Give Me Your Tired, Your Snarky....

Looks like Jane has finally realized her dream of visiting New York City, because she's reenacting the Statue of Liberty's arrival there on this day in 1885. She seems pretty pleased with herself, but I hope her arm isn't getting tired, because she needs that to paint with.

Today is also Eat Your Vegetables Day, so I hope Kevin and Brittany kept one of the bags they brought to Andre Sakarynsky's Last Meal.

Fandom News!

• Kara Wild has an announcement about deleting and reposting reply messages to threads on the PPMB.


• breitasparrow wonders about the connection between the Slender Man stabbing and internet memes.


• Share your favorite songs where a cover version has the original artist join in.


• LSauchelli wants to know what you are looking for in a word processor.


• Discuss the work of fan artist SRA in the Golden Oldies forum.

Give Me Your Tired, Your Sarcastic....

It was on this day in 1885 that the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City. Jane must be so happy--she's always wanted to visit New York.

Fanfic Update!

• Daria and Jane: On A Dance Party That They Can Handle... (Scenes No Daria Fan-Fic Should Have: MY EYES THEY BURN!!), by Shiva (COMPLETE!): "Daria: 'Hey Jane?' Jane: 'What?' Daria: 'By a minor miracle I have discovered a kind of dance party that I can handle...'"


• Daria: Beavis and Butthead are Dead, by Shiva (COMPLETE!): "It had been hard but with perseverance and a helpful boost from Trent, she had gotten Jane cornered and had talked out the situation and they had both gotten over the death of that clod, Tommy Sherman with a combination of friendship and good grace in the face of death."


• Daria's Purge (Scenes that should be: Polite Requests), by Shiva (COMPLETE!): "Daria smiled as the Emergency Broadcast System alert finished playing, though since she was hanging off to the back her parents and sister didn't see her smile."


• Darius Taylor, by Shiva (part 11): "'It was so nice of you to come shopping with me Angie,' Brittany chirped as soon as she and her fellow shopping companion had come to rest on a nice bench in front of a shoe store at the local mall."


• Jane and Quinn: On Sex (Scenes No Daria Fan-Fic Should Have: MY EYES THEY BURN!!), by Shiva (COMPLETE!): "Jane: 'So Quinn, now that we're inexplicably talking, mind answering a question for me?'"


• Left 4 Daria, by Charles RB (parts 4 and 5): "And when the horde stopped, that is when a blue-yellow thing came sailing down the corridor and kicked her companions into the wall. Daria fired once, twice, click into its back before it could turn. 'I've shot a cheerleader,' she said, staring at the corpse. 'This is the greatest die of my life.'" (Part 5)


• Of All The People That Won't Be Missed, by LongSnakeMoan (part 6): "'Awwww, you're sweet. Todd likes it when people compliment me too, in fact he loves it when people tell me I'm pretty. So uh, I need to talk to Gina about girl stuff but I have no idea where she lives and I need to talk to her urgently,' She smiled as Beavis started giggling about the thought of her and Gina's 'girl talk.' 'Yeah, it is funny. So, where can I find her?'"


• One (More) Little Thing Part 2, by peetz5050 (part 19): "'OK, this is going to be tricky, I have to have dinner with Mom and Grandma and Aunt Amy but I've to be at the student cafe for the gig by seven thirty, it'll have to be an early reservation, sorry I can't ask you to come along Jane... Jane? What's up? Bad news?'"


• Public Disturbance (Scenes No Daria Fan-Fic Should Have: MY EYES THEY BURN!!), by SacredDust (COMPLETE!): "Police detective Daria stared in disbelief. Guys. Guys everywhere. Probably half her graduating class from Lawndale High, dressed to the nines and standing on a seedy street corner."


• Quinn's Code 08: Alternapalooza, by cfardell_Brenorenz29 (part 3): "'You're not your usual self,' Jennifer noticed. Daria scowled. 'I've got a bump on my head, a bug bite on my arm, a sandwich on my ass...' she started saying. Jennifer interuppted. 'And that in front of a certain musician.'"


• The Real Adventures of Melody Powers, by PrecambrianStudios (part 1): "Codenamed Melody Powers, this agent was dropped into North Korea for a single purpose: kill Kim Jung Un."


• Unnamed story (IC: The Lax Broverse thread), by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): "Roger 'Yogi' Pelchat III looked a little queasy. There he was, standing there as a bridegroom, in a gray suit and a little queasy."


• Unnamed story (Scenes No Daria Fan-Fic Should Have: MY EYES THEY BURN!!), by BrownEyedBagel (COMPLETE!): "Melody Powers sat in the dark and weighed her options."


• Unnamed story (Scenes No Daria Fan-Fic Should Have: MY EYES THEY BURN!!), by peetz5050 (COMPLETE!): "Duke Jakob of House Morgendorffer gazed along the line of hussars on the parade ground. Then he crossed to the podium, took a deep breath and said...."


• Unnamed story (Scenes No Daria Fan-Fic Should Have: MY EYES THEY BURN!!), by Silver (COMPLETE!): "'It is my pleasure to announce that this year's most popular student,' spoke Ms. Li over the intercom, 'is our valued exchange student from Equestria, Ms. Flufflepuff!'"


• When the Cat's Away, by SinisterExaggerator (COMPLETE!): "She rolled down the passenger side window. 'I for one welcome our new mouse overlords,' she called. 'Do you?' a high voice answered back."

Happy Fourth!

Today is Independence Day, which is technically about the United States declaring independence from Great Britain but, as far as I can tell, is really more about blowing up random explosives to the tune of the 1812 Overture. Still, for everyone in the U.S., hope it's a good holiday for you!

Whichever country you're in, you may also enjoy any of these Fourth of July-themed fanfics:

• Fireworks by C.E. Forman


• Freedom of Speech (Falling into College) by Richard Lobinske


• Fun on the Fourth (First Summer) by Richard Lobinske


• Independence (Finn Morgendorffer) by HolyGrail2007


• Life is Like A Firework (Daria - The Next Chapter) by LadieT

As always, post in the comments if there are any that I'm missing.

Fandom News!

• Fhujeth_x shares her first feature movie. See the link in the thread.


• neonhomer is looking for some help with the Sarcastathon 3000 Intros on the DVD.


• What about school bands in Daria?


• Arena del Sur shares a sample of his Daria dubbing project.


• DeacBlue has started a new game.


• Talk about the movie Men in Black 3 in the Weapons of Mass Distraction forum.


• Share your picks for the best cartoon moments of the last 10 years.


• Join in the new shared AU: Invertedverse.


• Two Iron Chefs have been posted in the Creative Writing forum: DeacBlue's No Gas! and JPAGC's Doug, Susan and Ramona.


• Shiva has a request for the fan artists.

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Cynics Yearning to Breathe Free

It was exactly 125 years ago today that the Statue of Liberty was dedicated. Jane looks pretty good there for a national monument well over a century old!

This is also International Animation Day, so let's celebrate animation today by watching some kind of animated television program. If only I could think of a really good candidate. Hmmmm....

The PPMB is still down, but you can get updates on the SFMB as well as the Site5 forums. Also, discussion in general continues on the SFMB, and I'll highlight a few recent threads:

• Derek posted some pictures of trolleys at night.


• Some discouraging news about the hypothetical "Daria" revival.


• Discuss Beavis and Butt-head revival in the thread.

Go Fourth and Celebrate!

It's the Fourth of July! "Duh," I hear some of you saying (because this is a magic blog and I can hear you out there), "and tomorrow is the fifth of July." Ah, but in the United States the fourth of July happens to be Independence Day! That's the day when we uppity colonials cut ties with England after years of frustration with restrictive rules about taxation and representation and whether it's okay to stay out past curfew if we promise to call if we'll be home after midnight. Relations have improved a bit since then, but we still get to stay up as late as we want, darn it!

The traditional means of celebrating Independence Day is to buy a bunch of fireworks (possibly crossing state lines to do so) and attempt to seriously injure yourself setting them off. For some reason, Kevin Thompson comes to mind. If you'd like a safer way to amuse yourself today, here are a few fanfics that take place on the Fourth of July:

• Fireworks by C.E. Forman


• Freedom of Speech (Falling into College) by Richard Lobinske


• Fun on the Fourth (First Summer) by Richard Lobinske


• Independence (Finn Morgendorffer) by HolyGrail2007


• Life is Like A Firework (Daria - The Next Chapter) by LadieT

"Hey, how many of you people out here are a national monument, raise your hand, please?"

On this day in 1886, the Statue of Liberty (left) was unveiled and dedicated. Although the statue never appeared and wasn't mentioned on the show, Jane's alter ego (right) is a reference to it. Unless it's actually a reference to Ghostbusters II.

Either way, please enjoy this fanfic update!

The fiercest battles lie within, by VPrad (part 22): "Two male voices got into the same classroom. One of the voices was deep, and seemed to be the one of a middle-aged man, the other one seemed to be of a younger man, maybe in his early twenties. Jane’s heart accelerated when she realized they were only a few meters from her."

God Save The Esteem ep10: Hell Is Other Parents, by Charles RB (parts 2 and 3): "'Because I’m not going to suffer public humiliation, not when I can be watching someone else’s humiliation. You are going to help me and Tom bust out.'" (Part 3)


>The Invitation--the Facebook Edition, by Kristen Bealer (COMPLETE!): "Daria Morgendorffer and Brittany Taylor added breathing to their interests."

Jane Morgendorffer, by LadieT (part 20): "Jane sat on her bed and watched Daria's expression as Penny walked over to her. Trent slid over to make way for their older sister, but continued to hold Daria in a protective hug."

Kolchak: The Lawndale File, by Chris Tucker (continued): "When you've looked a vampire straight in the eye, poured salt in a sleeping zombie's mouth and then sewed its lips shut, confronted Jack the Ripper and lived to tell the tale, some two bit ward-heeler from a two bit mayor of a two bit jerkwater bedroom community is about as scary as a week old kitten, but nowhere near as cute."

Patience, by NightGoblyn (parts 5 and 6): "Trent's frown deepened. 'Then where'd all the blood come from?' The doctor lowered the clipboard and gave Trent a direct, penetrating look. 'That's a really good question, Trent. Something you might want to think about before you spend too much time alone with her.'" (Part 6)

Raft College: The First Year, by rglovejoy (part 30): "When they came though to the other side, Daria saw the difference right away. It was a forest scene, but everything was very brightly colored, but with very little detail. She looked down at her hands: they were a single color, without any marks or blemishes. Oddly, there was a thick black outline around each of her fingers, and everything else as well."


Secret Connectivity: The Amanda Conspiracy, or, Writer's Block Comix, by gwrtheyrn (COMPLETE!): "Away from Jane's eyes, he looked both more perturbed and less confident than he'd tried to appear to her. Jake Morgendorffer wasn't a detective, and didn't have any clear idea about how to conduct a missing persons search himself."

The Spectacular Spider-Girl, by Jim North (parts 10 - 12): "The sight of that much human being barreling toward her caused Jane to freeze up momentarily, but the massive buzz of her spider-sense snapped her out of it. With only moments to spare, she leaped up and back to land just shy of the top of the cage. When she gripped the bars and propped her sneakers back against them, she found that they weren't actually stiff but had a fair bit of give to them." (Part 11) (Part 12)

Unnamed story, by Kristen Bealer (COMPLETE!): "Trent trudged along the side of the road, humming the beginnings of a new song in development. His guitar was slung across his back, but for now he was content to compose unaccompanied. He looked over at Jesse, who was staring blankly ahead as usual as they walked together. They hadn't said much since they'd left the broken-down Tank, aside from occasional speculation on how much further it would be before they found a town and, more importantly, a tow truck."

Worldburner: NegaJane, by Erin Mills (part 3): "'Dash it all, Jane!' Daria Morgendorffer, Improvisational Mechanologist, swore as she tucked her skirts around her knees, which in turn were clasped tightly around the mooring rope of the swiftly rising dirigible of the insidious Baron von Ruttheimer."

Y-Me?, by HolyGrail2007 (parts 26 and 27): "Tanya laughed, seeing it merely as friendly competition. And it was, in a way. Getting guys was never personal, although some people made that mistake in thinking that way. Tanya went out as a group all the time, Quinn was sure she’d understand." (Part 27)

As Always, Jane Does It Best

And a very happy 4th to one and all here. I should return to fill out the rest of this post later (went to baseball game and fireworks on evening of the 3rd). Cheers!

NuUuZ!

• Roentgen drew a marvelous map of the Fielding campus for his series (see below).
• The thread for "Is It Over Yet?" is not over yet. Much discussion there.

FF.net

• My Night with Trent Lane, by Apple Glass (COMPLETE!): Daria shut the door before her cheeks became a darker shade of red. The overwhelming feeling of embarrassment made her lower her gaze as she made her way to her bedroom, brushing aside the opportunity to inject a sardonic comment to something her sister Quinn was saying at the moment. It was imperative to reach her room unscathed, undetected, unquestioned. "Daria?" Damn, almost there. Her mother advanced towards her with that look that could only mean "there's something we need to talk about." Oh, how she hated that look. "Yes?" The girl replied. Keep it cool and this will be over before the next millennium, she thought.

PPMB

• NEWER! Another Normal Day in Lawndale, by JPAGC (Part 4): “Mr. Thompson!” warned DeMartino. “Yes, Mr. D.” Kevin's voice became serious. “World War I started because of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, which caused Austria-Hungary to issue an ultimatum to Serbia and eventually to war. Germany sided with Austria and Russia, Britain and France united to defend Serbia.” “Yes, that is correct. And when did this happen?” “It was... September 1914?” “No, I'm afraid that's wrong.” DeMartino's eyes surveyed the class. “Miss Taylor, since you're smiling so much, I'm sure you can tell us the exact dates.” “Yes, Sir!” Brittany Taylor sprung to her feet, almost standing at attention. “The assassination took place on the 28th June 1914, sir!”
  
• Anti-Trope, by Minx (continued): "What the hell were you thinking?" Helen seethed as she eyed her eldest child. "What on earth possessed you to make such a stupid decision?" Dean met his mothers gaze and winced. She was mad—no, slash that, she was irate. He watched her pace the length of the breakfast bar as she waited for him to answer. "I met him at Middleton the other day when I was hanging out with Heather, he mentioned he was having some trouble writing his term paper and I agreed to give him a few pointers," Dean replied calmly. That was the cover story he, Heather, and Troy had arranged. "A few pointers?" Helen scoffed, "A few pointers?” she repeated in a higher tone, “Dean you wrote the entire essay, then to top things off you sent him all of your handwritten notes!" (FF.net)
  
• Christmas Snow, by LadieT (COMPLETE!): Trent stared out the window into an ever-greying sky. He would have to leave for work early to walk to work. His car was in the shop getting new brakes. He turned his face to Daria, who was sleeping peacefully in his bed. Christmas was just a couple of days away. She needed a break between her classes, work and counseling sessions. Trent watched her chest rise and fall with each breath and smiled. Daria had decided to stay with them rather than go home for Christmas. Her parents were disappointed but understood. She had told them of her and Trent's relationship over the summer. Trent left the bedroom, showered and made himself a cup of coffee. He went back in his room, gently kissed Daria's cheek before he headed out for work. [Sequel to "April Is the Cruelest Month"]
• Finn Morgendorffer 51: A Matter of Trust, by HolyGrail2007 (COMPLETE!): “Are you ready for this, Daria?” Jane was teasing her as she sat in Daria’s bedroom. “You have to make this harder than it is.” Daria lowered her voice. “Aww, I think it’s great!” “If you want to help, you can shove me out the window.” “Daria, there’s a safety mesh to prevent kids who get too drunk from falling out,” Jane reminded. “And you’re looking at this all the wrong way. It’s good that you’re going on a date.” “This isn’t a date,” Daria delivered flatly. “This is just an incredible mistake I got talked into, by a guy who said a glowing fairy told him my middle name is Jeanne.” “Your middle name isn’t Jeanne. You sure he wasn’t stoned?”
• NEW! General Semantics, Private Angst, by Gwrtheyrn (continued): Through the silent corridors she ran, the headset rendering the Stygian darkness permeable to her gaze. The laboratory Jane sought was one level below the guard station whence she came. Even the slight air conditioner motion usually perceptible was missing. Except for the pervasive but almost subliminal fizzy feeling, artifact of powerful Distorters energised somewhere nearby, she might have been racing through catacombs beneath some city of the dead. But there was every reason not to linger. Even some of those with no conditioned resistance to Drae must be nearing the verge of consciousness by this point.
  
• Grove Hell on Earth, by (COMPLETE!): “I’ve got Jane’s address and number on there, too. She’d give it to you in person, but she says there’s a real danger Jesse will walk to another state without supervision.” Amelia blushed darker than she ever had before. “I, I, I’m sure Jane’s just being polite, she’s bound to have other people to talk to...” Wheels turned in Daria’s head. “You can plead the fifth here, but... are you nervous of talking to Jane for the same reason I’m nervous about talking to Trent?” Amelia went from blushing to pale. “Ah, crap.” (FF.net)
• The Hallowed Halls of Fielding, by Roentgen (Part 41): Italy was very, very loud. No one would have raised their voice at Fielding if they could have avoided it, but Rome was a boisterous city where opinions were delivered fortissimo. It was almost too much for Quinn at first, and she almost thought she had descended into a bedlam of louts. But it was so much more than that! When Quinn was about to throw up her hands in disgust, a young woman—or even an older one—would walk down the sidewalk wearing something as smart as the sharpness of a straight razor, something that almost made Quinn gasp. And the food! It was as if her tongue had been slapped out of a somnolent state. The language was beautiful, even when wielded by taxi drivers. Quinn knew that it took not only courage to live here, but a certain willingness to let one's self be surrounded by paradise and not reject it out of hand. (FF.net)
  
• Jesse Moreno and Tiffany Blum-Deckler Moreno: A Couple of Few Words, by LadieT (COMPLETE!): "So... Jesse, Tiffany... how has life been since Daria finished?" Jesse responded first: "Cool." "It's... been... good." I nodded. "You caused quite a stir when you got married not even two months after the show ended. How did the members of the Fashion Club and Mystik Spiral react?" "They... said... my... wedding... dress... made... me... look... fat," Tiffany sighed.
• NEWER! Judith Strikes! Scavenger Hunt, by Doggieboy (COMPLETE!): As the smoked cleared from the .10 gauge shotgun, Jane Lane blinked and said, “I don’t get it. Where’s the squirrel?” Daria Morgendorffer looked at the spot where the squirrel had been, now a smoking chunk of torn-up dirt. She looked at Jane and asked, “‘You think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?’” Jane sighed and said, “Shut up.”
  
• Revenge of the Attack, by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): "So, what's going on?" Stacy asked, cluelessly. "Pardon Stacy," Brooke said, "but was I paying attention to you? Did I ask you to speak to me?" "What's with the asshole act, Brooke?" Quinn said. "Or is it an act?" Gina looked down her nose at Quinn. "Quinn, pink is so last year's color." "Pink is last year's color," Quinn said, "because I decided what last year's color was... last year." "Not any more you don't," Heidi muttered. "You're last year's news." "Who... made... you... boss?" Tiffany said, her vacant look narrowing slightly into a potential for violence.
• Stolen, by Malakite (continued): Jane Lane looked around her living room with the unshakeable sensation that something important had changed. Even so, it still looked like a pile of art pieces, hippie-chic furniture, and a broken television piled under a mile-high layer of neglect... and that's how it had always looked, hadn't it? Nothing was missing. She repeated that to herself a few more times as she made for her room and tried to ignore the nagging sensation that something was wrong.
• A Very Blue Test, by Doggieboy (COMPLETE!): Mr. DeMartino looked over his classroom and frowned. Something is wrong here, he thought. Most of the girls in the classroom seemed different. Daria Morgendorffer and Scarlett Hawkins were the most obvious. Both wore pastel-colored dresses, the first time he had ever seen either one in something like that. Not only that, but Jane Lane and Andrea Hecuba had on pantsuits. He blinked and noticed that all the girls in class seemed to be slightly under the weather... or acted like it. They’re trying to play with my mind, he thought. I’ll just ignore this and see what they do next. [Story related to this thread]
• NEWER! The Vision of the Burning Cities, by jtranser (continued): The dream began innocuously enough. Daria was walking down a country village street which led out of town to a huge raspberry field. The very air was charged with the promise of their sweetness. Suddenly, the raspberries began detaching themselves from their stems and rising into the sky in great clouds of juicy bumped redness. She spread her arms wide and ran toward them, laughing. Then a spark rent the skies and ignited them like so many crimson Hindenburgs, setting the very air itself on fire.

A Wedding and a Birthday (and Chocolate!)

A busy fandom day this day is, indeed. Rita Pietropinto Kitt, who voiced the snarky aunt Amy Barksdale on Daria, was married on this day nine years ago. She has an address for fan mail, so if you want to send her our regards, please do. (Amy Barksdale was married on September 8, 2001, of course.)

Just curious: Why were there never any alter egos of Amy Barksdale? Or Rita, for that matter, but mostly Amy? Anyone got any guesses? BTW I think her hair color is maroon or dark red, not auburn like Daria's. Just throwing that out there.

This is the 123rd birthday of the Statue of Liberty, and let us again say Thank You! to France for the gift that kept on giving. And great thanks to Pinhead for the revised and much enlarged image! (Click and see.) This is one of my favorite alter egos of all time.

According to some mythologies, today is National Chocolate Day, but there seem to be quite a few National Chocolate Days on the calendar. What the heck, celebrate anyway. Pig out.

Strange Thought for the Day: Did you ever notice how much some of the students and faculty at the medieval fair in "Fair Enough" look like they were popped right out of a Harry Potter pastiche? Think about it. Here's all this perfect fantasy fan art and no stories to go with it. (Almost.) Weird, man.

And now for the Halloween fanfiction. This date figures prominently in two different haunting fanfics: Mystik Slacker's "The Journal of Daria Morgendorffer," and Sam Lincoln's "The Space Between." Check 'em out. This is also an excellent time to read Richard Lobinske's "Bump in the Night." One particularly creepy story actually begins on this calendar day: "The Journal of Daria Morgendorffer," by Mystik Slacker.

Oh, heck, why not give away the store: go to this link and get the full Halloween experience from Outpost Daria. Best news of all: there's another stockpile of Halloween fanfic left to go! And more stories not included in either collection! (More tomorrow.)

PPMB

• Daria: Hunter, by Jim North (Parts 1 to 3): Underwear, shirt, jeans, glasses, socks, boots, shoulder holster, pack belt, jacket, gloves, Stetson. And, of course, her undersleeve specials. She performed a quick pat-down of her jacket and pants pockets to make sure she had her wallet and various bits of equipment on her, then stepped out the apartment's front door and into the only-just-bearable heat of yet another summer morning. Door locked, keys out, gravcar primed. Daria confidently backed the vehicle out into the skylane and set off to pick up Jane.
• Finn Morgendorffer 10: Finn the Brain, by HolyGrail2007 (COMPLETE!): Daria tried to crack a smile. She did enjoy it when her brother felt awkward. If Finn had cheated on this essay, Daria would have condemned him. If Mr. O’Neill took it easy on him, Daria wouldn’t have cared. But this was something else. You get to be a brain now, Finn, Daria thought. What do I get to be?

A few more thoughts:

Before anyone writes to me about all the Daria/Harry Potter crossovers out there, and there are a fair number of them now, I was more interested in seeing an original fantasy or modern fantasy take on everyone being a spellcaster or wizard of some kind. It's hard to do. I took the alchemical route with "The Other," but there are plenty of other ways to go with it, like astrology, magic use involving critter familiars, "psychic" magic, tarot magic, critter summoning, necromancy, and so on. The crossovers are great, I love many of them, but something different and original would be nice, too. My humble opinion only. See what can be done with this.

We close with a fifth "witch," Madame Blavatsky from Beavis and Butt-head. Click on her name in Labels to read more about her in an earlier post. Ciao.

Back from Suffragette City

On this day, 136 years ago, civil rights leader Susan B. Anthony was found guilty of voting in the 1872 presidential election. It was illegal for her to vote because she was a woman. She was found guilty and ordered to pay $100 plus court costs. Her response: "May it please your honor, I will never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty.... Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God." And she got away with it. And nowadays women can and do vote, though one of them wishes otherwise. We also have a cynical view from a Daria cast member. Can you guess who the speaker is?

My view is that it's good that women can vote. This allows us to spread out the blame after each election.

BAY STATE DARIACON now being planned for early July! Read and make the date!

FF.net

• Commitment Issues, by Fringeperson (Part 1): Something was bothering Daria. It was keeping her up too, which was frustrating even if it was Friday night and she didn’t have to think of school tomorrow. (Daria/Trent)
• Family Planning, by Alice Shade (COMPLETE!): As Quinn passed by Daria`s door, she paused for a second. Daria was obviously home, and she was obviously with someone, since there were two voices engaged in quiet conversation behind the door. Probably the art chick came over for a visit, considered Quinn. Jane, was it?

PPMB

• Action Stories 3: Two Knights Defense, by NightGoblyn (Part 5): “You realize this will be noticed,” he said as he drove towards the freeway. “Mysterious government agencies do not like it when their employees borrow company equipment for personal projects.”
• Gimme Skelter, by TAG and Brother Grimace (Part 8): In mid-afternoon, the convoy came to a halt a few miles southeast of a desert town called Holbrook. This time the combat engineer’s opinion was not needed regarding the safety of the U.S. 180 bridge crossing the Little Colorado River, because there was no U.S. 180 bridge crossing the Little Colorado River. (HTML)
  
• A Present for Dad (a Scarlett tale), by Doggieboy (COMPLETE!): The seventeen-year-old redhead quickly hugged him and said, "Sorry I missed you this morning, but I had a pressing appointment." The man blinked and looked at her, a skeptical expression on his face. "You were snoring when I left this morning."
• Tales of the Ringbearers: With New Responsibility, by Richard Lobinske (Part 2): His passengers screamed and kicked at the zombies climbing up on the landing skid while Capt. Wright struggled to maintain control of the helicopter. "What the f…" he muttered when movement above him and to the right caught his eye.

St. Elsewhere (late addition!)

• Water over the Bridge, by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): [I honestly don't know how I missed seeing this one pop up, but it is terrific. Drop what you are doing and read it. Thanks, Roentgen!]
  

Jane Stands Up for America

This is the 122nd birthday of the Statue of Liberty, no kidding, and let us again say Thank You! to France for the gift that kept on giving. This is one of my favorite alter egos of all time, maybe my #1 favorite.

I'll add news and fanfics here as the day goes on. Looks like I will be home for a while longer.

Brother Grimace is working away on DariaWiki. Latest addition: Training Cadre 3011.

Those of you who have long felt that our fandom should be more inclusive by having male slash stories will be heartened to know that the problem has been resolved at this link. What happens when you read this is not (repeat, not) my fault. I'm only the messenger.


PPMB

• Daylight: Science Abuse, by psychotol (COMPLETE!): A British "blow stuff up" science show, Sky One's Brainiac: Science Abuse, takes on a coronal mass ejection.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY, Y'ALL!

July 4th is a big day in Daria fandom, given the number of stories that take place on that day. It was of course the day of the Landons' party in Is It Fall Yet? (scene 20). It has also appeared in the following fanfics.

Best Served Cold (Ms. Geek)
By the Twilight (Wildgoose)
Family Collision (Richard Lobinske)
Fast Times at Lawndale High (Danny Bronstein)
Fireworks (C. E. Foreman)
Fun on the Fourth (Richard Lobinske)
If You Only Walk Long Enough (TAG)

Several stories as yet incomplete are due to take place on July 4th: Chapter 16 of Mike Xeno's Sarcasm at 1600, and Brother Grimace's Moonflower.

Do you recall any other Fourth of July Daria stories? If so, post them below in Comments.

More later. Party on most righteously!