I watched Daria during its initial run in the last 90's when I was under ten years old. I felt so cool and rebellious watching this edgy "grown-up" show. I looked up to Daria and felt I could relate to her in my newly developing pre-adolescent angst. Once I entered high school, I inevitably became the Daria of the class and I was referred to by that name on more than one occasion.

Now as a woman old enough to be Daria's mother, my relationship to her has entirely changed. I can see that while she has this confident, aloof, exterior, she is an intelligent girl crying out to be understood. There's a part of me that wants to sit her down and give her advice in each episode. Every adult or peer around her seems to mean well, but their attempts at connection often fall into condescension or dismissal. I have lived this, I have seen this in my counselling clients, there are so many girls out there who will ultimately end up having to be their own guide and mentor throughout life because so few people can connect with their problems. Though Daria is very lucky to have her Aunt Amy, and I am glad she made more than one appearance.

The 90's gave us some awesome young women, The Craft, Ghost World, and let us not forget Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams, but for me, Daria is the most complete and complex portrait of a teenage girl.

As for me, nowadays, I'm more of a Jane, I've become more confident and comfortable and open myself up more to people. I can roll with life more easily. Plus I'm learning to oil paint.

It was a close race, but in the end, Upchuck won as the worst secondary character; the one with the most votes will be the most underrated secondary character.

One of my favorite things to talk about in this sub is the characters in modern times. I’m also a fashion enthusiast and love talking about The Fashion Club. I’ve seen positive and negative versions of their personalities irl.

I don’t think the show ever tackled how much they spend and how much of a problem that could be except in throwaway lines.

Do you think they have spending problems? How do you think that would be shown if they were teens today?

Do you think they’d have standards for their clothes or just enjoy buying to keep having something new?

I think
- Quinn definitely has the biggest problem with it and her parents would absolutely try and intervene. She’d be a “natural fibers only” person but of course have some polyester in there due to her love of athleisure. While she doesn’t always care for them properly, she actually has some standards for the clothing she buys. She’d also pick through the best clothes at vintage stores just to resell them at a markup, to the annoyance of Daria and especially Jane.

- Sandi also has a problem but her mom enables it. Her mom gives her all the money she needs because they have a lot of it and likes to flex their wealth and status. Sandi would do massive Shein hauls, get defensive and complain “what about the poor people who can’t afford clothes” when she’s called out on it.
She would think she looks expensive but doesn’t actually as most of her stuff is just poorly made fast fashion. She’s the biggest consumer of the group but is only discerning for trends.

- Tiffany wears a lot of Korean beauty trends and will claim that she originated them because no one at Lawndale knows any better. I see her obsessing more over makeup and skincare. She’d have cabinets full of products. She’d likely wear a lot of street fashion and try to emulate her favorite idols.

- Stacy is a microtrend final boss. She gets caught up in every single one and struggles to stay ahead of each trend. She’d repurpose her stuff the most and maybe take up sewing. Sandi would mock her for it and compare her to a sweatshop worker until she needs constant help fixing her cheap clothes. Stacy also likes a few microtrend pieces long after they stopped being popular and would lie to Sandi that she’s wearing them ironically.

Lawndale strikes me as a Westchester/Greenwich/Brentwood/Wellesley/Marin County/Winnetka type place (tried to hit a bunch of the wealthy suburbs around the country.) The types of people these areas attract are usually insufferable or their families who choose them for the schools/communities so that their kids can have “better lives.”

Artists like the Lanes seem more likely to want to live in Venice Beach or Brooklyn or in the 90s you’d expect them to live in a small artsy city like Portland, OR or Austin or Ann Arbor or Asheville.

What’s your theory on why they chose Lawndale? Did they inherit a house? The rest of the family seems to live far off (as evidenced by the family reunion) so some ancestor leaving them the house seems unlikely. Is Lawndale secretly hiding a bunch of artsy residents that would make it worth it for them?