Halloween Week Is Here

Daria and some animated acquaintances (one hesitates to call them friends) appeared 12 years ago today in Fortune Magazine. Must have been a great dinner. Daria of course is reading at the table. Butt-head is eating smoking a cigar and drinking wine. Or grape juice. Whatever.

Richard has started off the Halloween free-for-all. I'm sure the Harry Potter and Charmed fandoms think they have a choke hold on Halloween fan-anything, but THEY CAN SIT ON THEIR WANDS. Uh huh, that's right, I went there. You heard me. Daria rules.

We'll start with a reminder of Daria's humble beginnings, as the straight girl to Beavis and Butt-head's insanity. (Click on B&B's picture at upper right and it will magically enlarge. Huh huh huh huh huh...) Beavis and Butt-head put the "weenie" in Halloween. I don't know what I meant by that, but I'm sure that you, the fans, do.


We should list some fanfiction that is appropriate to read this week. There's a great pumpkinload of it, so we will start now. Crazy Nutso had a lot of great Halloween fanfic. Thanks to Kara Wild for hosting these tales on Contrarian's Corner.

• All Misery Chicks Go To Hell
• Plan 9 from Lawndale
• Daria: The Hunter
• No More Ms Nice Vampire

Brother Grimace posted a great bit of haunted "faanfiction" (fanfic about fans and fandom), also on CC:

• Daria Author Tombstones

And Mr. Anonymous had a Halloween story of his own:

• Party Favors

Mike Xeno's “Community Disservice” wasn't for Halloween, but it took place in October, so we'll allow it in. We'll also allow in B&B in The Wizard of Oz (zy), because there's a witch and a winged monkey in it.

This is a start. Hope you enjoy the fun.

ArT n0oOZ

• Jim North is back, with a marvelous display of Daria art!
• Pinkminx has a beautiful portrait of Sandi Griffin, up close and personal.
• Pinhead's "small jokes" continue to amaze the fandom. I love it here!
  

'Tis the Season - for Halloween

Hey, if the stores can begin stocking Halloween merchandise in July, we can start talking about Halloween the week before.

So for the next few days, expect occassional, erratic and probably barely planned posts about this Very Important Holiday.

In other words, we're going to have some fun.

Oh, and thanks to TAG for finding the line drawing of Daria as a witch.

What Could Have Been

Forty-seven years ago today in an alternate Dariaverse, a dreadful thing happened. Good thing it wasn't our universe, but it could have been.

The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral occurred 128 years ago this date, leading to the Okay to Cry Corral in Is It Fall Yet? and a Daria fanfic featuring Doc Holliday.

N0oZ

• Another classic image series from Pinhead. This is really great!
• And yet another classic image, brand new, from Jim North: SLURP!
  
• Roentgen has sparked considerable debate on PPMB about the wealth rankings of Daria characters. Who's rich, and who's not? Comments always welcome.

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• Apocalyptic Daria: Scarlett's Tale, by Doggieboy (Part 12): The door to the stairway opened and three oriental men walked in the room. All three were dressed in uniforms of what was once called the North Vietnamese Army, and each carried an assault rifle, either of Russian or Chinese design.
• Don't Leave Anything to Chance, by Coonassblondie (Part 2): "I don't want to think about you screwing my friend. It's just wrong." "You shouldn't be concerned with who I'm screwing at all. That includes your friends!"
• John Lane 43: We're on a Mission, by Richard Lobinske (part 3): "You've got this all planned out. Quinn mentioned that Daria was spending the day at a spa with her and their mother. How did you pull that off?" "Manipulation, bribery and groveling. Oh, and I may need to score the deed to a small country."

Saints Preserve Us!

Saint Daria? Yes, indeed. Today is the Roman Catholic feast day for St. Daria, though the Orthodox feast day for her is on March 19. Saint Daria was said to be "supremely modest." Hmmm, is that our Daria? Pagans were supposed to have proclaimed of the saint, "Daria is a goddess!" Like, duh, we knew that. Interesting that St. Daria started off as a priestess of Athena, goddess of wisdom. Double hmmm.

Twelve years ago, curiosity got the best of one fanfic Daria. The rest was history. Bizarre history. Still thinking about a sequel to that.

The awesome supersite Glitter Berries was last updated two years ago today. *sigh* Still metric tons of good stuff to see there, especially art. Thank you, Kem!

Stay tooned.

Awash in Snerkiness

Saw an online article that said Daria's Inferno shipped exactly nine years ago today. Also read Wraith's Ramblings for exactly the same date about "See Jane Run." Good times, good essay. More importantly, I saw a question that was asked of Yahoo! Answers, and perhaps it will be of interest to you. [snerk] Guess Daria didn't think that was funny. But I did. And now it's time for the N0oO0Z

• Sarah "Stacy Rowe" Drew is a busy busy busy bee on TV.
• Glenn Eichler has written a very graphic novel.
• Another real-life Daria on the radio? NPR, no less! (I've been a Sarah Vowell fan for years.)
• OMG! Who did the lesbian-oriented Curve Magazine hook up with Daria Morgendorffer? NOOOOOO!!!!!! (I guess Daria has lots of reasons for frowning.)
• And what is Ashley "Janet Barch/Tiffany Blum-Deckler" Albert doing these days? Rock on, mama!
• NEW! Pinhead has an impressively sad picture of Daria called "AAA" (title explained at link).
• NEWER! The Facebook Daria page is the active center of an argument over which character on Daria is their favorite. Is anyone here on Facebook who can check into the group and let them know about PPMB and Outpost Daria and all that? More fans!

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• NEW! Align Your Books Precisely on the Shelf, Go Out in the Streets, by Wraith (COMPLETE!): “My alarm didn't go off. Didn't even have time to eat." "Not a very original excuse." "But it has the virtue of being more believable than being abducted by aliens, even if that really was what happened." [a Daria/Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei crossover]
• NEW! Grandma's Memories, by GlitterShrooms (COMPLETE!): [Eye bleach warning! Brain bleach warning! Aaaaugh!!!]
• NEWEST OF ALL! The Melancholy of Daria Morgendorffer, by Wraith (Part 1): "Class, today we have a new student joining us. Why don't you introduce yourself?" "My name is Daria Morgendorffer. I'm not interested in normal humans. If you're an alien, an esper, a time traveler, or a slider, come to my side."
• NEW! Rainbow Disconnection, by Disco316 (Part 5): "I just wish guys were as easy to understand as girls.” “Jane,” said Daria, “I’m sure every guy in the world would disagree with you.” [Most Excellent SSW Spot: “These men went to Indiana University to get an education, but they spent too much time on extracurricular activities! The Hoosier daddies: next on Sick, Sad World!”]
• Unnamed story (Scenes No Daria Fanfic Should Have: Hump Day), by Disco316 (COMPLETE!): "Hey, Kevin?" "Hey, Daria. What's up? "I want to give you a hump." "Well, Daria, I mean that's cool with me, but don't you have that Tom guy for that?"
• EVEN NEWER THAN NEWEST! Unnamed story (Three-peat! New Ideas Thread Wins Again!), by Lorenzo Sauchelli (COMPLETE!): The old man raised an eyebrow. "Really? Don't remember? Hurricane obliterating your town doesn't ring a bell?"

Birthday Time

According to Archbishop James Ussher, Earth is 6,013 years old today. This begins a large number of important anniversaries on this special date. Get ready.

Chicken Soup for the Butt (later collected as part of the megavolume, Reading Sucks) says that Daria is a Scorpio. Today begins the Scorpio part of the zodiac, so her birthday is sometime between now and November 21st. Happy Birthday, Daria! Now, if we only knew when Jane's birthday was....

This is also the birthday of "Weird Al" Yankovic, beloved of many in this fandom. Do you like chemistry? Today is also Mole Day for you science nerds.

Seven years ago today, the now-defunct online comic Mall Monkeys had some special guests. The artwork was borrowed from Outpost Daria.

Last year about this time, Daria fan Dr. Mike pointed out an unusual resemblance between another online character, Clarice, and Daria Morgendorffer. You be the judge, though I will point out Daria does like books and has been depicted (in canon) wearing an outfit like the one Clarice wears in her second-shift job.

Five years ago, "Save the Nauga’s Hide" was completed by Greystar. Fun story!

CURRENT NuuZ

• Acidgirl has her own new version of Jane from "Love Is a Series of Burning Sensation."

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• Anti-Trope, by Pinkminx (Part 4): Dean sat quietly at a desk toward the front of the class. He turned in his chair to survey the rest of students in the room, realizing the strong female presence in the first few rows of desks. In fact, he was the only male in the front section of the class; every other male student was seated in the back rows. As Dean pondered this abnormality his thoughts were interrupted by the shrill, nasally voice of his science teacher.
• Finn Morgendorffer 9: Legends and Losers, by HolyGrail2007 (COMPLETE!): Finn stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. It was a ritual he performed at least three times a day, more if he had a date or other excuse to be presentable. And the mirror, just like before showed it’s reflection. Finn’s hair was a little in disarray because he had been laying on the bed, but he still looked as handsome as ever. Except for his mouth. Finn couldn’t smile.
• NEW! Finn Morgendorffer 10: Finn the Brain, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 1): “When I assigned you that essay on the styles of writing poetry, I knew I’d get work that reflected the teen within, whether it be the happy-go-lucky cheerleader or the quiet, sensitive person—but never was I so impressed as I was by the essay that Finn Morgendorffer wrote for us!”
  
• Invisible Love, by Charliefox2012 (Part 6): “What are you doing?” Duncan asked. “Drawing,” Jane said, not looking up from her sketchbook. Duncan smirked. “I kind of figured that.” Jane grinned. “Then why’d you ask? And you’re supposed to be smart.” (FF.net)
  
• NEW! A Minty Move-in Day, by Aloysius (COMPLETE!): When the boy and his dad laid their loads on the unmade bed, they left the room and Linda sat her box on top of a nearby desk and wiped her forehead. “I hate carrying boxes,” she muttered. “So I’ll take a brief rest.” The Dawson boy looked at the woman and said, “Mrs. Griffin?” Linda looked at him, her eyebrows raised, and saw that he held out a mint container. “Would you like a Paul’s Fresh Mint?”
  
• The Substitute, by Echopapa (Part 1): Angela Li looked up from her computer screen to the woman sitting at the opposite end of her desk. O’Neill’s nervous breakdown had left her short an English teacher, and the flu virus that was sweeping Lawndale had ravaged the available pool of substitutes, forcing her to hire from the outside. It was fortunate that this resume had arrived in her email yesterday; even more fortunate that this applicant was able to come over from Gotham City on such short notice.
• NEW! Unnamed story (Halloween IC: The Mist), by NightGoblyn (COMPLETE!): "We're gonna die in here, we're gonna die in here, weregonnadieinhere, weregonnadieinhere, weregonnadieinhere!" "Stacy!" Quinn shouted, shaking her friend by the shoulders. "We're not gonna freakin' die! Now calm down!"
  

"Sometimes you feel like a nut...."

Daria and Jane, wearing peanut outfits for It's a Nutty, Nutty, Nutty World at Lawndale Mall, are our mascots for National Nut Day. The image is from Pinhead (thanks!), from the Sarcastathon 3000 retrospective of Daria episodes. (More on National Nut Day here. More on where this post's title came from here.)

Psychologist, futurologist, dolphinologist, author, and LSD guru Timothy Leary, for whom Willow and Coyote's three sequential dogs were named, was born this day 89 years ago. Awesome actor Jeff Goldblum was born today 57 years ago.


FANDOM NuZ!

• Angelinhel has come up with a killer Iron Chef for Halloween, based on the Stephen King story, The Mist. Nice.
  
• Brother Grimace has located a clever cartoon "tribute" to Daria on YouTube.
• On PPMB, GlitterShrooms asks the musical question: What if the show was "Beavis, Butthead, and Daria"? Post your answer there.
• Ninetwelve needs help with the casting call for his next fic, "Night of the Living Daria."
• Remember to read Quiverwing's post about the rules for the 2009 Daria Fanworks Awards.
• Want to get a fanfic of any fandom as a Christmas gift? Read what surprises Coonassblondie has in store, on SFMB.

Got caught napping while a busload of new fanfiction rolled into town...

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• Finn Morgendorffer 9: Legends and Losers, by HolyGrail2007 (Parts 1, 2, and 3): All four guys stood on the field for an extended moment, clearly lost in their own thoughts. Finn’s brow furrowed when he received the news from Coach Gibson. So... he died, Finn thought.
• Invisible Love, by Charliefox2012 (Parts 5 and 6): “So,” Quinn said with a smile, scrutinizing Duncan. He looked at her confused. “What?” “How was your date with Jane?” Quinn asked smirking. (FF.net)
  
• John Lane 43: We're on a Mission, by Richard Lobinske (Part 2): "Lucky bastard." "Very lucky." "That's not what I meant. I have to endure and entire day of mother/daughter bonding and you get to stay at home, ignoring Dad while he watches football."
• Regifted, by Ajar (Part 20): “Now, we need to get ready for class. Remember, we need to be close to each other continuously. That includes your shower.”
• Two Halves 5: Mall Rat Blues, by Dark Kuno (Part 1): “Good grief,” stated Jane as she closed the front door of her house behind her. “I’m not the biggest fan of air-headed perky model types but that was pretty bad, even for an air-headed perky model type.”
• Unnamed story (Halloween IC: The Mist), by Disco316 (COMPLETE!): "What's that mist coming our way?" "Oh God! Let's get out of here!"
  
• Unnamed story (New Jane shipper fic - untitled), by Coonassblondie (Part 1): Jane sighed again as she habitually glanced at the bed where her best friend, Daria Morgendorffer, would normally lie, reading a book while Jane painted. Jane caught another unspoken comment and swallowed it past the lump that was forming in her throat.
• Unnamed story (TMI+20: Lawndale after Three Mile Island goes BOOM!), by TAG (COMPLETE!): "Brittany and Kevin, creators of a new generation of humanity. This is their story."
  

Gettin' Dizzy!

On the left, Mack Mackenzie poses as bebop jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. (I thought that bent trumpet looked familiar.) Today is the 92nd anniversary of Dizzy's birthday. A sample of his greatness can be found here.

This is also the 176th birthday anniversary of Alfred Nobel, creator of both dynamite and the Nobel Prize, about which you may have lately heard a great deal.

Today is Apple Day. Nothing to do with computers, though.

The very first Daria VHS compilation came out 12 years ago today (upper right). And now everything's DVDs or digital nonexistent.

On this date 42 years ago, someone claimed to have seen and filmed Bigfoot (lower right). Only it wasn't. It was a friend dressed as Bigfoot, and pictures of the friend in Bigfoot costume surfaced later. Oh, well. Daria once went to a Bigfoot convention. Why no fanfic about this event? What if she knew Bigfoot personally? What if they "were an item"? What if... wink wink nudge nudge... they were pen pals?

What if you tried to draw people but they always came out looking like you? A cute blog post by someone you should remember and revere.

Pinkminx is working on a Jane portrait, and here is Jane's face. OMG. That's some serious mojo at work there. Stay tooned, moar 2 b adedd.

Remember your old room at home?

At right is a very nice reproduction of Daria's bedroom in Lawndale, borrowed from the Daria's Inferno computer game. Click on it to get the larger size. Take a look at it for a moment. If this had been your bedroom, what else would be present? What would not be there? How would you fix the room up differently? Does Daria's room pass the reminiscence test to actually look like the room of a disaffected sixteen-year-old girl? In other words, did MTV get it right? Put your opinions in Comments. I'm curious about this one. (Just remember the fourth wall, which has her bookshelves, computer, and desk.)

Conservative commentator and Daria fan Michelle Malkin turns 39 today. For details, see here. And the first part of a certain fanfic, "Mystik Spiral's Lonely Lawndale Band," began eight years ago this day.

Just an animated reminder....

...anyone fired up enough to try their own hand at creating animated Daria gif files (micro-cartoons) should go straight to this webpage and dig in. Some of the files from Daria's Inferno are hysterical. Jake as Robin Hood, Artie eating pizza, Jane as Charlie Chaplain, it's too much.

Enjoy.

Welcome to the Inferno

Nine years ago this very day, the computer game Daria's Inferno was released. And there was much rejoicing. This game had some of the most bizarre images you could imagine. At left is Mr. DeMartino wearing a Jar-Jar Binks costume. At right is Ms. Li with a photo of her World's Greatest Disciplinarian Award. Below is an image of the fearsome road-rage trikers on Sick, Sad World. What more could you ask for? Well, there was Helen as the Bride of Frankenstein, Trike Girl, Mystic Spiral playing awful songs, Jane appearing in famous works of art and photography, some very nice shots of Daria's room, Lawndale High, and Shakespeare at a rock concert ("Mosh Ado About Nothing"). Ouch.

Bizarre actor/actress Divine was born 64 years ago today. Some of the MTV animation artists were fond of one of Divine's movies, Pink Flamingos, and created at least two alter egos based on that movie.

No0z

• The Daria Fan Club has 1,449 members now.
• DariaWiki has been great aided by the heroic efforts of Rglovejoy, Vlademir1, Brother Grimace, Dennis, Disco316, Doggieboy, JPAGC, and Richard Lobinske. Thank you!
• This blog has 18 followers (Yay! Go, team!) and 121,000 hits. More followers! Daria must have more minions to do her will!
• NEW! Angelinhel has discovered that Daria scored an Epic Win!
  

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• Anti-Trope, by Pinkminx (Part 3): Dean wordlessly held out a folded piece of white paper and waited for the teacher to take it. Mr. DeMartino took the offering, opened the paper, then turned to address the class. “Class, it seems our new student, Dean Morgendorffer, has finally decided to grace us with his presence. Find a seat and sit down.”
• Size Does Matter, by Blackhole (Part 42): “No, Trent. We both have to take some responsibility here. Four-eyes principle, you know?” Sometimes it defies description how much of a lazy bum you are. (FF.net) (SFMB)
  
• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part III), by jtranser (continued): Shaking her head at Brooke's obtuseness, Sandi gave instructions to Lucinda concerning Brooke's hair and makeup procedure: "Set the makeup applicator to Hooker, then shove her head into the bucket with the styling grenade. After that,when she comes back, we'll discuss clothing options."

Another Look at Mr. O'Neill's Seating Charts

Pinhead and UU have kindly forwarded several screen captures from "Cafe Disaffecto" in which the resolution is much improved over previous images. The subject of these screen captures is Mr. O'Neill's seating charts for his second and third period English and/or literature classes. We're going to look at the second-period charts for Daria and Jane's class. These are presented without further ado.

The charts were uploaded to this blog as thumbnails, but you can click on them to pop them up to full size. Most of the names are as we thought, but a few things stand out with these improved views.

1. The girl who sits in the far back, to Mr. O'Neill's right, is named Tania, as previously suspected.
   
2. Shaggy, whose name we long thought was actually Dewey, might still be Dewey but also might be something slightly different. The lettering is more than a bit ambiguous. Dewan? Devan? WTF?
   
3. The girl in the brown sweater who sits behind Kevin is not Jessica or Jennica, but Jenna.
4. The occupant of the front-row seat to Mr. O'Neill's extreme right is known from the show to be Andrea, but the seating chart lists her as Haley. This oddity, too, has been commented on before.
   

In the Backgrounders website, Tania is the girl known as "Three Buttons" (but she's about to get her real name).
The best resolution I can get for "Dewey" is this image: Hmmm.

Comments? Previous digressions on this subject may be found by clicking on "seating chart" in Labels, below.

Very Special Friends of Bill

Sixteen years ago this very day, Daria Morgendorffer, ninth grader at Highland High School, got to meet President William Jefferson Clinton and be totally humiliated when Beavis and Butt-head stole her moment in the spotlight. This was in the fateful Beavis and Butt-head episode, "Citizen Butt-head." (The DariaWiki page for this episode does not yet exist.) Not a lot of fanfiction makes references to this event. We don't get the chance to see B&B episodes very often, I guess. That "Incognito" one really shocked me.

There's a very nice sketch of Daria listening to music, by Pinhead, on PPMB. Ranger Thorne has also finished a very nice work with Daria in a brand new style. She looks taller, doesn't she?

New Iron Chef: Teachers as Students, by Greystar!

FF.net

• NEW! Sinspiration, by Vlora (Part 24): "You said no to an agent?" Jane managed to get out, her voice shaking. Daria and Jane had spent the better part of the day trying to get the answer out of Trent; he seemed reluctant to discuss the matter any further than its occurrence. "You, a struggling musician, said no to an offer of a tour and a paid series of gigs? Oy."

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• NEW! Fat Man's Grave, by TAG and Brother Grimace (Part 4): Police entered the Morgendorffer home using keys given them by either Quinn or Stacy, then discovered evidence of radioactive contamination and summoned a hazmat team from the fire department. If I thought a circus was playing out in my hospital room, what then took place at the Morgendorffers’ was the chariot-racing Circus Maximus of all time. The helicopter coverage of the crowd was especially entertaining. (HTML)
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 9: Legends and Losers (Part 1): “Hey, Finn, did you hear, dude, did you hear?” Kevin was speaking in excited tones as he, Finn, and Mack all walked down the hallway. “Hear what?” Finn asked. With Kevin, one would never know just what popped into his head. “The man, dude. The man is coming.” Kevin could barely contain his enthusiasm. “Tommy Sherman is coming into town," said Mack. "You didn’t hear about that?”
  
• In Silence Sarcastic, by Trscroggs (Part 1): Jodie Landon privately admitted to herself that she was only a decent observer of people. So it came of no surprise that her that she couldn’t get a read on the new student. The new girl certainly didn’t make it easy. Jodie was quite certain she had not heard her say a single word so far.
• Invisible Love, by Charliefox2012 (Parts 1 to 4): Duncan Morgendorffer sat in the backseat of his dad’s blue Lexus. His little sister, Quinn, was sitting in the front passenger seat putting on her make-up. Duncan rolled his eyes. He didn’t get why a fourteen and half year old girl needed to wear make-up. Quinn wasn’t supposed to be attractive at this age. At the moment, the two were waiting in the car for their dad. “We’re going to be late,” Duncan muttered. “Well, dad did get up later than us,” Quinn said. “Obviously, he forgot that he was supposed to take us to school.” (FF.net)
  
• NEW! Lawndale's Finest, Detective Stories 5: Belfry, by Lorenzo Sauchelli (COMPLETE!): Batgirl opened one of her belt's pockets and extracted from it a glowing green rock. According to her data, and what little information she had gathered from Quinn's letters when she first moved to Lawndale, she was fairly sure it was the silver bullet against the mighty Supergirl. [Last part is here.]
• Nightmare results, still thinking on a title, by Aloysius (Part 1): The runners got closer and Daria blinked as she looked at them. “Hold on, Jane.” “You should join us, Daria. Nothing like running to get a body all hot and bothered.” She grinned. “Well, almost nothing, I mean.” “Jane, stay in the car! Look at them!”
• Our Time Now, by Charliefox2012 (Part 4): “Hey, what’s wrong? I tried calling your house,” Jane said worriedly. “Dad set the house on fire,” Daria replied.
  
• Reusably Complex, by Ajar (Part 6): "Would someone tell me how she knew that Ms. Li was going to hire me to replace Mr. Edwards?" "Like I said, I've experienced this all before." "No, I mean how did you really know?"
  
• Shadows of a Timeless Song, by Dennis (Part 6): Daria spent morning, noon, and night tracing the history of King Arthur's sword through the myriad version of the story, and looking for hints of Avalon's—or Abhalljin's—location. Jane, now understanding her friend's obsession, provided a useful sounding board when Daria needed one, sometimes accompanying her to the library, more often joining her in her room after dinner. But it wasn't Jane who was present when Daria finally had her breakthrough.
• NEW! Unnamed story (Three-peat! New Ideas Thread Wins Again!), by thatLONERchick (Part 1): Daria awoke in a fog. She lifted her head from the pillow, hair stuck to the side of her face and ruffled with sleep, to find a single glistening ruby perched upon the white linen pillowcase.
  
• Wristcutters: A Daria Story, by Charliefox2012 (COMPLETE!): “I love you,” Eugene said simply. Daria looked at him confused and startled. Eugene waved his hand dismissively. “Not like that. I mean I love you like my… dyke friend,” he said and grinned. Daria rolled her eyes, but smiled. She thought a moment before she spoke. “And I love you like my idiot friend,” she said easily. (FF.net)
  

Who the "Angel of Death" Might Have Been

It appears that sometimes the animation artists, at least those who color in the cells, get their instructions slightly wrong. The image here is an unidentified episode (if you know which one, please let me know) showing the Asian girl who normally wears a white sweater now wearing a black sweater. It's my theory that the "Angel of Death" from "The New Kid" is actually this girl, with a mis-colored outfit.

I love the way Andrea's rolling her eyes at something Kevin's just said.

Suh-weet!

It's Sweetest Day! Tell your sweetest how much you love him/her/it, but please be sure not to do it while your sweetest's Significant Other is in the vicinity. I'm just sayin'.

Evel Knievel's 71st birthday anniversary is today. The Mighty Mack is wearing a costume very similar to one that Evel often used in his motorcycle stunt shows.

At Holiday Island High, the kid asking for spare change all the time is International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, whose day is today.

Remember in "A Tree Grows in Lawndale" when Daria said, "A salesman's got to dream, boy"? That was from Arthur Miller's play, The Death of a Salesman, and today is the 94th anniversary of Arthur Miller's birth.

The immortal Mike Judge, who created MTV's Beavis and Butt-head and thus opened the door for Daria to have a show, too, turns 47 today.

Daria got a bit of media attention twelve years ago, when she offered some advice on gaining classroom attention. I can just imagine someone doing that while I was working as a substitute teacher some years ago. Oh, boy.

Animation Anomalies: The Angel of Death?

Here's an interesting anomaly that UU passed along to me while working on Backgrounders. This is the yearbook club from "The New Kid."

Who is the black-draped figure at the far right, talking to Andrea and the girl in bib overalls?

I think I know who it was supposed to be, based on a similar animation error elsewhere, but maybe someone else has a better idea. In our e-mails I remarked that maybe it was the Angel of Death. No one seems upset about this character being here. Weird.

On a related note, everyone is invited to visit Backgrounders and jot down (in Comments, below) any background characters you especially want to see more of, for your own interest or for a fanfic you are working on. Feedback is always good.

Thanks to UU for this excellent shot!

Happy Boss's Day!

Eric Schrecter is our mascot for Boss's Day today. This is a day for "thanking workplace superiors for being kind and fair throughout the year." And while you're choking that one down, today is also World Food Day, which I assume means you celebrate it by eating. Fair enough.

It's also the birthday anniversary of the Dictionary Man, Noah Webster, and the day (over 100 years ago) when they dug up the Cardiff Giant, one of the biggest hoaxes of all time. You have to read about this one, it's great.

Oh, and three years from now, UFO nut Artie is going to shoot Angier Sloane with an alien weapon. That's about it for the news. moar l8r

Notice Anything Missing?

Here's some midday fun.

In the course of working with literally thousands of images from Daria episodes, UU, Pinhead, and I have found some very amusing "animation errors." Here's one, see what you think of it. Look at the image on the left, from "Daria!" when Ms. Li rushes into the gymnasium to announce the hurricane is coming. Then look at the right to see the students' reactions. You can click on the pix to get larger images.

Notice anything missing? You might want to view the episode (if you can) to confirm this. Fun stuff!

NOTICE: This blog finally went over 120,000 hits! Hooray!

The third incarnation of the New Ideas Thread has been created. Share yo9ur ideas and enjoy the results!

OUCH! The TAG.com website seems to be down at the moment. Stay tooned, the problem (whatever it is) is being worked on. The WAV files won't work until the site is back. Drat.

Go Back in Time With Just a Click

Wanna know what MTV's Daria website looked like on exactly this day, twelve years ago? Now you can find out! The link goes to the archived site at Archive.org. Thanks, WayBack Machine! (Image at right is the actual scene.)

On this very day, October 15th, Scene 8 of Galen "Lawndale Stalker" Hardesty's "Blood Oath of Patriots II: By Any Other Name" takes place. I'm just thankful this blog was able to let you know that.

Let's see, it's Nietzsche's birthday, it's Global Handwashing Day, I guess that's about it. Enjoy.

PPMB

• Finn Morgendorffer 7: History on Skates, by HolyGrail2007 (COMPLETE!): “Mister D told me I’m not Daria, Finn thought. Unlike when other people, like his mother, said that he wasn’t Daria, there wasn’t anything else to the statement. There was no subtext, no disappointment in not joining academic clubs. Mr. D did chastise him for his grades, and said he could do better, but there was no reason for him to do that.
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 8: Family Ties, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 1): Why the hell did I get suckered into this? Finn thought. He knew the answer to it, of course, but that didn’t make it any less believable. “What do you think?” The woman’s voice called from the dressing room. The door opened a second later, and out stepped Helen Morgendorffer, wearing a pink business dress.
• John Lane 43: We're On A Mission, by Richard Lobinske (part 1): "Hi, Tom. It's John Lane." "Uh, hi," Tom said, curious about the call. "What's going on?" "I was hoping to catch a ride from you this Saturday." "I guess, but don't you have a car?" "I don't trust it to go to very far."
  
• Lawndale's Finest, Detective Stories 5: Belfry, by Lorenzo Sauchelli (Part 1): Amelia caressed Quinn's head, "There's no fever, so it's safe to say the dose wasn't lethal. That's good news, it allows me to have time to work. And to know how much her mind was affected I would need all the time I can get to talk with her."
  
• Monster Madness, by Trscroggs (Part 1): In the early 1990s, humanity had its first contact with aliens. They weren’t friendly. A giant monster descended on Mexico City and all but destroyed it before vanishing. A short time later, the monster appeared again and leveled another large city. The third attack began like the first two, but...
• Unnamed story (Scenes No Daria Fanfic Should Have: Hump Day), by Brother Grimace (COMPLETE!): The captain of the Polk High debate team turned white with shock as the crowd in the auditorium, equally stunned, all set their gazes towards Daria. "But-but-but you aren't serious?" the boy gasped. "You can't actually believe shooting people will help make a better world?!"
• Unnamed story (Second Coming of the New Ideas Thread), by Dark Kuno (COMPLETE!): “What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?” she asked as she finished off the last chip from the snack sized bag. The gas station attendant raised an eyebrow at the unusual question and said, “Ma’am?”

Thirteen

In Richard Lobinske's Falling into College series, Daria Morgendorffer met Jane Lane on October 14th, 1996. Happy 13th anniversary!

This is World Standards Day, whose website is not up to standard, at least using Firefox. (Can you spot the errors in the heading?)

And one of the actors who played James Bond turns 82 today. You go, dude.

Haven't figured out what else to add. Got any ideas? Put them in Comments. thx

PPMB

• Anti-Trope, by Pinkminx (Part 2): “I’m here to see the principal,” he said. The woman raised a questioning eyebrow and waited for him to continue. “I’m a new student.” He added, having a feeling he’d be using this line more than once during the course of the day.
• Fat Man's Grave, by TAG and Brother Grimace (Part 3): To stand in the entrance to Daria’s Inner Sanctum and gaze upon its eccentric splendor took my breath away. It was a teenage girl’s bedroom, but you wouldn’t have known it. It was a place where the color pink shriveled up and died.
  
• Our Time Now, by Charliefox2012 (Part 3): “Just trying to bring you out of your mood. You’re no fun once you’ve gotten irritated,” Jane said. “I’m fun?” Daria asked feigning surprise. “You know what I mean,” Jane deadpanned. “Meaning you won’t get any,” Daria said, raising an eyebrow.
• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Stacy's Mom, Where Are You?), by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): Quinn showed up at Stacy's door and tapped her fashionable tennis shoes impatiently. C'mon, Stacy, if I miss a second of Boys 'r' Guys, I'm going to yank out your pigtails. [You are not going to believe this crossover. TAG]
  

The Other Bad Todd

In Daria lore, there are Two Bad Todds. One is well known from Beavis and Butt-head : Todd Ianuzzi, a brutal thug and gang leader. You may remember him beating up B&B a few times. Daria was never around him, smart kid. Great for fanfiction if you need muscle to get shot or stomped on.

And then there was Todd K. Feichmann.

You are very unlikely to have heard of this Todd (though I did mention him in this blog a long while ago). He was described only on old MTV Daria websites, and only the WayBack Machine can bring his tale to the present day. Here's what I've learned about him. Long-time fans might remember some of this.

This Todd is primarily known for creating the Lawndale High School website in 1994, for having been picked on a lot by high-school jocks, and for the revenge he took later on. About him, Jodie and Mack wrote:

The Lawndale High School Web site was established in 1994 by Todd K. Feichmann. At that time it consisted of his resume and a 3000-word essay on mutant battle psychology as encountered in the first six levels of DOOM. The scepter was passed to a small cadre of initiates after his graduation, but his spirit and love of nanotechnology still inspires the site today. We hope he is staying on his medication and feeling better about the fact that the simple elegance of UNIX is lost on the vast majority of today's computer users.

What we know about Todd comes from these webpages, some of which are difficult to access. If you click on a link and the webpage vanishes and is replaced by a modern MTV 404 page, try hitting ESCAPE as soon as the old page appears, to freeze it.

As this page shows, Todd created a special website called "Cleatopia.com" for guys he intensely disliked, so they could play fantasy football (Todd's idea of fantasy football, that is). On the webpage is written:

Hello, Kevin! Welcome to the first fantasy football site devoted to local high school jocks like yourself, who have tortured me mercilessly for years, rattling my will and shattering my fragile psyche until all that's left is a resentful, hypersensitive outcast who harbors vengeful visions of triumphant payback. Now I can finally suck your wallets dry and prove my intellectual superiority at the same time.

We also have real time stats, destructive viruses, and annoying clone bots for you to download. Have fun!

Founder and Visionary Todd K. Feichmann

To get to this page, you read Kevin's webpage first, where he dimly writes:

The first time I told Brittany I was spending a lot of time playing Fantasy Football she slapped me. So I explained all I meant was I like to make up imaginary teams for make believe football leagues, and it has nothing to do with daydreaming about naked cheerleaders doing pyramid formations. But then I started to think about naked cheerleaders doing pyramid formations and I guess I got a funny look on my face and she slapped me again.

Now I'll have plenty of time this weekend to check out player stats and injury reports and make trades and rethink my roster and order an apology bouquet from 1-800-GROVEL.

My fantasy football team is kind of like the imaginary friend I had when I was little (his name was Sporty and he was always sticking lima beans up my nose) except there are more of them and they don't hate my Dad. I miss Sporty.

I wonder where he is now?

When I first got into fantasy sports I used to play in leagues based on the NFL, or NCAA conferences. But now there's a new fantasy league that's about what I know best: Carter County High School Football! Did I mention that I'm the QB?

See, this kid named Todd K. Feichmann who helped me with my web page last year decided to put his smartness to non-nerdy use to start the league. And he only charges $29.99 to join: he says he needs the money for something called a particle decelebrator. Some kind of fancy vacuum cleaner, I guess.

Anyway, I'd really be kicking butt in the league if only I hadn't picked myself in the first round of the draft. I would trade myself now but no one wants me. I throw too many interceptions, sometime I get confused and call out phone numbers instead of plays, and I keep tripping over my laces (can't I remember to doubleknot?) I suck, I suck, I suck!

Maybe I shouldn't have drafted me. I guess football is kind of like dating: sometimes you choose the most obvious person under pressure and then you're stuck with them. At least that's what I heard Brittany telling the other cheerleaders. Then they all looked at me and shook their heads.

So Todd had his revenge on jocks, and Kevin never knew it. Sometimes that's for the best.


Wonder what Todd's doing now...


Let's check out the new fanfiction while we think.

PPMB

• NEW! Anti-trope, by Pinkminx (Part 1): Forgive me, I think I may need to backtrack a little, let me introduce myself. My name is Dean Morgendorffer, I'm a seventeen year old high school student and proud Lawndalian, okay I lied; I'm not proud to live in Lawndale, but it sure as hell beat the alternative.
• NEW! Fat Man's Grave, by TAG and Brother Grimace (Parts 1 and 2): Charles Ruttheimer the Third, man of mystery and adventure, as thoroughly and completely disguised from view as The Shadow, clouding the minds of men. Too long have my talents been wasted on childish trivia, too long have the world’s enigmas gone unsolved. It is time for my deeds to be writ large on the world, time for...
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 7: History on Skates, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 2): Mr. DeMartino seemed to be devoting his attention to cardio exercises, Finn noticed once he brought himself up to the weight room. Finn wondered briefly why Mr. D simply wouldn’t join a gym and get a trainer for such conditioning, but Finn reasoned that it would require payment, and he certainly wouldn’t do that.
• NEW! Legion of Lawndale Heroes Mini: Network Connections, by Brother Grimace (COMPLETE!): “Mister Mackenzie!” Mack Mackenzie instinctively tensed for a moment as a very familiar voice rang out from behind. “Uh, hello, Ms. Li!” he said.
• NEW! Regifted, by Ajar (Part 19): “Daria goes to Grove Hills now,” said Jane. “Remember?” “Right,” said Kevin. “It's a cooking school and someone poached her eggs, or something.” Jane humored Kevin: “Yeah, next week she's learning coq au vin.” “So they have sex ed in cooking school, too?” said Kevin.
  
• Sinspiration, by Vlora (Part 23): She laughed inwardly for a second before managing to get her legs over the edge of the bed. Her escape was almost complete until Trent pulled her back, keeping her firmly in place within his arms. Perhaps he thought she was someone better looking, older, maybe he thought she was Monique. "Morning Daria," he muttered through closed eyes and a pleased grin.

PPMB turns 10 years old today! Hooray!

Think Free!

Today is Columbus Day, which was once a big deal but is not so much anymore. The Vikings got here first, anyway.

Closer to Daria's interests, it is also Freethought Day, which for some reason strikes me as a very Daria-ish holiday. It was good enough for the founding fathers.

Moar l8r. Okay, l8r now.

NEW! Roentgen has discovered that Pepsi discovered that there are only 24 types of women! Yes! Isn't science great? How would you rate the women of Daria in the Pepsi-approved manner?

Pinhead is producing one of the most entertaining pictorial threads in ages. For your daily dose of artistic Daria humor, marvelously rendered, go to Small Joke. It's the best!

Speaking of art, Richard Lobinske has once again updated the 2009 Daria Visual Fanworks Listing. Thank you! Some great stuff is out this year, you gotta love it.

NEW! Kara Wild (the Great) has discovered that Daria is doing very well in a Television Without Pity Cartoon Survival Game! Excellent. Care to sign up and join in?

NEW! A reminder here that the Television Without Pity website has what is probably the second- or third-most active Daria message forum online ("Daria: You're Standing on My Neck"). I've added it to the Recommended Links at left. Go forth and read! (See the most recent messages here.)

Almost up to 120,000 hits! Yahoo!

PPMB

• Finn Morgendorffer 7: History on Skates, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 1): Man, that was quite a night! Finn thought to himself. Joey’s mother was out of town, so he had invited all the guys over to watch the game. Of course, a boy’s night with no parents around meant football, wings, and all the whiskey Finn could drink. (FF.net)
  
• Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part III), by jtranser (continued): In a place that's not a place, but a macrodimension of irrationality with an atmosphere. And where the geometry is all wrong, too: When looked at one way, all a human eye can behold is a sea of tormented, writhing pseudopods rippling in a dank, ultraviolet chemical breeze....
• Unnamed story (1,001 Deaths of Tom Sloane - Part II), by NightGoblyn (COMPLETE!): Tom's bedroom door opened, and he looked up from his novel with annoyed expression. His witty, caustic comment died on his lips as his jaw sagged open and his eyes widened.
  

Tom by the Numbers

(A reprint of an old article I've never sent out)

Do not read if you lack a sense of humor, or think people need to get a life/hobby/inflatable doll instead of thinking about these things. This was assembled by an amateur, professionals would never go near stuff like this with a 12.2 foot noodle. Void where prohibited by good taste. Individual results may vary. If rash, irritation or bleeding occur, see your doctor, but this had nothing to do with it.

A considerable amount of hot air has been generated on the topic of Tom Sloane and how the character influenced the show.

Here’s a quick analysis of how much the character did appear over the twenty-nine stories from Jane’s Addition to Is It College Yet?

Now you can have solid numbers when you argue how much time was or was not spent (wasted, idolized, whatever) on the character

Production number, title and brief description of Tom’s actions.

313: Jane's Addition: Tom asks Jane out, first overtures to Daria (Farmer joke)

401: Partner's Complaint: Daria and Jane at odds over Tom, he briefly appears to offer ride.
402: Antisocial Climbers: Tom not present, Daria tells Jane she’s sorry about her comments
403: A Tree Grows in Lawndale: Tom makes suggestion to help Kevin
404: Murder, She Snored: Tom not present
405: The F Word: Tom looks in surprise at ‘conventional’ Jane.
406: I Loathe a Parade: Makes effort to be nice to Daria, first evidence of attraction
407: Of Human Bonding: Tom not present, Jane says he’s bowling with friends.
408: Psycho Therapy: Tom has brief appearance on ‘JaneCam.’
409: Mart of Darkness: Aftermath of fight with Jane, Tom goes with Trent and Jesse to store
410: Legends of the Mall: Tom not present
411: Groped by an Angel: Tom not present
412: Fire!: Tom has conversation with Daria.
413: Dye! Dye! My Darling: The kiss.

Is it Fall Yet? First dates with Tom, temporary breakup. Tom says Daria may be scared of opening up.

501: Fizz Ed: Tom encourages Daria to see superintendent.
502: Sappy Anniversary: Tom + Daria forget anniversary. He considers romantic efforts corny
503: Fat Like Me: Tom not present.
504: Camp Fear: Tom not present
505: The Story of D: Tom encourages Daria to send in story, clod when it is rejected.
506: Lucky Strike: A few comments about trick question when Daria making test
507: Art Burn: A few comments about Jane’s art.
508: One J at a Time: Says he wants parents to like him, runs off with Jake and Jeffy
509: Life in the Past Lane: He and Daria have doubts about Nathan, Daria asks if they are in a rut.
510: Aunt Nauseam: Daria tells Tom to keep his distance when he tries to help.
511: Prize Fighters: Tom tells Daria about sleazy Wizard CEO
512: My Night at Daria's: Condom in wallet bad idea. About only attempt at romance.
513: Boxing Daria: Daria ditches going to the cove after accident to see Jane.

Is it College Yet? Effects of Tom’s wealthy background become more noticeable, Daria and Tom are clearly drifting apart. Daria breaks up.

Season: number of episodes (production number) percent of season or percent of total

Tom was not present in episode:
S4: 5 (402, 404, 407, 410, 411) – 38.5%
S5: 2 (503, 504) - 15.4%
Total: 7 – 24.1%

Tom’s role was minor:
S4: 3 (403, 405, 408) – 23.1%
S5: 4 (506, 507, 510, 511) – 30.8%
Total: 7 – 24.1 %

Tom had a short, but important role:
4: 3 (401, 409, 412) – 15.4%
IIFY?
5: 3 (501, 502, 505) - 23.1%
Total: 7 – 24.1%

Tom had a central role:
3: 1 (313) – 7.7%
4: 2 (406, 413) – 23.1%
5: 5 (501, 502, 508, 509, 512) – 38.5%
IICY?
Total: 8 – 27.6%

Daria asked for advice from, or had an ‘important’ conversation with Tom
4: 2 (403, 413) – 15.4%
IIFY?
5: 5 (501, 505, 506, 508, 512) – 38.5%
IICY?
Total: 9 – 31.0%