The Angst Guy

The Angst Guy is a Daria fanfiction author. While he's mostly left the fandom now, he was one of the most prolific and influential fanfic writers of the 2000s, with a further influence on the wave of fanfic writers that came in after the 2010 DVD boxset.

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.



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! &mdash;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.]

Ann Coulter
TAG has a horror of the right-wing commentator Ann Coulter. Fellow author Dervish kids him about this on the Daria message boards regularly. Brother Grimace thinks that TAG needs to spend time in a hot tub with Ms. Coulter in order to get a true appreciation of her. ("Hey, how wrong could Bill Maher be on the subject?")



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: 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.

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"