The Angst Guy

**The Angst Guy** is a *Daria* fanfiction author.

## Biographical Information

Also known as **TAG,** The Angst Guy published his *Daria* stories under his real name, Roger E. Moore, from April 2002 until October 2004; he ceased doing so for personal reasons. However, he decided to come out of the dark closet of anonymity in June 2011. He is one of the very few members of the *Daria* fan community who is a published author of fiction.

TAG's first experience with *Daria* was randomly catching "Dye! Dye! My Darling" during its first airing. This explains a *lot* about his fics.

The first person to welcome him to *Daria* fandom was Kara Wild. (Thank you!) The first *Daria* fanfic he read was "Daria vs. Predator," by Bob Marley, which he thought was weird but was enough to keep him interested in the fandom. Declared by Brother Grimace to be pre-eminent among the Angst Lords, TAG is nonetheless mostly harmless.

TAG has written only a few stories since the end of 2007, spending more time on the Daria Fandom Blog II and assorted fandom projects until late 2010. Around July 2010, due to personal and work situations, he mostly departed the fandom, but in late July 2011 he came *back* in fire, and blood, and anguish... then was eaten by cats. He blames LadieTAG for encouraging his return. He faded away again after a few stories, now is looking back and wondering why he left. He hopes to resolve this existential crisis soon.

He's been very prolific at times. He could be writing something right now (and is, but worries it won't be completed). He's writing it behind you. Breathing on your neck. Hi, there.

## Fanon and Fan Culture Contributions

### Daria Fandom Blog II

TAG operated a blog devoted to discussions of *Daria* and its fandom and anything else he thought of. In 2010, he took an extended leave from the blog for personal reasons, and it has been marvelously directed since then by Kristen Bealer. See Daria Fandom Blog II for more information.

### Experimentation

Though known primarily as an angst writer, TAG's work runs the gamut of moods and styles, from broad comedy ("The Thong Remains the Same") to science-fiction adventure ("Drive") to songfic ("The Ballad of Stacy Rowe") to fantasy ("Scarlett") to almost everything in between. He has written stories in past tense and present tense, first person and third person, ficlets and novels, scriptfics and lyrics, and stories with pictures (HTML) and stories without (HTM). The HTM versions of his stories often have unusual and colorful type fonts embedded within the headers or used as decoration, though not all computers have such fonts downloaded to them. (He uses free fonts only, however, so these fonts can be picked out to view the stories to better effect.) Stories on his website are often updated, corrected, or modified to include new features or information.

### Hard sci-fi

Hard science fiction is a recurring genre, producing fanfics like "Drive". It even pops up in fanfics where another writer might not include it, such as spy dramas ("Prayers for a SAINT" and "Invisible Planet") and more surreal stories like "Outcasts from Beyond", a superhero crossover that pays attention to the real physical damage that would be caused by the characters and ordinance fired at them.

### 513

The number 513 appears frequently in his stories, often as a harbinger of disaster. If you notice the time, a room number, an amount of money, or so forth is represented by this numeral, it is a good bet something bad is about to happen in the tale. Episode #513 of *Daria* was "Boxing Daria," the last regular episode of the series. The number 13 is similarly used for dramatic effect (e.g., "The Thirteenth Man").

### Penguins

There is a running joke at the forums that TAG regularly engages in sex acts with penguins. In a surprising display of good nature at such a crude insinuation, he plays along with these jokes. [*They're consenting adults! —TAG*] The joke apparently started in June 2003 when TAG was on an Alaskan cruise, getting e-mail through the ship's Internet system, and Kristen Bealer asked him to bring back a penguin. TAG offered to give her a used one. [*Eww.*]

### Tested to Destruction (or Angst Overdose)

He has cheerfully admitted to his tendency to put characters through the angst wringer: in an interview (see below), he recounted how he's been intrigued by suffering for a long time, how some people survive and others don't, and what happens to people and their morality in extreme stress. This also leads to a habit of taking "[a] character's primary strengths, some essential part of the character's identity in the "Daria" show, then destroy that element in as brutal a manner as possible, to find out how the character copes with the disaster and see if the character grows beyond it". Fic after fic will push characters to their limits or beyond.

Even TAG will admit, sometimes, that he overdoes it with the angst writing, and he has received requests to drop the angst for a while and try comedies even from other Angst Lords. He is a little slow to get the message, but once in a while he makes the effort. TAG's focus on angst writing has created a degree of controversy in the fandom, coming from those who are getting rather tired of it. People also get tired of his posting pictures of moobs in PPMB and for that he is very very very VERY sorry, not.

Nonetheless, he will pop out with a new angst thinger now and then, such as the Daylight shared-world scenario, which made him very happy. And the Shining Star shared world. And some other ones he's currently working on in which the Earth is destroyed and everyone dies screaming OMG i luv this fandom :) :) :)

### September 11

His first fanfic, in April 2002, was "Nine-Eleven and Counting": Daria and Quinn are emotionally devastated when the latter gets too close to the events of September 11, 2001. The terrorist attack has cropped up in other fanfics as well, a turning point in history each time and sometimes as a ominous thing looming over the background: Jane is briefly sent to a possible future in "Smoking Mirror" and horrified to learn what happens so soon after graduation; the POV character in "A Hard Days' Night" ensures there won't be a nuclear war starting in that month, but is left worried about *what* is going to happen that would've provoked it.

### The Angst Guy as a Character

Many other *Daria* authors have included The Angst Guy as a character within their own fanfiction. (For example...) For instance, Dr. Mike included him in a cameo position within his work, "Your Honor," a *Night Court* ripoff. Dr. Mike also dedicated two works, "For Roger" and "For Roger 2," to the author.

### The DariaWiki

The Angst Guy is fascinated with DariaWiki and can be found making additions and edits to it every so often. Like now.

## Bibliography

* After Birth
* After the End
* Almost Strangers in the Night
* The Amazing Adventures of D-Day and the Mighty Jane
* And I on the Opposite Shore Will Be
* And When Your Heart Begins to Bleed
* Another Damn Mary Sue Fanfic
* Anything for Jane
* April Is the Cruelest Month
* The Art of Seeing
* As Many Worlds as There Are Artists
* As She Remembered It in the Long Years After
* Aunt Kara
* Backhanded Remarks
* Bipolar II
* Brave New World
* Bus Stop
* But in Her Heart a Cold December
* But Now Is Found
* Can't Touch That!
* A Certain Amount of Depth
* Change the World
* Click, Click, Boom
* Could Someone Turn Down the Sun?
* Crossing Over
* darea
* Daria 2007: The Girl from Hope
* Daria Dance Party
* Darialance
* Darius
* Dark of Hearts
* Darkness
* Death Takes a Holliday
* Dear Whoever
* Deus Jane
* Die! Die! You Bastard!
* Drive
* Driving Miss Daria
* The Dust Bunny Project: A Musical Review!
* Easy A
* Every Hour Saved from That Eternal Silence
* Feeding Frenzy
* The First Time
* Forgotten but not Gone
* Fortunate One
* The Fury
* Gimme Skelter *(with Brother Grimace)*
* The Girl Who Walked Home All Alone in the Dark
* Go Ahead and Dance
* Gone
* Guys' Night Out
* A Hard Days' Night
* Hal Point Nine
* Highland Fling
* History Lesson
* Home on Deranged
* Howard
* I Never Metamorphosis I Didn’t Like
* If You Only Walk Long Enough
* Illusions
* The Impossible
* In the Beginning
* Invisible Planet
* It Slipped Through My Hands, Like a Shadow, Like a Dream
* The IUF Tale
* Jane and the Lanes (essay)
* Jane Lane: Hero in the Making? (essay)
* Jane Unchained
* Just Desserts
* Kill Tom
* A Knight to Remember
* Life Is Good
* Like Angels' Visits, Short and Bright
* Like Father, Like—
* Luuuv Story
* Mack Daddy
* Mad Dog
* Making the Breast of It
* Meet the Fashion Club
* Memory Lame
* A Midsummer Nightmare's Daria
* More Than Just Lost
* The Morgendorffer Code
* Natural Charms
* Next in Line
* Nine-Eleven and Counting
* Nine Point Oh
* No One Lives Forever
* Nothing Happens for a Reason
* The Nothingness of Being
* Nuthouse
* The Omega Jane
* One More River to Cross
* The Original Underground Government-Suppressed Version of Brother Grimace’s Classic Daria Fanfic, "The Sun Will Come Out, Tomorrow"
* The Other Story of D
* Outcasts from Beyond
* The Outers series
* Pander Bare
* The Pause in the Air series
* Polly Andry Rides Again
* Potential
* Prayers for a SAINT
* Prisoner of Hope
* Pristine
* Quinnisqatsi
* Quinnts
* Rita Is Better Than Helen or Amy!
* Scarlett
* The Secret Life
* See Jane Spike
* Self-Insertion
* Small Worlds
* Smoking Mirror
* Snowball in Hell
* Snowflakes
* The Sound of Muzak
* Special Delivery
* Stacy and the Lamp
* Stacy in Hell
* Sudden Death Overtime
* Suite for Cello, Two-Part Invention
* Summer of the Hot Lake
* Terrible Tales of Tiffany
* The Thirteenth Man
* There Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies
* The Thong Remains the Same
* Though the Course May Change Sometimes, Rivers Always Reach the Sea
* Three Ways of Looking at a Tiffany Blum-Deckler
* Through a Scooby Darkly
* Tiffany in Futureland
* Tiffany in Wonderland
* Till Death Do Us Part
* True Lies
* The Two of Them
* Unto the End
* Uranium in the Drinking Water
* When the Torrent of That Time Comes Pouring Back
* Where No Light Breaks, Where No Sea Runs
* Who Once Was Lost
* Winter in Hell
* Wish Upon a Fallen Star
* Wonderlane
* You Don’t Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows

## Daria Fanworks Awards

2004 Daria Fanworks Awards

* Favorite Drama for "Gone"
* Favorite Melodrama for "Smoking Mirror"
* Favorite Jane Story (tie) for "See Jane Spike"
* Favorite Science Fiction (tie) for "The Thirteenth Man"
* Favourite Use of a Background Character From the Show for "Scarlett" (unfinished)
* Favourite Weird Idea for "Smoking Mirror"
* Favorite Holiday Story (tie) for "Nine Point Oh"

2005 Daria Fanworks Awards

* Favorite Overall for "Illusions" with CharlieGirl and Angelinhel
* Favorite Melodrama for "Darius"
* Favourite Quinn Story for "Pause in the Air #8: April Showers"
* Favourite Character Development/Redevelopment/Growth for "When the Torrent of That Time Comes Pouring Back"
* Favourite Science Fiction for "Drive"
* Favourite Supernatural or Fantasy Non-Horror for "Illusions"
* Favourite Non Fiction Essay for "Jane Lane: Hero in the Making?

2006 Daria Fanworks Awards

* Favourite Supernatural or Fantasy Horror for "Pristine"
* Favourite Supernatural or Fantasy Non-Horror for "Uranium in the Drinking Water"
* Favourite Weird Idea for "Anything for Jane"

2007 Daria Fanworks Awards

* Favorite Dramatic Comedy for "A Hard Days' Night"
* Favorite Romance - Gay/Lesbian for "Pause in the Air 10: After Birth"
* Favorite Jane Story (tie) for "Always Beside You"
* Favorite Quinn Story for "Invisible Planet"
* Favorite Science Fiction for "A Hard Days' Night"
* Favorite Supernatural or Fantasy Horror for "Always Beside You"
* Favorite Weird Idea (tie) for "Guys' Night Out"

2008 Daria Fanworks Awards

* Favorite Science Fiction for *Death Takes a Holliday*

2009 Daria Fanworks Awards

* Favorite Overall for *Gimme Skelter* with Brother Grimace
* Favorite Melodrama for *Gimme Skelter* with Brother Grimace
* Favorite Science Fiction for *Gimme Skelter* with Brother Grimace
* Favorite Supernatural or Fantasy Horror for *Gimme Skelter* with Brother Grimace

2010 Daria Fanworks Awards

* Favorite Weird Idea for *Esteemsters: 4chan Edition* (tie)

## The CRAPPIES Awards

1st CRAPPIES Awards

* Most Unbelievable "Real" (Canon) Dariaverse Situation for "Smoking Mirror"
* Fanfic Most Likely to be a Favorite of the Fashion Club for "Daria Dance Party"
* Fanfic Most Likely to Make You Start Drinking (or Make You Start Again) for "Where No Light Breaks, Where No Sea Runs"
* Fanfic Most Likely to Make Ms. Li Call You a Fascist for "Where No Light Breaks, Where No Sea Runs"
* Fanfic With the Most Gratuitous Mentions of Daria Fans or Fanfic Authors for "The IUF Tale (Or, Total Disaster in a Nutshell)"
* Biggest "What the Fuck?" Ending for "Gone"
* Most Out of Character Jane for "See Jane Spike"
* Most Out of Character Jake for "Darius"

2nd CRAPPIES Awards

* Most Unbelievable Alternate Dariaverse Situation for "Deus Jane"
* Fanfic Most Likely to Make You Start Drinking (or Make You Start Again) for "Darkness"
* Fanfic Most Likely to Make Ms. Li Call You a Fascist for "Sudden Death Overtime"
* "Wha... Huh?" Most Incomprehensible Storyline for "Drive"
* Visual Most Likely to Cause the Reader to Gouge His/Her Eyes Out for "Mad Dog"
* Biggest "What the Fuck?" Ending (tie) for "Darkness"
* Most Out of Character Daria for "Darkness"
* Most Out of Character Jane for "Deus Jane"
* The Ultimate in CRAPPIE Crap - Fanfic Most Likely to Make You Run Off Screaming Into the Night for "Poly Andry Rides Again"

## External links

* The Daria Fandom Blog II
* The Angst Guy's fanfic website (just the index for same, nothing special)
* Unfinished Tales of Daria, TAG's website for stories he hasn't yet finished. (The website isn't finished, either, but what the heck.)
* Interview with TAG on Contrarian's Corner, conducted by E. A. Smith
* "Doodles" on DFB2
* "Stumbling Down Memory Road" on DFB2