My Universe

“They've promised that dreams can come true - but forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams, too.”

Why Clara is so unsettled by 12 looking old when he regenerates. There's a whole thing in Deep Breath of Jenny and Vastra assuming the worst, that she wanted him young and pretty, but once Clara shuts that down they just ignore that she was unsettled by his age and focus on her seeing him as The Doctor, despite the change. They never take the time to acknowledge why she had that issue.

There are two big reasons, the one they actually imply a little is that when he looked young he felt approachable, like a peer, someone she could be comfortable with and stand beside, not someone standing over her (and that also reflects in their personalities; 11 was casual and easily put off balance by Clara being forward or flirty or controlling, while 12 (at this point) pretends he can't see her properly and is mature and disconnected and unflappable by anything she does.

Sure she’s seen his other faces but she never saw him regenerate, she doesn’t know what it means or what it’s like. When he didn’t recognize her and was clearly feeling the effects of regeneration- it must’ve been such a shock.

She knew for her it was less than a day, for the doctor it was hundreds of years. How those years must’ve changed him, affected him, changed the way he saw her, and she could see and feel it.

When she asked Jenny“If Vastra changed, if she was different, if she wasn't the person that you liked?”

And Jenny says,“I don't like her, ma'am. I love her. And as to different? Well, she's a lizard”

I felt like it wasn’t really what she was asking, she fell in love with Vastra even as a lizard, but if Vastra suddenly changed and was different from who she fell In love with, then how would she react? What would she do then?