|
Lyndsey Skye Blog Entry |
|
April 15, 2023, 2:26:47 PM April 21, 2023, 4:00:11 AM April 21, 2023, 4:00:21 AM April 21, 2023, 4:00:32 AM April 21, 2023, 4:00:45 AM 4/15/23: Well YIKES, I forgot to post this rough sketch of Lyndsey Skye from my Trench Rats story, until like eight months later! Not sure how that happened...sorry, I guess? [Rough Lyndsey Skye Sketch 2023 [Saturday, April 15, 2023, 2:26:47 PM]] 4/21/23: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Lance Corporal Lyndsey Skye: Sans cap/hair down (top drawing), sans cap/hair up (second drawing), with cap/hair down (third drawing), with cap/hair up (bottom drawing). She's technically the only female Trench Rat (still alive, at least) even though she's British, and she helps out in the medical ward. There'll be more about her later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se. TUMBLR EDIT: Okey-doke. I don't know a whole lot about Skye's background...in fact, you know what, I don't know about it at all. :/ She hasn't been forthcoming just yet. I don't think she has a load of drama like everyone else, however. I've never come up with a good explanation why a British military nurse comes to literally join the American Trench Rats--not just an honorary member, but actually join, as she's granted access to Headquarters, which is done only with members (the lone exception being Papillon). Especially considering that this must have occurred following Corporal Anna Julian's betrayal--BUT, the Rats don't know Julian is the traitor at the time, so I guess that wouldn't be a factor, rather the factor that there was a breach of info at all would make them more suspicious. Skye must do something that makes her exceptionally trusted or indispensable to the Rats. Likely assisting Burgundy with injured soldiers--or perhaps he's the one who assists her, on the British side. I can easily imagine Burgundy being impressed by Skye's medical skills and cool head under pressure and requesting her assistance, and that eventually turning into an official appointment. A long-running subtext in the story is the romantic tension between these two. (It was also implied that Sgt. Black Rat was interested in her, though he never mentioned it, she never noticed it, and once he saw her interest in Burgundy he let this go. Given more recent developments regarding Black's character, I don't know that this still stands.) I made it wayyyyy too blatant when I referred to it in the circa-2000 reboot. Here's the relevant excerpt from Burgundy's POV (ignore the obvious plot changes, such as Skye not actually being a Trench Rat): "What in heaven's name is going on in here?" a new voice exclaimed. Gold turned to the curtain dividing this section from the Trench Rat area. He smiled as Lance-Corporal Lyndsey Skye entered, looking around in bafflement at the mess before her. So far she was the only female the others considered a "Trench Rat," although technically she wasn't; the title itself was good enough, and Gold made sure to point this out to her almost every time they met. She saw him first, with his gun slung over his shoulder, then Burgundy with his cut arm, scrabbling on the floor for a roll of bandages, then the three patients staring at the fourth one, the German, who lay in bed with a bloody gash in the side of his head. "What is all this?" she asked, stunned. "Hi, LC," Gold greeted. "Busy tonight?" Burgundy's eyes shot up immediately. His face reddened and he stood up, so abruptly that he nearly knocked the table over again. He reached out to steady it as it tilted to the side, spilling its instruments again, and cursed under his breath. "Lieutenant? Corporal? What's going on? You woke up one of our own, and he's absolutely demanding to know the cause of all this--" "Just a little scuffle, that's all," Gold replied, sidling up to her and casually taking her arm. He smiled charmingly. "Seems one of our patients isn't so happy about the wonderful treatment he's getting from Lieutenant Burgundy. Isn't that right, Doc?" "Don't you have anything better to do?" Burgundy snapped in return. He came forward, still holding his arm, the blood squeezing between his fingers. He shot a look at both of them in turn, though his look at Skye seemed to be more guarded than the one aimed at Gold, which was just plain pissed. "Like go in there and let him know everything's all right?" "Yeah, sure," Gold said, faking a sullen attitude. He smiled at Skye again as he went for the curtain. "Hope you like rice soup, LC. They're serving it in Mess tonight. If you don't mind, I could join you." He disappeared, and a moment later the two could hear him and the other Rat talking. Skye watched him go--his comments didn't bother her in the least as she knew they were all a part of his routine--then turned back to Burgundy, who had since gone back to cleaning up the floor. "Lieutenant? What happened here?" "Just what he said. It's nothing. I'll get this cleaned up in a minute." She stepped forward, noticing him picking up a roll of gauze and hissing softly as he looked at his arm. Her eyes widened as she saw what was wrong. "Lieutenant! Your arm! Where'd you get that?" Immediately she was pulling him to his feet, pulling the roll from his hands and walking across the room for a needle and some sutures. "It's nothing," he protested. "I can take care of it myself." "Nonsense. Not unless you've suddenly turned lefthanded, which I know you haven't. Now hold out your arm and quit this holier-than-thou routine. I too know how to stitch up a wound, Lieutenant." Burgundy sullenly did as she asked while she daubed the cut clean and proceeded to sew it up. He found it embarrassing to have her stitching up his arm--he was, after all, the doctor here--but it was true that he wouldn't have been able to do it on his own. Nevertheless, he'd have preferred someone else--Gold even--to do it, rather than Skye. He turned his head to glare at the German patient so that he didn't have to watch her, the look of concentration on her face, as she finished her job and wrapped it up with gauze for good measure. "There! That should take care of it. I won't trouble you any further by asking you how you got this, but if you two keep this up there's going to be a shortage of nurses around here, I can tell you that! Now, if you don't mind, I have to get back to work." "Fine," he replied, voice sharper than he'd intended, not bothering to add anything else. He cringed inwardly at the annoyed-bordering-on-disgusted look she gave him, though he knew why she gave it--he never seemed happy whenever she ended up doing something useful, not unless he was in charge somehow--and she turned away and went back to tend to the Nazi, who was finally just starting to stir. Burgundy peered over his shoulder at her, rubbing his arm. Well, that was it; she was thinking exactly what he knew she would. With a frustrated sigh that he prayed she didn't hear, he turned away and finished sorting out the scattered instruments. Eeuurrrrgghhh...just hit you over the head with the obviousness. Anyway. The tension between these two is still an important plot point in the current story, though it's much more of a slow burn, and much more subtle. When I originally posted Burgundy's entry here, I was in a poor mood, so never shared his story. I REALLY do not want to get all longwinded like usual, but I may as well cover the generalities here. I've mentioned before that Burgundy has some obvious issues with women, though it's not chauvinism or misogyny. Yes, he wants to be the one in charge of the medical ward, but that's only because he's most confident in his own abilities; he'd be just as disdainful toward a guy if his skills were subpar. Burgundy is one of the few characters who's actually gender blind when it comes to such things, as is shown when the Rats go to the partisan camp of Didrika, the female Romani resistance leader. Didrika is widely despised by the Germans, not just because of her race, but because she's a woman, basically playing the role of a man: She's a wartime leader of a large group of men, she's a skilled sniper, and she's unabashedly promiscuous. This latter point leads to an odd moment of conflict between her and Skye when the Rats arrive to reunite with Silver, who's recently escaped Nazi custody and is recovering from his injuries. Didrika is known for her habit of testing the men she comes into contact with by trying to seduce them; Skye, knowing of this, warns Didrika ahead of time not to pull this stunt on Burgundy. Didrika responds sarcastically with something like, "What, have you stamped your claim on him already?" She's just joking--but Skye's answer is to smack her across the face, hard. EVERYONE within earshot--even Boris, Didrika's big imposing Russian lover--gawks wordlessly. Didrika can't believe it, either--she glares at Skye, dumbfounded and speechless that she would even dare--yet Skye stares her down. Didrika ends up simply turning and stalking back through the camp--Skye wins the confrontation, and when Burgundy arrives shortly after (having no idea about anything that just occurred), Didrika automatically treats him as an equal, without trying to seduce him. The two haggle over taking custody of Silver and exchanging goods, with Didrika's people getting penicillin and medical supplies, and the Rats getting a nice supply of fresh oranges. Burgundy also treats the various injuries and health complaints of Didrika's men. By this point in the story, Skye has somehow reached the correct conclusion regarding Burgundy's often uppity attitude toward women: It isn't the belief that they're inferior. When he knows women are capable, such as Didrika, he treats them with respect. In fact, he only has a poor attitude toward a particular type of woman...outspoken, domineering ones. Skye knows this, and she knows Didrika's reputation to try to dominate the men she meets, so she heads it off before it can happen. Result, Didrika doesn't get to use her unique form of test on Burgundy, yet the two get off on the right foot. Crisis averted. I'm not sure how Skye picks up on this trait of Burgundy's, maybe from observation; it's not something that happens often, but when Burgundy does encounter domineering women, he tends to shut up and back off, avoiding confrontation, obviously anxious and uncomfortable. Such women intimidate him, and he'd rather just keep away than get involved. For someone who's otherwise so insistent on taking charge, it's an odd reaction. Skye may understand this but she doesn't know the cause. Burgundy has a history of bad interactions with aggressive women, mainly, his estranged wife, and before her, his mother. His wife had gotten exasperated with his long hours and started an affair--with Burgundy's brother, as it turned out. Burgundy and his brother already had a contentious relationship, so this just added insult to injury. Burgundy had returned home early one day, hearing them talking together--both of them privately ridiculing him--before deciding to simply leave without letting them know he'd been there; shortly after, he accepted Camo Rat's invitation to join the Trench Rats (he was so eager to cut ties he accepted a subordinate position despite having the highest rank), and that was the last they all saw of each other. Burgundy's wife ends up having to get the marriage terminated in his absence, as he never establishes any sort of contact with her or his brother again. Burgundy's nonconfrontational response in this case was largely due to his childhood experiences. When he was young, he was close to his father, who was a kind man but easily intimidated by his wife, Burgundy's mother, who was incredibly emotionally abusive and volatile (she likely suffered some sort of mental instability of her own). Burgundy's father shielded his sons from this treatment, bearing the brunt of it himself, but it ended up being too much for him to take; young Burgundy came into the house and stepped into his father's study one day to find him in a pool of his own blood, having committed suicide. When Burgundy's mother arrived, she became histrionic, shrieking and blaming Burgundy--she even went as far as forcing him to sit in his father's blood until authorities could arrive to take away the body. (This is the reason that, despite being a surgeon, Burgundy has a phobia of large amounts of spurting blood--he works his way through it, but is always a little panicky at first.) Following this, his mother doted on his brother, while taking out her anger and spite on Burgundy; she wasn't physically abusive, but she constantly tore him down and blamed him for everything, making a point of convincing him he was weak and cowardly just like his father. Burgundy IS just like his father--in being kind, empathic, and sensitive to slights. He learns these are undesirable traits to women like his mother, and then his wife, and so his reaction is much like his father's--to retreat and avoid. He just chooses to physically leave, rather than take his own life. He makes a point of avoiding such women every chance he gets; luckily for him, Skye heads off Didrika before she can become another one of those women. It's something that happens gradually, but Burgundy and Skye develop mutual romantic feelings during the time they work together. I think Skye starts to feel this way first; Burgundy takes a lot longer, partly because he's so fixated on his work, but also because he's so cautious with his feelings (although brusque and ill humored, it's rare for him to truly lose his temper--which is why when he punches Dr. Kammler late in the story, it means he's REALLY pissed off), plus he figures Skye doesn't feel the same. Although he tends to pause and take stock of his intended reactions to things rather than just react, he likely still suffers some ill effects from the constant psychological abuse he experienced as a child, including feelings of worthlessness and inferiority. He tries not to dwell on such feelings, seeing them as irrational, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. The main thing that strikes him about Skye, aside from her competence in assisting him, is that she's confident and assertive, yet not aggressive or overbearing. She hits the perfect middle ground of not being a doormat or a harridan; she's emotionally well balanced. For somebody who went through what Burgundy did, that's a pretty admirable quality, especially in such stressful circumstances as the Trench Rats are working in. Despite his admiration, however, he doesn't express any outward interest in Skye, and in fact is always restrained and aloof around her. Skye acts friendly and open toward him at first (she's not the overtly flirty type), though it seems to have no effect, so she concludes Burgundy isn't interested in her, either. They spend most of the story like this, although there are subtle hints now and then that there's something more beneath the surface. Neither one of them is willing enough to be the one to act first--Burgundy out of the fear of humiliating himself, Skye out of concern for humiliating him--until Lance Corporal Teal Rat's suicide. I've already gone over this event in the previous portrait entry. Teal has been in Nazi custody for years, wrongly blamed for betraying the Rats, and extensively tortured--in fact, he dealt with a lot of the same sort of negative psychological conditioning Burgundy went through, just on a harsher level. By the time he's rescued, he's hopelessly messed up. He stabs his chief tormentor, Dr. Kammler, to death, before being brought to the medical ward to be treated for his own injuries as well as for his obvious emotional trauma. Burgundy is the one to see to him while Skye is busy treating Corporal Drake Rat, also newly rescued from the Nazis, also traumatized by Kammler. (It was just prior to Teal's rescue that Burgundy had his confrontation with Kammler--Kammler made the mistake of attempting to appeal to Burgundy as a "fellow doctor," at which Burgundy, who had seen Kammler's "work," punched him twice--with both fists--and snapped, "We are NOT alike!" before leaving to assist in the rescue of Drake. Result, he missed the stabbing.) Teal has Burgundy confirm that Kammler is in fact dead, reiterates that he didn't betray the Rats, asks Burgundy to apologize to Silver Rat--whom he did betray--on his behalf, then grabs a scalpel from the bedside table and stabs himself in the neck. Skye and Drake witness the event while Burgundy attempts to prevent him from removing the blade--the effort fails, and Teal bleeds out before Burgundy can save him. The suicide severely affects everyone involved; when Drake afterward goes into the washroom to shower, he calls out to Burgundy, standing just outside, "It's all right. I'm not going to try anything." Even Drake, who's holding on by a thread and was badly rattled by what happened in the bed right beside him, can see how guilty and anxious Burgundy is about possibly losing another patient, and reassures him he has no plans to do the same. Compounding all this is the fact that the Rats have just lost Indigo, who was Burgundy's chief assistant, so the medical ward is now short staffed as well. It's a lot to happen all at once, and it takes its toll on Burgundy, who's always kept his feelings to himself. This is just about all he can handle, however. At the end of an incredibly long day after everyone else has gone, he cleans up, leaves the medical ward, and starts to head for his private quarters, yet finds himself heading in another direction instead. He ends up at LC Skye's door. She seems surprised to see him, but hesitates only briefly before letting him in; she can see the devastated look in his eyes and knows it's best if he's not alone. Given how awkward their professional relationship has been, with Burgundy's typical stiff, standoffish attitude toward Skye, she rather expects the aftermath to be just as awkward, if not more so; however, Burgundy doesn't appear to be embarrassed or regretful of his decision. The two of them still act professional on the job, and keep their relationship discreet, but they don't take pains to conceal it, plus Burgundy's attitude toward Skye shifts; he's more comfortable and less stiff interacting with her. They made a good, effective pair previously; now they're an excellent one, understanding and anticipating each other's actions enough that they often don't even have to speak. Gold, who'd previously flirted with Skye in a joking way, notices the change and comments that the two of them are working with one brain. It's not too far from the truth. Burgundy's finally found someone with whom he feels he can be himself, with no risk of ridicule or rejection; she's been there all along, it just took an awful event to jar him out of his reservations to let him see it and take a chance. Skye and Burgundy work and act in lockstep throughout the remainder of the series, and both of them remain in Germany following the war to assist in efforts to reunite separated loved ones and other victims of the Nazis; they also offer medical care to people freed from the camps or otherwise affected by Nazi captivity. Skye stays behind with radio contact when Burgundy accompanies a group of the remaining Rats, plus Ratdog, Wolfstein, Himmel, and a Soviet ally (this guy isn't entirely new but he hasn't been named yet, I'm leaning toward him being a Ukrainian named Volodymyr, and yeah, for obvious reasons he's likely to be complicated), to the Alpine Fortress to investigate rumors of a continuation of Project Doomsday, which was believed ended with the raid of project headquarters and the death of Dr. Kammler. They're stunned to find that not only has the project resumed as Project Ultima Thule, and the SS officer in charge of funding it, Major Ludolf Jäger, is alive and well and keeping it running in anticipation of the rise of a Fourth Reich, but Indigo is alive as well, and he's apparently working for Jäger. Obviously, this is a bizarre development, and science-minded Burgundy is mystified about how to explain it; Jäger himself is the one to relate the details to former comrade Himmel. Indigo is a successful test subject of Project Ultima Thule. As an effect of the serum, he's unable to act autonomously or to recognize his fellow Rats at first, and he attacks them blindly--it's an alarming situation given Indigo's enhanced strength and stamina (he's a big imposing guy and was pretty intimidating even before now), and the Allies are barely able to fight him off. They at last get word of an antiserum which can counteract some of the effects, so Burgundy assists in obtaining this and administering it to Indigo. It works: Indigo is temporarily incapacitated, yet regains his senses, then recognizes his old companions. Of course, he's greatly confused, given that his last clear memory was of getting hit by shrapnel protecting another Trench Rat just after the raid on project headquarters. (The presence of Ratdog and Himmel, former enemies, is especially perplexing.) The group works toward disbanding and terminating the project, and finally succeeds; Jäger is killed in a rock collapse, though the group is jarred to find the rest of his family, his wife and all their children, dead by suicide/murder on their way back out of the Alpine Fortress. They escape in time to avoid being caught in the destruction of the Fortress themselves. I believe Skye and Burgundy remain in Germany for a while, though they might eventually head to either the UK (Skye's home) or the US (Burgundy's home). One thing they never do, though, is reestablish any sort of contact with Burgundy's family. He cut them out of his life, and he has Skye now; he doesn't need anybody else. [Lyndsey Skye 2023 [Friday, April 21, 2023, 4:00:11 AM]] [Lyndsey Skye 2023 2 [Friday, April 21, 2023, 4:00:21 AM]] [Lyndsey Skye 2023 3 [Friday, April 21, 2023, 4:00:32 AM]] [Lyndsey Skye 2023 4 [Friday, April 21, 2023, 4:00:45 AM]] |