#it really was all about twelve & clara | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aq2003 · 3 months

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i think twelve and clara are starting to make sense to me but i don't think it's what moffat intended or how the ppl that like them see their dynamic

#they are so obsessed with each other but not as people but the ideas of each other.#twelve's whole character to me feels like the grieving immortal that no longer has anything as a buffer #between him and the weight of the universe. so he sees clara as this culmination of every one of the companions he's lost before #and that adds up. what w/ eleven meeting versions of clara and seeing them die. that adds up w/ clara's presence in heaven sent #faceless and just telling him what to do. she is the companion he cannot fail this time (but he also #cannot reconcile how one of the reasons he keeps someone like her around is /because/ she's mortal)#meanwhile clara bc of her time in the tardis and how she was treated by eleven. thinks herself to be more than she is #she thinks she's owed so much in her life and she thinks she can handle all of it. like ten in waters of mars #so she views twelve and the life in the tardis as an affirmation of what's so extraordinary about her #which is also how she sees danny. i think her character really sings if this is the main idea w/ her relationships with others #bc it's how the doctor acted around her when he first met her. not seeing her as a person but as an idea a mystery a means to an end #so of course as someone who becomes more and more like the doctor as time goes on it makes so much sense that this would be so central #just like how w martha's doctorfication arc it was about self-sacrifice and violence and death. bc that's how ten acted around her #twelve and clara still have the standard traits of doctor and companion of course. the doctor saves the companion when they're in trouble.#the companion remembers to care when the doctor forgets. but they're going through familiar motions as they #start to lose more and more of themselves by being around each other. bc they don't really see the other person #and that's why their dynamic is so obsessive and toxic #dr who #12 era #now this reading has made both characters make a lot of sense to me but also this has tanked my enjoyment of hell bent #in how clara's arc resolves. i won't elaborate more on that until i actually get to it on the rewatch though

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chipsandcoffee · 2 years

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Iconic.

#this was a great statement #on what to expect in S9 #it really was all about twelve & clara #but truly #clara's heart eyes here #and the way twelve turns to look at her #i just love them so much #twelfth doctor #clara oswald #the doctor and clara oswald in the tardis #whouffaldi #the witch's familiar #chips.stuff

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weedle-testaburger · 2 years

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twelve is such a weird doctor to me because he's simultaneously underrated by the public and overrated by the fandom

#personal crap #doctor who #tbf you could say that about six and eight to a degree too #but i get the appeal of them and honestly i don't really with twelve #don't get me wrong capaldi's a great actor and gives the role his all but i just don't get what they were going for with twelve's character #plus he has a mix of a few fantastic episodes (mummy flatline face the raven and heaven sent)#a few really awful ones (the caretaker kill the moon hell bent) and the rest which are mostly meh #and he has my least favourite companion roster in new who: clara 'I'm the specialest person ever to be special' oswald #nardole (which is kinda personal distaste tbf because ever since i tried to watch little britain I've had a burning hatred of matt lucas)#and bill 'did i mention I'm black and a lesbian? what do you mean those aren't character traits?' potts #again those three did their best acting wise but most of their material was just lousy #sorry don't mind me ranting about twelve's era in the tags if you like it more power to you #but you baffle me /j

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warandpussy · 2 years

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kill the moon is. worse than I remembered.

it’s very frustrating because there is a ghost of a good episode in there I feel - one where there are like literally any consequences to anything (my biggest critique of s8 is that there are no consequences to anything that happens in a good number of the stand-alone episodes). and clara’s takedown of the doctor at the end is probably one of the best companion monologues in the show.

but like if you’re going to set up a scene where humanity tells you to kill the moon to save the earth, and then you have clara ignore humanity because she knows better / can’t bear to do it / whatever, that could be a really interesting character beat that could play in to her larger character arc, the one that eventuates in her downfall, of “becoming too much like the doctor” (she even has her own young, female companion in courtney). and THEN you have the added spicy content of like… it’s the doctor that put her in that position! so him not being there led her down this path, in a way. and THAT plays into his specific trauma of “I destroy the people I love by being near them”. like it could have really been a crunchy character moment that was a turning point for her in the show.

but yeah they just ignore that part and are like yay you made the right choice :) <3

#this is not even getting in to the whole abortion metaphor thing #it’s just like okay the moon baby laid another egg the exact same size as the old one so don’t worry about it zero consequences #in the forest of the night is the same where it has the trees that grow and literally rip up entire cities and then vanish #but when they vanish all the pavement they ripped through is magically fixed again #this is why I maintain s9 as the best series of dw because they’re all two parters and they literally like #all do the thing where it’s like ‘here’s a fucked up thing we did’ and then the next episode is ‘and here’s us having to deal with the #fallout from that’#so much more interesting #doctor who #twelve #clara oswald #time heist is SO fun though. nonsensical really. but highly camp and fun

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userastarion · 2 years

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not me getting emotional about how much the doctor loves clara

#it’s such a specific kind of love i am frothing at the mouth #anyone who says platonic relationships aren’t as deep/intense as romantic relationships can eat dirt actually #i honestly do not remember eleven with clara… really at all #but twelve with her and his specific protectiveness and like #god peter capaldi is SO good did people like him when this was airing?????#they’ve got like. best friends with a little bit of father/daughter but also brother/sister and i’m so 😭😭#at the end of s9e8 when clara was like ‘u must’ve thought i was dead for a while how was that?’#& the doctor says ‘longest month of my life’ & clara says something about it being 5 minutes #and his delivery of ‘i’ll be the judge of time’ like sorry don’t mind mr #my chest hurts now because of that single sentence #he’s so lonely i love him omg i’m falling back in love with doctor who i genuinely did not expect this #b:personal #text post

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digitalafterlife · 2 months

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the main mistake that people who dislike s8 and put it low in their series rankings make is the belief that, like any other series (apart from s9), it’s a collection of standalone stories tied together by some vague throughline i.e. missy’s ‘heaven’. “oh, this episode’s mid, that episode’s bad” meanwhile it’s not about individual episodes at all. i firmly believe that it should be viewed as a singular long serial.

so grateful that i was extremely late to the party and binged it all in a week instead of watching every episode as they were airing, because sometimes the plots barely matter at all. do you remember what the skovox blitzer actually looks like or what it wanted with coal hill in the first place? hardly. i had to google its name. but what you do remember from the caretaker is twelve acting like an antagonistic prick towards danny, and that’s what matters. almost every villainous entity is some kind of soldier, the contempt twelve shows to everybody but clara becomes the source of their toxicity… in the forest of the night is pretty obviously rubbish scifi, but it demonstrates danny’s fundamental incompatibility with clara, as well as the scene in which clara is ready to sacrifice herself and her students for the doctor’s sake, foreshadowing their reckless, almost suicidal codependency.

point is, but it really does work best as a tightly woven tapestry. sure, some episodes succeed individually, but most of the individual plots are mildly exciting only in a ‘this is fun to watch for kids’ way… UNLESS you approach them from the overarching perspective. i.e. mummy on the orient express has wonderful style, a thrilling mystery, creative concepts and interesting side characters, but its story appeal hinges on the twelveclara failed breakup. listen is frightening enough, but its entire story appeal hinges on just how much clara affects the doctor’s values past and present, and whether or not she has a future with danny (she doesn’t).

what i’m saying is, the narrative in s8 is a non-negotiable package deal. buy one, get them all. and it has no skips. i hate the idiotic pro-life message in kill the moon as much as the next sensible person, but what the episode does well is really hammer home how much of a sanctimonious asshole twelve initially is, which is crucial to his future character evolution.

tldr; the correct way to watch series 8 is all in one go. series 8 is great. more love for series 8

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doctorwhoimagines · 5 months

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Don't Mention It

The Doctor discovers that the two of you have a shared hobby

Twelve x gn!reader

Warnings: None

You realized it probably wasn't the best idea to touch The Doctor's guitar, but when you got ready for the day and entered the empty console room to find it sitting there unattended, you couldn't resist. After all, sometimes it was simply better to seek forgiveness than to ask for permission. Surely he wouldn't be too upset if he found out, and if he was, you could handle him.

After turning the amp down a bit, you sat on the steps, holding the guitar as you settled into place. Without having to think much about it, you began to play Purple Haze. You were a little out of practice, but it felt nice to strum out a tune.

Before you could move onto another song, you jumped at the sound of The Doctor's voice. "What are you doing?"

When you looked up, his piercing blue eyes and very serious brows were focused right on you. You hadn't even heard him get close.

"Playing guitar. Well, your guitar." You slipped the strap off of your body and handed the instrument to him. "Sorry."

"You never told me you could play." He'd actually been quite surprised at the fact that your playing sounded pleasant, as opposed to the nails on a chalkboard he'd heard when Clara once picked up his guitar.

"I'm sure I have. You probably weren't listening."

"I'm always listening," he said, sounding almost offended.

"You're joking, right?" You stood up from the stairs with a sigh. "Anyway...yes, I play. I just haven't had much time between travelling with you and working whenever I'm back at home. When I hear you playing, it really makes me miss it."

How The Doctor hadn't put the pieces together long ago, he didn't know. When you stopped everything and watched him play, he'd always assumed you were just impressed by his great skills. And maybe it was a little bit of that, but it seemed there had been some longing, too. You were enjoying the music and wishing you could be playing yourself.

The Doctor looked down at the guitar he still held in his hands, and you were caught off guard when he offered it back to you. "I'd better not find even a scratch on it. If I do, I'm dropping you off at home."

You knew he wouldn't do such a thing, but you still intended to respect his request, gingerly taking it from him and putting the strap back over your head.

As The Doctor turned to the console, you sat down once again and played the first thing that came to mind.

It had been a few days since your last trip with The Doctor when he finally showed up again. You weren't sure how long it had been for him—you never were—but he didn't seem any different.

He played his guitar as he pondered something you couldn't even begin to guess, filling the TARDIS with what you recognized as I Will Dare by The Replacements. An odd choice, you thought, yet that didn't stop you from listening intently.

The Doctor abruptly stopped the tune to put the instrument down, and he was gone from the console room before you could say anything. You sighed in disappointment. You quite liked that song after all.

You continued where he'd left off, humming and tapping your fingers against your thigh.

Moments later, The Doctor came back, holding a guitar case in his hand. You frowned at the sight, because even though he probably had several scattered around the TARDIS, he seemed to prefer the Yamaha that still sat in the console room.

It was even more puzzling when he gave you the case.

"Did you...buy me a guitar?"

"No, no. I didn't buy it. I don't buy things." The Doctor walked over to the console, pretending to look at something on the screen and at least attempting to be out of hugging distance. "A friend gave it to me in the 1960's, and it's been sitting around here ever since."

"1960's?" Very carefully, you placed the case on the floor, opening it to find a beautiful vintage Stratocaster. One very much like Jimi Hendrix used to play. Knowing the man who had given it to you, it was the genuine article.

Without noticing the way he'd been watching you, you closed the case back up and practically ran to The Doctor, throwing yourself at him in a hug. The impact and the way you pushed him into the console knocked some of the wind out of him. "Why does there always have to be hugging?!" He struggled to exclaim as you squeezed him tightly.

"I really can't help it right now." You kissed his cheek and gave him one more squeeze before mercifully letting him go. "Thank you, Doctor. Seriously."

"Don't mention it. Really. I only wanted to stop you playing mine so much."

"That won't be a problem. Believe me."

Returning to the case like a giddy little kid, you took the guitar out and hooked it up to the amp. You missed the small smile on his face as you began to play a song for him.

The Doctor didn't plan to tell you that he had only acquired the guitar after your previous trip.

#twelfth doctor #doctor who #twelfth doctor x reader #twelfth doctor imagine #doctor who imagine #doctor who x reader #12th doctor x reader #12th doctor imagine #twelve x reader #my fics***

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genderqueerpond · 16 days

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You know, I think Clara knew about Amy.

Not at first, of course, but Clara grew up with her --- that is, grew up reading Amelia Williams books. And they were precious to her, books she's read many times over the course of her childhood -- how else does she know exactly which chapter holds what in the book she gave Artie? Perhaps she has always felt connected to her, this moderately obscure children's fantasy author, following in the footsteps of E Nesbit; this contemporary (and sometime friend (oh yes!) ) of Edward Eager's; although not nearly as widely known as either of these. Perhaps because of her choice to publish openly under a "woman's name", thus, in the time in which she lived, relegating her books to the inferior realm of "girls' books", despite the more than equal balance of male viewpoint characters.

But Amelia Williams is different from these authors too -- often fantasy, but sometimes more like early science fiction, a barely- recognized pioneer in both genres. Her views were feminist and daring. In so many ways she was ahead of her time, and the innovations she imagined! almost as if she knew what the future would hold.

And if Clara knows and loves her books so well, she can hardly fail to recognize the most frequently repeated character archetype in them. especially after she rereads a few on a subconscious hunch, during that summer after the Maitlands found a permanent nanny and she insisted that before anything else, she go off and fulfill her original travel plans from 101 Places To See. (The Doctor purported to leave her alone to forge her own way with this, but was in actuality very bad at that, and kept popping up nearly every place she went.) She's Clara, she's clever, how can she fail to look up from her book and notice that the person who's just appeared out of nowhere to stand in front of her with a plate of jammie dodgers and a goofy smile has stepped directly out of the pages?

And then of course, there are the dedications. Sure, there's normal stuff like "to my daughter", "to my loving and patient husband", and "to my parents, who are children now" which is rather weird and whimsical, but fits in with the fantasy author's signature style of dream-like imagination.

But the majority of Amelia Williams' dedication pages say things like "to You", "to My Doctor", "to My Raggedy Doctor" "to my raggedy man" (weird but clearly connected to the other variants), and, cryptically, over and over again: "to you", "to you", "to you", "to you (wherever in time and space you are)".

There's "to my imaginary friend" and "to my imaginary friend, and to all children who have an imaginary friend" and "to my imaginary friend, and every child in the universe who's ever met him, or ever will". Nerds and English teachers have occasionally debated what, if anything, she meant by all this, and now Clara thinks she knows, but she can never say....

And then there are the nights that the Doctor wakes up crying out for "Amy!" and then refuses to talk about it when Clara asks, refuses to acknowledge ever even knowing an Amy, "well everyone shouts random things when they're asleep, it doesn't mean anything" and "I don't remember." if pressed for details about his dreaming. And later he might go off somewhere and cry quietly, reading a book he never lets Clara see.

And then he regenerates, and calls out for "Amelia!", "the first face this face saw."

There's newborn twelve, with his Scottish accent, letting her name slip. It's the first - and only - time he's spoken of her while awake and not actively dying. And Clara is too busy with the immediate threat to their lives to think about it in the moment, but at this point she at the very least has a hunch about the connection between him and the Scottish-American author with the rather opaque background --- that as far as anyone can trace it (although to be fair, no one really cares enough to try very hard) she and her husband just kind of appeared out of nowhere in pre-WWII New York. It seems kind of obvious, now, that the doctor would have had a hand in that.

And now with all the books everywhere, the library gradually migrating into the console room, what else is obvious is that he owns every single one of her books. multiple copies, first editions, last editions, signed copies, mass paperbacks, everything. There's a TARDIS key hidden in a well-worn, well-loved, tear streaked copy of The Cuckoo And The Doll's House, which Clara finds when she's cataloging all the locations of TARDIS keys, just in case she should ever need that information one day.

This all is enough for Clara to know. There doesn't really need to be any more proof, but there is. What totally and fully clinches it are the pictures. Tucked in the pages of another tearstained book (The Beast Below this time), are photographs of Amelia, looking just as she does in her black and white author photos, but younger, and in 21st century clothes. Elsewhere, later, she finds photo booth polaroids of a still younger Amelia, goofing off and smiling. Some of them feature another young man Clara doesn't recognize, and some of them feature the Doctor. He's wearing a tweed jacket instead of his purple wool, and no vest, but otherwise he is exactly the same as the Doctor she first met. The three of them hang off each other like old friends, like family.

idk how to end this.

#clara oswald #amy pond #augh i just! so many feelings about post-TATM writer Amelia #she made the doctor up and then she grew up to Make Him Up professionally #she created him she created him she created him #lavender thoughts #dw #ndw #doctor who #meta #ANOTHER dw ficlet/meta in one day i am on a roll #like six half finished ones in my drafts too btw

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headcanonsandmore · 4 months

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Harry Houdini with every Doctor (1-15):

One: Something akin to professional curiosity. One starts chortling during a particularly daring escape, and Houdini decides he likes this stranger.

Two: Houdini flirts with Jamie who, of course, doesn't notice. But the Doctor does, and starts to wonder.

Three: This flamboyant peacock of a man explodes into Houdini's life. Having now understood what his predecessor was trying to figure out, Three takes no time in thoroughly having a lot of fun. Houdini is very happy about this.

Four: An interesting case. Less of a raw physical relationship and more like two colleagues who ended up lounging around each other and thought 'why not?'.

Five: They have tea together. Houdini is amused by the Doctor constantly bickering with the young Australian, whose girlfriend Nyssa is lovely. He isn't sure why the Doctor doesn't seem to notice this about the two women, though.

Six: More raw physicality again. Houdini got used to the coat after a while.

Seven: Houdini doesn't understand why the time lord keeps avoiding introducing him to his young friend Ace.

Eight: Whirlwind romance with lots of day drinking.

War: Houdini wonders why the Doctor hasn't visited in a while, and is faintly worried by the absence.

Nine: The time lord appears on Houdini's door one evening in the rain. They don't speak much at first, so Houdini just cuddles Nine. Sometimes he can see a deep grief in their eyes, and it scares him.

Ten: Houdini would like it to be physical but this face is somehow more depressed than the last. He wonders who this 'Rose' person is. The Doctor tells him to stay away from someone called... Captain Jack? Houdini doesn't understand, but he takes the Doctor at their word.

Eleven: They mostly talk about escapology. Eleven does kiss him once or twice, but they decide it's better to leave things at that.

Twelve: Surprisingly physical and tender. Whose are the names he whispers in quiet moments, seemingly without realising? Who is River? Who is Missy? Who is Clara?

Thirteen: The woman thing wasn't a big deal, but Houdini is baffled by the sheer intensity of the Doctor this time. She apologises whenever he gets close, saying that she isn't really into that at the moment. Houdini asks who this 'Yaz' is; the Doctor waves the question away, with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes and a blush that she doesn't seem to notice.

TenThree/ David Doctor/ Sorry-Mr-Tennant-I-can't-call-you-Fourteen: Houdini is happy that this face seems to have finally gotten some peace. His niece Rose seems lovely.

Fifteen: Houdini is physically reminded of the dandy again. In all the best ways.

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nipuni · 6 months

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Doctor Who report! We finished S8 and we loved it, Twelve is great! This season started really strong for us, we loved "Listen" and there were many fun episodes!! sadly the "kill the moon" episode also happened and it was such a mess that we are going to pretend it never did lmao I'd rather talk about what I loved instead and that is Missy!! HELLO?? I always enjoy The Master so this was such a treat!! I love her I hope she comes back next season!! Clara's and Danny's character development on the other hand we didn't enjoy as much and we felt it kind of went downhill since the moon episode but I'm curious to see where Clara's arc is going from here. I love Capaldi so damn much!! Also the 60 anniversary special is coming out tomorrow and we are so excited!! 😭 I need to draw so many things about this show already but things keep getting in the way AAA I have a ton of deadlines, a few events to attend to and a trip on top of it all next week so I'm losing my mind but I will have some art and stuff to share soon I promise!! I hope you are all doing well, I love reading your comments and opinions and I'm very grateful for the messages!!

#DW report #personal #doctor who #I can't believe they regenerated the master into a hot middle aged woman in victorian clothes are you kidding me!! this was for me #I need to cosplay as her I have to make irresponsible financial choices right now I have to support women's wrongs #they should have let them kiss as Ten and John Simm too but I'll take this #their relationship couldn't be any worse it's amazing I love it #and apparently Missy has a whole audio series about her? I have to get my hands on it #also unrelated but does anyone know how to reduce swelling of lymph nodes!! I look very strange and I will have pictures taken soon 😭#I can't get a dr appointment before mid december uueuweu

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twelverriver · 6 months

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sorry but the way river literally always haunts both the narrative and the doctor??? like. she turns up and she dies. we could say she's a ghost for the rest of the show even though we know she's very much alive for the rest of the show. the way the question of how to save river is something the doctor thinks about all the time. the entire episode of the name of the doctor with river's LITERAL GHOST HAUNTING HIM AND CLARA. the minisode "date night" where she says "oh doctor, you and your secrets, you'll be the death of me." and he's looking like he's mourning her all over again. it's twelve hiding a key of the tardis in the book "the time traveler's wife" for me. the way river appears again in the husbands of river song and we know that afterwards, she's headed to the library and dies and gets uploaded to the library as a data ghost. the episode that follows that is literally the return of doctor mysterio, where the loss of river is SO PRESENT??? and he's mourning her the entire and HAS been mourning her. nardole's speech!!! after that is season ten and he mentions her to bill (even if its a deleted scene it is REAL TO ME) and her diary is shown and a passage is read from it to convince the doctor of something and nardole shows up again as a "wife-approved companion" and twelve has a picture of her next to susans on his desk!! and bill asks if someone's really gone do pictures help !!! LIKE. I'm connecting the dots!!

#like sorry the immediate connection of thors -> the return of doctor mysterio _> s10 is just. so delicious and also so sad to me #i love it so much #jana.txt #also just for context mygalfriday's fic the dark hills i would have to cross to reach you is canon to me #as well as steven moffat's doctor moon theory #<3 #doctor who #river song

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aq2003 · 4 months

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the diehard clara hater/lover quiz is fun because some of the lover descriptions feel like they're describing the most toxic evil person on planet earth and it's like guys i think we have all forgotten the fact that canonically she is twelve's one tie to earth and has to remind him of how to care about people. and like she dies in a doctor-esque sacrifice to save someone. she just reflects the worst qualities of the doctor she is not an evil possessive selfish girlboss woman. i do wish she was more awful though i think it would be funny to have a sole companion like that making the doctor worse

#i feel like the writing about her is not 100% solid. if there's this much range in interpretation going on #although it may be fandom reading comprehension or whatever #i wish she was in more episodes of s9 to flesh her out more and develop her relationship w twelve more gradually #i wish we got to see why she is so dissatisfied with just having one life. and stuff exploring her life on earth #before she met the doctor. and why she reflects the doctor's uglier qualities. as opposed to many other companions before her #that instead became the hero of the story in the doctor's place (rose + bad wolf. martha walking the earth. doctordonna)#her relationship w danny feels wrong like she is just going through the motions w him. girl what is it ur drawn to abt him #there is quite obviously something wrong with her. i just feel like we needed to see more of what that something was #and dont say its the impossible girl stuff. thats the worst shit ive seen in my whole fucking life #quite possibly the most heinous arc for a companion of all time and im glad deep breath continues on like its not real #if there are any clara enjoyers out there feel free to monologue in my inbox about her. i think theres smth about her i don't really get.#like im missing a piece of the puzzle or something.#dr who #12 era

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intyalote · 1 year

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the thing about doctor/river is that the blatant romance is a defense mechanism. it’s playacting it’s how they sketch out the boundaries of their relationship because they can never be sure of how the scales of intimacy are balanced - they love each other, sure, but they are so rarely in a place where they both know enough about each other for mutual trust. so you get these really interesting juxtapositions like how eleven is in full flirty mode for impossible astronaut/day of the moon to the point where it feels like they’re about to make out every time they’re in the same frame but at the same time he dismisses her with “trust you? seriously?” and is shocked when she actually kisses him goodbye. in let’s kill hitler they flirt like hell when she is literally trying to murder him but not at all when they save each others’ lives. in the wedding of river song kovarian complains about them being lovey-dovey in front of her but right after that the doctor attempts to reset the timeline and river has to drag him kicking and screaming into respecting her enough to tell her the truth. in angels take manhattan we get both “just you wait till my husband gets home” (flaunting their relationship to grayle) and “never let him see the damage” (she doesn’t trust him to love her as a flawed, mortal person). they’re out of sync all the time, so sincerity is off the table except when it’s a necessary shortcut to trust that doesn’t exist yet - river whispering his name to him in the library when he doesn’t know her yet, their literal wedding being a tool the doctor uses to convince her to let him “die.”

the thing about “hide the damage” in particular is that river was responding to the doctor’s own fear of seeing the damage. she lied to him because she was trying to give him what he wanted, even if he couldn’t admit it. and it applies both to the broken wrist and to their relationship in general. every time he looks at her all he can see is the pain of her death, and she can see that he’s holding back even if she doesn’t exactly know why. this was always going to be a barrier to true intimacy between them unless they could be linear for long enough to know and see each other as they are, not as they’re going to be or as they were.

that’s why husbands of river song is such a perfect resolution for them. the only way river would ever be honest enough to let him see her insecurities is if she didn’t know who he was, so it had to be twelve and not eleven. and it specifically had to be twelve fresh from losing his memories of clara, so that he’d stop running away from confronting her death and just give them those 24 years together on darillium to really get to know each other, to see the ugliness and the imperfections and stay together anyway. it makes perfect sense that after that they could reach the level of love and trust river has for “her doctor” in the library, in a way that just isn’t possible with a relationship built on whirlwind dates done out of order and nothing else.

#there's a scene where ten is thinking about how every time he meets river the memory of her death hurts more #so he decides to avoid her because he thinks somehow if he can change their future she won't die for him #(of course she didn't only die for him but he's too arrogant to see that)#and i think though eleven kind of gives up on avoiding her #he still flinches away from loving her because he knows it'll hurt (name of the doctor my beloved <3)#river song #doctor who #dw meta #dw rewatch #dw #my meta #oh the ten thing is in the day of the doctor novelization. forgot to mention that lmao.#highly recommend reading it #adds a lot of depth that wasn’t there in the episode #meta #mine

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yourdeepestfathoms · 10 months

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when i first started to play the Changeling route, i was expecting snarky child Clara roasting the shit out of grown adults

what i was NOT expecting was just how vulnerable, scared, and emotional Clara is throughout the whole thing

the amount of emotional turmoil and torment Clara goes through is fucking insane. i’m only on day eight, and this child has completely speedrun anxiety, daddy issues, abandonment issues, and trauma—among other things. she’s only twelve days old by the end of the whole thing, and her mental health is already in pieces 😭

but like, some of the things you can make her say really highlight just how vulnerable and young she is.

whereas in the Haruspex and Bachelor routes you can refuse quests because you can’t be bothered, Clara can refuse a lot of quests because she’s scared. because what she’s doing freaks her out, and she doesn’t want to get involved.

she also just seems so sad all the time. especially on day six, which is just a huge emotional rollercoaster for the poor kid (one part that sticks with me is when it’s implied that she starts crying while talking to the Albino, and the Albino does his best to comfort her, and she starts weeping about how even Katerina, her own mother, disowned her)

this is so jarring after you play both the Bachelor and Haruspex routes because she acts nothing like this. you see hints of her vulnerability, but usually when you talk to her, she’s very cryptic and strange. she’s nothing like she is in the Changeling route, where her youth and fragile mental state is suddenly laid bare right before your eyes.

also there’s a line where she admits that she’s been “crying a lot lately.” so. yeah.

#i love it so much #i love how the game actually makes her act like a child #she feels so REAL #all of her emotions and reactions feel real #because she’s just a kid being put under immense amount of stress by adults #she isn’t talked about enough in the fandom #what a good character #clara pathologic #clara the changeling #clara saburova #pathologic #pathologic classic hd #pathologic hd

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darklinaforever · 9 months

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I need to talk about a bullshit that I often hear, to justify that the doctor does not talk about his former companions, especially those he falls in love with. Like what, regeneration would make him lose his feelings, or transform them so that he no longer loves them the same way… Except that it's bullshit, but on an exceptional level. How can people say that? Did people forget that the Doctor still loves romantically Rose when going from Nine to Ten? That the Doctor still romantically loves Clara and River going from Eleven to Twelve? Like, his feelings haven't budged an inch! So why the hell do I see this bullshit coming up so often?! Even in terms of friendship, the doctor still loves Sarah Janes, or Rose's entourage after her regeneration. So why this excuse?! The principle of regeneration is that it changes appearance and personality. That's all. The reason the Doctor doesn't talk about his former mates and lovers is simply because he's moving on. He moves on, otherwise the pain of all these losses would end up eating him. It's pretty obvious. Yes, the doctor's feelings eventually change, but not so much because of regeneration as, like any individual, time passing and healing the pain of losses/disappointments, plain and simple. The doctor surely didn't stop loving Rose when he went from Ten to Eleven. Just because he didn't talk about her didn't mean he didn't love her anymore. He was simply moving forward, and it was time that allowed him to move on, and in particular his meetings with River and Clara as well. Then time did the same when Clara and River left. Now the weather will do the same for Yaz. The doctor will surely not speak of her again in the future, but he will remember her anyway. In short, if I could stop seeing this stupid idea about regeneration, contradicted several times by the series itself… That would be cool. I believe the worst, is literally a post explaining this point of view saying that Eleven loved Clara romantically, but then Twelve didn't love her like that anymore after the regeneration, as proof… While that contradicts the story of Nine and Ten with Rose or Eleven and Twelve with River. Be a little consistent with your logic, please. Especially since it's all the more annoying, because I've already done a post talking about Clara and her relationship with the doctor. It's fucking romance, even with Twelve. He never stopped fucking loving her romantically! Especially since it said the same for Ten to Eleven, to explain why he fell in love with River quite quickly and "forgot" Rose. Listen folks, if that bullshit argument were true, that the doctor doesn't romantically love a woman the same after regeneration… WHY TEN AND ROSE AFTER NINE?! WHY RIVER WITH ELEVEN AND TWELVE?! I beg for consistency on this, really. (Also, by that logic, the master and the doctor should have long since ceased to have their iconic love/hate relationship...)

#doctor who #clara oswald #rose tyler #river song #the tenth doctor #the eleventh doctor #the twelfth doctor #tenrose #ninerose #whouffaldi #whouffle #the doctor #the master #ten #eleven #twelve

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waffowo · 5 months

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I was scrolling through Tumblr and saw someone claim that you don’t need to watch Series 8 and 9 of Doctor Who. Thus, I shall advertise why both seasons are so fucking good and SHOULD BE watched.

Series 8-9 is pure character drama (with an added thematic focus). Like the most character orientated of NuWho. Moffat is criticised for his inability to either consistently write a cohesive narrative or his third acts fail to meet the hype. However, to apply that critique to these two seasons feels really wrong because these elements that played a major role during The Matt Smith era are incredibly second hand and only serve as a backdrop for the intensity of the drama at hand. Often, the finales of 8 and 9 are instead incredibly thematically driven and several “unresolved” narrative threads are actually metaphors or symbols surrounding the Doctor and Clara.

The approach is incredibly experimental and Moffat at his greatest. In Series 8, there is a literal double feature that not only has really cool monsters/concepts but is also in reality unravelling Clara’s own character and deconstructing what it means to be the Doctor. To go even further, Clara evolves from a mystery box with some vaguely defined (but still there) character traits to a dissection/inverse of Rose. Clara may be disliked by the end (not by me) but she is an incredibly complex character in Doctor Who and Series 8 further recontextualises her actions in Series 7 while Series 9 escalates them entirely.

Clara and Twelve have possibly the most insane chemistry since maybe Tenant and Tate. However, instead of the comedic genius that is Donna and Ten/Fourteen, we get an incredibly tense and tenuous relationship that verges and transcends romance and platonicism. They would literally go to the ends of the Universe and destroy it along the way if it means to save the other. Coleman and Capaldi are literally acting their asses off each time regardless of what the episode calls for. Also not to say they aren’t funny though, they are still incredibly fucking funny (Magicians Apprentice, Robots of Sherwood etc). Also to not watch these two seasons completely annihilates the character arc The Doctor goes on from 8-10 so do not fucking skip them.

These two seasons may not feel like Doctor Who but they still are regardless. They are about what it means to be The Doctor and the wildly divergent stylistic approach in comparison to RTD1 and Moffat’s Smith Era helps give the show a greater variety. I think it’s vital to keep an open-mind, tis all.

#I have a longer elaboration coming soon #doctor who #no spoilers #peter capaldi #jenna coleman #dw series 8 #dw series 9 #12th Doctor

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