SPD META: On Sky & Dru
This started out as a post for the benefit of FHers who aren't familiar with SPD to explain the relationship between Sky and Dru in the game (i.e. Sky had feelings for him and didn't know what they were til too late). I decided it might actually be good enough to submit to ship_manifesto, so I thought I should get feedback before doing so. Because I personally feel as though even in S.P.D. canon, a reasonably sound case can be made for Sky and Dru having been lovers, or at least having either messed around a few times and/or had some feelings for each other underneath the surface.
With the caveat that Yes, I know this is Power Rangers and I'm probably reading far too much into things, I present a Sky/Dru manifesto. Obviously, spoiler warning for the series.
What canon tells us:
In Power Rangers S.P.D., Sky Tate is the Blue Ranger (FH!Sky comes from before the series begins and he gets his Ranger powers). He is very serious and dedicated to his work. His goal in life was to be the Red Ranger, just like his father had been before being murdered in the line of duty. He wanted to feel like he'd made his father proud and followed in his footsteps, and seemed to be well on his way to doing that- his devotion to S.P.D. and his goal made him the top cadet in his squad. But Sky's own arrogance showed Commander Cruger that he was not ready to be Red when he told Cruger he felt his comrades Bridge and Syd were not worthy of the position. When Jack, a reformed street thief, was elevated to Red Ranger position instead, Sky spent the first part of the series antagonizing... pretty much everybody. He isolated himself from the team and was argumentive, contrary, and snippy. He rejected most friendly advances toward him and could be pretty cold toward the others, both physically and emotionally. This was because a position he felt as though he rightly deserved had been usurped by Jack, but more importantly, not being Red devastated him. He felt like he was somehow not good enough, that he had not worked hard enough to accomplish his goal.
In "Idol", the 9th episode of the series, (*SHAMELESS SELF PLUG* a transcription of which, done by yours truly, can be read here) when Jack is left in charge while Commader Cruger is away, Bridge detects a UFO and the Rangers go to intercept it. Upon finding the wreckage of it, they find a humanoid alien inside- which they soon discover is none other than Sky's best friend Dru. They'd been close ever since starting out at the Academy "years ago", but were separated when Dru was sent to another Academy to finish his training. A year before the series began (i.e. while Sky is at FH in our AU), Dru went missing and Sky presumed that he was dead, so it was to his great delight when he turned up. It soon became apparent to the others, or at least Jack, that Dru was up to no good, however, as he slunk around the base at night trying to find Commander Cruger. When Cruger returned to base, Dru assumed the form of a monster, attempted to assassinate him, and when confronted by Sky showed his true colors- he'd become an agent of one of the series' antagonists, Broodwing. Sky was apparently unaware that Dru's humanoid form was not his true body, because he rather tauntingly revealed it and said "even best friends have secrets". Sky frantically tried to convince him to turn himself in and get help, but Dru laughed it off, shot him, and ran. Sky was given permission to go after him, and defeated his old friend in a duel before he grew to giant size, and the other Rangers beat him down in their giant robot. Sky regretfully but resolutely arrested him, and at the end of the episode, realized he had a lot to learn about friendship.
So what does this mean for Sky/Dru?
I maintain that, based on canon evidence, one can make a case for Sky and Dru having been lovers- or, at the very least, closer than friends in some way, even if it means messing around, feelings under the surface, unrequieted love on the part of one or the other, etc.
EXHIBIT A: Body Language
As mentioned above, Sky's a very reserved guy. He's dedicated to his work and doesn't let much get in the way of his ultimate goal, being the Red Ranger. More than once he's shown rejecting what he sees as frivolity or wasting time, even stopping himself in mid-laughter in one episode to reassume his cool, serious stance. He very sparingly gives physical affection of any sort to his friends, not even so much as a high-five or a handshake, until the latter half of the series. So what does Sky do the second Dru shows up?
Hugs him, of course. Not even just a quick, manly, "umh urgh grunt football" kind of hug, but an embrace, slapping on the back. The two then grab hands and clink their bracelets (see below) together. The rest of the time Dru is getting to know his friends, Sky is all smiles- BIG smiles. He's relaxed, lounging, at his ease the whole time. It's only when Jack becomes suspicious of Dru that Sky reverts to his old, more subtle self because at that point he becomes defensive. When Dru finally reveals that he could care less about Sky now and shoots him, Sky has a look of absolute heartbreak on his face.
You may be wondering now, "But Shuri, Dru was his best friend, wouldn't it make sense for him to be that open with him and not necessarily with his teammates?" Well, this brings me to...
EXHIBIT B: Afterwards
Dru's actions marked a significant turning point in Sky's character. I interpreted the circumstances of his vanishing as "there's no body so OFFICIALLY he's MIA but unofficially, yeah, we're sure he's dead". That can't have been easy for Sky, to try and balance that tiny amount of hope, the knowledge that they never found his body, with what I am sure was his innate desire to keep grounded in reality and not expect something so unlikely as Dru being found alive. Dru's betrayal, harsh though it undoubtedly was, did at least give Sky some closure of that chapter of his life and allow him to move on. For the first 9 episodes of the series, as mentioned, he was very abrasive and generally hard to get along with. Afterwards, he still had his moments, but generally, he became more agreeable, more open to simple gestures of friendship, and more willing to think of his friends as his teammates, not his colleagues. I maintain that Dru had a lot to do with this- HOWEVER, there is also fact that Sky still very rarely comes close to showing the extreme levels of emotion he did with Dru, no matter how close he grows to the others. In fact, the only other time he did was in Reflection Pt. I, when he was recalling the story of his father's murder- and let's face it, one would expect nothing less from Sky, seeing as how he hero-worshipped his dad. Aside from this, Syd does have a tendency to bring out Sky's affectionate/playful side moreso than anybody else, too, so make of that what you will. (Personally I'm not a 'shipper of those two and tend to think that Sky thinks of Syd as his baby sister more than anything, but YMMV.)
Aside from that? He never fully truly opens up the way he did while Dru was around. There are a few moments, but they are few and far between. Sky never comes close to hugging Jack, who arguably becomes his new best friend/brother-like figure, or Bridge, to whom he also becomes very close. When it seemed as though Commander Cruger- his father figure, someone whom Sky knew he could trust and respect- had sacrificed himself to save everyone else at the end of the series, Sky was upset, oh yes, but again, nothing close to the completely PAINED expression shown above when Dru was walking away. He does obviously love and respect his friends by the end of the series- but the great disparity between the way he relates to them and the way he relates to Dru indicates that he felt something far deeper than friendship.
EXHIBIT C: The wedding bands matching jewelry
Sky would never wear a bracelet for someone he hadn't bottomed to at least once. QED.
All joking aside, given Sky's personality, wearing the Tangarian Coil seems like something he would not do. It's something he, by all rights, should have scoffed at while Dru was known to be alive, probably scorned with a line similar to what Jack said about a bracelet not making a friendship. It's even something one would assume he'd quietly "forget" to do while Dru was thought dead, no matter how close they were. But Sky diligently wears the thing every day- it's visible right there on his wrist in most episodes before "Idol". Kinda makes one go "hmmm".
Thoughts?
With the caveat that Yes, I know this is Power Rangers and I'm probably reading far too much into things, I present a Sky/Dru manifesto. Obviously, spoiler warning for the series.
What canon tells us:
In Power Rangers S.P.D., Sky Tate is the Blue Ranger (FH!Sky comes from before the series begins and he gets his Ranger powers). He is very serious and dedicated to his work. His goal in life was to be the Red Ranger, just like his father had been before being murdered in the line of duty. He wanted to feel like he'd made his father proud and followed in his footsteps, and seemed to be well on his way to doing that- his devotion to S.P.D. and his goal made him the top cadet in his squad. But Sky's own arrogance showed Commander Cruger that he was not ready to be Red when he told Cruger he felt his comrades Bridge and Syd were not worthy of the position. When Jack, a reformed street thief, was elevated to Red Ranger position instead, Sky spent the first part of the series antagonizing... pretty much everybody. He isolated himself from the team and was argumentive, contrary, and snippy. He rejected most friendly advances toward him and could be pretty cold toward the others, both physically and emotionally. This was because a position he felt as though he rightly deserved had been usurped by Jack, but more importantly, not being Red devastated him. He felt like he was somehow not good enough, that he had not worked hard enough to accomplish his goal.
In "Idol", the 9th episode of the series, (*SHAMELESS SELF PLUG* a transcription of which, done by yours truly, can be read here) when Jack is left in charge while Commader Cruger is away, Bridge detects a UFO and the Rangers go to intercept it. Upon finding the wreckage of it, they find a humanoid alien inside- which they soon discover is none other than Sky's best friend Dru. They'd been close ever since starting out at the Academy "years ago", but were separated when Dru was sent to another Academy to finish his training. A year before the series began (i.e. while Sky is at FH in our AU), Dru went missing and Sky presumed that he was dead, so it was to his great delight when he turned up. It soon became apparent to the others, or at least Jack, that Dru was up to no good, however, as he slunk around the base at night trying to find Commander Cruger. When Cruger returned to base, Dru assumed the form of a monster, attempted to assassinate him, and when confronted by Sky showed his true colors- he'd become an agent of one of the series' antagonists, Broodwing. Sky was apparently unaware that Dru's humanoid form was not his true body, because he rather tauntingly revealed it and said "even best friends have secrets". Sky frantically tried to convince him to turn himself in and get help, but Dru laughed it off, shot him, and ran. Sky was given permission to go after him, and defeated his old friend in a duel before he grew to giant size, and the other Rangers beat him down in their giant robot. Sky regretfully but resolutely arrested him, and at the end of the episode, realized he had a lot to learn about friendship.
So what does this mean for Sky/Dru?
I maintain that, based on canon evidence, one can make a case for Sky and Dru having been lovers- or, at the very least, closer than friends in some way, even if it means messing around, feelings under the surface, unrequieted love on the part of one or the other, etc.
EXHIBIT A: Body Language
As mentioned above, Sky's a very reserved guy. He's dedicated to his work and doesn't let much get in the way of his ultimate goal, being the Red Ranger. More than once he's shown rejecting what he sees as frivolity or wasting time, even stopping himself in mid-laughter in one episode to reassume his cool, serious stance. He very sparingly gives physical affection of any sort to his friends, not even so much as a high-five or a handshake, until the latter half of the series. So what does Sky do the second Dru shows up?
Hugs him, of course. Not even just a quick, manly, "umh urgh grunt football" kind of hug, but an embrace, slapping on the back. The two then grab hands and clink their bracelets (see below) together. The rest of the time Dru is getting to know his friends, Sky is all smiles- BIG smiles. He's relaxed, lounging, at his ease the whole time. It's only when Jack becomes suspicious of Dru that Sky reverts to his old, more subtle self because at that point he becomes defensive. When Dru finally reveals that he could care less about Sky now and shoots him, Sky has a look of absolute heartbreak on his face.
You may be wondering now, "But Shuri, Dru was his best friend, wouldn't it make sense for him to be that open with him and not necessarily with his teammates?" Well, this brings me to...
EXHIBIT B: Afterwards
Dru's actions marked a significant turning point in Sky's character. I interpreted the circumstances of his vanishing as "there's no body so OFFICIALLY he's MIA but unofficially, yeah, we're sure he's dead". That can't have been easy for Sky, to try and balance that tiny amount of hope, the knowledge that they never found his body, with what I am sure was his innate desire to keep grounded in reality and not expect something so unlikely as Dru being found alive. Dru's betrayal, harsh though it undoubtedly was, did at least give Sky some closure of that chapter of his life and allow him to move on. For the first 9 episodes of the series, as mentioned, he was very abrasive and generally hard to get along with. Afterwards, he still had his moments, but generally, he became more agreeable, more open to simple gestures of friendship, and more willing to think of his friends as his teammates, not his colleagues. I maintain that Dru had a lot to do with this- HOWEVER, there is also fact that Sky still very rarely comes close to showing the extreme levels of emotion he did with Dru, no matter how close he grows to the others. In fact, the only other time he did was in Reflection Pt. I, when he was recalling the story of his father's murder- and let's face it, one would expect nothing less from Sky, seeing as how he hero-worshipped his dad. Aside from this, Syd does have a tendency to bring out Sky's affectionate/playful side moreso than anybody else, too, so make of that what you will. (Personally I'm not a 'shipper of those two and tend to think that Sky thinks of Syd as his baby sister more than anything, but YMMV.)
Aside from that? He never fully truly opens up the way he did while Dru was around. There are a few moments, but they are few and far between. Sky never comes close to hugging Jack, who arguably becomes his new best friend/brother-like figure, or Bridge, to whom he also becomes very close. When it seemed as though Commander Cruger- his father figure, someone whom Sky knew he could trust and respect- had sacrificed himself to save everyone else at the end of the series, Sky was upset, oh yes, but again, nothing close to the completely PAINED expression shown above when Dru was walking away. He does obviously love and respect his friends by the end of the series- but the great disparity between the way he relates to them and the way he relates to Dru indicates that he felt something far deeper than friendship.
EXHIBIT C: The wedding bands matching jewelry
Sky would never wear a bracelet for someone he hadn't bottomed to at least once. QED.
All joking aside, given Sky's personality, wearing the Tangarian Coil seems like something he would not do. It's something he, by all rights, should have scoffed at while Dru was known to be alive, probably scorned with a line similar to what Jack said about a bracelet not making a friendship. It's even something one would assume he'd quietly "forget" to do while Dru was thought dead, no matter how close they were. But Sky diligently wears the thing every day- it's visible right there on his wrist in most episodes before "Idol". Kinda makes one go "hmmm".
Thoughts?