Here I Am Here I Remain

OSCAR ISAAC “Dune” — 2020, dir. Denis Villeneuve

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET, ZENDAYA “Dune” — 2020, Behind The Scenes

Alicia Witt as Alia Atreides 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

I've been putting off drawing Alia for too long......

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)

alia atreides & marie fenring.

"in the blood" by john mayer / portrait of elisabetta gonzaga by raffaello sanzio / adeleide by hiroshi furuyoshi / fatima aamer bilal / fair rosamund and eleanor by frank cadogan cowper

My conclusion☝️🤓

dune: part two, dir. denis villeneuve (2024) sharp objects, gillian flynn (2006)