Gilbert Kinkaid Walker (veryperceptive) wrote in dc_nextgen,
@ 2012-09-22 02:23:00

Entry tags:

Parties.
Nothing wrong with New Jersey, GK figured. Mom had been born there and all. She didn't have the nicest things to say about Gotham, but that was mostly because of the way Aunt Judy died. But the Walker clan would never, ever say no to a child welfare charity function. So here they were. Uncle Jed even had some of his stuff up for auction, both from his Shots of Gotham collection and some African Safari stuff for reasons of Uncle Jed.

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cantkeepmeout
2012-09-24 12:05 am UTC (link)

Thomas just smiles and waits out the mini-rant. He'd heard it before and he'd once put forth the idea to Bruce who'd explained to him just how one used the cut throat and fickle upper society to the charity's advantage.

"You'd think so at first. Take out the party, put the money to charity. If you did that you'd actually have far less money in the end to give than with the party. It's simple really. Other than for the obvious reasons of awareness, the parties serve other purposes."

Now he lowers his voice a little so it doesn't carry across the room. "It takes advantage of their showmanship. Because it's hard enough to seperate people from their money, but these are rich ones. They got rich by being very good at keeping their money, you've got to do more than show up at their door and ask. So the organizers use that. You think Mr. CEO of Wheaties over there would've spent even half as much on that shot of the tigress if this wasn't an auction and his rival wasn't right there? No way. The guest list is specifically for this. The wives want to show each other up, the husbands want to show each other up, hell the families want to do it.

You take advantage of it is all. Sell tickets at high prices and dangle them in front of the social climbers, give the highest bidder a plaque for it, name something after them if they donate enough, you name it. Because once you do those things that giant donation? It won't be a one time thing. They'll need to maintain it. To continue being the top donater, the best patron. And that's when they really empty their pockets. They could care less if this was the gingivities auction. What matters is reputation and showing everyone else up. And the ones that don't care about that? Well these things are easy tax breaks and good PR. You can switch out the cause for almost anything. But if you do the party right and have the right guest list, that's key, you can raise an incredible amount of money. Money that none of these people would've agreed to part with without all the pomp and circumstance."

He leans away now and puts his hands in his pockets with a shrug and a slight smirk. Hey, it was underhanded, pessimistic and rather cutthroat but you had to be when dealing with people like this. He continues at his normal volume with some false cheer in his voice, "Plus, everyone loves a good party right?"

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	zoe_torres 2012-09-24 12:15 am UTC (link)
	Zoe narrowed her eyes. She knew when she was being mocked. "Put it like that and I'm safer out on the street with the drug dealers, pimps and thieves," she told Thomas flatly. "But hey, at least they get their pictures, and they're /good/ pictures." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	veryperceptive 2012-09-24 12:35 am UTC (link)
	GK just listens and blinks awkwardly. He couldn't logically argue with anything said, but ...well, he just hadn't been brought up to be so cynical about things. So he seized on the part he could wholeheartedly concur with. "Yes, they are good pictures." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cantkeepmeout 2012-09-24 01:00 am UTC (link)
	He hadn't been mocking her, just expressing his view on these things. "You probably are in some cases. Arrests for white collar crime aren't all that common either." "Front page quality," he says, easily matching Zoe's cynicism. Bats just didn't do optimism well. In or out of costume. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

zoe_torres
2012-09-24 01:08 am UTC (link)

GK's awkward cover for her behavior brought Zoe back to the here and now. Her mother hadn't raised her to be cynical. The Triangle had done that job very well.

Time to stop before she thoroughly embarrassed GK and his family. She liked them very much. It would be a poor way to pay them back for their wholehearted acceptance of Mom.

"Easily," she agreed. "I have an approved one on my wall and it's my favorite."

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	veryperceptive 2012-09-24 01:21 am UTC (link)
	And have a bright, prissy smile now, everyone. GK's grateful, Zoe. "So, Thomas. Got a day job, or just school and stuff? I work at the theater." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cantkeepmeout 2012-09-24 01:24 am UTC (link)
	"Is it signed," he joked. "School and a part-time thing. Theater? What part of it?" He doesn't exclude Zoe, and turns to ask her too. "And you?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	zoe_torres 2012-09-24 02:56 pm UTC (link)
	"School and a part-time thing," Zoe said, echoing back his answer. "And it's approved because it goes with the walls and the furniture. GK keeps me color coordinated." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	veryperceptive 2012-09-24 06:14 pm UTC (link)
	"Makeup artist." He grins at Zoe's explanation. "So I get a little Queer Eye for the Straight Girl sometimes." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cantkeepmeout 2012-09-24 11:42 pm UTC (link)
	Thomas chuckles. "Nice. Looks like you two have got a whole system going." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	zoe_torres 2012-09-25 03:46 am UTC (link)
	"If it works, don't fix it. Right?" (Reply to this)(Parent)

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