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Description
"There goes the beast, the beast... Miss Strudel, the Lady with the teeth."
Species: a Dobermann dog
Average size & weight.
Looks like: Red coat coloration. She stands out a bit because of it.
Personality traits: proud, stern, assertive; often exasperated. Strong maternal instinct, and will savagely defend those she adopts. She has a fun-loving, energetic side, but she typically keeps this hidden under her seriousness and general disdain.
Likes: long walks, scheming, stealing fruit, jumping on dozy people, Sharon, and listening to passionate recitations of Rilke
Dislikes: Nazis, Nazi uniforms, Strudels
Occupation: President and Founder of the "Idiot Detection and Neutralization League for Intrepid Souls against European Fascism and Bureaucratic Power Abuse Practices"; searching for new member candidates; protect Sharon; thwarting the Gestapo dogs whenever possible.

Here's her backstory: She belonged to a young boy called "Rudi" (roughly 8 yrs. old). Originally these two make an appearance after Nikolai left a celebratory meeting early at a bar with his colleagues. His dissociative stupor of deep thought is interrupted when Strudel enthusiastically tackles him. She was a high-energy, affectionate and playful animal at the time. When asked about her name, Rudi asserts that she does not in fact, like Strudel pastries (eating one had some adverse affect on her system, uegh) - rather, in his child-like logic, since he himself likes them, and he also likes her, it makes sense to name her something that he likes. They meet a few more times thereafter, as playing with the dog is a welcome refuge from the stresses of work & leading a double-life for Nikolai, as well as Rudi's positive young and creative perspective on things.

Rudi's father worked as a professor in Brennenstadt's university, and both he and his wife were known to champion Communist ideas in discussions and social gatherings. Inevitably, this lead to trouble and the whole family is taken by the State. Nikolai only finds out about this peripherally, deducing from snippets of conversation and documents that the family had been arrested. When he goes to look for Rudi and his family, they are indeed gone. Which causes a great degree of guilt because he thinks he could have saved them. Before leaving, he finds a dejected and shaken Strudel lurking around. He takes her in as a reminder of his failure, and out of gratitude to Rudi for his genuine friendship. Strudel goes with him because she trusts him; however, his resemblance to the people who took Rudi away because of his uniform, also makes her suspicious and wary of him. So while she accepts him as her new owner, she frequently reminds him of her displeasure with a sneaky chomp on the butt. Her behavior and personality undergo a major shift, and she becomes quite serious, independent, and difficult to win over.

When Sharon comes along, Strudel finds a kindred spirit. Sure, the lady is wearing a uniform and acting like one of the nasty fascist boys who hauled off Rudi, but she can tell it's a facade. She interprets Sharon's passive-aggressive teasing and antics as poorly executed human assassination attempts and it only increases Strudel's suspicions that Nikolai is a sleazy git up to no good. They form an epic bond and Strudel's happy side starts to come out again (but only when Sharon's around and they're causing trouble).

Strudel (Reductio Ad Absurdum, or "a story of decay") © DarkLordRinku

Description
"There goes the beast, the beast... Miss Strudel, the Lady with the teeth."
Species: a Dobermann dog
Average size & weight.
Looks like: Red coat coloration. She stands out a bit because of it.
Personality traits: proud, stern, assertive; often exasperated. Strong maternal instinct, and will savagely defend those she adopts. She has a fun-loving, energetic side, but she typically keeps this hidden under her seriousness and general disdain.
Likes: long walks, scheming, stealing fruit, jumping on dozy people, Sharon, and listening to passionate recitations of Rilke
Dislikes: Nazis, Nazi uniforms, Strudels
Occupation: President and Founder of the "Idiot Detection and Neutralization League for Intrepid Souls against European Fascism and Bureaucratic Power Abuse Practices"; searching for new member candidates; protect Sharon; thwarting the Gestapo dogs whenever possible.

Here's her backstory: She belonged to a young boy called "Rudi" (roughly 8 yrs. old). Originally these two make an appearance after Nikolai left a celebratory meeting early at a bar with his colleagues. His dissociative stupor of deep thought is interrupted when Strudel enthusiastically tackles him. She was a high-energy, affectionate and playful animal at the time. When asked about her name, Rudi asserts that she does not in fact, like Strudel pastries (eating one had some adverse affect on her system, uegh) - rather, in his child-like logic, since he himself likes them, and he also likes her, it makes sense to name her something that he likes. They meet a few more times thereafter, as playing with the dog is a welcome refuge from the stresses of work & leading a double-life for Nikolai, as well as Rudi's positive young and creative perspective on things.

Rudi's father worked as a professor in Brennenstadt's university, and both he and his wife were known to champion Communist ideas in discussions and social gatherings. Inevitably, this lead to trouble and the whole family is taken by the State. Nikolai only finds out about this peripherally, deducing from snippets of conversation and documents that the family had been arrested. When he goes to look for Rudi and his family, they are indeed gone. Which causes a great degree of guilt because he thinks he could have saved them. Before leaving, he finds a dejected and shaken Strudel lurking around. He takes her in as a reminder of his failure, and out of gratitude to Rudi for his genuine friendship. Strudel goes with him because she trusts him; however, his resemblance to the people who took Rudi away because of his uniform, also makes her suspicious and wary of him. So while she accepts him as her new owner, she frequently reminds him of her displeasure with a sneaky chomp on the butt. Her behavior and personality undergo a major shift, and she becomes quite serious, independent, and difficult to win over.

When Sharon comes along, Strudel finds a kindred spirit. Sure, the lady is wearing a uniform and acting like one of the nasty fascist boys who hauled off Rudi, but she can tell it's a facade. She interprets Sharon's passive-aggressive teasing and antics as poorly executed human assassination attempts and it only increases Strudel's suspicions that Nikolai is a sleazy git up to no good. They form an epic bond and Strudel's happy side starts to come out again (but only when Sharon's around and they're causing trouble).

Strudel (Reductio Ad Absurdum, or "a story of decay") © DarkLordRinku