It was a regular Sunday afternoon, as regular as an afternoon could be during the early days of the COVID pandemic. I was watching my absolute favorite episodes "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End" back to back, tweeting along with Doctor Who Lockdown on my computer. I was in nerd heaven, and I'd even convinced my family to watch with me.
Less than an hour later, my life changed forever. My sister informed us that an internet friend was in town and wanted to stop by to meet the family. We hauled chairs out to one side of the porch, setting another chair up across from them for proper social distancing.
Our first meeting
He showed up and took his place across from my intimidatingly large family and the talking began. I only added to the conversation once, the rest of the time I watched and listened and hovered in the background as is usual for me. His light hair was shaggy and he wore two jackets. He spoke with confidence and humor about all the topics my family threw at him, including ones that were close to my heart. I couldn't tear my eyes away.
I had known of him for six years by then. We had many mutual friends and eventually connected online, though mostly just quietly liking each other's posts. He and his siblings were creative people making funny videos and sharing them on YouTube. I saw a few over time, and between that and his posts, my general impression was that he was a really fun person. My opinion, and slight crush, was further cemented when he cosplayed as the Tenth Doctor. Swoon.
Now I'd finally met him in person, and all my assumptions were proving to be true.
An episode swap
Another thing I had strong assumptions about was the Twelfth Doctor era. I hadn't heard the best reviews, and the few of his early episodes I'd tried just didn't connect with me.
My first meeting with my friend came and went, but we continued to message on and off. Doctor Who Lockdown continued, and I watched my favorite episodes along with the fandom. At the last moment, I decided to watch "Listen" even though I'd never seen it before and give the Twelfth Doctor another chance. I absolutely loved it. It was haunting and beautiful and timey-wimey, it tied into "The Day of the Doctor", and Twelve felt as Doctor-y as I wanted.
I messaged him about it, but he didn't remember the episode well enough to discuss it. We agreed I'd watch his favorite episode "Time Heist" if he'd watch "Listen" and report back. "Time Heist" was another hit and I'd officially fallen in love with this era of Doctor Who.
Falling in love
I was rapidly falling in love with my friend too, and I wanted nothing more than to talk to him whenever I could but we didn't officially have a relationship yet. I soon found out that if I watched another episode of Doctor Who, I could use it as an excuse to discuss it with him. I didn't have easy access to episodes except online, so I'd pay the two dollars to rent one and settle in. It was worth it for the conversations. Later, I switched to library DVDs, and as season 8 progressed, the next season came up.
"We'll discuss that episode when you get there," he told me one time.
My heart leapt. He was planning to talk to me more.
A journey through space and time
Just three months after we officially met, he asked me to be his girlfriend and we put a label on the companionship we'd already formed. We watched the rest of season 9 together, then said goodbye to Clara and hello to Bill together. I watched some episodes I wouldn't usually watch on my own for fear of being spooked because he was with me.
We made a list of episodes I'd seen, and went back and filled in some of the holes. We discussed our favorite companions and taught each other to appreciate them more. As our relationship grew, the list of things we did together grew too, but Doctor Who still remained our special thing.
Almost a year and some long distance later, we got engaged.
Happily ever after
We decided we wanted to write our own vows, and in the process, I knew I wanted to include something from Doctor Who. I closed out my vows with the line "Next stop, everywhere" as an homage to the adventures we were going to have.
Now we share our lives. Our TARDIS cookie jar sits on the counter of our apartment. We watch the new Ncuti Gatwa episodes as they come out and discuss the themes behind them. We speculate on what happens next and await season 2 of this new era.
And I know wherever we go, together we'll be the stuff of legend.