#morella/tamerlane

[baubeautyandthegeek]

Bitterness Balanced With Sweetness – Tamerlane Usher/Morella Usher, Frederick Usher.

A/N: Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial 's latest prompt. GIFs made for me by @whoreofthecottage

She doesn’t really mean to be judgmental, but she can’t help being a little critical even as she smiles at Morella, watching the woman, now her wife, settle at her side, letting a hand cover Morella’s as she scoops a spoonful of ice-cream, butterscotch, her favorite, into her mouth, letting it melt as Frederick rambles on. Then she speaks. “You talk an awful lot about what’s best for this family, whilst being the very worst of it.” She means every word and she can tell it hits home even as she scoops another spoonful of ice-cream into her mouth, choosing to focus on the softness of Morella’s skin and the sweet taste of the ice-cream.

[fishyyyyy99]

I'm just going to come right out and say it. I found Verna annoying. IDK, I just didn't like the moralising and supposed compassion she had for the Usher children. It just didn't feel genuine. Or was the compassionate mask supposed to add to the torture like when she's advising Tamerlane to be calm or something while literally freaking her the fuck out? If so, it just felt unnecessarily cruel to me. And I felt bad for Leo too. I feel like the only death I was actually happy about was Froderick's, and Verna's full on anger was easier to stomach than the cruel compassion (I'm sorry, but that's just how it felt to me). Madeline's monologue before she collapsed was badass.

Also, I'm probably reading too much into it, but it felt strangely conservative. It felt like the show was saying look at all these rich, evil, kinky/non-traditional relationship-having Ushers (I guess Froderick is the exception - he seemed to have a fairly traditional relationship iirc, and he turned out to be an abuser). And the sweetest Ushers are the monogamous housewife, and the granddaughter whose sexual/romantic life we never see. Even Morella seems to get punished for going to the orgy. Also, why the fuck did everyone else at the orgy die???

EDIT: Victorine also has a monogamous relationship as @queer-verse pointed out. Also, I want to clarify that I don't think the show was literally punishing people for having non-traditional/non-monogamous relationships. It just felt icky that all of the good people whose relationships we were showed/told about, were more traditional when it came to relationships. It's like when the "modern woman" is usually the villain in Indian soaps. She's not portrayed as evil because she wears modern clothes, and yet somehow, it's always the evil one that is "modern", while the good one is more "traditional".

[comic-book-fan-us]

Ada’s Eye Color (It's Probably Nothing)

So I noticed something weird about Ada’s eye color.

When she starts talking to Lenore for the very first time, her eyes are brown.

Then they turn green.

Then they’re brown again.

Now, green eyes are often associated with jealousy. Jealousy is obviously a huge part of Ada’s character, and she explicitly states that her behavior towards Lenore was the result of jealousy. Given that Ada’s Spectre has yet to be revealed, I came up with the theory that her changing eye color may be some sort of foreshadowing. A brief Google search also suggested that in ancient Greek theology, people with green eyes are said to be descended from Lycaon, the first werewolf.

The problem with this theory is that after Episode 7, Ada is never drawn with brown eyes again. In fact, she seems to mostly be drawn with just black dots with no iris. Most characters have a couple panels where their irises aren’t shown, but with Ada, it almost seems like the norm.

I think the changing color in Episodes 6 and 7 were most likely just a minor coloring mistake, but a part of me is reluctant to give up this theory.

Ada’s eyes tend to be shown as green when she’s engaging in self-destructive behavior:

Self-pity

Being confronted with her lack of Spectre

After Montressor tormented and humiliated her.

Alienating others

Clinginess

Jealousy

Obsessive People-Pleasing

Also, I'll just point out these two images:

Morella is the one character who seems to have a real friendship with Ada, so these two interactions are probably the most genuinely happy Ada has been so far in the series. In both moments, Ada's eyes are closed.

In summation: Ada's eyes are green, but they don't always look green. That might be important, but probably isn't. I mainly just wanted to point out this weirdness in case someone smarter than me sees something I don't.

[flanaganfilm]

Hi Mike! Curious to know if you have any suggestions of Poe stories we should read before Usher comes out (aside from the obvious, of course)?

Oh boy, let's see... The Tell Tale Heart The Raven The Cask of Amontillado The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Masque of the Red Death The Black Cat Tamerlane The Premature Burial Lenore Morella The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket William Wilson The City in the Sea The Pit and the Pendulum Spirits of the Dead ... this series is pretty wild ;)

[dusty-daydreams]

I saw someone suggest the idea that the Ushers all represent a deadly sin - here is which I think they are and why

Prospero - Lust

Camille - wrath

Leo - gluttony

Vic - sloth

Tamerlane - pride

Fred - envy

The Twins (Roderick and Madeline) - greed

Prospero is Lust, not only because of his hedonism but his unabashed Lust for power - he is filming his anonymous orgy so he can blackmail powerful people and dies in the midst of his orgy - but I could also see him as sloth (wouldn’t come up with a proper business proposal, didn’t bother to check that the tanks held water not acid)

Camille is Wrath, she approaches everything - her siblings, her job, her assistants/lovers and verna in the end with rage - and she gets killed by an angry animal

Leo is Gluttony - he indulges himself in abundant drugs and abundant sexual partners, despite having a relatively good situation - he has a successful career that doesn’t put him directly under his fathers control, he has a committed caring partner but still he gluts himself on everything that comes his way, he dies chasing a cat that hunts far more than it needs too

Victorine is Sloth - she doesn’t want to put in the work needed too make her device work, she just takes shortcuts to make it seem like it is working, she kills her partner in part because her partner who is actually the skilled surgeon doesn’t want to do the work anymore (admittedly this one I’m not as sure on - she might be pride, refusing to admit her device doesn’t work out of fear of failure)

Tamerlane is Pride - Of all her siblings she is the most proud of being an usher, and the most obsessed with her own image, obsessed with beauty, obsessed with being a success, she will not take anyone’s advice not even her husbands, she is proud and controlling in her relationship forcing her husband to go along with her voyeuristic kink when he doesn’t want too. This is a double-edged sword as she is also deeply insecure, outsourcing intimacy and dying as a result of smashing mirrors attempting to prevent Verna taking her place (alternatively she could be envy - envious of Verna etc.)

Fred is Envy - he is envious of his father and his effortless command presence and his fathers success, and he is envious of his wife, punishing her horrifically purely because he believes she cheated on him, (even though she didn’t, all she did was think about it and go to a party where she was alone) he is so envious that he even makes an attempted coup against his father. (He could also be gluttony - his drugs, and dying because putting more and more nightshade in his coke)

Finally the Twins - Roderick and Madeline are Greed - They set everything in motion because they both always wanted more, more money, more recognition, more power, even immortality - through AI in Madeline’s case and in the creation of a bloodline legacy in Roderick’s

I also have one thing to add I think that Lenore (and Annabel Lee and Juno and Morella - Lenore’s mom) represent the seven capital virtues: these are chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness and humility.

Chasity - Lenore dies before she ever has a relationship, she is in gothic story terms a chaste innocent

Temperance - Lenore seems disgusted by her dad having done drugs (also Juno is Temperance, her wisdom in coming to her own conclusion to wean herself off Ligodine)

Charity - As Verna says the charity her mom starts is a result of Lenore saving her mom (also Juno and Morella donating to charity)

Diligence - Lenore sticks to what is right even when it’s hard, giving a statement to the police about her dad, caring for her grandfather, searching for treatment options for her mom (also Juno diligently weaning herself of drugs, Morella’s charity work, Annabel Lee caring for her children)

Patience - Lenore patiently encourages her family to do better and be better

Kindness - Lenore saves her mother, and creates a ripple effect that saves millions of lives (Annabel Lee being kind to everyone)

Humility - Lenore thinks that losing their fortune and company could be a good thing that leads to a moral good for her family

[boringboy]

Thoughts about Ada. Is it coherent, I don’t know? You tell me. (PART 1)

I’d like to start this off by saying I’m not in my right mind right now, it’s sort of like— literally 5am in the morning as I write this and I have not slept a wink, but this is the sort of thing I’ll sacrifice for my latest obsession! Haha, okay but anyways. This is just a little character post, sharing my thoughts about a certain one, and in no way do I consider it to be up to par with any of the other existing analyses within the Nevermore fandom. I don’t do this often, so forgive me.

Ada, to me, is an amazing antagonist. I believe she’s incredibly well written, so much that she (almost) seems human. At first you think she’s annoying, which you’re meant to, but then somewhere down the line you start feeling something similar to remorse. Guilt. And then you immediately become annoyed again. I know exactly how Morella feels.

First off, we can talk about her background. What Edgar Allan Poe work is Ada based on? That’s right, Tamerlane! And what exactly is Tamerlane about? To put it short, it’s a poem about an important man who falls in love with a peasant girl who’s conveniently named Ada, who he takes for granted. We can already infer so much from this, and it’s reinforced by the Mystery Manor arc which does hint at it before it’s basically confirmed. I mean, how else would she know that the servant’s staircase were the quickest way to get round the mansion, if not from experience? And the way she responded to Lenore when she’d asked what a peephole portrait could be good for: “Uhh, privacy, obviously?” followed by, “These old manors have all sorts of secrets like this!”. (Taken from episodes 56 and 57). This isn’t something people with status would care to know about or remember.

When it’s shown outright in episode 69 through a memory triggered by Prospero’s rejection, we see Ada in maid attire, denoting her status. She has presumably been lured into the forest by this man, the man she loves, the man who is wealthy, and the man who is holding a hatchet and has already struck her. Well, sliced her to be exact. Right in the stomach. A lot of people theorise this to be due to an accidental pregnancy and an affair, which is something I agree with and what I believe to be the most probable situation. Continuing on, Ada’s bleeding out, in tears, and understandably confused. Was her pregnancy, or whatever it could be, not something to be happy about? Even though she’s dying, the last thing on her mind is the pain. What she cares about is what the man thinks. All she can think about is why he’s doing this to her.

Ada was dealt an awful hand in life. She’s never been fortunate ever, not even in death.

What did she want from this relationship?

Naturally, as a person born so low down, you would want to live better and be treated better. So you take any sliver, any scrap, of anything that comes close to that. You fall in love with that rich man, that’s nothing, but if he loves you back or says he does? I’d scrabble to my knees just to get the chance. Hell, I’d accept it without even thinking twice.

I think their interactions might have been almost fairytale like, the man acting like a prince, at least in her eyes, explaining her attitude towards the whole thing.

And Ada continues to go for it in death because she’s unfulfilled. She wants to be satisfied for once in her life, in so many different ways. This game the Deans are playing is what she thinks is her chance to finally change things.

How does her background affect her? What does it do for her character now?

Her insecurity is rooted in classism. The likely reason she was killed was because the man couldn’t be caught with someone of a low class, and of course Ada would know that. You’d be made to know your place since the day you were born. That insecurity only grows worse upon entering Nevermore. When you’re afraid of one thing, you start fearing more. The way she acts towards others because of that earns her insults and adds even more salt to the wound. I think she came out more insecure than when she arrived 😭. Like all the precautions she’s taken have all been wasted because they don’t even have the effect on others that she wants. Nobody likes her because of it.

Also because of her background, she’s unable to stand up for herself when she really needs to. Yes she’ll fight it at first, pretend she’s as good as the rest, but it’ll fade fast. There’s no point in fighting it when it’s the natural order of things, right? What she’s been before is what she’ll always be and nothing can change that. No matter how much she dreams. Resigning herself to others is what she’s used to doing. Ada can’t defy her authority, can’t defy anything even if she feels guilty.

She wants to be loyal and worthy. She craves validation so desperately it’s insane.

What is so relatable and real about her?

The cycle she’s stuck in is something I believe a lot of people can relate to, or something a lot of people have seen others go through. She’s self destructive, and I don’t think I even need to explain that. You can easily identify what, where and when.

The fact that she’s vulnerable. All of these things have made her unstable and easy to manipulate and use, and I don’t think she’s aware of it either, or maybe she is deep down, but doesn’t mind it because she’s getting what she wants, or what she supposes she wants.

Her actions seem almost reasonable now when you take into account her living life and her circumstances, but it doesn’t make it okay obviously. It makes you sympathise with her. Kind of like a love/hate thing. R&F did really well with that, the expressions and all the little things make such a huge difference/impact. I can tell exactly how she feels in her lowest moments.

Help. We’re stopping here because if I continued there’d be so much more.

I don’t know. I think it’s the fact that you can think this much about her that proves she’s an amazing character? Because wow she is thought provoking. This is all nonsense actually, I’m afraid of looking at this after it’s posted.

[spoonful-of-citrus-flowers]

Crossroads of the Usher Children (& Grandchild), Pt. 2

Part One here!

Victorine LaFourcade: Verna is pretending to be a patient with heart issues (Pamela) to see what Victorine will do – if she’ll try to push this patient into human trials when they’re very much not ready or not. We know that she does try to start those human trials, leading to her argument with Alessandra where Victorine kills her in a crime of passion and tries to “save her” by installing the heart mesh, only to be driven insane by the sound of it (ironically, the heart mesh still beating in a dead person’s chest would have been exactly what would’ve happened if the patient wasn’t actually Verna.)

Rather eerily, this would also have been similar to what happened with the bodies Fortunato was hiding during their own human drug trials, and I think this is why Verna chooses to possess Victorine just before her death to speak to Roderick (“success is everything”), who was working in Fortunato at that time. (It’s also no accident that Vic specifically says Ali wasn’t a ‘team player’ – the same phrase Rufus Griswold said to Roderick when confronted over the missing bodies.)

Tamerlane Usher: Her crossroads was two-fold: that moment when Verna is acting as the sex worker who is supposed to look and act like Tamerlane, and Verna proceeds to talk about her grief over her (now 4) dead siblings – making both Tamerlane and BillT look rather uncomfortable. Instead of hiding behind others, I think the choice Verna wanted Tamerlane to make was to send her away, to reach out and talk to her husband herself about what was going on.

But Tamerlane never did, and in fact, chased him away. After her failed Goldbug launch, BillT tries to call her, and Verna even says that Tamerlane should talk to him. Again, Tamerlane refuses, attacking Verna in the mirrors until her death via mirror shards.

Frederick Usher: This one is pretty obvious – Verna herself spells it out. She would’ve chosen a different way, but that changed when Frederick chose to bring Morella home against medical advice and chose to torture her.

(Putting a keep reading here because Lenore's section is the longest)

Lenore Usher: Lenore’s crossroads is really one I had to think about, not because it’s subtle (her breaking into her mother’s room, calling the cops when she sees how her father has abused her mother, and refusing to shy away from the truth of that, even when it would benefit the company – and thus her, since she stands to inherit everything now that her father and aunts/uncles are dead), but because Lenore is so upstanding, there really wasn’t a crossroads for her at all – which is why I think Verna never actually shows up in Lenore’s life until it’s time for her to die. At no point could Verna have presented her with an alternate choice because Lenore would never have made another choice. This determination is something we later see Verna react positively to with another character: Arthur Gordon Pym. Now, obviously Pym is nowhere near as morally upright as Lenore, but he also refuses to compromise on whatever/whoever he cares about to make things easier for himself at that other person’s expense. (I took the line about him not having collateral and not being leveraged not to mean that he has nothing, because Verna wouldn’t even bother if that were the case, but that he will not let them take the fall for his crimes.) Similarly, Lenore refuses to sit down and say what Pym will tell her in order to make sure her father died an upstanding man and benefit the company/Usher family.

Back to Lenore, though – Verna openly regrets having to take Lenore’s life, but that was the deal she’d struck with both Roderick and Madeline – their bloodline ends before they die. As a last parting gift to Lenore, Verna tells her of all the lives she’d indirectly helped save when she rescued her mother and got her help. It’s certainly a painful scene, more so now that I realize that due to the deal, Roderick killed all the good that Lenore might’ve done had she survived – helping undo some of the damage he’d caused with Ligodone. But her choice to save her mother ensured that it wasn’t all for nothing: her mother would recover from her injuries, and go on to do just that. It's also a neat parallel with all of the other deaths (the other deaths ultimately making their lives/last goals futile), which I’ll list out here.

Prospero/Perry: seeks to prove himself by gathering blackmail material on all the famous people at his party – but he dies with no one else knowing of his goal, and even if they’d known, all the people he’d sought to blackmail are dead anyways.

Camille: fires her assistants, who were the only other people who knew of Victorine and her sneaking out the dead chimp bodies, and then gets mauled to death before being able to tell anyone her suspicions/what she’s learned.

Napoleon/Leo: buys a new look-a-like cat to cover up the fact that he thinks he’s killed his fiancé’s cat Pluto, but Pluto was never actually dead to begin with – just wandering nearby after being let out accidentally.

Victorine: insisting on getting a possibly life-saving heart mesh to human trials led to an argument resulting in the death of the inventor of said heart mesh (Alessandra), preventing it from being further developed and marketed by Fortunato.

Tamerlane: deeply insecure about herself, constantly latching onto others to be better by association with them – her figurative self-destruction/erasure becomes literal when she dies by destroying a mirror reflecting Verna (who was representing the ‘better’ Tamerlane).

Frederick: was secretly torturing his helpless wife under the false belief that she’d been unfaithful, while wanting to keep the appearance of a good, caring husband – shortly after his death (watching helplessly as a pendulum slices him in half), his daughter exposes him for the horrible man he was, destroying any reputation he may have had.

Lenore: wanted to put Usher/Fortunato money to good use as philanthropy, but though she dies, this is still carried out by Juno and Morella.

[crobones]

SEVEN THE ORIGINAL DEADLY SINS

Perry - Lust; second youngest usher (i'm includine lenore), second level of hell, name's on the tin, bruv

Camille - Gluttony; they do not require food as sustenance, they need information and fame. she was in that lab for info on vic that she didn't really need at all.

Leo - Wrath; his rage and anger towards life falling apart (and the cat as well, of course.) he also showed the most compassion to any of his siblings, and when love is lost, anger is only the second step

Vic - Sloth; threw money at a problem she refused to actually do the research to solve. can't see progress without putting in the effort

Freddie - Greed; Morella wasn't a person to him, she was a trophy he coveted. like envy (as he and Tamerlane are twins) greed has little patience for sharing

Tammy - Envy; gets her rocks off being cuckolded but can't stand the thought of him having an affair with one of the sex workers. yes, the mirror kills her, but the light bathes her in green

Roderick - Vainglory; unsubstantiated pride. the man should have been a poet, he didn't have the brains to be so cocky, or the charisma to sway people into putting him above the rest - other people did the work for him

Madeline - Acedia; a form of sloth that mostly translates to the inability to form affections towards loved ones or have empathy for those around her. she was afraid of death more than she wanted power or glory, she just knew power would help her achieve her goal. what truly caused her downfall was her complete and utter apathy for her brother and his children.

Eliza and William - Pride; Eliza was too prideful to either leave her job, too prideful of her misconstrued idea of love to pursue a relationship with someone who could help parent her children, and too prideful of her religious beliefs to see a doctor. and William was too prideful of a man to admit his affair or acknowledge his children, obviously

and seeing as I'm taking some slight influence from the levels of hell (see: dante's inferno), it's no mystery where one would put Lenore. she's purgatory. her only sin was being born unbaptised an Usher.

[malboraslihan]

so...  i  made  a  new  family  based  on  the  show  the  fall  of  the  house  of  usher  and  edgar  allan  poe  lore  and  i'm  definitely  excited  to  use  them  so  like  this  for  a  starter  and  please  reply  with  whoever  you'd  like  or  i'll  just  choose  at  random.  

tl;dr  on  the  family:  they're  based  on  poe's  original  story  meaning  that  the  family  is  cursed.  they've  had  over  30  years  of  non  stop  success,  managed  to  get  to  the  top  of  the  world  and  bury  a  lot  of  people  through  it  and  now  the  universe  is  finally  coming  down  on  them  to  make  it  even.  each  member  of  the  family  (saved  ugo,  of  course)  starts  to  experience  the  fall  of  their  careers,  personal  lives  etc.  so  far,  the  only  victim  has  been  the  youngest  of  the  family,  belly  usher;  whose  videos  and  photos  of  secret  orgies  she  had  been  organizing  for  the  last  ten  years  surfaced  online.  

tamerlane  usher  —  margot  robbie,  henri’s  twin  sister,  coo  at  celesio  pharmaceutical,  bisexual.

henri  william  usher  —  charlie  hunnam,  tamerlane’s  twin  brother,  ceo  at  celesio  pharmaceutical,  heterosexual.

emmet  usher  —  henry  cavill,  henri’s  only  biological  son,  cfo  at  celesio  pharmaceutical,  heterosexual.

marian  raven  usher  —  christian  serratos,  henri’s  only  biological  daughter,  unemployed,  bisexual.  

morella  usher—  camila  morrone,  the  oldest  bastar  of  the  usher  family,  researcher  at  the  celesio  pharmaceutical,  bisexual.  

victor  usher  —  rudy  pakow,  the  second-olderst  bastard  of  the  usher  family,  owner  of  a  strip  club,  bisexual.

pedro  diaz  usher  —  diego  tinoco,  the  second-youngest  bastard  of  the  usher  family,  professional  boxer,  heterosexual.

annabel  ‘belly’  usher  —  valentina  zenere,  the  youngest  bastard  of  the  usher  family,  actress  and  social  media  influencer,  bisexual.ugo  dawson  —  trevante  rhodes,  the  usher's  lawyer  and  herni's  longtime  friend,  heterosexual. 

[davyreads]

edgar allan poe reading list

as i mentioned in my first post, i am obsessed with netflix's the fall of the house of usher but i am not entirely familiar with poe's works so before i watch it for a third time, i want to read and interact with the works that are referenced in the show, whether that be character names, episode names or just general references. the list can be found below the read more :)

tales and short stories

the fall of the house of usher

metzengerstein

morella

the pit and the pendulum

william wilson

the gold-bug

the premature burial

the tell-tale heart

the spectacles

the black cat

the murders in the rue morgue

the masque of the red death

the cask of amontillado

ligeia

some words with a mummy

never bet the devil your head

landor's cottage

the man that was used up

berenice

poems

annabel lee

tamerlane

spirits of the dead

the city in the sea

lenore

the raven

novels

the narrative of arthur gordon pym of nantucket

[baubeautyandthegeek]

Comforting Cuddles - Tamerlane Usher/Morella Usher

A/N: Day 31 aka 11 for @domaystic, GIFs made for me by @whoreofthecottage

Tamerlane Usher has been in immense physical and mental pain since she came home. She knows she’s not perfect anymore, but she hopes, deep down, that maybe, just maybe, she can be loved. Morella Usher, still healing from the skin grafts needed to fix her, is perfect to her, sweet, kind and gentle. She knows that Morella has always been a little nervous but she adores her and always has.  Both women know they can always trust one another and, as Tamerlane sinks into Morella’s arms, she feels fully at home. The two can find a new kind of domestic bliss, together. 

[ao3feed-midnightmass]

Accidentally In Love

by TheMultitudesOfMe (theonlyoneshetrulyloved) Dolly and Beverly charm Morella, even as she wonders what drew Tamerlane here first. Words: 110, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 70 of Multiamory March 2024 Fandoms: The Fall of the House of Usher (TV 2023), Midnight Mass (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/F Characters: Beverly Keane, Dolly Scarborough, Morella Usher, Tamerlane Usher Relationships: Beverly Keane/Dolly Scarborough/Morella Usher/Tamerlane Usher Additional Tags: Crossover Pairings March 21, 2024 at 07:29PM Read it on Ao3 » https://archiveofourown.org/works/54638575 ✞ Don’t forget to leave kudos and comments to let the author know you enjoyed their work ✞

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

the zaniest FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER crossover you've ever seen

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/7debsUH by loosenoodlepoodledoodle Read it, and you may or may not regret it... (HEAVY SPOILERS) Words: 1535, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: The Fall of the House of Usher (TV 2023), Batman - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi Characters: Verna, Napoleon Dynamite, Tamerlane Usher, Napoleon Usher, Prospero Usher, Victorine LaFourcade, Frederick Usher, Lenore Usher, Morella Usher, Camille L'Espanaye, William Willson | Bill-T, Julius, Alessandra Ruiz | Ali, Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Smut, Parody, Absurd, Spoilers read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/7debsUH

[eschercaine]

Nevermore characters based from Edgar Allan Poe’s works

Lenore (from the poem “The Raven”)

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly, I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore— For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore— Nameless here for evermore.

Annabel Lee (from the poem “Annabel Lee”)

It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.

Morella (from the gothic horror short story “Morella”)

With a feeling of deep yet most singular affection I regarded my friend Morella. Thrown by accident into her society many years ago, my soul, from our first meeting, burned with fires it had never known. But the fires were not of Eros—and bitter and tormenting to my eager spirit was the gradual conviction that I could in no manner define their unusual meaning, or regulate their vague intensity. Yet we met, and Fate bound us together at the altar, and I never spoke of love, or dreamed of passion. She, however, shunned society and attaching herself to me alone rendered me happy. It is a happiness to wonder. It is a happiness to think.

Duke (from the humorous short story “The Duc de L’Omelette”)

A golden cage bore the luxurious little wanderer, enamoured, melting, indolent, to the Chaussee D’Antin, from its home in far Peru. From its queenly possessor La Bellissima, to the Duc de L’Omelette, six peers of the empire conveyed the happy bird. It was ‘All for Love.’

Ada (from the poem “Tamerlane”)

One noon of a bright summer’s day I pass’d from out the matted bow’r Where in a deep, still slumber lay My Ada. In that peaceful hour, A silent gaze was my farewell. I had no other solace—then T’awake her, and a falsehood tell Of a feign’d journey, were again To trust the weakness of my heart To her soft thrilling voice: To part Thus, haply, while in sleep she dream’d Of long delight, nor yet had deem’d Awake, that I had held a thought Of parting, were with madness fraught; I knew not woman’s heart, alas! Tho’ lov’d, and loving—let it pass.—

Prospero (from the short story “The Masque of the Red Death”)

The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had been ever so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avator and its seal — the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleedings at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest-ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease were the incidents of half an hour. But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless, and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince’s own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress or egress to the sudden impulses of despair from without or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballêt-dancers, there were musicians, there were cards, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the “Red Death.”

Pluto (from the short story “The Black Cat”)

Pluto—this was the cat’s name—was my favorite pet and playmate. I alone fed him, and he attended me wherever I went about the house. It was even in difficulty that I could prevent him from following me through the streets.

[sublimegentlemanalpaca]

Poe and his volumes of forgotten lore in Tamerlane House

I imagine somewhere in Tamerlane House Poe has a Study. A modern day( for Poe )cell. There’s a curtained window, a bust of Pallas, a roaring fire place, a single relaxing chair, and a table with everything needed for writing. Decorating the room are models and statues from Poe’s stories. The House of Usher, the Crest of the Montosours hung on the wall, the Orangutan from Murders of Rue Mourge (with Razor in hand) the hanging Eight Orangutans from Hop Frog, a little dinner scene from The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather, an Eye (Tell Tale Heart), and so on. Then there are the volumes of Forgotten lore lining the Shelves. These are books of magic, mystery, and eldricht knowledge. The sort of thing he’d study when he was Prospero. He will pull them out and remember his time as Prospero. Reflect on his study, his time with his daughter Miranda, his treatment of Caliban and Ariel. He also remembers a time following the death of his Miranda when he took up tutoring a young noblewoman named Helena in the mystic arts. Lining the walls are paintings. Not the sort which belong in the Pygmalion Gallery, but static unmoving portraits that serve as reminders. A painting of Adam and Eve. One of Cain killing Abel. A Portrait of Prospero with Miranda, Caliban, and Ariel. Then several portraits of Women. Lenore, Annabel, Isabel, Berenice, Ligiea, Morella, and lastly Virginia. Poe comes this room now and again, and sits. He sits, and remembers, remembers and reflects on those memories and how they may shed light on present worries. Only Poe knows the way to this Room. Him and the Ravens. Tamerlane House keeps it away from everyone else. He stits in his chair, with a bowl of Pistachios on a side table, and knowing without needing to look that one of the Ravens of the House’s Unkindness will be perched upon the bust of Pallas. They will be perched and silent, and only announcing that word when they find Poe has been there long enough. Until then the Raven, whichever it is, will sit and looking after their Master and their friend. Make of that what you will.

[baubeautyandthegeek]

Last Night - Tamerlane Usher/Morella Usher

A/N: Fic 11/30 for my Summer 5x5 @julybreakbingo card with Alts. First GIF made for me by @whoreofthecottage

Tamerlane would always insist she didn’t remember passing out in bed with Morella after Frederick’s funeral. The man had gotten himself killed trying to stop Perry’s club incident but neither Tamerlane nor Morella had really known how to react.     Now though, as Tamerlane woke up to Morella tucked into her arms, she had to admit it felt right, far more right than it had back when she was married to Bill. The man was harmless but he was still, sadly, a man... Morella was not. She was very similar to Bill in some ways though, gentle and thoughtful, kind... but she was also a lot more gently tactile, working with Tamerlane to keep her at ease even when both of them were definitely more than a little drunk last night.     It’s quiet when Morella wakes, her smile soft when Tamerlane leans to kiss her softly. It might have been an accidental first step, but neither of them wanted to go back.