#donutverseOC

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Kurt’s boys at Dalton: Ellison

In the Donutverse, while at Dalton (in the story To Touch is to Heal, to Hurt is to Steal, which takes place during season 2 between episodes 2x08 Furt and 2x18 Born This Way), Kurt provides discipline to five different boys. 

Ellison Rowley (he/him) is a senior who will attend Dartmouth for political science in the fall. His roommate Ingram is one of the only other people at Dalton he has told about being trans. While for years he’s been convinced he would have to remain stealth to get through high school, Ellison suddenly finds himself dating Teague. 

El comes to Kurt to talk about meeting Teague’s needs before they negotiate their own contract. He’s impressed with Kurt and they form a good bond. Kurt talks him through shibari and eases him into skin to skin contact. He’s impressed with El’s intuition and self-control, and even suggests he might consider finding his own boys to Top once he gets to Dartmouth.

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Lauren Zizes in the Donutverse is about as canon-compliant as one gets. She’s a badass on the show; she’s a badass in my series. She’s a programmer, an artist, and an A/V junkie. I’ve written her in several other contexts as a Domme, and that’s definitely how I have always seen her with Puck. But I did not expect to enjoy writing her quite this much. 

We first meet Lauren as A/V support for various Glee projects during sophomore year, including Kurt and Mercedes’ video of the song Vogue, the lighting for Like A Prayer, Kurt’s oh-so-bad production of U Can’t Touch This in the library, and the music/lights for Kurt’s number Rose’s Turn. Junior year, she agrees to run A/V and manage set construction for the Glee Club production of South Pacific. She has absolutely no patience for luddites and expects her performers to understand at least the basics of stage technology. 

In addition, Lauren is a regular attendee at the monthly BDSM munch at Irene Tibideaux’s coffee shop in Columbus. When Emma runs into her there, we discover she doesn’t bother with a pseudonym because she has nothing to hide. Mistress Tib is her mentor in the scene. She specializes in dealing pain, mostly contractually. She later becomes aware of Kurt, Finn, and Puck’s involvement in the scene, and they become friends, and even helps surprise Puck with a birthday cake for his 17th birthday.

Lauren also emerges during sophomore year as Sarah’s mentor in a conceptual residential housing project. Lauren tutors Sarah in CAD and other computer design tools via Skype and occasionally in person. Eventually it becomes obvious that Sarah’s house project is not a made-up one, and that she intends for it to be built for the Hudson-Hummel family to live in. Lauren admires and dotes on Sarah, and they have great mutual respect for one another.

In junior year, she leads the investigation into the J4J organization that sponsors the “Adventure Camp” where Puck is sent for deprogramming. She is one of the first people Sarah calls when she hitchhikes west to save her brother, and babysits her when she’s brought back to Lima. When Puck returns, Lauren informs him his inner compass is “fucked up.”

Lauren’s current role in the Donutverse is as a support person to Puck while he is reintegrating his attraction for guys with his submissive masochistic self. This begins, appropriately, in episode 2x07 The Substitute, when Lauren is sick and Puck goes to her house to make her matzoh ball soup. Over the next several chapters, she emerges as a patient, creative, and intuitive Domme for Puck, providing him with exactly the person he needs to find his way back home. 

Lauren’s father plays a critical part in future Donutverse stories, which I may never write, but were plotted last spring with a completely unexpected cowriter. Lauren’s extended family, who are hapa Hawaiian-Portuguese, show up in my Hawaii 5-0 crossover story (Am I Not To Know By My Name, written for the 2020 H50 Big Bang). You also get to see a glimpse into Mr. Zizes’ life in the Will/Toby side story, Just That Side of True. 

Lauren lives life as herself, all the time, on her own terms. The consequence, unfortunately, as she explains to Kurt, is that she does it alone. It’s nice to invite her into the Hudson-Hummel household, even if it’s only for a little while, because she’s clearly somebody worth getting to know. 

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Blaine Darren Anderson in the Donutverse is canon Blaine with a lot of mental and emotional instability. His authoritarian father and fragile mother fought a lot when he was a child. Luckily, his emotional connections to his housekeeper, Maribel Lopez, and her daughter Santana, along with bookish Davey Karofsky, helped sustain him through a turbulent childhood. 

Blaine is submissive with all of his boyfriends, and although he has plenty of experience putting on his “perfect Blaine” face at school and on stage, he is happiest when he can lay down the demands of the world and fully surrender to someone he trusts. When he does not get the support he needs, he becomes reckless, disjointed, irritable, and sometimes resorts to cocaine to get by. 

Blaine sings lead and plays guitar and piano in the band Labyrinth with Finn and Carl. 

Originally, Blaine was not a major character in our story, but as the show went on and we were planning and writing, we felt we had to come up with a suitable reason for Blaine’s erratic behavior. Then, when we wrote Blaine’s backstory with Santana and Dave in Terrific, Radiant, Humble, he became much more interesting, and it was easier to find a place for him in the larger arc. Also, we wrote Dying in America before envisioning Blaine’s involvement with Finn in Breathing Room, which required us to go back and entirely rewrite the first story. 

Here’s a chronological summary of all of Blaine’s appearances in the Donutverse as of 2019:

Terrific, Radiant, Humble - Blaine’s backstory begins when he is in kindergarten and his mother hires Santana’s mother to be their housekeeper. Blaine also develops a lasting, turbulent friendship with Davey Karofsky.

Bending in the Archer’s Hand, chapter 16 - during Kurt and Puck’s date in Dayton to the dance club Masque, Puck meets and dances with Blaine. They discover a mutual attraction, as Puck uncharacteristically takes the dominant role. This encounter stays with them for months until they meet again the following summer.

Bending in the Archer’s Hand, chapter 25 - while Puck is coping with the sudden death of his mother, Santana is talking on the phone to Blaine at Dalton.

Archer’s Hand, chapter 29 - during the Glee Christmas song exchange at Brad’s house, Santana receives a call from Blaine, and Finn hears him singing “Carol of the Bells” with the Warblers.

Archer’s Hand, chapter 45 - while Finn is searching for Puck, Blaine is eating salad with Britt and Santana. In the same chapter, Dave reflects on his friendship with Blaine.

How Much You Pierce My Spirit, chapter 9 - after Kurt returns from California, Dave notices his confidence, and reflects on his past with Blaine.

There’s An Awful Lot of Breathing Room, But I Can Hardly Move - Blaine has a weekend identity as “Patrick” at the open mic at a coffeehouse in Columbus. He meets Finn (“Christopher”) and Carl (“Derek”) and Finn recognizes that Blaine needs discipline. They begin an intense nonsexual relationship which soon becomes complicated.

Breathing Room overlaps with the stories that encompass the second half of season one. The chapters involving Blaine are:

chapter 4 of There’s Not Enough Room (and chapter 5)

chapter 2 of Dark and Dangerous Like A Secret

chapter 1 of The Silence That I Keep

chapter 4 of Shadowing My Dreams

chapter 1 of Of All My Demon Spirits, I Need You the Most (and chapter 4)

chapter 3 of Bring Your Heart Back to My Island (and chapter 5)

chapter 2 of Time Passed Makes It Plain (and chapter 4)

Dying In America (To Come Into Our Own) - Blaine and Kurt both audition for RENT in Cleveland during the summer after sophomore year, and they realize Blaine already knows both Puck and Finn. Their relationships merge and shift over the course of the summer, ending eventually in a foursome.

Any Minute Now (WIP) - as the boys attempt to continue their relationship into junior year, Blaine’s father realizes what he’s doing with Finn and Puck and forbids them to see him. Blaine’s fragile mental state collapses, and he enters a fugue state in which he refuses to acknowledge his prior relationships with the boys. Kurt transfers to Dalton to attempt to get him back.

Dance on a Narrow Ledge, chapter 6 - while Kurt and Finn are at Baldwin-Wallace music camp after junior year, they unexpectedly begin a relationship with Mike Chang. Blaine drives down with Tina to visit them and discuss the development.

Love is Careless in its Choosing (WIP) - in season 5, Kurt is living in New York and Blaine is finishing senior year in Lima, when Adam unexpectedly shows up again in Kurt’s life.

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Kurt at Dalton

I am having a complete blast writing Kurt at Dalton in season 2. Now I’m wondering if I should make that an entirely separate side story, as we did with the Finn/Blaine story and the Adam/Kurt/Puck in California, or just embed it into AMN. There’s not a lot of material to work with in regard to Dalton, unless I lean on others’ fanon creations. I could keep the most plotty bits in AMN and put the additional side stories about each of the five boys Kurt handles in the Kinky Ways series, but that might fragment the story too much. Arrgh. I really didn’t need to write MORE words. 

Poor Blaine. He’s not having a good time of it. It will get better, though.

Sneak peak of the five boys here: https://www.pinterest.com/nubianamy/preppy-boys/

[nubianamy]

Kurt’s boys at Dalton: Palmer

In the Donutverse, while at Dalton (in the story To Touch is to Heal, to Hurt is to Steal, which takes place during season 2 between episodes 2x08 Furt and 2x18 Born This Way), Kurt provides discipline to five different boys. 

Palmer Watkins (he/him) 

Palmer is a sophomore, the middle child between two successful siblings, and is questioning his sexuality. He grew up in Columbus, where his father is a high level VP in steel manufacturing. He’s struggling with school and turns to Porcelain as a last resort, even though he’s terrified, because he can’t keep up with expectations.

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Brad Ellis, played on Glee by... Brad Ellis, is not exactly the joke non-character who hates kids, as presented on the show. He’s certainly not an attempt at RPF. Brad is my own creation, mine and knittycat’s. 

In the Donutverse, Brad and Will have been friends since elementary school, along with their friends Andi and Toby, who they met at Baldwin-Wallace music camp. Later in high school they also meet Laurie there. 

Brad ends up marrying Andi and Laurie and they have two kids together, Duncan and Coraline (Cory). 

Brad’s a selective mute (as is Roderick), but he does talk occasionally. 

He teaches Kurt piano lessons, and later does the same for Blaine when Kurt is in New York.  

Brad is a regular character in the Donutverse beginning in chapter 32 of Waking Dreams, when he first approaches Finn and Kurt to offer them support in managing their polyamorous relationship. You can also read Brad, Andi, and Laurie’s backstory in Just That Side of True. 

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Laurie Ellis, in the Donutverse, is played by Agyness Deyn. 

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Andi Ellis, in the Donutverse, is played by Janeane Garofalo. 

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Kurt’s Boys at Dalton: Ingram

In the Donutverse, while at Dalton (in the story To Touch is to Heal, to Hurt is to Steal, which takes place during season 2 between episodes 2x08 Furt and 2x18 Born This Way), Kurt provides discipline to five different boys. 

Ingram Albers (he/him) is the first client Teague finds for "Porcelain” at Dalton. He’s a junior and has three sisters. Ingram loves parties, but doesn’t always know what to say. He wants to fit in, and is generally regarded as a nice guy, but he’s often afraid to speak up for others. He identifies as straight.

Ingram’s father is an oil magnate in Columbus, where his family’s been in oil for several generations. They have more power and connections than most Dalton families. Ingram is expected to go Ivy League, just like the rest of his father’s friends’ sons. His father’s starting to come down on him hard to make a decision about where he’ll be after graduation.

As Teague tells Kurt, “He can barely decide what color tie to put on in the morning without somebody holding his hand.” With a little stern encouragement and direction from Porcelain, Ingram discovers he is more capable of making decisions than he ever expected, and his gratitude knows no bounds. 

I am confident word of mouth from [Ingram] is going to do more for your business than just about any other kind of advertising. His family is more well-connected than anyone in the junior class, so he knows everybody and everybody knows him. He’s gregarious, but not a blabbermouth. And, seriously, he needs someone to tell him what to do. -Teague, in chapter 8 of To Touch is to Heal, to Hurt is to Steal

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Darius Mitchell in the Donutverse is inspired by Jensen Atwood. 

Darius is Irene Tibideaux’s cousin, but she calls her Auntie, because the age difference is such that she essentially raised him. He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and had a son, Elijah, in July 2000, whom he seldom sees.

Darius is an itinerant performer, and doesn’t stay in one place for long. 

He and Toby and Will have a brief romantic relationship the summer he comes to Cleveland and plays Collins in RENT. After that, he and Will and Toby continue to connect as lovers and friends for many years. 

In the fall of the boys’ junior year, Darius helps Irene open a new coffeehouse in Lima, the Lima Bean. Darius gives Puck a job washing dishes. 

In the spring, Darius and Will and Toby are invited by April Rhodes to perform off-Broadway in a production about her life. 

After the production fails, Toby and Darius return to Ohio and work as counselors at Baldwin-Wallace’s performing arts summer camp. Mike, Finn, and Kurt attend the camp and have opportunities to talk with Darius. 

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I just created the AO3 character tag for Daniel Finn Schuester

Because in our Toby/Will story, they had two kids.  

The older girl (Jordan) was conceived during 2x07 The Substitute, early in November of 2010, when Will was delirious and Terri came to his house to "take care" of him.  This means she was born in July 2011, during the summerfic while Kurt and Finn and Toby and Mike Chang were at B-W.  I don't think Toby even knew until he got home, considering he and Will weren't together at that point.  

The second kid, originally named Josh in JTSoT, was a little younger, because I predicted RIB+ would give Wemma a baby before the end of the show.  It was vey conveniently timed, though, and even if I never write any of that relationship story, I'm happy to have the headcanon. 

Thanks to knittycat for letting me go back and appropriate the canon name for Will's second child.  

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Timmy “Meemee” Puckerman is played by Ed Westwick, only with curly hair, but really, Ed, don't change a thing.  I like him in the brooding, spank-me-now GQ poses, but I wanted to show him a little happier in the middle.  Maybe that's where he's talking to Jacob.  

I have a sense that Timothy is somewhere on the autism spectrum, but I have never bothered to get him diagnosed. 

Timmy was mentioned several times by Puck and Sarah, as far back as The Donut Test, but he first appeared in the Donutverse when Puck's Ma had a bad night, and Puck called him.  The next day, Timmy showed up at Pat's, where they discovered something about what kind of donuts he liked, and he ran away from complicated stuff, big surprise.  He came back, though, and took care of his Ma for a while, until later in Archer's Hand when Bad Shit Went Down (I won't link to all the bad shit, since that story is absolutely chock-full of it).  

Timmy met Jacob in the Adam/Kurt side story While We Got the Chance to Say, when Jacob met the five guys at the airport in California. Later, Timmy brought Jacob a sandwich, and then he brought him another one (scene starting about 3/4 down, after Gaga). Then Adam made Timmy eggs.  After Kurt got sick, Jacob told Timmy his own embarrassing childhood nickname.  The next day, Puck and Kurt gave Jacob and Timmy The Talk. A month later, Jacob bought Timmy a slice of pie.  They came with Adam to Tessera for Valentine’s Day in Kiss Me Like A Lover, during which Jacob spent most of his time chasing after Timmy and complaining about him to Tess.  In The Silence That I Keep, Emma calls Timothy on the phone and they accidentally come out to one another as kinky. 

In Any Minute Now, there are periodic flashbacks to Noah and Timmy’s childhood around each of Noah’s birthdays, which go a long way to explaining some of the shit they are dealing with as adults. Timmy and Jacob also come to town for Carole and Burt’s wedding. 

I have vague plans to spend some future NaNoWriMo writing my own original story of Timmy's teenage exploits, after he left Lima and went to New York City.

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Donutverse birthday drabble for keepituseitbuilditmoveit

February 2005

Being in London without Carl felt a little like exile.  It didn't matter how beautiful his surroundings, or how posh the hotel; Davis knew why Carl had bought him the ticket.  You need a change of scene, he'd said.  Some time to clear your head before we decide what to do next.  

He'd honestly thought they'd been pretty careful to keep their leather activities out of the view of the public eye in Cleveland.  They seldom did anything local, preferring playing with the community in Columbus.  But the threatening letter from his recent case's defense attorney was specific enough that Davis could tell the guy had actual dirt on them.  Or at least on him; it didn't get specific about Carl, and he supposed he could have been playing with one of any number of guys.  Regardless, the letter's message had been clear: drop the case, or they would out him to his firm.  

Davis brought the letter to Carl right away.  Even if they weren't lovers anymore, he still depended on Carl for perspective on matters like these.  When it applied to his own life, his judgment tended to fall away.  Carl had listened, and held him while they discussed it, and in the end they'd come to the same conclusion.  He wasn't going to be jerked around by a threat, and he wasn't willing to risk being outed either.  He'd submitted his letter of resignation that afternoon.

So now, here he was, out of work for the first time in nine years, struggling through the morass of impending depression, which Carl hadn't been able to spank out of him.  His answer was to put him on a plane with admission to the Royal Academy of Dance's master class.  You need to do something other than feel guilty, Carl had said.  You need to dance.

The dancing was almost more depressing than anything else, considering how out of practice he was, but it was exciting, too, in a way.  Dancing in London was a bit of a dream come true, even if wasn't because he'd made it or anything.  He'd have some memories to take back with him to Ohio.  

And, apparently, some of them were going to be associated with one of his instructors.  On day one they'd split into pairs to work through pliés and tendus and degages.  The man with whom he'd been paired had turned out to be not from London at all, but from a school in Denver -- and even then, his accent had surprised him.  

"Hard to take the Kentucky out of this boy," he'd drawled in the midst of rond de jambes. It had been enough of a kick to get Davis to invite him out for drinks afterwards, mostly (if he was being honest) to listen to him talk.  

But he'd turned out to be genuinely interesting.  They'd stayed up too late laughing about theater and dance; Davis had talked about law school and he'd talked about his dog.  Eventually their fingers had brushed, and Davis had had to have The Talk with him.  

"I don't actually do anything vanilla," said Davis.

The man laughed, running a thumb across the back of Davis' hand.  "You'll have to define that more specifically for me before I get scared off.  I've done a lot."

"Bondage. Pain. Control."  Davis tried to look matter-of-fact, but the guy's smile was doing things to his rational brain.  

"I can be into that stuff, darlin'."

"That's not the same as wanting it for yourself."

Davis watched him consider this, swirling his drink in on hand.   "I'm not sure it's up to you to decide what I like.  In fact, if I read you right, I'm pretty sure that'd be up to me."

Davis smirked, but he couldn't deny the words made him go a little weak.  "You're not wrong, but... you're making some pretty big assumptions.  What if I don't want it from you?"

"If you didn't, we wouldn't be here.  And, darlin'..."  He bit his lip, eyes dancing.  "Everybody wants it from me."

[nubianamy]

Last updated April 2020

I think it's safe to say Carl, at least the Donutverse Carl, is my original character. He barely exists on the show, but as soon as I saw him dressed up as Eddie for the RHPS episode, and then showing Emma his sexy lingerie, I knew he was going to be my bisexual professional Dom.

What I didn't know was where he'd come from, who he was before he discovered his kinks, and how he'd transformed himself from brat to Dom.  That came out in the writing exercises I did with Flynn on our Thursday evenings together.  We jokingly chose Jesse as Carl's middle name to be his "brat" name because of his character on Full House.  

And then I saw the John Stamos Guide to Cuddling.  (The outtakes are awesome, too.)  After I stopped laughing, I wrote Carl falling in love, completely inappropriately, with his protege.  Then I had to deal with the fallout, both from my readers, who were all WTF, and from myself, who was squicked and intrigued on so many levels.  (The last line in the original Cuddling video, which is really an outtake, inspired a long kinky plot about fisting; the story was embedded in the general Donutverse storyline, but the extended dance mix version is only in the Kinky Ways side stories, because it is really too much.)

Carl Jesse Howell began as a weak, reckless, self-absorbed First Lieutenant. With Tess' help, he learned what discipline feels like; eventually he began to be able to employ self-discipline; and finally, he learned to discipline others, and teach them how to do what Tess had taught him.  Writing all these parts of him helped me to see how a person in a position of power can also be a fallible human being.  

The Carl/Finn relationship was planned from the beginning, but I didn't intend it to quite go in the direction it did, as happens so often in the Donutverse!  I was downright afraid of the Daddy/boy dynamic before I started writing Carl with Finn, but scenes with them helped me work through some of my issues.  Then one day I listened to the Indigo Girls song Ghost (which I had heard a hundred times before), and I cried and cried, because I realized then that Finn had fallen in love with Carl, just as Puck had fallen unexpectedly in love with Adam.  It was the beginning of a new stage in the boys' relationship with their new lovers and with each other.  Later, writing Finn and Carl together, I listened to Stray Italian Greyhound on repeat, which was further expanded Finn's experience of falling in love with Carl in the middle of missing Puck so much. The Adam/Puck and Carl/Finn relationships have a lot of interesting parallels.

Carl is the father/lover figure for Finn.  Lots of stories choose Will to be that figure,  but in the Donutverse, I'd already given Will to Toby (and, really, Will can't give Finn anything close to what he needs).  Carl presents a paradox, too, because of his daughter, but I will not spoil that plot point here.

I love Carl like none of my other characters because it's so clear what a flawed human being he is. In addition, giving him over to my cowriter Flynn as Tess' boy and lover has been a wonderful way to see him through other eyes.  

Here are all the Carl scenes in the Donutverse, in rough chronological order (potential spoilers ahead):

Hey Soldier Boy introduces young Lieutenant Jesse Howell to Major Tess Riordan.  

By Grace, My Heart Grows Stronger introduces teenage Shelby (Bebe) Corcoran and her boyfriend Davis Lawton, Carl Jesse's early transformation from brat to Dom, and his whirlwind, disastrous relationship with Shelby. (WIP)

Walking In, a chapter in 50KW - set before they become lovers, this is five times Davis walks in on Carl and freaks out, and one time he doesn't.

Fundraiser, a chapter in 50KW (Handcuffs) - also before they become lovers.  Carl convinces Davis to help him raise money for a cause by pretending to be arrested.

Bar Exam, a chapter in 50KW (Spreader Bars) - Carl provides Davis with inspiration to study for the bar exam.

Bending in the Archer's Hand chapter 3 - the first scene I ever wrote with Carl, in which Finn comes to the office and talks with him about his relationship with his boys.

Archer's Hand chapter 6 - the awful scene where Carl breaks his own rules and treats Puck like an object without permission.

Archer's Hand chapter 12 - Tess comes to take care of her boy and the mess he made.

Archer's Hand chapter 20 - after his fight with Finn, Puck comes to see Carl to ask for advice.

Archer's Hand chapter 25 - Finn asks Carl for help; later, Carl and Davis find Puck's name in the newspaper.

Archer's Hand chapter 28 - Finn continues seeing Carl, but Carl decides Finn needs something different than discipline.

Archer's Hand chapter 29 - Carl teaches Finn a new way to take care of Kurt.

Archer's Hand chapter 30 - Finn freaks out about Adam to Carl.

Archer's Hand chapter 31 - Finn talks to Davis about Carl and learns his history.  He tells his mom and Kurt about his feelings for Carl, and then Carl calls him.

Archer's Hand chapter 32 - Carl and Davis spend Christmas at Tessera, and she helps him sort through his feelings for Finn.  (concurrent with the events in chapter 31)

Archer's Hand chapter 33 - Kurt Tops Finn into going on a date. Carole meets Carl.

Archer's Hand chapter 34 - Carl takes Finn to Pat's Donuts.  Puck returns to Lima and Carl talks to him.  

Archer's Hand chapter 35 - Kurt talks to Tess about Carl, and other things.

Archer's Hand chapter 40 - Kurt calls Carl and asks him to come home to take care of Finn; Tess helps him deal with not taking care of him thus far. Carl and Finn get clear about some things.

Archer's Hand chapter 43 - Adam calls Carl to plan a surprise visit.  Finn and Carl watch football at his house.

Archer's Hand chapter 45 - Sarah Tops Finn into calling Carl and telling him what happened with Puck.

You Come Regular Like Seasons chapter 1 - Carl listens to Tess have a conversation on the phone with Carole. 

You Come Regular Like Seasons chapter 3 - Finn goes over to Carl's house to answer for his poor grade in Spanish.

There's An Awful Lot of Breathing Room chapter 1 - Finn and Carl go down to Columbus to Irene's coffeehouse, and meet Blaine.

You Come Regular Like Seasons chapters 4 and 6 - Carl encourages Finn to date girls, not knowing exactly who he’s encouraging him to date.

How Much You Pierce My Spirit chapter 1 - Burt and Tess talk about Carl.

Breathing Room chapter 2 - Finn realizes what Blaine needs; Carl helps him deal with it.  Carl sings at the coffeehouse.

How Much You Pierce My Spirit chapter 4 - Carl talks to Hiram Berry about Rachel and Jesse.  Tess comes to stay with Carl and take care of him.

How Much You Pierce My Spirit chapter 5 - Jesse comes to stay with Uncle Carl.  

How Much You Pierce My Spirit chapter 9 - Finn finds out about Carl’s relationship to Jesse, and tells Jesse who his sister is.

There’s Not Enough Room chapter 1 - Carl helps Finn prepare for the sing-off with Jesse. 

Breathing Room chapters 3 (and on through the rest of the story) - Carl supports Finn as he begins his relationship with Blaine.

FoYF chapter 22 - Carl meets Emma at the BDSM munch in Columbus.

There’s Not Enough Room chapter 5 - Finn calls Carl to confess something.

There’s Not Enough Room chapter 6 - Carl invites Finn to a birthday celebration (with further details in A Door to Walk Through). 

Dark and Dangerous Like A Secret chapter 2 - Finn apologizes to Carl for breaking a rule. 

Dark and Dangerous Like A Secret chapter 3 - Finn is severely disciplined for driving to Westerville in the middle of the night. The boys are all summoned to Carl’s office. 

Kiss Me Like A Lover chapter 1 - Carl meets Adam.

Kiss Me Like A Lover chapter 3 - Carl whips Finn for the first time, talks about his tattoos, and oversteps with the staff at Tessera.

Kiss Me Like A Lover chapter 4 - Carl arranges for Puck to have a turn on the St Andrews Cross. 

Kiss Me Like A Lover chapter 5 - Carl and Carole have a talk. 

Kiss Me Like A Lover chapter 6 - Carl wakes up in bed with everybody. At brunch, he and Finn experience the most embarrassing moment ever. They get some tattoos.

Kiss Me Like A Lover chapter 7 - Carl helps out with Adam’s concert before heading home. 

The Silence That I Keep chapter 2 - Finn runs into Ms. Pillsbury at Carl’s office, and confronts Carl about it. Carl gives him something.

The Silence That I Keep chapter 3 - Finn sings “Jesse’s Girl” about Carl. Carl is charged by Tess with a task. 

Shadowing My Dreams chapter 2 - Carl has a confrontation with Jesse and Shelby before helping Finn with his homework. 

Shadowing My Dreams chapter 4 - Carl tells Emma about Finn. Carl, Blaine, and Finn start a band. 

The Bitter Pill I Swallow chapter 1 - Carl talks with Jesse before he leaves to go back to Carmel. 

The Bitter Pill I Swallow chapter 2 - Carl helps discipline Puck. 

Of All My Demon Spirits, I Need You the Most chapter 3 - Finn figures out who Carl is to Rachel. 

Bring Your Heart Back to My Island chapter 1 - Carl and Finn talk about what he has figured out. 

Bring Your Heart Back to My Island chapter 2 - Carl comes to the hospital when Quinn has the baby.

Bring Your Heart Back to My Island chapter 4 - Carl coaches Finn how to give Puck what he needs. 

Bring Your Heart Back to My Island chapter 5 - Carl says goodbye to Angela. 

Time Passed Makes It Plain chapter 1 - Carl helps Finn plan for Kurt’s birthday. 

Time Passed Makes It Plain chapter 4 - Finn talks with Davis about Carl’s past. They run into somebody from Finn’s past at Irene’s coffeehouse. 

Dying in America chapter 14 - Finn invites Carl to Adam’s concert. 

Dying in America chapter 18 - Finn and Carl go to the concert and spend the night together.

Dying in America chapter 19 - Carl helps Finn, Kurt, and Blaine celebrate Puck’s 17th birthday. 

Dying in America chapter 20 - Carl runs into Finn at RENT. 

There's plenty more that hasn't been written or published yet, but I'll get there.

[nubianamy]

Last updated August 2020. I still have not heard Dave Annable talk.

I have very carefully dissociated myself from Dave Annable the actor, because I saw his little grin and I knew immediately he was Toby.  When I see him, I will forever hear Toby's little Kentucky drawl in my head because I have never heard Dave Annable talk.  I'm sure I won't be able to avoid him forever, but so far it's working for me.   

Toby was created in on 21 August, 2011 in the midst of writing Waking Dreams. I knew Will and Brad would be old friends, but I had no intention of Will being gay.  Then my girlfriend gave me the plotbunny of Will and Brad going to summer music camp together, then becoming counselors, and going to college together.  

My cowriter knittycat had the following moment of genius:

I think Will and Brad know all of each other's secrets.  Maybe Will has someone who lives elsewhere in Ohio, so they only see each other on weekends.  Maybe someone he met as a kid at music camp, and they've been on again off again all along?  Also, is he only out to Brad?  If so, that would lend another layer to his unease around Kurt... Kurt is so visible and proud, and Will isn't.

So Tobias Grey became a dance teacher at the Denver School for the Performing Arts.  His backstory took shape one scene at a time, until we had a complete explanation for why Will's marriage was such a joke.  

In 2013 I finally put their playlist on YouTube (it’s on Spotify now, too), and wow, a bunch of the most important songs were just not there, so I uploaded them. Of particular interest is Cheryl Wheeler’s "This Is Me," from which I gleaned the endearment "darlin'."  

In 2020 I finally wrote four of the backstory chapters about Toby and Will and their friends Brad and Andi at Half Moon Bay, which becomes an important setting in later Donutverse stories. They tell about the beach they went to as children, about their angsty senior year when they were rivals instead of lovers, and how they broke up and got back together. I embedded them into Just That Side of True, to keep all the important Toby/Will moments together.  There are still a few chapters to come, but all of them are “current” or “future” stories, so I am holding off. 

Here's a compilation of all of the Toby scenes in the Donutverse, in rough chronological order (story links are to AO3): 

Just That Side of True - Toby and Will's backstory, including Brad and his relationships with his future partners.  Overlaps with Archer's Hand at the end, and includes some futurefic scenes.

Nothing More Than Pure Insistence - Davis and Toby meet in London at the RAD in February 2005. 

Waking Dreams, chapter 43 - the first mention of Toby's character.

Bending in the Archer's Hand, chapter 2 - Kurt has a piano lesson with Brad; they talk about Toby.  Kurt catches Sue with a mysterious letter from Toby to Will.

Archer's Hand, chapter 6 - Kurt has a piano lesson at Brad's and gets some history on Toby.

Archer's Hand, chapter 11 - Kurt and Will talk about Toby; Will apologizes (finally) for passing Kurt over for solos.

Archer's Hand, chapter 16 - Kurt and Brad talk about Toby.

Archer's Hand, chapter 18 - in the midst of Thanksgiving angst, a small Will/Toby scene in which they dance in Toby's kitchen.

Archer's Hand, chapter 19 - Toby shows up at Sectionals to keep an eye on Glee, but he doesn't tell Will.  

Archer's Hand, chapter 20 - Will confronts Terri, tries to go to Emma's wedding and drunk-calls Toby.

Archer's Hand, chapter 23 - Toby has an audition and finds a house.

Archer's Hand, chapter 24 - Kurt and Toby read some Shel Silverstein to Duncan and Cory.

Archer's Hand, chapter 26 - Toby meets Puck at a coffeehouse in Denver.

Archer's Hand, chapter 27 - Toby comes to Lima and meets the Glee club.

Archer's Hand, chapter 28 - Toby at Will's apartment.

Archer's Hand, chapter 29 - Toby sings with Glee at Brad's.

(Chronologically, this is where the second Christmas takes place, from the three Christmases chapter in JTSoT.  This one seriously broke me.)

You Come Regular Like Seasons, chapter 2 - Toby's first day at Carmel, and he meets Jon.

You Come Regular Like Seasons, chapter 5 - Will comes to Carmel; he and Toby have dinner and a conversation about Emma.

You Come Regular Like Seasons, chapter 6 - Toby has Britt, Kurt, Puck and Rachel over to his house.

How Much You Pierce My Spirit, chapter 9 - Will and Toby talk on the phone about Jesse transferring and Emma’s needs.

There’s Not Enough Room - Toby and Will encounter a misunderstanding about April Rhodes and Toby has an indiscretion with a cute barista. 

Dark and Dangerous Like A Secret, chapter 2 - Wade tells Toby she’s transgender. 

Dark and Dangerous Like A Secret, chapter 3 - Toby takes Wade to her first P-FLAG meeting and they both meet Chris Holliday, and Toby gets some bad news. 

The Silence That I Keep, chapter 1 - Toby and Shelby chat about his current difficulties. 

The Silence That I Keep, chapter 2 - Toby goes to the doctor, and later meets Jake Puckerman. 

The Silence That I Keep, chapter 3 - Toby holds a dance lesson with Kurt, Mike and Brittany. 

Shadowing My Dreams, chapter 2 - Toby has another dance lesson with Jake and talks about his mentor Gregg. 

Shadowing My Dreams, chapter 3 - Toby tiles his kitchen and has a visitor.

Shadowing My Dreams, chapter 4 - Toby and Will have a lazy evening together. 

The Bitter Pill I Swallow, chapter 1 - Toby takes Kurt to the AIDS Walk in Columbus and runs into his sister. 

The Bitter Pill I Swallow, chapter 3 - Toby gets an answer to his health status. 

Of All My Demon Spirits, I Need You the Most, chapter 1 - Will tells Glee some of his history with Toby. 

Bring Your Heart Back To My Island, chapter 2 - Toby takes his kids to Regionals and has a moment with Will. 

Time Passed Makes It Plain, chapter 3 - Will and Toby go back to Denver for Pride and to pick up Toby’s dog Annie (and run into a friend of Puck’s). This was originally published as a stand-alone story, “Pride.”

Time Passed Makes It Plain, chapter 4 - Toby comes to Jesse’s graduation and realizes he already knows Shelby’s ex-husband Davis. 

Dying In America to Come Into Our Own features Will and Toby performing in a summer play with Shelby, Kurt and Blaine after their sophomore year. They meet Darius Mitchell and negotiate a complicated professional and personal relationship with him. 

Any Minute Now (WIP) involves Toby and Will splitting up again when Will tells Toby he wants to help Emma have a baby.

Dance on A Narrow Ledge - the summer after junior year, Toby (and Darius) are camp counselors at B-W, with Kurt, Finn and Mike Chang.

(The third Christmas is set in the future, at Will's mother's funeral.)

There's a "happy ending" drabble which I wrote for knittycat99, tucked at the end of JTSoT.

Here’s a picspam I created to help inspire me when I was first getting into Will and Toby’s characters. That picture on the bottom right is apparently not Matthew Morrison, but it definitely inspired me.