I've seen a lot of posts about Batman using his Bruce Wayne alter ego for the good of Gotham: job programs for felons released from prison, orphanages, charities, high wages for his employees, ethical business practices...the legendary post where Bruce Wayne goes to Wal-Mart.
Thus far I've never personally seen anybody really dig into the persona of Bruce Wayne the Billionaire Playboy. A handsome, rich, powerful man who always is seen at fancy galas, art openings, charity dinners, and wild parties with at least one beautiful woman on his arm.
We know Bruce Wayne is the mask, and its Batman who has a...complex love life, depending on the iteration we're talking about. Talia, Catwoman, sometimes Wonder Woman.
Bruce Wayne's dates, on the other hand, are all "normal" people. Maybe they're an aspiring actress, a supermodel, a prima ballerina, the occasional reporter...and every time there's that bit of nervousness at the start.
Sure everyone knows Bruce Wayne. Everyone knows the story with him. Sometimes his wilder parties make the news, but there's never really been anything nasty reported about him. Never...allegations. But he's a billionaire. He's one of the most powerful people in the whole city, nevermind the country. If he did have some skeletons in his closet. Well. Men with power have a way of making those kinds of stories go away, don't they?
As time goes on the Date's fears dissipate pretty quickly. Bruce Wayne is nothing but polite, kind, and at times charmingly awkward in an 'raised by his butler in a mansion' kind of way with his dates. Some of them can tell he's holding back, of course. Maybe the more perceptive Dates notice he's smarter than he lets on - playing the himbo or hamming up the "know-nothing rich boy" act to the cameras or some of his wealthy peers.
He also listens, is the thing. He's always listening to what they're saying, is interested in hearing about their careers, their hobbies, their lives. Really listens, too. Might refer to something a Date said weeks later off-hand. Buy out the whole museum for a private dinner date with a famous painting from an obscure artist they like, or a private performance with another's favorite band.
He has anecdotes and funny stories for days that somehow says very little about his personal life. The Dates know he has kids (it's practically a running gag in the news that Bruce Wayne has adopted yet another orphan) and maybe she might spot one of them at the mansion, but Bruce seems very keen to shelter them from any intense spotlight and scrutiny, and they all seem happy if a bit weird like him.
Eventually, there's drifting. He's a very busy man, with a very busy schedule. On more than on occasion his nice old butler will call and extend apologies that Mr. Wayne will not be able to make it this evening. Sometimes it's virtually impossible to get a hold of him over the phone. After a while they stop trying. None of them feel quite surprised by that. In the end, it just doesn't work. Sure, he's a little distant and doesn't make himself emotionally available...but he's not a bad person.
Especially when the so-called "exes" of Bruce Wayne start networking. Gotham isn't a small city, but the social circles Bruce Wayne travels in aren't as big. They don't quite gossip or complain about him. More like...who else would get it?
(I touched his side once and he winced...like he'd been hurt real bad there. He laughed and said it was tackle polo. How does that even-?)
(Somehow, after two dates, he saw right through me and listened while I told him what that casting director tried to do. He nodded, gave me the contact details of a law firm, and said not to worry about the legal fees.)
(I don't know for sure it was him, but it can't be a coincidence that my building got bought out from under my shitty landlord and we were all able to buy our apartments under market value.)
(He got my brother in the best rehab program in the city after his relapse. It probably saved his life. We'd stopped dating months ago, I still don't know how he found out.)
(He gave me a card with a phone number and told me that if I was ever in trouble to call it. Said one of his cars would come to pick me up, any time, any place, no questions asked. The one time I did have to use it after a bad party, it was Alfred.)
I think any tabloid reporter digging around for salacious stories or dirt about Bruce Wayne's love life would be completely and politely stonewalled when they try asking his former Dates. Even when money is offered. Every single one of them.
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Goodbye bad feelings, hello empty memory.
Alright, I love the idea of Damian and Danny as twin who love each other very much but for some reason split up or didn't get along but learn to do so because they love each other more than they resent each other, really, I swear, but.... Danny never remembers anything from his time in the league.
Absolutely nothing, maybe he had some memories before he died for the second time, maybe he remembers Damian and he misses him, he is his brother and he loved him and.... not anymore, when he has his accident and dies for the second time his memory is lost, for a while he has a hard time recognizing his friends, he opens his eyes and doesn't know who are the guys that look so desperate in front of him.
Time goes by and although there are memories that never came back (he hardly remembers his first years with the Fentons, let alone the ones before that), he improves, learns to use his powers, gets closer to his friends, learns things again.
He discovers things in his room, something about a past he no longer knows, it bothers him not to know but even though he tries to remember nothing comes back, the name "Damian" causes him nothing, reading a little of what he wrote after researching the language he also doesn't recognize, he decides it wasn't important, not anymore at least.
He reads what he can and decides that yes, there are things he is fine without remembering, maybe he lacks context, maybe there is something there that he should discover or be more interested in a past that seems so mysterious but... if when he remembered him he thought he would be happy now that he was far away, maybe he was just as important as Dash, someone who unfortunately won't let himself be ignored but one day he will leave behind and never think of him again.
Life is good.
Or was until Robin, Gotham's vigilante, ambushes him with a heated speech full of pain and resentment while on "vacation" with his parents in Gotham.
Danny has had weird things happen to him before but he usually has context.
Robin looks furious and about to cry (if his unsteady voice says anything), Danny stares at him, from his hair to the way he moves, he pays attention to his voice and his sword but all he can say is "you know me?" without acknowledging him in the slightest.
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I don't know where this came from but here:
Damian, Jon and Elle are working out at the Teen Titan gym. Jon notices that Elle has stopped and is just staring at Damian and decides to sidle on over, both to tease his girlfriend and join her in watching their boyfriend go ham in the fight simulation program.
Jon: Enjoying the view?
Elle: huh? Oh no - well, yeah obviously, but that's not why I'm staring
Jon: Oh? What's up then? Something wrong with D?
Elle: No, nothing like that, it's just...
Jon: Just?
Elle: Does he pluck his eyebrows to be that shape?
Jon: ...what?
Elle: It just occured to me that his eyebrows are like, shaped like the wings of the bat symbol. Does he pluck them them to get that shape? Or are they natural? I mean, Batcow's "mask" is natural so...
Jon, a dawning realizationin his eyes: ...I - they've been that way since we were kids...
Elle: Yeah, I've seen pictures, but it's Day. Can you really tell me he wouldn't start doing it as a kid to as like a "see I'm totally the superior child, I even my eyebrows are dedicated to the cause" and then have to keep it up forever cause he couldn't just admit he was plucking his brows into that shape when he was a little bratty kid.
Jon: Oh my god he totally would
Damian finishes up at the simulation area and wanders over to his two partners to see what they're talking about
Damian: Hey-
Jon & Elle: Are your eyebrows real?!
Damian stops. States at them. Turns on his heel and just walks away from them without a word with both of them immediately chasing after him badgering him about his eyebrows.
(It takes another three months but they do eventually catch him painstakingly plucking his brows for that optimal Bat-Wing look)
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posting another seduce me redesign since the last one I did was *checks notes* holy shit 2 years ago.
anyway design notes and headcanons under the cut
I had planned to also redo their demon forms since my headcanons have changed since then but I didn't feel like it and with artfight coming up I just don't have time.
My first and main goal when redesigning them was giving them a more diverse range of faces and skintones. I headcanon that they basically got all of their looks exclusively from their mothers, so they could look wildly different while still being brothers. Also because these are their human forms I would imagine most of the traits they inherited from their father wouldn't pass over anyways. Scars were another big thing I wanted to add, and yes, most of them are from you know who (their father). James and Damien's face and neck scars, and Sam's arm scars are all from their father, Erik has no visible scars, Matthew has scars from training on his hands, and Sam's cheek scar is from an arrow. There are also plenty of more scars I have headcanoned that are not visible. (and yes Damien's eye is partially blind)
Clothes wise I wanted to dress them more realistically then they were, at least in the first game. James ended up leaning more casually but basically stayed the same. Erik I wanted to keep in a suit but instead of a button up and vest I went for just a turtleneck and suit jacket since I felt that leaned more casual while still keeping him more formal then his brothers. Also to lean more into realism I did have to get rid of his purple eyes and red hair. (sorry Erik fans) Sam got a whole grudge make over, I felt like the games were just too scared to make him lean into that style so I just did that little extra push he needed. Matthew and Damien probably got the biggest style change out of the 5. With Matthew I wanted to lean streetwear with lots of layers and baggy clothes. With Damien I wanted them to be the light academia to James more dark academia. (Off topic: I have a lot of thoughts about James and Damien's relationship and how despite their treatment from their father being very different that they both went through similar trauma and I headcanon that they're the closest of the brothers because of it.)
Finally since I changed them so much I wanted to add a motif to connect them all together again and just like with the demon redesigns, the golden rose makes a return. I don't actually know if the golden rose has any relation to them in canon but I dont care. James is on the side of his glasses, Erik's is a pin on his suit, Sam's is a charm on his bracelet, Matthew's is an earring and Damien's is a clip in their hair.
I have so many headcanons and opinions of these guys and this is barely a snippet of my thoughts about them. hopefully one day I'll finally get off my ass and make actual art and stories.
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