Age Old Question

Age Old Question is an unfinished and now-lost genderswap fanfic by Beth Ann, where Daria meets a Jacob Lane - an idea abandoned for 'adoption' by Nick Gaston.

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; meanwhile, Trent and Jacob are at daggers drawn after Trent stole his girlfriend Monique.

The written chapters were lost in a computer crash and the version on Paperpusher's Message Board was lost in a forum upgrade.

While it's long-lost, the fanfic is directly responsible for the ubiquity of genderswap fanfics in the fandom. The Angst Guy was inspired by this story to write his idea for a male Daria and Richard Lobinske inspired by both to write his own male Jane, John Lane; those fanfics duly inspired many others.