Halfway Through the Year, We Answer an Old Question

July 1st, it is today, and we celebrate all sorts of holidays and anniversaries as a result, to include:

• Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day
• The 31st birthday of the Sony Walkman, beloved of background character Dawn (at left)
• Canada Day in Canada
• Moving Day in Quebec
• Tartan Day in Australia and New Zealand
• The 7th birthday of Paperpusher's Message Board, ver. 2.0
• Financial Freedom Day (as celebrated by Daria and her Montana Cabin Fund at right)
  
• Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day in Hong Kong
• The 49st birthday anniversary of Diana, Princess of Wales (beloved of Sandi Griffin, and here's proof)
• July Morning in Bulgaria
• The 141st birthday anniversary of William Strunk, Jr. (yes, that William Strunk, Jr.)
• The 67th birthday of Tokyo, which is technically not a city though you would never know it to look at it
  
• The 102nd birthday of the SOS signal
• and I forgot, something else, whatever.

What a day! And I haven't even written in the fanfiction yet. Speaking of which...

Remember the good old days almost exactly a year ago, when we used to argue over whether Daria fandom was dying? Remember how we would commiserate over the inevitable wasting away of our happy little suburb, one day soon to vanish in the great megacity sprawl that is Fandomland? Don't those days seem kind of... well... premature?

At the moment there seems to be a literal explosion of new fans and new fanfiction and new everything thanks to the DVD set. I mean, seriously, I can barely keep up with the surge of good reading that's hitting the Internet. The number of DFB2 followers leaped from 9 to 38 in one year, and 95,000 hits to 176,000 in about the same time period. Blammo.

So, to answer the old question if Daria fandom is on its last legs, the answer would appear to be...

Thank you.

FF.net

• College Wry, by LibertyxIsxLove (Part 3): Nick scratched his head, newly dyed blue, and for the tenth time took a look around Trent's basement. "Um, guys?" he finally sputtered. "Where're our instruments?" "Some other criminales prol'ly heard how hard we are!" Max began shouting. "And they wanted to stop us before our music could change the—" "Shouldn't we call Trent and tell him his house was robbed?" Jesse inquired anxiously. Nick rolled his eyes at this idea. "Nah, he's in Australia. It's not like he'd be able to hear us."
• The InDark, by Mediancat (Part 21): Amy Barksdale said, "I believe you." "You say that as though there were some doubt," Daria said. "No doubt," said Amy. "It's a legitimate explanation. It's just one I hadn't thought of."
• NEWER! Fresh TV—The Musical! by Mikata88 (Parts 2 and 3): Chef Hatchet: "Emma! What the Sam Hill are you still doin' here? There's a got-dang hurricane a-comin'! You know... I've never told you this... [sings] Emma, Oh, Emma, You're a gem... a... [looks at watch] Man, this is eatin' up a lot of time. [exits] Don't forget to lock up." (Daria/Total Drama/6teen)
  

PPMB

• NEW! Anti-Trope, by Minx (continued): Dean walked through the house but his search for Quinn had so far been unfruitful. As he came to a less crowded hallway he saw a long row of framed photos ranging from the year prior all the way back to the mid sixties. Each one depicted a similar scene: a young, good-looking woman being held up on a group of young men’s shoulders. Under each snapshot was a small gold plaque reading ‘Keg Queen’ with the name of the queen and year the photo was taken. As he walked along viewing each photo he stopped dead at 1975’s winner. His mouth dropped open as he read the inscription: Keg Queen – 1975 Helen Barksdale. (FF.net)
  
• NEW! Daria: Hunter 6—Infectious, by Jim North (continued): "I KNEW those rumors were true!" DeMartino crowed. "And you were HOLDING OUT on me this entire time! For SHAME, Miss Morgendorffer! For SHAME!" "Yes, yes," Daria said with sarcastic long-suffering, "I'm extremely sorry we didn't let you know we were secret agents. I'm a horrible person."
• NEW! Finn Morgendorffer 51: A Matter of Trust, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 3): And then, Jeffy remembered during sophomore year, near the end of the school year when Finn left for a weekend visit to some spa place. When he came back, the guy was a total wreck, barely able to function. When questioned about it, Finn just shrugged and said he hadn’t been sleeping well. He got a bit better, but he was a mess for the whole school year. How the hell did I fall for that? Jeffy wondered.
• NEW! Grove Hell on Earth, by Charles RB (Part 7): Things were going badly. They continued to go badly as the trio walked into the concert, right past the hordes of pierced rockers and alternative fans (alters?) who were having a blast, all love and laughter and life. Everything Daria was destroying was on display, a joke at her expense. She wondered, against her will, if she would soon view Grove Hills with nostalgia. There, she had Amelia to write to; there was an escape. Where was she supposed to go when she’d pissed on that escape? (Jane? Who was Jane? How long would it last before she drove Jane away to?)
  
• Politricks Are Not for Kids, by Brian Taylor (Part 2): The bedroom is almost pitch black with the curtains drawn, but for the little blue glow of a bedside alarm clock. The phone continues to ring. Daria turns on a light and fumbles for her glasses on the nightstand. The phone keeps right on ringing. Securing her glasses, she settles them on her face—crooked—and glowers at the clock, which reads 3:30. Finally, she grabs the phone and holds it to her ear. A long pause follows during which we can hear a muffled voice talking animatedly on the other end....
• A Reality Parent Looks Back, by CR85747 (COMPLETE!): “The Daria years were a mixed blessing,” recounts Amanda Lane from her home in Lawndale, the famous “Casa Lane” that served as the base of the family as seen on the MTV reality show and is now the residence of the retired parents. “People kept calling me: 'Why weren't you there all the time?' There was too much to do. Besides, they took care of themselves fairly well—perhaps surprisingly to people who didn't know them firsthand.”
• NEW! Sleepwalker, by Jim North (continued): The overhead light flickered off, breaking Quinn out of her reverie. All of the girls jumped in surprise, and Quinn was fairly certain that she heard one of them—Tori, she hoped—squeal a bit. Beside that, everything was eerily silent. The light came back on a few seconds later, and the tension left the air as everyone relaxed. "I do believe that has proven my idea of a fashion lockdown was an excellent one," Sandi said as she went back to applying rouge on Tori's cheeks. "None of us would want to be caught outside if all the lights went out. No one would be able to see how cute we are." Quinn ruefully resumed her braiding. "When you're right, you're right, Sandi," she said with a sigh.
  
• NEWER! Unnamed story (The Hallowed Halls of Fielding), by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): "God, the Strawberries and Creme flavor is rank!" Quinn cried. "Sorry, 'Kiki'. You're not getting any of my Maple and Brown Sugar flavor," Daria said. "Elsie, how are you doing with your oatmeal?"

Multiple Verses

To me, the Daria Multiverse is an incredible indicator of the creativity of Daria Fandom. Over one hundred different fictional universes are already recorded in the DariaWiki entry and more are added on a regular basis, covering everything from ficlets to long series.

Closely associated with the multiverse idea are the shared-universe stories, such as the Ringbearers and Daylight. Less formally, guest authorships in long-running series, such as Brother Grimace's "A Path of Roses and Thorns" or the shared use of fan-developed characters, like Doggieboy's Robert Nelson point to more of the shared creativity within the fan community.

Seven years beyond the broadcast of the final television movie, it is reasonable to wonder about how long fans will remain interested. In my opinion, the creativity expressed in these stories has gone a long way to sustain interest in Our Heroine and will continue to do so for some time to come. Even though the stories and background may diverge greatly from canon, the ones that fans will read over and over are those that still capture the core feeling and character of Daria and company. The scenery may change, but it is Daria, Jane and all the others that continue to hold our attention.

Story Vs. Technique

Writing is a craft involving both creative and technical aspects. Optimal, of course, is an excellent story, excellently told. However, particularly when reading fan fiction, one must at times be willing to forgive, at least to a point, weaknesses in one area or another. Even in the Daria fandom. Yes, Daria fans are smarter than everyone else, and yes, all our writers (well, maybe not Ronin) are a cut above the writers from other fandoms, but we still have some things to overlook when it comes to the stories. (If you are a Daria writer, of course this doesn’t mean your stories. You are the exception.)

Sometimes it’s broken rules. Yes, writing has rules. Spelling, grammar, punctuation. These things matter.

Sometimes it’s a weakness in the story. Poorly conceived, poorly plotted, poor characterization. Or even just not a good story, at least for some. Not every story can appeal to every reader.

Sometimes, it’s a corker of a story, or at least it could be, it’s just not written well. Good ideas suffer when poorly executed.

Even when a story isn’t particularly appealing, if well told, I still quite enjoy it. I can also overlook a number of weaknesses in technique if the story is good. There is, however, a tipping point, when a story becomes unreadable. This might vary. For example, I was completely unable to read one story that was recommended to me because of the flagrant abuse of italics. The story may have been fabulous, but I could not read it.

What’s your tipping point?

Breaking News

A new fandom holiday has been declared: Bowman Day, July 8th, celebrated in honor of metahuman friend Senator James Bowman. Check it out on DariaWiki. (You learn the strangest things there.)

MMan discovered a very useful website for writers, called "How to Write Almost Readable Fan Fiction." Besides being funny, it's also good for experienced writers to go over, lots of advice. Thanks, MMan!

NEWS UPDATE: What Would Telepathy Be Like? a discussion thread begun by Scissors MacGillicutty, is still growing. Excellent resource material if you have telepathy in one of your fanfics.

Almost 20,000 hits on DFB2! Subtract out mine and we have . . . um . . . some hits! Wahoo!

If you are in the mood for some fun, try Create a Quinn! Use your computer graphics skills to modify a standard picture of Quinn and make her unique.

Now for a quick update that I might expand later, if anything's posted:


PPMB

• The Handmaidens of Narcissus, by TheSecretSharer (up to Act I, Scene IV): Shakespeare's long-lost classic of life in Lawndale! The title is perfect, too.
  
• Iron Chef: Personality Wipe, unnamed ficlet by Greystar (COMPLETE!): Poor Tom! This begs for more.
• Iron Chef: Unusual Superpowers, a challenge offered by Kalad1 to give a Lawndale character a weird superpower. Some very good ficlets are here. MOAR!!!
  

Back soon, runny nose and I'm out of tissues. And again.