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clean-bands-dirty-stories · 4 months

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Habit ~ E.O.

A/n: This felt the way eating something for the first time in a longen time when you are it a lot as a kid? Does that make sense? Idk I just love it

Request: “...Enoch O’Connor x Male I beg of thee” by anon

Word count: 2200+

MASTERLIST

Jake was the most annoying person Y/n had ever met.

The problem with a boy shaking the very core of the way Miss Peregrine's Home worked, is that there was a set routine. Not just the same day, every day. Not just the same clothes. Not just the same activities and expectations, but also the same people. The same dynamics. Everything was clear and simple and predictable - as it was supposed to be. It was Enoch and Horace and Olive and Fiona and Claire and Emma and Millard and Bronwyn and Hugh and the twins and Y/n. They all had their chores, their meals, and their rooms. Wake up, do the exact same thing, reset the day, go to bed.

In some ways, Jake changing everything was nice. Emma was happier with him, and they were safer now. They'd always be safe now. Miss Peregrine didn't have to deal with her imperfect day, and they had lots of new friends.

Change was hard though, and unpredictable. Emma and Jake, and then Fiona and Hugh. And then suddenly everyone was a lot less okay with Enoch and Y/n pining for each other but never doing anything about it.

Enoch and Y/n had always been like this. They avoided each other despite everything, somehow having pulled it off for decades straight now. Anytime they did talk, the room seemed to go still. They were insatiable, starving for each other. Every look was too long, and yet too short. Every conversation saturated with so much emotion neither boy could handle it.

Being a teenager was hard.

But for decades, everyone had left it alone. At some point the distance and awkwardness and desperate yearning had become a part of the routine. Wake up, do what you did everyday, glance over the way Y/n's breath caught, a smile tugging to his face when Enoch brought something to life, ignore the way Enoch's eyes lingered when Y/n began to chat with a bird or squirrel or worm.

Even Fiona was good at it, and she was Y/n's sister. They had always been far more concerned with their own relationship as siblings. Two halves of one whole - a plant gift and an animal gift. Flora and fauna.

But now she was busy with her own crush, and without her there to fill Y/n's time, it was more and more obvious how ridiculously in love he was. Olive had met a girl in the other loop they'd joined who had wings, and the two had been having a ball flying around together - which meant Enoch was more available than normal as well.

Of course they ended up in the same space more often than they usually did.

The new kids weren't used to the pining. It wasn't routine, they hadn't learned to ignore it. And the more they pointed out that the way Enoch and Y/n acted wasn't a just-friends-and-family feelings kind of situation, the more the other kids acknowledged it too. Suddenly everyone was looking at the boys expectantly, and with all those eyes on them... it was hard to ignore their own situation even more.

This was especially hard on Y/n. He had always known he wasn't going to end up with some epic love like in the books. Even before the loop, everyone had marked him as insane and weird. His little sister could make flowers grow in the palm of her hand, and her older brother knew all the town secrets because the pets could talk to him. But after the loop? The options were so limited and he was gay - it wasn't going to happen. No way in hell that with one person he could even possibly end up with, who he liked, liked him back. That sort of thing was difficult to find even with several options. But one?

Not to mentioned he hadn't really come to terms with the fact that he wasn't straight. Everyone knew he was into Enoch, but outside of that they had no idea what was going on with his sexuality. He'd never opened up about it, and flat out denied anytime someone had asked. Even Fiona had nothing to offer in terms of information - he hadn't told her anything either. Which was weird, because they knew a lot about each other. She was his confidante.

He'd never even admitted it to himself.

That wasn't good enough for Leroy and Sofie though. They were two of the kids from the other loop, and they were determined to play match maker between the two boys. It was how a harmless game night had gone so terribly wrong. They had convinced Jake to talk about all the silly, immature party games he had heard of and to "experience the culture they were missing out on" all the kids from both loops had been dragged into several different rounds of truth and dare and spin the bottle and seven minutes in heaven. Nothing happened for most of the people, who only fist bumped or took the opportunity to info dump in a space where the other person had no option to listen.

And then Enoch and Y/n got picked.

For the first ten minutes, both boys were completely composed. But Enoch had a very good understanding of time and as more than seven minutes passed, he grew agitated. "It's been long enough, let us out," he called.

When all that came back from the other side was giggling, Y/n got irritated too. Being this close to Enoch was bad enough without there being a foreseeable end in sight. "Guys. Guys!"

"Talk about your feelings!" Sofie called back, and a dozen pairs of feet could be heard on the stairs, leaving Enoch and Y/n. In a closet. Locked for who knows how long. Alone in an entire room, in the basement.

Miss Peregrine would put it together and come and get them before dinner, but... even that was a long way away.

It was quiet a long time, but eventually even Enoch couldn't handle it. He broke first.

"Are we just going to wait for Miss Peregrine?"

Y/n shrugged. "They all left, so... It's not like even if I did anything here they'd let us out."

"Did anything?" Enoch scoffed. "Did what exactly."

"I don't know," Y/n snapped. Both boys were rather hot headed and tended to interact with each other through biting remarks and snarky banter. These snippy words were familiar to them.

Enoch rolled his eyes. "I'm not just going to sit here that whole time. At least tell me what they think we need to share feelings about?"

Y/n shrugged. "Beats me."

Another king quiet and then Enoch seemed to soften. He had changed a lot since Jake too. He had been so defensive of Emma before, but now he saw the flaw in that. Emma and Jake were happy, and more than anything he... envied them. He wanted that. And he had wasted enough time keeping himself from it. If Emma could open her heart to getting broke to risk love and succeed... maybe he could too. "Y/n."

"What?" He was gorgeous. That withering look and unwavering attitude. Enoch loved that he could always keep up, matching any sass off or sarcastic comment. Often beating Enoch at what he had always considered as his own private game. A game he never lost at... until Y/n. Y/n who found his homunculus fascinating instead of disturbing and never scared at even the worst of Enoch's attempts. Y/n who was so awkward and brash with people, but so gentle and calm and caring toward animals. Y/n, who was his best self out in the woods with no shoes on and a smile on his face as he closed his eyes and listened to the wind through the trees, the birds singing, the bugs buzzing...

"Do you want to play Twenty Questions?" It was another of Jake's silly games. They had planned to play it after Seven Minutes in Heaven but, well, now they were locked in a closet.

Y/n shot him a withering look, cocking an eyebrow. "No."

Enoch's lips almost twitched into a smile. "Come on. Since when are you more of a buzz kill than I am?"

Y/n sighed. "Fine. Whatever." He looked at Enoch again and couldn't help but soften. They were both like this. Hard to touch, impossible to get close to. Rough and snappy. Except for those select few. For Enoch, it was the girls. Fiona and Claire had it the easiest; Olive had to work for it; Emma had gotten under his skin after Abe. For Y/n, there was no one who had worked their way into his good graces as well as Enoch had. He of course had softness for the kids, always taking to children who needed someone to have their back - even if they wouldn't admit it - but Enoch was still special. He always was.

Enoch swallowed a smile, matching Y/n's casual energy. They both leaned against the wall, Y/n crossing his arms over his chest and Enoch slipping his hands in his pocket. "You go first," Enoch encouraged. There was something playing in his eyes, so bright it shone even in the low lighting.

Y/n raised an eyebrow, unsure. "Okay... what's your favorite color?" It was a dumb question - he already knew - which meant that if Y/n wasn't going to try neither was Enoch.

"Triangle." He smirked, then leaned forward. "Do you like men?"

There was a long silence in the closet. It felt... horribly fitting. Suffocatingly on point. "Why do you ask?"

"That's not an answer," he shot back.

Y/n's face burned. "That's a dumb question! You've never cared once in our decades of friendship and now you do? Why?"

"Because of Jake." Y/n almost began going off about how annoying Jake was, but Enoch cut him off. "I thought everything was set in stone. He were the group we'd always been. Abe proved it to me. We can get smaller, but never bigger. But then Jake came along and left behind everything for Emma. And I realized, maybe that's what love is. Maybe it's giving up what was for what could be. Because it's worth it. And if I made a leap like that, I won't even have to give anything up. All I have to do is take the first step."

His voice was so soothing, but his words were like shots of ice through Y/n's veins. It was a startling contrast. "Enoch..." He frowned, pursing his lips. He couldn't look at the other boy. "What would you do if I asked you that? You can't expect me to-"

"I do. I like men."

Y/n's jaw dropped. He snapped it closed after a beat, eyes trained on Enoch. The other boy seemed... excited. Genuinely. "And you're telling me this... for a reason. I assume?" Enoch just nodded. He wasn't just excited; he was nervous too. To be fair, so was Y/n. "Because you like me?" He asked, even more softly.

Enoch hesitated. Then nodded. "I... have. For a long time."

Y/n sighed, head falling back against the wall. A part of him wanted to argue, wanted to fight it. Wanted to stick his head in the sand.

But a much larger part of him knew that this had been coming for a long time.

“I thought when I told you I was into men it would be scarier.” Enoch laughed at Y/n’s confession, and it was only a split second before Y/n joined him. It was completely bizarre and borderline ridiculous. They’d been denying their feelings so long it had become habit. First out of hesitation. You never know exactly how someone would react to something. And then it was friendship. They were so close, and they’d gotten into a pattern of thought. They were only friends - nothing else was possible. But as everything around them changed, pattern had no room in their life anymore. So habit had taken over.

And now…

Y/n rested his head on Enoch’s shoulder, hesitantly taking his hand. Enoch sighed, squeezing back. Reassuring him.

“I like you specifically,” Y/n piped up.

Enoch’s smile was small as he tried to fight it, but the blush across his cheeks gave him away. “I like you too.” Y/n chuckled again, and Enoch echoed him. Like their energy was bouncing off of each other, growing. Becoming simply by the existence of the other.

“I don’t want our first kiss to be in here,” Enoch sighed. The closet was too much a metaphor, but even more-

“I don’t like that everyone’s forced so much onto us,” Y/n agreed. “Thank god they did, but-“

Enoch huffed with amusement. “But I don’t want them to have everything. Some things are just for you and me?” Y/n nodded and Enoch smiled, leaning close and pressing his lips to Y/n’s forehead. Y/n sighed, content. They stayed like that until the close door was opened, several pairs of curious eyes staring in at them.

“Are you together now?”

Y/n and Enoch exchanged looks and then scrambled to their feet, both shouldering the door open and slipping out. Everyone was laughing - even the ones who tried desperately to lock the pair back in the room.

And so the boys were out of the closet.

They took each others’ hand again when they settled onto the couch together, an everyone had to agree: that could be enough.

#male reader #Enoch O’Connor #miss peregrines home for peculiar children #enoch oconnor x male reader #enoch oconnor imagine #enoch oconnor x reader #miss peregrines home for pecuiar children imagine #miss peregrines home for peculiar children x reader #miss peregrines home for peculiar children x male reader #Finlay MacMillan #Finlay MacMillan x reader #Finlay MacMillan x male reader #Finlay MacMillan imagine

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plantinghobbies · 2 months

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The Same Damn Thing - Part 3

Haven’t read the previous parts? Catch up here!

@solipsisticno1 and I are so grateful to everyone who’s read and supported our little Valentine’s collab that has (to absolutely no one’s surprise) taken almost the entirety of February to get three parts done. But we are halfway there! Hope you enjoy!

Part 3: “…I knew you’d haunt all of my what if’s” - Taylor Swift——————————————————————————————————

Val avoids him after that, volunteering for work trips no one else wants. A day here, two days there add up to weeks before she knows it. It’s harder when she’s in the office but not impossible. She’s the first out of the conference room after a meeting, flying out the door with her nose in her phone in case he follows her. And the last one there at night, only leaving her office after she knows he’s gone for the day. She’s subsisting on non-perishable foods for lunch and is shocked she hasn’t developed a UTI from holding it all day but both these bleak realities are better than the thought of being alone with him again. Of the whoosh in her stomach as it drops when she sees him, the heat that pools seemingly everywhere at the thought of what almost happened. What did happen.

Before she knows it, it’s May and her mum is texting her to ask whether she’s coming home on the 24th. Val dreads the day each year. Not the actual anniversary of her sister’s death (though that’s the worst day of the year) but the one where she disappoints her parents again by saying she won’t be there with them to relive the worst day of their lives. It’s not that they’ll be alone - her aunt always comes down and Val’s cousin who lives in town stops by - but she knows it’s not the same. The first year she had tried, but everything in her told her it wasn’t where she needed to be. After they went to bed, Val had thrown her bag in the car, driving until her mind subconsciously brought her back to the last place she’d felt close to Marin - physically and metaphorically. The calm that engulfed her when she stepped onto the damp grass of the courtyard felt like a relief and a selfish indulgence at the same time.

Ever since then, Val had come back to campus every year on the anniversary, making up work trips and last minute emergencies to avoid telling her mom the truth - that being home with them didn’t bring her anywhere near the comfort that being there did. That the best times of her life were at uni that year.

The 24th dawns with a bright sun and cloudless sky. There’s a slight chill in the air as Val catches the train to her destination, wrapping her hands up in the long sleeves of her jacket. It’s not even 7:30 when she makes it to campus, wanting to avoid the Saturday early birds at the farmers market that wasn’t there when she was in school.

Lying down in the grass under her favorite tree, she tries to remember the bits of advice she picked up in the grief group that she’d gone to for a few months. Use the day to remember old memories, but also to make new ones, your loved one is always with you. (Val’s not sure that she believes that but she has pictured Marin standing beside her during particularly difficult times over the years and it has helped).

Flashes of memories play against her eyelids - Halloween when the whole group had dressed up as Mario Kart characters, complete with little cardboard cars that had been left in a pile by the dumpster of their favorite bar after they couldn’t squeeze into the booth with them on. Marin’s face when Val had given her her secret Santa gift - a limited edition of Mary Oliver’s first collection that Val had spent three months saving every penny she had to pay for (worth it). Matty’s and Marin’s drunken duet of Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, cackling when Matty’s voice cracked around the high notes, his indignant claims that he was sick, not just shit at karaoke.

The memories transport her back, so vivid that Matty’s voice sounds like it’s right next to her.

“Val? Val, you ok?” A hand wraps around her shoulder gently and she bolts up to sitting, throwing an elbow out on instinct that catches the offender with a low “umph.” It sounds familiar.

The “fuck me” he whispers lowly confirming what she already knew. A part of her wants to keep her eyes closed - to continue to live in her memories instead of face the reality in front of her. Out of sight, out of mind.

“Ummm listen I didn’t mean to….” No such luck.

Her eyes peel open slowly, blinking against the heavy sun. Sunglasses would have been smart. He’s crouched in front of her, one hand on the ground to balance himself, the other resting on his knee (the bad one. Val remembers the brace he had to wear for weeks after he twisted it trying to learn football tricks to prove he was better at it than James).

“What are you doing here?” The accusation in her voice isn’t intentional but he reacts to it, steeling his shoulders and leaning back away from her.

“Same thing you are I reckon.” A smile pulls at his lips before he seems to think better of it and tugs it back in.

Of course, the one year that she is actively trying to avoid him, they end up here at the same time. She’s not surprised he had the same idea, he always did like ceremony. “Do you, umm, do you want to grab a coffee? Talk? Or not talk?” She is surprised by the invitation, her behavior over the last few months wasn’t exactly hospitable. But then again, neither was his.

He looks lost, eyes sunken into heavy bags as he gazes up at her through his lashes. She wonders how long they’ve been there. His fingers twitch around a cigarette the isnt’ there. She shouldn’t, she shouldn’t, she - “Uh yea, sure.” Clearly he’s retained his ability to charm her into doing things against her better judgment.

They walk to an old haunt where he used to sing at open mic nights, the destination unspoken between them. It’s only when they’re sat face to face, steaming mugs between them, that she realizes the mistake she’s made. Her other interactions with him since the incident (as she’s taken to calling it in her head) have been short, work-related, no direct eye contact or conversation needed.

It seems it’s dawning on him as well. Matty traces the rim of his mug and then clears his throat.

“I uh I -“ He mutters something under his breath that sounds like “Christ man” before continuing “Uh, how’s the rest of your day been?”

Val snorts as she looks up at him but he beats her to a retort “Fuck me, I’m sorry, dumbest question ever. Don’t answer that. I just - I don’t know what to say after - “

“Don’t.” It comes out sharper than she intended. But she can’t think of that night, of what Marin would think. Not today at least. Maybe not ever.

They’re plunged into silence once again. Matty fidgets and crosses his leg, knocking the bag over that Val hadn’t noticed he’d been carrying until now.

“What’s that?” She knows he hates small talk but chickens out for safe ground.

“Baby onesie from the bookstore.” Her eyebrow arches, eyes flitting between him and the bag. “No, not what you’re thinking. Not for me. For the kid. I mean, not for my kid, I don’t have one.” He’s always been cute when he rambles. Fuck. “It’s for James’ baby.”

Her surprise must show on her face. “Oh I didn’t realize he had one?”

“Yea, just a few days ago. He and his husband - he’s a great guy, you’d like him. As patient as you’d imagine you’d have to be to put up with Jay.” His voice bears no judgement though it’s clear he knows that she hasn’t kept up with anyone beyond perfunctory texts. It’s not that she’d gone out of her way to cut ties. But after she’d transferred schools, it became so easy to pretend she was someone else - someone who knew what they were doing, someone who didn’t pine after a guy who didn’t want her (at least not in the way she wanted). Someone who hadn’t lost her favorite person (people, really). She liked that version of herself - confident, detached, focused - more than the sad, lonely, and depressed reality that she was trying so hard to hide. And her friends would have seen right through her. So she kept them from seeing.

It’s the odd silence that draws Val out of her thoughts and back to the table. Right, Matty had been talking about James. “Aaah so he hasn’t slowed down with age?”

The smile he gives her then is small but warm. “Nope, far from it. I think the older he gets, the more frantic he gets about the number. Trying to squeeze as much wild shit in as possible. I mean, it’s crazy but life is short, you kn-

Val watches as he pulls up, looking for all the world like he wanted to shovel the words back down his throat. Eyes flitting everywhere but her face.

“I mean -“ On instinct, her hand is covering his, not able to see him anxious even after all these years.

“Matty, I think we both know.”

He cocks his head at her hand, and she pulls it back. Aware that it’s the first time they’ve touched since That Night.

“Can we talk about something else? Please.” God she’s a prick but after a morning spent solely focused on sad, she needs some relief. Hopes he won’t mind.

He snaps his jaw shut, clearly taken aback with the desperation in her voice. “Uh, yea, course. I’m sure it’s tough to think about today…” (Truth is, she could talk about Marin all day. Matty and Marin, that was a different story).

Eye contact seems to be hard for both of them, each flitting around for something to distract from the heavy intimacy that has settled over them. God, why did she say yes to this. Their relationship - she indulges herself with using that term to describe it - is one third rail topic after another.

And just like so many times before, Matty throws her a lifeline. “Did you hear that I’m still office snooker champion?”

The laugh she barks out startles the sleeping baby at the table next to her, both of its mothers sending her death glares as the hiccuping cries begin. “What the fuck? How’d that happen?”

A cheshire grin settles on Matty’s features as he leans in conspiratorially “Fucking cheaters. They got Dawes - he was judging, remember? Well they got him drunk and then kept fudging the score. Someone caught them and turned them into the party police.”

Val settles against the back of her chair, crossing her arms. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

His laugh sends a spark from her ears to her toes. “Now what would give you that impression.”

“Besides the fact that I saw you bring Dawes four rounds of shots?”

“I think you’re mistaken.”

“Even if I was, there’s no one else who cares enough about that competition to go through the trouble of reporting that.” Matty’s eyes narrow as she points at him, following the path of her fire-engine red nail. “Except you.”

The grin he was trying to suppress earlier breaks free. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She’d missed his mischievous look, like the cat that swallowed the canary.

“Oh well my mistake then.”

“Too right.”

Another memory.“You remember when Daisy tried to impress that guy and ended up needing to replace the whole top of the snooker table at Shea’s?”

“Oh my god - and we all nearly went broke because of it. Who the fuck knew felt could cost that much?” Matty says, raising his mug to his lips before realizing it was empty. He sets it down gently, looking between his mug and her forehead (he’s struggling to look at her, which would offend her if she wasn’t also mesmerizing his hairline right back). “Umm I’m getting another. You want one?”

The line had grown substantially since they’d come in, giving her plenty of time to observe him as he waited with their mugs. More time than she allowed herself at work, always worried about people’s noses stares and misguided assumptions about their relationship. There’s that word again. Time had been good to him, preserved his boyish good looks but filled them out, added a little ruggedness that was laughable when she thought back on how posh he’d grown up. Matty had struck up a conversation with the woman in front of him (of course he had) and not for the first time, Val wonders what he’s been up to since uni. Who he’s been spending his time with, the information that she can’t get from LinkedIn and the abandoned social media accounts she found one night after a few glasses of wine. He was always charming but watching him try to pull (she assumes, the woman looks like his type) now, she can see the quiet confidence that wasn’t there all those years ago when they sat in this dingy coffee shop, splitting pastries for lunch to save cash so they’d be able to buy more drinks at the pub later. That time seems like a million years ago now.

Val wishes that she could have outgrown her crush on him like she’d outgrown so many other things from that time. She didn’t need to flirt with the barista for free leftovers at the end of the day, could afford the good gin instead of the rail shit that was so bitter that she had to chase it with fries. Adulthood had changed a lot - but not everything. Her eyes still find him in any room they’re in, her laughter still bubbles up at his dark jokes, and her heart still stutters when Matty’s lips twitch into a soft, familiar smile when his gaze catches hers. Like it is right now. Fuck.

It’s not even worth pretending that she wasn’t staring as he makes his way back over, her eyes tracking his moves as he weaves around student’s backpacks and groups of friends huddled around a table meant for just two.

“Jesus, that took forever.” Tea dribbles over the lip of the mug as he passes it to her.

“Well, seemed like you enjoyed the company while you waited.” It was supposed to sound teasing but comes out with a hint of possessiveness that she hopes he misses. “You get her number?” Great save, Val.

Matty cocks his head at her comment, that knowing gaze of his back in full force. “Um noooo. She asked if I’d been here before, couldn’t decide between the sticky bun and the chocolate croissant. I told her to go with the sti-

“Sticky bun” they chime at the same time.

“Exactly. Told her she should go with that unless she liked the taste of stale poo in a dry diaper. Then the croissant would be the obvious choice.”

“Ewww” Val’s nose turns up at the visual. “I can’t believe she was charmed by that.”

Matty’s eyebrow perks up. “Oh, she was, was she?”

“Fuck off, like you didn’t know. They could probably see the bedroom eyes she was giving you from bloody space.”

The shirt he’s wearing rides up as he crosses his hands behind his head, subtle flex in his biceps. “Well, looks like I still got it.”

Doesn’t she know it. Flashbacks of the incident erupt behind her eyes. His hand up her skirt. His filthy words. His fingers as he sucked them clean of her. No no no no no.

Attacking his ego feels like safer ground. “Yes, congratulations, you can still pull undergrads.”

Matty opens his mouth to retort but then looks around, clocking the other patrons as if for the first time. “Jesus, was she that young? I can’t tell anymore.”

The same thought had occurred to Val every year she’d come back here. “I know, right?! I feel like we were younger at that age.” She risks a glance up at him, finds his warm eyes focused on her. “If that makes any sense…”

“Yea, I get it.” Matty always seemed to get it, to get her.

Val isn’t sure if it’s the familiar surroundings or the memories that they unlock, but as they talk, the tension that laced each word when they first sat down is easing. Enough that she remembers the man in front of her, the kind of person he was. Is still probably. She’s flooded with feelings, confusing ones that have her heart in her throat, but also comforting ones, friendly ones, nostalgic ones. She missed this. Missed him. She wonders if he feels it too.

A comfortable lull settles over them. The half-empty sugar packet spills onto the table as she fiddles with it. For the first time since they reentered each other’s lives, it feels easy to talk to him.

She takes a deep breath, “Listen, I -“

Just as he starts to say “About that night -“

Their words collide and they fall silent again. For the first time in she doesn’t know how long (yes she does), the fog of loneliness that followed her around like an imaginary friend had lifted. She felt lighter, the world a little less gray. She wanted to hold onto that feeling and he was going to fuck it all up. What would she even say?! Oh, that night? You mean the one where I almost exposed my years long lo- CRUSH - on you? Came on to you? At our workplace? Mistook your concern for interest, like I always have. That night?! Nope, no memory of it at all. The feminist in her - who sounds an awful lot like Marin - screams that this isn’t a completely accurate characterization, it taking two to tango and all. But Val’s also a champion at self-criticism - Olympic gold-level really - and she’s the one who’d drunkenly started it. She can’t blame him for trying to finish it, even if it was a monumentally stupid idea.

The tension was back. She needed to get control of the conversation. “You first.” Always a gentleman. A good man. Someone she needed to have in her life again, even if it’s not in exactly the way that she wants.

“I was going to say, I uh I missed this. Us.” Her chair scrapes as she sits up with the force of gathering her courage for the next part. She’s spent almost ten years rehearsing her next words, in texts she never sent. The words tumble out of her before she can lose her nerve. “I’m sorry I was such a shit friend back then - “She throws up a hand to silence the retort she knows is on the tip of his tongue. “No, just don’t. I was, even if I had a good reason.”

He sits back, palms up in response. “But I’m here now and I’d like a second chance at it. Being friends again…..if you’ll let me, I mean.”

The breath she takes gets stuck somewhere around her ribs, probably because her heart is in her throat. Please Matty. I need this, need to feel like I haven’t fucked everything in my life up. I still haven’t figured out exactly how to be around you but I’m trying. Just give me time. I promise, nothing that you have to go to HR about.

She used to be able to read him so well, curses herself once again for the distance between them that makes understanding his expression now impossible. Matty hasn’t taken his eyes off her, squinting his right eye as if looking for something.

Val’s just about to word vomit something out onto the table when he clears his throat, putting her out of her misery. “Yea, uhm, I mean, yea. Course we can.“

Relief is palpable, she understands that phrase now, her shoulders sinking down from her hairline with his words. Thank god.“Good. Then I won’t feel bad about telling you that I forgot my wallet and I need you to buy me a sticky bun.”

His laugh, she thought, that’s what she’d missed most of all.

#matty healy fanfic #matty healy fanfiction #the 1975 fanfic #the 1975 #matty healy

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starpirateee · 2 months

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Alr Imma do something complicated unexpected and suggest some Shitty Cops (Bailey and Sam)

You're welcome, Oz <3

Oh my god shitty cops in my inbox 😭 this will be a pleasure and a curse, these two are so awful...

Uhhh @oswaldpettyeye , Nab wanted you to see this so... C'mere, take your shitty cops and their shitty requited pining that makes them argue like an old married couple

Pre tw for blood, death and vomiting

The team pushed open the door, flashlight beams bouncing off the walls. It had been almost twenty years since he'd been at Hatchetfield High, but much like the rest of this town, it hadn't changed in the slightest.

The first thing he saw when he entered was the message written out on the wall. The light from hid torch reflected off it, adding a certain ominous shine to the lettering. It looked like paint, but on closer inspection, he found that not to be the case at all.

"That's fuckin' blood," he declared, unable to do anything but stare as the viscous red dripped down the wall.

As more of the squad investigated the writing, he moved further into the locker room, feeling a wave of nausea overcome him. This wasn't happening. For god's sake, he was Sam fucking Sweetly, he didn't get grossed out by some crime scene. That wasn't him.

For the time being, he swallowed that back and tried to continue on his investigation. He pushed open the door to one of the toilet stalls, having followed a trail of blood on the ground, and peered inside. Led by the torch beam, he scanned the tiny space, and felt his stomach drop as the pit of nausea returned in an instant.

"Holy shit-"

There was a boy, face down on the ground. His blood stained the floor, the edge of the seat, and most of the clothing that was visible. The kid's hair was soaked, his body was bloated, and his skin was already greying.

Sam ran to the next stall along, tripping over himself, and barely managed to pull his hair back before he vomited.

"How fast can you get here?"

"Hatchetfield High? I'll be there in ten."

Bailey sauntered into the break room, looking to grab himself a drink. Technically, he could be at the high school in five minutes; he was allowed to break the speed limit if he needed to. Before he got into that, though, he was going to pick up a coffee.

Immediately, he noticed Sam, lounging against one of the chairs with a glass in hand. Bailey didn't know whether it was just the bright lights, or whether there was something wrong, but he looked a little paler than usual.

"Sam?"

Sam looked up, at least acknowledging the presence of the other officer. "Oliver."

Bailey's brow creased. "What happened? Where's everyone else?"

"It's just me." Sam leaned back, finishing off his glass and running his free hand over his face. "I'm not going back to that fuckin' school."

"Why not?"

"None of ya damn business!"

Bailey held up his hands. One moment, he was focusing on the way Sam looked at him, seemingly more alarmed that he'd chosen to ask than defensive over the actual answer. The next moment, still wondering why he'd been called in to replace this guy of all people, he had averted his attention in order to pour himself the coffee that had been brewing. "Geez, it was just a question..."

"Well, lay off."

He was pale. That wasn't a trick of the light. Sam was washed out and pallid, his forehead still slick with sweat despite his efforts to keep it at bay. If Bailey had been paying more attention, he would've noticed the way Sam was gripping the glass so hard that his knuckles had gone white, but he wasn't, so he didn't.

Closing the lid on his cup, he turned around and leaned against the counter, glancing in Sam's direction. He slipped the shades from his top pocket and over his eyes. "I got called in as your replacement, I just wanna know what I'm dealing with here."

"Murder." Sam's answer came quickly, bluntly. A manner that was fully expected. "Dead body. All that shit."

Bailey's eyebrow quirked. "... What's the matter, Sweetly? Scared of a little blood?"

Sam snarled, his gaze snapping over his shoulder to meet Bailey's. "Shut the fuck up and do your goddamn job, Bailey."

As he walked out, Sam swore he heard a huff of laughter. He cursed under his breath and sank back into the chair. What an asshole.

Bailey arrived late. This was a surprise to nobody. In fact, there was someone waiting outside to point him in the right direction, and he hadn't checked his watch once. When the squad car pulled up to the school's parking lot, he just hummed, awaiting the other officer. "Bailey. Here for Sweetly, I'm guessing?"

"Yep," Bailey looked around as he approached, as if Sam had followed him or something. "What happened to him? He refused to tell me..."

"He refused to tell you? Well, he got in there, saw the body, and vomited. Immediately."

Bailey scoffed initially. "Nah, no way. He wouldn't, he's too-" then it clicked. He remembered the state that Sam was in when he'd found him. His pallid face, the size of that glass of water... His eyes went wide. "Wait, are you fucking serious?"

In return, he got a nod that almost forced a bark of involuntary laughter out of him.

"Sweetly ralphed?!"

"Body was found in the locker room, thank god. He made it to one of the open stalls... Didn't contaminate the crime scene or anything, but he was a fucking mess."

Still is.

That much went unsaid. Bailey decided to give Sam a little bit of his dignity. Not like he deserved it, but he was still recovering! Maybe he'd goad him for it later... To his face, perhaps. He really was scared of a little blood...

For now, he cut him a little slack. He was already gonna get it for deciding to call himself "Hatchetfield's Finest", rubbing it in now was only setting him up for worse, and Bailey wanted to make this last.

"Show me this shit, I think I have to see what all the damn fuss is about."

The two of them made their way to the locker room. As their footsteps echoed through the hallways, Bailey momentarily let himself feel a little nervous. Sam was known for being the toughest guy in the precinct. He was a loudmouth, sure, but he usually followed through on his threats. The fact that the crime scene made him vomit had to mean it was pretty damn serious.

And serious, it was.

He got the chance to look over the body of the boy, the locker room itself, and the message on the wall. Immediately, he saw why Sam had felt so nauseous: this was an absolute mess, and that poor kid had really gotten the worst of it from whoever did this.

"Jesus, talk about a bully, huh?" He said aloud, thinking about the facts. This kid was drowned in the toilet, for god's sake, that was a classic move! They'd been doing it since he was in highschool!

"Huh?"

All attention was suddenly on him. He stopped in his tracks when he realised the conversation had died off completely. "What?"

"A bully?"

"Uh, yeah? Face down in the fuckin toilet? That's a classic bully move! This kid quite literally got bullied to death, ain't it obvious?"

"So... What? We're looking for someone this kid's age?"

Bailey shrugged. "Didn't say that. Could be someone who never grew outta old habits, wanted to make things look interesting." He was pretty convinced that this was the work of someone of a similar age; the writing on the wall gave that one away. The words Nerdy Prudes Must Die weren't generally something a self respecting adult would write, even if they were out for blood.

A sudden thought crossed his mind, another case they'd been running before this murder came up. There had been someone else disappear from this school not two weeks ago. Sure they hadn't actually found any leads yet, but this couldn't be a coincidence. "Hey, we got a name for this kid yet?"

"Mhm, coroner has him identified as... Richard Lipschitz."

"Didn't some kid go missing from here a couple weeks back?"

"The football star? Jägerman?"

Okay, so Lipschitz definitely didn't look like a football star, but Bailey couldn't exactly say he'd been paying full attention to that case when it came up. All he knew was some teenager had turned up missing from Hatchetfield High, and now another had been killed.

"You think they're related? The cases?"

"... Could be."

By the time Bailey got back to the precinct, Sam had long since passed the point of forcing himself to work to make himself look better. One thing was for sure, and that was hat he definitely looked a little more alive than the last time Bailey had seen him.

He managed to stop him when they were passing in the corridor, which managed to agitate him enough as it was, but when he looked up straight into Bailey's eyes, he scowled.

"What?"

"... Farris told me." Bailey admitted. "Everything."

"Oh that fucking snake." Sam hissed, the fire behind his eyes igniting. "And what? You come to gloat about how right you were? Fucking hell, you're such a child."

Bailey faltered. He'd never liked admitting he was wrong, and Sam didn't deserve the satisfaction of it, but he had been wrong, when it came down to it. He sighed. "Jesus Christ... No, I- you were-"

Never before had he sounded like such a stuttering prick. The hell was his problem?

"Nah, y'know, I don't think you'd have been the only one to ralph after seeing that shit."

Sam smirked like his cocky edge had never been lost. "What's the matter, Oliver, scared of a little blood?"

#starkid #sam sweetly #officer bailey #void offering #tw blood #tw death #tw vomit #nova's tags →#i hate sweetly why am i doing this 🤣#oh yeah. for the sake of shitty cops #hey listen this is not a bad thing. im happy to write it #there's just something about him thats so...... ughhhh #i love bailey tho. then again bailey never threatened to kill anyones kid...#stupid hc: his name is oliver but nobody figured that out for ages because when he introduced himself #they thought he just said officer #and they rolled with it because of course they would #star mail

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siremasterlawrence · 10 months

Text

Green With Envy

Star city is a gritty paradigm of off the chart evil doers including bit not limited to me the big hunch a nerd who has a criminal empire ready to set foot in to this city and take a hold over it.

Unfortunately, that dastardly addicted good guy is always intervening with that brooding face and emerald costume that resembles Robin of all things it’s embarrassing to see it on display.

Tonight is the night the world will see me at my glory if we can avoid the goody two shoes archer who’s quiver aims far to fast accurately for my taste maybe I should teach him a lesson or two.

Tye trap is set all he had do is take the bait and I bet he will. Across town Oliver Queens is bombarded with news blast on his cell Phone news alerts and says good bye to Felicity.

His expression quickly returns to that old grumpy curmudgeon face as he suit up for battle and races to the scene when I await him high above in the main office the stage is set.

Oliver motorcycle races in parking in the l middle of the room he hops off failing to notice the facility gate drop hitting the floor and he jumps hoping he can find away out of here soon.

The room fades in to darkness leaving all to his imagination a single candle is lit with a line finger blowing it out his teeth white as ever can be seen.

The man takes a seat to Oliver discontent and disbelief at the sheer ridiculousness of it all and follows suit flipping his hair back the pressure is on.

“What are you doing in my city? Why are you here?”

“Questions and Questions “

“Is this a joke to you ?”

“No! Sorry you are”

“What a awful costume ”

“Am I supposed throw up in submission?”

“Asshole”

“Relax…relax”

“Let me show you”

“You see this is the map of your city “

“So?”

“You are going to help me conquer”

“As if”

“You resistance while admirable”

“Is futile?”

“Correct”

“Then I’ll go down fighting “

“Ugh! Geez”

“Fine let’s play a game a big one”

Oliver spits at me flinching when I punch him hard then pick up my remote clicking it the cover flips up revealing Barry Allan Aka The Flash asleep and locked in a meta human dampener.

“Barry? Barry?”

“He can’t hear you “

“Bastard! What did you do?”

“I merely beat him at his own game”

“What do you want?”

“I want your surrender just like his.”

“Fuck you !”

“Its easy really”

“Don’t you want to join your friend “

“Barry has already lost “

“He can’t be saved “

“Oh really ?”

“Initiate mind wipe and reprogramming “

“Bart begins “

“Bart?”

“Acronym for Breaking…Arresting…Reserved Transformation.”

“Anyway genius! Catch this “

“It’s bomb! Stop please”

“Too late “

“Don’t you worry take a deep breath”

“Nnnoooo…no”

“All you had to do was here my pitch”

“But not “

“Instead…here are”

“How do you feel?”

“Empty and open”

“Get lost”

“Aaaaahhhhhh”

“Fuck”

“Who am I?”

“Your name is Oliver Queen”

“You are a playboy Billionaire “

“You are also The Green Arrow”

“My Vigilante “

“You are a criminal Master mine under me”

“Stop struggling let your mind adjust “

“The memories shuffled and replaced”

“Hey bro”

“Green Arrow at your service “

The end

#green arrow #oliver queen #hypnosis #gay mind control #ownership #reprogramming #mob

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heavencasteel420 · 1 year

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Three minor points of disagreement I have with a lot of the discourse around the S3 Jancy argument:

I really don’t think the issue with Jonathan’s behavior in S3 is that he should have told off the newspaper bosses. It’s that he didn’t understand or acknowledge that the bosses’ sexism wasn’t something Nancy could overcome through hard work and talent—that they fundamentally did not respect her and weren’t interested in giving her a chance to prove herself. I have been a woman in a couple of fucked-up workplaces, and I would have been mortified if my partner had told them off. (Both my fiancé and my mom would do this, by the way. I actively had to tell my fiancé not to do this.) It would have been as bad as my mom or dad doing it for my professional reputation. I have also found that it’s incredibly frustrating when a partner responds to your venting with reassurances or solutions without really listening to you. And, notably, Nancy says “you don’t understand,” not “you didn’t stand up for me.”

Jonathan doesn’t just need the money from the job for the immediate purpose of helping out his family; he needs that internship on his resume if he wants a shot at a scholarship for the expensive out-of-state schools that they’re planning to go to at that point. I think people emphasize the immediate need for money because Jonathan’s care for his family is one of his most straightforwardly sympathetic traits even for those who don’t care much about him, but the internship also represents one of his limited chances at upward mobility.

Nancy’s plan to talk to Mrs. Driscoll was never a good plan re: gaining respect at the newspaper. (It is, however, a good plan for keeping an eye on weird shit happening around town and acting on it—an interesting conflict that the show never really explores.) Even if the newspaper bosses had been totally non-flayed upstanding respectful egalitarian feminists, they would have pretty much had to fire Nancy and Jonathan for misrepresenting themselves as reporters. However, her flawed plan is clearly driven by the total lack of respect she receives at the paper; she’s acting out of desperation. So I’m very sympathetic to her.

Bonus: the Oliver Twist comment isn’t funny. I don’t mean because it hits below the belt and trivializes a real problem; I mean that it’s kind of stupid. Oliver Twist is an orphan with no responsibilities, aside from the various shady jobs he gets tricked into doing. Jonathan kind of has the opposite problem. I’m kind of mad for Nancy that they didn’t come up with a more apt literary allusion.

#stranger things #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #jancy #they were also both justified at feeling mad at each other #but both said unfair things #but I think that’s fairly widely acknowledged

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spaceorphanssecondbreakfastclub · 4 months

Text

Reading Agatha Christie: Mrs. McGinty's Dead

I'm going to straight up admit that I really enjoyed this one and read it all in a day.

The first quarter of this book really had me. And I think it's because there was an interesting setting and tone shift that has been starting to appear in this post-WW2, 1950s era, where Christie is getting older and starting to reflect on life. The plot is simple enough - in that Poirot is asked to investigate a murder where prosecuting police inspector's convicted killer just doesn't work for him. So, Poirot ends up in a small town -- looking into a murder that just seems impossible at first.

And, usually small town murders are left for Miss Marple. Poirot seems incredibly out of place. And that's really the point. Everything from Poirot complaining about his discomfort and lack of good food to everyone having no idea he was (is!) a world famous detective. The point is, a bit, that the world has changed, and it isn't the way it used to be. And, idk, I kind of found that theme intriguing, especially in the beginning when it's mostly about Poirot dealing with small town life while investigating a murder that just doesn't make much sense.

Then the real plot kicks in -- and there is some intrigue where it's possible that one in four possible murderesses from way back when is alive and well in the small town and things kick off from there. It's still a lot of fun and definitely a page turner, though maybe not as capturing as the first quarter of the book.

Poirot is just at his absolute best in this novel, and I think that's one of the main reasons I liked it. I know that he's going to scarcely pop up after this point, and in limited form when he does, I can take what we can get. I also appreciate the fact that this kind of does build on Poirot's previous characterization. It's definitely a novel that is a sequel, in a way, to what's come before it -- and works best after you've experienced Poirot at an earlier time.

Ariadne Oliver also makes another appearance and she is just a delight as a disgruntled author -- barely veiling the fact that she's a stand in for Christie herself. This book, while dealing with some dark things, is often very humorous, too -- which I can appreciate.

The rest of the cast is fine, even if they all blend together a bit. There's a lot going on, and sometimes I do like the mess of characters - even if characterization is limited a little. And while I think the ending is -- maybe not as shocking or twisty as the build up leads it to be -- it does still work.

The funny thing about this one, though, is that I think it does work best as something you read in quick succession. I think the more you think about it -- the more things fall a part a little. There are definitely a few plot holes, and some uncomfortable undertones, and things that just don't work the more you take it a part.

But overall, I think it's the perfect quick read for bad weather - stay in doors and read afternoon.

#agatha christie #books #book review #so reads agatha christie #sbc bookclub #mrs mcginty's dead

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bravebartendvr · 3 months

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✧.* { Leah pipes & she/her & female & 25/59 } is that ( Camille O’Connell ) hanging around town ? I heard they’re married to ( Klaus Mikaelson ). Rumors say they can be pretty self-destructive. how typical for a Vampire. i guess they must rely on their empathetic side shining through. Last I heard they were brought back from the dead.banner credit

BASICS: Full Name: Camille O'Connell-Mikaelson Nicknames: Cami Gender: Cis Female. Pronouns: She/Her. Sexuality: Bisexual. Traits: Self-Destructive, Empathetic, Opinionated, Adaptable Species: Vampire Occupation: Therapist; including psychotherapy FAMILY: Siblings: Sean O' Connell (brother- deceased?) Spouse: Klaus Mikaelson Children: Oliver, Kiara, tbd Other: Declan O'Connell (cousin- alive), Kieran O'Connell (uncle - deceased) HISTORY: - All history is canon and can be found here. - Cami rose from the dead thanks to the wish that had been granted in 2030. - After rising from the dead, she was confused and could only think of one person who could still be around and may know what is going on. That person was Klaus Mikaelson. - Making her way to the compound, she noticed it was much different and it wasn't until Klaus entered, that she learned that he also had died. - When arriving in Mystic Falls, she wasn't fully adjusted to being a vampire. But she didn't have much time to figure it out due to the constant dangers. - It took Camille some time, but she managed to get her life back on track as well as start a relationship with Klaus. The two spent a few years dating, before deciding to get married and have children. (their life together and how they decided to both have kids and get married can be more thought out with whomever rps Klaus)

HEADCANNONS: - Cami at first, never thought she'd be a mother. It just seemed out of realm of possibilities. But when she found out she was pregnant the first time, this feeling quickly changed. - She trusts her children and has allowed them to grow up with no limits, other than being stuck in Mystic Falls. If anything she hopes that one day they get to leave this town. - For each of her pregnancies, she wrote journals for them. Making sure that all major events as well as little accomplishments were written down. These journals would stop when each kid turned 16. - She works through out the town as needed, making house calls as well as helping around with the Salvatore Boarding School and the Mikaelson University. CONNECTIONS:

#sanguishqs.intro #/this is still being edited

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antihell · 1 year

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An excerpt of Twisted Stitches (Chapter One)

by @antihell

AUDIENCE: NA POV: 3rd person limited STATUS: writing first draft TW: body horror, homophobia mention WORD COUNT: 938 or smth

There is no way in Hell Oliver Kaito is going to make it through this semester.

Oliver is seated at his desk in his dorm room as he bites at his cuticles, tearing each one from jagged hangnail to root, while his mother incessantly yaps at him over the phone. He spaced out a long time ago, but that’s not unique to his mother. After a long time without sleep, it’s a lot easier for Oliver to coast between that shaky period of sleep and wakefulness. That place is where Oliver calls the shadows, but only to himself. Nobody else really knows the extent of his insomnia. Truth be told, he does not remember the last time he slept.

“Attendance is the easiest grade to get, Oliver! There’s no reason for you to miss points because you skipped class. Oliver? Oliver, this is important! Are you listening to me?” His mom drones on, not waiting for any sort of acknowledgement from her son. “Go to class, Oli. I know you’re struggling. Just- Just go to class, okay?” It’s as if she’s calming herself, collecting her chakras or whatever they’re called before Oliver can even complain. Maybe all those spiritual retreats have been beneficial after all.

“Yeah, okay Mom,” Oliver sighs. “I’ll go to class. Just don’t tell dad about me missing, okay?” His desk is littered with bloody tissues from trying to stop the blood leaking from his fingertips, but to no avail. His finger draws a sticky dot of red on his phone screen as he presses to hang up.

As if on cue, his roommate Carson comes in, surely ready to set into motion some scheme he has come up with to get Oliver laid. Oliver isn’t sure why Carson is so obsessed with his sex life, but he won’t stop Carson from having his fun with it. “Alright,” Carson begins, taking a deep breath, and Oliver is ready to nod along to whatever plan he has cooked up. Nodding along is about as much you’ll get out of Oliver as a response these days. “There’s a girl in my philosophy II class you’ll love. She’s really smart with all that metaphysical science shit you’re into.”

Oliver can’t find it within himself to tell Carson that metaphysical science is kind of an oxymoron. He still hasn’t bothered to tell Carson that he’s gay either. Oliver doesn’t want to spoil the fun for Carson.

“Alright, what’s her name?” Oliver says, pretending to be interested, collecting all his bloodied tissues from his desk and tossing them in the trash bin beneath his desk. He rolls his desk chair around to where Carson is, combing still-bleeding fingers through his hair, getting much too long even for his own standards. His mom would throw a fit if she knew he had not gotten it cut since he left home in the little town outside Spokane for the summer semester 300 miles away.

“Kayla Greene,” Carson replies, as if Oliver should already know who she is. Carson’s eyes are dead focused on his laptop as he looks her up on social media and pulls up her page. “Okay, I know she’s white but…” Carson tells him, trailing off. Oliver has not once said, or implied, that he wouldn’t date a girl that’s white. His mom is white, for God’s sake! Still, Oliver looks more Japanese than his genes, and Carson gets so excited that Oliver doesn’t want to interrupt and trip him up.

The dreary pace of the dorm internet is pretty infuriating sometimes. Her page finally loads, and Oliver is alarmed at first to see how much skin is showing. And he hates how that trips him up. Hates it. He hates how he seems to have inherited some signs of bigotry his dad has always displayed. His dad would probably call Kayla Greene a trollop from what little clothing she is wearing.

“She’s cute,” Oliver says, convincingly enough. Carson seems pleased.

“Yeah? Total stunner, right? And brains, too. I know that stuff matters to you, and shit.”

Oliver, again, hasn’t even had enough time to tell Carson that he wants someone smart to date. Carson just gets those vibes from him. Oliver is frankly comfortable knowing that.

“Also a sophomore,” Carson begins reading off her supposedly attractive traits. “20 years old. Does gymnastics. Philosophy major. Eh? Eh?” Carson finally looks at Oliver to gauge his opinion. Oliver laughs to make his smile appear more genuine.

“Yeah, she’s cute,” Oliver repeats, nodding with fake enthusiasm.

“Just cute? Come on, roomie.” Carson insists on calling Oliver his roomie, even giving it as a nickname, on a regular basis. “She’s into all that mindful crap you’re into.”

This time Oliver’s laugh is genuine. “Alright, I’ll give her a chance.” He tilts Carson’s laptop up so he can see the screen better. She looks like a nice girl. Oliver just is not into girls. He considers telling Carson now. It would save a lot of time and effort. But Carson always gets so excited when he’s setting Oliver up on these potential dates, none of which ever follow through for obvious reasons. Maybe he should just put his sexual orientation up on his profile. But the risk of Oliver’s parents finding that out is far too great. So, Oliver will let Carson have his fun.

“You know dating is not all that important to me, right?” Oliver asks him.

Carson laughs, shutting his laptop. “I know.” He doesn’t seem too upset about it.

#if you like this pls reblog the intro linked in the first line of text tysm #wip: twisted stitches #ex: twisted stitches #belial wrote #body horror tw

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ayliamc · 7 months

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Italia

Day 2 - Lemon Frenzy 🍋

Steps walked: 23,862

Flights climbed: 7

Vehicles ridden: 1

Points of interest visited: 1

Lemons spotted: all of them.

Drugs are great. We took some to sleep and it enabled us to get thru the night and wake up comfortable in the morning, ready to face the day.

Our B&B host, Dino, chided us for not telling him ahead of time that we are both vegano, that he could have plant milks for us, and that his wife is vegan. (Of course not as strict now they have a kid because kids make everything harder, he says. “Wait til you have kids,” to which I got to reply with delight “Oh no I’m sterile.”) He was hilariously Italian as he went on and on about mozzarella, erculano, and how we’re going too fast and we go to bed too early.

We escaped long enough to trek thru Pompei to get to a cafe that allegedly had vegan-as-is croissants (unlabeled). If you know anything about me, you know I can’t resist a vegan croissant. We booked it thru town with a minor detour due to some big church thing for Madonna (I can’t believe she tours in Pompei!) to get our croissants where Google translate helped mediate the exchange. We got two citrus croissants that were not labeled anywhere as vegan but the guy didn’t correct us when we asked “vegano?” three or four times.

We checked out and leisurely made our way to the train station - another long walk - only to arrive at the platform at the same time as the train to Sorrento. How perfect! Except we don’t have tickets yet… so we buy our tickets, the train leaves, and we’re forced to wait forty minutes for the next train, only to discover no one ever asked for our tickets and no entry required them. We could have totally gotten on the first train without paying and we wouldn’t have had to wait. Crime does pay, as it turns out.

‘Twas a crowded train ride to the end of the line, where we then had to trudge for nearly half an hour with our bags on cobbled streets and unreliable sidewalks to get to our hotel. (Side note: i wonder why no one ever talks about all the vespas and scooters in Italy. There are so many! I just figured I would have heard about it before this.*)

We checked in to our hotel around lunchtime, ate our croissants illicitly on the balcony (no food allowed in our hotel room), and headed back out. Naturally, all the stuff we wanted to visit was back in the direction of the train station, but a 25 minute walk goes much easier without two backpacks and a roll-y bag with dysfunctional wheels.

To paint the scene, all these walks are lined with more citrus trees than you’ve ever seen in your life and drivers who might not actually run you down but you probably shouldn’t test that theory.

We grabbed a quick lunch at a family owned Italian restaurant and had some tasty food including “the best tomato pie [Dan has] ever had” then continued on my lemon quest.

Walking on our way to a limoncello Lemon grove we passed another one that we were able to walk around in. It was so pretty. A lovely garden with lemon trees, orange trees, olive trees, squash plants, tomato plants, and peppers. They also had a restaurant but we were so full we decided we’d come back for dinner.

On to I Giardini di Cataldo where we had hoped to have a tour and a limoncello workshop but they didn’t have any available for the day. Womp womp. We tasted some limoncello and got lemon sorbet and ate it in their lemon garden before continuing to meander in the direction of shops.

Fortunately I had set a limit as to how many Lemon things I could get for myself and I immediately met that limit so I guess I’m done shopping for the… trip. Except I still need a Leonardo souvenir, I mean let’s not get crazy.

Here I am casually showing off all my lemons.

Another 25 minute walk to the hotel to drop off our stuff. By this point, I can confirm we had already exceeded yesterdays step count.

Just before sunset we walked to a dock overlooking the coast and watched the last rays of orange sunlight disappear behind the horizon. The coast is a steep cliff face that drops off into the ocean, but in the distance you can actually see Napoli looking like an island, in reality just more of the Italian coast. Then Dan’s eagle eyes spotted a bat. Then another. And sure enough within a nook of the cliff, at least half a dozen bats had roused and were feasting. It was awesome. We watched them for a little bit. I think a few more even joined them as we watched. It certainly felt like there were more bats there when we left.

And the days recurring themes of walking and lemons continued as we headed back to La Limonaia, the lovely lemon grove where we had decided to dine. Our wonderful server was very confident about our “vegano” requests and he had the chef prepare dishes for us. For Dan, a lemon vegan cream sauce on linguini and for me, a salad made with fresh veggies from their garden. Those same veggies we had seen in the afternoon as we wandered around the grove. So fresh! And I could totally tell. I slathered my tomatoes in balsamic glaze and enjoyed some of the best tomatoes I’ve ever had. (Also a hilarious thing we’ve noticed here is when they bring you bread it comes in a little paper bag as opposed to a bowl or a plate. It’s so funny.) We drank, we ate, we were merry, all under the lemon trees. ‘Twas in general a near perfect dinner experience and we happened upon it by happenstance. Not only a great way to celebrate Jimmy Carter’s birthday but our 12 year anniversary. Six years of marriage. I can’t believe I’m old enough for that but there it is.

After dinner we met Carol at her hotel which was thankfully in the same direction as our hotel so we wouldn’t have to backtrack anymore. She got us drinks, gave us a lemon souvenir she’d gotten in Capri that day, and she and her group regaled us with stories from their trip. As ours is still near the beginning, theirs is coming to an end. We chatted until we noticed the bartender was waiting for us to be done to leave so we wrapped it up and Dan and I walked back to our hotel to gratefully rest.

*Sarcasm

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theawkwardterrier · 1 year

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One line, one fic

rules: pick any 10 of your fics, scroll somewhere to the mid point, pick a line, and share it! Then tag 10 people.

Tagged by the lovely @flyinghome-againstthewind - thanks, Anna! I'll optionally pass the tag along to @roboticonography, @beautifulwhensarcastic, @thesokovianaccords, @ghostcat3000, @isthisclever, @smashing-teacups, @gotham-ruaidh, @kairosimperative, @ckerouac, and of course my delightful meme buddy @lavellenchanted

Muscle Memory (Outlander, Jamie/Claire)

“She’s only hungry,” Claire tells him softly, sitting against the headboard and already turning to reach for Faith. “Go back to sleep.”

Wingspan (Veronica Mars, Logan/Veronica)

It would do terrible, wonderful things to his ego if she told him she went to sleep smiling just from that.

Here's All the Melting Thrill (And Here's the Kindling Fire) (Outlander, Jamie/Claire)

“Beauchamp,” he says, measured and serious, and then, “Claire,” and she’s swinging her feet to the floor before he’s even said anything else. She’s never heard him use her first name.

things left behind and the things that are ahead (MCU, Steve/Peggy)

"Grandpa," Will repeats, "I'm really thirsty." He accompanies the trickling motion of the sign along his throat with an enormous eyed gaze of desperation, a desert waif sort of look that Steve has no idea where he learned.

The Ninety-Nine Percent (Veronica Mars, Logan/Veronica)

"You really are a buzzkill." He laughs softly, steps forward and tentatively hugs her. "Thanks for coming to tell me." Her shoulders are suddenly hard beneath his hands and he releases her so he can look at her face. "Of course there's more," he whispers.

Same Old Story (but it's told a different way) (Veronica Mars, Logan/Veronica, Logan/OC)

"In your mind, that country is just a giant red light district to you, isn't it?"

"No, in my mind it's an unfortunately too limited red light district."

Woman Borne (MCU, Steve/Peggy)

Sonia set the mug on Peggy’s desk. It was a white one with black and red letters, the original message (“I’m not bossy, I’m the boss”) altered with a permanent marker to read “I’m bossy and I’m the boss.” It had been a gift from Barton.

Oh, But Aren't You Already My Darling? (MCU, Steve/Peggy)

She goes to the village and asks around, and is eventually pointed to the town’s one guest house. The building itself is lovely: sprawling and neatly arranged, with what Peggy would guess are lovely bedrooms if she could actually get inside one of them. But instead, when she is nearly ready to lie down in the foyer, she meets what she expects is the base commander’s sister, a pointed woman who, when Peggy requests a room, indicates a placard beside the desk: Gentlemen and married couples only.

Out of the Frying Pan (MCU, Steve/Peggy)

Heaving a sigh exponentially more exhausted than her mother’s, the kids recites, “That I should think before I say something rude, and count to ten. And then you told me that it’s better to be smart and wait for the best moment to make sure a person learns a lesson, but Daddy said that you have to remind people what’s right even if it’s hard, and I know it’s not right to be mean about the cooks.”

Homemakers (MCU, Steve/Peggy)

“You know,” says Steve two weeks in, when they can make passable chocolate cake and vegetable stew and hamburgers, and silky smooth mashed potatoes, “I’m not sure that proper American food is the way to go.”

Peggy crumples the recipe card for something called a souffle salad which involves mayonnaise and lemon juice and olives and canned tuna. “You’re very smart, darling,” she tells him, and walks out. He leaves the apron and follows her.

#fic memes #fudged a bit on the 'one line' thing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#I'm bad at choosing so I just sorted by kudos and went with it...

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crimson-ace-reviews · 1 year

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Not the Oldest, Just the Best: A Tommy Oliver Retrospective

On November 19th, 2022, Jason David Frank was found dead in Texas, the cause of death being ruled as a suicide. It obviously came as a shock to everyone, 90's kids and tokusatsu fans alike. He was a man of many talents, and he will be sincerely missed.

In addition to his career in the MMA, Jason David Frank was an TV icon back in the 90's, essentially becoming the main character in the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers in spite of how limited his role was intended to be. He's reprized his role as Tommy Oliver countless times, has had multiple sets of powers, and is easily the most popular character in the entire Power Rangers franchise, for better or for worse.

But how did he get so popular? What was the appeal of this character that kept us wanting to see him again and again? I say we should take a little walk down memory lane and see how Tommy Oliver went from a pawn in one of Rita Repulsa's deadliest schemes to arguably one of the most iconic characters in tokusatsu history. This is going to be a pretty long retrospective, so I decided to split it up into five parts to make it easier. With that being said, It's Recappin' Time!

(Part 1: Green Up Your Act)

Tommy's first appearance was in the five-part Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers episode, “Green With Evil”, the very first multi-part episode in the franchise. He was introduced as a rival and potential equal to Jason, AKA, the original Red Ranger (Played by Austin St. John). The two's first interaction is during a “martial arts expo”. Yeah, they don't specify what kind of martial arts any of these characters practice, but come on, look at this.

Isn't this some cool martial arts stuff? I dare say it's even an “awesome display of martial arts”, like what the announcer says.

In all seriousness, Tommy was a participant in this expo, and was introduced as the hot new kid in town whose skills were no laughing matter. He went up in a karate sparring match against Jason, and the two were pretty evenly matched. It's a really good way to establish Tommy's prowess, as earlier episodes like “A Pressing Engagement” showed off how strong Jason was on his own. What I like about the first act of this episode is that it doesn't make Tommy too overpowered, since the match ends in a draw. Yeah, Jason was struggling to pull through, but at the same time, it shows that him and Tommy are equal in many ways. It also shows Tommy as a virtuous person, as when resident bullies Bulk and Skull (Played by Paul Schrier and Jason Narvy respectively) start bothering Kimberly, AKA, the original Pink Ranger (Played by Amy Jo Johnson), Tommy steps in and gets them to back off. Even though he seems like a hotshot, he's a good person at heart. Unsurprisingly, Kimberly falls for Tommy partially because of this, and the two make plans to hang out.

Unfortunately, Tommy's prowess in martial arts attracts the attention of the evil Rita Repulsa (Voiced by Barbara Goodson), who chooses him to be his brainwashed servant. After brainwashing Tommy, Rita grants him Ranger powers of his own thanks to having a lost Power Coin, the source of the other five Rangers' powers. Granted, it's never explained how she came into contact with the Coin, but it's hinted that she stole it from the Rangers' mentor, Zordon (Voiced by David Fielding).

Either way, Tommy becomes the Green Ranger, and proceeds to, for lack of a better work, ABSOLUTELY WRECK THE SHIT OUT OF THE OTHER RANGERS. Like, I can't understate how deadly of a threat Tommy was in his first episode alone. As soon as he gets the powers, Tommy breaks into the Rangers' Command Center, and just tears into all the wiring in all the control panels, even infecting Zordon's assistant robot, Alpha 5 (Voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz), with a virus. Not only does this mean that the Rangers' communicators are offline, not only does this prevent them from teleporting to the Command Center and back, but because the technology in the Command Center is needed for Zordon to communicate with the Rangers through his time warp, the Rangers have pretty much lost all of their support. It doesn't help that Tommy manages to beat up all five Rangers with ease, even breaking into their Megazord just to throw them out. And this is all done with his bare hands, before Rita even gives him the Sword of Darkness.

This arc in general gives a lot for the Rangers to do. In addition to Kimberly trying to reach out to Tommy (unaware that he's the Green Ranger), you have moments like Zack, the original Black Ranger (Played by Walter Jones) taking charge when Jason is busy fighting Rita's general, Goldar (Voiced by Kerrigan Mahan), and Billy and Trini, the original Blue and Yellow Rangers (Played by David Yost and Thuy Trang respectively) working to repair the Command Center, with Billy's growing knowledge of Zordon's technology playing a big part in later seasons. You also have Jason struggling to find a way to best the Green Ranger, with the added irony that we know how hard it was for him to keep up with Tommy in civilian form early on. There's really tense scene where an unmorphed Jason tries to fight Tommy, and if it wasn't for the last-minute intervention of Billy teleporting him out, he would have died.

The conflict in this five-parter just keeps escalating. It starts off like a standard monster of the week plot with Tommy, only for Rita to use more tools and assets on her side to make things harder and harder for the Rangers. It all culminates in Part IV, where she uses a solar eclipse to drain the Megazord's power, while Tommy, Goldar, and a new enemy, Scorpina (Voiced by Wendee Lee), tear it apart and send the individual Zords plummeting into lava. Oh, and that's before Rita gives Tommy the Dragon Dagger, allowing him to summon the Dragonzord to attack the city.

Thankfully, Alpha manages to reestablish contact with Zordon, who finds a way to restore the damaged Zords, giving the Rangers an even playing field. Once the Dragonzord is subdued, Jason and Tommy have their final duel, and Jason destroys the Sword of Darkness, freeing Tommy from Rita's control. While hesitant to accept thanks to what he did, Tommy is offered a place on the team, and soon accepts, so the five-parter ends with Tommy being given his own communicator.

This arc is just fantastic from start to end. It was the kick in the pants Power Rangers needed to go from a typical monster of the week show to something with more story-driven episodes down the road. Tommy himself was also a welcome addition to the cast thanks to his friendship with Jason and eventually relationship with Kimberly.

I think now's a good time to talk about the Green Ranger's design. It's nothing short of amazing. I absolutely love the way the gold armor looks on him, as well as the gold armbands and the little speck of red on the helmet. There's also the Dragon Dagger, a dagger that doubles as a flute capable of playing a theme that's just as iconic as his design.

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Of course, like the other Rangers, another suit was made for American scenes, and it's worth talking about for all the wrong reasons.

The armor for this suit is very flimsy, and you can tell when it's being used due to how cheap it looks. Supposedly, it was done so it would be easier for the actor to move around in, but don’t quote me on this.

Anyway, while Tommy still joined the team, there was a bit of a problem. His Sentai counterpart, Burai, wasn't able to go outside and fight with his teammates for too long for reasons that are way too complicated to explain, so long story short, the writers for Mighty Morphin' decided to work around that by always having Tommy be busy with something, usually karate practice. It honestly made it hard to really see him as part of the team initially with how distracted he seemed to get.

Of course, there were some exceptions to this, with a couple episodes focusing more on Tommy, like “The Spit Flower”, which focused on his friendship with Kimberly. A float Kimberly was working on to be in a parade to meant promote world peace is targeted by Rita (being the petty bitch she is), and after her Putties lay waste to the float design, it devastates her. Kudos to Amy Jo Johnson's performance in this scene. Generally, Tommy and Kimberly have some great interactions here, and their actors work well together. While the Rangers deal with Rita's new monster, Spit Flower, Tommy secretly works to repair the model used for Kimberly's float in order to surprise her when the Rangers watch it on TV. Overall, a pretty wholesome episode, and one that would further the romance between Tommy and Kimberly.

“Gung Ho!”, is an episode that focused on Tommy's growing friendship with Jason. In this episode, the two are training for the Team Ninja Finals, but keep butting heads. Trini says they need to “gung ho”, claiming it's Chinese for “work together”... a term which is wrong for several reasons as while the original term was taken from “gōnghé”, the shortened term for the Gōngyè Hézuòshè organizations established in China. But putting aside the misuse of a Chinese term in an episode of an American TV show adapting footage from a Japanese TV show, Bulk and Skull then show up Tommy and Jason with the two ninja competitors who are shown to be far better at being ninja thanks to being dressed up like stereotypical ninja straight out of Miami Connection.

As for Rita, her latest plan involves sending upgraded versions of the Putty Patrollers after the Rangers. These Putties are nearly indestructible, so Zordon sends Jason and Tommy to find the Thunder Slingers, new weapons that should be able to destroy them, while the other Rangers try and hold them off. Once they get near the Thunder Slingers, they struggle to beat the guardian of the weapons, Titanus, a new Zord themed after a brachiosaurus. Deciding to take Trini's advice, Jason and Tommy come up with a new plan. While Jason runs up the hill while wearing Tommy's Dragon Armor, Tommy borrows Jason's Power Sword to distract Titanus. The two pass, get the weapons, and once the Rangers use them to defeat the Super Putties, the Thunder Slingers are never used again. But hey, at least now they can get the help of Titanus when they need it. The episode ends with Jason and Tommy taking on Bulk and Skull's ninja in the competition in a very well choreographed fight scene. Overall, a pretty fun episode about teamwork.

Unfortunately, the writers of this show were running out of Green Ranger footage, and rather than kill him off like what happened with his Sentai counterpart, they decided to go a different route in the two-part episode, “The Green Candle”. A nervous Tommy's plans to ask Kimberly to a dance are interrupted when Rita's forces kidnap him, and Goldar gives him an ultimatum: Serve Rita and keep his powers, or permanently lose them, thanks to the titular Green Candle. While Tommy was under Rita's control, he touched this magic candle that connected it to his powers. Once the Candle burns out, Tommy's powers will be transferred to Rita. Why it took her this long to break it out is anyone's guess.

Being the only one who has been to Rita's base of operations before, Jason volunteers to break into the palace and take the Green Candle in order to save Tommy's powers. In spite of this, Tommy doesn't want Jason to take the risk when it's his powers that are on the line. It's interesting to see Tommy in this position where he doesn't want Jason to get hurt for his sake, as it implies that he could still have some guilt for his actions while he was brainwashed by Rita.

While the other Rangers set up a way for Jason to enter Rita's palace, one of her monsters, Cyclops, forces Tommy into action, even though he's all alone. Eventually, Zordon forces the Rangers to abort the mission, with Zack going in and pointing out that even if they get the candle, Tommy could still die. While the Rangers manage to defeat Cyclops, by that point, it's too late. The candle burns out, and the only way to stop Rita from getting Tommy's powers is if they're transferred to another Ranger, Jason. In spite of him losing his powers and being surrounded by the transformed Rangers, they all reassure Tommy that he will always be a Ranger. After losing his powers, Kimberly meets up with Tommy while he is training in the park, and after the two talk a little (with Tommy trying to reassure Kimberly that things will be okay without him), we get the first kiss in the history of the franchise. With his confidence renewed, Tommy asks Kimberly to go to the dance.

“The Green Candle” was a great episode, with a very personal conflict that didn't just rely on a monster Tommy had to punch, but a tiny object capable of stopping him from beating Rita forever. The ending where Tommy had to give up his powers is bittersweet, but we see him trying his best to keep himself busy to deal with the big change in his life. The kiss with Kimberly also serves as a great start to their budding relationship since she and Tommy first met at the start of “Green With Evil”. If this was the final appearance of Tommy in the franchise, I don't think I honestly would have minded, as it was executed brilliantly.

However, it wasn't the end for Tommy. Because of how popular the show was, this caused Saban Entertainment to commission Toei to film new footage with the Rangers and new monsters, after they had exhausted all the remaining footage from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. While Jason did get to use the Dragonzord and Dragon Dagger when needed for a few episodes, it wasn't long until the new footage paved the way for a return of an old friend.

The two-part episode, “Return of an Old Friend” features, what else, the return of Tommy. In this episode, Rita's latest monster, Dramole, helps Goldar steal the Dragon Dagger, and Goldar uses it to sic the Dragonzord on Angel Grove. In addition, Dramole helped to brainwash and kidnap the parents of the Rangers, and Goldar demands they give up their Power Coins in order to get their parents back. Goldar, being evil, lies about giving them back as soon he has the Power Coins, meaning the Rangers are now helpless to stop them.

However, Jason reveals they still have the Dragon Power Coin, as the first part ends with a dramatic reveal of Tommy that was kind of ruined by the opening crediting Jason David Frank as a guest star, in addition to me saying he returns in this episode. In the second part, Tommy is teleported to the Command Center and gets briefed on the situation. With the Green Ranger powers still being heavily drained, Zordon uses his own energy to jumpstart Tommy's powers, but not only does doing so nearly kill him, but there's a chance that the powers will run dry completely during a fight.

So yeah, this isn't exactly a triumphant return for Tommy as a Power Ranger, and his first fight in this episode will set the stage for the rest of his tenure as the Green Ranger. While he was able to take out the other five Rangers in the first part of “Green With Evil”, here, he struggles to keep up with Goldar and a group of Putty Patrollers. Tommy barely manages to get the Dragon Dagger and the other five Power Coins, and even then, it took a temporary power boost from Alpha. Afterwards, he's knocked unconscious just as he's teleported back to the Command Center.

While the other Rangers take on Dramole, it turns out that after being electrocuted by the force field set up by Goldar designed to protect the Power Coins, Tommy's powers were recharged once more. They're still temporary, but now, they're far more stable. After helping the Rangers defeat Dramole, Tommy is welcomed back into the team.

All and all, this was a pretty creative way to bring back Tommy. It still reintroduced the character and gave him back his powers, but the story made it clear that they weren't just going to ignore what the Green Candle did to him. Once the second season of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers started, it became clear that it was only a matter of time until the Green Ranger powers were lost permanently.

The first major warning sign came in the three-part second season premiere, “The Mutiny”. When a new villain, Lord Zedd (Voiced by Robert Axelrod), usurps command from Rita and focuses his sights on Earth, Zordon gives the Rangers new Zords to fight his monsters with, but Tommy isn't able to access one for himself, as his powers are too weak to convert his old Zord into a Thunderzord like the others. The next sign came in “The Green Dream”, where Tommy wasn't even able to summon the Dragonzord to help the Rangers during a Megazord fight. The next few episodes have an underlying sense of dread to them, as it's established that the Green Ranger powers have almost run dry, not helped by the fact that Lord Zedd has been directly targeting Tommy to ensure he would lose his.

This all culminates in the two-part episode, “Green No More”. While Kimberly tries to comfort Tommy one day, an image of the latter appears, claiming to be from the future. All he can say is he's in the middle of “the final battle”, and that Tommy needs to remember to bring his communicator. The message rings true, as Zordon informs Tommy that he only has enough energy to morph into the Green Ranger one last time. Lord Zedd planned for this, sending the monster Turbanshell to draw Tommy out to morph one last time, only to transport him and steal the powers for himself. Part I ends with Lord Zedd using the siphoned Green Ranger powers to use for his own team of evil Power Rangers, and Tommy is cornered by Turbanshell, sweating heavily and very afraid.

In Part II, Goldar shows up to order Turbanshell somewhere else while he deals with Tommy himself. It makes sense, as not only has Goldar been a consistent threat to the Rangers, but the very first battle Tommy fought after getting the Green Ranger powers back involved Goldar. Rather than simply kill him now, Goldar takes the opportunity to mock the powerless Tommy by reminding him of how strong he used to be, all to further punctuate that Tommy's time as the Green Ranger is over. And right before he prepares to finish him off, Goldar tells Tommy that he wants to hear him say that Goldar is his superior. Tommy hesitates for a few seconds, before he defiantly tells Goldar that he is out of his mind. With a reinvigorated spirit, Tommy jumps into action against Goldar as his theme song, “Go Green Ranger”, plays, showing that whether he has the powers or not, Tommy will always be the Green Ranger.

During his last stand, Tommy manages to steal the device Goldar used to show Tommy footage of his old battles, and sends him away. Realizing it's a time device, he uses it to contact his past self and get his communicator, using it to teleport to Lord Zedd's hideout and smashes the Green Crystal powering Zedd's evil Rangers. While he gets enough energy for one more one more fight, after Turbanshell is defeated, Tommy's tenure as the Green Ranger officially ends.

Overall, this arc was a real highlight for Tommy as a character. The way his insecurities were explored was very compelling to watch, and seeing him save the day even after losing his powers was a triumphant sight, as was his realization that powers don't make the hero. While he would miss being a hero, just like at the end of “The Green Candle”, he's shown to be moving on. The very next episode, “Missing Green”, shows Tommy writing a letter to Jason letting him know that he doesn't blame him for not getting the Green Candle back in Season 1. This whole arc really showed Tommy growing as a person, showing that he wasn't the forgetful hothead we were first introduced to.

But because Tommy was easily the most marketable character in the show, and because Gosei Sentai Dairanger also had a Sixth Ranger, it was a no-brainer on Saban's part on how they could adapt this character.

(Part Two, A White to Behold)

After being absent for a whopping three episodes, Tommy returns in the two-part episode, “White Light”. After some secret keeping from Zordon and Alpha during the first part, they reveal the fruits of their efforts: A new White Ranger. And while it's well known by now that Tommy is the White Ranger, it was a pretty shocking twist for audiences thanks to the intrigue built up by the first part, in addition to the other characters introduced as potential allies to the Rangers. In fact, I'm pretty sure this was what was going through a lot of kids' heads back when “White Light” first aired.

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The way that the White Ranger is introduced is nothing short of awe-inspiring. The way he's initially shown in a flash of white light and descends from above, giving him a bit of an otherworldly presence. It's a brilliant way to contrast the more sinister introduction the Green Ranger got in “Green With Evil”, where he was shrouded in smoke and was introduced with Rita's evil chanting.

While I personally prefer the Green Ranger's design, I still think the White Ranger's suit looks really damn sleek. I love the way the armor looks, and the gold goes perfectly with the white and black. He gives off the impression of a truly heroic figure.

Not only is Tommy presented with a talking sword named Saba in order to control his own Thunderzord, the White Tigerzord, but Zordon also declares that he will be the new leader of the team. This was most likely done for two reasons: One, it was obvious that Tommy was the most popular character in the show, and two, there were some behind the scenes issues with Austin St. John, Walter Jones, and Thuy Trang even before they all left the show out of protest for their unfair treatment and minimal pay, so this could have been the writers subtly trying to give less focus to Jason, Zack, and Trini to prepare for their actors walking off.

Tommy uses his new White Tigerzord to destroy Lord Zedd's latest monster, Nimrod, and afterwards, is welcomed back into the team. Also, Rita was freed from her dumpster prison for like a minute or two, but that wasn't really as important as it sounded. Overall, a pretty solid way to welcome Tommy back into the team.

The very next episode, “Two for One”, develops Tommy's relationship with Kimberly as the two go on a date. It's some pretty cute stuff, and Jason David Frank has some great chemistry with Amy Jo Johnson. The two even dance for a brief moment before they fend off some Putties. This episode also shows off the physical prowess of the White Ranger powers, as Tommy is able to take care of a monster, Pursehead, on his own, albeit with a little help from Saba.

Surprisingly, despite becoming the main character at this point, Tommy didn't get a lot of focus episodes for a while. I think this was mainly because of the aforementioned departures of Jason, Zack, and Trini's respective actors, so the main priority of the writers was focusing more on the introduction of their replacements, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha (Played by Steve Cardenas, Johnny Yong Bosch, and Karan Ashley respectively). Tommy still took charge of the team during the action, but he more or less got less focus than he did at the beginning of the season.

That changed after a while, as he got a three-part episode dedicated to focusing on him, “Return of the Green Ranger”. Rita (Who at this point, had returned and married Lord Zedd) summons the Wizard of Deception to help Lord Zedd in his plan to send the Rangers back in time, but she points out that with Tommy to lead them, the plan will only work if he's out of the picture. The Wizard sends a squadron of Putties to ambush Tommy, knocking him out so he can steal a lock of his long-ass 90's hair to create an evil clone of him. Uh... you know you could have just killed him while he was unconscious, right? I mean, yeah, the Wizard's initial attempt to brainwash Bulk and Skull into cutting it off for him, but if the Putties had already restrained him, what was stopping you from deep frying him with your magic while he was unconscious? I just think it would have made more sense if the Putties managed to cut off some of the hair during the heat of the battle, instead of a plan that would make this Wizard look like an idiot.

The clone, called Tom Oliver by most fans, tricks the Rangers into falling for the Wizard's trap, who sends them back to colonial Angel Grove, specifically around the late 18th century, as it's being invaded by British troops... even though California wasn't officially recognized as a state until around the mid-19th century, and before then, it was a Spanish colony. Also, this might be due to the fact that I'm a New England native, but I'm pretty sure the original American colonies were on the eastern coast, not the western coast, which the British never invaded. Did I mention that this episode was the result of Saban needing to cobble together another few episodes as a result of filming for the 1995 movie in Australia taking longer than expected?

While the Rangers are trapped in a historian's worst nightmare, Tommy is confronted by Tom, and we see that Tom serves as a way to show the audience how Tommy could have turned out if he stayed under Rita's influence back in Season 1, a cruel and bitter man who flaunts his superiority over others, eager to pick a fight with someone. Both Tommy and Tom morph, and while I'm not a fan of how complicated the setup is, I can't deny how awesome the fight between the Green Ranger and the White Ranger is. The action is fast-paced, and both of them get a lot of good blows in to the point where sparks fly from their punches.

After knocking out Tommy, the Wizard of Deception once again forgets to actually kill him and leaves him unconscious while ordering Tom to hijack the Dragonzord to attack Angel Grove with. Tommy eventually comes to, and he's noticeably exhausted from the fight, which Zordon explains is a result of the clone draining Tommy of his energy when the Wizard created Tom. It gets to the point where he can barely stagger up a flight of stairs, and while morphing should revitalize him, it'll only be temporary. Tommy morphs and summons the White Tigerzord to fight the Dragonzord with, and this is another impressive fight. Yeah, it's pretty short, but I'm surprised at how well the editors managed to blend the Zyuranger and Dairanger footage together. I question how the Tigerzord in Warrior Mode was able to lose to the Dragonzord when it's supposed to be stronger, but then again, the writers just established that Tommy isn't at 100% at the moment, so that could be a possible explanation.

Tommy is cornered by Tom and the Wizard, and when given the chance to surrender, Tommy tricks them into telling him what time period the other Rangers are in, stealing the Wizard's wand and traveling to rescue them before traveling back and killing the Wizard himself. Tom feels remorseful for being controlled by the Wizard. I guess it's meant to parallel how Tommy felt at the end of “Green With Evil”, but it doesn't work because unlike Tommy, Tom was born evil from the start. The two go back in time to deal with some mutant rat monsters they left in colonial Angel Grove (Which might sound like a big deal, but it really isn't), and afterwards, Tom decides to stay with the colonists. I'd question how this will affect history, but this isn't even the first or last time Mighty Morphin' will screw up the timeline, to say nothing about what would happen in future seasons like Time Force or Dino Charge.

Overall, while the actual fight between the Green and White Rangers was fun, this three-parter just wasn't that good. It dragged on, and once you learn that it was created to fill in a gap of episodes while the cast and crew were in Australia, it explains why there are so many plotholes. I'd still recommend at least checking out the scenes between Tommy and Tom to see how much the former has changed, but it's just a very forgettable episode that really didn't need to be three parts long.

Not long after this episode, Season 2 ended, and Season 3 kicked off with the destruction of the Thunderzords, forcing the Rangers to go on a quest to meet the creator of the Power Coins, Ninjor (Voiced by Kim Strauss). He gives them a new set of Zords, the Ninjazords. Tommy's Ninjazord was the Falconzord, which would actually play a bigger role in the season's story than the Dragonzord or Tigerzord.

It was mostly business as usual after the Rangers got their new Zords, until the two-part episode, “A Ranger Catastrophe”. Aisha takes in a stray cat, which is secretly one of Rita's newest minions. Why would Rita have a cat spy on the Rangers? Well, the cat is actually a girl in disguise, creatively named Kat (Played by Catherine Sutherland). She pretends to flirt with Tommy, only to lure him into a trap set by Rita, who is currently brainwashing her. After Tommy escapes, Rita turns Kat into a cat-themed monster called Catastrophe, who the Rangers easily defeat. While it seems like Kat is free, it's all a ruse that leads into the next episode, “Changing of the Zords”.

In that three-part episode, we see Kat is jealous of Tommy and Kimberly's relationship, though it's unclear how much of it is thanks to Rita's spell. Her next order is to steal one of the Rangers' Power Coins, as it's part of Rita and Zedd's plan to activate a new set of dormant Zords, the Shogunzords, which they need a Power Coin and the Ninjazord technology to use in order to reawaken them. While the Rangers are busy fighting Zedd and Rita's new footsoldiers, the Tengas, Kat steals Kimberly's Power Coin, which immediately weakens Kimberly, just like what happened with Tommy back in Season 2. Not long after stealing the Power Coin, Kat hijacks the Falconzord as well, while Ninjor is captured by Lord Zedd to be used as a power source for the new Zords. Also, did I mention that for some reason, without the Falconzord, the Rangers can't access the other Ninjazords?

We get a pretty interesting character moment showing how Tommy comprehends the defeat of the Rangers, showing his determination to keep fighting. In general, Tommy is very protective of Kim with everything that's happened, especially since Zordon revealed that because the new Power Coins are connected to the Rangers' life forces, Kimberly is in even more danger than Tommy was in Season 2. It gives Tommy a more personal stake in this conflict, and adds more drama to the story.

Eventually, the Rangers take back the Shogunzords from Zedd, giving them a small victory even though he still has Kimberly's Power Coin and Ninjor, while Kimberly (now in less danger since Alpha severed her physical connection to her Power Coin) has to draw from the other Rangers' powers in order to morph until they get her Coin back. Overall, a very important episode that furthers Season 3's story, and shows how much Tommy cares for Kimberly.

Long story short, over the course of the three-part episode “A Different Shade of Pink”, after the spell on her is broken, Kat takes back Kimberly's Power Coin, and when an opportunity to train for a major international gymnastics competition in Florida comes up, Kimberly transfers her Pink Ranger powers to Kat. Tommy admits that while he doesn't want to say goodbye to Kimberly, he still is willing to say goodbye in the hopes that they can make things work long-distance. While this arc does focus primarily on Kimberly and Kat, it's still worth watching as it's the last time we'll really focus on Tommy's relationship with Kimberly. Well, second to last, but trust me, we'll get there.

“Master Vile and the Metallic Armor” is another three-part episode that is focused more on the team's conflict with a new villain, Master Vile (Voiced by Simon Prescott) while trying to save Ninjor. It also has a really important moment for Tommy's character. Master Vile's plan is to obtain the powerful Zeo Crystal, which is protected by a force field that can only be bypassed by someone pure of heart. Tommy attempts to get the Crystal, and while it initially puts him in unimaginable pain as he's forced to relive the evil deeds he committed as the Green Ranger, the force field soon eases as it recognizes all the good he's done as the Green Ranger and the White Ranger, letting him get the Crystal. It's short, but it's a powerful scene that illustrates how far Tommy has come as a character.

Tommy's tenure as the White Ranger ends abruptly in “Rangers in Reverse”, as Master Vile casts a spell to reverse time and turn the Rangers into kids, meaning they can't use their powers. After Rita and Zedd destroy the Power Coins as well, the Rangers are forced to search for the fragments of the Zeo Crystal they scattered through time in order to get new powers. During his Zeo quest, Tommy also gets a half of a Native American arrowhead which will be important later on. Although the Zeo Crytsal is reassembled and time is restored, the villains ultimately get the last laugh as they set off a bomb that destroys the Command Center, truly signaling the end of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers... for about two months, then Power Rangers Zeo premiered, giving Tommy a new set of powers.

Also, Aisha was replaced by a new girl, Tanya (Played by Nakia Burrise) because of time travel stuff he wasn't part of, but it's not that important right now.

(Part Three, Red-Ey or Not, Here He Comes)

Power Rangers Zeo opens with the two-part episode, “A Zeo Beginning”. Even with the destruction of the Command Center, it turns out that Zordon and Alpha had a backup base of operations, the Power Chamber. Using the Zeo Crystal, they then create new Morphers, the Zeonizers, for the Rangers to use, albeit without Billy since the Crystal only has enough power for five Rangers, so Tanya steps up as Aisha's replacement. Like Rocky and Adam, Tommy is given a new color with the Zeo powers. In this case, he's Zeo Ranger V, Red.

I really like the designs of the Zeo suits, and Zeo Ranger V is no exception. I love the use of white and gold near the top, and the star helmet makes the suit stand out compared to the previous two animal forms.

Surprisingly, while he became the leader, Tommy didn't get as much focus as he did in Mighty Morphin', mostly due to the show trying to settle into the new status quo in addition to establishing Tanya as a character and the new villains, the Machine Empire. That changed in a seven-part arc focusing on Tommy's mental conflict. “There's No Business Like Snow Business” was a three-part episode that opened with one of the biggest flaws of Zeo as a whole: Kimberly writing a “Dear John” letter to Tommy, announcing she met someone else while in Florida, and that she's breaking off their relationship. Why would they have Kimberly dump Tommy offscreen without the dignity of an actual breakup? To set up a new romantic subplot with Kat, of course!

Yeah, this is where a lot of fans believed the Tommy focus got to be too much, as not only was the Tommy/Kat ship hard for viewers to get used to after how well-written Tommy's relationship with Kimberly was, but it was very easy for the writers to pair Kat up with someone else instead, like Billy, Rocky, Adam, or another side character entirely. It also didn't help that there were a lot of plans to confirm the two tied the knot, mainly both of Kat's planned cameos as Tommy's wife in Wild Force and Dino Thunder (although neither came to fruition), a hint at that happening in Ninja Steel when the two hold hands near the end of “Dimensions in Danger”, and this was all after the infamous Christmas special, “A Season to Remember”, which showed that Tommy and Kat got married and became grandparents in the future.

“Inner Spirit”, “Challenges”, “Found and Lost”, and “Brother, Can You Spare an Arrowhead?” is a four part story arc that follows up on the arrowhead half Tommy got at during his Zeo quest. After Tommy has a strange dream about the Rangers being defeated, which soon comes to pass as the Rangers fight the Machine Empire's newest soldier, Main Drain. Zordon and Billy reveal that they've been working on a new Zord for Tommy, the Red Battlezord. However, because of the technology syncing up with his brainwaves, all the stress of the past few episodes has gotten to Tommy, causing him to crash the Zord into the ground. With advice from the man who helped him on his Zeo quest, Sam Trueheart (Played by Frank Salsedo), Tommy soon musters up the calm state of mind needed to properly use the Red Battlezord. Over the course of the next few episodes, Tommy reunites with the person who had the second half of the arrowhead, his long lost brother, David (Played by Jason David Frank's late brother, Erik Frank). Although it's interesting to see Tommy learn more about his Native American heritage, this arc hasn't exactly aged well thanks to relying on a lot of stereotypical depictions of the culture that were prevalent in the 90's, specifically the whole “vision quest” and wise old man with magic powers connected to the land.

Later on, a new mysterious Ranger is introduced, the Gold Ranger. While there's some initial speculation on his identity, “Revelations of Gold” reveals him to be an alien with three distinct personalities known as Trey of Triforia (Played by triplets, Tom, Tim, and Ted DiFillippo). In order for the three personalities to reunite as one again, Trey needs to transfer his powers, and Tommy has an idea for a candidate: the former Red Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger, Jason. The powers don't last for long, as Jason's body soon starts to reject them, putting him in a similar position to Tommy when he was losing the Green Ranger powers, so eventually, he has to transfer them back to Trey in the finale of Zeo, “Good as Gold”. We also get a really nice scene where Tommy tries to comfort Jason after the final battle, citing his own experiences losing his powers. It's really interesting to see their positions flipped here, especially since Jason took failing Tommy hard back in “Missing Green”.

Generally, Zeo furthered Tommy's character into more of a leader who was more sure of himself and wasn't nearly as headstrong as he was back when he was the Green Ranger or White Ranger. While Tommy was already leader when he became the White Ranger, this was when his role as team leader was truly cemented in my opinion, and was one of the high points of his character. The next season would try to focus on this... with mixed results.

Tommy's next set of powers would come in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, the pilot to Power Rangers Turbo. After the Rangers defeat the Machine Empire, space pirate Divatox (Played by Hilary Shepard Turner) kidnaps an alien wizard named Larigot, along with Jason and Kimberly, in order to use them as sacrifices to awaken the demon Maligor. The Rangers give chase, albeit with new powers and Zords to replicate the magical key needed to enter the mystical island, turning the Zeo Rangers into the Turbo Rangers. Tommy, of course, stays the Red Ranger.

The Red Turbo Ranger suit is... okay. It doesn't really stand out other than the chrome lining on the helmet. I never really got the trapezoid emblem on the chest either.

While most of this movie is pretty boring, the climax is interesting because of how Jason and Kimberly are involved. Originally, they were the ones who had the closest ties with Tommy, and they were the ones who wanted to save him the most while he was under Rita's control. Now, Tommy has to step up and show how much he's grown as a hero in order to save the people who once saved him. After he does, he and Jason easily win a karate tournament to raise money for a local shelter, showing how far their teamwork has come.

In the actual Power Rangers Turbo show, Tommy was tested as a leader as soon as the fourth episode, “Shadow Rangers”. When the other four Rangers were cloned, Tommy tries to get guidance from the team's new mentor, Dimitria (Played by Carol Hoyt), but all she does is ask questions, showing she's less of a hands-on mentor than Zordon was. This forces Tommy to figure things out himself, part of the theme of this show's first half, growing up and learning to do things on your own.

Compared to his last three Ranger forms, Tommy's tenure as the Red Turbo Ranger would be short-lived, as he would transfer his powers to T.J. Johnson (Played by Selwyn Ward) in “Passing the Torch”. This was because Jason David Frank wanted out of the franchise after almost four years, and let's be honest, despite having nineteen episodes to build up to it, the actual transfer really could have been handled better. There's no real in-universe explanation as to why Tommy had to retire other than him supposedly being too old for the role, judging from Dimitria's statement at the end of “Passing the Torch”, and Tommy barely got to know T.J. before the latter became the new Red Turbo Ranger. It makes the whole transfer seem less impactful when compared to Kimberly transferring her powers to Kat in Mighty Morphin', and the fact that Adam, Tanya, and Kat were also written off for the same reason with just as little fanfare didn't help things at all.

Nevertheless, it seemed like Tommy's time as a Ranger was over, and it was for a few years, not counting a guest appearance in Wild Force. However, he would return for one more season as a regular down the line and prove that while he may be old, but he can still pull it off.

(Part Four, Black Into Action)

Tommy's major return to the franchise came in Power Rangers Dino Thunder's very first episode, the two-part “Day of the Dino”. Between the events of this season and Turbo, Tommy got a degree in paleontology and became a high school science teacher at Reefside High School. How he managed to get through all that in seven years is anyone's guess. Maybe Zordon put in a letter of recommendation for whatever university Tommy chose?

Here, Tommy is much more calm and composed, but he isn't afraid to snark if the situation calls for it, and he hasn't lost his martial arts prowess in the slightest. At the same time, this show established a more intellectual side to him, which helps play into his backstory. While working with Dr. Anton Mercer (Played by Latham Gaines), Tommy attempted to try and fuse dinosaur DNA with technology, but the project soon got out of hand after Mercer tested it on himself, giving him an evil split personality, Mesogog. It's clear that Tommy has a lot of regret regarding what happened to the project he worked on, and is trying his best to stop it.

After his first day as a teacher, Tommy would be forced to supervise three of his students, Connor, Ethan, and Kira (Played by James Napier, Kevin Duhaney, and Emma Lahana respectively), during detention. He takes the three to a museum, but while he sends them off to do some investigating for a mission, he encounters a robotic T-Rex, and does what only Tommy Oliver could do: KICK IT IN THE FACE!

Goddamn it, I love this character.

While he fends off the robot, Connor, Ethan, and Kira accidentally stumble upon Tommy's underground lab where they find a trio of colorful gems which give them superpowers. These gems, appropriately called the Dino Gems, bond with the three, which is bad because that's what Mesogog wants to use in order to bring Earth back to the prehistoric era. The new recruits get the hang of being Rangers pretty quickly, but their first major challenge came earlier than expected when Tommy is kidnapped by Mesogog's forces at the end of the next episode, “Wave Goodbye”, with Mesogog intending to force Tommy to help him unlock the secrets of a mysterious stone.

In the next episode after that, “Legacy of Power” while trying to figure out where he is by having Ethan hack into his computer, the Rangers learn that Tommy used to be a Power Ranger after he alluded to it a few times earlier. While the episode is mostly a clip show to commemorate the franchise's 500th episode (the clips in question coming from a video log Tommy set up going over the history of the Power Rangers), we get a really strong scene at the end where he says he believes that Connor, Ethan, and Kira can protect the planet as a team, showing how much trust he has in the new generation.

The Rangers go and rescue Tommy in the very next episode, “Back in Black”, and when it seems like he's killed by one of Mesogog's generals, Zeltrax (Voiced by James Gaylyn), Tommy reveals that the stone Mesogog was so determined to use was actually a new, black Dino Gem. Tommy bonds with the Gem, and once again, becomes a Power Ranger.

And so Tommy morphs into his final Ranger form, the Black Dino Ranger. This is honestly my second favorite of Tommy's Ranger suits, the first being the Green Ranger suit. I love the way it has more of an armored look with the shoulderpads and the golden scales make him stand out compared to the other Dino Rangers. It probably wasn't the intention, but it almost looks like an evolution of the Green Ranger suit with how the gold is used.

So Tommy goes back to kicking ass and taking names as a Ranger, but he's more in a supportive role and not the leader outright. He does his best to mentor the Rangers and even connects a little with another one of his students, Trent (Played by Jeffrey Parazzo), showing how much he cares about the kids he's in charge of.

Of course, things would go south for Trent and the Rangers in the three-part episode “White Thunder”, as he accidentally discovers Mesogog's lair, and becomes the White Dino Ranger after finding a white Dino Gem. Like Tommy all the way back in “Green With Evil”, Trent isn't fully in control of his actions thanks to the Gem's influence, but would still go on to ABSOLUTELY WRECK THE SHIT OUT OF THE OTHER RANGERS. Not only does he beat the crap out of them, he steals two of the Rangers' Zords, the Dragozord and the Stegozord, and to top it all off, traps Tommy in an amber cocoon before he can tell the others who the White Dino Ranger really is. To make things worse, two episodes later, he's freed from the amber, but now he can't demorph.

This was something Jason David Frank had actually requested behind the scenes. He wanted to spend more time with his family and run his martial arts school back in America, as opposed to being in New Zealand to film the entire season. Therefore, the decision was made to keep Tommy morphed permanently so all Jason David Frank had to do was record some lines to dub over his suit actor's performance in post-production. So for the next ten episodes, Tommy stayed morphed, and not much really changed aside from that. He still stayed in a supportive role, but had to step back from the school scenes, and wasn't as involved with the action in some episodes. The only problem I really had with this was that they never really showed any downside to this. I guess if I had to write this subplot, I'd make it so Tommy has to conserve his energy in order to sustain himself instead of eating or drinking, sort of like what he had to do back when the Green Ranger powers were starting to run out. I think it would justify his absence from certain episodes better.

That being said, they still give Tommy focus here, and it leads to other cool moments. In the very first episode after he's freed from the amber, “Burning at Both Ends”, Tommy sees through a ploy from Trent giving him a new ATV as a way to show he turned a new leaf by asking Trent a false question about said ATV, because “they don't make twelve-stroke engines”. Another interesting moment comes in “Bully for Ethan”, where Kira helps him go through some old pictures, and we get to see a picture of the original six Power Rangers.

It's small, but it's a nice bit of fanservice, as is the picture of Tommy's ancestor seen in “Wild West Rangers”, the White Stranger.

They also focus more on why Zeltrax hates Tommy so much. It turns out that Zeltrax is actually an old friend of Tommy's, Terrance “Smitty” Smith, and Smitty hates Tommy thanks to Anton Mercer choosing him for a job instead of him, not knowing that his new boss, Mesogog, is actually Mercer. Not much really comes of this rivalry (it doesn't help that we barely know who Smitty is outside of flashbacks), but it's interesting to see Tommy try to reason with his old friend like what Jason did with him all those years ago, only to be forced to seemingly take him down by himself in “A Star is Torn”.

In “Disappearing Act”, the Rangers find a mysterious slime that manages to get Tommy to finally demorph... but now his Dino Gem's invisibility power is active 24/7. This leads us to the next episode, and one I can imagine Power Rangers fans have been waiting for me to talk about for a while now, “Fighting Spirit”. Using the black Dino Gem, they turn him back... but this sends him into a coma. While the Rangers head out to fight a new monster, Tommy starts to dream about fighting his old Ranger forms, Zeo Ranger V, the White Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger, and the Green Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger.

The scenes in Tommy's mind have been interpreted in different ways, and here's my take on the conflict. Zeo Ranger V represents the leader Tommy has become over the years, being calm and courteous when he greets the veteran Ranger, and refusing to use any weapons in their fight. The White Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger represents Tommy's headstrong nature, being the most aggressive of the three, and at one point, shouts at Tommy to get up and keep fighting. And the Green Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger represents Tommy's sense of personal discipline, almost like a mixture of the first two, as while he is the most direct about wanting to fight Tommy, he is courteous enough to lend him the Dragon Dagger before the two fight. Compared to V's question about being able to keep up the good fight or White aggressively demanding he keep fighting, Green also gives Tommy the chance to give up, testing his spirit instead of his body. Even in the face of adversity, Tommy refuses to give up, revealing the three Rangers were testing him. Tommy gets his Dino Gem back, and beats Mesogog's newest monster on his own.

Afterwards, the Rangers keep up the good fight until Tommy, like the other Rangers, is stripped of his powers in “Thunder Struck” when they all use the combined power of their Dino Gems to defeat Mesogog (who had already been separated from Mercer) once and for all.

(Part Five, Always a Ranger)

Now that we've gone over most of Tommy's tenure as a Ranger, it's time to talk about the way he is seen as an icon, in and out of universe.

Tommy's first return since his retirement in Turbo was in Wild Force's iconic 10th anniversary special, “Forever Red”. In this episode, the Red Rangers from the past ten seasons of the franchise team up to stop the remnants of the Machine Empire from unleashing Lord Zedd's old Zord, Serpentera. While the Red Wild Force Ranger, Cole (Played by Rick Medina), is introduced to all the older Red Rangers, T.J. specifically introduces Tommy as “a legend”, and earlier, when Tommy is called over by another Red Ranger, Bulk and Skull (who were running a little club he was relaxing at), they seem very hesitant to disturb him.

Tommy's next major return after Dino Thunder was during the finale to Megaforce, “Legendary Battle”, the 20th anniversary special. Here, he led the army of Legendary Rangers to help the Megaforce Rangers deal with the rest of the Armada's forces, essentially serving as the representative of the veterans giving their approval to the new generation... as unearned as it was, given how poorly the anniversary aspect of Megaforce was handled, but I digress. Although to be fair, while I'm just as critical of Megaforce as everyone else is, Tommy telling the Megaforce Rangers that “They'll always be with them” was pretty heartwarming, and is a testament to how long the franchise has been going for.

And the final televised appearance of Tommy Oliver before Jason David Frank's death would be Ninja Steel's “Dimensions in Danger”, the 25th anniversary special. When several veteran Rangers go missing, the Ninja Steel Rangers are contacted by three other veterans, and they explain for this mission, they specifically mention needing Tommy's help, the current team of Rangers seem to hold him in high regard. Later on, when Tommy is the one to save all of the captured Rangers, and later uses the Falconzord to save the day.

Obviously, these three anniversary specials seem to hold Tommy in high regard, but why is that? How did Tommy get so popular that he essentially became the face of the franchise?

For one thing, I'd say it's the first impression he made. Like I mentioned earlier on, “Green With Evil” was a big deal, and even though Tommy was brainwashed, he still got to show off a lot, and most of it was before he even got the iconic Dragonzord. Power Rangers has always been about teamwork, that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, but with Tommy, and pretty much every other Sixth Ranger after him, he stood out thanks to his more unique arsenal that put him on par with some of Rita's strongest monsters. He did just enough to shake up the cast during his first run as the Green Ranger, and let's be honest, he was pretty cool. Tommy was sort of like Batman or Wolverine, a hero who is recognized for being a total badass that kids love to see. I think that's why so many children wanted to see more of Tommy after “The Green Candle”.

At the same time, Tommy clearly had some depth to him. We saw him struggle to work together with Jason, he showed a level of dedication to making Kimberly happy while showing an artistic side to him, and when his Green Ranger powers were being drained in the first two seasons, he was put in a very vulnerable situation. This kind of drama made things more interesting to watch, and it made kids want to watch the show more to see what would happen to Tommy when Lord Zedd was personally targeting him in an effort to drain his powers entirely. Yeah, we know what happens now, but back in the 90's, kids didn't know if Tommy would get to stay a Power Ranger or not, which was what also made his debut as the White Ranger so shocking.

I think this was why Tommy was eventually promoted to Red Ranger in Zeo and Turbo, to solidify his role as leader of the team, although I do think the focus got a little out of hand in Zeo. Like I said, the romance subplot with Kat was very unnecessary in my opinion, and the four-parter with Tommy's Native American heritage coming right after a three-parter that set up his feelings for her really didn't help the perception that all he did was steal screentime from the other Rangers. I still feel like it got better in the first half of Turbo, as there was more focus given to the other Rangers before they all left, but I think more could have been done to place a greater emphasis on Tommy transferring his powers to T.J. instead of how rushed his exit was planned.

To me, I think Tommy was handled almost perfectly in Dino Thunder. Yes, there was a little bit of worshiping with him being built up as a legend in “Legacy of Power”, and yes, the whole thing with Zeltrax/Smitty was pretty pointless, but here, more emphasis was placed on his role as a close advisor to the team while there was plenty of focus given to the other four Dino Rangers. He was given the right amount of focus as a main character, but it wasn't enough that the other Rangers felt neglected by the writers.

Tommy Oliver is a character whose reputation precedes him for good reasons. He's been a huge part of the franchise ever since his introduction, has a surprising amount of depth to him, and he has essentially become the face of the franchise for years. I think that's one of the reasons why people were so shaken by Jason David Frank's death compared to other Ranger actors like Thuy Trang and Pua Magasiva. Generally, when we got the news that Jason David Frank died, it was like a huge part of the franchise died with him. It's hard to imagine what the franchise would have been like if Tommy wasn't so popular, but we can at least rest knowing that Jason David Frank and Tommy Oliver both played a huge part in getting the legacy of the Power Rangers started.

May the power protect you always, Mr. Frank.

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