Meet my favourite favourite character from Ga'Hoole (yeah, I'm basic; it's ok) reimagined as a CaveWing! It was the only (fan)tribe I thought would fit for a barn owl both looks and abilities wise. That unintentionally sets this silly AU within my Ventus AU but it worked out!
Next week I've got Digger, which is a much more interesting design, otherwise you know where to find more art and lore: below!
And if there's any Ga'Hoole fans prowling the tags, what do you think of this version of Soren???
I looove these eyes. I don't know why, but the very subtle colouring/shading on them just makes them POP somehow and it feels like he's staring in my soul. For this being the closest I could get to a barn owl I think it works more than well enough >:)
Now, lore dump time:
Soren (from Ga'Hoole)
Species: Barn Owl, Tyto alba
He's the first character we're introduced to in the series when he was just a hatchling in his parents' nest. He was such a sweet big brother to Eglantine and, in contrast, the way he gets captured and taken from them was so shocking to younger me that I couldn't put the book down. I think I also just found barn owls super beautiful, or Soren made them beautiful to me. Whatever it was I'm glad it happened because it got me hooked into this super special world.
Soren begins his journey in the place farthest from where he ends up, but he always pushes through with courage and determination. Captured into slavery because your brother tried to murder you? It's ok (not really), just make some friends and learn to fly against all odds so you can get help to put a stop to it :)
He's so full of hope whenever the world tries to crush him and something about that just captivated me. There's one scene with him that, every time I read it, I get chills. It's nothing super special in the grand scheme of things, just him reciting one of the oldest owl legends, but it's the setting that gets me every time: he and his friend Gylfie were caught avoiding moonblinking (a process where owls are mind-controlled by the moon. Yeah, I know) and are tossed into the moon scalding chamber where I assumed they would finally meet their end... I actually thought they would die (not literally, but mentally be fully enslaved) and yet they manage to escape not by hiding or fighting but by keeping their hope alive through the Ga'Hoolian legends. It must sound insane to anyone who hasn't read it but the words to the legend and the way Soren recites them gets me every time.
Big Spoilers Ahead (if you care):
After all of that it's no wonder Lasky chose Soren to be the leader of the Band, Chaw of Chaws, and eventually the Great Tree itself. He never asks for any of it, just comes into it with humbleness and grace and nothing but the desire to defend others' hope. The journey isn't easy but I love to fly it with him every time I come back to re-read.
Soren (the WOF version)
Tribe: Full CaveWing
Oh God I spent way too much time explaining his book version XD
CaveWings were really the only choice. I wanted to keep it all to canon WOF tribes but none of them fit the vibe of a barn owl quite like that fantribe of mine does. It created some problems with the design, like the transparent wings, and it doesn't help any lore adaptations either but that was never the point with this. Just a fun design exercise I ended up taking way too seriously.
If you're wondering why the tip of his snout and whiskers have greyish colouration it's because in the books he's a collier, an owl who flies into forest fires to collect coal for the Great Tree's forge. That doesn't really apply to WOF but I really liked the way the author acknowledged that, yeah, after a lifetime of dealing with embers you'd get some discolouration and scarring. It makes him slightly more real and I loved him even more for it. The random pink and green colours is a part of the CaveWing design - though naturally pale and similar in colour to cave crayfish, healthy CaveWings have tiny splashes of iridescent colouring on their scales like opals.
Aaaand that's it for this week. Sorry for all the yapping. If crossover art isn't your thing, sorry, but art block is still gripping me and doesn't seem to want to let go. Hopefully by the time I'm done with the Chaw of Chaws (3 more posts) I'll have time and motivation for something new I've wanted to try!
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