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Fixing a markup typo
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yourareevicted.jpg]]]]
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yourareevicted.jpg]]]] jpg]]
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I just now learned that potholing an image to an exterior link is officially discouraged, so I'm removing the link in the page image.
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[[quoteright:350:[[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/137149731/my-sister-caitlin-pointed-out-something-great https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yourareevicted.jpg]]]]
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After further consideration, I don't think the Dirty Coward example really fits. I also edited another example to be less potentially NRLEP-infringing.
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* CharacterTitle: ''Gary: Landlord of the Flies'' chronicles Gary, a particularly nasty and insane landlord.
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* CharacterTitle: ''Gary: Landlord of the Flies'' chronicles centers on Gary, a particularly nasty and insane landlord.
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* DirtyCoward: Gary continuously hides from confrontation, be it Gabe coming to ask for his security deposit back or the police coming by to investigate him for criminal behavior. At one point, he gets mad at Gabe for ''not'' closing the door on the cops.
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** The first proper post has Gabe marvel at the low cost of rent, noting that the landlord "seems a little lame, but nice enough." Naturally, the rest of the blog focuses largely on just how much of a {{jerkass}} said landlord really is.
to:
** The first proper post has Gabe marvel at the low cost of rent, noting that the landlord "seems a little lame, but nice enough." Naturally, the rest of the blog focuses largely on just [[CrankyLandlord how much of a {{jerkass}} unpleasant]] said landlord really is.
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Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:[[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/137149731/my-sister-caitlin-pointed-out-something-great https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yourareevicted.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"In the world according to Gary, no case is a civil one."'']]
->''"I am making this site to chronicle the craziest living situation I have ever taken part in. In the month that I subletted a room in this house in St. Charles (a suburb of Chicago), the police have come 5 times, my landlord has been handcuffed twice, and one roommate has been hospitalized. The focus is on my crazy landlord, Gary."''
-->--From [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136564032/overview the blog's very first post]]
''[[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com Gary: Landlord of the Flies]]'' (also known as ''Stranger Than Eviction'') is a Website/{{Tumblr}} blog that began in the summer of 2009 and was updated until May 2010. Its writer, Gabriel Dunn, moved into a house in a Chicago suburb that came with surprisingly cheap rent... only to learn that its landlord, Gary, was a deeply unpleasant character. The blog is effectively a record of the many bizarre events Gary caused during and after Gabe's month-long stay, most of which are related to his paranoia and antagonism towards his tenants. In particular, after Gabe refuses to help him evade a police investigation, Gary outright evicts him in early July 2009 and refuses to give him his security deposit back. This sets the stage for most of the blog, as Gabe attempts to negotiate with Gary before escalating the situation to small claims court – with Gary fighting against him every step of the way.
----
!!This blog contains examples of:
* TheAlcoholic: Gary is said to drink frequently, which leads to a number of his less coherent and amicable moments.
* AntiClimax: In a tongue-in-cheek fashion, Gabe expresses his disappointment in how the trial went in [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/635545450/may-26-the-world-according-to-gary his final post]]. In lieu of a dramatic legal showdown, Gary's defense turns out to be as weak as one would expect, and the judge quickly rules in favor of Gabe after going over evidence of Gary's unsavory behavior.
-->"This whole time I had been hoping it would all play out like an epic courtroom drama, where Gary had come up with some sinister web of lies and in the end he calls his surprise witness; James (the tenant he stole from), Dan (the other tenant he evicted) or Mat (the Indian friend he called a 'spic') to the stand and unravels my entire case. Sadly this is not how it played out."
* BoldInflation: Several of the email exchanges between Gary and Gabe have moments where Gary '''bolds''' certain words for emphasis. Gabe notes that they were originally red and in a much larger font.
* CharacterTitle: ''Gary: Landlord of the Flies'' chronicles Gary, a particularly nasty and insane landlord.
* CrankyLandlord: Exaggerated with Gary, whose relationship with his tenants is almost always deeply strained. He viciously insults several of them with little prompting, attempts to prevent them from retrieving their belongings when they leave or are evicted, and steals one tenant's luxury goods while he's in the hospital. Naturally, partway through the blog, it's noted that everyone had moved out of the house after hitting their breaking point with his behavior.
* DeadpanSnarker: Gabe tends to make sarcastic comments and quips about Gary's dubious sense of logic. [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136606726/july-4-defining-cowardice This post]] provides a good example, where he spends a full paragraph breaking down Gary's inexplicable formality in a simple written note about not going to jail: "I am amazed he didn’t take the time to get it notarized."
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Gary has a habit of failing to think ahead before he acts.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136571637/june-17-the-arrest When the police come to investigate a report of him stealing a tenant's luxury goods]], he continuously lies and says he has no clue where they went – even after the police begin finding them, one by one.
--->"This is the first, and a prime example, of Gary’s inability to plan for future events. One could assume that after finding the TV, they would likely continue to search. Unless you have thought of a really unique hiding place, just fess up, because they’re probably going to check your desk and under your bed."
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136612080/july-5-a-farewell-to-my-armoire Gary attempts to screw the house's door shut to prevent Dan from retrieving his belongings]], failing to consider that he could call the police and get in through a window.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/635545450/may-26-the-world-according-to-gary Gabe's account of his trial]] notes that Gary's defense for his actions never amounted to much more than "I was angry at the time", without any logical explanation for why he would act unnecessarily belligerent towards Gabe and the police.
--->"The whole trial reminded me of when you get in trouble as a little kid, and an adult asks, 'What were you thinking? No really, I want to know what you were thinking.' And you never had an answer other than 'I don’t know/I was angry/I was really drunk.'"
* DirtyCoward: Gary continuously hides from confrontation, be it Gabe coming to ask for his security deposit back or the police coming by to investigate him for criminal behavior. At one point, he gets mad at Gabe for ''not'' closing the door on the cops.
* FlippingTheBird: [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136612080/july-5-a-farewell-to-my-armoire This post]] briefly mentions Gary flipping off Gabe and his friend Mat when they come by to retrieve some of Gabe's belongings.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Gary tends to criticize others for their perceived shortcomings, despite frequently indulging in the exact same behavior.
** He frequently calls Gabe a "coward" during the security deposit feud, even though he habitually attempts to prevent any kind of confrontation in person (both before and after the eviction).
** In [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/138201845/july-8-email-exchange-with-a-hypocritic this email exchange]], he criticizes a minor grammatical mistake of Gabe's while ignoring the fact that his own writing is significantly worse (including excessive punctuation, texting shorthand, and BoldInflation). Gabe {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this by calling him a "[[{{Portmanteau}} hypocritic]]".
* {{Irony}}: [[LampshadeHanging As Gabe points out]], Gary's eviction notice calls him a "coward", even though he refuses to answer the door when Gabe comes knocking to get his security deposit back.
* JokeAndReceive: In [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136578866/june-21-houseguest this post]], Gabe returns home and quips that "the cops aren't here, so that's a good sign." He's immediately told that the cops ''were'' just at the house, investigating Gary after he broke into a tenant's car.
* MisaimedStereotyping: When Gabe comes to Gary with an Indian friend of his, Gary insults him by calling him a "spic"... a racial slur for ''Italian'' people. Much to Gary's frustration, both of them find it hilarious instead of offensive.
-->"Wrong ethnicity, but I guess it’s the spirit that counts."
* NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer: In [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/139477761/july-11-emoticonvict-that-ones-a-stretch this post]], Gabe reprints an email from Gary where he attempts to intimidate him by calling him "[[red:'GIRLIE-BOY'..... :) B)]]". The emoticons are so inexplicable that Gabe stresses that they were in the original message as written:
-->"I swear on my life that I have not added in the smiley faces."
* PopCulturePunEpisodeTitle:
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136612080/july-5-a-farewell-to-my-armoire This post]] is titled "A Farewell to my Armoire", riffing on ''Literature/AFarewellToArms''.
** The blog's final post, "[[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/635545450/may-26-the-world-according-to-gary The World According to Gary]]", is one letter off from ''Literature/TheWorldAccordingToGarp''.
* {{Portmanteau}}:
** The post "[[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/138201845/july-8-email-exchange-with-a-hypocritic Email Exchange with a Hypocritic]]" uses a combination of "{{hypocrite}}" and "critic", owing to Gary criticizing Gabe for a minor grammatical error while his own writing is far less proper.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/139477761/july-11-emoticonvict-that-ones-a-stretch This post]]'s title refers to Gary as "Emoticonvict", referencing his offbeat use of {{emoticon}}s in the email exchange it reprints alongside his penchant for criminal behavior. (The subtitle admits that it's a bit of an awkward portmanteau.)
* PunBasedTitle:
** The blog's proper name is a play on "Lord of the Flies", a traditional epithet for Beelzebub.
** The blog's URL, "Stranger Than Eviction", references the common phrase "stranger than fiction."
* RougeAnglesOfSatin: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d when Gary leaves an informal eviction notice for Gabe that read "YOUR ARE EVICTED!" When Gabe first writes about this incident, he makes sure to leave a ''(sic.)'' after the improperly-used "your."
* ShoutOut:
** The blog's avatar is a screenshot of Jack from ''Film/TheShining''.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/147749606/july-25-chopping-block This post]] has a brief aside alluding to ''Film/YouGotServed'':
--->"As it turns out, Gary has been dodging the summons for the past couple weeks. Serving someone turns out to be nowhere near as easy as the 2004 street dancing film suggests."
* SirSwearsALot: When aggravated, Gary tends to pepper his speech with F/C-bombs. It doesn't help that [[HairTriggerTemper it takes little for Gary to get aggravated]].
* SitcomArchNemesis: Exaggerated with James, one of Gary's tenants. The blog never mentions him doing anything wrong to Gary, yet the latter despises him on a deeply disproportionate level – going so far as to steal his TV, break into his car, and viciously insult him over the phone.
* TitleDrop:
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136602859/july-3rd-stranger-than-eviction The post]] where Gabe is evicted is titled "Stranger than Eviction", the blog's URL. The first line {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this:
--->(I always get excited when a movie says its own title in the movie)
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/138623016/july-9-landlord-of-the-flies-and-not-much-else The post]] where Gabe learns that all of Gary's tenants are either gone or plan to move out is titled "Landlord of the Flies... and not much else", referencing the blog's proper title.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/635545450/may-26-the-world-according-to-gary The final post]], titled "The World According to Gary", concludes with the sentence "In the world according to Gary, no case is a civil one."
* TemptingFate:
** The first proper post has Gabe marvel at the low cost of rent, noting that the landlord "seems a little lame, but nice enough." Naturally, the rest of the blog focuses largely on just how much of a {{jerkass}} said landlord really is.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136612080/july-5-a-farewell-to-my-armoire When Gabe comes back with a friend post-eviction to retrieve his desk]], he internally worries that Gary will be more subdued than normal (thus depriving his friend of a chance to witness just how crazy he truly is). As he thinks this, he notices Gary screwing the front door shut right in front of him.
----
[[caption-width-right:350:''"In the world according to Gary, no case is a civil one."'']]
->''"I am making this site to chronicle the craziest living situation I have ever taken part in. In the month that I subletted a room in this house in St. Charles (a suburb of Chicago), the police have come 5 times, my landlord has been handcuffed twice, and one roommate has been hospitalized. The focus is on my crazy landlord, Gary."''
-->--From [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136564032/overview the blog's very first post]]
''[[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com Gary: Landlord of the Flies]]'' (also known as ''Stranger Than Eviction'') is a Website/{{Tumblr}} blog that began in the summer of 2009 and was updated until May 2010. Its writer, Gabriel Dunn, moved into a house in a Chicago suburb that came with surprisingly cheap rent... only to learn that its landlord, Gary, was a deeply unpleasant character. The blog is effectively a record of the many bizarre events Gary caused during and after Gabe's month-long stay, most of which are related to his paranoia and antagonism towards his tenants. In particular, after Gabe refuses to help him evade a police investigation, Gary outright evicts him in early July 2009 and refuses to give him his security deposit back. This sets the stage for most of the blog, as Gabe attempts to negotiate with Gary before escalating the situation to small claims court – with Gary fighting against him every step of the way.
----
!!This blog contains examples of:
* TheAlcoholic: Gary is said to drink frequently, which leads to a number of his less coherent and amicable moments.
* AntiClimax: In a tongue-in-cheek fashion, Gabe expresses his disappointment in how the trial went in [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/635545450/may-26-the-world-according-to-gary his final post]]. In lieu of a dramatic legal showdown, Gary's defense turns out to be as weak as one would expect, and the judge quickly rules in favor of Gabe after going over evidence of Gary's unsavory behavior.
-->"This whole time I had been hoping it would all play out like an epic courtroom drama, where Gary had come up with some sinister web of lies and in the end he calls his surprise witness; James (the tenant he stole from), Dan (the other tenant he evicted) or Mat (the Indian friend he called a 'spic') to the stand and unravels my entire case. Sadly this is not how it played out."
* BoldInflation: Several of the email exchanges between Gary and Gabe have moments where Gary '''bolds''' certain words for emphasis. Gabe notes that they were originally red and in a much larger font.
* CharacterTitle: ''Gary: Landlord of the Flies'' chronicles Gary, a particularly nasty and insane landlord.
* CrankyLandlord: Exaggerated with Gary, whose relationship with his tenants is almost always deeply strained. He viciously insults several of them with little prompting, attempts to prevent them from retrieving their belongings when they leave or are evicted, and steals one tenant's luxury goods while he's in the hospital. Naturally, partway through the blog, it's noted that everyone had moved out of the house after hitting their breaking point with his behavior.
* DeadpanSnarker: Gabe tends to make sarcastic comments and quips about Gary's dubious sense of logic. [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136606726/july-4-defining-cowardice This post]] provides a good example, where he spends a full paragraph breaking down Gary's inexplicable formality in a simple written note about not going to jail: "I am amazed he didn’t take the time to get it notarized."
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Gary has a habit of failing to think ahead before he acts.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136571637/june-17-the-arrest When the police come to investigate a report of him stealing a tenant's luxury goods]], he continuously lies and says he has no clue where they went – even after the police begin finding them, one by one.
--->"This is the first, and a prime example, of Gary’s inability to plan for future events. One could assume that after finding the TV, they would likely continue to search. Unless you have thought of a really unique hiding place, just fess up, because they’re probably going to check your desk and under your bed."
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136612080/july-5-a-farewell-to-my-armoire Gary attempts to screw the house's door shut to prevent Dan from retrieving his belongings]], failing to consider that he could call the police and get in through a window.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/635545450/may-26-the-world-according-to-gary Gabe's account of his trial]] notes that Gary's defense for his actions never amounted to much more than "I was angry at the time", without any logical explanation for why he would act unnecessarily belligerent towards Gabe and the police.
--->"The whole trial reminded me of when you get in trouble as a little kid, and an adult asks, 'What were you thinking? No really, I want to know what you were thinking.' And you never had an answer other than 'I don’t know/I was angry/I was really drunk.'"
* DirtyCoward: Gary continuously hides from confrontation, be it Gabe coming to ask for his security deposit back or the police coming by to investigate him for criminal behavior. At one point, he gets mad at Gabe for ''not'' closing the door on the cops.
* FlippingTheBird: [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136612080/july-5-a-farewell-to-my-armoire This post]] briefly mentions Gary flipping off Gabe and his friend Mat when they come by to retrieve some of Gabe's belongings.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Gary tends to criticize others for their perceived shortcomings, despite frequently indulging in the exact same behavior.
** He frequently calls Gabe a "coward" during the security deposit feud, even though he habitually attempts to prevent any kind of confrontation in person (both before and after the eviction).
** In [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/138201845/july-8-email-exchange-with-a-hypocritic this email exchange]], he criticizes a minor grammatical mistake of Gabe's while ignoring the fact that his own writing is significantly worse (including excessive punctuation, texting shorthand, and BoldInflation). Gabe {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this by calling him a "[[{{Portmanteau}} hypocritic]]".
* {{Irony}}: [[LampshadeHanging As Gabe points out]], Gary's eviction notice calls him a "coward", even though he refuses to answer the door when Gabe comes knocking to get his security deposit back.
* JokeAndReceive: In [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136578866/june-21-houseguest this post]], Gabe returns home and quips that "the cops aren't here, so that's a good sign." He's immediately told that the cops ''were'' just at the house, investigating Gary after he broke into a tenant's car.
* MisaimedStereotyping: When Gabe comes to Gary with an Indian friend of his, Gary insults him by calling him a "spic"... a racial slur for ''Italian'' people. Much to Gary's frustration, both of them find it hilarious instead of offensive.
-->"Wrong ethnicity, but I guess it’s the spirit that counts."
* NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer: In [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/139477761/july-11-emoticonvict-that-ones-a-stretch this post]], Gabe reprints an email from Gary where he attempts to intimidate him by calling him "[[red:'GIRLIE-BOY'..... :) B)]]". The emoticons are so inexplicable that Gabe stresses that they were in the original message as written:
-->"I swear on my life that I have not added in the smiley faces."
* PopCulturePunEpisodeTitle:
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136612080/july-5-a-farewell-to-my-armoire This post]] is titled "A Farewell to my Armoire", riffing on ''Literature/AFarewellToArms''.
** The blog's final post, "[[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/635545450/may-26-the-world-according-to-gary The World According to Gary]]", is one letter off from ''Literature/TheWorldAccordingToGarp''.
* {{Portmanteau}}:
** The post "[[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/138201845/july-8-email-exchange-with-a-hypocritic Email Exchange with a Hypocritic]]" uses a combination of "{{hypocrite}}" and "critic", owing to Gary criticizing Gabe for a minor grammatical error while his own writing is far less proper.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/139477761/july-11-emoticonvict-that-ones-a-stretch This post]]'s title refers to Gary as "Emoticonvict", referencing his offbeat use of {{emoticon}}s in the email exchange it reprints alongside his penchant for criminal behavior. (The subtitle admits that it's a bit of an awkward portmanteau.)
* PunBasedTitle:
** The blog's proper name is a play on "Lord of the Flies", a traditional epithet for Beelzebub.
** The blog's URL, "Stranger Than Eviction", references the common phrase "stranger than fiction."
* RougeAnglesOfSatin: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d when Gary leaves an informal eviction notice for Gabe that read "YOUR ARE EVICTED!" When Gabe first writes about this incident, he makes sure to leave a ''(sic.)'' after the improperly-used "your."
* ShoutOut:
** The blog's avatar is a screenshot of Jack from ''Film/TheShining''.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/147749606/july-25-chopping-block This post]] has a brief aside alluding to ''Film/YouGotServed'':
--->"As it turns out, Gary has been dodging the summons for the past couple weeks. Serving someone turns out to be nowhere near as easy as the 2004 street dancing film suggests."
* SirSwearsALot: When aggravated, Gary tends to pepper his speech with F/C-bombs. It doesn't help that [[HairTriggerTemper it takes little for Gary to get aggravated]].
* SitcomArchNemesis: Exaggerated with James, one of Gary's tenants. The blog never mentions him doing anything wrong to Gary, yet the latter despises him on a deeply disproportionate level – going so far as to steal his TV, break into his car, and viciously insult him over the phone.
* TitleDrop:
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136602859/july-3rd-stranger-than-eviction The post]] where Gabe is evicted is titled "Stranger than Eviction", the blog's URL. The first line {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this:
--->(I always get excited when a movie says its own title in the movie)
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/138623016/july-9-landlord-of-the-flies-and-not-much-else The post]] where Gabe learns that all of Gary's tenants are either gone or plan to move out is titled "Landlord of the Flies... and not much else", referencing the blog's proper title.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/635545450/may-26-the-world-according-to-gary The final post]], titled "The World According to Gary", concludes with the sentence "In the world according to Gary, no case is a civil one."
* TemptingFate:
** The first proper post has Gabe marvel at the low cost of rent, noting that the landlord "seems a little lame, but nice enough." Naturally, the rest of the blog focuses largely on just how much of a {{jerkass}} said landlord really is.
** [[https://strangerthaneviction.tumblr.com/post/136612080/july-5-a-farewell-to-my-armoire When Gabe comes back with a friend post-eviction to retrieve his desk]], he internally worries that Gary will be more subdued than normal (thus depriving his friend of a chance to witness just how crazy he truly is). As he thinks this, he notices Gary screwing the front door shut right in front of him.
----
