nemat0de

⋑⋓⋒⋐ and whatever helps construct a sense of digital self • cw: occasional gore and nsfw • aromantic homosexual • ao3

[bitchontheprairie]

longhorn sheep looking through a window, 1981, linda mccartney

[gorskivijenac]

Serbian traditional headpiece "prevez” from Sredačka župa. Ethnographic Museum Belgrade

[klassizismus]

Detail: Diana and Endymion, Francesco Solimena, 1710

[luxsit]

Academic Study, 1831

Hippolyte Dominique Holfeld

[oldmanpusspuss]

I bet for like a fraction of a second getting hit by a bus would feel really good

[alex-strike-is-tr4nsg3nder]

Like sexually?

[oldmanpusspuss]

probably

[caballerodelatristefigura]

Isabelle Huppert as Medea

in Jacques Lassalle’s production of Euripides’ homonymous tragedy for the Festival d’Avignon (July 2000). Original photograph by Brigitte Enguerand, for ‘Médée d'Euripide’, January 5-February 10, 2001; Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe, Paris.

[venustapolis]

The Old Oak (Jacob van Ruisdael, 1648)

[ratuszarsenal]

[beyond-the-pale-deactivated2023]

Titian - A man with gloves (detail) 1520

Via Aaron Artem

[lockssteps]

im a fake fan of everything i like because i cant remember anything

[lyriumrain]

Another wonderfull secret

[sloppjockey]

preystillsees. gouache painting on paper mounted on wood panel, 3x3 inches

[demon-of-the-ancient-world]

The undoutably teenage boy + mom energy of Paul killing the hunter seeker and then immediately going to Jessica -- with it still in his hand -- and when she freaks out at hearing of the attack he's like oh yeah I have it right here dw which of course makes her freak out more

[cinemabun]

La collectionneuse (Eric Rohmer, 1967)

[dolerme]

‘touching‘ shot by vassilis karidis for fantastic man, issue 30

[demon-of-the-ancient-world]

something I find very funny is how Messiah is meant to be this whole warning about false prophets and Frank literally wrote it to be like “hey idiots Paul is actually the Bad Guy stop thinking of him as a hero. He’s literally Evil.”

but I still love him with my whole heart. “I could fix him-“ actually his war crimes are part of him and I accept that. He doesn’t need to be fixed. He should be Worse actually. You are saying “oh no he’s a dictator” while I am saying “yayyy yippeeee” YES he’s morally Very questionable. YES I still think he’s my stupid blorbo

LMAO yeah the paradox of Paul is like. yes he's done sooooo many Horrible Things and we can analyze that and talk about it realistically and discuss his many Terrible Deeds with the full understanding of his character's purpose within the narrative HOWEVER a part of me is always gonna be rubbing my grubby little hands together like ooooo which war crimes is the pathetic [bald] wet mouse gonna commit next PLEASE keep being unhinged sir it's entertaining

(also. pathetic. wet cat behaviour. he's a space dictator he's a cult leader he's also a pitiful kicked puppy. the duality of man.)

[feyd-meowtha]

One thing that really hits me every time I reread Dune or Messiah is how instantly I'm drawn back to Paul's side, how much I care about and root for him, even knowing where it all ends up. When I've gone a while without reading the text, I'm able to be extremely critical of him (sometimes perhaps too critical) but as soon as I crack open those books, the person who greets me isn't the selfish, hubristic tyrant who plunged the universe into an unprecedented cataclysm, but the sleepy teenage boy that I remember from chapter 1.

This, I think, is the genius of Herbert's characterisation. As the crowds chant his name, we recall the version of Paul that we met at the beginning of the story, confused and vulnerable after being woken up by a stranger in his bedroom. We remember him crying over Jamis' death because he knew that they could have been friends. We remember him lashing out at his mother after he fails to grieve his father the way that he thinks he should. We remember his earnest puppy love for Chani and his respect for Stilgar and his kind treatment of Harah.

Underneath all the pomp and the mythology, he's still the boy that we grew to love, the one who identified with the little desert mouse and chose it for his name. As much as I question, on a deep and profound level, his decisions throughout the story, reading passages like this....

Well, it breaks my fucking heart