River's Personality
Dec. 2nd, 2013 04:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
riverborntorunRiver is as complex as any other average person. The problem is, she's led a beyond average life that makes it difficult for her to open up to people. She has intimate knowledge of the future that she must conceal, and often lies or puts on an act in order to do so. She’s a relentless flirt and fan of innuendo, and she will resort to any means necessary to get what she wants. She isn’t quite as prone to mercy as the Doctor is, though she’s likely more mellow now compared to her younger years. Being raised as a psychopath and an assassin makes you a bit…feisty.
In her younger years, she had less respect for the laws of time (well, laws in general really). It is likely that because she did not have a stable childhood, River behaved as if she were above the law, thus constantly getting into trouble. Truthfully, she often felt that she didn’t belong anywhere in the universe, hence why very few can actually get close to her and why she often prefers to travel the universe rather than stay in one place. Even while jailed she couldn’t stay still.
Her life as an archaeology professor hasn’t been explored in canon, but my thoughts are that River teaches in between adventures with the Doctor and prides herself upon being the eccentric but well-loved professor. She has great stories to share with her students, but she can also come down hard on them, because she’s challenging them to think.
More than anything, River wants two things out of life – freedom and love. Though she experienced a fair amount of independence growing up in Leadworth, her primary objective was always related to killing the Doctor, an order imposed upon her by her captors. Captors who meddled in her life again years after she thought she had escaped them. She never wants to be held down like that again. River fears being a slave to anyone’s will but her own. She prefers to go by River Song rather than her birth name because she associates it with her past as a pawn to the Silence (head-canon).
As for love, it has been the one ‘constant’ in her life. Raised as a weapon to kill the Doctor, he became her obsession, one that eventually backfired for the Silence as those intense feelings for the only man in her life became love. At this canon point she is being pulled from, River has already faced one of her great fears – the Doctor not knowing her. She’s dedicated her life to him, because he believed she could be a better person. He was, in her eyes, the first one to see her as a person and not a tool.
Incarnations of the Doctor
River met the first ten incarnations that went by "the Doctor", but erased his memories of her with mnemosine recall-wipe vapour to avoid corrupting his timeline. Her opinions on the Doctors were very varied:
First Doctor- She considered this incarnation to be boring, because he spent his time hanging out with teachers.
Second Doctor- Apparently the incarnation that she held the most animosity toward, after he offered her 'this cool place on Telos'. She angrily wrote "I saw right through that (and I hope he chokes on that recorder.)"
Third Doctor- One of her favourite incarnations, remarking they had "a lot to talk about".
Fourth Doctor- Discovered that he held a passion for scarves, having a whole room of the TARDIS dedicated to his collection.
Fifth Doctor- Noticed his obsession with the Eye of Orion, which she was misled to believe was a nightclub.
Sixth Doctor- She did not like this incarnation as much, considering his abrasive personality and appearance to be like a clown put through a woodchipper.
Seventh Doctor- She found him "surpisingly Scottish".
Eighth Doctor- River loved the very elegant and cultured style of the TARDIS console room that he used.
Ninth Doctor- Accidentally set him off after mentioning the Time War and learned very quickly it was a bad idea to discuss it at all. (GAME: The Eternity Clock)
In her younger years, she had less respect for the laws of time (well, laws in general really). It is likely that because she did not have a stable childhood, River behaved as if she were above the law, thus constantly getting into trouble. Truthfully, she often felt that she didn’t belong anywhere in the universe, hence why very few can actually get close to her and why she often prefers to travel the universe rather than stay in one place. Even while jailed she couldn’t stay still.
Her life as an archaeology professor hasn’t been explored in canon, but my thoughts are that River teaches in between adventures with the Doctor and prides herself upon being the eccentric but well-loved professor. She has great stories to share with her students, but she can also come down hard on them, because she’s challenging them to think.
More than anything, River wants two things out of life – freedom and love. Though she experienced a fair amount of independence growing up in Leadworth, her primary objective was always related to killing the Doctor, an order imposed upon her by her captors. Captors who meddled in her life again years after she thought she had escaped them. She never wants to be held down like that again. River fears being a slave to anyone’s will but her own. She prefers to go by River Song rather than her birth name because she associates it with her past as a pawn to the Silence (head-canon).
As for love, it has been the one ‘constant’ in her life. Raised as a weapon to kill the Doctor, he became her obsession, one that eventually backfired for the Silence as those intense feelings for the only man in her life became love. At this canon point she is being pulled from, River has already faced one of her great fears – the Doctor not knowing her. She’s dedicated her life to him, because he believed she could be a better person. He was, in her eyes, the first one to see her as a person and not a tool.
Incarnations of the Doctor
River met the first ten incarnations that went by "the Doctor", but erased his memories of her with mnemosine recall-wipe vapour to avoid corrupting his timeline. Her opinions on the Doctors were very varied:
First Doctor- She considered this incarnation to be boring, because he spent his time hanging out with teachers.
Second Doctor- Apparently the incarnation that she held the most animosity toward, after he offered her 'this cool place on Telos'. She angrily wrote "I saw right through that (and I hope he chokes on that recorder.)"
Third Doctor- One of her favourite incarnations, remarking they had "a lot to talk about".
Fourth Doctor- Discovered that he held a passion for scarves, having a whole room of the TARDIS dedicated to his collection.
Fifth Doctor- Noticed his obsession with the Eye of Orion, which she was misled to believe was a nightclub.
Sixth Doctor- She did not like this incarnation as much, considering his abrasive personality and appearance to be like a clown put through a woodchipper.
Seventh Doctor- She found him "surpisingly Scottish".
Eighth Doctor- River loved the very elegant and cultured style of the TARDIS console room that he used.
Ninth Doctor- Accidentally set him off after mentioning the Time War and learned very quickly it was a bad idea to discuss it at all. (GAME: The Eternity Clock)