I'd leave my rage to the sea and the sun

[shegrewhearts]

Title: I'd leave my rage to the sea and the sun

Author: shegrewhearts

Fandom/Characters: Doctor Who, River (mentions Eleven/River)

Rating: PG

Word count: ~1400

Summary: When your whole life has been built around and because of a single man, how do you define yourself?

A/N:  I love River Song with a fierce, fierce passion, but I feel like her character has lost some

Comments

[lonewytch]

I love this. The language and the descriptions in it are absolutely wonderful, i love your poetic turns of phrase, and i love the way you have explored River's feelings about everything that's happened to her.

I have to say, i was okay with the reveal of who River was in Series 6 and her pathway with him, because i do think that when we see her later we see that she is a badass and does make her own life without him. But this fic fills in the gaps really nicely, and feels real and true.

<3

[shegrewhearts]

i do think that when we see her later we see that she is a badass and does make her own life without him. But this fic fills in the gaps really nicely, and feels real and true.

I completely agree with you. That's very much how I feel as well, because I think by the end she has become her own person who is not defined by the Doctor, but that's more at the end of her timestream.

Thank you for such nice feedback, and I'm charmed you loved it! "Poetic turns of phrase" - you're making me blush!

[easytheretyger]

Lovely fic, very true to the character.

Her whole life is intertwined with his, she exists because of him. IMO, she may have started on the archaeology path because of him, but you can tell that she really adores it -- she defends it when he's unkind about it and the look on her face as she enters the underhenge in Pandorica Opens says it all really.

In TIA where she says she lives for the days she sees him, I don't think she always felt like that, but she's nearing the end here and probably doesn't see him that often anymore. It's enough to hurt anyone, no matter how badass they are.

In the First Night/Last Night minieps, when the middle River is being sent back to the Stormcage, her first thought is about her hair getting ruined, which makes me think that she does her own thing a lot at that point.

[shegrewhearts]

Her whole life is intertwined with his, she exists because of him. IMO, she may have started on the archaeology path because of him, but you can tell that she really adores it -- she defends it when he's unkind about it and the look on her face as she enters the underhenge in Pandorica Opens says it all really.

I agree. I think that's part of the reason he's intrigued by her - she loves the thrill of adventure just as much as he does. And as for the minieps, part of why I really loved them and marveled at Alex Kingston's acting was how she really defined each stage of River's life in three very specific ways: unsteady but bubbling with excitement, huffy but confident and alluring, and comfortable and fond.

Thanks for sharing your opinion and the lovely review!

[jadethe2nd]

I love this. I've often thought that River wouldn't be the kind of person who could just accept her life being tied to the Doctor's forever. She just has so much baggage. I think she must have struggled immensely to get to the place she is in in TIA/DOTM and previous episodes. Somehow I doubt that we'll see much of that onscreen. This fic is a very nice exploration of it :)

[shegrewhearts]

I think she must have struggled immensely to get to the place she is in in TIA/DOTM and previous episodes. Somehow I doubt that we'll see much of that onscreen. This fic is a very nice exploration of it :)

Sadly, I agree. I think if Steven Moffat went too deep into the workings of her mind, there would be an uproar of "this is science-fiction, not drama" which would be totally legitimate though unfortunate. That you think this explores River's character well truly means a lot! It's basically exactly what I was going for.

Thanks so much!