video, un: bowtiesaresupercool

[mmiab]

Hellooooooooooooooooooooo Nysans!

Nysans? El Nysans? El Nysonians? I don't know. Weird, this new planets lark, I'm out of practice, it's been a while. New planets! Fun!

Anyway. Hello. Occurred to me just now, and by just now I mean I'm bored and it's occurred to me before but I've been storing it up for an opportune moment, that there's a lot of you to whom I still haven't introduced myself! And since introducing myself can sometimes be a bit of a palaver, I'm going to go ahead and get through as many of you as I can with this one quick broadcast. Right. Here we go. Ready? Ready.

[ here, the stupid strange-faced bowtie-wearing man with the big grin who's staging a brief (I say brief...) takeover of your screens and attention takes a deeeeeep breath. rubs his hands together!!! grins again, and— ]

Hi! Hello. I'm the Doctor. Yes, the Doctor, not a doctor, though I'm one of those too, in many disciplines, none of them medical. Can still probably save you from losing a leg if I can get my hands on the right alien tech, though. Bit of a jack of all trades. Space and time travelling alien, to get that bit out of the way while we're at it. Two hearts. Legs. Okay? Okay.

While I'm here, let's play a getting to know you game. Yeah? [ a pause, in which he's waiting for an answer that he— apparently receives? from who, your guess is as good as mine. ] Hah hah. Yeah. Good. Getting to know you through the age old medium of word association! This is either going to be great fun or get very boring very quickly, so we'll see how it goes. It's the extended edition, rules are slightly different: for every word you give, you have to explain the link from the last one. However obvious.

Ready? Okay. Here we go. I'll give you a few choices for a starter. ... Train, story, sun, space, fashion, smile, or hope.

And we're off!

[ and he's... also off. (thank God????) good luck nysa... ]

Comments

[priorly]

Like caterpillars to butterflies? Do you gain something when you do that - a new set of pretty wings?

[mmiab]

A bit like that, if that helps. If caterpillars had twelve cocoons, maybe. Not really at all like that, actually, but sort of. And no, typically no particular additions. A new absolutely everything, but no add-ons.

[priorly]

...Then I'm not certain I understand the point?

[mmiab]

The point is we're like cats, except with a few more lives. Ish. Every time we die we're rebuilt as part of the process of regenerating a living body and our life continues on until we run out of chances. To try and provide an example, I'm nine hundred and something and this is my eleventh face.

[priorly]

[Prior sits back and whistles softly]

Sometimes I wish this place had left me with the ability to think something sounds crazy. [A pause - softly:] You've died ten times?

[mmiab]

[ a sympathetic smile: that particular feeling has long since been beyond his capacity for imagination

... ah. ]

Give or take.

[priorly]

[It feels too personal and at the same time he can't not ask.]

Do you remember that, too?

[mmiab]

Yes. Those are particularly difficult to forget.

[priorly]

[His voice is smaller all the time.]

Were they awful?

[mmiab]

[ it's a lessening that makes it near impossible to be anything other than honest. there's a warmth as he speaks that defies the topic - like he's reminiscing over an old friend, mutual acquaintance. ]

No. Not all of them. Some. Dying's nothing, really. It's the wanting to stay that does it.

[priorly]

Mm.

[There's a pause before he clears his throat and takes a somewhat urgent gasp of breath.]

Well, at least there's the knowledge you'll - regenerate? To mitigate that. Even a cat's allocation of lives sounds like a blessing to me.

[mmiab]

[ it's the regenerating that's the problem... or at least that has been, most recently, the echo of it lingering even now. but enough melancholy, and no need to make this about him when it's easy to see that it isn't.

good. better that way. ]

I'll admit it comes in handy. I do tend to get myself into the sorts of situations that make this particular get out of jail free card a literal lifesaver.

I wouldn't put too much stock in it, though. We all have our time. Too much, too little, just right. Life's a Goldilocks.