Drama

Drama is a wide-ranging genre encompassing virtually all works that have a serious, non-comedic tone. This tone does not necessarily include tenseness or conflict - focusing instead on themes of love, family togetherness, friendship, and the like - but often does for the sake of dynamic storytelling. In accordance with its broad definition, drama encompasses several sub-genres and mixes well with many other types of works. These include but are not limited to: adventure, crime fiction, romance, science-fiction, and fantasy.

Drama in Daria Canon

Dramatic elements, particularly those dealing with friendship and family, were present in Daria from the beginning, but became more and more prominent as the series wore on. The fourth and fifth seasons are generally considered to be the most dramatic, pushing thing deeply into dramatic comedy territory.

Drama in Daria Fanworks

Dramatic tension is a major theme in Daria fan fiction. Arguably, the most popular form in the fandom is angst, a drama sub-genre which primarily features the psychological suffering and mental anguish of the characters. The Angst Lords are a group of Daria fanwork creators who specialize in creating especially angst-filled works.

Examples of dramatic fanworks include:

• Arrival by legendeld
• Bromwell Bound: That One Fateful Summer by HolyGrail2007
• Counting the Days by Jim North
• Gimme Skelter by The Angst Guy and Brother Grimace
• Love is a Series of Burning Sensations by undefinedlust
• The Night Series by thatLONERchick
• The True Story of How Stacy Rowe Destroyed the Fashion Club by ticknart

Drama vs Dramatic Comedy

Dramatic comedy is a genre that combines elements of drama with comedy. There is some confusion in the fandom as to where drama ends and dramatic comedy begins, which typically leads to overlap in the nominations for these two categories in the Daria Fanworks Awards. As it is difficult to quantify exactly how much infused comedy causes the flip from one genre to the other, a hard line may never be drawn between them.