Home is where the enclave is.
There are no universal positions for Patriarchs; they are simply those who have shown some sort of useful ability, who then the other yinglets begin to look to for guidance in their area of expertise. If this goes on long enough, they not only grow stronger in their special skill, but also begin to develop a more leadership-oriented mind, and start settling into the role of a Patriarch.
Once a male has unofficially begun playing the role of a Patriarch, he is soon named an official one by the Matriarch and existing Patriarchs.
The “flavor” of any particular enclave is determined by both its female population and its Patriarchs; the Val Salian yinglet enclave has a useful spread of skills, aside from lacking a Patriarch of construction/woodwork for a generation or two. Any given enclave will simply use the skills of the Patriarchs they do have, and find some way to compensate for the types of skills/Patriarchs that they don’t, at least until one comes along.
I just Hope Kass get’s to wear His/her regular uniform, After this debacle.
I imagine anything that would mean a possible change to the Yinglet’s gender disparity would completely overturn their culture in a matter of weeks.
Which makes me wonder: was the item used to turn Kass into a Yinglet created to make more females or as a biological weapon against humans. What if the Greater Yinglets started because of experiments performed on really young human children?
I lean towards an experiment to turn male yinglets to females.
This would make a great or terrible harem anime.
It would be a beautiful trainwreck.
I Not Only Turned Into A Yinglet, But A Female One
I Turned Into A Female Yinglet And You Must Know That They Are Highly Guarded And Are Often Never Seen Outside Of The Enclave
I would like to see Yinglets done up as a burning wheel race.
BUT WE DON’T HAVE THE WHEEL WORKED OUT YET
Hunting for yinglets sounds hard, as aside from mollusks almost anything outguns them
They’re fast, tool-using and capable of coordinated action (at least when they have one of the more mature ‘lets calling the shots). They can probably bring down some rather big things, including prey that would give similarly-equipped humans trouble. Of course they don’t have human endurance either, so they can’t chase prey down over several hours like we can.
In a straight fight, yes. But they are intelligent. Think less hunting, more trapping. Why risk a spear-fight with a wild boar-analogue when you can dig a pit, cover it with branches and put some fruit in the middle? Just make sure to put up a warning sign.
Biezel is pretty insightful.
I think Beizel and probably Figgins are the two most intelligent patriarchs. Chakki probably isn’t as airheaded as he acts. Those three, I think, are most likely on the matriarch’s side, if they’re even aware of her plans at all. We know Narklet isn’t onboard with her plans, since he was sent to spy on her and “keep her in line”.
Poak and Kattajak… well, they aren’t stupid, or they wouldn’t be patriarchs. But to me it feels more like they’re just “along for the ride” and would support whichever side (Narklet’s or the Matriarch’s) seems more likely to be succeeding.
Remember that patriarchs get their posts by being the most competent males in their field of expertise. Poak’s field may be testing new potential food sources for edibility, nutritional value and potential toxicity. As for Kattajak, he’s likely the most competent hunter in the enclave. Being a great conversationalist is probably not a major part of the job description.
It wasn’t until my second reading through that I realized the significance of Narklet’s name. He’s an outsider sent to watch things over: NARC+(ying)LET. Did everyone catch this? I think it’s interesting that he’s the only silent one in this introductory panel, and that he smiles happily so often when he’s not performing his elder-appointed duties.
Also, think how impressed Vizlet would have been if Kass had actually remembered to tell Figgins “Lippie says hello!”
This is rather late to add to things, but, I kinda feel the need, so what the heck, right?
Anyways, we now see why the yinglets are having such problems with so many things. Starting from one side, and working across, I would have to say, Figgins seems t o be very self interested. Of course, he is older, it could be just that hes feeling his age. (lest I am assuming he is older, he looks and presents like someone getting closer to the end of there life.)
Kattajak is clearly a huntergatherer type, most everything he has is focused on hunting. Thats not nessicerily a bad thing in your lead hunter, but, it does limit him in other things. I would have to add, he does seem more willing to except a female in a more male roll than some of the others. Skinning and butchering is clearly a very male thing, yet, hes willing to alow Kass to help, just cause shes not afraid of a little blood.
Poak, oh skys, I hate to say it, but, how can someone who presents as being so stupid manage to become a patriarch? Reminds of of animal house actualy, ‘big, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life’ I expect he managed to become patriarch of foodstuffs because hes good at hording food, after all, considering hes like twice as masive as the rest of the yinglets, you kinda would think he would have to be, cause hes gotta eat like twice if not more than the rest to keep himself going. Much like Kattajak, he seems to have nothing outside of his interest, aka food.
Chakki presents as a self absorbed airheaded ‘valley girl’. If any of this group road the4 coattails of another to power, that would be this one. Even the way his title is given is questioning his actual abilitys.
Narklet is doing the polite social smile when waiting for something he feels important to happen. Yes a bit condisending, but not too horrably so. He clearly has an agenda, but, what it is is unclear at the momant.
Beizal on the other hand really seems to stand out. He shows intelligance, thoughtfullness, and concern/care with three short comments. He also seems to be more focused on whats going on in more than just a personal sense. Hes saying, welcome home, its not much, and probably not something your happy to be stuck with, but at lest its home. This from the one that looks like he would be the most sketchy of the lot.
It will be interesting to see how there personalitys develop, and I hope thay manage to get some more like Beizal in there soon.
I’m guessing Chakki is also the Patriarch of stress relief for the other males
I’ve read and reread the comic archives over and over in the year since I found it and I still get a kick every time out of seeing Vizlet lose her composure. It’s hilarious AND adorable.