Fandom Snowflake Challenge: Day 8
Jan. 8th, 2018 07:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
itsadrizzit
Day 8
In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favorite interview, a book, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
Okay. So, Wow.
I actually struggled today to figure out what I wanted to talk about, not because I didn't know, but because there is SO MUCH. It's funny, because I say all the time "I'm pretty mono-fannish". And that's mostly true when it comes to the fanworks I gravitate towards creating and less true when it comes to the fanworks I gravitate towards consuming, but IT IS A HUGE LIE when it comes to canon source material I enjoy. So, I had to think, out of all the things you enjoy and all the shows you watch or books you read or football teams you love or video game(s) you play, what stands out. What are like...THE THINGS that grabbed you and moved you.
It's interesting, right, because I think I consume things differently than much of fandom. I've watched shows and movies with people and watched them shriek and screech and wriggle around and gasp and laugh and I........don't. I just don't. I'll cry if something is particularly sad (by which I mean relatable, like, I know what that feels like because I have been through it or can imagine being through it), but it's never like full out sobbing, just like, oh I teared up a bit at that part because it was moving. I just don't have the extreme reactions to things that others do (football is an exception. Football is always an exception. I rarely get through important/impactful football matches without a lot of whale-like noises and folding into myself or collapsing facedown onto the sofa. It's more about player interactions than the actual match 95% of the time though--digression)
So...what moves me. What canon material so impacted me to deep levels that it provoked some strong emotional response? Well...........let's start with the single episode of television that almost broke me and had me not once, but twice, pausing the episode to sit on my sofa with my face in my hands sobbing uncontrollably. Those of you who have been around for a while may know what this is. I've seen it once. I own the season of the show on Blu-Ray and I HAVE NEVER WATCHED IT AGAIN despite us now being more than five years removed from its occurrence. Even now I was going to find the video and was like......do you want to do it? Are you ready? I don't think you're ready.
Of what do I speak, friends???
Doctor Who (new Who). Season 7. Episode 5. Angels Take Manhattan.
Okay. So, Wow.
I actually struggled today to figure out what I wanted to talk about, not because I didn't know, but because there is SO MUCH. It's funny, because I say all the time "I'm pretty mono-fannish". And that's mostly true when it comes to the fanworks I gravitate towards creating and less true when it comes to the fanworks I gravitate towards consuming, but IT IS A HUGE LIE when it comes to canon source material I enjoy. So, I had to think, out of all the things you enjoy and all the shows you watch or books you read or football teams you love or video game(s) you play, what stands out. What are like...THE THINGS that grabbed you and moved you.
It's interesting, right, because I think I consume things differently than much of fandom. I've watched shows and movies with people and watched them shriek and screech and wriggle around and gasp and laugh and I........don't. I just don't. I'll cry if something is particularly sad (by which I mean relatable, like, I know what that feels like because I have been through it or can imagine being through it), but it's never like full out sobbing, just like, oh I teared up a bit at that part because it was moving. I just don't have the extreme reactions to things that others do (football is an exception. Football is always an exception. I rarely get through important/impactful football matches without a lot of whale-like noises and folding into myself or collapsing facedown onto the sofa. It's more about player interactions than the actual match 95% of the time though--digression)
So...what moves me. What canon material so impacted me to deep levels that it provoked some strong emotional response? Well...........let's start with the single episode of television that almost broke me and had me not once, but twice, pausing the episode to sit on my sofa with my face in my hands sobbing uncontrollably. Those of you who have been around for a while may know what this is. I've seen it once. I own the season of the show on Blu-Ray and I HAVE NEVER WATCHED IT AGAIN despite us now being more than five years removed from its occurrence. Even now I was going to find the video and was like......do you want to do it? Are you ready? I don't think you're ready.
Of what do I speak, friends???
Doctor Who (new Who). Season 7. Episode 5. Angels Take Manhattan.
Now, I hear some of you out there saying "well yes, of course. That episode was sad. It was epically sad. It was SUPPOSED to be sad." You're right, friends, you're right. Now let me tell you about my connection with Amelia Pond and the incomparable Rory Williams.
From day 1, I loved Amy Pond. Loved her. She was everything to me. I'd liked the show before, enjoyed companions, had a good time, but with Amy I had a connection. Being the weird girl in school who no one understood. Although I didn't face any of the abandonment that Amy did, I knew what it was like to be a child and have adults let you down. I understood her. I related to her. I always say she's my favourite companion, and that's true...sort of. In truth, the Ponds as an entity are my favourite. Here's why.
Their relationship has SO MANY PARALLELS WITH MY OWN. Like...just...I love Rory. I love the way Rory loves Amy. I love the way Amy loves Rory. I love that they are best friends first and that they would do anything for one another. I love that it seems like sometimes they can't stand one another and that is how you know they are so deep in love. I have this kind of relationship. I married my best friend and he would do ANYTHING for me. Anything. I know this. He HAS done ridiculous things for me just because I asked him to. I say all the time that he's the Rory to my Amy and all our friends who know us just give deliberate, knowing nods of agreement. The whole Pandorica situation...he would do that. Turning into a soldier to wait for me for eternity...100%. Anything I ask, he'll do it without question (or well, with a lot of questions and probably no shortage of skeptical looks and asking me if I'm sure that's not an absolutely rubbish idea). People who see us together either LOVE us or are SO CONFUSED by us. Just...THAT RELATIONSHIP IS MY RELATIONSHIP. Hard stop. I saw a meme once that said something about wishing for the Rory to my Amy and I was like Y'ALL I HAVE THAT AND IT IS AS BEAUTIFUL AS YOU THINK IT IS.
So. This should tell you something, if you're familiar with the episode, about why that particular episode of a show I otherwise tend to enjoy but am not rabid over by any means. It's a good show. I like it. I've never been the one who knows all the trivia and has all the gear, etc. etc. etc. I watch it. I enjoy it. I admit that it has ENORMOUS PLOT HOLES ALL OVER THE PLACE. But that episode. Oh, that episode. That episode isn't about the Ponds leaving. It isn't about the Doctor. It isn't just about the Doctor being separated from these people he's become close to...it is about how much Amy and Rory love one another.
Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen it and still don't know what happens, I guess.
Also, listen, I don't remember all the facts about that episode. I barely remember what happened in that episode save these TWO PIVOTAL MOMENTS.
So...near the end, but not at the end, some stuff has happened and there are two Rorys. The Doctor tells Rory (the younger) that he'll be imprisoned until he dies, but without Amy. So what does Rory--sweet, beautiful, wonderful, amazing Rory--do? He says HELL NO because he cannot imagine a life in which he grows old without Amelia Pond, EVEN THOUGH IT MEANS THAT RORY IS RISKING HIS LIFE. So here's me already starting to tear up like...that's beautiful, Rory, beautiful, but I'm still fine. Still watching.
And then comes the scene on the roof.
Rory sees that the only way out of his situation is to jump off the roof of this building which will keep the angels from imprisoning him alone which will create a time paradox which will kill the angels. So. 1. Rory would rather DIE than spend the rest of his life alone without Amy and 2. Rory will sacrifice his life to SAVE Amy.
BUT THEN! Amy. My girl Amy. She says no. And she asks him the most important question of all "If it were me, could you do it?" And Rory can't say yes. He can't. In that moment he knows that what he's asking her to do is the same thing that he couldn't do himself...live a life without him. And it's just........
So there's me. Balled up in the corner of my sofa with my lovely, beautiful, wonderful husband just on the other side and I am SOBBING UNCONTROLLABLY. So much so that he has to pause the episode at that point. And why am I sobbing...BECAUSE I KNOW OUR STORY WOULD HAVE ENDED THE SAME WAY. Because he couldn't stand the idea of a life without me and I couldn't stand the idea of a life without him so in an instant we would have looked at one another the same way and thought "Fuck it, we're going to save the world together." It would have been that way. It will be that way if we're ever in some bizarre situation where we come down to it. Like, honestly, I cannot imagine life without him. Cannot. Refuse to do it. So when Rory was saying all these things about doing this for Amy I was like RORY THAT IS BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT. YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING FOR AMY EXCEPT KILLING HER SOUL THE MOMENT YOU'RE GONE.Like, he was confident he'd come back, but what if. WHAT IF. If he was right, they would both be fine. If he was wrong, they'd both effectively be dead anyway.
Forty-five minutes. Forty-five minutes I sat on that sofa and I sobbed and screamed and sobbed. Because it was so real to me. It was everything. Like, I sometimes wonder what would happen to one of us if the other were to die one day and I just...can't. I cannot imagine one of us existing without the other one. I know we used to, a long time ago, nearly half my life ago now, but I just....can't.
So okay. I've finally calmed down (mostly) enough for us to resume the episode. And they are back. And they are fine. And they are together. Great. Lovely. Beautiful. I'm fine now. I can breathe again.
AND THEN THE END COMES.
And it was all for nothing. Rory still got stuck in the alternate time and he still had to grow old and HE WAS STILL ALONE. And Amy...she doesn't even hesitate. She isn't even afraid. She knows that she needs to be with Rory. The choice is between staying with the Doctor without Rory and letting Rory be trapped there without her and SHE KNOWS THAT IS NOT A CHOICE. I just watched this again to embed the video and I'm crying all over again, because, yeah, Amy...YOU WILL BE WITH HIM and that is worth giving up EVERYTHING ELSE IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. No question. No struggle. No wavering. I would have done the same thing and I would do the same thing a million times over because what good is keeping a hold on my life if it means we have to spend the rest of it apart?
So I sobbed uncontrollably on the sofa for another 45 straight minutes and I never watched either of those scenes again until today and I am crying again and I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever be over this and it is one of the single best episodes of television I have ever seen in my entire life.
I was going to talk about some other things here, but I think this is enough. I think we should leave it here. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I'm going to go hug my husband with absolutely no context right now.
(P.S. If you need an Amy/Rory mood cleanser, please see a fanvideo that my friends and I like to make my husband watch on the regular just to remind him that he's the Rory to my Amy always and forever: You Told the Drunks I Knew Karate by Settiai)
From day 1, I loved Amy Pond. Loved her. She was everything to me. I'd liked the show before, enjoyed companions, had a good time, but with Amy I had a connection. Being the weird girl in school who no one understood. Although I didn't face any of the abandonment that Amy did, I knew what it was like to be a child and have adults let you down. I understood her. I related to her. I always say she's my favourite companion, and that's true...sort of. In truth, the Ponds as an entity are my favourite. Here's why.
Their relationship has SO MANY PARALLELS WITH MY OWN. Like...just...I love Rory. I love the way Rory loves Amy. I love the way Amy loves Rory. I love that they are best friends first and that they would do anything for one another. I love that it seems like sometimes they can't stand one another and that is how you know they are so deep in love. I have this kind of relationship. I married my best friend and he would do ANYTHING for me. Anything. I know this. He HAS done ridiculous things for me just because I asked him to. I say all the time that he's the Rory to my Amy and all our friends who know us just give deliberate, knowing nods of agreement. The whole Pandorica situation...he would do that. Turning into a soldier to wait for me for eternity...100%. Anything I ask, he'll do it without question (or well, with a lot of questions and probably no shortage of skeptical looks and asking me if I'm sure that's not an absolutely rubbish idea). People who see us together either LOVE us or are SO CONFUSED by us. Just...THAT RELATIONSHIP IS MY RELATIONSHIP. Hard stop. I saw a meme once that said something about wishing for the Rory to my Amy and I was like Y'ALL I HAVE THAT AND IT IS AS BEAUTIFUL AS YOU THINK IT IS.
So. This should tell you something, if you're familiar with the episode, about why that particular episode of a show I otherwise tend to enjoy but am not rabid over by any means. It's a good show. I like it. I've never been the one who knows all the trivia and has all the gear, etc. etc. etc. I watch it. I enjoy it. I admit that it has ENORMOUS PLOT HOLES ALL OVER THE PLACE. But that episode. Oh, that episode. That episode isn't about the Ponds leaving. It isn't about the Doctor. It isn't just about the Doctor being separated from these people he's become close to...it is about how much Amy and Rory love one another.
Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen it and still don't know what happens, I guess.
Also, listen, I don't remember all the facts about that episode. I barely remember what happened in that episode save these TWO PIVOTAL MOMENTS.
So...near the end, but not at the end, some stuff has happened and there are two Rorys. The Doctor tells Rory (the younger) that he'll be imprisoned until he dies, but without Amy. So what does Rory--sweet, beautiful, wonderful, amazing Rory--do? He says HELL NO because he cannot imagine a life in which he grows old without Amelia Pond, EVEN THOUGH IT MEANS THAT RORY IS RISKING HIS LIFE. So here's me already starting to tear up like...that's beautiful, Rory, beautiful, but I'm still fine. Still watching.
And then comes the scene on the roof.
Rory sees that the only way out of his situation is to jump off the roof of this building which will keep the angels from imprisoning him alone which will create a time paradox which will kill the angels. So. 1. Rory would rather DIE than spend the rest of his life alone without Amy and 2. Rory will sacrifice his life to SAVE Amy.
BUT THEN! Amy. My girl Amy. She says no. And she asks him the most important question of all "If it were me, could you do it?" And Rory can't say yes. He can't. In that moment he knows that what he's asking her to do is the same thing that he couldn't do himself...live a life without him. And it's just........
So there's me. Balled up in the corner of my sofa with my lovely, beautiful, wonderful husband just on the other side and I am SOBBING UNCONTROLLABLY. So much so that he has to pause the episode at that point. And why am I sobbing...BECAUSE I KNOW OUR STORY WOULD HAVE ENDED THE SAME WAY. Because he couldn't stand the idea of a life without me and I couldn't stand the idea of a life without him so in an instant we would have looked at one another the same way and thought "Fuck it, we're going to save the world together." It would have been that way. It will be that way if we're ever in some bizarre situation where we come down to it. Like, honestly, I cannot imagine life without him. Cannot. Refuse to do it. So when Rory was saying all these things about doing this for Amy I was like RORY THAT IS BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT. YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING FOR AMY EXCEPT KILLING HER SOUL THE MOMENT YOU'RE GONE.Like, he was confident he'd come back, but what if. WHAT IF. If he was right, they would both be fine. If he was wrong, they'd both effectively be dead anyway.
Forty-five minutes. Forty-five minutes I sat on that sofa and I sobbed and screamed and sobbed. Because it was so real to me. It was everything. Like, I sometimes wonder what would happen to one of us if the other were to die one day and I just...can't. I cannot imagine one of us existing without the other one. I know we used to, a long time ago, nearly half my life ago now, but I just....can't.
So okay. I've finally calmed down (mostly) enough for us to resume the episode. And they are back. And they are fine. And they are together. Great. Lovely. Beautiful. I'm fine now. I can breathe again.
AND THEN THE END COMES.
And it was all for nothing. Rory still got stuck in the alternate time and he still had to grow old and HE WAS STILL ALONE. And Amy...she doesn't even hesitate. She isn't even afraid. She knows that she needs to be with Rory. The choice is between staying with the Doctor without Rory and letting Rory be trapped there without her and SHE KNOWS THAT IS NOT A CHOICE. I just watched this again to embed the video and I'm crying all over again, because, yeah, Amy...YOU WILL BE WITH HIM and that is worth giving up EVERYTHING ELSE IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. No question. No struggle. No wavering. I would have done the same thing and I would do the same thing a million times over because what good is keeping a hold on my life if it means we have to spend the rest of it apart?
So I sobbed uncontrollably on the sofa for another 45 straight minutes and I never watched either of those scenes again until today and I am crying again and I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever be over this and it is one of the single best episodes of television I have ever seen in my entire life.
I was going to talk about some other things here, but I think this is enough. I think we should leave it here. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I'm going to go hug my husband with absolutely no context right now.
(P.S. If you need an Amy/Rory mood cleanser, please see a fanvideo that my friends and I like to make my husband watch on the regular just to remind him that he's the Rory to my Amy always and forever: You Told the Drunks I Knew Karate by Settiai)
