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Badt Blog Entry |
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November 22, 2024, 12:00:09 AM November 22, 2024, 12:01:08 AM November 22, 2024, 12:02:10 AM 11/22/24: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Sgt. Badt (first name never given), with field cap (top drawing), with helmet (middle drawing), and with garrison cap (bottom drawing). He plays a small but important role in Godfrey Klemper's story. There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. Regarding his design, I wanted bold colors but switched from B&W as Revell looks like that. He has a scar over his nose. TUMBLR EDIT: Unteroffizier (Sergeant) Badt has been around in the background as a character for a while, yet had no name; until the last minute he was just going to be "Unnamed Sergeant," but his role in Oberschütze (PFC) Godfrey Klemper's background story is important enough--plus I think I'd like him to pop back into the story again at some point--that I decided he at least needed a surname. Just a WARNING, this entry won't go into detail but does cover unpleasant topics. Klemper, in case you haven't caught on, just has a miserable unfortunate life with bad experience after bad experience, so his story might come across as a kind of "trauma porn" which is not intentional, it's more like his experiences build off of previous ones...a victim has a higher chance of becoming victimized again, after all. Firstly...Klemper's childhood background, his father Georg and his mother Agnes. Klemper's own father is the first one to victimize him. Klemper spends the rest of his life with heavily conflicted feelings about his dad, but, surprisingly, doesn't hate him for what he did (when he's pretty good at hating others at the smallest slight); Lt. Ratdog questions this when Klemper visits his parents' graves to honor them. Klemper just shrugs and says he was his father, how else is he supposed to feel? After his mother's death, and the mysterious destruction of his home, Klemper takes his meager belongings with him and starts walking. Way out here in the middle of nowhere, not far from the Polish border, the Wehrmacht has developed an unusual way of trying to drum up recruits; most eligible men are meant to be conscripted, yet out here where there's no real government presence, many of them slip through the cracks (Ratdog is one of them), and intimidating them into joining does little good. They're farming and forest folk, having lived the same way of life for centuries, and the outside world barely touches them. Plus, what limited presence the military has in the area is looked upon with suspicion, if not outright hostility; it's not uncommon for them to be met by pointed rifles. (This isn't entirely unfounded. It's a rogue Wehrmacht unit that burns down Klemper's house, among others.) So the military has to find different ways to convince these people to comply. They hold little "recruitment drives" along the sparse roads, enticing impressionable young men with their promises of a better life, once they serve the Fatherland by fending off the Red menace. These tactics are effective; not only are the border folk rabidly nationalist (most have hardly even heard of the Nazi Party, yet hold compatible Völkisch beliefs), they also live under the constant threat of the Red Army's approach. They also are already used to defending their territory and are good with guns. Although by necessity they receive little, if any, proper training (most of what they learn is in the field), and they aren't quite as disciplined as more official Wehrmacht troops, they still prove a good deterrent to enemies as they patrol the border areas fighting Soviets and partisans. (Well! I guess I finally figured out why my story has these weird wandering army units...) Klemper comes across one of these recruitment drives, lies about his age (he's thirteen), presents some doctored papers from a dying soldier he encountered, and hands over his father's old rifle for a military-issue one. He's promptly assigned to one of the small, itinerant units led by Leutnant (2nd Lt.) Frieder Dasch. Dasch, however, is dismayed--his unit already has all the men it needs, he can't accommodate any more, he doesn't have the resources or the time to help train an obvious child--and he protests loudly enough that the leader of another unit, resting nearby, offers to take Klemper in. This guy doesn't have a name yet, if ever. Dasch is relieved to get this inconvenience settled before his unit heads out, and Klemper is left with the second unit. The unit leader welcomes Klemper and tells him to get settled in with the others before they too have to head out. Everything seems resolved, arguments averted. His second-in-command, however--Sgt. Badt--looks on with a decidedly unpleasant expression. He's obviously unhappy with the arrangement, yet says nothing. Klemper accompanies the unit when they head out. Quickly learns the ropes as they go along. Notices how Sgt. Badt doesn't seem to like him--he has a habit of interrupting whenever the unit leader tries to talk with him privately, as if jealous that he should get any attention, and even steps in and insists on taking Klemper's place when the unit leader offers him the chance to scout out the woods with him ("Go on, kid!--mind your elders," Badt snaps, never mind that he isn't that much older than Klemper himself, in his mid/late-teens)--but doesn't have time to dwell. He's helping to keep the Fatherland safe and that's what counts. The unit finds a place to rest one night; the unit leader has a tent, the others sleep on the ground in their bedrolls. Sgt. Badt is assigned first watch; he doesn't seem happy with this, yet heads off to his post at the clearing's edge anyway. It starts drizzling; the soldiers just pull their bags or helmets over their heads to keep as dry as they can. As Klemper is selecting a sleeping spot some distance away and putting down his bedroll, the unit leader approaches and offers to let him sleep in his tent instead. Klemper is a little confused that he should get this offer and no one else, yet 1. at least he'll keep out of the rain, and 2. he can't help but think the unit leader is so kind, he must really like him, and Klemper latches right on to any shred of kindness he can find. He retrieves his bedroll and hurries after the unit leader, who even holds the tent flap open for Klemper to go inside. What happens afterward is pretty much what you'd expect, if you weren't as naive as Klemper. After the unit leader falls asleep, Klemper slips out of the tent, hurriedly secures his belongings--his vision is blurry and his hands are shaking so badly it's difficult to tie his bedroll back up--and makes his way from the clearing. He's going AWOL, he doesn't care about the consequences, just that he can't stay here another minute. As he reaches the forest's edge and steps among the trees, a shadow abruptly appears, and a sharp voice hisses, "Hey! Where do you think you're going!" Klemper freezes. A lantern turns on and he blinks at the glare. He'd forgotten about Sgt. Badt, and his heart squeezes into his throat when he gives Klemper a venomous glare. All Klemper can do is stare back at him, eyes red and wet, shaking like a leaf, expecting to be handed back over to the unit leader, who will almost certainly not be kind anymore...yet the look on Badt's face subtly changes. He seems to notice how distressed Klemper is, and looks...dismayed, almost. He lowers his lantern a little, hesitates, then moves his head, a sideways gesture. Klemper does nothing. Badt repeats the gesture--an impatient head flick--and now Klemper understands what he's saying. He's telling Klemper to get lost. Klemper doesn't hesitate further. Clutching his bedroll tight, he plunges into the woods and is immediately swallowed up in the darkness. He glances back over his shoulder just once as he runs. Badt's silhouette is turned, looking after him, yet he doesn't follow. Klemper knows that, as the one on watch, he's likely to face trouble in the morning when Klemper is discovered missing, but again, he doesn't dwell. He runs until he comes within view of another encampment, and surrenders to the soldier stationed on watch. He's taken to their unit commander. As Klemper's luck would have it...he's stumbled back upon Lt. Dasch's unit. Dasch is roused from his sleep, and exclaims at Klemper, "What the f**k! You some kind of bad pfennig?--always turning back up!" He tries to arrange to hand Klemper back over to his proper unit, but Klemper begs and pleads so piteously to be allowed to stay--bitte, bitte, he'll do good, he doesn't ask much, he'll pull his weight, don't send him back there, bitte--that Dasch is dumbfounded. He protests that they just don't have the resources, yet one of the other soldiers offers to share a portion of his food and goods with Klemper, then another does, and another--all of the other unit members volunteer to share, if Klemper is allowed to stay. Dasch finally gives in, grudgingly permitting Klemper to remain, but insists he needs to do his part or else he'll put him right back where he came from, and probably get him court-martialed. Klemper doesn't care. He plans to do everything he can to remain with Dasch's unit, because he knows he can never return to that other one, he'd rather die first. The very next day, as they're preparing to head out, Dasch's camp receives a pair of visitors: The other unit commander, and Sgt. Badt. Badt is breathless, having to run to keep up, while the unit leader is steaming; he confronts Dasch immediately, barking, "Where is he?--I know you have him, I know he's here! Hand him over!" Dasch is genuinely confused for just a moment--"What the f**k are you talking about?"--but the other commander just doubles down on his demand. He spots Klemper cowering near a tree and just about explodes: "There he is, right there! Hand him over right now!" Dasch doesn't care for Klemper, figures he's bad luck, yet he hates being ordered around by somebody not his own CO, and so his temper flares. "What for?" he retorts. Snaps the other unit leader, "He's mine! He belongs in MY unit! You're harboring an absentee! Hand him over!" Now, Dasch's attitude shifts; he frowns and narrows his eyes slightly. "And then what?" he says. "Why do you want him so bad? You're the only CO I know who wants his absentee back so damn much, most of us can't wait to be rid of 'em. You got something in mind for him...?" Badt's expression is indescribable. The unit leader pales, eyes widening; then his face flushes brilliant red. He casts a baleful glare in Klemper's direction, then back at Dasch. "You know what?" he says. "Keep him. I don't need this sort of nuisance in my unit." He turns, jerking a hand at Badt to follow. "Good luck with him," he mutters as the two depart. Dasch waits until they're out of sight before relaxing...only to notice that Badt dropped his mess kit. "Gott verdammt!" he grumbles, retrieving it yet deciding not to follow. He's already in quite a sour mood over all this drama; "You better be worth the trouble!" he grouses at Klemper, shaking a finger, and orders them all to finish packing their stuff and head out. As they're marching along a rutted road near the forest's edge, a voice calls out from far behind: "Herr Leutnant! Herr Leutnant!" Dasch slows and stops, the rest of the unit following suit. He recognizes Sgt. Badt jogging after them and gets another sour look; when the sergeant reaches him and stops, trying to catch his breath, Dasch gestures for the unit to keep going, he'll catch up in a minute. He pulls out Badt's mess kit and thrusts it out at him. Dasch: "Here! Keep a better hold on your s**t next time." Badt: "Danke." *pauses* "For taking him back in your unit." Dasch: "Huh?" Badt: *nods at Klemper* "The kid. He's...not a good fit in our unit." Dasch: "Ja, well...hardly have room for him in mine, either! Good thing my guys don't mind sharing their s**t with him." Badt: "I don't think you'll regret it." Dasch: "I already do." *lowers voice* "What the f**k was all that back there? And this? Obviously you dropped this looking for an excuse to run after us. What's going on with that Arschloch...?" Badt: "Pretty much what you suggested." Dasch: *blinks; glances back at Klemper* *scowls & turns back* "Sohn einer Hündin." *glares at Badt* "And how do you know, what's your part in this--?" Badt: *brief silence* "I was a kid not long ago." Dasch: *stares* "Why...? Why do you still follow him...?" Badt: "Duty." *pause* "Someone should be there to try to stop it. I tried to do what I could. To make sure they were never alone together. I'm just sorry it wasn't enough." Dasch: "You could leave, you know? Request a transfer." Badt: *rubs at the scar over his nose* "Sometimes it's better not to fight." Dasch just stands helplessly as Badt tucks away his mess kit and turns to head back. "Hope he's a better fit here," Badt says, "he seems like he trusts you, for whatever reason." "What about you?" Dasch asks; Badt glances after Dasch's disappearing unit, shoulders his pack. "I'll be fine," he says, salutes, turns, and heads back up the trail; after a moment or so, Dasch heads the other way to catch up with his unit. ...I don't know yet that Badt returns to the plot afterward or not, or in what circumstances. I like to think he might pop up unexpectedly and become a more important character, maybe develop more of his own backstory. Maybe he could even end up in charge of his own unit (like Klemper briefly does before his demotion). These are all thoughts for another day. [Badt 2024 [Friday, November 22, 2024, 12:00:09 AM]] [Badt 2024 2 [Friday, November 22, 2024, 12:01:08 AM]] [Badt 2024 3 [Friday, November 22, 2024, 12:02:10 AM]] |