Frequently Asked Questions

View the Frequently Asked Questions, answered by the webmaster himself!

View the Official FAQ page by the actual A.A. creator, Kara Wild!

For folks who frequently ask questions like "What is the meaning of life?" and "Why am I here?"  just go view the people guilty for all of this.

Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions

by Amy Terwilliger

Q: What the hell is going on here?
A: Abruptly Amy. The Spinoff That Never Was. Or Was. Or whatever.

Q: What?
A: Abruptly Amy. It's a spoof of what happens when a good character goes bad. The characters of Amy and Andrea are "spun-off" from Daria to a series of their own. This spin-off comes complete with a new "creative" team, typical of the quality (or lack thereof) of production found in network television. In usual television fashion, Abruptly Amy abruptly devolves to a series of car chases, sex scenes, shootouts, and every other excess network TV is capable of.

Q: Who in their right mind would want to do such a thing?
A: Abruptly Amy was conceived, created and finally actualized (actualized?) by Kara Wild, who wanted a chance to write a real sour TV style plot, along the lines of the "Daria, the Movie" (a brilliant creation by Aaron Solomon "Nails" (ben Saul Joseph) Adelman and Barry "Iguanaman" Adelman). After creating the pilot, she solicited the assistance of some of Daria fan fiction greatest talents, and between herself and her co-conspirators, wrote eight complete episodes. I jumped in at the last minute to provide some of the artwork you see displayed on these pages. Then one day, I realized that there was enough material for a "megasite". So here it is.

Q: This "megasite" bears more than a passing resemblance to Outpost Daria! Is it true that by copying Martin J. Pollard's excellent web site (I looked at the source. You lifted his site almost verbatim), you have proved conclusively that you have both the morals and conscience of a dung beetle.
A: Absolutely not! Dung beetles happen to have very high moral standards, far higher than I'll ever aspire to in this lifetime (I understand that pushing balls of other creatures excrement around tends to make them humble, and therefore more spiritual. But I digress...). However, Kara Wild did take the precaution of asking, and receiving Martin's blessing on this project. So I have no fear of having my head coven by the Martin's Mighty AxeTM. So there.

Q: You said earlier that Abruptly Amy is a collaboration. Who are these people? I need to know, so I never make the mistake of leaving them alone with my kids.
A: First came Kara Wild. The child of immigrant parents, who arrived in this country with only 20 cents in their pockets and a dream of a better life, Kara set herself the challenge of writing the best dang Daria fan fiction there was. She penned the "Driven Wild Universe" which prominently features Daria's Aunt Amy, who appeared only briefly in the actual series. Driven by creative urges that can only be guessed at (medication related, rumor has it), and despite the high standards that she normally holds her writing to, Kara began cobbling together "Abruptly Amy: The Spinoff that Never Was". Working night and day in her lonely garret, she put  together a full pilot, a  "behind the scenes" special, and orchestrated a team of fan artists to create "screen captures" to complete. the illusion of a complete show, that (should have) died at birth.

Q: You're not answering my question!
 A: I'm getting to it, dammit! Aunt Amy, in many other fan-fiction tales, is usually presented as the all wise, all knowing mentor (a deus ex machina as one critic put it). But in Abruptly Amy, Amy is stripped of constraints of good taste, moral behavior and for a significant part of the pilot, clothing, became an attractive alternative character for fan fiction writers. Writers no longer had to deal with the Daria/Trent/Tom eternal triangle, mad Jane or the never ending Daria "does she, or doesn't she" debate. Abruptly Amy frees the writer to move beyond such tawdry matters, and boldly explore the more subtle aspects of the characters and plot line. Abruptly Amy gives us a chance to get right into the car chases, gun play, and other forms of gratuitous violence we have all been hankerin' to write (or draw).

Q: You still haven't told me who...
A: Wait! Offers came pouring in to Kara to write episodes of the series. Overwhelmed by such overwhelming support, and bolstered by the possibly of a kick-back or two, Kara initiated "Abruptly Amy: The Spinoff That... Was". Produced on a weekly basis, over eight weeks, an entire alternate "Amy" universe was created.

Q: You sonofabitch! Answer the question. Who is responsible for all this!
A: OK. I'll tell you. Drum roll, please.

Q: What! No f***ing way!
A: Guess you don't really want to know then. Oh well, goodbye...

Q: OK! OK! BrrrrrrrrrrrrRatatatatatatatatatataatatatatatatataat Boom!
A: Thank you. That wasn't so painful, was it. OK, the stars of the show are as follows: The Cast!

Q: What! You could have just given me the link in the first place! Are you on crack?
A: No!

Q: I don't believe it!
A: I swear it's true. Or my name is not Amy Terwilliger!

(and it's not)

 Milo Minderbinder
(not my born identity either)

 

Abruptly Amy FAQ

The Official FAQ by Kara Wild

What is "Abruptly Amy (The Spinoff That Never Was)"?

It's the first fanfic I (Kara Wild) ever wrote that was a complete departure from my continuum, The Driven Wild Universe. That is, unless you count my mini-fic, "A Desperately-Needed Ending (To Depth Takes a Holiday)," which I dashed off a few days after finishing "Rose-Colored Lenses."

It stars Daria's Aunt Amy as an F.B.I. agent who runs home to the town where she grew up in order to escape the mob. Supporting characters include:

ANDREA: the only regular on Daria to cross over to the spinoff series. After running away from Lawndale, she meets Amy and becomes her adopted daughter.

RITA: Amy's younger sister. Instead of having a rivarly with Helen, she has one with Amy. Instead of being supported by her mother, she supports her mother by working in the family bakery all day, every day, even though she hates it.

RUTH: Amy's mother and the crusty, wiley matriarch of the family.

KRISTOVO MARTINEZ: Amy's sexy boyfriend, who is also F.B.I. agent.

These are just the bare details. The promo covers them pretty well. If you want to find out what happens, read Abruptly Amy: A New Beginning.

  Why the hell did you write it?

My Author's Notes lay out all the reasons. But I'll go into them more here.

 

  • The main reason was I was feeling creative burnout and just had to write something else -- something that was not serious in any way.
  • I wanted to convince people to take fanfiction and Daria less seriously. Let's remember: Daria is just a T.V. show, and although we love the characters they DO NOT BELONG TO US! A point that was driven home quite nicely in Season 4, I thought. But the bottom line is that no single person has control over the characters' personality or actions. Therefore no ONE interpretation of the characters in fanfiction is the legitimate interpretation.
  • That is especially true of "Aunt" Amy Barksdale. As my Amy essay reveals, a good 6 months ago I wondered why so many fans worshipped her character. Fanfic after fanfic revered her as the wise sage Daria would eventually become, the only family member Daria could relate to. There seemed to be no shaking these opinions, though I could see ways in which Amy was not Daria's mirror image. I tried to disprove them by making Amy seem less than perfect in the DWU, until one day it struck me: why not write a fic that makes her practically the opposite of Daria? That would drive home my message that fans really don't know much about Amy, and any assumptions about her lie on unsteady ground.
  • Most of all, I really wanted the chance to mock social trends, particularly the way women are portrayed in television and film. Part of that portrayal can be found in the latest "going home" television shows, Providence and Judging Amy, discussed in this T.V. Guide article. That's the main reason why I included Amy as part of the trend -- yet another woman fed up with big city corruption who returns to her quaint hometown and finds a new sense of self. Plus, I just really wanted to mock the going-home trend in general; it just seems so hokey.

 

If it's supposed to be "the spinoff that never was," then why are there new "episodes" being made?

I was originally thinking of just doing a follow-up special, explaining how the Amy H.E.A.D.s got reconciled to the idea of an Amy spinoff, but then it turned out that several fanfic authors liked the fic so much, they were willing to be a part of a project in which we collaborated to write the "lost eight episodes." If you read the Epilogue for "A New Beginning," you'll see that I mention eight episodes were left on the "storage room shelf." These are the eight episodes. In "An Interview With Amy Terwilliger," I intend to explain how these episodes got picked up by the Lifetime Network.

The main attraction of these episodes was getting to mock even more trends than "Abruptly Amy (The Spinoff That Never Was)" could cover. We could focus our energy on poorly-conceived television concepts (ex: the "very special episode," the "Movie of the Week," and the spinoff itself), unfortunate fanfic trends, and reprehensible social trends.

I go into more detail in the postscript for "A.A. A.O.K."

 

Will there be any major differences between the episodes and the pilot?

Not really. There will be in the sense that I'm not the only one writing these fics, so the style will vary somewhat. Yet the basic details will stay the same: Amy will function partly as an FBI agent, finding time to go on the odd assignment, partly as a bakery manager, partly as a mother to Andrea, and partly as a frustrated lover of Kristovo. All of the writers have been trying to stay true to the tone of the pilot, which is heavy on melodrama, cheesy dialogue, wacky and improbable scenarios, and action sequences. A new villian or two will also appear.

The other differences will be that the episodes are half as long as the hour-long pilot, and that they might feature an eensy bit more character development than the pilot, which was pure satire. Just an eensy bit. Maybe.

 

Why do you authors use aliases instead of your real names? Are you too ashamed?

We're just pretending to be different people. The basic fantasy is: what if a group of writers (in Hollywood, say) really did cook up a show like Abruptly Amy? What would be going through their minds? It emphasizes that A.A. works on two levels: one, as that fantasy, two as a reality check. The real authors know that such a show would be horrible, and our main objective is to go over the how and the why.

 

Will the Daria characters ever make any guest appearances?

Oh yes. Many... many times.

 

Will you ever do 5 more episodes for a complete season, like with Daria?

We will if enough people respond favorably to the first eight... and if we can scrounge up enough energy to pull together for 5 more. I might have to seek out another writer or two.

 

If Amy has her own spinoff, does that mean she won't be back in the Driven Wild Universe?

As I mentioned in the introductory paragraph, Amy in the DWU will carry on as though Abruptly Amy doesn't exist. And yes, she will be back. I have a large role for her in DWU #19. If you're wondering why I have two Amys, it's because one thing I realize is that Amy is not my character to begin with, so in a sense, my one interpretation from the DWU can never be the standard interpretation. Why not mock the fact that there are so many versions of Amy floating out there, all heroic? And no, it's not very confusing. I just see the DWU universe Amy as the "real" one (i.e: the one connected to canon/the show), and the A.A. Amy as the "funhouse" one. ; > I enjoy working with both Amys.

 

What is the point of all this?

It's just fun! It's a departure from the usual joys and pains of Daria fic, a chance for all of us to let loose with our wackiest ideas. And for some of us, it may not be much of a stretch. ; >



     

    The Players

    Kara Wild is the creator and prime mover of the whole A.A. series. She wrote the pilot, the "special", and the lions share of the content presented here. On these pages, she is more often referred to as Carrie D. Wildly, author of episodes #102 and #107.

    The other players are:

    C.E. Forman came out of retirement to pen two episodes as E. Charlton Fuhrmann.

    Crazy Nutso, take a bow for the part of Sunto Czyra .

    Mike Quinn. J. Michaelis Quinn. Get it?

    John Berry as Shawn Perry. Cool. Rhymes.

    John Takis goes schizo as Hans Tojki.

    Milo Minderbinder who served as artist, art director, and lived for a time in the oily skin of webmaster Amy Terwilligerand as "The Author formerly known as OLIM!

    Special thanks to Kemical Reaxion, Jennifer Border , John Berry, Queen Jossie and John Takis for other contributed artwork, and special thanks to Martin J. Pollard for being a good sport about his web site.