River Song Appreciation Week - Day 01: Favorite Trait
What you’re going to be, Melody, is very, very b r a v e.
One of my favorite things about River is is ability to be emotionally vulnerable. She’s brave in the sense that she confronts her demons, she leaps from tall buildings, she fights her way out, but she’s also brave emotionally. She doesn’t necessarily like it, she doesn’t always do it on purpose, but it’s there and she owns it. I think a common trope among ‘badass women’ is that they’re bitter and closed off when it comes to their feelings; River hides them when she needs to, but she also shows them. She tells her father how scared she is, even when he doesn’t know he’s her father. She breaks time not to save the Doctor, but to make sure he knows he’s loved, and loved by her, and doesn’t break even when he tells her he’s embarrassed by her. She confronts ‘her owners,’ not just to kill them, but to tell them I see you. You have no control over me any longer, because I see you. She asks for help when she needs it. She does what’s best for the people she loves, even when it hurts her. I think my favorite moment is in The Husbands of River Song - her diary’s nearly full, she doesn’t know how long she has left with the Doctor, she doesn’t even know for certain at this moment that he loves her back, and still, she takes a moment, forces a smile, and says, How long is a night on Darillium? She doesn’t want to be lied to. She doesn’t want to be coddled. She wants the truth, no matter what, and that in and of itself is incredibly brave.
