#5master

[goldenzingy46]

the thing is 5master is such a compelling dynamic. fucking hates his murderer's guts x guy who was so terrified of dying he discovered the top 5 worst ways of avoiding death and then set out for his life goal of pretending to be himself and failing because he has fundamentally changed and instead biting and killing forever. guy who wears full beige with a stick of celery x guy who wears black velvet and sometimes a dracula cloak. most angelic looking blond man that gasps and moans x guy that speaks in the universe's most evil seductive manner possible. world's biggest asshole x world's angriest cat. most repressed man x runner up for world's campest villain. guy who only gets pyrrhic victories x guy that always loses. they hate each other so much that they'll end up having horrible sex about it. they both genuinely want the other one to die, except one of them doesn't want it to last, and that one isn't the one that's supposed to be the hero. the master works so hard to keep the doctor including schemes that are blatantly designed to make the doctor have fun and the doctor would beat him to death with a large stick if sufficiently provoked. the master never stops thinking about the doctor whereas the doctor forces himself to never think about the master unless someone else brings him up, even to the point of ignoring obvious disguises, because he's deeply deeply betrayed by him. to some extent the master has given up on winning the doctor and has settled for having him in snatches. the doctor can't stand how much he still wants him. and so forth

[goldenzingy46butwriteblr]

base instincts

The Doctor is the well-contained vampire of UNIT, a facility for the capture of monsters. The Master is the latest capture; UNIT offers the Doctor a deal for his freedom. OR: The Doctor is used to suppressing his instincts, used to being a part of UNIT. The Master wants to remind him who he really is.

Relationship: Fifth Doctor/The Master (Ainley)

Tags: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Vampire Doctor, Vampire Master, Alternate Universe - Human, Science Experiments, Human Experimentation, Blood Drinking, Minor Fifth Doctor/Vislor Turlough, it's not the major pairing but its existence is a plot point, Mind Control, Memory Loss, (not everything happens in chapter one obviously), Time Lord Telepathy (Doctor Who), as a separate thing from the mind control, Plotty, Horror, Slow Burn, Time Lords are Assholes (Doctor Who), essentially this takes place in a world where aliens from dw are the result of unethical science experiments, (ie silurians sea devils cybermen. and the time lords are vampires), oh and also: the master's history of bodysnatching

chapter three is up!!

[goldenzingy46]

the scene where the master burns to death is SUCH a 5master moment though. the doctor sends peri into the tardis but doesn't follow her because he wants to be alone with the master. the way the master says "i shall come from this fire a thousand times stronger to hound you to the borders of the universe". the doctor looks over at the controls and knows what will happen and does nothing to warn the master. the jerk of surprise when the master sees the flame turn lethal. "oh..." before switching to panicked commands. the way the doctor just stands there looking aroused. the master crying out the doctor's name. the threats giving way to begging. please! the doctor swallows. won't you show mercy to your own--? the way the master screams is fucking insane, like he's crying. the doctor stands there, looking aroused as hell, his eyes glittering in the light, then he walks forwards, like he's compelled, like he can't believe it. he stops himself. he walks away. he never looks back.

like. this is singularly the worst thing either of them has ever done. the master at his most vulnerable has burnt to death. he begged the doctor. if the doctor had begged like that, it would've been everything the master wanted. but it's not enough for the doctor. he won't even let himself check on the master. god. it's the most vulnerable ainley!master has let himself be around fivey because fivey leaves him to die with every encounter but. well. the doctor proves that the master cannot trust him. god.

[goldenzingy46]

it's so fucking funny that 5ainley is my favourite best enemies dynamic because it's really like. the master wants him gasping and moaning and gagging on it and the doctor wants him to die badly. he just genuinely wants him dead.

[goldenzingy46]

the fifth doctor is an asshole for many reasons but one of them is that he looked the horniest he's ever looked when watching the master burn to death. something fundamentally wrong with him

[goldenzingy46]

i think the 5master dynamic crucially always has this element of like... the court of public opinion? because you have:

castrovalva - a bunch of people created by the master & loyal to the portreeve, including two people sent to fetch the doctor ("he has betrayed the portreeve") then being turned against him (1-0 to the doctor)

time-flight - people the master has hypnotised and the xeraphin (2-0 to the doctor)

the king's demons - the doctor shows up in a court the master has power in, swordfights the master, taking his place as the king's demon. because this is about whether people trust the king, the master then plays this to turn people against the doctor. despite the doctor winning the battle for kamelion and escaping, he loses the court of public approval (2-1 to the doctor)

the five doctors - the master plays to the court of doctors, and loses absolutely every single time, and then gets punched unconscious. total loss in the court of public approval. (3-1 to the doctor)

planet of fire - the doctor initially wins over everyone's approval, but the arrival of the master sees the vast majority of people turn against him. this is only rattled when the master no longer needs the approval. (??-?? to the doctor, because the master can't actually win enough points here)

in conclusion, ???????????

it's worth noting that a lot of the fifth doctor's era is about public approval in a way you don't see in a lot of other doctor's eras (i think the only stories you could argue don't have this is sort of four to doomsday, sort of arc of infinity, sort of mawdryn undead, definitely enlightenment, maybe the awakening and maybe the resurrection of the daleks. i think the only one definitively not about "can we get them to trust us" is enlightenment. in conclusion, ???????)

it's also worth noting that we don't really see 5master alone at all. i don't know where i'm going with this. they cause problems for everyone by having their big gay breakup in public i guess.

[goldenzingy46]

Very interesting how the doctor lets the master take credit for his death in logopolis when it was mostly of his own free will (that was kind of the point) and the master can gloat about killing the doctor and the doctor, who essentially euthanized himself, just doesn't say anything. Much to twink about 🤔 does he not give enough of a damn that the master thinks he made some kind of mark on the doctor

oooo what an interesting concept. i think in part it’s i two parts here really: one is i think the fifth doctor very commonly deals with Shame, and thus the concept of having committed suicide is kind of awful for him to stomach. it’s easier to let it be the master’s fault, especially when the master killed tegan’s aunt and is wearing nyssa’s dad and both nyssa and adric are children (or at least are classified as children by their drinks in black orchid), and that gives him something to be angry about and a reason why the master Really Deserves it this time and lets him channel his anger often extremely unfairly onto the master (re: five doctors). i think to some extent the master knows he’s working as fivey’s punching bag because then you get plots such as “the master steals a concorde” and “oh no he might ruin king john’s reputation” which is like. okay. you’re not even really trying. because again the doctor is really quite angry and it’s better for everyone that he takes it out on the master.

which brings me onto the second half: it’s better for the master to hang onto this fiction too—if he gloats about killing the doctor, he’s focusing on a recent and horrifying event and agreeing with the doctor’s shielding. he’s not touching on any actual raw wounds. if he does, he will lose the doctor, and he’ll lose him forever—hell, just being genuinely vulnerable in planet of fire got him Burnt To Death. a lot of the master’s and the doctor’s interactions in this era feel a hell of a lot like pantomime because THEY ARE. they ARE a pantomime. and this is the fiction at the core of it—that the master killed the doctor, when really all he did was give him the opportunity to let go. (literally.) the anger is real (doctor), the yearning is real (master), and they’re both lying every second of every interaction.

ie, does the doctor recognise the master in those disguises? does it matter? the master is wearing them to provide a fiction for the doctor to hang onto if he doesn’t want the truth. and i think in part this is also about the master Wearing Tremas. he’s disguised as portreeve, kalid, estram—you don’t have to look at tremas. you don’t have to look at your own suicide. look, it’s the master, and no matter what you do to him he’s already preplanned his escape.

[goldenzingy46butwriteblr]

base instincts

The Doctor is the well-contained vampire of UNIT, a facility for the capture of monsters. The Master is the latest capture; UNIT offers the Doctor a deal for his freedom. OR: The Doctor is used to suppressing his instincts, used to being a part of UNIT. The Master wants to remind him who he really is.

Relationship: Fifth Doctor/The Master (Ainley)

Tags: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Vampire Doctor, Vampire Master, Alternate Universe - Human, Science Experiments, Human Experimentation, Blood Drinking, Minor Fifth Doctor/Vislor Turlough, it's not the major pairing but its existence is a plot point, Mind Control, Memory Loss, (not everything happens in chapter one obviously), Time Lord Telepathy (Doctor Who), as a separate thing from the mind control, Plotty, Horror, Slow Burn, Time Lords are Assholes (Doctor Who), essentially this takes place in a world where aliens from dw are the result of unethical science experiments, (ie silurians sea devils cybermen. and the time lords are vampires), oh and also: the master's history of bodysnatching