HOLD THE TARDIS PHONE

[hafital]

I agree with most of this review of "A good man goes to war" from The Gaurdian, except for the criticism if Matt Smith, who I thought was brilliant.

Anyway, the article got me thinking about River Song and her life and fate, etc. And I got to thinking if there was only some way for her to be rescued from The Library somehow. I'm just, I can't get over it! I really think that is the worst ending for her life. So I was thinking if only Moffat would fix it somehow, which he is more than capable of doing. And then I realized he COULD MAKE HER FLESH!!! and the TARDIS could stabilize her. Clearly this needs to happen. And then, they can stay together or not as the case maybe but maybe she won't be doomed forever. I don't see why it can't. And if Rory can live 2000 years as an auton and then become human (w/ viable sperm no less. I'm just saying....) surely River can be corporeal again.

I'm not even much of a Doctor/River fan, at least I have no interest to read fanfic, but I would much rather have her alive and out and about alive with or without the doctor then living a half life in a computer.

Comments

[laurashapiro]

So many people have a huge problem with River ending up inside CAL, and I get all the reasons but it still doesn't bother me. I always imagined that River could dream up any kind of life she wanted inside the computer. CAL is compassionate; it's not going to ground her on faux-Earth in a faux-marriage with faux-children forever. She's an archaeologist and action hero! She need an exciting life (death?), and there's no reason CAL wouldn't give her one.

If the problem is just that River dies, well, I don't so much mind that. I love River but I don't want her to live forever. Nobody should.

[hafital]

Yeah it's not happiness to me, although I wrote that story, the River has adventures in CAL story, so I understand that it can be wonderful as much as it can be terrible. But a) they didn't show her having adventures and didn't even say she would and as much as I'm willing to fan wank that, I'm left with how Moffat saw her life at the end and also from everything we know of River it seems very OOC for her to even imagine such a life, and b) I guess I am a fan of reality over endless fantasy. I think I would rather be dead lol. And I agree that if River had died, I would be sad to know her fate, but not disturbed by it.

[laurashapiro]

I guess I'd argue that she IS dead, for most values of dead. (: But if you buy that her consciousness is really in CAL, then so are all the other dead people CAL "saved" -- so it's not totally a fantasy. Real relationships are possible. Maybe real adventures aren't, but the interactions with her (real, dead, saved) friends would be. So that's something.

And yes, the domestic bliss is very OOC for her for sure. That it was Donna's fantasy I can sort of buy, since she was so keen to be married (but Donna's ending is a whole other world of wrong). But it should never have been River's. I have to believe Moffat had no idea who River was going to turn out to be when he wrote that.

I must have missed your story! ::goes to look::

[hafital]

If I understand correctly, all the people CAL "saved" were made human again and safely taken off the library planet. But you are right in that she has her team with her donate isn't alone.

It's a River/Jenny story actually, and written fir te dw_femslash ficathon a few years ago. Its somewhere in my tags under fic. :)

[laurashapiro]

I found the story! Can't wait to dive in.

Interesting. I know all the live people that were saved actually got to be alive again -- these are the people who were in the library when the crisis came, and CAL saved them before they could be killed. But I thought that the people who actually died in the episode (River's team) were all "living" in CAL now.

[hafital]

Yes her team is with her, all accept the one that lived, I forget his name but it was his family who was related to CAL.

[laurashapiro]

Right, I know who you mean. So anyway, it's not ALL fake. IMO it makes a difference that there are real people in there with her.

[allburningup]

Yes, having relationships with other sapients makes it a real life, to me. But I do feel some sadness for her because her reach has become very small. She previously had the potential to make an big, noticeable impact in the life of practically any sapient being in all of time and space, and did in fact impact a whole lot of people, lots of times. Someone like me only has a noticeable impact on a small number of people. But River was suited to live a big, powerful life. Now her community is even smaller than mine. I don't think she's the type to be satisfied with that.

Flesh would be a pretty cool option! But even if she remains bodiless, could some sort of communication between CAL and the outside world be set up? Sadly I don't remember the episode well enough to know if there's anything preventing that. But I'd like to see her community no longer be isolated. As long as she can communicate, she can still be a powerful influence in the universe.

Of course, it's interesting that she spends some amount of her corporeal life isolated as well, in prison. But I got the sense that she didn't feel trapped, because she knew it was temporary, and of course also because the Doctor came and took her on vacations in the middle of it.

P.S. I'm totally in favor of people living forever, or at least as long as possible. A few billion years would be nice start.

[laurashapiro]

I appreciate your point of view on this. You're right that River is a big, powerful person and likes a big, powerful life, although as you point out, the connection between CAL and Stormcage is an interesting one. I wonder how long in subjective time she actually spends in prison.

[hafital]

Gah sorry for the typos. silly iPhone.

[laurashapiro]

Hee! I just got an iPod touch, so I understand. (: