Line #39 Series/MyDeadEx


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/my_dead_ex.jpg]]
2	Teenager Charlotte (usually [[TomboyishName called Charley]]) is an ordinary high school girl, having a crush on a boy and a best friend, Wren. At the same time however she's pursued by Ben, whom she once "[[PuppyLove dated]]" as a pre-teen, which Charley's annoyed by. Ben dies accidentally however while trying to impress Charley with a love note spray-painted onto a sign. However, he then comes back from the dead inexplicably, and is somehow bound to Charley. Together, they must both find out what to do about this, and their true desires.
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4	!Tropes:
5	* AffectionateNickname: Charley is the nickname everyone uses for Charlotte, except Wren. In her case she calls Charlotte Charles as an affectionate personal quirk.
6	* AmbiguouslyBi: Wren is definitely attracted to girls, pursuing Bethany over the series until the finale. She also makes comments about some men being handsome too, though it's not entirely clear if Wren finds guys sexually desirable or just recognizes their good looks.
7	* AttendingYourOwnFuneral: In a variation, Ben attends a celebration of his life at the school after coming back undead. He's initially miffed at how few people attend. After they all praise him in speeches though, he's warmed by this considerably.
8	* BestFriend: Charley and Wren are this for each other. They both give each other constant support and advice.
9	* TheBigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:Charley kisses Ben in the finale while choosing him over Luke.]]
10	* BlackComedy: Ben is killed while spray-painting a love note for Charley onto a sign. Afterward, they use the last blurred selfie he took right then in his memorial at school, which he complains of. Later, he gets shot repeatedly (with his wounds [[HealingFactor healing instantly]]) to his annoyance. He feared telling people about being undead, thinking he might be [[TheyWouldCutYouUp experimented on off in a secret lab somewhere]]. Then when he's outed as undead, a doctor openly admits that they indeed would have done this if it was the 80's, and misses those days.
11	* {{Blackmail}}: Charley gets Vice Principal Kelly to accept Ben into their school under an alias with the threat of posting a photo she took of him while he left an adult store.
12	* BoyMeetsGhoul:
13	** The show's basic premise is Ben, Charley's would-be boyfriend, accidentally dying and coming back undead while he continues attempting to win her over. [[spoiler:In the finale, Charley decides to date him.]]
14	** [[spoiler:Madame Fortuna is also undead, it's revealed, and has been involved with a living man for decades now.]]
15	* ClosetGay: Bethany, Wren's {{love interest}}, isn't willing to admit she's attracted to girls after they make out, saying she isn't as brave like Wren being open about this. She does come out in the finale.
16	* CoaxThemOutOfTheCloset: Wren and then Charley encourage Bethany about coming out as a lesbian. In the finale, she does.
17	* ComingOutStory: Bethany is a closeted lesbian at first, and afraid to come out. Wren, her {{love interest}}, and Wren's bestie Charley, both [[CoaxThemOutOfTheCloset encourage her to]]. Bethany at last comes out in the finale.
18	* CurseCutShort: Charley is saying the f-word when she's cut off at "Fu-".
19	* DeadpanSnarker: Wren is a cynical girl who constantly makes dry sarcastic remarks.
20	* DisappearedDad: Charley's dad died in the past, with her shown nostalgically keeping his clothes and in the past wearing his paint shirt.
21	* DoggedNiceGuy: Ben is a sweet boy who absolutely commits himself to winning Charley over. However, when he crosses lines (like sniffing her clothes, posting a drawing Charley made without asking, or lying to her) it's made clear that is definitely ''not'' okay.
22	* EmbarrassingNickname: Dennis got stuck with "Eleanor" as a result of being mistaken for aroused by UsefulNotes/FranklinDelanoRoosevelt in history class.
23	* EndearinglyDorky: Ben is very nerdy and charming because of it, for instance being genuinely surprised about scrapbooking not being a common pastime among fellow teenage boys.
24	* EroticDream: Charley is surprised when she has one about Ben, and realizes she's attracted to him as a result afterward.
25	* GayConservative: Bethany is a Republican and closeted lesbian. After coming out, she makes a remark about caring for the US while her {{love interest}} Wren lives in a liberal fantasy. Wren's apparently unbothered.
26	* {{Gaydar}}: Wren could apparently clearly tell Bethany liked girls and reciprocated her attraction to her before the latter kisses her or comes out.
27	* GenreSavvy: Ben is quite familiar with pop culture, and he's a fan of 80s movies. He's wary of going public about being undead, due to the result in such movies [[TheyWouldCutYouUp being very bad]]. Later as well, he's very disappointed after the school dance doesn't fit with 80s teen movie tropes.
28	* HealingFactor: Ben gets shot multiple times, with the wounds simply healing up in a moment. He doesn't appear to feel pain at all from them.
29	* HeelRealization: Ben realizes he's done wrong by lying to Charley about having no leads on how to undo his curse, confessing it.
30	* HotWitch: Madame Fortuna, who put the love spell on Ben and Charley's necklaces, is revealed to be very attractive, with a young appearance. Charley notes this isn't what she had expected, guessing she'd be an older woman from her name (she actually [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld is though]], but just doesn't look it).
31	* ImmuneToBullets: Ben is unaffected from being shot multiple times, as he [[HealingFactor just heals]], though a shotgun knocks him down temporarily.
32	* InsistentTerminology: Ben and Charley are insistent he's not a zombie, just undead (he's never once eaten human flesh, nor had any desire for it). However, most people simply label him as a zombie, seriously or not, in spite of this. Ben's even assigned to have a police escort for safety at school in case he really ''does'' eat humans.
33	* InternalReveal: Charley learns Ben lied about not knowing where Madame Fortuna is long after the audience had seen this.
34	* JewishAndNerdy: Ben is a Jewish boy who's {{endearingly dorky}}, with interests like cooking that aren't typical of teenage boys, and charmingly awkward.
35	* LipstickLesbian: Wren is a feminine girl with long hair who likes to wear revealing tops and leggings just like Charley, her straight best friend, though Wren's slightly more into chapstick territory as a result of her sarcastic, mildly tomboyish personality. She's openly pursuing another girl at school (but [[AmbiguouslyBi possibly bisexual]]) who is if anything even more feminine than her.
36	* LoveTriangle: Charley has a crush on sweet jock Luke, while her friend and former "[[PuppyLove boyfriend]]" Ben is also obstinately pursuing her. [[spoiler:She chooses Ben at the end.]]
37	* MistakenForGay: Ben is thought to be gay by the owner of an adult shop who he tells his romantic woes, due to the guy mistaking Charley, understandably, for [[TomboyishName being a boy's name]].
38	* NiceGuy: Luke is always kind and never says an unkind word to anyone. Everyone admits this. He even has Ben ask Charley out, which Luke had been planning, after seeing how much Ben's trying to win her over.
39	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Charley is only occasionally called Charlotte, her full name. Wren, her bestie, calls her Charles along with this.
40	* PervertedSniffing: After she sticks him in her closet to hide, Ben instantly sniffs Charley's clothing in there. She's disgusted by this (mildly).
41	* PuppyLove: Ben and Charley had once "dated" as pre-teen kids. Even now that it's years later and Charley's drawn to a different boy, Ben is still into her.
42	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Madame Fortuna relates that she was born in World War Two. After she'd died while around thirty however, Fortuna came back and stayed the same age ever since (though she uses makeup to disguise this too).
43	* SarcasticConfession: Charley sarcastically tells her mom about planning a huge party at their house when she's gone. This makes her mom think it was a joke and ignore this before Charley does so.
44	* SecretKeeper: Charley and then Wren keep the secret of Ben being undead until it gets out due to other people discovering this.
45	* SecretRelationship: Bethany tells Wren they can only be together secretly, as she isn't brave enough to come out. Wren isn't happy with that, and encourages her to come out. In the finale Bethany does.
46	* TheyWouldCutYouUp: This is one reason Ben didn't tell the world of his being undead at first. He was afraid he'd end up in a secret lab somewhere as an experimental subject. After it gets out, a doctor who tests Ben quite openly admits this would indeed be what they'd do back in the 80's, but human rights groups won't allow it now, exclaiming how [[BlackComedy those days were so much better]].
47	* ThisIsReality: Ben complains of how the school dance fails to match tropes in the 80s movies he likes, and is naturally told this isn't a movie.
48	* TomboyishName: Charley (full name Charlotte). She's perhaps a slight tomboy with her style.
49	* TransparentCloset: Bethany was not out as a lesbian, though her {{love interest}} Wren [[{{Gaydar}} saw it]] despite this, clearly realizing even prior to them kissing.
50	* TwoferTokenMinority: Wren is the only person of color in the main cast, a girl with unclear ethnicity but clearly not white (her actress Medalion Rahimi is Iranian-American) and also a lesbian (or [[AmbiguouslyBi maybe bisexual]]).
51	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight:
52	** Wren, after seeing Ben inexplicably came back from the dead, just comments how you can't keep him down after expressing extremely mild surprise.
53	** After people learn Ben is undead, it's briefly a story on the news, he's tested and then sent back to school with nothing more than being called a zombie regularly afterward.
54	* WigDressAccent: Ben puts on a wig with glasses, passing easily as a fictional cousin of Charley's even with other people who knew him though he doesn't really act much differently aside from this.

Context Series / MyDeadEx