Open Discussion: The Spark that lit the Flame (Doctor/Rose)

[avoria]

Being a natural shipper (also not being blind), I do of course assume that the Doctor and Rose loved each other. Whether you want to call this platonic or romantic or whatever -- I think it's fairly common knowledge that they did. So! I thought we could have a little talk about it, starting with a poll, and then evaluating their delicious

Comments

[gkatt]

Aaah, reasons Rose fell in love with the Doctor first! 1) She was a hot-blooded teenager. Whovian-FanFiction-writer age group statistics, anyone?? 2) She left her boyfriend for him, for frick sake! 3) Doctor never so much as winked at a single female before. (Forget Peri's bikini) 4) DT is hot.

[avoria]

I like point 4 particularly XD

See, I always assumed that the Doctor fell for her first (as in, Nine). I mean obviously Rose thought he was awesome, but I didn't actually start to feel the love from her until season two.

Then again, she did basically burn a hole in her brain to save him at the end of season 1, so perhaps I'm just talking rubbish.

[dqbunny]

I figured Nine began falling for Rose at the end of "The End of the World," when he tells her about the Time War, expecting her to run away. Instead, she asks him out for chips. You can see the change in his eyes, relief and the utter joy. That, to me, is when he fell.

[avoria]

That's a fair response to the news, I feel :P

"Everyone's dead."

...

"...Chips, then?"

But yeah, I think that was definitely the turning point. I've tried to take it back further, even to "Rose" -- but I think up until then he just found her nice to have around, entertaining, kind of cool, someone to protect. Not someone who might in any way have ever been serious. Hmm.

This requires a deep re-watch of the show. Oh yes!

[dqbunny]

I participated in, awhile back, a fic community where episodes were rewritten and you needed to get the Doctor and Rose together as a couple by the end of the episode, and my fic was "The End of the World." Let me see if I can find it again ...

*digdigdig*

Ah, here it is! Plus One. My first time writing Nine I think.

[avoria]

That sounds like an AWESOME challenge. Oh man, I want to do that with every single episode now XD

*goes to read*

I should really be going to bed, but you know, who needs sleep these days? :P

[_thirty2flavors]

Totally Nine. He's making starry-eyed gazes at her from the second episode. I think the Dalek in "Dalek" jumps the gun a bit by calling Rose "the woman [he] loves", but I think the sentiment is there. Even by Aliens of London/WW3, the idea of saving the world but losing Rose is a legitimate hesitation for the Doctor. He's snippy with Mickey out of jealousy straight away, and I think Rose is right on the money when she points out that part of the reason he's so angry in Father's Day is because he's not "the most important man in [her] life" anymore.

I don't think Rose consciously registers the Doctor as a romantic possibility until late s1. She's very fond of him obviously, but I don't think she really registers those feelings until near the end of s1, possibly even POTW. I mean, in TEC/TDD, she seems surprised that he's jealous of Jack and has the whole "you know, I mean men" line. (Granted, it's a Moffat episode, but still.) In Boom Town, she's still relatively into Mickey and considering getting a hotel room with him, but what

[avoria]

You know, I think I love you, because you basically put into words everything I have thought about the progression of their relationship, but in a much better (and less rambly) way than I ever could have done. Hurrah!

In my own personal canon, Rose didn't realise - as you say - how she felt for the Doctor until the very end of the season.

I think that's why I've been completely and utterly unable to write Nine/Rose fics where they do anything other than hold hands (aside from a brief foray several years ago that we don't speak of). I have tried, in a lot of ways, to get the same tension and longing flowing between them as happens with Ten and Rose, but for the life of me, I just can't.

Obviously they matter a great deal to each other, but when you're writing fic, it kind of has to be more than that. Damn my brain and its wanting to stick to canon.

I wish I could frame your comment and put it on my wall, though, to remind me of everything that is good in life when everything else feels less good :D

[_thirty2flavors]

Yeah, that's how I feel about Nine/Rose as well and why I don't really read/write Nine/Rose fic. I think their relationship in canon is really sweet, but I liked it as it was on screen and don't feel the need to flesh it out any further. I also have less than no interest in Nine/Rose smut and in large part that's because I can't make it fit into where I think they were in their relationship in s1. (In Nine's defense, I can't read Ten/Rose smut either for the same reason

[avoria]

I know exactly what you mean, regarding Nine. I can happily read Nine/Rose fics if they stick to the canon, but so few of them do (and there are a surprising amount of NC-17 fics with them in!). It doesn't matter how good the writing is, I just cannot make it work. The only time I write Nine/Rose is when I'm writing it for the adventure or the story; I actually really like the 'relationship' they have on screen, their banter, their exchanges - it's one of the reasons I have all of the spin-off novels with them in. Generally, my fics with Nine are plot-based-with-a-hint-of-love-somewhere, which suits me fine.

Interestingly, in regards to Ten, whilst I don't think he and Rose would have ever legitimately slept together, I can at least imagine a point in their relationship where it may have happened; I don't know why, but it's much, much easier for me to read Ten/Rose smut than Nine/Rose smut, although only in very long fics with a lot of plot that have it built up a LOT. I think in a lot of ways Nine didn't really expect anything of

[ahedonia]

Ah, see I always felt it was simultaneous and in place by the end of "Rose." He does his shuffling invite, she's staring at him and has to shake herself out of it to give him the Practical Answer she feels she should. He then can barely move for grief, and when he goes to leave she's still gazing at him, spellbound and wondering. Then she once again shakes herself back to reasonablness and turns to take the sniveling Mickey home (was he supposed to be funny, doing that? I couldn't stand him), but whirls when she hears the TARDIS return. He returns with his trump card, she grabs it with both hands, and the result is the kind of shared glee new crushes have when they realize their feelings are mutual and they're both agreeing to it.

Not that I've thought about it much. ;)