OK, y’all know I’m all about xenoergonomics around here. Let’s point out everything wrong with what Fox James is wearing in this picture and what I would do instead.
Minor caveat: I’m extrapolating some of this from what I know of dog anatomy and behavior, so I could be wrong.
First, his helmet. What is it covering? I’ve already ranted about exposed ears on animal characters, namely that they themselves would never design a piece of protective headgear that leaves the ears unprotected. However, there’s another tidbit to consider. The bones of a fox’s skull do not protect the tops of the eyeballs, so he’s extra vulnerable.
It’s also not clear if that mic boom brushes against his whiskers. Whiskers are very sensitive, and touching them typically results in a reflexive movement away from the stimulus. It’s also not clear how he’s getting sound output from the headset. There may be an earpiece in his left ear, but I doubt the interior of an arwing is quiet enough to just have a loudspeaker on the helmet or integrated into the cockpit.
Next, those aviator glasses. Setting aside the crappy helmet design, it was smart to depict the glasses attached to the helmet. Yinrih HUD specs have a broad bridge that friction fits against the muzzle, though they wouldn’t wear them in a situation like this where they could get easily knocked off. Instead a doggles-like visor is worn.
The last thing I’ll complain about is the zipper on his jacket. I have to wonder if the teeth get caught in his neck fur. Yinrih go nekkid where possible, but clothing fasteners, such as on rain gear or cold weather gear would probably use snaps, magnets, laces, or velcro St. Starlight’s Fabric[1].
named for its inventor, Saint Starlight, a research monk, botanist, and healer who lived during the yinrih’s age of aviation. She was inspired by the plant burs that would stick to her fur. ↩︎
A lot of the social stuff you mention is present, but not through the ears. Yinrih rely more heavily on scent to identify individuals and read their mood. Perfumes are used to supplement this. Perfumes fill most of the social niches that clothing does on earth, as a status symbol, means of self expression, indication of occupation, etc. While I haven’t established this canonically, it follows logically that someone might drench themselves in perfume to mask the notes in their musk the communicate emotion, so associations may be drawn between overscenting and being up to no good. Being without perfume in certain circles is akin to being under-dressed, though not completely naked. Yinrih can, through practice or by dint of being sociopaths, completely lack these emotional odors, and Commonthroat has a word that means “scentless” (analogous to “dark” or “quiet” but for olfaction) that also means unemotional, stoic, or having a poker face.
Perfume is used to indicate military rank, and in this thread a Partisan military grunt gets splashed with scent remover to strip him of his “uniform” as a sort of impromptu dishonorable discharge.
Piercings and tattoos don’t exist, but dying the ears is absolutely a thing. It started as a way to retain heat, smearing black insulating paste on the ears. It ended up becoming fashionable to have “bottle black” ears. This is associated with people who are overly concerned with their appearance, and vanity gradually became stupidity. Unfortunately, natural black ears also exist, and black-eared yinrih (who aren’t completely black otherwise) are stereotyped in a similar way, just like the dumb blond stereotype on earth. That’s why in this story Sunbeam insists her ears are “dark gray”. There’s a similar superstition regarding yinrih with red coats being unlucky. Yinrih with a red coat and black ears are often made fun of, that is until humans come along and for some reason keep thinking they’re sly and clever.
As for slavery, it’s a thing, too, but the motivations are economic rather than racial. It comes in two forms depending on the era. Ecclesiastical slavery was practiced during the age of decadence. Both this story and this one feature people pressed into debt slavery for not paying their tithe. At the time of First Contact it occurs as indentured servitude, mostly in the Allied Worlds. A corporation can subsidize your moving expenses, but you’re tied to them for a period of time.