#OH Prospero… hi

[coconut530]

DIVORCE ARC START

[feralfrey]

intellectuals? no this is idiot mlm and idiot wlw solidarity

[camelspit]

no bc nevermore is so funny how is prospero the only normal one in the posh kids group even after eating people alive with a horde of rats

[ilovemesomevincentprice]

Vincent Price - The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

[hopecomesbacktolife]

because this particular scene (and his inflection, tone, etc. when he says this) has lived in my head rent free for years, ever since I first saw tos, here’s a reaction image I made of Kodos saying “I am tired!!”

shoutout to Arnold Moss (Kodos’s actor) for his gravitas, sheer presence, and amazing acting in this episode, too!

[ufolvr]

Man a show can be like, to my face, "you're not supposed to like these characters they're all monsters and they deserve what happened to them" which is true and I see it and I know it but my hyperempathetitc gay ass is still like. Ok. I am going to be attracted to at least one of them, though.

[deadpanwalking]

David Milch on Deadwood: The Movie, from Life's Work (2022)

[whimsicalcotton]

.

[incorrect-nevermore]

Not to be gay but

REJOICE ADA MIGHT FINALLY GET SELF RESPECT

Oh god no. He’s the worst kind of gay. He’s the misogynistic gay man. 

Will, Prospero spends all his time with a scheming little lesbian, he will not agree with you because he is one of the girls

Prospero: I have to go check on my dumbass friend, You two be nice.

Prospero, internally: Get his ass.

LET THE FRIENDSHIP ARC BEGIN

[lina-studen]

theory time: what unites all the students at nevermore academy?

tw: death, violence, blood, all the bad & sad stuff.

considering that nevermore academy is a kind of purgatory, there has to be a reason why it holds such a small number of people. in this realm must be plenty of places where different people, united by one characteristic, end up after death. this was also confirmed by the authors.

for a long time now I've been following the theory that all the characters of "nevermore" are united by the way they died. namely, they all were murdered.

almost from the very beginning of the story we were aware that annabel lee was murdered. the same thing was stated in the latest chapters too.

ada was clearly also brutally murdered by the nobleman she loved. the poor girl's body was probably never found. I'm afraid no one really looked for it though.

recently we also learned that duke didn’t just drown. his magical performance was sabotaged by a person unknown to us.

the cause of pluto's death was not specified in detail, but I'm inclined to believe that he was strangled by his tyrant father (and my baby felt a huge relief, I'm crying).

berenice was hit by a car, but I'm pretty convinced that it counts (?), because she was running away from a bad person. especially if we take into account the story of the poe's character with the same name.

oh, and I almost forgot about montresor, although there have been a lot (too much) of him lately. well, he was thrown under a train. not much to add.

the only people who stand out from the general pattern so far are prospero and eulalie. eulalie died in a fire. the exact cause of prospero's death is unknown to us, but with a high probability it was caused by some kind of disease, presumably the plague. however, I wouldn't rush to write these two off. the fire could have been the result of arson. not necessarily for the sake of killing poor eulalie. but in any case it's a deliberately arranged action. remember, in the eyes of the public, duke's death also seemed like an accident.

and the final chord of prospero’s life could have been, for example, not the disease itself, but a medical “mistake” during the surgery or something like that.

phew, feels really nice to finally have a platform to share some thoughts! and what do y'all think? it'd be interesting to read your theories.

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: Usher

Mike Flanagan: Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, i call this the tale of Edgar Allan Poe's Greatest Hits…Updated for the New Millennium! Flanagan: what if roderick usher was a pharmaceutical bro? Flanagan: what if Hopfrog had a fidget spinner? Flanagan: what if the rue morgue orangutan vaped?

Poe: oh i don't know about this Poe: i've been burned on this sort of thing before Flanagan: no it'll be great Flanagan: roderick usher's gonna talk just like the big lebowsky cowboy, it'll be great

Flanagan: see, we take everyone's favorite bits from your stories Flanagan: but then Flanagan: we give them a nutty little twist Flanagan: to appeal to today's modern a-go-go kids

Flanagan: see, my fall of the house of usher is about this pharmaceutical dynasty crumbling King: i thought the story was about the actual house falling down Flanagan: haha of course not nothing so literal Poe: actually it is about a house falling down Flanagan:

Flanagan: haha no for real Poe: no i mean it. the house falls down Flanagan: Flanagan: wait, like, literally? Poe: yeah Flanagan: Flanagan: ok then

Flanagan: ok so Roderick and Madeleine Usher have a bunch of kids Flanagan: Prospero, Tamerline, Victorine, Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith Flanagan: and Adolphus Montressor Nu-Nu Metzengerstein Valdemar

Flanagan: which by the way are all references to poe stories Flanagan: you might not have picked up on that, it's kinda subtle Poe: oh hey this is pretty good Poe: i'm kinda digging this

Flanagan: now the ushers run Fortunato Pharmaceuticals Poe: oh! i get it! Poe: this is great Poe: [nudging barker] like the cask of amontillado Poe: see, fortunato is a character- Barker: oh my god edgar I KNOW

Flanagan: so prospero is going to have this big rave Flanagan: you might even call it Flanagan: the rave of the red death! Poe: oh! Poe: oh! oh! oh! Poe: [nudging Barker] like the masque of the red death Barker: Poe: [nudging harder] you know, the masque of the- Barker: I KNOW

Flanagan: but Roderick Usher Enterprises Flanagan: or RUE Poe: Flanagan: where they do experiments on apes Poe: oh! Flanagan: yeah you know where i'm going Poe: [nudging Barker] like Barker: CHRIST, SHUT UP

Flanagan: but before the usher twins can take over Fortunato pharmaceuticals Flanagan: the CEO Rufus Griswold stands in their way Poe: boo! boo! i hate that guy! Poe: i don't know why i just instinctively hate this character Poe: i hope he gets his!

[coconut530]

RELIGIOUS TRAUMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[starion7crimson]

Welcome once again to:

"My reactions and thoughts about this episode."

this is Cousin coded (yes, this is My dynamic with My Cousins)

Beautiful meanie lesbian i love your expresions

Once again, this is Cousin coded.

Like, Prospero here is doing the job of the eldest Cousin among the younger cousins so he has to take care of every single one of them as if he's their eldest brother and that place sucks but is funny when it's in fictional Characters

I am gay.

They are so precious to me look at 'em being little shits to Monstressor GO MY BABYS GO DO SOME CRIME LET'S GOOOOOOO

I just know Annabel was rotting inside and feeling hella lesbian just like me rn like look at her i would be happy to be dead For her

Fella fighting For his dear life there, he looks like a Chihuahua with Anxiety and several illnesses LMAOOOO

"oh God i am SO dead again"

"She's right tho these two Will crack me up"

" but oh sweet lord how do i explain these MEN i was going to speak to 'em later"

"but looks at their faces their so flabbergasted i'm dying"

"Lenore please pet, My sweetest, My dearest, stop killing me in several different ways"

"Pet i love You but stop fucking me up like this, i like bratty games but this is way too much"

"i better try to fix this faster".

I can keep going WHEEZE.

[everlastingdream]

"You like Lenore, don't you?" Prospero asks her one day, while they are sipping tea and observing Montessor 'babysitting' Ada and Will.

"Of course, I don't like her", Annabel giggles, because: 'like'? This doesn't even scrap the surface of her feelings.

"Oh, sorry. I should rephrase my question. You love her, don't you?"

Annabel's smile doesn't falter. She thinks about their game, almost finished with the way Deans seems more excited these days, and answers with rare honesty but with dangerous lilt to her voice.

"Honey, even love is too small of comparison to what I feel for her".

Prospero just hums, agreeing. It's not surprising. Annabel watched him warm up to Misfits and to their own small group for a long time.

"But you do understand, that unlike us Lenore truly treasures her people?" There is no disappointment or sadness in his voice. "She'll hate you for what you are going to do."

"As long as she's alive I don't care".

But standing in front of Lenore's ire, disappointment and immense pain at the end of the Nevermore, all Annabel can think about is:

"Oh, perhaps I overestimated myself".

[appendingfic]

The Conversation, Summarized

To Prospero: You don't HAVE to have a wild blackmail orgy. Like you can just leave this as one of your fantasies To Camille: *playing angry birds on her phone* oh noo, don't break into the chimpanzee abuse factory, stop, police To Napoleon: You could bring your boyfriend this sweet cat that just wants love, and admit your drug habit may be becoming a problem, or...a RAT To Victorine: Hi, I am a real woman with real medical problems. You can either show some regular-ass empathy to me, or violate your girlfriend's trust, medical ethics, and soooo many FDA regulations. Your choice To Tamerlane: Just lay down and get eight hours of sleep, I'm BEGGING YOU, I am not lying when I say it will solve SO MANY of your problems To Frederick: what the FUCK dude?

[beepfuckingbeeprichie]

I’ve got some questions/critiques for The Fall of the House of Usher. I loved it! But some parts had me confused

Everyone who died with Perry. Perry’s death is the only death that takes people with them (except Victorine, but she only took one person down with her). Verna tells all the security guards AND Morrella to leave, which implies she’s sparing the people who are not the offspring of Roderick Usher, but then the sprinklers go off on ALL of the party guests

Furthermore, if the stuff in the tanks was so damn corrosive, why was it only the people who were burned/melted. Like shouldn’t have everything else started to melt, like the bar and the security camera we get a clear shot of, unmelted? This is very pedantic tho

Madeline is going to see death in their old house, she’s taking off her wig, the gloves are about to come off and the facade is ab to drop and show us the real toll that this life has taken on Madeline… only for her to have similarly gorgeous hair underneath? She essentially took off her clip on bangs lol. Like “time to tussle with death let me take off my bangs”

It felt like we got served the most horrific deaths first and almost everything else after was anti climactic in comparison. Perry’s death was a showstopper and it was the first we saw

Verna’s different levels of involvement in each Usher’s death. She gave warnings to Perry, Camille, and Leo, but she didn’t orchestrate what happened, she was just kinda there, an observer in what they had already decided to do. Sort of the same thing with Froderick, he decided to go into the building himself, although it was her who made him switch up the powders and she imitated his voice to give the wrecking ball the all clear. But she was a straight up instigator in Tammy’s and Vic’s deaths by appearing to them as real people in their lives and, arguably, driving them mad. You could even say it’s the madness that killed them

Ah yes, Napoleon usher, the famous playboy, who we see cheat on his loving partner one time. Like that just makes him a douchebag, a playboy would never have someone moving in

I was confused on Roderick’s characterization at some points. In the house with Augustine he seems like a real badass, an industry Titan indeed, especially with the lemon monologue. And then sometimes it would reveal that the powerful speeches he gave to the children and the way he commanded the family was directly lifted from things other powerful men had said to him to make him feel small, and a lot of times I was like “oh this man is just a loser in a nice suit”

Okay but what was Auggie’s long term plan with the informant lie? Like how was that going to pan out? I get he was trying to get them to turn on each other, and it worked, but he said in the courtroom that his informant was how he was going to get it to stick but there was no informant so like ???

Madeline just tried to snap Verna’s neck. And apparently was successful?

This is a little nit picky but you can’t tell me that “the bastards” like Perry and Napoleon and even Victorine who came to Roderick almost grown just so happened to have ridiculous rich people names. No minimum wage worker is naming their child Napoleon. “Can you cover my shift? I have to take little Prospero to the doctor, his tummy hurts.”

You expect me to believe Roderick Usher wrote Annabel Lee? That he was spitting original fire poetry at Auggie as he died?