Editing Oliver (section)

==History==
{{Incomplete}}
===Background===
Oliver was friends with [[Noelle Meinhardt|Noelle]] from a young age. He had a strict and domineering mother<ref name="17.3e1">“Hope there’s nobody hiding in there,” Oliver muttered.  ''Mewled'' might have been a better word.<br /><br />Krouse didn’t generally dislike Oliver, but the guy was hard to like, too. He’d joined the group when they’d started their gaming club at school, had once been one of Noelle’s friends, back when they were in kindergarten or something. Now he was in a few of Krouse’s classes, but despite the associations, he remained a second string member of the group. Krouse was willing to admit to himself that Oliver was a second string friend, too. He was short, a little pudgy, with an unfortunate haircut and no real personality, rarely joining in of his own volition.<br />[...]<br />Oliver’s mom was a hardass in her own way, too, but he had buckled under that domineering pressure, breaking rather than thriving.  In contrast to Marissa, his identity had been ground away. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/01/10 Excerpt] from [[Migration 17.3]]</ref>, which was the likely cause of his meek personality.

Oliver was a member of a professional-level MMORPG video game team on [[Earth Aleph]]. He was a back-up man, since his skills weren't exactly up to par.<ref name="17.1" />

When the [[Simurgh]] attacked Madison, Wisconsin on [[Earth Bet]], she took Oliver along with the rest of the gaming team from Earth Aleph and stranded them on Earth Bet. He did not deal with the effect of the Simurgh's singing well.<ref>Oliver opened it. He looked like twenty four hours had passed and he hadn’t slept a wink. Oliver’s eyes were red, and he averted his gaze as he saw Krouse and Cody.<br/><br/>How’s she getting to him? Oliver’s biggest weakness would be his self confidence. Was she tearing him down like his mother would? Raising memories of past embarrassments, times people had laughed at him? - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/01/12 Excerpt] from [[Migration 17.5]]</ref>

Later, Oliver drank half of one of the Cauldron vials found by [[Trickster|Francis]], with the other half being given to [[Noelle]]. Initially, it did not seem to have any effect on either of them,<ref>“Half of Division,” Krouse said, “Funny. But it doesn’t look like Noelle has powers. She’s said her skin fizzes, whatever that means, but maybe it’s incomplete…”<br/><br/>“I’ll take half,” Oliver said.<br/><br/>All eyes turned to him. Oliver continued, “If Noelle doesn’t want to finish it, I’ll take half. I’m not strong, I’m not brave, or smart, or creative. I don’t have it in me to be a hero. So as long as you don’t ask me to risk my life fighting stuff like the Simurgh, I’ll take the half, try to find other ways to help.”<br/><br/>“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” Krouse said. “You’re a decent guy.”<br/><br/>“Maybe,” Oliver said. He sounded sad, “Maybe I’m decent. But I’m not a great guy. Like I said, nothing about me is special. Nothing’s exceptional. So I’ll take half.”<br/><br/>“Okay,” Krouse said.<br/>[...]<br/>There weren’t many cars on the road, this time of morning, and less in the rest stop parking lot. Cody pulled in just beside the front door. Before Krouse was able to pull into another parking spot, Oliver was out of the door, running for the bathroom.<br/><br/>Oliver hadn’t changed either. Half a dose apparently wasn’t enough. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/01/14 Excerpt] from [[Migration 17.7]]</ref> but they both had drawn out trigger events.<ref>Again, he was somewhere else.  He saw energy condensing, two figures intertwining, and the summary birth of countless entities, as if from the birth of a star, only they were alive.<br/><br/>''No,'' he thought.  ''Need to focus.  This is because of Noelle.  I’m getting caught up in whatever’s affecting her.  A sympathetic reaction.''<br/>[...]<br/>Noelle screamed.<br/><br/>''This is taking longer than mine did.''<br/>[...]<br/>Before Krouse was able to pull into another parking spot, Oliver was out of the door, running for the bathroom.<br/><br/>Oliver hadn’t changed either. Half a dose apparently wasn’t enough. It did seem to make the aftermath of drinking the stuff worse, though. Oliver’s condition had been nearly as drawn out as Noelle’s after he’d taken his dose. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/01/14 Excerpt] from [[Migration 17.7]]</ref>

After the Travelers became established on Earth Bet, Oliver settled into the role of taking care of Noelle.

===Story Start===
When the Travelers arrived in [[Brockton Bay]], Oliver largely remained in [[Coil]]'s base.
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Skitter noticing Oliver:
Scourge 19.7 said:
I glanced over my shoulder at Tattletale. She was getting out of the van, and was joined by Faultline, Labyrinth, and four members of the Travelers: Sundancer, Ballistic, Genesis in her wheelchair and a blond boy who resembled but didn’t quite match Oliver in appearance. Tattletale was exchanging words with Regent. Getting an update?

===Post-[[Battle against Leviathan|Leviathan]]===
ineffective against the murderwhale
===Post-[[Slaughterhouse Nine]]===
-->
===Post-[[Echidna]]===
Oliver returned to Earth Aleph with the remainder of the Travelers.

===[[Gold Morning]]===
Oliver was initially left behind by [[khepri|Khepri]] as she gathered capes from across the multiverse.<ref>There were capes in Earth Aleph, barely C-list by our standards.  Sundancer, Genesis, and Ballistic were there as well, the former two in civilian clothes, retired, the latter in a lavish penthouse, fully done up in costume.  My portals opened, and I had control of them.  I left Oliver behind. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/speck-30-4/ Excerpt] from [[Speck 30.4]]</ref> He later participated in the final battle, where his power caused [[Zion]] to briefly believe he might be [[Eden]]. This shattered Zion's will to fight and allowed [[Foil]] to shatter his defenses with rods imbued by her power.<ref name="30.6 e1">I opened a doorway, and I found one individual I’d left behind.<br/><br/>The boy with the changing faces.<br/><br/>The number man had said he’d taken a dose that had been focused on helping the entities be human.<br/><br/>I couldn’t change his face intentionally.<br/><br/>As it turned out, I didn’t have to.<br/><br/>I could feel Scion’s reaction, through my senses and the individuals I controlled.<br/><br/>Hope. For just a second. Not even the faint hope he’d experienced with the fake my teammates had put together.<br/><br/>Because somehow, this boy registered as being like this entity’s companion had been. Registering as the same state, as the power that made it so similar.<br/><br/>In the moment that hope died, the girl with the injured hand used her power on the iron rods. Infused them with the energy he was afraid of. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/speck-30-6/ Excerpt] from [[Speck 30.6]]</ref>