#also I don’t intend to downplay the struggles even other women have when it comes to setting boundaries

[shidouryusm]

Everyone praises women when they set boundaries with “my body, my choice” until a hijabi muslim woman enters the equation 😒

[petalsmooth]

Ok.

Let’s talk Lili.

First off we only know what stars put out about themselves or other people say about them. We are not friends with these people. We are not in their homes. We don’t usually hear what they say in unguarded conversation. What we know is what is out on social media with some highly distorted soundbites from chats or DM’s with her mother that were exposed.

We were initially presented a portrait pushed by her and her family no less of a middle class family with the standard girl next door hit it big narrative. Down to earth, relatable, somewhat quirky. Strong two parent supportive household. All that was missing were the apron and pearls.

This girl came out of the gates talking about a modernized Riverdale with two girls who would be actually close and not vying for the same redhead. Feel free to add/or correct along the way of course...especially early on when not following as closely.

We got very little in the way of insight into Cole and Lili because they were trying to keep it quiet even if there were hints together. Mostly during this period what fans were fed was that she was slightly awkward socially, maybe not the most intellectual but nice and harmless. She spoke of empowering women, independence, she constantly shut down the idea of Barchie and praised Bughead. Along through the year’s she would speak to social bullying or bullying in general. She would openly talk about struggles with mental health. She’d talk and show her cystic acne and share photos not all airbrushed in ode to body positivity. She’d talk about not having an hourglass figure, and cellulite and often go out in ratty shorts and a bun sans makeup. You see she’d talk about it then follow through by showing lived the walk or calling out photoshops done of her.

Again this is “relatable girl next door quirky Lili” we told was the REAL Lili.

She would frequently talk and post about her family and dogs at home and how much she loved and missed them...though oddly not so much her older sister.

At a certain point it became undeniable Cole and Lili were together to even the hardest deniers. Of course also the Met gala eventually made official for media.

We get have her liking posts such as Miley’s about how lucky she was to have a man who checked off all the boxes. But at times there were glimpses all wasn’t kosher. People have mentioned various cons where she’d be caught flirting somewhere else, or she’d be in a bad mood giving Cole a cold shoulder. We recently saw an old video of them walking and her basically demanding he drop the fans and attend her. We have the con were Camilla is sexually harassing Cole everywhere and Lili doesn’t shut it down until Camilla tries to grind on him. It was so bad even Mads intervened. We have the interview where she is talking over him or rolling her eyes and basically being the unprofessional brat her fans claim she is not. Even though it’s ON CAMERA. Snapping at your co worker/boyfriend and rolling your eyes during a professional interview is not deniable.

Flashforward to the trip to Italy because for me there was always something off about that. That trip was obviously planned far in advance. Clearly Lili was supposed to be there. Her fans quickly blamed Cole because Lili was working. Lili didn’t have to work. It wasn’t a career changing move to do that film. It did not do well. I’m not entirely sure what was happening around that time but I have the sense Cole was disappointed/a  little angry she prioritized it over him accepting very likely the offer AFTER the trip was planned.

Lili spirals during this time. Cole comes back to clean up mess. They are quiet on social media for a long time then slowly emerge again and eventually get the photo booth shots, the wedding and her mingling with NY friends for once. Turns out close to the end for them.

I don’t want to make this a Sprousehart post though although some relevance to bring part of it up. The point is Lili put her career over her relationship. It was a calculated decision. It was also the wrong decision. Her fans talk about her being this warm giving person but that was a cynical call and a pretty lousy thing to do to your boyfriend of several year’s. I’m all for supportive partners but there are time’s where you make sacrifices if you really care for someone and this was a special trip planned long in advance. She blew it off. If I’m the partner she does this too, I question why I’m putting in the effort if it doesn’t mean to them what it means to me. 

TBH I think the bad choices she made there is why tried to make it up by meeting with his friends, the wedding etc...

Something than clearly happened because by January they were done. Not sure we’ll ever know but it looked like they were trying to fix things given the happiness hadn’t seen on Cole’s faces in a long time in those booth pics and then...it was done. We didn’t know at the time, but this is timeline Cole gave. There was a brief attempt at reconciliation where she babysits him at a photo shoot and posts a photo of them in bed and then shortly after...Cole calls it off. 

He heads to LA, she follows him there but not without making sure to shove Casey’s face into her chest to post and rent a place close to where he is staying. She posts weepy messages about the world ending etc....and weird new photos mimicking old shoots with him so naturally people think this means whatever happened they worked through. Around same time she and hers manipulated her fans to try to cancel him earlier because she misunderstood a picture of Kaia....although flat out if he had been with Kaia he was SINGLE and it was no longer her business.

She tries to walk back the firestorm she unleashed on him by “defending” him from a lesser twitter trend after realizing misconstrued the Kaia picture, All summer she weirdly seems to be trying to avoid the topic if they are together or not despite saying once if they weren’t she’d tell people. She finally puts her foot in her mouth one two many times' and Cole confirms they broke up which she doesn’t acknowledge. Because she doesn’t want to be broken up.

As we know know it wasn’t all rainbows on the set even before all this happened as in the musical she’d launched an object at him hard enough to have the crew concerned. Lili fans keep saying Cole is abusive but the only evidence we have of abuse is her towards him. We also had her suddenly doing a 180 from past 4 year’s and excusing cheating with Archie and promoting everyone in her live recaps except Cole/Jughead.

Back to the events following Cole’s post....then we get a sudden string of interviews taking shots at Cole, doxxing him, implying he could have strayed (just to resurrect hate against him) but can’t say he actually did because she has no proof. We know this because in those chats admit it was just suspicion and paranoia and never did have any names.

We learn that Lili has been funneling news and gossip and photos to keep her mother’s hold on the fandom in check and her mother in turn has been bullying people who would stand on Cole’s side. They sought to ruin him. This is not debatable.

For year’s people had made fun and called Bree out for being an obsessive stalker unable to let a relationship go, then Lili starts doing the same. We know she has tried to copy Ari’s style, her mother made a snide comment about breast size, Lili tried to taunt Ari from on set and Ari shut her down. A girl who almost never was in the line of sight of paps suddenly is snapped everyday following break up even before the public new. That doesn’t just happen. She wanted the attention.

I’m not going to go into all of it, you all know it. Suffice to say revealing she has a bitter vindictive attitude she has submersed herself in ever since Cole made it clear no reunion. She won’t even broach the topic of Bughead/Jughead unless forced. You can spin all you like but the split screens was not an artistic choice by RD. It was spurred by need to keep them apart.

Lili last summer was doing precious little other than a post or two of Black Lives matter and then when Cole gets arrested suddenly she jumps on the me too and sets up impulsive lives. Maybe she meant well but a part of me thinks she did it to attract his attention. Notice once she got praise for it and the initial protests faded she more or less doesn’t bring it up anymore. Cole never intended to get attention, it just happened because he’s a star and got taken in to a jail cell. He never put himself on camera for notice. 

Lili also co-opts the murder of a girl to flaunt she thinks she looks good naked. Completely tone deaf. 

Lili very rarely is seen in fan photos, only usually when she’s getting flack for it online. She, a girl who talks about bullying, went on a  midnight tirade against a guy who dares to critique or poetry setting her fans on him. Then deleted it probably because publicist in her ear.

She first said poems not about Cole, than said you could read into what you wanted to sell them. Now she doesn’t want to talk poetry or sequels because it flopped and was critically panned.

There are constant rumors about Lili on sets of productions to point they even had someone on her newer movie try to downplay. Yet we see in a video the cast barely talking and looking tense on a boat. 

The girl who used to talk about body positivity now lets them airbrush abs onto her.

The girl who used to talk of therapy and mental illness now promotes OTC supplements for $ and cults.

If she mentions cellulite she uses other tik toks of people showing not her own. 

She said she would never be on tik tok, yet now has her own and post old videos that aren’t funny.

Lili once tired to attack Cole by talking about losing yourself in drugs or alcohol or sex yet we’ve seen her drug paraphernalia because she advertises. Her friends post and laugh over her being drunk. She was in an off and on relationship with Wallis that doesn’t seem to be about anything but sex.

We were told Coles friends are bad influences but Taylor is out there solicitating questionable clients and making videos slamming LILI’S COWORKER as a bad actor and his brother,

The majority of Lili’s posts no longer feature Sunny or her family/Addy. 

She insulted Vancouver, compared to a prison, and made it clear her creature comforts were of more importance than a pandemic. Not quite the attitude of an empath. Which she claims she is with intention to be a master which require sucking more gullible people into the cult.

She brags about being a “rich man” without understand the context. She went from artistic photos to modeling pinups to fuel her lack of self esteem.

She’s in her mid 20′s, claims she had grown and matured in the last year but there is no evidence of it. Still can’t work with her ex without buffers which still influences show direction though her fans deny.. Still lives off junk food and hangovers. Those glasses aren’t just for sun. Her timeline is mostly an ode to her vanity with pictures of herself and then her dog. She doesn’t seem to have any causes she’s deeply involved in on the side apart from her cult. She’s still stalking Cole as her impulsive makeup tutorial showed. She said she cut out of her life anyone who doesn’t service her. I highly doubt she is receiving quality therapy on the regular right now. She still does not seem to possess the ability to own her mistakes and apologize when warranted, rather deflects or erases when heat becomes too hot.

The content she puts out about herself post break up is very different than the bill of goods fans were sold before. She is a far cry from that quirky girl next door that stood FOR something more than vanity and shallow affirmation. So no, I don’t see what you see in her stans. Everything that once seemed to distinguish her from other spoilt princesses has long faded. 

[hopeshoodie]

Part 7 of my Pros and Cons of dating the different islanders (yes I’m finally coming back to this :P) 

Gary

Cons

He doesn’t have a whole lot of thoughts about things that he’s not actively excited or annoyed by, and he doesn’t really feign interest. If MC buys a new top, or is invested in a new show, or anything that Gary doesn’t really care about, he’ll really disinterestedly say “that’s cool babe,” and make her feel like it’s unimportant. He’s not patronizing/embarrassing her on purpose, he just doesn’t have a lot of tact. You would have to really talk to him and work with him to get him out of this habit, because he doesn’t see how it’s hurtful or care that much to change.

He gets really defensive. If you call him out on his behavior or point out how he’s really stubborn, he’ll argue with you without really considering if his behavior is bad. Arguments with Gary suck because it gets to a point where he’s not hearing you and will just say “whatever” and refuse to engage. The best way to change Gary’s behavior is some pavlovian shit- you need to offer positive reinforcement without him really noticing. When he communicates really well, shower him with affection. When he picks up after himself, tell him how much you appreciate it. 

He’s very willing to walk away from things that challenge him instead of trying to grow as a person. We saw that with him and Lottie- whenever she or MC offered valid criticism of his behavior he would just walk away. That applies to most areas of his life- if he tries a new hobby and isn’t good at it immediately he’ll drop it. He doesn’t really like trying new things or going to new places, and if something challenges his worldview he’s more likely to ignore it than engage.

I’ve said this already but he buys MC heart shaped jewelry and pandora charm bracelets...

Gary’s a lad. While he doesn’t intend to hurt anyone’s feelings, he never really engaged with social justice issues and he hasn’t done the work needed to be anti-racist. He’ll laugh along to sexist, racist, homophobic, and ableist jokes without really thinking about the implication. He’s loath to call anyone out. If MC points out ‘hey that thing you/your friend said is hurtful,” he’ll get defensive and say “why are you ruining a good time? It was just a joke” If MC sits down and explains to him how the things he says are actively hurting her, he’ll internalize that and not do it. But he’s really hesitant to say the same to other people- he doesn’t want to ‘ruin the mood’ and get made fun of for being ‘PC’. 

Gary’s super dense. He doesn’t really pick up hints very well, so MC needs to explicitly tell him “I need you to compliment this dress” or “we haven’t gone on a proper date in awhile and I’m feeling undesired, can we go out for dinner tomorrow?” I firmly believe that the reason Gary tolerated all of Lottie’s passive aggressiveness was because he didn’t pick up on it, so MC needs to be direct. 

He doesn’t appreciate all the effort it takes to get all dolled up, even though he loves it when MC goes all out. I know he SAYS he doesn’t like high maintenance women, but in canon when given the choice between Hannah (seemingly low maintenance) and Marisol (very outgoing and done up), he chooses the higher-maintenance option. Every woman he dated on the show was a glam kind of girl- MC, Lottie, Marisol. So while he loves when MC has a full face and outfit done, he complains about how long it takes her and how she always sneaks away for touch ups during the night. He’s one of those dudes who is like “wow you’re so pretty without makeup” but you’re literally wearing foundation, contour, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, blush- he thinks the difference between makeup and not wearing any makeup is red lipstick. This is super annoying because MC puts a lot of effort into her look only for him to downplay that effort but still enjoy the results. 

Building off of the above, Gary severely underestimates how much effort it takes to do “domestic work” like cooking, cleaning, and administrating for the household (I imagine pre-MC he forgets to do the basics like renew licenses, register to vote, schedule appointments, etc). So if MC points out how she spent the whole day cleaning, he’ll be like “that seems a bit much? You just cleaned the kitchen?” and doesn’t really get it until MC breaks down “I swept and washed the floor, I disinfected the dishwasher, I ran cleaners through the sink link, I cleaned out and organized the fridge, I dusted and sanitized the chandelier, I organized the spice drawer,  I wiped out the cabinets…” He’s not really motivated to learn how to clean or do laundry or cook.

He doesn’t communicate. This is canon- he doesn’t tell Lottie where his head is at in the game, he strings Lottie and Hannah along, and he doesn’t reassure MC when other girls are clearly cracking on with him. So most of the problems in a relationship with Gary come from MC not knowing what he wants and him never initiating emotionally vulnerable conversations. 

He’s not going to do well if MC needs to travel a lot for work, and he’s not going to move to live with her. Even after his nan dies, I don’t see him leaving Chatham. So if moving to a new place is important to you, this is a dealbreaker.

Pros

If something goes really wrong, he’ll never do the same thing twice. This applies to physical mistakes as well as emotional- if he forgets to wear eye protection and gets sawdust in his eyes, he’ll be religious about wearing glasses from them on. If he forgets a birthday or anniversary and makes MC cry, he will be SO diligent from then on about remembering dates. On that thought, he HATES seeing MC cry. He will move heavens and earth to stop whatever’s upsetting her or fix it. 

Hugs and cuddling from Gary? So comforting. He just has that vibe, like he’s a really good cuddler. Not to mention that he’s really good at the nasty in canon, so it would stand to reason………

All of that internalized masculinity has an upside- he wants to take care of his family. He’s on top of all the ‘masculine’ caretaking stuff like buying a home, maintaining the landscaping, fixing the tires on the vehicles, shoveling, fixing stuff up around the house, managing the cable/internet/tech. Which is nice because I hate doing those things, but also I’m absolutely teaching him how to do laundry and pick up after himself. 

Gary is SO calm in emergency situations. I have this headcanon for Rahim too, but the more panicked those around them get, the calmer they are. Especially in situations where they’ve prepared/considered before like tornadoes or floods. They’re not the kind of guys who take the lead normally, but in these super dire situations they find it in them to take over and calm everyone else down. I can see him having a lowkey stockpile of food, an emergency first aid kit, and a go-bag. 

I know people don’t like this headcanon, but too bad. Gary is catholic. That’s the law. Sorry I don’t make the rules. That’s not so much of a pro for me, an atheist nihilist lesbian, but I can recognize a religious man has a certain amount of charm. He has a close knit community, is super consistent about attending services, and has a certain level of taking morals really seriously. He definitely donates a fair bit to charity and is always the one saying “love thy neighbor” when people are being shitty. 

Gary’s spontaneous, but in a controlled way. He very much likes his routine and respects MC’s need for consistency. But periodically he’ll just be like “we have nothing planned for today- want to go rent a paddleboat?” or he’ll pick up flowers “just because”. If MC and he are going on a vacation, he much prefers to only plan 1 or 2 things to do a day and then once they’re in the place see interesting things and suggest ‘let’s do that’. He’ll do really thoughtful stuff like text MC if she has anything planned for dinner then randomly bring her favorite restaurant food home. Thursday nights are date nights!! Doing formal ‘dress up nice and go to a proper dinner date without the kids and movie’ is really important to him.

Gary’s a really good dad. Like yeah he has a lot to learn about not telling his son to ‘stop crying’ and not telling his daughter ‘no boys until you’re married’, but he genuinely wants the best for them. He’s really supportive of their hobbies/sports/interests, and will happily pay for summer camp/field trips/conventions. He might not ‘get it’ all the time, but he’ll smile and nod. 

He gets a lot of delight out of really little things. If his kid draws something for him, he’ll pin it to the fridge and smile at it every time he sees it without fail. If MC says she likes a certain shirt on him, he’ll triple the amount of times he wears it. He keeps the bird feeders outside their dining room window full, because he can happily sit with a cup of coffee and watch the birds for hours. It truly is the little things.

He’s really good at remembering MC’s favorite things, or even things she mentioned liking once. This is to the point where it’s a bit confusing. MC will compliment Gary’s nan on her christmas poinsettias one year, then two years later Gary buys a ton of poinsettias and is like “I thought you loved poinsettias” and not be able to remember why he thought that. So MC has to be careful with fake compliments, because Gary cannot tell the difference. But that’s still, like, super endearing and nice of him. 

There’s a few LIs that I feel like could get bored in a long-term relationship. I can see Lucas, Felix, and Rahim feeling like they’re ‘falling out of love’ when the intensity of a new relationship fades and they struggle to settle into domesticity. Gary is NOT one of them. He’s one of those “I fall in love with you more every single day” kind of guys. As MC gains weight/ages, he’ll insist “you age like a fine wine” and “I like you more with meat on your bones”. He’ll insist to their kids that “your mom is the most beautiful woman on earth”. Gary was built for long-term relationships.

[prinzessmetal]

Welcome to my blog. I want to write about some things that I don’t feel comfortable getting into on other platforms as often as they are happening. I want a place to talk about my health struggles in hopes that it will help people choose themselves and their bodies. If I had known 10 years ago the medications and episodes that are part of my life now it might have helped. If someone hurts you and tells you that you can handle something you don’t feel like you can please seek help even if you just tell a friend rather than internalize that. Trigger warning ahead: abuse and health problems. When I was in elementary school I asked my parents to homeschool me. I wanted to do acting full time and I wanted to do music when I was old enough. This is what Judy Garland did according to a bio pic so it was probably a good plan. I had a lot of crazy almost moments. I auditioned for Hannah Montana and Hermione and got pretty far in call backs. I got called in by the guy who signed Britney. My old manager dated Lana Del Rey before she released anything and told me my music was too depressing like his girlfriend’s and I would need to be more uplifting or I would end up like her. I worked from when I was a kid until now. I enjoy telling stories and making art so that some insignificant feeling of mine can blossom into something beyond me. I think a lot of entertainers have a similar set of needs. There’s people who happen upon it and there’s people who live and breathe and die for it. Maybe there’s a hole to fill or they feel things so deeply they want to get it out and set it free. This was the complete focus of my life. Except for love. I wouldn’t trade my work for anything except for a man threatening to leave. I have always been scared of that feeling and I have done some pretty predictable things to avoid it. Dyed my hair, paid for parts for a moped, moved across the country, and allowed another human with a lower iq and no job to break my heart over and over again. I did that several times, I mean, what are your 20’s for? I think a lot of women spent their 20’s feeling like they were raising their boyfriends. But, I stayed when men crossed lines that aren’t just normal and routine and those things ended up hurting me. When I was 19 I moved to Nashville to record an album. My music manager and my boyfriend were both control freaks with a lot of rage. I was “not like the other girls.” At 19 I was a manic pixie repressed dream. I was terrified to be too much or not enough and I was raised to be sweet and soft. I couldn’t imagine yelling back or ruining someone’s wants with my needs. My inner child actor didn’t know how much adult was too much adult. I looked about 13 and I felt about 60. One day my boyfriend was screaming at the top of his lungs and I was concerned about the neighbors hearing it. I had recorded with session players that day in the studio and I didn’t explain to him (as he found from my posts online) that some of them were more attractive than I had let on. I am not sure what level of graphic I will get into on this blog but I will say for now it “got worse.” My mom happened to be calling when this was going on and my pocket answered and she overheard. She flew out a few days later and wanted to know if I was okay. I lied and I told her that he was never like that and he had been under a lot of pressure trying to find a new job. I didn’t want to lose him for whatever reason at the time felt like the end of the world. Some nights I would go for drives to get away and cry to “Razzle Dazzle Rose” by Camera Obscura (great song to drive and cry to) until I had a headache and I would head back home when he had fallen asleep. In the mornings he was always extremely sorry and a completely different person who “would change.” At the end of this relationship I started getting chest pains. I think I went to an ER and was sent home with anxiety. I thought it was weird how badly anxiety hurt my physical heart and odd that it was deemed okay. But it seemed likely true as I was 19. Over the next few years I dated different people some like the first guy and some gentler. I was raised around anger and big highs and lows and angry people thought me to be comforting. I tried my best to avoid mistakes and things that caused problems because I didn’t feel I had the stamina i just wasn’t sure why. It often caused that chest pain I didn’t understand. At 24 my body started not feeling like itself more consistently. I often had chest pain and missed heart beats (pvcs and pacs) and my body hurt a lot for no reason. I felt rushes and I would feel dizzy and faint and out of breath. I was given a variety of names for all this. I had dysautonomia, POTS, autonomic dysfunction, “a weird nervous system” or just anxiety. I read all about different conditions but I didn’t know what I had but I knew my body wasn’t well anymore. I spent the next couple years being known as a hypochondriac. “Nothing is wrong with your heart Molly.” I still associate the hospital’s hold music with the mantra “it’s not your heart” that was routinely on the other end of it. I eventually gave up. I must have had some psychosomatic issue and I was probably crazy and I wanted to start living again. I was tired of chest pain with no cause and angry boyfriends ruling my life. I wanted my music to have a chance and I worked harder than ever. I also experimented with night life and smoked a cigarette or 2 or 3 and I got a few hangovers. I was a normal 20-something. Finally the homeschooled neurotic girl was kind of fun or I became some version of myself I was meant to be had I not taken some wrong turns or slept with the wrong people. I remember people would say to me “I can’t keep up with her she’s wild” and I was thrilled I had never been particularly fun I had always just been working or isolating myself with some guy. Neither cause helped the other and I had nothing to show for the last few years but I felt alive for the first time since maybe grade school. I let myself be free. One day I ate a friend’s edible and I had what I thought was a traditional panic attack. My heart was racing and I wanted to run away from it. A normal bad reaction to edibles. But my heart hurt for days. I couldn’t keep up with my (tall) boyfriend at the pace we normally walked and it was hard wearing the shoes that I did and I started avoiding the stairs. I was out of breath and in a lot of pain and it kept shooting down my left arm. I went back to my (famous and respected) cardiologist and she said not to come back to the clinic anymore as it was causing her team and myself to falsely believe that my problems were cardiac in nature. Except it turns out that I have heart disease. It took 6 cardiologists and a lot of ER visits to get any answers. I’m a young woman trying to get her life set up and I have heart disease. I hear over and over “it’s not your heart” and the hold muzak playing louder and louder and my boyfriends telling me to stop making up chest pain to get away from their rage and my music manager telling me it was stage fright and my old therapist telling me it would go away if I did the work inside my mind. I have Prinzmetal Angina. It got out of control after a bad car accident and a traumatic and stressful month last December. My coronary arteries were spasming shut and I spent January-June getting a lot of stern looks and speeches about anxiety from doctors and nurses all while I really just needed Calcium Channel Blockers and various forms of Nitroglycerin. I intend to pursue my music and art. I’m in a band and I am not going to change and become the normal picture of chronic illness which generally neuters people. I’m still young and intend to stay in touch with that the best I can. Some days I can take over the world and some days I have to stay in bed and some days I need to go to hospital for extra nitro and morphine. A lot happens behind the scenes I don’t always know how to share on instagram and twitter so I made this blog. I like to share my art in those places which I consider to define me more than how my body is not working. But, it’s a huge part of my experience and I would like somewhere to share it. I don’t normally feel comfortable talking about my bad dating choices and abuse but I think it’s important for people to know that the damage from it can be very real. Prinzmetal Angina was just studied with relationship abuse as being traumatic enough to cause it. I think we downplay how bad abuse hurts us and tell people to just get a grip. Maybe if I had read this when I was younger I would have treated myself differently and chose more carefully who I let near me. I hope you enjoy this blog and take care of your body and appreciate the days you feel free. Xo Joon

[pyreo]

Fixing Incredibles 2: stuff I would do

Hey wanna hear some thoughts on what I’d do to tune up a movie I found slightly disappointing? There’s three main aspects I want to deal with which are

1. badly utilised new supers 2. iffy villain motivation 3. third act was a mess

So here’s a few things I’d wanna do to rework some of that

So first off, that’s a lie, there’s really 5 things that bothered me. this should not have been an immediate sequel where no time had passed. they actually had to backtrack on the character development from the first movie to have them do the same character arcs again. Helen’s back on wanting her kids to stay away from dangerous heroics. Violet’s reward for learning to assert herself, a date with Tony, is erased and she has to win him all over again. Bob, in a weird 180 from his first portrayal where he adored spending time with Violet and Dash during his training montage... suddenly struggles with caring for them, though that’s mostly the fault of Jack-Jack’s powers manifesting. 

So firstly, I’d do what I always imagined the sequel would be and push it a few years forward. Allow it room to change. Have Violet be a college student with Tony as her longterm boyfriend. Have Dash be a teen who’s still eager to save the world, but needing to learn that no danger is better than stopping danger. And make Jack-Jack a child, still in need of supervision but not a total cartoonish liability who necessitates long sequences of adjustment to discovering his powers, again, a retread we already saw last time. Every character arc was a re-do and the constant burden of dealing with Jack-Jack really slowed stuff down. (this was my 5th thing) Fix this by skipping forward. (Also, Violet’s hero moment being... learning that she has to set personal glory aside and babysit Jack-Jack while everyone else does stuff? Are you kidding me?)

We now have a different angle on Helen’s worries - she’s not just concerned about putting her kids in danger. She acts like it, she tells them not to start jumping at the chance to get into heroism. She tells them to apply themselves in school and get normal lives too, in case it doesn’t pan out. But this feels familiar, because it’s what she said in the first movie, and it’s a front. She’s worried about her kids growing up, becoming adults - Violet basically is one - and how she can’t protect them if they move out. She pretends it’s about their powers to cover this. This also refocuses the movie’s main character arc onto Helen like it’s... supposed to be, instead of putting it on Bob’s learning to parent and accept his wife’s super- importance, because despite being framed as Elastigirl’s time to shine, it’s not her story when she doesn’t embody a change of character. It’s still Bob. 

So, those things established:

1. Better villain ideology

Revenge because supers failed to save your parents? Basic. Also not that believable, because the reason the heroes failed to answer Daddy Business’s call is that they’d been outlawed and given new lives as normal people. They could not have come to the rescue; it was illegal. And a superhero enthusiast would have known that. And, hey, ‘criminals shot our dad and then our mother died afterwards of a broken heart’? Are you kidding me? Just have them both get shot, fuck it. Stop this ‘women dying because their man tragically died’ shit. It’s getting melodramatic at that point. 

No criminals, no revenge stuff. Have the Deavor’s parents die when they were in early teens. The brother and sister had to support each other as they started to navigate adulthood. This instilled in them the philosophy that’s common to the type of silicon valley startup wizards they parody - that anyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and be hugely successful if they try hard, having come from orphans near poverty to multimillionaires. 

I want both of them, brother and sister, to be the villains together. You don’t really need to twist that. They both come off as helpful fans who want to put their money to use helping supers get back in the game. After all the biggest complaint keeping supers illegal is the property damage and lawsuits, and what fixes that? Money. They also both believe, as is Evelyn’s motivation for real, that superheroes are actually causing the public to develop dependency on them. 

I would set up the siblings as advocates of Randian objectivism in how they work. They think everyone can go from nothing to having everything. They think it’s a personal imperitive to be hard working, to contribute and make yourself a success, without relying on others. They think needing a safety net - superheroes, as a metaphor for social facilities - is a weakness that stops people from taking responsibility for themselves. I want to downplay the ‘tech company who makes tiny cameras’ thing, because that was far too modern day to fit in the 60s, and make it more about sheer money generation and the ability for the siblings to pay off debts and influence public opinion; essentially, that money can get you anything, glossing over the corrupt nature of that by claiming it’s doing the right thing to help the heroes. 

Winston still had a childlike adoration for supers as a kid, but it was killed when he grew up without parents who couldn’t BE saved, followed by extremely hard work in the financial sector, dealing with stress, and realising that he worked just as hard, but got no media acclaim, as people who just happen to have been born with powers. Both siblings invest in personal security solutions, aiming to eventually reveal a plan to put superheroes out of business by outpacing them with technology. To use the free market to provide ways that normal people can protect themselves, without becoming complacent, relying on dubious, flawed heroes, without becoming blind to danger because they expect to be saved. Their evil motto is basically ‘don’t expect anyone to save you’, putting the burden of responsibility on the individual to take care of themselves and be solely in charge of their success or failure. 

The superheroes, of course, represent altruism, saving people just because they can, just because they were given an ability and can use it to help anyone and anyone they wish. Making no judgements between rich or poor, personal backgrounds, social class... everyone can be saved just the same. 

The villains intend to gain the trust of the three main heroes - Mr Incredible, Elastigirl and Frozone - and push them into good public opinion by funding everything they do or break. Destruction is paid for, claims are settled. Heroes shouldn’t have to worry about it, they say. What they actually intend is for the heroes to become dependent on their company for money, just as they see the public growing dependent on supers instead of taking steps to protect themselves. They will set up a huge, climactic battle in the most expensive part of the city, after the heroes have been encouraged to ignore the financial cost to their feats. Then they’ll withdraw support, burying the trio in horrific debt to a level they cannot recover from, while also pushing a new line of tech solutions to make money off people’s protection. Technically, they want to help people, but they need to make sure the legal battle for supers will finally crush them out of work so they can get the maximum profit from their products. 

2. More cohesive new super team

It’s not that they were bad, I just felt it was jarring after the profiles Syndrome kept on his targets - all supers were completely normal people who happened to have abilities. The new guys were okay, but felt like oddball ideas and out-of-place mutants (the whole point is that supers are being pushed into normal lives and hiding their innate abilities. I dunno how you do that as an owl-man). I would make all the new guys young adults and teenagers. 

One, to point out the reality of the situation with supers. The new blood is going to be young. After what Syndrome did, nearly all adult heroes have been killed. I want to point out that, in order to bring back the idea of superheroism, we have to acknowledge that the ones who are going to do that are a generation down. Elastigirl meets them (we’re keeping Voyd obviously, but they’re all nervous youngsters like her, 15-22 ish). Elastigirl get confronted by her protective instinct - legalising supers means all of these kids going into danger. But, through talking with them, she realises how much it means to them, not having to hide who they are. They’re all like Voyd is. They were all shunned, pushed away, and ultimately hid their powers while feeling like absolute shit for being abnormal. There is a very clear real life allegory here. Helen realises that legalising supers isn’t just about throwing yourself into danger. It’s about allowing people to be who they are, and not shame them for something out of their control. They’re unpractised, they’re ashamed of showing their powers to her, and Helen mentally adopts every single one of them instantly. 

Helen gets a montage of training her super team to understand their powers better. She sees them become more at home with themselves after an early life full of restriction and even self-hatred. It’s not just about being cool, it’s about your identity, and Helen gets that and stops having reservations about legalising supers again. It’s bigger than her family. And the Deavors arrange and fund this, because they want as many heroes implicated as possible, they want both generations of supers wiped out and to never be able to return. Dependency is a crutch they would say, and humanity needs to learn to survive without it. We can keep Screenslaver as the fake villain setting up the big final battle, and we can keep his monologue about dependency on screens as a metaphor, but devolving into a diatribe against the nature of neglecting your personal success by vicariously watching someone else’s. 

3. The third act didn’t fit 

We already don’t have the dead weight of baby JJ crashing the pace of the story. He’s a young child, and we’re going to have Edna watch him (she can love it like she does in the movie, Jack-Jack can find her research enriching too). This time it’s Frozone, Elastigirl and Mr Incredible who get taken by mind control. The siblings are going to stage a fight between all three, pretending that superheroes are unstable, liable to turn on each other at the cost of civilian lives. That should turn the public against them for good, while causing massive amounts of damage. They use the Screenslaver persona to set up a showdown in the city, only to capture the three supers and turn them on each other. 

Not mind controlled? Elastigirl’s recruits. They just barely manage to escape it. They go to get help from their mentor, only to find the supers gone, and Violet and Dash seeing the carnage on TV and getting suited up to find out what’s going on. The kids get an introduction and team up together, heading off to stop their teacher and parents, new blood vs old guard. 

That results in six or seven barely trained supers going up against three extremely experienced ones, while they also have to try to minimise loss of life and property damage. While dealing with the trauma, for Violet and Dash, of being attacked by their own parents and not knowing why. Also, they get backup from Honey. Frozone’s wife. SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THIS MOVIE. She was designed and then cut and that’s a TRAVESTY. She’s already popular, she was a breakout hit, let her be in this. She steps forward, no powers, regular civilian clothes, and helps the kids out with advice from the ground, picking them up when they fall, and huge vocal encouragement. She kicks ass because that’s what she fucking does. She helps direct the crowds to safety, she tells these kids to look at their super suits and believe in what they’re capable of. And it’s her who snags Frozone after his powers get strategically rebuffed, she grabs him and grabs his goggles off and fixes it herself. 

With another adult on their side and better confidence the new supers manage to pull Elastigirl and Mr Incredible back to reality too, which concludes Helen’s anxiety about their capability and the passing of the torch. They did it, they were responsible - there’s no casualties and with all their powers combined, they managed to avert damage better than Helen and Bob ever did. The adults realise that the kids can be trusted to handle heroism and Helen is super proud of her trainees-slash-children. 

That leaves the actual capture of the villains, which comes down to running from the combined might of all the supers who gradually cut down their ability to escape, culminating in Winston stopping Evelyn from getting away, and having a personal realisation. A resurgence of the boyish glee he once had for heroes stopping the villains. He foils his sister and turns both of them in, willingly, in a weird way fulfilling his dream of saving the day like his idols did. 

To round off, thanks to the rehabilitated (and not sabotaged) hero image, and the display of capability the young supers put on, supers are legalised again. Helen and Bob now work as teachers to the kids as part of a new government program to make sure kids with powers learn how to responsibly control them, Helen of course continuing her role as mentor to her massive new family, and Bob finally able to work without restraining himself. The government agrees that encouraging kids to train properly and learn how to avoid risk and costly situations is worth endorsing. Dash befriends some of the other teens in the supergroup and has friends he can push his abilities with, without it being unfair. 

Finally, it’s time for Violet to move out, because things must move on. Helen, Bob and Frozone (who gets an updated suit because come on) are accepting that they’ll eventually they’ll have to let others take their place. Violet’s going to move in with Tony and get a normal job, because she still yearns for a normal lifestyle underneath it all, but she won’t be far away and can always answer the call to join the family in the field. They all bid her farewell (”Finally maybe I can get some peace without Dash bursting into my room-” “I can run to your apartment in one minute 28 seconds, I checked!!”) but Helen isn’t worried any more, because she has renewed faith in how well her children have grown up and is accepting they don’t need has as much any more. And besides, she has tons more children who need her too and it’s up to her to help them find their true potential. 

Thanks for reading this way too long exercise in figuring out what I wanted from the sequel to one of my favourite films in the world... the original Incredibles was centred around heroes also just being human, who make mistakes and have to grow up and change, and the villain’s fanboy mentality was the antithesis to that. I would’ve wanted a sequel that understood the message of its predecessor in that people have to develop and grow, one aspect of which is letting go, but what we actually got seemed too static and unwilling to move away from what we had already resolved in the first one.

[iliketowrite1996]

Loose Ends 9

Trigger Warnings and Themes- mentions of having kids, implied sexual themes but nothing directly stated, mentions of womanizing past.

Three months. That’s how long you and T’Challa have officially been together. Three months.

Ninety-two days. Through Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year’s and right back into the new semester.

That’s also the amount of time that you’ve been keeping your budding romance with the handsome, fine, attractive, cute, beautiful, smart, funny man a secret from Deanna, because she would totally flip if she knew that not only where you giving him a real chance, but you’ve fallen for the same exact lines he’s used on countless other women.

So, you’re always on the lookout, always on the defense. You make sure to make time for her, school, yourself, and T’Challa. And it’s a struggle, because sometimes she wants to know why you’re daydreaming or just how it took you and T’Challa five hours to work on one, five-page report together when you laid everything out and all you had to do was type it. So, you’re always careful, going to places you know she doesn’t frequent in our new destination until you’re ready to tell her. There’s no room for error when you’re trying to keep this thing a secret, and you and T’Challa have taken great care not to make any. Until today. See, you’re at the coffee shop. You’re leaning into T’Challa’s side, backpains him as his arm wraps around you. You’re cuddled up to this man as the two of you use his laptop to catch up on your favorite show, binge-watching the fourteenth episode of the series. Your cups sit behind the computer as you munch on pastries that T’Challa purchased himself, knowing how much you love the croissants. And it’s fine, it’s great, it’s beautiful. It’s the type of relationship you wanted years ago before you got hurt, and nothing could ruin it. Until you see Deanna stalking over, holding her own cup of coffee in her hand and tossing her straightened hair over her shoulder. She’s got a blank look on her face, and that can only mean one thing. You, my friend, are in deep crap. ‘’Hey, friend,’’ Deanna looks to you before looking to your boyfriend, ‘’T’Challa.’’ ‘’Hey, Deanna,’’ T’Challa speaks before looking to you. ‘’Deanna, I can explain.’’ ‘’No, no, no need to. I mean, hey, there must be some reason that you two are together,’’ Deanna shrugs like it’s no big deal, but you know that, to her, it most definitely is. ‘’Deanna, I- ‘’ ‘’I’m going back to the dorm. I’ll see you when you’re done with your date that you didn’t tell me about,’’ Deanna says solemnly, turning on her heel and heading out of the coffee shop. ‘’Let me guess,’’ T’Challa sighs, shutting his laptop, ‘’Date night is over?’’ ‘’So over,’’ you groan, ‘’I’ve got to do damage control. I’ll see you tomorrow to finish working on our project. ‘’Of course, entle,’’ T’Challa stands, pressing a kiss to your lips before gathering your things an his so that he can walk you back to the dorms. When you arrive, Deanna is sitting on her own bed, laptop open as she does research on the school system where you all are now. ‘’Deanna.’’ ‘’Hey,’’ she says shortly.,

‘’Can’t talk. Busy.’’ ‘’You weren’t supposed to find out about me and T’Challa that way.’’’ ‘’Because I wasn’t supposed to find out about it at all, right,’’ she smiles with faux sweetness. ‘’I thought you said you were going to let me live my life’s our raise an eyebrow, remembering her words from only a few months ago. ‘’I thought you weren’t going to fall for the same phrases that he has used on every single girl here, except for me and Maddie?’’ You narrow your eyes at her, hurt that your best friend would try to downplay your relationship with T’Challa, your happiness, and the fact that you might’ve found the love of your life while studying abroad. ‘’You know what I think?’’ ‘’What,’’ Deanna questions, writing something down in her notebook. ‘’I think you’re jealous of me.’’ Deanna’s head snaps up to meet you and her eyes are burning holes into you. A line has been crossed, and you are fully aware of that. There’s no going back. Because words can’t be taken back once it’s said. DEANNA Deanna has always thoguth of herself as fiercely loyal. She can remember getting into fights with people for her older brother. He wasn’t exactly the coolest and people thought themselves better. Deanna let her words do the talking most days, but sometimes her fists interjected into the conversation. Then there’s you. You’re her best friend and she’ dhate to see you hurt. Theat’s why she warned you to steer clear of T’Challa whenyuo first began to date him. Sure, she was abit jealous that the cute boy showedyou attention, but that was easy to get over. What would not have been so easy to digest would have been her guilt had she mnot warned you about the College Casanova that you’ve come to begin flalin in love with.

So when you accuse her of tryingto keep you away from T’Challa because you’re ‘’jealous’’ ? It hurts. Deeply. And she tells you so. Four days later when you two are talking again. ‘’I’ve seen the mess of broken hearts that T’Challa has left behind. I would just hate for that to happen to you.’’ She’s sincere with her words, and you know it. Deanna is not the kind of person to just say something to appease you. In the nearly a year that you’ve known her, it’s always been the case. So when she tells you that,f or you, she’s going to give T’Challa a chance, you believe her. And she’s happy about that. But Deanna is also someone that sticks to her word, so this means that she’s actually going to have to get to know T’Challa better to gie him a chance. That, she is not happy about. Which is why, one month later, when you, T’Challa, and Deanna are all out for dinner, she puts forth her best effort into liking him. That doesn’t make it any easier. Especially when T’Challa is looking at you with hose same. Hooded eyes he used to look at Taylor and Lacey and Vivian, and, literally, every other girl with. He bites his lip when you leave the table to go to the restroom, admiring the view of you leaving. He turns back to Deanna when he realizes he just ogled her best friend in front of her, and he at least has the decency to look slightly ashamed. ‘’I don’t like you,’’ she tells him plainly. ‘’I mean, I can not say that I enjoy your company very much either,’’ T’Challa shrugs. ‘’Glad we see eye-to-eye. Now that that’s out of the way, I will say this. You do make her happy. I just want to know how much of it is actual effort and how much of it is you pulling old tricks on a new girl.’’ ‘’Deanna,’’ T’Challa leans forward, ‘’I thought that you were going to make more of an effort to stay out of our business, dear?’’ ‘’T’Challa,’’ she leans in, ‘’I thought you had actually changed. That’s what your girlfriend seems to think, at least. I’d hate to be wrong.’’ ‘’You do not know what you are talking about,’’ T’Challa shakes his head, ‘’I feel something different for her.’’ ‘’Haven’t you said that about every girl on this study abroad trip,’’ Deanna raises a dark, thick eyebrow. ‘’It is different this time.’’ ‘’Oh, and how so?’’ ‘’Because I actually went out and bought her this.’’ With that, T’Challa takes a small, blue, velvet box out of his picket, sliding it across the table to Deanna. Inside of it is a ring, and T’Challa knows that if he does not explain right now, Deanna is going to absolutely yell at him. ‘’It is not an engagement ring. It is a promise ring. I want to marry her someday. I really, really do. But I am going back to Wakanda right before graduation and I would like her to have this. A little piece of me.’’ ‘’T’Challa….’’ And, just like that, Deanna is speechless for once in her life. ‘’Do you think that she will like it? I’ve given promise rings before, but… this is actually real. I want this. I see my future in her eyes.’’ The way he speaks is so sincere. In his eyes, Deanna can see just how much this man loves you. Here he is, changing himself just to prove that he is worthy of being with you. That is why she slides the ing back across to him when she sees you leaving the restroom, and why they are sharing a secret smile when you return to the table. ‘’Did I miss something,’’ you joke. ‘’No, not much. T’Challa and I were just having a pretty good conversation,’’ Deanna explains. You decide to leave it at that, because this seems to be going well. You want to know just what they talked about, but they are getting along right now. SO that will have to be conversation for another day. That day ends up being the next night, whe you and T’Challa re out at dinner. You’re wearing that knee length,black, long sleeve dress that he loves you in. He is wearing a black suit, looking as dapper as ever. ‘’T’Challa, you look like a model. I don’t know what I’m going to do until we get back to your dorm room.’’ ‘’You’re going to be patient,’’ he chuckles, ‘’My roommate is out for the evening, yet again. So we’ll have nothing but time.’’ You ponder that all through the dinner, struggling to keep your mind on the moment and not the near future. But T’Challa is all about he future with you and making sure you know just what he wants.

So that’s why, in between dinner and desert, T’Challa gets on one knee,ring in his hand. ‘’T’Challa, what are you-‘’ ‘’It is a promise ring. Your eyes are so wide, I’m sorry I scared you. But this is just me promising you that, one day, should you have me, I intend to be in this exact same position. With an engagement ring. Do you accept?’’ Tears are clouding your vision. Had anyone told you this time last year that you’d fall for the boy who made it his mission to flit and fall into bed wht every single woman, you’d roll your eyes and shake your head. But here you are, accepting his future proposal and his current proposal as the restaurant brings you a free dessert, unaware of the fact that this was just a step towards an actual engagement. You’ll laugh about that later in bed tonight, when T’Challa is absent-mindedly rubbing patterns into the bare skin of your back. ‘’I love you.’’ ‘’I love you, too.’’ You were the first to say it. It took away the safety net, three months ago, and you’ve been freefalling with T’Challa ever since. ‘’Did you mean it , what you said at the restaurant, or where you trying to get a free dessert.’’ ‘’Both,’’ T’Challa admits, to which you both laugh, ‘’Yes, entle, I see a future with you.’’ You turn so you can stare into his eyes, nand he’s watching you with hat same goofy grin that he had you leaving his place with so many months ago. ‘’I can not wait to marry you, my love. I will give you the world. And I know that these are words that I’ve said before, but I truly mean them with you. I can see us living I Wakanda, should you choose to see this through with me. In a big… house. Like, a palace. I want us to have kids and a dog and whatever your heart desire, truly.’’ With that, you press your lips to his. It’s almost like a seal on the future- I promise that you want those things, too. That’s why, three months later, when he’s headed back to Wakanda, your cheeks are tear-stained and you’re racking your brain on how saying goodbye to someone that you’ll be seeing again in just two months could be so hard.

“Shh, please do not cry,” T’Challa cradles your face in his hands, pressing a kiss to your forehead. It is the day before graduation and he is on the first flight back to Wakanda.

“I don’t know why I’m being like this,” you laugh through a sniffle, wiping your eyes.

“Because you’re gonna miss my hot body,” T’Challa chuckles when you roll your eyes at his statement, “Do not dare be ashamed of your emotions and do not kiss me too much. I am only a phone call or a letter away. And you have my ring now. There is always going to be a piece of me with you.”

It isn’t until T’Challa is back in Wakanda and you have crossed that stage and officially graduated that you learn just how true that is.

Deanna is sitting across from you, looking at you when a mixture of pity, sadness, and genuine fear. You’re staring at her with the same expression.

Because sitting in your tub is a pregnancy test.

A positive one at that.

“Look, girl, T’Challa loves you. He is crazy about you. So maybe, just maybe, you need to tell him now.”

You know she’s right but it’s so hard. It takes everything in you to pick up the phone.

It takes even more not to throw it as soon as it starts ringing. “He loves me. We’ve got this. “

You and T’Challa said you’d have kids together.

That day just came sooner than you both expected.

So as the phone rings and you wait for him to pick up, you do your best to calm yourself.

Because you’ve already made up your mind- you’re telling him about the baby.

And come what may, he will help you deal with whatever life throws your way.

Disclaimer- I do not own any Marvel characters or their fictional worlds, countries or cities.

@ashanti-notthesinger​ @destinio1​ @afraiddreamingandloving @starsshines-blog​ @airis-paris14​ @syreanne​ @chaneajoyyy​ @90sinspiredgirl​ @shemiahsmelanin @zillmonger @skysynclair19 @bidibidibombaclaat @marvelpotterlove @constantlycravingtheunknown @imaginewhoever @wakanda-inspired @pocmarvelworks @theunsweetenedtruth @dreampovx @adrioola21

[aion-rsa]

Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Reactions Expose the Horrors of Fan Entitlement

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

While the community response to the recent Activision Blizzard harassment lawsuit filed by the state of California has been largely supportive, this incident also sadly serves as the latest reminder that fan entitlement is capable of hijacking far more meaningful conversations.

In case you missed it, the state of California recently filed a lawsuit against game publisher/developer Activision Blizzard following a two-year investigation into the company’s practices and policies. I highly recommend that you read the full investigation report or one of the many excellent breakdowns of that investigation that have since been published, but the very short explanation of this situation is that Activision Blizzard is being accused of fostering a work environment that is beyond horrifying. Since the initial findings of that investigation have been published, numerous current and former Activision Blizzard employees have stepped forward to support these claims and share their own, similar stories.

Recently, over 2,000 Activision Blizzard employees signed a letter directed to the company’s management which is intended to both share their support for their fellow employees as well as call out Activision Blizzard executives for their response (and, in some cases, lack of response) to this situation. The letter specifically names Activision Blizzard Chief Compliance Officer Frances Townsend who recently sent an email in which she downplayed the validity of these investigations and stated that “we cannot let egregious actions of others, and a truly meritless and irresponsible lawsuit, damage our culture of respect and equal opportunity for all employees.” The letter calls for Townsend to step down as Executive Sponsor of the ABK Employee Women’s Network.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

This letter isn’t the only way that Activision Blizzard employees have recently responded to management and these investigations, though. A recent report suggests that the Overwatch team is delaying the release of future content in response to this situation, while another report notes that work on World of Warcraft has pretty much stopped at the moment for the same reason. The Hearthstone team also recently decided to delay their final card reveal stream for the game’s upcoming United in Stormwind expansion. When asked why the team made the decision to delay the reveal, Hearthstone‘s developer Dean “Iksar” Ayala stated that “having any celebration is a hard sell right now” and that “our focus has been on supporting each other and planning action for how we can make our work a better place for everyone.”

A recent report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier also reveals that Activision Blizzard employees have even organized a formal strike in response to this situation.

Collective action in the North American video game industry is rare because there are no unions. A representative for the Activision Blizzard employee group organizing the strike tells Bloomberg they have not discussed unionizing

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 27, 2021

Again, it does seem that many fans understand the reasons behind these actions and support them just as they support the Activision Blizzard employees who are going through something incredibly difficult (and, in many cases, may have been for quite some time). However, a tragically vocal group of gamers who call themselves fans of Activision Blizzard games have also been registering their disappointment that Activision Blizzard employees have decided to delay updates for those games in response to this matter. In some cases, those “fans” have even begun to target members of the company on social media. We will not be amplifying those specific voices for hopefully obvious reasons, but Activision Blizzard employees are starting to respond to these recent reactions.

Many of those upset at Activision Blizzard for these delays tend to fall back on the same series of arguments. They say that they’re being punished for what happened at the company and that Activision Blizzard’s employees are being unprofessional by delaying this content as part of their response. Some just say that they do not care about all this internal “drama” and just want to play these games.

Many of you reading this undoubtedly already know that these objections are morally wrong, but since we seem to be talking about a group of gamers who are unable or unwilling to process basic empathy and understanding, let’s instead take a page out of their book for a moment and focus on the games.

For too long, the video game industry has enjoyed a veil of anonymity that allows them to easily hide the human cost of games. While “crunch” is the biggest example of this tragic industry standard, it has to be said that even some of the most prolific and successful video game creators in the history of the industry often do not get to enjoy the recognition afforded to creators in other mediums. Too often, individuals in the video game industry are only afforded an identity when something goes wrong.

As we’re seeing right now, one of the most consistent problems with that approach is that too many gamers don’t associate games with the people who make them. That obviously leads to the dehumanization of video game industry employees, but it also means that some fans fail to understand how working conditions such as those described in this Activision Blizzard investigation can directly lead to the botched launch of Warcraft 3 Reforged, World of Warcraft‘s recent struggles, Hearthstone‘s consistency issues, and the loss of notable employees who are not as easily replaceable as Blizzard sometimes seems to think that too many of their employees are. As has been the case since this investigation was published, though, Activision Blizzard’s own employees are describing the extent of this problem better than most.

Activision’s response to this is currently taking a group of world-class developers and making them so mad and traumatized they’re rendered unable to keep making a great game.

— Jeff Hamilton (@JeffAHamilton) July 25, 2021

That’s the thing I’ll never understand. There’s a level of ignorance piled atop this fundamentally inhuman argument that doesn’t even make sense if you’re looking at this from a purely selfish perspective.

The quality of some of Blizzard’s games over the last few years has been in decline, and many of those games’ fans have not hesitated to voice their frustrations about that decline. Now that the curtain has been pulled back and we see just what those employees have been having to deal with atop those often hostile fan reactions, this should, at the very least, be a moment to put the pieces together and understand that too many Activision Blizzard employees have been forced to work in conditions that make it nearly impossible for them to do their jobs effectively and still feel like human beings.

Instead, we have a group of gamers acting like neckbeard Veruca Salts by looking at this information and deciding to cry out “Don’t care how, we want it now.”

When we talk about fan entitlement, the conversation is often focused on reactions to shows like Masters of the Universe: Revelation or movies like Star Wars: The Last Jedi where some fans feel like they’ve been creatively denied the storylines, characters, and moments they think they deserved. As we’re seeing in this instance, though, fan entitlement is rarely ever about people concerned about the quality of a product, no matter how much they say that’s what it’s about. It’s really about their inability to understand and emphasize with so many of the members of various creative industries and understand that there are humans at the heart of these products who need, if not your support, then your understanding, especially when it comes to these matters that keep them from just doing the jobs that these people claim they should be doing.

Fan entitlement isn’t about actual fans; it’s about entitlement.

The post Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Reactions Expose the Horrors of Fan Entitlement appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[thegloober]

The Unlikely Warrior Fighting for Men’s Room Baby Changing Tables

When Donte Palmer posted a photo of himself in a men’s restroom, squatting down awkwardly, toddler splayed on his lap as he struggled to change him, the 31-year-old father of three wanted to make a point: men’s restrooms need to have the proper facilities so fathers can change diapers without having to suffer the demeaning act of squatting to balance them. He made that point — and he also started a movement. Palmer’s Instagram photo, which was taken by his 12-year-old son Isaiah, received thousands of likes; Palmer himself received messages of thanks from more than 10,000 other dads frustrated by the same situation. Realizing a universal need to spread the word about the lack of changing tables in men’s restrooms, he began the hashtag #SquatForChange so more businesses will add tables to their facilities. It caught on because, surprise surprise, fathers don’t want to feel like second-class parents. Now, Palmer is looking at starting a non-profit to continue spreading the word. We caught up with Palmer and spoke to him about fatherhood, changing tables, and the importance of the #SquatForChange movement.

So why did you decide to post the photo? Did you intend to get the response that you got?

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Initially, the picture was posted just to get a reaction from my family and my friends. The next morning I woke up and other sources had started to pick up the story. It overwhelmed me, initially. There were so many emails and text messages and phone calls. So many messages! There was a lot of support around the nation and around the world. People were saying, “Hey, we are listening to you and supporting you.” It was one of those things where I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t even want the attention. But it was a platform my wife and I talked about. We knew it was an issue. She said I should step into it, that I’m already a father, already a mentor. She wanted me to step into that role, and that’s where we came up with #SquatForChange. I just decided to push for it. This is something that needs to be addressed.

Would you say that putting changing tables in men’s restrooms is your primary goal?

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Initially, it was. That’s still the cause, that’s why we created #SquatForChange. But it’s deeper than that. This is about our fight for equitable rights. It’s a fight to shed the gender boxes that society has placed on men, making us the protectors and providers, and on women, that they’re stay-at-home home moms, raising the baby. We want to shed that box. We want to say, we are the ones who warm bottles. Women can go to work and be the breadwinner of the house, financially, too. We just want to shred all of those stereotypical gender boxes and say, ‘Let’s do this together.’

In some ways, you’re fighting for dads to also be seen as primary caregivers, instead of the ‘babysitter’ or whatever lazy jokes people make about dads.

Absolutely. There are times where I even get upset when my wife beats me to the daycare! I look forward to that stuff. I just think, society has pushed us into these roles, where we have to be these masculine and strong, non-caring men. But we’re more than that. It’s a joy for me to walk into my son’s daycare and he hear him yell “Daddy.” I look forward to those moments. Fathers around the world, we may disagree on a lot of things, but one thing we can agree on is our love for our children. That’s powerful to me.

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The support has been overwhelming, but some people are saying that the message is forgetting that moms have it tough, too. What do you think about that, the people criticizing your message?

I take it with a grain of salt. For the negative comments, I typically stay away from those. At the end of the day, it’s a great cause that I’m fighting for: to put changing tables in men’s restrooms so we can have a sanitary place to change our babies. This argument has never been to downplay or downgrade what women do, because like I say all the time, I’m married to a superhero. I learned how to be a parent from her, I learned how to be a mentor from her. She taught me how to be a better man. Women give birth to nations. We’re just fighting for equitable rights for fathers. We just want to change the narrative around fatherhood, around the world.

Aside from changing the way that people think about fathers, and about the fight for changing tables, what does #SquatForChange mean to you?

Squat is pretty much, sitting against the wall, doing a squat, with our babies in our laps. We will keep doing this, and we will keep changing our babies that way, until that change comes. It’s just a sign of protest, where fathers are getting highlighted.

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So what are the next steps for the movement?

I have a team of advisors now. We’re trying to create something to keep pushing the narrative. So it might look like a nonprofit, aimed at making the world understand that changing diapers is a man thing, too. Hopefully, and potentially, a big corporation would love to stand behind us and assist us with this stuff. Some celebrities have reached out to us saying they want to help. I can’t give too many specifics because it’s still in the really early stages, but with the changing tables comes a lot of stuff. We could do a program to support fathers, to support step fathers. There are so many things we can do with Squat for Change. Representing pure, positive relationships with our children is the beauty of it all. Fathers come from all different areas of life; different cultures, different backgrounds. The one thing we can all agree on is being a father. That, to me, is pure gold. That’s why squat for change is strong, and definitely trying to build it out, so we can keep pushing forward.

Source: https://bloghyped.com/the-unlikely-warrior-fighting-for-mens-room-baby-changing-tables/

[battybat-boss]

Texas Mom Blamed for Baby's Accidental Gardasil Vaccine Injuries Fights to Get Medically Kidnapped Daughter Back

Anita Vasquez: My baby is depending on us to do what's right & bring her home. #BringAniyaHome #STOPMEDICALKIDNAPPING #PRAYBIG Photo supplied by family.

by Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff

The Gardasil vaccine is not intended to be given to children under 9 years of age and has not been studied in babies. It is a vaccine developed for sexually active young women to prevent the human papillomavirus and cervical cancer. In recent years, it has been given to teen-age boys as well. It is perhaps the most controversial vaccine in America and around the world today. (See: America's Vaccine Civil War: Will Negative News on Gardasil Turn the Tide in 2018?)

Yet when a 4 month old baby in Texas was mistakenly given the shot intended for her teenage brother, her mother has been blamed for causing the symptoms that followed.

Everywhere Anita Vasquez turned for answers for little Aniya's condition, it seemed that no one she talked to was willing to make the obvious connection between the vaccine and her illness. In the effort to cover-up or deny any effects of the medical error, a family is being sacrificed.

In a cruel twist of irony, the fact that Anita refuses to give up her quest for answers and the fact that she has medical knowledge (because she is a nurse by trade) is being viewed as “evidence” that she has Munchausen syndrome by proxy (or “factitious disorder”) – a rare mental disorder by which someone, usually a parent, intentionally makes a child sick in order to gain attention.

Baby Aniya was seized by Child Protective Services on May 2, 2017, and placed into foster care with strangers.

Her big brother has struggled with blaming himself ever since. He loves his baby sister very much.

In the latest development in their story, CPS social workers have cut off all of 14 year old Alfred's visits with Aniya.

The Vasquez family just wants to be a family again, but CPS appears to be blaming everyone except the most likely culprit – the vaccine that she never should have received, the vaccine that she was mistakenly given right before her symptoms started.

See their original story:

Infant Accidentally Vaccinated with Gardasil – Mother Blamed for Vaccine Injuries and Baby Medically Kidnapped

Medical Records Show Possible Diagnosis, Downplayed by Social Worker

Like many parents whose children have been medically kidnapped, Anita Vasquez has had a difficult time getting her child's medical records.

Once Aniya was taken into state custody, her mother has been denied access to her medical records. She has been in the dark about any of her baby's labwork, medications, and visits to the doctor or hospital.

After court on Monday, January 22, 2018, Anita says that the CPS attorney finally gave her a CD containing most, but not all, of Aniya's medical records.

She was stunned to see that there was a diagnosis a full 6 months ago of “partial adrenal insufficiency.” This was written in her charts as a diagnosis in July, and Aniya was later prescribed corticosteroids for the condition.

This information has been kept from her until now, and Anita says that it explains all of Aniya's symptoms that she experienced since receiving the Gardasil 9 vaccine: low sodium, fatigue, lethargy, weakness, weight loss, decreased appetite, dehydration, and polyuria (increased urination). These were symptoms that formed the basis for her removal from her family by CPS.

Child removals devastate the whole family. Photo supplied by family.

Aniya not only received the Gardasil shot on December 29, 2017, she also got the pneumococcal vaccine, an oral dose of the rotavirus vaccine, and Pediarix, a combination of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and polio vaccines. Thus, Aniya received a total of 8 vaccines at once. This young baby received a very large dose of not only inactivated viruses, but also other ingredients such as mercury and aluminum which are contained in vaccines as preservatives.

Because Gardasil has not been studied in children under 9, there are no studies to show the possible side effects and dangers of the shot in babies. There is no scientific data to indicate whether or not adrenal insufficiency could be caused by the vaccine.

Adrenal insufficiency has, however, been seen in teens and adults following the administration of the vaccine. There is a very real possibility of a link, but it has not been researched.

Courtney and her mother explain how the Gardasil vaccine destroyed Courtney's life.

Courtney is a teenager who received one Gardasil shot, and her life was forever changed. Her mother, who is also a nurse, wrote:

After Courtney's appointment with the pediatric endocrinologist, he felt it was possible that her adrenal glands were not functioning correctly.

He ordered additional blood on Courtney. This blood work showed Courtney supposedly had “Adrenal Insufficiency” which means her adrenal glands were not working correctly.

The endocrinologist said they were seeing more teens being diagnosed with this in the last several years.

I asked if he felt it was tied to Gardasil since teens are now receiving this vaccine, he said he wasn't sure but definitely thought it was worth looking into and keeping track of.

My daughter was placed on steroids and it was hoped that this would improve the situation. This condition is also considered life threatening if she were to become very ill or in an accident etc.

After months of treatment and searching for answers, she went to the Mayo clinic:

On the last day at MAYO when we met with the endocrinologist, he felt Courtney was misdiagnosed with Adrenal Insufficiency and was now truly adrenal insufficient after having been placed on high doses of steroids.

He recommended we see a new endocrine doctor at Kansas University Medical Center when we went back to Kansas and for her to be tapered off her steroids.

He felt her adrenal glands would wake back up.

Then we met with her case doctor, she diagnosed Courtney with “Autonomic Dysfunction”.

This is a neurologic disease that they are also seeing more of. She has been placed on a high salt diet, drinking a lot of fluids especially water, placed on an exercise regime, and she takes a prescription for this 3 times daily.

They feel she “should” grow out of this but aren't sure at what age.

They too aren't sure “why” she has this disease! She was a normal, healthy teen girl with mild asthma that was controlled. She was outgoing, happy, loving girl with straight “A's” in school.

She was full of life UNTIL she received her first and only Gardasil vaccine and this is a decision I regret every second of every day – if only I could turn back the clock!

See Courtney's story:

Gardasil: The Decision I will Always Regret

There are certainly similarities between Courtney's case and Aniya's, including the high salt diet, dehydration, and the denial of medical professionals to connect the decline in health to the Gardasil vaccine.

In the medical records that Anita Vasquez recently received, she found that on 9/11, a doctor prescribed Aniya hydrocortizone, a steroid, for 3 times a day. This is a recognized protocol for treating adrenal insufficiency, along with a diet high in salt. Aniya had that as well.

Anita questioned the CPS case worker Megan Morales about the medications that she saw prescribed, and her responses do not add up to Anita. The case worker said that they did a test for adrenal insufficiency, and that she passed it.

They gave her medicine in case she was to get sick. However, she did not get sick so the medication was not needed.

Why would a doctor prescribe a medication that was not needed? More importantly, does she or doesn't she have adrenal insufficiency?

While a mother is being blamed and a family torn apart, the doctors who are seeing Aniya don't seem to have a definitive answer for her condition.

Even if they want to underplay the role of the vaccine, there is clearly something that has been wrong with Aniya. She wouldn't have been diagnosed with, or suspected of having, adrenal insufficiency if there were not something very real going on with her.

Blaming the mother and taking the baby away from the family seems a very poor way of addressing their inability to come to a conclusion about what is causing the child's symptoms.

Social workers have not communicated with Anita about doctor appointments or medical treatment, in what may be an attempt to hide her medical condition.

The baby was clearly not feeling well when the family visited her for her birthday on August 4.

Grandma Mary on Aniya's first birthday. Photo supplied by family.

Anita knew that the foster parents took her baby to the emergency room last October on a Sunday evening. The visit the next day was cancelled. All that Anita was told that her baby was running a fever but tested negative for strep and flu.

Now that she has the medical records, it is clear that Aniya was more than a little bit sick that day, with a temperature of 104.3, pulse of 170, and blood pressure of 137/83. Other vital signs were off as well, indicating that she was definitely sick.

Social workers have reportedly communicated to the court that Aniya got better once she was out of her mother's care – something that is seen as definitive evidence of Munchausen by proxy.

Clearly, according to the limited medical records that Anita has received, that is not the case.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy – A Convenient Diagnosis

At Health Impact News, we have noted that virtually every case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MBP) that we have investigated is, in actuality, a case of medical malpractice or vaccine injury that is being covered up by labeling the mother with MBP. A hospital or medical professional cannot be sued for malpractice if the child is no longer in the parent's custody.

In this case, a medical mistake was clearly made. A doctor gave the baby a vaccine that was not intended for her. There is no question about that fact.

The denial of responsibility comes in as doctor after doctor has denied any connection between the mysterious symptoms that only began after the shot and the administration of the shot.

In an apparent attempt to avoid culpability, the mother has been vilified.

Dr. Marc Feldman, considered to be one of the world's leading authorities on MBP, told us in 2014 that the diagnosis can be conveniently used to get parents out of the way. (See article.)

Whether it is a parent who is making waves, questioning a medication or procedure, asking for a second opinion, or simply disagreeing with the doctor, a label of MBP shuts all of that down.

If a parent questions and seeks out answers, that parent can be victimized by the system, and their child can be taken by the cooperative efforts of CPS and the hospital.

According to Dr. Feldman, the very fact that a mother protests and defends herself and her child is perceived as a further indication of her guilt. It is a lose/lose scenario, he says.

According to Dr. Helen Hayward-Brown, a medical anthropologist from Australia, the criteria for diagnosing MBP are prejudicial. The profile criteria “lacks scientific credibility” and “is being used by medical practitioners to hastily condemn women.”

In a paper entitled, “False and Highly Questionable Allegations of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy,” which Dr. Hayward-Brown presented to the 7th Australasian Child Abuse and Neglect Conference in Perth, she lists behaviors that are listed among the diagnostic criteria for MBP and shows how these could actually apply to any normal, innocent parent, especially one with a medically complex child.

Dr. Hayward-Brown was interviewed by host Tammi Stefano of the National Safe Child show to discuss how MBP is used against parents to take children away from them, comparing MBP to a “witch hunt.” Watch the interview:

Anita Vasquez is a normal mom whose child began showing signs of vaccine injury after receiving a vaccine that is not intended for babies – a vaccine that has been implicated in the deaths and injuries of more young people than any other vaccine since its introduction in 2006. (Source.)

Because she persisted in advocating for her child and because she knows medical terminology, she has been assigned a label designed to keep her from her child.

The very things that make her a good mom are being used against her.

Big Brother Can No Longer Visit

In another cruel twist to their story, Aniya's big brother Alfred has been banned by CPS from visiting her.

Alfred, who is now 14, has blamed himself for his baby sister getting the shot that was intended for him. He wants to be the protective big brother, but he is helpless to save his sister. There is nothing he can do about the situation.

(He got the Gardasil 9 vaccine as well. While the doctor's staff was calling Merck about the baby getting the shot by mistake, one of the staff went back into the room where Alfred was and made sure to give him “his” shot.)

Alfred has enjoyed spending time with his sister at visits, and he adores her.

Alfred and his little sister at a recent visit. Photo supplied by family.

A couple weeks ago, Anita says that she got an odd text from the social worker accusing her son of pinching and poking Aniya during a visit – something that she says didn't happen. If it had, she asserts, surely the CPS people would have said something during the visit or stopped the visit.

This has been very difficult on the teen, who has had to adjust to having his sister being sick and being medically kidnapped, as well as the normal teenage adjustments. According to Anita:

This has just wrecked his world.

Anita Talks to Vaxxed Team

Recently Anita Vasquez shared her family's story with Tia Sevarino from the Vaxxed team.

What Now? Mother Seeks Help

Anita has been working hard to raise money for attorney's fees by making and selling menudo, a spicy Mexican soup. She has begun working with renowned attorney Allison Folmar.

During court on January 22, the judge denied the motion for continuance to give the new attorney more time to prepare the case. There was a public defender on the case, but the judge removed him.

Anita had petitioned for the state to pay the fees for her expert witnesses, but he denied that as well. Because of her fundraising efforts, he says that she is not indigent. She will have to raise more money to pay for experts to testify unless she can find qualified experts who will waive their fee.

He's making me depend on donations to pay for experts.

There will be a jury trial in civil court on March 5.

There is a Facebook page set up to follow Aniya's story called Justice for Aniya.

Greg Abbott is the Governor of Texas. He may be reached at (512) 463-2000 or by contacting him here.

Representative Geanie W. Morrison represents the Vasquez family's district. She may be reached at (512) 463-0456 or contacted here.

Lois Kolkhort is the Senator for their district. She may be reached at (512) 463-0118 or contacted here.

Comment on this article at MedicalKidnap.com.

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[lopezdorothy70-blog]

Texas Mom Blamed for Baby's Accidental Gardasil Vaccine Injuries Fights to Get Medically Kidnapped Daughter Back

Anita Vasquez: My baby is depending on us to do what's right & bring her home. #BringAniyaHome #STOPMEDICALKIDNAPPING #PRAYBIG Photo supplied by family.

by Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff

The Gardasil vaccine is not intended to be given to children under 9 years of age and has not been studied in babies. It is a vaccine developed for sexually active young women to prevent the human papillomavirus and cervical cancer. In recent years, it has been given to teen-age boys as well. It is perhaps the most controversial vaccine in America and around the world today. (See: America's Vaccine Civil War: Will Negative News on Gardasil Turn the Tide in 2018?)

Yet when a 4 month old baby in Texas was mistakenly given the shot intended for her teenage brother, her mother has been blamed for causing the symptoms that followed.

Everywhere Anita Vasquez turned for answers for little Aniya's condition, it seemed that no one she talked to was willing to make the obvious connection between the vaccine and her illness. In the effort to cover-up or deny any effects of the medical error, a family is being sacrificed.

In a cruel twist of irony, the fact that Anita refuses to give up her quest for answers and the fact that she has medical knowledge (because she is a nurse by trade) is being viewed as “evidence” that she has Munchausen syndrome by proxy (or “factitious disorder”) – a rare mental disorder by which someone, usually a parent, intentionally makes a child sick in order to gain attention.

Baby Aniya was seized by Child Protective Services on May 2, 2017, and placed into foster care with strangers.

Her big brother has struggled with blaming himself ever since. He loves his baby sister very much.

In the latest development in their story, CPS social workers have cut off all of 14 year old Alfred's visits with Aniya.

The Vasquez family just wants to be a family again, but CPS appears to be blaming everyone except the most likely culprit – the vaccine that she never should have received, the vaccine that she was mistakenly given right before her symptoms started.

See their original story:

Infant Accidentally Vaccinated with Gardasil – Mother Blamed for Vaccine Injuries and Baby Medically Kidnapped

Medical Records Show Possible Diagnosis, Downplayed by Social Worker

Like many parents whose children have been medically kidnapped, Anita Vasquez has had a difficult time getting her child's medical records.

Once Aniya was taken into state custody, her mother has been denied access to her medical records. She has been in the dark about any of her baby's labwork, medications, and visits to the doctor or hospital.

After court on Monday, January 22, 2018, Anita says that the CPS attorney finally gave her a CD containing most, but not all, of Aniya's medical records.

She was stunned to see that there was a diagnosis a full 6 months ago of “partial adrenal insufficiency.” This was written in her charts as a diagnosis in July, and Aniya was later prescribed corticosteroids for the condition.

This information has been kept from her until now, and Anita says that it explains all of Aniya's symptoms that she experienced since receiving the Gardasil 9 vaccine: low sodium, fatigue, lethargy, weakness, weight loss, decreased appetite, dehydration, and polyuria (increased urination). These were symptoms that formed the basis for her removal from her family by CPS.

Child removals devastate the whole family. Photo supplied by family.

Aniya not only received the Gardasil shot on December 29, 2017, she also got the pneumococcal vaccine, an oral dose of the rotavirus vaccine, and Pediarix, a combination of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and polio vaccines. Thus, Aniya received a total of 8 vaccines at once. This young baby received a very large dose of not only inactivated viruses, but also other ingredients such as mercury and aluminum which are contained in vaccines as preservatives.

Because Gardasil has not been studied in children under 9, there are no studies to show the possible side effects and dangers of the shot in babies. There is no scientific data to indicate whether or not adrenal insufficiency could be caused by the vaccine.

Adrenal insufficiency has, however, been seen in teens and adults following the administration of the vaccine. There is a very real possibility of a link, but it has not been researched.

Courtney and her mother explain how the Gardasil vaccine destroyed Courtney's life.

Courtney is a teenager who received one Gardasil shot, and her life was forever changed. Her mother, who is also a nurse, wrote:

After Courtney's appointment with the pediatric endocrinologist, he felt it was possible that her adrenal glands were not functioning correctly.

He ordered additional blood on Courtney. This blood work showed Courtney supposedly had “Adrenal Insufficiency” which means her adrenal glands were not working correctly.

The endocrinologist said they were seeing more teens being diagnosed with this in the last several years.

I asked if he felt it was tied to Gardasil since teens are now receiving this vaccine, he said he wasn't sure but definitely thought it was worth looking into and keeping track of.

My daughter was placed on steroids and it was hoped that this would improve the situation. This condition is also considered life threatening if she were to become very ill or in an accident etc.

After months of treatment and searching for answers, she went to the Mayo clinic:

On the last day at MAYO when we met with the endocrinologist, he felt Courtney was misdiagnosed with Adrenal Insufficiency and was now truly adrenal insufficient after having been placed on high doses of steroids.

He recommended we see a new endocrine doctor at Kansas University Medical Center when we went back to Kansas and for her to be tapered off her steroids.

He felt her adrenal glands would wake back up.

Then we met with her case doctor, she diagnosed Courtney with “Autonomic Dysfunction”.

This is a neurologic disease that they are also seeing more of. She has been placed on a high salt diet, drinking a lot of fluids especially water, placed on an exercise regime, and she takes a prescription for this 3 times daily.

They feel she “should” grow out of this but aren't sure at what age.

They too aren't sure “why” she has this disease! She was a normal, healthy teen girl with mild asthma that was controlled. She was outgoing, happy, loving girl with straight “A's” in school.

She was full of life UNTIL she received her first and only Gardasil vaccine and this is a decision I regret every second of every day – if only I could turn back the clock!

See Courtney's story:

Gardasil: The Decision I will Always Regret

There are certainly similarities between Courtney's case and Aniya's, including the high salt diet, dehydration, and the denial of medical professionals to connect the decline in health to the Gardasil vaccine.

In the medical records that Anita Vasquez recently received, she found that on 9/11, a doctor prescribed Aniya hydrocortizone, a steroid, for 3 times a day. This is a recognized protocol for treating adrenal insufficiency, along with a diet high in salt. Aniya had that as well.

Anita questioned the CPS case worker Megan Morales about the medications that she saw prescribed, and her responses do not add up to Anita. The case worker said that they did a test for adrenal insufficiency, and that she passed it.

They gave her medicine in case she was to get sick. However, she did not get sick so the medication was not needed.

Why would a doctor prescribe a medication that was not needed? More importantly, does she or doesn't she have adrenal insufficiency?

While a mother is being blamed and a family torn apart, the doctors who are seeing Aniya don't seem to have a definitive answer for her condition.

Even if they want to underplay the role of the vaccine, there is clearly something that has been wrong with Aniya. She wouldn't have been diagnosed with, or suspected of having, adrenal insufficiency if there were not something very real going on with her.

Blaming the mother and taking the baby away from the family seems a very poor way of addressing their inability to come to a conclusion about what is causing the child's symptoms.

Social workers have not communicated with Anita about doctor appointments or medical treatment, in what may be an attempt to hide her medical condition.

The baby was clearly not feeling well when the family visited her for her birthday on August 4.

Grandma Mary on Aniya's first birthday. Photo supplied by family.

Anita knew that the foster parents took her baby to the emergency room last October on a Sunday evening. The visit the next day was cancelled. All that Anita was told that her baby was running a fever but tested negative for strep and flu.

Now that she has the medical records, it is clear that Aniya was more than a little bit sick that day, with a temperature of 104.3, pulse of 170, and blood pressure of 137/83. Other vital signs were off as well, indicating that she was definitely sick.

Social workers have reportedly communicated to the court that Aniya got better once she was out of her mother's care – something that is seen as definitive evidence of Munchausen by proxy.

Clearly, according to the limited medical records that Anita has received, that is not the case.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy – A Convenient Diagnosis

At Health Impact News, we have noted that virtually every case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MBP) that we have investigated is, in actuality, a case of medical malpractice or vaccine injury that is being covered up by labeling the mother with MBP. A hospital or medical professional cannot be sued for malpractice if the child is no longer in the parent's custody.

In this case, a medical mistake was clearly made. A doctor gave the baby a vaccine that was not intended for her. There is no question about that fact.

The denial of responsibility comes in as doctor after doctor has denied any connection between the mysterious symptoms that only began after the shot and the administration of the shot.

In an apparent attempt to avoid culpability, the mother has been vilified.

Dr. Marc Feldman, considered to be one of the world's leading authorities on MBP, told us in 2014 that the diagnosis can be conveniently used to get parents out of the way. (See article.)

Whether it is a parent who is making waves, questioning a medication or procedure, asking for a second opinion, or simply disagreeing with the doctor, a label of MBP shuts all of that down.

If a parent questions and seeks out answers, that parent can be victimized by the system, and their child can be taken by the cooperative efforts of CPS and the hospital.

According to Dr. Feldman, the very fact that a mother protests and defends herself and her child is perceived as a further indication of her guilt. It is a lose/lose scenario, he says.

According to Dr. Helen Hayward-Brown, a medical anthropologist from Australia, the criteria for diagnosing MBP are prejudicial. The profile criteria “lacks scientific credibility” and “is being used by medical practitioners to hastily condemn women.”

In a paper entitled, “False and Highly Questionable Allegations of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy,” which Dr. Hayward-Brown presented to the 7th Australasian Child Abuse and Neglect Conference in Perth, she lists behaviors that are listed among the diagnostic criteria for MBP and shows how these could actually apply to any normal, innocent parent, especially one with a medically complex child.

Dr. Hayward-Brown was interviewed by host Tammi Stefano of the National Safe Child show to discuss how MBP is used against parents to take children away from them, comparing MBP to a “witch hunt.” Watch the interview:

Anita Vasquez is a normal mom whose child began showing signs of vaccine injury after receiving a vaccine that is not intended for babies – a vaccine that has been implicated in the deaths and injuries of more young people than any other vaccine since its introduction in 2006. (Source.)

Because she persisted in advocating for her child and because she knows medical terminology, she has been assigned a label designed to keep her from her child.

The very things that make her a good mom are being used against her.

Big Brother Can No Longer Visit

In another cruel twist to their story, Aniya's big brother Alfred has been banned by CPS from visiting her.

Alfred, who is now 14, has blamed himself for his baby sister getting the shot that was intended for him. He wants to be the protective big brother, but he is helpless to save his sister. There is nothing he can do about the situation.

(He got the Gardasil 9 vaccine as well. While the doctor's staff was calling Merck about the baby getting the shot by mistake, one of the staff went back into the room where Alfred was and made sure to give him “his” shot.)

Alfred has enjoyed spending time with his sister at visits, and he adores her.

Alfred and his little sister at a recent visit. Photo supplied by family.

A couple weeks ago, Anita says that she got an odd text from the social worker accusing her son of pinching and poking Aniya during a visit – something that she says didn't happen. If it had, she asserts, surely the CPS people would have said something during the visit or stopped the visit.

This has been very difficult on the teen, who has had to adjust to having his sister being sick and being medically kidnapped, as well as the normal teenage adjustments. According to Anita:

This has just wrecked his world.

Anita Talks to Vaxxed Team

Recently Anita Vasquez shared her family's story with Tia Sevarino from the Vaxxed team.

What Now? Mother Seeks Help

Anita has been working hard to raise money for attorney's fees by making and selling menudo, a spicy Mexican soup. She has begun working with renowned attorney Allison Folmar.

During court on January 22, the judge denied the motion for continuance to give the new attorney more time to prepare the case. There was a public defender on the case, but the judge removed him.

Anita had petitioned for the state to pay the fees for her expert witnesses, but he denied that as well. Because of her fundraising efforts, he says that she is not indigent. She will have to raise more money to pay for experts to testify unless she can find qualified experts who will waive their fee.

He's making me depend on donations to pay for experts.

There will be a jury trial in civil court on March 5.

There is a Facebook page set up to follow Aniya's story called Justice for Aniya.

Greg Abbott is the Governor of Texas. He may be reached at (512) 463-2000 or by contacting him here.

Representative Geanie W. Morrison represents the Vasquez family's district. She may be reached at (512) 463-0456 or contacted here.

Lois Kolkhort is the Senator for their district. She may be reached at (512) 463-0118 or contacted here.

Comment on this article at MedicalKidnap.com.

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