Requesting Rules

My 1 single critism rn is how they kept refering to the Doctor as Male? Or like implying a weird gender binary in the same breath as talking about non-binary identity

It waw... a bit cringe. Like it was clearly trying very hard and it was a good attempt. But there was something a bit cringe about it yknow. The vibes were not quite there.

The ending especially was giving your parent trying very hard to use the right words, and you appreciate it!! but god you can tell theyre not quite getting it 😭😭

I’m Not Him 

Ganger!Doctor x Reader

Summary - You liked The Doctor, but he didn’t feel the same way about you. What will happen when you meet his Ganger again?

Based On This Request -

Warnings - references to character death, sadness

Word Count - 1772

A/n - Gender Neutral Reader. I posted this request over on my old Tumblr account and I just wanted to repost it on here.

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You walked, curiously and trepidatiously, around the halls and corners of The TARDIS. For the past couple of days, you heard The Doctor rummaging around the ship, and you finally decided to investigate. He would do stuff like this often, rummaging and making tons of noise, but not for this long of a time. He was definitely up to something.

The Doctor had avoided everyone since the events of Demon’s Run and it was beginning to scare you, more than the fact that he was secretly planning something behind your back. You had heard stories from Madame Vastra and River that The Doctor had a history of shutting down after extremely eye-opening or sorrowful events, but you had never seen him act like this yourself. You didn’t know how to react to him acting like this.

You had been left behind at Demon’s Run along with Amy, Rory, and River, and River eventually took all of you home with her vortex manipulator. Soon after you were getting used to being at home, though, The Doctor showed up at your doorstep. He said that it had been a while since he had seen you and he was excited for you to see what he had planned. You were excited, too, at the moment, but now you were just scared. 

The Doctor Had not picked up Amy and Rory yet, but River invited herself into the TARDIS constantly. She added to The Doctor’s rummaging and whispering around the ship. You wondered what they were doing, but then you figured that you might not want to know. 

However, one thought continued to plague your mind, and that was why The Doctor brought you back onto The TARDIS in the first place, especially without Amy and Rory. You had joined the couple after The Doctor ran into you on one of his private adventures that he would go on when he couldn’t sleep and stayed ever since. Your life on The TARDIS was much more exciting than your life on Earth and you didn’t want to stay on that planet any longer. But everything that led up to today was making you worried that your time exploring the Universe was ending.

The Doctor randomly jumped out from a corridor with his spacey wacey goggles hanging around his neck. You jumped and shrieked from the shock while The Doctor profusely apologised. He placed both of his hands on your shoulders and squeezed them reassuringly.

“Y/n, I have something very exciting to show you!” You barely mumbled a still shocked “okay” before The Doctor quickly grabbed your hand and lead you towards a room you had never seen before. It was dark, with only a couple of dim, orangy-yellowy lights glowing on the walls, making the whole situation stranger. You could see through the dim lighting that there was a mechanised tub similar to the machine you saw at Saint John's Base. You remembered that trip well, it was shocking and emotional, but you could not put the pieces The Doctor was feeding you together. 

“Doctor, I don’t understand. What is all of this?”

“What does it look like? I’m fulfilling my promise and proving my theory correct.” The Doctor moved to fiddle with a few wires and tubes, making sure that they were all set.

“Your Ganger?” You questioned The Doctor, still confused.

“John Smith, yes!” The alien before you briefly stopped what he was doing to exclaim what he thought was obvious. Before getting back to checking to see if everything was in order.

“You’re bringing him back? Why?” The Doctor finally stopped fiddling with the machine to look at you confused.

“For you, of course!” You questioned what he meant by that. 

“I saw how the two of you became very close that day. I thought that I might bring him back for you.” The Doctor looked slightly sad, and you didn’t know why. 

“I thought he was you back then.” You weren’t lying, but you did like The Doctor’s Ganger, he seemed to care about you more than The Doctor, who seemed to only have eyes for Amy and River.

“After you found out, the two of you still became very close. I just don’t like you being alone, Y/n.” You were shocked by The Doctor’s reveal and didn’t know what to say to all of this information. You were going to tell The Doctor to wait, give you time to think if this is actually what you wanted, but he already started the machine. 

The tub filled itself with a formula, and then the liquid moulded and formed into The Doctor’s Ganger. Both of you and The Doctor watched curiously as all of this was happening. Suddenly, The Ganger!Doctor’s eyes popped open, and he screamed loudly in pain. He curled into a fetal position while clutching his head. The Doctor went to check if everything was okay on the scans and computers in the corner monitoring everything. 

You joined The Doctor to watch the computers as well, but then out of the corner of your eye, you saw The Ganger!Doctor jumping up out of the tub. He seemed perfectly fine despite the pain he was in a moment ago.

“Ah! I’m back!” He stated cheerfully, adjusting his red bowtie.

Your mouth fell open in shock after looking at The Ganger!Doctor in the eye. You didn’t know what to do or say. Your breath began to quicken, and your head started to hurt. So, you quickly turned to walk back to your room. 

You were so confused. A jumble of emotions ran through your head, and you couldn’t really focus on any of them for a long time. You liked The Doctor, you had for a long time, but you never let yourself love him. You were well aware of The Doctor’s relationship with River, and you were happy for them both, but it did sting your heart a bit because you had no one. The Doctor and River had each other and Amy and Rory had each other, and you wanted someone, too. Now The Doctor was giving you his Ganger. The possibility of not being alone was right before you, but you couldn’t help but run away.

It was true, you did like the Ganger!Doctor when you first met him. But it felt as if you were being pawned off by The Doctor. You were now angry. You couldn’t help but feel like this “gift” was bittersweet because even though The Doctor was being kind, he would never understand why it hurt. And you felt so sad for The Ganger!Doctor. He never did anything wrong and kept getting hurt in the process. You didn’t really know what feeling to prioritise and you just needed to be alone.

After spending a couple of hours doing everything but thinking about what just happened, you finally accepted that The Ganger!Doctor was back, and he was here for you. You were grateful that The Doctor thought of you, despite the questionable act. And you really did want to get to know The Ganger!Doctor on a personal level and outside of an adventure. You considered going out and trying to talk to the Ganger!Doctor, but a sudden knock on your door drew you out of your thoughts. You spoke a quiet “come in” and readjusted the work you were doing off of your lap.

“Hello …” It was the Ganger!Doctor, lingering in the doorway. Normally you probably wouldn’t be able to tell, but he was wearing the same thing he was wearing before, and you didn’t think that The Doctor would clean all of The TARDIS grease off of his clothes and face that quickly.

“Hello,” You responded bittersweetly.

“Hello …” The Ganger!Doctor repeated himself, and you could tell that he cursed himself in his head because of the disgruntled face he made.

“May I come in?” You nodded and motioned for him to join you on the floor where you were sitting. You would always sit on the floor when you needed to think hard about something. The two of you sat there for a long time in silence. There was a weird tension that you couldn’t really describe. But the pair of you continued to catch each other's eyes and then quickly look away. The Ganger!Doctor began patting his knees with his hands anxiously.

“I’m not really him, you know.” The Ganger!Doctor suddenly spoke up quietly, with his voice tinted with sadness.

“What do you mean?” You finally looked into The Ganger!Doctor’s eyes for longer than a couple of seconds.

“I have all of The Doctor’s memories and I obviously look like him, but I’m my own person with my own thoughts and opinions. I don’t see you the same way he does.” You could see how sad he was and how much he just wanted to be seen as himself.

“I’m sorry for assuming that you were, especially after the events of Saint John’s Base. I guess it was just the shock of everything.” The Ganger!Doctor nodded at your statement, but you could see how solemn he still was.

“I’ll try to be better.” You tried to smile, but it was still bittersweet. So, you reached out to hold The Ganger!Doctor’s hand. He squeezed your hand tightly as if he was shocked that you were actually touching him and worried that you would let go too soon.

“I don’t want you to be better, I just want you to be yourself.” You nodded in understanding and both of you fell back into silence, but you continued to hold each other's hands.

“What do you want to be called?” You asked suddenly. The Ganger!Doctor quirked his head to the side in thought and fiddled with his bowtie with his free hand.

“John Smith is a decent name, at least until I come up with a more unique name. Does John Smith sound like a good name to be paired with a Stetson?”

“Yeah, I think it does!” You laughed at his cute question and genuinely smiled at the now John Smith.

“I’ll stick with John Smith then!” He smiled back at you widely causing you to giggle. You really did like seeing him smile so happily. 

Far into the night, the pair of you continued to talk and giggle and laugh. You told wide stories about your adventures and you both told interesting facts about yourselves. Unbeknownst to you, The Doctor grinned bittersweetly from your open door frame, happy that you were finally happy and not alone.

Belle Of The Ball

Dhawan!Master x Reader

Summary - The Master plans on scheming and schmoozing at a masquerade ball he was “invited to”, but he doesn’t plan on you catching the eyes of the fellow guests.

Based On This Request -

Anonymous requested - “The first time Reader goes to a masquerade ball and wears a breathtaking dress with Dhawan!Master, and the first time The Master gets jealous of the Reader. (Hello if you’re not too busy you could write this request, thanks and take care)”

Warnings - Me making up aliens/planets, mentions of canon typical violence

Word Count - 2103

A/n - Gender Neutral Reader. Requested by a lovely anon on my old Tumblr account. The reader is referred to with gender neutral pronouns, but they are described as being okay with wearing a dress. Also, I think this could be read as either a pre-relationship fic or a pre-established relationship fic, so enjoy however you wish.

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You strode out of your room in an excited manner, while dressed in the beautiful outfit that The Master chose for you to wear to the masquerade ball he was “invited to”. You say “invited to” loosely. The Master had hypnotised his way into getting invited by the monarch of one of the most powerful planets in the galaxy he was trying to take over, and he made sure to include a necessary plus one on his invitation. The Master hadn’t been able to take you to any majestically royal locations since the two of you began travelling together, so The Master was incredibly excited about getting to take you to this masquerade ball. However, he also had work to do. So, unfortunately, The Master couldn’t just spend all of his time dancing with you.

You walked into the console room of The Master’s TARDIS with your expensive-looking shoes in your hand. You sat yourself down on a nearby sofa and stared, amazed, at The Master dressed in his equally extravagant outfit while he piloted his beloved ship to the desired destination. It was similar in colour and design to your own dress, making The Master’s intent plainly obvious. You were already aware of The Master’s possessive nature, but the thought of The Master purposefully matching your outfits with each other so everyone who saw the two of you knew that the both of you were together made you laugh. To you, this act was cute, not a silent threat by The Master. Though, killing his ego my calling The Master’s behaviour cute wasn’t on the cards for the day. You knew that this gathering was important for your alien host and his plans.

“You clean up nice. You actually look quite handsome minus the blood, engine grease and soot.” You finished tieing up your fancy shoes and sent a sarcastic wink to The Master. He only rolled his eyes in response. If anyone else said something like that to him, with that attitude, he would have killed them, but you were the beautiful exception.

“I’m going to take what you said as a compliment. However, I think I look quite sexy covered in all of those things. Especially the blood.”

“That remains to be seen. You never let me see you right after you destroyed a planet, remember? The only blood I see you covered in is the blood you missed washing away in the shower.” The Master stopped double and triple checking his plans and looked you up and down. You looked absolutely stunning in the dress he had picked for you; The Master wished that you would wear more clothes that he had picked out for you. However, The Master was growing much more interested in seeing you in nothing whatsoever. Or even seeing you in more intimate clothing he picked out for you. 

“Well, if you promise to not argue about how many innocent people I just killed, then maybe we could have a very interesting night in the future. Maybe even tonight?” The Master smirked at you, but you ignored him.

“Not tonight. You said that you actually have to make these people like you, remember? For your ingenious plan to take over this galaxy’s gem mining and trading industries?” The Master sighed defeatedly. Sometimes he wished to not have to go through with some of his plans, not out of a sudden spark of moral righteousness, but more out of a hatred for social gatherings and nosy people.

“Oh right. That. Don’t get me wrong, I love treating you to the most beautiful of treasures found in this universe, love, but I hate talking to people.” 

The Master bowed his head in stress. Through this plan of his, The Master planned on collecting many precious gems to both save and sell. Then he could take you to beautiful places and get you expensive things without having to steal or manipulate all the time. You also, through the many weeks of The Master planning this outing, had convinced The Master to eventually free the overworked “workers” of the mines once he took over and destroyed them. All of these plans were directly reliant upon The Master successfully integrating himself within the royal court of the Azuuill galaxy. If he wasn’t able to do that, then all of this was a waste.

You bounded up to where The Master was leaning against The TARDIS console. You rubbed his back soothingly and placed your chin on his shoulder.

“But you love manipulating people, and hypnotising them, so just remind yourself that you get to do that while having to suffer through all the schmoozing.”

“I do love those things. You know me so well, my little Human.” The Master peered over at you sentimentally. His eyes flickered down to your lips, but you, unfortunately, didn’t notice.

“Care to escort your date to the court of Azuuill, Master?” You separated yourself from The Master and smiled warmly as you held your hand out for him to take.

“I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else, love.” The Master jovially took your hand, and kissed the back of it softly, before leading you out into the alien palace.

The palace and the ballroom were amazing. The whole building was constructed in expensive-looking marble. But a very alien marble; dark navy with rivers of electric blue spiralling through the stone. There were also large pillars everywhere. And there were solid gold vines and leaves snaking around every surface. It looked like something out of a fairy world or a fantasy novel and you were in awe of its beauty.

The Master lead you through seas of people and gestured around wildly gloating about all of the people and their status in the Universe. When you weren’t distracted by the decor of the palace, you saw the eyes of the guests glare at The Master. Though, a glimmer of something unknown would flash across their faces whenever they would catch a glimpse of you. You had no idea what to make of either of their reactions, so you never brought it up to The Master.

The Master, after showing you the entire space of the ballroom, eventually went off to talk to someone important while you relaxed by an open window. Your intent was to catch a short breath because there were tons of people crammed into the dance hall. However, a group of people rushed to talk to you as soon as you were alone. You did talk to the group as a whole for a bit until one of the people asked to dance with you. You agreed, again trying to appear friendly and exuberant for The Master’s sake and for the sake of his plans. 

Once the song ended, you tried to return to your spot by the window in order to wait for The Master, but another person asked to dance with you. With each new song that played throughout the ballroom, a new person would ask to dance with you. You agreed every time, excited about the opportunity to meet various types of alien species and hopefully, the experiences would encourage a business deal with The Master. Eventually, though, you were able to return to the window for a breather. The Master then huffed his way over to you from where he was sulking in a dark corner.

“Why are you so upset?” You asked as he slumped against you.

“Upset! I’m not upset, I’m completely embarrassed. No one is paying attention to me! Their eyes are all on you and I am getting no work done”

“Well, I’m having fun. Why don’t we dance, Master? It might lighten your mood.”

“How about we get some food and drinks first? My anger has made me a bit light-headed.” The Master tapped his forehead four times in a row. You assumed that he did this subconsciously, but you thought that The Master’s Drums were making themselves more annoying by the moment. You went along with The Master’s preference; you loved trying new alien foods and drinks. The Master nodded to you sadly before walking off to get you both some food and you waited patiently for his return by staring out at the interesting landscape of the planet.

You had thought that The Master had returned when you saw someone approach you out of the corner of your eye, but the stranger who stopped before you and stared at you with unblinking eyes was not The Master. They were a tall, extremely thin person with greasy-looking black hair tied in the back to form a low ponytail.

“You are Y/n, aren’t you?” Their voice was slick and dark like ink and, frankly, made you uncomfortable to have to listen to. But you chose to remain polite. You had no idea who the person before you was or if The Master had connections with them and therefore needed to be appeased.

“Yes. May I ask why?”

“I have heard so much about you because of my guests and The Master. You truly are a wonder!” The person smirked at you with a toothy smile. You then recognised who this person was! They were the ruler of this planet and owner of this castle who The Master was talking to earlier in the night.

“Oh! You must be Monarch Alecx Belgoze, the host of this party.”

“Yes, I am.” The monarch looked incredibly smug upon seeing you recognize him, but it might have just been a momentary burst of ego.

“This party is absolutely brilliant. I have never been to a party this extravagant before.” You stated this because it was true. But the monarch to your eagerness as an opportunity to step closer to you, much closer than you expected or were comfortable with. 

“If I were your partner, I would throw a party much grander than this every night in your honour.” You could smell the blackberry wine on their breath. You had no idea how to react to the first part of the monarch’s comment. It was nice to hear such a thing, but you had no interest in the person before you, except to help The Master with his plan. And their forwardness was beginning to worry you. You looked around to the food table in the hope that The Master was there, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, that’s not - Master! Thank you so much for the food.” The Master finally returned to you with the snacks and drinks. But he didn’t come from the direction of the food table. You assumed that he was stalking around the monarch before making a move to save you. The Master looked incredibly upset, but you decided to not question him in front of a stranger. You did that once before and The Master sulked in his room for days after the fact.

“Monarch Belgoze, I thought that you would be dancing.” The Master questioned while placing the alien food and drink on the window sill. You could hear the strain in his voice, he was more upset than initially thought, but you decided to pay more attention to the food you desperately wanted to eat and let The Master deal with the alien encounters.

“Well, I was, but I saw a better dance partner off the dance floor.” The monarch dripped out a response.

“You must be referring to your betrothed? Correct?” The Master retorted snarkily.

“No, they weren’t able to make it tonight, I’m afraid. Anyway! Y/n, are you having a good night?” The alien monarch dramatically cut off The Master and turned his attention back to you, again stepping closer. 

“Yes, I am.” You ventured a warry look at The Master, who looked like he was going to pop a blood vessel.

“May I say that you look absolutely stunning!” The monarch reached a ringed hand out to touch your waist. 

“Oh, thank you! The Master got me this dress actually. He has amazing taste.” You felt incredibly awkward because of the monarch’s actions, but you had no idea what the customs of their planet were. You didn’t want to risk ruining The Master’s plans just because you didn’t understand.

“If you so desired, I would love to take you somewhere … more private…” The monarch leaned incredibly close to your face.

“Okay … Time to go!” The Master grabbed you by the arm and quickly pulled you out of the monarch’s grasp and through the crowd back to The TARDIS.

“But what about the masquerade!” You shouted in a worried tone.

“We can dance later!”

I got my flu shot and my most recent covid booster yesterday at the same time. And even though I am very happy that I am taking care of my health and I completely wiped out right now!

I did have an amazing fever dream of Dhawan!Master, though. So that’s a big plus!

And His Heart Grew Three Sizes That Day

Dhawan!Master x Reader

Summary - After everything that happened in the universe, you just wanted a calm Christmas with everyone you cared about, including The Master.

Based On This Request -

Warnings - The Doctor and The Extended Fam being a bit rude, The Master feeling depressed, some suggestive bits, some references to season 12 canon. This is a canon divergent fic - let’s forget that The Power of The Doctor happened for a bit.

Word Count - 4593

A/n - Gender Neutral Reader. Requested by @sessa23. Thank you so much for this request! I really enjoyed writing it, even though it made me emotional. I hope that you enjoy this and have a great Christmas!

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It was almost time for everyone to arrive, and you were dreading the decisions you had made leading up to this day. Even How The Grinch Stole Christmas playing in your living room couldn’t calm you down!

A couple of weeks ago, after The Doctor had brought you, Dan, and Yaz home for the beginning of the holiday season, you had the brilliant idea to host a Christmas dinner for everyone. And your tired, adrenaline and adventure-muddled brain meant everyone, including The Master. 

You had plenty of opportunities to change your mind and not invite The Master or uninvite him even, but you could never bring yourself to do it. Despite how The Master treated The Doctor and The Extended Fam, he tried to treat you with the utmost respect, always. 

You don’t think The Doctor knew, or if she did, she didn’t tell you, but you had texted and written to The Master many times. He initiated contact first. He was supercilious and threatening, with an undertone of flirting, during his first message to you. You knew that he meant to scare you, even though he was probably joking. You didn’t respond to his threat, though. Instead, you asked him where he had found his coat; you declared your desire to have a coat like that, seeing how warm it looked on him. This began a series of communications between the two of you. You talked about everything, including your shared pain of being ignored by The Doctor. 

It was probably dangerous for you to share such personal information with an intergalactic criminal, but you couldn’t stop. The Master just seemed to understand you on a deeper level than The Fam and definitely more than The Doctor ever could.

Things became serious between the two of you, though, when the two of you began calling and face-timing each other. Again, he called you first. You were having a panic attack over something minor in retrospect, and somehow The Master knew and called you to help you. He took your panic very seriously and quickly calmed you down. Now, on top of your regular texts and letters, you and The Master called nearly every night before you, at least, went to bed and sometimes in the morning or throughout the day.

It never seemed to cross your mind why The Master was so attached to you until today. Finally, you realised that he was lonely. You obviously couldn’t assume everything, but after all the conversations you had with The Master, you came to the conclusion that he was, at least, a bit remorseful for the things he did and he just wanted, or needed, someone to want him in return. Maybe he was only remorseful because he had accidentally hurt you in the past because of your closeness with The Doctor. Either way, The Doctor was wrong about him; The Master wasn’t an irredeemable monster. You just hoped that putting The Master in this environment today wouldn’t trigger him. For his sake, you hoped that this Christmas dinner went smoothly.

You were setting up your dining room table for the fourth time when Graham and Ryan arrived at your flat. You were glad that they arrived first. Graham especially always managed to calm you down. He was probably the person you opened up to the most other than The Master. Your relationships between the two obviously weren’t comparable, but Graham was definitely a support person for you. 

After placing some presents under your Christmas tree and putting some food away, Graham helped you organise the table to where it wasn’t so cluttered and busy while Ryan prepared the three of you some drinks.

Dan arrived next, with a bundle of presents under one arm and a stack of tin boxes filled to the brim with homemade cookies in the other. A bag filled with Christmas crackers hung precariously from one of his pinkies.

Yaz arrived with The Doctor, which didn’t surprise you. It seemed to not surprise Dan, Graham and Ryan either, so you were happy to not be the only one to see the obvious connection between the two. The Doctor had brought some alien dish that you were frankly scared to eat, while Yaz made up for that by bringing two large dishes that looked delicious.

You still hadn’t told any of your friends of the other suspected guest, however, The Master still wasn’t there, and it had been about half an hour since he was supposed to arrive. Maybe he wasn’t going to come. If he wasn’t, there was no need to tell your friends that you had invited someone that tried to murder them on multiple occasions to Christmas dinner. You could just enjoy the day with them and stop stressing about losing them as long as they didn’t ask any questions.

“Why do you have an extra seat set up, Y/n?” Yaz asked after the current conversation the six of you were having dried up.

“Oh, I just think that the table looks better that way. If I don’t set up that seat, then it just feels weird.” You lied, but you hoped that no one would question you too much. 

“That makes sense. One of my previous regenerations was like that! You would've gotten along well with him.” The Doctor stated before slurping up the neon green, spindly food of the alien dish she brought.

You were going to ask about The Doctor’s previous regeneration because you loved hearing about her past even though she rarely talked about it, but then there was a knock on your door. You thought it was a neighbour at first, but then three more knocks followed. It was him. The Master actually showed up. 

“Who’s that?” Yaz questioned.

“Maybe carolers?” Dan pondered out loud.

“I’ll get the door! Everyone stay here. Enjoy the meal.” You jumped up from your seat and ran to the door of your apartment. You opened it frantically to see an anxious-looking Master. You had never seen him like that before and worry instantly washed over you.

“Happy Christmas.” You commented in the hope that it might ease his worry, but it did not.

“Yeah, happy Christmas.”

“Are you alright?” You were about to reach out to hold his arm reassuringly, but you decided against it.

“Everyone else is here, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. I didn’t tell them that you were coming, just in case …”

“Just in case I backed out. I’m not The Doctor, love. I don’t do that to the people I care about.”

“Are you ready to meet them or … ?” You cut yourself off when you heard The Doctor shout about what was taking so long.

“I think we should just get the confrontational bit over with. I am starving and I heard that you Humans eat loads at Christmas!” The Master bumped your shoulder reassuringly as he showed himself into your flat. He wanted to try and seem calm for you so as to not worry you more than you clearly already were. He looked around for a bit, fascinated by being in your space and finally seeing how you live. After closing your apartment door and pulling The Master away from sneaking away to look into your bedroom or break into The Doctor’s TARDIS, you lead The Master to your kitchen and to all of your other guests.

“Who was at the door, Y/n? Are we expecting someone else?” You stuttered for a moment, unsure really of what to say. You had not prepared enough for this part of the day. You felt The Master walk up behind you and into the kitchen. You then saw the faces of your friends contort into various forms of fear, disgust, anger and confusion.

“Hello. Happy Christmas, everyone.” The Master gave an awkward wave to your friends as he anxiously shifted back and forth on his feet.

“Y/n, can I speak with you for a moment?” The Doctor asked, but it wasn’t a question. She was already beginning to stand from her chair and walk out of the kitchen.

“Of course, Doctor. Master, you can sit in the open seat next to mine.” The Doctor and the Master glared at each other when they passed. The Doctor felt betrayed that you would invite him here. The Master was just upset that The Doctor was choosing to ruin your holidays with bickering.

“Why did you invite him here, Y/n?” The Doctor asked angrily once the two of you were alone and as far away from your kitchen as possible.

“Because I wanted to.”

“Y/n?”

“Isn’t Christmas a time for forgiveness, Doctor? And besides, no one should be alone on Christmas, including him.” The Doctor sighed as if she were trapped. She understood your position, but she continued to be sceptical of The Master’s motives. But it was Christmas, so maybe he deserved one more chance.

“I don’t like that you’ve done this.”

“Fine, but can we yell at each other later and just enjoy ourselves today?” The Doctor nodded defeatedly. Then you and The Doctor walked back into the kitchen in silence. You could tell from the faces of The Master and your friends that they all heard your conversation, and frankly, you didn’t care. The Master was there for you when you needed him, probably more than The Doctor and The Fam had, and you didn’t care who knew about it.

It was uncomfortably silent while the seven of you ate. This isn’t what you wanted. You don't know why, but every time you imagined today, the seven of you were happy and joking around. No one would be mentioning the Kasaavin or Gallifrey or the Timeless Child; it would just be a fun day between unlikely friends. It was just seven people with a lot of trauma having a bit of fun. But you now thought that to be a naive daydream and you cursed yourself for setting this whole dinner up. 

You felt The Master bump the side of your leg with his knee. You looked over at him. The Master, you could tell, was trying to ask you if you were alright without using telepathy. He knew that The Doctor would have called him out for doing that if he had. You smiled at him before returning to stare at your food. You didn’t want him to know how upset you were.

The atmosphere was still incredibly tense. You racked your brain for a moment about how to salvage the day because the food wasn’t working. But nothing popped into your head. You couldn’t take it anymore. You felt like the day was ruined, that all of your friends were disappointed in you, and that you had forced The Master into a difficult situation for no reason. You needed to get out of this suffocating environment. You stood up abruptly and left the room.

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“What are you doing here?” The Doctor immediately sneered at her best enemy as soon as you had left the room.

“Y/n invited me.”

“You are planning something! I know it! You’ve hypnotised Y/n in order to get closer to us and you are planning something horrible and deadly!”

“I just want to be here because Y/n invited me.”

“No. It’s got to be more than that. Everything you have ever done in your life alludes to you doing something colossal! You would never do anything out of the kindness of your hearts!” The Doctor pointed her finger accusingly before slamming her hand down on the table.

The Master took a deep breath in order to calm himself down after withstanding to The Doctor’s tirade. He wanted to explode on The Doctor; to pull out his TCE and shoot his best enemy in each one of her hearts, but he wouldn’t ruin your Christmas like that. The Master took another deep breath before responding.

“As I stated before, Doctor, if you ever listen, I am here because Y/n invited me. And I didn’t want to disappoint them on Christmas. I’ve heard that holidays during this season of the year are fairly important in Human culture.”

An awkward silence fell over the table. The Doctor was glaring at her companions to back her up for support, but they remained silent. Even though they had been hurt by The Master in the past, and they were currently sceptical of him, but it was Christmas. They just wanted to have a calm and loving holiday season with their friends and families. The Master hung his head low and was wishing for your swift return.

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You initially left the freakishly silent table to just have a breath alone, just in case the tears you were fighting won the battle. You spun around your living room, looking for where you had placed your tissues, and then you caught a glimpse of your Christmas tree, which had many presents beneath it. You grabbed the lot and returned to the kitchen. 

“You don’t have to open them now. I just wanted to give them to you before I forgot. Not to mention that this might defuse some of the tension.” 

You handed each person their presents. The Master did a double take when you initially handed him his present. He didn’t think that he would be included in the majority of the holiday festivities, let alone this one. He held the present carefully, delicately in his lap. He couldn’t stop staring at it as if it were his most prized possession.

The Doctor almost instantaneously seemed to forget her anger towards The Master and immediately opened her present, which didn’t surprise you. But you breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing The Doctor return to her usual childlike self.

“Oh! It’s present time! Amazing. I’ll get my gifts for everyone! Do you want me to get yours, Yaz?” Dan jovially questioned.

“I’ll get mine and The Doctor’s. Ryan? Graham? What about you two?” Yaz responded.

“I’ll get the presents from the both of us, son.” Graham sounded as he joined in the present retrieving.

Once everyone exchanged presents, Graham and Yaz thanked you and tucked their presents away to open up once they got home. You did similarly to them and put your presents under your chair for later. Ryan and Dan, however, followed The Doctor’s lead and opened their presents as soon as their hands were on them, Ryan more rambunctiously so. The Master just continued to stare down at his present in disbelief. He couldn’t remember the last time someone gifted him something. The Master was going to refuse the present and give it back to you because he didn’t deserve it, but then Dan gave a raucous cheer upon opening Graham’s present to him. It was a brand new and expensive wok.

“Y/n relayed your handiwork with a wok.” Graham said, causing Dan to chuckle in response. But unfortunately, silence quickly returned to the table once the gift exchange was over. To your surprise, The Master was the first to speak up.

“I’m sorry that I don’t have anything to give any of you. I’m not particularly knowledgeable about Christmas and its specific traditions, or any holidays around this time of the year really.”

“That’s perfectly fine, Master. I’m just happy that you’re here with all of us.” You smiled at him genuinely.

“Yeah, you not leaving us on a crashing plane is present enough.”

“Graham!”

“I’m sorry. I-”

“There’s no need to apologise. I haven’t exactly been a joy to be around for the majority of you. So, I’m not going to be petty about just retaliation.” The Master spoke sullenly, and it broke your heart. Yes, he hurt The Fam and The Doctor and threatened them, but you could see that he was trying. You just wished that your friends could see that, too. You laid a hopefully reassuring hand on The Master’s shoulder, but then you felt him tense beneath you and saw that all of your friends gave you pointed looks. So, you removed your hand.

Dan then coughed awkwardly. He didn’t know much about The Master’s antics, mostly just what Yaz had told him, and he just wanted to have a good day with his friends. Despite The Doctor’s trepidation and Yaz’s ice-cold stare, Dan saw The Master as a friend because The Master was a friend of yours. Dan also noticed all the trouble you were putting into the event, and he just wanted to try and help you in cheering everyone up.

“I brought some homemade cookies from my parents and some crackers, too.”

“May I join in this festivity?” The Master asked politely as Dan retrieved a tin of cookies for the table. 

“Of course, mate. They’re for everyone.” Dan clapped The Master on the back. You gave The Master a look to not comment and thankfully he just enjoyed the cookies while Dan and Yaz began handing out some Christmas crackers.

Maybe it was the presents or maybe the crackers, or even the cookies, or maybe it was just Dan being friendly and nice as always that helped lighten the general mood of the room. All of you ended up talking about fun things and laughing at random stories. Everyone even enjoyed the stories The Master told. And there was no talk of the bad things that The Master had done in the past, only the fun and funny things. 

Yaz and Ryan opened a couple of bottles of wine, everyone pulled some Christmas crackers. You exchanged prizes and paper crowns and all of you seemed to be thoroughly enjoying yourselves. Everyone in attendance had wide smiles and full stomachs and so many presents and knickknacks to take home.  But unfortunately, the day had to end.

“Despite the  … surprises … I had a brilliant time! Absolutely brilliant.” The Doctor said before giving you a ‘goodbye’ hug.

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“I can’t wait to do this next year!” Ryan excitedly shouted.

“Well, I don’t know about that …” The Doctor muttered softly, but you and The Master both heard.

“Oh, come on, Doc, you just said that you had a good time.” Graham countered as your friends clambered into the TARDIS and said their final goodbyes. The Master, though, hung behind in your apartment for a moment to have a quiet conversation alone with you.

“Thank you for inviting me. You obviously didn’t have to. But I very much appreciate it.” The Master handed you the present you have given him.

“Do you not want it?” You were hurt. You put so much effort into the day and the present. You wanted him to enjoy it and to see how much you cared for him.

“Of course I want it. I just don’t deserve it, Y/n.” You sighed at The Master’s self-deprecation. Thankfully he wasn’t rejecting you, but you hated seeing him this sad. That was part of the point of the present, to cheer The Master up during the holiday season.

“Just take it, Master, please. It’s Christmas.” You forced the present back into The Master’s hands and then tackled him into a hug.

“And take care of yourself, Master.” You kissed The Master's cheek and with that, the two of you said your goodbyes for the day. 

The Master walked away from your flat bittersweetly. He didn’t know how to process the event that just occurred to him. He felt like he experienced a fever dream of a day filled with his wildest dreams and his deepest fears. And he still had a present to open, so the turmoil of emotions he experienced today were likely not finished turning in his brain.

When he arrived in his TARDIS, The Master brought your present out of his bigger-on-the-inside pocket and stared at it again. You were too sweet for your own good. First, you invited him to join you in your Christmas celebrations, then you got him a gift. Unbelievable! It was as if you were begging for The Master to become obsessed with you.

The Master carefully untied the purple bow and carefully unwrapped the wrapping paper in an attempt to not rip it. The Master wouldn’t describe himself as a hoarder, even though other people had, but he wanted to keep every part of this gift to remember it, and your effort and kindness, properly.

You got him a couple of sets of purple and orange socks. He smiled at this. You noticed his proclivity for statement socks. He took one pair out of the box and observed how heavy it was, not like any pair of socks he had before. He wondered if these were some new Human inventions, weighted socks, maybe made for anxiety havers. The Master then looked inside the socks and saw that there was an item inside them. Before discovering what you had hidden inside the pair of socks he first held, he looked into the other pairs you had given him and, like the first pair, you had hidden more gifts in those socks. 

Upon unrolling each pair of socks, The Master found that you had also gifted him a pair of expensive-looking cufflinks, a quaint key chain with a Spotify code of one of his favourite Human songs, “Rasputin”, and a small rubber ducky wearing an “I raided Area 51” shirt. He rolled his eyes at the last gift. He never should have told you that he was actually responsible for that “meme”. Under all of the socks was an illustrated copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. If the socks were anything to go by, you hid something in the book. And The Master was correct. In the section where Dorothy’s house flies up into the air because of the tornado, The Master found a letter addressed to him. 

Just like the box, he opened the letter with care. In your handwriting, written by a purple inked pen, you wrote:

Master, 

I never want to intrude when it comes to you and your personal space and needs, but I want you to know that you are always welcome at my flat and in my life. I’m not going to judge you or pressure you or rat you out to The Doctor in any way. I just want you to have someone, and I hope that I could be that someone for you.

I know that things are complicated because of your long history with The Doctor and, more recently, everything revolving around the Kasaavin and Gallifrey. But I have really appreciated all of our communications with each other. I actually felt seen and heard by you, and I hope I made you feel the same way. Maybe I could one day get everyone else to see the softer, more caring and more protective side of yourself that you so often hide. You probably wouldn’t like that, though. But thank you for allowing me to see that side of you. I really do love talking with you, and I appreciate everything you have done for me.

I hope to see you again, preferably in a non-threatening environment. :)

Happy Holidays

Y/n

The Master sighed deeply trying to hold back his tears, but apparently, his emotions won over his resolve. The Master burst into tears. Emotions from decades and centuries that he had pushed down now rose up and flowed through him; his loneliness and isolation all becoming painfully aware to him as he read your letter. You really were the only person he had at this moment, maybe in his entire life. The Master would have to prove his worth to you properly. Get you a coat like his, at the very least.

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You stumbled out of your room, still dizzy from sleep, to answer your door. An incessant knocking woke you up from where you had fallen asleep while watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Despite being incredibly drained from the anxiety of the day, you tried to cheer yourself up with some Christmas spirit. You grew incredibly annoyed, however, when there was no one behind your front door. You looked around; no one was down the hall, no one left anything for you, not even a note on the door!

You shut your door, disgruntled, but made your way back to your room. You stopped suddenly in your path, though, upon seeing something previously not there out of the corner of your eye. Under your Christmas tree sat a square, purple box tied up securely in gold ribbon. 

You strode up to the box and investigated it curiously. It looked safe, but you were still cautious.  Before opening the box, you opened the letter, addressed to you, which was placed on top.

My Darling Y/n,

If I had more time to plan, I would gift you something more sufficient in order to repay you for your overly caring nature. Though, I hope that this will make do for the time being. You may find some extra goodies hidden throughout, but I intend to spoil you greatly with many more gifts in the future.

With love,

Your caring Master

Of course, it was The Master! You smiled from ear to ear both because he got you a gift and because he reciprocated your feelings, but also because he opened your present and enjoyed Christmas dinner. 

You carefully, but quickly and excitedly, opened the present The Master had given you. To your wonderment, The Master had gifted you either his purple coat or a coat that looked incredibly similar. You quickly threw the beautifully crafted coat around you, and it instantly warmed you.

You couldn’t help yourself; you were so excited that you had to jump up and down and squeal in pure joy. You then skipped to your full-body mirror and snapped a photo of yourself modelling your Christmas gift.

You sent the picture to The Master, along with the text: ‘I look quite dashing, doncha think? ;)’

The Master instantly peered down at his Human phone, which he kept in order to communicate with you, as soon as he received your message. He smirked and then sent back a reply.

‘Incredibly so! Dare I say, dashing enough to conquer the Universe?’

‘I wouldn’t go that far. I was thinking more of a sexy stranger at a cosy bar…’ You removed your sleep shirt before putting the coat back on, revealing a good portion of your chest. You also moved to take the picture in your bathroom mirror instead in order to hide your Christmas pyjama pants.

‘You absolutely fit that role to a T, love! I hope to see you in that environment and in  that coat in the future.’

‘Oh, you will, Master.’

‘Good. ;) Now be a good little Human and get to bed. It might be Christmas, but you must go to bed at a reasonable time.’ You rolled your eyes at his protective nature, but you knew that he was right.

‘Only if you get a good night’s sleep, too, Master.’

‘That coat must have given you my talent for finagling and manipulation, love.’

‘Nope! That was all you!’

‘The Doctor would be horrified’

‘Let her be.’ The Master genuinely smiled down at his phone and the conversation he was having with you. You were so special to him. He didn’t need gifts or Christmas dinner or flirty texts, even, The Master just needed you in his life. You were the best Christmas present The Master could have asked for.

‘Happy Christmas, Y/n!’

‘Happy Christmas, Master!’

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

@how-masterful especially for you

Just a reminder, I will be closing my requests in a couple of days. So, if you have any requests that you would like me to write (or headcanons that you would like to share, etc) send them my way!

doctor who really said nonbinary rights what about nonbinary WRONGS