Teeth. What lasting mark do they leave on ?
hiii friend, so good to see you again!! thank you for sending this ask <3
my answer for this is that i think the point is that helena does NOT want to leave a mark on other people; that is, i believe, is the point of everything she does, as huntress and as a teacher.
she won't say this out loud, but helena does want to live in a world where vigilantes and superheroes become obsolete -- in the sense that every person, every civilian has the resources, the empowerment to fight for themselves and their people in the face of all adversaries; where the justice system, legal enforcement, and other supportive groups are able to be competent, well-funded, accountable, and stay on track all with the ultimate goal to helping people; not funds, not namesake, but helping the common people these services and systems were created in the first place to help out. helena understands that vigilantism is a response to the insufficiency of the current legal system we do have, among other things; vigilantism is not a solution, it is a workaround, a band-aid -- but the wound itself must heal, civilians shouldn't routinely have to feel they have to take the law in their own hand. not because helena cares about caring about the law, but because the law as it is now is not sufficient at all and requires longterm reform in a lot of ways until every level of population is helped out and accounted for. vigilantism is a symptom of a broken system in her eyes, and that's one of the reasons why she also volunteers, participates in her neighbourhood, and teaches.
as a teacher, helena wants all of her students to leave the sort of skills or lessons or memories or anything that helps them to spread out their wings. she will always be there for her kids, but she doesn't want them to be indebted to her or be reliant on her forever; she wants them to internalise the life lessons and skills she teaches them during their time in highschool, so that they can then learn to navigate adulthood with a stabler sense of self, some form of critical thinking and the ability to research find information, and of course, the emotional strength of knowing when to ask for help -- so her students then, in turn, can learn to help other people and pass on the similar strengths and compassion.
she doesn't mind if people forget her, so long she can do her work 100% with the faith that the next generation, the next people, that the people in this world who are not broken like helena can avoid the pitfalls of life and be a little stronger, self-reliant, and kinder in contributing to the everchanging world, and hopefully, the society itself. <3
