‘‘I’m finally figuring out who I am but... I’m scared it’ll take me away from you.’’

god this is the part that hit me like a ton of bricks. like the entire mess that growing up is, from a parents perspective and from a child’s perspective 

I always see parents just refusing to let their child grow, concern for them twisting into fear sharpening into anger. There’s parents that never realise that letting their kids go is a part of their child’s journey in life, but not only that, its a part of their own too. being so scared that letting your kid go means they won’t come back leads to parents not letting their child grow at all. all that does is stunt their child and then that builds into resentment and then when those kids really do leave they never come back....

and from the child’s perspective learning that growing up means irreversible change, that’s terrifying. confronting that not only can things not stay the same forever, but that they have to change no matter what, is something everyone struggles with. Reconciling with it though, only so few can do. 

Ding, ding, ding! You hit the nail on the head.

Female characters are much harsher judged, even for things no one bats an eye at when a male character does the exact same thing, and when that female character is a teenager that judgement is cranked up to even higher bullshit levels.

You’re not a child, but also not a teenager, let alone an adult. It’s a weird time to be in.