Todd

Todds are facilitators and handlers that have an human trapped in an inebriated Aware state,<ref name=NOC> Their old leader was a ‘Tod’.  Tods are goblins specializing in befriending and managing a perpetually inebriated human (or Othered human, through drink/drugs) as their imaginary friend.  This human (referred to as a ‘Barney’) was a way for their group to launder money/handle simple tasks/and pay rent. - [8.a Bonus New Other Correspondence #1]</ref> that when it does end leaves the human innocent and generally unaware of what happened when they 'blacked out'. The Barney is not reusable.<ref name="pa9.2"/>

They tend to stick with one barney for a long time but can change around as they wish and can work in teams with more Todds and Barneys.<ref> - BARNEYS & TODS</ref>

Appearances

Tend to be the cuter types of goblin, which isn't saying much.<ref>Tods are goblins, but maintain somewhat more cartoonish appearances, and may have animal features or bold colors to their bodies.  They maintain cheerier attitudes (at least on the face of things) and often wear human clothing or accessories, sloppy and often matched to the Barney; loose ties, boxer shorts, misbuttoned tops.  Their appearance and nature is often by natural selection: scary or ugly Tods will scare off or depress a potential Barney and won’t easily help them reach their full potential. - BARNEYS & TODS</ref><ref name="pa9.2"/> They tend to be the thing that could be written off as having been an hallucination after whatever binge their barney was on wears off. There's a reason they can be known as pink elephants or blue mice.

Art & Abilities

Theirs is a symbiotic and easily be a parasitic relationship between Goblin and temporary Other.

Any potential Barney will be in such a position that getting a goblin "best friend" for an indeterminable amount of time would only be an improvement.<ref name="pa9.2">“Ahem, my wheelhouse, I suppose,” the stout goblin replied.  “Some goblins partner with humans who’ve had enough drink to tip over into being Other, at least temporarily.”

“Otherness can be temporary?  Super cool,” Verona replied.

Lucy tapped Verona’s side with her elbow.

“It requires a special case.  A stint of drinking that tests and pushes human limits and severs connections to all things.  A goblin can hop on board to be the imaginary friend, the pilot, the remover of roadblocks.  It’s an art form, a partnership meant to be, where the goblin pilot, the Tod, is nothing without its Barney, the Barney a fleeting mess without its Tod, but together they spin legends.”

“The goblin’s an enabler?” Avery asked.

“My dear, by the time someone’s prepared to leave humanity behind and become a Barney, the idea of enabling as you understand it is a bridge that’s been burned and long forgotten.”

“I’d like to think there’s always a way back to health.”

“Indeed, yes.  Sometimes that way back starts from rock bottom, and sobering up at the end of a Barney-and-Tod binge is a special kind of rock bottom.  In another country, retracing steps from blacked out days, weeks, or months, learning you had, ahem, dates with a string of washed-up celebrities, tipped the initial domino in felling an international drug cartel, and seeded a new religion, with one or all events commemorated with brand new tattoos. [...] Toadswallow added, “Once the Barney sobers up, they don’t go back to whatever they were imbibing.  The Tod must find another.  Biscuit here wants to learn to become a Tod, so we’re looking.”

Biscuit was a goblin not all that much bigger than Cherrypop, and weirdly on the not-offensive-looking side of goblindom, with makeup on and clothes possibly stolen from dolls.  She looked pretty hyper at the prospect. - Excerpt from Shaking Hands 9.2</ref>

They have to be skilled at managing their charges, it takes roughly three weeks to get a barney really going, and tend to have one use items that can get the Berney going again if they run down.

The Todd usually relies on the Barney to fight, a human combining Otherness and Innocence is a formidable opponent.

Known Todds

• Unidentified Todd<ref name=NOC/>
• Biscuit (tentative)<ref name="pa9.2"/>

Trivia

• The editors of this wiki in no way endorse intoxicants.

References

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