#and while he mocks and teases mustang he absolutely believes in his dream that's why he won't stand by if he burns it himself.

[fullmtal]

once i’m done going through everything i really am going to write about how the mustang squad, roy specifically, really is in a lot of ways without preference or bias, the dad figure edward desperately needed and gave so much to ed and al. and yes, i will be wanting threads with all f.ma people because honestly there is such variety no wonder its a masterpiece. but yeah like...there’s a reason roy is so important? i might reblog my meta on hohenheim but like...i’m a realist so i don’t think hohenheim’s apology came in time. that doesn’t mean ed doesn’t feel things for him and even love too, albeit confused love, not at all. he’s an immensely compassionate boy underneath all that snark and steel. why else is he the one considered a heart ‘unmatched’?

but literally the person who sparked fire back in ed’s eyes was roy and ed’s own will, but ultimately roy’s tough belief and recognition of ‘oh hey you’re not okay just like me and you’re a lot like me’ hit ed hard and got him to rise up again.

 no one else did that. no elric alive or still in contact did that. roy did. and when he joined his branch and his entire career in the military worked under him with reports? i mean i talked to folks and i noted that roy literally goes out in the rain when scar targets the elrics. he’s risking his life and he has a way bigger target on his back than ed does as the ‘hero of ishval’.

so it’s just....while it isn’t very obvious, it’s way more obvious in 03? the shaking of hands, the faith, the ‘why didn’t you ask for my help first?!’ scene? it is there. and i just think roy continued the entire story rocky as they can be, to propel ed in his own way. those two are people who love very, very hard. and ed honestly doesn’t know what to do with roy’s concern and being an actual adult that hasn’t let him or his brother down besides izumi and sieg. 

so yeah, he’s a bit freaked. but roy gave him the push he needed, and frankly i headcanon post pd that ed visits him as he recuperates / gets his sight back before beelining back to resembool to see winry and granny and den, and yes, he absolutely keeps contact with all of them. 

ed needed someone like roy at his lowest point and unlike all the adults who failed before? roy didn’t. it takes ed a long, long time to process that, but it makes it one of the most subtle and most important relationships to me honestly for both characters. when roy goes blind ed isn’t impassive, he’s /freaking out/. 

so yes, i think the two fill in things for each other in a familial, obviously platonic way that others can’t. and they’re so similar, passionate, brilliant, stubborn, and honestly they love intensely. and are willing to die any time for their loved ones. 

so yeah, i think at the end of the story roy is that person ed would call at four am. not by any means gradually. but eventually. at least in my portrayal. and mustang squad? is just all these big brothers / uncles / and a motherly figure that doesn’t detract from trisha. just like izumi / teacher. 

this relationship is just really important to me. it’s just done so well, and i was happy that when roy lost his way it wasn’t just riza there, ed wasn’t there as the token protagonist, he’s proven he is compelling for being ed and beloved for being ed not a shonen protagonist. 

...... ed was there because he’ll also be damned if the person who saw dead eyes in an eleven year old gains those same eyes but with the intent of murder. he may not be hawkeye, but that’s his not so idiotic superior officer and maybe something deeper, something familial that he’s terrified to touch. and he’s willing to risk being burnt by that. 

tl;dr: roy mustang was dad all along once things kicked off and fma is all about the family you find, and the family you learn to let go, hold onto, and accept, but also move forward. because you can’t change it.