Flash Completed Behind the Dune [v2.36.2] [David Balsamique]

[Tromilka]

The orgy is a ritual that happens when a new Revered Mother is put in charge and there won't be another for years.

That's not actually true. The spice orgies are not only when a new Reverend Mother takes over, but a regularly occurring ceremony. (As described in the book, the spice orgies are mainly about the shared drug experience: sex does occur, but is optional; it's not a big gangbang like in the game.) As the new Reverend Mother, it was Jessica's duty to preside over them and transform the Water of Life whenever an orgy was called for, including both before and after each battle, which she eventually found exhausting:

Presently, Chani said: "Is there a maker here?"
"There are several," Jessica said with a touch of weariness. "We are never without them these days. Each victory requires its blessing. Each ceremony before a raid —"

Later, Alia served as Reverend Mother, and in Dune Messiah it is mentioned that she has presided over many orgies and seen people have sex, though she herself is still a virgin.

 

[Machete]

That's not actually true. The spice orgies are not only when a new Reverend Mother takes over, but a regularly occurring ceremony. (As described in the book, the spice orgies are mainly about the shared drug experience: sex does occur, but is optional; it's not a big gangbang like in the game.) As the new Reverend Mother, it was Jessica's duty to preside over them and transform the Water of Life whenever an orgy was called for, including both before and after each battle, which she eventually found exhausting:



Later, Alia served as Reverend Mother, and in Dune Messiah it is mentioned that she has presided over many orgies and seen people have sex, though she herself is still a virgin.

Thank you for the precisation Dune is an amazing piece of narrative always worth analyzing.

 

[dokodesuka]

Tromilka I think that's the first time a direct quote from the book made it to this thread. Nice!

 

[TheVegnar]

Anyone heard any new news about the MommyMod?

 

[Machete]

Changing topic, how do you guys feel about the casting for the Dune movie. That post made me think about it because the actress who will play Irulan, who i honestly like very much, i think she's talented and fun, i really don't see her as a sophisticated imperial princess while i liked a lot the actress they choosed for Lynch movie.

 

[PhantomStranger]

Changing topic, how do you guys feel about the casting for the Dune movie. That post made me think about it because the actress who will play Irulan, who i honestly like very much, i think she's talented and fun, i really don't see her as a sophisticated imperial princess while i liked a lot the actress they choosed for Lynch movie.

I have much more issues with Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica, but that's my personal opinion.

 

[Machete]

I have much more issues with Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica, but that's my personal opinion.

I liked her in the part, but i have issues as well. She is so fucking emotional and jumpy as no bene gesserit would ever be.

Yet, i don't think it's the actress fault. Villeneuve is so fucking manual on the 'show, not tell' rule that it's impossible to convey the complexity of Dune's worldbuilding without someone go heavy on infodumping as Lynce did in his movie.

Therefore, benefit of the normies, for istance, Jessica couldn't have been stoical while Paul went through the Gom Jabbar ordalia, or the audience would have though she didn't give a fuck of his son. Absolutely not the case, though, as a bene jesserit, she shouldn't have been so attached.

The same when Paul proclaims himself the one the fremen wait, she has a raging almost furious response warning the guy about the choice he was making. Still. You need to give the normies the glympse that Paul is not just a white saviour messaiah that will make everything right. Quite the opposite. And Villeneuve needed to frame, somehow, that that decision was to say the least extremely dangerous if not an open devastating mystake (question still open today 60 years after the book publication )

 

[PhantomStranger]

I liked her in the part, but i have issues as well. She is so fucking emotional and jumpy as no bene gesserit would ever be.

Yet, i don't think it's the actress fault. Villeneuve is so fucking manual on the 'show, not tell' rule that it's impossible to convey the complexity of Dune's worldbuilding without someone go heavy on infodumping as Lynce did in his movie.

Therefore, benefit of the normies, for istance, Jessica couldn't have been stoical while Paul went through the Gom Jabbar ordalia, or the audience would have though she didn't give a fuck of his son. Absolutely not the case, though, as a bene jesserit, she shouldn't have been so attached.

The same when Paul proclaims himself the one the fremen wait, she has a raging almost furious response warning the guy about the choice he was making. Still. You need to give the normies the glympse that Paul is not just a white saviour messaiah that will make everything right. Quite the opposite. And Villeneuve needed to frame, somehow, that that decision was to say the least extremely dangerous if not an open devastating mystake (question still open today 60 years after the book publication )

I already explained my opinion about all that here:
https://f95zone.to/threads/behind-the-dune-v2-34-david-balsamique.128/post-6601546

I see your point about Villeneuve's "guilt", still the actress' portrayal of a skinny whiny unattractive passive woman is the opposite of what a Bene Gesserit should be (a self-controlled, sure of herself, and yet very sensual woman, one that commands respect and radiates nobility and power... I can't see anything of that in Ferguson's performance).

 

[reynold.biplane]

Another edit.

This is your best one so far. I actually thought this was new official art at first.

I liked her in the part, but i have issues as well. She is so fucking emotional and jumpy as no bene gesserit would ever be.

Yet, i don't think it's the actress fault. Villeneuve is so fucking manual on the 'show, not tell' rule that it's impossible to convey the complexity of Dune's worldbuilding without someone go heavy on infodumping as Lynce did in his movie.

Therefore, benefit of the normies, for istance, Jessica couldn't have been stoical while Paul went through the Gom Jabbar ordalia, or the audience would have though she didn't give a fuck of his son. Absolutely not the case, though, as a bene jesserit, she shouldn't have been so attached.

The same when Paul proclaims himself the one the fremen wait, she has a raging almost furious response warning the guy about the choice he was making. Still. You need to give the normies the glympse that Paul is not just a white saviour messaiah that will make everything right. Quite the opposite. And Villeneuve needed to frame, somehow, that that decision was to say the least extremely dangerous if not an open devastating mystake (question still open today 60 years after the book publication )

I agree with you 100%. I had the exact same feeling during the gom jabbar scene. It bothers me so much, but I can understand, why it is done that way. The tragedy of every attempt to adapt Dune, is that none of the major characters are really relatable on an emotional level (and unrelatable = unlikeable to the average viewer). They are all overbred, highly trained and educated space-aristocrats, who have shed a lot of the flaws, that make us human (or at least we think they make us human). Frank Herbert imagined a future, which is characterised by human development, rather than technological development. The people he wrote about are aliens in human shape.

I already explained my opinion about all that here:
https://f95zone.to/threads/behind-the-dune-v2-34-david-balsamique.128/post-6601546

I see your point about Villeneuve's "guilt", still the actress' portrayal of a skinny whiny unattractive passive woman is the opposite of what a Bene Gesserit should be (a self-controlled, sure of herself, and yet very sensual woman, one that commands respect and radiates nobility and power... I can't see anything of that in Ferguson's performance).

Yep, she neither looked nor acted the part.
The weird thing is, that Rebeca Ferguson is actually quite attractive. Just not in that movie. For some inexplicable reason, she was made to look as plain as possible.

 

[polorsport]

I would have preferred Jennifer Connelly as Jessica.

 

[reynold.biplane]

I would have preferred Jennifer Connelly as Jessica.

Not a bad choice, although maybe a little bit too old now. A rare Hollywood actress with some boobah. Too bad, that there isn't a single one, that comes even close to Balsamique's version of Jessica. Why are there so few busty mainstream actresses, anyway?

 

[UltraSymmetrical]

Keep bringing the fanart!

 

[Tromilka]

I don't get those of you who say Ferguson was not attractive in the movie. She looks a bit drawn and harassed in many scenes, and with dry, chapped lips once they get out in the desert, but that's perfectly appropriate. At no time does she look unattractive.

Though Francesca Annis in the Lynch movie, who provided the model for the depiction in the Cryo game, which in turn inspired BtD, will always be the Jessica for me.

Not a bad choice, although maybe a little bit too old now. A rare Hollywood actress with some boobah. Too bad, that there isn't a single one, that comes even close to Balsamique's version of Jessica. Why are there so few busty mainstream actresses, anyway?

Connelly used to be busty, but she's so skinny now that they're all but gone. But then again, canon Jessica, as opposed to Balsamique's version, is not busty either, and I don't think you can really expect them to take their cues from a porn parody. Frank Herbert describes her as having a "scant" figure with "curves gone to slimness," so that fits.

The most characteristic part of Jessica's appearance is that she has bronze-red hair, though, which Connelly doesn't and which I don't think would suit her.

 

[reynold.biplane]

I don't get those of you who say Ferguson was not attractive in the movie. She looks a bit drawn and harassed in many scenes, and with dry, chapped lips once they get out in the desert, but that's perfectly appropriate. At no time does she look unattractive.

She is by no means ugly but I find, that her natural beauty doesn't show through in the way she is presented in the movie. Dress, hairstyles and the way she acts. At no point did I think "ah, I can see why Leto fell in love with her". But this obviously highly subjective.

But then again, canon Jessica, as opposed to Balsamique's version, is not busty either, and I don't think you can really expect them to take their cues from a porn parody. Frank Herbert describes her as having a "scant" figure with "curves gone to slimness," so that fits.

Yes, I know this and it is by no means a serious criticism, when I point out a lack of boobage.
But to be honest, I have become so used to to sight of Balsamique's Jessica and consider her the best version, that I would see it as a welcome bonus, if she also had "boobs of authority" in the movie, even though it contradicts the book.

 

[Machete]

Not a bad choice, although maybe a little bit too old now. A rare Hollywood actress with some boobah. Too bad, that there isn't a single one, that comes even close to Balsamique's version of Jessica. Why are there so few busty mainstream actresses, anyway?

It's third wave feminism which has been dominating hollywood for the last 7 years at least. Apparently boobs are evil now, among other things. Not to wonder. For TWF the maximum aspiration for women empowerment is to basically become men and the most hideous punishment men deserve for the crime of being men is to be turned into women.
My conclusion? Feminists hate women.

 

[reynold.biplane]

It's third wave feminism which has been dominating hollywood for the last 7 years at least. Apparently boobs are evil now, among other things. Not to wonder. For TWF the maximum aspiration for women empowerment is to basically become men and the most hideous punishment men deserve for the crime of being men is to be turned into women.
My conclusion? Feminists hate women.

I don't think feminism can be blamed for this one. This goes waaay back. Feminism has only recently taken over the age-old tradition of moralists to suppress sexuality. Was there ever a time, when it was normal to give busty women serious roles, instead of relegating them to being eye-candy? Back in the 80s and before, the place for such actresses was in B-Movies, or lower. B-Movies have almost vanished by now, though. There's no market for them.

I guess, that directors just don't want to be seen as giving preferential treatment to more physically attractive women. And while attractiveness overall can't be measured in an onjective way, boob-size can.

Maybe Hollywood's youth-fetish and rampant hebephilia also has something to do with it?

 

[Machete]

Good observations. Yet the war against boobs of late years is factual. There are vocal flames (on twitter of course, where else?) for anything boobs. Let me share a Wonder Woman example.



PS. Daaamn. Lynda Carter had all the numbers back in her days

 

[PhantomStranger]

Good observations. Yet the war against boobs of late years is factual. There are vocal flames (on twitter of course, where else?) for anything boobs. Let me share a Wonder Woman example.

View attachment 2018890 View attachment 2018891

PS. Daaamn. Lynda Carter had all the numbers back in her days

Lynda Carter was wonderful (pun intended), the comparison with today's beauty standard is so bad it hurts my eyes.

Even considering Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, I wouldn't complain if she had a little more meat on her bones (both muscles and curves).

 

[Crackhead 2.0]

Where can I find save files on android?

 

[reynold.biplane]

Good observations. Yet the war against boobs of late years is factual. There are vocal flames (on twitter of course, where else?) for anything boobs. Let me share a Wonder Woman example.

PS. Daaamn. Lynda Carter had all the numbers back in her days

Oof, what a lady.
Not the best example, though.

Most of the time, they tried to hide her charms as best as they could. Or maybe her pair just grew in size over the duration of the series. I don't know, I never watched it.
But this is the look I associate with Wonder Woman.


Also, the picture on the left isn't official artwork, right? I mean it's got the Rooster Teeth logo on the bottom, so I assume it's a parody.


Sidenote: I just found out, that Lynda Carter did some voice acting in the Elder Scrolls series. I'm currently replaying Morrowind. She's voicing the female Nords