On the use of OTP...

[butterfly]

So, I actually have different kinds of OTPness.

1. Ultimate and complete One True Pairing, cannot picture either one of the characters with anyone else as long as the option to be with their OTP exists. Doctor/Rose falls into this category, as well as Zoe/Wash (from Firefly) and Fraser/Kowalski (due South). With the Doctor and Rose, their OTP nature

Comments

[butterfly]

With Zoe, I can say there is no one in the cast I can really see her with... But I think it's within her characterization to fall in love again, set up right.

The Doctor is a bit different - it just takes so much to get through his defenses, which are bound to be up more than ever.

*nods*

There's a bit of 'this is like Zoe turned up to eleven' in there, I think. Because the Doctor has these insanely high defenses and I still don't think that he fully understands how Rose through them, but it's only going to make him more paranoid about not letting people close enough to hurt him that badly again. And Zoe still has people in her life -- she has Mal, especially. While the Doctor had to mind-wipe his best friend to save her life and can never have a relationship with her again. And he's incredibly close-mouthed for a man who talks so much.

Rose was just... such a huge deviation from how he normally does things. That's something that's become so clear in watching some older Who and in seeing the difference between how he treats Rose versus any of his other companions. And I don't really think it was intentional on his part, either. I'm not even sure that he ever noticed the extent to which he sets her apart. He knows that she's wonderful and special and grand, but I'm not sure that he ever noticed the very glaring double-standard that he had in place when it came to her, where Rose is allowed to do things that other people get scolded for.

[a_white_rain]

Yes, the Doctor was very unaware of how much he felt for Rose, I think. I'd have to have that same unawareness along with showing new sides of the Doctor if I were to buy another romance any time soon.

[butterfly]

Yep. The reason that Doctor/Rose worked so well for me was because the Doctor fell in love with Rose before he realized it, then flailed around about that for what felt like forever. He had no clue how to behave around her sometimes, wanted her to treat him the way she treated 'men', and then pined away in a really adorable fashion. He was so completely taken off-guard by his feelings.

[a_white_rain]

And he said things like I AM SO IMPRESSIVE. <333

[butterfly]

Hee! Yes. I love how much he wanted her to be impressed by him. And he was just always so incredibly aware of her and how she was reacting to things, which is what caught my attention most, I think. Normally, he has to be hit over the head with a mallet to notice someone's emotional condition.

[a_white_rain]

I love all the little moments of him noticing she was upset and trying to help her. It's a great contrast to um everyone else around him.

[butterfly]

Like in "Rise of the Cybermen" when he arrives at the bench where Rose is and he's babbling about how they'll be able to get home now and then he immediately quiets down when he sees her face and he actually asks her what's bothering her.