Plot armor but it’s Bruce Wayne’s wealth.
Bruce is one of the richest men in the world. Bruce does not want to be one of the richest men in world.
He starts by implementing high starting salaries and full health care coverages for all levels at Wayne Enterprises. This in vastly improves retention and worker productivity, and WE profits soar. He increases PTO, grants generous parental and family leave, funds diversity initiatives, boosts salaries again. WE is ranked “#1 worker-friendly corporation”, and productively and profits soar again.
Ok, so clearly investing his workers isn’t the profit-destroying doomed strategy his peers claim it is. Bruce is going to keep doing it obviously (his next initiative is to ensure all part-time and contractors get the same benefits and pay as full time employees), but he is going to have to find a different way to dump his money.
But you know what else is supposed to be prohibitively expensive? Green and ethical initiatives. Yes, Bruce can do that. He creates and fund a 10 year plan to covert all Wayne facilities to renewable energy. He overhauls all factories to employ the best environmentally friendly practices and technologies. He cuts contracts with all suppliers that engage in unethical employment practices and pays for other to upgrade their equipment and facilities to meet WE’s new environmental and safety requirements. He spares no expense.
Yeah, Wayne Enterprises is so successful that they spin off an entire new business arm focused on helping other companies convert to environmentally friendly and safe practices like they did in an efficient, cost effective, successful way.
Admittedly, investing in his own company was probably never going to be the best way to get rid of his wealth. He slashes his own salary to a pittance (god knows he has more money than he could possibly know what to do with already) and keeps investing the profits back into the workers, and WE keeps responding with nearly terrifying success.
So WE is a no-go, and Bruce now has numerous angry billionaires on his back because they’ve been claiming all these measures he’s implementing are too expensive to justify for decades and they’re finding it a little hard to keep the wool over everyone’s eyes when Idiot Softheart Bruice Wayne has money spilling out his ears. BUT Bruce can invest in Gotham. That’ll go well, right?
Gotham’s infrastructure is the OSHA anti-Christ and even what little is up to code is constantly getting destroyed by Rogue attacks. Surely THAT will be a money sink.
Except the only non-corrupt employer in Gotham city is….Wayne Enterprises. Or contractors or companies or businesses that somehow, in some way or other, feed back to WE. Paying wholesale for improvement to Gotham’s infrastructure somehow increases WE’s profits.
Bruce funds a full system overhaul of Gotham hospital (it’s not his fault the best administrative system software is WE—he looked), he sets up foundations and trusts for shelters, free clinics, schools, meal plans, day care, literally anything he can think of.
Gotham continues to be a shithole. Bruce Wayne continues to be richer than god against his Batman-ingrained will.
Oh, and Bruice Wayne is no longer viewed as solely a spoiled idiot nepo baby. The public responds by investing in WE and anything else he owns, and stop doing this, please.
Bruce sets up a foundation to pay the college tuition of every Gotham citizen who applies. It’s so successful that within 10 years, donations from previous recipients more than cover incoming need, and Bruce can’t even donate to his own charity.
But by this time, Bruce has children. If he can’t get rid of his wealth, he can at least distribute it, right?
Except Dick Grayson absolutely refuses to receive any of his money, won’t touch his trust fund, and in fact has never been so successful and creative with his hacking skills as he is in dumping the money BACK on Bruce. Jason died and won’t legally resurrect to take his trust fund. Tim has his own inherited wealth, refuses to inherit more, and in fact happily joins forces with Dick to hack accounts and return whatever money he tries to give them. Cass has no concept of monetary wealth and gives him panicked, overwhelmed eyes whenever he so much as implies offering more than $100 at once. Damian is showing worrying signs of following in his precious Richard’s footsteps, and Babs barely allows him to fund tech for the Clocktower. At least Steph lets him pay for her tuition and uses his credit card to buy unholy amounts of Batburger. But that is hardly a drop in the ocean of Bruce’s wealth. And she won’t even accept a trust fund of only one million.
Jason wins for best-worst child though because he currently runs a very lucrative crime empire. And although he pours the vast, vast majority of his profits back into Crime Alley, whenever he gets a little too rich for his tastes, he dumps the money on Bruce. At this point, Bruce almost wishes he was being used for money laundering because then he’s at least not have the money.
So children—generous, kindhearted, stubborn till the day they die the little shits, children—are also out.
Bruce was funding the Justice League. But then finances were leaked, and the public had an outcry over one man holding so much sway over the world’s superheroes (nevermind Bruce is one of those superheroes—but the public can’t know that). So Bruce had to do some fancy PR trickery, concede to a policy of not receiving a majority of funds from one individual, and significantly decrease his contributions because no one could match his donations.
At his wits end, Bruce hires a team of accounts to search through every crinkle and crevice of tax law to find what loopholes or shortcuts can be avoided in order to pay his damn taxes to the MAX.
The results are horrifying. According to the strictest definition of the law, the government owes him money.
Bruce burns the report, buries any evidence as deeply as he can, and organizes a foundation to lobby for FAR higher taxation of the upper class.
All this, and Wayne Enterprises is happily chugging along, churning profit, expanding into new markets, growing in the stock market, and trying to force the credit and proportionate compensation on their increasingly horrified CEO.
Bruce Wayne is one of the richest men in the world. Bruce Wayne will never not be one of the richest men in the world.
But by GOD is he trying.
Soap: Instead of of 141, this task force name should be skittles because everyone on this team is so gay we could be confused for a bag of skittles
Alex: We’re not all-
Soap: Oh don’t even start!
Soap: Me, a man loving bisexual!
Soap: That one *points at Ghost* if fucking gay as hell and I know that for a FACT because he fucks my brains out regularly!
Soap: That one *pointe at Price* Is a bisexual bear!
Soap: KATE IS A LESBIAN WITH A WHOLE ASS WIFE
Soap: That one! *pointing at Gaz* is a pansexual who hasn’t gotten laid in MONTHS!
Gaz: HEY!!
Soap: WE WORK WITH ALEJANDRO AND RUDY WHO ARE FUCKING MARRIED!
Soap: That one! *pointing at Farah* Your girlfriend who, let’s face is, you’re gonna end up marrying one day, is a woman loving bisexual DESPITE the fact that she’s with you right now!
Farah: Pretty sure I could be considered a lesbian while dating him
Soap: AND YOU! Just because you were a man whore for women before Farah doesn’t mean we all haven’t seen you kiss a few men before you two met! For all we know you could have hooked up with one or more of them!
I am in my angst today so I'm going to drop a few of ansty Batfam headcannons.
- Bruce till this day do that father thing of open the door of his kids room to see if they're sleeping and then closing (even when they're just visiting).
- The first time he did that to Tim, Tim pretended to be asleep and then he just started sobbing because Jack used to do the same thing too, and his mother before him.
- Dick, when he moved out of the manor, still would use the Batcomputer to do research from time to time. Everytime he slept on from tiredness he would woke up with Batman's cape on his shoulders.
- No one knows Bruce has a good singing voice other than Dick and Jason because he would sing to their sleep, sometimes, when they had nightmares.
- He stopped singing when Jason died. The only person who was able to hear him sing again was Damian. He pretended to be asleep, because if he opened his eyes he would noticed how much he misses his mother.
- Jason singed to Damian sleep once at the league. None of them remember that.
- Damian tries constantly to assure himself that he could take down every member of his family if he needed to. Deep down he knows he can't.
- Bruce spent weeks trying to master how to cut someone's hair ( with Alfred's help ) so he could give Dick a haircut, because Dick said to him that his mother used to cut his hair.
- Bruce taught every single one of his sons how to shave their beard.
- Bruce had a mental breakdown once because he was starting to forget his mother's face.
- Cass overanalyze everyone's body language to see if they're healthy and happy. She tries to stop herself sometimes because more often the answer is no.
- Sometimes Tim flinches when Jason moves to fast near him. They never talked about that out loud.
- Sometimes Damian's hand tremble when he grabs his sword, he can still feel the blade.
- In one of Dick's worst fights with Redhood the moment he got home he threw up. His brother's eyes used to be blue like his and not green.
- There was a time where Jason was so happy that Bruce's blue eyes were the same shade of his.
- Bruce's hands still tremble when he sees his children on the battlefield.
- Bruce has a habit of messing with his children's hair, every single one of them picked the same habit after him.
- When Dick moved out to the Titans Bruce couldn't sleep for weeks.
- Jason avoids to change clothes in front of his brothers because of the face Dick made when he saw his autopsy scars for the first time.
- One time Jason had a panic attack and misdialed Tim's number, Tim stayed on the line until Jason managed to sleep.
- There's times where Bruce says the word Robin and all of them look at him.
Okay, so I don't think I'm wrong here, but he's been really upset (not mad, but he gives me these really sad looks that make me want to apologize over and over again).
Background:
I (m17) lost my father a year ago. My brother (N, m24) focused on my new little brother (R, m11, we just found out about him, mom not in the picture) because he thought I would handle myself. R and I didn't get along initially because we were jealous of each other and he took every opportunity to antagonize me. N took away something very important to me and gave it to R without telling me, and I found out when I walked in on R gloating. N's defense was that he knew I wouldn't take it well so he planned to tell me later, and that R needed it more. We argued and both said some things we wish we could take back.
(I don't blame him for any of this anymore, it was a very hard time for all of us and he was thrust into our father's shoes while grieving. We've talked, and I know he did what he thought was best for me and R, because he believed placing me as an equal to him would show that he trusted me. But he apologized for not understanding how much taking it away would hurt me and that I still wanted to be a kid, not an adult, and I apologized for not being more understanding of his position. We've moved on and are working on our relationship.)
Anyway, the main conflict was that I believed our father was still alive and nobody else did. My other older brother (RH, m21) was the exception, but he's estranged and didn't want to get involved.
(Side note: my siblings except for R are all adopted by our father, but I got emancipated after his supposed death)
N said I was going crazy due to grief and insinuated that I should be locked up in Arkham (an asylum in my city for the criminally insane). I chose to leave to find proof that my father was alive.
Fast forward six months and I found proof, but in the midst of it, I had to have an emergency splenectomy. When I came back and gave them proof to bring my father back, relationships were still strained so I didn't tell anyone. We reconciled in time, but I still didn't see the need to tell them as it wasn't important to them.
The issue:
A week ago, R caught a nasty flu. N wanted me to give him his medicine, I declined. N, frustrated because he thought I was just being difficult, told me to just be nice to R when he’s sick and that it won't cost me anything. I snapped back that it may cost me my life, not that he would care.
Something in N's expression shattered, and he let out a little, "what?" I remembered too late that I didn't tell him I lost my spleen. I tried to backtrack, but he kept pushing until I finally admitted I lost my spleen and under what circumstances. He was devastated, and I felt really bad for not telling him because he looked like he was on the verge of tears (he's really emotional, and that year took a toll on us and is still a sensitive topic). N asked whether it's because I didn't trust him, and I said I didn't know.
Ever since then, N has been hovering over me and bugging me about my health and diet and sleeping and working habits. He told the rest of the family and they've been overbearing as well.
N, however, still feels very guilty about the whole situation. I feel bad for making him upset, but I still stand by the fact that I did nothing wrong by not telling him. I think it was just unfortunate circumstances and that neither of us are to blame. R vehemently says that I'm the AH for never saying anything because my family and I engage in an activity that gets us injured frequently. He said I endangered myself and others by not telling them (he's worried about me and that's how he shows it, and probably also feels responsible about how I lost my spleen because his maternal grandfather was involved and he's got trauma surrounding him)
So, AITA?
Rdr2 AU where the gangs are running restaurants (Dutch's business is failing miserably and Arthur is having two burnouts in one week)
BatFam Twitter #3 / Batchat #3
If you could live in one DC city, which one would you choose? Star City? Central City? Metropolis? Gotham? Or a different one?
All of them have their pros and cons
Star City
- Pros: the Arrowfam
- Cons: Ollie's chili
Central City/Keystone
- Pros: more mentally stable Rogues gallery
- Cons: the Midwest
Metropolis
- Pros: not Gotham
- Cons: gotta buy a new car every week the way they get thrown through your office
Smallville
- Pros: Kon
- Cons: corn
Gotham
- Pros: grunge vibes
- Cons: Gotham
a non-comprehensive list of reasons why bruce has tried banning halloween in the manor
1. dick was overly trusting of clowns as a child. he still holds the family record for most kidnappings in a single night
2. jason tried wearing his robin uniform as a costume. every. year.
3. jason then graduated to dressing up as his corpse and haunting (traumatizing) his brothers
4. cass always manages to scare him. no clark he does not shriek.
5. tim, duke, and steph got ‘spooky scary skeletons’ stuck in his head and martian manhunter started laughing at him in a JL meeting because of it
6. damian was followed and subsequently kidnapped by what they assumed was a group of very tall trick or treaters, but were actually just the league
7. that time of year is when jerry the turkey gets a little self aware (re: defensive). there have been incidents.
8. he walked downstairs only to be greeted with every member of his family dressed like green lantern. even alfred.
9. young justice decided to throw a giant party and to get in you had to wear the shittiest batman costume possible for their contest
10. jason won said contest. he didn’t even stay for the party, he just wanted the excuse
11. gotham rogues are drama kids and are therefore sluts for good thematic irony, so half of them do special edition attacks on halloween
12. the kids all do a candy swap at the end of the night, they invite kate and not him
13. tim has an allergy to peppermint and never seems to be aware of this, so he has to keep multiple epi pens on standby
14. he’s expected to wear slutty costumes and that’s just not worth his playboy cover
15. alfred only confiscates the candy he gets
16. he was just really hungover one year
17. damian has made them all watch coraline so. many. times. he doesn’t even get nightmares anymore
18. tim goes on a sugar high and has to be put on tech lockdown or he might frame lex luthor for murder and extort 90% of gotham’s elite
19. when dick and jason were younger they left open pumpkins outside his door and he would accidentally step in them every morning
20. damian tried to convince them to bob for apples with lazarus water
21. tim fell asleep while bobbing for apples (in normal water) and almost drowned
22. dick and steph drew a glittery skeleton over the batsuit
23. when he complains they all call him the grinch. it’s not even christmas.
24. pumpkin carving always leads to them flinging the innards at eachother and making a mess even alfred refuses to clean
25. the validity of candy corn argument comes to blows. every. single. year.
26. duke lead a revolt one year against the tyranny of bruce’s “no slanderous costumes” policy (he wanted to be slutty batman)
27. the kids throw a rager in the cave and somehow never get caught. it’s the only time they’re all willing to clean and it pisses bruce off that he can’t prove it.
28. bruce got sick and clark walked around the watchtower in a batman costume pretending to be him for two days
29. steph and dick glued the lorax mustache to him while he was sleeping because he refused to pick a costume. it didn’t come off for a week, and lois posted an article speculating he was secretly a natural ginger.
30. all the kids stayed in once and watched ‘it’s the great pumpkin charlie brown’ instead of partying and he’s been trying to get them to do it again ever since
i wanna talk about this shot
Ok but listen
I literally can’t stop thinking about this. Like, how chaotic does this boy get. I just imagine him being just like his sleep deprived and ‘I’m 3,000% caffeine’ self but wobbly and the Batfam has to monitor him constantly because:
He keeps completely missing his mouth when eating. One of them tries to feed him, but he just says some whack shit like “no, no, it has to be an airplane”
He will become an inch worm on a mission if he stubbles onto the ground and wants to go somewhere
This boy will try to drink sauce because he ‘thought it was juice’
If you look away for a sec, he’s gone quicker than Batman
Slurred “I’m gonna ddos Lex, again”
Distant feverish shouting of “TIM NO!-” heard throughout the manor
One of them found him on a floaty in the pool before
Moonwalks into glass doors
He’s been spotted on the fucking roof
Cabinets? He’s probably in one
Very slurred quotations of memes
“GUYS HELP!! HE SNUCK INTO THE CAVE!”
Jason just deals with the fact Tim has delegated him for piggybacking. Dick still tries to pry Tim off of Jason because, it’s Jason, he’s drunk too
Damian and Jon hanging out at the Kent’s
Clark: Hey Jon, your pops just called me. Bessie went into labor so I’ll be gone for a bit. Do y’all need anything?
Damian: Your cow’s giving birth?!
Clark: Oh, yeah-
Damian, vibrating with excitement: Can I help?!
Jon:
Clark:
~ later ~
Clark, to Jon: You are marrying this boy. Do you understand me?