best_enemies | Discussion and New Monthly Challenge: Three/Delgado!Master / Anon Meme Update 8

June Challenge: Three/Delgado!Master
Due first Sunday of July!

Given that we're still in the land of Confusing Old Skool, his month brings with it yet another breakdown/shippers manifesto for your convenience!

Fewer people have seen these episodes, so the summaries are more comprehensive. Am I hoping you'll be intrigued and go watch them yourself? No. No I wrote all this for my personal amusement. ...Go watch the damn episodes already. ;p

Plus since this runs long, I can just pillage it for the ship_manifesto. Multitasking! Woot!

If you have other highlights/observations re: the pairing, please do tell in comments!

Three Era: Terror of the Autons • The Mind of Evil • The Claws of Axos • Colony in Space • The Dæmons • The Sea Devils • The Time Monster • Frontier in Space

Episode Highlights:

The second Doctor, in his last serial, War Games, has a rough time of it. The Time Lord High Council destroys the Doctors' companions' memories of ever having traveled with him, and returns them to their homes. The Council then kills Two, forces him to regenerate into Three, and burns the knowledge of how to operate or fix his TARDIS out of him and exile him to earth. He finds berth at UNIT as their scientific adviser, and saves the world a parcel of times.

Enter the Master, who is either 1) getting the jump on the Doctor when he's down/taking advantage of the Doctor being stuck in one point in space-time to harass him, 2) visiting to relieve the Doctor's tedium via scheming right under his nose out of a warped sense of compassion (not a far-fetched position to take, given the game-like nature of their contests in this era, and the Master's attempts to get the Doctor to rule with rather than fight against him), 3) here for the alimony payments the Doctor has skipped out on, or 4) some combination of the above.

Terror of the Autons: The Stalking Begins!

* The Master's grand first entrance is pretty sweet in and of itself. He jumps out of a circus trailer, intimidates the owner of the circus with information about his past (the first of many signs that he's done Way Too Much Research on the Doctor, what he's doing, and the time period he's occupying in preparation for this), and possibly hypnotizes him into submission. Then he steals the Plot Object From A Previous Episode (again, someone's been checking up the Doctor) and proceedes to do something you'll be watching the rest of Delgado!Master's run: Summon Shit. Somebody wanted to be a wizard (I'd peg him for a Saruman sympathizer) as a child very, very badly.

* The high council sends the Doctor a special representative to warn him that the Master is headed to Earth, and obviously there for his ass. In a killing-him way. Maybe. Basically it is a singing telegram of 'Boyfriend's Back.' Three, out of nowhere, insults the Master's lack of originality, which seems... in no way true of the Master, really. I mean yes, he's chock full of character flaws, but 'being prosaic' doesn't really jump to the front of the queue. Bertie Wooster!Time Lord reminds the Doctor that the Master got better grades, to the Doctor's chagrin, and points out the over-intricate death trap the Master has lovingly rigged up for him.Aw. He still cares.

* The Doctor just knows to open the vanished scientists' lunch box to discover the tiny body the Master has hidden within it for him to find, like a Wonder Ball toy. You conclude from this that they know each other Too Well. The whole thing has an extra dimension of weird because there was a discussion between Now Tiny Scientist and his colleague in the previous scene about his wife packing lunches for him, and the unintentional parallels abound. Their Ex-Husbands dynamic will only get better/worse from here.

* The Master admits to hypnotized assistant du jour that the bomb he sent to the Doctor wasn't even supposed to kill him--it's a 'greetings card, a gentlemanly invitation on the eve of battle.' During this episode in conversations with other people they pinpoint each other's character weaknesses with ease, the Doctor getting in the (very true) point that the Master's latest scheme is "Vicious, complicated and inefficient--typical of your way of thinking." This is mixed with intellectual fan-boying of near-silly porportions.

* Back at the circus, the Doctor steals the bit of the Master's TARDIS that he needs to make his work. This fails, but it occurs to him later that stealing it strands the Master on earth as well. He finds this funny, and is not even slightly displeased that he and the Master will be sharing a very small planet.

* The Master's second attempt to kill him via intermediaries fails, and he confides in That Same Lackey that "I admire him, in many ways." Also, "the more he (the Doctor) struggles to postpone the moment, the greater the eventual satisfaction." The lackey is too hypnotized to tell the Master that's a bit TMI.

* Seeing that he'll have to manage this himself, the Master shows up in the Doctor's lab to kill him. Or not, as he dickers about it and talks about how he'll miss the Doctor when he's gone, says it's a pity the Doctor won't be there to watch his conquest, and then leaves a long, long pause in which the Doctor could feel free to pipe up and ask to stick around for that. He doesn't oblige the Master. A thin excuse arrives for the Master not to kill the Doctor, but instead to make with the light bondage. His decision is a difficult one, and it takes him some time to deliberate on this. *eyeroll* Two seconds later the Doctor is tied and gagged--the Master just happened to have the necessary supplies on him? Oh, what a crazy coincidence.

* The Doctor points out that the Master's attempt to Summon Shit of the week will result in his death as well as trouble for earth. Which should have been obvious to the Master, and probably WAS, as without any bickering they work together to head off the Auton invasion.

* The Master escapes. Like he does. The Doctor smiles about it and later tells the Brigadier and Jo that he's looking forward to their next encounter. Horrible codependency that gets people killed right and left has never been so cute.

Shit Summoned: Autons
Degree of Success: "Shit, what was I thinking?"
Marriage Proposals: .3 : "Feel free to marry me. Like, at any point. That's just on the table. ...yep."

The Mind of Evil: Psychological Hurt-Comfort Fanfic avec Bondage on Film

A/N If I made a Top Ten of my favorite Who eps, this would be on it.

* The Master, stuck on earth, already had in his TARDIS a psychic fear parasite for his next game with the Doctor, indicating that 1) he either anticipated not killing the Doctor and planned accordingly or 2) he didn't actually intend to kill the Doctor, which makes sense considering the ease with which he folded at the end of the last episode.

* The Master wants the Doctor to help him control the psychic fear parasite, and also to torture him a little bit with it. The Doctor gets severely hurt and the Master flips his shit at the thought that he might actually have endangered the Doctor's life and immediately begins doing chest compressions, only to coo over the Doctor when he regains consciousness.

* Through the course of events it's revealed that the Master's greatest fear is the Doctor laughing at him/dismissing him/not considering him worthy of attention. It is enough to send him cowering, but he still manages to disable the parasite. I find this bit of characterization really fascinating.

* The Master insists, despite the Doctor's protests, that the Doctor is strong enough to handle the machine. He seems to believe the Doctor is less vulnerable to the parasite than he would be, which would represent an interesting reliance on the Doctor's moral purity (and thus lack of enervating sources of fear). He also seems to want the Doctor to acknowledge his own strength, and reminds him that they're both Time Lords: it's a clear prelude to getting him to acknowledge that thus they should thus be ruling the universe together, especially given that the Master is going to ~~propose~~ ask him to do just that in a few episodes.

* The lackeys even hurting the Doctor while throwing him back into his cell is apparently Not Cool. Also the Master passive-agressively asks Jo to take care of his...something. His Something is very important to him.

* He gets the Doctor to colaborate with him on his science project (spot the Three/Master leitmotif!), complete with him neurotically worrying whether the machine will work and the Doctor 'yes, dear'ing him like a pro. They work incredibly well together--they grok how each other's minds work perfectly. After congragulating the Doctor on his intelligence/stroking his ego a bit when the machine does indeed work, the Master orders him taken back to his cell. The Doctor looks shocked and hurt, like he suddenly remembers they're not on the same side, and spends the next scene sulking about it, explaining to Jo that he's "tired, physically and mentally."

*Later the Master telephones the Doctor, allowing the Doctor to try and convince him not to launch his missile, and then agreeing not to do it if the Doctor will come to him alone with the stolen TARDIS part. The Master is so distracted by the Doctor petting his ego about how well the plan's going that he almost gets missile'd. Then he calls to assure the Doctor that he's alive and well, and to gloat about how the Doctor has no working TARDIS and can't come out to play.

Shit Summoned: Psychic Parasite of Fear and Maaaaadness
Degree of Success: "I'm stronger than you! ...wait, wait, maybe not."
Marriage Proposals: .5 : "Courtship! Laying the groundwork!"

The Claws of Axos: Bureaucrats and Americans and Spaghetti Monsters/Lobster Claws, Oh My!

* The Master convinces the Axos/Thing That Has Captured Him to bring him to Earth ~~where he has a boyfriend who can break him out of their captivity~~ for reasons unknown.

* The Doctor's TARDIS console is filthy. The Master's horrified disdain is that of every neat married person with a partner who just can't keep his workshop clean ever. It is as epic as it is adorable.

* The Master has the best snarky line of the day, delivered to the Brigadier re: nuclear apocalypse. "Well, you could try the usual precautions. Sticky tape on the windows, that sort of thing."

* Again with the Co-operation!Cuteness, with them huddling over components and repairing the TARDIS together. Then the Doctor offers to escape the planet with the Master. He doesn't mention what they'll be doing after that, and uses the Master's own rationale ("Why not? We're both Time Lords."), demonstrating acceptance of his earlier point. So they're going to be living together for an indefinite period, on (at least partially) the Master's terms. He's wary, but seemingly very willing.

* The Doctor is worried about the Master trying to leave without him. The Doctor clearly hasn't been watching the same show we are. There's a cute moment where the Doctor's frantically trying to replace the component he accidentally forgot to replace in the proper order before the Master turns around to catch him doing it. No such luck. Much embarrassment and lulz are had.

* The Doctor double crosses the Master, though he does manage to get him back to his own TARDIS. The Master sulks about "leaving the Doctor to his new alliance," looking like he's been punched in the gut. After bitchily snarking at the Doctor about it, he tries to screw the Doctor over with the Axos/escape in the process

Shit Summoned: Axos
Degree of Success: "Spaghetti monsters and Lobster Bondage: Less sexy than it sounds."
Marriage Proposals: -1 : "Why you double-crossing bastard!"

Colony in Space: Old-Fashioned Romantics do Edge Play

* Non-renegade Time Lords are counsulting about the Master, who's succeeded in stealing their entire data mainframe, the Matrix, right out from under them (which impresses me, given how scary-ass the Time Lords can be in this era--remember War Games?) and is apparently off to fetch a Doomsday Device. They fling the Doctor and his TARDIS at the problem with zero explanation as to why his TARDIS finally getting off planet has Strings Attached. Time Lords are not huge on personal rights.

* The Master shows up in disguise as an Adjudicator. He and the Doctor bicker. The Master gets in some good TCE-pointing-and-threatening. Everyone who's ever come within 50 yards of Freudian literary analysis rolls their eyes.

*The Doctor and Jo break into the Master's TARDIS. Jo trips a security system, and the Master watches them a bit on his nifty watch-cum-security camera linkup. He non-lethally gasses the pair, and heads over. If you think the Doctor is probably the only reason his security system even has that non-lethal setting, you are probably right. He revives the Doctor almost tenderly with a little oxygen mark--it is clear this is Doing Something for him.

* Using Jo as leverage to acquire some company/get directions, the Master and the Doctor go visit the ancient city where the weapon is. They have a cute archeological geek-out over some cave drawings/play Indiana Jones. Upon actually finding it, the Master explains the weapon's power to the Doctor, which leads us to:

* The Master, with zero visible alternate motivation/plot justification, asks the Doctor to rule the universe at his side using the power of the weapon. The Doctor is not keen on autocratic dictatorship. The Master tries desperately to make him understand, even throwing in that the Doctor could reign benevolently, save the universe. There are only those who rule and those who serve in this universe, the Master explains, and he and the Doctor are so uber-mensch. It is at this point you understand as a viewer that the Master has the marriage certificate all ready, just waiting in one of those cabinets back in his TARDIS, only lacking the Doctor's signature and needing to be dropped off with the proper authorities.

* The aliens behind the Doomsday Device show up, more than a little unhappy that their super-weapon is being used as a bargaining chip in the galaxy's messiest divorce proceedings. Both men have to run like hell. The Master, throughly snubbed, manages to sneak off. Most people would slink off the lick their wounds after this level of crushing rejection. The Master is back next week, albeit significantly colder. His is the obsessive, love-starved Brave Little Toaster of Ego-Maniacal Would-Be Dictators.

Shit Summoned: Nothing this week! Unless you count the actual Gollum-wannabe owners of the super-weapon, summoned to chase off those pesky kids from their underground city/lawn.
Degree of Success: No doomsday device, no June wedding, no new world order led by Master and his boyfriend: sigh.
Marriage Proposals: 2 : One for just asking, another for arguing the point after getting thoroughly declined, out-performing Mr. Darcy and his ilk with all the persistence of the Little Engine that Could Obsess About His Ex.

The Daemons: Role-Playing, Commitment Phobia, and the Master in Very Silly Red Dress-Robes

*Who does trendy Seventies satanistm. While in many ways a highly entertaining episode (an attempt to burn the Doctor as a witch, creative use of maypole, the village from The Village, and the pure batshit awesome of one Olive Hawthorne with her Fertility Dance assure fun), not a good Master episode per se. Character-wise, he kind of gets Eaten By Trope. He and the Doctor get little confrontational screen time, which is the entire fun of a good Master episode.

* His attempts to get this incarnation at least of the Doctor killed seem more like he might mean it than at any other point in this era: Master spurned is a giant bitch.

* He does get to dress up and be a kind of hot, persuasive Evil Vicar for one scene, though. And the Doctor does get to Run Screaming From Responsibility. Must be Tuesday.

* Nearly the very end, as Master's getting hauled off to prison, delivered in awkwardly sultry tones:
Doctor (on Master): "Look after him. I'll want to deal with him later." *concern to smolder*
Master: "Do you, Doctor?" *leer to smirk*

Shit Summoned: ...Daemons, guys. It's Daemons.
Degree of Success: In Jail.
Marriage Proposals: None! The Master doesn't need him! "I Will Survive" is playing in his head on constant loop. During the Ainley era, this will be replaced by Best of Queen.

The Sea Devils, or Prison Sex

* The Doctor and Jo come to visit imprisoned!Master. The Time Lords bicker and make fun of Other People comfortably. The Doctor asks if there's anything he can do for him. The Master asks him to visit him. They awkwardly manouvre their way out of the Parting Hand Shake of Psychic Vulnerability.

* Jo accuses the Doctor of simply being worried about the Master. The Doctor cops to it, and says "Well, he was a friend of mine once... a very good friend... in fact you might almost say were were at school together."

Which is such an anti-climax it's an obvious dodge away from something else. OR-- Jo with her good family is probably of the class of British Public School goers. And, though I don't think the writer necessarily meant it like /that/, there's good reason for the stereotype about what goes on in that era of boys' Public School. "We were at school together" can be read as a pretty direct coded statement. Funnily enough one Jo's background is particularly keyed in to understanding.

* The Master's love of children's television is established with him cooing in fascination at The Clangers. It is pretty unequivocally cute.

* The Time Lords have themselves a giant, gratuitous sword fight, in which the Master has the Doctor writhing on the table to avoid blows. The Doctor takes the Master's sword, steals a bite of the Master's sandwich from the table, and mentions that violent exercise always makes him hungry. The Doctor then gives the sword back because he's having fun and he's not done yet. This is accompanied by an overtly come-hither little pout. They are either doing conjugal visits wrong or having the BEST CONJUGAL VISITS EVER.

* The Doctor planting the swords in the table and tsking at him is pretty priceless. The Master throws a knife at the Doctor for Being Sanctimonious and misses by a mile--we know from King's Demons that he's too good with knives for that to have been anything but petulence.

* The Master's lackeys come in and the Master convinces everyone of the Total Necessity of locking up the Doctor here in the prison with him so he can handcuff him and whisper gloats in his ear. The Master admits he's only doing this whole thing for the pleasure of watching the human race exterminated--"the human race of which you are so fond." The Master's jealous of an entire species for taking the Doctor's attention away from him.

* The Master saves the Doctor from getting offed by the Silurians so they can do another science project (surprise!), smirking in self-satisfaction when the Doctor seemingly starts helping in earnest. The Doctor distracts the Master from his counter-plan with a caressing side-grope that sends the Master skittering off to fetch him some supplies, and possibly a latte (or a condom). The Doctor is a manipulative bitch.

* The Master could off the Doctor now that the work's complete, and in fact the Sea Devils offer to do it for him, but he's entirely unwilling to do so. In fact, the Doctor's coming with him.

* The Doctor and the Master have a massive jet-ski chase. Yes. Yes, they do. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But it's awesome.

* Both of them get thrown into the brig by double-crossing Sea Devils. The Doctor makes fun of him for loosing his touch. They escape together, with a good degree of camraderie. The Master fakes a heart attack and escapes in a military hover-boat thing. The Doctor looks about as unsurprised as it's possible to be.

Shit Summoned: Guess.
Degree of Success: "Wait, but I was helping you! You can't imprison m--dammit."
Marriage Proposals: None, still sulking from Colony in Space.

The Time Monster: Greek Vices and Even More Married than Previously

* The Doctor has a dream of lying on a velvet chaise lounge surrounded by big, thick, red marble columns while a giant Master leers down at him, laughing, saying things like "Welcome to your new Master!" There are volcanoes, earthquakes and lightening bolts. I don't feel that I need to explain that this is his obvious!sex dream. He needs a calming cup of tea after.

* The Master is disguised as a Greek science professor, conducting his experiments in England, almost on top of UNIT, exactly where the Doctor will find him, because he is a total attention whore.

* The Doctor tries to get everyone to step up the search for the Master based on his sexy dream. UNIT is not impressed with this rationale.

* The Doctor makes a giant penis-shaped other-TARDIS detector, grips it in his hand, and lets its jerks and vibrations lead him to the Master. Not awash with subtlety, you two.

* Master *hates* it when people interrupt him in the middle of his extra-dimensional maths! AUGH!

* Both Time Lords have the same thought and say the same sentence in different rooms at the exact same times. "Logically, it just shouldn't happen!" They are so made for each other it is a little sick.

* The Doctor builds a 'time-flow analogue' from wine corks, keys and various junk to futz with the Master's project, grinning and explaining to the assembled that the two of them used to do this at school to spoil each other's time experiments. The Master is significantly less amused by this bit of nostalgia and blows up the Doctor's toy.

* A joke is exchanged about Jo's coccyx. The banter turns a bit vicious, and the Master shuts off the audio, watching the Doctor figure out that he's done so with no little glee. He explainins to his lackey that the Doctor is brilliant, but can't bear not to have the last word and will be "out like a shot" just as soon as he realizes the Master's not listening to him moan. The Doctor rigs up an alternate intercom to make him listen. Childishly, the Master reverses the Doctor's speech, running it backwards. This is the sort of argument you only have after years of arguments. They are more married than any six married couples put together.

* The Master throws the Doctor into the Time Vortex. He gets all excited about it, claiming that it's 'living death.' As we see from five minutes later in the episode, retrieving him from it simply involves scooping him up. It's pretty easy to conclude the Master is all talk, and was just going to pick him up on the way back from Atlantis. The eyeroll quotient at the Master's 'I'm Totally Going To Kill You... Except For How I Never Do' schtick is pretty high in this episode.

* The Doctor saved and all that, the Master attempts to charm a woman to get what he wants. His "you are beautiful" is said in the same tone you would use to compliment someone on their new kitchen renovations. It's pretty lulzy.

* The Doctor gives maybe one of my favorite monologues in Who in this episode about a crisis when he was a young man that he calls the blackest day of his life, and what he did to get through it. Possibly he's lamenting the day his boyfriend went evol, or when his emo poetry failed to get into the lit mag. Either way, the Daisiest Daisy: I love it.

* The Master's whole 'I'll kill the Doctor in the morning' has devolved into the Doctor being chained at the right-hand foot of his throne like a snarky, inconvenient beloved pet.

* Fleeing Atlantis due to some complications with Kronos the Time Bird Thing, the Master declares the Doctor's probably dead, thinks for a moment and says he'll miss him. Jo says something witty, and he says it's almost worthy of the Doctor. He starts in on how he should have killed the Doctor long ago. Doctor, Doctor, Doctor: it's clear that within ten minutes this monologue is going to devolve into the whole desperate confusion of the "Cosmos without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about" Ainley!Master quote. I always want to see what the Master looks like not a minute, but a half an hour after he thinks he's killed the Doctor For Real This Time. My guess is he'd panic and flip his shit at about the seven minute mark, and be wondering how he could break into the Matrix again, steal bio-data and clone himself a new boy friend around minute fifteen...

* Case in point: he's delighted when the Doctor survives, giggling about it and congratulating the Doctor's mad survival skillz.

* The Master and the Doctor decide to 'Time Ram,' (snort) the Master having declared that he's "not the Doctor's performing poodle." ...um. No. Obviously not. That's just a pet name, clearly meant in jest...

* Kronos (who is a woman as well as a bird: trufax), catches Team Time Ram, and is none too happy about the Master's attempts to control her. She and the Doctor bond a bit over that. The Master begs the Doctor to save his life, and the Doctor chooses the Master's life and freedom as his reward from Kronos. The Master thanks him honestly, and then runs like hell.

Shit Summoned: Kronos. Who is as free as a bird.
Degree of Success: And this bird you cannot chaaaaaaaange! Also the begging for his life... No, he's had better days.
Marriage Proposals: There's something about choosing the way to Unimaginable Glory, but it's kind of left at that...

Frontier in Space: Val Jean/Javert Role Play

* The Master tries to break the Doctor and Jo out of prison. It fails and the Doctor is sent to Hard Core prison on the moon. Terrified that someone will sodomize the Doctor who isn't him, the Master collects Jo and runs to the Doctor's rescue. Literally, as it turns out the Doctor was about to choke to death in a sabotoged air lock.

Master: "I do hope that you're alright, Doctor. I'd hate you to come to any harm, you know." *LEER*
Doctor: *GLARE*

* The Master abducts Doctor and Jo onto his own space ship (Where's his TARDIS? I don't know either!) and starts in on how the Doctor's "health is very precious to me." He says something about wanting to keep the Doctor alive for now and later something promising the Doctor to his employers after the scheme is complete. But as it later becomes clear that he had no intention of staying loyal to his employers long enough to complete said scheme, we're left to conclude he just wants to keep the Doctor alive and his prisoner for his own reasons? There is dark!fic gold here, I swear.

* After a request that the Doctor "surrender himself to him immediately," (Just... just get a room. This is getting ridicuous.) the Doctor gets the Master's gun out of his hand using his belt as a whip. The Master looks pretty intrigued by this.

* Canon: the Doctor know what the Master looks like when he's sleeping well enough to be able to tell when he's feigning sleep.

* Master: *some bullshit about law and order and peace*
Doctor: *rubbing the Master's shoulder from behind his back* "Are you feeling alright, old chap?"
Master: *irritable step away, complete with miffed 'Not while I'm working, pumpkin!' look*

*Back on the spaceships, Master insists on taking the Doctor alive if at all possible, because killing him with guns and lasers is just so impersonal.

* In the confusion of a crowd, the Master shoots the Doctor with his pistol--it looks like it may have been an accident. This is the last we get of Delgado!Master.

Shit Summoned: OMGWTFDALEKS
Degree of Success: See, to evaluate that, I'd need to be able to tell what the Master was trying to do.
Marriage Proposals: "After I get rid of the Daleks, I'm still keeping you. Where do you want to honeymoon?"

Overall Dynamic:

Brilliant, bitchy, co-dependent scientists in love. They fuse the Totally Married dynamic with uncomfortable levels of UST and a 'Holmes and Moriarty' vibe. They have awesome banter and chemistry that an episode summary can't adequately convey. You can really see their old best-friendship right beneath the surface of all their interactions.

They work together well: they and have a habit of slipping into admiring each other/cooing over their random scientific projects/discoveries, as if they briefly forget they're nominally trying to kill each other. They compliment each other (the Doctor riding confidently over the Master's neurotic worrying in The Mind of Evil is a good example, or the Master coming up with all the plans he inevitably ropes the Doctor into assisting him with, where the Doctor is usually content to float on without that kind of initiative), and they fit together terribly well.

Whatever the Master's specific reasons for coming to earth (over and over again), it's clear they hinge on the Doctor. versaphile was kind enough to post this incredibly slashy article from Doctor Who Magazine 150 (A vibe so strong that even the production establishment can see it. For real.) on the Pertwee era, which is an interesting take on the game-playing dynamic

The Doctor is pretty responsive to the Master's obsessive attentions. You could describe him as complicit: he takes a great deal of pleasure in a battle of wits which routinely gets innocent bystanders killed. He seems to goad the Master by co-operating: playing his games right back and sending ambivalent signals. This prompts the Master to keep coming back to try his luck again when the Doctor denies him. How aware the Doctor is of his own behavior and its consequences is a bit of a mystery. Maybe he's bored, lonely, and terrible at properly telling the Master 'no'?

The Doctor's balder rejection in Colony in Space ushers in a change in their relationship: for the first time it begins to seem like the Master means a few of his death threats, or is at least angry enough with this particular regeneration of the Doctor to try to kill him in earnest.

They function as equals, inverses and mirrors for each other, with uncanny similarities in how they think and a deep, rational moral divide in how they perceive the world. Delgado!Master is arguably sociopathic, but he's rarely insane in the way his later incarnations can be, coming off as more amoral than immoral. The Master's bottom line is that he'd like the rule the universe jointly with the Doctor. The Doctor doesn't seem to have as clear a motivating purpose, especially as regards the Master, but he certainly can't countenance picking out his-and-his thrones, which puts them rather at an impasse.

Interestingly, they're probably the easiest of their regenerations' big pair-ups to force together cleanly and at all happily in fic. They both seem too interested not to be aware that they are. The Master has yet to oh, say, wipe out a third of the universe, or otherwise do the kind of thing that would make the Doctor's forgiveness that much harder to achieve. The Master actively seeks the Doctor's partnership in his endeavors.

How different from canon would it even be? They already act so. damn. married. half the time.

Optional Prompt List:

Haunted House
Library
Experimental Trials
Desert
Reichenbach Falls
Poetry
Occult

Fanfiction Recommendations:
Here's a not-completely-comprehensive list of all the Three/Master fic on lj. Most of which is Delgado!Master.

If you know any good Three/Delgado!Master fic you'd like to specifically pimp, please comment with FANFICTION REC in the subject line and link to it with at least one full sentence on:
1) what it captures well about the pairing, and
2) why it's good.
Thus we can learn from people who've got good stuff going on, the better to write our own fic, and get some good reading material.

Discussion Questions:

The Rules: Be freely off topic and respond to any you feel like! Or none! Or just write comment crack/porn, since I had a lot of fun reading that last time and maybe you did too?

Think these questions are lame? I'm running out and we never talk about the actual questions anyway. Feel free to offer up some of your own in the comments and I'll edit the posts accordingly.

1. Do you think the Master intended to hit him in Frontier as a sort of Parthian Shot, or was it a result of getting jostled/complete accident? What the crap was Master even doing in that episode?

2. How do you read Three's motivation regarding the Master throughout all this? He doesn't seem to wish the Master would simply just go away throughout many of their encounters, nor does he seem able to ethically commit himself to working something out with him. Does he have any idea of what he wants? Does he think about it at all or sweep it under the rug entirely while he focuses on Master's Pet Monster of the Week? Does he lead the Master on at all? If so, does he know he's doing so? Does he bear moral responsibility either for causing or encouraging the Master's always-deadly-for-someone visits?

3. Why doesn't the Doctor bother to explain his plan to the Master in Axos, when there's a good chance the Master would have been on board for just going to retrieve his TARDIS? Does the Doctor owe the Master an explanation for lying to him about being willing to come with him, or has the Master himself negated any such right by knowingly directing the Axos to Earth and previously pulling Monster of the Week bullshit? Why does the Master believe the Doctor's willing to give the humans over entirely/finally going to come with him *now* when he's previously been so clearly morally self-obligated to defend them?