I’m so extremely serious when I say doctors should be put through an extremely extensive reliscensing process every 10 years. Doctors should have their knowledge scrutinized against current medical research and be de-barred at even the tiniest discrepancy. Too many old doctors absolutely refuse to stay up to date on research and dismiss patients because of their personal experiences. Too many people die every year because doctors don’t take us seriously and refuse to listen to people who KNOW something is wrong. Too many people are told their problems are nothing and come back in a year or more with serious illnesses and doctors are just like “lol everyone makes mistakes” but doctors mistakes routinely cost people their lives! I’m tired of medical malpractice being swept away under the guise of “mistakes were made.”
1/2 i was curious as to what your thoughts were on castle and beckett's break up. i've always had my issues with it ( i never finished the show because it was so rough to watch. ) with castle and beckett, castle seemed to have always stood his ground when he had something to say ( e.g. 3x24 & 4x23 ). it was obvious that castle was hurt by beckett wanting a break from their relationship and i hated when castle confronted her and she back tracks and apologies and he just says okay. i had
2/2 really expected so much more from him. i had really wanted them to have a fight over it. they had fights in the past for so much less. i had been a kate fan for a long time and over the years there were times it kind of felt like castle always let becket get away with things with only an i’m sorry. i have been a fan of you over the years and kinda love that you aren’t a “stana katic is a saint” fanatic, so would love your opinion on it! i have always been afraid to voice any dislike of kate.
So, I’ve actually been rewatching these episodes and I’d actually argue that he doesn’t let her off the hook. There are times throughout the show where Kate does something (like ignoring him for months while she recovered from her shooting) and once she signals to him that she’s ready to let Castle back into her life, he goes without complaint or much of a fight.
Season 8 is actually somewhat different in that aspect. He’s pissed from the time she gets back from her adventure with Vikram (to the point he literally confronts her about why she didn’t find a way to get in touch with him as soon as they have the opportunity to be alone). Beckett gives the reasoning that it was too risky and dangerous, and Castle’s quick to tell her that it’s an excuse and she’s hiding behind a case like she used to do with her mother’s murder. The only thing he lets her get away with in that conversation is when she brings up the fact he went missing for eight weeks and she trusted him to look into that on his own (which is actually kind of a crappy thing to do because that situation had some marked differences – namely the fact Castle never insisted on doing it by himself). In the end, he pushes Kate until she agrees to no more secrets, which I’ve always thought she intended to abide by until Rita shows up and spooks her with her speech about how she’s gonna get Castle killed.
Once Kate leaves, it’s pretty clear that yes, he’s hurt, but more so he doesn’t understand what is happening. He knows there’s something she isn’t telling him, but Castle has also been married twice before. And we know, at least with Meredith, she blamed him for their marriage not working out. Though Meredith is an unreliable narrator, she tells Beckett that things didn’t work out with Castle because their marriage was a one-way street. Maybe some aspect of that is true, but her response to that was to move across the country and have an affair. With Gina, it seems much more that they were just constantly at odds and making one another miserable by fighting, but even in season three she blames him for being the root of some of those problems because he wouldn’t let her into the bubble he created for himself and Alexis.
I’m saying all of that to get to this point – Castle automatically assumes something is wrong, and that’s only reinforced by Lanie, Ryan, and Esposito asking him what he did wrong. So he decides the best way to solve the problem isn’t to provoke Kate and pin her down to get an answer, but to woo her and hope that romantic gestures will bring her back. Even so, whenever they end up alone, he inevitably asks her what he did for her to leave. And though she tells him each time that it’s not on him, and that she still loves him, he knows it’s not that simple. And he never ever leaves it alone. At least once an episode through their separation, he brings it up. Maybe it’s not directly to her, but he says to someone that he’s going to fix it, because he somehow, someway created the problem.
In 8x02 Castle tells Kate they’ve been through so much, and they do better when they tackle things together. I get why Beckett reacts how she does, but I also get why when Castle finds out that he doesn’t yell at her. At that point, he’s not angry. He’s just disappointed. And he knows that it’s not on him. This is her battle and her obsession.
From 8x10, Mr. and Mrs. Castle:
You know what hurts the most? You could have come to me with everything. Broken us up just like you did, only it would have been a cover, and together, in secret, we could’ve taken this guy down.
Only that thought never even occurred to you because deep down inside, you like being broken, and you need this obsession. And no matter what I do, I can’t change that. Only you can, Kate.
I mean, in my opinion, that’s holding her feet to the fire and holding her accountable. He’s not saying it’s okay, he’s not letting her apologize and then flirt with him. He’s saying, you screwed up, you hurt me, you put our marriage at risk, and now I know there’s nothing I can do to fix it. More importantly, I think he’s saying there’s nothing I WILL do to fix it. He loves her way too much to just throw up his hands and say he’s done (though I think even Rick Castle has a limit for how much he’s willing to take), but he’s drawing a line in the sand and making it clear that unless she admits her shortcomings and makes some changes, there’s really no hope for them. That’s only reinforced by his abrupt exit after Esposito interrupts them. Castle’s parting shot is that he knows there’s no one better to do the job, but I’ve always also seen it as subtext that there’s nothing Kate would rather do but her job.
Where I think the story arc fell short was just letting Kate apologize and wrapping up the episode with a bow. I know why they did it, they were going into a holiday break and wanted to give that storyline a bit of a reset for when the show picked back up, but the better arc would be an episode where Kate has to prove how sorry she is and that she has learned from her mistake and knows that she can’t just come back in with an apology and a smile. Leave the audience knowing that reconciliation is coming, but make her work for it just a bit.
Season 8 still falls short for me on many aspects but this take makes the most sense to me. I pretty much agree with all the points said here and that makes some of their actions seem less ooc to me now, so it was a nice perspective to gain. Nonetheless, v disappointing the showrunners decided to go with this plot in the first place.
The season had so many opportunities to deliver a good reconciliation arc instead it just felt like a desperate plot fix to keep views from tanking further (which it probably was)
What sucked more was actually all the Beckett hate?!! I remember seeing a lot of vitriol aimed at Kate Beckett (a flawed fictional character- a fact never hidden since s1) interspersed with some criticisms of Stana in the fandom space. Makes me wonder if the whole point of season 8 was to make her unlikable to the fans, so they can justify continuing without her for season 9 (which oh so obviously did not work)
Just adding my opinion into the mix, because, why not?
I agree with the fact that Castle didn’t just let Kate ‘get away with it’. Castle, time and time again, will ‘stand down’ when a confrontation goes further than he intended. He does it with all of his significant relationships and we (the audience) can assume that this is just who he is as a person - he would rather swallow his anger and make the compromise for the people who he deems ‘worth it’. Season 8 is really one of the only times we see him step back and say “well, no, what you’ve done is actually pretty crappy and I’m not okay with it.” He still, ultimately, decided that the ‘win’ in this scenario is having Kate back, but I definitely wouldn’t say he forgave her too easily.
My second point is: Stana did not deserve the hate she got. Kate Beckett is such a flawed character and Stana brought her to life in such an authentic way. In my opinion, she turned Kate from undeniable villain to loveable antihero.
My hot take: The writing for season 8 was either ridiculously messy, completely forgetting Kate’s entire character development arc or it was very specifically done to turn people against her so that they could write her off the show.
Either way, they killed an otherwise great show and I’m still salty about it.
Well, guys, the season 8 character arc was determined by a lot of stuff that went on behind the scenes. I don’t think it was to turn people against Beckett or Stana (though that faction of the fanbase is still very much alive and well, and toxic af), but more to try and make something work with a frustrating set of guidelines negotiated into contracts that the showrunners have zero control over.
No, Stana didn’t deserve any hate. Neither did Nathan (who got his fair share, as well). They had their reasons for the choices they made, and that’s all fine and well. But I also don’t think the showrunners deserve all the shit they get, either. Cause how are you supposed to write a couple when their contracts only allow them to work together two days per episode? That’s impossible. Not to mention the fact that they knew there was a possibility that one, or both, of them might not return for a season 9.
Last thing: Kate Beckett blowing up her life to protect the people she loves is pretty damn canon. The character growth comes into play in that when Castle figures it out and calls her out on it, she doesn’t lie or get mad like she previously would. She folds, she tells him the truth, and she starts trying to make it up to him.
They did a crap job of stringing that along, and that’s where it falls short for me. She should have had to grovel more, even after he took her back.
Since we’re back at this discussion, I’d like to add what always frustrates me the most.
Growth isn’t linear. Any recovering addict will relapse and learn and relapse again and learn again before they finally find solid footing. Beckett compares her obsession to alcoholism herself so it’s fair to say this is one of her stumbles on her way to becoming a better, healed person.
People love for fictional characters to have one teaching moment or story arc and be all better but that’s not human. I think Beckett’s actions are so much more realistic and than anyone else’s characters arc that is just a smooth line with no ups and downs. Going back to your most basic, instinctive (and often destructive) coping mechanisms when things get difficult is what most people will do and that’s what we loved about the show. How flawed and relatable and real the characters were and felt. There are issues with season 8 but Beckett breaking up with Castle isn’t one of them.
[Shut off last version of this post to avoid possible continual spread of misinformation that was corrected by staff. Reposting clean with corrected info]
So I’m sure almost everyone knows about the porn bot problem by now, so here’s a post detailing why it’s a problem, and what we need to do about it.
First off, yes, always block the porn bots. Don’t be mislead into thinking they’re ok to keep around because they ‘inflate your follower count.’
Firstly, no one cares about, nor can anyone even see, your follower count. Be free from the shackles that are the bullshit other socials told you was important. Don’t let your ego be tied to a number. Having a lot of followers won’t earn you any clout here.
Secondly, bots only follow blogs to try and legitimize their malware (and other dodgy) links. This post goes into more detail about that.
Now that that’s out of the way, you’ll need to know how to recognize a porn bot. This round the template seems to be:
A profile photo of a pretty lady or guy, usually in their underwear, with a similar header photo.
A bio with some combination of: [Age] // [Name] // [Location] // [Emoji] // [Top Bullshit% OnlyFans]
URL consisting of a name followed by a number (i.e: firstlast999)
Typically an empty blog, or if there is content, it’s all dodgy links. Visible, but empty, Likes Tab, & occasionally a visible Following Tab.
You likely recognize the pattern.
So, what you want to do is, first, report the blog as spam On mobile it’ll look like this:
On mobile you’ll need to report spam first, and then go back to the menu again to block.
On desktop it will look like this, and unlike mobile, you’ll be able to report spam and block in the same motion:
If I remember correctly,* be sure to “Report Spam”, not “Report sexually explicit material” to feed the bots to the proper channels. Because the blog is empty, they haven’t posted anything explicit that would violate TOS. However, staff can recognize a bot, and if you report the blog for spam (the actual problem) they’ll take a look, more than likely find that the blog is posting or DMing dodgy links, and dispose of it.
And I think that’s it. Here’s wishing you all a happy and safe blogging experience!
[UPDATE: It was suggested on another post that the bots track your IP if you click on them to send more your way. However, someone from staff corrected and said this is incorrect.They also corrected the 'guilt by association’ myth that bots following you can get your blog flagged by tumblr.
That said, that trail all led to another, easier, way to report/block the bots all from your Follower Tab instead of visiting each blog separately, unfortunately it only works on desktop:
(For newbies, click on the little person icon at the top right of your screen and scroll to find the Followers tab under the blog/sideblog you need to block a pornbot from.)
*I remember this information from a blog that used to be all about taking down the pornbots. Unfortunately I do not know if that blog is still active, nor can I remember the URL. If anyone knows what blog I’m referring to, and/or if they’re still active, please feel free to tag them so others can follow them for more tips!
I made a baby blanket for a pregnant woman at work and I went back and forth about it like “is this weird? To like hand make something for someone when we’re like friendly acquaintances not like bffs. God why are you so fucking awkward.” Anyway I gave it to her and she said she loved it and in the back of my head I’m like yea she’s nice and probably just humoring the weirdo. Well she texted me a picture this weekend of a scrunchy faced newborn at the hospital wrapped in the blanket I made her. And I’m like. Wow. She loved it so much she took it with her! To the hospital! To give birth! She wrapped her newborn it! I am just so filled with love and joy right now.
People will love the things you make them. Because you thought of them and you cared.
