John Lane

A series of stories by Richard Lobinske that speculates on the changes that may have happened if Jane Lane were born as John Lane. Because Daria is initially reluctant to stop by John's home, they are not present to stop the bank officers from foreclosing on the Lane home. This leads to an investigation of Amanda and Vincent as parents and John eventually being taken in by the Morgendorffers. Instead of best friends, Daria and John develop a romantic relationship.

Analysis of the Series
The consequences of Jane Lane being born male have been explored elsewhere, but never to the extent that the John Lane series takes it. Fanfic author and former IUF member Beth Ann began an as-yet incomplete serial on PPMB in September 2003 entitled “Age Old Question,” in which Daria meets a Jacob “Jake” Lane when she comes to Lawndale High School. Jacob Lane lost his former girlfriend Monique to his older brother Trent, so the two brothers have much rivalry and bad feeling between them. Daria and Jacob are immediately attracted to each other, but do their best to play it cool and “just stay friends,” a strategy that seems doomed to failure.

The John Lane series neatly sidesteps such romantic entanglements by having John and Daria naturally gravitate to each other and no one else. Monique is Trent’s off-and-on girlfriend, as in the TV series, but Daria has no canon attraction to the older Trent. As the series progresses, each chapter spins off from one or two TV episodes in sequence, and divergences with the TV series begin to accumulate. The romantic relationship between John and Daria spawns a host of predictable troubles, especially after John is taken in by the Morgendorffers when the Lane home is lost. Jake and Helen Morgendorffer fear that Daria and John will become sexually active and finally decide to face the matter by introducing them (and a horrified Quinn) to birth control, an option that Daria and John make an effort to avoid despite their deepening physical relationship.

However, a far greater cascade of well-reasoned consequences ripples out from the change from Jane to John. Other students, particularly Brittany Taylor, notice how John and Daria act as a couple, and their romantic relationships change as well. The once antagonistic Quinn becomes Daria’s closest supporter and ally. Jake begins to rant less often about his father as his friendship with John improves. Daria the loner is forced to be a joiner, taking a position with the school newspaper. John becomes a trophy-winning track runner, but he remains on the school team as no romantic conflict exists to force him to leave (as did between Jane Lane and Evan, over Jane’s friendship with Daria). Vincent and Amanda Lane reappear and take hesitant steps to repair the emotional damage their long absences in John’s life have caused. Even the misanthropic loner Penny Lane helps them out. In a significant break with canon, Tommy Sherman is not accidentally killed, instead becoming a pariah for bullying John. John’s presence as Daria’s boyfriend short-circuits a number of plot possibilities (e.g., dates Between Daria and Ted DeWitt/Clinton), as John is protective of Daria and rather jealous of potential suitors.

The John Lane series plays off nicely on the popular perception that Daria and Jane make a great couple in canon, and they would make an even better couple if either they were both lesbians or one of them was a male. The overall tone of the series, despite the ingrained cynicism of John and Daria, is warm and hopeful. Daria matures more rapidly here than in the TV series, and her personality is markedly more positive. This is in striking contrast with the situation in “Darius,” by The Angst Guy, a tale about the tormented relationship between Darius Morgendorffer (Daria as a male) and the rest of the world, including his new-found girlfriend, Jane Lane.

The John Lane series is currently closing in on the pivotal episode in the TV series, “Jane’s Addition,” when Tom Sloane makes his appearance. Where the John Lane series will go then is a much anticipated and debated development.

Stories in Series
John Lane 1: John: Outcast artist, John Lane, meets an interesting new girl in his self-esteem class.

John Lane 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.

John Lane 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.

John Lane 4: The Maze Thing. Daria and Kevin are assigned to do a science project together. When Brittany decides Daria’s stolen her boyfriend, she decides to return the favor. Meanwhile, John’s cats, Zachary and Taylor, have eyes on the mouse.

John Lane 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.

John Lane 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?

John Lane 7: Lessons of Spring. It’s spring break and time for road trips, concerts and camping for John and Daria. And don’t forget the glitter berries.

John Lane 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 go badly downhill.

John Lane 9: Good Art Hunting. In the aftermath of the school's poster contest, John has plans for the scheduled paintball field trip.

John Lane 10: A Tale of Two Brains. Much to Daria’s dismay, after Quinn’s essay is published in the Lawndale Lowdown, she gets a new reputation as a brain. What can Daria and John do about it?

John Lane 11: A Mirror of Future Fears. Daria’s cousin Erin is getting married, so Helen has made sure that Daria and Quinn are bridesmaids, and John a groomsman. Has the dysfunctional Lane family prepared John to face the Barksdales?

John Lane 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.

John Lane 13: Movie Magik. 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?

John Lane 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 fundraiser to repair the library roof, a medieval fair. At the same time, John is volunteered to make the reproductions and Quinn auditions for a part in the fair's production of Canterbury Tales.

John Lane 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.

John Lane 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.

John Lane 17: Summer Incoming. John and Daria start summer classes at Lawndale Community College, interning with Jake, and prepare for a visit from Grandma Barksdale.

John Lane 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". (

John Lane 19: Retouched Parents. After the Morgendorffers cancel their island cruise vacation, Vincent Lane arrives in Lawndale. Despite his lack of contact with John over the previous eight months, he invites John to visit him and John's mother, Amanda, at the Ashfield arts colony.

John Lane 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.

John Lane 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.

John Lane 22: Valuable Experiences. Mr. O'Neill enters one of Daria's essays in a magazine contest and it wins second place. Much to her annoyance, one of the staff writers comes to Lawndale to present an award plaque.

John Lane 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 get Ted and Stacy back together, as well as Brittany and Kevin.

John Lane 24: Heart Flush. Penny’s visit highlights for John and Daria the physical temptation they feel, and their feelings 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.

John Lane 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 relationship.