There are places in this universe that are very different from the planet you and I inhabit. Take, for example, the planet Natalf in NGC 5194 (the Whirlpool Galaxy). There are two Natalvian life forms that are sentient; both are sessile. The Krumpt resemble giant blue crystals while the Flound resemble giant blue or magenta bubbles. Both species have similar reproduction cycles. The males produce pollen that is distributed by wind. When the pollen reaches a female, it stimulates her to produce buds that are fertilized by the pollen. The buds eventually break free and float around in the wind, sometimes accumulating dirt and plants. Eventually they grow large enough that they settle and metamorphose into their adult form.
Both the Krumpt and the Flound lack typical sense organs, so they are mostly unaware of their surroundings. The one exception is that both species are able to send and receive radio waves, which allows them to communicate with other members of their species. But the Krumpts use amplitude modulation while the Flounds use frequency modulation to add information to the carrier wave, so the two species are completely unaware of each other.
These illustrations were drawn using Stable Diffusion 2.1.
