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Battleship Gray Rat Blog Entry |
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October 20, 2023, 2:00:30 AM 10/20/23: r/SketchDaily theme, "Drawtober: Ghostly Ballroom/Free Draw Friday." Drawlloween theme, Oct. 20: "Mutant Mart." ... This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Lance Corporal Battleship Gray (BG) Rat. He's a radio operator and not a hugely important character, but maybe I'll find more use for him, as one of the original unit. He's rather unintentionally bigoted though harmless, and constantly wired up; I almost drew him with a cigarette as he's always smoking. There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. Regarding his design, he's missing an incisor though it's hard to tell here. And usually to be found with a cigarette. TUMBLR EDIT: This is how Battleship Gray, or BG, is described in the old character list for the circa-2000 reboot: BATTLESHIP GRAY: LC; along with Doomsday, in charge of repairing things that are broken. While D-Day is more mentally oriented and experimental, "BG" (as everyone calls him) is more hands on and tends to get more done. Tends to smoke or chew on things when no cigarettes are available. Usually to be found with his hands all oily. Develops an attraction toward Hilda, to the consternation of the other Rats. Laid back and casual, rarely to be found raising his voice, but can be nervous sometimes. (Newer Trench Rat.) Current storyline Firstly, BG is now actually one of the very first Trench Rats, being a member of the original unit that was trapped in Germany before the First Battalion arrived to rescue them. Secondly, eh, hell no is he "laid back and casual"; he's rather a loudmouth, especially when nervous, which is often. He's constantly wired like he's on caffeine, though chain smoking is his thing. He's a rather stereotypical Italian American with lots of Big Opinions and a passionate temper, and it's rather ironic that he's stereotypical, because he frequently stereotypes everyone else. The moment Jewish Trench Rat Drake drops into their ditch to bring them back to HQ, the cliches start. BG is almost never hostile or spiteful with his bigotry--for example, he never engages in the same sort of commentary as the Nazis when he talks to Drake--rather, he's the type to say something like, "I hear all you guys are great with money, yeah?" And he's not picky--he makes such comments about the Irish (Turquoise), mixed race (Copper), Blacks (Amaranth), French (Papillon), British (Bradford), women (Skye), Russians (Boris), Roma (Didrika), basically, if they're from some group he doesn't belong to, they're fair game for casual racism or misogyny. There's ONE big, and rather odd, exception: BG despises Germany, Germans, and anything related. Can't stand them, and thinks nothing of letting the entire world know. This leads to a running gag regarding his interactions with Doomsday Rat, after D-Day is liberated from Nazi custody. When he first returns, D-Day no longer remembers English, speaking only German; he needs to be "deprogrammed" in a sense to remember how to be American. Even afterward, whenever he gets exceptionally frustrated, he'll lapse into ranting in German. Whenever this happens, despite the two of them being members of the same original unit, BG's frustration goes through the roof as well and he always ends up yelling, "Speak English! Like an American! SPEAK ENGLISH!!" BG's attitude problem regarding Germans inevitably brings trouble whenever the Trench Rats have to interact with German allies and...sort-of allies. More than once they experience run-ins with Wehrmacht members Ratdog and Klemper; despite Ratdog's personally motivated mission to kill Trench Rats, he also has a sense of honor, and won't shoot anyone who's seriously injured, unarmed, or on a peace mission. Klemper, however, has a temper much similar to BG's, and can't speak English, and is frequently himself wired on meth, so of course he and BG usually end up with firearms aimed at each other, screaming expletives. Considering that both sides are often on the same mission (Ratdog and Klemper decide to start subtly undermining the Nazis' Final Solution efforts whenever they get the chance), this leads to all sorts of complications. There are two other plot points I mentioned in the old character bio that still stand. BG is the Trench Rats' radio operator, in charge of keeping them in communication with others (especially the British), and as a result is often responsible for fixing broken electronics or at least jury-rigging things until they can be properly maintained. I imagine this could be another source of conflict with D-Day, who as the chief engineer is REALLY the one in charge of fixing things; he probably mutters quite a few Teutonic cuss words under his breath while fixing whatever BG temporarily patched up. Then there is Hilda. I believe Hilda originally came about as a mere prop of an unfinished adult scene (I know it's weird, but this adult stuff has helped play a big role in character and plot development, including leading directly into this current reboot), but she probably still stands as a character, albeit a minor one who needs some development. I just looked up her character bio and it is COMPLETELY different from what I remember, likely does not still stand, but here it is: HILDA: Big-boned, "matronly" woman rescued by the Trench Rats before her city is bombed. Ends up residing in the refugee compound, but storms her way into HQ a lot--no one is brave enough to take her on. Short tempered, explosive, and verbally abusive, but also helps care for the Rats after the influenza strikes. Object of Battleship Gray's affection; he seems to have a thing for larger women. Current storyline Yeah, uh...I honestly don't remember all of that. As things now stand she's just comic relief, and might remain so, though there's room for change. Hilda is (currently) a maid in someone's household, the stereotypical tall, broad, matronly, harsh-voiced German type; she easily intimidates the Trench Rats who first come in contact with her. Including BG. Yet BG also finds her weirdly appealing, and Hilda finds BG weirdly adorable. She's the one German who doesn't trigger his rage reflex and that's largely because he's terrified of her and that's what he finds attractive. Hilda, meanwhile, talks to him like he's a child and it's just a really weird, fetishy relationship but hey, it works out for them. *shrugs* This is pretty much all I have about BG at the moment--nothing big or dramatic, no extensive plot importance just yet. This leaves plenty of potential to develop him (and Hilda?) to add more to the story...or maybe they could remain simple comic relief. I have yet to decide. [Battleship Gray Rat 2023 [Friday, October 20, 2023, 2:00:30 AM]] |