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Friedrich Blog Entry |
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June 21, 2024, 12:00:11 AM June 21, 2024, 12:00:23 AM 6/21/24: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Friedrich (last name never given), without cap (top drawing) and with cap (bottom drawing). He's a relatively minor, comic relief character (he frequently shows up at Lt. Hesse's office to try to woo his secretary, Hedy Rader), though he's also one of the few people Hesse finds trustworthy enough to confide in about a scandal plaguing the office. There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. Regarding his design, he's a white Alsatian (German shepherd). TUMBLR EDIT: Not much to say about Friedrich No-Name. The lovesick SS lieutenant first catches comrade Lt. Hesse's notice when he pops into his office at Allgemeine-SS headquarters requesting to speak with Hesse's newly appointed secretary, SS-Helfer Hedy Rader. (Hesse didn't desire a secretary, she was foisted upon him by his boss, and took to her new role with such fascist enthusiasm that he's always reluctant to ask her to do anything because she always wishes to do THE BEST JOB IN THE REICH.) Hesse says sure, let me fetch her for you, then is perplexed to realize she's abruptly disappeared. After a brief search he finds that she's locked herself in a storage room, and asks what's wrong; before she can answer, Friedrich loudly exclaims, "Meine Liebe?--bitte, come out! We can make this work!" Rader yells back from behind the door, "HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU TO GO AWAY! GO AWAY!!" Hesse, thinking he's inadvertently gotten involved in a lovers' spat, starts to step aside, only to hear Rader shout, "Kamerad Hesse! If you're out there, bitte, make him go away!" Increasingly embarrassed--everyone in the neighboring offices is starting to peek in--Hesse murmurs to Friedrich, "It's obvious she doesn't wish to see you today, perhaps it's best if you go"; he expects an argument, but Friedrich pulls himself up and says in a quivering voice, "I'll respect Kameradin Rader's request, and go peacefully," yet then exclaims at the door, "Yet I shall try again later! My heart will not give you up, my Hedy!" The only response is a shrieked "GO--AWAY!!" Friedrich thanks Hesse, retreats, and Hesse is left standing by the door with all his comrades looking in the doors and windows at him, wondering WTF's going on. His ears start burning. Everyone but Rader returns to work. Hesse goes to his desk and resumes typing when Rader presents herself, standing stiffly before his desk--"Sieg Heil!"--as always, there's an awkward moment before Hesse waves at her to lower her arm lest she get stuck like that. "Are you all right, Kameradin...?" he makes the mistake of asking, thinking perhaps that the other officer is an abusive ex. "I will persevere, Kamerad," Rader says; there's another pause, Hesse opens his mouth to dismiss her, then she blurts out, "I apologize for bringing such theatrics to your office. Kamerad Friedrich is my greatest shame. It was but a mistake, a single night of wanton passion, the likes of which I doubt I shall ever experience again, yet I regret it immensely to this day. It is true, I confess, he has skills...ways...of making a woman's body...just...mmmrrrmmrrrrr--" she clutches at her uniform and makes an indeterminate purring/growling sound, then clears her throat and stands straight again "--but as I said...it was a mere mistake, to which I own up, and I assure you it will not happen again. I shall now return to my work. Sieg Heil!" She salutes; Hesse stares at her for a befuddled moment before gesturing, and she returns to her desk. Hesse sits at his own desk staring off into space for a good long while until forcing himself to resume typing; he suddenly knows a lot more about his secretary than he ever wished to know, and feels like taking a shower. Friedrich keeps his word, and repeatedly pops into Hesse's office at unexpected times to continue pleading his case and pledging his undying love to Rader, who always locks herself away when he arrives and screams at him to get lost. This becomes a regular thing, to the staid Hesse's chagrin. Rader keeps her own promise to keep Friedrich at arm's length (although she does engage in a brief fling with Hesse's associate, Master Sergeant Theodor Schulte)...for a time, at least. Friedrich manages at last to confront her face to face when she fails to lock herself away first, and falls to his knee in front of her, hands clasped. "Kameradin!" he cries, "Bitte! Just let me plead my case!" He struggles a moment to speak before saying, "I lose my words in your presence! I'd forgotten how lovely you truly are...brilliant...radiant...like Sunna, like Freya! The goddesses hide their faces in shame from your beauty!" Hesse looks at his short, frumpy, bespectacled, bucktoothed secretary and wonders if he needs his own eyes checked again. "Bitte, bitte, Meine Liebe," Friedrich implores, taking Rader's hand, "give me just one chance more to prove my worth. I know I'll always pale next to you, like the moon before the sun. Yet I'll hold second place gladly! Anything to have you back." V-e-r-y long, uneasy pause. Rader gapes at Friedrich, starts quaking, and growls, "You show up...spouting all this nonsense...when you upset me IMMENSELY! How am I ever to trust you again?--when you did to me what you did? Why should I ever give you another chance--? Tell me this, or get out!" Hesse figures the encounter was a single night only as Friedrich must have bailed out on Rader early in the morning, breaking her heart. He's not overly fond of Rader but she's growing on him, and he's always believed in defending women. He murmurs, "Would you like me to get rid of him again, Kameradin...?" Yet Friedrich just clasps Rader's hand harder, face lighting up, and speaks anew: "A second chance! I vow on my honor to do better. To do best! To match with you, though you are matchless! I've been studying all the forbidden books I can find. There are techniques a man can learn, you see, things he can try, to increase his stamina and endurance, and keep up with his Liebe all night long. I've been practicing! No more leaving you wanting and still ready to go the next morning! I may still be the moon to your sun, but I'll be the full moon! Lighting up the night! There's so much I long to try with you, and absence has made my heart grow fonder! You have no idea the spell you've cast over me, I feel like a Berserker!" By now Hesse is simply standing there, aghast, Lt. Paul Wozniak (who always enjoys office drama so popped in) staring with raised eyebrows. Schulte leans toward Hesse and says under his breath, "He's right, Boss, you have no idea what you're missing." Hesse just tries not to make too loud a noise swallowing his own nausea. Rader stares at Friedrich for a moment, lip quivering, eyes glassy. Swallows. "My..." Her voice cracks. "My Friedrich," she manages, and his eyes light up again--"My Hedy!" He stands and they throw their arms around each other, then kiss--"Aw," Wozniak says, then, "Ew," and winces when the kiss--and their hands--get a bit too enthusiastic. Hesse throws up his own hands and finally hurries forward to pry the two apart. "All right! All right!" he exclaims, his own voice oddly high pitched, pulling Friedrich and Rader away from each other. "All is well now! You've all made up! Just--go--finish making up somewhere else, bitte! Not in the middle of my office!!" Friedrich and Rader hem and haw and smooth themselves down a bit, obviously flustered; "Kamerad Hesse is correct, this is hardly appropriate behavior for his office," Rader says, then, "Kamerad--do you require further assistance for today? If not, permission requested to depart for the evening. If so, bitte, let me know what needs doing, so I may finish my duties and head home posthaste." Hesse waves. "Nein, I need nothing else, go on, go on. Have, uh, have fun." Friedrich winds his arm around Rader's and bends down to whisper something in her ear. Rader's eyes go wide and her cheeks flush red--"Mmmrrrmmrrrrr," she says, coughs, and, "Per--ah--permission requested for an additional day off, Kamerad?--I--ah--might be a bit preoccupied--" "Go on! Go!" Hesse grimaces and gestures almost hard enough to throw out his shoulder. "Permission granted! Just go!" Friedrich and Rader hurriedly depart, Rader giggling hysterically when he whispers something else in her ear. After a brief pause Wozniak muses, "They'll make lovely children," to which Hesse exclaims, "All RIGHT! Don't put images in my head!!" and everyone heads back to work. Friedrich plays little role in the actual plot, though following their boss's, Colonel Heidenreich's, murder, Hesse--temporarily placed in charge--finds himself increasingly skeptical of security at headquarters, and calls to his office the very few people there he believes he can trust: Schulte, Wozniak, Rader, and Friedrich. They all huddle around, perplexed and uneasy, as he fills them in on what he knows, and each promises to keep quiet about the investigation even around their fellows. So, although I know little about Friedrich himself, it at least says something that Hesse trusts him enough for this...probably because Rader trusts him. Other than that, he isn't a character who's destined for much development, including obtaining a last name, though odder things have happened. [Friedrich 2024 [Friday, June 21, 2024, 12:00:11 AM]] [Friedrich 2024 2 [Friday, June 21, 2024, 12:00:23 AM]] |