So here I am weeks late, which is the way I live my life, apparently. I read the first half of this when you first posted, and came back to go all the way through this time. I'm glad I did; you are as thoughtful as ever, and I believe you're spot on about Amy's agency, and her (or, more properly, their) lack of passivity in this episode. Thank you! :) And late comments are always welcome!
I'd posit that although River was created as a dark mirror, she's actually an image of a brighter, more human Doctor, precisely because of the understanding and forgiveness you mention. The Doctor doesn't forgive himself, but she - as painfully accurate about his failings as she might be - does; in fact, I'd guess she forgives more people, more easily, than even the Doctor does. Yes, that's exactly what I was getting at. (Did you ever read my fic She Can Be. She Will Be. It's all about this.
which leads me to ask - how does being a story within a story grant River the vast free-agency she has, when others who are equally stories To be honest, this is mostly be trying to work out the appropriate metaphors. What I mean is that all of River's life is warped around the Doctor - she wouldn't be who she is without him. Everyone else meets him, is whisked away and changed etc, but River was conceived on the TARDIS, his nature a part of her DNA. And not just that, but she was stolen, deliberately manipulated to become a mirror - she was created/written to be a story against the Doctor. (Or: from within her parents story, her story unfolded.) But because of all this manipulation, all this deliberate writing of her, she has the strength and the tools for breaking free and write her own story.
It is significant (and I've been saying this for a long time), that she's not a companion. Companions have 'normal' stories, their lives have beginnings, middle and an end. Their stay with the Doctor likewise. River's story is completely back-to-front and upside-down. Her story, like the Doctor's, exists out of time, and that's what I mean by 'a story within a story' - The Doctor's story incorporated Amy and Rory, and their story created River's... But River's is mostly separate from theirs, looping back into the Doctor's, where it is anchored.
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Thank you! :) And late comments are always welcome!
I'd posit that although River was created as a dark mirror, she's actually an image of a brighter, more human Doctor, precisely because of the understanding and forgiveness you mention. The Doctor doesn't forgive himself, but she - as painfully accurate about his failings as she might be - does; in fact, I'd guess she forgives more people, more easily, than even the Doctor does.
Yes, that's exactly what I was getting at. (Did you ever read my fic She Can Be. She Will Be. It's all about this.
which leads me to ask - how does being a story within a story grant River the vast free-agency she has, when others who are equally stories
To be honest, this is mostly be trying to work out the appropriate metaphors. What I mean is that all of River's life is warped around the Doctor - she wouldn't be who she is without him. Everyone else meets him, is whisked away and changed etc, but River was conceived on the TARDIS, his nature a part of her DNA. And not just that, but she was stolen, deliberately manipulated to become a mirror - she was created/written to be a story against the Doctor. (Or: from within her parents story, her story unfolded.) But because of all this manipulation, all this deliberate writing of her, she has the strength and the tools for breaking free and write her own story.
It is significant (and I've been saying this for a long time), that she's not a companion. Companions have 'normal' stories, their lives have beginnings, middle and an end. Their stay with the Doctor likewise. River's story is completely back-to-front and upside-down. Her story, like the Doctor's, exists out of time, and that's what I mean by 'a story within a story' - The Doctor's story incorporated Amy and Rory, and their story created River's... But River's is mostly separate from theirs, looping back into the Doctor's, where it is anchored.
*fervently hopes this makes sense*