Nevermore theory based on RnFâs latest post!
I think the eyeball in the center is both a reference to both the Old Man with the pale blue eye from âThe Tell-Taleâ Heart AND Ligeiaâs eyes from âLigeiaâ
(1/3) First of all: Ligeiaâs Eyes
The coloring of the eyes doesnât quite fit with the art in the post (Ligeiaâs has black eyes) BUT I find it hard to ignore the star and dream imagery used when itâs VERY present in âLigeiaâ.
The narrator (the husband) studies astrology and is DEEPLY in love with the darkly beautiful and intelligent Ligeia. She is described almost like a vampire with long raven hair, ivory skin, and a wild appearance. He is especially fascinated by her unusual large black eyes which he compares to the âtwin stars of Ledaâ and describes them as âluminous orbsâ (this last part also reminds me of the âorbsâ from the 1st episode btw).
Ligeia later dies of illness, telling the narrator of her deeply love and reciting a poem about the unfairness of mortality on her deathbed. In his grief, the narrator becomes addicted to opium and later remarries Lady Rowena whom he doesnât love. He ignores her, preferring to find comfort in âopium dreamsâ during which he has vivid visions of Ligeia.
Two months into his new marriage Lady Rowena also falls ill and is rendered into a state of half-slumber. Rowena also often has fits and starts crying out in her sleep leading the narrator to believe that some âphantasmagoric influenceâ is haunting Rowena in their bedchamber.
The narratorâs sanity/accuracy is honestly questionable before the âhauntingâ. He has a bad memory and doesnât even remember MEETING LIGEIA OR HER LAST NAME?? The narration given is honestly pretty dreamlike itself as itâs hard tell whatâs real or not between the husbandâs opium addiction, bad memory, and debatable sanity.
At the end of the story, Lady Rowena dies and according to the narrator, her dead body turns into Ligeia. The corpse awakens the next day as newly risen and alive Ligeia who has seemingly defeated death.
âHere then, at least," I shrieked aloud, "can I never --can I never be mistaken --these are the full, and the black, and the wild eyes --of my lost love --of the lady --of the LADY LIGEIA."
(What a very sane human being as per usual in Pow stories. Also, this went on a bit long sorry)
Hang in there with me, this part is much much quicker to explain!
So, Tell-Tale Heart. I think this is a Poe story everyone pretty much knows. Guy is seemingly driven to madness out of fear of his old neighborâs pale blue eye. He secretly watches the Old Man while heâs sleeping and later murders him and stuffs the body parts under his floor. When the police later arrive at the house, our narrator believes he hears the sounds of the Old Manâs heart and confessed his guilt.
Some imagery: Not much star imagery but definitely some of dreams/sleep. Much like Ligeia, the narration is definitely dreamlike. The Narrator is unreliable/insane so itâs hard to tell what observations he makes are actually real. The Old Man and the Narrator struggle with nightmares. A good chunk of this story is spent with narrator as he watches the Old Man sleep every night for a week.
Also, the eye in RnFâs post is a SINGLE PALE BLUE EYE. (Yeah, this last one is definitely surface-level evidence but I donât think itâs without merit)
(3/3) How does this all connect?
The main reason I think that this new art piece connects to Ligeia AND The Tell-Tale heart is largely due to THESE GUYS
Thatâs right, Deans Merry and Mourn.
Awhile back I made a post theorizing that Annabel is connected to The Tell-Tale Heart due to the heart imagery surrounding her character (such as her spectre design). In the reblogs, me and @muzetrigger discussed more detailed theories (off-topic but @muzetrigger made a VERY convincing argument that Annabel Lee might play the role of the Narrator)
One of the topics that came up was the possibility of the Deans representing the character of the Old Man. @blacknedsoul-blog made a post a while back âI Think the Deans Are Fucking Lovecraftian Godsâ (highly recommend) which pointed out that the Deansâ white/black heterochromia could be a reference to the Old Manâs cataract-ridden eye. Upon a closer look, itâs even possible that their white eyes are actually a very very pale blue.
I would also like to add on to this theory by pointing out that much like the Old Manâs Eye drove the Narrator to murder and madness (though unwittingly), the Deans are driving the students to those very same things by forcing a bunch of already traumatized people to participate in a death game.
Earlier in this post, I mentioned that the husband from Ligeia compared her eyes to âthe twin stars of Ledaâ
These TWIN stars, Castor and Pollux named after a pair of TWINS from greek mythology are widely known as the âHeavenly TWINSâ and form part of the constellation Gemini. HmmmmâŚ.
A few more similarities to Ligeia:
The Deans also have the ability to get in peopleâs heads and MESS WITH THEIR MEMORIES. In Ligeia, the Husband is completely consumed with thoughts/visions of Ligeia for most of his waking and sleeping hours. He is seemingly unable to focus on anything else and this continues even when his new wife Lady Rowena is dying. As mentioned before, the Husband also has a memory problems and canât remember meeting Ligeia or even her full name, just that he loved her. This is not unlike the memory loss of all the students at Nevermore Academy, particularly Lenore & Annabel Lee.
By the way, have a mentioned how interesting this panel from the Bell Arc is? Itâs very suspicious the we glimpses of the eldritch forms of the Deans and their Pale Blue Eyes right before Annabel Lee experiences a flashback of hearing the news of Lenoreâs death. Not to mention they are physically lowering Annabel INTO THE MEMORY. Its almost like the Deans are the ones took the memories in first place and are just âreturningâ them or part of their job is being responsible for guiding students to their memories. HMMMMâŚâŚ
Not to mention they spend most of their time in DREAMLAND, a special dimension where you can relive past memories and even reach those whom you unable to speak with. Like say⌠a certain French man whoâs UNCONSCIOUS in a brick wall.
Also, I seem to recall thereâs definitely some night sky related imagery with these two. Especially when we are getting glimpses of their spectrey/eldritchy side.
Lastly, letâs go back to the Deansâs heterochromia. They both each have one BLACK EYE and together that makes a pair.
Also, I might be reading into this WAY too much but, take a good close look at the black eyes. In each, youâll notice thereâs a small white pupil. Kind of like a a single bright star in the black night sky. Two twin stars.
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