How the Time Lords got the power of regeneration, and what they did with it

At first, I was going to write this as an essay, with citations of lines and details from the classic televised series, and post it to A Teaspoon and an Open Mind. But finding (and keeping track) of all those details was getting to be a real headache. Then, I thought I'd write it as fiction, but in the form of an essay (actually, as an article by a writer of unknown alien species for the Scientific Andromedan magazine), and post it to Teaspoon in the "Other Eras" section. But even I was having trouble swallowing all the techonabble, and I rapidly lost enthusiasm for the project.

I still think my idea is a good one, though, and I do want to "get it out there," and pin it down before I forget it. I'm also eager to argue about discuss it with fellow fanwakers friends. Maybe I could even figure out how to write that "article" without $15 words every three lines (hey, I'm free to dream, aren't I?).

I haven't updated my LJ friends groups in ages, so I'm not sure which of you are DW fans or not. So I'll just put it under a cut, 'kay?

( Sings: 'A handful of bullet points helps the techno-babble go down, in the most delightful way!' )

[Cross-Posted to curse_of_meta)