#ssstram

[gallium-spoon]

Ok I accidentally thought a little too hard about the Ssstram and now I have an OC species for animorphs I guess??

I can't really draw so you're gonna have to vibe with my word picture here: the Ssstram are a snake like species with a long, thin body. On one end they have a mouth, two large movement-focused eyes, and nostrils, all of which are used primarily for hunting and eating. (The yeerks enter their body through the nostril)

On the other end of their body their tail breaks into several long 'fingers' which are very sensitive to temperature and texture and also covered in smaller eyes which see mostly color and detail and are less focused on movement.

The Ssstram had recently discovered steam power and the uses of electricity before the yeerks got them. They had not yet invented flight or space travel.

Ax's comment in book 8 about the hork bajir having a biological time clock that sent them to war every 62 years was actually him misremembering a fact about the Ssstram. Although that's not the only detail he misunderstood. When a Ssstram reaches approximately 62 years old (measured in Ssstram years, not Earth years) they undergo a hormonal change that increases their aggression for a short period.

While this period is very significant in the majority of Ssstram cultures with lots of rituals surrounding it (in many Ssstram cultures the number of spouses you were allowed to have was dependent on how you performed during battles with other 62 year olds), 62 year old Ssstram were often used in war/conflict between Ssstram groups

The yeerks of course do not care about this or any other aspect of Ssstram culture, most view the heightened aggression period of the Ssstram as "annoyingly Taxxon like"

[lexi-the-twilight-dragon]

so my partner (who is reading Animorphs at my recommendation/rambling) pointed out something from the first book that somehow escaped my notice:

how many species are in the yeerk pool cavern?

(Image description: “And there were creatures everywhere. Taxxons, Hork-Bajir, and other things I couldn’t even begin to guess at. But mostly, there were humans. A lot of them.” End description)

— Jake, The Invasion

so bae read this, and upon returning the book to me asked “so what species are there, aside from the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons?” Presumably to get a better mental picture

and I realised the only ones I could physically describe were the Gedds (Leerans not being there yet)

then there’s this quote:

(Image description: “Through the window, we could see Yeerk crewmen - Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, and two or three other alien species, in simple red or dark brown uniforms. And there were humans, too. My first reaction was hope. Humans!” End description)

— Marco, The Predator

(granted this is on the pool ship, but still)

two or three other alien species, huh? We know from the following book that one was the Gedds, but that leaves one or two other species left unidentified. We know from the same book that the Mak and the Ssstram are infested and a few books later the Nahara.

(Image description: “ Two piers were built out over the lake. One was where the Controllers - human, Hork-Bajir, Taxxon, and other species - disgorged the Yeerks from their heads. Hork-Bajir guards would watch carefully as each Controller knelt at the far end of the pier, and held his head down close to the surface of the lake.” End description)

— Rachel, The Stranger

Rachel mentions “other species” in The Stranger and “some poor creature” in The Underground, so again, implied to be more than just Gedds down there.

I haven’t read the later yeerk pool books in a while so I can’t provide evidence from them.

but to summarise: we get multiple accounts, from at least half of the Animorphs, every time they are in a yeerk pool space, that there are multiple host species other than the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons present, and yet we NEVER GET A DESCRIPTION OF ANY OF THEM

WERE THERE EVER NAHARA ON EARTH? What were they used for? What do they look like? Whats their societal structure? Mak? Ssstram? Hell, Ongachic?

I wanna know! Bae wants to know! WE WANNA KNOW DAMMIT