Page Commentary No. 303 (Patreon)

Gunwild: You have to give us some credit, these are ideas for alien species I'm not sure I've seen done precisely the same despite thousands and thousands of hours spent watching sci-fi TV and movies. Also video games, novels, etc.

Psu: To tell on us a little, I think we MOSTLY start with thinking "what would be the most fun weird alien trait we can add to this scene" especially when it came to the Vanaa. Like the whole joke was that they were these adorable looking creatures that are the most prominent political and military foe of the Regency.

Gunwild: Yeah, well, some humans are adorable too, but evolution still fashioned them to compete and conquer to get by, under penalty of death... just remember that next time you think a human being is cute and you should feed it!

Psu: It's true. We're a very diverse species. Oh hey, that comes to something I wanted to talk about. This requires a short tangent. So I'm watching one of my favorite Let's Players go through the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, and I'm like... "Wow I really love this universe."

Gunwild: Fair enough, we all like to remember our adventures.

Psu: So like... one thing that bugged me when I was revisiting the setting, and this seems to apply to a LOT of science fiction aliens, almost all the aliens tend to have ONE personality type. They're not always the same but they tend to be just variations on a single type of person. Krogans are almost all stubborn. Salarians are pretty analytical. Etc. It's weird that it's only humans that run the gamut between every personality type. I wouldn't think evolution would limit an entire alien race like that.

Gunwild: Hopefully we are not entirely stuck in that way of thinking... all the Vanaa may be proportioned similarly, but they've got very different roles. Their collars, which you can't read, say so!

Psu: I like to think we've avoided it for the most part! Each of our characters are pretty different. Like even though you can see the familial resemblance between Theira and her Mother, I think they're very different people!

Gunwild: Yeah, one of them is a homemaker. Hivemaker?

Psu: Brooding parent. So specifically looking at this page, I really had fun doing the different types of Kyre. The most "human" one is pretty cute, though I think that means she might find it hard to go back to the homeworld.

Gunwild: Eh, maybe you can't go home again. But not everybody wants to.

Psu: Theira would miss all the wild buffalo wings.

Gunwild: She can do better for a meal...

Psu: Oh hey, ONE other thing I caught looking at this page again. In the paragraph that says that the Kyre absorb DNA, I notice you specifically said "USUALLY on a passive basis." So uh... is the more active basis like... eating? Creatures?

Gunwild: Let's just say it's nice to keep them friendly.

Psu: Remind me to give Theira some chicken feathers on her next mutation.