with a roar of noise and a glory of daylight

dune is so cool as a bildungsroman because there are some scenes where paul is literally coming to terms with the insane amount of psychic ability he has, and yet at the end of the day he's just a 16 year old learning how to navigate a world that forced him to grow up far too quickly

Paul heard his mother’s grief and felt the emptiness within himself. I have no grief, he thought. Why? Why? He felt the inability to grieve as a terrible flaw.

I really like that Edmond's commitment to the bit and theatrical bullshit is just as potent with his loved ones as it is his enemies. Like he absolutely could've told Maximilian once they got to Marseilles or even after leaving Paris "Listen, don't kill yourself, I know this sounds nuts but Valentine's fine. Her entire family aside from her grandpa is either dead or driven insane but it's cool, you guys can be together" but instead he took him on a road trip, took him to a private island, got him high, and actually made him think he was giving him poison

ursula k le guin affirmations for your day: