Culture Shock
State of Flux
By Ruskbyte
Reviews
Alex Mcpherson posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 8:59pm for State of Flux
awe... you cant end it there! grrr.
good chapter.
are you going to have tonks appear, at all?
you know, for how she naturally changes, were as culture humans need that gland thingymajiggy to do the change...?
Mongo posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 6:59pm for State of Flux
Depending on whom you asked, Harry Potter had forgone attending Hogwarts in favour of Durmstrang, Beauxbatons and even the Salem Institute. Then there was the claim that he was already at Hogwarts, but under an impenetrable disguise. He had been sorted into either Gryffindor, Slytherin or the previously undiscovered house of Merlin.
Nice nod to various popular fanfic tropes.
"At least you didn’t send Lord Dark Helmet to fetch me," retorted Harry.
It's time to go to... Ludicrous Speed!
Love this crossover.
tmp059237 posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 3:12pm for State of Flux
Thanks for this. Now that they have finally met, I can't wait to read the rest! Well... I can, and I will :-)
Bedrup posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 2:43pm for State of Flux
Liking it. Really eager to see what happens at first contact.
Wonderbee31 posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 11:29am for State of Flux
Wow, this just rocked, and loved the idea of Trekkies vs Warsies out there in space. Looking forward to how things go, whether Dumbldorer, or Snape, if he's there, will mess things up or not, and if things will start more positively from there, or go completely south. Glad to see that the other teachers are getting fed up with Snape's attitude as well, and should be fun to see how thngs go with the rest of the students once he arrives there, and looking forward to what house he gets sorted into.
mmb posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 11:21am for State of Flux
Another interesting chapter.
As a person who has not read the Banks' novels, I'm thankful that you've included little explanations along the way for portions that might otherwise seem confusing or distasteful. I'll have to pick up this series and give it a whack.
Terdwilicker posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 10:12am for State of Flux
Good resolution for his protective drones. Liked the canon GCU crew enthusiasm. First it was colds. This time, SWxST. Don't forget that Harry needs a wand. He's going to need a trip to Diagon Alley, though it looks like he'll be escorted by OoTP bodyguards (and Sma). Looking forward to Sma's interrogation by Dumbles, and what they'll accuse each other of: child endangerment vs kidnapping, and how Sma excuses their absence/cover for the instrument readings. All of this needs to happen quickly, that day, so that Harry can deal with the Troll and meet Hermione that evening. This will be tricky to accomplish. There's also the sorting and which house he ends up in. I wonder what the Hat will make of his Neural Lace? Will the Hat access the lace and talk to a Mind directly? Will the lace attack the Hat? Or will the hat and the lace agree on a course of action and keep it secret? This does lend itself to a technomancy enclave since the Fae aren't known to possess these things. Of course, Wizards aren't logical.
I wonder how Crookshanks will react to Sylvester? A kneazle should be able to tell that its NOT a cat and react accordingly.
Looking forward to seeing more.
Amamama posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 10:08am for State of Flux
Ahhh, I love this. This is such fun, so different from any other ff story I've read and the ending was just brilliant. Looking forward to the next instalment, to se how a Culture raised Harry reacts to the challenges that pop up. Your notes on the Culture are very interesting, I must remember to check my local bookstore (or amazon). A place where the concepts of aggression and violence are totally foreign sounds mighty good.
Cheers!
noahshonor posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 9:58am for State of Flux
More pudding please, Sir! And More, And More.
Damn! Now I'm going to have to start reading another book series. But first Meagan Fox in the Transformers movie.!
Katsuhito posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 8:24am for State of Flux
Yeah! Another chapter of what is becoming my favorite "new" fanfic. A few typo/gramm-o's in there (most notably where you say "180,000 thousand times" - I assume the number you were referring to was 180,000c, not 180,000,000c), but otherwise up to your usual high standard. I did like the Fleet/Rebel bit, and I also like that you have Dumble's patience with Snape starting to thin even before Harry arrives. That's much more likely, I think, than how it's usually portrayed. Unfortunately, I must now hate you for ending the chapter on such a cliffhanger. :) (j/k) So, as Stan the Man would say: Excelsior!
amulder posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 7:19am for State of Flux
Re: Harry's final words... I would have expected him to say something in Marain, whatever they use for outbursts. Unconsciously reverting to his "mother tongue" after all.
And how did Dumbledore round up a dozen people so quickly? The author tells us that it is the Order, so they are probably scattered all over the place.
oh, and if you think I'm coming across a bit grumpy, it's because I really wanted to see Harry get to Hogwarts, but you've delayed us for yet another chapter. Argh!
I fully expect a lot of frustrated wizards in the next chapter. They are all so used to getting their way. Who will toss the first "obliviate"?
On the other hand. The Culture folks are also all so used to getting their way. A lot depends on you, the author, and how you plan to write the way magic interacts with Culture technology. So far you seem to be writing that the Culture technology is sufficiently advanced that it somewhat understands Harry's magic, and in fact they use some if in transport and so on. But if the Culture is completely superior to Dumbledore and crew, then that would seem to take away a large chunk of the plot tension. Where would the challenge be?
Hmmm.
I don't really care about pairing at this point. Heck, I had read all the way through GoF, back in 2002, before I even thought about pairing. Let them be 11, or in Harry's case with his more advanced development, let him interact more with Angelina, or Katie, or some of the other girls 2-3 years older than him.
Hmmm, just how tall/mature/developed is Harry compared to his classmates? I would expect him to be far more physically fit than the majority of the first or even second year students.
The sorting could be fun. One wonders how Harry's Culture guardians will react to a strange voice/being suddenly speaking in his head -- they'll be aware of it through the neural lace, won't they? That might confuse the heck out of the hat.
And further to sorting... your author comments are telling as well. Harry is spoiled, but not spoiled like Malfoy, so I don't see him in the house of the ambitious. So far your harry seems very laid back. So I also don't see him as brave/agressive for Gryffindor. Not sure about hardworking either, having so much handed to him, which leaves out Hufflepuff AND Ravenclaw, since he needn't struggle so with his learning. For that matter, will Sma + crew even LET him go live in a house versus staying with them?
Curious.
Keep it up, great fun.
ps: I went out and read "Consider Phlebas". Weird. Not at all what I expected after reading your story. Not sure I'll even bother reading more of them or not.
vl100butch posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 7:01am for State of Flux
I hope you bring Dumbledore back to the ship, just to show him that his every move is being monitored....
The wizards at Hogwarts are in for as big a shock as when Grantville descended onto Thrungia (for those 1632 fans who will get the reference)
Torrey posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 4:13am for State of Flux
woo hoo! another interesting chapter!
Damn... and look what you've gone and done now... I've got to go and read the books! :)
Well, good luck, and I look forward to the next chapters!
Michael Foerster posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 2:59am for State of Flux
Great stuff!
But in your Author's Notes you saidHe had not had sex yet, but what about Chomba -- from the previous chapter -- just what did they do there? (Anything but penal insertion?)
This is no critic, but just a question for clarification.
Thanks for the work.
dexterz posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 2:59am for State of Flux
looking forward to the next chapter.....this one was good but not very interesting to say the truth but the confrontation next chapter is what i'm looking forward to the most.
please update soon
Evil monster posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 2:56am for State of Flux
He had not had sex yet and will not until sometime in either his fourth or fifth-year at Hogwarts.Boy, Rusk, just how long is this story gonna be?
Wolfric posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 2:40am for State of Flux
I continue to enjoy your story. I am lookinjg forward to Hary reaching Hogwarts. Your Author's notes are helpful in filling in some of the blanks. Thanks for writing. W.
Kaerion posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 1:56am for State of Flux
Well, this story just keeps getting better and better. I absolutely love science fiction backed up by competent world building, and even though I wasn't familiar with the Culture before reading this fic, you've gotten me hooked by now. You've done an excellent job explaining the ins and outs of the Culture well enough for me to understand it fairly well, and luckily without falling into the trap of ruining the flow of the story with too much exposé-type listing of facts and figures.
What you said about Harry's interactions with all the other canon characters (especially his friends and enemies) is exactly what I was hoping for, so I can't wait to see how that turns out, starting next chapter with the resolution to your cliffhanger.
I've always wondered how a (several millennia+) more advanced civilization would react to our own, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing your take on it. If it continues to be as good as it has been (and I have every confidence that it will), this will definitely stay on my list of favorite crossovers.
-Kaerion
Frank Hacklander posted a comment on Tuesday 5th February 2008 10:19pm for State of Flux