Curate, connect, and discover
He’s loved in the slums, in the overlooked places, for his charity. For his way of giving aid that only ever comes across as a little patronising because, as he’ll tell you himself, what else is he meant to do with all that money?
He’s loved in the high places, the penthouses and mansions on hills, for his charm. The rich see him and something in his smile dazzles in the way they wish the jewels that drip from their clothes could offer even the poorest imitation of.
He’s loved in the in between places for a combination of the same things. In the evening he appears on talk shows where his confidence is appealing to watch. In the morning, if you’re lucky, your child might get a scholarship or your insurance might finally be compelled to pay out and you’ll thank the stars for the cheerful man you saw on telly the night before.
Everyone in Gotham loves Bruce Wayne.
But something about his kids is a little… off.
~
First there’s Dick Grayson.
He sets the bar for the other kids, and no one can deny he sets it high.
He makes himself obvious, seeks out attention in the endearing way that only people born for show business can quite manage. He seems perfectly adjusted despite the tragedy everyone knows landed him in Bruce Wayne’s care and the papers only ever print the nicest pictures of him.
But sometimes…
Sometimes he laughs too hard and it smells like he’s leaking the Joker’s awful gas. Sometimes he frowns and the room grows quiet and scared until he remembers the role he’s playing and smiles. Sometimes someone will point out flawless he is and he’ll look at them strangely, as if to ask, ‘how could I dare be anything else?’
He starts a pattern.
~
Jason Todd is next, and God help anyone who expected someone with manners.
He’s utterly unlike Dick in a way that might seem forced if you never met him. He’s rude and brash and has absolutely none of the patience it requires most people to survive in delicate the circles of the Gotham elite.
But then he’ll say something and will leave whoever he was talking to with the smallest inkling of how clever he really is, even if it isn’t in a way any of the people that fill those ballrooms could ever understand. His rough edges will catch on something and pull until the lies and lies and lies that Gotham is built on unravel in his wake and whoever’s lucky enough to watch is left a little unsure of their place in the world.
Whatever. It’s not like street smarts do anyone that matters any favours.
~
After Jason is in his grave and poor, poor Bruce Wayne is all alone again, Tim Drake comes along.
Everyone’s a little confused about this one (doesn’t he have parents? They’re dead? What happened to their company?) but he fits the pattern of Bruce Wayne taking in only the oddest of boys.
His under eyes are permanently bruised in the way only insomnia can quite manage. He talks business with the other CEOs like he could do their jobs better than they do, and only the cleverest realise it’s because he could.
He sleeps through school but his grades are perfect. He comes across as antisocial but always seems to have plenty of friends. You would assume him to be the least tragic of Bruce’s boys but then he’ll get that look in his eye and you’ll wonder…
You’ll wonder if he knows everything and then you’ll try not to wonder what it cost him.
(take a look at his scars, maybe you can guess)
~
Then comes Damian Wayne, the blood son.
He fills the chatter of families all over Gotham like none of Bruce’s kids had since Dick. A true son! One made out of old Brucie’s blood and flesh and bone! Surely this one might be liked as well as his father?
He is not.
In his first TV appearance he insults the interviewer. Then the audience. Then Gotham in general and the people know their city is the dark thing that lurks in the shadows but it’s theirs.
He looks down on people in a way that’s almost otherworldly, a level of contempt you would think impossible if not for having seen it in the twist of the child’s brow. At first he even shares it for his brothers, turning his nose up at them in same way he does everything else in the city.
The only thing he doesn’t appear to hate with his whole four foot being is his father.
Damian’s scorn for his brothers softens with time, growing into a respect you would think endearing if the kid wouldn’t clearly break your kneecaps if you called him cute. But from the moment he arrives in Gotham it’s clear he loves his father, and even if no one can say they took to the kid at first, at least there was always one aspect in which they could find kinship.
~
Everyone in Gotham loves Bruce Wayne, especially his kids. And even if Gotham finds them a little odd, at least they have something in common.