In this essay I will-
I think 95% of the Master's issues and being like ✨that✨ boil down to untreated PTSD and generalized anxiety that just keep feeding off of each other and compounding in a positive feedback loop as time goes on.
They never had much control over their own life, first from Time Lord society just being like ✨that✨(which is more than enough to severely traumatize anyone who spends more than five minutes on Gallifrey tbh) and then on and on what with also being the son of nobility, Theta running away and shattering what little solid future they felt they could see, being resurrected by the Time Lords specifically to fight, the drums, whatever the hell happened after they went back through the Time Lock, just to name what I can think of off the top of my head. The Master has never really had control or security and is always desperately trying to grab hold of it, hence their name. (Because let's be honest, unless that individual is very kinky, the only person who's going to be naming themself 'the Master' is someone who is extremely insecure and is doing everything they can to try and get a sense of control and safety.)
They're deeply traumatized by this constant manipulation and lack of security, and the fact that it never ends nor do they ever get any help for it means that it keeps building off of itself and worsening that feeling of insecurity, leaving them a more and more anxious wreck as time goes on, always feeling like everything is spiraling out of control. The Master is also desperate to live, clinging to life however they have to; going through unfathomable lengths from possession, whatever was going on with Crispy, more possession, chameleon arches, and resurrection just to get one more breath. They want control of their own life and existence, and of course one of the largest parts of that is control of their literal life, ergo control of their death and successfully securing themself from it.
And all of this compiles into a person trying to lay claim to everything they can, trying to conquer all they see to secure the entirety of their surroundings, manipulate everyone to be under their command so that they know exactly what everyone is doing and thinking and there are no unknown variables, and most interestingly of all - push the Doctor into embracing their destructive potential.
Which, at a surface level glance, makes absolutely no sense. Why the hell would someone who is scared simply be virtue of being alive then actively try and push an individual whom they acknowledge as being far more fearsome and powerful than they into a rampage?
Because they feel that it's going to happen anyway, so if they cause it, then that means that they have a little control over it.
But why are they convinced that the Doctor is inevitably going to go on a destructive rampage across the universe?
Because the Master has spent all of their lives scared and spiraling out of control because of it, desperately lashing out at everything around them in an attempt to find security. They're scared, and they've always been scared; so they can't possibly imagine that the Doctor doesn't feel the same way.
Oh the Doctor says it, and they logically acknowledge that the Doctor has different experiences from them, but at a core level they can't really understand it. On a core level the Master can't imagine someone not being as scared as they are and so can't truly reconcile with the fact that the Doctor isn't.
Because if they've always been scared, and can't imagine that anyone else could not feel that way, then it follows suit that they're watching the Doctor like a ticking time bomb just waiting for them to blow, just waiting for the Doctor to start lashing out like they are, because they just can't imagine that that isn't going to happen.
They can't imagine that the Doctor might not need to destroy and lay claim and conquer just to feel some semblance of safety and security, so that means it's going to happen eventually some day, the Doctor is inevitably going to lose control in their eyes.
So if they're the one who pushes the Doctor into it then they get to keep some small fraction of control over the oncoming storm; they get to feel a little bit safer, no matter how paradoxical the feeling, because they were the one who pushed the Doctor to break, as they are convinced is inevitably going to happen, so they had control over it. They had control over this powerful and unknowable variable, so it makes them feel safer; even if the rampaging Doctor turns and kills them, they paradoxically feel safer for it because they had control over it.
So that's why the Master keeps desperately trying to break the Doctor, because they're scared of them, but by pushing their fears into becoming reality then they were the one who controlled when those fears came true; because they just can't imagine that maybe the Doctor won't ever snap, and that maybe their fears won't ever come true, and that maybe all they're running from is bad dreams.
So anyway, in conclusion I think a lot of things would be fixed if someone just gave the Master some space-Xanax and space-therapy; they'd still be a sadistic bastard who gets a kick out of toying with people like a cat with mice, but they'd be a lot better about it thanks for coming to my TED talk.
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What do you think about this: "Kakashi was never interested in Sasuke as an individual, he only projected himself into him and saw a smaller version of himself on Sasuke, Sasuke was never Sasuke to him, just a little Kakashi". I wanted to know your opinion because I miss your meta posts and I feel like lately people are hating Kakashi for things that aren't real :/, also you are really good at explaining and I feel that both characters need love
Hello! Thanks for the question!
The answer to "what do i think about this" is, honestly, that I don't think about it X) I watched the whole show without engaging with the fandom at all (for fear of spoilers, initially), so I was able to experience it without being exposed to anyone else's thoughts, and now that I'm done I generally still avoid poking around, because devoting mental energy to opinions that I find bizarre/not supported by the text doesn't enhance my fandom experience.
Kakashi and Sasuke's relationship is one of the most compelling things about the series to me. I was very surprised when I finished the show/manga and first exposed myself to the fandom only to find so few people invested in them, but at this point I've (mostly) stopped asking myself "what show was everyone else watching" and just settled into enjoying the show that I watched, because that's more fun for me. I can't convince people not to dislike Kakashi if that's what they want to do. I do find it a little weird, because I don't think that's what the story is asking from us, but as long as people mind their business and aren't bugging me on my own blog, they're free to do what they want.
I know it can be frustrating when there are people hating various characters for "things that aren't real," but the fact that these criticisms aren't "real" is precisely why I generally avoid engaging with them. For Kakashi, specifically, there are certain things people can say that will immediately make me stop taking them seriously - "projecting" is one. "Bootlicking" is another, but again, these terms are so wildly inaccurate that I'm not interested in talking about them. The manga and the show are easily accessible; if people want to rewatch/re-read them, they can.
In general, I just prefer to avoid engaging with most of the fandom negativity I see. I think overall most of the rancor I've stumbled across boils down to people engaging with the story in very ungenerous ways, if that makes sense, and that's not how I prefer to read/watch things. Like - back when I was still in the middle of watching the show, I remember someone sent me a message saying that they loved seeing me talk about the story with earnestness/joy, and it was such a lovely message to receive, but it also made me pause and wonder for a second if this was really an uncommon enough thing to be remarked upon. Wouldn't that be the default? Aren't we all here because we love the story and the characters so much? But the truth is that sometimes it does feel like large chunks of fandom spaces (not just Naruto, I mean; I've certainly experienced this elsewhere) are very focused on being negative about "things that aren't real," as you said. Like - people calling Sakura "abusive" for bopping Naruto on the head when he says something rude, when this is not something the text is even remotely trying to say about her. People writing off Jiraiya's entire storyline because of the non-consensual spying on women - which, yes, of course, is disgusting and wrong. Obviously. I am very aware of that. However, I can simultaneously recognize that the story isn't really interested in that or intending me to read it like that; the voyeurism is written as a joke (yes, I understand how gross that is) and there are a hundred potential personal and/or patriarchal and/or genre-related and/or cultural factors that may have gone into Kishimoto writing this particular fail. If I want to understand and appreciate what the story was ACTUALLY trying to communicate with Jiraiya (that he's an idealist who gave up on the world when everything went wrong, who turned to shallow pleasures of the flesh to distract him from the pain of his disillusionment, and who was finally restored to his former faith after meeting Naruto), then I have to mindfully set the voyeurism aside and go, "This writer wrote a gross thing, and I recognize that, but I'm also not going to fixate on it, because I can simultaneously appreciate/find meaning in what he was really trying to say."
I think some of the Kakashi complaints out there very much fall under this umbrella. If I have to see one more person frothing at the mouth about Kakashi briefly tying Sasuke (a qualified ninja who has already demonstrated his ability to escape rope restraints and whom Kakashi has been individually mentoring, sparring against, and connecting with for a month) to a tree for approximately sixty seconds - honestly. I don't know how to tell people they're missing the point, so I don't bother.
Ultimately, the fact of the matter is that people are entitled to dislike any character that they want, even for contrived reasons. As long as they're doing their own thing in their own space and letting me do my thing in mine, we're good.
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✨⚡️ Seven(ish) Sentence Sunday ⚡️✨
Tagged by @acountrygirlsfun (a couple times by now, though not actually this most recent time, but I figure it still counts!) Thank you, Caitlin <3 <3 <3
Helix took a deep breath in, counted four flashes of the desperate direct-@ lights coming in from his side chat panels, and breathed out. His voice came out steady, and miraculously casual.
"We understand why you did it. You were trying to keep our brothers safe."
He watched Harp's eyes go wide at the 'our' brothers. Like he hadn't expected the rest of them to claim the Corries. Because he'd been hiding from them just like from the longnecks, he had falsified his—
Deep breath in. Two flashes, no time for longer, leave no silence for Harp to panic in. Breathe out. Keep going.
This is not seven sentences, but it's also largely not complete sentences anyway, and it is literally what I just seconds ago finished writing. Still counts!
No-pressure tagging uhhh @ialpiriel, @goingsparebutwithprecision, @anaclastic-azurite, anybody else who might want to play?
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