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Five Reasons Doctor/Master Is The Best Dr. Who Pairing (And One Way To Make It Better)
So, you may have noticed I've been talking about the Master and the Doctor quite a lot lately. That's because they are awesome, and they are evil ex-BFs across all centuries and galaxies and universes. Honestly, I swear. So I give you a recs post, which had the working title "Recs List of Doomy Doom". There are five recs under each of the five categories, and also I will be sneaking a sixth category at the end, because this is Dr. Who fandom and you can always sneak in an extra S6. This is by no means *complete* - you should read all fics by all writers rec'd (I stuck to one fic per writer) - and then you should go read everything else under the Doctor/Master tag on my del.icio.us. Many of these are standards in the fandom, but not all of them, and some are actually far more obscure than they should be.
Also, this recs list is so awesome that it has its own *soundtrack*. Of songs that were too shippy to go on my Master playlist. Click on the category titles: download the songs!
1. (Emmylou Harris) Bang the Drum Slowly : Post "Last of the Time Lords" fixit fic.
I meant to ask you how to fix that car / I always meant to ask you about the war / And what you saw across a bridge too far / Did it leave a scar
Because the only slash cliche this pairing hadn't covered yet was dying in each others' tearful embrace. Thank you, Rusty, for that.
And because this is the fandom that denies canon so blithely they often don't even bother to mark "post-LotTL AU" in the headers. Which is perfectly reasonable, considering that *canon* denies canon so blithely. Past this section, assume that any given fic may be blithely assuming a "The Master Didn't Die" AU. Everybody knows the Master isn't dead for good anyway.
New Dawn Fades by
omphalos
Warnings: Long, hard PG-13, Ten/Simm, Jack/Romana. The sex never gets too explicit, but some of the violence and general torment gets pretty bad.
Summary: In which the Master never died, the Doctor is in denial (about a great many things), Jack is more important than he knows, there are plans for a new Time Lord empire, and things rapidly get out of hand.
Notes: This fic shamelessly manipulates your emotions, but the highs are so high and the lows are so low, and it is so epic in general, and Jack and Romana get to be so amazing in it, it's worth the fact that I want to kill the author at about the third chapter from the end every time I read it.
Doctor Who Season Four byariastar
Warnings: Long, Ten/Simm, soft PG-13
Summary: "In which the Doctor and the Master have dysfunctional adventures in time and space, Martha becomes a fully qualified doctor, Leo Jones wonders what all the fuss is about, the Torchwood team recounts Himalayan hijinks, and Lucy Saxon refuses to let the averted end of the world sideline her."
Notes: Fluff! Fluffy fluff fluffy! Fluffy octopodes with tentacles, that's how fluffy! As fluffy as you can get and still have Doctor and Master IC, which is actually quite a lot, if you do it right, which ariastar does. Also, lots of fantastic screen time for the other S3 characters, and really fun SF plotting and worldbuilding both in stand-alone-ish and the overarching plots.
The Pandora Project bycalapine
Warnings: Long, Ten/Simm, soft PG-13
Summary: "At the end of series three, the Doctor and the Master end up travelling together and totally manage not to destroy each other or the universe. More or less. Meanwhile, Martha gets a job offer from UNIT, Jack fails to realise his team are a bit useless, and there's a giant squid for no good reason whatsoever."
Notes: Another fun alternate season with the Doctor and Master having hijinks on the TARDIS while Jack and Martha are awesome on Earth. I especially like the way Jack and Martha react to the Master in this one. And UNIT. And a giant squid, for no good reason. Less epic than the first two I rec'd, but the last parts tie in cleverly with Old Who mythology.
Within Reach bybeizy
Warnings: Mid-length, Ten/Simm, soft PG-13
Summary: In which the Doctor gets the Master's ring, but he gets a few other things he didn't expect, too.
Notes: This is just your basic Master and Doctor travelling about in the TARDIS and messing about story, but the best done of the lot, I think, and has a very good slightly-less-insane-but-still-Simm!Master in it, and realistic working out of the relationship.
Puzzle Pieces byquazonic
Warnings: Mid-length, Ten/Simm, Torchwood, R (dark, consent issues)
Summary: "Jack watches from afar as the Master makes the Doctor feel as much a prisoner as himself."
Notes: This is a very interesting Jack POV, utilizing time-twisting, CCTV, and the Rift to give us a perspective on a very *un*-fluffy version of post-S3 Master/Doctor. Which there's no shortage of, but by using the POV she uses, she manages to show just how bad it gets without portraying it in a way that fetishizes it (the ones that do fetishize it go a couple categories down. :D ) And real without making it grindingly depressing or tragic.
2. (Spike Jones) My Old Flame : Other Doctors and other Masters, schoolboy!fic and looping timelines.
My old flame / My new lovers all seem so tame / They won't even let me strangle them!
Because the Doctor and the Master have forty years, five media, and about twenty bodies' worth of subtext, and if you thought tSoD/LotTL was it, you ain't seen nothin' yet. (If you want some more canon background for these, try the
best_enemies lj community, which is all about the Master and the Doctor's forty-year love affair and has help for getting caught up. Warning: From here on in, these recs could include any possible permutation of Doctors and Masters. However, you really don't need any more than the basics for these: I read the fic first, caught up on the show later, and it worked fine.
The Monster in the Dark, bynemo-everbeing
Warnings: Long, Seven/Catboy!Master, Ace. PG-13 for violence and crazy, no sex
Summary: "Some things must be dealt with, and Ace put off dealing with the cheetah virus until it was almost too late. The Doctor must enlist some unconventional and unwanted help to pull her through."
Notes: No out-and-out slash, but lots of chewy Doctor and Master relationshippy stuff, which is close enough. The Doctor and the Master have to fight their way through Ace's mindscape, and learn some things about themselves on the way. Heavy on the Seven plot-spoilers, but you don't need to have seen the episodes. And Ace is awesome. And so are Seven and Catboy!Master (Catboy!Master is canon, which is why canon is awesome.)
Nemo the Everbeing's other fic (mostly Seven/Ace) is here under the Stories tag on the LJ.
Waterloo, byaralias
Warnings: Mid-length, Five/Ainley, PG-13 for the Master being the Master, blatant hurt/comfort fluff.
Summary: "Ainley!Master nursing Five back to health with chicken soup."
Notes: So ... yes, it's more or less just what the summary says, but yet stays very much in-character, because really? Fivey and Ainley!Master had basically this for their onscreen relationship, only with slightly less kissng, at least up until the point they let the angst get out of control. If it weren't for the giant otters, this could have slotted into canon right before "The King's Demons." (Five held the title of "The Pretty One" until Tennant took it, btw, so he gets a lot of the fluff and h/c in this pairing, but he wears it so *well*.)
Things to Do in Gallifrey When You're Bored byfantasyjax
Warnings: Mid-length, Theta/Koschei, PG for mention of sex, fluff.
Summary: The Academy is boring, so Theta Sigma and Koschei find other ways to occupy themselves.
Notes: So in Master/Doctor fandom, Theta/Koschei means Doctor/Master back when they were kids and went to school together (or occasionally when they were out of school but hadn't earned titles yet.) Theta is the Doctor's school nickname, and it's book canon that the Master was called Koschei, although the fics generally ignore everything else in book canon. Yes, that's right, Doctor/Master gets *boarding school fic*. All we really know about their time at the Academy was that Theta slacked off on his schoolwork and he and wee!Master caused lots of trouble together, and that they were both in Slytherin (Well, Prydon. But "the devious and powerful chapter?" Yeah.) So for anyone who was ever in Marauders fandom in Harry Potter, *this is for you*.
Mask of Indifference bycsg1
Warnings: Short, Nine/Simm, PG-13
Summary: "Whilst waiting for the Doctor to arrive, the Master meets his previous incarnation."
Notes: This is Nine, right before he meets Rose, waking up from the Time War. So, I love Nine, and I possibly have a bit of a thing for Dom!Doctor (...as the next section will amply demonstrate), but that's okay, because I'm pretty sure the Master has a thing for that too, and Simm!Master is pretty when he's flustered.
Sweet Are the Uses bybagheera-san
Warnings: Mid-length, Three/Delgado, PG-13 for sex, angst
Summary: "In one of the darker hours of the Third Doctor's exile on Earth, the Master makes an offer."
Notes: The thing with Three is that he's been cut off from the Time Lords and locked out of the TARDIS, and the Master is his only connection to that whole life. And the Master drops in on him to keep him company a *lot*. These are my Doctor and my Master, and this fic captures the perfectly dysfunctional yet entirely functional relationship they've got. Also, the mind!sex is hot like whoa and not your cliche mind!sex, either.
3. (Georgia Gibbs) Kiss of Fire: Kink!
Just like a torch you set my soul within me burning / I must go on along the road, no returning
Because - well, seriously, one of the people in the pairing is called "The Master"; did you really think we wouldn't go there? Also they are both deliciously screwed up, and also not human, and also in the most cracky fandom since DC Comics; the potential for good, hard, in-character kink is endless. Assume all fics below this section have general kink warnings. And when these warnings say BDSM, they *mean* it. (this set is all Ten/Simm, but there is kink for other combinations - I was hobbled by trying to get in as many different good authors as I could. Also, no one else takes it quite as *far* as fast as Ten and Simm.)
Eclipsing Binary byastrogirl
Warnings: Short, Ten/Simm, R, consent issues, power play
Summary: The Master has lured the Doctor to him with threats. They've done it a hundred times before. But not usually like this.
Notes: This is very much the least kinky of this set - I've set them up in more-or-less ascending order - but the motivation it paints for them is great, and it's a good primer on the way Master/Doctor works.
Going Steady byth-esaurus
Warnings: Short, Ten/Simm, R for non-con
Summary: The Doctor has an invite to tea with the Prime Minister. Well, that's what he thinks, anyway.
Notes: There's actually a surprising lack of non-con in the fandom. Probably because after LotTL, it's hard to imagine the Doctor saying "No". He doesn't say "no" this time either, but the Master's talented enough to make it non-con anyway.
Parallax byvioletisblue & jonquil
Warnings: Long, Ten/Simm, R for explicit BDSM sex, first-to-second-person POV
Summary: "The Doctor and the Master travel to a planet full of bunnies, and then proceed to screw like them. (Not with them, though, that'd be darkfic.)"
Notes: This starts out as fluffy crack with gratuitous Watership Down references, but very quickly mutates into some of the hottest consensual BDSM I have ever read in any fandom, and stays there all the way to the aftercare. With deep character stuff underneath and interesting SF concepts for adornment, which are almost as rare.
The Sickathon, fics by various.
Warnings: Collection of shorts, Master/Doctor (various), very very NC-17, consent issues and bdsm and murder and regeneration during sex, oh yes.
Summary: Eleven stories (and still going), on the common theme of regeneration during sex. Various takes on that theme, but all hot hot hot (if you're in to that sort of thing.)
Notes: This is the first fandom I've been in since "Highlander" where getting killed during sex was something that a character could do more than once, but in DW really it's even *hotter* because it's not just physical death, it's true death-and-rebirth, killing a person and making a new one, and that's *sex*, that is sex, that is eros, taking someone else into you and ending yourself so you can reshape yourself around them -- And -- yeah, perhaps these hit my id to hard to be rational about them, but they're all - guh. My favorite is probably actually snowrouse's drabble, which is actually not Master/Doctor and fades to grey before the sex and requires knowledge of canon trivia, so doesn't really count, but it is probably the most deliciously twisted of the whole set. The best of the Master/Doctor ones is amberite's, Phlogiston, which plays with Time Lord biology. And the drums.
The Journal of Irreproducible Results bywired_lizard Warnings: Collection of shorts; Ten/Simm/Jack, very NC-17, threesome, bdsm, fisting, other things; death during sex
Summary: "In which Jack attempts to get the Doctor reconciled with his ex (and the ex in question does math porn)"
Notes: This takes place in a vague sort of relationship with canon - I can visualize a situation in which Jack voluntarily offers himself to the Master and the Doctor as an unbreakable sex toy, and given those circumstances this fic fits my characterization of all three of them, but she doesn't waste any time on set-up or trying to sell you on it - just goes straight in to the blisteringly hot character-driven porn. (Possibly it's cheating to include this in a Master/Doctor set, since Jack is always there, but it's really very Master/Doctor-y. Although my favorite is probably the last one, which is just Master/Jack, though that may be because of the regeneration-porn thing.)
4. (They Might Be Giants) Doctor Worm : Humor fic!
I like to play the drums. / I think I'm getting good / But I can handle criticism.
Because they're wacky and silly and cracky and manic and insane, and there's some really, really good humor fic being written in this fandom. Which you need, after a while of watching Ten and Three and Five drip the angst. Assume all fics below here might very well be crack.
Untitled Crackfic bynostalgia_lj
Warnings: Short, Ten/Simm, PG, silly
Summary:"I have a wonderful penis! I shagged Madame de Pompadour with it and she said it was lovely!"
Notes: Dialog fic, but every single line in it is hilarious, *and* exactly the sort of thing the Master and the Doctor would say to each other.
Crazy in Love byshaggydogstail
Warnings: Mid-length, Ten/Simm, soft PG-13, campy
Summary: "Individuals with Factitious Disorder may be trying to repeat a satisfying childhood relationship with a doctor. (Source: Wikipedia)"
Notes: Wedding-Fic! With Evil Schemes of Seduction, and Love Lava! Structured around an explication of minor mental disorders. That's definitely how they'd get married, if they did.
A Girls' TARDIS Adventure byaris_tgd
Warnings: Mid-length, Simm/Ten/Jack, Martha, Peri; soft PG-13; crackfic
Summary: "The Doctor and the Master and Jack Harkness seem to be getting along fairly well, but Martha is left to her own devices. But there's more in the back of the TARDIS than just a few empty rooms! Some Ten/Jack/Master, much more adventuring."
Notes: So, if you're getting a bit tired of the endless Master/Doctor love - Martha Jones is a bit sick of it, too, after the first week or two. This story is sheer crack for every bit that involves the Doctor, but the rest of it is -- well, an exciting TARDIS Adventure! For girls!
Killing the Groundhog: A Controlled Outcome byx-los
Warnings: Mid-length; Three/Delgado; PG; crackfic
Summary: "In which the Master does not enjoy time paradoxes, Jo's opinions on fashion, Agatha Christie's later works or the Doctor's proclivity to resort to date-rape drugs to get out of talking about their past. In which the Master does enjoy pungee pits, Pimm's Cups and winning."
Notes: Awesome, sweet, hilarious, evil, and so very them. Only about two notches up from the wacky things they did to get each others' attention in canon, though with a slightly higher proportion of kisses to marriage proposals.
Passing Notes byadaliafic
Warnings: Short; Ten/Simm; PG; graphics (worksafe, unless your boss read Gallifreyan)
Summary: "Were they passing notes like schoolboys now? Well, two could play at that game!"
Notes: In which the Master gets very bored and starts writing the Doctor love poems. On post-it notes, translated from Earth languages to Gallifreyan. And there are pictures of all the post-its! (The coffee mugs are the best part.)
5 (Alanis Morissette) Not the Doctor : Master/Someone Other Than the Doctor
I don't want to be adored for what I merely represent to you / I don't want to be to be your babysitter / You're a very big boy now
Because frankly, I wouldn't inflict either of them on anyone else. But sometimes it's fun to watch them try.
The Ongoing Storm byscarfman
Warnings: Short, Master/Donna, PG
Summary: Martha never saw this coming.
Notes: Alternate S4 where the Doctor invites Martha back on the TARDIS - but it's already rather occupied. Great, great dialog here.
Bless bycommodoresexual
Warnings: Long, Simm/Lucy, PG-13 for murder, happy domesticity
Summary: The courtship, marriage, and second honeymoon of Lucy Cole and Harold Saxon.
Notes: Psychopaths in love! This fic gives us the Lucy Saxon we should've had onscreen, and a husband who's worthy of her, as they go merrily murdering their way around the Galaxy (and Tarminster.)
Him in the Clouds bycesario
Warnings: Short, Simm/Jenny, PG, incest themes
Summary: Jenny is looking for her father.
Notes: Dark and twisted and yet just right: I want this to have been canon.
Over Time byevilawyer-fic
Warnings: Long; Master/Rani, Master/Doctor, Doctor/Rani; R for sex and general dark themes.
Summary: The Doctor ruins you. If you let him.
Notes: This story spans the whole history, from school days on Gallifrey to post-LotL, and it's the epic story of figuring out how you recover from ever being loved by the Doctor. Bringing in the Rani, the missing third leg of the Time Lord Renegade Trio, who has a wonderful, terrible relationship with the Master in this fic. Which has single-handedly turned me into a Rani shipper. (The Rani's actress has said she wants to come back! Take her up on it, Moffett!)
Play Pretend, by Anonymous
Warnings: Short, Jacobi/Romana, R for sex
Summary: The Master and the Lady President of Gallifrey, during the Time War.
Notes: I'm deeply intrigued by that missing space we have in canon, when Eight was off doing terrible things and Romana was on Gallifrey ordering terrible things to be done, and the Master was - very scared, apparently. This story's from the Dr. Who Anon Kink Meme atsizeofthatthing, which is quite chock full of goodness in all possible pairings. (The doctor/master anon meme, here on best_enemies, is also quite filled with wonderful things.)
6. (Spike Jones) None But the Lonely Heart : Post-Journey's End Fixit Fic
Because the Master will make it all better. (Everything below this cut can be presumed to have S4 spoilers; nothing above it does.)
So you knowcalapine, who wrote that marvelous S3 fixit, "The Pandora Project"? Well, she has a S4 fixit in progress, where in the DoctorDonna gets to meet the Master: Children of Time, WIP
So you knowariastar, who wrote that marvelous S3 fixit, "Dr. Who Season 4"? Well, she has a S4 fixit in progress, where in the DoctorDonna gets to meet the Master: Dr. Who Season 5, WIP
So you knowomphalos, who wrote that marvelous S3 fixit, "New Dawn Fades"? Well, she has a S4 fixit in progress, where in the DoctorDonna gets to meet the Master: Cladogenesis, WIP
The Missing Element bylouiex
Warnings: Short; Simm/Blue Ten; R for sex; infidelity, angst, 2nd person POV
Summary: "When one is lost, sometimes the best thing to do is to pick a new, but familiar direction."
Notes: In which the human Ten goes out for ice cream, and meets someone unexpected, and there is badwrong sex. I'm hoping fics in which the Master meets the other half of DoctorDonna keep up at this rate, because they tend to be marvelously dark - and suprisingly fair to Rose - given the current selection.
A Mutual Loss byyo-mawari
Warnings: Mid-length, Simm/Blue Ten, PG
Summary: In which Blue Ten really doesn't want Harold Saxon to be elected PM.
Notes: Blatant fixit of the most blatant kind: I'm not sure I *believe* the happy ending in the fic, but I *want* it, oh do I want it.
and, um - pardon the two times I accidentally posted this while working on it. You saw nothing.
Also, this recs list is so awesome that it has its own *soundtrack*. Of songs that were too shippy to go on my Master playlist. Click on the category titles: download the songs!
1. (Emmylou Harris) Bang the Drum Slowly : Post "Last of the Time Lords" fixit fic.
I meant to ask you how to fix that car / I always meant to ask you about the war / And what you saw across a bridge too far / Did it leave a scar
Because the only slash cliche this pairing hadn't covered yet was dying in each others' tearful embrace. Thank you, Rusty, for that.
And because this is the fandom that denies canon so blithely they often don't even bother to mark "post-LotTL AU" in the headers. Which is perfectly reasonable, considering that *canon* denies canon so blithely. Past this section, assume that any given fic may be blithely assuming a "The Master Didn't Die" AU. Everybody knows the Master isn't dead for good anyway.
New Dawn Fades by
omphalos Warnings: Long, hard PG-13, Ten/Simm, Jack/Romana. The sex never gets too explicit, but some of the violence and general torment gets pretty bad.
Summary: In which the Master never died, the Doctor is in denial (about a great many things), Jack is more important than he knows, there are plans for a new Time Lord empire, and things rapidly get out of hand.
Notes: This fic shamelessly manipulates your emotions, but the highs are so high and the lows are so low, and it is so epic in general, and Jack and Romana get to be so amazing in it, it's worth the fact that I want to kill the author at about the third chapter from the end every time I read it.
Doctor Who Season Four by
ariastar Warnings: Long, Ten/Simm, soft PG-13
Summary: "In which the Doctor and the Master have dysfunctional adventures in time and space, Martha becomes a fully qualified doctor, Leo Jones wonders what all the fuss is about, the Torchwood team recounts Himalayan hijinks, and Lucy Saxon refuses to let the averted end of the world sideline her."
Notes: Fluff! Fluffy fluff fluffy! Fluffy octopodes with tentacles, that's how fluffy! As fluffy as you can get and still have Doctor and Master IC, which is actually quite a lot, if you do it right, which ariastar does. Also, lots of fantastic screen time for the other S3 characters, and really fun SF plotting and worldbuilding both in stand-alone-ish and the overarching plots.
The Pandora Project by
calapineWarnings: Long, Ten/Simm, soft PG-13
Summary: "At the end of series three, the Doctor and the Master end up travelling together and totally manage not to destroy each other or the universe. More or less. Meanwhile, Martha gets a job offer from UNIT, Jack fails to realise his team are a bit useless, and there's a giant squid for no good reason whatsoever."
Notes: Another fun alternate season with the Doctor and Master having hijinks on the TARDIS while Jack and Martha are awesome on Earth. I especially like the way Jack and Martha react to the Master in this one. And UNIT. And a giant squid, for no good reason. Less epic than the first two I rec'd, but the last parts tie in cleverly with Old Who mythology.
Within Reach by
beizyWarnings: Mid-length, Ten/Simm, soft PG-13
Summary: In which the Doctor gets the Master's ring, but he gets a few other things he didn't expect, too.
Notes: This is just your basic Master and Doctor travelling about in the TARDIS and messing about story, but the best done of the lot, I think, and has a very good slightly-less-insane-but-still-Simm!Master in it, and realistic working out of the relationship.
Puzzle Pieces by
quazonicWarnings: Mid-length, Ten/Simm, Torchwood, R (dark, consent issues)
Summary: "Jack watches from afar as the Master makes the Doctor feel as much a prisoner as himself."
Notes: This is a very interesting Jack POV, utilizing time-twisting, CCTV, and the Rift to give us a perspective on a very *un*-fluffy version of post-S3 Master/Doctor. Which there's no shortage of, but by using the POV she uses, she manages to show just how bad it gets without portraying it in a way that fetishizes it (the ones that do fetishize it go a couple categories down. :D ) And real without making it grindingly depressing or tragic.
2. (Spike Jones) My Old Flame : Other Doctors and other Masters, schoolboy!fic and looping timelines.
My old flame / My new lovers all seem so tame / They won't even let me strangle them!
Because the Doctor and the Master have forty years, five media, and about twenty bodies' worth of subtext, and if you thought tSoD/LotTL was it, you ain't seen nothin' yet. (If you want some more canon background for these, try the
best_enemies lj community, which is all about the Master and the Doctor's forty-year love affair and has help for getting caught up. Warning: From here on in, these recs could include any possible permutation of Doctors and Masters. However, you really don't need any more than the basics for these: I read the fic first, caught up on the show later, and it worked fine.The Monster in the Dark, by
nemo-everbeingWarnings: Long, Seven/Catboy!Master, Ace. PG-13 for violence and crazy, no sex
Summary: "Some things must be dealt with, and Ace put off dealing with the cheetah virus until it was almost too late. The Doctor must enlist some unconventional and unwanted help to pull her through."
Notes: No out-and-out slash, but lots of chewy Doctor and Master relationshippy stuff, which is close enough. The Doctor and the Master have to fight their way through Ace's mindscape, and learn some things about themselves on the way. Heavy on the Seven plot-spoilers, but you don't need to have seen the episodes. And Ace is awesome. And so are Seven and Catboy!Master (Catboy!Master is canon, which is why canon is awesome.)
Nemo the Everbeing's other fic (mostly Seven/Ace) is here under the Stories tag on the LJ.
Waterloo, by
araliasWarnings: Mid-length, Five/Ainley, PG-13 for the Master being the Master, blatant hurt/comfort fluff.
Summary: "Ainley!Master nursing Five back to health with chicken soup."
Notes: So ... yes, it's more or less just what the summary says, but yet stays very much in-character, because really? Fivey and Ainley!Master had basically this for their onscreen relationship, only with slightly less kissng, at least up until the point they let the angst get out of control. If it weren't for the giant otters, this could have slotted into canon right before "The King's Demons." (Five held the title of "The Pretty One" until Tennant took it, btw, so he gets a lot of the fluff and h/c in this pairing, but he wears it so *well*.)
Things to Do in Gallifrey When You're Bored by
fantasyjaxWarnings: Mid-length, Theta/Koschei, PG for mention of sex, fluff.
Summary: The Academy is boring, so Theta Sigma and Koschei find other ways to occupy themselves.
Notes: So in Master/Doctor fandom, Theta/Koschei means Doctor/Master back when they were kids and went to school together (or occasionally when they were out of school but hadn't earned titles yet.) Theta is the Doctor's school nickname, and it's book canon that the Master was called Koschei, although the fics generally ignore everything else in book canon. Yes, that's right, Doctor/Master gets *boarding school fic*. All we really know about their time at the Academy was that Theta slacked off on his schoolwork and he and wee!Master caused lots of trouble together, and that they were both in Slytherin (Well, Prydon. But "the devious and powerful chapter?" Yeah.) So for anyone who was ever in Marauders fandom in Harry Potter, *this is for you*.
Mask of Indifference by
csg1Warnings: Short, Nine/Simm, PG-13
Summary: "Whilst waiting for the Doctor to arrive, the Master meets his previous incarnation."
Notes: This is Nine, right before he meets Rose, waking up from the Time War. So, I love Nine, and I possibly have a bit of a thing for Dom!Doctor (...as the next section will amply demonstrate), but that's okay, because I'm pretty sure the Master has a thing for that too, and Simm!Master is pretty when he's flustered.
Sweet Are the Uses by
bagheera-sanWarnings: Mid-length, Three/Delgado, PG-13 for sex, angst
Summary: "In one of the darker hours of the Third Doctor's exile on Earth, the Master makes an offer."
Notes: The thing with Three is that he's been cut off from the Time Lords and locked out of the TARDIS, and the Master is his only connection to that whole life. And the Master drops in on him to keep him company a *lot*. These are my Doctor and my Master, and this fic captures the perfectly dysfunctional yet entirely functional relationship they've got. Also, the mind!sex is hot like whoa and not your cliche mind!sex, either.
3. (Georgia Gibbs) Kiss of Fire: Kink!
Just like a torch you set my soul within me burning / I must go on along the road, no returning
Because - well, seriously, one of the people in the pairing is called "The Master"; did you really think we wouldn't go there? Also they are both deliciously screwed up, and also not human, and also in the most cracky fandom since DC Comics; the potential for good, hard, in-character kink is endless. Assume all fics below this section have general kink warnings. And when these warnings say BDSM, they *mean* it. (this set is all Ten/Simm, but there is kink for other combinations - I was hobbled by trying to get in as many different good authors as I could. Also, no one else takes it quite as *far* as fast as Ten and Simm.)
Eclipsing Binary by
astrogirlWarnings: Short, Ten/Simm, R, consent issues, power play
Summary: The Master has lured the Doctor to him with threats. They've done it a hundred times before. But not usually like this.
Notes: This is very much the least kinky of this set - I've set them up in more-or-less ascending order - but the motivation it paints for them is great, and it's a good primer on the way Master/Doctor works.
Going Steady by
th-esaurus Warnings: Short, Ten/Simm, R for non-con
Summary: The Doctor has an invite to tea with the Prime Minister. Well, that's what he thinks, anyway.
Notes: There's actually a surprising lack of non-con in the fandom. Probably because after LotTL, it's hard to imagine the Doctor saying "No". He doesn't say "no" this time either, but the Master's talented enough to make it non-con anyway.
Parallax by
violetisblue & jonquil Warnings: Long, Ten/Simm, R for explicit BDSM sex, first-to-second-person POV
Summary: "The Doctor and the Master travel to a planet full of bunnies, and then proceed to screw like them. (Not with them, though, that'd be darkfic.)"
Notes: This starts out as fluffy crack with gratuitous Watership Down references, but very quickly mutates into some of the hottest consensual BDSM I have ever read in any fandom, and stays there all the way to the aftercare. With deep character stuff underneath and interesting SF concepts for adornment, which are almost as rare.
The Sickathon, fics by various.
Warnings: Collection of shorts, Master/Doctor (various), very very NC-17, consent issues and bdsm and murder and regeneration during sex, oh yes.
Summary: Eleven stories (and still going), on the common theme of regeneration during sex. Various takes on that theme, but all hot hot hot (if you're in to that sort of thing.)
Notes: This is the first fandom I've been in since "Highlander" where getting killed during sex was something that a character could do more than once, but in DW really it's even *hotter* because it's not just physical death, it's true death-and-rebirth, killing a person and making a new one, and that's *sex*, that is sex, that is eros, taking someone else into you and ending yourself so you can reshape yourself around them -- And -- yeah, perhaps these hit my id to hard to be rational about them, but they're all - guh. My favorite is probably actually snowrouse's drabble, which is actually not Master/Doctor and fades to grey before the sex and requires knowledge of canon trivia, so doesn't really count, but it is probably the most deliciously twisted of the whole set. The best of the Master/Doctor ones is amberite's, Phlogiston, which plays with Time Lord biology. And the drums.
The Journal of Irreproducible Results by
wired_lizard Warnings: Collection of shorts; Ten/Simm/Jack, very NC-17, threesome, bdsm, fisting, other things; death during sexSummary: "In which Jack attempts to get the Doctor reconciled with his ex (and the ex in question does math porn)"
Notes: This takes place in a vague sort of relationship with canon - I can visualize a situation in which Jack voluntarily offers himself to the Master and the Doctor as an unbreakable sex toy, and given those circumstances this fic fits my characterization of all three of them, but she doesn't waste any time on set-up or trying to sell you on it - just goes straight in to the blisteringly hot character-driven porn. (Possibly it's cheating to include this in a Master/Doctor set, since Jack is always there, but it's really very Master/Doctor-y. Although my favorite is probably the last one, which is just Master/Jack, though that may be because of the regeneration-porn thing.)
4. (They Might Be Giants) Doctor Worm : Humor fic!
I like to play the drums. / I think I'm getting good / But I can handle criticism.
Because they're wacky and silly and cracky and manic and insane, and there's some really, really good humor fic being written in this fandom. Which you need, after a while of watching Ten and Three and Five drip the angst. Assume all fics below here might very well be crack.
Untitled Crackfic by
nostalgia_ljWarnings: Short, Ten/Simm, PG, silly
Summary:"I have a wonderful penis! I shagged Madame de Pompadour with it and she said it was lovely!"
Notes: Dialog fic, but every single line in it is hilarious, *and* exactly the sort of thing the Master and the Doctor would say to each other.
Crazy in Love by
shaggydogstail Warnings: Mid-length, Ten/Simm, soft PG-13, campy
Summary: "Individuals with Factitious Disorder may be trying to repeat a satisfying childhood relationship with a doctor. (Source: Wikipedia)"
Notes: Wedding-Fic! With Evil Schemes of Seduction, and Love Lava! Structured around an explication of minor mental disorders. That's definitely how they'd get married, if they did.
A Girls' TARDIS Adventure by
aris_tgdWarnings: Mid-length, Simm/Ten/Jack, Martha, Peri; soft PG-13; crackfic
Summary: "The Doctor and the Master and Jack Harkness seem to be getting along fairly well, but Martha is left to her own devices. But there's more in the back of the TARDIS than just a few empty rooms! Some Ten/Jack/Master, much more adventuring."
Notes: So, if you're getting a bit tired of the endless Master/Doctor love - Martha Jones is a bit sick of it, too, after the first week or two. This story is sheer crack for every bit that involves the Doctor, but the rest of it is -- well, an exciting TARDIS Adventure! For girls!
Killing the Groundhog: A Controlled Outcome by
x-losWarnings: Mid-length; Three/Delgado; PG; crackfic
Summary: "In which the Master does not enjoy time paradoxes, Jo's opinions on fashion, Agatha Christie's later works or the Doctor's proclivity to resort to date-rape drugs to get out of talking about their past. In which the Master does enjoy pungee pits, Pimm's Cups and winning."
Notes: Awesome, sweet, hilarious, evil, and so very them. Only about two notches up from the wacky things they did to get each others' attention in canon, though with a slightly higher proportion of kisses to marriage proposals.
Passing Notes by
adaliaficWarnings: Short; Ten/Simm; PG; graphics (worksafe, unless your boss read Gallifreyan)
Summary: "Were they passing notes like schoolboys now? Well, two could play at that game!"
Notes: In which the Master gets very bored and starts writing the Doctor love poems. On post-it notes, translated from Earth languages to Gallifreyan. And there are pictures of all the post-its! (The coffee mugs are the best part.)
5 (Alanis Morissette) Not the Doctor : Master/Someone Other Than the Doctor
I don't want to be adored for what I merely represent to you / I don't want to be to be your babysitter / You're a very big boy now
Because frankly, I wouldn't inflict either of them on anyone else. But sometimes it's fun to watch them try.
The Ongoing Storm by
scarfmanWarnings: Short, Master/Donna, PG
Summary: Martha never saw this coming.
Notes: Alternate S4 where the Doctor invites Martha back on the TARDIS - but it's already rather occupied. Great, great dialog here.
Bless by
commodoresexualWarnings: Long, Simm/Lucy, PG-13 for murder, happy domesticity
Summary: The courtship, marriage, and second honeymoon of Lucy Cole and Harold Saxon.
Notes: Psychopaths in love! This fic gives us the Lucy Saxon we should've had onscreen, and a husband who's worthy of her, as they go merrily murdering their way around the Galaxy (and Tarminster.)
Him in the Clouds by
cesarioWarnings: Short, Simm/Jenny, PG, incest themes
Summary: Jenny is looking for her father.
Notes: Dark and twisted and yet just right: I want this to have been canon.
Over Time by
evilawyer-ficWarnings: Long; Master/Rani, Master/Doctor, Doctor/Rani; R for sex and general dark themes.
Summary: The Doctor ruins you. If you let him.
Notes: This story spans the whole history, from school days on Gallifrey to post-LotL, and it's the epic story of figuring out how you recover from ever being loved by the Doctor. Bringing in the Rani, the missing third leg of the Time Lord Renegade Trio, who has a wonderful, terrible relationship with the Master in this fic. Which has single-handedly turned me into a Rani shipper. (The Rani's actress has said she wants to come back! Take her up on it, Moffett!)
Play Pretend, by Anonymous
Warnings: Short, Jacobi/Romana, R for sex
Summary: The Master and the Lady President of Gallifrey, during the Time War.
Notes: I'm deeply intrigued by that missing space we have in canon, when Eight was off doing terrible things and Romana was on Gallifrey ordering terrible things to be done, and the Master was - very scared, apparently. This story's from the Dr. Who Anon Kink Meme at
sizeofthatthing, which is quite chock full of goodness in all possible pairings. (The doctor/master anon meme, here on best_enemies, is also quite filled with wonderful things.)6. (Spike Jones) None But the Lonely Heart : Post-Journey's End Fixit Fic
Because the Master will make it all better. (Everything below this cut can be presumed to have S4 spoilers; nothing above it does.)
So you know
calapine, who wrote that marvelous S3 fixit, "The Pandora Project"? Well, she has a S4 fixit in progress, where in the DoctorDonna gets to meet the Master: Children of Time, WIP So you know
ariastar, who wrote that marvelous S3 fixit, "Dr. Who Season 4"? Well, she has a S4 fixit in progress, where in the DoctorDonna gets to meet the Master: Dr. Who Season 5, WIP So you know
omphalos, who wrote that marvelous S3 fixit, "New Dawn Fades"? Well, she has a S4 fixit in progress, where in the DoctorDonna gets to meet the Master: Cladogenesis, WIP The Missing Element by
louiexWarnings: Short; Simm/Blue Ten; R for sex; infidelity, angst, 2nd person POV
Summary: "When one is lost, sometimes the best thing to do is to pick a new, but familiar direction."
Notes: In which the human Ten goes out for ice cream, and meets someone unexpected, and there is badwrong sex. I'm hoping fics in which the Master meets the other half of DoctorDonna keep up at this rate, because they tend to be marvelously dark - and suprisingly fair to Rose - given the current selection.
A Mutual Loss by
yo-mawariWarnings: Mid-length, Simm/Blue Ten, PG
Summary: In which Blue Ten really doesn't want Harold Saxon to be elected PM.
Notes: Blatant fixit of the most blatant kind: I'm not sure I *believe* the happy ending in the fic, but I *want* it, oh do I want it.
and, um - pardon the two times I accidentally posted this while working on it. You saw nothing.
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Too bad I have to clean my room and do homework and prepare GPS and go to bed early tonight. And oh yeah, I'm still at work. Sigh.
Are you coming tomorrow?
And now you can fix my fic for me, yay!!!!no subject
Looks like I will not be coming: everyone here is still zonked from last night. We will have to make a date for later, for I missing hanging out with you.
Will look at your fic today definitely!
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I think there might be an archy think next weekend? Not sure, check website. Got a tiny bit of data at Claude Moore today. Shall see if it is any good. School's GPS still made of fail.
Yay for looking at fic!
David Tennant is totally the captain of the Gallifreyan guards in Invasion of Time, which is sort of a large-ish part. It is odd.
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