“flower duel” a concept near universal in qilik cultures
qilik tend to have a strict(ish) gender trinary, partially due to most male qilik being smaller and molting into brightly colored feathers and their skin turning blueish every spring. it is common among most qilik cultures for men to dress in flashy, bright clothing and wear colorful makeup on their skin and feathers, and do some kind of silly things in the spring.
the “flower duel” (no direct translation, but closest synonym is “flowery/flashy”) is an organized fight between qilik men, exclusively using the legs and particularly their large claw. while it involves kicking at each other with extremely sharp toes, this is a highly ritualized performance that usually avoids inflicting injury on the opponent, and likely has its roots in pre-qilik avian males displaying for mating rights. there are variants, but it is common that the temperance in fighting with claws while having the self control to not inflict harm is key.
though it has roots in courtship, its modern incarnation exists mostly as an art form, entertainment, or sport. the near universal premise is that the duelists dress in their best gaudy, impractical clothing and jab at each other with their claws until one is pinned to the ground by the other. some incarnations treat it more as a dance than anything, in other cases it is legitimately a fight (even if highly ritualized) and is likely to cause minor injury, but the basic idea of it being colorful bird men attacking each other with their feet remains the same.
though these duels have very, very ancient origins in non sapient male bird dinosaurs fighting to win mates, it is sometimes seen as a symbol of homoerotic love and quite a few qilik fairytales center on flower duelists falling in love during the battle.
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