Jun 20, 2023
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What is a Wayne?
Gotham transplant problems are so real. I'm quickly discovering that there is a ginormous subculture here that is basically self-contained and unknown outside the city boundaries. Do people even realize the Greater Gotham area has a comparable population size to NYC? It's insane here! And it's on an island! If it wasn't literal geography I'd say Gotham was just copying New York.
And the whole 'Gotham is secretive and gloomy and nobody knows about it and nobody wants to go there or live there yet everyone does' thing? Yeah. Totally real. There are all these districts throughout the city and it just seems even more complicated than New York. Crime is everywhere. The GCPD? A flaming joke! I tried to call in a mugging I was watching happen? (Ad: Thank you Cabin 9 and your new demigod safe MistTech Phones I owe you my life and my sanity) The operator asked me where I was – somewhere called the Narrows?
The operator laughed at me and hung up.
There has got to be something about this place I am not getting. Is there some sort of Gotham For Dummies book? Maybe a travel guide? A New To Gotham? A, So You Were Dumb Enough to Move to Gotham: Everything You Need to Know web listicle? I could really use one of those right about now.
Because here's the other thing. What in Hades is a Wayne?
Wayne Enterprises Wayne Tech Wayne Foundation Wayne Tower Wayne Tower Station (metro stop) Wayne Medical Center Wayne Mausoleum Wayne Aerospace Hanger Wayne Botanical Garden Wayne Manor So, some rich family owns half the city? It's giving Vanderbilt meets Kardashian meets Elon Musk and it's kinda terrifying that I've never even heard of this guy before. Is this demigod ignorance? I know I don't have social media and I spend all my summers at an away camp learning to be a Greek Warrior but...
No, okay. That pretty much explains why I only have a passing knowledge of most things pop culturally. I try to keep up, but most of my knowledge comes from Piper and my other camp friends and my more obsessive mortal friends that I made when I didn't get bumped around schools too much.
After a week in Gotham, I finally asked at the library - this really nice girl call me Babs got that look in her eyes that I swear I saw in the eyes of the Stoll brothers every day of my life back at camp. Amusement. Knowing. Mirth. The eyes of a shiteating grin but only the corner of a smirk. She knew something I didn't and she was laughing on the inside.
"Bruce Wayne is somewhat of a local celebrity. Heir to the Wayne fortune and CEO to a multi-billion dollar corporation. He was orphaned at a young age through a tragic and traumatic event. Thomas and Martha Wayne were pillars of the Gotham community and little Bruce became somewhat of Gotham's sweetheart, as you can imagine. Then he got older and became Gotham's most eligible bachelor. There's a lot of gossip media about him it's really hard to tell what's true and what's rumor, but Brucie Wayne is a household name around Gotham."
Huh. Didn't see that one coming.
"He also adopted a couple kids."
What?
"What?"
"Adopted is a loose term. Wards? Is one his biological kid? It's all a little unclear. Again, gossip media." And there's that smirk again.
Needless to say, Gotham City is taking some adjusting.