Daria

When Jane contacts Daria to find out why she's missing a movie they wanted to see, she finds that Daria was engrossed in writing a short story. Nothing new there; what is new, however, is that she's thinking of submitting it somewhere for publication. Jane eventually convinces Daria to let her read the story, and while she admits she's not the best judge of literature, she tells Daria to let Tom take a crack at it. His enthusiasm and encouragement propels Daria to -- reluctantly -- submit the story to Musings magazine. Meanwhile, the Fashion Club is inspired by the FashionVision Humanitarian Awards to perform a charitable act... for their own advantage, of course (which, in this case, means donating a new mirror for the girls' bathroom at school). After brainstorming, they decide to create and sell a newsletter, with tips on beauty and fashion trends, in order to pay for the new mirror. A few days after mailing her submission, Daria receives the ultimate writer's nightmare: a rejection letter. Her ego badly bruised and her anger at a slow burn, she goes over to Tom's house and rakes him over the coals (again) for insisting she subject herself to such humiliation. Tom defends himself (again) by telling her that he was only being supportive, and that she is acting childish. She leaves in a huff (again), and Tom lets her stew in her juices (again). The Fashion Club has also experienced their own form of rejection: the "What's Hot and What's Rot" issue of Waif magazine has contradicted everything they put into their newsletter. In desperation, they buy back all the newsletters and pitch them, and in the end they mount a made-up plaque on the wall of the girl's bathroom. Daria eventually comes to realize (with a little inadvertent help from Jake) that one rejection isn't the end of the world, and asks Tom over so that she can apologize. They end up sharing a smooch -- which freaks out Helen, who's on a "Daria and Tom and sex" thing after a phone call from her sister Rita (whose daughter Erin is having marriage troubles; turns out she only married Brian because he gave her herpes) -- and Daria embarks on another short story.