*SPOILERS* Trent, Daria, and "Lane Miserables" *SPOILERS*

Wow. Quite an episode it was...

Spoilers for Lane Miserables ahead.

Keep going.

Further.

Further.

Further.

I said further.

I said further!

That oughta do it.

"Lane Miserables" is a unique Daria episode, for me at least. It *really* captures the angst of having a hopeless crush, and the end of second two acts both had me saying "Awww," in sympathy for our heroine. It's damn painful to see someone you're seriously interested in walk off with someone else in their arms. And I've personally had the experience of "getting over someone" only to have it all come back a few days or weeks later, as Daria did at the very end.

We've had no prior indication that Trent and Melanie (is that her name?) have been dating all this time, have we? Talk about a bombshell for us... not to mention for Daria herself.

Sexual tension! Again, I don't remember ever seeing an episode that actually had sexual tension... certainly nowhere in the same leauge as Trent trying out Daria's bed. Heh! VERY well done.

And finally... that last line of Trent's. He tries to pass it off as a lighthearted joke, but the thought apparently made him a bit nervous -- maybe because it hit too close to home? To me, it seems the age difference is the only thing really keeping him and Daria from giving it a shot. Which is too bad... 17 and 21 aren't THAT far apart.

On 15 Jul 1999 21:58:16 GMT, some letters randomly coalesced from individual pixels, claiming to be from [email] (Robert Powers), and it said:

Heh heh, tell me about it...

No kidding...

Not to mention this is the first time we've seen Daria in the t-shirt only style of sleepwear. Did you notice her self-conciously straightening it out as soon as she stood up.

No, he meant to say exactly what he did, I suspect, especially given how obvious Daria was this ep... probably emboldened him somewhat. And wouldn't he be 22 by now? He had to have been 21 in season 1; at least, that was my take on the situation.

(Snip)

Yes, but it crosses many barriers. The "high school student" barrier, the (as someone's already pointed out) "she's my 'baby' sister's best friend" barrier, and possibly the ever-threatening "jailbait" barrier. Even if Trent has the most honorable intentions, it's still present. Remember how Trent had to pass Daria off as an adult in "Pierce Me"? Society/law has decided, for convenience's sake, that on some magic birthday your physical, emotional and mental maturities level out and you become able to smoke, drink, have meaningful relationships, vote and, oddly enough, are also prone to forcing sexual attentions on young(er) girls/boys/whatever.

In article ,

Thats the point exactly, Trent is letting nothing more than a number stand in the way of a relationship with Daria. In a lot of states this "magic" number is 18 years old, now with the aging of the characters being 1 of their years for 2 of ours, Daria will turn 18 in season 5(assuming the show is still on), thus eliminating that barrier. She will be a senior then as well, basically taking that out of the question.

Which only leaves the "little sister" roadblock. This reverts to the age problem again. If Daria is just his sisters friend, I see no problem with this as a roadblock, adding the word "little", sort of changes the content, and I could see that, but i don't believe that for a second.

Which leads to this, I believe age is the only thing holding Trent back. Come season 5, I believe all the 'shippers dreams will be fulfilled when Daria hits that "magic number", age 18. For the record I think they should get together, but I also am not a full blown 'shipper. But them getting together eventually would be in Trents, Darias, and all others concerneds(it that a word?), best interests.

                      A.J.

On Fri, 16 Jul 1999 06:02:28 GMT, some letters randomly coalesced from individual pixels, claiming to be from [email], and it said:

Well, I think (as I stated in another message) that that is one barrier. The other thing that probably has to happen is that Trent has to have a greater measure of success, musically or otherwise. Daria's first fantasy has probably also passed through Trent's mind (as well as possibly the second...), and, if he feels toward her the way I think he does, the last thing he wants to do is to draw him into a futureless life. Much like (OT warning...) Rand al'Thor's feelings toward his three women; the last thing he want's near him in _his_ future is a woman he loves, when he finally goes mad and break's the world. (I'm in the middle of Lord of Chaos, so don't go past that and spoil my read...).

Tarvok said:

s p o i l e r s

a r e

e a t i n g

m y

b r a i n

I think that this is actually the biggie, which Trent uses the age excuse to cover up for. He admires Daria greatly, and is well aware both of her own potential and of the apparent hopelessness of his own existence. Sincerely Yours, Jordan

"Man is a god in ruins" (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

In article , [email] (Jordan S. Bassior) wrote:

Give "Trent's Adventures" a good look. I came to a similar conclusion.

--.\\<-H--

I am just wondering, how is the legal situation in the US. In Germany, there is a law that says seducing a girl younger than 16 years of age to have sex with you can be punished with up to 1 year in prison or a fine. However the district attorney is only to open a case on request (it's not stated who can make such a request, but I guess this means the parents, not your 80-year-old arch-conservative neighbour). Additionally the judge is allowed to drop the case if the defendant was under 21 at the time of the deed. The charges HAVE TO be dropped if the defendant married the girl (note: underage marriages are legal under certain conditions)

The main points I see about this law are the following: a) the law specificly refers to men seducing girls and there is no law the other way around. Apparently boys are seen as mature enough to decide about their sex life at any age, while girls are seen as too naive and in need of protection. b) the state doesn't automatically get involved. If no one has a problem with it, a 25-year-old can have sex with a 14-year-old legally. c) 16 is considered the magic age here in Germany for a girl to decide freely about her sex life. So in fact Trent and Daria wouldn't face any problems here. d) An age difference of 5 years or even more is not automatically considered wrong. If the man in question is still young (under 21) it is up to the judge to decide if he is to be prosecuted or not. As a side note, 21 is the age at which you are considered a full adult when it comes to penal law (for civil law it's 18, you can drink alcohol and vote without limits then). If the defendant is under 21 (i.e. between 18 and 21) it is always up to the judge to decide if he wants to treat the defendant as an adult or a minor. e) even if the incident is considered a crime, it is not considered pretty serious. In practice "up to one year in prison or a fine" will in a very serious case turn out as something like a 6 months on probation. And it would have to be a really serious case for that. But don't misinterpret this. We're talking about seduction, not rape. This law applies only if the girl agreed to everything that happened. So you could argue that the whole law should be dumped completely, especially considering a). I have to mention that my copy of penal law is 12 years old. Maybe the law has been removed by now.

MSB

thanks for the website and the quote. i am so upset that i missed that episode. i am really corny lately and so probably would have cried. but all of you are wonderful adn thanks again for replying

On Tue, 20 Jul 1999 02:02:54 GMT, [email] (Matthias Benkmann) wrote:

<chokes on morning coffee> That's pretty ass-backwards. I have friends with children, and while the boys are still playing with their matchbox cars, the girls are already conferring on how to get the best man. Mind you, these are twelve and thirteen year olds I'm referring to.

By US law, in theory at least, any sexual relations with a minor by anyone over the legal majority is a crime. The age of majority varies from 16 to 18 in most states (I have been told that in Arkansas it is 13, but I assume that that's just another 'Southern' joke; given the Bible Belt presence there, I'd think it would be as high as here on the Left Coast, where it's 18. I couldn't find any details in a Web search on 'age of consent', just a lot of dirty jokes and refs to an old movie).

In practice, it usually only come up if a) the parents take it to the police, b) it comes out during as part of another investigation, or c) they are caught in the act.

Hmmn. In the US, they've been pushing the drinking age back to 21 (and there's a movement to move change the voting age back to that as well), but the age at which you can be tried as an adult down to as low as 12 (it's decided during the grand jury investigation on a case-by-case basis, and usually only applies to murder, assault, rape and drug dealing). Many see this as a systematic effort to disenfranchise the young.

Statutory rape is considered equal to violent rape in many states, and can recieve sentences of 10 years or more. California has been cracking down hard on it recently

There is a basic assumption in the US that minors cannot give consent under any circumstances.

On Thu, 22 Jul 1999 15:00:13 GMT, some letters randomly coalesced from individual pixels, claiming to be from [email] (First Speaker Schol-R-LEA;2), and it said:

That doesn't seem right. I wonder what the law actually says (at least, here in California)? I'd think the statuatory rape clause would apply to any sex between adult and minor, whichever way it went. Stil, I can hardly see anyone pressing charges in the case where the woman was the adult, unless he contracted an STD or something as a result.

Yeah, that's what's nice about our legal system. In cases like this, it's only if someone bothers to press charges that anything happenes. It gives parents the option to prosecute if they think it necessary, or not if they're okay with it. Note that I am *not* the sort that believes the law should make children completely independent of parental protection and discipline.

Well, I knew about the drinking and prosecution age things. But the idea that the voting age should be raised to 21? I've never heard of that. We may as well put the property requirements back in while we're at it; that would make more sense (if either does). As far as disenfrancheising the young goes... bad idea. If the young cannot be part of the political process, if pushed to far, the young will force it's way into political processes, if you know what I mean.

Minors are considered more responsive to seduction than fully grown adults. I don't know how true this is, but the fact of the matter is, there are plenty of laws dealing with adult sexual activity. Most of this is also a matter of liability. In the case of adultery, the offended person can file for divorce and have a considerable upper hand in court. Or they can just forgive. Their choice. At any rate, adults are legally responsible for their own actions. Minors, however, are held only partially responsible, with their parents bearing part of the load as well. If an adult does something, it's their business. If a minor does something, it's their parents business, as well. Statuatory rape laws give parents options on how to deal with something that could potentially cause a problem, such as a daughter getting pregnant. The days when a father could point a shotgun at the dude and say "marry or die" are gone. Personally, I think that if a man get's a woman pregnant, his is morally responsible for the welfare of that child, unless the woman releases him from that obligation.

In article , [email] (Tarvok) wrote:

There was a case recently where a Glendale, CA teacher got busted for having sex with a 14 year old boy. Statutory Rape laws were indeed applied in this case. The charges were pressed by his very upset parents.

--.\\<-H--

On Fri, 23 Jul 1999 09:20:00 -0700, some letters randomly coalesced from individual pixels, claiming to be from [email] (Michelle Klein-Hass), and it said:

Then at least we know there's no _legal_ bias. Cultural biases are considerably more difficult to work around.

On Thu, 22 Jul 1999 18:53:05 GMT, [email] (Tarvok) wrote:

In Germany actually some people are thinking of lowering the voting age to 16. I think on community level it is already 16. MSB

Or perhaps stolen! Some whistle in the back of my mind went off when i saw that scene. I was reminded of a similar picture i had seen on shez's website. Get a good mental image of the scene in "Lane Miz"... Trent reclining on Daria's bed, Daria standing there with her back to us, donning a grey t-shirt.. let that stick in your mind a bit.. then look at this.

http://www.xerez.demon.co.uk/daria/OHGOD_63.JPG --- ~Po

CROWDSURFERS WILL BE EJECTED FROM THE BUILDING. It can be harmful, and most of all disrespectful to climb on other people's heads. Crowdsurfing should only be done naked and in the privacy of your own home.

Thank you The Beastie Boys

You're forgetting that Lane Mis. aired in the UK some time ago - the Lane Mis. scene looks like that pic because that pic is a screenshot from Lane Mis! I just wrote some new dialogue for it. Similarly my Dokic/Daria crossover story uses shots from Jake of Hearts, again I just wrote the dialogue. I've been toying with the idea of doing a whole fanfic in this way, but it would be quite a lot of work. Someone on rec.sports.tennis has just asked for more of my Daria-Dokic crossover, so I may well extend the story of the Fashion Club's adventures at Wimbledon.

-Shez.

I am new to the newsgroup, only becuase i need my daria update while i am home without cable. i am very curious as to what trent said to daria that everyone is talking about. did he hint about liking her? i am very confused. thank you in advance.

Well if you missed the so called "big moments" from Lane Miserables I have video clips up on my website in the multimedia section. They're in real video format and not that big in size. The quality is pretty good to. I believe I have all the scenes you are reffering to. Let me know what you think. Oh and welcome to the group.

Later, Ben Guevara The Depths of Shallowness http://members.xoom.com/QuinnM17/Quinn.html

home

everyone

thank

On 18 Jul 1999 04:29:36 GMT, some letters randomly coalesced from individual pixels, claiming to be from [email] (Donkey1955), and it said:

The answer to that question is a

s

p

o

i

l

e

r

.

He said, and I quote, "Too bad you're not a few years older. I could take you out. <laugh/cough>

Robert Powers said:

B u t

w h a t

A R E

R o b e r t ' s

r e a l

p o w e r s ?

Yeah. Though I don't think her crush is as hopeless as she probably believes by the end of this episode.

Oh, yeah.

No, we haven't. And it's kind of odd that we haven't, considering who Daria's best friend is. Maybe Jane has been deliberately failing to inform Daria about certain parts of Trent's life, eh? It's pretty obvious from this ep that Jane dislikes Trent's girlfriend.

Yes, I'm pretty sure Daria wasn't expecting this, given her reaction. Of course Daria met the girl in "Pierce Me", but that seems to have been one of the times that Trent wasn't going out with her.

Yes, it was. We could wonder just why Trent did that ... though Trent does have a tendency to lie down in any situation where it is at all remotely socially acceptable to do so :)

Notice how Jane reacted to seeing them both on the bed? And how quickly both Trent and Daria leaped off it when she came in? Hee hee hee ...

He starts saying it almost sincerely ... then suddenly pulls off a laugh which in context comes across as either deliberately cruel or forced. Given Trent's overall lack of maliciousness, especially where Daria's concerned, I suspect the latter.

Well, prolly 22 ... but again, it really isn't that far apart. It's hard to tell what people will consider "too far apart" in this situation, so it's hard to judge whether or not Trent was being honest about this being the only problem. Normally, the problem would come from the girl's parents, but Jake and Helen seem to approve of Trent (and Helen in particular is probably aware of Daria's interest in him).

It is more than a bit odd that someone as unconventional as Trent would feel restrained by such a minor age difference. I really think that there is something more going on in his head that he does not want to talk about.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

"Man is a god in ruins" (Ralph Waldo Emerson)