Spoiler Alert!
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(About Jake) Love has no explanation, i just felt it in that moment. It helps he's cute, but that's icing, i promise!—Tom Reed
Thomas "Tom" Reed is a gay character from Disventure Camp.
Biography[]
Tom talking on his radio in Season One
Tom Reed is a 31 year old beach lifeguard living in Canada. He participated in Disventure Camp[1] and Disventure Camp All Stars[2]. Before the show he was working as a spy, not much is known about his family, other than he has a close relationship with his mother, who is presumably an ex-spy, while his father was no longer in the picture, but was there during his childhood.
He makes his debut in Disventure Camp, were he is cast into the Teal Team, Tom originally joined the show as part of a secret spy mission, commanded by his superiors to investigate and keep an eye on the hosts, Trevor and Derek, and their mysterious bus driver, Jensen.
He fails to do so, as he is discovered by Grett, who outed his secret to Tom's romantic interest, Jake. This situation spiraled to Jensen spreading Tom's secret to the public, uncovering him. After this, Tom found himself forced to quit the mission and the job completly. Because he was no longer being a spy, Tom had no reason to stay in the game, but decided to keep going, as to not betray his friends and alliance. But after a blindside by the villains, Tom is eliminated in 6th place.
In between seasons Tom undergoes police academy training after being adviced to do so by a group of policemen in the Season 1 finale, after seeing potential in him. He is eventually hired as a policeman himself. In Disventure Camp All Stars he is cast into the Cyan Team alongside five other people.
Tom dressed up in "Strike a Chord"
During this season he becomes the physical strength of the team, constantly being sent to do manual labor or to take part in the most physical challenging competitions by the others on his team. His only ally at the beggining was Aiden, as they were the only guys in their team, this causes a fake "love triangle" to be formed between them and Jake, who is jealous of Aiden. And before his elimination, reestablishes his friendship with Gabby. He is eliminated in 10th place. He takes a prominent role again in the finale, where he admits his feelings for Jake and mend things with him, getting together.
He is one of the protagonists of the four-part "TomJake Spin-Off[3]", alongside Jake.
Appearance[]
Tom's swimsuit in Season One
Tom is an adult with white skin, short black hair, teal-coloured eyes and scars throught his body. During Season 1 he wears a spy tactical suit; a black bodysuit with a stripped black and dark teal hoodie and gloves, and a pair of combat boots. During the first episodes of the first season he also wears a teal-coloured stipped mask in the lower part of his face, in order to hide is scars and conceal his identity as much as possible as to not alert Jensen. In "Don't Open, Campers Inside[4]" he takes it off, as spends the rest of the season without it. According to an official post, Tom is 6''/1.83cm.
In All Stars he changes his outfit, now wearing a tame brown aviator's jacket gifted by his friend, Lucía Nadianiqua, over a dark teal hoodie, his signature colour. He uses dark blue jeans tucked into calf-lengt black combat boots. He entirely ditched the mask, gloves and hood, showing off his scars.
Personality[]
Tom in "Medal of Dis-Honour"
In his begginings, Tom was seen as mysterious and unreliable at times by the other contestants, as they sensed that he was lying about why he wore a mask and other subjects. However, underneath it all, Tom is a sweet and supporting individual. During the first season Tom lets go of his rough exterior after meeting and bonding with Jake, realizing that all he ever wanted was connection, something he was privated of because of his job.
After quitting being a spy, Tom feels freed from his worries, as he no longer needs to lie to his friends, during this perios he gets together with Jake, but his happiness doesn't last long, as the villains lie to Jake, telling him that Tom has a boyfriend outside of the game, this turns the two men agains eachother, and after a brilliant blindside in the elimination ceremony, Tom is sent home. After this event, Tom feels like he can't trust Jake ever again, being hurt at the betrayal of the only person he cared about in the game.
Tom expaining why he came back for All Stars
In All Stars Tom is a lot rougher to Jake, who wants him back but gets pushed away by Tom, who doesn't want to get hurt again. In this season he is significantly "dumbed down", and becomes the 'silly man' of the season, not catching up on clues or taking phrases too literally. He can also act hypocritial at times, criticizing Gabby after making a personal move after he himself made one, or encouraging cheating only when his allies do it.
Sexuality[]
In an official post promoting art of Disventure Camp characters celebrating Pride Month, Tom is confirmed to be gay.[5]
He never mentions it in the series, but does constantly talk about his struggles with romance and trust in various occations.
In a personalized greeting[6] Tom talks about how glad he is to live outside of the closet and authetically as himself and be a representation for the community. in another greeting[7] Tom talked about how he found out he was gay, saying that he discovered it while watching Twilight as a kid, were he found himself attracted to Jacob and Edward.
Reaction[]
- This section is about fan reaction to the characters sexuality/gender identity. NOT THE IN UNIVERSE REACTION. In universe reactions would belong under sexuality/gender.
Disventure Camp is a reboot of the now de-canonized beta season of the show: Adventure Camp[8] (or formerly known as Total Drama Adventure). Jake featured in this beta season, were it was known he was gay, so for many old fans of the show, this wasn't a surprise.
Relationships[]
Jake[]
Tom and Jake in the Season One intro
Tom met Jake during Season 1, when they were cast into the same team. They two of them quickly became a pair, as they were on Dan's boys alliance and were the 'stongmen' of their team, being tasked with gathering reasources and food. They spent a lot of time together out of cameras just talking about their lives, likes and dislikes.
Grett sees right through Tom, and discovers that he is a spy, forcing him to make a treaty with her; never to vote for eachother so that she'd hide his secret. But secretly, informs Jake of her finding. When Jake asks him about it Tom tries to shush him and to keep his voice low, Jake explodes at this and acuses Tom of not caring about him. During this time, Jensen reveals Tom's secret to the audience, making him lose his job. When Jake and Tom decide to talk things out and promise to do so anytime they have problems, Tom takes out his mask, revealing multiple scar in his face, saying that there is no point in hiding anymore. Jake kisses him, telling him that he find him handsome.
"Shup up! You and I are done! Don't ever speak to me again!" -Tom to Jake
It's implied that they start dating after this, but it doesn't last, as the villains alliance decides to cause drama between them to keep control of the game, they spread the rumour that Tom has a boyfriend outside of the game, enraging Jake and making him avoid the other man at any cost. During the elimination Tom is blindsided by the villains, who make him think they are targeting Jake and pushing him to use his immunity idol on him, when he does so, he realizes his mistake, as they actually targeted him, making him the next eliminated contestant.
Tom feels betrayed by Jake, who didn't keep their promise of talking directly to eachother when problems arose, but blaming himself for ever trusting the other man, leaving on a bad note. They reunite in the finale, realizing that neither of them are in the best mental place and promising to get back to eachother when they become better people.
Jake sadly looking at Tom and Aiden
In All Stars we find out that Jake never was able to move on, and tried again and again to reach out to Tom, who kept ignoring his calls and messages out of fear of getting hurt again. During this season Tom, at times, acted borderline rude to Jake but more commonly just distant. He befriends Aiden, and thanks to the villain's manipulations, by way of rumours, pushing the two of them against eachother and even making them kiss in the challenge for the episode "Strike a Chord[9]", Jake believes that the two of them have a secret relationship, acting hostile against Aiden. For most of the time, Tom doesn't even realize the villains actions against him and acting clueless as of why Jake becomes agressive.
Tom is constantly pushed on by the people around him to talk and clear the air between them, when Aiden asks about their relationship status Tom says that it's old news, claiming he has a new boyfriend. When Jake comfronts him, Tom says the same thing. It's soon revealed that this was a lie, with Tom feeling terrible and wanting to confess the truth to him. He goes up to him at night in the episode "All's Fair in Love and Paintball[10]" and confesses the lie, that he and Aiden aren't together and his fears about being in a relationship with him again, with Jake just replying that he needs space.
When Tom is eliminated in "Hungry like the Wolf[11]" he says his goodbyes to Jake, assuring him that the will talk about things when they reunite again. During his stay in the Loser's Motel Tom has a lot of time to think and reason with himself, reaching the realization that he is still in love with the other man, even after all these years, and in the episode "No Vacancy[12]" he decided that as soon as he gets the chance, he will tell Jake, who reached the final three.
"Is that a yes?" "Definitely at least a maybe"
In the final competition Tom goes to Jake's rescue after he is sevearly dameged by Riya, in this scene he confesses his love, asking for a chance at being together, Jake kisses him, reciprocating his feelings.
We see them again in the four episode Spin-Off, "TomJake Spin-Off". Where we see how their lives turned out after the show, we find out they moved in together, Tom's past and the reason for his scars, Tom quitting his policeman job in order to become a lifeguard and in the final chapter, Jake proposes to Tom, making them fiancés.
Tropes[]
- Queer Character, Queer Actor - Jayce Hanson is queer, and goes by he/they pronouns.
See Also[]
References[]
- ↑ https://disventure-camp.fandom.com/wiki/Disventure_Camp_(season_1)
- ↑ https://disventure-camp.fandom.com/wiki/Disventure_Camp:_All-Stars
- ↑ https://disventure-camp.fandom.com/wiki/Disventure_Camp:_TomJake
- ↑ https://youtu.be/ar0EMvbDw9c?si=gXb9z2pyQBDxojMY
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZk_h_W5W6w
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wTEpdN9LNk
- ↑ https://disventure-camp.fandom.com/wiki/Adventure_Camp
- ↑ https://youtu.be/m7VxEf9qjfM?si=SN_K7wK13gSPld2l
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9JohuTxens
- ↑ https://youtu.be/ornaiHnn46Q?si=bhcPkVXGC0Fk7hyP
- ↑ https://youtu.be/TqjRBw9vDg8?si=7za-d-qiEUGFKCBQ
[]
| LESBIAN | Annika • Gabby Nowak • Jade Tanko's mothers • Karol Jones • Lake Müller • Mariana • Marissa Xulu • Molly |
| GAY | Aiden Brooks • Jake Hamilton • Pablo • Richard Miller • Tom Reed |
| BI | Ally Amber • Derek Johnson • Ellie Parker • Hannah Roxas • Tess Morgan • Trevor McGregor |
| PAN | Hunter Page • James Costa • Natalia Beaz |
| QUEER | Emily Campbell |
| ACE | Dan Carter |
| ARO | Dan Carter |
| TRANS | Aiden Brooks • Natalia Baez |
| NON-BINARY | Tristan Vik |