Save Benedict

Adding some star power to proceedings, Benedict Cumberbatch arrived fresh from giving a reading at Letters Live and shortly attracted a posse of adoring fans — though his wife Sophie Hunter made sure to stay by his side throughout the evening……

Of maybe what we all would like to see again - I’m saddened by the further splintering of the skeptic community which is now pretty much three separate camps who have just all blocked each other - so perhaps a brief reminder of the reason we are all skeptics in the first place regardless of how we specifically think events happened (or didn’t happen). I suspect this may be one of my last posts on the sham as it seems you can’t say anything without being suspected either of being delusional or of secretly being in SH’s camp……so I offer you this reminder of why we all gathered in this crazy corner of Tumblr to begin with……

THIS 

MAN

USED

TO

BE

HAPPY. 

So far?  That’s a no (thanks to Watchie for this gif):

I share these views. SH is too focused to get all of BC’s fortunes and media attention, that should the news the baby is not BC’s, her media attention becomes negative and she won’t be the English Rose playwright, but the deceitful gold-digger interested not only in the perks of second-hand fame, but the praise and mindless adoration that comes with it. 

Hi Anna!  Spinsie here, loving Rachel’s suit look. This is a good look for her.

I am, though, a bit perplexed by the narrative that has been carefully put together for us over the weekend: Mr C travels alone to NYC, buys a hat, takes a walk with Rachel and a pram, then a couple of days later he is back in London, allegedly stomping all over Chelsea embankment in his PE kit.

What it sounds like to me is that Rachel & babby now live in New York City and he popped over to take the babby for a walk (and buy a hat), then did some exercise when he got back home.

Because no one sees them around London pushing a pram, do they? He acted like she wasn’t there in LL. Yet there they are in Tribeca on a holy day of obligation, possibly going to Mass.

I cant wait for the next installment in this section of the story!  There are many questions, not least as to why they can’t afford a bigger pram for a babby who is at least ten months old. And why they employed a news agency to take the photos. Are there more piccies? Has some publication bought the best already? Why not just get a local pap from the New York Post? Why wait until the slow Easter news period is over to release them?

I can only guess these are meant to suggest that all is fine in BatchParadise, but there are lots of stories that can be spun here:

Rachel has moved to New York and Mr C is visiting his ex and their babby

Rachel and her beau play hide and seek in all the major capital cities in the world (she’s it now, and he is flying to hide in Minsk as I type)

Rachel and Mr C just bought a loft in the same neighbourhood as Robert De Niro

Rachel and Mr C like to do favours for major news agencies

Rachel and Mr C have converted to Catholicism and are pictured going to Mass on Good Friday

Rachel and Mr C got lost on the way to Central Park and called a reputable news agency for directions

Rachel and Mr C want to remind everyone that they are in love and got married and have a baby to prove it or

Rachel and Mr C are expecting some bad news and getting in first with some really nice pictures of them being functional.

Regardless, the photos are great. Planned, obviously, but great. (Any sly pap would wait until they’ve passed and taken photos of the kid. No kid piccies - then the pics were discussed beforehand.) The Batches both look healthy, and they are working hard to look as if they are treating each other with respect. Rachel looks very smart in her suit. Casual readers will need to be reminded when the pair were married and when the baby was born, so there’s lots of scope for magazine sales. I’m waiting to see if someone other than the Fail gets first run on the pics, which of course is a lovely way to punish the Fail for their snarky commentary.

But the more things change, the more they stay the same: A bit of baiting, some Tumblr trolling, a couple of misleading tweets and then a raft of mysterious pictures come falling from the sky.

Nothing’s changed (not even the pram). It is all pictures, no words, no first-hand or official comments, nothing other than some carefully crafted images and some sleight of hand, suggesting something but never confirming anything.  The smoke and mirrors are becoming common place, and are tailored to the fandom’s every need. Sceptics, Nans, Casuals – there’s something here for all of us.

I would love to hear how other sceptics are interpreting the piccies. Are they just opportunistic? Did Mr Batch really need to get a new hat? Are they on their way to buy a new pram? Where did Rachel buy her suit? Anna, can we have a spin workshop and come up with a combined narrative that attempts to explain whatever they’re trying to sell this time?

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

I will get on putting together the spin workshop Spinsie; just as soon as I pick my jaw off the floor after reading your take on this….’

And it’s your prerogative to do so, Nonny.

However we have had more pictorial evidence since that post went up to show that she was most certainly not there.

And I also trust @gnanon implicitly.  She has never not once lied about anything to me or other valued skeptics since they arrived here.  I understand if you do not wish to believe myself or her on this matter, but that is because you have not had the conversations with her that I myself and others such as @annashipper have had.  If she said that she did not see Sanka there, then she did not see Sanka there.

I also do not like the way you have seemed to passively attacked her the way you have - intentional or not.  If you have a problem with any other skeptic, please address them directly.  Don’t be a coward - especially where @gnanon is concerned as she is a sweetheart and would be quite mature in her response to you.

So…  They took a 4 day weekend off, came to Greece for a mini getaway, to a country where (take it from me) there’s no use being anywhere near a beach at the moment, then returned to England via …. Venice because… what?  Has British Airways gone bust?  Alitalia was the only company they could find tickets with?  And the connecting flight just happened to be through Venice instead of Rome or Milan?  Maybe Ben should leave flight bookings to someone who actually knows what they’re doing next time.

Now Nonny, please explain this to me like I’m a four year old:  why is it so important for you to convince Skeptics of all people that Ben and his wife had a quick getaway on Valentine’s Day?

So…  They took a 4 day weekend off, came to Greece for a mini getaway, to a country where (take it from me) there’s no use being anywhere near a beach at the moment, then returned to England via …. Venice because… what?  Has British Airways gone bust?  Alitalia was the only company they could find tickets with?  And the connecting flight just happened to be through Venice instead of Rome or Milan?  Maybe Ben should leave flight bookings to someone who actually knows what they’re doing next time.

Now Nonny, please explain this to me like I’m a four year old:  why is it so important for you to convince Skeptics of all people that Ben and his wife had a quick getaway on Valentine’s Day?