Outpost Daria Reborn - Fan Fiction: Richard Lobinske's "John Lane"

Fan Fiction
"John Lane"
by Richard Lobinske
(RLobinske@aol.com)

Season 1
#1: John Outcast artist John Lane meets an interesting new girl in his self-esteem class.
#2: Can I Just Have The Coffee? With a little luck, Daria may be able to avoid the new coffee house Mr. O'Neill is planning... but don’t count on it.
#3: New Model Year Daria turns sixteen, the Amazon Modeling Agency is at Lawndale High, and one of John's comments lead to unanticipated results.
#4: The Maze Thing Daria and Kevin are assigned to do a science project together. When Brittany comes to believe that Daria has stolen him away from her, she decides to return the favor. Meanwhile, John's cats, Zachary and Taylor, have their eyes on the mouse.
#5: Sitting Cute Daria deals with an emergency babysitting job, Quinn worries about losing the cuteness arms race, and John's a fill-in roadie for a combined Mystik Spiral/Harpies gig.
#6: Morgendorffer Prison Blues Jake and Helen's experiment in household jurisprudence results in John, Daria, and Quinn grounded for a month. Will Jake and Helen survive the sentence?
#7: Lessons of Spring It's spring break, a time for road trips, concerts, and camping for John and Daria... and don't forget the glitter berries!
#8: Killing a Legend Former Lawndale football legend Tommy Sherman returns to be honored by the school. When John and Daria are less than impressed with him, things quickly (and badly) go downhill.

Season 2
#9: Good Art Hunting In the aftermath of the school's poster contest, John has plans for the scheduled paintball field trip.
#10: A Tale of Two Brains Much to Daria's dismay, Quinn gets a new reputation as a brain after her essay is published in the Lawndale Lowdown. What can Daria and John do about it?
#11: A Mirror of Future Fears Daria's cousin Erin is getting married, so Helen makes sure that Daria and Quinn are bridesmaids, and John a groomsman. Has the dysfunctional Lane family prepared John to face the Barksdales?
#12: A Time For Every Purpose John is temporarily evicted from his room to a sofa to make space for Jake and Helen's old hippie commune friends, Coyote and Willow Yeager. With nowhere to run, John and Daria must prepare for a weekend of good vibes and two annoyed cats.
#13: Movie Majik Mr. O'Neill assigns a short film project to his English class. What better subject for Daria and John to work on than a local grunge band on the verge of waking up?
#14: Fairly Illuminated To avoid being transferred from the school newspaper to the yearbook staff by Ms. Li, Daria agrees to help sell reproduction manuscript pages at the school's medieval fair, a fundraiser to repair the library roof. At the same time, John is volunteered to make the reproductions and Quinn auditions for a part in the fair's production of "The Canterbury Tales".
#15: Ring of Champions John's hard practice begins to pay off as track season starts with a string of wins for him, while Daria's frustration with gym class reaches a new height with cheerleader practice being masked as agility training. John's sudden popularity as a track star has several unintended consequences leading up to his sixteenth birthday.
#16: Left to the Heart As the school year draws to a close, Mr. O'Neill gives Daria a special writing assignment because she's read all of the books on his reading list. Thinking about the free time Daria and John will have over the summer, even with some kind of "useful activity," Helen decides to make sure Daria is protected if she and John go too far.
#17: Summer Incoming John and Daria start summer classes at Lawndale Community College, interning with Jake, and prepare for a visit from Grandma Barksdale.

Season 3
#18: Lessons Things are not looking good as Daria and John begin driving lessons. Jake's too nervous, Helen is overworked on the exploding ketchup lawsuit, and then there's the old saying, "never try to teach a boyfriend/girlfriend how to drive."
#19: Retouched Parents Vincent Lane arrives in Lawndale just as the Morgendorffers cancel their island cruise vacation. Despite his lack of contact with John over the previous eight months, he invites John to visit him and Amanda at the Ashfield arts colony.
#20: Hear No Beauty, See No Beauty With the start of a new school year, Helen still insists that Daria and John have some kind of official after-school activity. Much to their annoyance, Ms. Li announces “Awareness of Others Week” that requires them to take on a second extracurricular activity.
#21: Apocalypse Dance With the school dance approaching, Daria and John find themselves with several very unexpected commitments as John prepares the decorations and they prepare to double date with Kevin and Brittany.
#22: Valuable Experiences Mr. O'Neill enters one of Daria's essays in a magazine contest, where it wins second place. Much to her annoyance, one of the staff writers comes to Lawndale to present her with an award plaque.
#23: Cupid in a Nutshell After the school's "career aptitude test," Quinn recruits Ted to photograph her as a jewelry model, while Kevin finds work at It's a Nutty, Nutty, Nutty World. In the wake of confusion, jealousy, and misinterpretation, John and Daria find themselves trying to reunite two couples: Ted and Stacy, and Brittany and Kevin.
#24: Heart Flush Penny's visit highlights for John and Daria the physical temptation they feel, feelings that are further complicated when Jake has a heart attack. His mother, Ruth, is scandalized by John's presence in the Morgendorffer home, and Quinn is horrified to learn she'll have to share Daria's room.
#25: Echoes of a Relationship Trent and Monique's relationship finally explodes when she travels to Fremont to bail Mystik Spiral out of jail. Afterward, John and Daria find themselves drawn into the dispute and wondering about their own relationship.
#26: Neptune et Fortuna Thanks to Ms. Li's never-ending quest for funding, the school sponsors a Casino Night on the Princess Fairy cruise ship. Rather than avoid the event, however, John and Daria decide that participation is a win-win for them: they can catch some sleep after an all-night "Sick, Sad World" marathon while earning points with Jake and Helen by giving them a worry-free night to themselves.
#27: Sloane Tom B When the credit card bills arrive, Quinn flees to the Zon to hide with Daria and John. Getting away from his stuffy home life, Tom Sloane decides to investigate the grunge club he heard was downtown. What could possibly go wrong?

Season 4
#28: Partners in Pain Under Ms. Li’s directive, Mrs. Bennett randomly assigns partners for an assignment in real-life economics. John is teamed with Mack, Jodie with Kevin, and Daria with Brittany.
#29: The Snows of Mt. Lawndale John and Daria, along with Quinn, go on a school-sponsored overnight mountain hike. When a late blizzard traps the students inside a cabin, they find that they must endure much more closeness with their classmates than they anticipated.
#30: A Test of Honor A chance encounter allows John to persuade Kevin not to use a stolen history test to cheat, resulting in John and Daria being placed in the odd position of protecting Kevin for doing the right thing.
#31: View from a Parade As a result of Mr. O'Neill's "failure" assignment, Daria and John find themselves as the "court" for the Homecoming King and Queen: Mack and Jodie. Among their duties is to ride in the annual parade.
#32: Ties of Family Bondage While Jake and Helen prepare to go on a business trip for him, Amy arrives to stay at the Morgendorffer home over the weekend to watch Quinn, Daria and John. When Helen can't make the trip, Quinn is selected to take the trip with Jake while Helen decides the weekend will be a good time to re-bond with Amy, as well as John and Daria.
#33: Tiptoe Through the Ivy It's Helen's turn for the law firm's sponsored family retreat at Quiet Ivy Spa. While she hopes they make a good impression, she is nevertheless worried about how Daria and John's relationship will appear to the firm.
#34: Barbeques and Gridiron As a result of Ms. Li "assigning" them to tutor Kevin and Brittany, Daria and John are invited to the annual LHS Football Barbeque by a grateful Mrs. Thompson, who seems to think that they (unlike her husband) are a good influence on Kevin.
#35: Give Me a C! Tutoring Kevin and Brittay for regular school work, plus helping Quinn prepare for the PSTAT test, is enough to make anyone feel bogged down. As such, Daria and John are more than happy to help Mystik Spiral prepare for a gig and avoid a party thrown by Brittany's parents to celebrate her improved grades.
#36: Promises It's prom season at Lawndale High and, as expected, Daria and John find themselves under pressure to attend, despite thier strong desire to avoid the whole mess.
#37: Chrysalis After their trip to avoid the prom, John and Daria feel that their life is changing around them as they finish the school year and try to convince Jake and Helen to let them continue with their plans to spend the summer at the Ashfield Art Colony.
#38: Yeah, It's Summer Daria and John are away to Ashfield Colony for the Arts for the summer, while Helen volunteers Quinn to work at the Okay To Cry Corral. John introduces Daria to Alison, who becomes a friend to the couple. Quinn gets invited to the Winged Tree Country Club fireworks display by Tom and also gets Link to open up at camp.
#39: Leaving Summer Daria and John try to think of a way to deal with Alison making a pass at both of them, while Quinn tries to get Link to understand his crush on her and to let him down easy.

Season 5
#40: Starry Eyes Open With the beginning of the school year comes the Starry Night Ball and (much to the anticipation of the Fashion Club) Quinn's chance to meet the Sloane's social circle. Meanwhile, John prepares to show some of his work at the ball and simply survive the experience.
#41: Friends and Rediscovery Quinn, Daria and John travel to the Camp Grizzly five-year reunion. Quinn tries to balance her concern about Sandi's broken leg with meeting her old friends, while Daria looks forward (and not fondly) to a repeat of another bad experience, and John hopes to mooch enough food to feed him and Trent along the way.
#42: Legally Halloween The Morgendorffer clan prepares for a Halloween costume party being thrown by Helen's law firm, with the teenagers preparing to escape that party and move on to one at Brittany's. Daria wonders which one will cause the least amount of brain damage.
#43: We're On a Mission John needs a clandestine way to get to an antique book store in Washington, D.C., to buy a present for Daria's eighteenth birthday, so he sets a plan into motion. He recruits Tom Sloane to help him get to D.C., and to cover his absence, he convinces Helen and Quinn to spend a day of mother/daughter/sister bonding with Daria.
#44: Fizzy Logic When Ms. Li calls a school review meeting on Super Bowl Sunday, the new editor of the Lawndale Lowdown assigns Daria and John to cover the story. When Ms. Li signs a contract with a soda company, they find themselves with limited options on what to do about it.
#45: Haunted by the Past Daria's years in Highland come back to haunt her when the Fashion Club decides to produce a fashion newspaper. Meanwhile, Helen encourages Daria and John to seek scholarships (and some extra activities) for their college applications.
#46: Substitute Plans When the faculty of Lawndale High goes on strike, Ms. Li finds a shortage of at least minimally acceptable substitutes. To make up for the shortfall, she comes up with a way to "recruit" John, Daria, Jodie and Mack.
#47: Another Look in the Mirror As John and Daria are finishing up their college applications, they learn that Daria's cousin Erin is getting a divorce and will be dropping in to work with Helen on the process.
#48: A Boston We Will Go Aunt Amy is recruited to chaperone Daria and John on a trip to Boston for interviews at Boston Fine Arts College and Raft College. Back in Lawndale, Quinn retreats to the security of the Fashion Club while Jake and Helen get their first taste of an empty nest.
#49: Acceptances As more and more Lawndale High seniors are accepted by their colleges, John becomes nervous about the lack of news from BFAC. Meanwhile, Jodie is torn between her choice of Turner and her parents' choice of Crestmore.
#50: Boxed In The empty box from a replacement refrigerator brings back old memories for John and Daria. While they spend time trying to recreate part of their pasts, Quinn gets to meet the extended Sloane family at the Cove.
#51: Promises Kept While Quinn prepares to attend both Lawndale High and Fielding Prep proms with Tom, Daria and John plan a return trip to Washington D.C. to avoid the prom and to fulfill a promise from the year before.
#52: From the Last Step to the First The series concludes with Daria and John graduating from Lawndale High and making it through their last summer in Lawndale as docents at the Lawndale Art Museum while dealing with the hostility of one of the directors who has a past history with his parents.