Early September, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice wrapped up its run.
This film, which Warner and DC had pinned their hopes on to revive the DC cinematic universe, had gone head-to-head with Marvel's annual blockbuster Captain America: Civil War and ultimately suffered a crushing defeat in both reputation and box office.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ended with a global box office of $838 million, falling a whopping $280 million short of Civil War's $1.15 billion.
The once-ambitious DC was thoroughly embarrassed.
Fortunately, Suicide Squad's box office explosion gave the DC cinematic universe new hope.
This $125 million popcorn flick showed explosive potential.
Once it entered the promotional phase, Warner ramped up the expansion, with posters, trailers, specials, behind-the-scenes, and all sorts of materials hitting an unusually high standard. Margot Robbie's "Harley Quinn" and Liu Yifei's "Japanese Swordswoman" quickly heated up, sparking conquest desires in countless male movie fans.
DC Comics had even decided to create the "Swordswoman" character in the comics based on the film, modeled after Liu Yifei's image.
Thus, Liu Yifei earned another hefty paycheck.
Liu's mom was thrilled beyond words, insisting her daughter invite Martin over for dinner.
"Martin really is a great guy. Ah, too many women, though—otherwise, he'd be a perfect son-in-law."
"Mom, what are you saying?!"
"Hehe, just saying. Mom wouldn't really marry you off to him. Oh, why are you blushing? My good girl's shy—haha!"
The delighted Liu's mom had no idea her daughter was already his.
...
Suicide Squad steadily raked in box office.
Meanwhile, Trump steadily gained approval ratings.
But his rival—Hillary Clinton—seemed to have health issues.
Recently, a photo of Hillary Clinton being supported up stairs by three men went viral online.
The photo was posted on "The American Mirror" on August 16, with the article opening by pointing out that Hillary's "suspicious" health should be a key issue in the 2016 presidential election.
Then, the conservative political news aggregator "Drudge Report" placed the photo front and center on its homepage, listing Hillary's 2012 fall and concussion, 2011 slip on a plane ramp, 2009 elbow fracture, and more.
According to CNN, the "Drudge Report," which exclusively broke the Lewinsky-Clinton sex scandal, is one of the most-read news sites in the US.
Over the next few days, Trump's supporters posted photos implying Hillary was unfit for the presidency due to her health.
Ivanka was a bit giddy during her call with Martin.
"Hillary's done; her health can't support her through the campaign. Voters won't choose an unhealthy president."
Martin reminded Ivanka, "Don't underestimate her—this might be Hillary's ploy."
"A ploy? Why do you say that?" Ivanka was puzzled.
Martin explained: "Our recent attacks using the 'email' scandal have been too aggressive. Faking illness could win her sympathy, making voters think we're attacking a sick, frail old lady. You know, people's hearts are complex; a simple little thing can change your image in their eyes. And psychologically, 'sympathy' is the easiest emotion to convert into 'favor.'"
"But if Hillary fakes illness for sympathy, couldn't it backfire? After all, a sickly person as US president is highly inappropriate?" Ivanka was still confused.
Martin said: "That's easy to fix—like after gaining sympathy, admitting the photo is from long ago. That would make the public think we deliberately released old photos to smear Hillary."
"It can work like that?" Ivanka, being young, was shocked.
"Come on, it's the presidential election—it's all dirty tricks." Martin said.
Martin's words proved prophetic.
Just days after Trump's team relentlessly attacked Hillary as a sickly unfit president, CNN debunked it, pointing out the photo wasn't recent but from February 27, before the South Carolina primary.
Hillary had slipped on the stairs then, and several people around her helped her up.
Reuters and Getty Images captured the photo, but it was quickly forgotten until Hillary's opponents "dug it up" and twisted it.
The Washington Post noted that distorting photos and videos to question Hillary's health was a common attack tactic by Trump's team.
"Though shameless, they do it often."
"For example, on June 10 this year, Hillary joked with exaggerated nods during a coffee shop interview, but soon someone slowed the video and uploaded it to YouTube with the title 'Hillary Clinton Stroke/Tremors,' racking up 1.4 million views."
"And this time, it's clearly Trump's team replaying old tricks."
In the office.
Trump was furious.
"Motherfucker, Martin was right—this is that bitch's self-directed play."
"I admit the coffee shop clip was our doing."
At this, he couldn't help grinning—it really was hilarious, even now.
Then, stifling his laugh, he said: "Hillary's too cunning—faking pitiful for sympathy while using it to smear us. Damn, we fell for it."
He looked at his daughter. "Ivanka, did Martin say how to handle it?"
"Martin meant that denying it now is too late—after all, we did use that photo to attack Hillary."
Trump felt awkward; his aides had warned him to check the situation first, but he couldn't resist.
"Character setup"—once faked long enough, sometimes it really becomes a habit.