Monday, December 10, 2007

Tom at Bromwell

There is a crashing silence in the fanfic field when it comes to young Thomas Sloane's adventures in college. If anyone knows of any stories about his time at Bromwell, let me know, because except for brief mention in various serials like Richard Lobinske's Falling Into College and Ruthless Bunny's Bed and Breakfast Man, Tom drops off the face of the earth after IICY?

And I don't think that's fair. Granted I've not always been a big supporter of Tom, but he was around for a long while and did have some entertaining elements in his personality, mostly in being a genteel smartass. And he did show Jane a good time, until he cheated on her DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE D- uh, sorry, lost it there for a moment. I'm okay now.

For a while I toyed with some plots for Tom-at-Bromwell stories. One had Tom be a part of a drama society (he certainly had a gift for acting, if you get my drift), but he becomes involved in a dispute over what play the group will perform. He wants to act in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, but others want a Passion Play. Tom finds himself torn between continuing to push for his choice, which will alienate his new friends in the club (some of whom are far more religious than he is), and dropping his objections to the Passion Play, which he personally does not want to be involved in. Huge moral and religious issues must be grappled with, and a satisfactory resolution is unlikely. He is likely to be true to himself, which means everyone will hate him, but he is still the hero and does right. Funny how he turns out to be a lot like Daria there.

Anyone else who wants to use this idea is free to do so. At this point nothing more will be done with the above plot bunny. Any other plot bunnies out there about Tom at Bromwell?

NOTE: There is a cartoon DVD out there called "Bromwell High." It often appears when you do a search for Daria DVDs. Be warned that "Bromwell High" has NOTHING AT ALL to do with Daria, Tom, Bromwell University, etc., even if it is an MTV cartoon. You were warned.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lawndale Stalker's 'Once Upon A Time at College' had just introduced Tom as a Bromwell student before he quit writing.

'Everything Happens for a Reason' by Mahna Mahna had future Tom, didn't it? And therefore, 'Nothing Happens for a reason' would have had future Tom, too.

Anonymous said...

I was pondering writing a fic where Tom showed up at Daria's door after flunking out of Bromwell (because some girl broke his heart and he couldn't study), and might want to rekindle their relationship. It was going to be part of my Daria-in-college series, and I still might get around to writing it eventually, once I decide exactly how it should go.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...I may steal your idea. Well, you offered it, so it's not really 'stealing...' Anywho, I've started several fanfics, but they all suffer from major lack-of-Tom. My theater background makes this appeal to me...Plus, The Crucible is far superior. What part did Tom want? John?

The Angst Guy said...

The idea is all yours. I hadn't given it much more thought that what I wrote down. I saw "The Crucible" a few months ago and loved it. It had a very Tom-ish flavor to it, and I mean that in a good way.