|
Purple Rat Blog Entry |
|
June 28, 2024, 12:00:27 AM 6/28/24: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's characters from my anthro WWII storyline are Lance Corporal Red Rat and Private First Class Purple Rat. They're pretty old characters (Red was originally Corporal Gold's best friend, Purple was kind of antagonistic) who kind of fell by the wayside in more recent updates but I should perhaps reclaim them. There'll be more about them later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. Regarding their design, I'm a bit meh on both (I gave Red a scar to make him a bit more interesting, hm) but especially on Purple, I dunno, I just picture him bigger and darker, more imposing. But anyway, here they are. TUMBLR EDIT: Red and Purple Rat date to the earliest versions of this series. Very old characters. Although they were moderately important back then, they fell out of use as I focused on other characters but also because the entire story itself, as I've mentioned repeatedly, fell out of my favor and I moved on to other things. There's another possible explanation behind my semi-abandonment of these two, however, and it's one I'm not proud of but I feel the need to own up to: Race. Red and Purple are both meant to be Black (African American). (And yeah, this is confusing as Black is not Black, despite literally being black...you'll notice my POC Rats mostly have brown hues of fur. I won't try to explain it, the only real logic is the feeling I assign it. Just bear with me.) Please see Red Rat's entry for some detail on why/how race is involved in the partial abandonment of these two characters. It's important for context. Purple Rat actually has some further development behind him than Red. He was more of his own individual with his own story, not a "sidekick." I think there is some extant text featuring him in an intermediate (not early) story...I believe it's an early version of Genesis, probably the same text I referenced in Revell's entry. Let me see if I can find it. From The Trench Rats: The Beginning (now known as Genesis). Context: Sgt. Camo is seeking recruits for his proposed battalion, and for whatever reason this includes picking out individual lowly privates, at least, Purple. Please forgive the stupidity and some bad turns of phrase (including Camo saying Purple won't be a criminal unless he gets in the battalion?...WTF?): At first the searching was easy. He strolled along in front of the new recruits as they practiced their marching exercises, observing all their quirks, mentally deciding which ones would be best for his dream battalion. For that's what it was right now, only a dream. He had two weeks to make it a reality. He selected a number of privates, then searched for lance-corporals to fill in the gaps. There were several in the barracks that he'd been keeping an eye on; however, knowing how many more soldiers he needed, there wouldn't be enough. He found the records of all the recruits who'd been dismissed; nothing in there impressed him, until he was about to give up and he found an article: PRIVATE "PURPLE" RAT--PASSED TRAINING WITH SUCCESS; HAD TO BE DISMISSED DUE TO INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR & INSUBORDINATION. ACCUSED OF FIGHTING W/ DRILL SERGEANT, WHO LATER HAD TO BE HOSPITALIZED. Needless to say, Camo was impressed. Going to Major DeVries's office, he saluted and asked what had become of "Purple." DeVries readily explained. "He got into a big fight with the drill sergeant," he said. "Ended up giving him a broken nose. This was a couple weeks ago. He's in confinement now until we can figure out what to do with him." He gave Camo a funny look. "Don't tell me you're interested in recruiting him." Camo stood his ground. He was actually starting to get good at it. "As a matter of fact, sir, I am." "Oh, Lord, Camo, have you gone nuts? Look what you're doing! First you ask to assemble a whole battalion to go free people in Germany, now you want to recruit a criminal too?" "He's not exactly a criminal yet, sir. At least not unless I can get him into my battalion. Then he might have a chance." "And what if he turns around and busts your nose too, Camo? What then?" Camo allowed himself a shrug. "Then you'll have proven yourself right, Major." It was pointless to argue; Major DeVries knew that already. He leaned forward and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "All right, then, Camo, you've made your point. Again," he added. "You can go check him out, but don't expect anything wonderful. He is, after all, a miscreant." Camo saluted and left the room, determined to prove DeVries wrong again. * * * * * A corporal led him to the barracks cells and let him in with a key. "He's in there, cell number 055," the corporal said. "But I wouldn't expect anything from him, Sergeant. He doesn't really talk to anybody." "Thank you, Corporal," Camo said, and the corporal left, knowing a dismissal when he heard it. The cells were dim; Camo had to squint to be able to tell there was anybody within. He could just barely make out a form slouched on a seat in the corner of the cell, and cleared his throat. There was, of course, no reply. "Private Purple?" Camo addressed the form. There was a slight rustle. "Yeah?" came an insolent voice. Camo bit his lip; he was beginning to wonder if this were such a good idea, but then he thought of DeVries's skeptical look, and forced himself to continue. "My name's Sergeant Camo and I've come to talk with you." "'Sergeant'?" The form moved, and a large rat--not quite as tall as him, but built stronger--came forward. He still wore his army uniform, but there was a tag with a serial number attached to it. He looked Camo up and down, then smiled bitterly, looking into his eyes. "And what's a full-fledged sergeant want with me?" "I've reviewed your record, Private, and I've come to ask if you'd be willing to join my battalion." The private gaped at him, then burst out into laughter. Camo only stood there, trying to conceal his disdain. "Willing--to join--your battalion?" Purple gasped. "That's what I said." The private only continued to laugh. "And why would you want me in your battalion, Sergeant?" He said the title as if it were full of hot air. "In case you don't remember what you read, I was insubordinate." "I'm aware of that, Private." "And I did break the drill sergeant's nose." "Are you ashamed of what you did?" Purple gave that bitter smile again, but this time there was something else in it. It looked like humor. "No," he said readily. "And if I had the chance, I'd do it all over again." Camo lifted his head. "Would you do it to me, Private?" Purple sized him up, then said, rather thoughtfully, "I'd have to get to know you first, Sergeant." "Good. In my battalion you'll have the chance." "Now wait a minute," Purple interjected. "Maybe I don't wanna join your battalion. What then?" "Then you sit in here until they figure out what to do with you. It's your choice. When you make up your mind, tell the jailor to give me a call. Good day, Private." Camo left, and Purple was left gripping the bars, staring out after him, wondering just what he should do. It was only several minutes later when he yelled out through the bars, "Hey, Corporal! C'mere! Corporal!" ...Sooooo...yeah, anyway. Along with me having ZERO understanding of how the military handled insubordination and whatnot, there's the icky appearance that I figured a Black character would basically be a thug with a problem with authority, who ends up basically "rescued" (civilized?) by a white guy. While I can sincerely say this wasn't my intent, I do believe there was an unintentional/unconscious racist element--I didn't mean it, yet it was there, mostly due to my pretty ignorant and culturally isolated upbringing. Honestly, I had no culture. Culture was something that belonged to other people, other races. And my understanding of culture was...well, nonexistent. Thus my really stupid, racist depiction of it. Now on to Purple as he could be today. I actually wish to keep the plot element that he's a troublemaker who joins the military for discipline; maybe he's given the choice between that, or imprisonment. Two major changes, though. Purple's anger toward authority should be justified. In this time period, it's almost a given that Purple will be treated like garbage by his superiors more than once. He may lash out, or he may defend himself when the other party lashes out first...or maybe he's defending someone else, and ends up taking the fall, similar to another "troublemaker," Isaak Schindel...? Hmm. In any case, the other big change should be Camo's role as "great white savior." Purple is still offered the chance to join the Trench Rats, though Camo is unlikely to be involved; this might be what's offered instead of jail time, as the Trench Rats are an experimental unit, heading into enemy territory before war is technically declared, so they're kind of operating on a disclaimer basis of "You guys are on your own for now." So, there's a greater risk involved in it, even though combat isn't their primary objective. Camo may get involved with Purple later on in a role where he THINKS he's doing Purple a favor, only for Purple to angrily retort that he doesn't need favors, he can handle himself. So a "white savior" isn't just unnecessary, it's unwanted. Camo like me comes from a pretty culturally homogeneous background, and has an idealistic streak in creating the Trench Rats; earlier on when initially interacting with Corporal Drake, the latter's cynicism, fueled by his shoddy treatment by others in the military, surprises him--Drake is reluctant about the idea of getting involved in German affairs. Purple's disdain strikes him similarly; I can imagine Drake shrugging in a sort of "I told you so" reaction, that not everybody needs, or wants, him to save them. Aside from that, I haven't much about Purple just yet. I imagine him having some complicated interactions with his fellow Rats, though this could also involve a clarification of the incident that landed him in their midst in the first place and gave him a (possibly unwarranted) reputation as a troublemaker. That's all hopefully for another day. [Purple Rat 2024 [Friday, June 28, 2024, 12:00:27 AM]] |