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ans99here's an interesting view of the master's personality from someone who's several times been called one of the, if not "the" best master rpers on lj:
http://savagestime.livejournal.com/44634.html
i find this particular bit very interesting:
This does not mean that he would refrain from killing Sam if he thought it was necessary for power or survival. In fact, he’d be more than happy to, and he wouldn’t feel the least bit guilty about it after. Nor would he feel guilty if he randomly decided to break his promise and kill Sam.
What he may feel is shame, because randomly breaking the promise - sacrificing something (the trust other people put in him, which can be quite useful) for the sake of impulse, without any real gain - is a loss of control, and the Master hates losing control. This lack of control, however, is symptomatic of the Master.
A general lack of concern for ‘lower’ life is not particularly surprising in a Time Lord. A mentality that cares more for the end result than the way to get to it isn’t surprising either (‘The story changes, but the ending stays the same.’) The Master’s great problem, which grows and grows over the years, is that despite his need for self-control, he is not able to have it. In his Delgado incarnation, he revelled in violence. By the time he was in his Ainley incarnation, he often fell to impulse. By Simm, he’s even worse than his predecessors. He succumbs to impulse, to flashes of emotion. He is certainly a meticulous planner, but his lack of self-restraint destroys him as much as his hubris does. Thus he holds a paradoxical freedom and imprisonment in his mentality: he is the Master, so he is free to do whatever he wants whenever he wants whyever he wants, but as the Master, he is imprisoned by his willingness to follow through on his freedom without thinking.
Returning to the premise ‘you sacrifice what you value less for what you value more,’ the Master is prone to sacrificing what he values more - things he can gain by keeping to his code - for the sake of the momentary pleasures he gains from breaking it. He is, in part, aware of this failing - as much as he is capable of being aware of any of his own weaknesses - and he is afraid of it.
i know you have no idea what i'm on about but i feel pretty vindicated right now.
http://savagestime.livejournal.com/44634.html
i find this particular bit very interesting:
This does not mean that he would refrain from killing Sam if he thought it was necessary for power or survival. In fact, he’d be more than happy to, and he wouldn’t feel the least bit guilty about it after. Nor would he feel guilty if he randomly decided to break his promise and kill Sam.
What he may feel is shame, because randomly breaking the promise - sacrificing something (the trust other people put in him, which can be quite useful) for the sake of impulse, without any real gain - is a loss of control, and the Master hates losing control. This lack of control, however, is symptomatic of the Master.
A general lack of concern for ‘lower’ life is not particularly surprising in a Time Lord. A mentality that cares more for the end result than the way to get to it isn’t surprising either (‘The story changes, but the ending stays the same.’) The Master’s great problem, which grows and grows over the years, is that despite his need for self-control, he is not able to have it. In his Delgado incarnation, he revelled in violence. By the time he was in his Ainley incarnation, he often fell to impulse. By Simm, he’s even worse than his predecessors. He succumbs to impulse, to flashes of emotion. He is certainly a meticulous planner, but his lack of self-restraint destroys him as much as his hubris does. Thus he holds a paradoxical freedom and imprisonment in his mentality: he is the Master, so he is free to do whatever he wants whenever he wants whyever he wants, but as the Master, he is imprisoned by his willingness to follow through on his freedom without thinking.
Returning to the premise ‘you sacrifice what you value less for what you value more,’ the Master is prone to sacrificing what he values more - things he can gain by keeping to his code - for the sake of the momentary pleasures he gains from breaking it. He is, in part, aware of this failing - as much as he is capable of being aware of any of his own weaknesses - and he is afraid of it.
i know you have no idea what i'm on about but i feel pretty vindicated right now.
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no subject
Date: 2009-06-14 06:40 pm (UTC)The old saying is that it takes years to build but moments to destroy is very true. In this context, however, the builders (especially those who have been 'trained' not to just look at the end product) get fulfillment out of the journey and then the happiness that comes with a job well done. Yet for the destroyers, one has to keep destroying. If one gets a thrill from proving one is better, one constantly has to find a foe to challenge while looking over their backs to see if someone is going to try to supplant them.
So while the 'builder' way may seem boring, the Dark Side is one long death spiral of paranoia and looking for the next 'high'
no subject
Date: 2009-06-14 09:05 pm (UTC)the mythbusters thing (actually a lot of discovery/history/tlc programming these days) is a worrisome commentary on our society-- are we more drawn to people destroying than building these days? are gleeful, awesome explosions all we're after even on these "educational" channels?
of course now i can't get over the idea of adam and jamie as sith lords xD