atr3ldes - Tumblr blog

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Atreides supremacy.

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"Very good, Stil. Statistics: at a conservative estimate, I've killed sixty-one billion, sterilized ninety planets, completely demoralized five hundred others. I've wiped out the followers of forty religions which had existed since -- "

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loved Dune part 2

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Hate (affectionate) how it's made so clear from the very beginning of part 1 just how loved Paul is by his family and household. Both his parents, Duncan, Gurney, Thufir, even Dr Yueh all clearly care so deeply for this kid, and we're shown that time and time again.

Cut to the end of part two, and almost every one of those people is gone. The only ones who remain are a weird, came-back-wrong version of Jessica, and Gurney who has gone from mentor to worshipper. Paul goes from someone deeply loved and valued for who he is by a small but caring group of people - to someone followed and worshipped and feared by thousands. They're obsessed with him in a way, as a leader and "messiah", but nobody loves him.

The only one remaining who loves him for who he is is Chani, who leaves him because in the end that love isn't enough to bring who he is back.

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First round of Dune fan designs. More on the way

I wanted to do more detailed character sheets but there are way too many dudes in this book for me to get through .

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he fascinates me

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think of the world we could have made.

close up under cut

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‘you fought well, Atreides’

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Have you seen Moebius’ take on Feyd-Rautha?? I love the 2024 film but the femboy appreciators were robbed in this way. They really said ‘one mountain cannot contain two twinks*

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Really digging the subtle little arc that Paul goes on from when he and Jessica arrive at Sietch Tabr and he says "I must sway the non-believers" (I don't think he means convert them to the prophecy; I think he means convince them to follow his lead politically; but still seeing the Fremen as a tool to be used in his personal revenge quest), to when they're talking before Jessica leaves for the south and he says he's staying in the north to fight but that "they deserve to be led by one of their own" (ie. I'm in this fight because I believe in it but I don't expect to gain anything for myself and actually I probably shouldn't).

The fact that Paul is only becoming more convinced that he is nothing special at the same time that people are starting to worship him. The fact that his own mother is doing everything possible to accelerate that process and the two of them keep moving further and further apart (literally, he is going north and she is going south). The fact that people keep telling him he should just reach out and take the power that's available to him (Jessica with the prophecy, Gurney with the nukes), it's so simple, look, it's right there waiting for you, it's your birthright, wouldn't this makes things easier? The fact that he resists all of these arguments right up until the attack on Sietch Tabr, and that it's his best, most human impulses (grief over watching his home be destroyed again and guilt that he should have seen it coming; if he'd just seen more clearly or understood the visions better--) that make him finally decide to step onto the path that dooms him and everyone else.

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The thing about Paul is that he is legitimately kind of unhinged in his willingness to throw himself into physical danger and risk getting hurt or killed in a fight that matters to him.

The way he goes NYOOM the second he realizes that Duncan is about to fight a fuckton of Sardaukar. No shield no weapons no plan no hesitation, ready to take on the most fearsome soldiers in the known universe in his pajamas. And he would have if Duncan hadn't locked the door.

Fly through a sandstorm because it's the only escape route? Never done it before but sure. Crawl under a moving harvester the size of a building with chompy bits on the end? Worst plan ever, let's go. Bait the ornithopter gunship into shooting at him so his crush can blow it up? It was his goddamn idea. Hide quietly when the Harkonnen soldiers show up during the eclipse? Oh hell no, he is looking for a way to escalate that situation immediately. He just killed someone for the first time like yesterday and did not enjoy it. But as soon as the Harkonnens are there he is ready to throw down.

The absolute trapped raccoon energy of him just grabbing the knife blade when Feyd's trying to stab him the second time, because it's probably over but he's not gonna make it easy, and maybe that gives him the extra second he needs to pull his own knife out. That teeth-gritted look he gives Feyd when he is on his knees, beat to shit, two stab wounds, blood all over his face, and is still like bitch you THOUGHT you could out-crazy me.

Like many things about him, it's a double-edged blade. Because it's what wins him respect among the Fremen, that he's willing to go to the front lines and not afraid to take risks. It's the most potent expression of his fierce protective streak, that he'll jump into danger to defend those he loves. And it's also fucking terrifying. It just adds such a chaotic energy to all the other ways that he is scary, that he doesn't just command armies of fanatics and have the power to make the Emperor of the Known Universe bow at his feet, but that this blood-streaked feral little gremlin might show up personally at any moment and stab you in the neck.

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Paul 'Usul' Atreides

the Prophet

Muad'Dib

Walker of the Golden Path

bringer of billions to Paradise

an unquenchable flame

Long live the fighters. 🫀🔪🔥

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speed paint / process video /timelapse of my picture of Paul Atreides, the Prophet, Maud'Dib, and Walker of the Golden Path I will never, in a million years, get over Dune 2

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corrupted godhood. reluctant false messiah. prophecy as a creeping all consuming malady. does the oracle see the future or make the future? the horror of trapping yourself inescapably on purpose. the chains of destiny dragging you towards the path you are fighting tooth and nail to free yourself from. there never having been a chance to begin with. no other choice to make. but making that choice regardless.

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is this ur pet?

(If feyd lived to be prisoner of Atreides

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the Baron’s trophy

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may my sanity chip and shatter 🫠✨