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lizardlicks · 3 months

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Like Theseus’ Ship/Better in the Morning for the ask game??

A meandering WIP that is mostly just stitched together scenes which follow Zuko from immediately after the Agni Kai with Azula through the days and weeks as he navigates deescalating his country after a century of war. Original title came from Birdtalker, Better in the Morning:

Behind my eyes a familiar child I take his hand and he finally smiles Be gentle with yourself as you uncover Your best kept secrets yet to be discovered In stillness, boys, clear water to the bottom You will do better in the morning I will do better in the morning

However The Oh Hellos Theseus had a better fit to it

Isn't that what it's all about? The slow trickling thaw that sets the banks in half The sweet melody it makes when the canyons crack I wanna give it all I've got, and I want nothing I want nothing back

Whatever kingdom come, it probably won't come quick No mighty clarion to announce it No single use ark to discard in an instant Like Theseus's ship, we'll fix the busted bits Till it's both nothing like and everything It's always been It's a wonder we expect a thing to Stay the same at all

A day and a half later finds Katara hauling him up off the floor by his robes, scowling as thunderously as an ocean storm. He can not recall for the life of him how he ended up on the ground. The last thing he clearly remembers is furiously slashing his signature across scroll after scroll-- orders to pull back and reposition troops, rerouting supply lines, halting manufacture of munitions, and machines of death and destruction-- and then he stood, and everything was sort of sliding sideways--

"You need to sleep, idiot!"

Ah. Yes that would do it, wouldn't it?

----

He awakes with the first flush of dawn to the canopy of his childhood bed overhead. There’s birdsong drifting in through his open window from mother's garden.

Aang is here.

He’s here, solid, yet light as a bird, blue arrows brilliant against the deep crimson that surrounds them, the Avatar brought to the heart of Fire Nation, exactly as he always believed destiny intended.

Well, okay. Maybe not exactly--

As Zuko comes awake with a flutter of affection beating through his veins, he begins to pick out more familiar forms all around him. Aang and Toph are firmly asleep, tucked up to either side of Zuko, their weight comforting, and warm as Agni’s light. Sokka’s on the other side of Aang, asleep sitting up, and snoring softly. One of his legs, splinted and bandaged, is propped across Katara’s lap as she dozes against his shoulder, hand curled in his tunic.

Zuko’s eyes drift across each of them, then past, drawn slowly toward the tangle of low voices at the other side of his room to find Suki and-- and Mai standing in the doorway, backs to them and posture bristling. They’re barring the way for some unseen presence in the hall, and quietly but firmly insisting that whatever it is can wait, damn it.

Zuko blinks. The shifting light pools in the swirls and dips of his sheets. He blinks again and Mai is leaning over him, here, solid, not dead, not rotting in a dank cell--

Her lips press into a pale line. She brushes stray hair from his eyes and tucks it behind his good ear.

“How…” He wants to say more, but the barely-there impressions of thoughts keep swirling around his head, and out of reach of his tongue. All that does escape is a yawn.

“Go back to sleep.” Mai has to plant a knee on his bed to lean over Toph without disturbing her. She presses a cool kiss to his temple.

He blinks again, too long, struggling to open his eyes. The scene has shifted. Now Mai is stretched at his side, nose tucked under his chin and Toph has shifted down, and fallen back into sleep with her hand curled around his ankle. Katara and Sokka have changed places too, and Suki is the one holding Sokka’s leg. Ty Lee has appeared from Zuko could not begin to fathom where, and she’s nodding eagerly at something Suki is saying, but her voice is pitched too low, and his head is too fuzzy to snatch meaning out of any of the words he can hear.

They’re all gloriously alive, surrounding him with intangible warmth that reaches down into every corner of his being. He curls out his fire in a slow wave, and lets it ripple against the burning bright pools of life pressed close against him. He wants to burn this moment into his memory, have it come back to him no matter what happens after this.

Against his will, his eyes slip closed again.

#WIP game #asked and answered #zuko #the gaang #lizard writes stupid things

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sb1317 · 2 years

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DSMP as Oh Hellos Song Lyrics

My opinions on which set of lyrics from Oh Hello’s songs match certain DSMP characters I tried my best to get them all but let me know if I’ve forgotten/missed someone Characters who are no longer around/didn’t do lore aren’t included. Also super recent lore is being ignored because I cant keep changing this every time someone decides to flip their character motivations dammit (Im not including variations of a single character unless its a ghost btw. That means for example characters such as lmanburg Wilbur and revivedbur (two versions of one person) are gonna fall under the broad category of ‘Wilbur’.) Some of them will have explanations, some won’t. If you want me to explain my reasoning maybe I’ll make another post. Maybe I’ll even make on for character relationships one day. Idk I have crippling anxiety online so I won’t post very often //// Foolish: Constellations “I can feel it on my tongue, brick and mortar, thick as scripture drawing lines in the sand and lay in borders, as tall as towers, I babble on until my voice is gone.” Slime: This Will End “I will wait for this to end, the back and forth, the battery for you at last to comprehend, the kind of love of which I speak” Niki: Thus Always To Tyrants “Where I go will you still follow? Will you leave your shaded hollow? Will you greet the daylight looming? Learn to love without consuming?” Fundy: I was Wrong “I was born at the dawn of our folly I was young and stubborn to the bone, as I took from the tree that was rotting Ooh~ I took my chance and bit down deep” Tommy: Theseus “Whatever kingdom come, it probably won’t come quick, no mighty clarion to announce it, no single use ark to discard in an instant like Theseus’s ship, we’ll fix the busted bits, Till its both nothing like and everything its always been” (I know Tommy is likened to the hero Theseus because of Techno but I prefer to relate him to the conundrum of Theseus’ Ship instead- If you replace all the parts is it still the same ship? I think Tommy has been through a hell of a lot and probably struggles with the distance that has formed between early lmanburg Tommy and revived Tommy. Idk but I think its a much more fitting comparison than the actual hero. Honestly this whole song works and any part could match Tommy I could talk about this song in relation to Tommy for ages so I’ll cut it off here lmao) Jack: Where is your rider “So bury me as it pleases you lover- at sea or deep within the catacombs But these bones never rested while living so How can they stand to languish in repose” Boomer: Hieroglyphics “Stamping your heels along with the drum Praying the serpent's underneath one of 'em Like there's some villain left to defeat Instead of a dance with a rhythm and beat”

(I don’t actually know Boomer’s lore so I kinda made a guess on this one from what little I’ve seen/heard. Pls let me know if there are better options) Philza: Eat You Alive “Ive seen the true face of the things you call life The song of the siren that holds your desire Death she is cunning and clever as hell And she’ll eat you alive” Sam: Lapis Lazuli “I don’t mean to speak so collectively I know I don’t make it easy to even wanna hear it What can I say, What can I say, What can I say 'Cause the more I recite it The more you wanna fight it The more my language is sounding fabricated”

(Sam is such a nuanced and interesting character who has such conflicting morals and priorities. His relationships are constantly being ruined by his strange reasoning and actions and I think this song conveys this quite well- He’s trying to explain himself but the more he talks, the worse it sounds) Sapnap: Oh Sleeper “I see the trail of shoulders I’ve climbed over but by god I’ll bloody up my hands with everything I am to cut away the mountains I’ve made and fill the dales below” (Sapnap fought on Dream’s side in the first war and has conflicts with many on there server but Kinoko is his new start and he’s trying his best to repair old relationships and make up for past mistakes- This song is about overcoming your past to be better and I think it just works) Techno: Oh Sleeper “The tables in the Temple will be turned on their side, and just as it scorches up the dunes beneath the height of noon the pillars of the empire will be burned in kind” (Technoblade and christianity/christ connections go brrrr) Wilbur: I Have Made Mistakes “We have lived in fear, we have lived in fear and our fear has betrayed us, we will overcome, we will overcome the apathy that has made us, ‘cause we are not alone, we are not alone in the dark with our demons We have have made mistakes, we have made mistakes but we’ve learned from them” Ghostbur: Pale White Horse “It was a pale white horse, with a crooked smile and I knew it was my time It was the raging storm, of a foreign war and a face I’d seen before” Eret: Rio Grande “May all our tinfoil idols Lay crumpled on the ground And our pre-fab Olympus Divided by the thousand Oh, maybe im naive for thinking, That a mountain so stubborn can move But if im a mountain moving I think you can be too” (Eret redemption arc woo) Bad: Notos “And every word you shouldn't say Will come bubbling out of your throat But you've got no one left to blame For the things you lost to the winds of Notos”

(Bad’s lore is so cool and nuanced and AHHH I want to shake him violently for making me feel things. I think Bad places a lot of blame on people around him in an attempt to cope with his own bad decisions and actions (mind controlled or not) Puffy: Notos “Every inhale I take, swallows the ocean whole, and I am one With the hurricane, tall as the tide that laps with a rabid tongue With every exhale, I break you down with a fury, I lay the hills undone Like a dog gone untamed, bellowing out a river from my lungs”

Ponk: Trees “Climbing trees; haven't much since we were children Shaking limbs tend to end up bent and broken But heartache pales in comparison to love”

Ranboo: Soap “I’ve heard If I were tougher Then maybe I'd make it alive I got a tender side I'll need a harder shell to survive But if seeing is believing I don't know I've seen a thing grow Without an open coat Not without a softness showing”

Purpled: Passerine “And as I prune my feathers like leaves from a vine I find that we have fewer and fewer in kind, but My palms and fingers still reek of gasoline From throwing fuel to the fire of that Greco-Roman dream Purifying the holy rock to melt the gilded seams”

Skeppy: On the Mountain Tall “I know you want me to be afraid I know you want me to love you Still the wild wind blows Up out the grave of an angry ghost Firing bricks from broken canon and prose To build a wall so high it reaches the heavens to the sky”

George: Exeunt “Now I am not the fool I was when I was younger, Crocodile eyes I have seen how you hunger. Fluttering your lashes like ashes and embers, Warm and bright as fire devouring timber, No, I cannot trust what you say when you’re grieving So my love im sorry but still I am leaving” Tubbo: Dear Wormwood “When I was a child I didn't hear a single word you said The things I was afraid of They were all confined beneath my bed But the years have been long And you have taught me well to hide away The things that I believed in You've taught me to call them all escapes I know who you are now”

(go watch the Dear Wormwood Tubbo animatic by knp!!! its the best thing to ever happen to me) Quackity: The Lament of Eustace Scrubb “I know that I have gone astray 'Cause when I saw my reflection It was a stranger beneath my face It was a stranger beneath my face But I'll come around I’ll come around Someday”

Dream: Hello my Old Heart “Hello, my old heart How have you been? How is it being locked away? Don't you worry, in there you're safe And it's true, you'll never beat But you'll never break”

(im not a big fan of c!dream but I know a nuanced character when I see one dammit and I refuse to reduce c!dream to a simple evil dude. Mans has some strange fucked reasonings behind his actions and its so interesting to see it play out) Karl: In Memoriam “It's been a long road, losing all I've owned And you don't know what you've got until you're gone And it's a nasty habit, spending all you have, but If you're doing all the leaving, then it's never your love lost”

Schlatt: Wishing Well “For my soul, he made an offer And to the dust again I fell And oh, that devil's got a hold on me now Because there wasn't any water in the wishing well”

(not a c!schlatt apologist or trying to find excuses for him, just thought the song was neat in relation to both his status as this big, evil, power hungry president and as someone struggling with substance abuse) Hannah: Rose “What's true is like a sickle It'll cut you to the middle Your rose is without a thorn But no, my mouth don't taste of metal From the pot here to the kettle I think we got a lot we gotta learn”

(one of the most on the nose song choices lmao. Not 100% on it but couldn’t thing of anything better)

Punz: Eurus “As Fortuna sits idly by I spin her wheel with all my might Crushing my kin for warring-wage Minted from the ivory of your tooth and eye”

Eryn: Torches “I got a venom like a snake running out of my mouth (running out of my mouth, running out of my mouth) Its got you burning at the stake, Innocent or not, you’re not a bet I care to take” (other then his childhood friends, c!eryn strikes me as quite a paranoid, mistrusting character. He’s constantly over-prepared for pvp situations and it makes me wonder about the rest of his backstory..) Connor: Torches “And father ignorance will make brothers of us all (brothers of us all, brothers of us all) As he sets our torch aflame Chasing down the flimsy spectres that we co-create” (c!Conner doesn’t have much lore but he was involved with the prison break and has ties now to the syndicate so he gets a song) Ant: Bitter water “Well, I still taste you on my lips Lovely bitter water The terrible fire of old regret is honey on my tongue And I know I shouldn't love you I know I shouldn't love you But I do”

Callahan: The Valley “We were born in the shadow Of the crimes of our fathers Blood was our inheritance No, we did not ask for this”

(callahans lore is so interesting ahhhh like what do you mean he has a history with XD?? What do you mean he’s Tina’s dog??? What do you mean he’s canonically been XD’s pet as well?? *shakes violently*) Hbomb: Cold is the Night “Steady is the hand that's come to terms With the lessons it has had to learn And I've seen the things that I must do”

MichaelMC: Zephyrus “Whether by accident or fortune You and I We are matter And it matters I want to spin something out of nothing Lead to gold Spring from winter Story from moted sky”

Tina: Zephyrus “I wanna help mother up an orchard From a seed Up through sapling Daughter phoenix, rise”

XD: Thus always to Tyrants “Every tomb, every sea, spit the bones from your teeth Let the ransomed be free as the revel meets the day Let the valleys awake, let them rattle and shake In the wind that remakes all that time has worn away

Aimsey: Thus always to Tyrants “I will look for you as the sun rises higher When the dry bones dance with the timbrel and lyre There's a wind alive in the valley It will fill your lungs, if you'll have it”

Seepeekay: Constellations “Cause like constellations a million years away Every good intention, every good intention Is interpolation, a line we drew in the array Looking for the faces Looking for the shapes in the silence”

Ghostboo: Cold “When the bitter creeps in To bite you whole A spectre unreflected, oh it keeps you cold”

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moonlarked · 1 year

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Theseus by The Oh Hellos is such a kotlc song.

“At the edges of my fingers

Never quite closing round it

Oh, that peace like a river

Always going, but never getting

Seems like maybe it's not all that much a place

As it is a way

And ways don't ever seem to want to

Stay too still for too long

Isn't that what it's all about?

The slow trickling thaw that sets the banks in half

The sweet melody it makes when the canyons crack

I wanna give it all I've got, and I want nothing

I want nothing back

Whatever kingdom come, it probably won't come quick

No mighty clarion to announce it

No single use ark to discard in an instant

Like Theseus's ship, we'll fix the busted bits

'Til it's both nothing like and everything

It's always been

It's a wonder we expect a thing to

Stay the same at all

Maybe that's what it's all about

We keep fixing what we know is only bound to break

What's worth saving is never worth letting go to waste

I want to mend what I've got, instead of throwing away

Ain't nothing come easy

No, nothing comes quick

It's gonna hurt like hell to become well

But if we set the bone straight

It'll mend

It'll fix

And we'll be well

Ain't nothing come easy

No, nothing comes quick

But I want for you this, that you are well

I want for us this, that we are well

We are well, we are well

We are well”

#keeper of the lost cities #kotlc #the oh hellos #kotlc soundtrack

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chrysalizzm · 2 years

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74. doing is properly this time

74: theseus - the oh hellos

this is one of those songs that makes me feel a little like i want to cry. i'd write a future fic - something to do with everyone, not just lmanberg or the badlands or the eggpire or kinoko or las nevadas or the greater smp. i want everyone. "like theseus' ship / we'll fix the busted bits" and they do. and then they do. i can't even imagine how this sort of peace comes about in a place like the dsmp, but i Crave reconciliation i am ravenous. lmanberg's walls come toppling down with tommy standing over the rubble, dream lets the Plan fall through his fingers like so much sand, bad gets to hold skeppy again, tubbo gets his husband and his baby and never has to worry about losing them again, fundy escapes the shadow of a legacy he never wanted, them healing, them Healing. how incredible is that? how powerful? "whatever kingdom come, it probably won't come quick" ''til it's both nothing like and everything / it's always been / it's a wonder we expect a thing to / stay the same at all" "but if we set the bone straight / it'll mend / it'll fix / and we'll be well" "we are well / we are well"

id call this "going going gone." its not a bad thing to be something else

#dream smp #chrys writes #asks #doctorletmebebrave #got a little emotional w this one if u couldnt tell

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sofhtie · 3 years

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rip to christmas i am busy thinking about mending clerics

#it’s about the little things. the daily magic. small and precious #nothing huge but it Matters it’s a statement that every little thing is worthwhile #and it’s. not really a cantrip you can justify keeping in most campaigns?#starting with it is fine and makes sense but eventually you need to do damage you need spare the dying #but you’re still a mending cleric. it’s still about the little things and about always caring #god i WISH i could justify cami still having mending it makes me so happy as a cantrip but it’s. i cant! she’s not at the orphanage anymore!#but also it’s A Lot how big spells now have to take the place of that emotionally... healing and warding bond and all that as caretaking #just. the gentleness and kindness and inherent care for others of mending clerics..... hhhh!#the ‘i can’t fix what was done to you but i’ll shield you from the rain’ of it all #the ‘like theseus’ ship well fix the busted bits’ of it all....#i just!!! hhhhhh!!#dnd hours

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raineyraven · 3 years

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Songs by the Oh Hellos i assosciate with dream smp characters/settings/scenarios

I've been listening to the oh hellos nonstop for the past few months and i think their vibe really fits the dsmp, so im gonna talk about a few of their songs i associate with certain things on the smp

*note: a lot of the meanings of the songs i mention are just what i interperet the songs to mean. also, a lot of these involve tommy because i am biased lol

Second Child, Restless Child - tommy, especially season 1 tommy. its about a reckless, inexperienced kid who wants to experience the world around them, and it has a feeling of boundless energy to it. i especially think the line "and they saw trouble in my eyes, they were quick to recognize the devil in me" fits how the other characters saw him.

Trees - lmanburg. "safe inside the walls we built we found ourselves a home" i heard this and just. immediately thought of lmanburg. the song's about taking risks because even if it fails, the knowledge that you tried and whatever positives you got out of it is enough. lmaburg failed in the end, its ideals abandoned, it wasnt meant to last. but they still have the memories of it, even if it was long ago. "but heartache pales in comparison to love"

Wishing Well - wilbur. i'll be honest, part of why i associate this song with him is cus it fits a lot of my headcanons for his backstory. nevertheless, like the protagonist of the song, wilbur did not find what he was seeking, in this case a place to uphold his ideals and be safe from tyranny, and he ended up falling to his own mistakes.

Theseus - new lmanburg. hah, you thought i was going to say tommy and techno, didnt u? nah, the song uses theseus' ship as a metaphor for change, being the same thing and yet being repaired so much its nothing like what it once was, and i think its really fitting of new lmanburg. lmanburg is no single use ark to discard in an instant, "like Theseus' ship, we'll fix the busted bits". also the lines "til its both nothing like and everything its always been / its a wonder we expect a thing to stay the same at all" and "we keep fixing what we know is only bound to break."

Exeunt - exile. ive mentioned this before, but i correlate Exeunt with tommy running away from logstedshire and dream. the song is about gaining the courage and will to leave a manipulative abuser, but the traces of their manipulation are still there. "lo, the rose is gone from my eyes, so decieving", tommy realizing dream was manipulating him, 'just watching him'. the line "even when you hunt me with ire, relentless / batter down my door when you find me defenseless" heavily reminds me of dream seeking out tommy in the arctic. i just think its very fitting :')

I Was Wrong - eret. i dont think i really need to explain this one. its a song about regret and guilt, realizing the desicion you were so confident in was so, so wrong. they knew some of their old friends might never forgive them, but they are still oh so sorry.

Dear Wormwood - tommy again. it reminds me of two moments with tommy: him standing up to dream at the nether portal with techno and at the community house when him and techno split off. the line "i know who you are now / and i name you my enemy" reflects tommy realizing dream was never his friend and breaking out of his manipulation. also "steadily becoming what i hate" is very akin to his realization at the community house. the entire song for me is a good representation of tommy's journey throughout season 2.

The Valley - i think this fits the dream smp as a whole, but especially the children of the smp, as its about how the mistakes of older generations affect the younger. it has a really wild feel to it, and i think it captures the air of what the smp feels like, at least to me.

This is also my oh hellos propaganda post to tell everyone who found the songs Theseus and Passerine cause of the dsmp to check out some of their other songs, every single one is a banger

#/rp #im pretty new to analyzing songs and characters so pls be nice lol #mcyt #dsmp #dream smp #the oh hellos #tommyinnit #wilbur soot #lmanburg #eret #also id love to hear what songs other people correlate with the dsmp

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mcmoth · 3 years

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So... I just found the song Theseus by The oh hellos, which... really surprised I hadn't found it sooner, being both a dsmp and the oh hellos fan, but oh well. Anyways, I just wanted to ramble about how this song fits c!Tommy, cause my god... the animatic I could make with this,,,

Oh, and this was originally a YouTube comment, btw, so it's maybe less expansive or personal than my usual rambles here would be. I just thought to actually rather post this on tumblr and delete the comment as to not add to the pile of dsmp comments cluttering the original song's feedback ^^ here y'all go:

At the edges of my fingers

Never quite closing round it

Oh, that peace like a river

Always going, but never getting

- How c!Tommy is constantly on the move, always preparing the next plan, always striving for some closure, how his two main priorities right now are safety and honesty - peace - and he tries so hard to get it, always, but in the end, never seems to succeed.

Seems like maybe it's not all that much a place

As it is a way

And ways don't ever seem to want to

Stay too still for too long

- Reminds me heavy of L'manburg. At the start of it, Wilbur did say that L'manburg wasn't a place, it was it's people, it's ideals. Words over violence, fighting back against oppressive authority, and seeking a family. And that's still what c!Tommy holds close to this day. But... as we all know. L'manburg, as it stood, didn't last long in these idealistic hopes.

Isn't that what it's all about?

The slow trickling thaw that sets the banks in half

The sweet melody it makes when the canyons crack

I wanna give it all I've got, and I want nothing

I want nothing back

-The "I wanna give it all i've got, and I want nothing, I want nothing back" makes me envision the season 1 finale, when Tommy tried so hard to fight for L'manburg, against all odds. And as Techno shouted at him to give up on being a hero, he just yelled back that he never wanted to be one, didn't want to be anything, rather "just wanted L'manburg back". For all of them.

Also, the first 3 lines give off cool imagery - the division between the dsmp and L'manburg, the war, the split sides after the election for the "trickling thaw that sets the banks in half", and Wilbur's words and symphony, once hopeful, turned miserable, as it echoes against Pogtopia's walls for "melody it makes when the canyons crack".

Whatever kingdom come, it probably won't come quick

No mighty clarion to announce it

No single use ark to discard in an instant

Like Theseus's ship, we'll fix the busted bits

- makes me think of new L'manburg, of everyone trying to rebuild after the destruction - constructing on top of the remains. Integrating the losses into their future. The creation comes slow, and without fanfare - the healthy bit of it, at least. But that's what's important about it - being able to take something slow for once, and just... working towards something again.

'Til it's both nothing like and everything

It's always been

It's a wonder we expect a thing to

Stay the same at all

- Theseus' ship is a metaphor for how, if you take something apart, one by one, gradually changing it's parts 'till it's all replaced, is the ship still the same ship? Or is it something entirely different now? And I feel like that's an interesting way to view c!Tommy - so much has happened to him, all lives lost. He's lost his spark, he's regained it again, different now. He's lost his friends, he's regained them again, different now. He's lost his brother, he regained him again, different now. So many labels have been assigned to him - hero, liability, toy... is he even Tommy anymore, misaligned pieces of what used to be a full puzzle? Or... is it that, after everything, it's still just him...

Maybe that's what it's all about

We keep fixing what we know is only bound to break

What's worth saving is never worth letting go to waste

I want to mend what I've got, instead of throwing away

- This is so relevant for c!Tommy. Whatever is important to him, he refuses to throw away. The discs, his relationship with Tubbo, trying to reconcile with Techno, not giving up on Wilbur... His whole speech to Foolish, that one stream, highlights this well. If he loves someone, he will never let go. It's worth trying to mend, in his eyes, even if there's no guarantee it won't just break again. Just like his home, rebuilt dozens and dozens of times after all the griefs and opportunities to leave it. He always returns to what is close to him.

Ain't nothing come easy

No, nothing comes quick

It's gonna hurt like hell to become well

But if we set the bone straight

It'll mend It'll fix

And we'll be well

- c!Tommy's whole story has been painful. He gets beat down, more often than not. He goes to get closure in prison, and he returns undead. His bones shattered, feeling reality altered. But he still tries. Still tries to figure out what to do next, what to save next, even as he's tired to the bone. And there's something to say, about that - about how he tried, despite the pain. His healing process is such a mess, but it's a healing process all the same.

Ain't nothing come easy

No, nothing comes quick

But I want for you this, that you are well

I want for us this, that we are well

- That's what c!Tommy wants, in the end. For everyone to be safe from torment, and to have fun. For everyone to be well. It isn't easy, and he's not perfect, and his edges are sharp enough to cut, but he wishes nonetheless. He tends to the server, he asks c!Dream why he doesn't hurt after leaving everything, he preserves Ranboo's flowers; he just wants everything to be okay.

We are well, we are well

We are well

- And they will be, I hope. Because if there's one thing that c!Tommy's story has shown, after all the fighting, abuse, arguments, death and grief - it's that he's still alive, and hanging onto hope... And though things are bleak, I'm hoping one day, the whole server, not just c!Tommy, will be able to say "we are well", too.

So... Yeah. Check out the oh hellos if y'all haven't already, their music is wonderful <3

#dream smp #tommyinnit #the oh hellos #theseus the oh hellos #meta #character analysis #song analysis #ramble #music #song #my own post #i have no idea ehat's even happening at any current time #i just continue to imagine this silly little fictional character and all his past events andcry about him #l'manburg

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lastoneout · 4 years

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So a lot of these songs have hit close to home as someone who deals with mental illnesses and trauma but Theseus really is getting to me on that level.

Cuz there really is this like...fear in healing, especially if your struggle started young, because you really don't know who you were Before, and healing means you will become something new and strange and possibly not *you* anymore. And that fear can really get to you and make you self sabotage and want to stay in your unhealthy state because the dysfunction is at least familiar, and being in a familiar mess is easier than the painful path of healing.

But it's kinda a mix of like "despite everything it's still you" and "show me a permanent state of self", we are always going to be ourselves even if we become something new, and the lyrics "Like Theseus’s ship, we’ll fix the busted bits 'til it’s both nothing like and everything it’s always been, it’s a wonder we expect a thing to stay the same at all" really get at that. We won't stay the same, because even when we feel stagnant we are still changing, but we really will always still be who we are.

And the rest lf the song(and the album) is talking about how that kind of healing is hard and it hurts and it's scary, but that comfort is always there. "It's gonna hurt like hell, but we're gonna be well", we will change but we will still be who we are. And that the change is worth it because that part of you IS worth hanging on to, worth fighting for. And your sadness and pain might not be easy to let go of, but your worth it. It's worth it.

Theseus and this album really sees both how beautiful and worthwhile and necessary change and healing is, but even in the celebration of the good it never shys away from the pain. It tells you again and again that it's work, it's gonna hurt, you have to face that head on. But even more than that it offers comfort in the face of the pain too. It tells you that it's gonna hurt, it's scary and hard, and it's okay to be terrified of that, it's okay to maybe not feel ready, to worry that you'll lose yourself, but all of that pain and hurt and rebuilding is gonna be worth it, because on the other side is all this joy and beauty and you deserve to see it.

I'm also just rambling but I feel like Zephyrus acknowledging that the meaning is there because we decide it's there, and sometimes yeah it's gonna feel like nothing matters, but it does, it matters because we matter, because we get up and put in the work and exist even when it feels impossible. I like the loss of faith interpretation, but I also def feel that depression meaning is there, cuz in a way horrible depression can really feel like a loss of faith. You lose faith in life and whatever gave it meaning for you, you fall into that "nothing matters" trap, and it's hard to find meaning again, but you can, even if it's just you deciding that it's there and letting that be enough.

Anyway yeah, this album just screams healing and all of the parts of it, the good and the bad, and I really, really love it.

(Edit: I'm exhausted and only just realized I started talking about one song and then just was like "THE WHOLE ALBUM ALSO THO" which just goes to show how great it all is really give it a listen it's incredible.)

#the oh hellos #this is mostly just based on theseus zephyrus and soap but I feel it in the whole album #also I know Ima have more to say tomorrow #once Ive sat on all this and really thought about it #long post #music meta

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jellywolf · 3 years

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It's three am and I need to explain why Theseus by The Oh Hellos is a c!Tubbo song and not a C!Tommy song. So. I'll be posting the lyrics and explaining my reasoning so. If you don't wanna read that? Yeah. Also a bit my hc/theory about how Snowchester is everything that L'Manberg was supposed to be.

"At the edges of my fingers

Never quite closing round it

Oh, that peace like a river

Always going, but never getting

Seems like maybe it's not all that much a place

As it is a way

And ways don't ever seem to want to

Stay too still for too long

Isn't that what it's all about?"

Tubbo is one of the original members of L'Manberg. One that's seen so much of the conflict. Knew the original purpose of L'Manberg. Saw if fade by Schlatt's side, in his cabinet, saw it wither by Wilburs side, in Pogtopia. He was given the presidency of L'Manberg, something he's admitted to not wanting multiple times. He's seen countries rise and fall. So much. It's not the place, it's the way. It's how people are. Creating and destroying. Endlessly.

"The slow trickling thaw that sets the banks in half

The sweet melody it makes when the canyons crack

I wanna give it all I've got, and I want nothing

I want nothing back"

Tubbo worked his damned hardest during his unwanted presidency. He gave up himself. His best friend. All to keep it intact. All he asked for was peace.

"Whatever kingdom come, it probably won't come quick

No mighty clarion to announce it

No single use ark to discard in an instant

Like Theseus's ship, we'll fix the busted bits"

The manberg/pogtopia war and doomsday were slow crawling but ever present. It was doomed to fail. L'Manberg was never meant to be. It wasn't instantaneous. It wasn't drums of war and cries of battle. It was months. Years, even, of build up. Of pressure breaking a damn. And Tubbo, after the revolution, built L'Manberg from the ground up. And after it was gone, for the third time, he built Snowchester.

"'Til it's both nothing like and everything

It's always been

It's a wonder we expect a thing to

Stay the same at all"

L'Manberg was built and rebuilt. Morphed and changed. Told from the mouth of whoever wrote the story at that point in time. It was always L'Manberg, but it was ever changing. It wasn't something that could stay the same. It *had* to change.

"Maybe that's what it's all about

We keep fixing what we know is only bound to break

What's worth saving is never worth letting go to waste

I want to mend what I've got, instead of throwing away"

After Wilbur blew it up, Tubbo could've denounced his presidency. Could've given it up. Could've gave it away. Destroyed it. But he stayed. He kept what was given to him, even when he knew it was close to it's demise, again. And when it fell for the last time, he still didn't give up. He took what spirit remained and made it his own. Made it everyone's who wanted it.

"Ain't nothing come easy

No, nothing comes quick

It's gonna hurt like hell to become well

But if we set the bone straight

It'll mend

It'll fix

And we'll be well

Ain't nothing come easy

No, nothing comes quick

But I want for you this, that you are well

I want for us this, that we are well

We are well, we are well

We are well"

Tubbo's insistence to have Tommy live in Snowchester. To build a home. A family. To protect himself and what he cared for. His want to be happy. To try to be happy. Honestly don't know what else to say for this part apart from it having massive Bench trio in Snowchester vibes.

#max.txt #dream smp #dsmp #tubbo #sorry if this is a mess its 3 am #Snowchester #l'manburg #l'manberg #all os this is /rp

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filia-secunda · 4 years

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Notes from listening to the Zephyrus EP by the Oh Hellos

RIO GRANDE beginning instrumental sounds like "Hieroglyphs" "Somewhere south of here" - Mexico but also the general "global south" Bible references: Moses, faith the size of a mustard seed. Weren't there a lot of Old Testament passages that compared wisdom, or Israel, to a vineyard? (They can't be referencing the Last Supper.) Of course the camel thinks the needle's eye will be roomy and easy to go through. Does the "cable" mean anything Scriptural? the shout at 1:07, though quieted, sounds genuinely aggressive or pained "A seed of an idea, like mustard greens, like newborn fingers, stretched up and reached through the hardest part of me." An idea embodied in smallness/openness/vulnerability, like the Infant Jesus or Moses or the rabbit on the Zephyrus cover, will turn a heart sooner than an idea that incarnates as something violent/miilitant. "Tinfoil idols" jarred me at first because I'm still used to thinking of conspiracy theories as belittled minority ideas with no societal power and an anti-establishment bent. But with a US President suddenly promoting so many, maybe they are "established" enough to be called idols now. "Our pre-fab Mount Olympus / divided by the thousands" - YESS GO OFF. Our government is decided for us before we ever go to vote (you should still vote though, because maybe the mountain can be moved), capitalist industry has locked the poor around the world into pre-fabricated poverty, and I love to see a folk song fight it. I caught a whiff of the Malvina Reynolds or Woodie Guthrie spirit from this line. HOLDING ON WHERE I AM ABLE old-time-sounding fiddle gonna make me cry

THESEUS referencing the hymn "When peace like a river attendeth my way" "The slow trickling thaw that sets the banks in half / The sweet melody it makes when the canyons crack" - these lines show water as a force of good destruction like in New River, but I mostly just wanted to quote them because they're the most mellifluous stuff I've heard in a big week. "No single-use Ark to discard in an instant / Like Theseus's ship, we'll fix the busted bits / Till it's both nothing like and everything it's always been." I guess maybe the Heaths *do* consider themselves still Christian. They've replaced all the old planks of their Christianity - pruned all the feathers like leaves from a vine - but they do consider the replacement to be still Christianity, and claim we have to change it if we don't plan to discard it. "I want to mend what I've got instead of throwing away." Hm. "It's gonna hurt like hell to become well" - Soap before Soap! ZEPHYRUS Contrasting the first and last verses - wholeness not found in looking at the sky, but growing things from the ground? (Top-down vs. grassroots organization?) I really do not understand the next couple verses, but they're phrased extremely beautifully. "I want to spin something out of nothing / lead to gold" - alchemy but also writing with pencil-lead! I'm in love with the casual femininity of verse 6 - "I wanna help mother up an orchard / daughter phoenix rise" The gentleness of this song, and the joy the singer takes in giving life - here comes the spring! "Break the bonds I've been holding onto" - considering Soap, this is probably something about chemistry. I wouldn't have thought of this myself, but Genius Lyrics says the last verse is about death - specifically the part of the life cycle where your body (if buried) fertilizes the ground around you, like in Boreas - "let my body be a darker soil." I'm not sure I agree yet but am considering. MURMURATIONS Never noticed the laughter at the end before. No other substantial observations though.

SOAP Others have already pointed out most of the things I've noticed in this song. How do they make phrases like "molecular rift you can't fix" so flowing and fun to say? The two verses about softness, not toughness, being what's necessary for growth - connected with how the EPs' covers depict progressively softer animals? A cicada is hard-shelled and alien, a goose is at least a vertebrate but not a very relatable one, a bear is a soft mammal but big and dangerous, but a rabbit basically embodies and inspires gentleness.

Rounds

An epilogue kinda thing where they break the fourth wall to talk about the preceding songs. To say, "Wait, I'm still speaking? Well I'm gonna take a break," to apologize for not speaking as well as other "prophets," and to hope that their words lead to some good effect. It's a sweet, humble goodbye, like the end of a small friendly concert.

"I'll go on and on and on" (Boreas), "echoing hymn" (Passerine but with different connotations) "around again" (Torches, Hieroglyphs), "we start where I end" (Boreas again).

"Be the sun as my witness / Better prophets could pen / A thousand words for every chord / I ever could begin. / May their carbon given / Be an echoing hymn / That goes on and on and on again / So long as I live" - pencil-graphite is a form of carbon, so I think they're rephrasing the "lead into gold" line of Zephyrus, but they're also talking about the carbon we're made of ("we are matter and it matters"). Some of these "prophets" write, but others just live out/embody their own messages and use their own hands to mend what's broken around them. They let their bodies breathe life into the corners, be a darker soil, and water deep to the roots of something greener.

This whole EP is very Incarnational actually

#the oh hellos #zephyrus #ambiguously Christian folk music with synthesizers #sorry for inconsistent formatting!

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homestuck-kinhelp · 3 years

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Hey ,Could I get a shufflemancy for my relationship with Y.G.? thanks : )

yeah!! i got Theseus by The Oh Hellos

tl;dr your relationship was rocky, and with hard work from the two of you, became more stable and safe until you were practically inseperable.

long breakdown (under the cut)

At the edges of my fingers Never quite closing ‘round it Oh, that peace like a river Always going, but never getting

this is the beginning of your relationship. you wanted a peaceful, reliable relationship, but it was just out of your reach.

Seems like maybe it’s not all that much a place As it is a way And ways don’t ever seem to want to Stay too still for too long

this is the realization that the relationship you wanted- the “place”- was impossible. you both were constantly changing, so the “way”- the growth the both of you needed to create a stable relationship was constantly changing with you. Isn’t that what it’s all about? The slow trickling thaw that sets the banks in half The sweet melody it makes when the canyons crack I wanna give it all I’ve got, and I want nothing I want nothing back

i interpret this as the two of you individually making up your minds to work for it. you knew it would take time- the slow trickling thaw- but the “sweet melody” of a harmonious relationship would be worth it. however, the line “give it all i’ve got... i want nothing back” indicates that you may have thrown all your energy into making it better for them, without realizing that any relationship is give and take. you were just giving. Whatever kingdom come, it probably won’t come quick No mighty clarion to announce it No single use ark to discard in an instant Like Theseus’s ship, we’ll fix the busted bits

theseus’ ship is a logical puzzle- if you replace every board in a ship, is it the same ship? you would probably wonder at many points if you were the same people you were when you met, and yearn to go back to the old relationship because it was easier. it felt like you were getting nowhere, but everything had changed. 'Til it’s both nothing like and everything It’s always been It’s a wonder we expect a thing to Stay the same at all

again, this echoes the ‘theseus’ ship’ puzzle. things go in circles, and i’d wager a bet that the relationship became similar to the beginning as one of you reached for that nostalgia that kept creeping out of your reach. Maybe that’s what it’s all about We keep fixing what we know is only bound to break What’s worth saving is never worth letting go to waste I want to mend what I’ve got, instead of throwing away

first half of this verse: despair. the relationship may become unhealthy again, and you felt like it’d broken. like there was nothing worth keeping, because you kept trying to fix something but shattered it beyond repair.

second half: a hope. it’s not broken beyond repair. mending what you have might have included having a real, honest heart-to-heart with Y.G. talking through everything. feelings, hope, despair, everything. real emotional honesty. Ain’t nothing come easy No, nothing comes quick It’s gonna hurt like hell to become well But if we set the bone straight It’ll mend It’ll fix And we’ll be well

in the aftermath of this discussion, the two of you may have resolved to keep the relationship- friendship, romance, anything- but to take things slower. to set a bone is to cast it, keep it stiff, so it heals. it is a notoriously nasty process, but it’s better to have a healed, set bone than the pain of one permanently broken or healed wrong. Ain’t nothing comes easy No, nothing comes quick But I want for you this: that you are well I want for us this, oh: That we are well (x3)

so, at the end of the day, your relationship ended up in the baby steps. it probably never healed perfectly, but the two of you ended up closer for it. far closer, in fact. i’d go so far to say that you were inseperable by some point, but tried to keep out of codependency.

please remember that this is my interpretation, and you know your timeline better than i do!

- mod WV

#homestuck kin #shufflemancy #relationship shufflemancy #mod wv

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