flowsoffire (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
flowsoffire) wrote2013-04-13 10:52 pm
flowsoffire) wrote2013-04-13 10:52 pm
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Of songs and suns: Rings of Akhaten and River parallels
All right, so like most of us DW fans around the world, I watched the Rings of Akhaten, with ALL THE SYMBOLISM—and in-between loving Clara and wondering about Clara and the grandfather theme and her mum’s role in the story (there’s something, there’s something, there’s something going on with herrrrrr…) I just couldn’t seem to stop thinking about River. Happens to me a lot in episodes she’s absolutely not supposed to appear in, except that here there were REASONS!
That little girl. Let’s go through the Merry/Melody parallels:
–the names! Okay, never mind that.
–two scared little girls running away. Obvious.
–two little girls apparently without a family to look out for them (no background on Merry’s side), chosen as babies (for Melody, actually before she was born) and brought up by a religious order with one sole purpose to their lives. They are special; they are alone, and yet surrounded by people preparing them to the roles they were chosen for. One is a weapon; the other, a vessel of knowledge and a sacrifice. And stuff wants to eat them, at least metaphorically: the "spaceman" that is in fact the astronaut symbolizing River being forced into killing, and the parasite feeding on life, and memories, and souls. It seems that both girls have their free will and individuality stolen from them and fed to the creature/thing that holds them.
–two brave little girls, however: Merry is scared of "getting it wrong", but willing to be a sacrifice. Melody is different, she called for help and tried to run—but I’m reminded of the line "It’s all right. It’s quite all right. I’m dying." Of course she knew she was going to regenerate—but from the feeling I get, both girls are used to having their lives ruled by something way bigger than themselves… If that makes sense.
–singing themes. More about this later.
–the knowledge and storytelling themes. As soon as Merry explained her role, all I could think about was the Library. Merry knows all the songs and the stories, River tells the Doctor’s future in her diary; they know the secrets—secret songs, secret names. Please note that this is an episode in which songs and knowledge and memories are concretely used to advance the plot and save the characters’ skins. Foreshadowing!
–symbolic elements: water vs. fire. Here it’s opposed, however—Merry’s flamboyant cloak vs. Melody’s astronaut suit or black and white photos, the darkness of the New York regeneration scene; rising from the water vs. being pulled into the fire. Regeneration light pouring out reminds of the light of the eaten memories, though. Not sure how this might be interpreted, but it’s lovely.
That’s it for the parallels. This might not be the first little girl with Melody sides—but seriously, knowledge and songs. KNOWLEDGE AND SONGS.
Those people are called the Sun Singers.
Big Bang memories:
RORY: But that's the sun.
DOCTOR: Is it? Well, here's the noise that sun is making right now.
(The Tardis noise.)
DOCTOR: That's my Tardis burning up. That's what's been keeping the Earth warm.
And guess what Song is trapped inside, sunshine?
So, we have two suns of destruction—one greedy pseudo-god, and one burning time machine whose explosion will cause cracks that swallow things so they’ll never have existed. What else have we got? We have good lines. First, "we don't stop running until we are out from under the shadow". Sorry, did you say shadow? *clutches heart* Library feels, again. And then there’s "Song’s over". Which is REPEATED. The chorister says it once. The Doctor says it TWICE, once before him, once after. "That’s it, then. Song’s over." The exact same sentence. And song, not the song. Each time, I had that great thrill racing through me. Because of course I had to think of River—and the end of her big arc (though it ended in s6, Trenzalore has yet to come). As the huge fangirl I am, the mere possibility that she could be "over" should have me appalled, but I want her to have an epic closure—not just keep hanging around till the writers/audience get tired of her, but go out with a bang! Heh. (Though a whimper is good too. Love a whimper.)
The song is over, because two little girls failed in their purpose: the "god" is awake, and the Doctor is left to feed it his memories, his "secrets that should never told". Likewise, Melody, now grown-up, refused to kill her love. Even before that, she took him back from the very brink of death—when she was shown she had a future, a future in which he loved her. A future in which she mattered as a person, not a weapon—like Merry matters as one unique little girl, not a sacrifice. Back to the point—neither song could put gods to sleep (or rather, a parasite and a good man…). In the end, the great secrets must be given.
What else could it mean, "Song’s over"? Well, it does remind strongly of Ten’s "Your song is ending". And the songs mean stories in there, too—think of the people singing songs of Donna Noble. And both times, we HEARD the songs, the music—the Ood song, and the Sun Singers. So. IS REGENERATION COMING? Be it Eleven’s end (well, that would be after the anniversary ep, at least) or River’s (in whichever way they might mean it, since she already died in the Library, blah blah)… I simply CAN’T wait for that finale…
Let’s finish on the word song itself … River Song, because Melody Pond—but where did the name Melody come from? Amy named her daughter after her daughter, timey-wimey loop—a circle with no beginning. Where did that come from? Pond is important (why is it a duck pond if there are no ducks, the name leads Clara to the Doctor, through Vastra’s one-word questions—truth, pure and singular), and it turned into River because she’s the only water in the forest. (Too bad Trenzalore is made of fields and that "I am the Doctor and I am afraid" line seems to come from another episode, I was getting feels. Oh, look, Clara’s mum is called Ravenwood.) Please let the other side of that name also have plot relevance. It’ll make me feel better—my first thought when I heard of a character called River Song was "most Mary-Sue name ever" =P
I have no coherent conclusion to this pile of errant thoughts, so I’ll pimp as an ending: the Rings of Akhaten post of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elisi’s meta, which never fails to be the best thing ever (and she’s the one whose stuff made me way more symbolism-aware), promethia_tenk treating the New Age to a gorgeous Ponds and River vid with lovely bits of Clara—I’m not getting over the fact that this is actually her first, it’s so good—and this lovely Clara fic of honeynoir’s, which deserves way more comments than it has thus far.
Thanks for reading!
That little girl. Let’s go through the Merry/Melody parallels:
–the names! Okay, never mind that.
–two scared little girls running away. Obvious.
–two little girls apparently without a family to look out for them (no background on Merry’s side), chosen as babies (for Melody, actually before she was born) and brought up by a religious order with one sole purpose to their lives. They are special; they are alone, and yet surrounded by people preparing them to the roles they were chosen for. One is a weapon; the other, a vessel of knowledge and a sacrifice. And stuff wants to eat them, at least metaphorically: the "spaceman" that is in fact the astronaut symbolizing River being forced into killing, and the parasite feeding on life, and memories, and souls. It seems that both girls have their free will and individuality stolen from them and fed to the creature/thing that holds them.
–two brave little girls, however: Merry is scared of "getting it wrong", but willing to be a sacrifice. Melody is different, she called for help and tried to run—but I’m reminded of the line "It’s all right. It’s quite all right. I’m dying." Of course she knew she was going to regenerate—but from the feeling I get, both girls are used to having their lives ruled by something way bigger than themselves… If that makes sense.
–singing themes. More about this later.
–the knowledge and storytelling themes. As soon as Merry explained her role, all I could think about was the Library. Merry knows all the songs and the stories, River tells the Doctor’s future in her diary; they know the secrets—secret songs, secret names. Please note that this is an episode in which songs and knowledge and memories are concretely used to advance the plot and save the characters’ skins. Foreshadowing!
–symbolic elements: water vs. fire. Here it’s opposed, however—Merry’s flamboyant cloak vs. Melody’s astronaut suit or black and white photos, the darkness of the New York regeneration scene; rising from the water vs. being pulled into the fire. Regeneration light pouring out reminds of the light of the eaten memories, though. Not sure how this might be interpreted, but it’s lovely.
That’s it for the parallels. This might not be the first little girl with Melody sides—but seriously, knowledge and songs. KNOWLEDGE AND SONGS.
Those people are called the Sun Singers.
Big Bang memories:
RORY: But that's the sun.
DOCTOR: Is it? Well, here's the noise that sun is making right now.
(The Tardis noise.)
DOCTOR: That's my Tardis burning up. That's what's been keeping the Earth warm.
And guess what Song is trapped inside, sunshine?
So, we have two suns of destruction—one greedy pseudo-god, and one burning time machine whose explosion will cause cracks that swallow things so they’ll never have existed. What else have we got? We have good lines. First, "we don't stop running until we are out from under the shadow". Sorry, did you say shadow? *clutches heart* Library feels, again. And then there’s "Song’s over". Which is REPEATED. The chorister says it once. The Doctor says it TWICE, once before him, once after. "That’s it, then. Song’s over." The exact same sentence. And song, not the song. Each time, I had that great thrill racing through me. Because of course I had to think of River—and the end of her big arc (though it ended in s6, Trenzalore has yet to come). As the huge fangirl I am, the mere possibility that she could be "over" should have me appalled, but I want her to have an epic closure—not just keep hanging around till the writers/audience get tired of her, but go out with a bang! Heh. (Though a whimper is good too. Love a whimper.)
The song is over, because two little girls failed in their purpose: the "god" is awake, and the Doctor is left to feed it his memories, his "secrets that should never told". Likewise, Melody, now grown-up, refused to kill her love. Even before that, she took him back from the very brink of death—when she was shown she had a future, a future in which he loved her. A future in which she mattered as a person, not a weapon—like Merry matters as one unique little girl, not a sacrifice. Back to the point—neither song could put gods to sleep (or rather, a parasite and a good man…). In the end, the great secrets must be given.
What else could it mean, "Song’s over"? Well, it does remind strongly of Ten’s "Your song is ending". And the songs mean stories in there, too—think of the people singing songs of Donna Noble. And both times, we HEARD the songs, the music—the Ood song, and the Sun Singers. So. IS REGENERATION COMING? Be it Eleven’s end (well, that would be after the anniversary ep, at least) or River’s (in whichever way they might mean it, since she already died in the Library, blah blah)… I simply CAN’T wait for that finale…
Let’s finish on the word song itself … River Song, because Melody Pond—but where did the name Melody come from? Amy named her daughter after her daughter, timey-wimey loop—a circle with no beginning. Where did that come from? Pond is important (why is it a duck pond if there are no ducks, the name leads Clara to the Doctor, through Vastra’s one-word questions—truth, pure and singular), and it turned into River because she’s the only water in the forest. (Too bad Trenzalore is made of fields and that "I am the Doctor and I am afraid" line seems to come from another episode, I was getting feels. Oh, look, Clara’s mum is called Ravenwood.) Please let the other side of that name also have plot relevance. It’ll make me feel better—my first thought when I heard of a character called River Song was "most Mary-Sue name ever" =P
I have no coherent conclusion to this pile of errant thoughts, so I’ll pimp as an ending: the Rings of Akhaten post of
elisi’s meta, which never fails to be the best thing ever (and she’s the one whose stuff made me way more symbolism-aware), promethia_tenk treating the New Age to a gorgeous Ponds and River vid with lovely bits of Clara—I’m not getting over the fact that this is actually her first, it’s so good—and this lovely Clara fic of honeynoir’s, which deserves way more comments than it has thus far. Thanks for reading!
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(No pun intended)
I'd not got as far as thinking about River, although River is ALWAYS in ALL THE EPISODES.
I think though, that she's mostly metaphor? That songs/stories are being pulled out as the major, overarching thing to be explored this season.
Mind you, we know that River will at some point learn the Doctor's real name, so I'm sure there are big things in store...
(Sorry this is rambling & a bit useless. Am sleepy. Thank you SO MICH for the pimp, esp for the vid. <3 <3 <3)
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That's probably right. In fact, in my head it all started with "Song's over" being repeated—it just struck me, and that might mean something, I think. Then the other things just piled up once I'd started seeing everything from a River perspective… This is my very first time trying to somehow analyse all of this, so like I said, it's all errant thoughts—but I had a terrific time putting it all together ;)
(Sorry this is rambling & a bit useless. Am sleepy.
Don't be SILLY. You're the meta queen (well, one of the meta queens, but the one whose stuff I'm most familiar with thus far), so your reading this at all means the world ;)
Thank you SO MICH for the pimp, esp for the vid. <3 <3 <3)
My pleasure =)
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Well you've done a beautiful job! But Moffat Who is - like one of my friends observed - more like a discoball than a mirror... *g* And as River is ALL THE THINGS and ALL THE STORIES, she is bound to be all over everything. <3
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Thanks again =) Like I said, from you, it means a lot!
But Moffat Who is - like one of my friends observed - more like a discoball than a mirror... *g* And as River is ALL THE THINGS and ALL THE STORIES, she is bound to be all over everything. <3
*grinning and nodding*
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It was VERY difficult not to think about River when they kept repeating "Song's over". It's not just the fangirl.
Completely agree on the epic closure.
The parallels you draw are really interesting, the Sun one especially striking. I agree with elisi the song and stories are used as a metaphor. For Eleven's ending? Maybe.
(I'm completely off. I think the combo The Hour/Doctor Who as light entertainment was a bad idea...)
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I know right… And the songs kept being a theme in Cold War :D So excited.
I agree with elisi the song and stories are used as a metaphor. For Eleven's ending? Maybe.
*nods* I can't wait to find out ;)
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I'd not gone to the effort to pick apart all the details, but I too am feeling like River is splashed over everything once again, and two things about this interest me:
1) We've been getting symbols that can stand for Amy, River, or Clara, like the governess in the Pond. She can be seen as Amy because, I believe, she is referred to at least once as "the pond woman," she is referenced with Clara's choice of the word "pond" and Amy's glasses, and because she is Clara's predecessor (as companion, as governess). She is River because of the line which seems to so strongly echo the Silence and their motives: "the [P]ond is yours, but what is growing inside it, once it is ready, belongs to us." There's also probably a play on "ice in her heart" in there. And, like (astronaut) River, she is a monster that rises out of a body of water. Plus all the talk of " a perfect fusion of ice and humanity," which makes me think of "human plus." Additionally, if Clara's . . . uhhh, "condition" is somehow the result of Silence/hooded figure's interest in her, if she is, say, another stolen girl, then Clara's fall off the TARDIS cloud (when the ice governess pulls her over) can be read as [symbolic] River dragging Clara into her own fate. And the ice governess is Clara because they are mirrors through the governess role. Possibly also because Clara is currently sleeping and is just now "waking up." We've also been getting some heavy Clara/River paralleling, especially with respect to the Library.
2) There are a lot of strands of symbolism and imagery that have always been associated with River (many of them almost exclusively with River), that have been around since the Library episodes and not had much done with them so far, but which are suddenly ABSOLUTELY PLASTERED EVERYWHERE with Clara. Songs and singing. Forests. Leaves. Virtual words and Library imagery. Songs haven't been a thing since A Christmas Carol, where they were used with Abigail (a very elaborate River mirror), who uses them to tame beasts and ice clouds (a time metaphor). Suddenly they're in every episode.
I'm suspecting that Clara, despite all appearances, is another lost girl like River (her deepest fear was of being lost--and it seems like a fear that carries across versions of her: she forces the Doctor to come get her in Asylum because she can't be sure that he will wait for her).
And I'm with you that Akhaten was making me think of "The Big Bang." The Doctor's long speech about people coming from exploding stars, that scattered elements across space . . .
ETA: oh, and thank you so much for the pimp! I am deeply flattered.
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All this makes me think that Moffat is going to come up with something lovely and awesome after all, but I don't really want to get my hopes up :P
Then again, I thought yesterday's ep was better than those (imvho) awful ones from the weeks before. At least because that dude from Game of Thrones that I like was in it; he had more screentime than I expected/feared and he played basically the same character as his role in GoT, so that was nice :) So I actually finished watching it this time :P I'd say that the writing on a whole was poor but hey, it's Gatiss; then it's a miracle for me not to fall asleep at the very least ;)
Did you watch it yet? :)
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All this makes me think that Moffat is going to come up with something lovely and awesome after all, but I don't really want to get my hopes up :P
You believe in Moffat? No, no, wait, the order of the world is shifting. We're creating an alternate reality there ;) Haha, no, but seriously—meta makes everything come together! It's doing WONDERS to my optimism…
Then again, I thought yesterday's ep was better than those (imvho) awful ones from the weeks before. At least because that dude from Game of Thrones that I like was in it; he had more screentime than I expected/feared and he played basically the same character as his role in GoT, so that was nice :) So I actually finished watching it this time :P I'd say that the writing on a whole was poor but hey, it's Gatiss; then it's a miracle for me not to fall asleep at the very least ;)
Did you watch it yet? :)
Yay, I'm so glad you liked it a bit more :) Of course I watched it; like I'd wait 24 hours! ;) I did like it quite a lot, like I said in the message. I actually thought you might as well, because it had more action and I couldn't see any glaring Moffat Trope ;) The plot didn't have me convinced all along, but it was still pretty catchy and I was full of feels. And I love Claraaaa…
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*chuckling* Me, believing in Moffat? Nah, probably not :P I just... his eps under RTD were SO good. What went wrong? :S
"...and I couldn't see any glaring Moffat Trope" LOL Indeed. Plot didn't convince me either and I didn't like the monsters (they were from classic Who, apparently? Haven't seen them there yet), but yeah Ser Davos *wrong fandom* captain guy was in it so that made the ep for me :P
*hope LJ doesn't screw up my post for once*
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Seriously? o.O
just... his eps under RTD were SO good. What went wrong? :S
He became free to do his own thing? In the good and the bad parts =P
I didn't like the monsters (they were from classic Who, apparently? Haven't seen them there yet)
I wonder what the classic!Who!lovers who had seen those before thought about it. I thought the treatment of the Ice Warrior could have been better, it didn't really catch my interest, we were supposed to feel for it but I wasn't that moved. That's too bad.
but yeah Ser Davos *wrong fandom* captain guy was in it so that made the ep for me :P
*thumbs up and laughter* Still enjoying GoT btw? ;)
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Yeah it really looks like Moffat needs someone above him to control him, doesn't he? (that sort of sounds weird. And very, /very/ wrong :P)
I didn't care about the Ice Warrior At. All. And was it me or was his voice ridiculous?
GoT is SO GOOD. The first two eps of the season were slow-paced to set all the pieces in place. It was good, but not very exciting. Now they're moving and WOW. There was this one scene, a meeting of some of the powerful people of the series... They enter a room and take a seat. THAT'S IT. No dialogue. No other spaces. No other movements. Just six people, in various places in a room and in various positions of power, heading for a table and choosing/moving chairs, all the while glancing, eye-rolling, smirking, side-eying, glaring and literally scooting in front of one another. There's 1 minute and 40 seconds of it and it's more accurate and in character than Moffat can ever hope to achieve ;)
And my fav Dutch actress had another scene... just WOW. (She plays the main adviser of one the Kings; 'Ser Davos' was another until he lost the King's favor because of her.)
So it's all awesome and amazing and then there's ANOTHER scene with so much and completely gratuitous female nudity and argh at least Moffat can't do /that/ :P
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*shakes head*
Yeah it really looks like Moffat needs someone above him to control him, doesn't he? (that sort of sounds weird. And very, /very/ wrong :P)
*shaking with laughter*
And was it me or was his voice ridiculous?
Didn't strike me.
Now they're moving and WOW. There was this one scene, a meeting of some of the powerful people of the series... They enter a room and take a seat. THAT'S IT. No dialogue. No other spaces. No other movements. Just six people, in various places in a room and in various positions of power, heading for a table and choosing/moving chairs, all the while glancing, eye-rolling, smirking, side-eying, glaring and literally scooting in front of one another. There's 1 minute and 40 seconds of it and it's more accurate and in character than Moffat can ever hope to achieve ;)
It does sound good! =) I'll watch GoT one day… Lol.
So it's all awesome and amazing and then there's ANOTHER scene with so much and completely gratuitous female nudity and argh at least Moffat can't do /that/ :P
Is that good or bad? XD
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And /that/ is actually good ;) The nudity in GoT bothers me, if only because there are SO MANY full frontal shots of women but barely of men (and the one we got was gross :P)
The more I watch GoT, the more I can recommend it :)
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I've got eight shows to choose from after I finish rewatching new!Who (I don't count old!Who, because that's the only one I'm positive I'll be focusing on first). I swear to you, I'll be drawing straws.
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EIGHT?! :O GoT, OUAT... what else?
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Gah, Buffy is on my list too, and has been for months :| I enjoyed most episodes of Sherlock quite a lot :)
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I'll keep you updated on what I end up watching ;)
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I use this one by default, and the other 12 I try to match with the stories I'm posting.
I'm counting on it! ;)
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And we couldn't be happier he has! ;)
I'm fascinated with your thoughts about the governess—IT ALL FITS! *flailing in enthusiasm* And of course, as you also said, there's all the River-associated symbolism that never ceases to pop up. More song stuff yet in Cold War :D
I'm suspecting that Clara, despite all appearances, is another lost girl like River (her deepest fear was of being lost--and it seems like a fear that carries across versions of her: she forces the Doctor to come get her in Asylum because she can't be sure that he will wait for her).
Great point again—and I really love the idea, it makes me even more fond of her…
ETA: oh, and thank you so much for the pimp! I am deeply flattered.
You're welcome. I'm never getting over this being your FIRST VID. Anything you're not super talented at? ;P
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River Song forever love! ♥
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There's a lot of holding on-letting go imagery in this episode, and I think that's where the Doctor is stuck right now, he's not willing to let River go but he's also not willing or able to fully be with her. (See: the line from the previous episode about wishing he were more able to not leave people he cares about.)
Thanks for bringing this up, it's all very interesting.
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OH, great idea! I hadn't thought of that at all, but it was certainly a possibility.
he's not willing to let River go but he's also not willing or able to fully be with her. (See: the line from the previous episode about wishing he were more able to not leave people he cares about.)
Completely agreeing with this… In my headcanon he kind of pushes her away after Manhattan, besides. But at the same time… she's still there, and still important, both emotionally and in his future.
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ETA: And thank you so much for the rec!
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