I just had a thought, considering that Battery was a Ward when Legend gave her to Assault it would be hilarious if the Youth Guard manage to dig that little fact during their investigations into Brockton. Battery isn't a Ward anymore but she was one when it happened and was given no aid to protect her from her harasser to the point that she eventually succam to peer pressure and married the creep, so yeah probably not a good look for the Protectorate or Wards program. It's unlikely to happen in the story but it is still an interesting train of thought about what could happen.
Was it canon that she never reported anything, or that she stopped reporting after it became clear that doing so did nothing?
Not really sure myself, I have heard both and either one of them sound likely. It could have been that Taylor didn't tell anyone because she held out hope for Emma coming to her senses but by the time she realized that was a dead end it was to late. She could have noticed the administrators of the school witnessed the bullying and did nothing which put her off reporting it, like they saw it happen and did nothing so what would telling them about it do. Taylor's depression could have stopped her from seeking help like she did by not telling her dad and actively hiding it from him, and it just got worse as the bullying progressed. Or Taylor did tell the teachers/administrators at Winslow and they did nothing due to Emma's connections, Sophia, and the rest of their friends covering for them, and eventually starting to punish Taylor for 'lying' and so on. So yeah either way it wouldn't have helped Taylor in her situation, but there was a WoG saying that if Taylor got the superintendent invovled it would have stopped the bullying but her getting someone that high up is unlikely.
It was half a lifetime ago, but my point is that people criticize Taylor for not reporting in the second semester of her sophomore year. It's quite possible she did report it freshman year only to get told to "stop bothering me with this petty tattling" or something along those lines, followed by HER being punished for reporting it.
I myself decided the only way to stop it was to go up to them and hit them full on in the face breaking there teeth in the process and guess what… it worked and his girlfriend flirted with me but I was to stupid to pick up on it at the time
Well that is a fucking mood.
Teenage boys are very stupid when it comes to such things especially if they have low self confidence and a bit of a gut
All you needed to say.
We see from Taylor's POV that she didn't react (in her mind) to the principal mentioning this was the first reported incident, while other stuff in the meeting did piss her off and get her to react. It seems very unlikely that she reported anything.
Or just never recorded anything in the first place.
If Danny wasn't a sad sack and found out about Taylor's new hobby he might start to question why even have her in the Wards program if they aren't even gonna try and keep Taylor safe. I mean that was his whole reason of signing her on against her will to keep her safe, but if the PRT can't even do that he destroyed hos relationship with his daughter for no reason.
We haven't seen anyone in the Boston Protectorate's reaction besides Gauss and Nebula so who knows. But considering it is somewhat well known that Taylor sneaks out to do vigilante stuff it is very unlikely. That doesn't mean that Taylor isn't listed as a flight risk or at risk of becoming a villain which will most definitely color the persepctives of the cool-aid drinkers. Realistically speaking the only people who would suspect Taylor of wanting to be a villain are outside of the department like in Brockton and Watchdog on account they can't predict her and infuriates them to no end.
I don't think I'd put it past the Wards that Taylor is pissing off the most, if not now then potentially in the future. Don't remember the exact lineup and opinions we've seen thus far but I do recall some of them being more frustrated than others.
It depends. So far, it has only been about a month, and they're still assuming "give her some time, and she'll come around." If Taylor's unrelenting hostility continues in the face of their increasingly-strained friendliness, they're going to start looking for alternative explanations. Once they hit upon the "she totaly wants to be a villain" theory, her vigilante activity looks less like a heroic impulse, and more like an attempt to pre-emptively remove some of the competition. It is also attractive because it means the reason she's so hostile to them isn't something they bear any responsibility for, it's because she's a villain. Her impact on the cohesion and unity of the Wards team takes on a much more sinister aspect. The PR damage she's inflicted suddenly looks a lot more calculated and intentional.
The ones that are more frustrated than the others are Roulette and Weld, and of the two Roulette is the one that is the most antagonistic towards Taylor due to Taylor messing with her power. As for Weld he is more frustrated due to being the one in charge and having to get Taylor on board with the program and as mentioned there is a lot of pressure to do that. The rest of the Wards are mostly apathetic towards Taylor, and Valve and Lily are actually more supportive of Taylor than the PRT. But those are just the Boston Wards, obviously the Brockton Wards have a much more negative opinion of Taylor, but as mentioned they aren't really that connected to other Wards programs so they aren't really sharing their opinions that much, plus the Youth Guard investigation doesn't make them look good at the moment.
Immediately calling the Youth Guard about the unsafe work environment and the PRT/Protectorate openly slandering her.
Mayhaps better done (has been done, supposedly?) with original pair or Lily/Sabah. Taylor doesn't switch sides to join you, you join Taylor. Which works out better anyway, since Sophia doesn't self-sacrifice, but Taylor might.
I mean, what could he do? If he was going to lawyer up, he'd have done it at numerous previous points. That said, some lawyers, like ACLU, are willing to work for something else than direct pay (if worm even still has those), giving a potential plot hook - maybe alongside Taylor's grandparents. Depending on how they tied the whole guardianship with the wards deal, there could be an argument that the contract was signed under false pretenses or PRT is not upholding their end.
Also depends on who takes up the theory.
Eh, she has experience to expect that to not do anything, especially if they're doing it "behind" her back.
Taylor's legal guardian is Agent Watkins of the PRT. The Youth Guard are oversight, but they aren't actually her guardians. This makes any case against the PRT for some form of breach of contract much easier.
Sure, in some AU where Taylor didn't agree that she'd never reported anything? That's certainly possible. It's just not canon.
That is a plausible way for Taylor to think, it's a wrong way and a stupid mistake for anyone who understands how bureaucracies work, but it's quite plausible for a intelligent teenager to "figure out" this and decide not to do the one thing that could help make the school actually do something about the bullying, i.e file lots of reports.
What makes the Youth Guard different from Taylor's experiences is that unlike Winslow, the PRT, and her dad they are actually doing something and have Taylor's trust because of that. So it is reasonable to see her actually going to them if she finds out what the PRT is saying behind her back, because listing her as a villain without her actually doing something illegal probably violates a number of regulations, laws, and civil rights.
He might not need to even lawyer up, while he did sign parental rights over to the PRT I can imagine that he can still take Taylor back if he wants to it's just that he doesn't want to. For Danny getting Taylor out of the Wards could be as simple as calling up Boston and saying he wants to remove his daughter from the Wards, of course Taylor can use the regulations to prevent this but considering she also wants out of the Wards she might allow it. The only roadblock to this would be Armstrong himself due to him seeing Danny as an unfit parent he can try and block removing Taylor from the Wards. But considering how much respect Taylor has for the organization that probably won't stop her if she sees a legitimate way out even if it is from Danny, and considering that Taylor's 'hobby' started under Armstrong he doesn't have that strong of a position as opposed to Danny.
It's not them doing something, Danny did something (something wrong, which she hated, but he did it), it's them asking her what she wants to do that makes them different from Taylor's POV.
If Taylor was 6 y/o? Sure, if she was 12? Maybe, depends on the Judge and specific state laws. Given her age though pretty much the first thing any Judge would do if Danny tried to get Parental rights back is Ask Taylor what she wanted. Given her reaction to him trying to talk to her I figure the judge would have to get her to tone it down to something printable, but it will be obvious she doesn't want anything to do with him.
For all we know that is what he wanted to talk to Taylor about when she refused to see him and got a restraining order against him.
Hm, we might have been talking about different scenarios for the vague proposal - I was speaking about X saying to Y "Hey, I think Phase wants to be villain" in a corridor that, to the best of their knowledge, doesn't contain Phase. Listing her as a villain publicly is (hilariously) different kettle of fish. I mean, can you imagine* the conference? "Here's our new ward, Phase! As an all-inclusive agency for training teenage capes, we're expanding our reach to villainous minors in our new outreach program for Boston, and the star girl of today is our first ever villainous Ward!" *Boston PR team clapping*
So, rereading the interlude, it turns out blocking out Danny with guards is a post-facto PRT reg which obliges PRT to block it.
Huh, right. That means there's two fri...well, nominally allied adults in her corner, though Watkins really should talk to her more often ("leaving Jim Reed as the only person with whom Taylor had positive interactions", indeed Interlude Legalese) . Ah well, more fodder to the fire.
No Watkins is firmly on the PRT's side in regards to getting Taylor on board with the program. According to Weld all agent Watkins talked about was Phase integrating with the Wards.
So yeah Jim is quite literally the only adult with any form of authority in Taylor's corner.
It's also entirely possible she did report things in her freshman year, but by the end of the first semester was told to stop bothering them and possibly threatened with punishment for "lying" or "tattling".
In some AU where she didn't agree that she never reported it? Surte.
We're not talking about their minds, we're talking about Taylor's mind. Unless Taylor was suffering from Amnesia and forgot about all the times she'd reported it, there's no way she'd accept the Principal stating Taylor only accused Emma AFTER she'd attacked her outside of school, unless it really was the first time she'd reported things.
Speaking of Winslow is there any way that Taylor can use the PRT or Youth Guard to file a civil suit against Winslow for their negligence as a means to bypass the ENE division trying to cover up the crimes of two of their Wards. I know there was something similar in Implacable where Taylor brought in evidence from a civil suit she and Danny were filing against Winslow to the meeting with the Youth Guard as evidence against the PRT. Obviously the PRT won't help but the Youth Guard might be able to pull something since they are already investigating the matter down in Brockton, of course the major roadblock to that is that Winslow has had a month to cover everything up.