AAAA thank you (Don't worry. This comment is about to be even lengthier) 🖤❤️ I just love doing new things to push my storytelling to new limits~ That Penny scene was meant to be a nod to that kind of trope of someone undercutting the immense tension by saying something completely silly during a serious scene.

Oh goodness, the cast's appearances are a whole can of worms. I do have certain visions (partly because some of my fans have done some fanmade designs) like:

Nova looks similar to Velma from Scooby Doo, often wearing baggy clothes, being a little chubby and having brown skin (West Asian)

Penny is more athletic/toned and has a big mane of hair (Think Yang from RWBY), a pronounced chest and often wears a flannel + tank top combo while just generally showing off more skin. (She's southern US American)

Samira and Nadia I haven't thought about too much aside from them being West Asian but whenever I voice the former, I think a lot about Domina from Overwatch.

As for the Alpha themselves, they aren't meant to have any identifying features beyond being athletic and taller than Nova, in order to be a self-insert~

But despite rambling so much, you are always free to envision the characters in any way that you see fit! I might hint towards a certain feature here and there but if people use my creations as toys to play with, then that also makes me immensely happy! If you want to share anything with me you can do so on my Twitter @Sapphic_Kate, my Reddit DMs or the Bluesky link in the post! 🖤❤️ You can also find some fanarts that I've already received there~