Hey. When I was rereading Small Favor today, a question crossed my mind. If Mab took Harry's Fire Magic knowledge away in Chapter Six, then how can Harry do his little ball of sunshine against both Torelli's Goons and again in the Metro Station?

Anyone know?

 

Not sure. Sounds like a ploty to me.

 

Wasn't it just his evocation, or flame throwing magic that was taken? In the train station he also used the mini fireball for the sprinkler system and that was after his memory was taken as well.

 

I think she just took the big ol' fuego-type fireblasts, the ones big enough that some of Summer's remaining traces of power would leak in. A bit like he used to do with hellfire, I suppose.

 

As far as I remember Mab didn't 'take' any magic away from Harry. She took his blasting rod and blocked his memory of it.

He generally needs his rod to do the big fire evocations. The 'little ball of sunshine' was small enough to work without and obviously didn't attract Summer. His big fire magic only worked at the end against Tessa because he was really, really pissed off.

 

The rod would have triggered memories and Mab blocked just his memories of the big fire stuff.Small things like this are a logical thing and if she would have blocked everything (to control fire is something wizards learn quite early and isn't such a great feat (I'm talking about big fire beams/walls/etc., not the small, compressed super beams Luccio uses, they are higher class), Harry said it himself in Storm Front when he commented on 'Monica's husbands show) and a large chunk of education would have been altered and/or erased.
But how often do you use big fire spells in quite day-to-day situations?
He just took the force and wind route instead.
She made him stop thinking about the fire spells as a solution for a problem that doesn't necessary requirers fire, but if a situation does require fire, that is something else.

 

1) Thomas can touch Harry because Harry's protection from the White Court is weak. The man hasn't renewed it for several years. It took some time, therefore, for his protection to kick in. When it did, Harry was kissing Lara, and possibly rounding the bases-a very overtly sexual act. Touching Harry, especially for a brief moment, doesn't trigger the protection.

2) That is interesting. Possible explanations: a) the lemonade was implied in the bargain, b) Mac owed the Queens a favor(very unlikely), c) this is a plot hole, or d) we've stumbled onto something big.

 

The opposite-sex thing does not work--Justine burned a female vampire with her hair.

About the white court/true love thing... It's mentioned that not just people, but ITEMS given/touched by/significant to a loved one can hurt the white court. One example being touching a wedding ring.

Didn't Susan give harry his duster as a gift?? IIRC, she'd flirted with him over the phone by mentioning being naked and wrapping it around herself before passing it over to him... So couldn't Dresden's duster serve as protection against white court vamps?

Though in the Depths, Lara wrapped her hands around Harry, and she was only burnt when she kissed him... what, was there NO other flesh on flesh contact?? Or flesh on cloth??? Or it could be that since the contact was lessened and not as extreme as the kiss, Lara didn't mention it and Butcher didn't write of it...

If a person is loved, wouldn't the clothes he wears be included as part of the protection...? What if they were gifts from significant others..? Hmm..

 

The thing about Thomas and Harry may be something left in the pendents their mother gave them.

The lemonade is likely just a plothole. Seriously how many people are actually going to notice that? Of course now that I have said that it will probably be something important that was purposely put in so people would feel stupid for not noticing it earlier.

 

One thing about the wedding rings. They're a symbol of love, man. One of the ultimate symbols. Compared to an article of clothing given by a girlfriend, I don't really see much of a comparison.

 

The burning effects of love are proportional to the strength of the Hunger at the time of contact. I don't think Thomas' Hunger wants to feed on Harry.
And mortal food doesn't count towards obligations - see Summer KNight, when Aurora gives Harry a sandwich. She says she "wouldn't offer the other kind," and no obligation seems implied for Harry.

 

Mac's bar being a neutral ground might negate any transaction of that kind possibly.

 

Besides I would expect the Sidhe of both courts would go out of their way to point out when Harry or whomever owes them a favor but be pretty mum when they are the ones that owe it. If the person is unaware of the favor owed, the Sidhe is free to pay back the favor in their own time.

 

Yeah, this was explained in one of the short stories, I think. Thomas can't touch Justine because his vampire side wakes up screaming DO WANT whenever she's around, and then freaks the fuck out at all that love. When he's around Harry, his vampire side goes 'meh' and dozes off.

This is because he's an atypical White Court dude. A lot of them have their vampire side running the show, so they always burn like fuck at love. Lara has her desire to run the show in control, so the vampire side only woke up when she started making out with Harry, and then the burny kicked in.

I think she was referring to the legendary food of the Fae, which either makes everything else taste like ash in comparison, or puts you under the control of the local top Fae, depending on which stories you read. Either way, wouldn't be polite to give that to Harry.

And buying rounds of drinks at a pub is a human custom. If they hung out long enough to finish their drinks, then it'd be someone else's turn to pay for the next round. If it got around to her and she didn't pay her round, then there'd be an obligation.

 

One thing I remembered: the string Harry used to hold Susan. Er... I don't recall what happened to it, whether or not JB wrote it as being "used up" but even if it no longer has the magic to bind a red court vamp if in Harry's home... it is an item with one HELL of a significance.

Basically, what I'm saying is that while Harry might not burn a White Court vampire by touch does NOT mean he is defenseless, or that he can't PUT UP defenses. He is a wizard -- one of the wise, like freaking Batman--give them time to prepare, and they WILL ruin your day.

The duster and the string are two items that I managed to think of that would make awesome components in a thaumaturgical spell... heh.. hehehehehe... hee. Ahem.


But I digress... The title is about plotholes .. even if we've gone on an interesting tangent.


"And buying rounds of drinks at a pub is a human custom. If they hung out long enough to finish their drinks, then it'd be someone else's turn to pay for the next round. If it got around to her and she didn't pay her round, then there'd be an obligation."

Hmmm... Well... the problem is... Jeez. My thoughts are hard to express on them, but reciprocity is a big deal in human cultures, and seems to be significant to Dresden Files Fae as well... But you see, there are so many cultures that you can find all sorts of example of customs, traditions, norms, and taboos... There are, in fact, cultures where saying "thank you" would be an insult implying that you had measured the monetary value of an product of service rather then it being politeness... There are cultures where doing things like providing food and shelter to others in your community is more basic and expected then asking somebody to please pass the ketchup when at a table...

Fae, however, seem to be big on not owing any favors, and repaying them when they can. And on completely screwing over those who make deals with them. Only JB can say with any real accuracy what it means--and even he can be mistaken or forgetful or not be unambigous enough in answering... there's a lot of wiggle room, the way I see it.

 

Okay, it's an American pub tradition then, you nitpicking fuck. Either you didn't know what I meant, in which case you're an idiot, or you did and you pretended you didn't to show off, in which case you're a pest.

And learn to fucking quote properly. A good start would be the huge quote buttons under every single post.

 

Well, I meant that the Fae act along their own rules... which aren't quite like ours. They curry favors/power and try to avoid obligations or recieving gifts. Who knows at what point doing something for a Fae will 'trigger' some kind of 'obligation' to them?

At Bianca's party, IIRC Leanansidhe couldn't accept from Bianca without giving something in return. Others had gotten gifts.. but the fae was the one who looked like she had to give a gift in return, or owe a favor.

Lea needing to exchange a gift, rather then accept it like other party-goers, seemed to be a Fae thing... it wasn't following custom... So what does that mean for the lemonade scene? ... I have no clue. I'm thinking nothing, but I then just get frustrated trying to figure out how much Fae can do and what their motivations are and all and start thinking in circles... Sorry for going on an odd culture tangent before.