#second thought:

The Master vs the Doctor’s companions

I could talk for DAYS about this bc it is fascinating to me. Pre TTC, you’ve got the Master’s arrogance coming out in full force when it comes to the companions (very time lord of him btw lol). They’re not threats, not really, even if the Doctor gets attached, bc they are fundamentally temporary.

(imo, that’s part of the reason why they’re so very hateful towards Jack, bc Jack /is/ immortal, and potentially /could/ be a threat; luckily for them, the doctor is always an ass where jack harkness is concerned kjdfghfk)

but yes, since the companions could never be on the Doctor’s level, they’re not a proper threat (it’s the ‘you’re the puppy’ thing Missy says to Clara). but! that does not mean they can’t be useful and/or even fun. The Doctor’s always out there trying to defend/save humans, sure, but with the companions, they’re /attached/, which means it’s even more fun to threaten them, bc it makes it easier to get a reaction out of the Doctor. But I also think sometimes the Master ends up kinda liking the companion? Missy and Clara is number one example in my mind and g o d, I’m not by any means a s8/9 expert but Missy and Clara are so FUN. I could do paragraphs, but instead I will just link my favorite fic involving them (it also involves 12, and bill, in the final chapter, AND it’s in my humble opinion arguably the funniest dw fic on ao3)

But! This is all pre-TTC! Back when the Master could rely on the Doctor being their equal, and, vice versa, on their being the Doctor’s (only) equal; back when the Master still knew that no matter what happened, in the end, it’d be them and the doctor together, just like they’d started.

Except that now the Doctor’s had this whoooole entire life (lives!!!!) before they met the Master. And they will keep having more of those, after the Master. The Master is now /temporary/. The Master is now a companion like any other.

In short: ouch

(As an aside, this is my read on what I believe is the Master’s thought process; imo, in the Doctor’s mind, the Master is still very much apart, regardless of whether you subscribe to that ‘the master is the kid who pushed bby!doctor off that cliff’ theory, but that’s a different essay altogether)

I think it’s fairly interesting, if slightly frustrating when writing fic lol, that we don’t really see the Master interact with the fam, or at least not out of disguise. As O, he’s his usual meddling self; trying to pique Graham’s curiosity about the doctor, messing with Yaz a little… but beyond that, he doesn’t really acknowledge them much. Could be linked to the plot, sure, but to me it also makes sense that he’d be a lot less personal with the companions than, say, Missy was. He v much encourages their being turned into Cybermen (which…. after bill?? dude. like I know it’s on purpose, (and Dhawan!Master vs the vault and Missy’s arc is its own rant) but dude.), but it’s, once more, mostly about upsetting the Doctor, more than about the companions specifically (then again, in TTC, he’s fairly one-track bc he’s revealing everything). All that to say, this is reason n°3453 why I’d like him to make a comeback next series or in the specials; I’m so curious to know whether he’d try to mess with Yaz more specifically, or if his new found ''''companion'''' status would make him Not Want To Do That

The similarities between the Doctor and the Master

This is one of the many, many things that make me go absolutely feral about them. Beyond the Master’s newfound belief that the Doctor is now some kind of god or w/e, the fact remains that these two??? They are so similar that it HURTS.

They of course have this fundamental difference in how they see the world, and have had it for a while (although, despite my abysmal knowledge of classic who, I do attribute this difference at least partly, to the Doctor’s travels with Ian and Barbara, and then generally to the influence their companions have had on them), /but/…. There’s still a reason why they became so close at the Academy, why they clicked together so well, and why they’re still now, thousands of years later, orbiting each other with absolutely no way to pull back. At their core, these two are still the two smart as hell kids who’d trade ideas and thoughts and concepts at a thousand miles a minute, and just be so gleeful that they have someone who can match them, match their speed, and understand exactly what they’re getting at. It also means they were probably insufferable, but let’s be real, they still are, and that’s why we love them.

It’s something we get a pretty good look at in s10, notably in the scene in the monks ep where Missy has 12 guess how the monks work, and it’s one of the many reasons why I adore that series. Bc despite all their history, they still fall back into that rhythm in seconds, and they don’t even notice. A team up with 13 and Dhawan!master would be even more captivating imo, bc they are so hostile. It’d have to be forced by exterior circumstances (and I don’t think even that would exclude 13 decking him at some point or other), but the fact is…. They are Still similar, despite both their beliefs that they’re not, and seeing them fall back into that synchronicity??? Into that back and forth??? My KINGDOM for this, chibs, please.

The funniest part is that they’d BOTH deny it. It’s not like Missy trying to prove that they’re not so different; the Master now also believes they’re no longer alike, but an outside eye like a companion? Like Yaz (aka a companion who has gone from hero worship of the Doctor to having had months to obsess over everything the Doctor has ever done (including possibly the darker things 👀) + being (I think??) a lot more wary of the Doctor (one day you will [leave again]); Yaz would see it, and she’d call it out and for all the Doctor would deny it…. She’d see it too.