really love how throughout a lot of smith and jones martha is really skeptical and apprehensive towards ten (+ one of my favorite exchanges between them - "what, people call you 'the doctor'?" "yeah?" "well, i'm not. far as i'm concerned, you've got to earn that title."), not taking everything he says at face value, even doubting the fact he's an alien until over halfway through the episode.. And like. i really truly think the thing that wins her over isn't him kissing her or any of the other insane mixed messages he manages to send, it's this scene here, where he /earns that title/ in her eyes:
(+ david's bit in the commentary, where he says: "[the doctor] has actually sacrificed himself, and - i would say, that that final act of selflessness is what finally, eventually, welds martha to him. [...] and she now returns it. she returns that act of selflessness.")
this is what their relationship is built on. it isn't about martha being the second-best replacement to rose or a rebound or whatever. bc it isn't really about rose. it's about doctor-in-training martha meeting someone (quite literally, "the doctor") whose ideals she aspires to, and doing her best to be the same person to him as he is to everyone else. it's about ten in return admiring her intelligence and inquisitiveness and how she cares for human life, recovering his compassion, letting himself lean on her for support - and then remembering at the most inopportune moments that he's supposed to not need anyone and be on his own forever. And around in their little nightmare loop they go where they save each other over and over until one of them breaks
i've seen ppl look at martha and go "why she does she admire/why is she so in love with ten if he acts like that to her?" or something along those lines and like. it's not just the fact she's in love with him (in fact i'd argue she actively tries to push it aside post-gridlock). it's the fact that she knows he's the kind of person to put everyone else's lives/well-being over his own. she trusts him to save her when she's in trouble even though it's been like two days at most that they've known one another bc she recognizes that same "deep all-encompassing drive to help others" in him. and she also recognizes, much much earlier than him, that he needs someone to save him, especially when he's unwilling to save himself. and yeah for a bit she thinks he returns her feelings and is just playing hard-to-get, but she realizes pretty early on that this probably isn't the case, and i think that realization fully solidifies here:
(this is when she's listening to ten talk abt gallifrey). And idk it might just be me but i think this expression isn't just her empathizing with his loss. it's also guilt, for wanting something from him that he's clearly unable to give when he's wracked with so much grief. (and you see it in the next episode, where tallulah asks if they're together and martha says for certain that they're not, and that he doesn't know about her feelings for him. she keeps everything to herself bc she now knows that when he shut her flirting down at the end of 3x01 it was the genuine reaction of someone who a) isn't interested and b) is scared of getting close with someone else again)
freema described their dynamic as "she's keener than him" and i think about this all the time. martha doesn't really take what ten throws at her. what she does instead is constantly poke holes in his already-failing front of "i will show someone the wonders of the universe so i can ignore what is wrong with me". what she does is stand up and fight him when he tries to go off on his own. what she does is put aside her well-being in favor of helping someone - just like what she saw him do for the people in the hospital when they first met. tldr, that's the doctor and his doctor and rip martha you would've loved who's gonna save u now by rina sawayama
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I HAVE THOUGHTS TO SHARE.
THEM AND THEIR hypothetical POKEMON TEAM (i would like to hear other people's thoughts because i am unsure and i plan to post this on the subreddit eventually)
explanations under the cut (its gonna be extensive so be prepared) (this has been rotting in my brain for a while)
KYBORG
he has a secret soft spot for his pokemon, if they faint or get injured he worries really badly
he likes to bond with them during training :D he pesters the others for pokemon battles
umbreon, poochyena - i feel like they kinda just have the same 'mysterious, dark' vibes that kyborg wants to have has!! but funnily enough, they're not as scary as they seem. very affectionate!! like dogs!! kyborg loves them
riolu - okay so think with me here.. riolu/lucario can read auras and emotions and so they know that kyborg isnt a bad person and they know when he's trying to mask his emotions ??!!???? so riolu would be understanding of him n they'd be pretty close
also i'd just like to think riolu (and the rest of his pokemon) enjoy battling alongside kyborg
scorbunny/froakie - when i see these pokemon i think of athleticism and/or dexterity and i couldn't decide between the two :'3
scorbunny/froakie would go on runs / exercise with kyborg, they have a similar personality type where they're both brash, energetic, enthusiastic and they click easily like that!!
though i imagine froakie is more calculated in battles compared to scorbunny whos more impulsive
alolan vulpix - SPOILERS FOR EP 33 (?)
this vulpix, alongside hannibal (perhaps a dragonair) and gumbo (the linoone), was fighting against .. lets say abomasnow?
and during that fight lets say gum gum and kyborg interfered by sending out their pokemon and assisting in the battle n kyborg became really fond of the vulpix and decided to keep him as a per
WHY alolan vulpix? idk i think it'd be fitting since kyborg has some ties to snow and ice and also because i believe the region they were in during that arc was snowy !!1
BART
he performs little shows with his lute and his pokemon!! and he also occasionally has pokemon battles
he loves his pokemon dearly tbh and i feel like all of them appreciate music in some way :3!!
pikachu - one of the pokemon he's owned for a long time! his pikachu particularly is quite fond of his trainer and his quirks n music, it helped the crew during the time bart was on the jebediah!!
i have no explanation for this one actually but a fun thought is that pikachu would evolve into an alolan raichu (look at the little guy surf!!) and this would mean that bart would live in the alolan region so who knows honestly... LISTEN HE JUST HAS A PIKACHU
chatot - a gift from marrrge to bart, passed down because the two started to bond while on the ship. they sang together n marrrge could tell they really had potential so boom kapow wachow
ALSO ABOUT THE MIMICKI NG THING chatot can mimic voices (from what i remember) and i think it'd be funny if it mimicked kyborg like the kenkus from that one library and it annoys kyborg to no bounds
mantine - caught during his time on the ship! mantine sometimes swim near ships in little packs and i suppose this one took a liking to bart, and bart was pretty fond of it as well :D not much to say here except for the fact its a silly little water guy
tauros - bart got like.. a baby auroch or something right?? idk i forgot but either way he is (weirdly) fond of beastly bulls and i suppose a tauros is a good substitute
i also like to imagine bart likes mounting (strange wording) his pokemon since it just means he doesn't have to walk much and he likes being a bit higher up than he usually is n tauros (and maybe mantine) are good for that
would he own the notorious pokemon? that is but a thought left for the audience.
GUM GUM
he's weirdly lucky, seems to have a good chance at finding shiny pokemon and other rare things
wonder why
anyways, his pokemon r kinda just companions that he likes to hug and hang out with :) occasionally he does battle with them
floette - flower buddy!!! i'd like to think that gum gum likes to spend time in flower fields when he has the chance and the one thing he's honestly pretty knowledgeable in is flowers
so he might've met a flabebe or a floette and they became buddies! he had no idea it was a shiny until maybe one of the party members mentioned it
bulbasaur - okay so i struggled on this decision but then it came to me that bulbasaur is PERFECT idk they have the same vibes and it eventually starts growing a little flower when it evolves
i can't explain this one they just have the same vibes and energy. i think they'd go well together
tyrunt - so let's imagine that for some reason there were some fossil pokemon that kinda just escaped and that's how we explain the dinosaur encounters from rhe campaign
anyways he befriends the tyrunt in typical gum gum fashion (kyborg is SHOCKED because out of all the pokemon this one was a shiny) and they become friends! it loves hugs but it often initiated them running full speed and knocking over the victim (which is fine for gum gum, not fun for anyone else though)
yamper - SPOILERS FOR GUM GUM'S ARC
despite gum gum's bad experiences with rum rum (WHICH BY THE WAY rum rum perhaps was a rockruff that evolved into midnight lycanroc or a houndour/houndoom and that bite wouldve HURT) he's still fond of puppies n yamper helped with this slight uneasiness he's felt
idk i think gum gum deserves a silly little puppy
all his pokemon r very cuddly :)
MUDD
prefers mellow, calm pokemon since he finds it a bit tiring to keep up with high energy pokemon (unlike the other three)
his pokemon are quite well trained!! he's caught a lot of them and they're all very well taken care of
despite his pokemon being pretty strong, he doesn't find much use in pokemon battles
snivy - got the snivy during his time with his family! royal background buddies!!! snivy is a very calm pokemon (but it shares the same sass that mudd has), they're pretty close :D
linoone - GUMBO!!!!! at first, linoone wasn't too big of a fan of mudd but they gradually becamw closer! they do everything together, if you look at mudd linoone would always be on his shoulders or being carried
lycanroc - its the vibes honestly..
midday lycanroc is calm and loyal, and maybe mudd has raised it since it was a rockruff so they're also pretty well bonded!
idk i think they'd get along well
lapras, gogoat - both pokemon that remind me of mudd's personality
i cant explain this except for the fact that theyre correlated to some of the pokemon he's wild shaped into so ....
archen - i think it'd be funny if mudd just had a feral little pokemon . end quote

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