I separate chapers into "chaper 1--part 1/2/3" because then I only need a chapter title every third update.

 

Chapter 4 - Interlude.

Fixed that for you.

 

I do that on FF.net and AO3. What both sites need to do is either enable the removal of site enforced numbering or let people do custom numbering. I will keep doing what I am doing until they do. I suggest you complain to FF.net or AO3.
--- Post automerged ---

Can you remove it though ? I spent ages looking for that option a year or two back when I first got triggered by the enforced number and mine not matching.

 

One thing that really annoys me is when people talking about the "avada kedavra curse" or the "crucio curse". They have names, given in canon, the incantations are not used to refer to the spell. It just really irks me.

 

Alas, while I fully support your love of taxonomic accuracy, this is a flaw which is present in canon.

When you think about it, it makes sense. It is the nature of language for people to use it informally in ways which are not technically correct. Almost certainly wizards would commonly refer to magical things in ways which were based on common misunderstandings, slang, convenience etc. rather than sticking to the technically correct classification system.

 

Ah well, looks like I've got a peeve about canon as well...such is life.

 

I happen to like slang words and convenience being applied to magical terms outside the strictest of academic contexts. I read a story early on where, in action scenes, 'stunner' and 'cutter' took the place of Stunning Charm and Severing Charm. What annoys me is when an author attempts to invent his or her own lexicon for spells, magical creatures, departments at the Ministry, or really anything else that can be truncated, abbreviated, or substituted entirely. If the readers have to be handed a glossary to get through it, you've already made a mistake.

 

Yeah, I have no issue with things like "I cast a stunner" or "Then he used a cutter against me", referring to the shield charm as "a shield" is perfectly fine. What I don't like is using the incantation as that slang, it just comes across as...inappropriate. Particularly in the case of serious spells like the unforgiveables.

 

Scars.

A scar is an imperfectly healed wound, left when the damage was too great to enable full healing (most non-minor wounds will leave a minor scar, although it's not always noticeable). If you've got a scab, you *might* end up with a scar in the future (repeatedly picking it will almost certainly lead to one though). If the wound is still bleeding, it hasn't had time to heal at all yet, so wouldn't be a scar by definition.

However, seeing references to "bleeding scars" is relatively common in fanfic. Is this an English vs American-English thing, is this just a common mistake?

 

I mean, old Scars can bleed sometimes, for example my scar from where my appendix was removed bleeds a little every once in a while.

 

I've only ever seen it in reference to Harry's scar, which is clearly magical in origin and perhaps could be more accurately described as a brand than a scar.

 

Sure, old scars can bleed now and then, and in canon, it was mostly Harry's curse scar.

But I've seen it in text where someone who's just been injured tries to stem the bleeding from their newly-inflicted scars, and I just assumed the author didn't know what the word actually meant, or that it is was a difference between English and American.

 

"Dumbledore stared calculatedly at his office in Hogwarts."

‍♂️

 

Pet Peeve that I forgot about but recently ran into again:

That there are torture curses worse than the cruciatus. If there was such a spell, it would've taken the cruciatus's place in the list of unforgivables. Similarly, killing spells that are even more murder-y than the killing curse. The fact that we see Voldemort himself use these spells instead of any rare ancient Mesopotamian curses must mean they are the best at their job.

 

Authors depicting things they are in no way qualified to talk about.

Case in point, a fic I just read's last chapter featured a trial. I was willing to forgive at the start that the writer might not be aware that in France they operate on Napoleonic Law and that trials for serious crimes are a combination of jury trials and bench trials (i.e. decided by judges). But the author then brought in a civil matter into the court, and then had the prosecution be led by a teen (superhero or not) and it all went down hill from there. It was just a shitfest.

Please do not write about topics you barely understand. Especially shit you can fix with an hour or two on Wikipedia.

 

I'm assuming this was an HP fic? If so, why would the wizarding world use napoleonic law?

 

It wasn't. It was a Miraculous Ladybug fic.

 

I'm not the only one who's annoyed when a character other than Snape (or Harry I suppose) uses sectumsempra, right?

 

God forbid that anyone ever learned the spell and passed the knowledge on...