I donāt want Thirteen to have a love interest, Iāve realized that in the last week.
Not a female love interest, not a male love interest, not a nonbinary love interest.Ā
(Iād maybeĀ make an exception for Master/Missy because, well, duh, best enemies, that dynamic is screwed up as all get-out and fascinating, more wonāt than will.)
And Iām thinking, why? why do I feel this way?
Well, my immediate thought upon asking myself that question was the Doylist answer of, If the Doctorās as ace as the Doctor usually seems to be (and especially Twelve has been), then I want that to continue, because I donāt think Iāve ever seen an ace or ace-coded woman and/or aro/aro-coded woman who wasnāt also coded as eeevillĀ or deficient in some respect.Ā
My second thought was also Doylist, but also another question: Do I trust the writers to write a romance with Thirteen (of any type) that does women justice? Without the romance becoming the focusĀ of the show, rather than having the Doctor and companion running around doing daft things and/or saving the world/universe? (Like, honestly, that is a weakness of Series 2. Granted, itās part of why Victoria created Torchwood but still.)Ā While I donāt think romance makes neither Doctors nor women weak (because love can be a strength!), do I trust the writers to write Thirteen as the Doctor and as a woman in a romance?
And at this point, the answer I can honestly make to those questions isĀ āI donāt knowā.Ā
Maybe I need to re-watch Season 1 of Broadchurch and watch Seasons 2 and 3; other than that, I donāt know of Chibnallās writing credits other than in Torchwood and Doctor Who.
Part of these thoughts is tied up with what a romance and/or no romance would mean to me personally (as seeing friendships between a man and a woman, or between women, etc., have been a breath of fresh airĀ for me), and Iāll have to sort that out from amid any reservations I have in regards to an as-yet-untrusted team of writers. And that might be difficult, but worth doing.