“Dune” Was Originally Published In Analog In Several Parts As “Dune World.”

dune really explores every possible way someone can die without actually dying. paul's childhood self dies the night his father does. his atreides heritage dies when he seeks revenge. paul himself dies when he drinks the water of life. jessica the wife dies the night leto does. jessica the mother dies when she drinks the water of life. the girl alia could have become dies in the womb. stilgar dies when he becomes a follower. the fremen die when they leave their home to fight paul's war for him. the narrative treats every one of these deaths as a tragedy, as a palpable loss; the ghosts of who these characters were or could have been remain to haunt the narrative long afterwards.

(expanding on my original tags from this post)

Brad Dourif in Dune (1984)

“Your habits always come hunting after you. The self you construct will haunt you. A ghost wandering around in search of your body, eager to possess you. We are addicted to the self we construct. Slaves to what we have done.”

— Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune

marie fenring ( au! sketch )

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follow on insta: serenlas

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The Count and Lady Fenring

They're a good match.

“Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man.”

— Frank Herbert, Dune

[They] think to trick me by making me distrust your mother. They don’t know that I’d sooner distrust myself.

Lady Jessica & Duke Leto Dune, Frank Herbert

it’s loving Alia hours

Dune (2000)

- Frank Herbert, Dune Messiah