Line #95 Webcomic/Nevermore


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fnbvqvmwyawqe3e_5.jpeg]]
2	->''"It was many and many a year ago\
3	In a kingdom by the sea\
4	That a maiden there lived who you may know\
5	By the name of Annabel Lee"''
6	-->-- "Annabel Lee", by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe
7
8	''Nevemore'' is a sapphic romance webcomic by Kate Flynn and Kit Trace (aka Red & Flynn) loosely inspired by the various works of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe.
9
10	Can be found [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/nevermore/list?title_no=2740&page=3 here]].
11
12	!!The webcomic provides examples of:
13	* AlienSky: The in-between world of Nevermore is in perpetual twilight with a reddish orange sky.
14	* AmbiguouslyEvil: The staff of Nevermore Academy claim to have good intentions, but have a generally sinister presence and aren't particularly friendly. The talking raven that seems to oppose the Academy is also rather ambiguous.
15	* ArrangedMarriage: Lenore's father was going to force her into one before she was crippled. [[spoiler:Annabel Lee was also forced into one by her father.]]
16	* BedsheetLadder: Lenore makes one in order to escape her room and chase after the Raven. She has to use it as her blanket that night.
17	* BirdsOfAFeather:
18	** Lenore and Duke quickly bond over their shared troublemaker status.
19	** Averted with Annabel Lee and Ada. Ada believes that she and Annabel are bound to be friends due to their shared "poshness". Annabel does not feel the same way, but is happy to let Ada ''think'' they're friends.
20	* CompositeCharacter: Duke is both Duke De L'Omelette from the story of the same name and Fortunato from The Cask of Amontillado.
21	* CustomUniform: Nevermore's standard uniform consists of a dress shirt, a black coat with the emblem on the back, pants or a skirt, and long buckled boots, but all the students wear their own take on it.
22	* CuteMonsterGirl: Some of the female students' Spectres might count. Annabel Lee looks exactly the same as a Lady in White, except with a hole in her chest, and [[spoiler:Eulalie's Chimera form also only changes her clothes]]
23	* DarkFantasy
24	* DeclarationOfProtection: Lenore and Annabel Lee make a mutual pact to look out for each other early on. Lenore promises to herself to protect her friends Duke and Pluto as well.
25	* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: A vicious deconstruction of the HystericalWoman trope is the FlashbackBPlot's theme. It is explored that a woman need barely step outside of [[StayInTheKitchen her role in society]] to be labeled "hysterical" and cast aside, and those who ''do'' act out irrationally only do so out of frustration from not being listened to in the first place.
26	* DeliberateValuesDissonance:
27	** The 19th century doctors who "treated" Lenore's injuries when she was still alive were staggeringly sexist. Not only did they think a woman was too fragile for physical therapy, the injuries left her unable to bear children so Lenore wouldn't need the freedom of walking, and left her crippled in a wheelchair.
28	** [[spoiler: Annabel Lee's father forced her into an ArrangedMarriage in order to preserve his reputation. Annabel hated the idea of being a lady of the house, but the best she could do was delay the inevitable.]]
29	* DestroyTheAbusiveHome: [[spoiler:In a flashback, Lenore set fire to her family's mansion before going to find Annabel. Extra fittingly, she started the fire in the attic room where she nearly wasted away as an invalid.]]
30	* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Lenore repeatedly and fearlessly snarks at the deans.
31	* DrivingQuestion: How did everyone die? So far it's known that Annabel Lee died shortly before her wedding by her lover's hands, [[spoiler: Duke drowned, Morella died performing a HeroicSacrifice, Berenice got hit by a car, Eulalie died in a fire, Monstressor got tied to the railroad tracks and run over by a train, Ada got an axe wound to the chest, and Lenore and Annabel Lee possibly died together]].
32	* FaceYourFears: The theme of the admittance exam. Hopeful students must traverse a hostile maze of thorns, and survive random environments based on different phobias. It is speculated that the point of such a dangerous test is [[TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening to drive out the students' Spectres]].
33	* FoodAsCharacterization: In episode 38, the students of Nevermore are presented with the food they would have chosen as their last meal.
34	** Lenore receives a rack of venison, which reminds her of when Theo used to bring home deer for dinner.
35	** Pluto receives a bowl of fish and chips, a fairly mundane and childish dish compared to some of the others. Duke is quick to point out that fish matches his cat motif as well.
36	** Duke receives an ortolan, a songbird that is considered sinful to eat.
37	** Ada receives champagne and beluga caviar, a highly expensive meal traditionally enjoyed by aristocrats. However, she hates the taste of it, implying she never actually tasted it when she was alive. When offered some of Morella's shepherd's pie, she dismisses it as "peasant food".
38	** Morella receives a shepherd's pie, an easy-to-make comfort food.
39	** Annabel Lee receives Earl Grey tea and scones, a fashionable light meal in 1800's England.
40	** Eulalie receives Taiyaki, a fish-shaped cake sold as street food in Japan. She happily points out that her fish-shaped meal matches [[ShipTease Pluto's]] fish and chips.
41	** Berenice receives Oysters Rockefeller and gin fizz, a food and drink popular in New Orleans.
42	** Montressor receives steak, beans, cornbread, and a glass of bourbon, all common Southern-American cuisine.
43	** Will receives a bowl of peaches and a glass of water, befitting his status as TheGenericGuy.
44	** Prospero receives espresso and cannoli, a casual Italian meal considered refined and fashionable.
45	* ForgottenFirstMeeting: [[spoiler:Lenore and Annabel knew each other when they were alive, but both lost their memories when they arrived in Nevermore. Lenore eventually recovers her memory of their first meeting, while Annabel only remembers their last moments together.]]
46	* GhostAmnesia: Neither Lenore nor Annabel remember anything when they first arrive at the gates of Nevermore, and need to be informed that they died. This seems to be the case for all the students, but the cast's memories steadily come back in fragments as time goes on.
47	* {{Goth}}: Unsurprisingly for a Poe-inspired work, gothic imagery is prominent throughout the series, most noticeably in Lenore's appearance.
48	* GothicHorror: While the series is not primarily horror, the mystical forces surrounding Nevermore Academy can lead to some frightening imagery.
49	* GratuitousFrench: Duke.
50	* HauntedHouse: The class' first proper lesson takes place in "Mystery Manor", an archetypal dark mansion with [[ItWasADarkAndStormyNight a thunderstorm backdrop]]. It just happens to be on a landmass floating in a void.
51	* HurricaneOfEuphemisms: When Lenore and Berenice notice the effects [[spoiler:Berenice's Strigoi bite has on Will]], they volley a bunch of words to describe it back and forth, confusing each other, before Eulalie outright says he seems drunk.
52	* InconvenientAttraction: [[spoiler:Back when they were alive, Lenore immediately picked up that Annabel sought to use her for her own ends and that angered her. However, attraction to the young woman (and the sheer loneliness she'd been suffering as an invalid) drove Lenore to allow Annabel into her life.]]
53	* {{Jerkass}}: Ada, though she has some PetTheDog moments. Montresor is even worse, and is the closest thing to an antagonist the comic has at the moment.
54	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Duke is a troublemaker who gives Pluto a pretty hard time, but he's ultimately a kind and loyal friend.
55	* JustFriends: An amusing moment in Episode 29.
56	-->[[spoiler: '''Annabel Lee:''' When we were alive, do you remember?]]\
57	[[spoiler: '''Lenore:''' I... I remember meeting you, yes. We were friends, right?]]\
58	[[spoiler: '''Annabel Lee:''' Yes. Yes! Friends. Good friends.]]
59	* LameComeback: In Episode 45, Lenore responds to Annabel's comment that she looks like death warmed over with, "You look nice today...Stupid."
60	* MassOhCrap: The dining hall erupts into chaos (aside from a stoic Annabel) when the deans drop the bomb that [[spoiler:only one graduate will be allowed a second chance at life.]]
61	* MythologyGag: The series has several winks and nods to the Creator/EdgarAllanPoe works that inspired it:
62	** Each episode begins and ends with the animated image of a [[Literature/TheTellTaleHeart beating heart]].
63	** Lenore and Pluto both have AnimalMotifs related to their source works -- a raven and a black cat, respectively.
64	** Duke's chosen last meal is an ortolan, which his literary namesake eats at the beginning of the poem.
65	** The poem "Eulalie" describes the titular character as having violet eyes, which her ''Nevermore'' counterpart shares.
66	** For the first lesson, Lenore is equipped with a [[Literature/ThePitAndThePendulum pendulum]].
67	** In episode 46, two students named [[Literature/TheNarrativeOfArthurGordonPymOfNantucket Arthur]] and [[Literature/TheFallOfTheHouseOfUsher Madeline]] are mentioned.
68	* NiceGuy / NiceGirl: While Lenore may be HotBlooded, she's one of the nicest characters on the series. Morella and Pluto are also very nice.
69	* NoFullNameGiven: The last names of the Nevermore students are yet to be revealed, likely as a result of GhostAmnesia. [[spoiler:Lenore's family name is conveniently struck from Theo's obituary.]]
70	** Episode 65 reveals that Lenore's last name is Vandernacht and Annabel's is Whitlock.
71	* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Nevermore students each have a Spectre form, which can range from the standard floating phantasm to demons and monsters.
72	* PlagueDoctor: The "Shadow Man" Spectre, wielded by Prospero, resembles one.
73	* PlatonicLifePartners: Lenore and Duke find common ground as delinquents instantly and become each other's closest ally.
74	* PocketDimension: The academy uses these as environments for the students to test their powers in.
75	* ScaryScarecrow: One of the students at Nevermore has a scarecrow Spectre. It appears to have power over CreepyCrows.
76	* ShoutOut: Episode 21 shows Past!Lenore being locked in a room after being declared hysterical. Staring at the ugly flower wallpaper every day leads her to experience SanitySlippage and rip the wallpaper down in a way that is very reminiscent of ''Literature/TheYellowWallpaper''.
77	* SlobsVersusSnobs: Lenore's RagtagBunchOfMisfits versus Annabel Lee's posse of snobbish jerks.
78	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl:
79	** Lenore is a short-haired, scrappy ButchLesbian. Her LoveInterest, Annabel Lee, is an elegant, glamorous LipstickLesbian. Noticeably, Annabel Lee's uniform includes a skirt, while Lenore's uniform has pants.
80	** Lenore's roommate Morella is a sweet, timid girly girl. She also wears a skirt as part of her uniform.
81	* TookALevelInBadass: Any student who manifests takes a level. A good example of this is Morella, who goes from hiding under a table from monsters to battling them with a sword and shield.
82	* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: A student traditionally unlocks their Spectre by reexperiencing the same emotions they felt at the moment of their death. Needless to say, this tends to be a very traumatic thing.
83	* TrueCompanions: Lenore, Duke, and Pluto become dedicated to each other after the entrance exams, to the point that Lenore swears to get them a second chance along with her and Annabel, or die trying.
84	* TwiceShy: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] with Lenore and Annabel Lee. In the Victorian Era, homosexuality was a taboo concept, so it's understandable that two women from high-class families would be reluctant to acknowledge their mutual attraction out loud.
85	* WasItAllALie: [[spoiler:Lenore asks Annabel Lee this when the latter claims to have been a FalseFriend. Annabel says that it was, but Lenore refuses to accept that answer.]]
86	* WightInAWeddingDress: Annabel Lee's Spectre form is a Lady in White, which resembles an undead bride with a giant hole in her chest where her heart would be
87	* WillTheyOrWontThey: Lenore and Annabel Lee.
88	** DidTheyOrDidntThey: [[spoiler:Annabel and Lenore were friends in life, and their mutual attraction seems to have originated in the world of the living. However, because Lenore (and the reader) only see a few early memories of their friendship, it's unclear if they were involved at some point before their deaths.]]
89	* WhamEpisode: Episode 65. [[spoiler:The reader sees a flashback from Annabel's perspective for the first time as she is made aware of Lenore's apparent death. Lenore's parents and Annabel's father are UnseenNoMore. It is revealed that Annabel has panic attacks that she is forced to hide, adding new context to her previous behavior. Also, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Lenore and Annabel's last names are revealed]].]]
90	* WhamLine:
91	** In episode 38, the Deans give a toast to the students who passed orientation...
92	--->...and to the [[spoiler:'''one lucky student''']] amongst you who will be born again.
93	** At the end of episode 42:
94	--->[[spoiler:'''Past Annabel:''' I'm sorry, Lenore. This is to be our final meeting.]]
95	* WholesomeCrossdresser: Lenore appears to wear a boy's uniform, with pants instead of a skirt like the other girls at the Academy.

Context Webcomic / Nevermore