ReadMeLattice

I definitely think it's hypocritical of Maci to an extent, although I'm still confused about what the "friend" informed her about. Was he dealing as well, or just doing harder drugs than she thought? Wasn't he on Oxy before? What's harder than that? Heroin? Larry and Jen couldn't force Ryan into treatment, no. But *none* of them should have allowed him to be alone with Bentley, ever, or defended him-- they all did, not just Maci. Every single one of those three adults knew damn well he was an addict for years and gave him access to a child. Maci, Larry, and Jen spent a lot of time this season whining about each other and avoiding the real problem. The problem is not that his parents spend too much time with Bentley or that Maci is too controlling. The problem is that Ryan is a severe addict and shouldn't have custody at all. Jen in particular will always fiercely defend him and never see his flaws. Like Tyler's mom.

If I were one of Matt's kids, I'd figure it was the least he could do, lol.

Yeah, everybody in this situation seems crazy irresponsible. However, Jen and Larry were living with him much of the time and Maci was not, yes? Why was nothing done and why wasn't Maci informed earlier, or has she purposely ignored it too, and if so why does she suddenly care? Why doesn't Mackenzie care at all, seemingly?! I think it's pretty disgusting of them to continue defending him against Dalis' likely accurate accusations. Jen and Mackenzie especially, Larry at least seems to admit that Ryan is a mess. I wonder if they're just very naive or what.

I mean on the show, the anger over her "controlling" Ryan's (and their, though they have no custodial rights) time with Bentley (which she should), and getting angry over her "saying negative things" to Mackenzie-- honestly, if Ryan was my son, I'd be shocked that the mother of his child allowed him to have any time with him at all and hadn't cut it off completely. They HAVE to know how much of an addict he is, it's clear every time he speaks (and I assume that's really what his fight with his dad last season was about), and he's essentially a deadbeat father. There are a lot of things Maci does wrong, but his parents are major enablers. Major. It's like Jenelle constantly whining over her mom not wanting her to just take off with Jace anytime she likes, calling her unreasonable, etc--bitch, be happy you get any time at all, IMO.

I have to say I've lost a lot of respect for Ryan's parents (and what little I had for Mackenzie). I feel bad that their son is an addict, but he's obviously been one for a long time, and they continue to appear on the show-- you can't expect to be on TV and not have your son's extremely obvious addiction brought up. I'm no Maci fan but their getting angry at her for spilling the beans won't make Ryan less of a druggie.

Hmmm. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see anything here that actually suggests she and Matt didn't hook up or that he didn't do what she claims?

This! All of this! They couldn't even have the clothes just be mediocre?!

Definitely agree. That is a common misconception. My husband is a professor in a wheelchair, I've known two doctors who were wheelchair users, a coworker who is a social worker and foster parent and wheelchair user, and a therapist who is a wheelchair user. All of them are certainly less "limited/confined" and physically and mentally healthier than Leah (and a lot of people). Ali would not care about it, at least not very deeply, if she was not being fed such toxic messages.

Ah, yeah. When I heard it I took it as an admission, I can see how he could justify it to Amber as "not one" though. But I agree that if they didn't, there's no way he wouldn't have said "what?!" the first time she said "we fucked." You'd be too shocked by the massive lie to stay silent...

Yeah this is what I truly don't get. He clearly says they had sex. Is that not an issue for Amber or is she so stupid that she still doesn't believe he did, or...?????

I can barely even read this. Is it one of Matt's minions?

Wow this is truly disgusting. Honestly I think it's child abuse or at least neglect. Plenty of people are wheelchair users and live full lives. There is nothing wrong with or less than about not walking. She's a smart girl. They should be encouraging that side of her and her other talents. She will end up being a wheelchair user either way and in one way, she will live longer and have less pain. In another, she's forced to do things that she's not physically capable of. I can't imagine what that does to a child. Thinking of a wheelchair as a reduced/failed life is exactly what's going to depress and destroy her when it comes time to be in it full time. Not the wheelchair itself. I have zero sympathy for any of them anymore, this is just willful ignorance.

I haven't seen any evidence that Corey is better re: the wheelchair. Everything else on earth, yes, but her disability no. To the poster above-- the variations of MS are all very different. Ali has a rare, severe, particularly progressive form. I know people in their 30s with MS and full time jobs, fully self sufficient, etc. Many do exercise. Ali's disorder is very rare, hence the specialist that they ignore. So I think whatever his recommendations were were specific to her form. Isn't it sad that this is impressive in these circles?!

I do think I remember something about Nathan pushing the "Barb is a drunk" angle because, well, he's a drunk and wanted the heat off of him, and now Jenelle has continued with that story to take the heat off of her own drug use. So the judge is just going to include that as a general rule. I think IF the judge said anything at all to both of them in the vein of what Jenelle claimed, it was a generically addressed "stop fucking fighting with each other in front of this poor child." Which is definitely valid.

I have to agree, especially on the drugging/at the very least, encouragement to take more and more pills. Amber is not at all bright. Matt isn't brilliant or anything but he definitely has experience as a manipulator, so he can't be as dim as she is.

If I had had a pregnancy scare as a teen, I can safely say that "thank god I could go to Tyler and Catelynn's house" wouldn't have been something I thought. Ever. Even if the alternative was homelessness.

This thread is requiring more and more brain bleach! Aaahh!

I don't say this lightly: Amber is 100% one of those people who would deny it if Matt (god forbid) was found to have abused her child in some way. She would pretend to "get mad" at first and then she would whip up a story about Gary trying to screw over her precious Matt.

You know how there's that fortune cookie game where you say "...in bed" after the fortune? With everything Amber does, you could play the same game, except ending with "...on Ambien." And Matt, "that word" just means "motherfucker" to some people because anything associated with homosexuality is considered negative. Just like words like "retarded" or racially motivated slurs are used to describe people outside of their initial intended demographics...*because of how badly people already thought about people in those groups.* HELLOoooo.

Nah. Whore is way too mild. And would imply he'd maybe have some $ at the end of it. Lol

It's a known fetish for some guys to impregnate woman after woman and leave. I believe there's a term for it. I bet Matt's list is even longer than we know and would be a lot longer if he was attractive or had decent social skills. Some of the attractive, more normal men who've done this have impregnated hundreds of women before their pattern was discovered.

I believe so. I don't think it's all about a financial strategy (though milking the immediate gratification of free trips, cash, nice house etc is certainly part of it in this case) as much as it is his form of "conquest." Once someone is emotionally beholden to him in some way-- believing his lies of "forever," pregnant, what have you-- he gets out. The women had an eerily similar narrative...he pushed for commitments and babies and moving in and promises until he got them. Then he was gone. Many of them described having deep uncertainties that he overrode and brainwashed them not to heed. Classic abuser stuff. Many of them were extremely poor, abused previously, recently laid off or divorced or vulnerable in some other way. He can't play his games to the same level with Amber because he's being filmed and commented on by the public. We're also trying to calculate how much money he'd actually get based on reality. He doesn't live in reality. He's an idiot. This is the same guy who literally thinks him saying "no I don't" and "fuck the haters" a bunch of times about having 9 kids is proof enough against actual court documents and everyone should believe him. And it's not just Amber directly he'd get money from after a divorce. He'll also sell a lot more tabloid stories and book copies and potentially even get a Z-list paid appearance or two if they have a marriage, pregnancy and/or divorce scandal.

Now that I think about it, isn't this his usual "thing?" The common themes with his exes were babies, engagements, marriages, tattoos (doesn't he have tattoos for like 3 different former partners?), lifelong promises, etc. He has never been a one night stand type-- he's obsessed with/addicted to making commitments and dramatic professions of love and breaking them. Now that he's with someone who's on TV (he's obsessed with his image) and a source of income (she might be broke in the eyes of reasonable responsible people but she has cash flow and that's "rich" to them), he's going to prolong that process as much as he can. He got engaged on camera, so to preserve his image, he has to follow through. Then he'll claim victimhood for something later on, divorce her and try to get as much $ as he can.

But if they broke up he wouldn't get any, right? If they were married and divorced couldn't he ask for alimony? Like future salaries from any shows she does, appearances she makes? As messed up as her credit and accounts must be, she will have a lot more access to MTV/product shilling money than he will in the future. Also I just think the legal tie of marriage solidifies the psychological control more.

Yeah. I 100% agree with everything you said about depression itself. I've been there. I just think it doesn't necessarily apply to Cate (as you said). My apartment is shamefully messy, but we both work two full time jobs and are writing dissertations. To be fair, I think Cate probably wrote a grocery list once (hint: lots of Cheetos were on it), and Tyler writes a lot of tweets. They deserve the me time y'all. I will say I had no idea that fans needed covers. I grew up in a freezing climate and after that always had central air, so I never owned one of those portable fans. I'm having a baby and I feel stupid now. Learn something new every day, I guess.