Smallscale: Hygiene and Cleanliness
Story: Smallscale Concept: An alternate earth with a race of tiny, fairy-like bug people.
Another one that is kind of just and excuse to post some art but I have thought about this worldbuilding wise.
I feel like discussing the hygiene practices of a race is one of the under-utilized aspects of developing a fleshed out culture.
Bathing
In real life, insects actually are very clean. They groom themselves frequently in order to keep the sensitive hairs on their body they need for navigating and finding food nice and clean. I feel like Miinu also have that same mentality when it comes to bathing.
Miinu as a culture like to stay clean, and it's considered a health benefit to do so. Miinu typically bathe not just to cleanse their bodies, but to cleanse their spirits by relaxing and not thinking about the stresses of life for a little bit.
They also prefer to use natural soaps, like what comes from the awapuhi plant. They aren't a fan of the harsh chemical soaps humans use, as it dries out their skin and the smell is so strong is disrupts their pheromone senses.
They also tend to partake in community bathing. Since their private parts are hidden most of the time, they have little boundaries when it comes to this kind of thing. Miinu like bathing in community bathes and helping wash each other. It's a grooming ritual that pleases the monkey part of their half human half bug brains. It's also practical, as setting up a plumbing system is a lot easier to do for one bathhouse than it is for every individual home in the village.
Its actually considered pretty bougie to have your own bathroom, and something only the wealthiest Miinu have.
Toilets
I don't have a visual reference for this one, but I often like to joke about one of the quirks of Miinu biology; being that their colon exists through their 'tail-like' abdoment segment, means they have toilets on the wall. They are similar to urinals but backwards, and they appear as small cabinets in the wall with a door that can shut the block the smell. This is because their toilets are usually chute that depends straight down into their sewer system.
More complex villages like Treasure City have sewer systems that go on into endless maze like caverns that were ones used as mines by the any colonies. They also recycle water by filtering and boiling it in a make-shift water treatment center.
Like the bathhouses, public latrines are also popular in their culture, with again very little privacy boundaries, and very similar to the latrines of the Roman's an Greeks, it's common to be able to socialize with your neighboring toilet companion.
Its also important to recognize the difference between the basin for washing your hands, and the basin that is used for filling a ladle with water to clean your butt. The difference is one sits on the floor near the toilets, and one stands a table, often on the opposite side of the room. Do not mix them up.
Laundry
Like anything that wears clothes, Miinu often need to wash their clothes. At home, watching is done by shredding soap into a basin of boiled water and stiring it with a stick, then rining it out and hanging it to dry. Though some villagers have fancier 'automatic' washing machines, that work by cranking it the gears taut with a key much like an old wound up toy, and letting it spin on its own. These are also very bougie to have.
Its also common when traveling to bring with you a washboard with you so you can wash your clothes on the stream or pond.
Dental Care
Miinu have to take care of their teeth just like humans. They make toothbrushes through animal hair and bone, or by recycling human toothbrushes (after boiling and sanitizing them of course). They will often use a mixture of saltwater and coconut oil to clean them.
Because they have fangs, it's also common for them to use a small grinding stone on their teeth every few months to keep them sharp.
Just a visual note, but it's extremely unlikely for Miinu to be seen with the pearly white teeth that humans have, as they don't have the advanced dental procedures to make them that white. So typically miinu have slightly yellowed, stained teeth.
Shaving and Haircuts.
Miinu often don't grow as much body hair as humans do, and if they do, such as with moths, and certain spiders, wasps and beetles, is a large plume of thick fur, usually on the chest and groin.
They don't really have a culture of needing the shave to look 'clean' like we do. Its entirely a personal preference. It's common for people to trim this fur into different shapes, such as ones that accentuate the appearance of the chest to look more like a large bossom.
Many miinu often cut their own hair, as it takes a lot of trust to let someone else do it. This is because of how close blade comes to their antennae, and one wrong move could lead to it getting cut and the client being in a world of pain.
Cutting off a miinus antennae during a hair cut can be punishable by law as a form of assult and malpractice, even if it was on accident, so people who to enter the career take extra care and are highly trained.
Story: Smallscale Concept: An alternate earth with a race of tiny, fairy-like bug people.
Another one that is kind of just and excuse to post some art but I have thought about this worldbuilding wise.
I feel like discussing the hygiene practices of a race is one of the under-utilized aspects of developing a fleshed out culture.
Bathing
In real life, insects actually are very clean. They groom themselves frequently in order to keep the sensitive hairs on their body they need for navigating and finding food nice and clean. I feel like Miinu also have that same mentality when it comes to bathing.
Miinu as a culture like to stay clean, and it's considered a health benefit to do so. Miinu typically bathe not just to cleanse their bodies, but to cleanse their spirits by relaxing and not thinking about the stresses of life for a little bit.
They also prefer to use natural soaps, like what comes from the awapuhi plant. They aren't a fan of the harsh chemical soaps humans use, as it dries out their skin and the smell is so strong is disrupts their pheromone senses.
They also tend to partake in community bathing. Since their private parts are hidden most of the time, they have little boundaries when it comes to this kind of thing. Miinu like bathing in community bathes and helping wash each other. It's a grooming ritual that pleases the monkey part of their half human half bug brains. It's also practical, as setting up a plumbing system is a lot easier to do for one bathhouse than it is for every individual home in the village.
Its actually considered pretty bougie to have your own bathroom, and something only the wealthiest Miinu have.
Toilets
I don't have a visual reference for this one, but I often like to joke about one of the quirks of Miinu biology; being that their colon exists through their 'tail-like' abdoment segment, means they have toilets on the wall. They are similar to urinals but backwards, and they appear as small cabinets in the wall with a door that can shut the block the smell. This is because their toilets are usually chute that depends straight down into their sewer system.
More complex villages like Treasure City have sewer systems that go on into endless maze like caverns that were ones used as mines by the any colonies. They also recycle water by filtering and boiling it in a make-shift water treatment center.
Like the bathhouses, public latrines are also popular in their culture, with again very little privacy boundaries, and very similar to the latrines of the Roman's an Greeks, it's common to be able to socialize with your neighboring toilet companion.
Its also important to recognize the difference between the basin for washing your hands, and the basin that is used for filling a ladle with water to clean your butt. The difference is one sits on the floor near the toilets, and one stands a table, often on the opposite side of the room. Do not mix them up.
Laundry
Like anything that wears clothes, Miinu often need to wash their clothes. At home, watching is done by shredding soap into a basin of boiled water and stiring it with a stick, then rining it out and hanging it to dry. Though some villagers have fancier 'automatic' washing machines, that work by cranking it the gears taut with a key much like an old wound up toy, and letting it spin on its own. These are also very bougie to have.
Its also common when traveling to bring with you a washboard with you so you can wash your clothes on the stream or pond.
Dental Care
Miinu have to take care of their teeth just like humans. They make toothbrushes through animal hair and bone, or by recycling human toothbrushes (after boiling and sanitizing them of course). They will often use a mixture of saltwater and coconut oil to clean them.
Because they have fangs, it's also common for them to use a small grinding stone on their teeth every few months to keep them sharp.
Just a visual note, but it's extremely unlikely for Miinu to be seen with the pearly white teeth that humans have, as they don't have the advanced dental procedures to make them that white. So typically miinu have slightly yellowed, stained teeth.
Shaving and Haircuts.
Miinu often don't grow as much body hair as humans do, and if they do, such as with moths, and certain spiders, wasps and beetles, is a large plume of thick fur, usually on the chest and groin.
They don't really have a culture of needing the shave to look 'clean' like we do. Its entirely a personal preference. It's common for people to trim this fur into different shapes, such as ones that accentuate the appearance of the chest to look more like a large bossom.
Many miinu often cut their own hair, as it takes a lot of trust to let someone else do it. This is because of how close blade comes to their antennae, and one wrong move could lead to it getting cut and the client being in a world of pain.
Cutting off a miinus antennae during a hair cut can be punishable by law as a form of assult and malpractice, even if it was on accident, so people who to enter the career take extra care and are highly trained.