#storm hawks oc contest

[far-side-skies]

WIP of this month's bird OC! Colours just need refining a bit.

Spitfire is a member of the 3rd Degree Burners; their best pilot and secondary Sky Knight. When he first joined as a teenager, he had no interest in being a Sky Knight and preferred to compete in races with other squadron members. He grew particularly close to a young Suzy-Lu and Lightning Strike's co-pilot in that time, right up until the betrayal happened.

In my lore, the Sky Knight Council covered up the fact that Lightning's co-pilot was responsible for the fall of the old Storm Hawks, and branded the Dark Ace as a random rogue operative who'd come out of nowhere to win his place in Cyclonia's ranks by killing the team. Spitfire was one of the only people brave enough to contest this decision, and proceeded to spend the next few years believing that some semblance of his old friend still remained in Cyclonia's Champion.

This conviction literally came back to bite him in an incident that cost him an eye. By the time the show events come about, Spitfire has completely abandoned all hope in his old friend.

[happypanda101]

@far-side-skies here's Palmira! She is the loyal handmaid of Princess Sansa and does everything in her power to keep the original first heiress safe and entertained. Encouraging her to learn politics and strategies to be a help to the empire and get the upper hand on her enemies. Her and Fox often butt heads over the teaching they are granting Sansa. Palmira is very by the book and a worry want, just wanting the best for her friend. Sorry for the lack of info, Uni has been busy. Hope ya like her!

[far-side-skies]

Ryder!!! He looks so good, and I love the little patterns on his sleeves 💜🩵💜

This month's challenge character for @far-side-skies is Ryder Dieder, the Talon Austry's younger brother.

He is 14, and yes, looks a lot like Aerrow.

Ryder lives in rural Cyclonia with his parents and twin sister, Chi. At first, he had no interest in the war and wanted to grow up to be a racer.

However, after an incident where he and Austry are captured by Atmosian forces and left to the chief interrogator, Ryder decided he wanted to fight. He never wants anyone to suffer the way he and his brother did.

Austry and his mother don't think he should fight. So, to compromise, they let him join the the storm hawks reserve team.

I'm sure that sounds a bit odd, but the reserve team is largely full of double agents, lead by Lynn.

[knights-of-the-sky]

Bird challenge time bird challenge time challenge time-

Here’s my character for June’s bird month for my friends @far-side-skies bird challenge!

Meet Pandion, a talon solider that specializes in stealth and robbery. When there’s a mission that requires stealth and secrecy, she’s usually sent in. She does well in battle too, having been taught by the Dark Ace himself.

Pandion was born on Terra Simian, a Terra full of ape and monkey species. The Terra was well known for their trading systems, and thought of very highly by Atmosia.

That is, until, it was found out the Terra was also making trades with Cyclonia. Out of rash fear of having information shared with Cyclonia, the Council sent their Sky Knights to attack and raid the Terra. For simply also doing business with the enemy.

And who should show up at the right time to fend off the attack? A very young Dark Ace.

He and some other Talons were able to to fend off the attacks, but the raid didn’t come without causalities. Pandion’s parents were killed in the attack. She clung to Ace, and not knowing what to do, he took the young child with him.

The young monkey swear revenge on the Sky knights, for tearing apart her home and her family. Which is why she has no problem in helping in raids on Atmosian Terra’s. She sees it as justice for what those has wronged her had down.

Pandion is very talkative, sneaky, and she often curses a lot. She likes to pull pranks on her fellow talons and mostly enjoys being in her coworkers presences. Ravess and her get along fairly well, sometimes having girl nights together.

Her closest relationship is with Ace though. He’s the man that saved her life, after all. He allows himself to open up with her, and her to him. She’s blindly loyal to him, and hopes that one day, she’ll be just as good a solider as him.

Hope you like her!

[far-side-skies]

Spitfire is finished! Super proud of this one, I put a lot of focus into making him look like a cohesive member of the team as well as his own individual character. Super interesting team lineup to work with.

[happypanda101]

@far-side-skies Here’s Prairie! My character for April’s bird challenge!

Prairie is Gaven’s younger sister, raised on the hidden Terra or Terra Sky due to unforeseen circumstances, and is currently a witch in training. Very sweet and kind like her brother, but Prairie has a bit more spunk and rashness in her thank to her Uncle’s influence.

She’s also a Mama to a little girl named Mary! I wanted to draw her too for this month, but I couldn’t decide on a design.

The color palette was really fun, I hope you like her!

[far-side-skies]

Aaaah this is cool! I love seeing more people come up with backstory for Aerrow's mother :3

Finally made a design for Ruby!!

For @far-side-skies challenge

Name: Ruby Burrows

Occupation: Nurse

Terra: Atmosia

A farmer from the outskirts of Atmosia, she often helped her parents with chores as she grew up, before moving closer into town for her job.

And it's at that very hospital where catches word of the legendary Storm Hawks coming in for a check-up.

Unlike most people, however, she could care less about them, especially about their leader, Lightning Strike. She knew that behind that mask of heroism was just a vain, vile, and misogynistic man.

Or so she thought.

After seeing him express genuine concern for his squad mates, and letting small children hop onto his shoulders made her realize that, maybe, she was wrong.

As time went on, she decides to date him, and Axel vows to keep their relationship away from the public, as she wished.

They promised to love each other, and future child, for all their life on their wedding day.

And so they did, until their very last breaths.

Thinking about adding some more tidbits about her after the comic's done

[todayis-snowy]

my entry for @far-side-skies’s monthly OC challenge!

As one of the Cyclonian Elites and their head strategist, 28 year old Aptornis has steadily gained a reputation of being one of the worst of the five Generals to piss off.

Raised under the wing of Empress Anarchis, she is no stranger to taking and dishing out ruthless methods for the power and glory of her empire. At 19 she reluctantly underwent a crystal enhancement to her brain in the hopes that it would refine her thoughts, instead Aptornis now has the ability to discern a person’s intent. The benefits from this upgrade do little to satiate her endless doubt regarding her plans towards Cyclonia’s war efforts.

As the eldest of her distant cousins, Aptornis has taken to be their leader. Heading their meetings, it’s rare to see her without several glasses of strong alcohol to soothe the inevitable headaches that arise, although she does hold a soft spot for Scimitar, the only person capable of beating her at chess.

[far-side-skies]

Storm Hawks Bird OC Challenge - July 2024

Pride month is over, time for wrath month!

This month's bird is the Gurney's Pitta (Hydrornis gurneyi)!

This specific species of Pitta bird is located around Thailand, with populations mainly in Myanmar. For a time it was believed to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1986, and had as few as nine breeding pairs in 1997. To this day it is still considered critically endangered.

I've had the palette for this bird lined up since May, I'm very excited to get to use it. Can't wait to see what y'all come up with!

[far-side-skies]

Finally getting some work done on my challenge OC this week. Or one of them at least.

This is Ecto, a blind batfolk who lives on the Far Side with his twin, Alba. They reside on a Terra known as Stringhold, named for the city-sized arachnoid nest that takes up a good portion of its forests and cave system.

[far-side-skies]

This is awesome!!! I adore the Binding effects on her back, those look so cool!

Enter stage left, Blood Shrike, the legacy of House Chanthara, ‘loyal’ servant to the Empire of Cyclonia, and this month’s entry into @far-side-skies’s bird OC challenge!

Third-eldest of the Cyclonian Elites, Blood Shrike primarily heads the Crystal Weaponry and Development sector for the empire’s war effort. It is better to die in a battle against Cyclonia, lest you survive as a prisoner-turned-lab rat for their experiments.

Ironically years beforehand, Blood Shrike and their siblings were test subjects for a study surrounding cures for Binding Sickness. As the sole survivor they left with crystals in their blood and back, and a heavy grudge against those with a natural attunement to the Binding.

Needless to say they do not take kindly to Emperor Cyclonis, who wears a crystal that Blood Shrike recognises all too well from the labs.

P.S: don’t get too close to them. those claws are Sharp.

[far-side-skies]

Storm Hawks Bird OC Challenge - May 2024

Hello Storm Hawks!! It's a new month and a new bird challenge! It's also the 17th anniversary of the show's first airing on Cartoon Network!

This month's bird is the white-breasted ground dove (Pampusana jobiensis).

This New Guinea bird is found on the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands, and has a preferred habitat of tropical and montane forests.

The deadline this month is Friday the 31st of May, I look forward to seeing what y'all come up with.

I also want to extend an invitation to the Storm Hawks Discord, where we're planning on celebrating the 17th anniversary of the show with a stream and some games.

[far-side-skies]

Finally yeeting together a rough sketch of this month's bird OC(s). I wound up using a pair of identical twins for this one.

Phobos and Deimos Avadat are the youngest children of two high-ranking Talons named Cepheus (deceased) and Cassieopeia Avadat. They've got three older sibilngs: Hamlet (deceased), Monsoon and Andromeda (deceased). By the time the show starts, both of them are in their 40s.

Phobos was a commander of Cyclonia's cavalry division, often at the frontlines riding a pegasus into the thick of battle. Until a skirmish with the Rebel Ducks went seriously wrong and left him scarred and disabled (the picture above is pre-injury as I'm trying to pin down his base appeareance) about a year or two before the return of the Storm Hawks. Instead of retiring outright, he applied to transfer to the beastkeeper division, and now spends his time caring for the pegasus ranks and Cyclonia's other bestial numbers (occucrows, trackbeasts, etc.). It's allowed for him to be able to spend more time with his partner and children, but has severely disappointed his mother. He no longer cares, and some part of him blames her and the pressure she put on him to excel in the Talon ranks on his previous inability to bond with his children.

Deimos is just as, if not more successful than his twin. He's the leader of one of Cyclonia's specialist squadrons, the Fog Howlers. They're a strike team and one of the major players in the invasion and subsequent takeover of Merbia. He's still going strong and working to rise even further up the ranks of the Talon army. Far less laid-back than Phobos, he is of the opinion that Cyclonia's royal family has run its course, and the Empire is due for a change in leadership chosen by the people. He's not the only person with this opinion, and this insurrectionist group is known as the Disciples. Their choice in new ruler? Dark Ace. Phobos and Deimos's nephew.

[far-side-skies]

A mostly complete reference for Larkspur! Cyclonis's older brother and occasional assistant with the less war-focused matters of ruling an Empire (Granny Anarchis was bad at preparing her granddaughter for the actually important shit). Plus some older art of his beast form from when I first came up with him.

I need to write this guy in a fanfic at some point.

After Cyclonia Rising, he takes up leadership of the empire, but only because the Sky Knights took over and forced him onto the throne. His protests that this went against his whole culture's values go ignored, and his resentment towards the Free Atmos from his father's death comes back with a vengeance. After some careful planning, he and his brother Cardin (who belongs to @ashe-alter in our shared stuff :3 ) get to work forcing the Sky Knight Council out of their home.

[far-side-skies]

💜💜THEM!!💜💜

This bab was so much fun to work on with you Grimm!

I hope you guys love them as much as we loved making them!

This months a collab character for @far-side-skies oc challenge with @far-side-skies

Their name is Jewel and they are very rare hybrid of Nightcrawler and Dawnrunner. The two species are natural enemies and despise one another despite many similarities between them.

Jewel was born (hatched) in a traveling circus and has no home terrar.

Their father, Romeo, is a Dawnrunner and has raised them on his own with the help of their cirus.

Their mother, Juliet, is a Nightcrawler, or in far-side-skies' lore a night elf queen.

No we were not subtle with the names.

Jewel is the main trapeze performer with their father being a strong man and knife thrower.

They love preforming and their giant weird family.

Check out far-side post for more info and an awesome mini fic!

[far-side-skies]

And here we are! All the bird ocs for February! We've got a wonderful turnout this month, featuring a first-time participant and a returning one after a hiatus.

Phobos Avadat, beastkeeper of Cyclonia by myself

Ruby Burrows, medical officer for the original Storm Hawks by @goddess731

Quarry Passerin, member of the Rex Guardians reserve team (aka Mini Rexes) by @tuffdwightwest

Dmitry Downwood, captain of the Thunder Vipers Talon squadron by @happypanda101

Ryder Deider, member of the Storm Hawks reserve team by @ashe-alter

Kraven Romanis, son of Gaius Romanis by @moonlight1600 (no individual post as of right now)

Thank you to everyone who took part this month, and to everyone else please go and give these awesome artists some love. I'll see you in March with the latest bird!