#[ river ;; musings. ]

[expectiations]

I love that - thanks to one small line - their first kiss gives us a huge look at what kind of partner (and then later husband) the Eleventh Doctor is.

'What, that's it?'

First of all bear in mind from his perspective, yes they've gotten closer, but he's still suspecting that River might kill him sooner rather than later. It's understandable that some trust issues linger and thus he's still a bit quick with the casually dark (and cruel) demeanour.

River knows that. She knows where he is in his timeline. She knows that, despite how much he flirts with her (and he flirts with her A LOT), he is not her husband, not yet the man that loves her and he's not even the man that knows her. So why does his short goodbye confuse her?

Because this small line tells us that not only have they been dating (from his perspective) between DOTM and AGMGTW but they've been dating physically. To River, this short-fuzed ball of trust-issues is essentially not only her husband but also her actual boyfriend.

Meaning that the Doctor, before he became the doting idiot husband we saw in TATM/TNOTD and even before he knew who she was, never dropped her off after a date without at least (!) kissing her goodbye.

And I'm really putting the emphasis on never because River would otherwise not risk asking for a kiss, if there had been any doubt in her mind that this Doctor isn't a Doctor she had been dating. So what does that tell us?

Despite how much this fandom likes to paint the picture of the evil River who forced herself on the Doctor, she is never the one to initiate (physical) intimacy. She expected to be kissed, she expected the Doctor to kiss her because that's what the Doctor does. Husband or not.

And it's so ingrained in their relationship that even when he showed his honest confusion, River assumed he must be acting coy on purpose to get *her* to kiss *him* for once. And well it worked, intentionally or not, River complied because why wouldn't she? It's what they do.

Until of course she is forced to realise that it might not be what they do for much longer. This was his first kiss; so she might not see the boyfriend version of her Doctor very often from now on, if at all.

But ignoring all the insanely depressing angst of how that scene ended, yes we saw an end for River but we also saw where the Doctor's pre-AGMGTW dating spree and thus the affectionate idiot began because he makes it quite clear that he's up for more. (pun intended)

I wish we could've seen more of their time together. Unfortunately 98% of it happens off-screen but the point of this thread is to show that, even if most of it is off-screen, the show has made the nature of their relationship and the nature of the Doctor's feelings very clear. Moffat's writing style is quick-paced and certainly assumes that the audience isn't too stupid to keep up. (wonder how that worked out) And small lines like these contain so much vital information that, for some people, it's easy to overlook. But all we need to know is right there. The Eleventh Doctor dated River prior to AGMGTW, definitely prior to TWORS; they've been intimate for two hundred (!!!!) years from his perspective before he married her and he is the one to initiate that intimacy. That's all. 🥰

original post on X by @/eIevenriver (who writes the bestest Doctor x River threads ever)

[lionofchaeronea]

Starry Night Over the Rhone, Vincent van Gogh, 1888

[wgm-beautiful-world]

P A R I S

[mendingbone]

River & Loey & Adam— ʟᴜᴄʏ ᴅᴀᴄᴜs,ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍ sᴛᴀᴛᴇ...//sᴜsᴀɴ ʜᴏᴡᴇ, sɪɴɢᴜʟᴀʀɪᴛɪᴇs//ғʀᴀɴᴢ ᴋᴀғᴋᴀ, ʟᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ᴍɪʟᴇɴᴀ//ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀɪᴀssɪᴄ ᴄᴜᴅᴅʟᴇ//ᴇᴛʜᴇʟ ᴄᴀɪɴ, ᴛᴡᴏ ᴄʜɪʟᴅʀᴇɴ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴍᴏᴛᴇʟ ʙᴇᴅ//ɪsᴀᴀᴄ ᴍᴀʀɪᴏɴ, ᴡᴀʀᴍ ʙᴏᴅɪᴇs//ᴍᴀʙᴇʟ, ᴇᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇ 𝟸𝟾: ᴍᴀᴛʀʏᴏsʜᴋᴀ//ᴇʀɪɴ sʟᴀᴜɢʜᴛᴇʀ, ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴛʜɪs sᴛᴏʀʏ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ sᴜɴ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ sᴜɴ.

[rueyam]

„in a world where children are frightened, it doesn't matter if the sea is blue“ said cahit zarifoğlu… still thinking about it…

[incorrectwolfstar]

in their little friends with benefits denial phase

sirius: we said we’d be better off as friends, right?

remus, naked in sirius’ bed looking like a painting: not that i can remember

sirius: fuck me neither

[malevolent-muse]

🌀📖🌀

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[crumbledstatues]

@eyeofvengeance wanted a starter from Alys

HE ALWAYS SEEMS SO LOST IN THOUGHT, even now in the early hours of the morning. When she rouses, she wonders how long he’s been up, probably hours at this point. She reaches for her robe to make herself decent before she’s padding across the floor to join him at the window. Her hands find purchase at his bare chest before she pulls herself forward, letting them run down so she could wrap her arms around him.

“What’s got your mind now, hm?” she murmurs, her lips chaste in a gentle kiss to his shoulder. “Let it rest, just for a moment.”

[thunderon]

honestly, would like to applaud the tlt fandom’s ability to just shrug and say “okay” to whatever muir throws our way. before nona the ninth, the widespread fanon interpretation of alecto/The Body typically was some la llorona-esque undead monster lady like:

and then nona the ninth was released and everyone in the fandom smoothly pivoted to Apocalypse Barbie without flinching!!! without hesitation!!! without question!!! i almost forgot how we all originally viewed her because of how seamless the transition was

[insporp]

(c)

[expectiations]

I still find it funny that people call eleven a "deadbeat husband" and their marriage "toxic" but twelve is the "perfect husband" and their marriage "wedded bliss" all because of the few moments we'd seen between 11 and River were them being "toxic". yes of course! let's ignore how the minisodes show how that description isn't true and even how little moments in the episodes themselves – "what? that's it?" (why haven't you kissed me goodbye? are you being sly on purpose so I'd kiss you first?) and "they wouldn't bury my wife out here" and the music room is the heart of the home and it's not a ghost story, it's a love story – show 11 cared and put in the work and yes, they're going to have disagreements like the ones in TATM because duh who doesn't but it does not mean it is the entirety of their relationship but people have taken it and made it the entirety of their relationship.

[threshasketch]

Going back to finish my 16-year-old fanfic has me drawing Near again. ❤

[mythic-rose]

❝ — "Your software slays, by the way."

rose's 100 favorite fictional muses — 66/100: Caleb Rivers

[slumbear]

The Claw...

[cxnsiglixrx]

Closed Starter

It was dead of night. Crows replaced the sounds of tweeting birds, the wind tore through the trees with a sharp whistle. Talia Rivers marched into her home, the large wooden doors slammed behind her. To say she was unhappy, would be an understatement. It had been another lengthy meeting, with council members way past their prime. "Good evening, Mistress Talia." A old voice greeted her. It was Giles, the manor's butler. An old man with a long face, a snow white mustache under his nose and a monocle. Talia hung her cloak. "Another tiring few hours, I presume?" Giles questioned carefully. "Yes. I do feel as if though my brain has shrunk in the last hour." One would think beings with thousands of years under their belt would be more open minded, but perhaps Talia was naïve to think so. "Is Ben in?" Talia inquired, her apprentice's name rolling off the tongue smoothly. Giles nodded. "He is in the library, my lady." The vampire thanked the old man, advising him to inform them when dinner was ready. Talia had taken Ben in a while back, perhaps 2 years now. She saw great potential in him, plus the council had bugged her about not having an apprentice to begin with. Her heels clicked through the empty halls of her manor, before she came upon a large, mahogany door. Light slipped through the opening. The fire was lit. "There you are." Talia spoke, hands grabbing her skirts as she descended the few steps. "Meow." Upon the apprentice's lap was a white feline. Duchess was her name. "Seems you already have company." // @bluejeanbaby

[booksofadventures]

The Doctor was tinkering with something sat on the bench in the park. It was just frustrating that she still couldn't get a lock on her TARDIS. She had hoped the Master's TARDIS would have been some help but there had been one or two disagreements there.

So she had come across to the park near her current flat and was sat on the bench tinkering. It was the best thing she found to think and to just let her frustrations out productively.

It was a time into this tinkering that she felt someone else sit on the other side of the bench. Something that did break the thoughts of concentration for a moment.

"I wouldn't sit there I know it might not look like much but it ma---"

She paused her sentence when she saw who was sat there. Someone she didn't think she would see. Not for the lack of looking or wanting to see her. Considering who the woman was to her.

And in that moment the Doctor is just staring, unsure what to say - if River would even believe her if she said who she was.

{ @soulxremains // starter with thirteenth }