My Doctor.

[elisi]

Dear Ten, it is not your fault. You were beautiful and broken - broke far too beautifully to be honest, I couldn’t take my eyes off you - and I loved you entirely too much. Still do, of course.

But - and this is something I’ve come to realise lately - the Doctor isn’t supposed to be a broken, tragic, lonely hero. Nor is the Doctor supposed to be the handsome prince on a white horse. (Even though you carried it off *perfectly*. Because you were Ten, and oh yes, you were just that brilliant!)

You see, the Doctor is supposed to be the wizard. The kind, barmy, wonderful old wizard with his magic box. (Wizards are powerful and can be dangerous, never forget this.)

And it’s only now that we are hearing that story again that I realise that this is how it’s supposed to be.

Of course there’s a princess (when isn’t there? I've loved them all), and I am happier than I can express that this time she’s got her very own prince, a noble young man who wins her hand in a truly marvellous display of love and devotion.

So my dear, dear Ten, believe me when I say that you’ll always be my Ten. But - and I am so, so sorry - I have to confess that Eleven is my Doctor!

ETA: Inspired by these two posts.

Comments

[elisi]

I totally agree with this. The Doctor is the Wizard. He's the Stranger. He's the Trickster.
And I never knew until 11. And then it was suddenly so obvious. (I dealt with all the issues in depth here, in case you haven't seen it: The Tragedy and Death of the Lonely God and the Rise of the Trickster. Or: How Moffat re-booted DW
.

It never occurred to me either that the Doctor should be broken. I always took the Doctor as a man who had figured out his life, figured out what he wanted, and had given up everything that wasn't that thing.
See I came from Buffy & Angel, so Broken Hero was right up my alley - and having never watched DW before, I didn't know it was wrong...

Yes, there is some tragedy in that, but there is also boundless joy. And to me, that's what the Doctor is, a man who may have tragedies, but he acknowledges them and moves on, they don't control him, or limit him, or make him tragic.
"I'm not running away. This is one corner of one country, in one continent on one planet that's a corner of a galaxy, that's a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond and there is so much, so much, to see, Amy. Because it goes so fast. I'm not running away from things. I'm running to them, before they flare and fade forever. It's all right. Our lives won't run the same. They can't. One day, soon, maybe, you'll stop. I've known for a while."

Instead he looks toward the future, as a Time Lord he knows he can't change his past (unfortunately something that Moff has messed with, which I think has damaged the dramatic credibility of the show a bit, if the original thing can simply be altered, then what do the consequences of those things matter?)
The show always messed with that. Moffat has just used it as a plot point and story line and looked how far you can take it, set down some rules. It's what the whole of TWoRS & TATM turns around - some things can't be altered. Others can. And there are always consequences for messing with things. River - as always - is central to this. He can't alter her death (or life) - can't change one tiny thing for the woman he loves. OK, so he erases himself (much in the way of the cracks) - so she doesn't spend forever in prison, but that is a minor thing. She dies, and he can't save her. He loses his Ponds, and can't do a thing to get them back. Time travel has rules, and he has to follow them.

But, I always took the Doctor to be the sort of kindly Wizard figure. Someone surprising and amazing who appeared and changed your world for the better. Not someone who needed your shoulder to cry on because of his own "tragedies."
*cue picture of Ten in the rain* (Or, as owlsie put it yesterday: "he's like fire and ice and sobbing in the rain"... ;)

So, yeah, I like that aspect of 11. And, frankly, I have more respect for him. For all that Matt looks younger, and 11 acts so childlike at times, I do often feel he's the more mature "wise" one.
"Back when I first started at the very beginning, I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important, like you do when you're young." Oh, and there is a a lovely quote from Kim which I'll hunt out in a moment. ETA: From Kim (by Kipling) - an old Indian woman is speaking: "The sahibs never grow old. They dance and they play like children when they are grandfathers. A strong-backed breed." I always think of Eleven when I read that. (How anyone can even begin to understand DW without knowing Kim always baffles me, but what can you do. *g*)

So, yeah, I prefer the Wizard to the Tragic Hero. Wizards are supposed to impress and surprise us, not make us pity them.
Yup. I am very fond of Ten, but I far too often say 'poor Ten'.

I always thought he was the guy with the greatest life in the universe.
Totally! :) (I want Eleven to die saying 'Geronimo'. :)