Yay for more AoBH! So glad that this hasn't been abandoned!
And what a lovely, sad chapter. And what a horribly complicated mess! I loved the symmetry of the Doctor dismissing his time as John Smith as a dream with the fact that Rose is now being tormented by dreams. I'm not surprised Rose's subconscious is confused- when you're romantically in love with two men who share some personality traits and look identical, but one loves you back romantically and the other one doesn't, that's got to be rough on both the body and the mind. (Poor Rose and her wanting kisses and her heartbreakingly sad sexy dreams!) And the poor girl can't even grieve too obviously because she's afraid the Doctor will kick her out. (Not that I don't love the Doctor/Rose dynamic, but it seemed she was on slightly more equal footing with John, despite the time period. Though I imagine the Doctor would be horrified that she thinks he would leave her behind for being sad.)
And poor Doctor, not knowing what to do but just completely doing the wrong thing nonetheless. Though I refuse to believe the Doctor is as *completely* clueless as he's seeming, what with his vast experience with humans and his demonstrated emotional connection with Rose. (Mostly clueless, yes; completely, no) I mean, basically, Rose has been widowed and he's ignoring her need to grieve- I don't know if it's because he really does believe John is nothing more than a vague figment or if he feels like John is a part of himself and he's still here, so there's nothing to grieve. Either way, he can't deny that he's John Smith and then be offended that Rose misses John as his own independent person. It also doesn't help his argument when he says things like he "really, really missed being me when I was him". Loved the little throwback to his regeneration with the "You could change back." Very twist-the-knife, especially since this time he can't regain her trust by insisting that he *is* the same... Also, he may be alien and he may not love/want Rose the same way that John did, but it probably still must be frustrating for him to be judged against another version of himself (human, at that!) and obviously be found wanting. B/c he's always been territorial of Rose in terms of other men, and now he's competing against an imaginary person that looks just like him and now Rose doesn't even want to touch him even though she was happily shagging John Smith at every opportunity. AWKWARDNESS ALL AROUND. And even if he were interested in Rose sexually, there's really no opportunity for him to let Rose know. ("Would you like to shag me, since you did shag that bloke that was sort of me?" is probably not the best pick up line...) It's funny though, how Rose has been really distressed and apologized for taking advantage of him, when really, considering how things went down and all of the Doctor's companion issues you think *he* would be the one distressed and apologizing for taking advantage of her! That's got to have crossed his mind at some point.
Oh, and I liked the bit with the coat at the end, because whether the Doctor picked up on Rose's fears of getting left behind or not, him lending her his coat is a pretty obvious sign he's not going to ditch her. :)
DON'T WORRY ROSE, I MISS JOHN SMITH TOO.
And what a lovely, sad chapter. And what a horribly complicated mess! I loved the symmetry of the Doctor dismissing his time as John Smith as a dream with the fact that Rose is now being tormented by dreams. I'm not surprised Rose's subconscious is confused- when you're romantically in love with two men who share some personality traits and look identical, but one loves you back romantically and the other one doesn't, that's got to be rough on both the body and the mind. (Poor Rose and her wanting kisses and her heartbreakingly sad sexy dreams!) And the poor girl can't even grieve too obviously because she's afraid the Doctor will kick her out. (Not that I don't love the Doctor/Rose dynamic, but it seemed she was on slightly more equal footing with John, despite the time period. Though I imagine the Doctor would be horrified that she thinks he would leave her behind for being sad.)
And poor Doctor, not knowing what to do but just completely doing the wrong thing nonetheless. Though I refuse to believe the Doctor is as *completely* clueless as he's seeming, what with his vast experience with humans and his demonstrated emotional connection with Rose. (Mostly clueless, yes; completely, no) I mean, basically, Rose has been widowed and he's ignoring her need to grieve- I don't know if it's because he really does believe John is nothing more than a vague figment or if he feels like John is a part of himself and he's still here, so there's nothing to grieve. Either way, he can't deny that he's John Smith and then be offended that Rose misses John as his own independent person. It also doesn't help his argument when he says things like he "really, really missed being me when I was him". Loved the little throwback to his regeneration with the "You could change back." Very twist-the-knife, especially since this time he can't regain her trust by insisting that he *is* the same... Also, he may be alien and he may not love/want Rose the same way that John did, but it probably still must be frustrating for him to be judged against another version of himself (human, at that!) and obviously be found wanting. B/c he's always been territorial of Rose in terms of other men, and now he's competing against an imaginary person that looks just like him and now Rose doesn't even want to touch him even though she was happily shagging John Smith at every opportunity. AWKWARDNESS ALL AROUND. And even if he were interested in Rose sexually, there's really no opportunity for him to let Rose know. ("Would you like to shag me, since you did shag that bloke that was sort of me?" is probably not the best pick up line...) It's funny though, how Rose has been really distressed and apologized for taking advantage of him, when really, considering how things went down and all of the Doctor's companion issues you think *he* would be the one distressed and apologizing for taking advantage of her! That's got to have crossed his mind at some point.
Oh, and I liked the bit with the coat at the end, because whether the Doctor picked up on Rose's fears of getting left behind or not, him lending her his coat is a pretty obvious sign he's not going to ditch her. :)
Okay, no more rambling. POOR SAD ROSE AND DOCTOR!