Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.
[A]bandon Your Second Chance
I also wanted some words to say something like “Those that knew what you really are/where you are/know you’re still alive, are dead” but oh well. I could have added it as a last panel of her curled up or something but this is “fine”.
summary: he needed a way to tell marinette he was sorry. that he was sorry for not telling her about him. that he was sorry for missing their dates. that he was sorry he was the reason they broke up. that he was the reason she was dead.
5.game on | fluff, humour, damian being a simp for marinette
summary: lady noire met red hood – another not-so-welcomed vigilante like her in gotham. you would expect the two of them to hit it off, maybe work together, but it was the complete opposite. it was hate at first sight.
summary: “i dare you to go to that man there,” alya pointed at an, admittedly, handsome man, “and ask him out on a date using puns.” alya finished her dare with a smug smirk.
summary: “oh,” tim quietened down and jason relished the silence. until, well, dick apparently snatched the phone from tim and screeched, “marinette’s a ghost!”
summary: “oh,” tim quietened down and jason relished the silence. until, well, dick apparently snatched the phone from tim and screeched, “marinette’s a ghost!”
Jason walked out of the graveyard feeling a palpable sense of loss and yet…yet, he felt lighter than before.
And for the first time, since he came to Paris, he actuallylooked around. His loss hit him harder, but in some ways, it made him feel a little better too – it reminded him of Marinette.
He smiled wistfully as he remembered the times Marinette would gush about Paris and how beautiful it was. Jason could see the appeal now.
He only wished Marinette was there.
◇─◇──◇─◇
An hour later, as he walked into his hotel room, Jason saw that he had 283 missed calls from literally every single member of his family.
He had left his phone here so that he didn’t have to deal with the constant phone calls he would have definitelygotten.
Jason picked up his phone and sighed as he waited for it to start calling.
As soon as it started ringing, the phone was picked up by a hystericalTim screaming, “FINALLY! Why didn’t you pick up the goddamnphone?”
Jason huffed, his voice raspy. “Becauseidiot, I left it in the room. Now is there a reason why you’re screeching like a banshee in my ear?”
“Oh,” Tim quietened down and Jason relished the silence. Until, well, Dick apparently snatched the phone from Tim and screeched, “Marinette’s a ghost!”
Jason sat up straight. “What the hell, Dick? That’s not even funny.”
He heard Barbara’s voice in the background. “Dick, you idiot, we toldyou not to tell him like that.”
“Can someone tell me what is going o-” Jason was interrupted by Tim, who said, “Check your email – I’ve mailed you a video.”
Setting his phone aside, Jason opened his laptop and clicked on the mail. It was a video…from a camera near the graveyard.
What the hell?
“Whywere you spyingon me?” Jason asked into the phone, outraged.
He heard Damian snort. “Why, Todd? Because we were-”
“-worried about you!” Dick finished.
“I wasn’t going to say that!” Damian yelled.
“I know,” said Dick, apparently exasperated. “That’s why I interrupted you. Anyway, have you watched the video yet, Jay?”
Jason involuntarily flinched. That was what Mari used to call him.
“No, not yet,” he said, voice raspy.
He heard Tim sigh on the other side of the line. “Then watch it already!”
When Jason clicked on the video, he had to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.
It showed him walking into the graveyard with about a hundred other ghostly people watching him!
“This is not some elaborate prank it is?” Jason suddenly asked.
Dick huffed into the phone. “Do you really think we’d actually dosomething like that?”
“Point.” Jason conceded and unpaused the video.
It showed him putting the flowers and…Jason rubbed his eyes to make sure it wasn’t a figment of his imagination.
Marinetteas a ghost was watching him.
“What the actual fu-”
“Language, Jason,” said Bruce.
“Is this for real?” Jason asked, still watching the video intently.
“Yes. I’ve been looking through the JL files for something that would tell us why wecan see it and not others but I haven’t found anything yet.”
Jason sighed as he tipped his chair onto its hind legs. “All right, call me up when you do.”
For once, Jason appreciated Bruce’s ability to read situations as he said, “You’ll be the first one to know if we find anything,” he confirmed.
There was an awkward pause, and in a much gentler tone, Bruce said, “Get some sleep, Jason. Give yourself sometime to process this.” And he hung up.
And for the first time since Marinette died, Jason felt the semblance of a realsmile break out on his face.
It was nice to know Bruce cared.
◇─◇──◇─◇
The next morning, Jason felt sufficiently refreshed and watched the video Tim sent him with a clearer eye.
He noticed that if he looked closelyhe could see faint outlines of the other ghosts flickering in and out.
So. This only applies to the people who I know.
That was interesting.
As he walked down to breakfast, Jason made an effort to not let his hopes get up. The chances were slim that Marinette would be coming back to life.
For the rest of the day, he toured around Paris – mainly the places Marinette loved. A kind of tribute to her, in a way.
First, he saw the Eiffel Tower, then a small coffee shop by the Seine and finally the Louvre.
He visited her parents, too. It was awkward to say the least.
But after Jason explained his reason for being there (I want to know more about Marinette; about her childhood, everything before we met) the ice was soon broken and before he knew it, they were going through memories of Marinette’s childhood.
And as they went through every memory, Jason sawwhy Marinette loved her parents as much as she did.
Tom & Sabine Dupain-Cheng were one of the kindest people you would ever meet. Yes, Marinette’s death had caused a wound that would never truly heal but they didn’t let that affect their life to the point where they felt there was no need to live anymore.
They managed to see the light in everything and that was what Jason appreciated the most.
When he reached his hotel room that night, his laptop rung almost immediately with a call from Tim.
As soon as he clicked on acceptTim’s voice – unusually hesitant – came over. “Jason,” he said – and Jason felt an odd sense of foreboding when he heard that. As if there was news, just not good news. “We have some news about Marinette.”
Despite his utmost efforts, Jason couldn’t help it when his heart beat faster. “Yeah?” he said, hoping his voice didn’t reveal what he was feeling.
Apparently, he had succeeded because Tim’s voice was much stronger when he spoke this time. “Bruce called Zatanna for her help because she knows a lot about magic. And…”
He trailed off.
Jason waited, listening for an answer. “And?” he prompted.
“Well, uh-” Tim mumbled.
He knew it.
“She said, Dupain-Cheng is not coming back,” said Damian with his usual bluntness, only in a tone that Jason would consider gentle.
“Damian!” Jason heard Dick yelp. “You didn’t have to say it like that!”
Before Damian could respond, Jason inhaled sharply. “It’s alright, Dick. I think I was kind of expecting this.”
“You were?” Dick asked cautiously, obviously afraid Jason might go suicidal.
Not that he could blame him, Jason thought wryly. He hadn’t been the most mentally stable people over the last few months, had he?
“Yeah.”
At their silence, Jason felt the need to explain himself. “I guess, it all started when I came here to visit,” he explained, trying to say what he felt in words. “I visited Marinette’s grave and all the places she liked. Then her parents. I guess…I guess, it gave me a kind of closure. The closure that I needed.”
Jason spread his hands helplessly when no one said anything. “I can’t really explain it better than that.”
“That’s very…insightful, Jason,” He didn’t even know Bruce was there. “I think I understand what you’re saying to some extent.”
Exhaling, Jason suddenly felt drained. Maybe that took more thought than he had realized.
“I want to stay in Paris for some more time,” he said, wanting to get thatover with as soon as possible.
“Absolutely,” Dick said firmly, as if daring anyone to disagree with him. “Stay as long as you need, little brother.”
Jason didn’t even realize he was crying until he felt the tears on his face.
◇─◇──◇─◇
As he went to bed that night, Marinette’s death hit Jason harder than ever, but instead of the overwhelming loss he had expected…Jason felt hopeful.
Maybe, just maybe, he would move on. Not get over Marinette, absolutely not.
But he could follow Tom and Sabine and try to move on.
favorite character : *has been alive for a suspiciously long time in the series*
People who love this character and have been emotionally scarred from past favorite characters’ deaths: that fact that you’re alive is a miracle…jus stay alive, that would be enough
As an individual character, I honestly enjoy what a mess Talia al Ghul is. She’s inconsistent about whether she’ll fight at Bruce’s side or stand by while her dad tries to kill him. She’ll take Bruce’s resurrected dead son in off the street, nurse him back to health, send him all around the world to get the best training possible, then finally see Jason again after a long time apart when he’s an adult and sleep with him. She’ll disobey Ra’s’ orders and rules to save Damian and Jason but whether she’ll do the same for herself or Bruce depends on the day.
What does age mean when you’re only a few decades old yet your father has multiple centuries of life? Possibly millennia? Does she consider Bruce and Jason to both be her own age? What does a generation mean to her?
She loves her son. She wants to get Damian out of the violent cult she was raised in. She can’t imagine a life truly without violence and wants Bruce to train their son as a warrior. She’ll clone her son and have the clone kill him. She’s seen her father die and come back through the Lazarus Pits countless times. She’s died and come back that way. She found her beloved’s dead son and healed him that way.
What is death to Talia al Ghul? What is murdering her son with another son but yet another training method? Another test?
Of course she saves her son from possession and carries him off the battlefield. Of course she kills him. Everyone who matters comes back for Talia. If they don’t come back, where they ever even real?
Raven was a woman who came out of nowhere. A full-grown woman of unknown origins that had power that could not be explained had abruptly entered earth.
The Justice League saw her for what she was—a threat.
Raven, however, simply affiliated herself as neutral but on occasion helped the Justice League when faced with an extinction level threat. Even though she fought by their side she would make it evidently clear that she was not good nor was she evil. And because she has helped The Justice League a few times; The Justice League became lax in keeping an eye on Raven and labelled her as an antihero instead.
Damian Wayne or as he is now known as– Damian Al Ghul had a different kind of story. He was more bad than he was good and he now leads the League of Assassins. However, there was a time in his teens where he allied himself under the Justice Leagues’ guidance and closely with and directly under Batman and their version of justice. Now Damian fought for a different kind of justice, one which painted him black in the eyes of the Justice League.
But on occasions, when the world faces possible extinction, he would step up and put his differences with the Justice League aside and maybe that was how the two crossed paths.
The Justice League wasn’t quite certain if that was how Raven and Damian met, but it is a fact that they are rather uneasy with this development.
Raven and Damian became known as lovers and the Justice League was even more worried over this progression when it was revealed.
They were dangerous. And even more so for Raven, who they recognize as a being who could level the planet, who also regularly threatens them to do so if any harm comes to Damian Al Ghul.
So, when news of Damian Al Ghul’s demise reached the Justice Leagues’ ears, it felt as though the entire earth was holding in its own breath.
“I told them, didn’t I? If anything were to happen to you, I would destroy this planet.” She mumbled to her dead lover, whose head was resting on her lap as she caressed his pale cheek. “So, tell me, why didn’t you take my threat seriously? You loved this planet more than I, so why would you allow yourself to turn out like this?”
And as natural as it is, as the dead could not speak, her lover did not respond to her.
A man running towards Raven screamed ready to swing his sword on the woman on the ground, who thought she was preoccupied with her loss.
And oh, how wrong he was.
He stopped from his advance as he was engulfed in purple flames. Raven’s eyes that were violet had started to glow.
The man didn’t even have the time to scream, or maybe she couldn’t hear his wails of pain, it didn’t really matter– not even a body was left of the man in the following second. She exhaled and purple flames circled her and it stretched for a meter in width.
“How noisy.” Her eyes glow brighter, the same shade as her violet eyes. She cradles her lover on her chest with vacant eyes that continue to glow a steady violet. And then everything around her seemed to slow down and turn grey. And Raven’s violet eyes slowly turned red.
The red in her eyes matched the sky as she grew horns. Her skin slowly turned red. The grey sparrows that were flying and the grey leaves that rustled around them slowed to the point that they were close to being frozen in time.
“Raven!” Someone called out, and the transformation on her skin halted, but the earth still remained close to being frozen. Raven’s skin reverted back to its usual paper white hue, but her horns remained, her violet eyes red and the whites were now black. She turned her head to see Batman still in color and moving perfectly fine, a grim smile on her lips. Wind blows and an unkindness of ravens caw and fly overhead.
Batman covered himself from the sudden strong gust of wind and dust by using his cape as a shield. When the wind stopped and the cawing subsided, he placed his arm down. Raven and Damian were no longer where he had seen them.
The sky was still red, everything was grey except for batman. His Justice League comms started ringing, there was color on the flashing screen.
Raven and Damian reappeared in front of the Lazarus Pit in Nanda Parbat. She looked down on Damian whose skin was blue.
“We shall reunite my love.” She said, as he was lifted up gently by her magic in a purple hue as he floated in front of her. With a small wiggle of her fingers, Damian hovered above the green liquid and slowly went down to the waters of the pit.
Raven watched quietly as the green liquid consumed him. And an ache in her chest that she could not fully describe was felt as she stared at his body being swallowed by the Lazarus Pit.
Damian had told her the properties of the Lazarus Pit.
And she waited. And waited. And waited.
Until instead of kneeling with her legs folded underneath her, she sat on her butt. Her knees were bent in front of her as she waited by the edge of the pool.
And she waited.
She brought her knees closer to her chin as she continued to wait. She started to become agitated.
Was the Lazarus’ Pit not working? Could it not revive the dead?
Was Damian wrong?
And the black in Raven’s eyes turned white again, her eyes no longer red but purple and her horns resided until they were gone. Perhaps Raven reverting back to her actual appearance emphasized the pain she was feeling. It was so painful that she took the form of the woman he loved.
If she has to, then she will put the whole human race at stake to bring him back from the dead. Her iris turned solid red with the decision as she clenched her fists.
A tan hand finally came out of the green liquid, followed by screaming and a deranged Damian aiming towards Raven with an outstretched hand. Before his hand could even touch her throat, Raven’s fingers were already outstretched towards her lover’s forehead, a violet glow emitting from her fingertips.
She shushes him gently, and his eyes slowly dims. Damian blinked and gulped down saliva, swaying a little. After a few more blinks his eyes cleared up and he looked at his lover with a gentle gaze.
“Raven…” Damian called her name out, as his face showed his confusion. His hand that was awkwardly outstretched towards Raven, cautiously touched her cheek. Raven placed a hand over his hand that was on her cheek and with her freehand she gripped his wrist. Her eyes closed as she leaned onto the hand on her cheek.
She had almost lost his touch, his body temperature that was certainly not there anymore– but now that is just a thing of the past.
Damian Al Ghul was now alive and breathing.
“Welcome back, my love.” She softly whispered to him with a loving tone. Her red eyes reverted back to normal when she opened her eyes again. And the earth felt like it could finally breathe. Time went back as it should be, and the grey tone of the world reverted back to its original colors and hues.
“What did you do?” He asked as he too felt the shift of the entire planet, his free hand splashed on the water. He looked down, and realized where he was. He was certain that he was killed but now that he was gazing at the waters of the pit, he knew he really did.
He knew he was killed. He knew his last thoughts were seeing her one last time. He wanted to hold her and tell her he loved her so much.
He knew he had died. And yet, here he was breathing and alive.
“Raven—” His eyes locked onto hers.
“Do not worry about it.” Were her final words as she edged near him and rested her forehead against his. “I have told you this before, there is no price I am unwilling to pay for you.”
He couldn’t respond because he too would do the same if it was her, but– he stared at her and cupped both her cheeks.
He wondered how much pain she felt seeing him like that. He knew that she didn’t care much for this planet and its people, after all she had not grown up here on this planet. In fact, when Damian and Raven met she didn’t care much for anything but she then started to deeply care for him and only him.
“I would have done the same thing.” He whispered as he knew that he would. Damian leaned down to kiss her and she closed her eyes.
If Damian had died she would have destroyed this planet. She would not want this earth to remain to haunt her due to the loss of the man she loved. But she would also do everything in her power to return him to her side.
If Raven had not done this, he would not feel her warmth again.
She wouldn’t feel his warmth again.
The thought was something she could not accept, even when she was so very close to having that as her reality.
Raven had seen the devil, lived and grew up in hell with the devil as her father. This earth– him– Damian, was the only thing that linked her to being relatively normal. She knew she was part human, and it was him who made her really feel that part of her.
She wasn’t going to allow herself to lose him.
“I love you.” She whispered to him, holding his head against hers. Tears falling from her eyes, this was the first time she cried and this was the first time Damian had seen her tears.
“I love you too.” He replied back sincerely.
They shared a tight hug after and Raven’s violet eyes turned red and the whites were black as she gave a sly smile.
The beauty of this earth was only Damian, if he was not here– turning this place the way her father wants wouldn’t be a problem.
Tris heard the hollow thud as the dart left the tube and immediately ducked down to move to a new location. There was a cry of pain, and she knew Talia’s best lieutenant was no longer a problem. Talia’s scream of rage was enough to make her smile. Hearing a knife hit where she’d been standing would have been enough to make her laugh if she didn’t want to give away her position. She forgot just how much she enjoyed pissing Talia off.
Once she saw a few of Talia’s men heading towards the spot she’d fired from, she peeked back at the others and immediately rolled her eyes. They were all yelling at each other and doing absolutely nothing useful. Well, except for Cass, who just met her eyes and raised an eyebrow. At least her cousin wasn’t an idiot. Talia was just screaming at Batman until one of the Miraculous holders said something to draw her anger. Just before she could go for them, a shield surrounded them as Fu popped up out of nowhere. She never thought she’d be happy to see the man, but her life was turning into one surprise after another.
When Talia seemed to not get proper responses from the holders, she turned back to Batman. She couldn’t hear anything, but it was obvious Talia wasn’t getting the answers she wanted, most likely because Batman didn’t have them. When her men came back empty-handed, she snapped and lunged towards Robin for some reason. That started what looked more like a brawl than a bunch of highly trained fighters. Tris was perfectly content to watch it all play out until Talia went for Cass’ back.
Her body moved without conscious thought. One moment she was on one rooftop watching, and the next she was deflecting Talia’s dagger with one of her own. She only vaguely registered that she shouldn’t have been able to get into position that fast. Talia just sneered at her. She was an inconvenience and not a threat. That was going to be her fatal mistake.
The Blake boys had been observing, but when Tris appeared, they went after Talia’s men systematically. She had a feeling their sister had insisted they protect her, and could only roll her eyes at the thought. Of all the people here, she was the last one to need it.
Talia went after Batman and Robin again, this time with serious intent. Tris used the distraction to make her way over to Gina and the Miraculous holders.
“I told you to keep them away from this. It is not their fight or their problem.” Gina had the nerve to shrug at her. Fu was the one who spoke.
“You’ve put the Miraculous at risk by handing them out when there wasn’t a need for them. It was foolish.” It really would be nice if, just once, the man would open his mouth without her feeling the need to strangle him.
“I don’t have time for your guilt trip. The Kwami agreed with me and I didn’t have any other options. Now take them and get to safety.” There were immediate protests, but they were all talking over each other so Tris couldn’t make out any actual words. Wonderful. She was going to have to end this herself so that no one did anything stupid. Before she could formulate a plan she heard Robin let out a cry of pain behind her.
She turned around to take in the scene and it suddenly felt like everything slowed to a crawl. Robin had a dagger sticking out of his side and Talia’s hand was on the hilt, drawing it out probably just to stab him again. She was playing with him because the placement wasn’t fatal. She wanted him to suffer. To bleed out in front of his family most likely. The thought caused a boiling rage inside her. Everything felt sharper. The details clearer than they ever had been. The pain Robin was trying to hide, the sadistic glee in Talia’s smile, the panic emanating from the rest of the Bats. She could see and feel it all with stunning clarity. And then there were the strings.
The colors were the same, but she could see more somehow. Patterns or textures on them perhaps. She could look at them and know which ones were necessary connections, and which ones were detrimental to the people and world around them. The strings coming from Talia were especially corrosive. It seemed like their function was to slowly eat away at whatever they touched. The one connected to her looked like it was trying to burrow into her body and when Tris looked at those connected to the League members, it seemed like they embedded themself in them and had started corrupting other nearby strings. Talia was a parasite, in the worst sense of the word.
Tris didn’t move, she was certain this time, but she was standing in front of Talia and kicked her away from Robin. His wound was deep but small enough he could staunch the bleeding himself until one of his family took over. His life or death also wasn’t crucial in maintaining order in the world, so he wasn’t her primary concern. That thought caused a moment’s pause, but Tris couldn’t let it distract her from the woman seething in front of her.
Talia lunged at her. It was sloppy and careless. How much was anger and how much was disdain for what she considered an opponent that was beneath her was up for debate. Tris dodged easily and pushed the woman back once more.
“You are nothing but a gnat. Now move so I can take care of my ungrateful progeny.” Tris could only frown at the woman’s tone. She actually expected her to just step aside.
“If that were true, you’d have far more men here. As it is, I would suggest you leave now. If you choose to stay, I will be obligated to end you.” It took every ounce of self-control she possessed to offer to let her walk away. All her instincts were screaming that Talia needed to be removed from the world, but she didn’t want to make that decision in the heat of battle. She wanted time to make sense of the new things she was seeing and feeling.
“You claim to be the one that took out my men?” Tris could only roll her eyes at the woman’s disbelief. One of these days, people would actually take her seriously.
“Make your choice.” Even through the voice changer, Tris could tell she sounded different. Gina and Cass were both eyeing her strangely as well. Talia didn’t seem to catch it. Instead, she came at her again. This time it was at least with real intent. Tris felt off, but she wasn’t certain why. It was like the air was charged and waiting for something to happen. As she deflected Talia’s strikes, the woman became increasingly erratic.
“What’s the matter? Too ‘moral’ to go for the kill strike?” She obviously thought Tris was one of Batman’s team if she was throwing that out as an insult.
“You in a hurry to die?” It was an honest question, but it just enraged the woman further. Tris continued as she was, waiting for the right opening. It all seemed too easy, and that worried her. Every move Talia made, she countered flawlessly. She’d been away from the League long enough that she shouldn’t have been that intuitive. She was waiting for something to go wrong, so she was just as surprised as Talia when her dagger entered the woman’s rib cage.
As she fell to the ground, there was complete silence around them. No one seemed to know what to make of what happened. Tris just watched her. It felt anticlimactic, to be honest.
“Who are you?” Of course she didn’t know. Tris was beyond feeling insulted at this point, and just removed her mask.
“I am the Keeper of Balance and the Hand of Fate. Defender of Gods and Voice of Strings. I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a descendant of two ancient lines tasked with protecting this world. They may have forgotten their oath, but it lives in my veins. You should have done more research into my bloodlines before you decided I was unworthy of your precious son.” Everyone was staring at her, mostly in shock, and she didn’t know where the words came from herself. They held truth and power though, so she didn’t question it. Talia laughed at her. It was not the reaction she expected from someone bleeding out at her feet.
“I should have killed you with your parents. It’s a mistake I’ll rectify after my men take me back to the Pits.” The sheer arrogance in that statement caused her rage to flare once again. She felt the string between her and Adrien begin vibrating. No, it was a string between her and Plagg. Once she realized that she knew what to do.
“Your men can’t resurrect you without a body.” Talia was still smirking at her, but she heard a gasp from the Miraculous holders. She tugged energy along the string from Plagg. Something must have changed in her look, because Talia finally seemed worried. Marinette focused the energy into the string between her and Talia. “You will no longer be a poison to this world.”
The rest of the people on the roof suddenly sprang into motion, but it was too late for any who wanted to intervene. As soon as the energy hit her body, Talia began to dissolve. The last expression on her face was one Marinette had seen so many times before. Not pain, or fear, or anything else that would be appropriate. It was surprise. They were always shocked that she was the one ending their lives.
“What did you do?” Batman’s voice held notes of horror and reproof. Great, now she needed to deal with this garbage.
“What was necessary.” Talia’s strings dissolved along with her and Marinette was surprised at how… free she felt. It was like the entire world was brighter, and the others who had been connected to her long term seemed to feel it too.
“Murder is not necessary, let alone whatever you just did.”
“Given he was stabbed, perhaps you should concentrate on helping Robin rather than lecturing me.” She had no wish to have this argument and hoped he would at least be worried enough about his son that she could slip off. Given the way he was scowling at her, that wasn’t the proper distraction.
“He’s fine, actually.” Nightwing spoke as he prodded Robin’s side in confusion.
“Will you stop that? The wound is not just going to reappear if you keep touching me.” Robin slapped at his hands.
“Well, since it just disappeared, you can’t be sure of that.” That was, unfortunately, a good point. What the hell had happened?
“The balance must be maintained.” Marinette could only blink at Fu for a moment. Well, crap.
“What does that mean?” Batman’s voice was gruff, but she couldn’t tell what emotion was behind it.
“It means that Robin is fine and there is no longer a threat, so you should leave Paris.” Just about everyone on the roof was looking at her like she’d lost her mind, but she wasn’t certain why.
“After what you just did, I’m not leaving without answers, at the very least. You can’t be left to yourself if this is going to be a recurring problem.”
“You have no authority over me, Dark Knight.” She didn’t recognize her own voice. It sounded distorted and echoed around her. “The balance in Gotham has already been destroyed by your refusal to do what is necessary. I will not allow you to upset it elsewhere with your inaction. I serve powers that you can’t even imagine. Do not make the mistake of getting in my way.”
She couldn’t stop the words, but even she knew they would just piss him off more. Unfortunately, that knowledge did nothing to curb her anger at his interference. If he had just left Paris like she’d told him to, none of this would have happened. Whoever, or whatever, was speaking through her was even more pissed off than she was. It was a strange felling. Almost as if she was physically holding someone back. One more problem she didn’t have time to figure out.
“She’s right. This matter is not under your jurisdiction. It really would be best for everyone involved for you to leave now. You would be unwise to invoke the wrath of the Keeper of Balance.” Well, at least someone knew what some of the nonsense she’d spouted meant. Granted, it was weird having Fu stand up for her. Both he and Gina stepped between her and Batman. There was more arguing, but she couldn’t concentrate on it because her head started throbbing. It felt one hundred times worse than the push back from when she’d fixed the Peafowl Miraculous.
A lot of characters grow up having lost parents - typically because it’s plot convenient and makes for great emotional backstory.
As someone who actually grew up without my parents in real life, though, I know from firsthand experience that a lot of writers have a difficult time getting it right with characters, and simply don’t understand how to go about this process.
I remember one time in a discussion about Harry Potter, someone said that it was “ridiculous” that Harry would be so attached to the memory of his mother and father considering that he never knew them, and that he would mourn their loss. This was the silliest thing that I had ever heard!
I never knew my mother. She passed away when I was four months old, but I’ve mourned her loss throughout my life. I’m twenty-eight years old now, and it still pains me to think about what I missed out on because of her death.
I’ve lost others, like the grandmother who raised me. It’s not the same kind of loss. The sense of loss that you feel is the loss of potential.
When Harry Potter is staring into the Mirror of Erised, he’s mourning the family that he’ll never have the chance to experience. He’s mourning the fact that he’ll never have a mother and father to welcome him home, to celebrate his accomplishments, or to scold him when he gets into trouble.
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Another very common emotion for children who are left behind when their parents dies is guilt, especially when the people around them are still mourning the loss of the parent. This is something that I experienced a lot as a child, especially since my mother was very young when she passed away. (I’ve seen this discussed a lot in connection with the Steven Universe fandom, though I haven’t actually seen the show myself - sorry I can’t discuss that in more detail!)
Guilt in connection with a parent’s death can be a powerful feeling for a young child, and can lead to a lot of anxiety. It can make a child or young adult feel anxious about the fact that they were “left behind” and they may worry that they’re not “good enough,” especially if they’re subjected to a lot of discussion about how great their deceased parent was (which is common when people are still in mourning for the deceased parent).
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Another important thing to talk about is the fact that a child who has lost a parent can have extreme difficulty when it comes to separation anxiety. Even if the loss occurs very young, they will typically have strong feelings of anxiety when it comes to thinking about any kind of separation from an adult figure they have an attachment to.
They may worry more about the death of the adult figures in their life, especially if those adult figures are older (as may happen if they’re being raised by a grandparent). I was very worried about my grandmother and great-grandmother and wouldn’t participate in sleepovers because I couldn’t deal with separation, for example.
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And finally, as was already mentioned, a child who has lost parents at a young age has been exposed to death earlier than most children and, as such, may have a bit of a preoccupation with the idea of death that other children won’t. This could give them anxiety, or even a “morbid” outlook. They may be more “mature” than other children.
They may worry about being hurt or killed themselves. They may be in need of reassurance from the adults in their life that they’re safe and nothing bad will happen to them. (Take into account the way their parent died especially when it comes to the source of the child’s anxiety - I had a big hangup when it came to cars and driving as a child).
If your child is in a religious environment, they may think more about religion than other children, or even have anxiety surrounding their religion. They may worry more about whether religion is real or not - or, conversely, religion may be a big source of comfort for them because it means their parent is watching over them (if this is the sort of religion they believe in).
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Ultimately, just remember that a child who has lost a parent is going to have a lot of complicated emotions to deal with. If they don’t have a strong and supportive adult figure in their life to help them out, then they are likely to be a little bit emotionally damaged by the time they reach adolescence, and you’re going to need to deal with that as a writer.
Some of the things that you might need to work out include how they’ve dealt with their feelings of loss, how they’ve dealt with feeling “different” from their peers, and how they cope without strong parental figures if they don’t have them.
There are a lot of stories where at the end of it the love interest’s last words to the protagonist are a love confession. But it’s always “I love you” or a variant of it. But what about:
“I love you too.”, their love breathed with one last broken smile, before their body lost all its tension and with it all life. The protagonist barley took notice of how they basically collapsed onto their love, how their fat tears ruined the others shirt. Not that it mattered. Not anymore. No.
The only thing they really took notice of, were the last words, screaming at them, begging for attention from seemingly ever last corner of their mind.
‘I love you’ ‘I love you’ ‘I love you’ ‘I love you’ ‘I love you’ ‘I love you’ ‘I love you’ ‘I love you’ ‘I love you’
No. That wasn’t quite right though, now was it? No. There was this last, tiny, seemingly unnecessary word at the end.
‘Too.’
‘I. Love. You. Too.’
‘I love you. Too.’
‘I love you too.’
Yes; that’s what they had said. Meaning…. they had known. They had known, all this time and they never said anything, why didn’t they say anything, we could’ve been- weren’t we- maybe if we- NO- nonononono
Pictures of unlived moments that were never meant to be, flooded their mind; seconds of memories passed by long ago, burning their eyes. And that last sentence, screaming, begging. Too much. It was all to much. But it all ended in a single question:
![Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo](https://64.media.tumblr.com/72daf5a0fc06b833c3d30c0b1717ba4b/tumblr_ow75ybqHnO1uklydxo3_r2_1280.png "Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo")
![Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo](https://64.media.tumblr.com/fd272a074a74b9933867d39eaebb61fa/tumblr_ow75ybqHnO1uklydxo4_r2_1280.png "Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo")
![Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo](https://64.media.tumblr.com/9e8eaa93e2af2e01044c2a1ca433d51b/tumblr_ow75ybqHnO1uklydxo7_r2_1280.png "Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo")
![Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo](https://64.media.tumblr.com/2422bd422244807e0d65661e3398b96b/tumblr_ow75ybqHnO1uklydxo8_r2_1280.png "Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo")
![Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo](https://64.media.tumblr.com/cc0c8401ece48f4466696337c63df933/tumblr_ow75ybqHnO1uklydxo6_r2_1280.png "Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo")
![Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo](https://64.media.tumblr.com/a969f8ca6b8dcf9c6beccf7cca935a41/tumblr_ow75ybqHnO1uklydxo1_r1_1280.png "Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo")
![Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo](https://64.media.tumblr.com/1d651e94227021aba9a5a30a8d749873/tumblr_ow75ybqHnO1uklydxo9_r2_1280.png "Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo")
![Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo](https://64.media.tumblr.com/a338cd5f26c9e195f921b9bd2b90d186/tumblr_ow75ybqHnO1uklydxo5_r2_1280.png "Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo")
![Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo](https://64.media.tumblr.com/7ef5990a5e53506d99099fbb12700d47/tumblr_ow75ybqHnO1uklydxo2_r2_1280.png "Thoughts. A colour palette challenge that went far with not much consistency in quality.[A]bandon Yo")
![[Tw blood / injury, character death]That was the first time. Now I’ve lost count.No matter wh](https://64.media.tumblr.com/280aecf0540bf831e94874a3bae9f127/95ae06fca922a8b1-9e/s1280x1920/b238892a226655bdcdc21a74c9b07456649521f8.jpg "[Tw blood / injury, character death]That was the first time. Now I’ve lost count.No matter wh")
