#a beacon of death

[partoftinystar]

soo what we thinking for scar winner space imagincary? i been thinking about perhaps a black hole, consuming all the light others being driven to it alsot like ppl are driven to scar via his charm but ultimately black holes are all alone, like he was this season, also i feel like black is a definition of lack all life aka death and i fell it fits nicely with cScar connection to death

[kooldewd123]

there's something to be said about the choice to use "prince" as the main signifier of military rank for the andalites. because it kinda obscures the truth of the situation, doesn't it? a group of kids getting magic powers from an alien prince sounds whimsical and delightful. a group of kids getting pulled into a war by an alien colonel sounds tragic and horrible. the slow reveal of what "prince" actually means over the course of the early books is perhaps the most underrated twist of the entire series, because it fundamentally recontextualizes the entire premise of the series without the reader even consciously realizing it.

[v0idwraith]

David Szymanski: in my game i have invented the Iron Lung as a cautionary tale

Billionaires: at long last, we have created the Iron Lung from classic horror game Don’t Create The Iron Lung

[rotnread]

Twink death Dilf birth

[feelsforsterek]

↳ TRUE ALPHA DEREK HALE SUPREMACY!!

[theworldsoftolkein]

A Random (Angsty) Boromir Mood-Board

[eyebagsanonymous]

Take this uquiz I made in 20 minutes

[screechingfromthevoid]

Matron: *tears open a metal monstrosity of wizard hubris and shreds it to a point where the only thing that needs to be done is to pull the beacon out*

Sarenrae: *literally circumvents "natural orders" and "domains" and "fates strings" to bring back someone who has died four times before*

Matron: you're making me look bad

Sarenrae: love you baby sis 😘

[gay-baby-brig]

Anybody have any HD pics of Izzy and Frenchie spit-roast-torturing the British for this split second during the raid

[cloudysonder]

BirdRick: Trust, Home, and Return

Rick C137 meets BP at a rough point in his life--his wife is dead across the multiverse, and he's decided to dedicate his entire life to finding and killing the man who did it.

He's tired, he's grieving, he's numbing himself with drugs and alcohol and hedonistic, short-term relationships that he can quickly leave behind for the next universe. And at first, it seems like his meeting with BP is gonna end up the same--they start a band on a whim while high off their ass, and they have a wacky, contained adventure--

But after...

Rick stays.

Rick stays with that version of BP in that universe. (we see that version of BP's memories in Rickternal Friendshine, we see him with our Rick, we know they share those memories because of how they travel through his mind) He stays even when things start getting uncool, stays when even when things start becoming "work." He stayed with BP from start to finish fighting a revolution he didn't care about!

He gets that impulse again--that need to get out of this universe and travel to another that's slightly different, that's more fun--Rick is an adventure-junkie before all else, and he needs his fix.

But now it's not so easy to leave.

Now, he has someone by his side who he can leave his back to in a war, who makes the time between adventures less unbearable, who's honest and sincere and believes in the value of life and freedom and is willing to die for it. Rick knows for a fact that nothing matters, that the revolution fails before it begins in infinite universes, that in some universes, the oppressed are the oppressors, that infinity dies and is recreated every millisecond across universes--but he... he likes that BP believes. (He makes Rick feel like life isn't meaningless.)

So...

Come with me. Anywhere. Everywhere.

(Notice how Rick's eye bags have gotten better since meeting BP, notice the soft look in his eyes, the way he moves closer instead of moving away)

BP's the first person he's wanted to stay with since Diane. He tells him everything--the portal travel, the multiverse, the fact that infinite universes exist so none matter--nothing matters! Nothing matters, but you matter... to me.

It's Crowley telling Aziraphale they can go off together, it's Grantaire believing in nothing but Enjolras who believes in everything, it's someone in pain who hates everything but loves one person so, so dearly that they grab their hand and tell them to run away with them--

And BP says no.

The very reason why Rick wants BP to come with him is the reason he can't. Rick, against all odds, likes BP's sincerity, his belief that life matters. And BP, with that sincerity and belief, tells Rick that he cannot follow him, because his universe matters to him.

And Rick leaves, hurt. He shoots a portal, walks through, and it's over.

He can find another BP easily. One that wouldn't say no to him, one that would travel the multiverse with him, that sounds like him, moves like him, acts like him.

But he doesn't.

BP tells him to use the beacon if he needs him. We never see Rick use it. Not because Rick doesn't need him,

but because Rick keeps coming back.

We see a picture of Rick holding a baby Morty in BP's house, even though our Morty has only known Rick for 2 years. Even while traveling the multiverse, exchanging Beths and Mortys and Jerrys, Rick keeps coming to see that Birdperson, in that universe.

There's not much that Rick comes back to. Being able to travel anywhere all the time means that he doesn't really have a home.

His original universe is soaked in grief and self-loathing. Diane's voice blares from his garage speakers and blames him for her death. Everything in that garage is dedicated to finding her killer. Rick only wakes up there sometimes in a miserable haze, torturing himself with photos of her.

But sometimes. Rick finds something wonderful in a different universe. A nice leaf. A pretty seed. A new drug that makes you feel absolutely fantastic.

A grandson.

(Framed photo in BP's house)

And who else would he want to show it to, but BP?

Rick does not have many places to return to. His original family is dead. "Home" is just another word for a base of operations to locate Rick Prime. Staying with Our Morty is just another scheme to get closer to Rick Prime. Rick does not have a home. Rick does not need a home.

Rick Sanchez is a hypocrite.

If he truly didn't care about anything but adventure, there are infinite BPs that would be infinitely more convenient to stay with, to go find and visit, who would say the right things, who would come visit him instead of always making Rick come to him, but, to his great chagrin,

"That's not how any of this works."

Rick Sanchez, the smartest man in the universe, cannot choose who he loves.

He keeps coming back through decades, sharing drinks, stories, his very best discoveries--a moment of peace and companionship between his adventures.

What is that, if not a home?

@birdperselias pls see this

[6-2-aestheticsofhate]

Hey so when you die you can see all of Sebastian's eyes

Usually they're covered by his hair and he has to move them out of the way for you to see his third eye.

I want to propose that he's wearing a hair clip to keep the hair out of his eyes when he's telling us how we died

[mimenoises456]

Beacon, the first petrifolk to feel grief

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

There was this thread on r/asoiaf the other day that was complaining about how ASOIAF stans seem to lose all creativity when it comes to theorizing about Dany’s endgame. The OP argued that people are so sure that Dany’s story can only end in death even though nothing is set in stone and the story would still be very good if she lived to the end.

Predictably, the comments in the thread proceeded to double down on why Dany is 100% “doomed” and marked for death, which is very funny because not only did they completely miss OP’s point, but they started citing statistics that I have personally never heard of. How can anyone except George R.R Martin know what is 100% Dany’s endgame? Are there some mathematic equations I need to be aware of? Can someone share with the class please…

See, I agree with that OP big time. It’s a bit annoying to go through fandom spaces and have to see the same old posts about how Dany is an instrument of death and so she needs to be put out at the end of the story. Others will try to argue that she will die a hero as a means of being a bit more charitable. It seems that everywhere I go, Dany’s endgame always ends in death. There really is an obvious lack of creativity when it comes to speculating about her endgame.

I have an issue with using death to define Dany’s story because she is so much more than that. People get so caught up in the “bride of fire” and “daughter of death” aspects that they forget about what Dany actually does. She goes around liberating people! Yes she brings death…to those who harm others and deserve it. She is not bringing death wholesale to innocent people but she is bringing death and destruction to corrupt institutions. That’s the whole point of her character. She is a liberator. She is a savior! She is a dragon and the dragon cleanses. To the slaves she is the Breaker of Chains. To those who have glimpsed of the coming Long Night, she is the Prince(ss) That Was Promised. To all, she represents hope for the future. Hope for life and liberation from death.

Dany gained so much power throughout her arc so far and she could have taken a ship straight to Westeros, but she used her new found abilities to free people from slavery; she chose to liberate them from death. Really, that’s how I view Dany’s campaign against slavery. Slaves aren’t treated as people; their humanity is discarded, they have no will, no future, no hope. It’s almost like a death of the person though they may not physically be dead. Then in comes Daenerys Targaryen, a young girl with nothing but her dragons and her compassion, who says to them “you may not matter to them but you matter to me and I will save you”. Where the slaves didn’t have free will before, Dany gives it to them. I’m remembering the unsullied who didn’t even have names but Dany gave them the ability to pick and choose their own; which seems like such a small act but means so much more because names are important in humanizing people. She represents new beginnings.

Dany’s crusade across Slaver’s Bay is a big deal. She didn’t have to do it but she did it anyway. There was no personal gain for her but she did it because she cares so deeply about people. And then she gets to Meereen and decides to stay there because her “children” need her. She cannot and will not abandon strangers to a fate of death. And the people know that.

I’m just thinking of this quote:

“I am no lady,” the widow replied, “just Vogarro’s whore. You want to be gone from here before the tigers come. Should you reach your queen, give her a message from the slaves of Old Volantis.” She touched the faded scar upon her wrinkled cheek, where her tears had been cut away. “Tell her we are waiting. Tell her to come soon.”

- Tyrion VII, ADWD

And this one too:

“I told you, I know our little queen […] this Mother of Dragons, this Breaker of Chains, is above all a rescuer. The girl who drowned the slaver cities in blood rather than leave strangers to their chains can scarcely abandon her own brother’s son in his hour of peril.”

- Tyrion VI, ADWD

These people have never even met Dany but to them, she is hope and freedom and life! She is salvation, and that’s the point. She has spent much of her arc fighting slavery which is in preparation for her ultimate destiny as a savior to defeat the Others. Because they not only bring death to the land but they also threaten to enslave humanity through death. However, they cannot triumph over the Breaker of Chains; the great savior that is Daenerys Targaryen! That’s what her story has been building up to. And it’s not that Dany is saving people and peacing out (e.g., dying in a sacrifice). The point is that she herself persevered. And because she persevered, her people will too. It’s that her constant survival ensures that of others.

Dany grew up penniless, homeless, hungry, and even started out as a 13 year old slave to Khal Drogo. She could have given up but she didn’t because through everything, she is resilient. She is determination and perseverance in the face of death. When she walked into that funeral pyre she could have died, but she lived and emerged as the Mother of Dragons - these dragons that have been instrumental in freeing slaves and will ultimately be important in the Other’s defeat. She “died” in that pyre and was “reborn”, and this rebirth is moving her closer to ensuring that the rest of her people overcome death as well.

That’s why it’s more thematically meaningful for Dany to survive the Long Night, in my opinion. She, more than anyone, represents what it means to constantly fight against the odds. She represents what it means to go through all the worst life can throw at you and then not only come out on top, but turn around and use her own survival to ensure that of others’. She has lived through so many trials and persevered; she is the very embodiment of what it means to survive. Because her survival means that where death could destroy, it didn’t. Instead, life prevailed.

If she survives the Long Night, she remains a constant symbol - a beacon if you will - of what’s to come which is better days. Those who are suffering can look to her and see how she went through hell and lived. This would go a long way in boosting morale especially in the aftermath of the Long Night. Because think about it, the people fought against the Others and overcame death, but now they have to survive what comes next. I think Dany is needed because she has already gone through this cycle and will not only be an important figurehead during the War for the Dawn, but she will also be important as the people try to find a will to live beyond death (winter and the Others).

The last book is called A Dream of Spring so I assume this means that it will still be winter - though the Long Night may be over. People will still be hungry, they will be homeless, and they will be tired. They will not know what comes next only that they have to move forward and survive through this new hardship. And you know who has personally experienced these things and knows what it’s like? Daenerys Targaryen! She has survived through it all. So imagine just how powerful it will be for those who survive the Long Night to look at young Daenerys and go, “you know what, I think we’ll get through this one too”. And it will be even more poignant for Dany to lead them to that rest and restoration. Because it’s not just the people who need rest after fighting for so long, Dany does too:

“It is such a long way,” she complained. “I was tired, Jorah. I was weary of war. I wanted to rest, to laugh, to plant trees and see them grow. I am only a young girl.”

- Dany X, ADWD

People take the “dragons plant no trees” part that comes after to assume that Dany will remain stagnant for the next two books and it really is a pity. Someone pointed out a while ago (and I cannot for the life of me remember who this was) that Dany tends to pivot at the end of each book. As she continues to grow and develop as a character, her plans and priorities change. So it’s a bit sad how people assume that she will constantly be in a state of warfare. Because at the moment, Dany’s didn’t isn’t over yet.

Her campaign in Essos must continue and she still has the Others to fight in Westeros. So for now, she cannot truly settle down to plant trees. But she has been learning! She tried to do that throughout ADWD and I don’t see why that learning arc will be discarded at the end of the story. Especially when we consider that few others have actually been learning to lead. The only other character who has is Jon Snow but funny enough, many in this fandom think that he too is doomed to die. I’m not sure why George R.R Martin would kill the two up-and-coming leaders in the story who best answer “what was Aragorn’s tax policy?”

Ultimately, when all is said and done and there are no more wars to fight, I think Dany will finally find her peace and will learn that dragons can plant trees and watch them grow. As all the other heroes in the story, she will probably come out of the Long Night battered and bruised, but everything will be okay because she will still be alive; just like that Bran scene at the end of ACOK, which to me is the very definition of bittersweet. A better ending for her in my opinion isn’t dying in the cold of winter, but rather living and healing and finding a way to build a house with a red door, even though she cannot return to the one she knew as a child. Not only that, she can also provide this house with a red door” for the homeless, beaten, and bruised who survive the Long Night. It’s certainly possible that Martin could write Dany’s death in a way that is poignant and beautiful, but my personal preference is that she lives because of what her survival means for the larger themes in the story.

This whole post has been so jumbled and I’ve rambled a bit but I hope it made sense in the end lol. But anyway….the point is, I’m 1000% Team Dany Must Live!

[tojisun]

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[zhivchik]

[eyeballsoup7310]

My terrible children who die over and over again in various insane ways