#and i hope that its not a coincidence and that they do something with jt

[kkpaaw]

The parallels between Jay's Arc rn and Nya's earlier In the series is truly something to behold

It would be so interesting if the writers had Nya and the Ninja unintentionally do to Jay what was done to her

What I mean is: Nya's Arc(I'm grossly oversimplifying here btw) In the beginning of the series was about her paving her own path and trying to deal with having little choice In the direction her destiny went. she had to give up her role as the samurai, something she chose to be on her own, to become the water ninja, something that was chosen for her. Then she had to deal with all that was season 6 having her choices essentially snatched from her

She wanted to be the one to choose how her life went. She was tired of others telling her how her life was going to go and not consult her In the slightest

That really parallels Jay's Arc in DR. As I've said before he's had very little choice in his life post merge. Under the control of the administration, while yes he did have some freedom to play video games, we saw just how strict and by the book that place is so we can presume that even with that freedom he still had tight rules he had to obey

Then he left for what he presumed to be freedom under Ras' command. But we all know that isn't true freedom. Jay was lied to, and manipulated to follow Ras' commands. Very strict commands cuz we know who Ras is. And then when he was no longer useful he was promptly tossed out

He finally thought he found some purpose only for that purpose to be snatched away, leaving him with nothing.

Now he's all on his own finally free from anyone's control and I imagine he's not very eager to listen to anyone anytime soon.

Hence why he's now gone Rogue.

Jay and Nya's Arcs are so similar to me message wise that I cannot see it as pure coincidence and I hope that it's used in an effective way

I wanna see Nya unintentionally being a hypocrite. I wanna see her so desperate to get Jay back that she doesn't even try to acknowledge who he is as of NOW In the matter. All she sees is her yin, her love who's lost and alone and needs help and she feels that being with them is the best choice so she makes that decision for him

And of course being with them is better than him being on his own. Thats his family! I know this, you know this but JAY doesn't know this nor does he care right now. And that's the point of view we have to consider cuz through it all Jay's the victim here. He's the one who forgotten everything and is trying to discover his place In the world after being controlled twice now.

All he sees is some random lady that he kinda hates and her friends insisting over and over that he come with them and to go with them. That's where his home is, screw anything else. All he sees is the same shit being spouted to him that Ras prolly did and i imagine it would be infuriating

Tbh They kind of have already started going down that route with having Nya insist that Jay belongs with them. While that is true as I said she doesn't really stop to consider Jay's feelings on the matter even if u can't really blame her

In all likely the Jay she knew would absolutely approve of what she's doing, cuz he would do the same, but that Jay isn't here rn and she's not really considering that. None of the ninja are considering that

They plan on chasing Jay down to get him to come home with them, not really considering(or ignoring) the fact that Jay wants nothing to do with them

They r ignoring his feelings for the sake of trying to get back the Jay THEY know with little consideration with what the Jay of NOW wants

They don't consider the very real potential reality that Jay may never get his memories back, that he may never be the same again cuz they don't want to consider that potential reality

Cuz how would they handle Jay then? Would they accept him as who he is? Or will they continue to search for the Jay they lost, not really caring to know the Jay that is here?

I wanna see that conflict happen, I wanan see Nya being that hypocrite. (albeit unintentionally and trying to help of course) i wanna see her be that pushy and disregarding Jay's feelings cuz she thinks that she knows better. And I want the reality that she hasn't really cared about the Jay of the current to smack her In the face, to smack them all In the face and face that reality perhaps from a new ally of Jay's(me including my huge copium) who doesn't care about his past and just sees him for who he is now

I want Nya to realize how she had been treating Jay this whole time and realize that she messed up. That in her desperation to get her love back, that she had been ignoring Jay's feelings, ignoring his words and trying to decide his life for him, without considering HIM at all, the same thing that had been done to her all those years ago

I'm rambling just to ramble cuz why is this post so long omfg

[stepsandstaircases]

Welcome to Poetry Friday, the visual edition!  Do you recognize the photographed pieces above? 

My exploration of grief began with the words that became the title of this poem, which led me to the familiar monopoly game piece.  I thought about incorporating one of the tokens in my poem (wheelbarrow), but decided to cut the stanza out.   

Grief is a house on a cul-de-sac

“Close your eyes and be still, now.  I’m going to give you a memory of a rainbow.” Lois Lowry, The Giver

*****

There is no monopoly

on sorrow.

Its properties are diverse.

 *

A double bind,

misfortune

casts a bittersweet shadow.

 *

There is no “pass go”—

no $200 salary to collect

as you round a corner.

 *

No trade

replaces

the loss.

 *

It is always

there

 *

a memory with many tokens.

Copyright   2017 Lisa Coughlin

The stanza I ended up cutting was:

Grief is carried in the heart:

(a heavy load

                in a wheelbarrow).

I left the wheelbarrow token in my photographs, though, as it brings to mind the stanza I cut and symbolizes how grief can feel.

Thank you for sharing your unique takes on the prompts I shared.  If you didn’t see it mentioned in Mary Lee’s poetry post last week, I encourage you to check out Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Project 1,2,3.  Amy’s creative work has long inspired me and lifted my spirits.  After her passing, Amy’s daughter, Paris, continued Project 1,2,3.  Amy’s visual poem When Life Gives You Lemon Drops can be found here.

***** You can find more poems elsewhere (nod to The Giver -- I just read this book for the first time, and felt it connected to the subject of grief).

*Mary Lee Hahn shares a Pomegranate haiku 

*Brenda Davis Harsham’s poem celebrates the Super Moon and an art print her daughter loves, Moonlit Kitty 

*Tabatha Yeatts shares poems from The White Cliffs by Alice Duer Miller

*Kathryn Apel shares the gifts she received from Linda in the Poetry Swap exchange

*Sally Murphy shares an Aussie Christmas song

*Michelle Kogan offers her take on the lemons into lemonade prompt, as well as a lovely lemon illustration and a lemon poem by Pablo Neruda   

*Linda Kulp Trout joins Mary Lee in writing a haiku for healing on Christmas cards

*Laura Purdie Salas creates a lai and poemsketch for Jellyfish Dance 

*Laura Shovan turns to George Harrison for comfort and asks you to share who your favorite Beatle is, and what music helps you when you’re feeling down

*Renée LaTulippe debuts a new blog look and features poems by Matt Goodfellow, from his debut collection Carry Me Away

*Diane Mayr celebrates Christina Georgina Rossetti by sharing a seasonal sonnet  

*On Random Noodling (another blog of Diane’s), for extra credit, Mayr responds to the lemon prompt, inspired by the image of a label for Progressive brand lemons--from scratch, her Lemon Pie poem

*Linda Baie responds to the prompt with an original poem and visual, inviting you to look at a bouncing ball in a new way

*Catherine Flynn writes about Milkweed 

*Alan J. Wright discusses line breaks before sharing a poem, The Life of Leon, based on a childhood memory

*Linda Mitchell responds to the prompt “When Life Gives You Lemons” and hopes for energy from her fellow poetry friends

* Heidi Mordhorst’s Yellows poem was inspired by a painting through a SPARK collaboration

*Ruth shares a sonnet by Shakespeare 

*Jama Rattigan offers up a book review and giveaway of An Artist’s Night Before Christmas by Joan C. Waites

*Matt Forrest Esenwine shares a poem he wrote about something small and another one about an unlikely hero by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes--both from her poetry anthology, The Best of Today’s Little Ditty, 2016   

*April Halprin Wayland recommends a book in which poetry plays a role: Train I Ride by Paul Mosier--stop on over for a review, author interview and autographed copy giveaway

*Penny Parker Klostermann collaborates with her great nephew, Liam, who shares his sense of humor in his interpretation...you have to see what Liam draws in response to Penny’s poem, Santa’s Claus-it

*Donna JT Smith has a lemon haiku and talks about her gift from Michelle that her cat discovered, too

*Irene Latham woke up to snow this morning and is filled with glee!  She shares two new snow books, some pictures of today’s freshly fallen snow, and some lines she wrote about snow in the past

*Liz Garton Scanlon talks with her poetry sister, Sara Lewis Holmes, about the musical aspects of her new book The Wolf Hour, and offers you a chance to win a copy

*Kay McGriff participates in #haikuforhealing with Known 

*Little Willow shares lyrics from the song Unwind by Guy Garvey  

*Amy Ludwig VanDerwater whips up a recipe poem for joy and shares a snapshot from a running list she keeps of things that make her happy

*Jone Rush MacCulloch has an interview with Michelle H. Barnes 

*And another #haikuforhealing using lemons by Jone Rosh MacCulloch

*Bookseedstudio looks at coincidences and thinks of childhood star poems via the lens of recently reading a new novel

*Margaret Simon made swirls of pink and created 1, 2, 3 poems and a collective poem

*Ymatruz shares her take on when life gives you lemons

*Julie Larios shares the poem Mrs. Moon by Roger McGough

*Joy answers the question “What happens when a dog goes to Hogwarts?” with a poem and a sketch

*Tara shares A Picture of the House at Beit Jala by Ghassan Zaqtan

*Molly Hogan writes about ladybugs/ladybirds

*Carol Varsalona created a digital offering inspired by autumn

Friday is nearly over--I think that’s everyone!  Thank you for your patience with a different platform this week.

[annashipper]

JT Anon

A passing thought, wondering what others think. I think that the nans have been a bigger concern for BC & his team than we thought. At least than I thought. I think that BC & his team really rely on them, particularly the ones who have high traffic social media, to do a lot of promotion for him. Especially projects that don’t have big houses behind them.

I think they rely on the  social media ubers to hype his work and make it appear to be way, way more hotly anticipated than it actually is. Its why they have gone the sophomoric direction w their promotion of him imo. A little bit of beatlemania style promo is natural, especially w male celebs, but BC brand seemed to be ALL internet boyf ALL the time. As much as we talk about how talented he can sometimes me, I always got the feeling that every time they attempted to dip their toe into the “he is actually an artist worth watching who is quite good at his craft, you’ve all been missing his talent” pool, they would freak if he wasn’t immediately trending and go screaming back to “don’t you wanna know what the hype is about!? the internets boyfriend!!!"

All that is to say, i think w regards to the sham, this has been a big consideration. I think they are painfully aware that whatever they do, however they handle this, they do not want the ubers to turn on BC in anyway. We’ve spent so long mapping out potential ends to this. At this point, if this wraps up neatly w BC single, Sophie no longer his wife and out of the picture, and him childless (w all of those events having been timed for media pushes, then silent when no push is present), there WILL be a few nans who, whether they admit it or not, who will realise that at the very least, some deception on the part of their god was had, and it was towards them, the ones he was supposed to be honest w (you know, REAL fans). I think his PR is painfully aware of this. That SM and his other projects do NOT have Marvel/Disney to promote his work, that he is NOT that famous as far as the general public goes, and that they NEED these fans to make him and his work appear to have way more interest than he does. To lose them, in their mind I believe, is a huge risk. For them to even begin to think for a second that BC lied about his family, something they have been weirdly fantasising about for him for years, would be a big quite the tightrope. (Despite the fact that, as far as "things Harvey Weinstein has made actors do, this wouldn’t even break the top 10 worst and weirdest)

That leaves him and his team in a tight spot. Even a simple divorce w out a "not his”, while it won’t register w the gen pub, risks causing waves in nanny land. Then BC and his team lose their free hype machines. Do they have the money or talent to be able to build him up to look like an actual professional artist, and promote him on their own like he is an adult star? im starting to question whether thats a possibility.

I won’t mention how I personally believe that PR have boxed themselves in, and the only two ways I think they have to get out of this if they want to try and centre the uber nans reaction and access to their free labour in the future, but needless to say, if I am even kinda right, i think whatever out we see, whenever it happens, will be one of two outs.

Thats not entirely true though, there is ONE other way they could get out of this and be stronger going forward. Cut out the nanny middle man and developed his own, professional, adult artist social media. But that is scary, required hard work, talent, a belief in BC art and talent and its ability for his skill to carry the show, and maybe a bit of growing pains.

Or they can keep marketing him like a Nickelodeon performer who occasionally gets some decent bit parts

J can promote myself T anon

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

JT, the premise of your assumption is a very interesting one, but I have to say I disagree with all of your individual conclusions.

The only Ubers anyone takes seriously are CWeb (because she’s proven she actually has an in with Ben’s PR) and ATCB (because that account is probably run by UTA).

No one cares about the hysterics of the Nans or the apple fritters references on twitter; just like no one outside of the fandom cares about the Nans and the Skeptics and the Antis on Tumblr.  

The fact of the matter remains:  Ben’s clickability has taken a major hit since Harvey took over his image for The Imitation Game promo.  Unfortunately, it’s gone downhill ever since.  

Partly because he just can’t smile with his eyes anymore and partly because the projects he’s been involved in didn’t have the same payoff one would have hoped for.

Doctor Strange promo was a bust and the movie itself wasn’t great to be honest (a fact I wholeheartedly blame on Sccott Derrickson and his script).  The fact that The Abominable Bride and the fourth season of Sherlock weren’t as brilliant as the previous three seasons didn’t help either.

Anyway, I think the only way to showcase Ben’s clickability is through a Google Trends graph.  It references global Google searches from January 2010 to today:

You know how I don’t believe in coincidences because I’m a fan of Mycroft’s?  Well, I’ve marked the peaks on the above graph, so let’s try to decipher what makes Benedict Cumberbatch hot at certain points in time:

January 2012:  Sherlock season 2 airs

May 2013:  Star Trek Into Darkness is released in theatres

January 2014:  Sherlock season 3 airs

November 2014:  TIG promo kicks into high gear and the gag is announced

January 2015:  Oscar season is at its height and pap walks are almost daily

January 2016:  The Abominable Bride airs

November 2016:  Doctor Strange is released in theatres

January 2017:  Sherlock season 4 airs

I’m sure we’re not the only ones who’ve noticed that the peaks in clickability when it comes to Ben’s name are steadily dropping, while the casual interest in him is on the decline as well.  

Back to the premise you were discussing:  You make the assumption that the Nans are what’s driving clickability when it comes to Ben’s name.  If that were the case, Weirdo would have achieved fetch by now.  And yet... I don’t see any major studios signing her on for a project.  I don’t see any theatres begging her to direct (or operate) a play / opera / mandarin juggling marathon.  I don’t even see her grace London Fashion Week with her presence as the avant garde fashionista that she is.  

The fact of the matter is Ben’s die-hard fans (whether they’re Nans, Antis or Skeptics) comprise a very small subset of the general public, no one cares about.  Because no matter whether I’ll go to see Infinity Wars 1 time or 100 times, I’m just a drop in the ocean when compared to the Marvel target group.  That’s just the way it is.

Add to that the fact that the Nans haven’t been all that helpful to get Ben’s or Weirdo’s names trending on social media, and you have your answer as to where they rate on the scale.  In fact, the second hand embarrassment from the way some of his die hard Stans handle themselves on social media have forced a large part of his fandom to take a conscious step back from his more... avid defenders.

It’s a problem.

Let’s take Tumblr Fandometrics for example:  I don’t even know how many weeks Ben has actually been on the list this year, although I can guarantee he’s spent more weeks off the list than on it.  All it took for him to shoot straight to number 12 this week was an Intagram post by Robert Downey Jr (who didn’t even make the list himself).  Because people want to like Ben; all he has to do is smile with his eyes.

Anyway, as far as outs are concerned, I can see the writing on the wall already.  I’m simply waiting to see whether Ben will hold his ground and we’ll get a split announcement just as The Current War promo starts.  If not, I expect a third fake pregnancy to be announced to the world on the engagement announcement anniversary.  Because Ben’s brain doesn’t seem to function fully during November for some reason.