River: Fight me!

The Master: *gets on one knee and pulls out a ring*

The Master: Fight me for the rest of our lives.

The Master: Goodnight to the love of my life, River, and fuck the rest of y'all.

The Master: Hey, River , what do you think it would be like if we had kids?

River: What would it be like? Inconvenient, mostly.

The Master: No, I mean, what would they be like, the kids? You ever think about it?

River: Can't really say I have.

The Master: You know, for someone as eccentric as yourself, you can be boring as fuck sometimes.

River: Sorry. For what it's worth, I'm picturing them now. A boy and a girl. Two perfect little freaks of nature raised by people who've clearly got no business bringin' up anybody.

The Master: I am so cool. I am an absolute Chad. I am the epitome of coolness and awesomeness—

River: Hi.

The Master: *melts down in a flustered heap of softness*

He lost his family.

He lost his family.

He lost his family.

Melody Pond: Life at Greystark Hall Orphanage written by ComeAlongMai

Author's note: I’ve only listened to series 1 of The Diary of River Song at the time of writing this. Once I’ve listened to it all in completion, I’ll come back and make any necessary changes to this.

This may not be a question on everyone’s mind, but it was certainly on mine for a long time. Ever since we discovered who the little girl was in Day of the Moon, I wondered who had taken the photos we see in her bedroom in Greysark Hall. Also, how did Mels end up in Leadworth? As the Pond expert, I actually think I’ve figured it out and the result may make you cry (NOT speaking from personal experience!) (me when I lie).

The obvious answer would likely be The Silence, the order that raised Melody, but why would they? They may have raised her but they don’t care about her, especially not enough to document her life, they only want her for one thing; to kill the Doctor. They’re raising the perfect psychopath, why would they stop to take some pictures of her growing up? It just doesn’t fit right when considering who we’re dealing with and their intentions. And why would The Silence deliver a young Mels to Leadworth in order to kill The Doctor when they’re so intent on their astronaut plan? Perhaps Dr Renfrew took those pictures? Again, an obvious answer but I don’t particularly resonate with this. It doesn’t really feel right. After all, he’s extremely confused and we also see a picture of Melody as a baby, where would Dr Renfrew have gotten that picture? I don’t believe that Madame Kovarian or The Silence would’ve been kind or caring enough to give it to Melody. Prior to the orphanage’s closing in 1967, I don’t see Dr Renfrew having the time to stop and take so many pictures of Melody, considering how many other children lived there. So who?

Amy & Rory.

How? They lost Melody and they didn’t get to raise her, how could they have been the ones to have taken those pictures?

In the book Summer Falls by Amelia Williams the last section is an interview from 1969 with the writer herself. She’s asked about her life and her career. We see what she and Rory have gotten up to since being in New York, Amy’s a successful author and Rory’s a nurse helping to advance the medical field. Amy talks about how she and Rory visited Florida and Washington, “seeing friends and family” who are “having a tough time”. She tells Brooklyn Fayre that they don’t get involved anymore, just “[stand and watch]”, after stumbling for the right explanation she says that they help out “in a little way”. Following this, she talks about what they do with the little money she’s earned from her books and tells us about an orphanage that was “in a terrible state” and how they “got involved” and “helped out”. She’s most definitely referring to Greystark Hall and with the timeline, it’s definitely at a point in which Melody is a resident. Since they “helped out”, the orphanage had to be open at that point, you can’t donate to a closed establishment. This means that Melody had to have been a resident prior to the closing since there would be no point in financing prior to her arrival as it wouldn’t affect her time there.

Amy & Rory were sent back to New York in around about the 1930s, they were most definitely around to see Melody arrive at Greystark Hall, given Amy was aware of the year it’d close, she’d have a good sense of when this event would occur. Since they’d have to donate the money prior to the closing, it could be assumed that they’d do this in person, knowing it’d give them the opportunity to see their daughter. Consider:

Amy & Rory take a trip to Florida with the sole intent of seeing their daughter, and helping her in any way they can. They know she’s in Greystark Hall Orphanage and that it’s in a “terrible state”, they have “a little money” so they decide to donate it indirectly to support their daughter. They do this in person. They visit Greystark Hall and they find a lonely and frightened little girl, their daughter, and they decide to try to cheer her up.

They introduce themselves, a children’s book author and her husband, a nurse. They’re staying in Florida for a little while, donating to the orphanage in which she’s found herself. The little girl feels comfortable around them, she knows she’s safe and can trust them. Her smile has been something long lost, but these strangers have shown her a way to discover a new one. They talk, they laugh, they enjoy each other’s company. No one has ever taken such an interest in her happiness before, it feels alien to her. A childhood without love, no one caring enough to give her good, happy memories, never mind document any for her. But Mr and Mrs Williams are different, they’ve been so wonderfully kind to the children of the orphanage, even taking some pictures of them all enjoying their young lives. They think this one particular girl’s smile is the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen and want nothing more than to capture it for all time. Simple moments in time, picking flowers, enjoying her life. The little girl being just that, a child, for the first time ever.

Their visit’s ending soon, something about some important events coming up in the near future with their family in Washington. They hate to leave young Melody, but however hard it is, they know it’s for the better. They leave her with words of encouragement, telling her how wonderful and brave she is and a parting gift, a small box. After a heartbreaking goodbye the little girl opens the box, the tears that had already begun to build in her eyes come streaming down. A box of her. Memories that she can keep a hold of for all time. Physical memories. No one can take them away or alter them. They’re hers. As she relives each moment, she removes the pictures from the box until just one remains. For a moment she doesn’t understand. It wasn’t a picture from the Williams’ visit, but Mrs Williams is there, holding a baby. Suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. Melody Williams.

The year is 1969, Melody has escaped The Silence and is on the run. She’s never had a life outside of The Silence, where could she possible go? She only has one place she could think of. Amy & Rory. But how will she find them? America is a big place and she has no experience on her own. They’d mentioned where they’d come from. New York.

It takes her a long time to find her way there but she makes it. Now 1970, Melody is weak, afraid and alone, but at least she’s close. Alas, it’s not meant to be. She’s dying. But she can fix that.

Amy tells Brooklyn Fayre of how she spends her nights, she’s out looking for the hero of her next book. A little girl with magic at her finger tips, lost on the streets of New York.

Once more, they find each other. Amy recognised the little girl from her own childhood. Now Mels, Amy & Rory take the toddler into their home to love and take care of her. For a few years at least, until it’s time for her next story to begin. They know it’s now time for her to go to Leadworth, where she’ll meet them all over again and grow up alongside her Mum and Dad.

When talking about Amy and Rory as a unit, I call them "the elder Ponds". Because they are. It doesn't matter that River and the Doctor are older than them. They have had to mitigate rows between their own daughter and son-in-law. That immediately makes them the elder Ponds.

When talking about the Ponds, River is always included in it. Because River is a Pond first and foremost. Unfortunately we don't even have a proper Pond Fam pic because of what series 7–[gunshot]

currently rewatching The Angels Take Manhattan. NOBODY TALK TO ME.

(AMY CALLED HER MELODY. HER BABY GIRL. HER DARLING DAUGHTER. MELODY.)

RIVER SONG || edit by @/jodxec on tiktok

okay hi I'm back in my yapping era. remember how I crow about how different versions of the Master went 😠🤨🧐🤔😐😑😬😍😔😬😡😈🙂‍↕️👿🫠😘🤩🥴🤪🤗🤠 at River Song? I thought what if (that's where it all really starts doesn't it?) there was this fic where there were two Masters – i have Missy as the other Master in mind, Spy Master could be the other one – and the other Master was tryna hurt River or threaten her or whatever and then Missy just steps up and puts River behind her and goes "you wanna hUrt HeR? You have to g0 through ME first." and everyone's just 🤨❓❔⁉️🤔🧐😐👍🏻😬

DOCTOR x RIVER