you know better than to trust a pack of cards

no leaves, but plenty of eyes.

inspired by me spacing out on a long drive & staring at trees. this happened earlier this year, and birches ended up growing leaves before i finished the doll.

King Ozymandias

rendered in stone with a

strident decree.

Says our dear traveller

(unsentimentally)

"All that remains is his

Okay, first, we have to distinguish between everyday jewellery, and Martha's Jewellery.

Most rich people do not wear their actual jewels very often. They're either kept in a vault, or the person rents them from ... I think jewelers? Maybe fashion designers? Someone/thing that owns fancy jewellery, anyways. Actual jewels are only worn to very fancy occasions.

If we're talking about Bruce getting Martha's Jewellery out of the vault for Cass to wear to a gala, I have mildly positive opinions. He'd take it back after. This is normal and doesn't inspire me.

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If we're talking about Bruce getting Martha's everyday jewellery out of her room and giving it to Cass to keep? Oh, I have THOUGHTS!

I think that Alfred would STRONGLY disapprove. Most of Martha's jewellery was expensive and should be treated very delicately, something Cass isn't known for. (Yes, I know I just said that this isn't capital-J Jewellery. It's expensive at a much smaller scale.) Alfred also cared about Thomas and Martha, and doesn't want their memories to be disrespected.

I think that Cass wouldn't be quite sure what to do with the gift, but it would be very meaningful. She has nowhere to store jewellery. She has a very different fashion sense then her adopted grandmother. She's not sentimental. She can tell it's important, but not in a way she's familiar with.

But I think that she'd wear it. She'd wear a lovely gold necklace full of faux-rubies with a black leather vest and a skater skirt over striped leggings. She'd paint her nails dark red to match. And Bruce would stop breathing.

Bruce makes shrines for his loved ones. In their shrines, they live on, unchanged. Nothing gets touched - including the memories, if he can help it.

But Cass would transform these pieces of Martha. She'd wear them in ways that COULD NOT echo her grandmother, and Bruce ... Bruce would have to let go. Because she'd be beautiful, and real, and respecting his mother, and unforgettably here in the now.

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I think the first time she broke or chipped a piece would also be a moment where both of them healed, a little. Where Bruce sees pearls falling, for an endless moment; and then his daughter is there, and alive, and it's just some pretty stones on the ground. Where Cass sees something dying in Bruce's eyes, and remembers the life she took; but then it's just a broken bracelet, and Bruce is alive, and his smile is real as he picks up the pieces.

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I like to think she finds a local Kung Fu Association in Gotham after seeing a performance around LNY. Not only do I think it would serve as a good outlet for her, but I think being a part of a Lion dance group would serve to socialize her with people outside of the Batfam, especially because otherwise she really doesn't prioritize her civilian identity.