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I haven’t really thought of this until now but I feel like it’s hard for people without strict parents, Ace, to understand just how much having strict parents can affect you mentally and physically. With the way that Ace speaks to Riddle it’s nice but also somewhat insensitive he talks like growing up with strict parents only really meant that you were sheltered but having strict parents is so much more then that. Riddle doesn’t just think his mom is right because she’s distinguished he’s forcing himself to believe everything she taught him was right because if she was wrong that meant he missed out on EVERYTHING. Every “normal” experience others have had hes never experienced hanging out with friends, learning how to build proper bonds with friends, eating “bad” food, having sleepovers, having any interest that isn’t school related, these and more are things often regarded as normal but when you grow older while having strict parents and you start to remember your childhood all you can really focus on is the lack of one you had. Not having any childhood friends you can happily talk about without remembering your parents splitting your friendship is really depressing, and hearing others talk about all the times they’ve hung out with friends, all the times they were able to just be regular kids, while you have none to look back on sucks. Riddle was so upset because if his mom was wrong then that meant he had wasted all of his life until that point. -Sincerely someone with heavily strict parents
hello anon!!
I agree with you, especially taking in consideration how suffocating Riddle's mom is, not letting her son have friends or choose what he wants to do in his free time or what he wants to eat, enforcing him to follow the rules down to a t. it's really heart wrenching to think Riddle was never allowed to be just a kid, there's a heavy weight of expectations on his shoulders that never allowed him to. I think you put it very eloquently anon, Riddle has every right to be upset about his unfair situation.
even when he was in the wrong as well, being strict to the point of tyrany, and needed to learn that what he was doing was wrong, I understand he was doing it because it's all he's ever known. how else was he supposed to take care of Heartslabyul if that's what he learnt to be the right way? he demands a lot out of the students because he has high expectations for them, he wants them to reach their full potential and to make the best out of NRC as they can, he cares about them and about his dorm. "I'm doing this because I love you." "it hurts me to be this strict, but you must learn your place." "you are better than this, you can do better than them." that's probably what he grew up hearing and that's what he thinks is right.
so to learn all his nights of studying, all the time he spent knowing the queen's rules by heart, all the effort he put into being the best, into making his mother proud, into being the son she wanted to have, it was all... for nothing? he could have eaten that candy he reaaally wanted to that one time, or he could have sleept for a little longer, or he could have watched the show all his classmates were talking about, or he could have played in the mud with them, and none of it is wrong, it's just being a kid. it's certainly a lot to take in.
and I think Ace comes from an opposite background. from the amount of mischief he causes and his devil may care attitude, I think his parents may be very lenient with him. so things he thinks about as normal are a different reality from Riddle's normal. that's why they clash heads so much, they have completely different world views and backgrounds that have molded them as people. Ace was right in calling Riddle out on his wrongdoings, but he didn't go the best way about it, that's for sure. their relationship is so interesting because of these differences, how they are both in the right and in the wrong at the same time, how they may clash heads but are still on the same dorm with a certain mutual respect between them.
anon, I'm sorry if you had a childhood similar to his, I hope at least now you're able to experience the things you couldn't before and are broadening your horizons! know that you have a right to be upset about it, your feelings are totally valid! take good care of yourself <3