#toby answers asks

[flockofcrowsinaturtleshell]

The Crow

Part One: Ghosts of the Past (and Future)

What do you do when you realize that the ghosts of your family from a future timeline followed you into the past?

Link to chapter 1

Part Two: Forgotten Future

Coming soon!

References

Toby character notes (updated as of 7/4/23)

Corporal Darner/Future Toby character notes (updated as of 8/9/23)

Toby refsheet (coming soon!)

Nachtkrapp anatomy references: Skeleton; Muscle (coming soon!)

Spotify Playlists

Ghosts Bad Timeline playlist

Turtle playlists

Casey Jr playlist

Shellshocked playlist

The Crow discord link

Oc ask post

Tags

#ghosts of the past and future

#rottmnt fic: ghosts of the past (and future)

#forgotten future

#rottmnt fic: forgotten future

#rottmnt oc: toby

#rottmnt oc: Corporal Darner/Future Toby

#my oc: toby

#toby answers asks

#rottmnt Nachtkrapp yokai

[guaxinimraccoon]

Agora, a pergunta q nn quer calar: por que o Toby roubou o livro?

MEU DEUS eu achei que já tinha dito isso em algum lugar, mas dei uma procurada aqui e nada de achar o link disso pq eu NUNCA EXPLIQUEI DJKSKJDSKJDS MALZ bora lá

My bud here asked a very important question: why Tobias stole a very sacred and important book?

The short answer is: because Tobias has a curse and he wanted to find a cure.

OMG HOW- calm down, first things first.

As I said before, when Alex and Elisa started to take their relationship more seriously, Alex would hang out in the Colony using a shrinking potion and preteding to be an imp. He was well accepted as one by Elisa's fellow imps and fairies and they never had many problems with his disguise.

But there was this one, powerful, envy fairy who took notice that something about Alex was... off.

She started to do her own investigations and ended up finding the truth out: Alex was no imp, but a human in disguise. Although, to her, this was actually very good news.

Why? Because this fairy - Irwalia - comes from a family that has been preaching an ancient propecy over a century now. Said prophecy omens that, one day, a being with the strongest of souls - a fairy soul - and the strongest of bodies - a human body - would be born to free the Colony from it's decades of war.

There are a lot of fairy families that preach this prophecy till this day, but all of them are taken as delusionals by most of the Colony's inhabitants. It's impossible to have a being that has a different soul from it's body, it just can't happen. But they hold onto their beliefs firmly regardless.

When Irwalia learned the truth about Alex, she couldn't help but be ecstatic: she had finally found a human inside the Colony's walls. And, if SHE was the one who discovered him first, then she must be the one meant to give birth to this prophetic child… right?

In a vengeful and spiteful spirit, Irwalia decided to not report Alex to the Colony's authorities, but instead take her anger out on what the human and his imp wife treasured the most: their only child.

Alex and Elisa didn't took long to find Toby, afterall she wanted to take her revenge in front of them...

Irwalia cursed Toby with something that not only breaked Alex's heart, but made the child defenseless if he ever encountered a human: if in close proximity to a human, Toby is completely unable to do any kind of magic.

This may not sound like a big deal, but imps, especially imp borrowers, take great advantage from their magic abilities to protect themselves from the sight of humans and their malicious intents. And, of course, Toby would never be able to obtain his full magic potential (which he has a lot of) around his own father.

Aside from all that, his hair is now bright blue, a side effect of the curse that makes it difficult for him to hide from humans and dangerous animals.

Toby grew up not being allowed to leave the Colony EVER because of his curse. So when he became an adult, after getting involved in a lot of trouble inside the Colony, being the little thief and vagabond that he is, he thought-

Unfortunately, he never had the chance to actually seek a cure for his curse in the book because he was discovered for his theft before that, yeah, it was all kind of pointless, he truly sucks at hiding.

Huh, I also wonder why it worked...

[apolloprophecy]

How tall are Eyeless Jack or Laughing Jack in your au? I know people generally see them as tall, but I'm curious what your interpretation is.

Chose to use Toby as my little height reference here lol - This was also very rushed so keep in mind

I also haven’t ever drawn LJ so I will get back to you for him lol

(Ignore jacks mask I’m still working on concepts for him!)

[askticcitobyshit]

We aren't doing anything special, just hanging out between missions. We've mostly just drank, had bonfires, small get togethers at the mansion or someone's house, ect. Since I was gone for so long, and just got back right at the beginning of summer, I've been playing catchup with everyone. And getting my ass handed to me for leaving for so long. - Toby

[the-rouxls-kaard-official]

*sends him fanmail (present boxes with big frilly bows that are filled to the brim with slimy, filthy worms, the moisture leaching through the bottom and causing the cardboard to sag)*

[carlyraejepsans]

I think it'd be so fucking funny if toby casually implies a completely random and obscure ship with no context tomorrow

here's how mewalphyne can still win

[askticciwork]

who is taller

Toby: we’re both around average height…

Clock: he’s just saying cause he’s a short loser

[not-poignant]

I love the way you write and FFS is my favourite fic of yours. It was very healing and comforting watching a character go through such a difficult mental health journey. It made me feel less alone. Ef has motivated me to keep going on because things can always get better.

I just wanted to say thank you very much, and I hope you rest as much as you can while you're on break. (P.S. I am super excited for Constellations!! When you mentioned Leo in the last chapter I was like YES! They're still friends!)

Hi anon

I'm so glad you enjoy Falling Falling Stars, it was such a huge undertaking but it was so cathartic even writing it and sharing it at the time, I think it's been pretty humbling honestly that so many folks have brought so much of themselves and their lives to this story, and connect with it and the characters in it.

Efnisien is pretty awesome as a character as a vehicle of 'it sucks and you might even have done bad things but you're still allowed to have good things and you can always improve / better yourself' etc. I used to get a few 'I've never done anything like Efnisien but I relate to him' and my thoughts on that have always been that many of us know what it's like to feel like the worst, even if we've relatively never done anything that bad at all. And it's hard to recover from that feeling, but...perhaps seeing how someone who has been literally the worst is doing it might help.

We all deserve a redemption narrative, even the people who didn't need redeeming in the first place.

[achancetobibetter]

Well I thought it was funny pfft.

Hey Tobi.

@suddenlyauntiemaya

Hehe, I'm glad you thought so.

Hi, Maya.

[flockofcrowsinaturtleshell]

Toby

Toby: huh? Oh. Oh my goodness.

Toby: *picks up the hydrate cup*

Toby: I haven't received a gift in a while... *tears up* thank you! These are wonderful! I will treasure these forever!

Bonus

Donnie: *pokes his head into the room* why are you crying?

Toby: *gestures wildly at the gifts, crying tears of joy*

Donnie: ... okay then

[sharkyy599]

yoooo i was gonna doodle you some fanart of CC and Aspen but I didn't finish it because the lineart layer looked horrendous but here's a sketch because I think you deserve the art nonetheless ^^

Aspen: You like my design for the secret underground bunker?

Cola: Uhhh how are we gonna build this

Like how I captioned this?? :DD

Thanks for the doodle! It’s so cute!!

[27-royal-teas]

literally on my knees begging for the phoenix essay because it’s my all time fave fall out boy song and it makes me feel emotions on the shrimp spectrum

ok!! well!! ask and you shall receive, dear anon, your wish is my command :)) and because i love when people are excited about what i have to say and you are very nice <33 however, i will warn you, this is less of a structured essay and more of a massive infodump, so be warned !!

OK SO. THE PHOENIX. first off musically it's a fantastic song. and its actually scientifically proven that typically strings are used to increase musical tension and emotional tension so usually when you hear fast strings it means that they (the artist) want you to feel stressed, angry, or excited. We can apply this to the beginning of The Phoenix specifically because fob wants you to get hyped!!! It's their opening song for their newest album and for them, this shit is TERRIFYING. will you still want them or will you skip to another song? It's such a stark contrast to the first line of cork tree ("brothers and sisters, put this record down") because they want you to do the exact opposite of that. This is the one they want to use to hook you, to pull you in. Fall Out Boy is back, and this time they've brought even more intensity than before. They want to know: will you still be here? will you listen? these strings are not quite the old fall out boy, will you find them compelling and stick around?

andys drum work on this song is also INCREDIBLE. It's got this pounding, heavy beat. i constantly say that andy is the backbone of the band and i feel like that's more musically apparent in this song than anything. If i really want to scrounge for symbolism, I can say that by making andy's drumbeat stand out so much more in this song, the band is saying that they as a whole are more stable and reliable, just like their backbone. the drummer keeps the beat, the pace. they keep the band on track. together, the instruments (drum, strings, bass) bring the song together into a really rounded sound and it feels so FULL. there are some songs that are spiky, but this one is round all the way through.

and now that we're through with talking about the music itself, let's talk about the lyrics. i love the lyrics in this song so fucking much. it's so pete wentz and even more than that it's the most perfect song to open with. im gonna try to discuss every line and how it relates to the album and fall out boy's history at the time of release + they message they attempt to convey with this song and album. ive been wanting to make an essay on this for a while actually so thank you for giving me this ask as an opportunity to barf my stupid brain out onto tumblr

ok anyway let's start off with the first line-- "put on your war paint". this line is repeated twice: the very beginning and the very end. Why? because it's bold. this album is called save rock and roll. it is giving us a mission to accomplish from the very start. we are gearing up for a war. this is the image that is being painted of the entire album, and it starts from the very beginning- put on your war paint, prepare for battle. the first song is us (cough, the band, cough) preparing for the war as a whole. this is the intro, the gather, the plan. because we are saving rock and roll, through this album. this is the revival. we are bringing it home. this part musically is very strong and it feels like structure. we are showing here how much power and stability we have. also it makes me think of that one picture of pete putting on eyeliner

i am skipping the entire first verse for now but i will be back to it in a bit i promise! i want to talk about the chorus: “hey Youngblood/ doesn’t it feel/ like our time is running out/ im gonna change you like a remix/ then I’ll raise you like a phoenix”. we’re just going to go over the first half first because it’s kind of long. I think it’s in interesting choice, ‘Youngblood’. it kind of makes me think of mcr’s killjoys. it’s the motif, i guess— this haunting youth. ‘Youngblood’ addresses us ourselves, full of life and blood and rage. it again goes with the plot line of the album. the chorus has a paced feel, like running through a field at top speed. ‘like our time is running out’ references again the portion of ‘we were gone for so long, will you still listen?’ fall out boy’s limited time is nearly out here. they are fighting the clock. they are years older and more mature and they’ve GROWN. their time is running out and they are begging us to listen. and then my FAVORITE line, probably in this whole song. ‘I’m gonna change you like a remix, then I’ll raise you like a phoenix’. This entire album is a result of change. Folie a Deux was harshly criticized by the media and the fans because it was a change from fob’s norm. they were mocked mercilessly and basically TOLD TO CHANGE. now, here, they are back, they have made it through alive, and they are better than ever. basically, they have changed but on their own terms. you know how a phoenix is reborn through their ashes? They burn to a crisp when they’ve reached their limit and 100 years later are reborn as babies again. This is why the phoenix is such an important song to open with from the beginning of the album, as well as a fantastic metaphor for the band themselves— because it tells you from the start. Fall out boy is the same, but they have changed. They have grown. And they are better than ever, musically and mentally. This is also good symbolism for rising again even when defeated, which I’ll touch on again later

now, onto the second half of the chorus. The phoenix line is repeated, but preceding that is "wearing our vintage misery/ no, i think it looked a little better on me". fall out boy is kind of known as being part of the 'emo trinity' which, at the time of release, consisted of MCR, FOB and Panic! At The Disco. Personally id replace panic with paramore just because i dislike brendon urie strongly but thats just me. anyway, emo as a subculture in itself is incredibly emotional, and that's the point- emo is short for emotional. (feel free to correct me about any of this at any point of time btw, i am in no way an expert). a consistent trend was a lot of black clothing and the haircuts. i guess this isnt relevant. the relevant part was the emotion. fall out boy in 2009 was miserable. all the members were constantly at each other's throats, and eventually they just called it quits (everyone thought they would never come back, which is why the phoenix metaphor works here). by saying 'wearing our vintage misery' they are saying that they are bringing back that sort of emo-emotional aspect back into their new music, their trademark depressing lyrics, but it's improved. it's a better look on them now because they are doing so much better mentally than they were doing before.

let's backtrack a step to discuss the prechorus: "so we can take the world back from a heart attack/ one maniac at a time we will take it back/ you know time crawls on when you're waiting for the song to start so dance alone to the beat of your heart". pete fucking went OFF in this entire song but this section specifically. musically, the prechorus slows it down. it gives the song tension before exploding into the chorus. the first half of the prechorus again brings up the image of SAVE ROCK AND ROLL. i cant exactly recall what horrific events happened in 2013 to give the world a metaphorical heart attack, because i was very young and stupid and unaware of a lot, but i love the word choice here. one MANIAC at a time we will take it back. we are uniting the beaten, the broken and the damned. pretty much all the big names in emo have made their alliances clear: we take in the ones you don't want. they are the hufflepuffs of music. we will take your maniacs, we will take your people. we will build an army of the ones no one loves and we will take back our world together. possibly im interpreting this wrong but. i just think that's a really lovely image.

(also, pete has a motif in his songs-- mania. theres the entire album, for one, but this, as well.)

"time crawls on when youre waiting for the song to start so dance alone to the beat of your heart" is less obviously clear about rebellion and taking back change but it still is incredibly strong about this nonetheless. you can't sit and wait around for change. you can't expect the good things to come to you immediately, that isn't how the world works. when no one is there to lead you, to guide you, you're gonna have to do it yourself. your heart is steady and it knows the way. trust it. dance alone to the beat of your heart.

ok so now im going back to the first verse. sorry for skipping around the song so much. "you are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down/ strike a match and i'll burn you to the ground" i feel like honestly this line is kind of obvious- someone is holding him (pete) back. i'm not going to outright say it was about ashlee (his current ex-wife) because pete never explicitly confirmed it but it definitely seems super likely judging by the time this was written (pete and ashlee divorced in 2011, which was two years before this song was released).

at this point in writing this essay brain barf my thoughts have become a little dead so im looking at lyricgenius to see what they're saying and it is. so not helpful. like bro pls. add some context to WHY these lyrics are arranged this way. but never mind that FOCUS ON THE WRITING TOBY FUCK

ANYWAY. the next line in this verse is "we are the jack o' lanterns in july, setting fire to the sky/ here, here comes with this rising tide, so come on/ put on your war paint". another theme constantly in Pete Wentz Lyrics is summer. i am drawing the connection here specifically from this song and fourth of july. and there it is again! put on your war paint!

fun fact: the story of the jack o lantern apparently is that some guy named jack made a bargain with satan and was doomed to wander the earth with only the company of a hollowed out turnip. again-- the wanderers. we bring in the wanderers, we take them as our own. we are the light in the darkness. we will set the world ablaze. so come on! get ready for war! we will roll in with the tide, and like a tide, we will destroy if we have to, not because we want to, but because it is in our nature.

final line in the verse: "cross walks and crossed hearts and hope to die/ silver clouds with grey lining". these are two popular phrases that have been altered in minor ways that make a huge difference. ive noticed pete tends to do that often. here hes changed 'cross my heart and hope to die' and 'every cloud has a silver lining'. this change is super important because it flips the themes of the two phrases (The Truth Has Been Spoken and There Is Always a Positive, respectively) and it darkens it. what is the correlation between cross walks and hoping to die? the cars. and by saying 'silver clouds with grey lining' he is flipping the saying to read as 'even though something seems light, there is always a dark side... kind of like a yin yang. which makes me think of the current logo, the smiley-frown. it's always about balance and it's always about an even distribution. but that is irrelevant.

and let's have a chat about the second verse: "bring home the boys in scraps/ scrap metal the tanks/ get hitched, make a career out of robbing banks/ because the world is just a teller and we are wearing black masks/ 'you broke our spirit' says the note we pass". this is the most important verse in the song, because this is where the entire theme shows the best. i think from the very start we can make two connections just reading this here, and i bet i can guess what you thought from the start. I bet you saw 'bring home the boys in scraps' and thought oh, toby is totally going to connect that to their motif about 'bring together the unwanted.' and i bet you saw 'we are wearing black masks' and thought ah, toby will definitely relate that to the first line in novocaine. and yeah, you're right. you know me too well, i am a predictable guy. because i 100% will. we KNOW fall out boy. the best example i can use to argue my first point off the top of my head is that they were initially marketed to teenage girls. they were a pop band. i mean, no one can really call them pop now (god, i miss music from the 2000s) but, yeah. no one in the rock or punk scene wanted teenage girls to like their music (because clearly teenage girls were so uncool or whatever) so fall out boy marketed themselves to them. they took in the fans no one wanted.

also, a bank teller is the person who handles customer cash, which is something i did not know until about twenty minutes ago. in the case of a bank robbery, the robber would pass the bank teller a note so that there would be less of a scene. these kind of robberies are called 'note jobs'. so by saying "make a career out of robbing banks/ because the world is just a teller and we are wearing black masks/ 'you broke our spirit' says the note we pass" essentially the band is using a bank robbery as a metaphor for taking back the world and the injustice that has been served to them, as the youth youngbloods. we are trying to take it back as peacefully as possible, but we are still the ones on the side with the gun. the 'note we pass' is the robbery note. lyricgenius was absolutely shit it did not help me with this i feel very proud that i connected all the dots by myself but maybe i am just an idiot and this is already common knowledge.

we are almost done- this has gotten long, a lot longer than i thought it was going to be. hope that's okay. anyway we just have to go over the bridge and then i'll summarize the song as a whole: "the war is won before it's begun/ release the doves, surrender love". this repeats five times. the war is won before it's begun. this is connected to the second part- release the doves, surrender love- because the band doesn't really WANT to fight. they don't want to HAVE to take in the people who aren't given a category. if we could just learn to love those who were different, we might not have war. we would have won it before it's begun. on the third repeat, there is chanting in the background-- 'wave the white flag'. the white flag is a sign of surrender pretty much universally, and it goes hand in hand with what's being said here. and again. i feel like i keep repeating this- it's the intro song. why would they say this? because they don't really want to fight. remember, the point of a note job is to attract as little attention as possible. we don't want a war. we don't WANT to save rock and roll- but we have to. it is our job, as youth- as youngbloods. and THAT'S the message of this song. we are preparing for a fight for justice that we would rather not take part in, but we have to, to protect ourselves and our past and our future and our people.

this is what the band is saying-- we have been gone for so long, but we are back. and we are here to help. we have changed, but you have changed too, and we are better, and together we will take back what we have lost to achieve peace, even if it takes a millenia, even if we go down fighting. because ultimately, we, ourselves, the ostracized and the mocked and the hurt, we are worth it. We will rise above it like a phoenix reborn from the ashes because we are always worth it, and we will always come back.

[askticcitobyshit]

Can we see some interactions between Chev and the creeps?

((FINALLY I HAVE AN EXCUSE TO DRAW THIS LETS GOOOOO))

Toby's been my best friend for years, and our favorite thing to do is shit talk about anything and everything. You can usually find us hanging out at the mansion, either in our rooms or out on the porch.

Jack and I became best friends more recently! We usually either just hang around each other and do our own thing (parallel play, I think it's called??), or doing something active like walking or cooking while we talk. We sometimes hunt together too! I'm not really a fan of killing people, but I gotta eat human flesh a few times a month. and having Jack with me while I do it is a bit comforting, I guess??

Jeff and I are frenemies. He's a stinky greasy man and bothers the fuck out of me. Dude will literally just walk into my house or my room in the mansion and just bug me. (Toby and Jack do this too, but they have bestie privileges.) He's really cool sometimes though.

Nina is an absolute sweetheart!! I love this girl, and we're starting to get closer as friends. We shop together, do skincare together (sometimes Toby joins bc he's part of the girls who get it), go to shows, and talk about fandom stuff A LOT. we also share fanfic and tiktok thirst trap edits on the reg

If you want to know how I interact with any specific creeps, let me know in my inbox!

~ Chev

[yellowmagicalgirl]

For the ship game I was gonna ask about Jim/Toby (then I saw you asked me about Steve/Toby) so how about Krexie instead.

Tell you what: I'll do both! (Except for tickle fights; question made me uncomfortable)

Hammerhunter

Who said “I love you” first: Jim, when they were both very young

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background: Jim

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror: Jim, since he gets up earlier

Who buys the other cheesy gifts: Toby

Who initiated the first kiss: Toby (because we all know that Jim doesn't have the gronk-nuts to start something lol)

Who kisses the other awake in the morning: Jim

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower: Toby

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch: Jim

Who was nervous and shy on the first date: Jim

Who kills/takes out the spiders: Jim doesn't care about the spiders but will take them out

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk: Jim (it's almost as bad as when he had the grit-shaka)

Krexie

Who said “I love you” first: Douxie

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background: Douxie

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror: Krel

Who buys the other cheesy gifts: Krel

Who initiated the first kiss: Douxie also the movie is not canon

Who kisses the other awake in the morning: Krel, assuming that he actually slept in their bed instead of being in the lab all night

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower: Douxie

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch: Douxie; Krel will forget to eat

Who was nervous and shy on the first date: Krel felt out of his element

Who kills/takes out the spiders: Douxie; Krel ignores them until they get webbing in their lab

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk: Krel

[the-rouxls-kaard-official]

*I would break into Jevil's cage, forcing him into my pocket*

*I would then release him into your shop for you to find the next day*

[carlyraejepsans]

What reads/videos would you recommend that explain chara's relationship with the player more clearly for monkey brained folk like me? I'm gonna admit my reading comprehension is not the best and I'm having trouble understanding the meta aspect of it (mostly why chara doesn't fight back during the geno route if they really care for monsterkind that much). I'm 100% being dumb rn but you have to be dumb to be smart

i don't trust youtube with chara. at all. defenders and offenders. though tbh i dont trust youtube with UTDR in general.

andrew cunningham had an old written essay about them from way back that hit almost every metanarrative point i also share. the only thing i personally disagree with is his thesis that those points are non syncretizable. i personally see chara as a more fluid, dymanic character compared to rest of the cast in function of their role as player proxy; all 3 readings that he proposes are ways to accomodate it diegetically, within the story, and not. the essay's linked in his discord server, if you want to check it out!