#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

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

im havign shrimp emotions

[lizardlicks]

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.

[moonlarked]

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, we are well

We are well”

[jellywolf]

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, 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.