#ruffian

And time for the American Umamusume school!

More info about the girlies under the cut…

“RAAAAAAAAAGH! I won’t quit! Not yet, not now! I’ll claw my way back onto the track, past mistakes be damned! Don’t even think of holding back just ‘cause of these scars! Either give me a challenge, or get out of my way!”

I was originally planning on drawing Cougar II, but I asked my younger sibling what sort of Umamusume I should draw next, and they requested a goth one. Ruffian isn’t exactly goth, but she’s pretty close, so she moved up the list. I’ve also been wanting to do something with Silence Suzuka, since in both the anime and the game she goes to race in America after the Autumn Tenno Sho. I noticed her situation was similar to Ruffian’s and so figured I’d draw them together.

From the moment of her debut, it was clear Ruffian was no ordinary Umamusume. She won her first-ever race by fifteen lengths, and tied the track record of 1:03. From there, Ruffian continued to win every race she participated in, and lived up to her name with her berserker-level determination. Ruffian was a monster on the racecourse, with a front-running style that reflected her drive to reach the finish line as soon as possible. With several wins under her belt, Ruffian and her trainer turned their attention to the Triple Tiara races in New York. Ruffian proceeded to win with ease, making her the fourth-ever Umamusume to hold the title of American Triple Tiara Champion. With ten races and ten wins, the racing world had their eyes on her, with some claiming she could eclipse Secretariat in sheer racing aptitude. To capitalize on this newfound fame, a match race was set between Ruffian and that year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure. Her trainer was hesitant to enter Ruffian in the match race, not wanting to put too much pressure on her, but felt obligated to with all of the media coverage. Ruffian herself agreed to the race, and looked forward to the challenge. However, as the “Great Match” drew near, the stress and expectations began to weigh on her. She didn’t want to disappoint her fans, having done so once before when she had to withdraw from the Frizette Stakes due to a fever, nor did she want to throw away her perfect win-loss record.

All of that built to the day of the match race, when, shortly after the gates opened, Ruffian was startled by a bird near the racetrack and took a bad step, snapping her right leg. Through sheer adrenaline, Ruffian tried to keep running, slamming her damaged leg into the ground and breaking it further, eventually crawling towards the finish line before racecourse officials were able to stop her and get her onto a stretcher. Ruffian’s troubles would not end there, either, as the lack of understanding of the differences between human and Umamusume physiology at the time led to her coming out of anesthesia early during the surgery, causing her to thrash from the pain and undo the progress made on her leg. Doctors got her under again, and the twelve-hour operation ended with Ruffian forced to use a wheelchair and, later, a cane. Traumatized from the experience, she retired from racing, and ended up seeing a guidance counselor for a time to address her depression and heightened ornithophobia. Her crash made national news, and inspired subsequent medical advances that allowed hospitals to better understand and care for Umamusume. Official match races were also banned by Lexington officials. Ruffian was able to live a functional life eventually, but deep down she still wishes she could race like she used to instead of just aimlessly bouncing between temporary pleasures.

A renowned front-runner hailing from Japan, Silence Suzuka attended Tracen Academy while undertaking the Twinkle Series of races. During this time, she sustained a broken leg during the Autumn Tenno Sho, and medical professionals believed her racing days were over. With the help of her trainer and her teammates, however, Suzuka was able to run once more and win her comeback race. After a little while, Silence Suzuka traveled to America to compete in races there, staying in Kentucky with Devil’s Bag, a retired American Umamusume and the mother of Suzuka’s friend and rival, Taiki Shuttle. During a scheduled physical therapy evaluation of her once-injured leg, Silence Suzuka encountered Ruffian, who had an appointment at the same time. In the waiting room, Ruffian’s past hospital trauma caused her to freeze up, and Ruffian’s former guidance counselor called on Suzuka and her own trainee, Zippy Chippy, to help her walk Ruffian to the room of her appointment and provide encouragement. Suzuka remembered this when she ran into Ruffian again while running, and decided to help her overcome her injury, like her own teammates did for her. Ruffian eventually agreed to start training again with Suzuka as her rival, and while she knows Ruffian will never run exactly like she used to, Silence Suzuka hopes she can give her the courage to chase the view from the lead once more.

Drawing Suzuka was fairly easy. I just stuck her in the Tracen tracksuit, since that’s presumably what she’d wear while training, and it’s reasonable that she’d bring it with her overseas. For Ruffian’s racewear, I really just followed design elements as they appeared in my head, with spikes, chains, and black fabrics, whatever I thought of to get the stereotypical goth/punk vibe.  I gave the colors red and white a slight presence in the outfit, since those are the colors of her jockey silks, and I tried to make her scars look like they came from someone with the strength of a horse slamming their broken leg into the ground multiple times in a row. The in-universe reason her right leg doesn’t have a sock is because Ruffian doesn’t like the feeling of her scars being covered, after being stuck in a cast for months.

Happy Ruffian Noises