Application for realityshifted
Player Name: Toast
Player LJ: toastofrassilon
Email and/or AIM: keytone8@gmail.com
Timezone: EST
Other Characters: The Ninth Doctor (d13)
Character: Damon
Series/Fandom: Doctor Who
Deviance: none
Age: 600 (age choice explained in the history)
Gender: Male
Species: Gallifreyan (Time Lord)
Canon Used: The Arc of Infinity serial, plus other episodes/audios/etc. for background on Gallifrey/the Time Lords/etc.
Appearance: He looks like Wilson in a dress. No really. Occasionally, he wears ridiculously long brown gloves, too (mostly when he’s doing tech stuff. Or when he’s “comforting” Nyssa).
Psychology: Damon is much like the Doctor (and unlike other Time Lords) in that he will speak his mind when he firmly believes something is wrong (for example, he spoke out against both Commander Maxil and Hedin for treating the Doctor like a criminal). Unlike other Time Lords, he also seems to have less of a superiority complex when it comes to other species; he was more than willing to befriend Nyssa, and work with her to try to save the Doctor’s life and expose the traitor within the High Council. Of course, both of these aspects of Damon’s psychology may be due to the Doctor’s influence.
Despite his willingness to help them, it didn’t come easily to him at first - he hesitated before bypassing the security system so the Doctor could escape the compound, and was visibly nervous before he had the opportunity to slip the Doctor his biodata records. Eventually, though, his determination to help overcomes any hesitation he had previously.
Damon is kind and caring when it comes to his friends, and often attempts to be the voice of reason (we see this when he tries to talk Nyssa out of risking her life for the Doctor’s by standing up to the Council). Damon also attempts to comfort her after the Doctor’s ‘execution,’ though he’s rather awkward about it, due to the nature of being a stuffy Time Lord. “There's no sense in brooding” is his advice., but he’s obviously just as saddened by the news as Nyssa is. The one time he smiles, however, is when he finds out the Doctor is alive.
Damon is also very polite, even to the people he dislikes (like Commander Maxil), and even when he is speaking his mind about something he feels is wrong. He is also quite eager to please, but this only applies to the people he respects - this side of him was shown with Talor, Nyssa, and the Doctor. He’ll do anything for the people he cares for, even if it puts himself at great risk.
During the Arc serial, Damon didn’t know who to trust. Any one of the High Council could have been the traitor, and this dilemma has made it difficult for him to trust other Time Lords in general (except for the Doctor, of course). He has been feeling restless on Gallifrey after Omega was destroyed, and has actually considered going down the renegade path once or twice, but he’s uncertain about following in the Doctor’s footsteps, due to his lack of experience with the outside universe.
Other Skills/Abilities: He’s exceptionally good at technical stuff, being a technician and all that. Then there’s the usual Time Lord anatomy stuff -- binary vascular system, a body temperature of 15 degrees Celcius, and a respiratory bypass system, telepathy, a mental link with the other Time Lords, and the ability to see past, present, and future timelines. He can also regenerate instead of dying, and has a total of 13 lives (though he’s regenerated once).
Other Weaknesses: Aspirin is deadly. Do not want. He can also be shot/stabbed/stasered/whatever. Of course, unlike the Doctor, he actually tries to avoid these things. :|
History: Damon’s history pre-Arc of Infinity (his serial) is never explained in canon, but based on the nature of their relationship, I’ve determined that Damon and the Doctor knew each other at the Academy on Gallifrey. However, unlike the Doctor (a Prydonian), Damon was a member of the Arcalian Chapter, due to his aptitude for technology. After a few centuries at the Academy, he eventually befriended the Doctor, who was there on his second attempt. With the Fourth Doctor’s given age of 746, putting Damon at 600 fits this ballpark. Damon looked up to the Doctor a great deal (and still does), but he didn’t follow his renegade ways when he left the Academy.
Instead, he started out at the Arcalian Council for Temporal Research, working various positions for a couple of centuries after he graduated. It was working for the Arcalian Council that Damon first regenerated, thanks to a botched temporal experiment. All of his hard work at the Arcalian Council paid off, however, and he was eventually recommended for a position as an assistant technician for the High Council. This position involves keeping track of various security records, and monitoring any use (or abuse) of the Matrix, as well as any other temporal disturbances. His position also allows him to recall TARDISes back to Gallifrey, but not without the Lord President’s permission.
His encounter with the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa began when a member of the High Council stole the Doctor’s biodata extract from the Matrix. Damon and Talor, his supervisor, discovered this act of treason, but weren’t able to cut the signal in time to stop it. Talor was murdered by the traitor, who’s identity still remained unknown. Damon was ordered by Commander Maxil to recall the Doctor’s TARDIS, an act Damon was wary about due to the lack of advance notice. However, Maxil had the President’s seal of approval, so he recalled the TARDIS back to Gallifrey’s security compound. Once the Doctor arrived, Damon questioned why the Commander was treating the Doctor like a criminal, but the only answer Maxil gave was that he was simply following orders.
Damon observed the Doctor trying to escape the compound from the computer room, and aided him in bypassing the security system remotely. Unfortunately, the Doctor and his companion, Nyssa of Traken, were soon captured by Commander Maxil. After the Doctor met with the High Council (where it was decided he would be executed to prevent Omega from using the stolen biodata extract to bond with him), Damon managed to slip him his biodata records - proof that they had in fact been stolen from the Matrix. Then he located Nyssa, and informed her that the biodata could have only been stolen by a member of the High Council. They went to see High Councilor Hedin together, where they pleaded for an opportunity to see the Doctor, who was being confined in his TARDIS.
Commander Maxil planted a listening device in the console room, but Damon insisted the Castellan had granted them permission to be alone (which is a lie). The Doctor, Damon, and Nyssa discussed the matter of his bio scan, and the Doctor’s theory that the Time Lords may lose control over the Matrix if they don’t stop it from happening. The Doctor requested another spacetime element for the TARDIS (without a recall circuit) from Damon, who agreed immediately, despite the risk of being discovered. He also agreed to check the Matrix for any details concerning the transportation of power equipment. Maxil broke up the meeting, and Damon and Nyssa went to do as the Doctor instructed.
However, while Damon was assembling the Type 40 time rotor, they heard the alert for the Doctor’s execution. Damon tried to stop Nyssa from confronting the High Council and failed, though he did wish her luck as she left. When he saw her again, though, it was clear the Doctor’s execution had taken place (or so they thought). Damon attempted to comfort Nyssa, and then they were taken to the Castellan for questioning, which is when they discovered the Doctor was actually alive and well.
The Castellan discovered who he thought was the traitor with an analysis of security traffic from the Matrix, and locked Nyssa and Damon in the computer room. The Doctor was able to remember the Presidential code for the lock, however, and they were reunited again. Damon explained that he discovered a fusion booster element had been transported, and the Doctor realized it could be fueled by water. Damon tried to discover the precise destination, but there was too much temporal distortion to tell. He did, however, discover the Lord President had sent it, because he recognized the codes.
The Doctor and Nyssa left to confront the President (where they discovered Hedin was the real traitor). Hedin was killed, and the Doctor spoke to Omega in the Matrix, before leaving for Earth to find him and Tegan. The High Council approached Damon, asking if there was any way to distract Omega, but he informed them that Omega had cut them off. Thalia suggested distracting him with a pulse loop, which allowed the Doctor to leave undetected. Damon noted that Omega had destroyed the loop soon after, but it had given the Doctor enough time to get to Earth. Then Damon monitored the Matrix, tracking the progress of Omega’s transfer, and the buildup of antimatter in the normal universe once it had occurred. When Omega was finally destroyed, the antimatter source disappeared, and Damon informed the Council of his destruction.
After everything had been resolved, Damon took up Talor’s position. There weren’t any official charges against him for aiding the Doctor, but he has been watched by certain members of the Chancellery Guard (namely, Commander Maxil).
Canon Point: After the Arc of Infinity serial.
Reality Description: Damon lives on Gallifrey, during the Rassilon Era. Borusa is the current Lord President. High Council members include the Castellan, Chancellor Thalia, Councilor Hedin, and Cardinal Zorac.
Gallifrey itself is located in the Mutter’s Spiral galaxy, in the constellation Kasterborous. The landscape is breathtaking, with red grass, silver Kadenwood trees, mountains, and an orange sky. Romana mentioned the Gallifreyan flutterwing to the Fourth Doctor, and various other animal species live on the planet with the Gallifreyans.
The Gallifreyans themselves are not all Time Lords. Time Lords are trained at the Academy, from the young age of 8, and they spend at least a century or two there (Romana was 140 when she began traveling with the Doctor, and she mentioned writing her thesis and graduating with a triple first). Their role is to watch over Time, with a strict non-interference policy (occasionally the Celestial Intervention Agency uses the Doctor to break this policy for them).
Damon works in the computer room of the security compound, which is in the heart of the Citadel. He has not acquired his own TARDIS, so unlike the Doctor, he doesn’t travel to other worlds (though he would like to). The Type 40s have been retired, and use of time travel technology isn’t available to everyone, due to the limited availability of other models. Damon’s position doesn’t put him particularly high on the list, and his work doesn’t require him to travel.