#//Kelsey Grammer is now Goth inspiration

[unboundtravels]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 (𝙂𝙤𝙩𝙝) 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 ——— 𝘈 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺

Welcome to the first of my many out-of-sequence character studies that I do whenever I feel like it. The First on the list is The Goth Doctor. Coming just off the heels of The Time War, having just freshly ended a centuries-long conflict with a great loud bang— The Doctor is at his lowest here, and he's got a long climb back to being who he once was, a long time ago. A study in 𝘿𝙚𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣, and 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟, as well as realizing that the conscious self is 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝. Look inside yourself and realize that in order to 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, you must first ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.

If you were watching the series through a chronological means, and I was able to identify moments where some threads were shown on screen, and others were extended media and as such were not mainstream, then we would have never seen The War Doctor's regeneration (nor most of The Time War) for that matter. So, I would just rip off the show, essentially. The reason I'm saying this is because I don't think I prefer to depict first introductions with Goth as mysterious. If ever I am plotting any kind of ship with him, I make it a rule never to build a long-term ship off of one of his first moments. After The War Doctor regenerates. Those scenes are one-off interactions, an encounter with a relationship that will start and end, and will never be built upon. This is mostly because The Doctor who comes out of The TARDIS only moments after The Time War... is a totally different Doctor who comes out of The TARDIS weeks after The War. He goes through a LOT of acceptance very quickly that he is THE LAST of his kind. There are brief flickers of hope, here... but NEVER denial. There's only ever denial in the form of the idea that anyone aside from him survived the final day of the war.

So when we (being this imaginary audience that I've created in my head because I'm delusional) meet him for the first time, there's no doubt about it: This is The Doctor, and something very terrible has happened to him. The damage is obvious, and the healing is painful. We meet a Doctor who is rude, insensitive, distant, and sometimes... he's just plain mean. He actively goes out of his way to avoid forming connections. His observations are silent (save for moments of high stress), and his deductions are direct, pointed, and quick. His insensitivity helps to quickly silence those he finds disruptive, as he rushes them along to try and get through an adventure as quickly as possible. The idea that he even still adventures at all is a testament to how that lifestyle is an escape for him. Helping people is his escape because that's the kind of person he is. Someone who ignores his own feelings for the sake of helping others.

In this approach towards continuing on, The Doctor purposely sabotages his chances of forming connections and friendships because, rightfully so, a lot of his companions call him out on his horseshit. He knows he's in pain and rather than admit this truth to himself, or anyone for that matter— he instead chooses to ignore it. He dismisses any attempts for introspection, he blocks out criticism by overpowering others with his status and his role, and most importantly of all— he starts to become the guy who'd sacrifice one person for thousands. Even when he thinks he is betraying his own code of honor by fighting in the war, The Doctor always puts himself before others. Now, when he was going by the name— he was doing it so plainly, and he didn't even really acknowledge it. He just accepted it. He swore up and down that his actions were for the good of others, but he stared at his enemies' many defeats with a distant and cold expression that made him look more alien than he ever had been before. 

I don't make myself plot out Goth's connections nearly as much as I should. I think I'm always worried that showing his characterization will be a rough and angsty process, but I know it's an important journey for The Doctor that I need to write out and explore. I think in my heart of hearts, he has more than a few of companions. One gets carried over toward The Next Incarnation, but I know that he isn't alone for most of his "tenure" as The Doctor. He does, however, spend the most time and most of his many stories by himself. He does the most one-off adventures and has the most isolated events. This is because most of his relationships end poorly once The Doctor's self-destructive behavior gets too much for them to handle. I will say, however, that every single fight he ever had did something to improve The Doctor.

After his first companion's departure, The Doctor spends a fair amount of time by himself afterward. He begins to show signs of introspection by starting to improve his general bedside manner, which prior to the first departure, had been almost entirely absent from his characterization. It's small and subtle at first— he tries to reign in his insults and will often catch himself. He tries to be more supportive. He offers a hand on the shoulder when there needs to be one, offers pity to those who can't control themselves, and reins in his bouts of anger before they erupt. He's not perfect. His bad side still does come out. He still does lose his temper and lose his control. However, for every single person he hurts... Is another chip in his heart. Eventually, they break. And boy does he break.

"The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second." "YOU LIE!" "I watched it happen. I MADE it happen!" "YOU... DESTROYED US?"

There is no moment, I think, more important to me than his first Dalek story. The first one after the time war. Very clearly an adaptation of The 2005 episode of the same name. I tell any Star Trek mutual about it because I love adapting it for a thread. The Doctor and the Federation cross paths when they discover an icy planet that for just one moment, cries out for help, before going totally silent. The Doctor, of course, having gone through more than a few "seasons" and with a revolving cast of companions who have shaped his character and helped him become more cooperative, immediately reaches out to the nearest starship in passing and inquires if they've picked it up. If not, he shows them his sample of it, and requests they assist him in aiding someone. Of course, he's a hardass and is like "Look, I'm only cooperating with the authorities because this is a time zone in which you guys are the top dogs. I want your help so that I don't get into any trouble for poking my nose around trying to do the right thing. If you don't aid me, I'm totally capable of going on my own. I just don't want any trouble when I get there." I don't know enough about other Star Trek mutuals to know if this appeal works as a good testament to his character: His desire to seek out the local authority and work through the proper channels, but wanting to drop everything to aid in assisting this local cry for help. I've never done a thread where it hasn't worked, but I'd be down to see where that goes. An imprisoned Doctor is still a cooperative Doctor toward the faction he wants to be on the good side with.

Either way, he gets down to the planet, and they soon learn through a complex political fiasco that it's a Dalek who's fallen through from the last day of The Time War. It was calling out for help because it was being tortured, and it was attempting to broadcast out to the rest of The Dalek Empire: assuming that they would come to seek him out and as such he attempted to endure the pain. When The Doctor shows up, the Dalek is agitated. It insists that it will kill its greatest enemy, which is The Doctor. For The Dalek Empire... for The War effort... but The Doctor breaks the bad news, in a way that he finds satisfying. If this was a crossover episode, it would happen in Star Trek. A silent way to establish that these two are lifelong enemies is by showing the most raw and pure emotional reactions towards one another: Hatred. The Doctor is an enemy of The Daleks, and The Daleks are his greatest rivals, having been the secondary faction in some great, silent, centuries-long war that required him to wipe out both The Daleks and his own race, in order to end. Exposing The Doctor's trauma, and forcing him to face it head-on in an environment he is unfamiliar in exposes his desperation. Through desperation, The Doctor shows off the qualities that make him just as human as anyone else he's traveled with. He's capable of fury, he's capable of rage, and when he encounters The Dalek... he lets it all out.

Eventually, The Dalek does break loose... and it does start massacring its captors and their prisoners. The Doctor has to step up to the plate and combat it, but when he finally goes on one with The Dalek for a final showdown in the wasteland, The Doctor lets it all out. He matches hate with hate and gets nowhere. He even shows the Dalek a side he's quickly ashamed of when he openly wishes death upon it. Prompting it to tell him that after all this time... after everything... The Doctor has changed. He displays that even he too is capable of becoming just like The Daleks. "You would make a good Dalek." and he is stunned. Floored. He looks around at the chaos surrounding him and stands firm.

"You're right..." Spreading his arms out wide. "Finish it."

He would rather die than be anything like The Daleks. He surrenders. I won't spoil how the thread/story resolves, to no one's surprise: The Doctor survives. He returns to his current companion, and they resume their adventures after a victory lap where he gets to recover from it. He displays new emotions and new traits. He's more open, more concerned, and puts himself out there. Never... not one person... not on his watch. No more sacrifice plays. His Dalek episode is a season finale episode, but Goth gets one last season after to mark the end of his run. He is obviously more mature and heroic in his final season. He is compassionate, considerate, sensitive, and reassuring while still maintaining the sassy charm that gives his softer and brighter moments some contrast to the darker and more depressing moments.

And in his final story (which Hina has to suffer through all the time) The Doctor shows just how far he's come when he sacrifices himself for his companion. He faces off against an entity that possesses individuals and drains them of his life force. Once it enters his body, it immediately rips apart every single cell in his body and triggers his regenerative process... a trick. The regenerative process burns the entity alive inside of The Doctor, but it also seals the deal. The Doctor is dying. However, for once, he's actually belated for it. Life is going to go on. Not just his, but his companion's. He's resigned to his fate, which makes his regeneration bittersweet due to how uplifting The Doctor is during the whole ordeal. He's confident and excited for the next phase of his life... because he knows a new lease on life will cement the changes he's worked hard to make... and he ends up being right.

Because the next guy... is going to do him some real justice.