#otp: i love you just the way you are

[dylanconrique]

TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!

[almea]

"But what if she isn't Ruby anymore when she comes back out?" "Maybe... that's not for us to decide."

[loopnoid]

POV you were having a conversation with your nice gay neighbor and suddenly his husband walked into the room and made a beeline for his lap and they're acting like this is a normal way to behave in front of a guest

[butyouaremymess]

Polin Bonus Week: Day Three

♡ Favorite Dance

S03E07: Joining of Hands "I, I loved you in spite of Deep fears that the world would divide us So, baby, can we dance Oh, through an avalanche? And say, say that we got it I'm a mess, but I'm the mess that you wanted Oh, 'cause it's gravity Oh, keeping you with me"

[jennalouisecolemans]

just some doctor/clara:  [13/∞] The Doctor and Clara + The TARDIS "I always imagine that I'm back in my TARDIS, showing off, telling you how I escaped, making you laugh."

[jessmalia]

Dear Bonnie, I’m a coward. I should be saying this to your face, not writing this letter, but I know if I do you’ll talk me out of running away from all my problems. You’re gonna make me face a future without Elena and you’re gonna help make me the best man I could possibly be, the same way she did. And I’m absolutely terrified of failing you both. So, I’m leaving. Because I’d rather let you down once, than let you down for the rest of your life. And I hope it’s the happiest life. Because you, Bonnie Bennett, are an amazing woman, a mediocre crossword puzzle player and my best friend. 

With great love and respect, Damon.

[stardustinthesky]

So there's no magic in the world, not even just a little? No.

[whollyjoly]

it's gon' be a long ride home tomorrow from tennessee to texas to la well if i could i'd never leave you i'd come home to stay another night from home away from you it ain't easy i know (baby, don't you want me)

the bucktommy cowboy au nobody asked for part three (parts one and two)

thinking about rancher!tommy who goes on long two-month cattle drives and dreams of the gorgeous cattle hand back home...

(song insp.)

[thirdeyeblue]

“Nine would have treated Martha better than Ten did”

I need to talk about this argument that never seems to stop circulating.

Note: Not a venomous/anti post. There’s more than enough of that across fandom spaces as is, and this is supposed to be a place for ✨sweet, blissful escapism✨

When making this argument, people seem to envision a scenario in which Nine never met Rose.

While I can appreciate a good hypothetical, recognizing Rose's significance to the Doctor (Nine and Ten) is essential to understanding why things with Martha played out the way they did in the first place.

In the third series, the Doctor is grieving. This grief is deliberately threaded into nearly every script, whether spoken aloud or not (and these are just a few examples):

He's burning in Rose’s wake the entire time Martha travels with him, which is why it’s so frequently called upon: It’s 100% deliberate in framing his grief. He grieved as Nine too, of course— having been fresh on the heels of the Time War — but then he met Rose, which changed everything.

Back then, he was still a rude, traumatized pain in the ass, but we watch Rose soften more of those jagged edges with every episode as they grow closer; as he lets his guard down and forms a deep connection with her.

He falls in love (against his better judgment) and it's game over.

And yes: provided S1E1 had been titled 'Martha', one can realistically assume things might have unfolded similarly to how they did with Rose. However, it wouldn’t have been that way just because the Doctor was Nine and “Nine was different” — it would be because he wasn’t already in love with someone else. The same can't be said for the start of S3.

Think of it like this: if Rose AND Martha had been in that cellar — if Nine had taken both of them along with him in S1 — we’d eventually be looking at the most melodramatic love triangle ever, what with him living in close quarters with two brilliant, gorgeous, compassionate young women... But Doctor Who is plenty “soap opera” as is with just one woman in the TARDIS.

(I certainly wouldn’t object to reading that fic, though)

Now, regarding the unrequited elephant in the room…

His inability to be romantic with Martha isn’t because he thinks her lesser, nor is it for lack of compatibility. It isn't because Rose is any better than her. It certainly isn’t just because he’s Ten.

It’s really only for one reason, which can't be denied — and now I’m a broken record:

He is still in love with Rose.

(cut from a tenrosedaily gif)

Nine is Ten, and Ten is only such a mess in S3 because he’s just lost the love of his life. Martha merely got caught in the crosshairs of a volatile Time Lord in mourning, and yes — it sucks. Absolutely.

But it also feels dismissive to chalk Ten and Martha’s relationship up to little more than some sort of mindless dance of pining, jealousy, and toxicity.

Ten trusted Martha with his life over and over again — and hers, with him. He constantly praised her brilliance, happily carting her around time and space with no intention of letting her go. In the BBC’s extended universe of novels/comics/cartoons/etc, there’s so much depth to their relationship: love and trust and trauma and sacrifice. They had their own special bond as mates, their own complexities — so it’s a bummer that it's forever overshadowed by the other things.

I’m not denying that there was a lot of stuff that sucked/was for sure toxic about Ten's S3 behavior, but so many of the things I've seen him catching flak for can be directly attributed to being A Clueless Fucking Alien Idiot (not a trait that’s unique to Ten) — as well as his flat-out obliviousness to Martha’s feelings.

So yes, I agree: if Rose never existed, he would have treated Martha differently as Nine. He also would have treated her differently as Ten. Certainly.

But Rose did exist, and when discussing canon, it matters.

“He tells me that he absolutely, 100% loves Rose... He tells me how my daughter; my wonderful, beautiful, clever little girl saved him from himself before… And he says that’s all because of me! I made her into the Rose Tyler that saved him.”

-Jackie Tyler, Flight Into Hull!

Martha got the short end of the stick in S3. She came round at the wrong place and time, but that doesn't mean it was all bad. It doesn't mean the Doctor didn’t adore her. It certainly doesn't mean the time they spent together was wasted or worthless. They were brilliant!

Sure, he could be a twat, but let it be known that he was a twat with Rose as well, both as Nine and Ten. I’m sure Tentoo can be plenty infuriating, too. So while I'll defend Ten (and Tentoo) into the ground forever and ever and ever, I'll concede that he's fucked up.

The Doctor is a certified Pain In The Ass. It’s one of the things I love so much about this character — dynamics.

But never forget that Martha was goddamn tough as nails and overcame every bit of it. She moved on with her life, and the Doctor moved on with his. One can only pray that, when they inevitably drag her back onto the show (which feels inevitable if I'm honest), we see at once that she's been living her best life for all these years.

[esmes]

put me inside flesh that is dying a ghost that wanders without rest buried by desires and weakness i understand please, don't take your love away from me aka incontrovertible proof that they are HAVING SEX, courtesy of @theriddletrades

[thethiefandtheairbender]

endless list of otps: (remake) Callum and Rayla, The Dragon Prince

To have that kind of strength, it's not enough to love someone. You have to trust them to share the burdens you carry. [...] Callum, there's a... burden I'm carrying, and I've kept it a secret. And maybe that's part of what's made things weirder with us. But I think—I know that I trust you to help me carry this. If you're okay with that? Rayla. We've been through a lot together. And a lot has changed. Well, some things have changed—but not everything: I would do anything for you.

[lover-of-mine]

[lizardkingeliot]

I’ve been thinking about this scene from 1x02 a lot lately. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the music. But the show does this really cool thing where they have Louis telling us about his shame in an act while actively romanticizing the act at the same time. The visuals, the score, the language used, even Louis’ tone of voice as he narrates all indicate the murder of the tenor as a love scene. Louis describes the killing as meditative, describes how he participated in it alongside Lestat for hours—only to conclude by saying he was only pretending to be enthralled because he was afraid of disappointing. And—

I don’t know. I do think shame is one of Louis’ defining characteristics. It’s what makes him so interesting. But shame is one of those things that tends to come after the act is already done. It tells us nothing of how Louis truly felt in the moment when he was actively participating. Actually—it feels to me like the shame is so intense only because he enjoyed it so much at the time. And maybe after everything he’s been through, after all the trauma and the grief, that’s not something he can bear to really look at now. The way he gave into his nature with Lestat in moments like this and how good it felt. How romantic it was. How it was a deep intimacy. How the feeding was the connective tissue of their love as vampires…

There’s also something else here about how this relates to his later rejection of hunting with Lestat being a rejection of their intimacy, but others have already talked about that at length and much more eloquently. I just think it’s really neat to get little moments like this from an unreliable narrator who tells us how he was feeling while the show is perhaps showing us something different.

[graciehart]

CASKETT in EVERY SEASON → Season Four

[wistfulwatcher]

You've been here for me in a way that no one has.

[winepresswrath]

Darla/Angelus is also great because the show has a competing designated OTP and they exist to serve as contrast and hateful competition to THE ship. they are soulless monsters even by the standards of soulless monsters, they literally make the other soulless monsters go "yikes... your relationship seems not good maybe." but they love each other so fucking much. the writers can't help it. they are constantly trying to find their way back to each other. the way she hits him over a head with a shovel and leaves him to an angry mob while he tries to say he doesn't mind dying if it's with her AND the way they coo about it to each other afterwards. the way she takes him back against her better judgement because she missed him so so much but then kicks him out again later because he still can't be who she needs him to be. that's just how they say i love you.