#the pages are torn and worn and covered in scribbled handwriting; notes and warnings and memories

[nobodieshero-main]

bestie bestie beloved i listened to the song 'atlas hands' by benjamin francis leftwich and maybe it's just bc i saw atlas and immediately applied the song to him but idk i just think it really fits him? that sense of wanderlust intermingling with loss and the grief of a devastating adventure, 'i will remember your face cause i am still in love with that place' - conflicting thoughts because the journey 'killed' keika but now atlas is back safe and maybe there's a part of him that still aches for that which he doesn't know, or perhaps there's regret even that his own wanderlust involved keika to begin with. idk i feel like this might not fit but it's a very pretty song either way - @tbos-main

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no because you're so right it's not even funny, when i first saw the title i went ''haha atlas'' and then i actually listened to it and i was like "oh this IS an atlas song-"

Take me to the docks, there's a ship without a name there And it is sailing to the middle of the sea The water there is deeper than anything you've ever seen Jump right in and swim until you're free

like the first verse is immediately Atlas deciding to go on the quest, stepping into the unknown with a smile, uncaring really of whatever he may face because he's finally soothing that itch under his skin that's always sung of adventure. And there's that idea of freedom, hiding that undercurrent of danger that I just think suits him and the story so well yknow??

I will remember your face 'Cause I am still in love with that place But when the stars are the only things we share Will you be there?

the chorus?? absolutely about him and Keika, and even subtly about Atlas' own guilt and feeling unworthy of having Keika in his life again

Money came like rain to your hands while you were waiting For that cold long promise to appear People in the churches started singing above their hands They say, "My God is a good God and He cares"

OKAY OKAY OKAY I LOVE THINKING ABOUT THIS VERSE IN REGARDS TO NOBODIES HERO BC THE GOD IN QUESTION IS PRINCE SASHA - so that first line just fits so fucking beautifully into the fact that Atlas and Co. are basically paid to keep quiet about what actually happened on the quest. Prince Sasha literally gives them hush money, and Atlas takes it because he doesn't know what else to do; and then that second line?

Atlas made a promise to himself that he'd get Keika home safe, and he failed in that, so he's just like. forever waiting for it, if that makes sense?? it makes sense to me

and then the last two lines are about the citizens of Prota and their near god-like worship of Prince Sasha bc of generations of propaganda and shit; and in the context of nobodies hero "my god is a good god and he cares" has this like twisted meaning, where it's both how people actually feel and it's the bitter sarcasm of keika mocking them for feeling that way?

I've got a plan, I've got an atlas in my hands I'm gonna turn when I listen to the lessons I've learned I've got a plan, I've got an atlas in my hands I'm gonna turn when I listen to the lessons I've learned

and basically this final verse is basically just Atlas' learning from his past mistakes, he knows what he's stepping into now when he decides to go on another adventure, he knows what might be waiting for him at the other end and this time he's not going to let it happen.