Notices by Orion (he/him) (orionkidder@writing.exchange)

@HistoPol Dune stands out as not being *in favour* of the galactic super cop, and I think it deserves credit for that.

But since we're here, let me throw another idea at you. The last time I reread Dune, I noticed how much of it is about puberty.

@HistoPol Before he takes the water of life, Paul is constantly talking about how his powers are exceeding his mother's, and he's not comfortable with it. I recall the first time I realized I was taller than my mother.

It's an odd experience for (most) boys to become physically larger than our moms and in so doing grow into the role of "man" in a patriarchal society, where we're expected to also take a higher status position than our moms even though they raised us and gave us life.

@HistoPol Factor in just how phallic sand worms are as well as all the tough posturing with regard to the Fremen and the "hard times make hard people" myth, and you get a story that's very much about masculinity and about getting to a physical size as well as a social status where it's suddenly possible to do real harm in the world. That would be the psychological reading of Paul's fear of his "terrible purpose." I've wanted to write a paper about it for about ten years now.

@HistoPol Tangent: you might like this. It's a blog by a classicist about that myth, "hard times make hard people," using Dune as the entry point but mostly talking about the Spartans. I don't think he connects this myth to masculinity explicitly, but it's in the same realm. Very much worth your time.

https://acoup.blog/category/collections/the-fremen-mirage/

@HistoPol Yeah, Dune and Star Wars are just very different narratives. Herbert, for all that I do find his books problematic in various ways, set out to say something about the trope of the all-powerful sci-fi hero. Lucas set out, as far as I can tell, to make a really compelling adventure narrative that also kinda had a message, but such a simple and abstract one that anyone can identify with it, which is a strategy for success, to be sure.

@HistoPol I stumbled across a blog many years ago of someone who wanted to make SF as good as Lucas, and he'd read the concept that to learn the master's ways, you have to walk the master's path (or something like that).

So, he retraced Lucas' influences all the way back to #Lensman, through the #GreenLanterns, then #Dune and the #BeneGesserit, which all lead to #StarWars. His argument, and I think he's right, is that SF has been doing "galactic cop" stories for decades.

@HistoPol I'm not convinced I agree with your reading of Dune, but damn, friend, you have thought this through!

@HistoPol So. A thought.

The context of the Litany of Fear is that it's a Bene Gesserit mantra, and the Bene Gesserit are *bad guys*. They've manipulated galactic events, including implanting fake religions, in order to pave the way for their eugenics project to make the "perfect man," who himself turns out to be a terrifying warlord. By the second book, it turns out Paul is a fan of Hitler.

Yes, that Hitler.

@HistoPol Where we draw the line, here, between stuff Herbert put into DUNE in earnest and what was part of his critique of the "sci-fi superman" is not clear, but what is very important to remember is that *any* quotation from a fiction text happens in the context of that narrative.

Paul and the Bene Gesserit are the protagonists of DUNE, but they are not *heroes*, and we need remember that when we interact with that text.

Just saying.

#ScribesAndMakers March 1: How much time do you expect to have for creative pursuits this month?

[gentle weeping]

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#ScribesAndMakers March 6: How do you choose a title for your book?

I don't choose them so much as they come to me. My current book has only a working title, "The Order," which I find incredibly boring. It needs a better one.

In general, I like it if it's descriptive, evocative, but also mysterious. I want to draw people in.

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#PennedPossibilities 801 SC POV: What requires your patience today?

"I've been back home for a few months now. My dad's... different. I mean,of he is. I was gone for so long. They didn't know where. But he's also,like,smaller. I know I got bigger. I'm not stupid. But it's not just that. My life is smaller. What happened to me was--I can't even describe it yet. But being at home, it feels... less important than it was before."

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#PennedPossibilities 802: Tell us about a time that your MC accidentally broke something.

She broke her leg once, at a gymnastics meet. She was trying something that even she couldn't pull off. It taught her humility. She really did think she was indestructible.

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#PennedPossibilities 803 — Is there anything unusual in your MC’s home?

She grew up in an anarcho-syndicalist commune on 246th floor of an archology. Her clothes, toys, and electronics are either hand-me-downs that have been repaired until they can't be any more, or they come from other arcologies. It's just not the same kind of home as what most moderns live in.

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#PennedPossibilities 804 - Which of your characters would bob for apples?

All of them, eventually. Sim would dive in first in the hopes that people would like him. Grace and River would play along. Brant would do it eventually, when fewer people were looking.

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#PennedPossibilities 805 Can you tell us about a "nightmare" of your MC's that came true?

They dreamed of killing all their friends and family ever night for years. None of that came true, though.

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#PennedPossibilities 806 — What signals to your SC that it’s autumn?

The days have a sharp, damp coldness to them, and the rains start.

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#PennedPossibilities 807 Have you ever written anything that falls within the genre of horror?

Sure. My current project has loads of horror in it, although it's not a horror novel, and I once wrote a very short piece about a man uncontrollably turning into a giant spider. I showed it to my mom, a Stephen King fan, and she informed me I'd written a horror story. Weird to not know that as you write it.

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#PennedPossibilities 809 — Define the genre(s) of your WIP for curious readers and those who are new to the hashtag.

Mostly #SpaceOpera and *kinda* #PortalFantasy but really more like #BoardingSchool with side order of #horror and a dash of #SolarPunk / #HopePunk (I haven't figured out the difference between the two).

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#PennedPossibilities 810. Is there any mythology around the afterlife in your world?

No. It's a default atheist story. Religious people exist in the world, but I won't be going to the afterlife.

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