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hannibals-favourite-meal · 2 months

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.⋆｡Oasis｡⋆.

Stilgar x plus size reader

When the sand is still and the sun has set, you reflect on what has become of your life but there is someone unexpected who wishes to show you how valued you truly are

Warnings: some Dune 2 spoilers but nothing too major, suicidal thoughts, self-hatred, fluff, love confessions, hope , mentions of death and pregnancy

WC: 1.1k

Minors DNI

Library- @hannibals-favourite-meal-library

You doubted that you would ever get used to the harshness of Arrakis. The heat and the perpetual dryness were a constant reminder about how far from home you really were but your duty was not to your own comfort, it was to your Lady Jessica. You followed her from the drowned planet of Caladin all the way here, protecting her and her son, as well as the unborn child within her.

The Fremen looked down on you, even after Jessica was named Reverend Mother and Paul became Muad'Dib, you were still the outsider, the one whose eyes had yet to be stained by the Spice. You got used to eating, sleeping and walking alone, the sand beneath your feet becoming the only thing you could count on. You trailed behind everyone else, they called you a waste of water and there were times that you couldn’t help but agree. You could not fight, nor harvest Spice, you were raised and trained to be a lady’s maid, destined to spend your days in the shadows observing the world around you as life passed you by.

You often wondered why Stilgar had fought so hard for you to stay with the Fremen when you had nothing to offer them. Even Lady Jessica couldn’t find a use for you anymore.

The moonlight cast a blue glow over the mountainous sand dunes and you could almost imagine that they were the ocean waves of your home planet. The camp was quiet, everyone having retired for the night an hour before yet you remained awake, deep in thought. No one would know you had gone until the morning, the wind would wash away your foot prints. You would give your water to the desert.

Just as you rose to your feet, a strong hand clamped down onto your shoulder, keeping you in place. “Why are you not resting Suhl?” Stilgar’s voice was quiet but it still held such power over you. You turned slowly in his hold to face him, yet he did not release your shoulder. His blue eyes shone like gems in the moonlight, making your heart jump and flutter.

“Forgive me for worrying you, I found that I couldn’t sleep.” You bowed your head. Stilgar tutted softly and hooked a finger beneath your chin, guiding your eyes back to his. His thick brows were pinched in confusion though his expression remained soft, far softer than you had seen him look at anyone else. He seemed doubtful of your excuse.

“How many times have I told you to come find me if you need something?” Your cheeks blazed with the heat of shame. Stilgar was a generous man, especially with those he cared for and inexplicably, he was almost too giving when it came to you. He gave you extra water when you had consumed yours too quickly, he showed you how to sand walk when your fear of the sand worms had mounted, he had even shared his tent with you on so many occasions that you had lost track of the number.

His hand shifted to your soft cheek, his calloused palm from a lifetime of fighting a stark reminder that you were not made for this life, this planet. “I can see that is not all that worries you Suhl. Tell me what troubles are clouding your mind.” You attempted to swallow down the thick lump trapped in your throat but when the older Fremen let his free hand wander to your lower back, his thumb gently rubbing the base of your spine, you choked on the tears you had not allowed yourself to shed.

“It is nothing.” You tried to deny and tug yourself away from the man that had been caring for you. Your eyes burned as he held you closer, a show of affection that you had never received before. He clicked his tongue at you, as if he were scolding a child.

“Suhl.” He cooed, dipping down to press his forehead to your own, the tips of your noses brushing together. You could no longer hold back.

The first tear that rolled down your full cheek shocked you both. It was quickly followed by another and another and another until they dripped down your chin and onto the loose white shirt Stilgar wore at night. You hiccuped and slumped into his strong chest. You clutched at his waist as you continued to sob but the Fremen, despite his constant insistence that absolutely no water could be wasted, gently rocked you back and forth, whispering comforting words into your hair, even if you couldn’t understand them.

“I shouldn’t be here. I should have been killed with the others when the Harkonnens. I am of no use to anyone and everyone knows it.” You pretend not to notice the way his muscles seize and he goes stiff in your arms, you wished to bask in his affections for as long as you could, before he too realised the truth.

His thumb ceased its movement and he slowly pried his chest away from yours. “Is that what you truly believe?” Your lack of an answer told him everything he needed to know.

He pulled you back into him, his thick arms wrapped tightly around your shoulders like he were fearful that you would suddenly dart away from him and into the desert where he could not follow you. Your eyes screwed shut as you curled into him. More tears stained his shirt but he did not flinch away from you.

“Do not waste your water on those who would not drink from you. You are better off crying for the dead.” A light breeze washed over the both of you, kicking up the sand around your feet. “You are not like us Suhl, you are soft where we are ruthless. It is true that you are not meant for this life but I would not have you take that light away from this world, not when I can keep you safe until this world is kind enough to let you bloom.”

“Why?”

His chuckle made your head bounce against his sternum. “I thought it obvious. You are my Suhl.” A hand came up to lovingly cup the back of your head, urging you to look him in the eyes. “Suhl means peace. And that is what you are: my peace. And one day, when the sands have disappeared beneath a sea of green and Dune is free once more, I hope that I shall be yours too.”

You can’t help but smile which in turn makes Stilgar beam, the blue of his eyes shimmering with what you now realised was love. “Thank you Suhl.” Your pronunciation was clumsy and most certainly needed some practice but still, he squeezed the base of your skull and dipped down, pressing his lips to yours.

The sun would rise soon and you would be forced back into the real world and all its dangers, but for now, you basked in the moonlight, safe in his arms. Perhaps Arrakis held more than just pain.

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moviemunchies · 7 days

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By Frank, they did it! They made an excellent follow-up to Dune: Part One!

We’re going to have a couple of minor spoilers in this review; be aware.

After the events of the first movie, Paul Atreides has joined the Fremen in their fight with the Harkonnens. He becomes a leader among them, and even finds love in Chani, one of the lead freedom fighters. But his role as leader stirs some to think he’s their prophesied messiah. That’s a role he doesn’t want to take, because he’s foreseen how much violence it will lead to across the galaxy, and Chani (correctly) sees the prophecy as a method the Bene Gesserit use to manipulate and colonize. As the conflict goes on, however, Paul finds himself wondering if he has to use this image of himself as a messiah; not helping, his mother has started pushing his cult among the Fremen.

Gosh, this movie was great. The first movie and this one reminded me of what it was like to watch an epic film series, a sequence of stories told cinematically in a fantastical setting that build on each other, and together tell a coherent, complete story. Do you remember when everyone was trying to do that? I’m not talking about comic book films, obviously. A lot of films didn’t succeed, to be sure, but then teen romance films became A Thing, and then dystopian films became a thing, and then comic book films, and so most studios didn’t even try to do these kinds of epics anymore. So I was very happy to see Dune managing it.

I am bummed that we’re not going to receive an extended edition, like we did with Lord of the Rings. I know that these movies are already very long, but the director admitted that he cut a lot of things to make it all fit

The changes to the narrative are noticeable, to those who have read the book, but I think they work. A lot of people came away from the original Dune novel thinking that it’s a straightforward Hero’s Journey, and that the following books are a departure from that, even though there are hints throughout that book that Paul becoming a messiah figure is A Very Bad Thing. These movies maybe beat you over the head with that, though I think it ultimately works because, yeah, it’s a very bad thing, and it all goes south incredibly quickly.

Making Chani the main voice of the, “Wow, this messiah business is some BS, huh?” opinion is an interesting choice. It is a bit heavy-handed in how it gives you the intent of the messiah storyline to the audience; it is also good that someone has this view in the movie, because yes, the prophecy was invented to do what Chani says it was–manipulate a populace. I’m curious as to how the third movie, if it happens, will go with her, as the version in the book is fine with the messiah role. She has a large part in Dune: Messiah, and I don’t know how it will fit in with the version of Chani that’s in this movie.

We should also talk about the Bene Gesserit? They’re interesting, but there is one part of the film that doesn’t quite work for me. Slight spoiler, but in this movie, it’s revealed that they’re the architects of the plan to wipe out House Atreides. That doesn’t make any goshdarn sense, given that they wanted Jessica and Paul to survive in the last movie, and it’s unclear what they would get out of this. It makes more sense the idea as it is in the books–that the Emperor wiped them out because he saw it as a threat to his power without direct action, but also a way to weaken House Harkonnen.

There are some creative choices in the direction of the way things look? Mostly I’m thinking of the Harkonnen homeworld in this film, which is a really fun change of pace. The way it looks is completely different from both Arrakis and the Atreides homeworld. It not only shows you what’s it like for a world under Harkonnen control, and the entire sequence develops their family. And it’s a great introduction to Feyd-Rautha, a key character in the proceedings of the story’s climax.

It’s a fantastic film. It’s an excellent sequel to the first one, and it displays just how much the director understands what he’s doing in telling a visual story. I love this and I want to see more of it. Not just in the sense of wanting to see the sequel (which I do), but I want to see more of these kinds of movies. The big epics, the ones that are telling big stories with epic battles in multiple parts, told by directors who know how to make them memorable instead of copying what’s already been made popular.

#Dune #Movie Munchies #Dune: Part Two #reviews

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gggoldfinch · 2 months

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Finch, I have never seen the first dune movie but we're going to see the second one later today. What is your wisdom oh dune poster of my tumblr dashboard 🙏🙏

OH MAN the quickest and most concise overview of dune1 I can give is: two Important Families (Atreides and Harkonnens) fight diplomatically over desert planet Arrakis until it’s not diplomatic anymore and the Harkonnens attack the Atreides and take over the planet again and kill the Atreides Duke, leaving his “superpowered” wife (who is pregnant) Jessica, and “superpowered” son Paul, to flee into the desert and seek refuge with the indigenous people, the Fremen. Arrakis is important bc it has spice, which is the most valuable thing in the universe bc it allows for space travel basically. Paul is also tormented by visions of the future and the prophesy that he is a messiah.

#there’s so much more than that but that’s the main points you need to know #dune #anon ask

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tokoyamisstuff · 2 years

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Void Ch. 10 - Beast Rabban x Reader

Chapter 10: Pledge

Summary: Rabban finds out about your secret.

Warnings: Angst, Assassination Attempt

Words: 2300

[Masterlist]

A/N: I know Jessica’s parentage is no common knowledge, but I needed it as a plot device. It’s an AU after all! (:

The silence filling up the room shouldn’t feel so loud, yet it did.

After all, there was a bunch of former enemies and people so incredibly different that it seemed impossible for them to join forces.

While most people were shooting hostile looks towards the Beast, you rather busied yourself with the other Harkonnen’s instead.

Rabban had assured you that most of them he imprisoned himself due to their moral scruple, which is uncommon among Harkonnens in general. Even though trained to become strong and merciless soldiers, their character made them seemingly unfit for battle - so House Harkonnen wanted to get rid of their ‘weak blood’.

Rabban did not seem to mind all the hatred directed at him, his eyes glued to you in deep concentration. Well, even if he did notice, he was probably used to that feeling his whole life...

...you however were not able to bear with it anymore, asking to be excused before you disappeared through one of the hallways.

Glossu rushed after you immediately, and much to your surprise no one dared to stop him - maybe they were just glad to not be in his presence anymore.

“That madman claims to be in love with the witch...” a Fremen spat, and luckily Rabban wouldn’t even look back to the gathered people, ignoring them and fully turn his attention to you.

“Nonsense” one of the Harkonnen’s whispered, thinking to know him after years of having served for his army. “The Beast is going to kill her as soon as he finds out about the bastard she’s carrying.”

Most Fremen were itching to draw their blade and follow to protect you, but a single look of Kasra showed them their place.

“This has nothing to do with our fight” Thufir spoke, being the only one answering to what everyone was thinking. “Y/N needs to settle this herself...”

You ran until your feet got sore, only stopping when you had reached the fauna laboratorium of Liet Kynes. The plants had long since withered, since there was no one taking care of them for such a long time.

“Y/N...” You shuddered at the voice, withdrawing your hand from a crumbling leaf. Rabban reluctantly came closer, doubtful due to your reaction. “You’re still afraid of me...”

Still, he couldn’t help but reluctantly placing his hand on your cheek, starved from the time you’ve spent apart. All this time of yearning for you, and now that you were united again, he didn’t know what to do or what the future would bring.

“I’m shaking because of something else” you spoke softly, contently leaning into his touch. “Then what is the reason?”

“Thrill of anticipation, I guess.” You smiled up to the man who glowered in confusion. “Of what?”

There he was: A man that struck fear into the hearts of monsters and men alike, dreaded among the whole known universe - standing in front of a woman he once deemed a possession, now all subservient and deeply respecting.

You could see so much raw emotion rampaging behind his eyes - reaching from confusion over fear, to pure fondness.

“You were foolish to come here” you changed the topic, unsure how to reveal the news to him. “The Fremen don’t forget that easily. They can barely contain their urge to kill you, and they’ll come for you again...eventually for me as well.”

“Well, then I’ll protect you with my life!” Rabban could only scoff at your preaching. “All this time, I couldn’t stop thinking about you...” he uttered almost pained by your distant behavior, “...and I hated it.”

He wasn’t done talking yet, for the first time since you knew him using this many words - and chosing them wisely. “I’ve sent my legions into doom - for you. If my uncle wouldn’t have killed me, the emperor would. To set an example. If it’s all the same, I’d rather die after seeing you one last time.”

You were surprised at his honesty - the Beast sure had changed. Was this your doing?

“But I care.” Your voice decreased in volume with every word, the last part being but a whisper. “...because my child would lose it’s father.”

Like this, you tossed your gown to the floor, revealing your current state without further explanation.

Rabban’s expression was indecipherable, wordlessly staring holes into your swollen womb. Was it shock? Anger? Regret? With every minute passing, anxiety paralyzed your mind and body.

“...I-” His voice broke off, vocal cords cramping from the weight of realization. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” You rose one eyebrow at him, stepping closer as soon as he tried to back away. “Stay, Rabban. Please.”

“You never had a choice. I robbed you of so much.” The former soulless man now possessed at least a fraction of consciousness, which was eating him alive. “This is my fault.”

“Enough.” Much to his surprise, your voice was vibrating in a genuinely jubilant tone. You cheerfully grabbed both of his hands and led them to your belly, making him feel the slightly stretched skin. “Do you even know what love is, Rabban?”

“Weakness.”

The Beast’s palms were still firmly placed onto your lower abdomen, unmoving as if stunned by the feeling. As if he was expecting something to happen but not knowing what it was. So for quite some time, his eyes simply wandered from your womb to your eyes and back, his orbs full of awe.

There was a life blossoming inside of you, and only now, after being the cause of so many deaths, he would slowly begin to understand how precious a single life can be.

It was almost an endearing sight, seeing the gears in his head turning as he tried to grasp this meaninful moment - until you finally broke the silence, making him lock gazes with you: “So, what do you feel for me, then?”

His answer was simple and without hesitation. "You are my weakness.”

A smile crept to your lips. That suited him, you thought. The man whose strenght was fueled by hate - up until now.

In an instant, you pulled the man down to your height, locking your lips with his. Rabban immediately complied, moving against your mouth as his hands around your waist pulled you as close as humanly possible.

“I love you too” you purred when he finally let go off of you, just to place another, quick and tender kiss onto your lips. “Just as I love this child, since the very first day.”

His hands were still lingering onto your body, no intention to ever let go - as if you were to disappear again if he did. A fragile vessel that could break apart if he wasn’t careful enough.

“It will loathe me.” Rabban avoided your gaze when he stated his theory, but even though his expression was as cold as ever, you could feel the sorrow in his words.

“She” you corrected him, reassuringly caressing his side. “And she will be the proud daughter of a man that was strong enough to overcome his past and lead the universe into a brighter future.”

The Beast was scanning your face for any hint of a lie, if only a most tiniest one - but your look was stern, and loving nonetheless. “I am sure of it.”

Your attempt was rewarded as a crooked smile tugged on the Beast’s lips, squeezing the flesh of your shoulders ever so slightly.

Especially now, where everything inside of the Rabban was undergoing such a huge change, the promising future did not lift the burdens from his past sins.

It was only natural for him to be afraid - you were too.

Becoming pregnant from your former kidnapper...that alone sounded crazy. On a foreign planet at that, in the middle of a war no one knew the outcome or consequences of.

And Rabban never knew what it was like to be a father. His own childhood was a living hell, with the only people he desperately tried to see as a family torturing and manipulating him. As did you not know how to raise a child, after your mother’s life ended way too early and your father attempted ending yours too.

“M’lady...” Glossu was quick to switch to that respecting title, reacting the only way he was conditioned to do. Before you could understand, he had already fallen to one knee, facing the ground to demonstrate his respect. “I promise you my undying fidelity.”

“Rabban...” you cupped his cheeks, making him look up again. And the smile you gifted him was so warm, he thought it could illuminate the whole room. “Stand up, my count.”

“Sayyadina!” A yell interrupted that meaningful moment, and immediately Rabban got to his feet again, visibly tensed.

“It’s alright” you whispered only for him to hear, before turning your attention to the Fremen in the doorway. “What is it?”

“The Muad’Dib and his mother seem to have followed us with some of our brethren!” Obviously, they wanted to function as backup, in case the handover would go wrong. “A smuggler entered as well, probably to hoard old treasures of the place. They are fighting!”

Shocked, you frantically looked up to Rabban - who seemed to have understood pretty quickly. “Impossible...” he gritted, “I killed them for sure...”

“Rabban...” Your hand on his shoulderblade made him snap out of it, and since there was no time for explanations, you rushed to the main hall again...

...just to witness yet another unnecessary act of violence unfold before your very eyes.

“What the hell is going on here?!?” you yelled so loud, there was no need for you to use the voice to make everyone in the room fall silent and listen to what you had to say.

It was Gurney Halleck, and even though you were relieved to see yet another person you thought dead alive and well, you wouldn’t waste a thought to the reunion.

His knife was pressed to Jessica’s throat - god knows how he managed to get this far against a Bene Gesserit. Even though he possessed a superhuman strenght and battle-knowledge, she probably held back as a sign of goodwill.

“Release her at once!” you ordered the man who threatened the pregnant woman, and your harsh tone was even more surprising to him than the fact that you were still alive.

“We’ve all been through a lot, but we need to cooperate and make this work out!” Thufir supported you and tried to ease the tension between all sides, at least managing to keep the others from fighting against each other again.

“She’s the traitor!” Gurney’s roar echoed through the room. “It has to be her! That night, she betrayed us. I am sure of it!”

“What makes you so sure?” Until now, you wouldn’t waste a single thought about who deactivated the shields back when House Harkonnen and the Emperor slaughtered House Atreides - but this catched your attention, even though his accusation seemed ridiculous.

“Her own heritage!” Jessica grid her teeth, fingernails digging deep into Gourney’s arm but to no avail. “I’ve spend my time on this planet as a smuggler. Got my eyes and ears everywhere. Word spreads fast among the people on Arrakis...and according to Paul's vision, Jessica Atreides is the daughter of the Baron.”

Your arms were crossed behind your back, eyes closing as a deep sigh escaped your throat. “Well, that’s most unfortunate...” you stated, calm and confident. A reassuring smile stretched across your face as you tried to get closer. “But I don’t think any less of her. And your heritage alone doesn’t make one a traitor.”

“After all...” and with those words, Rabban finally entered the room as well, revealing himself to his dead enemy. “I am in love with Jessica’s cousin, as it seems.”

Knowing what this sentence would awake in him, your allies were quick to disarm Gourney in his moment of shock - but even while restrained, his hateful glare pierced the Beast with all ill intentions.

“It was your doctor” Glossu enlightened you all, his voice lacking a healthy amount of empathy as usual, not even shook by his relation to Lady Jessica. “His name was Yueh, I believe. My uncle ripped his wife apart to make him comply.”

“How dare you...” Halleck could not care less about his false conclusion towards Lady Jessica, now that he saw the man that imprisoned and scarred him. “After I told you what they’ve done to my sister, Y/N, how could you?!?”

You didn’t know whether it was the strenght of Gourney’s grudge, or them releasing him because most people gathered here wanted to get rid of Rabban as well - yet somehow, he manged to free himself from their grasp. “Gifting him a heir after he took our families...are you out of your mind?!?”

Only one thing was clear: You must get used to it now. The screaming, the disappointment. Former friends attacking you without hesitation, looking at you as if you were the pest itself.

For you voluntarily surrounded yourself with the darkness, his influence letting your pure soul become stained.

That was what they saw, at least. And it was your own decision.

“I hope you’re prepared to die for this iniquity!” he exclaimed, and the former master of arms was as quick as you remembered him.

Maybe you could’ve evaded his attack - you had been teached the way, after all. But that wasn’t necessary, because Rabban was aware that you did not intend to fight your old friend...

...and so Gourney’s dagger pierced Rabban’s abdomen.

“Dying, huh?” The Beast would only so much as twitch his upper lip when the pain kicked in, standing unfaltering to shield you from any incoming danger as his blood mixed with the sand.

“If it’s for Y/N? Without question.”

#Dune #Dune 2021 #beast rabban #rabban x reader #rabban x you #beast rabban x reader #the beast of lankiveil #harkonnen #beast rabban x you #beast rabban / reader #beast rabban / you #beast rabban x y/n #rabban x y/n #rabban / reader #rabban / you #glossu rabban #fanfiction #self insert

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new-sandrafilter · 4 years

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Behold Dune: An Exclusive Look at Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, and More

Timothée Chalamet remembers the darkness. It was the summer of 2019, and the cast and crew of Dune had ventured deep into the sandstone and granite canyons of southern Jordan, leaving in the middle of the night so they could catch the dawn on camera. The light spilling over the chasms gave the landscape an otherworldly feel. It was what they had come for.

“It was really surreal,” says Chalamet. “There are these Goliath landscapes, which you may imagine existing on planets in our universe, but not on Earth.”

They weren’t on Earth anymore, anyway. They were on a deadly, dust-dry battleground planet called Arrakis. In Frank Herbert’s epic 1965 sci-fi novel, Arrakis is the only known location of the galaxy’s most vital resource, the mind-altering, time-and-space-warping “spice.” In the new film adaptation, directed by Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, Chalamet stars as the young royal Paul Atreides, the proverbial stranger in a very strange land, who’s fighting to protect this hostile new home even as it threatens to destroy him. Humans are the aliens on Arrakis. The dominant species on that world are immense, voracious sandworms that burrow through the barren drifts like subterranean dragons.

For the infinite seas of sand that give the story its title, the production moved to remote regions outside Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where the temperatures rivaled the fiction in Herbert’s story. “I remember going out of my room at 2 a.m., and it being probably 100 degrees,” says Chalamet. During the shoot, he and the other actors were costumed in what the world of Dune calls “stillsuits”—thick, rubbery armor that preserves the body’s moisture, even gathering tiny bits from the breath exhaled through the nose. In the story, the suits are life-giving. In real life, they were agony. “The shooting temperature was sometimes 120 degrees,” says Chalamet. “They put a cap on it out there, if it gets too hot. I forget what the exact number is, but you can’t keep working.” The circumstances fed the story they were there to tell: “In a really grounded way, it was helpful to be in the stillsuits and to be at that level of exhaustion.”

It wouldn’t be Dune if it were easy. Herbert’s novel became a sci-fi touchstone in the 1960s, heralded for its world-building and ecological subtext, as well as its intricate (some say impenetrable) plot focusing on two families struggling for supremacy over Arrakis. The book created ripples that many see in everything from Star Wars to Alien to Game of Thrones. Still, for decades, the novel itself has defied adaptation. In the ’70s, the wild man experimental filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky mounted a quest to film it, but Hollywood considered the project too risky. David Lynch brought Dune to the big screen in a 1984 feature, but it was derided as an incomprehensible mess and a blight on his filmography. In 2000, a Dune miniseries on what’s now the SyFy channel became a hit for the cable network, but it is now only dimly remembered.

Villeneuve intends to create a Dune that has so far only existed in the imagination of readers. The key, he says, was to break the sprawling narrative in half. When Dune hits theaters on December 18, it will only be half the novel, with Warner Bros. agreeing to tell the story in two films, similar to the studio’s approach with Stephen King’s It and It Chapter Two. “I would not agree to make this adaptation of the book with one single movie,” says Villeneuve. “The world is too complex. It’s a world that takes its power in details.”

For Villeneuve, this 55-year-old story about a planet being mined to death was not merely a space adventure, but a prophecy. “No matter what you believe, Earth is changing, and we will have to adapt,” he says. “That’s why I think that Dune, this book, was written in the 20th century. It was a distant portrait of the reality of the oil and the capitalism and the exploitation—the overexploitation—of Earth. Today, things are just worse. It’s a coming-of-age story, but also a call for action for the youth.”

Chalamet’s character, Paul, thinks he’s just a boy struggling to find a place in the world, but he actually possesses the ability to change it. He has a supernatural gift to harness and unleash energy, lead others, and meld with the heart of his new home world. Think Greta Thunberg, only she’s a Jedi with a degree from Hogwarts. Paul comes from a powerful galactic family with a name that sounds like a constellation—the House Atreides. His father and mother, Duke Leto (played by Oscar Isaac) and Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), take their son from their lush, Scandinavian-like home world to preside over spice extraction on Arrakis. What follows is a clash with the criminal, politically connected House Harkonnen, led by the monstrous Baron Vladimir (Stellan Skarsgård), a mammoth with merciless appetites. The baron, created with full-body prosthetics, is like a rhino in human form. This version of the character is less of a madman and more of a predator. “As much as I deeply love the book, I felt that the baron was flirting very often with caricature,” says Villeneuve. “And I tried to bring him a bit more dimension. That’s why I brought in Stellan. Stellan has something in the eyes. You feel that there’s someone thinking, thinking, thinking—that has tension and is calculating inside, deep in the eyes. I can testify, it can be quite frightening.”

The director has also expanded the role of Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica. She’s a member of the Bene Gesserit, a sect of women who can read minds, control people with their voice (again, a precursor to the Jedi mind trick), and manipulate the balance of power in the universe. In the script, which Villeneuve wrote with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts, she is even more fearsome than before. The studio’s plot synopsis describes her as a “warrior priestess.” As Villeneuve jokes, “It’s better than ‘space nun.’ ”

Lady Jessica’s duty is to deliver a savior to the universe—and now she has a greater role in defending and training Paul too. “She’s a mother, she’s a concubine, she’s a soldier,” says Ferguson. “Denis was very respectful of Frank’s work in the book, [but] the quality of the arcs for much of the women have been brought up to a new level. There were some shifts he did, and they are beautifully portrayed now.”

In an intriguing change to the source material, Villeneuve has also updated Dr. Liet Kynes, the leading ecologist on Arrakis and an independent power broker amid the various warring factions. Although always depicted as a white man, the character is now played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Rogue One), a black woman. “What Denis had stated to me was there was a lack of female characters in his cast, and he had always been very feminist, pro-women, and wanted to write the role for a woman,” Duncan-Brewster says. “This human being manages to basically keep the peace amongst many people. Women are very good at that, so why can’t Kynes be a woman? Why shouldn’t Kynes be a woman?”

As fans will know, there’s a vast menagerie of other characters populating Dune. There are humans called “mentats,” augmented with computerlike minds. Paul is mentored by two of them. There are also the bravado warriors Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck, played by Jason Momoa and Josh Brolin. Dave Bautista plays a sinister Harkonnen enforcer Glossu Rabban, and Charlotte Rampling has a key role as the Bene Gesserit reverend mother. The list goes on. In the seemingly unlivable wilds of Arrakis, Javier Bardem leads the Fremen tribe as Stilgar, and Zendaya costars as a mystery woman named Chani, who haunts Paul in his dreams as a vision with glowing blue eyes.

The breadth of Dune is what has made it so confounding for others to adapt. “It’s a book that tackles politics, religion, ecology, spirituality—and with a lot of characters,” says Villeneuve. “I think that’s why it’s so difficult. Honestly, it’s by far the most difficult thing I’ve done in my life.” After finishing this first movie, he’ll just have to do it all over again.

#timmy #timothee chalamet #dune 2020 #paul atreides #denis villeneuve #zendaya #Rebecca Ferguson #Oscar Isaac #Josh Brolin #my edit

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oneinathousand · 4 years

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Half-Life: Alyx: Unforeseen Consequences

A retelling of Half-Life: Alyx in the style of Half-Life Full Life Consequences by squirrelking. If you don’t know what the fanfiction and YouTube videos are, you are gonna be so lost. Just something I wrote for fun. As it turns out, trying to make something intentionally bad is hard but I tried.

Spoilers for Half-Life: Alyx below:

Alyx Vance who was Eli Vances daughter was one day in an apartment doing renaissance work for humen rebels. She got a skip call from her father and her friend Russell that said that they stole stuff from the combine aliens that was really cool and asked her to check it out so she went.

But the combine did not like that cause they were real embassered so they came to Eli’s place and took him and put him into train. Russ gave Alyx Vance magic mittens that gave her movey powers plus gun and she would have said “its time for me to live up to my family name and face unforeseen consequences” but she didn’t because she did not know what those were yet and she had to go.

The city seventy day was nice and the sky was dry and the clouds were shining. The mood was set for Alyx Vances quest to help her father where he was. Alyx Vance looked around the sevencityteen and said “it’s a good day to do what has to be done by me and help my father to defeat the enemys.”

Alyx Vents wanted to get on trian and meet up with dads train, but her train broke so she had to get there really fast on her feet. She use the magic mitts and gun to fight combine and headcrab zombies and solve puzzles and she was really cool at it.

A long way Alyx Vance met vortigaunt alien who eated the headcrabs to live.

“Can you tell future for dad with third arm?” Alyx Vance asked and vortigaunt tell her

“El Vance might dead and so are my friends so you rescue both.”

“You are weird alien who don’t make no sense but I will go do that now” Alyx Vance said so she walked away thinking “my father is in trouble there” and went faster.

Alyx Vance had move past aliens like the speed of sound and got there fast before train could get there and she stopped the train into buildings witch made them go boom.

Alyx Vance went into train to go look for her father but she couldnot find him. But then Eli Vance said “Alyx Vance! Over here!” so Alyx Vance went there to where Eli Vance was hanging over deep hole. Alyx Vance tried to grab her father with the magic mittens but he was too heavy so he fell into hole and Alyx Vance was sad.

But the vortigaunt came back and catched Eli Vance with his third arms and took her father back to where Russel was and Alyx Vance got out of train.

Eli Vance and Russell told Alyx Vance about stuff they stole from angy combine. It was a pic of a big box in the sky that might save people from aliens so Aly Vance went to find the box.

Alyx Vance saved other vortigants from the combs and then walked into vodka place where there was a blind man named Jeff who was part pant and really bad from all the mushrooms everythere so Alyx Vance thru him into the trash.

Eli Vance and Russell had analisized the pictore more and they said to Alyx Vance “It isn’t box actually it is a house arrest and the combine are scared of inside house!”

They did not know who was house owner until Alyx Vance walked and ears dropped a shadow lady who said to combines “we have to protect house from Alyx Vance for we have bad guy whos name starts with G and ends with Man.”

Eli Vance made an ass u me and said “Alyx Vance they put science man Gordon Freeman into house.” And Alyx Vance knows since birthday that Gordan Freeman was hero who could help kill all the combine with so she knew what has tobe done.

The sun was almost at the bottom of the sky where more enemys were coming from. Alyx Vance defeated them and the vortigaunts helped to bring the house down and she tried to stop it but the house exploded the floor and a bunch of guys wich made a messy dirt and dark.

From out of sudden a survived boss combine got up and Alyx Vance shot him with big gun so the boss survived no more.

Then Alyx Vance started to walk into ufo beam that would go into house when Eli Vance said “No Alyx Vance don’t go in there! We had the wrong G!” but it wasn’t early enough for her to here.

Inside the house was like a maize and there were some ghoast people but they were not Godden Freeman so Alyx Vance did not care.

Alyx Vance lost guns in ufo beam so she had to pick up green balls of vortigant energy to kill the rest of the combines like lighting.

Alyx Vance got to the cell where Gordon Fremen was and yelled out to him “Gordon Freeman you will become name and I will live up to family name!” But Gorgon Foreman could not hear her because he was sleeping, it was G-Man!

“I am not Freeman but I am free man now I give you one wish.” G-Man said with a smile almost.

“Oh ok can you go away Combine?” Alyx Vance asked.

“No.” G-Man said. But G-Man knew what to do and he took Alyx Vance into the future of 2007 where he showed her father Eli Vance dead from a adverserary combine. Alyx Vance did not like this and cried sadly “No not a cliffhanger!”

“Then use vortiguant balls of lighting to make new time” G-Man told Ayx Vance who did that and was happy she saved her father again.

But then G-Man got spooky again and revel to Alyx Vance “Miss Vance this was all game by me. We do not like Gordon Freeman anymore because he is to slow and i am your boss dad now you will work for me and my bosses!”

G-Man left Alyx Vance alone in dark room to wait for someting to do and she was confused and not glad anymore.

Epilouge

In hte future of 2007 Elie Vance with dog wake up Gordon Freeman but Alyx Vance was missed. Not dead Eli Vance yelled at the top of lungs to Gordon Freeman “This is the unforeseen consequences now. it is time to give consequence back to G-Man once and for all and save my daghter and also stop combine and save humans to!” and gave him back his corwbar.

Gordon Freeman did not say a word.

to be continued..?

#half life #half life alyx #half life fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #shitpost #full life consequences

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yasbxxgie · 5 years

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Now that the cast is coming together, Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming adaptation of Dune is getting more attention than ever. And with that attention an interesting question has started cropping up with more frequency, one that bears further examination: Is Dune a “white savior” narrative?

It’s important to note that this is not a new question. Dune has been around for over half a century, and with every adaptation or popular revival, fans and critics take the time to interrogate how it plays into (or rebels against) certain story tropes and popular concepts, the white savior complex being central among them. While there are no blunt answers to that question—in part because Dune rests on a foundation of intense and layered worldbuilding—it is still an important one to engage and reengage with for one simple reason: All works of art, especially ones that we hold in high esteem, should be so carefully considered. Not because we need to tear them down or, conversely, enshrine them, but because we should all want to be more knowledgeable and thoughtful about how the stories we love contribute to our world, and the ways in which they choose to reflect it.

So what happens when we put Dune under this methodical scrutiny? If we peel back the layers, like the Mentats of [Frank] Herbert’s story, what do we find?

Hollywood has a penchant for the white savior trope, and it forms the basis for plenty of big-earning, award-winning films. Looking back on blockbusters like The Last of the Mohicans, Avatar, and The Last Samurai, the list piles up for movies in which a white person can alleviate the suffering of people of color—sometimes disguised as blue aliens for the purpose of sci-fi trappings—by being specially “chosen” somehow to aid in their struggles. Sometimes this story is more personal, between only two or three characters, often rather dubiously labeled as “based on a true story” (The Blind Side, The Help, Dangerous Minds, The Soloist, and recent Academy Award Best Picture-winner Green Book are all a far cry from the true events that inspired them). It’s the same song, regardless—a white person is capable of doing what others cannot, from overcoming racial taboos and inherited prejudices up to and including “saving” an entire race of people from certain doom.

At face value, it’s easy to slot Dune into this category: a pale-skinned protagonist comes to a planet of desert people known as Fremen. These Fremen are known to the rest the rest of the galaxy as a mysterious, barbaric, and highly superstitious people, whose ability to survive on the brutal world of Arrakis provides a source of endless puzzlement for outsiders. The Fremen themselves are a futuristic amalgam of various POC cultures according to Herbert, primarily the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana, the San people, and Bedouins. (Pointedly, all of these cultures have been and continue to be affected by imperialism, colonialism, and slavery, and the Fremen are no different—having suffered horrifically at the hands of the Harkonnens even well before our “heroes” arrive.) Once the protagonist begins to live among the Fremen, he quickly establishes himself as their de facto leader and savior, teaching them how to fight more efficiently and building them into an unstoppable army. This army then throws off the tyranny of the galaxy’s Emperor, cementing the protagonist’s role as their literal messiah.

That sounds pretty cut and dried, no?

But at the heart of this question—Is Dune a white savior narrative?—are many more questions, because Dune is a complicated story that encompasses and connects various concepts, touching on environmentalism, imperialism, history, war, and the superhero complex. The fictional universe of Dune is carefully constructed to examine these issues of power, who benefits from having it, and how they use it. Of course, that doesn’t mean the story is unassailable in its construction or execution, which brings us to the first clarifying question: What qualifies as a white savior narrative? How do we measure that story, or identify it? Many people would define this trope differently, which is reasonable, but you cannot examine how Dune might contribute to a specific narrative without parsing out the ways in which it does and does not fit.

This is the strongest argument against the assertion that Dune is a white savior story: Paul Atreides is not a savior. What he achieves isn’t great or even good—which is vital to the story that Frank Herbert meant to tell.

There are many factors contributing to Paul Atreides’s transformation into Muad’Dib and the Kwisatz Haderach, but from the beginning, Paul thinks of the role he is meant to play as his “terrible purpose.” He thinks that because he knows if he avenges his father, if he becomes the Kwisatz Haderach and sees the flow of time, if he becomes the Mahdi of the Fremen and leads them, the upcoming war will not stop on Arrakis. It will extend and completely reshape the known universe. His actions precipitate a war that that lasts for twelve years, killing millions of people, and that’s only just the beginning.

Can it be argued that Paul Atreides helps the people of Arrakis? Taking the long view of history, the answer would be a resounding no—and the long view of history is precisely what the Dune series works so hard to convey. (The first three books all take place over a relatively condensed period, but the last three books of the initial Dune series jump forward thousands of years at a time.) While Paul does help the Fremen achieve the dream of making Arrakis a green and vibrant world, they become entirely subservient to his cause and their way of life is fundamentally altered. Eventually, the Fremen practically disappear, and a new Imperial army takes their place for Paul’s son, Leto II, the God Emperor. Leto’s journey puts the universe on what he calls the “Golden Path,” the only possible future where humanity does not go extinct. It takes this plan millennia to come to fruition, and though Leto succeeds, it doesn’t stop humans from scheming and murdering and hurting one another; it merely ensures the future of the species.

One could make an argument that the Atreides family is responsible for the saving of all human life due to the Golden Path and its execution. But in terms of Paul’s position on Arrakis, his effect on the Fremen population there, and the amount of death, war, and terror required to bring about humanity’s “salvation,” the Atreides are monstrous people. There is no way around that conclusion—and that’s because the story is designed to critique humanity’s propensity toward saviors. Here’s a quote from Frank Herbert himself on that point:

I am showing you the superhero syndrome and your own participation in it.

And another:

Dune was aimed at this whole idea of the infallible leader because my view of history says that mistakes made by a leader (or made in a leader’s name) are amplified by the numbers who follow without question.

At the center of Dune is a warning to be mistrustful of messiahs, supermen, and leaders who have the ability to sway masses. This is part of the reason why David Lynch’s Dune film missed the mark; the instant that Paul Atreides becomes a veritable god, the whole message of the story is lost. The ending of Frank Herbert’s Dune is not a heroic triumph—it is a giant question mark pointed at the reader or viewer. It is an uncomfortable conclusion that only invites more questions, which is a key part of its lasting appeal.

And yet…

There is a sizable hole in the construction of this book that can outweigh all other interpretations and firmly situate Dune among white savior tropes: Paul Atreides is depicted as a white man, and his followers are largely depicted as brown people.

There are ways to nitpick this idea, and people do—Paul’s father, Leto Atreides might not be white, and is described in the book as having “olive” toned skin. We get a sense of traditions from the past, as Leto’s father was killed in a bull fight, dressed in a matador cape, but it’s unclear if this is tied to their heritage in any sense. The upcoming film has cast Cuban-Guatemalan actor Oscar Isaac in the role of Duke Leto, but previous portrayals featured white men with European ancestry: U.S. actor William Hurt and German actor Jürgen Prochnow. (The Fremen characters are also often played by white actors, but that’s a more simple case of Hollywood whitewashing.) While the name Atreides is Greek, Dune takes place tens of thousands of years in the future, so there’s really no telling what ancestry the Atreides line might have, or even what “whiteness” means to humanity anymore. There’s a lot of similar melding elsewhere in the story; the ruler of this universe is known as the “Padishah Emperor” (Padishah is a Persian word that essentially translates to “great king”), but the family name of the Emperor’s house is Corrino, taken from the fictional Battle of Corrin. Emperor Shaddam has red hair, and his daughter Irulan is described as blond-haired, green-eyed, and possessing “patrician beauty,” a mishmash of words and descriptions that deliberately avoid categorization.

None of these factors detract from the fact that we are reading/watching this story in present day, when whiteness is a key component of identity and privilege. It also doesn’t negate the fact that Paul is always depicted as a white young man, and has only been played by white actors: first by Kyle MacLachlan, then by Alec Newman, and soon by Timothy Chalamet. There are many reasons for casting Paul this way, chief among them being that he is partly based on a real-life figure—T.E. Lawrence, better known to the public as “Lawrence of Arabia.” But regardless of that influence, Frank Herbert’s worldbuilding demands a closer look in order to contextualize a narrative in which a white person becomes the messiah of an entire population of people of color—after all, T.E. Lawrence was never heralded as any sort of holy figure by the people he worked alongside during the Arab Revolt.

The decision to have Paul become the Mahdi of the Fremen people is not a breezy or inconsequential plot point, and Herbert makes it clear that his arrival has been seeded by the Bene Gesserit, the shadowy matriarchal organization to which his mother, Jessica, belongs. In order to keep their operatives safe throughout the universe, the Bene Gesserit planted legends and mythologies that applied to their cohort, making it easy for them to manipulate local legends to their advantage in order to remain secure and powerful. While this handily serves to support Dune’s thematic indictment of the damage created by prophecy and religious zealotry, it still positions the Fremen as a people who easily fall prey to superstition and false idols. The entire Fremen culture (though meticulously constructed and full of excellent characters) falls into various “noble savage” stereotypes due to the narrative’s juxtaposition of their militant austerity with their susceptibility to being used by powerful people who understand their mythology well enough to exploit it. What’s more, Herbert reserves many of the non-Western philosophies that he finds particularly attractive—he was a convert to Zen Buddhism, and the Bene Gesserit are attuned to the Eastern concepts of “prana” and “bindu” as part of their physical training—for mastery by white characters like Lady Jessica.

While Fremen culture has Arab influences in its language and elsewhere, the book focuses primarily on the ferocity of their people and the discipline they require in order to be able to survive the brutal desert of Arrakis, as well as their relationship to the all-important sandworms. This speaks to Herbert’s ecological interests in writing Dune far more than his desire to imagine what an Arab-descended society or culture might look like in the far future. Even the impetus toward terraforming Arrakis into a green world is one brought about through imperialist input; Dr. Liet Kynes (father to Paul’s companion Chani) promoted the idea in his time as leader of the Fremen, after his own father, an Imperial ecologist, figured out how to change the planet. The Fremen don’t have either the ability or inclination to transform their world with their own knowledge—both are brought to them from a colonizing source.

Dune’s worldbuilding is complex, but that doesn’t make it beyond reproach. Personal bias is a difficult thing to avoid, and how you construct a universe from scratch says a lot about how you personally view the world. Author and editor Mimi Mondal breaks this concept down beautifully in her recent article about the inherently political nature of worldbuilding:

In a world where all fundamental laws can be rewritten, it is also illuminating which of them aren’t. The author’s priorities are more openly on display when a culture of non-humans is still patriarchal, there are no queer people in a far-future society, or in an alternate universe the heroes and saviours are still white. Is the villain in the story a repulsively depicted fat person? Is a disabled or disfigured character the monster? Are darker-skinned, non-Western characters either absent or irrelevant, or worse, portrayed with condescension? It’s not sufficient to say that these stereotypes still exist in the real world. In a speculative world, where it is possible to rewrite them, leaving them unchanged is also political.

The world of Dune was built that way through a myriad of choices, and choices are not neutral exercises. They require biases, thoughtfulness, and intent. They are often built from a single perspective, and perspectives are never absolute. And so, in analyzing Dune, it is impossible not to wonder about the perspective of its creator and why he built his fictional universe the way he did.

Many fans cite the fact that Frank Herbert wrote Dune over fifty years ago as an explanation for some of its more dated attitudes toward race, gender, queerness, and other aspects of identity. But the universe that Herbert created was arguably already quite dated when he wrote Dune. There’s an old-world throwback sheen to the story, as it’s built on feudal systems and warring family houses and political marriages and ruling men with concubines. The Bene Gesserit essentially sell their (all-female) trainees to powerful figures to further their own goals, and their sexuality is a huge component of their power. The odious Baron Harkonnen is obese and the only visibly queer character in the book (a fact that I’ve already addressed at length as it pertains to the upcoming film). Paul Atreides is the product of a Bene Gesserit breeding program that was created to bring about the Kwisatz Haderach—he’s literally a eugenics experiment that works.

And in this eugenics experiment, the “perfect” human turns out to be a white man—and he was always going to be a man, according to their program—who proceeds to wield his awesome power by creating a personal army made up of people of color. People, that is, who believe that he is their messiah due to legends planted on their world ages ago by the very same group who sought to create this superbeing. And Paul succeeds in his goals and is crowned Emperor of the known universe. Is that a white savior narrative? Maybe not in the traditional sense, but it has many of the same discomfiting hallmarks that we see replicated again and again in so many familiar stories. Hopefully, we’re getting better at recognizing and questioning these patterns, and the assumptions and agendas propagated through them. It gives us a greater understanding of fiction’s power, and makes for an enlightening journey.

Dune is a great work of science fiction with many pointed lessons that we can still apply to the world we live in—that’s the mark of a excellent book. But we can enjoy the world that Frank Herbert created and still understand the places where it falls down. It makes us better fans and better readers, and allows us to more fully appreciate the stories we love.

+Dune’s Paul Atreides Is the Ultimate Mighty Whitey

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