What Do You Think Nakedness Means To Timelords? They Don’t Seem To Be Sexual At All And I Think They

What do you think nakedness means to Timelords? They don’t seem to be sexual at all and I think they have some sort of touch telepathy, so I assume it would be a way of showing vulnerability? To show they’re trustworthy? Maybe there’s some diplomacy level nakedness? Idk

oh my god, this question is both hilarious and fascinating, thank you for asking -

so: what do we know about time lords? let's list it out.

reproduction through sex isn't really a thing. looming/genetic cloning is the primary method of reproduction because of pythia's curse and a presidential decree that forbids natural births. it states that only the loom-born could "inherit the legacy of Rassilon" - this was to stabilize the population after the curse and force the public to accept looms; it was not because sex was considered amoral (which, as far as I can tell, it wasn't. they seem pretty indifferent about sex/the body and care more about telepathy/the mind.)

they have casual relationships with their corporeal forms. bodies are basically just objects or vessels for them, and these vessels come and go. that creates detachment between bodies and their occupants, making the time lords less likely to have any sort of... deep, meaningful attachment to them. embarrassment, shame, vanity, etc.

touch telepathy. like vulcans from star trek, time lords can read the thoughts of other life forms by touching them or initiating "contact." however, as we saw with madame de pompadour, the telepathy can go both ways. this leaves them vulnerable.

they're fancy bitches. basically every time lord we've seen on-screen is dressed from neck to wrists to ankles in nice, quality clothing. they value their appearances.

by comparison, this is slutty:

wrists showing? ankles showing?? collar bones showing??? normal cotton fabrics without shiny bits or brocade patterns or a vest or anything¿??¿? complete scandal

seemingly, this would suggest that the time lords had reservations/cultural taboos about nudity, like the regency-era english - but they were heavily-clothed for different reasons.

i'll explain, but first, let me lay down this foundational point:

for the time lords, sex isn't reproduction. they're more likely to have kinks about looms and cloning vats than body parts, if any kinks at all. in time lord society, the body isn't inherently sexual. it has no sexual purpose.

okay. so, the time lords arrived at the same conclusion as the victorian english: wear lots of nice fabric and don't you dare ever show skin, you dirty FREAK. but, since:

sex isn't considered amoral (or even considered at all),

nudity isn't considered sexual,

bodies lack deep emotional attachments,

why are they so... clothed?

because, for the time lords, nakedness is:

primitive. it's the mark of a "lesser species," and we know how they feel about those. the nice fabrics, jewels, decorations, collars and robes - they're symbols of superiority and mental acuity. plus, they look good, and the time lords are extra as fuck.

vulnerable. it's a strategic weakness. for a species whose sole purpose is micromanaging the universe, being perceived as "inferior" or "defenseless" is the equivalent to our "whorish" or "godless." nudity itself isn't amoral, but it is revealing, much like touch telepathy.

TLDR: i'd absolutely say that nudity is diplomatic for time lords. much like a handshake, it signals that you don't have any weapons (unless you're captain jack 👀). however, the associations with nudity are far more convoluted than just that, making it inappropriate for different reasons. unlike humans, it's less about sexuality and more about civility. "naked" also means: uncivilized, unintelligent, childlike, etc., all things that the time lords HATE.