GHG Round 1 Act 2 - Renee

My entry for Round 1 Act 2 of the

Text wall incoming, as I have a tendency to ramble on
unimportant things. Anyway, I spent far too long working on this, geez. Effort
definitely seems worth it though, and I entered this contest to push myself and
do things I’ve never done before. Such as backgrounds. I’m not really too flash
at doing them, but this turned out great for a lazy attempt at trying digital
painting and stuff. It’s very messy, but no one is going to scrutinize it that
much, right? And I got to add all sorts of nifty and iconic details. As for the
competitors I added, I may have perused the folders for characters I liked/fit
my needs artistically, but I’ll try not to double up too often on people and
give all the entrants appropriate screen time in my later entries. Far too lazy
to pull up a random number generator to choose people either. I did intend to
do my entries as comics, but given how much effort and time the precomic I was
working on took, I may have to make all my entrants one-off shots like this.
I’m not sure I blended the characters too well with the background, as the
difference in style kinda makes them feel a little disjointed. Food for thought
I suppose, next time I might try actually drawing the background rather than
messing around with the brush tool, maybe that’ll fix it. Everything was done
in Sai – Though most of the characters were done in separate files and slotted
in. Anyway, let’s see who’s featured and stuff, hmm?


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Notes on Characters/Credits

Taiya – Gosh, she’s such a cutie, I couldn’t
resist slipping her in somewhere. I adore that shade of green too much, and
little vest things are like, a standard on far too many of my characters.
Another character I really should try and give a more foreground based pic in a
future entry. Especially to show off that nifty extreme gear. She’s presently
just speeding through the loop de loop in the background.

Dojee – I learnt that her colour palette of
her hair between her application and round 1 entry was different! I utilized
the former, so apologies if this was incorrect. Regardless, I adore the
character design of sheeps. Dunno why, because real sheeps are pretty bleh.
Maybe because cartoon sheeps are all fluffy? Anyway, it’s a great, simple
design, so I’ll have to make sure to include her again at a more prominent
position. She’s currently traversing the lower corkscrew, on the right hand
side of the pic.

Arcelia – Such a distinctive character
silhouette! Perfect for easy recognition in the background, so unfortunately,
that’s where she ends up. Not a big fan of wrestling, but if there was any to
get into, Mexican would be the way to go! She gets the privelidge of running
past the checkpoint in the far background.

Nirvana Quasar – Someone else who can fly for
the skyline, good, good. Dragonflies are also so unique and awesome. Even if in
real life they kinda freak me out flitting close and all that. So she’s
currently flying up from the lower section, goggles down and all serious.

Super Badger Man (And Byclopes the
Cyclopes) – Whee, another person I can have flying (gliding) and the chance for
some interaction between the other competitors! An interesting duo, and the
backstory of the character(s) drew me in and let my imagination pop for what
he’d be doing – That and I love super heroes (Marvel > DC). Presently, he’s
having a cheery conversation with a certain seagull and asking for directions,
while Byclopes is giving her the evil eye.

Brace 
– Much as it pains me (I MUCH prefer Ninjas) I decided to include a
pirate. Bird. I’ll just let that sink in. Pirate. Bird. Okay, even I have to
admit, that’s pretty epic. And a seagull too! Not some lame-as parrot pirate,
no siree. Seriously, I really like this characters design (Though I dislike
doing feathers =/), though I had no idea how ‘evil’ this evil bird was. Decided
to play it safe and have her bewildered by the strange flying eye and badger
accosting her.

Goro Minae – First thing that comes to mind is
Samurai Goro (F-Zero, yeah!), swiftly followed by Samurai Pizza Cats (EVEN
BETTER!), Ash Ketchum (Pokemon!), and so due to fond nostalgic memories, and
the adorable personality archetype of this guy, the fellow gets a prime seat
climbing up the wall by the finish line. I’m a major sucker for an underdog,
and his lack of anything fancy (Along with some healthy flaws) really caught my
eye. Still have no idea how to pronounce that last name. Plus he HAS a last
name. Not too many of those around that aren’t just a species…

Dody – Fun fact – After speccing the
first GHG, I came to appreciate Dody as a character. Yup, he’s a swell dude.
(Towards the final round of the GHG Act 1…) Wait… Dody’s a girl? … Well, I,
feel awkward now. Yeah… Kinda failed to notice that or work that out. I don’t
know how. I mean, I feel really stupid about it but I’m sure I’m not the only
one! She’s so tomboy she can pull off the androgynous really well with baggy
clothes, it’s not my fault! Anyway, this is kinda like a personal makeup for
myself to show I respect the character a whole bunch! Plus I think she’s the
one of the few re-entrants for act 2. That’s dedication. She’s even real close
to the finish line after heading up a corkscrew from the lower section! Also, I
spent far too long reading that bio. In depth stuff right there.

Zoe – Another lass, with a nifty suit. Also
has colours in that greeny/bluey range that I love so much. That little extract
about her liking to tease others made her the perfect and safe choice for a
smarmy Tenrec running across a bride while shoving a fool over the waterfall.
Did I mention that her hair style is the bomb too? Fancy somewhat curly long
hair always looks so pretty.

Dusk – He’s glowy and blue and has a cool
name and and and RACCOON. Raccoons are like, the thieves of the animal world. I
dig that. Well, more like scavengery rabies carriers but allow me to have my
fantasy about adorable raccoon bin scabbers. Ahem. Anyway, the guy has a little
bio with a personality trait that I adore – womanising. I decided to stretch
that a little and make him a wee-bit perverted, hence his embarrassment at
running behind Renee in her tight mini-shorts with her less than practical
dress – I think he’s content with the view he got, even if it meant falling
down the waterfall thanks to a certain Tenrec. Also, I pray I don’t have to go
against him. The design details on the boots and the gems and the gloves and
the glowy and the HHNNNGGGHHH SO HARD TO DRAW!

Xeno Garxin – He’s a hybrid. That’s cool,
right? Wait, he’s part Wyvern? Sick as, reminds me of Fire Emblem. Still, I
don’t quite know if I- Is that bluey-green colouring? Oh, he’s so going in this
picture somewhere. Also, there’s far too many ladies. There needs to be more
manly men with bare chests. Plus the X’s in his name make him sound so cool.
He’s currently prepping for a mad jump from the floating platform he rode up to
the finish line.

Relic – Ooo, another guy in that vague range
of colours that I love. More importantly, a guy. There’s far too many lovely
ladies in the picture, need to balance that stuff out. He looks pretty cool
too, and – Oh god, what have I committed to? It’s like Dusk all over again with
the patterns and colours and stuff! Awesome design, but A LOT of effort to
draw! Welp, fingers crossed I don’t have to do all that again. Relic is getting
surprised/annoyed at the coyote bouncing off the spikes behind him.

‘Sapphy’ – Alright, I hate to do it, but
SOMEONE needs to be hitting those spikes. Who looks like a fun person who I can
comically draw, but has a way not to be too pained by partial impalement… AH!
Perfect! This Sapphy girl has a super shield tail. That’ll do nicely! Now,
why’d she hit it in the first place? Probably the weight of that huge as wrench
of hers. Plus I couldn’t resist adding in another lass.

Renee – OMG, this is the best character.
IMO she should definitely win overall, yup. Such an adorable bunny. She’s
pulling out front after some early race shenanigans (See the ‘short’ story
below), taking home the gold medal. That sign’s so cool, it dynamically updates
to show the picture of who’s winning too! Who’da thought? Also, she wisely put
on some sport-shorts before the race for modesty, along with changing shoes.
Sandals are not good for running.



There was a bunch of other people I wanted to include,
and’ll note down here for my future reference, including Talya, Jessenia, Liz-E
(That blue/green), Fee (That outfit is SO like Miku Hatsune), Alfred, Shin, Mesh
(NINJAS!) Balthazar, Fyirri Temora, Milo (Entrants around the time of mine, but
truth be told I was going to include the last 6 in a precomic before the round
started but it’s half done and I am lazy so if I don’t finish that I must
include them somewhere). To everyone I haven’t mentioned, do not despair! I
love you all and will do my best to include as many different peeps as I can.
And now, for my own amusement, and for those of you bored enough to read this
far, a ‘short’ story of Renee’s adventure this round.


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Round 1 – Racing Rabbit


Shifting her weight steadily back and forth, bouncing from
leg to leg, the ever eager Renee Merribelle’s ears twitched in anticipation of
the starting pistol. The day before had been filled with fun, frolicking, food
and most importantly, fantastic new friends at every turn; but now the first
event was officially about to be underway, so the games were over. Er,
beginning. This was all confusing and they hadn’t even started. Turning to the
crowd of spectators, Renee made a wave to the sea of people, in particular
searching out her compatriot, Gummi. Ecstatically jumping up and down while
vigorously swaying her arm once she found her, Renee was certain Gummi spotted
her antics, smirking to herself as the crowd began roaring in excitement.
Evidently she’d managed to spike the crowds interest too! This was so amazing
to be here! Competing on such a grand event amongst so many-


“Yo, you idiot! Wake up! It’s started!” Gummi’s scathing
voice rang out clear amongst the hoots and hollers of the crowd, Renee blinking
a bit as she slowly came back to awareness, her thoughts interrupted. “…Eh?”
She looked out in front of her, watching the figures steadily getting into the
distance, dust trailing behind them. Then she looked back to the crowd, most of
which were giving her the oddest looks. Again, it took her bear friend’s voice
to snap her out of her trance. “What are you looking at?! Get going!”


“Oh…. Oh!” The realisation finally dawned on Renee that the
event must have started without her realising. “Thanks Gummi, I hadn’t even
noticed that-“ “-Stop thanking me and run!” The bear interjected once more,
fuming a little as Renee gave a polite and happy nod before sprinting out
across the grass. “Idiot…” Gummi mumbled, exasperated as she fell back into her
seat. “I can’t believe that idiot, but it’d serve her right if she didn’t even
qualify.” Glancing to the fading pink and yellow spot in the distance, Gummi
sighed once more. “Dummy…”

 

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With the racers zooming in on the finish line, Renee had
gained some ground on the stragglers, but she was still very close to the back
of the pack. Still, it was so much fun! Running like this, free spirited, eager
and- “Whoah!” Renee yelped in surprise as she tripped over a coconut,
spiralling into a spin and tumbling straight into a wall. With a crash, the
blocks fell away as the rabbit smashed into the secret area, stopping with a
soft thud as she bumped her head against- “Ow…. A T.V…?” Renee glanced at the
grey box, trying to make out what was on the screen through the static and
gloom. Was that… a pair of arrows? Reaching forward, Renee tried wiping off the
last of the dust, before*POOF*


Renee felt like her vision might have blinked out for a
moment as white light and the horizon flipped around, but all of the sudden she
found herself back outside, sprinting across the bridge towards the finish
line. She wasn’t quite sure how she’d got here, but she wasn’t about to
complain. Outstretching her hand, she flicked the sign as she ran past,
spinning the goal post and sprinting up towards the podium.



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Elsewhere…

“How in the world did I end up in here?” Mumbled the
Cybernetic Lynx, Shan-Yu as he stumbled out of the cave. One moment he'd been closing in on the finish line in first place, and the next he was here.
Dusting himself off, he turned towards the far off finish line, zooming in his optics to observe the
winner. Hmm… That Pink Rabbit had made herself a very dangerous enemy…