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The Crane Wife:

To make money the crane wife plucks her own feathers to weave silk brocade which the man sells, but she becomes increasingly ill as she does so. When the man discovers his wife’s true identity and the nature of her illness, devastated by the truth he demands her to stop. She responds that she has been doing it for love, for them. The man says that love exists without sacrifices but he is wrong. He who lives without sacrifices for someone else doesn’t deserve to be with a crane.

There’s this shepherds boy and he asks…

anyways. drew this poster a while back. Beloved episode…

on the one hand, it's so funny how every time the doctor has to introduce the master to new companions they never fail to mention that they used to friends. “this is my evil archenemy but we were in the academy together, we used to run in the red grass before the murder attempts” even though we literally just saw the master committing multiple atrocities.

but. on the other hand. the tragedy of it all. it's the doctor saying: this is the site of grief that's now a festering wound. this is scar tissue still tender to the touch, this is the relentlessness of memory. this is a ghost, this is a monster, this is a haunting, this is an unburied grave. this is love as terror, love as horror, love that came back from the dead as a hunger. this is what it means to remember. this was my first love and the only thing i cannot outrun.

and then we cut to the master who is committing more atrocities

doctor who + notable quotes

he is me

something something the doctor having this incurable ability to see the beauty in everything, no matter their intentions.

am completely aware that it’s Not That Deep, and that this has nothing whatsoever to do with thoschei but i’d like to use it as an example of the many times the doctor’s seen the master commit atrocities yet still, found the beauty in them (by them i mean the master)

the doctor is literally strapped to a chair here. he’s been kidnapped, rolled about and slapped yet; he still will not give up on the master and their childhood dream to wander the stars together. he can’t help but think his old friend could be more, could be beautiful again. he’s the only person who can see the master’s potential for good, although he is known to be evil. he admires the master’s intelligence, when anyone else would think nothing of it because of what he uses it for.

with that admiration also comes a deep yearning for them to be equals again, not just in their cleverness but in their ideals. they are inherently the same but they don’t stand on the same side and that causes a wall in their relationship, a wall which the doctor would like to tear down by guiding the master towards goodness.

and i’d like to add that the situation’s a bit different here, obviously, since the doctor and missy were already trying to make their friendship work again. so the doctor reminisces and feels nostalgic about their past, he is hopeful about their future and wants his friend (bill) to understand why. their history’s not just history, it’s an endless cycle of meetings and goodbyes. they’re never truly gone from each other.

bill even goes so far as admitting being scared of missy. however the doctor can’t give any response to that, can’t make any promises to his friend because his oldest friend needs his help and he’s already made up his mind. he’s aware he finds a monster beautiful but he does nothing to change it.

and last but not least, this little thing. i can’t even begin to get into the atrocities spymaster committed towards the universe at large and the doctor specifically. the entire episode is filled with mentions of his past crimes, and there’s no forgiveness to be found this time, however the doctor is still noticeably unable of ignoring his brilliance, quite ironically, in the same manner he tried to be her and have a companion to “bask” in it.

all this to say— the doctor clearly associates ingenuity with beauty on top of just admiring the two, especially when they come together. and the master, being the doctor’s first friend, and a brilliant one at that, fits every criteria. the doctor’s also not just alien to humans, but alien to their own species and anyone else in the universe when it comes to how they perceive the master. therefore, the master may be beautiful to the doctor, but to everyone else, they’re evil.

the doctor: regenerates and takes a nap 

the brigadier who has been through this multiple times before: i lost my dear friend the doctor.. sometimes i can still hear his voice. 

Katy Manning