#roderick and madeline

[shipcestuous]

I think the 90s House of Usher movie lets the incest be canon!

The number of adaptations is insane. I was going to list them, until I realized there were too many. There aren't just movies and the miniseries this year, there also seem to be horror anthology series episodes and other things.

I would love to hear from anyone who has seen any of these and has any info on 1) Whether Roderick and Madeline are characters in it, 2) whether they are shippable, and 3) whether they are canon.

The only version I have seen is this one from 2006. It is not a very good movie. It is, like may of these others, a loose modernized adaptation:

Three years after her lover, Rick Usher, and her best friend, Maddy Usher, had suddenly disappeared from her life without explanation, Jill Masters receives a phone call with news of Maddy's death. Her last wish was for Jill to attend her funeral. Conflicted, Jill returns to the house of Usher, a remote New England enclave. Her love affair with Rick is rekindled as she learns he suffers from the same malady that robbed his twin sister, Maddy, of her sharp mind before taking her life. His affliction is manifested in a rare nerve condition, which renders him hyper-sensitive. Under the watchful eye of the caretaker, Nurse Thatcher, Jill appears to be haunted by the ghost of Maddy, and the secret of the house of Usher is exposed

This is not a movie I would probably recommend for R/M, however it does have a very visually striking ending for them that made an impression on me. I would call it canon and have classified it as such all along. I would even call it endgame. But a horror sort of endgame.

[kitxvoss]

"And we're the problem?"

[flung-out-of-asgard]

[doyouwanttoseeabug]

oh OOOOOOH their deaths mirror each other. Tamerlane and Leo are both driven to what looks like suicide chasing hallucinations around an apartment that architecturally represents their psyche (as they destroy it), shortly after leaving/planning to leave their loving partner. (Both of them invite her in, at first. Both of them want her there. But now she's in the mirrors. She's in the walls.)

Vic and Camille are both killed/driven to death by Vic's experiments, their rivalry leading to both their deaths (Camille to prove it doesn't work, Vic to prove it does), immediately after they get left by people they are using in professional/personal ways - Camille hires Toby and Tina to sleep with them, Vic dates Ali to get her to work with her on the heart mesh.

Perry and Frederick both die in the same warehouse, looking at the ceiling, waiting for death to come to them - Perry with a look of ecstasy, Frederick in terror. Both of them are in that warehouse because they've been humiliated by Roderick and are now determined to prove themselves. Both get led here by drugs. Both involve the mutilation of an innocent, Morrie. Both of them see Verna not as another character, but something like her true self. And there's the parallel between all the mercy that Verna offers Perry - the most she offers any of them, other than Lenore - and her glee in explaining to Roderick exactly why he deserves to die like this.

And then you get the final pairing/quartet of deaths - Eliza Usher + William Longfellow vs Madeline and Roderick which is obvious but oh my god. oh my god you guys. Eliza's wall of crucifixes and clinging to Christian faith and the sanctity of pain as a way of hoping for reward after death vs Roderick putting Madeline through the agony of vivisection to 'honour' her + grant her Egyptian immortality. Both William and Roderick eat their young. Fuck.

[spiderliliez]

They will live a blessed, privileged life, and depart the stage together. [+] CARLA GUGINO 🥀 [+] ..more on “The Fall of the House of Usher” 🎬

[stevenrogered]

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER | 1x08 "The Raven"

[uncertified-disaster]

Yeah ok I love them 💀🕷️🩸

[cluelessrebel1988]

I'll admit I was initially surprised that it was Roderick, not Madeline, who was the first to say yes to Verna's offer of a consequence-free rise to the top of the company they viewed as their birthright (largely because Roderick never came across as that ruthless unless he was playing a part in Madeline's schemes), but the more I thought about it the more it makes complete sense.

Of course Roderick Usher, who never thinks beyond the moment in front of him and always rushes head-first at any problem that presents itself, jumps on a deal that gives him everything he wants and kicks the consequences of his actions down the road and onto the next generation (and then continues to add to that generation despite the memory of the deal still existing in the back of his mind). And of course Madeline Usher, who always sees the bigger picture and plays the long game to get what she wants, is hesitant to accept a deal that would end with that entire legacy falling out from underneath them (and then takes measures to ensure that she can't have children just in case she didn't imagine it).

[vonlipvig]

they're horrible and i love them so very dearly

[imarara]

I don't think we talk about Madeline Usher enough here, but especially on the parallel between her in the last episode and her mother in the 1st one.

Both came back from the dead to strangle the man they loved the most and sacrificed the most for. The show made Rodrick the narrator, but I think it plays on the "women being in the shadow of the main hero, a man" quite nicely - she was shown to be a version of her brother who is a little bit more of him in every aspect; more focused, more calculated, more cautious, more creative, etc, but since she's on screen less time then he is it can be overlooked.

She was also more empathetic as weird as it sounds, but she was trying to give Lenore some version of immortality, she was the one who was at the goldbug's launch, she was the one to assign security to the kids, she was the one who came up with new alternative path for the company, and probably she was the one that made Rodrick change his plans in the past - probably out of her pragmatic nature since she thought it was better for him. A great example of it is how she tries to feel out the deal before making a decision about Verna's deal, looking at Rodrick because it is he who already has children. After the deal she never gave birth, while Rodrick didn't bother to buy some rubber at least 4 times.

And coming back to the mother parallel, I just love it. It may mean so many things - generational trauma (which won't be the case for Ushers anymore i guess), the play on this lately more and more popular theme of mother-daughter relationship and if daughters become their mothers no matter how much they disagreed, maybe how the history repeats itself, maybe it's a jab at how much can women give and give until they are finally out of everything but their hurt, or maybe it was a play on how fine of a line there is between love and hatred?

It may be a little messy of a way to put it, but I just finished it and well, Flanagan brainrot I guess

[vandetramp]

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER ,   1x7 / 1x8   :   the pit and the pendulum / the raven.

[my-beloved-ghosts-and-me]

My thoughts about which deadly sin each Usher represents.

I would like to say that they all could easily represent more than one sin, but only one sin was deadly to them and that's what I'm using as a parameter.

Roderick and Madeline - Greed

The twins are Greed. For me it's pretty obvious they're Greed because even Roderick said so. No amount of money would ever be enough. Their greed for more was the beginning of their downfall when, decades ago, they decided to accept that deal.

Prospero - Lust

Another one that I find pretty obvious. His life was all about a luxurious and hedonistic lifestyle, but ultimately what caused his death was his decision to keep the orgy going.

Camille - Envy

I think Camille was envy because that's exactly what led her to her death.

Camille's resentment towards Victorine comes from having to deal with all the dirt from the family, but her sister who is just like her, as Verna said, gets to be their "Madre Theresa" just because she hid better. This is what led Camille to be so hateful of Victorine, her envy for her.

If Camille wasn't so envious of Victorine she wouldn't be so determined to bring her down, if she wasn't so envious she wouldn't be so personally focused on finding the dirty Victorine was hiding despise Verna giving her the chance to step back and not get inside.

Ultimately envy led Camille to her death.

Leo - Gluttony

Leo can easily be Gluttony because his over-consumption and over-indulgence of drugs and drinks it's exactly what led him to his death. Pluto was never dead, he was hallucinating because of all the drugs he took the night before. (I do believe the hallucination was especially so vivid because of Verna though. She disseminated the idea that led each Usher to their death but also gave them the chance to step back. She offers temptation and the chance to regret their choice)

Jules even let it clear, to us, the audience, the alarming amount of drugs he consumed. His drug-induced hallucination ultimately led him to his death. Had Leo not consumed too many drugs, he wouldn't hallucinated that morning and wouldn't have gone after a new cat that caused him to spiral into a deepening psychosis aggravated by the excessive amount of drugs he consumed on a daily basis.

Victorine - Wrath

Victorine for me represents wrath because that was her downfall.

She was rude to Verna when they bumped into each other for the first time, she was rude to her security guard after the conversation with her older siblings... That shows us how easily angry she was all the time.

She was angry that she needed to put more effort into her job because it was harder for her, a Usher bastard. She was angry that her older siblings got to grow up with her father figure around and with the "legendary Annabel Lee", the only woman Roderick loved enough to marry while her mother was just a nurse. She was angry that their father had thrown the food at them just to see them fighting for it. She was so angry at everything and eventually, that was going to blow up.

But anger it's not wrath. Wrath, by the Bible, it's when you get consumed by rage to the point of acting irrationally and immorally. 

And in a fit of rage, blinded by the wrath that bubbled inside her all her life as an Usher, she killed her partner, went mad with regret, and when she realized what she had done she killed herself consumed with remorse.

Wrath was the sin that led Victorine to her death.

Tamerlane - Pride

First of all the sheer amount of mirrors in her house, it's a huge clue that she's Pride, but there are others.

She considers herself above Juno and even calls her "it", refusing to acknowledge that she's a human too. And why? Because she's a "junkie"?

Tamerlane considers herself better than her siblings too. She only stopped texting at their funerals because her husband stopped her. Their funeral meant nothing to her because it wasn't about her or her launch.

She thinks of herself above her husband too. Could be anyone there, any face, the brand would be a success. And why? Because she, alone, is behind it.

Just before her death, she could have given up her pride and called her husband. But she didn't. And she died completely alone because of it while destroying the last mirror and the last way she could see herself, her ugly self.

Pride was Tamerlane's death through and through.

Fred - Sloth

Fred is Sloth because he didn't demolish the building as his father ordered, he procrastinated. What led his wife to the orgy was his lack of attitude in their relationship, his lack of proactively in their life.

Fred tried to be like his father but he couldn't keep up with his rhythm, he was a cover band off-key, always a little slower.

If you look closely, all things are always delicated interconnected.

Fred's sin caused Prospero's death and his own. A full circle.

Had Fred stopped procrastinating and started doing his job, the building would not be there. Had Fred stopped being accommodated in his relationship, Morrie wouldn't be tempted to go to Perry's orgy.

Poetically the consequences of the sin that ultimately led Fred to his death were the slowest. Sloth is lazy after all. He was the first to sin, but the last to die. And he died laying down, without moving, representing perfectly his deadly sin and exactly how he lived his life.

Obs: Fred and Prospero are so interconnected, they are like a double ouroboros. The end and the beginning of the Usher's heirs massacre.

[spiderliliez]

Madeline and Roderick 🌹 Based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (2023)

[+] ..more on “TFOTHOU” 🎬

[elliehopaunt]

Lemons and Ligadone

[awkward-sultana]

Lenore Usher speaking to any member of her family

[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