Pietà

so within the universe of Dune, gender roles abide by a rigid false dichotomy created by the bene gesserit - men lead the noble houses, while the women may join their order, and the powers of both are kept intentionally separate. at the same time, the plot demonstrates repeatedly that the role of paul atreides as a character is that of the border between the concepts juxtaposed within dichotomies: he is both an outerworlder and fremen, both harkonnen and atreides, both a duke and a disciple of the bene gesserit.

as such, it follows that within the in-universe gender structure, he occupies the roles of both male and female, thus being functionally and societally nonbinary. in this essay, i will -

Scandinavians when outdoor string lights were invented

like father, like daughter

just some telepathic things going on

crazy how maglor can be maedhros' wife and widow and side chick and pawn and entertainer and muscle and second-in-command and votary and confidant and knight and publicist and dream and challenge and addiction and responsibility all at once and his little brother too...

Paul Atreides: The Sun Eating fire is your ambition: to swallow the flame down take it into your mouth and shoot it forth, a shout or an incandescent tongue, a word exploding from you in gold, crimson, unrolling in a brilliant scroll. To be lit up from within vein by vein. To be the sun. ― Margaret Atwood, Selected Poems 1: 1965-1975

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