Michonne: .....We, your family are real. I'm real. Our love, this, it doesn't get denied. No matter what you keep trying to tell me or yourself..... What did they do to you Rick? ....What did they take from you?
Rick: ....but then you were gone too. I couldn't see your face anymore just as I couldn't see Carl's. I can't live without you. Without you I die......
Loved Sklonda in this latest episode of FHJY and it really shines a light on how parents can view the interpersonal relationships of teenagers.
Teens are so incredibly secretive, which is just natural at this stage of their development. They feel more grown up, more interested in making their own decisions and so want as little input as possible from their parents, even the ones with the exact experience that could help. It's the struggle of every parent to watch their kid grow and make mistakes and not ask for help all the time.
And because teens don't always share, a parent sometimes only has their own observations to work from. She sees Riz who has taken on so much, not just for himself, but for his friends and she doesn't see the other side of things.
Riz, who is terrified of not getting a scholarship that will pay for college despite his good grades. Who sees probably more than he lets on how Adaine struggles with the weight of being the Elven oracle and also broke and abandoned by her parents. He sees Gorgug struggling with his rage and his place in the world. He sees Fabian's loneliness and his desire to look strong & put together. How Fig really cares and is trying so hard but has no idea how to go about it in a healthy way. And Kristen. Oh he sees how Kristen is spiraling and trying to put herself back together and trying to come to terms with her faith. He sees how she is grasping at anything for purpose and how grateful she is about his support.
And I think, even if he doesn't see it clearly, he knows they want to help. It shows up in the way they just started taking their classes seriously. I know that Fabian was inviting Riz and everyone over to Lofi Study Night to at least make him comfortable. Adaine is definitely worrying over Riz, even if she doesn't know what to do and is going through her own stuff. And Fig sending that card to Riz? Ok, she signed it as Gorgug, but it's the acknowledgment that he needed to know he was being seen. And the reaction to the card being one of such immense gratitude and sentimentality towards Gorgug, that rather than correct the situation and find out who actually sent the card, Gorgug saw how much his friend needed care and gave him a gift to go along with it. Because he may not have sent the card, but dangit it's a good idea!
I see a group of friends who love each other deeply and want to be there for each other, but don't know how to get around what life is throwing at them to do it.
And Sklonda has literally no way of knowing any of this. She is working so hard and probably dealing with her own guilt of not being able to be there for him as much as she would like and all she is seeing is the aftermath of the Bad Kids, not what they are actually doing. While I'm sure she does care about them, her priority is her son and she sees how he struggles and in the face of not knowing what the solution could be, she instead tries to loosen his grasp on the stress he's taking on for them. Because she worries he's becoming a people pleaser and won't get anything back for it.
It's a beautiful miscommunication that I don't know will (or should) get resolved. Because your first hardcore group of friends, the ones you would die for, is so important. And one day, she will either see how much they did for each other, or she won't, but what matters is the love. They love him, he loves them and his mom and would do whatever it took to make them happy and that is special.
If the world says it's a mistake to love you, I'll fight the whole world! It doesn't matter. A world without you, Velvet... is the one thing I couldn't bear!