#aaanyway i think i'm gonna try to sleep

[teddybeartoji]

can't tell whether i'm getting fucked by my non-existent period or i've just fallen into a Ditch face first

[ninix245]

Elise: [on the phone] Hey, I'm heading out now. [She locks and shuts the door]

Kace: [His voice comes from the speaker on Elise's phone, noticeably groggy] Shoot I'm so sorry I'm gonna be late by a bit. I swear my internal clock runs like 20 minutes behind, I seriously thought it was only 9:30."

Elise: Ugh you're the worst. [Footsteps can be heard as she walks down the hallway] Here I was getting ready early in the morning and you were just in bed the entire time. I even thought I should give myself an hour just in case, 'cuz I didn't want to be late on your birthday.

Kace: What if I just sleep in? [Rustling can be heard as he gets ready] Technically I can be late 'cuz it's my birthday, that's how it works. You should also consider being nicer to the birthday boy too, y'know?

Elise: [interrupts] Anyways-

Kace: [interrupts] Where's my special birthday treatment, hmmm?

Elise: Aaanyways- I brought those little mini confetti popper things, you think those would be fun or justa pain to clean up?

Kace: Mmm sure, having one of those would be fun I guess. [In a joking tone] I'm not cleaning it up anyways.

Elise: Wait Kace- [Slows down his pace and starts looking around] Kace, I think I've been walking around in a circle.

Kace: "What do you mean?"

Elise: [Pace quickens] I just realized just now because I was distracted talking to you but the hallways- they just keep going on and on- like I don't know, there's like- no exit? I don't know I- I've just been walking for the past 5 minutes even though the elevator is usually right there when I leave my room.

Kace: Wait slow down I don't get it. What do you mean the hallway keeps going on?

Elise: I told you, the hallway just doesn't end! I'm like trying to walk quicker and get to the end of it 'cuz that's where the elevator is, but no matter where I walk there's no exit doors, no elevator, no staircases. It's just hallway everywhere, God- Kace- I just- I don't know what to do, where do I even go? How- how do I get out?" [The panic rises in her trembling voice. Her clothes rustle and her footsteps get louder as she starts to run]

Kace: Eli-

Elise: [interrupts] It really just keeps going Kace, I swear! There's no exit anywhere. [She starts to sob]

Kace: [concern in his voice] Calm down, I know you're scared, but just calm down. Maybe try to knock on someone's door and see if there's anyone there?

Elise: Okay [sob] I'll try [knocks on the nearest door while sobbing, then pounds on it when she gets no reply] Is someone there? I need help, please. [pounding gets louder]

Kace: [Voice gets louder to talk over the pounding] Calm down Elise, please!

[Silence]

Kace: [Concerned] Elise? Are you there?

[Silence]

Kace: [worried] Eli-

Elise: [whispers] Please help me.

[The call ends]

[expectiations]

OH. OH. And my favoritest moment of this kind is in Let's Kill Hitler. Goodness knows how often I've taken scenes from LKH to include in edits. The scene where 11 lies dying on the steps? wait now I remember I made a yap about that somehere in my drafts lol

anyways, I LOVE that scene. Where baby River keeps on looking back at her parents. Her facial expression is one huge (and imvho, adorably cute) "???". When Amy shows her who River is? 🥹 When she asks them if he's worth it? 😭🫶🏻

I feel like I'm being overdramatic (which has been heightened by how little sleep I'd gotten) but baby River is SO special to me. especially when I see people hating on LKH and TWORS. OH. ESPECIALLY TWORS. They say that Amy and River cornered the Doctor into marriage lmao and I was like "??? where?? when??" Apparently it was Amy's "Just tell him, River!" and I was like "no?? that's literally not??" stares angrily into blank nothingness for a hot minute then takes a deep breath

TWORS River is still relatively young compared to, say, AGMGTW River, who has grown confidence enough in herself to give the Doctor "The Talk™" after reassuring her mum that she was gonna be okay. TWORS River's face...

THAT face. That "???" face. Also, minor detour to the First Night minisode where River says "oooh you've gone all strict" after 11 says there are rules now. That made me think that were there no rules beforehand? you're telling me baby River was an adorably, chaotic gremlin running about time and space with the Doctor and her parents? with no rules? which could then tie in with her apparent confusion in TWORS. like I get the feeling she was confused over the Doctor acting that way. hmmm...interesting. just how spoiled did an older 11 make River? I should phrase that better.

aaanyways, i like to think the version of the Doctor that baby River is used to is implicit...-ish in whatever shenanigans they may have gotten up to. yeah. so.

back to what I was trying to say is that the Doctor is just bearing down hard on River. he's saying all this awful stuff. River's literally just trying to show/tell him what she's done and how he's loved by so many and so much and by no one more than her (SQUEEEEEEE). But the Doctor was too deep in his self-loathing space to hear her clearly. So Amy tells River she has her back and sod off to the Doctor for being a prick. Just a mum giving her baby girl a boost. That was what I saw. But I dunno. I'm just a girl who can relate to knowing how powerful a boost it is to have your mum be by you.

My neurons randomly zipping around. I've seen people comment that Amy and River have this stilted relationship. That Amy is always called by River with a stiff and formal "mother". But! keep in mind that just like how a huge part of the Doctor and River's relationship plays out off screen, the same goes for Amy and Rory and River's relationships. Saying River calls her "mother" only is not entirely true anyway since in The Wedding of River Song, we see her call Amy "mummy".

I think the reason why people think Amy and River's relationship is stilted is because they only refer to their dynamic in The Angels Take Manhattan. Which was the reason why my brain suddenly starts yapping again lol. But I'd like to point out that a few episodes earlier, we saw Amy and Rory's almost divorce (still hurts me to this day). And I think it has mostly been forgotten that it's not just Amy and Rory anymore, you know (glares at writers). River would have been affected by their fallout. River would have been so guilty over their almost divorce. River, who, as Mels, pushed them together because it wouldn't be a universe worth living in if Amy and Rory weren't together. Because it would always be Amy and Rory. Together. Always.

"But, Tia, she did that to ensure her own existence!" Nuh uh! Nuh uh. Nuh uh, my beloved idiot. While there will be people who'll argue that River and Mels are different, I scoff at that notion. Sure, they look different. Sure, their mannerisms may differ a bit. But they're still the same person! It's like that argument that 12 loved River more than 11 lol don't talk to me. They're the same person, dude.

Anyways, point in case is Mels/River/Melody loves her parents dearly. In Time of Angels/Flesh of Stone, she shows off for Amy. Not the Doctor. But Amy. And it worked, Amy's admiration clearly shows on her face. She always makes sure Amy is alright. She comforts Amy when the angel in her eye is taunting her. She makes that teleport thing work to save Amy. She makes sure Amy holds on tightly. In The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, she does the same. Always checking on Amy, holds her back when the Doctor is shot, tries to comfort her as she mourns the Doctor's "death". Idk man there's so much. It's all laid right there. In A Good Man Goes To War when she comforts Amy first before giving the Doctor what I like to call "The Talk". In The Wedding of River Song where Amy kept her own timey-wimey diary and brought out wine because there was a freak meteor which was her usual indicator that River would be coming around. That doesn't speak of stiff and stilted. To know someone at that kind of level.

Remember, darlings. Context is important. The dynamics between River, Amy, and Rory in The Angels Take Manhattan should be looked at in the context of the elder Ponds' near divorce. It doesn't mean that it represents the entirety of the dynamics of their relationship.