally got some time to use it. I also wanted to get some bagels, too." "Care for an escort, dear lady?" "Why, thank you, kind sir!"
• Raft College: The First Year, by rglovejoy (Part 21): Daria's Thursday afternoon section with Professor Daniels went well enough. The professor asked her to read her story to the class; Daria did so as best as she could. The worst part was the passage where the protagonist, a disgraced Soviet railroad engineer and deserter, and the beautiful NKVD officer (who she named Zhanna Lanski) shared a steamy encounter in a bombed-out Stalingrad railway station. Daria's face turned crimson several times; she cursed herself for not recognizing that she was not the only one who would be reading the story.
• Regifted 2: I Put Away Joyless Things, by Ajar (Part 10): “Hey, David. No, don't turn around.” “But isn't eye contact generally—” “Keep it down, we're still in class. Don't worry about it, I just want to know if you've seen Daria today.” “Maybe.” “What do you mean, maybe?”
• Sleepwalker, by Jim North (continued): The first bus was easy to get into since the door had been left open. Once Daria stepped inside, she could see why. A small hatch just inside the door had been broken into, various tools sat just within. She felt certain that if she checked, she'd find that those tools did not include a tire iron. Once she was inside the vehicle, she quickly scanned the interior. She didn't see anyone, but as it was one of the rental buses and not a school bus, there were dividers under each seat, blocking her view. There could be anyone hiding behind one of the rows of seats, waiting for her to let down her guard.
• The Vision of the Burning Cities, by jtranser (continued): "So how did it go? New semester with the usual pack of eager smiling faces anxious to learn all about Dream Psychology and how to use it for personal discovery, psychological engineering and sexual exploitation?" "No, Jane, that was last night's class. Today it was all about Introductory Psychotronics." "Mind Control, eh? Did they ask you what The Frequency was?"