Stacy Rowe

Stacy Rowe is a fictional character created for the MTV animated series Daria.

Background
Stacy Rowe was a freshman (and later sophomore and junior) at Lawndale High, and secretary of the Fashion Club; a quartet of fashion-obsessed teenage girls who held regular meetings to discuss various facets of the fashion world and, in their own words, "solve crimes against fashion."

Stacy was perceived as "the weakest link" of the Fashion Club by club president Sandi Griffin and was sometimes humiliated and verbally abused by her. Stacy was constantly insecure to the point of neurosis and would hyperventilate or burst into tears when bad things happened to her.

She constantly sought the attention and approval of fellow Fashion Club member Quinn Morgendorffer and would often side with Quinn when her friend butted heads with Sandi Griffin before getting bullied into taking Sandi's side. In a memorable scene from "Gifted," Stacy completely relinquishes her own tastes so they become exactly like Quinn's, a change that Quinn didn't approve of. It is shown on that episode that Stacy looks up to Quinn and considers her to be her best friend, sometimes to a point that even Quinn cannot tolerate. It should be noted, however, that Quinn may consider Stacy to be her best friend, as well: In the beginning of "Of Human Bonding," when Quinn is only allowed to invite one friend for sleepover, Stacy is her first choice.

During Season Five of Daria, several episodes spotlighted Stacy: she was the only member of the Fashion Club to be drawn favorably in a group caricature portrait; she was Charles "Upchuck" Ruttheimer III's assistant in a magic act in "Life in the Past Lane" (where she memorably chided Sandi 'for being naive'; and she snapped at Tiffany Blum-Deckler over her absent-mindedness when the two were left to run the Fashion Club all by themselves in "Fat Like Me."

In the second movie Is It College Yet?, Stacy wished that Sandi would stop talking at her birthday. Sandi then came down with laryngitis and Stacy believed it was her fault (Sandi went as far as calling Stacy a "saboteur"). Even though it was proved that it wasn't Stacy's fault, Sandi tried to get her to do a list of "chores" as an apology. Stacy refused and decided to take a sabbatical from the Fashion Club. (Note: It is disputed whether The Fashion Club still exist as an hierarchical group in the post-canon.)

Fan Response
Out of the members of the Fashion Club, Stacy quickly became a fan favorite of many fans of the series. Indeed, in spite of receiving little attention during the course of the series, many fans have devoted time and energy on fan fiction regarding Stacy and her struggles fitting in with the Fashion Club and her struggle to fit in and stand up for herself.

Sweet Stacy
The Sweet Stacy archetype is rather basic: she is what she seems, a cute and sweet teenager, a paradigm which provides great material for shippers. The Angst Guy's "Wish Upon a Fallen Star" is such an example.

Doomed Stacy
One recurring theme in fanfics making use of Stacy plays off of her perceived weaknesses, turning her into a target for disaster. Stacy has appeared in a number of horror tales as a victimized, doomed protagonist (e.g., Yui Daoren's critically acclaimed work, "The Emancipation of Stacy Rowe" or Angelinhel's "Crimson Sunset")," though she is sometimes depicted as suffering in defense of others or standing up for a cause she believes in, making her travails heroic (e.g., TAG's "Unto the End"). This portrayal of Stacy is an example of what is known in literature as Women In Refrigerators syndrome.

Dark Stacy
Another (albeit rarer) theme involving Stacy has her somehow turning to the darker side of her nature. In most of these depictions, Stacy is seen almost as the archetype of a vampire: cruel, cunning, and amoral, with no hesitation or remorse about harming or even killing others, and lascivious almost to the point of being a sexual predator. In some of these stories, Stacy has also developed some form of supernatural or superhuman abilities, and has no qualms about using them. Stories of this type include "No More Ms. Nice Vampire" from the Daria the Hunter series, "Daria vs. the Lawndale Zombies," "Where's Mary Sue When You Need Her?," and the Legion of Lawndale Heroes series. Examples of non-super Dark Stacys appear in Angelinhel's "We All Fall Down," Brother Grimace's "Word of the Week", and TAG's "Stacy in Hell."

Maturing Stacy
An interesting variation on 'Sweet Stacy', this variation of Stacy shows her either in the process of becoming more mature to insightful onlookers, or shows her at some time in the future, where we see that she is no longer the quintessential victim of 'kick the cat' syndrome. Maturing Stacy fics usually focus on how Stacy realizes that the world of high school is a transitory one, and (usually behind the backs of her fellow Fashion Club members), endeavors to better herself academically, culturally, and socially - usually with positive results. Another trademark of these stories is that we find Stacy to be quite intelligent (albeit crippled by her home life, parents, and to a lesser extent, by the Fashion Club itself), as well as a quite capable student, and general source of useful information. In many cases, Maturing Stacy is actually a pale shadow of Daria herself, but without her own Jane Lane to provide unconditional support and friendship.

The first major work to display this Stacy variation was Austin Covello's A Day In The Life Of Stacy, but can also be seen in Brother Grimace's Lunchtime, Doubly So... and Nemo Blank's Ring Toss. We also see echoes of this variation in the 'Year Two' stories of the Legion of Lawndale Heroes series and in TAG's "Outcasts from Beyond," both of which depict Stacy as a superhero. A variation of this theme can be found in Richard Lobinske's story, A Daze at the Races. Stacy Rowe's revitalized appearance in Ruthless Bunny's "Bed and Breakfast Man" is a wonder to behold.

Characterization Debate
In 2007, a debate was started at PPMB about the interpretation of Stacy in Daria fan fiction. It was proposed that 'Sweet Stacy' and 'Maturing Stacy' were the most accurate portrayals of the character and assumed that many other interpretations didn't adhere to canon, or at worst, created a gross misinterpretation of the character.

While there has been some support for this point of view, many Daria fans have remained indifferent to the debate or held to the belief that the canon portrayal of Stacy is somewhat of a balance between the 'Sweet Stacy' and 'Doomed Stacy' personas, with the events of the fifth season of Daria and Is It College Yet? moving her personality slightly into the 'Maturing Stacy' category.

Trivia

 * Stacy's last name was never revealed in the series. Its release was unofficial, and occurred on one of MTV's Daria sites. Despite this, it is regarded widely as Stacy's correct surname. However, in an interview with writer Anne D. Bernstein it was confirmed that Stacy's last name is, in fact, canon.


 * Stacy is voiced by actor Sarah Drew, who was originally only supposed to give a one-time voice-over for the show. Impressed, the casting directors offered her the role of Stacy.


 * Until the name "Rowe" appeared, the fandom-generated last name for Stacy was "Nibblett," courtesy of Danny Bronstein, although it came to prominence in the fanfiction of Austin Covello.


 * In Daria fandom, Stacy is usually considered the most 'physically attractive' member of the Fashion Club (as opposed to Quinn Morgendorffer, who is considered 'the cutest member'). This is shown in Legion of Lawndale Heroes and Ring Toss.


 * Stacy is well-known for wearing her hair in 'braids' or 'pigtails', and is usually seen (for formal events) wearing her hair down, with no specific styling regimen to enhance it ('the natural look').


 * Fanfic portrayals of Stacy, in her role of Fashion Club Secretary, show her (while carrying out her duties) as a very accurate recorder of detail and a encyclopedia of knowledge relating to matters within and outside the world of fashion. This is one of the points emphasized in the 'Maturing Stacy' depiction and is best illustrated in A Day In The Life Of Stacy, although in Legion of Lawndale Heroes, Jane recognizes Stacy's abilities and asks for help during the second election for Legion Leader.


 * Stacy's depiction in romantic storylines is fully in line with the 'Sweet Stacy' image, with a gentle innocence and a playful mischieviousness included. Because of this, almost all romantic liasions of Stacy depicted in fanfic seem to have focused upon her with Ted Dewitt-Clinton (as he is seen as innocent as she is), and, surprisingly, with Quinn. This, however, was taken to an horrific extreme in the fanfic Stacy in Hell.


 * Stacy's shoe size is 6 1/2 AA.