#vilest things spoilers

[no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist]

Dumb commentary on the vt snippet

I’m putting it under a cut just in case anyone would consider it a spoiler but I don’t really think there was any new information

melodramatic ass bitch like oh no the person i was competing against in the fight to the death games tried to kill me this is literally so fucked up i never saw it coming shut uppppp

Oh this is going to be such a mess lmaooooo

I’m still not fucking over this like go girl be an early 2000s ya protagonist over describe those sight orbs while simultaneously being an evil dictator like get it I guess

Real or not r- [gunshot]

This is going to be such a fucking mess oh my god how do I even process how much of a mess this is going to be

[siobhans-roy]

It’s accurate, you know, but this would be out there. Like, forever.

SUCCESSION 3.03 “The Disruption” 4.04 “Honeymoon States”

[safirefire]

Major spoilers for the end of Immortal Longings

How I imagine Vilest Things is going to start

Anton: You fucking stabbed me in the back literally and through my heart!

Calla:

[teartra]

Vilest Things makes me nervous because… aren’t Calla and Anton… at least the bodies… are technically related?

[nyan-bynary]

Do you ever think about all the women in jjk that don't even get a second to be mourned?

[thelongestway]

FFXIV Write 2024, Prompt #18: Hackneyed

It was the best thing in the world - to not be included in celebrations, to walk through Tuliyollal almost as anonymously as after my initial arrival. I ate, unbothered by anyone in the crowds, and then I slept in the open air of the cabin room's porch. The solitude was sheer bliss, and I was grateful to my travelling companions for letting me have it.

Once I had my fill, I unrolled the map and began to plan. And that was about the time when the others started checking in on me.

Erenville and Wuk Lamat had barely left when the twins rapped at my door.

"Mind if we join you?" Alisaie said, poking her head in. "Or are you still resting?

"Excellent timing," I answered. "Come in."

They did, brandishing bags of food, so I made tea, and we had a picnic out on the same porch where I slept.

"Full glad I am to see you recovered," Alphinaud noted once we'd caught up on the latest news and moved on to the local refreshments.

"Aye. Easy enough to do when you're not expected to take part in the formalities... Feels very good to leave that kind of work to someone who actually enjoys it, for a change!"

Alphinaud blushed slightly - he'd been a good deal busier over the last few days than either myself or his sister, who grinned cheekily and toasted his sacrifice with her fruity drink. Then Alisaie turned to me.

"I take it Wuk Lamat didn't try to get you involved again?"

I shook my head no. "She's a thankfully fast learner - it only took her the one attempt to realize it was a battle she couldn't win," unlike other people I might have named - blessedly none of whom were here.

"Forgive me if I make far too light of it, but it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen," Alisaie chuckled, sprawling against the sun chair. "You just stared her down when she offered. Not a word! One beat, and she backs off!"

"I didn't expect that either. Got lucky, honestly - apparently standoffs like that are something of a local tradition. Erenville said later that we were only missing a Shaaloani tumbleweed blowing by for full measure."

"Out of curiosity, how were you planning to respond?" Alphinaud asked.

"I was trying to dredge up the driest and most formal rejection I could muster. 'Thank you for your very kind offer, Vow Wuk Lamat. Unfortunately, I am otherwise engaged for the foreseeable future'. Something of the like."

Alphinaud gave a low whistle. Alisaie perched her head on her hands and gave him a look of mock innocence.

"Translate for me, brother dear? I don't speak diplomatic nearly so well as you."

He returned an annoyed glare.

"Sister mine, for this? You are as capable of reading between the lines as I am. Don't make me say it."

"Oh please, brother dearest," her grin grew only broader. "All I want to know is how many 'Thal's balls' is 'Vow Wuk Lamat' worth in this context?"

"You just want to hear me curse my lungs out, admit it."

"I do!"

"To actually answer your question, linguistically it would be four, as traditional for the theology." At their surprised looks, I added: "Twinned gods and all. But also? We know from experience now that they have so many balls. And I would have meant all of them."

"All the balls!"

"All the balls indeed! But honestly, in this situation I wouldn't swear by the Traders - that would imply my position was negotiable. No, it'd be... Hm, my first thought would be Oschon, but..."

Alphinaud nodded and looked over his shoulder, as if expecting Deryk to appear from thin air.

"It would feel a bit strange swearing by his name, wouldn't it?"

"Mmm. And not Azeyma either, not after we found out she was actually an administrator... Wuk Lamat wouldn't know, but I would. No, I think I'd use something different. Swearing by one's patron deity, perhaps - that's always highly appropriate when refusing for personal reasons."

"Well?" Alisaie said, switching to me and grinning. "Spit it out. What would you have said if expressing your frustrations in a decidedly non-diplomatic way?'

I looked Alisaie straight in the eye and smiled politely.

"Lamaty'i, respectfully - I plan to choke on Thaliak's bitter cum till the day I die. And government reports do not for a good chaser make."

Alisaie spit out her drink, and it was Alphinaud's turn to give her an amused look.

"You did not have to provide a demonstration, sister mi-"

Bad move. Alisaie was always quicker than he was with her pillows.

"Oh shut it!" Then she turned to me. "What. In the Seven. Hells."

"Hey, play stupid games - win stupid prizes," I grinned at her, eyeing the pillow she was hefting at me. "And admittedly, trying to get me to stay put was pretty stupid."

"True," Alisaie released her grip and slowly turned away.

Just as she was about to stop giving me the stink eye, I struck again.

"Besides, Thaliak was rather good looking. I wouldn't actually mi-"

And of course, Alisaie was also faster with her pillows than I had ever been.

[chosoisamalewife]

I’m already gone

Character: choso x m!reader, yuji x reader (PLATONIC)

Warnings: character death! SPOILERS FOR 259

A/N: This wasn’t requested, just sort little something because I love pain 😭✌️

A/N: GOJO NEXT

A/N: THE TIMELINE IS DIFFERENT TO MAKE IT FLOW BETTER.

🎵Listen to already gone by sleeping at last🎵

Growing up in the world of sorcery, you were taught that curses were evil. They were ugly and were the most vilest things on this earth, but then you met him. Choso, a hybrid between a curse and a human, and he was beautiful. He was introduced to you as yuji's half-brother. You were erie of him at first, not understanding how could a curse be good. Even if he was only half, over time, you and him grew closer. You began to see he was more human than anything. He had more humanity than most humans. His soul and everything about him were beautiful l, even during the moments he didn't feel beautiful. Those moments were he cried into your chest, that he was a monster. You never understood how he could think that. The love that he showed you and his brothers was love that monsters couldn't possess.

He was the best thing to ever happen to you. He was kind and gentle to those he loved. He cherished and projected y'all like his life depended on it.

You were currently out of fighting during an injury. Choso told you not to stay awake waiting for him to return, but you never listened anyway. It always ends with him coming home to you asleep on the couch. This night was no different. One moment, you were lying there watching the tv, and then the next, you were asleep. It was a beautiful, peaceful dream. You and choso were at the beach enjoying the waves and the sun. It was empty there as if it were only you and him on the earth. No other soul, no curses, no fighting just each other

He was chasing you around the beach, the sound of yours and his laughter being music to your ears. Then, all of a sudden, he stops and just stares at you. The action caused you to stop in your tracks too. You took a breather for a second before walking up to him. "Hey, what's wrong?" You brought one of your hands to his cheeks, caressing the apples of them gently. He nuzzled against your hand slightly before bringing his hand up to yours.

"Nothing is wrong, this is perfect." He smiled so gently at you. He cupped your cheeks, his hands bringing your lips to his. He kissed you so softly as if you were the most fragile piece of glass. Then he pressed his forehead against yours. " I love you," He whispered to you. "You couldn't have loved me better, thank you." He pressed longing kissed on your head.

You let out a little giggle, "There's no need to thank me, silly." His arms rested around you and slowly caressed you back

“I know, I just wanted to also so you don’t forget.” You could hear his voice break a little bit

“Cho don’t get sad on me baby, we’re happy and plus you’ll be back soon and we can do nothing but be with each other” He nodded his head at your words. You quickly escaped from his grasp and started running. “Now come get me lover boy”You yelled back, it caused he to start chasing after you full force.

You were awakened from your slumber by a knock at the door. It was yuji. He looked distressed, and he was crying. "Hey, are you okay." He quickly shook his head, and his lips started quiver. You quickly brought him into a hug not rushing him to get his words. He was sobbing into your shoulder. You could barely make out the words he was saying, but then you heard a broken "I'm sorry" and "choso"

"What?" The world felt like it stopped spinning and had begun to crumble around you. Your chest felt heavy, it felt like you could get air into your lungs. You pulled away from the crying boy and walked slowly to the couch you were previously sleeping on. He followed you in and set on the couch with you. You deep breaths, trying to keep your composure.

"I'm sorry, he sacrificed himself for me. I didn't know he was going to do that. Everyone keeps dying around me, and I can't do anything to stop it. It's all my fault." He barely gotten through his words with the hiccups and the crying. You gently pushed his head onto your shoulder.

"It's not your fault yuji. Choso was selfless, he would do that thousands and thousands of times again even if he knew the outcome. Which he did, and that's why he did it." Your voice was breaking and cracking, but you just gave him a soft smile trying to comfort the young boy.

Eventually, exhaustion hit yujiand he slept on your couch. You laid alone in the quiet room, the only noise were your wails. The pillows that still smelt like choso were soaked with your tears as you held it tightly to your body.

"Wake up, you have to wake up. This is just a nightmare, you'll wake up." You spoke to yourself in between your wails of sorrow and pain. In reality, you knew the truth. This is reality and he was truly gone. He will always be gone

I ADDED YUJI AND READER COMFORTING EACH BECAUSE THAT POOR BOY NEVER HAS TIME TO GREIVE AND HE DESERVES SOME AND COMFORT

BYE Y'ALL ✌️😭, I HATE YOU GEGE

[supersparxz]

Deadpool's Gift

Wolverine x Deadpool

Notes: I was bored and felt inspired, hope you enjoy!

-> Deadpool x Wolverine(??)//Logan and Wade//Platonically there isn’t much romance//Logan is ready to kill Wade any second//set after the third movie//cock(tails)//Wade won’t ever finish his speech

Desc: Wade has been gone for a bit and just when Logan misses the quiet, he returns with a surprise

Warnings: Rated R because it has more than one fuck said lol//Profanity and an ass full of it//Minor end of movie spoilers

m.list (soon)

Logan was sitting on the couch, lazily drinking a glass of alcohol as he watched TV with Peggy. His Monday started off peaceful, Wade being gone the past two days and Al away for two weeks on some bingo tournament cruise. Wade didn’t say where he was going, just that he’d bring back souvenirs.

Peaceful and quiet were two words Logan never thought he’d never describe his life again as without ‘it was never’ in the front of them. Even when Peggy whined at him because Wade wasn’t around, it didn’t bother him much. She either wanted a treat or to go on a walk. Not to use the bathroom, but just to be outside. She was toilet trained and could even flush. In fact, before each walk, she would use the bathroom then bring him a leash. Logan didn’t bother to ask whether or not Wade trained her or she’d always been able to do that. 

Suffice to say, stillness is a rare commodity these days, living with the vilest, yappiest, loudmouth he’s ever met in all of his two centuries of life. A 24/7 corner store would close more often than Wade closes his mouth. He has learned to tolerate—well, not just quite tolerate, but live with it. It was his choice after all, and it wasn’t like anyone was stopping him from leaving.

He took another sip of his drink. However, not once has he thought about going back on that decision. In fact, amidst the thick silence he’s been sitting in, he could even entertain the thought that he might miss—

Knocks at the front door to the rhythm of ‘Do You Want to Build a Snow Man?’ followed by a drawn out and obviously flirty, “Logan~” almost made him choke.

“God *cagh* fucking damn it.” Logan said as he cleared his throat. “Dumbass you have a key, why are you knocking?” He yelled from the couch, wiping his mouth.

He didn’t bother to glance behind himself as he heard the door open a crack, “Just in case you were naked and wanted some time to get decent—okay, okay I can hear your scowl. We both know how I’d prefer to see you, and this time it comes with your cloths on, or off your choice, and your eyes closed.”

Logan sniffed the air. What was that? It smelled a lot like Wade, more than usual, but with something else underneath. Then again, Wade smelling like different things, especially after two days of being god knows where fucking god knows what, wasn’t necessarily abnormal. 

“Why?”

“I've got a surprise! It’s why I’ve been gone for so long and—hey, is that a glass of my strawberry lemonade vodka cocktail bowl I made for Yukio’s bachelorette party?”

Logan glanced at the drink in his hand, then to Peggy, as if waiting for her to say anything too. She got up and left the living room. He sighed and closed his eyes. “Fine.”

“When I offered you said you'd rather drink 10 gallons of battery acid soaked in rubbing alcohol before my cocktail-“

Logan gritted his teeth, slowly losing his patience. “I’ll close my fucking eyes, Wade.”

“Okay, okay!! You are going to love this.” Logan heard the door fully open then close. Wade walked around the couch until he was in front of him. 

It smelled even more like the irritating bastard. Almost overwhelmingly so—but it also heightened the scent underneath it. It was familiar, but not. His nose wrinkled as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on. It wasn't as if he was nose-blind to Wade's scent, so it couldn't be stronger after he'd been gone. He didn’t hear any more footsteps so Logan prayed to Jesus it couldn’t be any more him's. 

“Oh wow, they really are closed.”

“I said I would, now get on with it.”

“Yes, yes, before you open your eyes, I want you to know what inspired this gift. Peggy has been a delightful addition to our patch work family and I feel she really gets me. I mean, she is me. So… I thought you sadly were missing out on that same thing and got something that is you.”

That startled Logan’s eyes open, “Wade did you get a fucking dog?!” As soon as that left his lips and he saw what was cuddled calmly in Wade’s arms, he immediately wished it had been a dog.

Wade immediately got upset and glared. “Damn it, you impatient shit log! You went ahead and ruined my build up. I had two more paragraphs. It took five hours to practice, thanks a lot.”

“I’m going to fucking move out.”

“And folks that makes it fifty! Yet your firm, clenched ass is still here.”

“Why in the name of Christ would I have sat through two paragraphs of your psychward rambling would be my question if I wasn’t looking at a GODDAMN HONEY BADGER in your GODDAMN arms, Wade!” 

Wade shifted the creature and held his hand up in the silent fox hand symbol, “Hey, class, settle down. Let’s use our indoor voices, kay?” He then pointed to the animal. “This is obviously a wolverine. The guy told me so, and he sells giraffes and red pandas, so I think he knows what he’s talking about. How many of those cocktails did you have, huh? Gotta save some for-“

The glass in Logan’s hand broke, cocktail juice and blood dripping from his fingers. The shards of glass that was embedded began expelling from his hand as he curled it into a fist, save for one finger. Logan held it up toward Wade; one trembling, angry, finger. Logan had his jaw shut so tight he thought his teeth might shatter twice over after regenerating. 

“Wade. You are holding a honey badger. Why?”

“If you sat through my whole speech, you would have gotten all the juicy, dirty, little, heartfelt details. Like I said, I thought we both deserved animal counterparts! And Peggarony seemed lonely, so really this is more for her than it is for you.”

“Those things are usually angry. It’ll rip her to shreds more than I’m about to do to you. In fact, I know I’m being held back by a single strand of Jesus’ ass hair, but why isn’t the badger?”

“Well, Grumpy Smurf, this bad boy is 5 tranquilizers in and I’m at 20–30 of em came free in the package with a 10 dollar Denny’s gift card. Even if I cheated him in Yahtzee and you took the last bit of my happy powder I'm hiding from Feige, we'd be calmer than a corpses heart rate.”

“Why does it smell so much like you?”

Wade huffed, as if within his rights. “And that’s another reason why I’m pissed off! Y'know it’s hard and personal to get your scent extracted?! I had to so you wouldn't sniff out the surprise. And I see that look, no, I didn’t, you’ve been closer to having my semen on you than this wolverine.” He tilted his head lower, gesturing to the spot Logan was sitting on… or whatever he must be sitting in.

That was it. “I’m going to murder you.”

Wade rolled his eyes. “Fine, cry baby. Honey badger.”

Logan extracted his claws and launched out of his seat, ready to do the work the badger should have the moment it set eyes on Wade. Albeit, after hearing the toilet flush, right before his claws could pierce Wade’s side, paused.

The sink water ran for a moment, then out from the bathroom came Peggy, her wet paws leaving tracks on the ground as she casually stepped down the hall. 

Logan scrunched his eyebrows. “She can wash her hands?!”

Wade gasped. “She can use the bathroom!?”

[odditycircus-2002]

Medusa!Reader and Shang in Mortal Kombat 1 Part 9

Previous

NEXT

Spoilers for Mortal Kombat 1 Story Mode: Proceed with Caution

As you expected, you started to gag the moment the door to Shang Tsung's True Laboratory opened. However, what you didn't expect is learning that Earthrealm's protector and God of Fire, Lord Liu Kang, was a Titan that created existence as you know it! As if that isn't enough, some other Titan named Kronika made it so you too were a mistress of the vilest magics and married to the vilest Sorcerer to match, Shang Tsung.

Yet, it got worse when I learned that in the previous timeline, you took control of Sindel's body and made her do the most despicable acts imaginable. You noticed how your Empress glanced towards you when Geras showed her this vision, shock just as apparent. You had no words.

Liu Kang then tells you and Sindel how she was now meant to be the Empress of Outworld who ruled firmly, but fairly. With you as her loyal friend and a compassionate Healer to all. The former Titan then explains how you were never meant to become monstrous, how it was outside influences that have affected this timeline so that Shang Tsung, Quan-chi, and Shao became the villains they were once more. Yet, thankfully, they weren't able to influence you to join them.

That's when burst into Shang Tsung's laboratory with some of his soldiers with Nitara and Rain at his sides. You crouch down into a fighting stance with your sickles out and ready to rip and tear; while internally cheering on Sindel as she angrily reprimands Shao. Your snakes hissing and writhing as they leaned toward the General's direction, eager to bite. You and the snakes let out a hiss when Shao pulls out an amulet that shined brightly with unholy power. You managed to duck out of the way when a beam of red shoots out from the amulet, sucking Mileena, Kitana, Tanya, and Geras into it. This broke the camel's back, causing a full-out melee to take place.

You and Li Mei immediately partnered to take on General Shao. Although the latter has certainly learned a few things from his last fight with you, such as keeping his eyes purposefully closed or using the reflection of his ax to fight you, specifically aiming for your neck with his ax. Honestly, you probably would've loosed your head multiple times if it weren't for Li Mei pushing and pulling you out of the way. Unfortunately, General Shao manages to slip away from both of you long enough to make an attempt to use the amulet on Sindel. That doesn't happen since Li Mei kicks the disgraced General in the head hard enough to send him to the ground, with you following up with a stab to his solar plexus. This causes Shao to drop the amulet right into Sindel's hand.

With the amulet secured, you follow Li Mei and everyone else out of the lab. Not surprisingly, you're soon pursued by more of Shao's loyal soldiers. After Lord Liu Kang held the initial group back with a blast of fire; you follow it up by ripping off your mask to turn the soldiers attempting to sidestep or go under the fire, into stone; with Sindel finishing them off by unleashing her banshee shriek into the stone ceiling, causing it to collapse on the soldiers.

More of Shao's soldiers, including his loyal second-in-command, Reiko, were waiting for all of you in the upper level. You again partner up with Li Mei, this time to take down Motaro. As Li Mei occupied him from the front, you were able to sneak behind the centaurian and jump on his back. This did not make Motaro happy at ALL, as he simultaneously attempted to throw you off him and stab you with his bladed tail. However, you've been doing this sort of thing for moons when handling rage-blind Tarkatans! You bite deeply into Motaro's neck, however with only enough venom to hopefully paralyze him, as you hope to save more of it for later. Although, even sluggish, Motaro still put up a fight until one well-placed kick from Li Mei knocked him out.

The fight isn't over yet as you then had to fight alongside Sindel to take down Rain after he knocked out Li Mei with a powerful burst of water meant for the Empress. The latter also shares your deep disappointment in the High Mage.

"He disappoints us both, my Empress... I still remember the eager young boy who often stayed in my workshop for hours with a hunger for knowledge."

You soon showed Rain that you haven't actually taught him EVERYTHING you know about water magic. Unlike most of your opponents thus far, you refrained from giving Rain a lethal taste of your venom or blades. You internally scold yourself for being so soft, even though you know it's true. This fact is reaffirmed when rather than fighting with Li Mei and Sindel against Shao, you instead quickly attended to the Umgadi priestess Shao cut down. You hastily grab the nearby medical supplies to save them, although only one of them was still alive since the other died instantly from having her skull split open. Your steady hands worked fast to clean the wound, stop the bleeding, disinfect, and finally wrap and patch up the deep cut. Before you then get to work for the other Umgadi and Constables. By the time Sindel finally took down Shao and removed his forces from the building, lord Liu Kang was able to free all those who were trapped in the amulet.

You gave a smile when Sindel embraced her two daughters, sharing the feeling of immense relief that they're unharmed. Although, as Lord Liu Kang would remind you all, there's no time to waste to save the realms. You agreed and gathered all of the medical supplies Shang Tsung had lying around before embarking with your Empress. her daughters, and the others.

[writergracethepanda]

Vilest things spoilers

“But Galipei Weisanna does not yet suspect that his charge has been invaded. Anton needs to keep it that way.”

Give him a lil kiss then

[no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist]

Vilest Things preview snippet!

[rainmidnight]

vilest things spoilers

OTTA WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU KISSING ANTON IN YOUR BROTHER'S BODY

[typingwithmyhandstied]

VT spoilers

Is Chloe Gong aware that Gold Dust Woman perfectly matches Vilest Things? I wonder because

[wyked-ao3]

Helloooooooooooooooo dear Wyked!

I'd like to know a bit about your villain Cutthroat....

I know he's a huge bastard behind hope and you can't give spoilers out, of course, but I'd like to understand better how he plays with the other pirates in your world.

(I secretely hope that someone's going to get his ass at some point)

Thank you for the ask, I'm going to use this as a chance to introduce him towards the bottom of this. I can't say what happens but I am a firm believer that if a villain can't be redeemed then the shovel club them.

he sticks to his own sea mostly but sometimes he tries to expand our and that causes problems... Daimhín has had the least amount of issues with him as queen Eris's sea Xylem is in-between the Deadmans sea and the Bioluminescence Sea so he is more of a thorn in her side... Cutthroat and Daimhín have only interacted at pirate king meetings and perhaps on Tarak as the country does bridge the gap between them.

Introducing:Pirate King Cutthroat of the Deadmans sea, king of the Bloodymacrals

One of the vilest charaters in my opinion.

His current face claim found of Pinterest but it may change

Name: Jason Cut (he will never go by this as anyone who knew it has died)

Nickname: Cutthroat

Kind of Being: Human

Age:37

Sex: Male

Appearance: missing a thumb (good job Oisìn) soft green hair, eyes just a shade lighter but filled with cruelty.

Added a line for trigger warnings he is a villain for a reason... C.W Death, mentioned rape, slavery, zealot, genocide, and spoilers in a way although not much of this will be mentioned in book one.

Occupation: pirate king of a sea...master of sword...villain ...

Pets: He has a few but they are all slaves...

Best friend: has none your loyal or your dead

Describe his/her room: silver after silver flaunting wealth and power to stroke his ego further

Way of speaking: he tries to get into your mind to break you

Items in his/her back pocket/ purse: knife

Hobbies: trying to father the destined child...and killing

Favorite sports: mass murder.

Abilities/Talents/Powers: Chiasmatic and terrifying

Relationships (how he/she is with other people): read above and I'll let you decide but I'd say rather bad with people although no one can deny his crews loyal he was also somewhat based on Genghis Khan

Fears: not finding the other chosen one (news flash he is not a chosen one and the prophecy he believes in was literally a misunderstanding and a god making a joke several thousand years before. )

Faults: war crimes,mass murder, amongst other things

Good points: 0_o??? *Flatline for brain activity*

What he/she wants more than anything else: To father the child of destiny preferably with his favorite pet and get Jade back in his grasp as he has a sense of almost paternal like instincts (well of you call him trying to take jade under his wing as a mass murderer with a stomach for cruelty paternal...)

[transastronautistic]

the funniest part of saw to me will always be when that guy shoves his whole hand up to the elbow in the vilest, most disgusting toilet bowl you ever did see...and then jigsaw had actually hidden whatever the fuck thing he was looking for...in the tank.

if i’d been the jigsaw dude [SAW SPOILERS] lying “dead” on the floor that would have been too much for me. screw my plan i’d have gotten up and been like “you think i’m THAT fucked up that i’d make you do THAT? look the endgame here is that you saw off your own fucking arm but i wasn’t gonna make you soak it in dookie water first. you freak”

[mask131]

I was listening to this beautiful video-tribute to "Twisted Nerves" and it made me want to post about something I need to rant about. About AHS, about its downfall, about the mediocrity of "Apocalypse", about how AHS literaly betrayed and sold itself out in the most toxic way.

I will not make this post long or extensive, because the elditch gods know there is a LOT to cover with the artistic AND moral decay of AHS, so I will remain on the point this video triggered. Tate Langdon.

In the first season of American Horror Story, that was later named by fans "Murder House" but which originally was just "American Horror Story", Tate Langdon is a dangerous and toxic person. It is the entire point of the show: he starts out, to the other characters (Ben, Violet) and to the viewers as a mentally deranged but still charismatic, likeable and engaging character. As we discover more about him, we learn of the sad and painful parts of his backstory, of all the factors that encouraged him in his downfall to darkness, we see him do morally reprehensible things and criminal actions, but we also are given the somewhat understandable (in their twisted logic) justifications for these actions. We see him as a misguided lover, as a pained teenager, as a neglected child, as someone in despair for some sort of love, as the product of familial trauma and untreated mental unbalance coupled with the nefarious supernatural aura of the "Murder House" itself...

... but then comes the later reveals, and the later twists, and that's where we see who Tate Langdon truly is. That's when the viewer, and the characters around Tate, lose their sympathy and their pity for him as his own wicked ways and open hypocrisy come to the light. Spoilers alert for anyone who has not watched AHS still and wants to keep the reveals fresh but - we learn that he carefully and coldly raped the mother of the girl he was in love with, we learn that he always knew that he was dead and that he was a ghost - meaning not only he kept lying to his own family and to those that tried to help him, but also that many of his grand displays of tears and self-hatred (like the one he had in front of his own victims) were entirely fake and improvised. That's why Violet, despite loving him, has to reject him, and that's why Ben sternly chases him away: because by the end of the series, the audience is meant to understand that Tate is, indeed, a dangerous sociopath, a person who will emotionally manipulate people to get out of trouble or obtain what he wants, who will lie even to those he cherishes the most, and who - when he is forced to be honest - is cold and remorseless towards the vilest of his actions.

And the dangerosity of Tate, the black heart beating in his chest, is already indicated by the music theme chosen for him. The theme of Twisted Nerves, a movie precisely about a dangerous, psychotic, disturbed murderer who looks like a charming, angelic, innocent cherub of a man-boy. There was a deleted scene in the first season, during Tate's "dream sequence" of shooting the school, where he was supposed to see blood pouring down the staircases of his highschool in an homage to the elevators of blood in Kubrick's The Shining. It was ultimately removed (can still be found in the bonuses), but it would have driven another parallel to a different horror character: Jack Torance from The Shining. Another man seemingly compelled into doing horrible things and hurting those he love by ghosts within a cursed building... but Jack Torance clearly was disturbed and abusive before getting into the haunted hotel, something unhealthy lurking behind his seemingly nice and peaceful facade. The same way Tate's charm is meant to be a lure, and while ghosts did influence his crimes, they still just played on a darkness already there rather than planting some form of evilness inside of him.

[The first season of AHS also came out the same year as "We Need to Talk about Kevin", and the titular character of Kevin needs to be compared to Tate due to presenting both cases of dangerous teenage mass-murderers fueled in their motifs and actions by a toxic relationship with their mother.]

The first season of AHS is really NOT subtle in showing the viewer how evil Tate truly is, deep down. From his actions literaly leading to the birth of THE ANTICHRIST and a prophesized end of the world, to his final shot being side-by-side with Hayden in the darkness of the house. Hayden and Tate are meant to be parallels, disturbed and toxic lovers of the father and daughter of a same family, and the two threats to Vivien in different ways. If the show's subtle displays aren't enough for you, interviws with the showmakers and actors insisted on the fact that Hayden and Tate were "the two masterminds of the ghosts" inside the house - a sentence which did confuse the fans at the time, but that in retrospective makes sense.

Tate, and Hayden later, are the only two ghosts within the Murder House that are fully connected and knowledgeable about the inner workings of its dark power. They are not trapped reliving their life over and over again, they are aware that they are dead (though Tate pretends he is not), they even use quite "deep" ghost powers to assert a form of dominance above other entities (Tate being the most talented at this, as we see him for example use the Infantata as a weapon in the pilot episode)... They are disturbed and dangerous individuals, and by this fact they seem to enter into a strange symbiosis with the house itself and whatever dark force animates the building. The fact the House is implied to have literaly used Tate as its main tool, or "avatar", to perform its final goal of creating some sort of demon-baby, shows how deeply connected he is to the House's evil, how he seemes to have fully embraced it, how the darkness of the curse filled him or matched perfectly his own darknes...

And that's where things went wrong. Cut to American Horror Story: Apocalypse.

AHS Apocalypse is one of the bad seasons. It feels like a pastiche of itself, almost like a parody of AHS itself, especially since it attempts to recreate the world of its earlier seasons, but in a rushed way, with a lot of the original staff in charge of the visuals and set-building gone (see the video I shared earlier about the visual decline of AHS). "Apocalypse" was literaly first teased by Ryan Murphy as "Murder House and Coven crossover", breaking furthermore the original rule of AHS of not making direct sequels and always exploring different universes. What I want to highlight however is that "Apocalypse" was LITERALY a season designed to be fan-baiting, fan-service, fan-pleasing. It was a product made to be sold to the fans of AHS rather than being an actual AHS season.

And it was not made to be sold to any AHS fans, oh no! It was made to be sold to a very specific demographic. To the younger, teenage, mainly female, audience that got introduced to AHS with "Coven", a "younger" generation of AHS fan who most related and loved "Coven" and "Murder House", and were into the show for something similar - dark humor, witchy aesthetic, edgy teenage romance, angsty teenage drama... So many moments in Apocalypse screamed so hard "MEME ME! I'm a bitch-slaying line, MEME ME!" as opposed to the actual moments from Coven that became memed but still were written in-universe, in-character, and perfectly flowing with the narrative... "Apocalypse" was very clearly not made for the more mature audience that for example leaned more into "Asylum" and was more interested in the cinematic techniques, the homages to the horror cinema, a more serious horror, and the talent of famous actors.

And the handling of the Tate and Violet romance in "Apocalypse" showed so well how this season was made to please fans and feel like a fanfiction come to life. Because that's a fucking bad fanfiction, that even outrights contradicts the worldbuilding of earlier seasons or worse, twists it to fit in a forced happy ending that leads to absolutely toxic reading of earlier seasons. Because that's literaly what the "Murder House" episode of AHS was about - having a fan-favorite (Madison Montgomery) stroll into Murder House, literaly blow some sort of drug into the face of Violet, and offering a happy ending to her ghost as she reunites with a now all good and nice Tate (played by an Evan Peters a bit too old for the role now) and they become a wholesome couple... With the official explanation that all of Tate's evil was actually caused by the house's demonic forces possessing him, and it all went away into his baby, aka the Antichrist, so now he is good and pure and should be forgiven for everything. Farewell careful nuances and complex character portraits of the early seasons!

...

Why did they do that? The answer is so openly simple, so much in front of our eyes. To please the fans (or rather the specific type of fans) who have asked for this for so long and written years of fanfictions about this. Because Tate Langdon is still a sexy, dramatic, Romantic (in the historical sense of the term) lover, a lot of the teenage audience of AHS identified with Violet, Evan Peters was a male sex icon of his time, and a lot of young viewers took "Murder House" at face value and first-degree without any nuance. That Tate is a serial killer, a rapist and a sociopath only adds fuel to the fire, as Tate was also partially inspired by the Columbine shooters and we KNOW how many fangirls these two have. As a result, a true massive dissonance was formed between what the show told you (the final episodes of Murder House clearly showed you everyone rejecting Tate and him joining the only other character as disturbed and dangerous as him, Hayden) and what the fans saw (it's a tragic love story, and Violet is too mean, and the show just robs us of our deserved happy ending, and poor Tate is a little darling we need to cherish).

Most of them got introduced to the "Whistling Song" by AHS and think of it as just a cool song - they don't understand that it is meant to be a sound-clue and cultural-clue to the audience about Tate's true nature, the same way the reason Coppola's Dracula's opening theme is used for the flashbacks to the Montgomery times is to point out to the audience that a crime against God/nature is about to be committed out of despair, and that for this act against all things holy a monster is going to be born. These people sought and seeked a reading of the romance between Violet and Tate as just... 90's "Ghost" meets Romeo and Juliet. Completely missing the fact that Violet and Tate are a perverted version of the story of Romeo and Juliet.

AHS had already capitalized on the VioletXTate story, while making it more "positive" (as much as anything can be positive on AHS): with the Zoe and Kyle story. Interviews and commentaries by the writers and showmakers openly and frankly confirmed this: they said, repeatedly, that they wrote Zoe and Kyle purposefully to mirror and echo Violet and Tate. To bring back a similar chemistry between the two actors, so as to drag a bit something for those that loved Murder House, while also playing in a more straightforward way the "Romeo and Juliet" angle to their couple as more positive and *cough cough* "healthy" *cough* "star-crossed lovers" (Kyle even being qualified as a "Romeo" character). But these two were NOT Tate and Violet, so the bad fans (because I'm going to say it, they're bad fans) were not satisfied, and by the time of Apocalypse Ryan Murphy had started to go a bit morally bankrupt and so he decided to literaly give the fans what they asked even though it gave the counter-message to what Murder House stood for.

Just have a bit of dust spat in your face by a random stranger, and you'll see, you can go back with your emotionally manipulative boyfriend! The guy you like is a serial killer? Just have him make a baby with your mom and you'll have a happy ending!

And this little thing is just the TIP of the iceberg when it comes to a LOT, a LOT of problems related to Murphy productions. I could go on so many different directions from this single example, but I will just mention two. On one side, you see this later habit of AHS of justifying, glorifying, excusing or morally "washing" characters NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LIKED and who are meant to be pathetic monsters. Tate went from one of the main villains of Murder House to being a sort of wholesome side-characters? I see this a prefiguration of the HUGE huge fuck-up they did with the character of Richard Rimarize in 1984. Taking a real-life serial killer that had only very recently passed away, and depict him on screen as justified in his insane belief and disturbing modus operandi, by painting him as some sort of evil super-powered messiah, instead of just the repulsive killer and rapist and scum that he was? This is sick. Like puking sick. But it is one step away from romanticizing Tate, from an angelic-faced sociopath to an ideal Romeo-like teenager, with the difference being that by 1984 Murphy had started to think romanticizing or glorifying real-life monsters was a cool thing to do.

Or rather, to be fair, I do not think Ryan Murphy intended to glorify these real-life monsters. The feeling I have from watching his shows is that he is the kind of person who doesn't see where he should draws the line when making real-life events fiction, and who imposes himself no moral limit when it comes to using historical figures as tools for a narrative or characters for a drama. He thinks he can pick-up real-life monsters like Ramirez and play them around like a puppet in a puppet-show with no consequences. The glorification and romanticization of it all only comes later, as a side-effect of his carelessness.

Which comes to my second point: "Dahmer". His Dahmer show did the mistake of hiring Evan Peters as Dahmer, to play him right after "American Horror Story", where Peters' main job was to play the seducing face, the sympathetic character, or the evil but still pleasing murderer. Plus, it was on AHS that Peters got his main fanbase and the fangirls, and that's where he became a sex-icon of teenagers of the 2010s. So to have him under another Ryan Murphy production, quite connected to AHS (Dahmer also appears in AHS), and playing DAHMER himself... already that was a bad move. No matter how much you want to "focus on the victims" and show how much of a monster Dahmer was, if you deliberately chose an actor known to make monsters sympathetic and who has gathered a large fanbase who treat him as a male pin-up... You are bound to undermine yourself at best, to unveil your hypocrisy at worst. Because you should know people will not come to this show to watch the suffering of the victim - they will come to see Evan Peters as Dahmer, and to thirst over him cosplaying an actual serial killer and rapist.

And there are many more things to say about the many, MANY problems surrounding "Dahmer", and the treatment of historical characters in later seasons of AHS in general... But I think this post is already long enough as it is, so we'll leave it right there! Unlike AHS, I know at which point I need to stop.