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Blue Rat Blog Entry |
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November 3, 2023, 1:00:15 AM 11/3/23: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Lance Corporal Blue Rat. He dates from the original version of the story and had a complicated (and painfully stupid) background involving Black Rat, but seeing as Black's history has changed, Blue's will have to as well. He retains a few of his old characteristics in that he's a member of the original unit, and is an excellent marksman but never kills anyone. There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. Regarding his design, I decided to make his eyes hazel green instead of...blue. Meh. TUMBLR EDIT: Blue Rat is a character from the original version of the Trench Rats story, who needs a complete revamp. In the original version, he was nicknamed "the Gentleman Rat," for being an excellent shot who, however, refused to ever kill anyone. I did plan on him killing an enemy soldier eventually, as evidenced by this snippet I jotted down at random on a page of the original text: He found Blue standing where he was last seen. He was staring down with dazed horror at the lifeless body of a Nazi who had been stabbed. He'd killed his first--and maybe last--person. But anyway, while I do plan to hold on to Blue being one of the original unit, as well as a sharpshooter who either never or only very rarely kills anyone, plus his basic personality--polite, soft spoken, almost a pacifist--EVERYTHING else I came up with for him will need to be scrapped. Like, tossed into a fire to die a miserable death. It's bad. It's really, REALLY bad. I could offer a brief summary why...but, considering that the original text is extant, and truly humiliating, why not just share that, instead? So, here you go, the relevant section from the earliest existing version of The Trench Rats; the text dates to late 1990, though it says it's based on an earlier version whose existence I actually doubt, perhaps I merely meant the VERY original, unwritten idea for the story. Here we go...ugh. Please, please remember, it was 1990 and I was fourteen when I wrote this. Fourteen! And very very sheltered! So basically, eleven. One Month Later Black Rat had made an excellent recovery, and now was back to leading the battalion. Gold remained moody, arguing at least once a day. He never argued with Black, that is, until one day. He began protesting about not fighting for a long time, and Black sharply reminded him that they hadn't been stationed in Germany to fight, but to help lost or wounded. "Oh, so you don't care if we go out and have some fun?" Gold said. "I care enough to keep you in order," Black replied coldly. "Then why don't you let us know about yourself, so we can trust you!" Gold snapped. There was a long, uneasy silence. Black was turned away from Gold, but he could still tell that something had come over Black. "You want to know about my background?" Black finally asked quietly. Gold bowed his head, ashamed that he'd blurted out that question so harshly. There was another pause. Then Black broke it and said, in a low voice, "I was a sky pirate." Gold looked up, stunned. "D-did you say sky pirate?" Black nodded slowly, and then continued. "Yes, I said sky pirate. You know, people who rob and plunder and fly airplanes. Sort of like airborne Captain Hooks, only fiercer." He stopped again. Gold spoke this time. "How'd you get into the Marines, then?" "I had a companion named Midge, an orphaned rat, who was my only family," Black replied. "One day some rival sky pirates kidnapped him. I decided to get even then, and became a lone pirate. After that I quit and got into training. When I'd been with the Marines for several years, an official asked me if I'd like to command the first battalion of some so-called Trench Rats. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity, since I had nothing to do. I came here and was set up as your leader. You probably don't remember; we had other Rats at that time, but several of you were here--I remember Burgundy and Blue. You, Red, Yellow, and most of the others came later. Burgundy and Blue knew about my secret, but none of the younger Rats were told until you. So do you want to go tell the others?" Gold stared for a bit, then said, "No. I'll keep it a secret. I'm sorry I shouted. I've just been so nervous lately--" "Perhaps it's better that you do know," Black said gently. "It's a load off your back. You can tell if you like, but please don't make a deal out of it." He waved a paw. "Dismissed." Gold grinned and headed off to Mess Hall. It would be a long, tough day. Chapter 2: A Surprise "Inspect"ion Mess Hall was nearly emptied out now, so Gold sat down next to Blue Rat, his second best friend. Blue was the most popular rat [sic]: he was by far the most handsome, and everyone called him the Gentleman Rat because he never killed--he always shot off target, or, if the victim were extremely cruel, graze or slightly wound them. He was especially polite to Black Rat, and some of the rats [sic] joked that they'd known each other since birth (even though Blue was younger) or in a past life. They didn't know how close they were. But back to the present. Blue cordially greeted Gold, as he did everyone. "Hi, Gold," he said informally. "What's been happening lately? I haven't gotten out much; I have to stay behind and help clean." "A fitting job," Gold said, and they laughed. "Nothin' much, Blue. No fighting ye--" His words were cut off by a bullet which whizzed over Blue's head. "I guess I spoke too soon!" Gold shouted, as seven more bullets flew in. The two rats [sic] ducked under the table. An alarm went off, and all the rats [sic] assigned to fight rushed out. Blue went into the kitchen to help the cook. The battle lasted for only four hours, but in the end seven Trench Rats were wounded. The Nazi Rats had been sent out by Inspector Dobermann, and only two had been hurt, one in the foot by Blue. When it was over, Blue went down to where Black was, to see if he was okay. He found Black sitting at a desk. His head was down but he seemed to be staring at a picture sitting in front of him. Looking, Blue saw that it was an old picture of Black and Midge. "Feeling down?" Blue asked. "We're losing this war," Black said. "We aren't Trench Rats, we're sewer rats." "Would it help if I said something to cheer you up?" "Nothing could cheer me up now." Blue was quiet for a few minutes, then he said, "Know what happened to Midge after he was kidnapped?" Black lifted his head, somewhat puzzled. Blue continued. "Midge lived with the sky pirates for several years, and then he ran away. Later he saw a big ship preparing to go to Germany. He stowed away on this boat, and soon met up with some soldiers. They decided it was too late to send him back, so they gave him some informal training. Midge grew up with those soldiers and soon became one." Black was totally stunned by now. He turned to look at Blue, his eye wide with surprise. Blue stared silently at the floor for a moment, then said, "Midge recieved [sic] a code name. That code name was Blue Rat." He lifted his arms and smiled. "Hi, Black. It's me, Midge." Black faltered for several seconds, then leapt forward and embraced Blue, shouting with joy. Then he took Blue by the shoulders and said, "Blue! How come you never told me!" "I had to wait until you knew me," Blue explained. "I really wanted to tell you. When you joined, I recognized you in an instant. You told us your story about how your companion was kidnapped, and I was aching to spill it out. But when I told Burgundy, he said it would be best if I waited until you trusted me and could recognize me as well as Midge. Then you'd know me on sight, also." "You mean Burgundy knew all along?" Blue nodded. "Remember how, right before you joined, you rescued me from those Nazi Rats? You came swooping down on your hawk, and I held up my arms--" "--And I caught you up in the talons," Black remembered. "You and I did that all the time when you were little." "Yeah, and it does hurt the arms," Blue said, rubbing an arm. Both of them laughed, then Black picked up his walking stick and went to the door. "I don't care what old 'Dobey' does," he said, addressing Inspector Dobermann with their mocking nickname. "We're going to win this war!" ...Let me toss you a palate cleanser after that horror. This is the very next sentence from the next chapter: One of Gold Rat's favorite things to do was to fly his eagle over to Inspector Dobermann's place and tease the guard dogs, as well as sometimes whacking Dobermann upside the head. Hahahaha, awesome. Anyway. While Black has revealed a tiny bit of his past (he's a sociopath, yet not a murderous one--he just doesn't really "get" people, so he sometimes makes pretty cold decisions), it's still mostly murky for me, but surely does NOT involve Blue Rat, or sky pirates. Meanwhile, Blue hasn't revealed anything to me yet, so aside from what I mentioned above, he's a blank slate in need of development. I can say with certainty, however, that the story given above no longer applies in the least! For now, Blue's--and Black's--backgrounds have to remain undeveloped, but that just means they should make for some interesting plot additions later on. [Blue Rat 2023 [Friday, November 3, 2023, 1:00:15 AM]] |