Space Instincts Notes
Avians:
The original idea was to try genetically modifying things to be able to stand that gas, but then one guy was like "wait, what if we just did really fuckin' tall trees." So they went with that instead.
The Planet:
The planet was originally targetting for having a high concentration of water and a generally very rich amount of minerals and resources. However, problem: the atmosphere had like 80 ft of dense poisonous gas at the bottom.
The trees worked and ended up diversifying and covering the planet. Many different types of very big tree-esque stuff.
They tried once to put non-flying people on the planet but that went badly like, immediately. All subsequent tries were variations of flying people. It took five different tries before the colony survived past five generations.
General body type of avians: feathered and colorful wings, what appear to be digitigrad legs, and a tail made of two parts. They also have feathers in other places depending on gender.
Originally starting as just people with wings and bird tails slapped on with fucked up legs, they did eventually evolve into the complex avian species.
So, problems of the planet that had to be evolved against: poisonous gas floor, everything is supported Really High with large gaps between tree structures and resources spread out. Also, high up it gets Cold. They had an extended time to evolve due to not being able to access any resource that wasn't the trees or supported by the trees for a very long time. They weren't able to advance very far technologically until they figured out how to safely drill down through the entire tree to reach underground without hitting the gas. So, despite a planet relatively low on hazards, they are very distinct and also have a high level of sexual dimorphism.
The Actual Species:
Note: Again, high level of sexual dimorphism
Collective Physical Traits:
Tails: Both a fan-like set of feathers sprouting from the lower back, and a thinner long tail beneath it that ends in a flare of feathers. The fan part of the tail helps with some of the directional flying, but due to their legs being a little obtrusive in the process, the long part also helps. It also serves as a communicator mid-flight.
Due to the cold they are able to collapse into what are essentially misshaped feathery balls by crouching low and curling over their legs with wings wrapped all the way around themselves. Regardless of gender, feathers run along the back and up over the head. The fan part of the tail drops low enough to hit the ground in this position, and the actual tail is long enough to wrap around and seal off the front where the wings can't cover. This creates a more or less fully insulated space within the bubble.
Feathers that cover the outside of the ball are specialized to be frost resistant and insulating. Any feathers on the inside of the ball are softer. Some patches of feathers can also start a purr-like vibration to help generate warmth within the bubble.
They appear to have digitigrade legs. In reality they have incredibly specialized feet. Three front toes and one opposable back one (they lost one somewhere along the way lmao) jointed and taloned like bird feet and very long. However the front three toes can lock straight and together to form what is essentially the bottom third of a leg, leaving just the three talons to act as almost hoof like feet. Forth toe just goes up and flush against the calf. This gives them the gripping capabilities of a flying birds feet, while maintaining the running capability of longer legs and smaller feet.
Collective Social Structure:
Pre-threshold the general model was villages where women ran and took care of the inside of the villages and men went out to collect resources, scout, and maintain cross-village relationships. Children are community raised meaning everyone in the village was pretty much under the same amount of responsibility of all children. Men were the ones to brood the eggs while women were the ones to keep kids warm at night until their outer feathers developed enough to create their own feather balls.
Men:
Avians did form couples, but there is also a unique bond that formed between multiple set of couples to form a flock. So, while two avians might be romantically and sexually together, they'd also be very close with a few other couples (usually groups of three to five couples) and those relationships would border into romantic or at least queer platonic. Rather than a grandparent-parent-child family model, it was a 3-5 couples (so 6-10 individuals) are all a family, generally refered to as a flock, and the children are just, you know, everywhere.
Home structures had a collective area as well as split off areas for each couple. In the collective area is a shared flock nest, but each couple usually also had their own smaller nest to the side. These couples typically had children at the same time, meaning the men brooded the eggs collectively and the women kept up with the kids collectively. Kids typically still maintained a strong bond with their biological parents, but it wasn't much stronger then the bond they have with all adults in their flock, and even that isn't that much higher than the bond they have with all adults they know and trust.
Physical Differences:
Men are notably smaller. With less feathers, slicker wings, and lighter body weight they're built for speed and prolonged flight. Their wings tend to be less complex in color to make them more identifiable from a distance. In regards to feather placement, men only typically have feathers covering the chest beyond the feathers that all avians have.
They are much lighter with smaller wings. Bit of a glass canon build with hollower bones. They are also missing some of the less necessary organs in order to be even lighter, but this does make them more susceptible to some diseases.
Social Differences:
Pre-threshold, traditionally the man would be the ones going out for resources and scouting. Any expansion of a village or starting of a new village was usually done by the men. They tend to be more social with strangers than avian women, with men regularly going between villages for communication and resource sharing. However, the men also tended to be more willing to start a fight and break off connections. With avian men being a bit on the more fragile side, they tended to fight with plans and traps, avoiding physical confrontation.
Some men are naturally born with a more feminine disposition usually along with abnormally detailed wings, because it's very useful to have a smaller more nimble body around to help with the village and kids. They are culturally considered their own gender within avian spaces, but generally just grouped with men outside avian spaces.
Post-threshold there are less reasons to leave one's home town or city but any jobs requiring travel are typically still dominated by men. Otherwise they pretty much just cover jobs same as women. They're still the ones to brood the eggs. They are known to get flighty and restless and there is an entire industry built around trying to relieve this restlessness. Once they pass the space threshold, the vast majority of men who end up joining space crews are men.
When brooding eggs, they form their own personal nests inside the flock nest. Like nests within a nest situation. Their personal nests are Their Space and they will pitch a full fit if it's even suggested to be encrouched apon, the collective nest is their communal shared space that others can enter if their partners say they can enter.
Women:
Physical Differences:
Avian women are bigger and fluffier. While they are not as fast and typically cannot fly as long, their weight capacity is a lot higher. Their wing and feather patterns tend to be a lot more detailed and complex, and they have a lot more feather coverage over their body, though it ranges. Some women can have enough feathers to just about cover their whole body, while others only have a few simple patches along their arms and/or legs along with the chest feathers the men have.
They are much heavier and stronger. Where an avian man can be taken down pretty easy if you can actually get to him, good luck taking down an avian woman.
Social Differences:
Pre-threshold women were the ones to work within the village. Children were community raised so any child was generally just accepted as the responsibility of anyone close enough to see them. They still had strong bonds to their flock but ultimately parenthood was shared across the village. Women just kinda did their thing with work or hobbies and kept an eye on any kid close enough to keep an eye on.
While avian men were big enough to comfortably cover up to two eggs, and could cover a young child in a pinch, avian women were big enough to tuck multiple children in their feather ball which needed to be done at night because cold. They could also cover an avian man in a pinch, but that is generally seen as embarrassing. Children usually returned home with their biological mother, but it was common for a child who didn't feel like rushing home to settle with a different mother for the night and check in with one of their flock moms in the morning.
Avian women are more on the aggressive side. If for some reason a warring faction got past the men and their traps, the women were there waiting to fuck them up. While the men were territorial over their personal nest, women were territorial over the community nest that they watched over with the other women in their flock. During the time of egg brooding men almost never leave the communal nest and the women tag team bringing food and water and whatever else to their collective partners. While the kids are too young to walk confidently, women almost never leave the nest and the men cover the same role the women did. While men start the expansion of villages or establishing new villages, the women finished them.
Some women were naturally born with a masculine disposition, usually accompanied by abnormally simple wing designs, and would go out with the men because it's very useful to have a tank go with you while you do stuff. Like the men, culturally they are considered their own gender within avian spaces, but grouped with women outside them.
Post-threshold they still just kinda do their thing. Taking care of young is a bit harder due to the expansion of towns and cities but still generally under the model of "if they're near you they're your problem". They do not often join space crews though and find the idea of having to get along with non-avians to be kind of awful.
Notes:
One of the worse insults/most offensive things you can say to an avian to tell them they're not warm enough, or imply they can't get very warm. The temperature an avian can achieve within their feather ball is a point of pride.
