#decoloraa talks

[decoloraa]

Happy fma day to all the people who have fma ocs, think about their fma ocs, talk about their fma ocs, write about their fma ocs or draw about their fma ocs. You're freaking cool and I adore every single one of you and your ocs!!!

And that includes all of the fma ocs, from those who are x canon to those who play a major role in the canon timeline. And of course also the fma ocs that have little to do with fma on the first glance but are deeply connected in the world and lore. All fma ocs are cool: Soldier ocs, civilian ocs, chimera ocs, ocs with automails, ishvalan ocs, ocs that aren't from amestris, homunculi ocs and more.

Have fun with your creations and remember:

Cringe is dead!

[jemwolf]

Hi! If you are still doing the ask game could you do 🌿 and 💞?

Hi, sorry it took me literally forever to answer this; I got bad about checking my inbox for a bit hfjefjsk

🌿Favorite outfit:

Uhhhh... tbh I'm very casual, jeans and a t-shirt (usually silly fandom shirts) is my go-to for pretty much all weather lol. If I'm feeling like putting in a lil' more effort, I will put on a plaid button-up. If it's cold I love love love soft, cozy hoodies!

💞Favorite blog

I have to pick one?? ;-; I'm not gonna

Well, my irl besties are thelittlestled and neonhowlsart 💜💜💜

And some of my online besties are transgender-scout, mewi-or-lara, decoloraa, bardengard, and several more, but those are the folks I talk to the most, I think? Please check out their blogs because all of them have cool art and dope OCs and are generally just rad and very silly people

[decoloraa]

A quick announcement

Today I'm starting an internship at a school for the next five months. The workload is going to be a lot and I'll be quite busy learning and making mistakes along the way. I'm really excited to be able to teach finally, but I know that challenging times will come.

Because of that, I may not be really active in the next few months! I'll keep drawing because for me it's a huge help to relieve stress, but posting is time consuming and I'm not sure if I have much capacity for that. Thanks to everyone who sticks around even if I'm not that active 💕

[decoloraa]

I just found out that Joe Hisaishi is coming to Germany next, and I am not exaggerating when I say I'd sacrifice my unborn children for a ticket

[decoloraa]

Good morning y'all, just wanted to drop by and say that I've been very busy with life, uni and work in the last few weeks and didn't have much energy left to be active here. I have been working on some things tho and I'll soon get to answer the asks y'all sent me in the last few weeks ✌️

[decoloraa]

Because of art block and (semi)burnout, I've been feeling a bit disconnected from my ocs lately. It doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would since I always figured this would come some day. My ocs still mean the world to me, so I'm positive this will pass! It just means that I'm not really in the mood for much storytelling rn.

I've been using this as an opportunity to work on some minor characters, finally giving some of them faces and names. And this gave me an idea:

What do y'all think of some occasional character spotlights where I introduce a more minor character?

[decoloraa]

I don't wanna go to school, I finally want to have time and energy again to draw my ocs raaaaah

[decoloraa]

My internship has been going a bit slow since we don't have to work that many hours in the first few weeks, which I'm thankful for.

Weirdly enough even though I have time to draw, I find it kinda difficult especially when it comes to getting ideas. But I sketched out a longer thing that I can work on without having to think too much (waltz and champagne)!

[decoloraa]

What is you process for art? Sorry if you have already answered this

Hey anon, thanks for the interest in my process!

No worries, this is the first time I’m answering something like this, so I hope this is helpful

Here’s a quick run down:

Before starting to draw, I almost always look for a reference to use. It simply helps me to come up with ideas, but it also improves my anatomy a lot. Every now and then, I sketch out of my head so I don't rely too heavily on references.

When using a reference I always start with a rough sketch to put down the composition, anatomy and guidelines. Sometimes I’m using more than one guide layer, depending on the complexity of the pose. And if I'm drawing out of my head, I give myself more time to construct the pose.

After that, I simply sketch on top of the guide layer and most of the time that’s really it! If I’m feeling extra, I clean up my sketch or slow down while drawing so that the sketch gets quite clean right away. It’s a process of undoing lines and placing them until I’m satisfied, especially in the face area. I rarely get everything right away, and keeping it sketchy allows me to let some areas stay rough.

I used to struggle a lot with line art especially when it comes to digital art, so I just stopped doing it all along lol.

Before adding color, I like to block out the character with a color that is high in contrast, for example a dark grey like this. Then I like to use that grey as a base to layer my colors on top of it and change them until I’m happy with the result. This can take more or less time depending on how much I wanna experiment. Then, I often put some soft coloring on top (like blush on the cheeks) of it to make the drawing appear less flat.

Many times I just leave it at that and don't shade further, simply because I don't feel the need to (or bc I'm lazy bc I don't enjoy shading that much)

If I’m especially motivated or happy with a piece and decide to shade it, I keep it rather simple. This is the process recently I found to be most enjoyable for myself: Adding shadows bit by bit and adjusting the mid colors according to them. I’m definitely not a digital painter, that’s why I prefer to keep it rough and simple. The last step is adding the part where the light hits the character. This always helps to elevate the simple shading a bit further.

I hope this was helpful? I find my process to be rather simple and minimalistic, but it's what's been working best for me. Sometimes I really only feel like sketching and blocking in the characters, some days I might add a bit of blush to the cheeks and leave it at that.

[decoloraa]

Hey y'all, I'm gonna take a short semi-hiatus!

I'm feeling a bit burned out rn and I need to make some art just for myself before I start posting again. Tbh it won't be for too long, maybe a week or two. But rn taking a break feels necessary for me to keep the fun with posting. Also my first master semester at uni just started and I think it would help me to get back into the study routines.

I'm truly grateful for the love and interactions I get for my ocs. Your tags seriously make my day and I'm so happy otherslove my boys as much as I do <3 I just need a little bit of distance to get the spark back. See you soon!

[decoloraa]

40&25 for the ask game plz :)

 40. How sensitive are they to their own flaws?

This had me thinking for a while and I have to say that it definetely depends on the flaw.

Most of my ocs are quite self aware in some things and a bit ignorant with others. When they were younger, Casther and Val were quite overconfident in their skills. But after being humbled by life, they grow to understand their own limitations much better. For Casther it was his fighting, for Val it was his intelligence and medical skills.

Overall they are aware of their flaws, but they're not always good at acting accordingly. Val knows he's moody and can be a bit arrogant at times. He often tries not to let his bad mood affect others and he tries to discharge the arrogance he learned from his family. But he's human, he can't just move past his flaws with ease.

For Casther it's his own limitations of his powers, that are a burden in some situations. He trains a lot to get better at this, but it's a long progress. Though his biggest flaw is how overprotective he is. It's a good trait just like that, but it can lead to self-destructive actions and sometimes he just overdoes it. And sadly he rarely learns from that.

I think that's the case with most of my characters. They're all capable of self-reflection, but the step from that to self-improvement or to changing how their act, is something else. In the end none of them is aware of all their flaws, there are always things that they can't seem to see.

The one character that can only see flaws when it comes to his financial situation is Bernard. Does he see his toxic behavior and how his unwillingness to see fault in himself, results in his family crumbling apart? No. And he probably, sadly never will.

25. What are their thoughts on marriage? 

Val: For the longest time, he saw marriage as nothing but an obligation, something he had to do according to his family. However, over the years and after being with Casther for so long, he eventually changes his mind. It's not something he needs to be happy, but he would genuinely love having this bond with *Casther*. To him, it would just be another way to commit to each other (and also it would make his father absolutely mad, which he'd love. And he'd use this as a reason to dress up as fancy as he could)

Casther: Marriage isn't something he values. To him, it's simply something he doesn't need to be happy. Love for a person can be shown without it and he certainly doesn't need the vow to stay loyal. He knows Val is the one and he doesn't need to prove that to anyone.

However, on the same note, marriage also seems like something big and scary. It's a huge step in tying themselves together and Casther does have a history of doubting whether he's actually good enough for Val. He just doesn't want to make things difficult for Val, even when it's about his relationship with his family. However, if he knew how Val felt about marriage, he would love to have a wedding. Casther would only need some time to make himself comfortable with the thought.

[decoloraa]

Casther occasionally gets described as a "man in a child's body" which references his tendency to joking around a lot and refusing to be too serious at times. It's easy to write him off as someone who failed to grow up, but it's the complete opposite!

From early age on, he was forced to grow up fast: His mother got ill when he was still a child, which caused him to take on more responsibilities bit by bit. Then, when he ran away from his dad together with his younger brother, Casther had to take on the role of the caretaker. He had to protect them, provide them with food and raise his younger brother.

While Casther had some rather peaceful years in his childhood, he quickly had to become mature. He was basically robbed from his teens, which is a big part in life where it's okay to be irresponsible, to chase after fun.

At Briggs he find himself in an (mostly) safe and structured environment, but also ends up being a place where he can trust other people. He didn’t have that for over a decade, he and always fought to survive day after day.

Sure, he has responsibilities too and he IS capableof being serious, but there are moments where he can let his guard down. With the save environment and save relationships he can allow himself to goof around and be silly.

So his childish tendencies are just him feeling save enough to let go and doing things he wasn't allowed to in his childhood.

It doesn't mean he's not able to be serious and responsible! Casther is very good at determining wheter a situation is critical or if it's a bad time for humor. He'd never do something that's reckless and endangers others. (Doesn't mean some of his shenanigans go differently than he planned..)

Val understands this and knows that he's just trying to catch up on some experiences (even if it's mostoy subconsciously). So whenever he gets wind of one of Casther's pranks, he let's him do it. It's about letting Casther's inner child roam free, but at the same time about him having to learn consequences. When Casther messes up (because instead of annoying Miles he pissed off Olivier), Val says "that's your problem". But not because he doesn't care. Val knows that he can't save Casther from learning things like this, and he refuses to be take on a parental role.

Val basically says "We're in a relationship, I am NOT your mom. I'm not gonna run after you so you don't hit your head." And he also knows that Casther wouldn't do something real endangering (and if he did, Val would intervene).

Not the biggest fan of ships where one person is responsible and reasonable and the other one is kinda like their grown-up kid. Not the most healthiest dynamics in my opinion 🫡 (or it CAN become a bit icky) That's why I'll never write Val going "Omg he did what?? I have to run to him and look if it's alright". Val being like "He did what? Is someone hurt? No? Then it sounds like it's not my problem" is far more funnier.

[decoloraa]

Are the holidays finally over? Can I draw angst again?

[decoloraa]

Game: Share 10 songs and tag 10 people, tagged by @mewi-or-lara

Thanks for the tag!! This was a bit hard because my taste on music is a mess and I couldn’t resist to put two German songs in here. To appear a bit normal, I decided not to include any musicals or soundtracks

Numb Little Bug by Em Beihold

Underground by Cody Fry

Valentine by Laufey

Northern Star by Dom Fera

Gossip by Maneskin

90 Grad by Mine

9 to 5 by Dolly Parton

Follow You by Imagine Dragons

In Cold Blood by alt-J feat. Kontra K (the best version)

Doom Days by Bastille

Don’t really have someone to tag that hasn’t been tagged by Mewi, so feel free to do this as well!

[decoloraa]

Y'all I'm sorry to say this and I don't want to spoil you, but... there is a reason I almost never draw him

[decoloraa]

Miles headcanons! One...two....three...GO!

OKAY

How he came to Briggs:

Miles has been at Briggs before Olivier got into command, but Olivier came to the fort before him. I've seen some people say that Miles joined a few years into the Ishvalen war, but in fmab he says that he came to Briggs right before the war (ep 34)!

He and Olivier met at the military academy and didn't get along at all at first, I could see them beinr more like rivals when they were younger. Olivier eventually gets transferred to Briggs and Miles stays at Central.

Even before the Ishval conflict started there where agitations against Ishvalans in the military and when Miles criticized a commanding officer a bit too hard, be got transferred to Briggs as a punishment where he reunited with Olivier and met Buccaneer.

As the met years later the two of them still were more like rivals than friends, but they got along. And when the time came where Olivier became a candidate to inherit Briggs command, Miles supported her.

His duties at Briggs:

I think of Miles area of responsibilities to be on the organizational side. He isn't an expert at fighting (ofc he can do it tho), but is highly analytical, tactical and something which I'd describe as efficient.

In episode 34 he said that he was a "staff officer" when he confronted Olivier on why she's letting him stay at the fort. My guess is that he plans the soldier's shifts, patrol schedules and so on. He's in charge of managing everything that's important to keep the fort running. And Miles is definetely a tactician! He helps planning missions, attacks and so on. This man is busy as hell, but he never seems tired.

Personal headcanons:

My interpretation of Miles' personality is a bit different from what I've seen in the fandom. Feel free to disagree with my interpretation, it's just the one I found most fun for me.

We see Miles as mostly serious in fma, he rarely smiles and keeps a rather stoic expression. Due to this and his duties I see Miles as someone who is just VERY professional. He's very keen on rules and protocols and following them to a T.

Miles isn't one to goof around and crack one joke after another. Doesn’t mean he can't make jokes, after all we do see him smile (like... one time??). He just prefers to stay focused and work efficiently, something that's greatly influenced by his motivation to proof himself and help Olivier. He's not the kind of guy who messes around a lot and he finds disturbances in his plans rather annoying (a reason why he and Casther don't always get along).

I think Miles humor can be a bit dry and actually he jokes more than other ppl think, but most just don't realize. He's also the king at insulting ppl without them noticing.

I'm not that good at explaining character traits, so I hope this doesn't feel too ooc. If you have other HCs, please share! I always love to see other ppls takes and staying close to canon is very important to me.

ALSO

Miles is the token straight friend at the fort. He says he has a wife in fma, but tbh no one has ever seen her. And because Miles never talks about her (he's a very private person), some people (Casther) question if that wife really exists or if Miles is pranking all of them.