#I know david doesn't enjoy photoshoots

[mizgnomer]

David Tennant - the Fourteenth Doctor Photoshoot

source [ youtube ]

Pam Downe [ Costume Designer ] - It's a fabric that David chose, actually. He's probably got four or five sets of the trousers and the jacket, and maybe four coats.

Russell T. Davies [ Showrunner/writer ] - David's whole look is a nod to the old.

David Tennant: That was important, to find something that very much had the same flavor and the same feel, but also marked a sense that this is not quite the same story that we're telling

Russell T. Davies: The look of him is very precise, it's very Doctor-y but new. It's not the old look reproduced. It's a suit. It's a tight suit, but it's a different pattern. He insisted on doing that top button up and I don't know why he did that. I don't know what he was thinking but I love it. Moments like that you trust your lead actor. We all had input into it, we all have a say, but at the same time, we actually kind of sat back and went, "You're the man"

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

I don’t understand why the Bailey shoot is evidence tbh. Like, I know people say there’s crazy sexual tension or whatever, but I don’t see it. Them recreating the photos with their wives is a bit more telling, but even then there’s really only so many poses you can do with someone, especially if you’re having multiple photoshoots a year with two separate people for over a decade each.

The Bailey shoot is one of my big I Don't Think This Proves Anything, Pals.

Like, David Bailey was kind of a creep so IDK why we're trusting him on the vibes of that shoot lmao, and regardless, I agree it doesn't really come through in the pictures. John bringing Paul, to me, mostly says that he probably didn't like Bailey all that much, or that he expected the shoot to be boring. (like… it's not news that John likes Paul and enjoys spending time with him.)

The posing thing also doesn't really compel me; as you say, the poses aren't especially unique, so it's not surprising John and Paul both imitated one of them at some point. It's not like either of them recreated the whole shoot.

I also have little evidence that the shoot meant anything special to them, except perhaps the fact John kept a picture of it near him.

Sometimes I feel fandom kind of projects their interests (ie. a high quality, elaborate photoshoot whose subject is the two "main characters" of the theory at hand) onto the subjects. I just feel like, to John and Paul, their most valued, intimate moments were probably things we're not especially privy to (for example: no one would have predicted Key West as a pivotal moment before Paul explicitly revealed it).

[lastbluetardis]

before the beginning BEFORE THE BEGINNING

SAE DARLING I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU 💜💜💜💜💜

BEFORE THE BEGINNING — three sentences (or more) about something that happened before the plot of my current project

(You're getting slightly more than three sentences because I have trouble with brevity 😂 And you're getting a little bit from both my active WIPs 😘)

What Makes a Family:

The nausea wasn't going away. Neither was the exhaustion. Sure, the ensuing month since Jimmy had died had been stressful and hectic, full of meetings with lawyers and taking David to counseling and acting appropriately bereaved whenever friends stopped by the flat. But it had been a month—surely she shouldn't still feel like she'd been run over by a train. If she didn't know any better, Rose would have thought she was pregnant...

"Oh, hell," she muttered to herself, digging the heels of her hands into her eyes. No. Surely not. It was impossible. Absolutely impossible for her to be pregnant. It was just the stress, that was all. The stress of grief and being a new single mum. Of course she wasn't pregnant. She would go straight to the pharmacy right now and pick up a test and prove to herself that it was just stress.

An hour later, Rose sat sobbing on the bathroom floor, palms aching and bruised from where they'd made harsh, repeated contact with the edge of the tub in a fit of fury. Beside her was that thin, damning piece of plastic with its impossible little plus sign.

Sacred New Beginnings:

James doesn't quite remember what city he's in. Shit, he doesn't know which country he's in. Has he made it to America, or was that scheduled for next week?

Whatever. It doesn't matter, really. The club is loud, the booze is strong, and the company is entertaining. He's lost in the beat of the bass, the rhythm and cadence of the vocals. He grips his partner's hips, rocking and swaying and grinding far too lewdly for such a public place, but fuck it, this is his only goddamn night off until the end of the month, and he's going to enjoy himself.

"Wanna go somewhere more private?" his partner asks.

His head is foggy and his tongue doesn't feel right in his mouth, but he manages to agree. The man in front of him grabs his hand and pulls him along, stumbling through the sea of hot, writhing bodies until they've found a dark corridor that will serve just fine for what James wants. His partner is more than willing, and soon James is pressed bodily to the wall, his blood thrumming with need and desire made sharper by the alcohol and the absolutely wicked things his partner is doing with his own hips.

A small part of James's brain tells him he'll regret this in the morning, but that small part can sod off, because the papers can't print anything worse than that fucking photoshoot last year. Let them tell their stories. Let them paint this portrait of him.

At least James will have earned it this time.

THANKS FOR PLAYING, LOVE 💜💜

writing game/meme/thingy

[sweetangelfart]

Dont hate me but the H's photoshoot was really pretty and my god those dresses so divinely beautiful and his hair was just 🥺🥺and being the first male on vogue cover is just 🤟🤟 but the interview....I just found it ~repetitive~,apart from a few things here and there most of it is what he's already said before

1.no talk about his actual relationships while being cryptic about finding love(they're not imposing the womanizer image anymore right??)

4.really loves Tokyo

2.he!!was!! in!! LA!!with!! friends!! grrr

3.had to reassure that yes he loves the boys and 1D and still in touch with them(much to his present teams frustration I presume seeing how hell bent they are in separating him from them)

5.spoke about how they recorded on the road in 1d and how he got actual studio time with HS and FL

10. Feeling at home in london and how LA is just a vacation spot

6.he was really scared and uptight about HS and he was more free on FL

7.loves being on tour and cant wait to do it again post covid

8.chidhood growing up,leading to xfactor and being put in the band 9.18 mOnThS🙂🙂 in a FrIenDs hOuSe and 'oOpSie better not show up drunk there hehe' although I thought it was weird that he mentioned Ben's name and his wife's name in the other article but here it was friend and friend's wife ,the cocaine or going home thingy 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ just anything to prove he was not with lou,right anyways..

11. People find him to be a gentleman and very polite and humble (felt like a proud mummy after this hehe I imagine anne is puffing with pride☺☺)

12.hes very open to trying new things out fashion wise

16. Bromance between him and Michele and him and harry lambert is UwU

17.clothing has no gender,he doesnt diffrentiate between men or women's clothing

15.dunkirk and how it was a big thing regardless of his contribution to it and that he considered it a privilege to have been a part of (got new info on how Olivia wilde was pumped to have him on DWD,which was yayyy 🙌🙌)

13.loves dressing up since he was a kid (got new info about the 'world cup mug' and the dalmatian and cruella de vil which made me chuckle😝😝)

14.gem talking about him mimicking elvis and how he was shy to sing infront of an audience

18."he has an army of mini purses 🥺🥺🥺" (while mentioning only a 'sky blue gucci diana bag with his initials on it😏😏)

Things that made me deadpan about how loud he was being lol-

19.blue dress with ruffles,black lace and ribbon which are a mesmerizing blend of naivety and quiet seduction (god hes obsessed isnt he?? Cant blame him tho)

20.singing ABBA eh? Where oh where have we heard of yet another man speaking so passionately about ABBA I wonder..

21. The 'yes daddy I love him' shirt makes a reappearance and has no mention in the article while so many other outfits were spoken of(sure!! let's just brush this off shall we?)

22.singing only that verse of cherry(pretty sure he got so many solos blood pumping cause of it and they're just about foaming at the mouth to pounce on us)

23.he mentioned Prince,David Bowie,Elton John,Freddie Mercury and Elvis being inspirational and loud with their outfits and how he doesn't feel crazy wearing something flamboyant....how much more must he spell it for you??

24.Is constantly being ushered from place to place and albeit doesnt like being alone but also enjoys people not knowing where he is that it's a form of freedom and escape and water is very cleansing(tired tired sea anyone??)

Call it what you want but this is just what they're projecting him to be, I'm not saying that he isnt this version of him but nowadays I feel that everthing they're churning out has the same things over and over again to reinforce the timeline and repetition of the same thing hits the nail on that coffin

Yes he finds comfort in clothes,yes he is a gentleman,yes he is humble and polite, yes he is the perfect modern rockstar who is in every way worthy of being dubbed as such cause he has those qualities inculcated in him while being in touch with both his masculinity and femininity doesnt scare him but everything I see in the media about him and anything about or related to him is just 'harry styles' and it's all just a brand now. I'm happy on one hand that we got new content but then again it wasn't anything new or anything that didn't reinforce the image they're trying to built around him.I cannot help being reminded of that part 'this is us' and how he talks about how "being famous takes away a lot of substance from who you are as a person" and how people are always labeling his life and all this brings out the painfully obvious parallels with tired tired sea

You cant convince me otherwise of him not having read TTS or Y&B

To me this article just polished what already is a clear glass closet

[famous-aces]

Marilyn Monroe

Who: Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson) 

What: Actress, Model, and Singer

Where: American-Jewish (active largely in US)

When: June 1, 1926 - August 4, 1962

(Image Description: a photo of Marilyn Monroe by Richard Avedon from 1957. It is a black and white image showing Monroe on a sparkly dress from the waist up. It almost feels weird to describe her, her face is so famous. She is a white pale woman with an oval face and heavily lidded eyes with long lashes. She has full lips with a beauty mark beside them. She is wearing makeup and has her trademark short, curly, blonde hair. She has her arms hanging limply at her side. Instead of posing sexily she looks to be lost in thought, looking somewhere off camera. End ID) 

Marilyn Monroe is The Hollywood Beauty. The quintessential sexy starlet. Even if you have never seen a movie with her in it, you know who she was, a bit like possible aces I have covered before Andy Warhol or Sir Isaac Newton, you can picture her in your mind just by existing in Western popular culture. She has become a part of our communal consciousness. Her life was brief and marked by tragedy below the glitz and glamor. Her biggest role was playing Marilyn Monroe.

She was intelligent, warm, and a gifted actress, but she is rarely remembered for that. She is far better remembered for singing Happy Birthday to her sometime beau President Kennedy and for the scene in The Seven Year Itch when wind from a subway grate blows up her skirt. You've seen it. Really her whole persona was often created rather than who she really was. She was an actress in her real life, unfortunately.

Monroe actually came into the spotlight in the Second World War when she posed for photos for the boys on the front. From there her modeling, singing, and acting career skyrocketed. Until her tragic death at the age of 36 she was among the go-to actresses for those sexpot roles especially in comedies. Her death by potentially intentional drug overdose (discovered by her psychologist) is just one piece of the evidence of how much of her life was hidden, like her struggles with substance abuse and mental health.

She was famous for playing Blond Bombshells and Dumb Blonds.  She was all beauty, glamor, and sex appeal and it earned her millions of dollars. She always wanted to be more though, unfortunately she never really got it. "Please don't make me a joke," she told a journalist, "End the interview with what I believe...I want to be an artist, an actress with integrity...I want to grow and develop and play serious dramatic parts. My dramatic coach tells everyone that I have a great soul, but so far nobody's interested in it." 

She is best known for as an icon and emblem of the popular culture of the 1950s and early 1960s, but her most definitive/important roles include All About Eve (1950) (a small role that would lead to her "discovery" and contract with 20th Century Fox), Monkey Business (1952), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), Niagara (1953), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Some Like it Hot (1959), The Misfits (1961), and her final film, released posthumously as a short, Something's Gotta Give (1962). She also sang "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" and the very sexually charged "Happy Birthday Mr. President" (just the song here). 

(Image Description: the poster for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. It shows drawings of Jane Russel and Marilyn Monroe in red costumes the size and shape of one piece bathing suits that are sheer or pink on top. They have on red top hats and long black and white necklaces. They have black canes and are dancing with one leg upraised. Behind them is a busy Paris scene done in a more cartoony/simplified style. There are musical notes around them. Their names are above their heads in blue.  Below them on a black rectangle it says (in white and orange) "in Howard Hawks' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes [in] Technicolor" below that rectangle but above the studio info in blue it says "co-starring Charles Coburn". End ID) 

Probable Orientation: Mspec Ace

Oh, I am going to get a lot of hate for this one.

And a lot of people are going to show a lot of misogyny and aphobia, be it overt, unintentional, or internalized.  Indeed the first thing the first (allo) person I told these findings to said "but she had a ton of sex!" Yes, that is true, she did, and so do some other aces.

Not to mention that Monroe's relationship with sex was a complicated one. A very complicated one. Monroe had a deeply traumatic childhood (mentally ill mother, tossed between foster homes and orphanages) and married extremely young -- she had turned 16 just two and a half weeks earlier -- to prevent her from becoming homeless and returned to the orphanage after her most recent foster family planned on moving out of state and leaving her behind. Then while working a munitions plant in L.A. she became a model for the troops in World War II, aged 18. From her teen years she was made aware that sex was expected from her, thrust into adulthood and positions she might not have been comfortable with. She was a beautiful woman and people wanted her and she accepted that because it did get her what she wanted.

(Image Description: the 1944 factory photos that launched Monroe's modeling career, taken by David Conover for Yank Magazine at the Radioplane Munitions Factory in which she worked. Interestingly the commanding officer that sent him to take the photos was Ronald Reagan. The photo shows an 18-year-old Monroe. She is holding a small propeller and is beside some kind of red machine. She is wearing a simple green top and gray bottoms with a photo ID badge at her waist. She wears a wedding ring. She has much frizzier brown hair. She is smiling broadly. End ID)  

Over the course of her life she was in love with and had sexual relationships with many different men and women. That doesn't mean she was sexually attracted to them. Indeed throughout her life she had a lot of difficulty with sex. She didn't like it. She thought she must have been doing it "wrong" and stated that a lot of her sex appeal was applied to her rather than something she felt. She was playing to the crowd. Which makes sense, Monroe was a people pleaser. She desired closeness, she romantically loved many people, I have no doubt, and from the time she was a teenager the best appreciated way to show it was by being sexual. The fact that later in life she had a sexual encounter with a literal 16-year-old when she was 30 shows she had a pretty fucked up understanding of what was appropriate sexually. The 16-year-old was the leader of her fan club, she also had an affair with her acting coach, her first husband was her neighbor who was kind to her. She was loving the people who loved her and was showing it the way society told her to. (On her being mspec, there were several women she had affairs with, including the fan and acting coach mentioned above, indeed it has been speculated she was more attracted to women than men).

No matter how she appeared on screen, she voiced fear that she was broken and frigid to her psychologist (who agreed with her) because she didn't really enjoy/want sex.  The desire of wanting to fix herself and wanting to please the people who loved her and who she may have romantically loved in return. She probably romantically loved some of these people but didn't know how to separate that from the sexual aspect or didn't want to lose them if she did. She was giving them what they wanted and expected and what culture told her was essential to normal loving relationships.

Her sexual "failure" was a subject she returned to often in therapy throughout her life. She had only one sexual encounter she actually said she enjoyed and it seemed to be more of a relief because it made her normal than what she got from the sex itself.

She said again and again that she wasn't the sexpot people thought she was, nobody listened.

(Image Description: a series of photos from a photoshoot from Life Magazine. It shows Monroe at home in 1953, a huge year in her career. The photographer is Alfred Eisenstaedt [a photographer of whose work I am extremely fond]. They show Monroe wearing a dark turtleneck and checkered trousers. She is in a bunch of different positions and wearing different expressions. Some of these appear candid and others posed. I am especially fond of one in the middle in which she appears to be trying to stop herself from laughing or sneezing. I like to imagine it is the former. It is very human. End ID)

“People had a habit of looking at me as if I were some kind of mirror instead of a person. They didn’t see me, they saw their own lewd thoughts, then they white-masked themselves by calling me the lewd one.”

-Marilyn Monroe

"I never quite understood it, this sex symbol. I always thought symbols were those things you clash together! That's the trouble, a sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing. But if I'm going to be a symbol of something I'd rather have it sex than some other things they've got symbols of."

—Monroe in an interview for Life in 1962 (both of these quotes illustrate that her "sex appeal" was manufactured and applied rather than her own natural state. Her audience made it clear what they wanted and she played to it.)

"A man who had kissed me once had said it was very possible that I was a lesbian because apparently I had no response to males - meaning him...I didn't contradict him because I didn't know what I was... Now, having fallen in love, I knew what I was. It wasn't a lesbian."

-Marilyn Monroe in her autobiography My Story (written 1954, published 1974). (Note that she has "no response". She loves a man, this one or another, but she has "no response" to men physically. That is the only response he could comment on, her physical one. Clearly she feels some kind of attraction to someone eventually, but not sexually/physically. It is the difference between romantic and sexual love. It also shows that homosexuality and asexuality have always overlapped.)

"Primary frigidity" 

-the diagnosis from Monroe's therapist Dr. Ralph Greenson, he worked to "cure" her of this "frigidity"

“Maybe I’m a sexless sex goddess.” 

– Marilyn Monroe to Life magazine journalist Richard Meryman, 1961

(Image Description: a photo of Marilyn Monroe behind the scenes on the set of The Misfits in 1960, photographed by Inge Morath.  She is leaning across a table and smiling at someone to the right of the frame. She has tired eyes. End ID) 

[mizgnomer]

Michael Sheen and David Tennant promoting Good Omens

photographer: Vicki Couchman for The Sunday Times

Part One of this photoshoot can be found [ here ]