TM 374 - Strength
All of his life, people have misunderstood. All of his life, they've seen him as weak.
As a child, his unusual physique made the adults take the others aside, tell them not to be afraid, to play gently with him. This was a mistake. Children are vicious animals, looking for any advantage they can get, looking to isolate any animal that doesn't belong. Jonathan Crane, though, wasn't a weak member of the herd. He was a different species, a predator in among his prey. There were "accidents." There were incidents. He never managed to have any friends.
At school, the physical differences were more obvious - always younger than his classmates, he became even more of an oddity. Singled out again, viewed as a freak, they tested him again and again. Inside the classroom, his retorts were defense enough, but outside, he suffered. Not for long, though. There was always time to redress the situation. Alone, they could be picked off, one by one. The lucky ones came away shaken, disturbed, sometimes transferring to another school entirely after a quiet conversation with the resident sideshow exhibit. The unlucky ones might not have realized who arranged the untoward coincidences, the unhappy accidents, the unfortunate occurrences. One might argue, though, which group came off worse.
This continued. College, graduate school, his career at the university. The ones who crowed at his disgrace had a small space of time to savor the temporary triumphs before physical or emotional scarring from an entirely unconnected event overtook them. Scheduling was one of his strengths, after all.
And now - all of Gotham mocking him, calling him a madman, calling him "freak" again, mistaking a setback for a flaw, thinking him weak. Now he'd have to show them where they were wrong. Now they needed a show of strength to remind them how far below him they were. Waiting, planning, craft and cunning - Jonathan Crane will show them who’s weak and who’s strong.
As a child, his unusual physique made the adults take the others aside, tell them not to be afraid, to play gently with him. This was a mistake. Children are vicious animals, looking for any advantage they can get, looking to isolate any animal that doesn't belong. Jonathan Crane, though, wasn't a weak member of the herd. He was a different species, a predator in among his prey. There were "accidents." There were incidents. He never managed to have any friends.
At school, the physical differences were more obvious - always younger than his classmates, he became even more of an oddity. Singled out again, viewed as a freak, they tested him again and again. Inside the classroom, his retorts were defense enough, but outside, he suffered. Not for long, though. There was always time to redress the situation. Alone, they could be picked off, one by one. The lucky ones came away shaken, disturbed, sometimes transferring to another school entirely after a quiet conversation with the resident sideshow exhibit. The unlucky ones might not have realized who arranged the untoward coincidences, the unhappy accidents, the unfortunate occurrences. One might argue, though, which group came off worse.
This continued. College, graduate school, his career at the university. The ones who crowed at his disgrace had a small space of time to savor the temporary triumphs before physical or emotional scarring from an entirely unconnected event overtook them. Scheduling was one of his strengths, after all.
And now - all of Gotham mocking him, calling him a madman, calling him "freak" again, mistaking a setback for a flaw, thinking him weak. Now he'd have to show them where they were wrong. Now they needed a show of strength to remind them how far below him they were. Waiting, planning, craft and cunning - Jonathan Crane will show them who’s weak and who’s strong.