Whoufflé

Whoufflé is the non-binary ship between the Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald and her echoes from the Doctor Who fandom.

Asylum of the Daleks
Arriving on the Dalek Asylum, the Doctor communicates with a mysterious woman who’s been trapped on the planet in a crashed starliner for a year. Instinctually, he seems concerned how she could be surviving alone with the Dalek’s for so long. She says she’s been living off soufflé’s.

The woman tells the Doctor her name is Oswin and she is hopeful to be rescued. He continues to refer to her as “soufflé girl” despite now knowing her name. Flirtatiously, she calls him “Mr. Grumpy” and “chin boy”.

Concerned and confused, the doctor wonders how she’s been getting ingredients for her soufflés. Ultimately, Oswin helps defeat the Dalek’s and the Doctor is perplexed by her incredible hacking abilities. Oswin invites the Doctor to meet her and discovers the sad truth - she’s become a Dalek. They are both visibly devastated. In a fateful decision, Oswin lowers the defenses of the Asylum to save the Doctor and sacrifices herself, uttering her last words “run, you clever boy… and remember.” The Doctor never sees her true face.

The Snowmen
The Doctor, now retired in Victorian England, meets a barmaid in the alley behind an inn. The barmaid curiously asks the Doctor about a Snowman that seems to have appeared out of nowhere. The Doctor asks her name and she replies, “Clara”. He tells her it’s a nice name and she should keep it. The Doctor abruptly leaves and Clara, curiously and rather impulsively, runs after the carriage and climbs aboard.

The Doctor tries to dissuade Clara from getting involved with him, even attempting to erase her memory. After sending her away, Clara, defiant, secretly follows the doctor up a hidden staircase to the sky where she sees the TARDIS but quickly runs back down before getting caught.

Clara, doubling as a Governess, discovers a terrible threat. She attempts to get the Doctor’s attention but with no luck. However, the Doctor’s friends, Vastra and Jenny, work as a sort of liaison to the Doctor and give Clara the “one word test” in order to convince the Doctor to help. She uses the word "Pond". Upon hearing this word, he finally decides to help Clara and investigate the threat.

Clara continually rebels against the Doctor and they remain very flirtatious in their exchanges. After running from, what turns out to be an undead governess made of ice, the Doctor and Clara escape to the TARDIS. Clara inquires about a kitchen and tells the Doctor she likes making soufflé’s. The Doctor recalls Oswin but he’s yet to fully register this. In a moment, the Doctor gives Clara a key to the TARDIS, inviting her to become his companion. Suddenly, from behind, the Ice Governess grabs Clara and she falls to her death.

The Doctor intends to save her life using the resurrection device. She awakens briefly, the Doctor places the key once again in her hand and kisses it gently. However, it's clear she won't survive and the Doctor comforts her as she dies by his side. She whispers her final words “run... run, you clever boy… and remember”, paralleling Oswin. The Doctor discovers Clara’s full name on her tombstone and realizes “it’s soufflé girl once again”. Something impossible is happening and the Doctor excitedly declares he’s going to find another Clara.

Moments
THE SNOWMEN
 * The Doctor once again tells Clara to stay where she is but she disobeys, follows him into the dark hallway and kisses him passionately.
 * Clara grabs the Doctor's hand and they run - he proclaims, that's usually his job.
 * Clara gets stuck in the window and the Doctor grabs her; she falls on top of him and he says “you’re going to have to take those clothes off. I didn’t mean…”
 * Clara flirtatiously stares at the Doctor's bum as climbs the ladder.

Quotes
"I am your Governess’s gentleman friend and we’ve just been upstairs… kissing!"

- The Doctor

"One day you meet the Doctor. And of course, it’s the best day ever. It’s just the best day of your life. Because...because, he’s brilliant, and he’s funny, and mad, and best of all...really needs you. The trick is...don’t fall in love."

- Clara Oswald

"We’re running together and she’s perfect. Perfect in every way for me… Clara. My Clara. Always brave, always funny, always exactly what I need. Perfect."

- The Doctor

"Please don’t change"

- Clara before the Doctor regenerates

Behind the Scenes
"The subtext, the thing that's happening this time which we haven't really quite seen with the Doctor...We've seen him fall in love loads of times, we've seen him have secret crushes... I don't think we've quite seen the Doctor just straightforwardly fancy someone. He thinks he shouldn't, he thinks he really shouldn't fancy this girl, but he REALLY does."

- Steven Moffat

Fanon
On AO3, Whoufflé is the third most popular ship for Eleven and the second most written pairing for Clara, behind Whouffaldi, the ship involving The Doctor’s twelfth incarnation.

Due to the fact that Clara was replacing a mostly beloved companion, Amy Pond, the pairing faced a somewhat uphill battle in popularity. Coupled with the already established ship Yowzah and also, fans' desire to see Eleven with Rose Tyler, Whoufflé didn’t necessarily become widely favored. However, despite this, many fans instantly shipped them due to their undeniable chemistry and visible sexual tension.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TUMBLR

TWITTER

Trivia

 * Whoufflé is derivative of our first meeting with Clara, as Oswin, aka "soufflé girl".

Variations

 * ElevenRoseClara refers to the ship between Rose Tyler, Eleven and Clara