There was once a time when the earth was home to other beings. Dark creatures who consumed humans, mind, soul, and body... They left in time and were never seen again. These images are all that remains of their culture on Earth.
Their feeding habits were learned through many decades of suffering and death. Humans fought them successfully, but many were captured. The beasts consumed and assimilated men on the spot, while the women were brought to their nests where they would be the live "breed and feed" stock for the next generation of these monsters.
The fighting never lagged. Only one thing was certain, a woman unable or unwilling to suicide was better off submitting to their fate than fighting. Those who submitted were pumped full of endorphins and hallucinogens and never felt injections of preparatory enzymes making their body ready for breeding and consumption, nor would they suffer as their flesh was consumed by the monsters growing inside them, finally killing them as the new monster erupted from her shell. They would die peacefully in mere weeks, having been a birthing vessel and the necessary "live fertilizer" for the developing plant-based tentacle beast. The endorphins and hallucinogens ensured that they never suffered and died in mental bliss.
But the fate of those who struggled was dire. Because struggling ruined the "host," the beasts would simply inject the preparatory enzymes into the struggle woman causing endless mind-searing pain until she was consumed head first by nest tenders over a span of months. The nest tenders used the women as "taxis" by engulfing the head to then penetrate the skull with roots that controlled the host's motor functions. This left the host free to experience excruciating agony as their flesh was ripped and eaten by passing beasts as though she were a snack buffet.
Your choice. Die happy or die sad. But die you will...
Happy
Sad :-(