Portal:Kylaris/Features
In the Aguda Empire, a flycatcher (Ziba: ngemuozaibungai [ŋəmɯɒzaibɯŋai]) was a person employed in a household ostensibly to catch flies and other pests. However, later on in history, their role became that of prestige symbol or sexual object, or even sex worker, to an extent that this supplanted their role as pest control. Flycatchers were generally young men, seen as having the fast reactions, dexterity and physical endurance to do the job.
Flycatchers were a symbol of a household's wealth, sophistication and taste, and most of their role was simply to be seen (or even just known about), by visitors, passers-by and other members of the household. They were appreciated for their looks both by their employers and guests, and might in some sense be regarded as living sculptures. By their character and appearance, flycatchers advertised their employers' aesthetic refinement or sexual preferences. They were also expected variously to actually catch flies and deal with other pests (such as mosquitoes, spiders, rodents), to help with errands around the household, to be entertaining for guests and household members (such as by conversation or physical feats, such as fly-catching tricks), and to provide sexual services for members of the household or guests. If expected to provide sex, flycatchers generally had considerable control over when, where and how, in more the manner of a liaison (extramarital sex was broadly not illicit in Aguda society). The roles of flycatchers varied considerably from household to household and from time to time, dependent on the particular negotiated relationship between them and their employers, especially as the coy fiction was maintained that they were primarily pest control employees.
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