Well, I'm back from the long FreeWWWeb exile, and it was only a matter of time before my fanfic reviews returned. I start once again with a relatively solid hitter: John Berry. He's written a few that I enjoyed, such as "Herself, an Elf." But this time I review:
"She Was All That" by John Berry http://systech.simplenet.com/daria/fanfic/she_was_all_that.txt
First off, I love the title. I enjoyed the movie it spoofs, and Stacy fills the roll well. Yes, this is another Stacy fic. I highly recommend reading Austin Covello's "A Day in the Life of Stacy" before this one, given that this is a (unauthorized, I think) sequal to that. Both are highly entertaining, and both investigate the possibility that there is more to Stacy than is presently shown in the show (aside from occasional glimpses of common sense). The antics of Ted DeWitt Clinton are, IMO, difficult to pull off well. Done wrong, and they turn out annoying, and just make you want to slap him upside the head, that or feel really sorry for him. But both Berry and Covello seem to have portrayed this character both well and sympathetically. Not only that, but their styles seem to intermesh well enough that the don't seem entirely discontinuous. On top of that, they're both written in screenplay format (IIRC), which I always prefer to prose style. Prose style gets too far into the characters heads, and tells too much. I've always percieved Daria as a very dialogue driven show; sometimes I don't even need to see the TV to enjoy it. Screenplay format just flows more similarly to the show than prose format. I am reading the fic as I write, and will be putting the great quotes as I go, beginning with this: Ted's "Why am I typecast so?" I have a feeling Berry is poking fun at most other fanfics that use his character. ;) I try not to go into too many specifics when I review, to avoid spoliing. But let me just say this: there are certain jokes that, while completely rediculous, still manage to come off as hilarious. Tiffany's "Think?" thing is an excellent example. They went through a scene or two, then I saw here standing there, still doing the "Think?" thing, and I literally exclaimed out loud, "She's still standing there?!" Absolutely rediculous, but forgivably hilarious. :) "Rowe your boat?" LOL! "Life sucks oranges." Huh? "Try not to get that feeling all over me this time." The entrance of Jane Lane. LOL, as usual. :) I've said it before, and I'll say it again: when an author gets a character right, it is great. And Berry seems to be doing an *excellent* job of portraying Jane. She's still doing her color commentary. Daria: " Look, I already told Val, and now I'm telling you: I do not have my own clique." Jane: "Sure ya do! You're the president... and I'm the almighty, god-like entity that lords over and severely outranks the president." Maybe I'm just in a fanfic mood right now (actually, yes, I most definatly am), but this just seems good to me. "Can't forget the stuff." Jane Lane. Hmm... I seem to have encountered an "inside series" joke. Trent: "Oh.. Hey, Dariet." Daria: "Howdy ho, Trenteo." Huh? "You guys go on. Coffee wears me out. I'm gonna go take a nap." One guess. ;) "I wanna decide who lives and who dies." Damn, Jane's on a roll! "One Man's Trash..." "Let's not get into that story..." Okay, Berry, enough with the fanfic references. ;p Tom?! I wasn't aware of how recent this fic was. But the eating contest is great. And, somehow, it all fits the characters. Either that, or I'm just really forgiving right now. (Uh-oh... every time I enjoy fanfic to this degree... I get depressed no more than a day afterward...) ... Then, Stacy decides to get *all* of her friends together, both new, and old. Haven't read it yet, but to me, this spells disaster... one with the potential to put everything back to normal... ... Okay, Jake's "Yeah" was yet another cartoonism... almost Simpsonian, no... almost "Family Guy... erm... Onian", whatever. I would probably not forgive the actual production team if they pulled something like that... but this is fanfic... and it's friggin hilarious! ... "Damn straight." ?! Not something expected from Tiffany... but with all the wierdness coming from such slight deviations from the norm (much like fractal art), hell, why not? And the endscene, with Daria and Staci both writing their Daries, while utterly cheezy, seemed to work. Indeed... actually, I rather like that device. It was used successfully in... what was it called? The one where Trent won a trip to Florida and took Daria, Jane, and Jesse with him. Can't remember the name, but that was an excellent one, as well. All in all, a very worthwhile read. I'll have to take a look at his other fics, as well.
The think I like about these Stacy fics is that, when it comes right down to it, I don't see the plots as entirely unlikely. We've seen very little about Staci in the show, other than her neurotic conformity (which she seems to need to try too hard to manage) and her occasional common sense (okay, one incident, in "Daria Dance Party") Berry and Covello both account for both of these character traits, and then run with them to produce a very developed, and entirely plausible, character, and situation. Hats off to both of them, and hats off to the whole "Staci is more than a half-wit" movement. Can't say that recent developments (s4) support this well, but it's still a very well told story.
Grade: A
:)