#ancient dune

[bigdirtgirl]

September 2022 - desert nests

[joelchaimholtzman]

Happy to share a new DUNE piece I painted! This is Feyd Rautha Harkonnen, the sadistic nephew of the Baron and heir to planet Arrakis. I saw the movie two weeks ago and its a solid 10 for me. The visuals and limited color palettes served the narrative to the smallest detail. The entire project also shows that we need MORE mature fantasy/sci fi on a smaller budget.Should I continue making these DUNE characters? Please let me know which character I should make next!

[druidshollow]

On his travel to Eleven Rivers, his new charge, Flowers and his entourage are disrupted by the Civilizing Divide Group and their unorthodox Councillor.

long time no comic!!! hi!! today flowers is moving to rivers to be his new boss but first he must pass through the civilizing divide, a militarized state independent of the Global Council Collective

[thesilicontribesman]

Forvie National Nature Reserve, Ancient Coastline and Prehistoric Kerb Cairns, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

[blacksunrequiem]

Disclaimer: I wrote this post as an enthusiast for Dune: Part Two (2024) and the ‘seductively sick’ portrayal of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. Any other thoughts or comments are welcomed and appreciated! TL;DR: The aesthetic choice of Feyd’s blackened teeth aligns well with the widespread custom in ancient Vietnam — a sign of beauty, maturity, and even brutality. Read more below. Original photos belong to their respective owners.

Teeth blackening in Dune: Part Two (2024) through the lens of Vietnamese culture

One thing that mesmerizes me about Feyd in the 2024 Dune movie is his blackened teeth. Not only does this provide an impressive physical appearance for Feyd, but it also reminds me of a long-lost fashionable custom in my home country.

Original inspiration. As far as I know, the film crew creatively invented this aesthetic for the movie from the inspiration of the black mamba (a type of venomous snake in sub-Saharan Africa) and images of geisha with black teeth. Similar to folklore and legends, other countries and ethnicities also dyed their teeth black with their local traditional recipes.

Vietnam-specific. Particularly in Vietnam, teeth blackening was once a popular aesthetic choice for both commoners and noblemen. As teeth blackening was a sign of elegance and decency, it was prevalent for Vietnamese women to adhere to this practice. This custom was deep-rooted as early as 400 BCE and grew so profound as an indicator of being ready for marriage or fierce on battlefields. Side note, Vietnamese people would not dye their teeth black until they came of age; it was indeed a statement of maturity.

A clash between the East and the West. It is also hilarious that until the early 20th century in Vietnam, white teeth were regarded as barbaric; only animals, savages, and evil spirits would have white teeth. During this time, one may casually make a sarcastic remark about pretty girls with white teeth such as “Oh you’ve got a pretty face but your teeth are as white as doggo.” On the contrary, in the eyes of the French colonists, the locals had impressive straight teeth but those were “as black as sewer pipes”.

Cannibalism? In some online discussions, internet users theorize that Feyd’s blackened teeth may indicate cannibalism. This fan theory is reasonable enough, because during World War I, to curb the abuse and bullying from the larger and stronger Moroccans and Senegalese mercenaries to the smaller Annamese counterparts, a French officer spread the rumor that black-toothed people were cannibals and could devour two legs in just an hour, terrifying the African mercenaries and bringing peace to the Annamese ones.

How to? So, without the privilege of wearing an Invisalign filled with black dye like Austin, how did the Vietnamese dye their teeth? In short, one must generally undergo the following stages to dye their teeth black: mouth sanitization, red dyeing, black dyeing, polishing, and maintenance, which on average took around three weeks. It was reported that the first teeth-dyeing session would rather be physically painful due to swelling mouth and lips, stinging sensation of the dyed teeth, and strict dietary restrictions (e.g., refraining from fatty and hot food, smoking).

On another side note, I don’t know exactly what the food that Feyd chewed in the early morning attacking Sietch Tabr and degrading Rabban, but to maintain the sheeny stylish black teeth, ancient and older Vietnamese often practiced betel nut chewing.

Dear Dune fan fic writers, please consider adding this long-lost social custom into your fics; multi-cultural representation would be greatly appreciated and respected.

Please let me know if you want me to delve into greater details of the teeth blackening tutorial in Vietnam. I may do a part two on this for my lovely Feyd and Vietnamese culture if you guys are intrigued!

[ao3-anonymous]

Fastest Growing Fandoms on AO3 This Week (03/25/2024)

Every week I pull data on how many fics are in each fandom and compare to the previous week, then calculate the percentage increase to determine fastest growing fandoms.  Since this naturally skews towards smaller fandoms, I have included the same data filtered to Over 1k, 5k, & 10k fics.

Overall:

Over 1,000 Fics:

Over 5,000 Fics:

Over 10,000 Fics:

Source: AO3 Fandom Dashboard

[swiftiereg]

favourite character tag!

choose 4 of your favourite characters from 4 pieces of media as options and let your tumblr pals decide which one most suits your vibe, then tag more people

thanks for the tag @alltoounwellll <3

no pressure tags: @theineffablepancake @in2tswft @multishipperofgaydeadwizards @whoopsiesnodaisies @snarky-magpie @always-reading @sunmoonyandstars @starsarestories @ninaisnotgerman @e-regcanswim @t1oui @we-r-loonies @doodlemcjazzhands

[a-sunset-outside-my-window]

fic rec (not) friday

Dunes and Waters

by MarigoldWritesThings (@marigold-hills) on Ao3

Remus is sensitive to changing tides, a part of the moon always with him, and Black is like the sea. He can smell it on him, the way his magic builds up and crackles about the fingertips.

***

A werewolf, a convict, and a riddle.

I love this fic so so much! I've been in love with it since it got posted here on tumblr and it's so amazing and you should definitely read it!

favourite tropes included are:

werewolf angst

some solid hurt/comfort

Kingsley being generally done with everybodys bs

good boy padfoot

egyptian mythology (<3)

rivals to lovers

but slowburn

Sirius discovers crossword puzzles

sneaky Peter

Sirius has an actual support network

fluffy fluff

my art

as always leave lots of love and kudos to the author and have an amazing rest of the week <3

[salmonella-destroyer-of-worlds]

[plaguedoctormemes]

Deserts are super beautiful and can have a variety of wildlife, formations, seasons. I currently live in a desert and other than being goth in the summer its fucking awesome. We're in monsoon seasons so it rains very frequently. I really want to make my current iteration of Dr. Grim's design for real because it's so southwestern itll look so fucking awesome here

[lanadelreyandghostfan]

[joelchaimholtzman]

What song is Gurney Halleck playing?

Happy to share another DUNE painting! The master-at-arms and bard for House Atreides. My previous depiction of Gurney was not good at all, so I decided to redo it from scratch. The background is inspired by the water planet of Caladan, the Atreides homeworld.

This is the final DUNE character for the time being, but I will definitely resume the series in the future!

Hope you like it!

All the best,

JCH

[druidshollow]

i like to think that king vultures had a database of criminal faces and masks and stuff (FNAF???????) and so theyd have to wear hoods but sometimes you get seen yknow. oops

[thesilicontribesman]

Toads at Forvie National Nature Reserve, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

[st-alia-atreides]

absolutely buzzing with thoughts about paul as a tragic greek hero and everything that comes along with it. he’s orestes torn between his dead father and his tormented mother, who just wants his father back, and yet only brings more death and destruction. he’s oedipus, tragically aware of what his fate is promised to be, so sure he can circumvent it. (he can’t.) he’s achilles, cruel and destructive, choosing glory and honor and immortality-by-memory above all (or was it chosen for him?) he loves and is loved and it’s still not enough. he can’t save chani from her fate or his sister from herself, and he certainly can’t save the world from what he’s done to it

[ao3-anonymous]

Fastest Growing Fandoms on AO3 This Week (03/27/2024)

Every week I pull data on how many fics are in each fandom and compare to the previous week, then calculate the percentage increase to determine fastest growing fandoms.  Since this naturally skews towards smaller fandoms, I have included the same data filtered to Over 1k, 5k, & 10k fics.

Overall:

Over 1,000 Fics:

Over 5,000 Fics:

Over 10,000 Fics:

Source: AO3 Fandom Dashboard