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Description
My final design for Alice as the Omega Ranger. (For tournament @ #RangersUnited ). Used this stock image with minor modifications for the pose, from ~Jaymasee

Other entry info here: Ask the Lonely

Tools used:
Paper
Graphite pencil (HB lead)
Scanner
Adobe Photoshop CS3

Presenting the final design for Alice as the Omega Ranger.

Notes: I have about a half hour left, and a lot of other work to do on these pieces, so I don't know if I will be able to complete the work in time for the contest. I am doing my best in the meantime, but I wanted to at least put up Alice with a sort of explanation of my thought process.

First: It was wildly important to me from the very beginning to keep in mind that Alice is likely to lose. Having just come from the moment before her death on Mars, she was weak and delirious at the start of the match, and I wasn't going to be hurt if somebody else with a better story and idea kicked my ass and won the day. As early as round one I was planning for how Alice would disappear if she lost-- as though she had been a projection from her star, and already dead from the moment the tournament began. If this is the outcome, then I intend for Alice's results to be the same. You can't always cheat death, you know?

Second: I remembered Iris. Iris is actually one of the original Rangers who were entered into the contest to try to join the canon Starlight Ranger team, back when ~saintpoet ran his competition in 2008 or 2009, I think. Iris's entire story actually is quite compelling. She is a lesbian who seeks acceptance, but her balancing Karma is to be objected to and resisted. As a result, I really felt that it was important to maintain Alice's non-fighting attitude, even if it didn't fit the intended theme of the contest. Basically, to me, Alice would have to win such a fight by breaking through the chaos and madness Iris had surrounded herself with, and showing her acceptance-- someone whose entire life as a Ranger has been met with being forgotten and swept aside has no right to decide to kill someone else who has the same exact problem, instead of trying to make the effort to give her the thing she wished for.

I also thought that the powers Iris had consumed could only be lost if she was killed, which would be a colossal waste, especially if someone with healing powers, like Felix, might be able to at least return those powers to their rightful stars, for a new generation of Rangers. So, Alice's approach in the story and in the fight were always meant to be one of acceptance and kindness in the midst of chaos.

Third: Since Alice was almost dead, I was strongly tempted to portray her as having died when she found the Omega Star. I ended up deciding against this idea, since I felt that it was a little too literal. To suggest that Alice could accept Iris only because she was dead, too, seemed a little off. Instead, I wanted to emphasize the importance of communication and not taking things that don't belong to you. This is the struggle of life, and our fear is always that, even if we ask, we will be denied the essential things we need to survive by people who have and hoard them; but to ask is of utmost importance, otherwise you ARE just starting a fight.

Finally: I wanted to make the Omega Ranger design very sleek and simple. I was averse to the idea of making Alice's uniform a different color, especially black (like a black hole) or white (like a blue white star) since those aren't really her color. Since she's had some blue in there for a long time, I went with some shades of blue. Alice's uniform has always contained several shades you can find in the stars-- from blue-white hot on her hair to the dull orange of a dying star that she wears on her main uniform.

Upgrades:

Alice has always had superspeed, with a little bit of precognition that totally sucks and has been used against her in the past. With the Omega form, I toyed with giving her gravity based powers, or something to do with explosions, like a supernova. In the end, it seemed like I ought to focus on how this new power would upgrade her existing powers. Alice was never supposed to be all that powerful in the first place, anyway. So, now she has:

FUTURESIGHT - Helpful for combat, Alice can see the potential outcomes of any actions into the next minute or so, which enables her to avoid worse outcomes. She uses this power to fight with a mind to preventing the worst outcome of any given fight. (Note: the best outcome might not always be all that awesome, either.)

SUPERSPEED - TIME BENDING - She can now run fast enough that the relative speed of time is malleable for her; this is useful for helping Alice to act on her futuresight and change her own actions in advance of danger. To the naked eye, she may sometimes seem to be teleporting or projecting.

STAFF OF STARS - ENERGY CONTROL - Using the staff of stars as a conductor, Alice can command energy in the air around her. This is an extension of her superspeed-- she is controlling the relative speed and direction of the molecules affected by the staff. Thus, to make things cold, she slows the air down; to heat things up, she speeds it up.

Other concepts:
Buggy
Omega 1
Highlighted: Omega symbol
Omega: visor emphasis
Creepy Lizard Head
Banded armor
Omega: Sleek
Valkyrie

Description
My final design for Alice as the Omega Ranger. (For tournament @ #RangersUnited ). Used this stock image with minor modifications for the pose, from ~Jaymasee

Other entry info here: Ask the Lonely

Tools used:
Paper
Graphite pencil (HB lead)
Scanner
Adobe Photoshop CS3

Presenting the final design for Alice as the Omega Ranger.

Notes: I have about a half hour left, and a lot of other work to do on these pieces, so I don't know if I will be able to complete the work in time for the contest. I am doing my best in the meantime, but I wanted to at least put up Alice with a sort of explanation of my thought process.

First: It was wildly important to me from the very beginning to keep in mind that Alice is likely to lose. Having just come from the moment before her death on Mars, she was weak and delirious at the start of the match, and I wasn't going to be hurt if somebody else with a better story and idea kicked my ass and won the day. As early as round one I was planning for how Alice would disappear if she lost-- as though she had been a projection from her star, and already dead from the moment the tournament began. If this is the outcome, then I intend for Alice's results to be the same. You can't always cheat death, you know?

Second: I remembered Iris. Iris is actually one of the original Rangers who were entered into the contest to try to join the canon Starlight Ranger team, back when ~saintpoet ran his competition in 2008 or 2009, I think. Iris's entire story actually is quite compelling. She is a lesbian who seeks acceptance, but her balancing Karma is to be objected to and resisted. As a result, I really felt that it was important to maintain Alice's non-fighting attitude, even if it didn't fit the intended theme of the contest. Basically, to me, Alice would have to win such a fight by breaking through the chaos and madness Iris had surrounded herself with, and showing her acceptance-- someone whose entire life as a Ranger has been met with being forgotten and swept aside has no right to decide to kill someone else who has the same exact problem, instead of trying to make the effort to give her the thing she wished for.

I also thought that the powers Iris had consumed could only be lost if she was killed, which would be a colossal waste, especially if someone with healing powers, like Felix, might be able to at least return those powers to their rightful stars, for a new generation of Rangers. So, Alice's approach in the story and in the fight were always meant to be one of acceptance and kindness in the midst of chaos.

Third: Since Alice was almost dead, I was strongly tempted to portray her as having died when she found the Omega Star. I ended up deciding against this idea, since I felt that it was a little too literal. To suggest that Alice could accept Iris only because she was dead, too, seemed a little off. Instead, I wanted to emphasize the importance of communication and not taking things that don't belong to you. This is the struggle of life, and our fear is always that, even if we ask, we will be denied the essential things we need to survive by people who have and hoard them; but to ask is of utmost importance, otherwise you ARE just starting a fight.

Finally: I wanted to make the Omega Ranger design very sleek and simple. I was averse to the idea of making Alice's uniform a different color, especially black (like a black hole) or white (like a blue white star) since those aren't really her color. Since she's had some blue in there for a long time, I went with some shades of blue. Alice's uniform has always contained several shades you can find in the stars-- from blue-white hot on her hair to the dull orange of a dying star that she wears on her main uniform.

Upgrades:

Alice has always had superspeed, with a little bit of precognition that totally sucks and has been used against her in the past. With the Omega form, I toyed with giving her gravity based powers, or something to do with explosions, like a supernova. In the end, it seemed like I ought to focus on how this new power would upgrade her existing powers. Alice was never supposed to be all that powerful in the first place, anyway. So, now she has:

FUTURESIGHT - Helpful for combat, Alice can see the potential outcomes of any actions into the next minute or so, which enables her to avoid worse outcomes. She uses this power to fight with a mind to preventing the worst outcome of any given fight. (Note: the best outcome might not always be all that awesome, either.)

SUPERSPEED - TIME BENDING - She can now run fast enough that the relative speed of time is malleable for her; this is useful for helping Alice to act on her futuresight and change her own actions in advance of danger. To the naked eye, she may sometimes seem to be teleporting or projecting.

STAFF OF STARS - ENERGY CONTROL - Using the staff of stars as a conductor, Alice can command energy in the air around her. This is an extension of her superspeed-- she is controlling the relative speed and direction of the molecules affected by the staff. Thus, to make things cold, she slows the air down; to heat things up, she speeds it up.

Other concepts:
Buggy
Omega 1
Highlighted: Omega symbol
Omega: visor emphasis
Creepy Lizard Head
Banded armor
Omega: Sleek
Valkyrie