Time (Lords) Can Be Re-Written. Meta on Ten -> Eleven.

[elisi]

Firstly, then the icon really says it all. The post is merely an attempt at explaining my thinking behind it.

Secondly, most of this sprang out of long and complicated conversations with promethia_tenk, who deserves credit for at least half of this, if not more.

Thirdly, HUGE thank you’s to kathyh for making the icon, for lo, it is awesome and everything I wanted

Comments

[skipthedemon]

I agree so much to all of this

[elisi]

I agree so much to all of this.
\o/

She was out in the universe now. So, she changed.
This makes sense to me. I know very little - only what I've picked by fandom osmosis - but I do know that she 'tried out' several different faces, as it were, which would definitely support your theory.

I'd guess Romana's method is actually how the majority of Time Lords regenerated: choice. They live for so long and get bored, or something happens in their lives they can't deal with as they are, so makes themselves something new.
*nods* And I like how... alien that is. A fundamentally different way of seeing the world.

That makes the Doctor actually very reactive in this one aspect of his life.
It does rather! Heh.

I wonder how many regenerations the Master went through try to make himself 'perfect'?
You've read 'the naming of things' I take it? ;)

[promethia_tenk]

I'd guess Romana's method is actually how the majority of Time Lords regenerated: choice. They live for so long and get bored, or something happens in their lives they can't deal with as they are, so makes themselves something new.
*nods* And I like how... alien that is. A fundamentally different way of seeing the world.Is it though, really? Don't we do similar, just without the physical change? How many people look at things like moving to a new city, or going away to college, or starting a new relationship as a chance to be someone new? That feeling of "nobody here knows that I was a nerd in high school so I can decide to be something different now." I mean, they may have varying degrees of success, but it's the same sort of mentality

[promethia_tenk]

It's that thing again about what science fiction can do for us: it takes abstract ideas about what life is like and makes them concrete so we can study them more clearly. People can't "be rewritten" but they do rewrite themselves all the time. It's not as sudden and dramatic as regeneration, but it happens, and at a certain point in life we can legitimately look back on our earlier self and feel like we were a different person then.

Well now, ignoring the extent to which the Doctor re-wrote Kazran
Never ignore a coincidence allegory!

[sensiblecat]

Yep, I've mentioned before that I have a theory that the rewriting you mention is the natural process of regeneration, but that Ten went out of his way to subvert it by trying to make it easier for Rose. He tried to become more human, and it led to many of his problems. It would also explain why FoB created such an explosion and strong reaction in his personality.

Good meta.

[elisi]

Yep, I've mentioned before that I have a theory that the rewriting you mention is the natural process of regeneration, but that Ten went out of his way to subvert it by trying to make it easier for Rose. He tried to become more human, and it led to many of his problems.
That was very much on my mind, actually, and originally I had a section on the Nine/Ten regeneration in here, but I cut it out in the end because it went off track. But yes, I agree very much. After all, Rusty himself said that she imprinted on him - which is why I don't mind the focus on her that the show had. She was Ten's focus after all.

It would also explain why FoB created such an explosion and strong reaction in his personality.
*nods a lot* It all makes sense.

Good meta.
Thank you. :)

[cal_turner]

This is wonderful meta - and makes so much sense.

Eleven is the Doctor, re-written.

Yes!

[elisi]

This is wonderful meta - and makes so much sense.
:) (Making sense is the gold standard!)

[chloris]

Yep! That's how I always saw it. Each regeneration is borne out of the previous but that doesn't mean we should see some sort of gradual evolution. Instead it's Puncuated Equilibrium. (in one being instead of in a species but the same idea!) All the change gathers up and then bursts out as it were. :D

[elisi]

Oh that's a brilliant way of putting it! :D

[tweedymcgee]

"Punctuated Equilibrium."

YOU WIN THE INTERNET.

*big cheesy grin*

[topaz_eyes]

Ooooh, interesting.

I have said before that I don’t see much of Ten in Eleven - except for the effects of having been Ten.

One of the themes of S5 was that the Doctor was the Doctor was the Doctor. I agree, Eleven is a very conscious reaction to Ten, and the darkness within--but Ten still lurks there, as they all do. Eleven was in danger of slipping back into Ten in "Victory of the Daleks." It was there in his reaction to the Daleks, and in his reaction while trying to defuse Bracewell's bomb. (Which I think I mentioned before, way back when.)

He [Ten] didn't 'grow' so much as become more and more entrenched, until finally we got all the growth and change all in one go, when he regenerated.I disagree. Ten's evidence of growth and change came in TEoT when he said goodbye to his companions. I know fans detested the Long Goodbye, but IMHO that coda was absolutely critical to finish his arc. I'm working on an essay why, I really should finish it. Anywho, Ten's journey was realizing he was never truly alone. To do that, he had

[elisi]

Eleven was in danger of slipping back into Ten in "Victory of the Daleks." It was there in his reaction to the Daleks, and in his reaction while trying to defuse Bracewell's bomb. (Which I think I mentioned before, way back when.)
Oh yes, I agree. I've even written meta on it! I think I described it as Eleven 'unlearning' his bad habits from being Ten. The Beast Below is actually an even better example - the Doctor thinks it's all about him (his choice!), and then not only does Amy take the choice away from him, she shows him that he was wrong. *Such* an important episode!

I disagree. Ten's evidence of growth and change came in TEoT when he said goodbye to his companions. I know fans detested the Long Goodbye, but IMHO that coda was absolutely critical to finish his arc.Well I see Eleven's beginning - if I have to split hairs - as the moment when he walked into that booth, saving Wilf's life. That acceptance of death (when he could have left) is one of the cornerstones of Eleven, and The Long Goodbye is a part of that. In this post I

[solitary_summer]

Anywho, Ten's journey was realizing he was never truly alone. To do that, he had to re-define what "family" meant to him, in the absence of Gallifrey (and, after S2, Rose). His tragedy in S3 and the end of S4 was, he was so focused on being "last of the Time Lords" that he couldn't see the family right in front of his face.

I agree with this a lot. He's so ready to reject Martha's suggestion that the Face of Boe might have meant her, but she may have been right after all. Especially after the Jack=Face of Boe revelation it's very easy to read it like this, because Jack of course shared Martha's feeling of not being 'seen'. But Ten is so fixated on the one reading of the line that fits his self-image that he isn't even willing to consider the possibility of an alternative reading.

[elisi]

I agree with this a lot. He's so ready to reject Martha's suggestion that the Face of Boe might have meant her, but she may have been right after all.
I love this. And yes, I think you're spot-on. And it ties in with something else Promethia and I were talking about - how Ten (after losing Rose) begins to see every companion 'relationship' as doomed. Martha, originally, he only took for a few journeys, and in the end she left. So did Jack. Astrid died. And then when he lost Donna he stopped even considering the idea of a new companion. His loneliness became another self-fulfilling prophecy because of his mindset.