To thine own self be true
Sep. 13th, 2005 01:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
doctor6Talk about a time you realized that someone close to you was not the person you thought you knew.
There can't possibly be anyone quite as close to you as yourself, can there? No one else could possibly know you better. Your likes and dislikes, what makes you happy or angry. Your deepest, darkest secrets and heartfelt desires. To thine own self be true, isn't that the old adage?
Unless you happen to be one of the few species in the cosmos capable of total regeneration. I don't mean the sort of regeneration that happens when a lizard loses a tail or a Deluvian Slimedevil loses a fin. Those are merely extensions of the host, grown back after a period of time. When a Time Lord regenerates, it's more than just the reparation of cells and tissue or the replacement of extremities. It is a complete and utter metamorphosis, both physically and psychologically. While the basic ideals remain the same, the thought processes and personality can change somewhat dramatically. Take my previous incarnation. We're nothing alike. Complete opposites. As a matter of fact, he -- I -- was bordering on neurosis! And what in the name of Kasterborous ever possessed me to fancy cricket?
You see? You never quite know what you're going to get after a regeneration. I am still quintessentially the Doctor. And yet I am a complete stranger, even to myself.
There can't possibly be anyone quite as close to you as yourself, can there? No one else could possibly know you better. Your likes and dislikes, what makes you happy or angry. Your deepest, darkest secrets and heartfelt desires. To thine own self be true, isn't that the old adage?
Unless you happen to be one of the few species in the cosmos capable of total regeneration. I don't mean the sort of regeneration that happens when a lizard loses a tail or a Deluvian Slimedevil loses a fin. Those are merely extensions of the host, grown back after a period of time. When a Time Lord regenerates, it's more than just the reparation of cells and tissue or the replacement of extremities. It is a complete and utter metamorphosis, both physically and psychologically. While the basic ideals remain the same, the thought processes and personality can change somewhat dramatically. Take my previous incarnation. We're nothing alike. Complete opposites. As a matter of fact, he -- I -- was bordering on neurosis! And what in the name of Kasterborous ever possessed me to fancy cricket?
You see? You never quite know what you're going to get after a regeneration. I am still quintessentially the Doctor. And yet I am a complete stranger, even to myself.
