I’ve been in the fandom for a few years now, and also afraid to really voice my opinion on this because people tend to get downright horrific if you deviate from the seemingly universally accepted headcanon. I’m tired of holding back.
RTD said that Tentoo IS the Doctor. He’s got his DNA, his memories, his intelligence. Okay, fine. Cool. But then he says that Tentoo has one heart, and he will grow old and expire along with Rose.
Does anyone see the bloody oxymoron?? The plot-holey shade of it all?
First, there’s the issue of Bad Wolf. The long term effects of it aren’t discussed. How about if Bad Wolf gives Rose a longer life? How about if it affects her emotionally, so she can’t have the peaceful life with Tentoo that people insist is obviously how the story ends? The Rose at the end of the story isn’t the Rose at the beginning. How about if she starts hearing the drums, like the Master did?
Then, there’s the glaring oxymoron that is Tentoo. So, he’s a bit wilder than the Doctor. A bit more violent, and loads more impulsive. He’s also very near human. He can die, and he will not regenerate.
So, Bad Wolf Rose is called upon to temper him, right? And also live a long, peaceful, loving life with a man who looks and sounds like the Doctor - but he doesn’t quite think or feel like him, especially as time passes.
Saying Tentoo IS the Doctor is like saying I can pour a 50 gallon barrel of water into a tablespoon and not spill a drop.
He can age. He will die. Although he has the echo of the Doctor’s intelligence, verve, wit, and liveliness, don’t you think as his limbs start to creak and his face wrinkle that it won’t nearly destroy him emotionally?? Or possibly, fully destroy him?
The very second I saw Tentoo being offered to Rose in some maudlin show of commiseration, my heart caved in. I literally couldn’t believe I had wasted my time. It was literally my season 8 GOT moment, but with DW. But it was, I suppose, a good end to a strange, codependent romance that shouldn’t have even been written in the show in the first place.
Tentoo might look like the Doctor, but he is not. He is a facsimile. Even with a baby TARDIS. Even with the tight-fitting blue suit that he will grow out of, and the bloody pointy “sexy hair” that will grow thin and gray.
I am not trolling ... I give you my word. I’m not joking. I genuinely do not get how it is a happy ending, based on canon. So, if someone else doesn’t write Tentoo x Rose as yet another of the half-million improbable fluffy domestic fics, I can see why they’d go in that direction.
PS - Also, since he’s got the Doctor’s genes, but also Donna’s, who’s to say he will have control over the TARDIS once it’s grown? Rose has more of a chance of inheriting her, and as much as he loves her, it will not be easy to give over control.
PSS - This woman isn’t stupid. Of course she’ll write that they’re, like, the happiest couple that ever was, EVAH. Or face possible kidnapping and torture from an army of 30 and 40-something fangirls/boys.
So, um ... have no fear, guys. They’re, like, blissfully ecstatic and shit.
PSS - Tentoo, about Rose: “She ... is my queen.”
