also dw about the essay in the replies i agree there's very little in gitf that lends itself to the doctor being aspec, especially compared to how the rest of rtd1 handled it. with the exception of gitf the doctor is never shown to express unambiguous attraction to others
youtu.be/vZySewkDmnk?...

david awkwardly admits that "yeah of course he's into her he finds her fascinating" but I KNOW what you meant bestie I KNOW you were raised on a diet of classic who and you also truth for aspec doctor even though the script only works if the doctor is allo DON'T worry i understand what you're saying

don't know if bluesky is playing the video i attached in my reply but this bit in the commentary has dt talking abt keeping the doctor's sexuality "murky", having there be an ambiguity to his attraction to her, even tho phil collinson is ribbing him for how much it looks like he's enjoying it lol

RIGHT i really have beef w moffat for his aphobic comments (about sherlock as well). dt's performance is. maybe the only good thing abt the ep for me? there's also a bit in the commentary he starts fighting for his life on the aspec doctor hill even tho that clearly wasn't the intent of the script 😭

i don't want to clog up your notifs but i am very passionate about this character and this arc apologies

obv you don't HAVE to love him we all have our preferences but i do think he's a very interesting n complex character in his own right especially wrt the inherent tragedy of the doctor's character - they kinda regenerated into the worst possible personality to cope w the loss they constantly face

like ig you CAN interpret ten as being purely egotistical or whatever but it'd also be missing the intended narrative of the era. ten is the incarnation that never learned to let go bc he was born with the desire to hold rose's hand forever and this had consequences for him and everybody

and you can trace that sentiment across his characterization with other companions + the master too, at the core of him is the desire to be "with" someone, no matter what. because he was practically created out of the desire to never be alone again.

(we know the reasoning is dubious, but that's his thought process)
his journey across s2 was about the conflict between the desire to be w her forever and knowing that he will inevitably lose her. satan pit's ending was him giving himself up to the former. he even likens her to a god he worships

like he spends the whole season revolving around her, he first wakes up so he can protect her, even his accent was modeled after hers. and rose's ending has the doctor finally giving her that "perfect partner" that can actually love her and have a family with her

don't get me wrong lmao i am not saying that ten and rose were perfect for each other like their relationship is build on unhealthy codependence but i do think it's the basis for ten's character that it was the doctor regenerating themself into what they thought would be the perfect partner for rose

if he can't have the companionship he wants, if he's always doomed to be the last of his people, he might as well be a god. it's a delusion that almost immediately evaporates. the logical endpoint of the character was not him becoming a villain it was him cracking under the weight of his grief

the reason i say he suffers the direst consequences is because he is always left alone in the end, either by his actions like rose or martha or forces outside of his control like the master or donna. and waters of mars is where he reaches his breaking point

he was born to be the perfect companion/partner to rose, which was inherently doomed from the start. he was someone who yearned for a permanent home and companionship deep down but that was always at odds with who he was (near immortal time traveler with the blood of his people on his hands)

i actually think ten was the nuwho doctor that suffered the most dire consequences for his actions, the most fallible and flawed compared to the rest. his primary trait wasn't "ego" (all the doctors view themselves as an authority anyway) but his humanity, his inability to cope w isolation