being an older sibling is like. you've never known a life without me. mom yelled at me and it taught her she never wanted to yell at you. I painted my room purple and grey and then you did too. we live in the same house but I haven't spoken to you in months. I don't know your favorite color. I saw it was going to rain so I picked you up from school on my way home so your books wouldn't get wet. i was so worried when you woke up sick when you were three. you don't remember being sick. mom and dad made their worst mistakes with me and I'm glad they didn't make them with you. I'm doing everything for the first time so you won't be in the dark. I don't know any of your friend's names anymore. I used to know them all. if something happens to mom and dad you won't have to worry because everything will fall to me. you don't like to be home alone but even if you don't see me just knowing I'm there makes you feel better. at least that's what mom told me. you still give me jars to open for you because you can't quite get them. I only see you during dinner. i'd never even think about missing one of your concerts. I stand at the counter when I eat and now you do, too. when offered a selection of books you picked the same one I did when i was your age. I'm terrified you compare yourself to me. I love you. I don't know if you like me. I want you to. mom says dinner's ready
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“My God… what is it?”
Within the confines of the cage, the creature struggled. It beat the wall, bounced around, and paced along the perimeter. It was not happy to be here. The feeling among the space-faring crew members was likewise.
Despite the racket inside, the aliens gathered around the opening, standing on toes and tails to receive a better peek at the beast. There was just something so wrong about it. Grotesque, maybe. How its legs jutted out, the way its neck bulged with muscles, and the stretched-out facial structure. Its breath came out labored and loud and rolled its eyes so that the whites could be visible from far.
But worse of all were the teeth. Earlier in the day, those very teeth took off a few fingers and sent a crewmate to the infirmary.
“It’s something dangerous,” said the captain. “Exactly what we needed to find.”
There was a weak protest in the coming weeks as the ship traveled across a parsec. This protest came from various crew members who suggested it’d be better to return the animal to its homeworld rather than travel so far with it. Find something else. Yes, they needed a dangerous creature, but maybe something more… tameable?
Still, the captain himself disagreed.
“We were ordered to find a specific creature. This exact species,” he’d remind them. “I might know nothing of it myself, but I won’t be going against our leaders.”
With any more pushing, the captain put his tentacle down. It was a no, they would not be returning it to its old home.
Still, the crew members couldn’t help but wonder. Yes, the creature was dangerous, but could it truly be useful in battle?
It was a jittery thing, coming to life at the smallest movement. Strong too. It was during one feeding time that thing kicked its way out and bolted through the confined box they called a ship. In it’s rampage, it broke several important machines. By some miracle, nothing fatal. At the end of the hour, it was wrangled and coaxed back into it’s cage, where it was given a heap of food and water to make up for the energy the thing exerted.
Such an event did nothing to ease the crew’s minds, but by then they traveled far enough that turning back would be more work than simply continuing forward.
The affair did leave the aliens wondering… was this how the creature would fight in their battles? Simply set it loose and let it cause chaos? It sounded effective enough, albeit a bit gruesome.
After such long, laborious weeks, the crew found its way home. They dragged the beast out through various ropes, and it brayed and kicked back. For a creature so bent on breaking free from it’s cage, it was not happy being dragged out without its say-so.
“Oh, how gorgeous!” They looked up at the voice. One of the leaders, an alien creature known as a human, glided forward to meet the crew and the beast. “What’s with the fuss? Did you grab a tame one?”
“The things can be tamed?”
The human tsked as they looked the beast up and down. “Never mind it. I’d hate to send you all the way back. We’ll train the clones just fine, I’m sure.” Two muscular guards walked up to the crew, relieving them of the beast and dragging guiding the restless thing away. “As long as they let us ride them, they should work just fine.”
Ride?
“As for the rest of you… rest for now. By next week, I want you all training for battle.”
“Will we… be riding the clones?”
The human looked surprised.
“By next week? The clones would be so small by then!” They shook their head. “You’ll have a few months until you need to begin riding. But rest assured, we’ll make space cowboys out of you in the coming months!”
What a horrifying thought.
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It's still #PortfolioDay. Tere!! I'm Sven, an artist from Estonia. I have a BA in graphic art / printmaking. I draw comics, animation and design characters. I especially love drawing cats and guys with scruffy facial hair.
I primarily work with traditional mediums (ballpoint pen. who needs to erase anyway), but also have thorough knowledge in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Clip Studio Paint.
I draw inspiration from my own life experiences to make short comics about retail, LGBT+ topics, (specifically FtM transition) and Estonian working class life. I was born into poverty and negligence and had to work hard to keep up with everyone else and I don't want to romanticize it, but it made me resilient and independent at a very young age. Optimism and humor is what keeps me alive. Here's my Estonian Academy or Arts portfolio as a PDF! (EST 🇪🇪)
… I'm actually still on the poverty line and my day job is earning minimum wage in a grocery store. I'm open for character commission work as long as you're fine with sketches not thorough rendered works. The most I've charged is 30€, the least I've charged is 2-3€ for a tiny receipt sketch.
Payment through PayPal. Or if you're Estonian, you can also pay directly via internet bank actually? idk, let me know and I'll give my IBAN and name.
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