#The baron

[ambresin]

The Baron really said "I respect drama more than any vampire tradition" and left it at that

[mulderscully]

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS | 5.02

[little-doggy-girl-kisser]

me when my romance partner speaks in a weird european accent: 🥰

me when my romance partner tells me i've been naughty thrice:😨

[letsduneit]

teeth blackening in house harkonnen

i was really intrigued by the practice of teeth blackening in harkonnen culture in dune part two, specifically because i recognized it as a historical japanese cultural practice. so here's a breakdown on what teeth blackening looked like in real world japanese culture, my thoughts on why denis villeneuve chose to bring this into harkonnen culture in particular, and the gendered implications of feyd rautha being the only male harkonnen shown with blackened teeth.

ohaguro, which translates to "black teeth," is a custom born in japan that reached peak popularity between the 10th and 19th centuries (it's first documented in writing in the tale of genji from the 11th century). this practice involved blackening teeth with a solution called kanemizu, which translates to "black water" and consists of iron shavings dissolved in vinegar and then combined with tannins to create a black liquid. the dye was re-applied daily or every other day to avoid the dulling or graying of the color.

ohaguro was originally practiced exclusively by member of the aristrocracy, mainly by married women, but also some men. ohaguro was commonly practiced when nobility came of age or when women were married. the practice only died out in the 19th century, largely as a result of western beauty ideals being enforced in japanese society through colonialism.

there are a few different reasons why ohaguro was thought to have achieved such popularity within the upper class. deep black was seen as a very beautiful color, and objects that were black were thought to be beautiful. the dye also possibly served to prevent tooth decay.

we see black as a dominant color in various aspects of harkonnen cutlure, including (but not limited) to the armor, ceremonial markings, and clothing of the upper class:

and i think this nudges us further towards this idea of black as a color of beauty, and the idea that teeth blackening was almost like a form of makeup that was seen to make someone more beautiful within upper class social circles.

considering that ohaguro originated with and remained most popular with noble women in japan, it's also very gender that feyd is the only harkonnen man we see with blackened teeth- his uncle the baron and his brother rabban aren't shown with blackened teeth. and the only others we see with blackened teeth are feyd's harpies, who are women.

tldr feyd rautha has black teeth because he's giedi prime's prettiest boy. also he's never beating the femboy allegations like this

[oldbrain]

THE CAT RETURNS (2002) 猫の恩返し | dir. Hiroyuki Morita

[nadjasnandor]

wwdits + text posts

[theshadowsooc]

[irissweatersbearthoughts]

The baron is my favorite girly pop in the universe

[loveakii]

“No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a hero.” —Dune, Frank Herbert

[izzysjunkdrawer]

The Baron from Studio Ghibli's 'The Cat Returns'

He's such a good and handsome boy ^w^

[bootlegraccoons]

can we just holistically agree to forget the context of this clip and pretend he’s pointing at someone and saying “slay” and eventually use it as a reaction vid to compliment someone’s clear slayism

[iconsumethesoulsofthedamned]

Geidi primes most problematic family redesigns

[mulderscully]

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS | 1.06

[wwditsdaily]

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS 5.02 "A Night Out With The Guys"

[letsduneit]

the baron, captioning his latest facebook post of a picture of his nephews: dearly missing my younger nephew, feyd-rautha harkonnen, darling of our house and our hearts, beloved by all of giedi prime, my heir, and the glorious future of our house. he will be returning home soon for his birthday, which i have declared as a global holiday. pictured with his brother rabban.

[oldbrain]

THE CAT RETURNS (2002) 猫の恩返し | dir. Hiroyuki Morita