Finished reading: Quinngali/Nemo Blank section
Well, about 12 pm yesterday my immune system caved in and most of what I ate settled to my stomach like an anchor. So I'm taking a sick day today, which is rather rare for me. Oddly enough, being at work didn't seem to interfere much with my internet access, so there.
(* * *)
Nemo Blank is one of the trippiest writers of Daria fan fiction, and most of his work deals with the themes of transformations and identity, themes close to my heart. His biggest problem as a fan fiction writer is that he doesn't end any of his stories. Therefore, an "Iron Chef" was the perfect medium for him, where he probably wouldn't feel compelled to write a whole story.
The story starts with the three Js jumping through hoops trying to please Quinn. Quinn, of course, suggests that they can jump a little harder and departs. Daria remarks that she wishes she knew Quinn's secret to controlling guys.
We're about to find out that secret. Quinn pulls at the hem of her t-shirt and shrugs, which sends Daria into a hypnotic trance. It turns out that Quinn has been reading a book on hypnosis, finding it at age six and gradually mastering its contents. She takes control of both Jake and Daria, as Helen appears to be immune to the control.
Since she obtained the power, she has been using it in malicious ways. Daria has been forced into a "man-stopper" wardrobe. All of the members of the Fashion Club are under Quinn's mental control. (Sandi has a particularly nasty fate waiting for her the next time she puts down Quinn.)
However, Quinn feels slightly guilty and wants Daria to have a small amount of happiness. Therefore, she has arranged the Daria-Jane-Tom triangle. Quinn questions Daria while Daria is in the trance state regarding the progress of her relationship with Tom.
Surprisingly, Daria doesn't like Tom. Daria was attracted to Trent, but now Daria can't have that. Jane's friendship with Daria has been damaged. Despite Quinn's mental rearrangement, Daria blames Tom for all of this and doesn't love him.
Quinn decides to give Daria some new commands. She can change her wardrobe and wear contacts. She can even smile at Trent. Once. Any more smiling, and Daria will be forced to think of death.
Unfortunately for Quinn, she does not know someone is hidden in the house....
(* * *)
Jonathan D. Parshall -- who dredged up this work from Nemo Blank out of an old "Scenes No Daria Fic Should Have" -- wrote, "Come on, how great a starting point is that?"
Oh yes, definitely a great starting point. This isn't "It's a Good Life" out of the Twilight Zone. Quinn's power over Daria isn't absolute, and there are people who appear resistent to Quinn's powers. This gives even a beginning author a lot of flexibility. A writer could take this story in any direction...and it looks like Scissors MacGillicutty will do just that.
For a "scorched remnant", this was a great mini-work from Nemo Blank, and my hope is that "Quinngali" gets better and better.
(I have some issues with the premise. Namely, that children are extremely nasty and cruel, so it's untelling what Quinn has had Daria do in the past. Furthermore, the fact that Quinn has had two little fartknockers in Highland killed is a bit troubling. But I didn't want to detract either from the great premise, or put pressure on the person who plans to see it through to the end.)
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2 comments:
Nemo Blank's work is a lot of fun to read (especially "Crossover", one of the first Dariafics I ever read and still one of my favorites in the fantasy genre), but he does seem to have this obsession about getting Daria out of her glasses and usual wardrobe. He himself has said that he wrote his fics as a kind of therapy, and it makes me wonder what kind of self-image issues he had that constantly induced him to "improve" Daria's.
Reading ahead a bit, Scissors has done some interesting psychological work with Quinn and Daria, though there is one section where it reads less like a story and more like an abnormal psych lecture (and in a dream, no less, though the dream is wonderfully surreal in a way that Doggieboy's was not, and features a great House cameo to boot).
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