#frederick usher

We need to talk about it more

The pure of heart morn for what remains of the monster her children have become

No one morn for the wicked?

Like a series of character studies through the lens of their names' etymologies.

FREDERICK: Peaceful ruler. Control freaks shouldn't be spineless, it's awfully frustrating for them. He wants to be in charge but is a conflict avoidant suck-up, insecure and petty. A peace-time king, no glory to his name, inheriting from a warrior and a sorceress who fought and bit and clawed. Under real challenge, he crumbles. A peace-time king becomes known from one of two things: that which they build and that which they heal. A peace-time king who is sung about? Bridge-builders, feeders of the poor; castle-builders, patrons of the arts; church-builders, tenders of the sick. But Frederick does not focus on the kingdom that has already been built, on the legacy to be preserved. Instead he longs for new lands to conquer, and new legacies to write. Outside his castle gates, the poor starve and the sick die and the artists are forced to take new jobs. I weep for bridges never built.

TAMERLANE: Iron. Cold and sharp and inflexible. A sword, a gun, a railroad track, an imposing bridge, an unassailable gate. She thinks she's invincible, but impurities and brittleness remain: she is not yet steel and ultimately never became steel. In the end, the fire does not cleanse or forge her: she simply melts away. We inherited iron from the dying stars of eons ago: it is in our blood, it gives us energy and strength and without we waste away to nothing. This is actually a boy's name, which is FASCINATING. How many women in history were buried beneath the legacies of their fathers and brothers and sons? So she hardened and sharpened and tried to prove herself.

VICTORINE: Victory. Locked in competition with her siblings, particularly Camille. She does whatever it takes to "win": arguments, pissing contests, "at life", against death. When Roderick reveals his CADASIL diagnosis, Victorine is the weapon he and Madeline attempt to wield against the disease, as if she can "beat" the deal they struck. She constantly tries to position herself as allied with Tammy and Frederick, on the "winning" team, on the side of the "legitimate" children. She lies, she cheats, and refuses to give her medals back when she's caught. Her nickname, 'Vic', is also cop show slang for 'victim'. She thinks these things happen TO her, not BECAUSE of her...but all of the kids are Roderick and Madeline's victims. He ruined her. Like he ruined all of them. Pyrrhic Victory indeed.

CAMILLE: This name can mean "perfect" or it can mean "acolyte", and either one can work, but I lean more towards the second meaning. A young initiate into a cult (here meaning the organized followers of a particular god, not the Lifton style destructive cult) there to spread the myth and carry on the traditions. She is the keeper of secrets and the teller of stories, isolated from the outside world, steeped in ritual for ritual's sake. Priests and priestesses may have employed psychedelic drugs and illusionist tricks to awe and entertain their followers or indue holy visions. Female cult initiates were often unmarried priestesses: either through widowhood or refusing to marry when young. Mystery cults were hidden or secret traditions, often focused on mystical re-interpretation of the mainstream tradition.

NAPOLEON: So the best translation for this name that we have is "Lion of Naples" or "Lion of the New City". Focusing on the "Lion" part, lions are social and lazy, most active at night. Males orbit the periphery while females form the heart of the unit. Male lions hunt alone, often as ambush predators, but general misconception is that they do not hunt at all, due to "failing" at it, compared to females. Furthermore, male lions will form "coalitions" with other males as opposed to priding up with females and cubs (Asiatic lions in particular are prone to this) and lions are one of the primary species in which we have observed bisexuality among males. Finally, lions make great dads and Leo is one of the only siblings who shows genuine grief over the family's losses.