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Line 3: \|firstappearance= [[Jane's Addition]] \|lastappearance= [[Is It College Yet?]] \|voicedby= [[Russell Hankin]] <br> \|episodecount=20 <br> 2 TV movies \|gender=Male Line 12: }} '''Thomas "Tom" Sloane''' ~~was~~is ~~the~~one ~~last~~of ~~major~~the ~~character~~main tocharacters ~~be introduced on~~in ''[[Daria (TV series)\|Daria]]''. He first appeared in the ~~final~~season ~~episode~~three offinale ~~Season~~"[[Jane's ~~Three,~~Addition]]" as [[Jane Lane]]'s boyfriend,. ~~and~~He later became [[Daria Morgendorffer]]'s boyfriend in ''[[Is It Fall Yet?]]'' and dated Daria throughout the fifth season. HeTom is the only character onto ~~the show who~~have seriously dated Daria. {{quote\|Remember when we went to the drugstore and read the greeting card poems aloud? That was a fun date.\|[[Sappy Anniversary]]}} ==Character Overview== [[Image:Tom' s_profileshot.jpg\|thumb\|left\|250px\|Tom in spring clothes ("I Loathe a Parade")]] Tom Sloane is a rich teenager who belongs to one of Lawndale's richest families, but this is neither apparent from his appearance, nor by the car he drives. He was introduced in the episode "[[Jane's Addition]]" and indeed was the titular "addition" of that episode. Tom continued as Daria's boyfriend throughout the final season. He has a casual, easy-going personality, unconcerned with most situations and assuming that things are going to go fine for him in a way that crosses the line into smugness. <br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Tom shows decency and ethics on a number of occasions - helping out strangers ("[[A Tree Grows in Lawndale]]", "[[I Loathe a Parade]]"), trying to repair a Daria/Jane rift ("Jane's Addition"), and expressing contempt for [[Wizard Computers]]' treatment of workers ("[[Prize Fighters]]") - but has also shown a mild arrogance and a habit of assuming people think the same way as him. He is often surprised when this irritates people. Daria summarised him in "[[Is It College Yet?]]" as being "a good guy. A little spoiled, a hair smug, a trifle egotistical, but a smart, funny guy who's basically very caring and sensitive in the not-pukey way". Unique among the teenaged cast, he doesn't go to [[Lawndale High School]] but instead to [[Fielding Preparatory Academy]]. This is first mentioned in "[[Partner's Complaint]]", followed by Jane saying Tom's parents "''make'' him go there". Line 42 ⟶ 41: ==Tom and wealth== [[Image:Tom' s_carofdeath.jpg\|thumb\|left\|250px\|Tom's terrifyingly dangerous first car]] It is directly stated by many characters on the show that his family is not only rather wealthy but is also quite powerful. (This was retroactively introduced starting with "[[Is It Fall Yet?]]" - nobody refers to him being wealthier than Daria and Jane until then, only mentioning he goes to [[Fielding Preparatory Academy\|a prep academy]] which doesn't have to mean high wealth) His interest in this wealth and power varies considerably. Line 60 ⟶ 59: Generally, he seems to enjoy his family's wealth while noticing and casually disparaging some of its absurdities. His family's wealth and power was a source of tension between him and Daria during their relationship, sometimes from his unnoticed privilege and sometimes because she automatically assumed the worst because of his class. ==Tom's importance in canon== ~~==The "Love Triangle" Story Arc==~~ [[Image:Tom_DyeDye.jpg\|thumb\|left\|250px\|Tom tries to head off Jane's verbal onslaught]]▼ ===~~Why?~~Tomgate===▼ In the episode "[[Jane's Addition]]," Tom was introduced and began dating [[Jane Lane]] in very short order. They met at a [[Mystik Spiral]] gig while Daria was briefly absent. The amount of time Jane spent with Tom was a source of tension between Daria and Jane for many episodes afterward, much as Jane's dates with [[Evan]] had been ("[[See Jane Run]]"). ''See [[Tomgate]]'' Daria and Tom, however, had a lot in common. Though Jane was never portrayed as stupid, she was definitely not as "book-smart" as Daria or Tom. By the episode "[[I Loathe a Parade]]," however, it was clear that the tension between Daria and Tom had blossomed into something else. Meanwhile, Tom and Jane's relationship began to deteriorate, with increasing clashes between the two; Tom made several big romantic gestures to Jane, ones that were out of character for him, to try and revive the relationship ("[[Sappy Anniversary]]"). After the end, Tom admitted they'd just been getting bored of each other. (Notably, he didn't blame Jane for this and said this is something that just happens in relationships.) ===Why?=== Meanwhile, Daria and Tom began a strange flirtation in "[[Fire!]]", which did not go unnoticed by Jane. ("When," she asks bitterly, "did I become a third wheel in my own relationship?") While Tom and Daria hadn't been shown doing anything before then, Jane appeared to have been worried already that he was becoming interested in her friend. In "[[Dye! Dye! My Darling]]", Tom tried to talk to an unwilling Daria about their situation, leading to a moment known as [[The Kiss]] in Tom's car. This betrayal nearly ended Daria and Jane's friendship. Daria's relationships with both Jane and Tom were not fully resolved until ''[[Is it Fall Yet?]]''. At the end of that movie, Daria and Jane's friendship was revealed to be stronger than the boy-drama, and Daria decided to pursue a romantic entanglement with Tom. In the rest of the series, the characters would occasionally make jokes about how Daria was dating her friend's boyfriend ("[[Life in the Past Lane]]", "Is It College Yet?"). ▲[[Image:Tom_DyeDye.jpg\|thumb\|~~left~~right\|250px\|Tom tries to head off Jane's verbal onslaught]] In the [[off-canon canon]] [[Is_It_Fall_Yet%3F#On_Is_It_Fall_Yet.3F\|IIFY Post-Movie Chat]], when asked which of the girls was a better kisser, Tom covered himself by claiming he had "no memory of ever kissing Jane" - Jane responded with "Tom who?". ▲===Why?=== In a [http://www.the-wildone.com/dvdaria/glenninterviewsfull.html 2006 interview with Kara Wild], [[Glenn Eichler]] said Tom was created as "I thought it was really pushing credibility for Daria to have only had one or two dates during her whole high school career - I thought it was time in the evolution of her personality for a boyfriend to enter the picture. And of course it would provide us with some fresh storylines, always welcome after 39 episodes." The reason Tom started as Jane's boyfriend was both because Glenn felt Daria would need to grow on a high school boy for him to ask her out, meaning "he would need to spend a fair amount of time in her company BEFORE they started dating", and because "I thought the situation would allow us to explore and test Daria and Jane's friendship". He admits this "may have backfired" as a chunk of the audience didn't buy Jane would forgive Daria for that. Daria actress [[Tracy Grandstaff]] [http://canigetamanwiththat.com/post/1086565092/dear-daria-revisiting-the-misery-chick has suggested] that Daria's part in the triangle happened because she "never expected a guy to be interested in her—until Tom came along" and because "she sat in the shadows crushing over the unattainable Trent for so long, she was blindsided by Tom’s attention". (Also a more tongue-in-cheek answer of "maybe the writers wanted to make the storyline more interesting") [[Guy Moore]], director of most of the Daria/Tom/Jane love triangle stories, [http://thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=663957#p663957 said in 2014] "I never much understood why anyone found Tom appealing, as his personality was fairly bland, and he didn’t seem to have any chemistry with either Jane or Daria. But the mess of having all your relationships change because you got caught off guard by new feelings, THAT I understood-- that sort of thing had happened to me, and to plenty of other people I knew, and I was very familiar with the resultant awfulness. So I gave the writers kudos for going there and exploring it, even as I was cringing." ==Relationship with Daria== Line 99 ⟶ 96: [[Image:tomnostferatu.jpg\|frame\|Tom Sloane as Nosferatu the vampire, from the MTV ''Daria'' website]] Tom's potentially ending the relationship between Daria and Jane, and effectively sealing the fate of the flirtation between Daria and [[Trent Lane]], caused Tom to be a very controversial character. [[The Kiss]] ~~generated~~itself ~~enormous antipathy for both Tom and Daria, therefore, there are very few fanworks that portray them in~~triggered a ~~positive~~massive ~~light. Notable exceptions are [[Ring Toss]] by [[Nemo Blank]] and [[Mr. and Mrs. Sloane]] by [[Quiverwing]]. The Tom/Daria pairing has come in for stick for Tom being ''too'' much~~bomb in the ~~right, with some saying the relationship comes off as parternalistic and unequal as a result; others criticise it for being too unromantic, viewing this as unrealistic~~fandom. ~~Others defend the latter as making sense for Daria, a normally closed-off person.~~ [http://www.thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=41395#p663957 In a Q&A], [[Guy Moore]] - who worked on "I Loathe A Parade", "Fire!", and "IIFY?" - said that various show admin kept an eye on the fan's views and "mention[ed] in a general sense that the viewers WERE reacting furiously [to the Kiss plot], waiting to see how it resolved. They never qualified "reacting well" or "reacting poorly" I assumed it was well." Outside of his relationship with Daria, Tom's portrayal still varies. A number of writers show him being a good person and/or an ally of Daria's. Others have criticised Tom for being dull and not having much to him beyond being "the boyfriend", claiming he wasn't fleshed out enough. [[The Angst Guy]] has usually shown Tom as being weak, attempting to do the right thing but backing out or getting it wrong; on the [[Daria Fandom Blog]], he also once remarked Tom had been punished for The Kiss by ''having to date Daria'', which he viewed as being a source of pain and frustration for Tom.▼ [[Caira]]'s contemporary essay "[[Has It Fallen Yet?]]" refers to the Tom/Daria development causing "a huge influx of new posters" on message boardsm and fan reaction was split: "Roughly fifty percent are loving the new episodes and anxiously awaiting for [[Is It Fall Yet?]] for further development of the relationships (I'll call them category one), about 40% are aghast at the romance in what was once a show above all that and dreading the assumed further horrors of IIFY (category two), and most of the remaining ten have the same issues with the romance but look forward to IIFY to get the whole unpleasant business over with -- having faith in Glenn to deliver some genuinely new goods in Season Five (category three). ... and one or two disappointed -- but quiet -- D/Trent 'shippers." [[Guy Wheatley]], not a fan of the S4 ending, mentions fan reaction in "[[Objectivity Free Landslide Victory]]": "Most of the Majors and Indie-Fans on the boards alike seem to approve the direction of Daria's last two eps, or at least condone them, nevermind the emasculation of Our Heroine and her partner-in-crime, nevermind the overexposure of Kevin and Brittany earlier in the season, nevermind the lowest common denominator panning with this love-triangulation. Few have openly spoken against them. Those who do I feel have something of an unspoken judgment passed on them, that they are churlish, retro-minded, unrealistic folks and less than well-bred. Fans living a Season One pipe dream, and why-can't-they-just-leave-us-char-devvers-the-hell-alone-and-take-up-chess-or-something." He also recorded that many fans thought this development had improved S4. For years after, however, there were not many Tom/Daria shipping fics or positive depictions of the relationship. Notable exceptions are [[Ring Toss]] by [[Nemo Blank]] and [[Mr. and Mrs. Sloane]] by [[Quiverwing]]. This may be down to how Tom and Daria's relationship played out in the show itself. The pairing has come in for stick for Tom being ''too'' much in the right, with some saying the relationship comes off as parternalistic and unequal as a result; others criticise it for being too unromantic, viewing this as unrealistic. Others defend the latter as making sense for Daria, a normally closed-off person. [[Starah Choe]]'s essay "[[Daria's Love Life]]" argues Tom has qualities that allow him to coax daria out of her shell and thus the relationship is perfect for Daria's first: "Tom, being the confident and easy-going guy, however, is just the guy to help give her the nudges and pushes required to make a relationship work." For Choe, this could not be long-term due to "her self-esteem (with Tom's assumptions of her needing to 'reach his standard' i.e. Bromwell) and her conscience", in that Daria must feel guilt over Tom's extreme patience. In his [[Daria Episode Analyses]], [[WellTemperedClavier]] feels it was unrealistic Daria started dating Tom at first and that they had chemistry in S4, while in S5 "Daria evinces very little interest in Tom even while she worries that he takes her for granted. And Tom does seem like he’s taking her for granted. ... Daria isn’t happy. Which I think explains much of her behavior toward Tom in Season 5. This relationship is not what she wants, but she can’t yet bring herself to realize it." On the [[Daria Fandom Blog]], [[The Angst Guy]] once remarked Tom had been punished for The Kiss by ''having to date Daria'', which he viewed as being a source of pain and frustration for Tom. ▲Outside of his relationship with Daria, Tom's portrayal still varies. A number of writers show him being a good person and/or an ally of Daria's, and his smart and sarcastic nature useful to contrast with his background. [[Brian Taylor (author)\|Brian Taylor]]'s 2000 essay "[[Why Did It Come To This]]" even argues that in "Parade", Tom "really is way too nice, considering the way Daria had/has been treating him up until this point." Others have criticised Tom for being dull and not having much to him beyond being "the boyfriend", claiming he wasn't fleshed out enough. [[The Angst Guy]] has usually shown Tom as being weak, attempting to do the right thing but backing out or getting it wrong~~; on the [[Daria Fandom Blog]], he also once remarked Tom had been punished for The Kiss by ''having to date Daria'',~~. ~~which he viewed as being a source of pain and frustration for Tom.~~ Whether Tom is a toxic figure or a positive one has been subject to pendulum swings in the fandom. ==Fanfic Stereotypes== Line 114 ⟶ 125: ==="Nurse Goodnsexy"=== In recent times, a popular depiction of Tom has seen him (or her) getting dolled up, dressing up in a nurse's outfit and seducing the men of Lawndale. Whether or not he is doing this as a coping mechanism for being dumped by Daria, a devious fetish or just for the lulz is usually open to interpretation. Originally a stand-alone series started by [[Shiva]], this trope has been crossed over into several other series, including [[God Save The Esteem]], [[Lawndale Fighting Championship]] and [[Rude Awakening]]. ===Record Executive Tom=== In the fanfic [[Fashion Club Entertainment]] written by [[tommyXmaserati]], Tom is featured as the co-founder, co-CEO and A&R of the record label Liquorish Pizza Records. ==Trivia== Line 119 ⟶ 134: * When he was dating Jane, we rarely saw any interaction between him and Jane's brother Trent. The exceptions are "[[The F Word]]" and "[[Mart of Darkness]]". In the former, he pleads with Tom not to abandon Jane because "she needs you right now" (she'd started dressing 'conventional' and he was worried). In the latter, while Trent seems to have no issue with Tom, Trent's laconic, easily-distracted approach to things was shown to drive Tom up the wall. MTV did a piss-take of shipping wars with the [[Guy vs. Guy]] site. ==Misc. Trivia== In the Latin American dubbing, he was voiced by Jorge Ornelas. ==External Links== Line 125 ⟶ 145: * [http://www.the-wildone.com/dvdaria/anneinterview.html January 2006 interview with Anne D. Bernstein on DVDaria] (see individual questions) * [http://www.the-wildone.com/essays/kw_essays/tosotk.html “The Other Side of the Kiss: An Examination of the Infamous ‘Love Triangle’,”] by [[Kara Wild]]. * [http://www.~~outpost~~the-~~daria~~wildone.com/~~essay/kw_anatomy_of_a_tom_hater~~Tom_Haters.html “Anatomy of a Tom Hater: Why There Is So Much Anger Towards Tom Sloane,”] by [[Kara Wild]] with help from [[Alan Benard]]. * [http://www.geocities.com/cincgreen/tommunism.html “The Fall of Tommunism,”] by [[CINCGREEN]] ('''site down''') * [http://~~www~~web.archive.org/web/20111015202723/http://outpost-daria.com/essay/jt_evil_tom.html "A Rant About 'Evil' Tom,"] by [[Admonisher]] * [http://thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=27898 Why so much hate for Tom?] thread on [[PPMB]] ('''thread removed''') * [http://www.thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=33837 Tom's Passion] thread on [[PPMB]] ('''thread removed''') ====Tom-centric Fanfiction==== * [http://thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=37635 "The Adventures of Nurse Goodnsexy"] by [[Shiva]] * [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5210388/1/Bromwell_Bound_That_One_Fateful_Summer "Bromwell Bound: That One Fateful Summer,] by [[HolyGrail2007]] * [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/294402/1/Dear_Tom "Dear Tom,"] by [[Ruthless Bunny]] * "[[Ghosts of Christmas Future]]", by [[Crusading Saint]] * "[http://thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=748979 Last of the Summer Whine]", by [[Kristen Bealer]] * "[[God Save The Esteem]]", by [[Charles RB]] * "[[The Hallowed Halls of Fielding]]", by [[Roentgen]] * [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/707323/1/The_Next_Step "The Next Step,"] by [[Mike Xeno]] * [http://www.~~thepaperpusher~~fanfiction.net/~~forum~~s/~~viewtopic.php?f=6&t=33828~~8990095/1/My-Night-at-Daria-s-Ad-Infinitum "AMy Night at Daria's, ~~New~~Ad ~~World~~Infinitum"], by [[~~breitasparrow~~Smijey]] * [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/324879/1/My_Night_at_Toms "My Night at Tom's,"] by [[Thessalian]] * "[[Naked Came the Cynic]]" by [[Lawndale Stalker]] * [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4107990/1/Night_of_the_Living_Furniture "Night of the Living Furniture"] by [[Smijey]] * [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1534401/1/Reflections_in_the_Hood_of_a_Car "Reflections in the Hood of a Car,"] by [[Angelinhel]] * [http://web.archive.org/web/20101220234604/http://outpost-daria.com/fanfic/ring_toss.html "Ring Toss"], by [[Nemo Blank]] * "[[Spirit of the Game, Nature of the Beast]]," by HolyGrail2007 * [http://www.~~outpost-daria~~fanfiction.~~com~~net/~~fanfic~~s/~~toms_eye_view.html~~3562322/1/Tom-s-Eye-View "Tom's Eye View,"], by [[Dennis]] * [http://thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30563 "Tom's Overkill"], by [[ticknart]] * [http://www.thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=405518#p405518 "Tom Sloane: Angel or Demon?"], by [[Quiverwing]]