#dhawan did not want to be 13's friend

[ssaalexblake]

the master is a woman for one regeneration and suddenly becoming a good guy is like, the Worst thing to want for that story to conclude with and that it’s actively wanted by people sometimes floors me 

[oreo102]

Please I'm so so curious to hear your thoughts on 10/14

Ok so my thoughts on 10 are less than 14 so let’s start with him lol. I have not watched 10, so my hatred of him is more hatred by proxy of how the fandom treats him and proxy of 14, but I still do have a few specific thoughts and this will be long and definitely rambly

A) when talking about him I usually refer to him as Fandom’s Favorite White Boy or Pathetic Wet Cat/Twink mostly because it’s funny but for now I’ll use 10. The most I know about 10 is that he is angsty and in love with rose and besties with Donna… also that he’s pathetic but that’s more vibes

So- my hate of 10 is less tangible than 14 but i still have a few points, the main one being the way i see ppl talk about how he treated Martha and how obsessed with rose he was. I don’t think it’s ever compelling to have someone’s main personality trait be loving someone a whole lot which also honestly is my problem with rose (don’t hate her but don’t care about her)

From what I have seen and heard of 10 it’s rather… boring, honestly? Like it’s mostly clips out of context but for 13 and 15 I saw clips out of context and was like “ok wth is happening? /pos” with 10 it’s more like “wtf?” Also pretty sure his episodes were some of the ones I saw when my parents had the show on that played a part in me swearing the show off so

Ok onto the more tangible hatred of 14. A lot of this, admittedly, is more about the writing and showrunner decisions than 14 but those things by proxy makes me hate him

So- I have a lot of feelings on him quite literally starting from his first appearance in power of the doctor. I am SO PETTY that he doesn’t wear 13’s silly little outfit. Like I have gone on full rants about that fact to my friends and family

I’ve seen something claim that rtd didn’t want 14 to wear her outfit because people might be transphobic and derogatory towards him (even tho Dhawan!master wore it, and it’s pretty gender neutral) but then did nothing about the shit ppl said about ruby’s actor or about ppl who would be a bitch about rose the second being nonbinary(also i remember seeing a post about their deadname being mentioned in an episode? Not totally sure that’s true tho)

The 60th anniversary specials themselves don’t really celebrate Dr who as a whole as much as 10’s run with a few old villains but that’s not really my main issue with that. My main issue with the specials is that the Doctor gets their happy ending. With Donna. And her family. When fucking 3-4 episodes prior, their happy ending would’ve been yaz. It would’ve been staying with yaz. But nope! Donna! Because that’s what 10 would’ve wanted.

And I don’t want 14 to be with yaz, btw, I mean I want them to meet and for yaz to hit him, but I don’t want them to be a thing or like be together because I believe yaz is a lesbian but that’s not the point of this so moving on

I also have very much big issues with the scene where 15 and 14 are (presumably, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the full scene) talking about women they love and mention who I assume to be River and rose but not yaz, who again, they wanted to spend forever with 3-4 episodes prior. It makes the doctor seem like a douchebag even if it’s a writing issue and not a character issue

Also 14 being David tenant overshadows 13’s departure and 15’s arrival and since he is most likely going to show up at least a little bit in s14 he’ll overshadow 15 in his own series. It’s icky at the very least.

There’s something inherently bad about having the fandoms Favorite White Boy be with a contentious casting decision (because I have no faith in the Dr who fandom not to be bigoted) and even if no one has an issue with 15 being black and maybe gay (is he gay? He gives gay vibes) it’s still setting him up for failure by pairing him with 14

Also bigeneration is so fucking dumb and I hate it

Also also stop giving the Dr 19 year old companions it’s getting kinda weird now

[crystal-lillies]

Okay so first thoughts after watching Power of the Doctor, featuring some things I screamed while watching (Spoilers):

-start of the episode is a bit clunky but not a terrible reintroduction to the CyberMasters

-Sacha Dhawan absolutely fucking annihilates every scene he's in my god. Goes absolute apeshit nuts. I love it

-THE CLASSIC MASTER LINES

-AAAAAACE!!!!! TEEEEEGAAAAANNN!!!!

-CLASSIC COMPANIONS MY BELOVEDS!

-Dan...:( really got a short end of the stick I feel like. Kind of abrupt. He and Yaz def had a stronger bond so I like they had a nice goodbye but. Man that felt so cut off.

-I bet the Four inside Thirteen felt(tm) that poor Dalek, knowing that it was right that they failed their original purpose to help the Kaleds survive. "That poor Dalek" my god but I did feel so bad :(

-the way Ace calls The Master out on being a catboy cleared my acne, watered my crops, boosted my serotonin

-also the unhinged way The Master was so delighted that the armed troops were for him. Am I gOIng tO UNIT??? You doughnut. Bastard man. I can't help but enjoy watching you chew up every scene!!

-VINDER!!!!

-YAZ FLYING THE TARDIS YAZ FLYING THE TARDIS!!! THE TARDIS LISTENING TO YAZ!!!

-the fucking memes don't even do it justice. The Master fucking blasting Rasputin. Was playing Rasputin just a cover so he could blast this song? I would believe it. It's absolutely 10000% in character.

-oh SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT!!!!!!!!!! DHAWAN!DOCTOR!MASTER???!!

-Don't mind me casually breaking the sound barrier when 5 shows up to Tegan and mentions Adric. A single word. A single name. And I screech loud enough to hear 10 miles away.

-KATE STEWART DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE AND YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO MAKE SURE YOUR PEOPLE ARE OKAY FIRST BEFORE YOU GO ANYWHERE YOU DOUGHNUT!!!!!!!

-Yaz my angel my beloved you rockstar FUCK HIM UP <3

-sidebar Sacha Dhawan rocks in 13's outfit (and maybe that's why the Beeb was afraid of DT in it...too much power 😔). And then that fucking mismatch. The SWEATER. I CAN'T.

-8 ILYSM bb your sass always appreciated. Bonus, CLASSIC DOCTORS BABEY!!!

-sideside note. Sentient energy creature thing? Cool af. Wish we got a tad bit more time exploring that but only so much time alas.

-Yaz you brilliant love. And VINDER!!! I'M FREELANCE!!! HELL YEAH YOU ARE GET HIS ASS!!!!

-RUTH FUGITIVE DOCTOR HELLO BB YOU SLAY EVEN AS A HOLOGRAM

-dont make me go back to being me ow wow that actually hurt a bit, and that's how this Master does actually come from Missy

-ACE!!!!!!! SEVEN!!!! AND GRAHAM!!!! GRAHAM BOY!!!!!!! HELLO!!! SHOW EM HOW YOU DID IT IN 1963!

-you made Adric proud Tegan....even if he would be too much of a little shit to say so off the bat, he'd be proud of you....

-Kate's point to herself. That "me?" Moment. My god. Did no one ever take her in the TARDIS? (Stares at 11 and 12)

-Using the Master's TARDIS against his plan (again), excellent. Actual solving of the whole CyberMasterDalek plan? A little shaky. But I'll allow it. Thanks to "a bit crowded. Just how I like it" 13. Honey. Are we having Journey's End flashbacks and missing all your friends in a TARDIS? :( is this a sign

-oof fuck ow ouch I half expected her to be sliced in half with that ray beam but fjdgkd watching too much Vox Machina lately and forgot for a sec that BBC would never be that brutal and I'm glad--

-because we got the CARRY!!! THE LIFT!!! THEM!!!!!!

-hi can you hear the sound of my heart breaking into one million pieces seeing Yaz finally start crying after being so brave and put together through everything. Knowing after everything she STILL loses her Doctor. I'm not okay. I'm not okay!!!!!!! I want more time with her too Yaz!!!! Right here with you!!!!

-"i loved being with you, Yaz" don't!! Mind!! Me!! Screaming crying throwing up!!!!

-still could have at least kissed her hand but. Mmmmmmm the way they look at each other. The way they both acknowledged the love they feel. But Chibnall and BBC are still cowards.

-classic companions!!!!!!!!! Way to bring back the OG holy fuck

-Dan sitting in a room as the newest companion with one of the FIRST companions. Iconic.

-"Look after the next one" HONEY!!!! I'M NOT READY!!!!!

-"Tag, you're it" WHAT A LINE. WHAT A LAST LINE. I'M STILL NOT READY BUT GOD DAMN.

-!and that sunrise regeneration shot!!! Absolutely fucking breathtaking!!!! In tears!!!

-aaannnd then the twist. Clothes regen def throws me a sign that This Is Wrong. We saw MULTIPLE REGENS here my dudes and clothes did not change. This is Important.

- Also fuck off RTD, respectfully, but DT is not Fourteen. He doesn't get to have two whole numbered lives after *everything else he got already.* Fourteen is Ncuti thank you the fuck much. He was announced first, and we all celebrated him as 14 first. So there.

[heresmyfiddlestick]

but it’s all about the culminations of storylines

dhawan!master being driven by the frustration he had when he couldnt be like the doctor as missy, culminating in him trying to Be the doctor - and ultimately the both of them dying together. “did it calm all the rage?” i think this might have now. he is so sad. so so so sad and she remembers how they used to be friends. this is the result and conclusion of twissy’s whole thing

AUGH and contrary to how missy’s past (simm!master) dragged her down in the end, 13′s past (fugitive) is instrumental to her victory (though of course her friends have always been the best of her - and indeed yaz proves to be one of the best doctors in this episode)

and i dont love that they just winked at thasmin and didnt give yaz much of a reason to leave but honestly yaz came into her own. she Was the doctor when the doctor couldnt be, she was a grounding force in her identity. we are all reflections of how other people see us, and that is so so important for this doctor (who started from complete disorientation after having reckoned with wanting to die For Good)

and it’s also about breaking the rules

good lord i dont love that she regenerated into david tennant

but i love fucking around with regeneration

ncuti gatwa will get his moment - i think it’s honestly the kindest thing to do to a new doctor to not throw him into the middle of whatever the fuck the 60th anniversary special is going to be - but for now it is so choice that they just keep changing the rules on us. it is honestly what this show should be. regeneration is a big deal, but its EXTREMELY FUN to have it not be literally the same beat we saw in twice upon a time, in the time/name/whatever of the doctor, in the end of time like... this is fresh and weird as fuck and i’m into it for what it’s worth

[pitynostars]

rewatching PotD properly let's gooo

"is there anyone out there" "yes." This was hot

"what am I doing, I've got a date to get to" is Dan talking ABT Diane ???

The idea of doing an EP about just the cyber TLs would be so interesting imo ajdkkfdjks... Like they're not converted humans but that's their whole deal usually so like....

"don't get shot" *Dan gets shot* prime comedy

"don't lose my sonic" patronising 13 i hate u

Did anyone else expect Dan to turn evil here the way he hesitated over the controls? XD

The alien shows them what they want right ???? Why does the doctor see a random kid?

"I'm the doctor I'm going to protect you" "the doctor lies" lmao

Ive seen people say like. The train CGI the painting CGI is rlly bad but honestly I can never notice but I don't rlly have eyes for that sort of thing

Ace and Tegan Skype friends <3 the ending should have been like this w all the companions where they're all just swapping adventure stories rather than the support group thing

"should we pick u up again in 24hrs" so Dan is on and off the TARDIS at this point ??? Having dates ??? Assuming w Diane but the only person we see him w in the rest of te EP is Graham so I mean....

"Yaz u and I can see where the cyber masters took that child" so... Yaz saw it as a kid too? Did I mishear the line ABT it looking how u want

"it's not my life" hmm I buy that BC we saw his life before of pretending to b the museum guide and helping out at the food bank and stuff he's a community guyTM sure hate that this is so weirdly rushed less i guess "I can attack it now because I've been with you" I buy less lmao... He's had no growth at all??? Also the way it's framed like he's talking to the doc is so odd when he spent more time w Yaz (unless they've been travelling for more than 3 years ???)

The doctor saying "homes important" just makes me HOWL tho ngl

"I'll b kipping on mum and dads sofa tonight" .... Where have u been sleeping all the other 24 hr breaks youve appaz been dropped off for ???

"not one for goodbyes" idk I buy that w 13 we saw the whole "one happy one sad" the hug goodbye for Ryan and graham

...so why can't 13 tell yaz about this traitor dalek??

also the concept of a dalek realising theyve strayed from their og mission does actually kind of slap but we did just see daleks v daleks in revolution so i'm glad this wasnt the main plot again

sacha dhawans acting<3<3

the scene where he looks in the tsarina (?)'s eyes and he's like "are my eyes not full of certainty" and u see him reflected in her eyes.... SICK. have they mentioned the master is kind of hypnotic yet in this era before this?

where are the dhawan telling the tsar to take a holiday vs donna telling caecilius and family to take a holiday in pompeii parallels.

are they saying dhawan master replaced rasputin nd made an alt universe with this cyberplanet in the sky? or is there some historical note about there being something in the sky at that time (?)

i love that the doctor and yaz both barely react to the hahahahahhaha tardis there's no like. wtf. moment they just head straight in.

i think it would have been sweet for 13 to stroke one of its panels and be like "oh shes not mine." nodding to that theyre telepathic!! but we seem to have forgotten that this era 😔.... i feel this generally in this era the relationship between the doctor and the tardis has been lacking actually like apart from ghost monument and spyfall we barely see them interact... i know its not always a Thing but man i loved 11 & the tardis' relationship so much i'd love to see a writer feature it more again 🥺

ive seen some people claiming yaz reads gallifreyan off the screen in the tardis. that would be cool but 100% you can recognise readings u can tell what data/readings are without labels necessarily like i can go into a car and look at a speedo and i dont need numbers on it to know what the readings mean yk?? either way it does speak a lot to teh familiarity she's got with the tardis and i <3<3 ... yaz and the tardis' growth is fun to think about. do you think she was grumpy that yaz was hanging out with the other tardis on earth in revolution ? XD

DOCTOR: Ah, there's a rudimentary cloaking shield in operation. Soon fix that. The Cybermen have tethered that child into this planet. It was registering as an energy source.

YASMIN: How is that child an energy source?

DOCTOR: Wait, there's more layers to the shield. Oh, not just cloaking. It's a consciousness shield! A creature trying to evade capture, hiding behind a visual projection shield, and this one shows us what we instinctively want to protect, as a defence.

Help me out here. Are they saying that the Qurunx also set up the cloaking ??? or that the cybermen cloaked it and it also put up the consciousness shield? ? or was it all the cybermen?? why would it need both?

also the idea of it showing what you want to protect -- do yaz and the doctor and dan ALL just happen to see a child in this situation then ??

"is this planet your doing?" doctor you literally saw the cybermen kidnap the qurunx to bring here 😭😭😭... YOU FOLLOWED THEM HERE

just once i'd like the "your master awaits" to be subverted/mirrored with "your doctor awaits" ...... the "this country needs a doctor" line is hot but its not the SAME.

"have you got any idea whats going on in outspace in 1916 rn" "strangely enuf. no" this line always gets me aklsjflk i love kate

"I'm Yaz. The only one here who doesn't really know what's going on" sorry babe that's your whole character

MANDIP INVENTING ACTING

i am once again asking ok these paintings got "defaced" so its not an alt timeline??????????? they never fixed this in the end right ??????? sweats. so rasputin was teh master alll along historically (?)... and he jst put himself in paintings in modern day ?? but then the dr says "some people think you're rasputin" ?????

"this is the day youre erased from existence forever" .... how does turning into her erase her from existence 😭

dhawan inventing acting

i still dont understand why this "give her a gun" moment is in there.

wait what happens to vinder in the end??? his ships broken

"you'll feel safer with me in the building" LMAO

"she really doens't want us back in there" and then yaz just drops her home w no goodbye to the doctor coolcoolcoolcoool

ok but why did the master clone ashad specifically what difference does he make over like. any cyberman/cyberleader??

love the russian doll cyberman lmaoooo... reminds me of that arc thing from doomsday/aog... TIME LORD TECH

if i had a penny for every time the doctor is forced into one of their enemies only for it to be purely for transport i'd have 2 pennies which isn't a lot but its a bit funny it happens twice

i love the rasputin moment but i dont rlly get the lead in ngl 😭 hes just like k time for my dance number mid speech. which i suppose like. in character XD

sacha dhawan in thirteens outfit.... i'm bisexual<3 i need to get my ears pierced

"Don't… don't… don't worry. You'll get used to me. Everyone will. I still need a companion to ask and… bask in my brilliance. Come on, Yaz. Let's go on an adventure! Don't make me ask twice. I'd hate to have to bring you down to size." /

"Come on, Yaz! Let's save a civilisation! Let's correct history! Rescue a sick animal! These yours? Oh, bless. Ow! What was that? Some sort of dirty protest? Unless you want to be consigned down a black hole for eternity, you'd better behave! I am the Doctor, and you will obey me." snapping in yaz's face "I AM THE DOCTOR NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

-> this would have hit soo different if this actually was the doctor i would HAVE LOVEDDDD it. first time watching i honetsly thought this was still the doctor and the tardis was reacting like that bc the regeneration was so unnatural (like the way she reacted to jack in utopia) but no 😔

mandip inventing acting<3

"very 80s" "thanks!" LMAO

"gold star and a sticker" u r sick

the random news drone on top of a random 2 planets is so.... ??? i feel like a lot of this was cut somehow aslkfjklgds..

also where's the awkward cut scene of yaz standing around while the master's in the wardrobe picking his outfit aksfjgdlkf

[plays the recorder on a burning mushroom planet] king shit

"quite the strength of character this incarnation" "DOCTOR 6: Our predicament! This is supposed to be handed over. You can't ruin it for the next one. / DOCTOR 5: And you were doing so well." i hateee these bits so much its SO patronising

"i dont do robes" lmao

why is whittaker in the reversed robe/the robe they used for time here hm

the hologram i do like as an idea tbf especially as we've seen the basic version w 9 and 11 and whatnot so her developing it to be more ai is rlly fun ... especially after she saw how handy having three of her in diff places was in flux lmaoooo

"it should only activate under the gravest circumstances. Like if I'm no longer around. Now, that would be disastrous. But I will have very subtly inserted a sonically triggered nano-implant under your skin and passed it off as static electricity. f I remember to do that. I must remember to do that." -- so either 13 has only just finished the hologram ai before this ep OR she KNOWS shes about to walk into some Real ShitTM and takes precautions akjfgldf.....

"HOLO-DOCTOR: Whoa! The emotional receptors on the AI are a bit oversensitive. Apparently, you're annoyed with me? Apparently, I should apologise for something?" this is so fucking funny because it comes across literally just like thirteen was she is always this fucking mean and patronising and borderline manipulative lmao its so askjdfglkdf......... blame it on the emotional receptors being oversensitive sure 🙄

i reiterate my point that most of the things/wins we get are done by the hologram dr, yaz is STILL asking the doc for validation even when shes a hologram 😔

"can't hurt the feelings of a hologram" SHE JUST TOLD U SHE WAS AI. watching this after measure of a man is like. HELLO.

"yeah well i didnt" [tosses bag] I LOVE TEGAN

they cld have mentioned nyssa in this rant tho fr

"i'll distract the cybermen" "how are you gonna do that" [cuts to screaming] hELP ASKFJDGLF... THE COMEDY IN THIS EP IS SO

the shot of ace falling into the console room is so fun actually <3

dhawan hood up<3<3

vinder no idea who the doctor is or their history w the doctor or yaz in this ep is. q funny to me.

"YASMIN: I'm sorry. / MASTER: Are you? Truly?/ YASMIN: Came back, didn't I? / MASTER: We could have fun, you know? I am fun. Different type of fun, but fun. We could travel. You'll see. "

i am once again saying i wish we got dhawan!doctor fr with this vibe

the touch of the ai mirroring the companions emotions is cute but i do still kinda wish we'd got whittaker to do these scenes fully

god i want ace and bill to meet actually

"the joy is to watch them fly" 😭😭😭

"former bus driver" is such a funny thing for graham to think when introducing himself

"wanna see how i dealt with them in 1963?" i'm kissing you on the lips

kate sacrificing herself is so<3<3 redgraves acting here is sooooo

jasfkdj tegan slipping on the ladder... is this a ryan reference or is that purely for plot convenienceTM

if the daleks plan is to destroy the planet through volcanoes then who do the cybermen have left to convert .....😭

wait the tardis in this shot LOOKS SO BAD i never notice cgi and whatnot idc but like LITERALLY THATS OBVIOUSLY A BOX WITH THE BACKGROUND PAINTED IN 😭

jo martin my beloved<3 god i wish she got more to do

vinder shooting the master is sooo<3 king

yazs speech about friendship and love got me actually.

i reiterate its the hologram telling yaz what to do this isnt her win wholly and that frustrates me so much 😭...

also how do the daleks and cybermen and master and vinder SEE ruths hologram when the doctor didnt plant the ai in them ?????? the whole static thing was the flag hello ??

"dont let me go back to being me" pleaseeee

"where there's hope..." YOU DIDNT FINISH THAT. THERES WHAT.

[tardis-festivities-old]

Pinch hit 3 - CLAIMED

Reminder: Pinch hit 2 is still open

We have a pinch hit. If you can do it then please either respond on the Dreamwidth post (all comments are screened) or use the email listed in the contact post giving your AO3 name.

This is due 21st November 7pm UTC (note, this is later than the assignment deadline and no extensions will be given on this pinch hit).

Fandoms: Doctor Who (2005) Mediums: Art, Fic

Requester: dilettantefan

Doctor Who (2005)

Ship: Twelfth Doctor/Simm!Master (DW 2005), Ship: Twelfth Doctor/Dhawan!Master (DW 2005), Ship: Missy/Twelfth Doctor/Simm!Master (DW 2005), Ship: Thirteenth Doctor & Donna Noble (DW 2005), Ship: Thirteenth Doctor & Bel & Inston-Vee Vinder (DW 2005), Ship: Thirteenth Doctor & Bel (DW 2005), Ship: Twelfth Doctor/Missy (DW 2005), Missy (DW 2005), Ship: Twelfth Doctor & Bill Potts (DW 2005), Twelfth Doctor (DW 2005), The Master (Simm) (DW 2005)

Interested in both art (any style/medium) and fic! I also like little comics if you're into that/have the time.

For romantic ships: To be honest I would love to get some Missy/12/Simm or 12/Simm, but if those don't inspire you, any 12/Master ship makes me happy. Also something a bit sad or something bittersweet is okay, but please avoid complete tragedy (I have canon for this lol). I like hopeful stuff, and fluff of course. I do read smut but I'd rather avoid it in exchanges to make things simpler :') (suggesting sex scenes is okay) I like AUs (obviously, with what I ship haha) but not the ones that are completely unrelated to the canon universe. Possible ideas: fix-it of the end of series 10 where no one dies, fobwatched AU, AU where 10 did manage to "keep" the Master so by the time it's 12 they've been together for a while (lol extra idea if you want to have Missy, she regenerated in a silly/totally non tragic way), a fic about them working through their issues after they got together (but the past still causes much pain), the Doctor compose(s) something for/inspired by the Master(s) and it's sweet (reluctantly sweet - he's rude about it)…

For friendship ships: Always love some 12 & Bill (idea: fix-it of series 10 where Bill has more agency and manages to join back with the Doctor before 10 years, or maybe she has formed a resistance or something in the meantime; anyway, the Doctor isn't too late and they save the day together and go on to have other adventures; another fluffier idea, 12 is there for Bill's wedding - not with Heather though, I'm sorry I don't like their relationship…). I also think some 13 & Donna would be great - I was thinking about everything 13 went through and how she would need her best friend more than ever (you can make it happy, fluffy, bittersweet or even completely sad, there are many possibilities I think).

For 13 and Bel or 13 & Bel & Vinder: I would have liked to see more of Bel and Vinder, particularly Bel I must say, I think she would be such a fun companion. I would have liked to see more interactions with 13. Also I am in the small minority who likes the theory of Bel and Vinder being somehow the Doctor's parents. But if you're not into that you can just have them as regular companions.

If nothing in the relationships inspires you then feel free to write about/draw any of the listed characters individually!

Do Not Want: complete tragedy, Doctor/companion ships, explicit sex scenes, AUs unrelated to canon

[gayforthe13th]

Dhawan!Master x reader he falls for one of 13’s companions and there is a lot of angst... and maybe smut

this is more smut than angst tbh. Enjoy!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The TARDIS shook and shuddered as the Doctor flew it to the Australian outback, pulling down the lever and letting it materialize with a thud. You grip the console for dear life glaring daggers at her as she saunters out of the console room. If there was anything you were never going to get used to it was the Doctor’s driving. Graham gives you a reassuring pat on the back before following her out, you sighed stepping out of the TARDIS after them and onto the hot Australian ground. The Doctor saunters excitedly passed what looked to be her friend O, Graham giving him a friendly nod before following her. You shut the TARDIS doors behind you, always the last to leave the ship, before turning to face the Doctor’s friend whose eyes flicker over you as if he was studying you. You smirk, the Doctor had failed to mention how utterly good looking he was, but leave it to her to leave out the important details. “Hello,” you say walking over to him, “you must be O.” Behind him, two guards make their way towards his home to stand guard out front. He smiles at you, but there’s something behind it you can’t quite place.

   “And you must be the Doctor’s companion. I heard from the stories she likes to travel with an entourage,” he says.

   “Glorified pets more like. She just loves to show off. I’m Y/N,” you smile politely at him and he chuckles at your remark. Nodding towards his shack he mutters a ‘shall we’ and you gladly follow him inside and out of the glare of the unforgiving sun. 

   After that everything was a fast-paced blur, the Doctor was able to capture one of the creatures but not able to get much in the way of answers before it disappeared replaced by a terrified looking Yaz. You’re too busy helping O fix his computers to really pay attention to what happened after. But once everything had calmed down you spend the rest of the night getting to know him. It was fun, talking to O. He had intelligence he tended not to use but you knew it was there, he was smarter than he made himself seem. The way he spoke to you and Graham about the Doctor’s files you felt that he had a secret to hide. But the way he spoke to you once everyone was asleep was...different. The others spoke to you like a stranger, which, you suppose in a way you were to them. O spoke to you like a friend. He listened, you spilled everything without really meaning to. You spoke about your family, the way you used the Doctor to escape from them, how the adventures were the only thing keeping you sane. He told you about MI6, about not being taken seriously. He had coaxed you into looking at the files, pages upon pages of the Doctor’s older companions her adventures, things she had never told any of you before. “Why would she keep this from us?” you ask him as the two of you sit criss cross on his bed, his legs touching yours in a way that sets your skin on fire. 

   “Maybe she had something to hide,” he whispers, leaning in close. You suck in a breath, shaking your head.

  “We don’t even know who she really is. She never told us about her friends, her home...What else hasn’t she told us?” O only smirked. The weight of the Doctor’s lies sat heavy in your heart, the realization that you put your trust into someone you barely knew. You sag against O’s body as he rubs your back gently.

  “I’m sorry,” he says, sincere and soft against your ear. You merely nod.

  “Got me, well done.”

  You were huddled beside Ryan in the confines of the plane, the air had turned, everything seemed to come crashing around you. O, he seemed so nice, so kind. Like he saw something in you no one else did. Was it all a lie? The party, the way he held your hand as you went in, his quick shy glances and kind smiles. Sure, it had only been a day or two since you met him, but you thought you were friends. O- no- the Master, stood before the group, a stricken and terrified Doctor in front of him. There was a commotion, everyone scrambling to get to the front of the plane only to find a bomb set to detonate. “NO! Doctor! Do you really think that I wouldn’t make that sonic proof Doctor!” Oh god, you were going to die here. You press your back against the side of the plane like it was going to save you, your eyes still glued to the Master’s form. You flinch when he turns to you, offering out his hand.

  “Come with me. We can be amazing. Stick with me Y/N, because I control everything.” 

  “No!” The Doctor rushes forward, the plane shudders violently, “I won’t let you lay a hand on her!” The Master laughs, a maniacal, terrifying sound.

  “Really Doctor?” he turns to you, “who would you rather trust? Me, or her, she’s been lying since the beginning. I’ve just been playing the part.” You blink, sparing a glance at the Doctor. Her eyes were wide and pleading, the sonic clenched in her hand. Behind her, Yaz, Ryan, and Graham shared the same look. You don’t know them. You realized. Neither of them. At least they all had each other. Yaz, Ryan, Graham, they all knew each other but you. You were an outlier, someone they picked up out of pity, pity the Master didn’t give you. With a shuddering sigh, you take the Master’s outstretched hand. He grins, pressing a kiss to your head before turning to the Doctor with a smirk. 

  “Oh, and Doctor. Before you die I just want you to know. Everything you know is a lie!” and with that, the two of you transport off the plane, leaving the others to die.

  When you landed it was back in his ship. “What have I done?” you mutter, burying your head in your hands and flopping onto the bed. You killed them, you helped him kill them. Gently, the Master lifts your chin kneeling down to you. 

  “You made the right choice,” he says, cupping your cheek, “I like you. You’re different than her other pets, there’s something dark in you.” You flinch, your hands come to wrap around his arms as he cradles your face, his thumb brushing stray tears. 

   “You killed them,”

   “And you let me,” he says, leaning closer to you, your noses almost touching. “Tell me you don’t feel it, what I feel for you.” You don’t answer, but your grip on his arm loosens and you know that's answer enough. “Do you feel it?” he says, “that rush, the feeling of satisfaction. They’re going to die, all of them everyone whoever hurt you. And it will feel so,” he presses a kiss to your lips, then your cheek and then your neck, “so good.” he nips gently at your neck, you gasp, tilting your head as his hands trail down your neck, then your shoulders, then your chest squeezing your breasts as he sucks a mark into your neck. You let out a shocked moan, hands coming up to curl into his hair. 

  “Master…” you whimper as he pulls back to tug your shirt over your head. 

  “Say it again,” he growls against your skin, sucking hickeys along your neck and down to your chest. He shoots up quickly, a hand wrapping around your neck and pushing you to the bed, “say my name,” he growls, his hand constricting your neck just enough for you to still be able to speak.

  “M-master,” you wheeze hooking your legs around his waist as he rocks his hips into you. You feel him, rock hard and pressing against your stomach. As his other hand slips down to your jeans you realize that you want this more than anything. You suck in a shuddering breath as his hand tightens around your throat and his other hand tugs your pants off and onto the floor. 

  “Beautiful,” he purrs, his hand leaving your throat to brush up against your cunt in a way that has you moaning before you even suck in a breath. He doesn’t take his time, pulling your underwear off and shoving a finger into you without hesitation. You yelp, gripping the sheets. You hear him hum in your ear, pushing his finger in and out before adding a second, then a third, his thumb brushing against your clit. He nips at your ear, sucking on your earlobe as he fucks into you with his fingers.

  “M-master please..more,” you please, rocking your hips into his hand. His free hand unbuckles his dress pants and pushing them down along with his underwear and before you know it he’s lining up and pushing into you. This time it's slow, his hands coming to rest against your hips as he fucks into you. You’re moaning, but it's drowned out by his soft grunting in your ear. You wrap your arms around him, fingers digging and pulling at his soft brown hair. He rubs at your clit with one hand, the other leaving bruises on your hip as he slams into you.

  “Say my name,” he growls, in your ear, “say it!” his thumb presses against your clit one land time and you cry out his name as you cum on his cock. He finishes a moment after, emptying into you with a soft moan of your name. 

  The two of you spend a moment beside each other, before he stands up, pulling you up with him. He presses a soft kiss to your lips, “come, there’s work to be done.”

[aenslem]

002 + twissy (if you're still doing it)

Hey anon!! yess I am totally doing it, send more. I am more than happy to play these games and love receiving asks <3

002 | Send me a ship and I will tell you:

When I started shipping them: you see, when I watched Twissy for the first time I already shipped Doctor/Master, but the moment she kissed him while Clara watched?? I was screaming! and then He kissed her... while Clara and Cyber!Danny watched, what is with them and Clara watching lmao stop traumatizing the kid 

My thoughts: *SCREAMS* and *SCREAMS MORE* i don’t even know what to say??? I have made so many gifsets with them, I think it;s obvious I will go down with that ship :D I love them, I love the entire I need my friend back thing, I loved that it was not all ‘my best enemy i have to kill but not really’, loved that they actually talked ?? my god, they were talking, they are capable of sitting on their asses and talking, can you believe? did anyone mentioned that to 13 and Dhawan!Master? *SCREAMS SOME MORE* also cries cos those two are idiots and stand with me, it’s all i’ve ever wanted and nooo?? but than it’s time to stand with the doctor and then im dying with both of them... i love them so much, i really wish there were more scenes and their adventures on screen.

What makes me happy about them: everything, every tiny appearance of them on screen made me happy. those are so not healthy relationships but who cares? im sucker for suffering and drama and all that they have :D i will be happy to have more and suffer more please.

What makes me sad about them: they died in the end even though they came back they died and... you know what i mean :D

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: i will tell you a secret, i have not read much with them :D and mostly read AUs. but I have not read enough to see the pattern that annoys me in fics with those two. 

Things I look for in fanfic: AUs :’D there was that one university AU i liked, but i would not be me if i remembered the title lmao but yes, university AUs, coffee shop AUs, just AUs <3 

My wishlist: i want 13, clara, bill, 12, and missy to meet and bill be like *looks at missy and twelve* ‘old man, did you two slept with each other?’ and 12: ‘no, of course not and why would i tell you that’ clara ‘pfftt’ missy ‘do you want to see the pictures?’ 12 ‘what?’ bill ‘if this one is actually you *points on 13* then why is she red as tomato?’ 13 *red as tomato* idk what to wish, just more of their screen time together would be really cool and maybe if doctor actually knew that she decided to stand with him in the end, and we would not have the entire spydoc mess but nah, i like spydoc so i would gladly have more of suffering bye

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: no

My happily ever after for them: traveling together and having adventures and being old married couple they are with Bill and Clara and Nardole who would facepalm each time they would start arguing about nothing actually they just love arguing :D and once they would be super angry with each other about nothing Clara stealing Tardis and taking bill and nardole on adventures alone, leaving those two on some planet where they are alone and can talk.

Send me a fandom/ship/character and I will tell you my

[ssaalexblake]

pre s12 a little '12 Knew Missy didn't betray him' headcanoning was soothing in a 'sometimes i like it when we get nice things' but that is absolutely in no way canon and the doctor genuinely believed the master abandoned him (and everybody else) to die and this belief in her betrayal is the only thing that allowed Missy to succeed in fulfilling his ideal of goodness (without hope, without witness, without reward) because if he had known, had he suspected, then what Missy did was witnessed. Them becoming friends due to her goodness voids the true sentiment of her actions. (It doesn't. According to him it does though.)

The doctor's ignorance allows that one small bubble of time to exist where the master, despite everything counting against them, all the circumstances piling up together to make it so hard for her to do it, did something Good. I mean, I disagree with his rules on goodness, but as per the rules of the story that was written, Missy does succeed. The tragedy is, of course, that they can never be friends again because of it, because in the doctor's arrogance at deciding what is good and bad with no leeway, he demands she receive no reward nor have any witnesses to her triumph (simm doesn't count, he's literally her).

When Dhawan!master arrives on scene, he tries to murder the doctor and all her friends and then rubs it in her face that he feels deep in his hearts that murder and chaos is just It for him. It's what gives him the warm fuzzies. It's what he's Meant to be doing. He also rubs it in her face that he just Doesn't Have A Good Side. This is what we call targeted manipulation as he's deliberately trying to mentally torture her (and did a great job at it, too, lets be real).

13's reaction to him in s12 is her reacting to betrayal. This is 13 thinking all their work was for nothing and the master just lied and led them on to avoid being executed and that they didn't Care about their friendship, it was all just a big ploy. A huge lie. A betrayal of the highest order because this is what the doctor wanted the most in the universe and it was just a joke to the master. It also doesn't help that he is actively lying to her face about why he's acting the way he is the entire time he's on the show.

The doctor can't actually know what they don't know. I do not claim that 12 was being anything but arrogant in s10, I agree he was, I think his absolutely flagellating views on what can and can't be considered true virtue is a great massive window into why he's the absolute pinnacle of self hatred and depression, of course he hates himself, the biggest peacock in the universe who needs an audience like he needs air actually thinks that to be a truly good person you cannot be doing it for any kind of reward or recognition. What a stunningly depressing view into his mind.

But the point is, I guess, that these two are both the stupidest idiots in the universe and peak narrative tragedy. Unable to meet in the middle (doctor's fault). Self centered reaction to discovering best enemy's tragic backstory leads to deaths of billions and a metric ton of victim blaming and false idolisation simultaneously (master's fault).

They cannot speak honestly. They will not speak honestly. There is so much going on with them both i could write a dissertation. A total mess. But The Doctor Must believe the master betrayed and abandoned them, hence 13's ignorance, because otherwise everything Missy did means nothing.

[tardistimes]

Tagged by @wonders-of-the-multiverse to my main account @263adder but I’ve got this side blog for my Doctor Who stuff now so I’m putting it on here. 

1. Favourite Doctor: Well my Doctor is always going to be Nine (Eccleston) because he was the first Doctor I was introduced to. But my favourite is probably Eleven. I was bummed that Eccleston didn’t join in on ‘The Day of the Doctor’ though, it would have been awesome to have him in the mix. His stint as the Doctor was too short in my opinion.

2. Favourite Master: Ooh. Obviously I love Dhawan!Master, wouldn’t have written a story about him otherwise, but Missy…eek, what a choice. Erm, eenie, meenie, miney, Missy. She has just the smallest, slightest, tiniest edge over Dhawan, but in fairness we had more episodes with Missy.

3. Favourite Sonic: Thirteen’s. I love that she made it herself instead of the TARDIS just producing one. And I’m always going to pretend the sonic sunglasses didn’t exist. 

4. Favourite TARDIS Interior: I can honestly say I’ve never formed an opinion on the TARDIS interior before. Whatever goes really. Maybe Twelve’s because he had some comfy chairs in there? Really though, I’d be impressed going inside any TARDIS – I’m not gonna get fussed about the interior that much.

5. Favourite Companion/s: Yikes. Erm, I love the Eleven/Rory/Amy dynamic, so if I can have multiple it would be Amy/Rory. If I’m only allowed one person I’d go for Donna Noble, because she was hilarious and Ten needed a laugh.

6. Favourite Story: As in a favourite episode? You know every time I think I have a favourite episode I remember another one! My instinct was to say ‘Blink’, followed immediately by – no ‘Midnight’ was better (I loved their breakdown of mob mentality, I’m a sucker for a bottle episode, it’s based on a TNG episode and Russel T Davis really did write some excellent episodes). But then I kicked myself and said it had to be ‘The Unicorn and the Wasp’ because I LOVE Agatha Christie. Seriously, I own every single Poirot novel. Oh wait, ‘Love and Monsters’ – Peter Kay…I love Peter Kay. But, no – ‘The Unicorn and the Wasp’. 

7. Favourite Soundtrack: The first season with Eleven. It had such a whimsy to it, it made me feel ready to run away and see the universe every time I watched an episode.

8. Dream Actor for the Next Doctor: You see, for me, I have never known any of the actors before they became the Doctor. And it’s perfect for me because I can only see them as the Doctor. So, the dream actor for me is just someone I’ve never heard of before!

9. Dream Story: I want more about the Doctor and the Master. I never really got into Twelve, but I loved his story lines with Missy – they had a rich, shared past and it gives their scenes such depth. It would be nice if there was an episode with just them, no companions and only a background villain/threat, maybe a bottle episode so they have to work together.

10. A Companion You’d Like To See Again: River Song, because her and Thirteen would be adorable. And if Graham was surprised about Thirteen previously being a man…well, his reaction would be hilarious!

11. An Enemy You Want To See Again: I feel like we haven’t had the Slitheen in a really long time (I adore saying Raxacoricofallapatorius) and that’s a pity to me. But, even so, I’m going with the Master. Especially as it’s the character’s 50th anniversary next year when the show returns, that deserves a commemoration of some kind. Maybe an episode from their POV?

12. If You Could Set A Story In Any Time Period What Would It Be? Well when I did my History MRes, my research focus was on the Cold War, so I guess somewhere in that time frame so I could let my inner history geek roam free. I had that a bit with Eleven’s ‘Cold War’, although I never learned much about Cold War submarines.

13. If You Could Travel With Any Doctor Which Would It Be? My instinct is to go for Eleven, but if I think in terms of whose personality I could get along with, I’d say Nine. I favour a no nonsense kind of person in reality.

I would nominate people, but I’ve only been on a Tumblr for about half a year and I originally signed up to discuss The Umbrella Academy – so no one I follow could really fill this in! Basically, I’m a saddo with no Whovians for friends. Maybe @badwolferosewrites - although I know you weren’t fussed with the latest season so feel free to ignore this.

[cupidford]

denofgeek com/uk/tv/sherlock/46250/sherlock-33-nerdy-spots-in-the-six-thatchers

Oh cool! Although I’m pretty sure fandom caught most. (oh, and I was even cited in this one! as was finalproblem! how swanky!)

THIS IS INTERESTING THO:

10. The bus/flower scene was inspired by the same thing happening in real life to a friend of Mark Gatiss called, aptly enough, Edmund Moriarty: “His daughter was very young and he’d been up all night with her and he got on the tube to White City and this very beautiful girl started smiling at him and he thought ‘Still got it!’ and he got all the way there and got to work, looked in the mirror and he had a flower in his hair and that’s what she’d been looking at” Gatiss told the audience at a December screening of the episode.

Here’s the article, under the cut!

After taking a fine-toothed comb to new Sherlock episode The Six Thatchers (well, watching it with one finger hovering over the pause button) here are a few items of note discovered, in addition to a handful of discoveries made by some very fine Sherlock detectives elsewhere…1. We know that Lady Smallwood’s British Intelligence code name is ‘Love’, leaving the Holmes brothers and Sir Edwin to divvy up ‘Antarctica’, ‘Langdale’ and ‘Porlock’ between them. Porlock (as well as being a village in Somerset whence came S.T. Coleridge’s famed interrupting ‘person from Porlock’) was the alias of an agent working for Moriarty in Conan Doyle novel The Valley Of Fear. Langdale Pike was a character in The Adventure Of The Three Gables. But Antarctica? Perhaps that’s a fittingly chilly name for “never been very good with [humans]” Mycroft?2. It looks as though the opening credits have been updated for series four. They now feature a post-swimming-pool-fight Sherlock, Watson standing in what looks like a well and a lump of something odd in one of Sherlock’s posh Ali Miller teacups.

3. It’s hardly hidden, but there seemed to be plenty of focus on 221B’s skull décor in the episode, which was all about the impossibility of outrunning death. Symbolism! Additionally, the black fish mobile in Rosie’s nursery could either be foreshadowing the location of her mother’s death, or, you know, just some fish.

4. This is what John was typing in his “221Back” blog entry:

And we’re back! Sorry I haven’t updated the blog for such a long time but things really have been very busy. You’ll have seen on the news about how Sherlock recovered the Mona Lisa. He described it as “an utterly dreary affair” and was much more interested in the the case of a missing horseshoe and how it was connected to a bright blue deckchair on Brighton beach.

I’ll try to write everything up when I get a chance but it’s not been missing portraits and horseshoes that have taken up my time.

I’m going to be a dad.

I mean, I thought I’d spent the last few years being a Dad to Sherlock, but it really doesn’t compare. The baby runs all of our lives. Maybe not THAT different to [….] I’ve fought in two wars, my best friend once faked his own death but none of that [….] terrifying and amazing and the biggest adventure I’ve been on.”

5. There's a teensy error here, apparently. Look closely at the screenshot of John Watson writing his blog and the filename revealing him to be ‘typing’ into a static JPG image file is on display. Source: Daily Edge

6. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story A Scandal In Bohemia, Sherlock Holmes tells John Watson “You see, but you do not observe.” In The Six Thatchers, he makes the same complaint to baby Rosie Watson.

7. The number 626 bus, which John takes to work, is a real bus line running from Finchley to Potter’s Bar.

8. The advert on the side of John’s bus is for ‘Strawb Fizz’, sweets with ‘explosive flavour’. That’s not a real product as far as know, so must have been custom-made, but why? Could there be an explosion in Sherlock’s future? Or some strawberries...

9. As John gets off the bus with the flower behind his ear, a passenger can be spotted carrying a newspaper with a headline ending “…be in two places at once?” a possible reference to the case of The Duplicate Man that flashed up earlier on screen asking: “How could Derek Parkinson be in two places at the same time? And murdered in one of them?”. It’s never twins, remember.

10. The bus/flower scene was inspired by the same thing happening in real life to a friend of Mark Gatiss called, aptly enough, Edmund Moriarty: “His daughter was very young and he’d been up all night with her and he got on the tube to White City and this very beautiful girl started smiling at him and he thought ‘Still got it!’ and he got all the way there and got to work, looked in the mirror and he had a flower in his hair and that’s what she’d been looking at” Gatiss told the audience at a December screening of the episode.

11. The big hint for episode two, The Lying Detective, is spotted behind John’s texting partner ‘E’ at the bus stop. It’s a poster featuring Toby Jones in character as Culverton Smith, advertising either a new film, TV series or book featuring the character titled something containing the words ‘business’ and ‘murder’.  The words ‘coming soon’ and ‘he’s back’ are also clearly visible… (Watson also walks past a poster for The Book Of Mormon, but not sure that's strictly relevant here.)

12. ‘E’, the woman John meets on the bus, appears in the credits as Elizabeth and is played by Sian Brooke, who played Ophelia to Benedict Cumberbatch’s much-publicised Hamlet at the Barbican in 2015. Look away now if you don’t want a potential spoiler revealed: Brooke was also spotted filming scenes for episode two The Lying Detective, and is referred to by setlockers as “The Lady In Red”.

13. A tenuous one this, but here goes: when John is texting ‘E’ late and asks if she’s a night owl, she replies “vampire”. The Adventure Of The Sussex Vampire is a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story about a dysfunctional family and a jealous, abusive brother attempting to do away with his younger sibling. Could her jokey answer be a clue to Elizabeth’s back story?

14. There may be a long list of things Sherlock Holmes doesn’t know about (former prime ministers?), but William Shakespeare isn’t on it (Conan Doyle’s “the game is afoot” catchphrase comes from Henry V, incidentally). In The Six Thatchers, Sherlock quotes “by the pricking of my thumbs” from Macbeth. Unless of course, he’s quoting from that other classic British detective writer, Agatha Christie…

15. The Power Ranger strapped to the front of Charlie Welsborough’s Ford was the Blue Ranger. Not sure if that’s relevant, but just being thorough.

16. The continued references to the Black Pearl of the Borgias are a connection to The Adventure Of The Six Napoleons. Said pearl was the treasure hidden inside one of six plaster busts of Napoleon in the original story.

17. Writer Mark Gatiss didn’t only borrow the premise of The Adventure Of The Six Napoleons from Conan Doyle for this modern update but also some names. Thatcher bust distributors Gelder and Co. were also the distributors of the Napoleon busts in the original story. Barnicot, Harker and Sandeford, bust owners, are also repeated between the two.

18. Toby the bloodhound proved a difficult co-star, as Steven Moffat told the Q&A audience in December: “It didn’t move! That was an immobile dog! You know that scene where they’re talking about the dog that won’t move, me and Mark [Gatiss] wrote that on the street to account for the fact the dog wouldn’t move. It just sat there like an ornament!”

19. Toby lives with Craig the hacker. In Craig’s room is a street sign for Pinchin Lane, which is where the original Toby the dog lived (with a Mr Sherman) according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Sign Of Four. Source: Vanity Fair

20. This isn’t the first time Ajay actor Sacha Dhawan has appeared in a Mark Gatiss-written script. He played Waris Hussein in 2013 Doctor Who docudrama An Adventure In Space And Time and then the lead in that year’s The Tractate Middoth.

21. According to this website, there’s a real-life hotel in Tbilisi, Georgia called The Sherlock. Now you know.

22. Mary-in-disguise’s fellow plane passenger was played by James Holmes. No relation.

23. A close-up of one of Mary’s fake IDs reveals one of her aliases to be Gabrielle Ashdown. ‘Gabrielle’ was the fake name used by spy Ilse von Hoffmanstal in 1970 Billy Wilder film The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes, and ‘Ashdown’ was the alias she used when pretending to be married to Holmes, then later alone in Japan. Source: Vanity Fair

24. The name painted on the boat Mary walks past in Norway, Flekkete Band, means Speckled Band, another Conan Doyle story title. Source: @ingridebs

25. Apparently the name on the boat behind, Løvens Manke, means Lion’s Mane, yet another original Holmes adventure reference, as spotted by Tumblr user Cupidford here.

26. We won't repeat them all here, but this terrific Tumblr page is full of links between Sherlock’s flurry of cases at the beginning of the episode and the original Conan Doyle stories. Find out how the man with the Japanese girlfriend tattoo relates to The Adventure Of The Red Headed League and many more.

27. Throughout the harrowing London Aquarium scenes, filmed in a single day, the team kept themselves amused by inventing facts about sharks, as relevant to their location. “Sharks like beans”, “sharks cannot spell” and so on…

28. Unlike that popular myth, sharks do sleep. In fact, the ones at London Aquarium have to be in bed by 2am, which made filming there difficult and is perhaps why it looks very much as though some scenes are set against a video screen of fish swimming rather than the real thing. “One of the things we did find hard was the aquarium,” said producer Sue Vertue, “which we tried for ages to work out if we could film everything in the aquarium and then we realised that sharks sleep at night. So we had to find another way around doing that.”

29. Mark Gatiss said at the Q&A in December that they had always planned for Mary to die sacrificing herself: “It was always going to be saving Sherlock.”

30. When Sherlock asks Mrs Hudson at the end to say the word ‘Norbury’ to him if she ever thinks he’s becoming “cocky or overconfident” he’s paraphrasing his literary counterpart, who asked John Watson in The Adventure Of The Yellow Face “Watson, if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little overconfident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper 'Norbury' in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you." Source: Metro

31. When Mycroft arrives home and sees the “13th” note on his fridge, it’s hidden underneath a menu for a Reigate Square takeaway restaurant. The Adventure Of The Reigate Squire is an 1893 Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

32. Prompted by the note on his fridge, Mycroft makes a phone call and asks to be put through to “Sherrinford”. First introduced by Holmes scholar William S. Baring-Gould, Sherrinford is a hypothetical older brother to Mycroft and Sherlock. “I’m not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. You know what happened to the other one” hinted Mycroft in His Last Vow. At this year's SDCC, Mark Gatiss, Amanda Abbington and Benedict Cumberbatch were photographed holding up signs saying "Thatcher", "Smith" and "Sherrinford". So we can expect to have the Sherrinford mystery solved by The Final Problem?

33. The therapist Sherlock sees at the end of the episode is Ella Thompson (played by Tanya Moodie), who formerly appeared as John’s therapist in A Study In Pink and The Reichenbach Fall. Who better to tell him what to do about John than the doctor who treated him for PTSD and grief?

[ssaalexblake]

See, i don’t know if this is the intention behind the Missy arc because i’d rather pull teeth than read anything the bts team from that era said, ever, but I don’t think Missy’s journey Can be called a redemption arc simply because the content of said arc doesn’t support that read of it. 

I am on the fence as to whether i think that was purposeful or not; If it was just shoddy as hell writing, well, i’m not going to be surprised. But I think it’s valid to say they may have wanted to play in the sandbox of saying The Master doesn’t have to be evil without having to commit to altering a beloved part of canon storytelling that has lasted 50 years; The Master is a villain. It may have been on purpose. Either way though, there is No way they were ever going to make the master a good guy from then on, it just wasn’t going to happen, you don’t fix what ain’t broken. 

But the thing is, Redeeming yourself isn’t a static activity. Redemption is activity, not introspection. Missy in the vault, a prison for her crimes, has oodles of time for introspection. Now, i’m not saying Missy feeling bad for past actions was fake, i’m just saying that that is not something that redeems her. Feeling bad about something you did does not negate the fact that you did it and to call somebody feeling guilt redemption is inaccurate. 

By Missy’s own omission, she does not agree with the doctor about what true goodness means*! Yet Missy is alive and in this prison and not dead and in this prison because the doctor would not let anybody kill her. She promised to be ‘good’ if he would save her... And he did (it was not the promise that led to him saving her, though, he was going to anyway). 

So... Missy attempts to keep her promise. She tries to live up to his view of goodness even if she, you know, Validly points out his arrogance is clouding his judgment. If Missy were really trying to be Good and not trying to be the doctor’s friend first and foremost, she’d have gone against him, not worked with him.  

I do not mesh with the idea that Dhawan’s characterization Ruined Missy’s redemption because Missy never got redeemed. Missy was trying to be friends with 12 again... Her feeling bad about past evils does not make up for them. Twelve and Missy were two desperate people whom love each other trying to make it work despite everything about them as people meaning that it’s really not going to. Like, to gain 12′s approval Missy can’t even perform her idea of being good because 12 doesn’t agree with her. 12 shoots himself in the foot by the parameters he sets on their relationship... If a man defines true goodness upon the lack of reward for good actions, How can Missy be rewarded with his friendship at the end of this if she achieves these goals he set? According to him, her doing this to be his friend again invalidates the purity of the action of goodness and she automatically fails. 

13 and Dhawan are merely the inevitable fall out but with some more narrative trauma added on for good measure. Missy and Twelve were the last ditch attempt to be together once more. The former are the explosions of grief and anger and misery now they both realise it’s not going to happen. They’re the natural conclusion to the tragedy arc Missy and Twelve were always going to turn out to be. To add to the confusion and misery, neither party is honest with the other when they meet again... The Master lies to the doctor to make her think the worst of him, to rub it in that they can’t be friends again because he supposedly cares more about being able to deal out violence and death than being friends again (literally everything Missy did negates this). The doctor then lashes out in response due to how much that hurt. 

In the end, Missy tries to be 12′s friend, tries to be his version of good, but in achieving a moment of selfless good she can’t be rewarded for it because that would invalidate it according to 12′s rules. Simm shooting her in the back and killing her means she achieved everything needed to be friends with the doctor again, being shot in the back is her success. It is not redemption, though. She’s not trying to be her own ideal of good, and she’s not trying to make up for past evils. She wishes to be 12′s friend. This does not invalidate the goodness of her actions in going back to stand with 12. People aren’t a monolith of good or evil, Missy can have her moment of selfless good and do terrible things afterwards and Still, the master will never Ever be able to erase that moment of good from their history. It is not invalidated, people are not that simple. 

In the end, Missy and 12 were just two people trying to make it work. I can’t see this as a redemption arc at all.. It’s a last ditch attempt at a relationship. In which case, the master returning and being violent doesn’t invalidate Missy... It acknowledges her. 

(* I know that, since the master is the master, you could say ‘hey maybe her idea of good is actually pretty sketch??? but i’d like to point out that Ryan, in the haunting of villa diodati, expresses a sentiment nigh on identical to Missy’s and Ryan’s a good guy! The point of that scene was, genuinely, to call 12 out on his arrogance. 13 rips into Ryan too. They’ve not learnt at all... But the fact stands, Missy had a valid opinion. She’s allowed to consider that good.)

[ssaalexblake]

Missy’s calling out 12′s view of good as arrogant was correct, and it’s why the doctor doomed their chance of being friends again Way before Missy ever had her moment of selfless good. If the only way to reach true benign goodness is to show it without hope, witness or reward then Missy Absolutely achieved what he demanded the master do for them to be friends again.

But. If there can be no witnesses or reward for her jumping over this final hoop then... How will he know about it for them to be friends again? 

Missy was not taking the doctor’s view of goodness as the ultimate conception of the ideal, she Tells him so. Missy continues to jump through hoops because, as she said, she wants to be friends and travel together as much as he does. 

So in fulfilling the doctor’s demands and ideals, the master cannot by definition ever become the doctor’s friend actively because of those demands and ideals. 12 set this fall up for himself. The Master was Right about the doctor’s ideal of goodness not being the final word on the matter but the master wasn’t Trying to be what they personally consider good to be, they were trying to be friends with the doctor again. It was what they wanted... But that’s a reward! If Missy gets a reward for what she did then according to the Doctor’s own ideals it no longer counts. 

It is the Classic Tragedy Narrative. It was always doomed to fail because if the next incarnation, AKA 13, Ever finds out what Missy did to end up their next regeneration they’ve failed the test because it has been witnessed and also likely rewarded. The doctor set themselves up for this fall, it was a tragedy from the start. Dhawan!Master being back on their evil bullshit isn’t an insult to the arc of Missy and Twelve, it’s Necessary for it to have its meaning. 

It was Always meant to be a tragedy story, it was never meant to end well, the doctor was never secretly thinking missy just went off to ditch simm, the doctor had to think they’d been betrayed to appease their own demands. They could never be friends and it’s because of the arrogance Missy called the doctor out on. 

[ssaalexblake]

also with 12/Missy and 13/Dhawan, The Doctor Falls is a tragedy? they thought they were getting close, but as far as they know they abandoned each other, and it makes me scratch my head that people don't want to make the simple connection that along with timeless child trauma, 13 and Dhawan-Master would feel the effects of it

ikr? Like, it was a tragedy... it may not be the easiest thing to watch and it really Does hurt because it actually Is painful to see them both try and be friends again and then struck down, never to know what really happened but... It's not a flaw if the arc is Trying to be a tragedy. It's not character assassination if characters aren't happy and all friendly in the aftermath of trauma.

idk, before s12 aired i sat and watched the rather large subset of people who were convinced Missy let 12 know she had a knife with the purpose of telling him she was just off to stab junior and was gonna come back afterwards with open confusion and a live and let live attitude because hey, it hurt, might as well make it less painful with headcanons and that's what fandom is for. However, now s12 Has aired said crowd that are apparently still convinced of this and are slamming the writing of 13 and dhawan for not being canonically consistent because they're enemies again instead of u know... Accepting that actually the doctor had No Idea what Missy did are less confusing and more openly irritating.

I mean. Again, live and let live but. If 12 had felt that knife and somehow deduced Missy was off to go and off junior, do we Really think he'd have been okay with that?? I mean, i personally would have had great sympathy for that aim but uh... I'm not him. 12 didn't know.

Like, the doctor thinks the master abandoned them to die in the dirt. The doctor thinks being evil matters to the master more than them being friends. For all 12 was a bad teacher due to his own ego and arrogance, he Massively put himself out when he didn't let them kill Missy and had to stay put and behave and couldn't run away because he Promised to keep watch, and that's a Huge concession in the name of keeping the master alive just because the doctor Cares. The doctor's not omniscient, all she has to go on is what she knows happened when all this went down at the end of s10 and what she knows is that Missy went off with Simm, effectively leaving 12 a lonely death in the dirt, and then literally next time they meet (in universe time, it has only been a single year since the events on the ship) he lies and tricks her just for the fun of it, he's tries to murder her friends (and her), is casually murdering random people all over the place, is trying to exterminate humanity in general and is saying to her face that being evil is what he's made for.

13 is the doctor who spent all of s11 talking about the power of hope, and then the master strolls onto center stage and rips it all away and she doesn't say that anymore. She's not all about hope anymore. He took that from her on purpose. Irrefutable evidence 12's hope was for nothing, rubbed gleefully in her face.

Like gee. How could 13 have Possibly reacted to him negatively.

The point is it was never supposed to be a happy story, 13 and dhawan are just the natural progression of that. The timeless child trauma exacerbated it because it made the master Want the doctor to be mad at them and made him lie so she'd think the worst of him. Who knows, maybe if he'd gone to see her and Not done all the bs she'd have been less angry... But we're never going to know.