Daria/Fanfic Recs
< Daria
Proof that the remaining 10% is worth dying for here.
These are recommendations made by Tropers for Daria fanfics, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic of your own to the list, but remember to use the template found here.
You can also add to the current recommendations if you want. Refrain from posting Conversation in the Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.
Authors and Websites
Outpost Daria by Martin J Pollard
- Recommended by Ranchoth
- Synopsis:The largest, oldest surviving Daria fansite online. With information about the show, characters, episodes (with transcripts), and a good deal of fanfic and fanart.
- Recommended by Ranchoth
- Synopsis: Only a few years old, the Daria Wiki contains quite a bit of thorough information about elements of the show itself, as well as a storehouse of information on Daria fan fiction and projects. Speaking as someone who knows this particular fandom, it can come in surprisingly handy.
- Comments: To put it another way, the fandom is a generally very nice, very creative, very bright, and fairly small amount of people, who're all fans of a semi-cult TV show, who've stuck around for more than a decade. The chances there weren't going to be multi-season Continuation, spinoff, and crossover fics detailed like the Sistine Chapel is almost nil. But in a good way, I swear!
The Driven Wild Universe by Kara Wild
- Recommended by Ryan Lohner
- Synopsis: A 22 episode virtual season begun while season three was airing, with ongoing story arcs like Quinn's eyesight declining so she needs glasses, Helen trying to have a closer relationship with her daughters, and Jake and Helen's marriage suffering greater strain than ever before. Also featuring fan art, character bios, and possible story ideas from the DWU.
- Comments: Each episode feels just like the show, with everyone in character and a wonderful balance between jokes and moving personal drama. Though be warned, the author is very much an anti-shipper and even brings this up herself in a couple episode summaries.
- Recommended by Hyrin
- Synopsis: One of the most active locations in the fandom, there is new fan fiction posted daily.
- Comments: This site is essentially Home Base for Daria fan fiction, and most of the fandom's authors post here on a regular basis.
General Fics
Stories focused on the family and the friendly relationships of the cast. Plot-focused stories or light day-in-the-life stories. Pretty much anything that isn't focused on romance.
Daria's Christmas Carol by John Takis
- Recommended by Robert
- Synopsis:
- Comments: An effective, and somewhat novel, use of the trope. Greed is not the only vice.
The Lost Seasons by C.E. Forman
- Recommended by Tarvok
- Synopsis: A series of fics that blend so well with the canon, some have been known to misremember events that occur in this series as canonical.
- Comments: Should this have gone under "Authors and Websites" instead?
The Last Summer/Falling Into College Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, and Year 4 by Richard Lobinske
- Recommended by Kchishol
- Synopsis: The life of Daria, Jane and all her friends, old and new, in the summer after graduating Lawndale High and her college years in Boston.
- Comments: A richly detailed and deeply moving fan sequel of Daria's post-secondary student years where she grows even more dramatically than in high school.
- Now has a new entry, First Born.
- Not to cause strife, but much of this, particularly when it's not about Daria, tends to ramble and get really boring. Far too much time is spent on flat, boring characters like the cat.
Blood, Sweat, and Cheers by Kristen Bealer
- Recommended by Ryan Lohner
- Synopsis: At the end of "The F Word" Jane decides to keep her conventional image and join the cheerleaders, creating a huge rift between her and Daria. And now that she's off the squad for good, Brittany displays some Hidden Depths and becomes Daria's new best friend.
- Comments: A sometimes painful but always fascinating AU with great alternate takes on the rest of season four following "The F Word."
Turnabout Confusion by Dennis
We All Fall Down and All the King's Horses
- Recommended by Ryan Lohner
- Synopsis: Daria and Quinn bet that they can survive in each other's worlds for a week. Little do they know that they'll turn Lawndale High upside down in the process, bringing out the Magnificent Bastard in some of their classmates and ultimately causing an epic Gambit Pileup to determine the most popular girls in school.
- Comments: If the creators of Death Note had made Daria, it would probably be like this. The constantly mutating power struggle and Quinn and Daria's attempts to fix it are an incredible look at the Serious Business of high school popularity, all fitting surprisingly well into the show as we know it.
Finn Morgendorffer by HolyGrail2007
- Recommended by Matt 620
- Synopsis: Quinn is changed from female to male and becomes Finn, a little brother. The two siblings get along quite poorly, and the relationship between mother and son gets far worse.
- Comments: It was very fresh and felt a lot like the canon series, with interesting relationship dynamics, especially in the later chapters.
God Save The Esteem by Charles RB
- Recommended by Excellence Of Execution
- Synopsis: You know how Helen and Jake were once hippies? Now imagine that, due to a shift forward in time to 2010, they were punks instead, never grew out of it and Quinn was a punk as well? A unique re-interpretation of the series crossing multiple genres.
- Comments: One of the best Daria fic series out there today. Mostly a comedy series, it can suddenly take a depressing or emotional turn when you least expect it...
- This one can get a bit weird as it's clearly written by a Brit, given the abundant use of "Mum" and "Maths class." Though if you're able to get past that, it's definitely worth it. Plus, easily the best version of Stacy I've ever seen.
- Now has its own page.
Smoke and Ashes by Yui Daoren.
- Recommended by Judgement
- Synopsis: Daria, Jane and Quinn survive a school shooting.
- Comments: This story takes a realistic approach and has a serious tone. It focuses on the way the characters deal with a traumatic event, keeping them IC.
Lawndale Fighting Championship by The Excellent S
- Recommended by C 2
- Synopsis: The main cast clash in the Professional Wrestling ring (unlike the event the title is derived from). The adults serve as announcers and referees. Not a Crossover since no one from the world of wrestling appears.
- Comments: This series has a lot of fun with wrestling's tropes, and there is a good attempt to maintain a sense of canon.
Quinn's Code by cfardell_Brenorenz29
- Recommended by Eegah
- Synopsis: A Setting Update to 2005, in which Quinn has become a computer and anime geek. But she still manages to be just as popular as in canon, which irritates Sandi even more than Daria.
- Comments: The author's aversion to contractions can get annoying, but there's some great use of minor characters, and Quinn and Sandi's adversarial relationship is a lot of fun.
Shipping Fics
Stories focused on the romantic relationships between the cast.
John Lane by RLobinske (AU)
- Recommended by Kchishol
- Pairing(s): Daria/Male!Jane Lane
- Synopsis: Rlobinske's John Lane takes an intriguing twist by imagining what Daria would be like if Jane Lane was male.
- Comments: An intelligent and deftly sweet romantic variation on the TV series.
- I hate for people to think of me as contradictory, but when the story got to about the third season, John started to get on my nerves and seem like a total Stu. He somehow manages to avoid all the bad things that happen to Jane AND remove most of the bad things that happened to Daria, completely removing the point of a great deal of chapters.
The Passion Club by Gystex
- Recommended by [Sara Jaye
- Pairing(s): Mainly Sandi/Quinn, but also a bit of OS!Stacy/Sandi, Jane/Stacy, Tom/Daria and Stacy/Tiffany
- Synopsis: Sandi reveals her real reason for being so hostile towards Quinn, and after a lot of soul-searching on Quinn's part they begin a relationship. But the drama doesn't end there, and soon the two are embroiled in a web of secrets, lies and angst.
- Comments: An amazing epic that mixes character development with romance, tension and hot sex. It's quite a ride, but well worth the trip in the end. The author also began a sequel, which unfortunately seems to have been abandoned.
Crossovers
A Cynical Shade of Green by Echopapa (Justice League Crossover (More specifically Green Lantern) )
- Recommended by Kchishol
- Synopsis: Due to an error by Green Lantern John Stewart, his power ring goes out and recruits Daria as Sector 2814's new Green Lantern.
- Comments: This is a fun story with Daria becoming a superhero in a surprisingly creditable fashion with some playful prodding by Jane. The Daria and Justice League characters alternate chapters until they are brought together for an awesome conclusion for anyone who ever dreamed of becoming a superhero.
Is it Doom Yet?/ Daria R/Succession_Crisis/ by RLobinske (Marvel Universe Crossover)
- Recommended by Kchishol
- Synopsis: Daria finds out that her biological father is Doctor Doom, and he is calling her to Latveria to become his heir.
- Comments: Although how the story gets Tom out of the way is annoying, the series quickly more than recovers with a neat story of Daria becoming a princess and then Queen of Latveria, taking on her responsibilities and her interactions with the MU's superhero community her way.
Daria 40k: Is It The Grim Darkness Of The Far Future, Yet? by RX-87 (crossover with Warhammer 40,000).
- Recommended by fhtagn
- Synopsis: The cast of Daria (and some old friends from Our Heroine's past) take on the roles of Imperial and Chaos forces as the battle for the fate of Planet Lawndale rages and Hilarity Ensues.
- Comments: Utterly hilarious, though it does require a working knowledge of both the 40k and MTV Animation-verses to really appreciate. The characterizations are spot-on almost to a fault (Jane's libido does veer uncomfortably close to OOC (and Fluff-inaccuracy) once or twice, but it does get an amusing justification towards the end).
The "Have Faith" Tetrology: April 10, 1997, The Sum of Their Parts, That's What You'll Take to the Grave and The In-Dark by Mediancat (Crossover)
- Recommended by User:Looney Toons
- Synopsis: Four stories based around a unique crossover between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Daria. The first is April 10, 1997, in which a mandatory psych examination in prison reveals that Faith may not be who she thinks she is. It is followed by The Sum of Their Parts, That's What You'll Take to the Grave and The In-Dark.
- Comments: Well written, and implements a crossover by way of a device that I don't think I've ever seen before.
Misery Chick, Pig-Tailed Warrior [dead link] by Cypher3au (Crossover)
- Recommended by SAMAS
- Synopsis: Misery Chick, Pig-Tailed Warrior features an amnesiac Ranma Saotome sent to Lawndale by an enigmatic being to rest for unknown reasons.
- Comments: Short but Funny, and not a pairing in sight (thankfully). Just got updated after about two years.[when?]
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