thinking about the new mv… how mizi and sua essentially swap places. sua’s practicing her death is roughly equivalent to mizi being promiscuous on stage in the way that those are the actions that prove the doer an aggressor of some sort. in alnst mizi inherited sua’s ’contamination’ or ‘impureness of heart’ via sua’s ghost which haunts her, and in zomst sua inherits mizi’s impurity via the infection
OOH YOURE RIGHT... I hadn't thought about it much because I was drawing but it is really interesting that this Mizi seems to be leaning into the sexualised depiction of herself a lot more than canon Mizi (at least pre-infection?). I'm so not smart rn I haven't watched the video enough times HDKSHSKS
Speaking of swapping places though, I'm really surprised Sua lost this round, but also I still have hope for the "survivors die this time" line of thought. It looks like Mizi is a lot less concious/aware than Sua and what little we see of Ivan
thoughts on irulan or farad'n!! any analysis/headcanons... i trust you with my girlfaliure and boyfaliure journalists..
Okay, so I had intended to finish my reread of Messiah and maybe even Children before I answered this but uni is killing me and I unfortunately lack the time for that kind of scholarly integrity, so this is gonna be more off the cuff (forgive me)
Honestly, Irulan has never been one of the characters that particularly resonated with me and I think there are a few reasons for that but the most significant one is that I always struggled to understand what it is that she really wants. When writing/analysing fictional characters, I feel like this is one of the most obvious places to start but with Irulan, things are a little opaque.
To start with, it seems like her motivations are mostly coloured by her training as a Bene Gesserit. She wants to marry Paul and have his heir because that is what the order wants, she does not appear to have her own goal outside of this, other than maybe some personal desire for legacy and perhaps for motherhood itself (both of which may be suggested by her later treatment of Leto II and Ghanima).
One other thing about this that has always perplexed me is her status as a Bene Gesserit, we are told when she is introduced that she's been trained from birth and is likely to become a reverend mother but, of all the BG characters in Dune, she seems the least connected to it. I don't think there's any reason in-text to think that she's particularly skilled, or has particular affinity for the weirding way. She is used by the order, fails, then she abandons them and is never tempted back the way that Jessica is. Overall her whole deal seems kind of... tepid? Like, she's not really sure what she wants, which puts her in opposition to the other characters, who take a much more active role in shaping their own destinies. She's a little directionless, a little out of place, floundering, struggling to fit into the world around her.
Saying this, I know that she's the one who is feeding Chani contraceptives and she's also in on the conspiracy, both of which are fairly active, but these, too, are things she later disavows. She feels guilty for giving Chani, one of her strongest supporters at court, the contraceptives, and she abandons the conspiracy once it becomes clear that they were only using her anyway, and hadn't been letting her in on all the details. She is a mediocre Bene Gesserit, a non-wife and a poor conspirator.
As you say, she is, fundamentally, a failure. She is the character born with the highest status and yet she does very little successfully until she accepts that her role is not to be in the spotlight, as she was led to believe, but in a supportive role and as an observer. (I think this lack of agency/drive is also reflected in the fact that she seems to be one of the few celibate characters in the series? This is not a developed thought, just putting it out there)
I think her reaction to Paul's death is interesting and I think there are three options regarding her true feelings:
1) she truly does realise that she loved him romantically after his death.
2) she says this for the sole purpose of ingratiating herself to Alia and trying to prevent her own death, which is very much on the table
3) some mix of the two, in which she forsees a fulfilling life for herself as carer to Paul's children and keeper of his 'histories'
I think option 1 is most supported by the text (Alia saying she' reeks of trustworthiness'( though this could also be a dig?)) and that one is also the most pathetic, which is pretty in keeping with her overall place in the story. Another L for the so-called empress of the universe.
Regardless of which you choose, I do think that by CoD, she genuinely loves Leto and Ghani (perhaps hinting that her own desire for children was not just about doing her duty) and she seems to be a good mentor and surrogate-mother to them.
Now this leads me onto my next thought about Irulan (and Farad'n) which is the degree to which they are historians and the degree to which they are propagandists. I think this is especially interesting considering that Herbert himself was a journalist, though not one of particular note (from what I can find). What were his own opinions on journalistic integrity? How much does he condemn what Irulan is doing? (a lot but also not that much?)
Messiah starts with a scene in which an Ixian historian is imprisoned by Paul's regime for the crime of
Say(ing) that Paul Atreides lost something essential to his humanity before he could become Muad'Dib.
The man replies:
"I was brought to this cell by your Priests. As with all priests, you learned early to call the truth heresy."
I think this makes the truth of Irulan ( and Farad'n's) job abundantly clear. The regime that she is a part of actively squashes alternative perspectives, ergo they are the heads of a propaganda machine. Irulan is a spin-doctor and seemingly quite a good one, much more successful than she was at anything else, at least. This, as a member of a catty, cut-throat royal family, is something she knows how to do.
Now, whether she is doing this merely to stay alive (and to help Leto and Ghani continue their rule), to give herself a place in history, or whether she genuinely believes in Paul's godhood, is up for debate, but I think that's interesting and I see it as quite emblematic of her character.
All through the story she slithers from place to place, group to group, cause to cause, eventually latching onto the one that will take her, at which point she has no qualms about spinning the truth to suit her own ends. She seems to me, profoundly lacking in principles, she is always trying to find a place where she can fit, and be wanted, respected, even loved? (some similarities to Alia, perhaps?) She's a survivalist, a scavenger, it just so happens that her environment is guilded halls instead of open sands.
My final thought is about the way that Leto, Ghanima and Farad'n are spiritual successors to Paul, Chani, Alia and Irulan. In the logic of the books, i think there's an argument to say this younger generation is how the previous one 'should' (note the quotation marks) have been.
Leto/Paul is on the Golden Path (a terrible fate but a necessity, according to the books). Chani/Alia are consolidated into a singular wife/sister who gets to rule with her brother, as well as live happily with a lover and family of her own. Finally, Farad'n is an evolution of Irulan, a court historian who gets to have the lover and children that she was denied. Is there something to be said about the fact that in this reading Chani/Alia is with Irulan? I couldn't possibly say. I just think it's an interesting way to think about the end of CoD.
fellow pauljessica shipper?? hello! (`3´) i'm working on your ask rn please drop any headcanons you have of them...
hello back! indeed I am, along with being a writer for them (AO3 profile in pinned message!) i started back when part two came out and i was 17, it feels like an eternity ago now!
regarding headcanons... are you asking about stuff from my interpretation of the ship (which is based off a friend's interpretation in the first place)? my neurodivergent ass needs a clarification so I can reply to you properly 😭
ask game 37! someone's just invited you to your worst nightmare social situation: describe it :)
OUHH GOD… It would be all people I haven’t ever met, for starters. They all need to be in a different tax bracket to me and at some point during the night I have to give a speech that is low stakes but I’m still stressed about it. Afterwards if there’s food there needs to be no vegan options so I can’t have anything. And then when I’m trying to get a ride home my uber cancels 3 times in a row.
hello its me with my fuckass ddlc au.... i love your analysis on the dunekids literary preferences... do you have any poems that are reminiscent of each of their writing style/their arc/them in general? i fear i am too illiterate to be doing this alone. please help me, my friend (=´ω`=)
(I will preface this by saying that I am kinda poetry-phobic and as such I do not know a huge amount and there are others who may be able to answer this question with much more knowledge than me)
That said....
Paul: it's obvious but Ozymandias by Percy Shelley. It can be nothing else.
Chani: Bright Star by John Keats, I think she and Paul have a very Keatsian kind of love
Feyd: Non Sum Qualis eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae by Ernest Dowson, aka the gold standard of decadent poetry (to me)
Irulan: (Honestly this one was tough) The Flea by John Donne because I think she'd like the strange logic of it. It is as clever and unromantic as she is
Alia: The Hanging Man by Sylvia Plath 100000% it's uncanny
ur trademark is bringing an air of whimsical sophistication to hellsite. you have a unique writing style ifl i could recognise anywhere because its so elegant and to the point without being condescending (as in. not over the top academic/flowery). unrelated but you are also known to me as the founder of the irualia nation which i hope will experience a growth in population soon...
You're too kind, it'll give me a big head and then I'll be intolerable. I am always aiming for economy in my writing so I'm glad you don't find it too flowery, something which I can tend to lean toward if I'm not careful. It does also mean a lot to me that you find it unique/specific to me, my general policy is not to write anything unless I feel like I have a perspective worth sharing, something new to add to the conversation
And yes! I see and appreciate the Iruchani and Irufeyd causes but considering Children of Dune, I see Irualia as the most compelling choice (they're both Paul's pseudo wives who were denied the chance to have children because of their relationships to him and his rule, both denied real love and seen more as tools than people, both very lonely and isolated, both rather stateless, not belonging anywhere even while ruling the universe, also consider the way they hate each other while co-parenting Ghanima and Leto, Alia is fire and Irulan is ice, etc etc I could go on forever) (also Alia is just my fave so I always want the excuse to think about my her #myher)
