There are places in this universe that are very different from the planet you and I inhabit. Take, for example, the planet Kritar in NGC 5194 (the Whirlpool Galaxy). There is only one sapient species on Kritar and they have a dense covering of fine, sharp spines. The only parts of their bodies that have no spines are their eyelids and the bottoms of their feet. They reproduce by broadcasting their gametes into the wind. If gametes successfully combine in the air, they will settle onto the surface of a tree or rock and develop into a spiny egg that will eventually hatch. Thus Kritarans are perplexed by the enjoyment that sapients from other planets get from touching their mates because touching another Kritaran is incredibly painful for them. Until they find a way to protect others, Kritarans are prohibited from traveling to other inhabited planets.
These illustrations were drawn using Stable Diffusion 2.1.
