An arrow to the knee won't pulverize it, neither will a bullet (well, most bullets). And even a completely destroyed knee won't stop someone from casting spells or pulling a trigger.

 

@redshell - I agree that equals could duke it out for some time, but when you compare someone like Voldemort to an average wizard/witch, I expect them to go splat very quickly.

@CosmosGravitation - of course that adrenaline may elevate pain thresholds, but some injuries you just can't overcome, period.

 

You guys are forgetting that we're talking about spells, not bullets or arrows.

If you get hit with a Stunner in the ankle, you're stunned. If you get hit with the Killing Curse in your little finger, you're dead. Most spells do not require to hit you in the vital organs.

 

As I said, very few injuries would stop someone instantly and take them out of combat completely, but there are a few (destroying the brainstem being the surest and fastest). The example I was addressing - your arrow to the knee - is not such an injury. Don't move the goal post.

You don't have to take my word for it though. There are plenty of real life videos of violence, people being repeatedly shot, stabbed etc. and for a time they keep going without even slowing down.

This is true. Although there are spells used that don't instantly take someone out of play and do depend on damage to the body, like the Blasting Curse.

 

When someone takes a blasting curse to the knee, I expect their leg to be blown of at the knee, so that would be rather crippling.

 

Even assuming it does take off the leg at the knee (which, of course, an arrow could never do), that person will still be capable of casting spells or pulling a trigger for at least a minute (probably longer, depends on several variables) before blood loss takes them out of operation. We know this from real life examples of people losing their limbs in various accidents/explosions/wars, etc. And when someone is fighting for their life, they're not going to stop merely because half their leg is gone.

Of course, they'd still die relatively quickly without medical attention, but - again - it wouldn't take them out of the fight completely/instantly which is the only argument I am making.

 

On a different note . . .

People who click on "ALERTS" when the story is already designated a one-shot.

 

Meh, I often follow fics to keep track of stories that I want to read but haven't gotten around to yet. But I guess I could see how it'd be annoying for an author.

 

Things clearly marked as one-shots getting additional chapters isn't exactly unheard of.

 

Blood feuds.

The way they're usually presented, a character declares their family is in a blood feud against another family, as though it's a legal declaration of war or something, so they (usually Harry) can kill everyone in that family with no legal repercussions.

The thing is, it's never really shown to have any magical reinforcement... it's not like 'magic' is judging this to be on the level or just. And, absent some kind of magic that 'judges' this business, the notion that it has the legal backing of the Ministry, that they would allow it, is ridiculous.

So, if declaring a blood feud against someone allows you to kill them and anyone/everyone in their family, legally, then it's essentially like, the minute you say it, the Wizengamot has already found them and all their relatives guilty of a death penalty offense, but instead of executing them, they've handed that responsibility off to a third party, with the condition that the convicted is allowed to hide from or retaliate against the executioner. Wacky.

"Well, he declared blood feud against them, so suddenly it's okay for him to kill them all. I mean, if he hadn't said 'blood feud' first it would be murder -multiple murders, actually- but he totally said it; so... all I can say is I'm glad they aren't related to me."

That just circumvents the entire legal system, without any kind of burden of proof or anything. It's like the whole, "Two men enter the ring, and whoever is alive at the end was right. God willed it." There's just no way the Ministry would give that nonsense a pass.

I could maybe, maybe, see the Ministry grudgingly allowing such a thing to happen if there were some spell that could be cast that would decide if one family had sufficient grievances against another to declare all out war on them, above the law... but, if that were possible, surely it would be a small step away from developing a spell to determine innocence or guilt in any crime; which would make it pitifully easy to simply accuse them of crimes against you, have the Wizengamot use their guilt-detecting spell, and they go down for it. No need for a dangerous feud you have no guarantee you'll win.

And, goodbye risky trials and Veritaserum.

Besides, if it were so easy to legally murder other people, simply by publicly declaring your intent ahead of time, Voldemort could have just said, "Oh, by the way, fuckin' blood feud on you, and you, and you!" and never have had to worry about auror interference in his plans.

The whole blood feud thing is just so easily picked apart from every angle, it really only works in medieval settings where there practically is no law, or in a situation where someone is simply using it as a way to say, "Fuck you and your whole family. I know I can't legally go after you, but I'll get you one way or another, just you wait and see."

And, at the end of the day, that's just another threat.

---
Everyday/Every day.

When I see people confusing these, it hurts.
Everyday = adjective describing something as being commonplace or routine. "I actually prefer formal wear to my everyday clothes."

Every day = a phrase that forms part of a sentence which states that something happens every day. "The law frowns on public nudity, so I wear clothes every day."

 

A mutually-declared blood feud where both sides agree that the other side is allowed to murder them makes some sort of sense. Obviously still not something you'd have in a well-functioning legal system (and not something I'd expect to ever seen done in a not-retarded way in fanfiction), but it's not utter nonsense in the way a unilateral feud is.

 

Then you remember that all purebloods are relatives and it quickly becomes a mess.

 

And thus the pureblood bigotry ceases to be of any importance because they're all dead.

 

Which would then lead to 'Marriage Laws' and Hermione having to marry Snape.

 

True, that just means the story wasn't thought out. No thank you.

 

Characters willing to risk the lives of other people(who trust them and follow them) to go save someone they "love" or named character and not only do they not really show they care when those people die but they really wouldn't do the same thing for some unnamed character. It just annoys the hell out of me.

An example. Revolution had an episode where some people in a town were taken, one of the protagonists didn't really give a shit and even convinced others that it was too dangerous to go after them. Then they hear someone they love was taken, convinces others to follow her and rescue that particular person(not even the others) and doesn't even bat an eye when some of the people who chose to help her die. Hell they don't even go and explain to their families what happened.

 

Seems like an asshole thing to do but it is expected that they prioritize their loved ones. What is annoying is when nobody calls them on it. One would think there would be someone who resented them for that.

 

I’m not sure if it’s just confirmation bias, but I had that impression for a while now, that in modern culture prioritizing your family/loved ones over everything/everyone else isn't portrayed as a human weakness, but as a human virtue.

Yes, most people would prioritize their family and friends that way, but that doesn't have to be a good thing. In Roman stories, the virtuous behavior was sacrificing your family in favor of your duty. That was the ideal. I’m not necessarily saying that it should be, but risking innocent people’s lives to save your love interest (or your child) isn't really a good thing either.

 

Depends on wether the other people follow you voluntarily. But you should still show some consideration if they die in the attempt

 

I've realised that most of the fics I used to like... I can no longer read without getting vaguely annoyed.

Peeve: Harry gets annoyed about every secret. Really. Along the lines of "omg, your favourite colour is blue?? Why did you never tell me AngstAngstAngst"

Peeve: Harry thinking 'almost being put in slytherin' is the darkest, most horrible secret ever. If anyone knew (even the love interest du jour) they'd drop him in a moment and obviously send him to Azkaban. :facepalm

Peeve: Harry getting annoyed about not being told things he has no business knowing anyway. I read a fic where he gets all bitchy because he wasn't told about Barty Crouch Jr. Apparently that knowledge would have allowed him to not to fooled by fake!Moody. AngstAngstAngst.

Peeve: Harry expecting to be trusted implicitly. Ok, so this is kinda in the books. But seriously Harry, what are you? Like, 12? Ok, some of the time you are twelve. But when I'm reading about an 18 y/o Harry getting bitchy because someone didn't just believe him when he told them that the moon was made of blue cheese gets my goat.

News at 11.