Tag Archives: Doctor Who

Blog

True Romance: Amy Pond and Rory Williams

Amy-Pond-Rory-Williams-amy-pond-23874861-492-700

(Don’t forget to read yesterday’s post).

I’m a little late in posting this, but it’s still Valentine’s Day in half the country right now.

If you haven’t watched any of the new Doctor Who series on BBC America—what’s wrong with you?! It’s one of the best shows on TV!

And Amy (Pond) and Rory Williams, the Doctor’s latest Companions, are two of the reasons why.

There’s a lot I could say about these two: how they met the Doctor, the adventures they went on with him, etc. (they’re my favorite Companions), but I will instead focus on their relationship.

These two met while in secondary school (which I think is the British equivalent of high school). They were best friends, but timid Rory always liked her, taking Amy’s teasing remarks in stride so he could spend time with her. Their other friend, Mels (who was their time-displaced daughter, River Song—don’t ask, it’s too complicated to explain), helped her realize Rory loved her. By young adulthood, when Amy began working as a kissogram and traveling with the Doctor, she and Rory were engaged. In fact, her wedding was the day after she met the Doctor. However, she wasn’t sure she loved him.

After a trauma-induced flirting session with the Doctor, the Doctor brought Rory onboard the TARDIS to join them. Later, the three of them were put into a dream world by a Dream Lord, who forced Amy to choose between Rory and the Doctor. Rory died in this world, but Amy realized she couldn’t live without him. Upon finding him alive, she finally told him that she loved him back.

Sadly, their story took a tragic turn when a crack in the space/time continuum erased Rory from existence and Amy’s memories. This came to a head when, in ancient Roman times, Amy, the Doctor, and River Song met a robot duplicate of Rory dressed as a Roman centurion in the service of an Alliance of the Doctor’s greatest enemies (again, a long and complicate story). At first, she didn’t recognize him, but gradually her memories returned. The Alliance activated their robots, and Rory couldn’t resist his programming and shot Amy. Thankfully, the Doctor traveled back in time to right before she died and had Rory place her in a device called the Pandorica, which was intended to be the Doctor’s prison. This kept Amy alive, but it couldn’t be opened until 2,000 years later.

Rory guarded it the whole time.

He waited 2,000 years to see his beloved’s life saved!

Yeah, Rory takes the cake for patience and longsuffering. That’s true love, people!

Anyway, the Pandorica was opened, the Doctor saved the day in a rather complicated fashion, resulting in a “rebooted universe,” and Amy and Rory got married.

But unlike most romance stories, which end at the wedding, their story continued.

After a long series of adventures with the Doctor where they had a daughter who eventually became the Doctor’s wife (again, a long and complicated story), the two started living a (mostly) normal life in London.

But their marriage turned sour. Amy kicked Rory out and filed for divorce. Both of them, along with the Doctor, were captured by the Daleks (the Doctor’s oldest enemies) and sent on a dangerous mission. During this, Amy was infected with nanites that were transforming her into a Dalek by “subtracting love.” Rory insisted that she use a protective device to slow this down. “Let’s face it—I waited for you for 2,000 years. I have more love.” Distraught, Amy confessed she was divorcing him because she had been rendered unable to have children during a previous adventure and was giving him up. This reignited their passion, and they decided to stay together.

Their story came to a bittersweet climax in a recent episode called “The Angels Take Manhattan.” Amy, Rory, and the Doctor visit present-day New York only to have Rory whisked away to the 1930s by the evil Weeping Angels, who feed off the time energy they steal from victims by sending them to the past. Realizing what had happened, Amy and the Doctor travel back in time as instructed River Song in a paperback novel based on her encounter with Rory in the past. Once there, they discover the Angels have taken over a hotel where they keep their time-displaced victims—and Rory is among them. The Doctor says there’s nothing they can do to stop it, but that if they did, thereby creating a paradox, it would “poison the well” and kill the Angels. Rory runs to the roof of the hotel with Amy. There he says he will jump off the roof, creating the paradox. Amy, unsure if it will work and unwilling to live without Rory, grabs his hand says something that puts every romantic line ever said in chick flicks to shame:

“Together or not all!”

They both jump.

They succeed.

When the temporal dust settles, Amy, Rory, River, and the Doctor find themselves at a graveyard in present day New York. But their celebration is short-lived. Rory discovers a gravestone with his name on it dated a hundred years ago.

Then a surviving Angel touches him. He vanishes.

Amy, tears streaming down her face, says goodbye to the Doctor, saying she will join Rory. The Doctor warns her that if she does this, it will create a fixed point in time that he can’t alter. He’ll be unable to visit them again.

She lets the Angel touch her. Her gravestone appears next to Rory’s.

Thankfully, the Doctor reads in River’s book that they lived long and happy lives.

What can I say? Here is a love that spanned time and space. A love that overcame insurmountable obstacles. A love that made both lovers into better people. A love characterized by self-sacrifice, patience, and longsuffering.

Honestly, I find myself running out of words to describe their love story. I’ve rarely seen one this powerful. A story like this makes me want to fall in love, to find a woman who will share an adventure like this with. It gives me hope that true love—true romance—still exists.

Happy Valentine’s Day, True Believers!

News, Announcements

Gen-Con, Day 3

Day three at Gen-Con wasn’t quite as eventful for me. That’s not to say the convention had slowed down. Not at all! But since there was so much more going on, not as many people (surprisingly) were perusing the exhibitors’ hall.

My day started with me checking out the life-size Dalek the Who North America had on display. Then as I entered and walked by their booth (I arrived an hour before the hall opened), I had the privilege of meeting Nick Briggs, the producer of many Doctor Who audio dramas, but he’s most famous for providing the voice of the Daleks. I talked with him for a while and got a picture with him:

 

Here I am with Nick Briggs, the heart and soul (and voice) of the Daleks on “Doctor Who.”

It’s a good thing I saw him when I did because I heard he was swamped later.

Next, I went back to the table of what looked to be a Christian ministry that reached out to the nerd/geek subculture, specifically gamers. It’s called GameChurch. I had seen their table the day before at closing time, so nobody was there. I talked with their rep, Rich Clark, for a while, learning more about their ministry. I also got a free “Jesus Loves Gamers” T-shirt and their tracts and business cards. I was very happy to see someone reaching out to a subculture the Christian church generally ignores or shuns. I learned by the end of the weekend that there are several others, but they have different niches. More on that in part four.

I spent most of the day selling books. I met some cool cosplayers while I was there. Not all of them bought books, but they were awesome nonetheless. My favorites were a young family. The dad was dressed as Captain America and his toddler son was Bucky! Check it out:

 

The dad dressed as Captain America.

 

Here’s his little son dressed as Bucky, Cap’s sidekick.

Cap is one of my favorite comic book characters, so I was excited to see them. The mom was wearing homemade fairy wings she made with green yarn and a coat hanger. (See the gallery when it’s posted).

Then there was this interesting character:

 

The crazy “God-woman.”

Where do I begin with her? For one thing, she jokingly said she was “God” since that was what her hat said. (I’ve sadly forgotten her name. If you see this, “God,” leave a comment and let me know your real name). She said her friends at the bar got it for her ten years ago. She oozed snide confidence. Regardless, she was cool and bought a copy of Pandora’s Box, as you can see.

I went to another Michael A. Stackpole seminar that afternoon. This one was called “21 Ways to Kill Your Novel.” Unfortunately, not only did I get to it late, Mr. Stackpole wasn’t able to list of 21 items before his hour was up. I did get notes on what I missed from a woman who sat next to me.

After killing some time photographing cosplayers and exploring, I went to the Westin Hotel for a TV writing seminar. I spent some time reading Trigun in the manga library. Then I attended a seminar called “Writing for Television,” which was taught by prolific screenwriter George Strayton. You may not recognize his name, but you’ll know his many credits, which include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena: Warrior Princess, and the new Star Trek movie, among others. Not only did I learn how to break into the TV writing business, I got some…interesting inside info on some very popular creators and shows in Hollywood. It was great.

Afterward, I decided I’d go to Gen-Con’s film festival, which was being held at the Westin. So, I went to a screening of an Australian superhero comedy called The Justice Squad. I went into it not knowing what to expect—and was pleasantly surprised. It was hilarious! A documentary film crew follows Australia’s only superhero team as they prepare for comic book tryouts, which is the ultimate prize for a superhero. I would describe it as The Office with superheroes. I met the director, David Lawrance, afterward. He said the American audience laughed more than the Australian one did, so he was pleased. I asked him what his favorite comic book was, and he said it was Watchmen by Alan Moore (because you all wanted to know that). The film isn’t on DVD yet, but he hopes to make it available soon. Here’s a photo of us:

 

I pose for the camera with David Lawrance, the director of the Australian superhero comedy, “The Justice Squad.” (I apologize for the photo’s poor quality).

He also has ideas for a sequel. Here’s the film’s IMDB page (ignore the low ratings), Facebook page, and trailer.

I left the Westin, navigated the Indiana Convention Center, and went back to the parking garage. Once again, I learned why I hate the things. I got lost, spending 10-15 minutes (maybe longer) wandering around trying to find my car. It wasn’t worth the hassle, I decided.

So ended day three.

TO BE CONTINUED…

NEXT TIME IN GEN-CON, DAY 4—I CHAT WITH A DALEK!

News, Appearances

Gen-Con, Day 2

(NOTE: I wanted to have this posted yesterday, but the home computer froze and no libraries were open due to Labor Day. I will do my best to finish writing about Gen-Con this week).

It’s been over a week since my first post about Gen-Con. Now three weeks have passed since the convention. My apologies, True Believers. I was busy with a big writing project for Remedy Live, an internet radio station based in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Now, back to Gen-Con.

I neglected to mention that I saw my old college buddy Aaron “Ned” Brosman during the first day. He runs a gaming shop in Huntington, Indiana, and was at Gen-Con conducting Dungeons and Dragons events.

The second day was a bit of a blur. It played out much like the first, except there were more people. My first customer was a cosplayer named Deidra (if I got your name wrong, I’m sorry! Everyone’s names are running together), who was dressed as River Song from Doctor Who. I liked her outfit so much, I took a picture with her:

Yes, the Doctor’s wife now owns copies of my books.

I snapped a few other photos of other cool cosplayers I saw while I was there, most of which you’ll see once I post a full photo gallery. Here’s are a few of my favorites from that morning:

“EXTERMINATE!”
This is the first of not one, not two, but THREE women I saw wearing homemade TARDIS dresses!

The first highlight of Friday was meeting Nichelle Nichols, the actress who played the original Uhura on Star Trek: The Original Series. Meeting Wil Wheaton the day before was a big deal, but it was the original Star Trek that not only introduced me to science fiction, it was one of my first inspirations to become a writer, so meeting someone from that show was a HUGE deal to me. What was amazing, though, is I hardly had to wait in line! For whatever reason, the line to see Mr. Wheaton was long, so everyone who wanted to see Ms. Nichols was moved up. I only had to wait five minutes! Just like I did with Wil, I gave Ms. Nichols signed copies of my books. Here’s a picture of me with Nichelle:

Yeah, I am definitely “nerding out” here.

I returned to my booth and continued to sell books.

During that time, Lee, my neighbor across the aisle, introduced me to several members of a local indie band called Five Year Mission. They are a Star Trek tribute band endeavoring to write a song for every episode of the original series over the course of five albums. I talked with Mike Rittenhouse (who also runs a comic shop called Hero House) and Chris Spurgin, who were going throughout the exhibitors’ hall passing out flyers for their show that night. Mike convinced me to skip the free screenwriting seminar I had signed up for to attend their show. I told him I would buy one of their CDs if I liked what I heard.

Later that afternoon, I took a break and attended a writing seminar hosted by Michael A. Stackpole, a prolific sci-fi/fantasy author most famous for writing Star Wars novels. I had attended one of his seminars the day before. The first one was on digital publishing. This one was on plotting. Here’s a photo of the two of us:

This man knows how to write and how to sell it. Learn from him, True Believers!

I returned to my booth to close shop, and while I was leaving, I talked to a couple of the guys from Who North America, a company based in Indianapolis that sells and distributes Doctor Who merchandise. I took a few pictures with the reps there, who were dressed as the Brigadier and the Third Doctor.

I spent some time meeting and photographing cosplayers (which you’ll see in the full gallery) and exploring the Westin Hotel, where Five Year Mission was to perform. There were also anime events and a film festival going on there.

The band’s show started at 8:30. Lee was also in attendance. Their were a few dozen people in the room. I was amazed to learn that these guys are very talented nerds. Only the drummer stays at his post the whole time. The other four members switch instruments between songs (guitar, bass, keyboards, and vocals). They also play clips from each of the episodes the songs are for, which was entertaining. I was happy that they played songs for a few of my favorite episodes of the show.

Their finale was hilarious. It was a song for “Arena,” a famous show where Capt. Kirk fights a lizard-like alien called a Gorn. They band asked the audience, “Who here is good at hand-to-hand combat?” There was an awkward pause. “We don’t really good. Just good enough o beat up Mike. But you have to let him win.” I almost held up my hand, but I wasn’t sure what they were going to do. They selected a young guy who was already wearing green and tossed him a Gorn mask. They played the song and once they got to an instrumental part toward the end, Mike jumped down and had a mock fight with him. I took several pictures. Once it was over, they let the “Gorn” have a free T-shirt.

You can bet I bought a CD after the show.

Here’s a picture of me and band:

Here I am posing with Five Year Mission, the best “Star Trek” tribute band in the world! (Actually, they might be the only such band in the world…)

I walked back to the Indiana Convention Center to head back to the parking garage, but was suddenly pulled aside by an energetic girl was trying to put a group together to play a game called “Are You a Werewolf?” If you’ve ever played “Mafia,” it’s the same thing except with werewolves. It was amusing to watch people (over-) psychoanalyze their friends and complete strangers for a while.

After getting lost (again) upon leaving the parking garage, I made it back to Josh’s house well past midnight.

TO BE CONTINUED IN DAY 3!