5117: Not This Time - Harry Potter (Master of Death)
I’d almost thought I’d discovered a Master of Death story which worked, but then went back and re-read the entry after posting and decided to completely rewrite the entry as there were a few things I’d not caught.
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Title: Not This Time
Perpetrator: wintergreen825
Sue-O-Meter: Bad I honestly loved the concept for this one until I went back and re-read the two chapters that were up and caught onto some things I hadn’t on the first read through because I was so excited at potentially finding a Master of Death story which worked. In fact, if it weren’t for the character bashing that is being passed off as legit criticism of certain characters this might have gotten a good or okay rating.
Cover/Banner Art: Their profile pic is very nice. Sadly, I’m not sure how to describe it beyond the fact it is metallic in color and has the letters G.W.L. which I just realized may stand for Girl-Who-Lived.
Summary: “Being the Master of Death was often a boring way to walk through the multiverse. Occasionally, Harry would find things to entertain himself. Which is why he was paying attention to when the daughter of one of his favorite mortals was suddenly fading out of exist in a tidal wave of temporal interference. Well, the upside of being pissed off was that he wasn't bored.”
Full Name: Harry “Haridard” Potter. Harry is apparently a child’s name, though in this particular case it helps to understand that it is an Asgardian who’s pretty much implying that Harry would be a child’s name, so him taking on a longer version of his short name makes sense as it fits with what is expected in Asgardian society.
Sueworts House(s): Quanonreip for giving Harry Potter powers so he can interfere with the canon story-line of another fandom, which would have worked for this one as he’s taken on the job of Death if it weren’t for the fact Harry can also be sorted into Bitchiwitch because Harry’s supposed years of living through multiple universes has left him with the writer’s opinion of certain characters grafted onto him, which actually detracts from an otherwise interesting story.
Species: Master of Death
Physical Description: I suspect Harry looks similar to how he does in canon.
Possessions: A dead soul inside. By this I mean I get this definite feeling as Harry talks about the various versions of Thanos that living through that many universes is actually tiresome. However, he’s also got the writer’s opinions on certain characters.
Origin: The writer came up with an interesting idea of Harry becoming the Master of Death and being forced to watch many universes come and go. When the existence of one character-Tony’s daughter-becomes threatened because someone meddled majorly with time, Harry decides to step in. I also think there is good reason to be critical of Steven Rogers’s actions during Civil War, yet in this same regard you’ve got to be critical of Tony Stark-it was a case where both were equally right as they were equally wrong. In this same regard, when Harry says, “I have walked many universes, Son of Odin, and this version of you flatters no one,” I find myself agreeing this is an apt description of beer gut Thor. However, Harry majorly dismisses what Loki’s done. There’s also how Harry talks about Thor murdering Tony in a fit of rage and I’m left wondering where that came from.
Connection to Canon: Harry shows up among the remaining Asgard to seek their help in preventing Tony’s daughter Morgan being erased from existence because someone messed with the timeline. He then approaches Tony whose place in the afterlife is a lab where he can make anything and Harry admits he can actually die, that even death can effect him.
Special Abilities: There’s nothing wrong with Harry being critical of the characters he is critical of. The problem comes from the obvious writing bias going on. The crazy thing is, I almost missed said bias being there in the story as its hidden behind some actual good criticisms regarding certain characters, yet on the second read through was when I realized the writer was presenting Loki as being rather blameless through the entire narrative rather than just at the end.
Super important though is the reason I missed this the first time. When it came to the criticism aimed at Steve Rodgers-its actually not clear who the man Tony trusted is, so it might not actually be Steve Rodgers, but someone else Tony and his father before him trusted, such as Nick Fury. And it could be seen as simply telling Tony he’s not to blame, that he did what his best.
The way Harry also talks about Loki, I was left with the impression at first that he was purposefully talking smack to Thor because Thor is an Asgardian and the way you get them to man up is to completely question their manhood (which I admit isn’t an okay thing to do), but he did this by playing up Loki and leaving out some important details. Yet, on the second read through I felt as if the writer might have taken brushing off Loki’s past actions a bit too far.
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Notes: I’ve decided that for today’s entry I want to link to Black Widow Was The Only Civil War Avenger Who Was Right (Not Cap Or Iron Man). Why? Because both sides were wrong just as much as they were right, as I’ve already mentioned. There’s nothing wrong with being critical of a canon character, but you’ve also got to be careful not to cross the line into character bashing, or that there could potentially be an alternative reading to what you intended within what you wrote.
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Sample:
Yet Death stood before her with a child in need of restoration, a child whose very existence must be vital if it warranted his personal interference.
"Her name is Morgan Halcyon Stark," Haridard declared. His eyes hardened as he shifted his gaze towards Thor. His voice held all the rage of a marauding frost giant when he continued. "Her father is Anthony Edward Stark, Iron Man."
"But the Man of Iron never sired any children," Thor protested, weak in the face of such cold anger. "I would know. We are friends."
"Friends," Haridard spat with a sneer. "You would have murdered him in a fit of rage, Son of Odin, and for a crime he had not even committed. You would have strangled him while he stared at the corpse of his murdered child over your shoulder. All this without even a hint of regret. If that is your show of friendship, it leaves much to be desired."
"You don't under-"
"You'd be surprised, Son of Odin," Haridard interrupted, "by what I understand. You would never understand what it is like to be cursed with knowledge, to be burdened with power that you never asked for and would give away in a heartbeat if it meant having a family." The green of his eyes glowed as he glared at the god of thunder. "You grieve for an idea, Son of Odin, the brother who always fixed your messes no matter how many blows you landed upon him. If you were even half the man that he believed you to be, I could forgive it. But you aren't. You have chosen to merely uphold your father's legacy instead. I have walked many universes, Son of Odin, and this version of you flatters no one."