RACE: HIVER

[Thamuzz]

So, watching the SFDebris review of Wolf in the Fold. In it, wacky alien races uses a seance for legal purposes.

Thing is... that could actually work for a Hiver.
How is reincarnating a Hiver who was the victim of violent crime viewed? Would their testimony be viewed as reliable?

Weirdly tangential to that:
How would the adolescent power fantasy translate over to the HIvers? Logical chain is "SF law"->"SF Dirty Harry"

[zanzibar196]

we are talking about primates in general and your idea would need sufficient numbers of genetically diverse population to work. And sadly, there aint gonna be those much longer for the great apes. Cause, ya know...we gotta have that nice, cheap furniture.

Also, I don't see many human females lining up to have a great ape embryo implanted so they can give birth by surrogacy...


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[Erinys]

Interesting question, Thamuzz.

The Hiver legal system recognizes the validity of witness testimony from reincarnated persons, but zo'kanichi are typically questioned in civil suits and non-criminal legal proceedings. The period of time between a zo'kan's re-birth and its ability to give legal testimony in a court is long enough that they are not capable of taking part in most criminal proceedings, unless the crime has no statute of limitations--murder, war crimes, etc.. And the testimony of a zok'an is not sufficient to convict a person of any crime which carries a sentence of death; direct living witnesses and other forms of physical and documentary evidence must be produced to corroborate the testimony, or it is assumed that the plasticity of the new mind may have mistaken important facts.

Zokanichi are also protected by the same child protection laws that govern other Hivers, and cannot be compelled to testify against their current or former parents.

--Arinn

P.S. So far as adolescent power fantasies are concerned--it is arguably the case that the majority of Hivers do not ever get over them, because they cannot. Hiver workers tend to fantasize about being clever, and solving problems non-violently: they would idolize heroes like Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes, famous lawyers and scientists, etc.. Warriors tend to appreciate stories about heroes who make liberal use of violence, or embrace serious personal risks. They enjoy stories about police, soldiers, bodyguards, etc.. "Buddy pictures" in Hiver cinema invariably involve a worker and a warrior, often from different clans, who learn to cooperate to solve a problem or series of problems.

[ScoSteSal118]

On a vaguely-related note, do Hiver Workers engage in 'shipping' Princes and Princesses? Do they do so with their own Princess and/or current Prince? Would they consider this too disrespectful of those above them? Would the Machiavellian/political nature of much Hiver courtship make this concept culturally foreign or inappropriate to them?

[Erinys]

The question is "Do ONLY Hiver Workers do it?"" Answer is no, Warriors are every bit as guilty, if not more so.

Hivers are very big on match-making, both for their own parents and for others. Hiver bookies take a lot of bets on the future mate selections of Hiver females, as well as on the outcome of any given sporting event or duel.

--Arinn

[ScoSteSal118]

My devotion to the Queen (or, well, to being the Queen) grows stronger! Thank you for responding so quickly.

[fiendishrabbit]

And next on Artemis III Entertainment network, the thrilling "Days of Our Hive", the hit Hiver soapopera that has been watched by billions!

[marshb]

And next on Artemis III Entertainment network, the thrilling "Days of Our Hive", the hit Hiver soapopera that has been watched by billions!

[Erinys]

*shakes her head* Don't even joke. This is a thing that would happen.

--Arinn

[medic]

My question is about funeral rites in a Hiver society. When a Hiver dies, what's going on with his body? Will it be cremated, buried or something else (with, maybe, some kind of short "goodbye" ceremony?). And do Hivers have cemeteries or some kind of memorial halls to place remains of their brothers?
I also think, all mentioned above will differ between the castes, so, Erynis, please, bring light on this dark question.

[Erinys]

Cremation is always preferred. Very few burial methods do not result in a detectable odor of decay otherwise.

--Arinn

[Thamuzz]

P.S. So far as adolescent power fantasies are concerned--it is arguably the case that the majority of Hivers do not ever get over them, because they cannot. Hiver workers tend to fantasize about being clever, and solving problems non-violently: they would idolize heroes like Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes, famous lawyers and scientists, etc.. Warriors tend to appreciate stories about heroes who make liberal use of violence, or embrace serious personal risks. They enjoy stories about police, soldiers, bodyguards, etc.. "Buddy pictures" in Hiver cinema invariably involve a worker and a warrior, often from different clans, who learn to cooperate to solve a problem or series of problems.

So, I finally got around to watching Wreck It Ralph shortly after first reading that, and it resulted in a weird thought that has been fermenting in my brain for a while:
You are the director/screenwriter team tasked with adapting Wreck it Ralph for a Hiver audience. What do you do?

Here are my thoughts:
The Raplh-Vanelope arc would be pretty easy to adapt. Ralph's backstory would be a clanless warrior, instead of a displaced vagrant. Vanelope would be a juvenile royal (whether prince or princess would be the stuff of internet flamewars). Ralphs quest for acceptance becomes a desire to gain a family, and he ultimately becomes a surrogate father figure/nurse to the Vanelope.
Now, the FIx-It-Felix/Calhoun arc is where it gets interesting. I see two ways it could go.
1) Fix-It Felix is a worker, Calhoun is a warrior, possibly another clanless. Story is shifted from being a romance to a standard Hiver buddy story.
2) Fix-It Felix is a prince (probably a reborn worker). Calhoun is split into a princess and a group of warriors serving her, with the princess acting largely as C&C. The romance arc of the original is preserved.
Either way, the bug enemies would probably be replaced with something more mammalian.
I have no idea what they would do with the main villain though.

[Erinys]

That is quite brilliant! And yes, you're right, the "warrior princess" character is problematic for Hivers, in the sense that females do not engage physically, but a Prince awakening to his romantic desires for the sake of a strong martially inclined female leader is not a problem at all.

As for the villain...ultimately you have an orphan from another clan, a devastated world and a lost family, who has usurped the throne and become Greatmother, do you not? She would be posing as a benign force, but systematically undermining the strongest contender for the seat of power, the former Princess regent, as well as committing other evil acts.

The key to her undoing would be to find the source of her rage in her previous incarnation, and the pain of the losses she suffered there, and revealing her wrong-doing. Things would just end...well, happily from the Hiver point of view, but perhaps a bit gruesomely for a human audience!

--Arinn

[fiendishrabbit]

So basically Hivers view Disneyfied stories as WORSE than their original versions?

"Seriously. You made it morally corrupt!
If the villain isn't Eviscerated on screen you're casting doubt on the fact that they're gone forever! That's likely to introduce severe psychological trauma in young hiver minds! You're blurring the boundaries!"
-Hiver ESRB board.

[Erinys]

Every society has their vision of the Right Thing To Do. For obvious reasons, Hivers view death differently than Humans do, and some political processes have a component which is heavily biological.

--Arinn