Larvakin

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons or events is purely the fancy of the reader, perhaps due to indigestion.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Larvakin, also known as Larva Kin and occasionally as Larvakind, is an umbrella term for someone whose religious identity is tied to the belief that earthly life is a stage before metamorphosis in the next life. This is not to be confused with Snakekin, which is an identity based on the belief that after the Fall, every human has become, not like the gods, but like the Snake in the Garden (for more information see Snakekin and Eden); nor is it to be confused with Wormkin, which is the identity based on the belief that present life is a form of soul recycling through the decomposition of matter (for more information see Wormkin and Reincarnation).

Larvakin has historical roots that go back centuries before the modern term was established [citation needed]. The first instance of the term originates in a short video published in January 2027 on the, then, newly created social media platform BEAST by the user Nematode, showing himself lying on the floor completely enveloped in a plaster cast, leaving only the eyes, the ears, the nostrils and the mouth uncovered. In this video, the user exhorts all Larvakin people to bring this identity to the attention of the wider public in order to gain more acceptance and inclusion of fringe religious views. Shortly after, many other videos appeared elaborating on the identity and its theology.

Larvakin people may identify as one of several subtypes, such as arachnid, amphibian, cnidarian or other kinds of animals that undergo a larval stage, depending on the future state after metamorphosis, though these subtypes are categorized under the same letter, L, in the initialism LSW, an umbrella term for all religious identities based on limbless forms of life. Larvakin people may also identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, with another or none at all, though, unlike other, more mainstream forms of religious identity, it does not, generally speaking, designate specific pronouns by which they should be addressed, this being left to the discretion of the individual. Similarly, a Larvakin person may profess several or, more commonly, no sexual orientation.

Some Larvakin people consider themselves the next stage in human evolution, while a small minority rejects the term ‘human’ altogether, and instead emphasizes a pantheistic or panentheistic view of the cosmos (for more information see LSW community and Transhumanism). While a majority of Larvakin (as most LSW individuals) originate in a Christian background, most do not consider themselves part of the Christian religious family (in fact, among the broader LSW community, only Snakekin is consistently associated with Christianity), though all consider themselves messianic, that is, sharing a belief in a savior. In Larvakin theology, the savior will trigger the metamorphic transformation. Some believe the Larvakin savior already appeared, though the precise identity of this savior is disputed. A majority, however, believe the messiah is still to come, and that the advancement of the Larvakin in society is tied to its eventual appearance. Some Larvakin are pre-millennialist, believing that the metamorphosis will occur still within this plane of existence, while a majority is post-millennialist and believes that it will occur only after the end of this world. Most Larvakin individuals consider their religious expression to be part of the broader group of indigenous religious traditions, such as are still found in Africa and parts of Asia and Oceania, though there are very few indigenous self-identified LSW communities or even individuals.

It is disputed whether true Larvakin identity is reserved for those who undergo religious-affirming surgery, or if those individuals who choose instead to remain at the limb-binding stage can be considered fully larval, though in all developed countries religious freedom legislation contemplates both expressions, and discrimination against Larvakin individuals (as against the broader LSW community), including miskining (the act of attributing a wrong LSW identity), is legally punishable by forced labor in rare earth mining. Despite these legal protections, many LSW individuals still face stigma and are considered confused, wrong, evil or harbingers of the Antichrist, especially among certain backward groups, such as those who subscribe to the Anatomical Human Theory (see Far-Right; Conspiracy Theories), most of them loosely affiliated with Christian beliefs, though all major churches have officially disavowed such exclusionary rhetoric, after the Council of Babel (former World Council of Churches) met in 2029 and the Pope, speaking for all the gathered churches, proclaimed the «necessity of accepting different forms of religious expression as pathways to the same God».

According to the latest statistics, Larvakin people comprise 0.02% of the world population, though it is estimated that at least 2% are Larvakin adjacent and have once or several times considered undergoing surgery or binding. Several activists claim that the numbers would rise if more resources were allocated to Larvakin-affirming care. The mortality rate among Larvakin people, as among the broader LSW community, is higher than that of the general population. While critics state that the high mortality rate is due to the difficulties of feeding, moving and expelling waste that the LSW lifestyles entail, official studies by several independent non-governmental sources attribute the figures to a mix of lack of funding for health services and discrimination. Reproduction among the LSW community is rare, and officially discouraged, although adoption through surrogacy is encouraged within the wider community and legally sanctioned. The information on former religious backgrounds of those who adopt an LSW lifestyle is scarce, but the available studies point towards Larvakin people being found more among Protestant and Mormon backgrounds, whereas Snakekin, in turn, is found more among Catholic or Orthodox backgrounds, and Wormkin generally within those raised in secular or atheist households. There is no data as to the racial breakdown of the Larvakin population.

Though Larvakin-affirming care has been specifically provided since 2027, the first officially dedicated Larvakin clinic opened in PanAmerica Central (formerly Mexico City) in April 2029, and provided limb-binding services, as well as waste removal services for those who opted to have their excretion orifices covered. Larvakin surgery, where the arms are either attached or entirely removed, and the legs bound together, was only legally approved in September of the same year. A majority of individuals with a male sexual organ who undergo the surgery also opt to remove the organ completely. It is estimated that between 50-70% of Larvakin people undergo surgery eventually in their journey of religious expression.

The Larvakin Church was founded in May 2028, but soon split into the Church of Larvakin Saints and the Reformed Larvakin Church due to the issue of accepting only surgical Larvakin individuals or also binding, the latter church accepting both, though considering surgery a higher form of sacrament, while the former accepts only surgical Larvakin. The Reformed church has split further into several independent churches due to theological disagreements about whether metamorphosis consists in losing all larval characteristics or in a resurrected larval body. Furthermore, some Larvakin churches are dedicated solely to certain subtypes, the first one to be established was for Tephritoidea Larvakin individuals.

Larvakin people were first legally recognized in the United States of Eurasia through a series of legal battles over access to stepped churches that occurred between June 2027 and August 2028. The last of which, Maggot versus the Holy See, ended with the forced destruction of the stairs of the Scala Santa and the installation of an electrically moved ramp in order to facilitate access to Larvakin people (as well as all members of the LSW community). The name was also changed to Holy Elevator shortly afterward. Another legal battle of import was won over access to air travel, in which all existing planes were stripped of seats, and instead fitted with horizontal closets. All new planes from then on were legally required to be built the same way. Despite these victories, the transition to Larvakin or other LSW identities is still not legally recognized for children under the age of thirteen in most of the world, with many LSW individuals considering this a blatant form of discrimination against minors, and many activists underlining the need for more inclusionary measures for the religious expression of children.

In 2029 the broader LSW community held its first official convention in New Punjab (former Quebec) and there adopted its official flag, with a brown background and a slithering white line drawn horizontally in the middle. It also adopted a modified version of the Gadsden flag motto, due to real concerns about the regularity of Larvakin people being tread upon. Also in 2029, LSW education was included in school curriculums all over the world as part of health and/or religious instruction.

In 2030 the month of December was officially declared LSW-celebration month by the World Government (former United Nations). During this month several parades are held all over the world in major cities, with Snakekin, Wormkin and Larvakin individuals, as well as allies from other religious and secular communities, snaking, worming and larvaeing (a newly established term specifically devised for Larvakin individuals) through the streets.