Constant Craving

Finished reading: AD13

Ah, the joys of working for a living. When I get home, I don't have much time to write, but this weekend will be the first in a long time where either:

a) Ruth and I aren't scheduled to visit family, and
b) Ruth and I don't expect visitors.

Our first weekend with no social obligations in a long time. Which gives me the chance to hide at Fortress CINCGREEN and work on the final of my incomplete fanfics. Then I can say, "all of my obligations are complete" and maybe, think about something new.

(* * *)

We dive into "Apocalyptic Daria 13". Daria and Jane have returned to tenative safety on the open road. With a rain storm falling -- and with Daria and Jane concluding that the raindrops might be radioactive -- they seek shelter for their car.

Finding a farmhouse with all the doors opened (looted? -- we don't know), they bring the car into the barn. However, they find out that the barn is more of a remodeled garage. The barn not only boasts a concrete floor and a working bathroom, but there is also a "man-room" hidden inside with entertainment center, Playboy posters, DVDs and booze.

As the two decide to spend the night, Jane shares a story with Daria. When she was a little girl, she was at a commune and one of the older hippies took some of the residents of the commune into the woods to explore. They ran into a bunch of guys who had abducted a girl. The men were drunk and making plans, until the hippie pulled out a combat rifle and began firing in their direction.

He would teach Jane how to shoot guns -- which would explain Jane's mad l33t skills and cool determination under fire.

(* * *)

This part of "Apocalyptic Daria" doesn't go anywhere. We get to watch the joy of Daria and Jane having a place to rest, but the plot doesn't move forward in any way, except to provide an explanation of why Jane is such a straight-shooter.

And speaking of "straight shooting", one of the commenters noted that Jane no longer teases Daria about a romance with Trent, but instead discomforts Daria by pretending to come on to her. If it's pretending. Most likely, Doggieboy didn't intend for there to be any lesbian subtext -- Jane's joshing is theoretically good clean fun -- but Jane's been going on about it for quite some time and in just about every chapter.

As they say in some quarters, "it's a hook to hang your hat on." Makes me wonder if Jane's original plans for that initial road trip were about more than picking up Cheetos....