All Good Things

Well, it's over, folks.  KatersOneSeven finally posted a video to address the situation, and it's essentially the tearful explanation I predicted before.  We learned a little from it, while it still managed to leave plenty of unanswered questions. 

The first half of the explanation for the vlogs ending is indeed what was being alluded to: she was scared for her safety.  And I don't question for a second that she has dozens of fucked up fanboys who hang on her every word, to the point that their lives practically revolve around her.  And I'm sure there's varying degrees of them as well, from the simple comment warriors all the way to the crazy fucks who would actually think it's okay to go to her house or mess with her stuff.  Those people need a pop in the nose, and it'd be funny if Kate or Cory gave it to'em.

But, as we've previously covered, finding out where she lives isn't very hard, so she shouldn't be too surprised that eventually she would start having these kinds of issues.  Several of the big vloggers I've watched, such as Shaycarl, have remarked on similar issues of people just showing up uninvited.  Some are nuts, and some are truly just stupid enough to think it's okay to just show up.  It comes with the territory, particularly for an attractive girl on the internet.  When you have 100k people watching you as Kate does, then you're certainly a celebrity, only on a smaller scale than the Hollywood variety.  She should be better prepared to deal with this, and I don't even say that out of criticism, but just in general regard for anyone in her position against all the idiots out there.

Now for the second half of her reasoning for ending the vlogs: haters.  I'll give her that one, to some degree.  People can be assholes, many times intentionally wanting to hurt someone's feelings or rile them up.  The cover of anonymity brings out the worst in people, whether they're simply having a bad day, jealous, or just outright trolling.  But dealing with haters is something you have to do, more so than with the crazy folks.  Ask Justin Bieber.  If it's going to upset you to the point that you're crying "every day" then it's probably time to find a less stressful occupation.

I do have a bone to pick with this excuse, though; I think she's combining the average troll with people who offer constructive criticism or question things which she doesn't want to talk about.  If enough fans don't like a particular something, then perhaps she should be listening.  Also, under that definition, then I myself am a hater.  Despite taking the time to write what I do here, I don't hate Kate, I don't wish ill of her, nor would I ever say anything to her simply out of spite.  I wouldn't be writing this at all if I hadn't enjoyed her vlogs at some point along the way.  I don't feel I'm a hateful person, but I would certainly admit I'm cynical.  So I do believe that she's changed, and I do believe that there are occasional incidents which lead to suspicion.  You better believe that I'm going to talk about it and ask questions, because that's just how I am.  I don't believe everything I see and hear.  And as it turned out, I had good reason. 

This brings us to where Kate said she didn't lie about anything.  "Lie" is a strong word, which I won't use directly without specific proof.  But she certainly misled.  Their relationship began in October all along.  It was a kiss and an admission of feelings for one another; whether they acted on it again in the following two months is beside the point in my opinion, because it was a major event of their friendship/relationship.  My problem with it though is that, in the videos which followed the New Years kiss, they talked and cuddled and were admitting on camera the first times that they'd felt that way, how this was all a new thing, and essentially as if they'd never expressed feelings prior to this.  Kate didn't have to actually tell us at the time of the first kiss, but you would think that she'd have offered this information soon after New Years.  Given that she didn't tell us about this to begin with, we're still taking Kate's word that this new information is any more factual than the last.  And even if it's true, she still made a conscious decision to mislead the fans.  I don't remember if she specifically apologized for doing so (and honestly don't really care enough to go and look), but it doesn't inspire trust, regardless.  Though she may in fact be telling the truth this time, which I won't really dispute based solely on her leaving details out.

She said that if there's any more questions then to just ask in the comments.  I was certainly going to do so, but it looks like I'm blocked.  Apparently I'm one of those people bringing too much negativity to her life!  I don't know if she associated my comments on her channel with this blog (if she even knows anything about it), or whether it was solely from the comments themselves.  Based on how fanboy behavior is very predictable, I'm somewhat confident that a handful of white knights have sent her links to here.  Whether she ever actually looked at it though is the question.  And hey, maybe I actually was an ass to some people in the comments, depending on your point of view.  I made quite a few comments, so I won't pretend to be completely innocent.  But if it were related to the blog at all, then I'd be slightly disappointed.  This is my place to talk about how I feel about things which interest me, where I think out loud in deducing a situation, and don't actually direct what I say towards anyone.  You have to seek me out to hear what I have to say.  So block me for making comments, not for having opinions.  But at the end of the day it just doesn't bother me enough to find out why or attempt to get it undone.

This all still leaves us with unresolved questions, such as Seann Larson's remarks, or all of the screenshots from Facebook regarding Cory in a relationship.  Maybe the former is lying, and maybe the latter was Photoshopped.  But let's consider something regarding the latter: what are the odds that people faked an image from Facebook, which has apparently been circulating the web for a little while now, based on the exact same month when Kate and Cory did in fact kiss for the first time (unbeknownst to the fans till now)?  Don't you think that's a huge coincidence?  Could be that Cory simply overreacted to the kiss.  I doubt we'll ever know for sure.

As for the future, it looks like the "vlog idea" Kate had is just combining multiple days into one video, which still does next to nothing for her privacy or the haters, the very things which she says stopped her to begin with.  But I won't likely be watching.  I'm blocked, for one, which will be a constant reminder that she's not interested in my opinions, so why should I continue to be interested in hers?  And second, there's still unanswered things to be suspicious about in my opinion, leaving me to presently question the legitimacy of her future vlogs.  And last, but most importantly, I meant what I said before about Kate not being the same person anymore.  I don't care if hearing that kind of thing is part of why she quit vlogging, it's true.  Don't get me wrong, people change; Kate will continue to change, just as all the rest of us will.  But she doesn't entertain me the way she used to.  It's like a TV show which you aren't entirely interested in anymore, but you still watch because you want to know what happens to the characters.  Sometimes, though, you come to a point where you just can't bring yourself to keep watching.  And based on how I feel at this particular moment, I think that time is pretty much here for me and KatersOneSeven (and all of Cory's channels, by relation).

Her vlog used to be one of the highlights of my time online, much as Shaycarl or CTFxC used to be, but unfortunately I can't say that anymore.  The tears she expressed in her explanation video didn't really move me, although there was a time when they probably would have, which I think says a lot.  I don't see the same genuine girl anymore, I see an aspiring actress who only wants to portray happy things instead of real life; someone who would mislead her fans and hide aspects of her life, things which I believe she once would have shared, in order to mold our perception.  I watch vlogs because I want to watch real people with real problems, just the same as all the rest of us have.  For example, I liked back when Shaycarl was a normal fellow, working a radio job, paying a mortgage, and raising a family no different than anyone else.  But much like with Shaycarl these days, Kate's problems, the ones she actually still chooses to share, are just not relatable to me anymore.  I'm just not really interested in what constitutes her life most of the time now.  I very harshly referred to her before as a stereotypical California girl, but as mean as it might sound, it's just how I see her most of the time now, especially more recently.  I would very likely never associate with a person like that in real life (and vice versa), which is probably why I'm so critical of her vlogs these days, because I would in fact have associated with someone like the old Kate.  There's moments when I think she's still being genuine, but then there's also lots of times now when I actually stop to question it, which is never how it's supposed to be.  There's still some Youtubers/vloggers out there which I never stop to question.

So perhaps this is the end of the line for me.  I'm sure it is for many others as well.  Plenty of people on the fence will probably accept Kate's explanations though, and the rest will question it but keep watching anyway.  And this doesn't count the fanboys, who are probably proudly strutting around the comments about having stuck by her.  Regardless of which you are, this incident likely won't hurt her views/subscriptions much at all.  Everyone's shock will wear off now that she's posting again, and things will start to return to normal.  The only thing that could really will hurt her popularity at this point is switching to the somewhat-weekly format and thinking her occasional skits could make up for the lack of views.  It's certainly not going to help her much with any of the reasons she quit to begin with, though.

I'm sure I still have things to say about all this as they come to mind, and I'm sure new information will still come about in the following days until all the dust has finally settled.  She did say that people can ask questions in the comments, so maybe people will ask some of the stuff mentioned here.  But as far as I can tell, for the most part, it's pretty much over.