#changeling!toby

[earth-ambassador-jim]

Forgiveness

Summary: Toby has a nightmare and accidentally hurts Jim.

(A "Changeling Loyalties" side-story. Takes place when Jim is somewhere between seven and eight.)

AO3 - Fanfiction

~~~~

The sound of harsh breathing and growls woke Jim up. He sat up in bed and rubbed at his eyes sleepily. The room was dark, except for a faint glow coming through the window. He frowned looking around until he was able to see where the noises were coming from.

It was Toby.

In the dim grow of Jim’s nightlight, he could see that his friend’s face was all scrunched up.

He must be having a nightmare, He realized. Jim had those sometimes.

He pushed his blankets off and slid his legs out of bed. He needed to wake him up. Then Jim would give him a hug and tell him it was okay, like his Mom did for him.

Toby let out a sharp gasp and whimpered, curling into a tight ball. His hands clenched tightly.

Jim reached out and gently grabbed his shoulder.

“Toby wake up!”

That turned out to be a mistake.

In an instant Toby’s eyes opened and he shot out of his curled position like a snapped rubber band. His bared teeth glinted in the dim light and his eyes seemed to be glowing.

Jim didn’t get a chance to react before Toby lunged.

~~~~

Toby felt his fist connect with something. It gave way easily and he braced himself for the returning blow. Except it didn’t come.

The haze of fear and anger faded and Toby finally realized he was in the blue darkness of a bedroom, not the sickly green of the Darklands.

He frowned in confusion.

What had he hit?

A sob broke through the last of the haze from the nightmare. Toby realized that Jim was in front of him. The fleshbag whelp was sprawled awkwardly against his bed, holding his nose. Even with his inferior human senses Toby could smell the blood that was dripping between the boy’s fingers. Jim whimpered again and tears leaked out of his eyes.

Toby’s eyes widened and he took a step back. His hands shook.

He didn’t… he hadn’t meant to… to hurt him.

His thoughts derailed as Jim let out a louder sob –though still distorted by his damaged nose.

The bedroom door opened and Dr. Lake burst in.

“What happened?”

Her eyes fell on her injured son and she immediately rushed to his side.

Fear overshowed concern and Toby cowered. This wasn’t going to end well for him. He had to get out of here.

~~~~

Barbara hadn’t been expecting to wake up to her son with a bloody nose at three in the morning.

“Come on Jim,” She said, gently tugging at his hands. “Let me see it.”

He reluctantly let go and she immediately felt a sympathetic pang in her chest. It looked like it wasn’t out of place but given the red discoloration, it was definitely going to swell and be painful.

“Okay, we’re going to go downstairs and put some ice on that.” She picked him up and turned to the other boy. “Toby…”

But he was gone.

Barbara frowned. Where…?

Jim let a hiccupping sob drawing her attention back to him. She drew in a slow breath as she rubbed his back soothingly. She would take care of him first and then go looking for Toby. Hopefully he hadn’t gone far.

…

Unfortunately she had no such luck.

By the time she got done taking care of Jim, Toby was still nowhere to be seen. A quick search revealed that he was not in the house.

Barbara returned to the living room where Jim was sitting on the couch holding an icebag to his nose and halfheartedly watching a movie. At the sound of her footsteps he quickly turned around.

“Where’s Toby?” Jim asked, voice nasally and slurred.

“I don’t know,” Barbara said, keeping her voice level, despite the rising fear.  “Can you tell me what happened?”

She settled on the couch beside Jim, wincing again at the sight of his nose.

“I woke up and… and Toby was having a nightmare… So I tried to wake him up… then…” Jim’s face screwed up and his lip quivered. “Then he punched me.”

Barbara frowned. That was concerning.

“Is… is Toby in trouble?” Asked Jim quietly.

Barbara sighed and reached out to brush his hair back from his face.

“No… It sounds like he didn’t mean to hurt you, but I will need to talk to him.” Jim nodded slowly. “First I have to find him.”

Soon too. It wasn’t safe to be out at night, especially in Arcadia. According to the police there was a nasty epidemic of rabies going around the local raccoon population.

“I’m going to call Nancy and you can stay with her while I look for Toby.”

“But…”

“No buts,” Barbara said gently but firmly as she stood up. “You’re hurt and I don’t want to lose you in the woods.”

With any luck Toby would be at Nancy’s and she wouldn’t have to run around in the woods either.

…

Luck, of course, was not on her side.

Toby was not back at his house, so, with great trepidation, Barbara left Jim in Nana’s care while she ventured into the forest.

“Toby?”

Her cries fell dead in the stillness of the forest. Barbara shivered. Something about night in Arcadia always felt a little creepy to her. She’d thought about moving once or twice, especially since Jim was born, but had never been able to scrape up the energy or money to actually do anything about it.

“Toooooby!” She called out again.

Still nothing.

This wasn’t good.

Ahead of her she heard a rustling in the bushes.

“Toby?”

~~~~

Toby had taken refuge in a small thicket. Initially he had planned to go home, but he had no doubt Dr. Lake would find him there. He didn’t really want to involve Nana in this.

Things had been going so well. Jim was actually tolerable company… for a human… And Dr. Lake had accepted his presence around the house easily enough.

He doubted she would anymore.

He looked down at his fist. Even in his troll form Jim’s blood was still on his knuckles. He almost licked it off but stopped himself, opting to wipe it off in the thick moss instead.

He sighed and leaned against the tree beside him.

What now?

He couldn’t stay out here forever… Well physically speaking he could, but the Janus Order would be pissed. They would find him and kill him if he deserted his post.

If he remembered correctly killing children was illegal among humans. If he waited until she calmed down a bit Dr. Lake probably wouldn’t kill him. He would still get a beating though.

She seemed pretty fair, maybe she’d let him off with a few blows? A busted nose for a busted nose? He hadn’t meant to hurt Jim after all…

But that didn’t change the fact that he had… and in their own house too.

How long would be optimal to hide out then? Nana would be worried…

“Toby?”

Toby flinched at Dr. Lake’s voice and rose to a crouch, ears pressing back.

“Toooooby!”

The changeling blinked. She didn’t sound mad. If anything she sounded concerned.

Toby moved to all fours and peered out of his hiding place. Barbara was bumbling about the forest in her pajamas, walking shoes, and a coat. Her hair was down for once, which was really weird. Her brows where furrowed but there was no aggression in her posture. He sniffed the air trying to catch her scent. He could smell the sweet tang of fear and bitter anxiety but none of sharp pungent aroma that accompanied anger.

Was she looking for him because she was worried about him?

There was a crackle of something moving about further into the woods.

Barbara shined her flashlight toward it.

“Toby?”

Whatever it was wasn’t him, but there was a strong scent of goblins in the area. The changeling flicked his ears indecisively.

Barbara took a step in the direction of the sound. Toby grimaced, he shifted back to human.

“Dr. Lake?” He called hesitantly.

He didn’t move out from his hiding place. Just because he didn’t want her to get eaten by goblins didn’t mean he was willing to risk her anger just yet. The thicket he was wedged in would be too tight for an adult to enter so he would be able to escape if it turned out he was reading her wrong.

“Toby!”

Barbara hurried over to him. Toby flinched as the flashlight hit him in the eyes.

“There you are!” She crouched down to peer into the bushes. “You scared me.”

Toby eyed her warily.

The human frowned and her eyes studied him.

“You’re all scratched up,” She said. She offered a hand. “Come on. Jim’s over at your house. We can get you patched up there.”

Toby stayed firmly where he was.

Barbara sighed.

“I’m not mad,” She said. “Jim told me what happened. You had a nightmare. It was an accident, right?”

Toby nodded slowly, keeping an eye on her outstretched arm.

Barbara glanced at her own hand and then lowered it to rest on her knee.

“Come on,” She said. Standing up and moving back from the entrance. “It’s late. Time for you to get to bed.”

Toby hesitated a moment longer. He would have to come out eventually and Barbara clearly wasn’t leaving without him.

Toby crawled out.

“Where are your shoes?”

“I forgot them…” He’d been in a bit of a panic.

Barbara extended her arms to him.

“I can carry you back,” She offered.

He couldn’t smell very well in this form, but her fists weren’t clenched and her posture was open. Now that he was a bit calmer, he could feel how sore his feet were. If he damaged them further it would be a pain to wait for them to heal. Toby nodded slowly.

He couldn’t quite suppress his flinch when she picked him up, but when no pain came he relaxed a little.

Barbara let out a quiet breath and brushed her hand across his hair.

“Please don’t run away next time,” She said as she retrieved her flashlight and started to walk. “Your Nana and I were very worried.”

“Okay,” Toby said quietly.

She was warm, he thought. Cautiously he let his head rest against her shoulder.

Soon they emerged from the woods onto the short neat grass of Toby’s lawn. Yellow light spilled from window. Barbara flicked off her flashlight.

“Can you hold this for me?” She asked offering it to Toby.

He nodded and released one of his hands from around her shoulders to grab it.

Barbara opened the door and entered.

“I found him,” She called out softly.

Immediately he was swept out of Barbara’s arms into his Nana’s. She turned his head this way and that, peering at him through her thick lenses. Toby put up with the prodding with a huff.

“I’m fine Nana!”

She pulled him into a crushing hug. Her smell of raisins, pie, and instant coffee surrounded him.

“Oh! I’m so glad you’re alright, Toby-pie. Don’t do that again!”

Toby awkwardly patted her back.

“Okay. Sorry, Nana.”

“Toby?”

Toby looked over Nana’s shoulder to see Jim emerging from the living room dragging his blanket with him. His noses was a fierce red and still had some crusty blood under it.

Toby grimaced. He tugged on Nana’s arm and she let go of him.

Toby hesitantly walked over to Jim. He stopped a few steps away.

“I’m sorry for hitting you Jim,” He said, studying the dirty rag rug on the kitchen floor.

Something collided with him and he let out a yelp, stepping back to catch his balance.

It was Jim. The boy wrapped his arms around him.

“I forgive you,” He said. “I’m sorry that I scared you when you were having a nightmare.”

Toby blinked. Right. That was what started this.

“That’s okay,” He said, cautiously patting his… friend’s?... back. “Thank you for trying to help me.”

He glanced over at the adults. They were smiling at them. Toby grimaced, feeling awkward suddenly. He tried to pull apart from Jim but the boy clung to him.

“Come on, Jim,” He whined. “I’m tired.”

Jim held on for a moment longer and then let go.

“Okay… Are you coming back to my house?”

Toby grimaced. After what happened he wasn’t really comfortable with that.

Barbara must have picked up on it.

“I think we’ve had enough excitement for the night. How about we sleep in our own houses and then have breakfast together?”

“Can Nana make breakfast?” Jim asked.

Toby snorted. Barbara looked taken aback. After a moment she closed her mouth and a wry grin tugged at her lips.

“Nancy?”

“I think that can be arranged,” Nana said, coming over to rest her hands on Toby’s shoulders.

She gave them a little squeeze and he looked up. She smiled at him. He gave her a hesitant one back.

“That sounds good,” Barbara said. “Come here, Jim.”

Jim yawned and walked over to Barbara who picked him up.

“Bye, Toby,” He said, waving over Barbara’s shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Toby waved back.

“Come along. Let’s get you to bed,” Nana said, taking his hand.

Toby followed her quietly up the stairs. They stopped by the bathroom to wipe his feet off and patch up his scratches, then they went to his room.

Toby crawled into bed and Nana pulled the sheets over him.

“Sleep well, Toby-pie,” She said kissing his head.

Something in Toby’s throat tightened.

She turned toward the door, flicking his lights off.

“Nana?”

She paused and turned back to toward him. His heart sped up, thumping wetly in his chest.

“Would you…” love me if I wasn’t your grandson?

He couldn’t get the last bit out.

“Would you turn the nightlight on?” He asked instead.

“Of course!”

Nana leaned over slowly and flicked the little amethyst nightlight on. It cast lavender shapes on the walls.

“Good night dear!” She said closing the door partway.

“Good night Nana…”

Toby rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, thinking through the day’s events. He had hurt Jim but he and Dr. Lake had both forgiven him. He hadn’t been punished at all.

Dr. Lake had even risked going out in the woods at night to look for him and carried him back, even though he wasn’t her child.

Nana may care about him because she thought he was her grandchild but Jim and Dr. Lake had never known his familiar. Which meant…

That they cared about Toby. Toby himself, not his familiar. His heart clenched strangely in his chest. He rolled over and pressed his face into his pillow.  

He thought of Barbara’s warm arms as she carried him home and Jim hugging him and forgiving him.

It made him feel warm and tight and light and heavy all at once.

~~~~

~~~~

Notes:

Toby has a lot of PTSD and other issues from his first childhood in the Darklands. There were a few Gumm Gumm mothers in the Darklands and Toby has seen exactly what happened to anyone who harmed their whelps. As a result he views mothers as a terrifying force of nature. Barbara decided not to ask to much that night because of how scared Toby was, but she tries to find out a bit more of what brought this on later. Based off how he's acting she's worried that a teacher or other adult hurt him at some point. Naturally she finds nothing. This is when Toby first starts to view the Lakes as family. Jim learns to be careful about waking Toby up as a result of this. By the time of the main story Toby is mostly safe to wake up but he has relapses sometimes when he's stressed or if he's just had a nightmare.

#trollhunters #tales of arcadia #jim lake jr #toby domzalski #changeling!Toby #trollhunters fanfiction #changeling loyalties #barbara lake #nancy domzalski #my writing #my posts #fanfiction #nightmares #changelings are all very traumatized

[frixey]

trollhunters brainrot goes insane

based on my dms with my friend talking about what if toby just casually handed jim the gaggletack during the chnageling arc in s1 and he actually turned and toby passed out lmao

(based on all the aus where jim is a half changeling bcuz his dad was changeling and he doesnt know)

#this is trollhunter toby btw #trollhunters #jim lake jr #toby domzalski #changeling jim #troll jim #tales of arcadia

[rexnanorum]

Gruss vom 'Krampus' !

Christmas is coming, look busy... - and be on your best behavior! Your favorite changeling, Walt aka the Krampus is set on a mission to teach lazy students a lesson! So better take a good look in this history books again.

Click below for Closeups:

Have fun with my special take on the German/Austrian version of Santa's "little helper"! 🙃

#walter strickler #strickler #trollhunters #toa #toby domzalski #steve palchuk #trollhunters strickler #toa fanart #my art #changelings #stricklander #digital art #christmas #krampus

[nikeofmars]

Claire caught the boys in a nap pile.

Based of The Changeling Prince's Good Jotnar au.

#trollhunters #Jotnar the Ice-Troll #dover #toby domzalski #jim lake jr #claire nuñez #art #the changeling prince #Good Jotnar AU

[yellowmagicalgirl]

5 headcanons from a Trollhunters AU of your choice?

So there's this AU that I've had vague ideas about for a while, a roleswap where I swap all the canon ships (not counting Word of God ships and ships where we never see one of the characters). Do note that while the canon ships are getting swapped, the only canon ship that definitely gets together in this AU is Jlaire. (Staja and Darby are both maybe's, but I'm leaning no because IDK how much sense they'd make in this 'verse. Everything else is a NOTP for me.) (Also due to the amount of canon ships, you get more than 5 headcanons.)

Stricklake: Waltolomew is Jim's dad. Jim's bio mom walked out on them when Jim turned five - she accidentally saw Strickler in his true form, and she just wanted to escape. She was concerned that Jim wasn't human either, and she didn't want anything to do with him. (She was right that Jim wasn't fully human, though that didn't manifest as anything other than a very mild iron allergy until he got possessed by Morgana.) Meanwhile, Barbara is a local doctor who ends up getting roped in after she sees too much going on with the local teen defenders, and also after she ends up as Jim's foster mom when Strickler went missing.

Jlaire: The last battle between Kanjigar and Bular took place in a slightly different location, one that Claire was able to ride her bike to. She picked up the amulet and wasn't detected as quickly as Jim was in canon due to Strickler not going into the women's locker rooms. This allows her to have just enough time to learn to fight without Bular killing her for not knowing her way around knives like Jim does. Jim, meanwhile, has recently had the truth of his heritage revealed to him. If he serves the Janus Order well enough, then he can undergo the ritual that could make him a polymorph. (He never goes through the ritual but gains the ability anyways thanks to Morgana.) In the latter half of season 1, he became Team Trollhunters' man on the inside because he can't accept a world where Gunmar reigns (and also because Claire is very pretty in her armor.)

Dromura: Nomura became Kanjigar's apprentice, and while she didn't 100% expect to become the next trollhunter, she is miffed that this human girl with no fighting experience became the next trollhunter instead of her. She also briefly had a fling with Draal, who's human form works with Barbara under the alias of Dr. Aalbregt. Nomura once tried to get Kanjigar and Draal to meet in the hopes that Draal would change sides, but Kanjigar claimed that the impure was not his son. Ouch.

Staja: I'm not saying that Aja is the school bully, but she is rivals with Claire & Mary for popularity, with Claire & Mary being the femme popular crowd and Aja being the star quarterback. (Aja and Darci were neighbors growing up, so they're slightly more cordial.) She also teases Eli, but in a more friendly way since he's her little brother's BFF (and also Eli might have a crush on Krel). Eventually, the Tarron twins + Eli find out the truth. Steve on the other hand is the slightly spoiled heir to House Palchuk of Akiridion V. Seklos help us all.

Nanavex: Varvatos used to babysit Darci and the Tarron twins, sometimes at the same time, because he lives near all of them. He taught them to fight and can tell that something is going on. He doesn't know what. Nancy's son, husband, and daughter-in-law were all killed by the Zerons, and she was left to raise her grandson on her own. Between this and

Darby: I just can't see Darci getting the gravity cursed hammer, and I also can't really see her using a bow in this AU despite her using it in my seasonal amulet AU. I'm gonna say that instead she stole a fancy looking flute from the museum at the end of the second battle of Killahead. This flute was actually the flute that belonged to the Pied Piper, and it allows her to control small animals... and also goblins, because of the long-running raccoon joke. Mary never gets quite as involved in trollhunting as the others do due to being squeamish around violence, which causes her to grow distant from Claire and Darci. The coup happens earlier, Toby makes a cool bracelet for her, and Mary is selfish enough that she decides to befriend this foreign weirdo in order to get cool bracelets. (Due to the coup happening earlier, the two supernatural groups meet earlier. Toby gets to meet Vendel, who is more impressed with him than in canon. Vendel also likes Toby better than Steve.)

Stuart x Gwen: "The bounty hunter (Stuart) you (Morando) sent after us (Steve, Nancy, and Toby) became part of our found family." Meanwhile, I have two potential takes on Gwen. The first is that she's an untrustworthy rogue agent, willing to sell alien tech but also willing to sell secrets to whomever she thinks can get her the best deal. The other is that I replace Gwen of Gorbon with Guinevere, who was an alien all along in this 'verse, and Arthur thought that this foul creature killed his wife when he saw her in her true form. (In the latter case, there would be parallels between Guinevere/Arthur and Waltolomew/Jim's bio mom.)

send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it

#trollhunters #walter strickler #barbara lake #jim lake jr #claire nuñez #zelda nomura #kanjigar the courageous #changeling!draal #draal the deadly #aja tarron #steve palchuk #varvatos vex #nancy domzalski #toby domzalski #darci scott #mary wang #vendel #stuart of durio #gwen of gorbon #toa guinevere #akiridion!steve #changeling!jim #trollhunter!claire #jlaire #human!krel #human!aja #kreli #human!varvatos #akiridion!nancy #akiridion!toby

[cf8wrk4u-us]

The Changeling Prince - Chapter 5 - CF8WRK4U - Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons) [Archive of Our Own]

#toa trollhunters #trollhunters #jim lake jr #claire nuñez #toby domzalski #aaarrrgghh #blinky galadrigal #draal the deadly #changeling jim

[pinkytoothlesso11]

Chapter 14 of Challenging Destiny

Jim POV: The plot to incapacitate Usurna is put into action, but of course it doesn't go precisely to plan. Because nothing ever does.

Toby receives the eyestone, the first of the Triumbric stones, as facing Gunmar looms closer.

So funny coincidence, I posted the update on the anniversary of RoTT. I don't know what to make of that, but enjoy all the same!

#trollhunters #tales of arcadia #Challenging Destiny #Jim Lake Jr #toby domzalski #Walter Strickler #Changeling OC's #Vendel #Draal #Aaarrrgghh #blinky #Claire nunez #Usurna gets what she deserves #Krax #Too many characters again #Oh well #Next chapter is going to be fun #The one after even more so...

[f-a-n-t-a-z-m-a-s]

Just some toa self insert thing

#tales of arcadia #rott #toa #toa wizards #toa trollhunters #original character #digital art #toa 3below #jim lake junior #draal the deadly #toa draal #claire nuñez #toby domzalski #blinkous galadrigal #arrrrrgh #barbra lake #walter strickler #changeling #trolls #namora #gunmar the black #bular the butcher #angor rot #morgana #merlin #wizard #archie

[zenn135]

Not Playertale, but I’ve gotten into the Trollhunters fandom, just a little bit. I thought about what would happen as Toby is the trollhunter now(after events of the movie). So I made a character for this alternative timeline…..

#trollhunters #trollhunters: the alternative timeline #ttat #axel #oc #trollhunters oc #digital drawing #changeling #toa toby #trollhunters Toby #tobias domzalski

[earth-ambassador-jim]

Changling Loyalties: Background note on Toby's age and changeling development in general.

In changeling Loyalties Toby is 397 years old. (He doesn't know that though.) If he were a regular troll he would be the human equivalent of about 25.

He was kidnapped and changed at 62 years old (human development equivalent of almost 4 years old). He doesn't remember anything from before that because the changing process destroys all the whelps' memories. Even if it didn't he would still not have remembered much due to being so young.

He spent 320 years in the Darklands before being planted on the surface.

Changeling age relative to humans is tricky because trolls, while aging at a rate of approximately 16 to 1, are not exactly equivalent. An adolescent with a couple centuries of life experience is very different than one with only a little over a decade. On the flip side, due the troll community being so insular, a human adolescent often will have more variety of life experiences than a troll one.

Back to changelings: adding to the mess that is troll vs human aging is the fact that they're trapped in a child's body for a few centuries fighting for their lives. It's a tricky thing because the physical brain changes that go with growing up are not occurring due to the age freeze, but the young changeling is still learning and gaining experience.

Then after all that they're given the infant body of another species and all the emotions, hormones, and chemicals that involves...

So yeah changelings are a mess.

#trollhunters #tales of arcadia #toby domzalski #trollhunters meta #changeling loyalties meta #behind the scenes #changeling loyalties #changeling!toby #changelings

[wheretwofacesmeet]

#trollhunters #young atlas episode #jim lake jr #walter strickler #toby domzalski #Changeling

[joemerl]

Writer's Month 2023, Day 10: "Sandcastle"

Original fiction, specifically "the Fairy/Changeling WIP" Status/Word count: Complete, 612 words. Summary: Toby the pooka learns to make a sandcastle. He does not learn to control his temper. Author's notes: Oh look, Toby's family made it to the beach after all.

Toby's eyes were drawn away from his brother by the bird standing nearby on the sand. As he watched, it flicked its head and hopped closer.

"That's a seagull. It wants your sandwich," his older brother observed.

Toby took a bite, eyes still on the bird.

Suddenly, the seagull flapped over and dove at Toby. He jerked his arms back to protect his peanut butter sandwich, and without thinking, turned his face into a wolf's and snarled at the attacker.

The bird let out a confused squawk and darted back, then flew off to find a victim who couldn't shapeshift.

"Toby!" his brother snapped, looking around to see if anyone else on the beach had noticed.

Toby's face already looked human again. He pouted. "it tried to take my sandwich!"

"That doesn't matter! You don't change in public!"

"Sorry." Toby looked down, then sullenly shoved the remains of his sandwich into his mouth.

His brother sighed. "Just—don't do it again. Now c'mon. You wanna learn to do this or what?"

His brother took the bucket and filled it with sand. Toby watched as he turned it over onto the ground, then somehow removed it in a way that the sand remained in a bucket-shaped mass without collapsing.

"That's a sandcastle?"

"Uh-huh. You can make them bigger," he added, starting to fill the bucket again.

"It don't look much like a castle."

"It's just pretend."

"I used to live in a real castle," Toby continued. A beat passed. "In the dungeon, I mean."

His brother stared at him, awkwardly, for a moment, then passed over the bucket. "You try."

Toby started to fill it. "Not like that," his brother said. "You need wet sand, see? Otherwise it won't stick."

"That's more like mud than sand. Shouldn't it be called a mudcastle?"

"Well, it can't be too wet. Now, turn it over—"

Toby yanked up the bucket. The sand fell out as a crumpled heap. Toby scowled.

"You did it too fast. Look, try again. You pack it real tight, pat it down...plop it next to the first part...and then...ease the bucket off like..."

He guided Toby's hands, turning the bucket as they slowly eased it off. This time, the structure stood. Toby's hangdog face split into a grin.

"It worked!"

"Y'see? Now, we can add another tower..."

Toby made a third, and then the pair began to dig a moat around the structure. "I bet gnomes could make a real-sized sandcastle," he mused. "Gnomes are good wi—"

"I got it!"

The pair jumped aside as a Frisbee flew over their heads, followed by a boy maybe a year or so older than Toby's brother. He stomped right into their sandcastle, grabbed the disc from the air, then ran back the way he came.

"Hey!" Toby yelled. "You broke our sandcastle!"

The guy gave a brief look over his shoulder before throwing the Frisbee back to his friends. "So make another one," he said, and ran off.

"Jackass," the older brother muttered, then froze as he turned back to Toby. The boy was half-standing, hands balled into fists and red in the face.

More to the point, his brother caught a weird impression on his arms, like the ghost of a tattoo. It was in feather patterns.

"Toby Packwood, don't you d—"

He didn't get to finish before Toby turned into a seagull. He flapped into the air, shook off the swimming trunks that were weighing down his legs, then shrieked as he shot past his brother toward the boy who had stormed their castle.

"Throw i—AGH! Crap, get the f—AGH!"

Toby's brother put his face in his hand and growled.

#WritersMonth2023 #Changeling WIP #Ever notice that I never give names to Toby's brothers? #But Toby's got a last name now. #Changeling #Pooka #Sandcastle

[nikeofmars]

#trollhunters #jim lake jr #jotnar #Jotnar the Ice-Troll #claire nuñez #toby domzalski #the changeling prince #my art

[yellowmagicalgirl]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Trollhunters (Cartoon) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jim Lake Jr. & Toby Domzalski, Jim Lake Jr./Claire Nuñez Characters: Jim Lake Jr., Toby Domzalski, Claire Nuñez, Barbara Lake, Walter Strickler, Ms. Nomura Additional Tags: Angst, Changeling!Jim, (at least it's implied that he's part changeling), this season was so good, Self-Introspection Summary: “You are the first human Trollhunter,” they tell him, but they never say why.

Reccing this because every line of this fic is beautifully written. Do note that it was written before season 3, so it’s not canon compliant.

#fic rec friday #trollhunters #changeling!jim #toby domzalski #claire nuñez #barbara lake #walter strickler #zelda nomura #jlaire #tales of arcadia #fic rec #jim lake jr

[cf8wrk4u-us]

I keep imagining a scene for the changeling fic where Toby finds out about Jotnor and is like,

“So what was I, some pet? Something you kept around for your own amusement?”

Jotnor, “so that’s what you’d call our relationship!”

But Jotnor is going to have quite the explaining to do when his father is freed. Like how is he going to explain the four emotional support humans to his father.

(My first ask on the Changeling Prince🥰)

To be fair, when Jotnar met Toby and hung out with him, he did see him as a bit of a pet or even a minion.

But over time, he did value Toby as a genuine friend. Because of him, his whole perspective on humans and friendship changed. A son of Gunmar didn't have "friends" especially with beings who were considered food.

That's why Jotnar is determined to save Toby, his mom, and Grandma Nancy from the terrible fate of being made food for his father's horde when Gunmar returns.

He's still unsure how he convince him but reasons that as Gunmars son he's entitled to some reward for all his hard work. So why not a few human "pets" for his entertainment?

At worst, Jotnar could try to guilty trip Gunmar over his transformation. But Jotnar dosen't think or hope it comes to that.

#jim lake jr #toby domzalski #tales of arcadia #trollhunters #the changeling prince #changeling!jim

[bluheaven-adw]

Thank you tumblr for absolutely destroying image quality. Freaking wtf?

Some more Dark Excalibur AU

The Knighting of Steve Palchuk

We all agree that Steve needed a better arc than what RotT gave him. He deserved a chance to be a hero, a path that he started in Wizards before it fizzled out into being the comedic relief. Wizards set everyone up as the better generational mirrors to Camelot. Jim to Arthur, Claire to Morgana, Douxie to Merlin, Toby probably to Galahad, and Steve very obviously to Lancelot. I've said at the start that no one comes out of this AU unscathed, so while Steve gets the heroic redemption, it comes at a cost, one that pulls on that parallel.

RotT in the Dk-E still happens, I'm not letting everyone get their happily ever after at the end of Wizards. But I'll be damned if I end it with Toby and so many others dead, and Jim pushed into a timeline reset. You can thank Steve for that. It's because of Steve that Toby lives. Steve goes with Toby in the Taco truck, and it is Steve that yanks Toby out of the way of the collapsing debris. But Steve becomes pinned himself, resulting in the loss of his arm. An act of selflessness and bravery, valor and sacrifice, that earns him the title of First Knight of the Roundtable of New Camelot. An equal advisor, responsible for not only the protection of Camelot, and those Jim has claimed as his (which is everyone, human, troll, changeling, down to the last gnome), but also finding and training new knights, those who value all life and are willing to fight to protect it, and want to see the worlds of man and magic together in harmony instead of hate and fear.

And so we come to the Knighting of Steve Palchuk. This isn't just pomp and meaningless ceremony, this has true weight and meaning to both Jim and Steve. Jim pulls on Excalibur's magic, his voice resonating with ethereal power, creating a bond of trust and loyalty that goes both ways, only formed if given willingly. Knight to his King, King to Knight, both to the protection of all worlds and their peoples. Jim's eyes light up in tandem with the blade as the power of Excalibur and Nimue courses through him, flames licking along the blade's edge and into Steve. Steve's armor reflecting this bond as the magic burns through him.

And like Lancelot, Steve will get a fully functional prosthetic arm. There will be hardship, adapting to this new reality. But Steve has become a hero. A man of courage... far from his highscool self. A survivor, who will fight with everything he has.

Rise now, Sir Steve, First Knight of the Roundtable and New Camelot.

Closeups below

Notes: some of the descriptive wording around the ceremony itself came from a discussion about Jim using Excalibur for the knighting, and are used with permission of Sakon76, who is a much better writer than I.

Expect more if Steve's story at a later time.

#Dark Excalibur AU #trollhunters #jim lake jr #steve palchuk #tales of arcadia #toa #toa trollhunters #trollhunters tales of arcadia #toa wizards #trollhunters toa #wizards tales of arcadia #wizards toa #rise of the titans #rott #trollhunters rise of the titans #james lake jr #jim lake junior #james lake junior #king jim #dark Excalibur