Timelord Fact: It's a known phenomenon that regenerations tend to get a little more erratic after the 6th one. Because of this, Timelords after in their 6th or later regeneration and not allowed to leave Gallifrey in a TT Capsule (the official name for a TARDIS) unless they are given a health check to prove they aren't going to kneel over and blow their console room up.
Chapter Nineteen is like a day away from being done. I'm making chapters slightly shorter so that I can have a good bit of wiggle room when college starts back up.
Vote in the poll for which Doctor you want me to hit sooner than later.
Thanks to the following person for favoriting: magical fan18
Thanks to the following person for following and favoriting: SeleneAlice
Thanks to the following people for reviewing: iHateFridays, Sherlockian082994
Marion wasn't sure why the Doctor had 19th-century American currency in his coat but that didn't matter. What mattered, is that he did and they were able to get a quick meal at the Saloon while they waited for something to happen so they could talk. They sat at a table, decently far away from the bar and possible prying ears, and spoke with quiet tones.
"Now Marion, are you positive you haven't meddled with things that you should not have?"
Marion nodded. "If we hadn't shown up to begin with, well then, there would've been absolutely no reason for a breakout to happen either right? And as for Charlie..." she glanced over at the barman in question, "I think if I made the wrong choice we might've known by now," she said, thinking about the Reapers and Rose's dad.
"But Marion are you positive?"
"About as positive as I can be. Anyway even if I wasn't it can't be helped,"
Marion didn't speak anymore. She just ate her (American) biscuits and some kind of sausage. Marion was mostly sure that it was pork but she really had no way of knowing for sure. She was hungry and it tasted good enough. When she finished eating, she got up from the table and sat on the outside porch. She took out her notebook and pencil and decided that, for lack of anything else to do and a desire to spend some time outside, she would spend the rest of the day until it got dark sketching.
It was a little bit before six when the Doctor left the saloon and the sun was beginning to set and so Marion set aside the sketch that she had been working on. It was beginning to get too dark to see the paper and she figured that, if the mood struck her, she could line and shade it later. She closed the notebook and put it in her bag. She got up, brushed the dust off her skirt and joined the Doctor at the jailhouse.
Marion hadn't thought about what she would have done if it had turned out that while she celebrated having kept a person from death, they were dying of a gunshot wound that she might've been able to help with somehow if she wasn't busy celebrating having kept them from death. Luckily for both Warren and to a lesser extent Marion, this turned out to not be an issue.
The lad was alive and well.
The Doctor still wasn't as happy as he might've been if he hadn't been given a badge and a gun.
"Now Mister Werp, what part am I supposed to be playing in this feud between you and the Clantons? I thought that you gave me this to uphold the law, not-"
Masterson shut the door behind them, "He's right, Wyatt. You can't ask him,"
"My main concern is for the safety of Steven and Dodo. Now can't I ask you to change your mind?"
Wyatt didn't visibly show that he heard the Doctor, but, seeing as his brother was currently alive and sitting on a chair near the wall, Marion doubted that he was tuning out things he simply didn't want to hear. It was far more likely that he was just more focused on loading his gun properly.
"T'ain't no use, old-timer. He won't listen to me, he won't listen to nobody. The Clanton's ain't too happy about him coverin' for Holliday and Earp's already sent his brother to choose a day and time," Bat pushed the Doctor away from the desk.
Virgil opened the door to the sheriff's office.
"You seen 'em?" Wyatt asked, looking up from his gun.
"I seen 'em,"
"Gonna be there?"
"Oh they'll be there. Only thing is-"
"Well?"
"Fella up there with 'em, name of Steven Regret,"
"That tracks," "Steven? What in the world?"
Marion and the Doctor responded to the news at the exact same time.
"Claimed he weren't no pal of theirs, but..."
"Well Doc?"
"Well, if he's there it's not a matter of choice. He's still searching for Dodo with Ringo,"
"Well, I didn't see Johnny Ringo, but I sure enough saw his horse. And Kate, ain't she his girlfriend? Well she's there too,"
"Ringo's probably with them too," Marion said, snapping her fingers, "My best guess is that they don't know that we know that Johnny Ringo is with them and he doesn't want Steven to tell us,"
Wyatt remained seated.
"So Ringo's with the Clantons, huh? Well, looks lie you an' me's gonna have a busy morning, Virgil,"
"Oh, this is sheer madness, Mister Sheriff," the Doctor said sitting down, "You can't take on the Clantons and Ringo,"
"They won't have to," Holliday opened the door to the jailhouse and stood in such a way that made Marion wonder if he'd been standing at the door waiting to be able to slam it open dramatically and make an entrance.
"Doc!" Wyatt got up from his desk and shook the man in question's hand "I thought I told you to get outta town,"
"Well now, Wyatt, so you did," the man responded, "but the fact is I was brung here at gunpoint by a woman,"
"You expectin' us to believe that?" Virgil said skeptically.
"The lady is here, the one and only Miss Dodo Dupont,"
Dodo strode into the jailhouse waving a gun over her head.
'Seriously? Do English kids straight up not learn gun safety of any kind? I know she's not American, but they didn't ban guns in the country until the late-90's'
Perhaps Holliday was thinking the same thing that she was seeing as he took the gun out of her hand with a, "Ah, thank you,"
Dodo was undeterred by this. The moment the gun was out of her hands, shot off towards the Doctor and Marion and grabbed them both in a huge, surprisingly strong hug.
"Doctor! Marion! Thank goodness you're safe,"
"Oh, my dear, we're not in the slightest bit of danger. It was you that we were worried about,"
"I'm glad that you're okay Dodo!"
"Now," Holliday said, holding up his gun. The man was significantly shorter than both Virgil and Wyatt and that made the look on his face as we waved the gun almost comedic. "where do we meet these Clantons?"
"We?" Virgil responded incredulously, "Now see here, Wyatt, I don't take kindly to fighting alongside an outlaw, friend of yours or no,"
"Suit yourself, Virgil. I'll just wish you good luck and go off to find my Kate,"
"Oh, you'll find her at the Clantons,"
"What's that you say?"
"Yeah, with Johnny Ringo," Virgil said, backing up his brother.
"Johnny Ringo?"
"I saw them myself, while or two back,"
Holliday looked furious.
"I'll be fightin' beside you two tomorrow mornin' whether you like it or not,"
"But this is ridiculous, gentleman," the Doctor scolded, "Can you not uphold the law without using firearms?"
"You don't know much about the United States, do you Doctor,"
"Well, old friend," Wyatt responded, "now I've got Doc Holliday back, why, you can hand in your badge any time you want to, Pop," Marion got the vibe that Wyatt expected the Doctor offer up some token resistance rather than tiredly walking towards the sheriff's desk and taking the little metal star off the lapel of his coat.
"Oh, good heavens, what a relief. Here you are, Bat, there's your badge," he took the gun off of his belt as well, "and there is your wretched weapon!"
"Wyatt, how you proposin' to handle this little Clanton matter?" Holliday asked, looking at the bullets in his gun.
"Well, just walk right up there and face 'em,"
"You reckon old Pa Clanton will play it that simple?"
"Well, they'll reckon they're four to three," Virgil pointed out.
"One of them four is Johnny Ringo. I ain't lining up for no square dance. I'm gonna play this my way,"
"So what's your way?"
"Yes, what is your way, Doctor Holliday?"
Rather than responding to the Doctor's question, Holliday began laughing.
'Wow,' Marion said, 'I do think that's one of the worst ways to answer that kind of question,'
The last couple of days had been more or less a non-stop trek back and forth between the saloon and the jailhouse. They had just been at the jailhouse and so it only made sense that their next stop was going to be the Saloon. Holliday had naturally stayed behind to discuss plans for the duel with the Earps. Meanwhile, Dodo, Marion, and the Doctor made their way back to the Last Chance.
The Doctor ordered another three meals from the saloon as the three of them sat around a table.
"Isn't it time you two went to bed?" Dodo asked after they had finished eating.
Marion downed a third of her cup of coffee in one gulp. Marion had felt too awkward to ask for sugar or anything like that. While she was sure that there were some kinds of coffee that tasted just fine black. Marion wouldn't know considering she normally didn't drink coffee that didn't have at least 3 packets of sugar in it.
Still, as long as it was warm and able to keep her awake for another few hours, she was willing to drink. She just needed to make sure it wasn't in her mouth long enough for her to taste it.
"Shouldn't we be saying that to you, hun?" Marion asked the girl, amused.
"Besides Dodo. How can I possibly sleep my dear, knowing that Steven is mixed up with all this?"
"I'm quite sure that Steven can take care of himself," Dodo turned to look at Marion, "He can, can't he?"
"Yes, yes of course,"
"I don't doubt that my dear. What about this man Mister Werp? Supposing he gets killed? Who is going to uphold law and order in this territory? Why they couldn't let Masterson handle the affair I don't know, with a posse of deputies or the like,"
'Masterson?' Marion was that Bat's last name? It sounded familiar. Speaking of familiar sounds, someone was coming through the door to the saloon.
"Proud to hear you say so, Doctor. If'n you feel that way there's something you can do. I've tried all I know to talk Wyatt out of this and he won't listen. I'm asking you to go talk to the Clantons. Seems like that's our only chance,"
"Me? But my dear Sheriff, I should have thought you were the one to convince,"
"What Masterson is saying," Marion said, finishing the last of her coffee, "The Clantons see Sheriff Bat here as a friend of Earp. They aren't going to listen to him. Now you on the other hand Doctor, far as the Clantons know, you're just an innocent traveling performer who got framed by Earp. Far as they know, you've got enough reason to hate Earp and Holliday as anybody,"
"The lady's right," Bat said with a nod, "You go to 'em wearing your badge, say you'll guarantee them a fair trial, it might just persuade 'em. Me, I'd rather face trial than the Earps and Holliday together,"
"Yes, I see,"
"And you might be able to help Steven," Dodo pointed out.
"Very, very true," Marion agreed.
"Good,"
Bat pinned the deputy badge back on the Doctor's lapel.
"Now, it's only about two hours to sun-up. You'd better get started right now,"
'Good thing that I woke up a little late and had some coffee just now,'
Bat told them that where the Clantons ranch was, bid them adieu, and then left to go back to the jailhouse. Marion got the idea that he hadn't told Holliday or the Earps where he had gone and, if he had, Marion doubted that he'd told them why he was going there in the first place.
After he left, Marion got up from her chair.
"You heard the man, we gotta ranch to visit,"
"Now Marion-"
"Come off it, I've been sitting around all day and I'm ready for some action,"
"I'm coming too,"
"Certainly not," "No absolutely not,"
The Doctor and Marion spoke at the same time.
"Dodo, my dear girl, you ought to stay here in case Steven escapes and makes his way there,"
"Not to mention!" Marion said, "It's dangerous,"
"If it's so dangerous," Dodo countered, "Then how come you can go!"
"The Doctor has to go because it's 1881 and they ain't going to believe that I'm deputized. Things may be a bit better from women in the west than they are in the east, but that's mostly because they can vote. As for why I'm going," Marion pointed to herself, "I don't know if you know this yet, because this is my first time meeting you from my perspective-," she paused, "Nice to meet you by the way, but I'm more or less unkillable. You stay here! Also, go to sleep. Your brain's still growing and you need rest,"
Just in case Dodo thought for any length of time that the reason she wasn't letting her go was because she was a teenage (which, to be fair, was a non-zero part of it), she whispered, "Between you and me, if I thought I could get away with it, I'd leave the Doctor with you and go to meet the Clantons by myself,"
Like most parts of the American West circa-1881, there was a distinct lack of light pollution which allowed the thousands of stars to twinkle overhead. The stars of Orion had nearly sunk over the horizon in front of them, so she knew that they had to be heading west. She may have known direction. She wasn't sure how far out they had gone. On one hand, they had to have been walking for a while. That made sense since Marion was pretty sure that a gang that called themselves "the Cowboys" would ride around on horseback. On the other hand, the ranch couldn't be too far away from Tombstone since she had been able to walk to it just fine. The Doctor seemed a little bit tired, but that likely had a lot to do with the fact that his first body was rather old.
When the ranch finally came into view the sun creeped over the horizon and the sky turned that special color only seen by early birds and insomniacs.
Marion thanked God for the coffee.
They could hear speaking inside of the cabin. The Doctor stepped forward and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" a voice called from inside.
The Doctor glanced towards her and opened the door. Marion took the hint and walked in first.
"You must be Mister Clanton," Marion said with a polite tip of her hat.
"Marion! Doctor!" Steven called from across the room.
"No, not Doctor at the moment, dear boy," the man approached Steven, "I am Deputy-Sheriff of Tombstone,"
"Good Morning Steven, Kate!" Marion said walking alongside the Doctor and giving a little wave to the people in question.
When Mister Clanton started talking Marion turned to look at him and jumped slightly upon seeing him pointing his gun at them.
"I've come along to ask you to call off your boys from embarking on this ridiculous duel," the Doctor said, ignoring the gun aimed at him.
"Yeah," the man laughed and put his gun in a cabinet and retrieved another gun from it, "After what Earp did? Not likely,"
"And if you'll do this I'm sure that Masterson will see that they get a fair trial," Marion assured.
"Oh, that's real handsome. Only it don't fit in with my plans,"
"Does having your boys shot down in the street fit better into your plans then?" Marion asked, crossing her arms.
"Well, they can take their chances," the stubborn man retorted.
"Oh, they aren't taking any chances," Steven leaned over to Marion and Steven. "Johnny Ringo's going be behind the Earps,"
"One more yap outta you, Regret, you're dead, boy," the man shouted.
"Ah tut, tut, tut, tut, tut," the Doctor held up a finger.
"It wouldn't be fair for you to shoot Steven for telling us something that we already know. We know and so does Wyatt Earp," Marion said shifting in front of Steven. (Marion wasn't tall enough to offer much protection from any attack below the neck but still.)
"Okay, suppose that's the case? There's still three of them against four,"
"You have been sadly misinformed. Doctor Holliday is there also,"
"What?" the man said in shock. The man turned to the blonde woman standing on the other side of the room keeping the gun facing the three of them, "Kate, you said Holliday was in New Mexico,"
"I blush with shame," Kate smiled and sauntered towards him, "Mister Clanton, indeed I do, That was a dad blasted lie. He's right there in Tombstone with the Earps,"
"Doc Holliday and the Earps?" the man said in horror, "Agin' my boys,"
"Mister Clanton if you think there's time to get your boys to back off, I'd recommend that you do that,"
Marion didn't see the Gunfight.
Steven, the Doctor, and her left the ranch and made their way back to the Saloon to meet Dodo who had apparently tried to go to sleep, but felt too restless. Marion informed the three of them that while she wasn't 100% sure about how the gunfight was going down especially since some of the variables (such as who was starting the duel, the number of people on each team, and whether or not the recent death of their brother was contributing to the Earp's rage) were different. She "recommended" that they "stay in the saloon and not go outside and mess around especially you Dodo,".
She herself could feel the caffeine from the coffee begin to wear off and she wanted to make sure that she was near a soft and horizontal surface when she finally crashed.
"Wake me up when it's safe for us to go to the TARDIS. Okay?"
Marion didn't wait for a response before dragging herself up the stairs and back to her room.
Marion wasn't sure exactly how long she'd been awake but she knew what happened when she was awake for too long and she wasn't interested in that kind of metaphorical (and literal) headache.
She also wanted to be asleep when the guns started going off.
Marion didn't bother taking off her skirt or blouse as she did before. She didn't care enough too. She didn't do much more than unbuttoning a couple of buttons, take off her boots, and lie down on the bed. It was warm enough that she didn't need covers of any kind.
She scrolled through the downloads folder on her phone until she found what she was looking for: an 8-hour recording of white noise. She turned on her headphones and connected them to her phone and turned them up until her phone gave her a warning about possible ear damage. She lied down on her back with her head on her pillow and positioned her hat so that it covered her eyes.
The caffeine crash was beginning to kick in and that, her having been up for too long, and the white noise in her ears. Marion was off to sleep before the guns even began to fire.
Marion didn't dream.
"-rion,"
"Hn?"
Marion woke to someone shaking her shoulder.
"-rion,"
"Hn?"
"MARION!"
"I'm up! I'm up!"
Marion sat up making her hat fall from her face allowing her to see who had awoken her.
"Oh! Good…," Marion quickly glanced at the time on her phone, "Afternoon Dodo,". She yawned and turned to put her feet on the ground.
"The gunfight ended a few hours ago," Dodo explained, "It didn't last more than a few minutes. But the Doctor thought it best to let you and Steven sleep for a while,"
"Steven?"
"He went to his room after the gunfight ended," Dodo explained
"And what about you Miss Chaplet. You do need your sleep!"
"Oh, I slept earlier don't worry. I just woke up before you did Marion. The Doctor told me to come and get you because we were about to head to the TARDIS,"
"Oooh-kay," Marion yawned the beginning of this word. "I'll meet you down in a second. Just give me a moment,"
Dodo left Marion's room. Marion yawned once more and properly got to her feet. She stretched and looked in the mirror. She squinted at her reflection. She fixed the makeup on her neck and tried to make her blouse look a bit less wrinkled. Her hair looked awful, but after she ran her fingers through it and adjusted her hat on her head, she looked fine enough she supposed.
She left the room and went down to the main floor of the saloon. The Doctor, Steven, and Dodo were waiting down there.
"Afternoon guys," she said, "I assume the Earps won?"
"You'd assume correctly," the Doctor replied, "Yes, Holliday shot Ringo and Earp shot Billy. The rest of the Clantons fled,"
"Did the Earps go after them?"
"No. I doubt the Clantons are going to come anywhere near Tombstone. No, no, I doubt that very much,"
"Ah," Marion said with a nod.
'That's different. Maybe it's because the Earps don't have a reason to be especially pissed at the Clantons,'
"Well," Steven said, "I think I've had enough of the Old West for a while. Let's go to the TARDIS,"
"Yes, yes my boy," the Doctor said, "We'll head out now. I think,"
"Let us walk you there," Holliday said, "it's the least Kate and I can do. If it weren't for us y'all would've left days ago,"
"Sure,"
They were back at the side shed or whatever the small boarded-in area where the TARDIS landed.
"Why on Earth you want to leave Tombstone, I can't imagine. Ringo is dead," the Doctor asked Holliday.
"But the Clantons and Masterson are not," Holliday retorted.
"Yes," Steven conceded, "but surely Wyatt Earp-"
"Wyatt Earp is no longer a lawman. Besides, he has killed a Clanton,"
"Even so, he'd never let a friend down," Dodo said confidently.
"Neither would Masterson,"
"Show 'em, Doc,"
Holliday pulled something from behind his back and presented it to them. It was a wanted poster promising $2000 dollars to anyone who turned in Holliday. The poster listed his crimes as murder and…
'Wait does that say treason? I thought that he just killed a few people and gambled too much. What did he do?'
"Ain't nothin' Masterson wouldn't do to oblige a friend," Holliday said.
"Ain't it always the same?"
"Always the same,"
"It is a very good likeness," the Doctor admitted.
"It's yours,"
Holliday rolled up the poster and handed it to the Doctor.
"Thank you," The Doctor handed the paper roll to Marion.
"Goodbye to you all," Holliday put his arm over his partner's shoulder. "Come along, Kate,"
The two of them left and when the two of them were out of sight, she put the rolled-up poster in her bag. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with it, maybe hang it up somewhere? Sell it maybe? There was a market out there for authentic vintage posters, right? Had to be worth something.
"It's a terrible, terrible injustice," the Doctor said watching them leave, "You know I'm very tempted to-,"
"Listen!" Dodo suddenly said.
They could hear Kate singing the first few lines of the Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon as she and Holliday walked off.
"Oh, my dear Dodo, my dear Dodo. You know you're fast becoming prey to every cliche-ridden convention in the American West,"
"I don't know Doctor," Marion joked, "She hasn't become friends for life with a horse yet. At least, I don't think that she has. Have you Dodo,"
"And we should leave now before she does. It's high time we left, now come along," the Doctor began ushering them towards the TARDIS.
"Thank goodness for that,"
The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS door and pushed Steven inside.
"Come along now,"
"Oh, but Doctor," Dodo tried.
"I don't want to discuss it any further. In you go. Come along!" he pushed the Dodo into the TARDIS and Marion followed close behind them.
The TARDIS dematerialized and disappeared from the American West.
"So Doctor," asked Dodo, "Where to next,"
"Who knows?" asked the Doctor. He was at the controls of the TARDIS already taking the group to wherever their next destination might have been. Marion leaned on the console, brushing her hands over some of the levers without pulling on any of them. She felt the TARDIS humming softly under her fingertips.
"You aren't touching anything, are you Marion?"
"No!" Marion said, like a liar jerking her hands back.
"Good!" the Doctor said, "I don't need you messing with the ship while I'm trying to pilot her,"
"Emphasis on 'trying'," Marion said back.
"And what do you mean by that?"
"Nothing, nothing!" Marion said holding her hands up in surrender. She went to relax her hands, but one of them stayed in the air. It was like someone was holding up onto her wrist. She knew what that meant.
'Good thing that I slept at the saloon and didn't gamble on being able to sleep on the TARDIS then,' Marion thought to herself.
"Marion, why're you holding your hand in the air like that?"
"Well Steven, it's because I'm unable to move it. It's stuck,"
Steven and the Doctor seemed to accept this, but Dodo seems shocked and concerned.
"What do you mean your arm is stuck," She grabbed at Marion's arm and tugged.
"No, no don't do that," Marion said, "I'm not sure what'll happen if I leave while you're holding onto me,"
"Leave?" Dodo asked.
"Yeah, I sort of get, like, dragged around the Doctor's timeline. I've been doing it for a few days now? Anyway, a little bit before I get taken somewhere else, some force grabs ahold of me and keeps me from moving. Then it pulls and I'm taken wherever I'm taken. I feel like I would've told you that. Guess I didn't,"
"Where will you be going?" Dodo asked?
"No clue,"
'See's as I'm very, very, early on, probably somewhere in his future then but that doesn't narrow it down like, at all,'
"When will you be back?" Dodo asked.
"Not sure, but it shouldn't be too far on your end,"
She felt a tugging sensation on her arm.
"Remind me the next time we see me and we can finish this talk. Alright, dear?"
Marion was tugged sharply to the side by whatever force was responsible for taking her place to place and she closed her eyes.
(Next Chapter: Top Five Worst Wedding Destinations. No. 5)
Gunfight at the OK Corral: *Is going on outside*
Marion: Zzzzzzzzzzz
The real-life Doctor Holliday was not wanted for treason. Also, there were too many aspects of this serial that were historically inaccurate to name. Buzzfeed Unsolved had an episode about Tombstone. That'll give you a more accurate understanding of the history of Tombstone Arizona.
This chapter is on the shorter side. I'm going to make it up to you by giving you a bit of behind the scenes information via Q/A. No one asked for this, I just want to talk about it.
Q: Why "Marion Horatia Henson"
A: You don't have to believe me on this, but I genuinely did not know that Rose's middle name was Marion. If they said it in the show, I straight up forgot about it. Marion's name is a relic of one of my early ideas for the story.
The Associate (who was yet unnamed and was going to just be called "the Associate") was going to find out that this entire time that (tldr) she's been more or less the universe's puppet and lacked free will. When I decided that having her go unnamed or just as "the Associate" was dumb, I settled on Marion as a play on the word Marionette. Since a Marion-ette is a small puppet a "Marion" would be a big puppet.
That version of the plot was scrapped for complicated, stupid and existentially depressing, but I liked the name Marion, so it remained and "the Associate" became Marion's name for her future self. The last name is just something that sounded nice.
Horatia (Marion's middle name) is the feminine form of "Horatio" which means timekeeper or man of time.
Q: Are there elements of the story set up as a whole that have been completely removed?
A: Yes.
1) Originally, Marion's real name was going to be unknown as she was physically unable to say it. The Doctor just called her "my Associate" and the name "Associate" stuck.
2) Marion was originally physically unable to go too far from the Doctor. Like, she'd try and get jerked back. The effect would've been similar to what happens when Marion is taken elsewhere in the Doctor's
3) Early versions of Marion also resented the Doctor (in part because she couldn't leave his side.) even though it wasn't their fault they were bound together and was often rude and overly spiteful towards them. She would eventually mellow out but the difference in attitude between older and younger versions of her was very jarring for the Doctor and later versions of them were more reserved towards Marion until they knew for sure she wasn't young enough to spitefully bring up something from his past.
4) While Marion's first death was always going to be a fall during "the Lazarus Experiment", initially, the cause of death was going to be that as she is running down the stairs, she trips (either because of her laces or because she is unused to running in heels).
Q: Why were these things changed?
A:
1) I gave Marion a name because her not having a name seemed ridiculous.
2) Her being unable to physically go too far from the Doctor was stupid (and also a little bit yikes). It was scrapped altogether and replaced with her future self simply asking her to stay by the Doctor.
3) The mean and spiteful version of Marion was hard to like and also hard to write. I don't care if it'd be more "realistic" it simply wasn't fun.
4) Marion's "death" happened the way that it was mostly because I thought that it fit better with the tone I'm going for. Tripping down the stairs seems like something that would happen in a story that's supposed to be 100% humor and nothing else. The tone I'm going for is something similar to much of Classic Doctor Who. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes things get serious or dark. But neither one seems jarring.
I've got notebooks full of passages from old drafts and also notes from early versions. I was planning this story concept for a month and a half before I ever posted it and I went through many versions. If you're interested in seeing any of this, send me an ask on tumblr.
See you next week!