Mmmm...Chocolate!

Happy birthday to the late Henri Nestlé, born 197 years ago today. He was the founder of the Nestlé company, which makes (among other, less important things) chocolate. Sure, it may not be at the top of everyone's list for quality, but some of us aren't too terribly discriminating about it.

Besides, as Jane Lane will tell you, the only kind of chocolate worth eating is unauthorized chocolate. Bwa-ha-ha-ha.

Fanfic Update!

• Cereal Offender (Iron Chef: A Constrained Tale), by The Angst Guy (COMPLETE!): "'What is THAT?' cried wild-eyed Jake, racing through the house in his underwear at seven a.m. 'It's a UNICORN!' shrieked Helen, close behind him in a ripped nightgown. 'Never seen one up close before!'"


• Dark Future: Road Worrier, by Charles RB (part 5): "A minute later, an unshaven, eyepatched drifter came out of the bar with a shiv and tried to open the door. 'Daria, don't wave at the murderer.' 'I'm just trying to make friends like you told me to do.' The murderer stabbed the window, to no avail. 'And it worked as well as I told you it would.'"


• For A Friend (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: Last Friday Night!), by breitasparrow (COMPLETE!): "'Whoa, man. This is deep,' he said to himself. Just then, Daria walked back into the room. 'Um, Trent? What are you doing?' she said. Trent slowly stood up and walked to her. 'Daria, that story spoke to me. I always knew you were a great writer, but... wow.'"


• General Semantics, Private Angst, by gwrtheyrn (part 40): "'The links have been down for two days, and the science types say it's sabotage, not sunspots. Eldrao told me that you'd been arrested there; that's the last direct report I know of. But image analysis from the VLA has confirmed what the Games Machine broadcast last night: there are two alien fleets in Solar space, one in the Belt, one in the Oort Cloud. I think Vitale split his fleet to keep back a reserve, but -- no telling what they're doing in the Belt. Anyway, the invasion is public knowledge. Now, we're all caught between the feces and the fan.'"


• Ghost Girl chapter four, by Pumpkin Panic (parts 3 and 4): "Daria had noticed a strange absence of spirits as she walked to school. Usually a couple found her and followed her for a while till they reached there boundaries if they had them and then they would fade away. This made it easier to ignore them. If Jane had noticed she hadn't mentioned anything. Then again the ghosts could hide themselves to Jane in a way they couldn't to Daria and Daria almost envied her for that. It was a pity she noticed the absence of the ghosts and not the very real car that tailed her and Jane wherever they went.'" (Part 4)


• God Save The Esteem 33: A Headbutt of Dollars, by Charles RB (part 4): "'I... I can get y'all as far as Happy Dawg's, you can find your way from there...' Travis turned away from Tom, realised he'd have to look at Killer Quinn, turned back to Tom. 'What y'all doing in Fremont anyway?' 'Busting people outta prison,' said Quinn. 'That's nice,' said Travis in a very strangled, please-don't-kill-me voice. 'I'm a singer.'"


• The House of Cards, by Doggieboy (part 7): "Those dreams faded away and finally stopped before I turned fifteen. Last night, though, he came back. This time, he was in the barn with me, Scarlett and the others. The events of that damned day more or less repeated themselves as they actually happened. But there was one thing different this time. By the end of the dream, I wasn't the wolf. I was Death himself."


• Legends Of The Metal, by TheExcellentS (part 15): "'You sure you weren't in a...' Tom took a deep breath and shook his head. He never thought he'd have to utter this sequence of words ever again. '...second wave of American tween melodic rap metalcore band?' The red-haired one, Jeffy, shook his head. 'I don't know half the words you just said, but I heard metal.' 'Yeah!' yelled the blonde, Jamie, 'We love metal!' Well, then. I think I know which version of The Three Js I prefer."


• Revenge of the Demon Plot Bunnies (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: Last Friday Night!), by gwrtheyrn (COMPLETE!): "When Daria Morgendorffer attained her fourteenth birthday, five years after they had come to Earth, her grandfather, feeling that necessary aspects of her education had been developed insufficiently, began the practice of strolling with her at night through the rougher parts of various cities. A few months later, two footpads who accosted them, shortly before one Friday midnight in an Antwerp back alley, became her first kills."


• Rude Awakening Ep.8: Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust, by DIsaac (part 5): "JODIE: Well by working here at WHUB - I have become an expert in the craziness of life and work. BRITTANY: They don't seem that crazy. JODIE: Oh, that is because this is the calm before the storm, Brittany. It's coming. It will ALWAYS come!"


• Siamese Esteemsters (IC: We are Siamese, if you please), by TAT_Man (COMPLETE!): "Helen - Easy, Jake. Focus. (to Daria) We tell you over and over again that you're wonderful and you just... don't... get it! (slams fists on table) What's wrong with you?! Quinn - Is she going to have, like, a breakdown or something? 'Cause I would hate to have to drag her drooling body every where I went."


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: A Constrained Tale), by Hyrin (COMPLETE!): "Daria and Jane walked down the street, discussing Daria's date with Tom the previous night. 'Never seen one up close before,' Daria mused wistfully as Jane blushed slightly. Suddenly, a creature stepped out of legend and into the intersection next to them."


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: A Constrained Tale), by RX-87 (COMPLETE!): "An ajar door caught her eye and she slipped in. It came as quite a shock to her, the sheer size of the room she found herself in. She'd heard of how huge the industrial facilities in the colonies were, but seeing it for herself was something else entirely. But what was in the center of that room was what really set her teeth on edge."


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: A Constrained Tale), by Vukodlak (COMPLETE!): "Tom smiled looking down at Daria's sleeping form cuddled up next to him. They were having a picnic in the park and she had fallen asleep cuddled up against him. Daria shifted in her sleep and for a moment Tom could see down her shirt. 'What is that?' he mumbled to himself looking at what he thought he could a tattoo... on her chest between her... his face flushed red at the thought."


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef - Jodie the Inventor), by Chris Tucker: "A scream of utter terror shattered the evening calm. There were four women billeted in the Quonset hut that was the BOQ, three of them were in one room playing penny ante poker, the fourth had left to use the bathroom. Before the scream had faded, the three had leapt from their seats, grabbed pistols and bolted from the room."


• Unnamed story (PLOT BUNNIES: free to good home), by RX-87: "'Again, you have no fucking self awareness. I never would have slept with Ann if you'd actually been here for me. You're always blowing me off to go fool around with that brainy bitch from Raft. Don't think I don't know what you're really up to. What is it, Jane? That whole naughty librarian thing get you wet? "Oh, I promise I'll be quiet..."' Paris might have said more if Jane had not chosen that moment to knock two of her front teeth out."


• Unnamed story (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: Last Friday Night!), by RX-87 (COMPLETE!): "Rubbing the still-sore spot on her forehead where Daria had stabbed her with that strange needle, she turned to look at her friend for the first time. Jane didn't even know how she'd gotten in, she wasn't expecting her, but right now it didn't matter. She'd simply startled her, coming up and telling Jane she had a surprise, then pricked her head, inducing a strange, horrible sensation, the worst pain Jane had felt since the accident, but when it subsided she could see again. Twelve years of darkness gone in an instant."


• Untitled Short, by Silver (COMPLETE!): "It was a tree. That's all it was. 'Keep telling yourself that, Sandy.'"