#i care riza so much

[justaradioguy]

His fatal flaw in this moment is being still unable to lie to them. He at least takes the offer to sit, letting it buy him a few more seconds to think of what to reply with.

The mattress they have is a bit more comfortable than the one he's stuck with in the medical ward, but both of them are far more comfortable than wilderness, so he discards that note from his mind and sets his aid off to the side still within arm's reach. His eyes follow Chicken as the bird continues his search, but his mind is still definitely on the question he's been asked.

Hawkeye's speaking of Wonderland. If there's any real reason Kain's not able to sleep, it's Fotset. Wonderland is very much a calmer option minus any sign of a bandersnatch, but they seem to either not realize he'd been on the front lines rather than at a cozy HQ or not realize that he's bothered by the fight with Aerugo like he has.

He's not sure which of those is more offensive, but they've never meant any harm and it's probably reasonable for them to think Wonderland is more bothersome for him than it is.

Besides, Ishval was worse, so being this torn up over Fotset is probably ridiculous anyway.

Finally, he sighs, knowing he can't avoid the truth forever.

Hawkeye has always had a way of getting him to crack. Whether it's their rank or how they carry themself, he's not sure, but it's never failed before and it certainly won't now. He'd have an easier time trying to lie to their superior.

And that sucks, because he'd come in here to check on them, not the other way around. The best he can hope for is that they won't read between the lines, but they're far too smart for him to depend on that.

"If I'm being honest, Wonderland's not all that bad. I don't have to play soldier here, and like you said, people here are nice. Nights are just... bad, and you seem like the type to be awake at stupid hours. I can leave, if you want."

He can't, but he doesn't expect them to make him.

He really shouldn't be standing. That was the first thought that crossed their mind as he came in, his Chocobo in tow. They really were cute birds, especially at this size, and it was enough to bring a brief smile to their face. Chocobos grew to be quite large, didn't they? Keeping one in an apartment wouldn't be ideal then if they wanted one someday.

Not that they could bring Chocobos back to Amestris. How would they explain them? Chimeras? Maybe. That was Brigadier General Leota's expertise. The Lieutenant was just a soldier.

Fuery's question led them to tilt their head to their right. Was it weird? They paused before they shook their head, a hand patting the mattress to indicate that he could sit. He didn't have to stand on their behalf anymore. Besides, they could use the company since they weren't going to sleep---not anytime soon. The shadows looked too much like Pride.

"I don't think it's weird, no. I'm still not used to this place." To conserve room, and perhaps for comfort, they tucked their legs close to their chest. "I can't say I like it much. White Cloud and the others are nice, but everything else is... off-putting is the only way I know how to explain it. Is it like that for you?"

[lostandbackagain]

remember back in the day when I had this on my china playlist and thought it was so funny bc yeah murder WILL wreck a home actually then Everything Changed and I had to get on my knees and beg her forgiveness

[sassydefendorflower]

One of the biggest “I love you”s in Fullmetal Alchemist are all the ways people respect each other’s bodily autonomy. There are two scenes that carry this theme to its fullest potential, and I love them so, so much.

The first one is quite iconic: Riza’s throat was slit and Roy has a chance to save her - by dooming their country and committing human transmutation. And Roy would do it. He would throw it all away just to save her, even though he knows that human transmutation is an unforgivable sin. But she looks at him and signals him to Not Do It. And he doesn’t. He wants to, but he doesn’t do it. Because only minutes earlier, he hurt her again by dooming himself (and potentially the country) with his fury.  And if there is one thing Roy Mustang doesn’t want to do, it’s hurt Riza Hawkeye any more than he already has. Even if that means watching her die. Even if that means letting her go.

He respects her and their goals enough to say no.

He loves her enough to let her die.

The second one is just as heart-wrenching: after Al sacrificed himself, basically dying in the process, Ed tries to think of a way to save him. Both Hohenheim and Ling offer him a Philosopher’s Stone to bring Al back - and Ed says No. Even though he wants nothing more in life than to save his little brother. Even though there is nothing he wants more desperately than the safety of Al. He says no for many reasons - Hohenheim is his father after all, Ling needs the stone to become Emperor - but mostly he says no because he and Al promised to never use a Stone for themselves. And he respects that. He puts Al’s wish above his own desire to see his little brother again. He respects Al’s decision (his own conviction) enough to break the rules of the world to find another way.

Because he loves Al - he loves him enough not to break the fundamentals of their principles. He loves him enough to respect the integrity of their believes.

And the narrative rewards both Roy and Edward for their choice to respect the agency and bodily autonomy of their loved ones - they survive, are saved, are brought back... and neither Ed nor Roy had to force their own desire for them to live on clearly stated last wishes.

So often we see media portray the disregard for bodily autonomy (especially in medical contexts) as a sign of love, the breaking of patient-doctor confidentiality as a sign of care, the violation of a living will as a sign of family - I like to think that Fullmetal Alchemist shows us that there’s strength in respecting it instead.

[thoughtswhispered]

I love FMA:B just as much as the next person, but something that does bother me just a little bit in the switch from manga to anime is how they almost erase how gentle and kind Riza is with the kids.

Like these two moments with Winry and Al, they were completely taken out of the show, and while her moment with Winry doesn't hold much weight compared to her moment with Al, it still takes away from the fact that they were showing Riza's gentle side - which rarely gets shown in the anime.

I think her moment with Al definitely needed to make the show, not only does it foreshadow what is about to happen with Lust, but it's one of the first times that someone other than Ed reassures Al that he's important to what they're doing and not just important to Ed. And shows that she is confident in and trusts his abilities enough to depend on him, which Al probably needed to hear.

Coupled with Riza gently touching his chest plate, and Al's embarrassed little head rub, I think adding this moment would've only made Al's speech about not wanting to feel powerless when people die when they could've protected them even stronger.

Then with Ling and Lan Fan, the moments are smaller, but Riza is just as kind and gentle. It barely takes anything for Ling to convince her to stop and get Lan Fan, even when they are going full speed through the middle of a city, Bradley is looking for Ling and Lan Fan, and they have a homunculus tied up in the back of Riza's car.

Even when Riza is helping Dr. Knox clean up Lan Fan's amputation, in the manga, she's just gentler.

Compare this to Lan Fan having the rag in her mouth instead of Riza holding on her head, making sure Lan Fan is covered, and even the way Riza holds her shoulders is different.

And when they are piling up in the car to get away from Gluttony, in the anime they had Al take the time to ask Riza to take care of Lan Fan, which was so unnecessary. In the manga Riza just does it.

While Ed and Roy are arguing, Riza just says "Here, Lan Fan." then climbs in the back with her and cradles Lan Fan's head in her lap. None of these are much different from what they do in the anime, but I think it's enough to take away from showing Riza's soft side, especially her soft side to the younger characters.

[courtmartialme]

wow more chimera riza !!!!!!!!!!!!! since riza "dies" not long after ishval the elrics don't meet her. so they learn about her when finding a picture in roy's stuff. hughes ends up being the one telling the elrics about riza (i think he'd convince roy to tell him about why her death affects roy so much, so hughes knows about the tattoo and stuff) before the elrics end up coming across chimera riza at devil's nest.

i usually completely ignore the elrics in these kinda aus❤️ but in this one it's thanks to them royai get to meet again. i don't care about roy and elrics interacting at all but in this au specifically i think it's cute if they bond over caring for riza after she's rescued

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Holidays! ❄️❄️ more from What They Expect please! I love that AU!

continuation of 1 2 3

It’s been well over a year since she’s seen Mustang. Al’s all aflutter about it, and how puberty has her looking like something other than a twelve year old boy, but she’s really not worried. Mustang is so involved with his own shit that he doesn’t have the time to care about hers. It would be a damning quality if it wasn’t exactly what she needed from him.

She is, sort of, a little bit worried about Riza. Not worried as in she actually thinks something is going to happen, but just that if anyone out of Mustang’s little idiot brigade would figure her out, it would be her.

Maes is a distinct possibility, but also not really. The thing that saves her, always, is that no one’s really looking. She’s loud and flashy and angry and no one thinks she’s too short to be a guy because of how sensitive she is about it and no one notices she’s pretty because they’re too busy dealing with her being mad and scowling and, with these guys, she’s got an extra ace up her sleeve.

They think they already know all her secrets.

They know about human transmutation and binding her brother’s soul to a suit of armor and every questionable and terrible thing she’s done since in her pursuit to fix it.

Why the hell would she be lying about her gender? It’s not even a thought in their heads, and if it ever becomes one, they’ll dismiss it before he even has a chance to.

Eden binds her chest tight extra tight, so her chest is nearly flat, and puts on her baggy tank top and giant red coat that hides the way her hips curve and the giant stompy boots that she really does love, sets her face in a familiar scowl, and goes off to war.

If war was child’s play, that is.

“Where have you been?” Mustang demands, towering over her and nostrils flaring.

Well. Sort of towering over her. She must have had a growth spurt, because he’s really only got a couple inches on her, which is sort of hilarious. She hadn’t noticed that he was short before. “Uh, lots of places. Haven’t you been reading my reports?”

She does not laugh in his face at the way his eyebrow ticks. She spends so much time meticulously writing everything down in dedicated code in her travelogues, she really doesn’t have the energy to spare when she gets to her reports for Mustang. Besides, he doesn’t really care what she’s doing, only that it’s big and flashy enough to distract from whatever he’s doing.

Is she supposed to know that? She can’t remember. But it’s so obvious that it doesn’t feel like something that can be a secret.

Then again, the rest of the brass haven’t caught on, so.

“What were you thinking in Liore?” he snaps.

Eden blinks. “Liore? That was forever ago. Did something happen? Rose didn’t mention anything in her last letter.”

“Yes, Edward, it was forever ago, but since you declined to answer my summons to come here and explain yourself, we’re discussing it now,” he says.

God, she’d forgotten how bitchy he gets. “Okay, well that priest guy was pretty strange-“

“I don’t care about the priest!”

She stares. She had to kill the guy twice and he doesn’t care? Honestly, she thinks it’s sort of memorable.

“What were you thinking messing with that river?”

Ed tilts her head to the side. “You’re upset about the river?”

He glares. “Of course I’m upset about the river!”

She bites the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Al’s really worried over nothing.

Mustang is never paying attention to the right things.

[karolinswritings]

Can I request envy x gn reader who found him when he was is his little worm form and took him in? And then he reveals himself or something and him and reader just live together? I feel like that would be fun.

Okay I love this request, honestly I find his little worm form adorable. I am sorry for the veeery late reply, thank you so much for the request, I hope you like the headcanons. They turned out to be more like a story, I hope that's fine ^^

Fullmetal Alchemist Envy Headcanons: Envy x reader who took him in when he was in his little worm form

In these headcanons, Envy managed to escape from Mustang, Riza and Ed and he ended up alone on the streets of Amestris before he could return to Father, because of his lack of energy left.

I think when reader found him and took him in, he would be so tired and dizzy that he wouldn't really understand what is happening. All he can remember is a human reaching towards him and the warm touch of their palm.

After resting for a while he would regain consiousness and look around reader's house, observing their furniture and possesions, trying to understand where he is. Looking at their dining table he would see them and recognise them as the person who picked him up and carried him somewhere earlier. That's when it would all come together and he would realise that he is in a human house and has been taken in.

He would definitely know what condition he is in and that considering the absence of any philosopher's stones to help him regain his energy, he would stay quiet and observe their actions carefully.

When he notices reader holding a book and reading carefully through it, as if they are looking for something, and notices that it is a book about lizards and how they live, he would get the idea of pretending to be a lizard until he can find a way to regain his powers.

As time passes, he would quickly notice how careing reader is and how much they care about him. He would slowly start to trust them more and more, letting them feed him and even pet him. He would start feeling lonely whenever they are out and his eyes would sparkle with excitement anytime they come back to him.

At some point, probably after about a month passes and he notices that he doesn't entirely hate humans, specifically reader, now thinging of them as his human, he would decide to reveal himself. As to his plan of running away as soon as possible, looks like it will have to wait for a bit. This human just awoke his interest, he can't just leave.

One time, seeming out of the blue for reader, but completely planned by Envy, the little lizard would suddenly speak.

" Listen here, human. I am not a pet lizard, I am homunculus, so you should definitely stop wasting your time reading all those books, wondering how to take care of me properly. If you wanna know so bad, I might just tell you. If you ask nicely of course."

Seemingly not careing about reader's shocked expression and lack of ability to say a word from suprise, Envy would use all that's left in him to transform into his prefered form. He would have to take a seat on a nearby chair from exhaustion, but would look up at reader with a slight smirk, proud of how mesmerized they look from seeing his shape-shifting abilities.

"What? You didn't notice that whole time that I was homunculus? My oroboros tattoo was all out there for you to see and you just tought it's a spot? You're so oblivious..So, what do you think? I'm quite--"

For Envy's suprise, reader cuts him off and lifts up his chin for them to observe his features, still not really understanding what happened. They take a look at his eyes, nose, lips, making him feel more and more nervous. All of a sudden his cheeks get pink and he looks away, obviously embarresed.

"What? What's so interesting?...Stupid human.."

" You're quite handsome. So you are.. a homunculus? I think I have heard about them before, alchemists say that homunculi are artificial humans. But I definitely didn't imagine one to look so..nice."

After hearing reader's unexpected words, Envy would consider staying with them for a while, and then leaving, but the tought of ending their life doesn't seem to be of his liking, so he decides to put aside his departure until he feels satisfied enough with their presense. He won't think of it for a while.

As time goes by though, he would realise he doesn't really want to leave. At all. Everyone probably thinks he is dead anyways, so why not spend more time here? On top of all, he has his own human now.

He would get addicted to reader's care and would love feeling like a royalty, being served food, treated pretty much as a diety and being the center of reader's attention everytime he decides to tell them about all of his abilities and the pros of being homunculus.

I think he would think of various ways to get to a stone so that he can regain his abilities. Staying with reader and talking to them is quite interesting and new to him, but he would definitely miss being able to use his full abilities. If he manages to return them, the first thing he would do would be to show off to reader, taking in their compliments and watching them stand in awe as he shape-shifts into all kinds of things.

Sooner of later I think he would totaly forget about all the stuff he used to be interested in doing before. He is curious as to how living with his human would be like and in what new ways he would use his abilities.

[harocat]

Perhaps this is inaccurate, but does it ever feel to you like general cdrama fandom takes the FL being a “mature” character as the end-all indicator of the show’s quality? Recently with legend of Shenli I see quite a few people start their praise along the lines of “unlike those other garbage xianxia with their annoying FLs”. And often it becomes clear they’re trashtalking Lbfad specifically

This is not just Cdrama fandom, it's fandom on the whole; the girlbossification of female characters.

I've generally always favored characters that get this treatment. Riza Hawkeye (badass) vs. Winry Rockbell (immature), Sango (badass) vs Kagome (immature). Sorry those examples are anime, but they're very well known so 🤷

These are also often healer characters, which is a trope that tends to be... sort of maligned. How dare a women be relegated to just being a healer! But IDK, I'd rather have a well written healer than a generic, flatly written warrior any day. XLH would definitely fall under the healer class.

(One good thing I've noticed is that while all the above mentioned girls got a lot of hate back in the day, as time has gone on, they've grown to become beloved characters. You rarely see hate for any of them nowadays. It's great.)

Keeping in mind fandom's general disinterest in women, so naturally the appreciation that does exist is often extremely shallow. Characters that tend to catch their attention because of this are ones that are 'badass' or that they want to 'step on them' or whatnot. A character that starts out more mature is more likable to them because they don't need to look beyond the surface to see how 'cool' she is.

This is not an implication that Shenli is a shallow character (I am only on ep twelve, so I'm not here to give any kind of overall impression), but just that she from the beginning has more traits that are easy for people to glom onto as a 'strong female character' Do these specific people (this is obviously not all fans of Shenli) who say 'finally a mature character' write meta about Shenli? Do they gush on her and share fanworks and create and all the like. Generally no, because in my experience people who like characters for 'girlboss' reasons don't really appreciate them beyond the surface.

These people will gripe about characters like XLH, sing the praises of 'strong female characters', then go back to only caring about male characters 90% of the time.

Xiao Lanhua takes too much work for these kinds of fans. Obviously we know she is strong, we know she is badass and brave, but the XLH we meet at the beginning is silly, immature, and boy crazy. To appreciate her character fully, you have to do more than just look for five seconds and go 'wow badass'. She's a layered, richly written character, but she doesn't start out as the kind of character that fits a girlboss reading.

On the other hand, almost because of this, you can find pages and pages of meta, fic, and fanworks about her, and almost any fan of hers can give you a plethora of reasons they love her that have actual depth.

On the subject of maturity, it's often a case of the kind of immaturity that's acceptable. Dongfang Qingcang is deeply immature at the start of the series. I don't need to explain why.

But his immaturity is appealing to fandom; cute, likable, and funny. It's good immature, cool immature. And I think this is because in addition to being a male character, we're also taught that being immature like Xiao Lanhua is--- is like... a horrible thing to be? But that's not the case at all. It's just normal! Again, back to girlboss feminism. Women and female characters are held to an impossibly high standard. Female characters that act in a way that might be seen as cringe (if they aren't also badass)? Yikes.

Yes, Xiao Lanhua starts out flighty and silly, but she's also a hard worker, and even from the beginning, she's courageous (despite her timidity when confronted with bullies). She's a good character, even at the beginning; she is lovable, charming, and so, so funny. People just refuse to see beyond their first impression.

The goal in writing a female character should be to make them well written, and in that sense, Xiao Lanhua is a great character. She just happens to also be extremely brave and badass, but some people are too shallow to see it. At this point in time I don't even argue with XLH haters. I'm just like 'well fine, I'd rather not have you here anyway.'

[chrysopoeias]

Idk if Roy would be a "You just came in, what's for dinner?" Type of guy.

In that one comic where they get asked who they would bring to a desert island, Roy says that Riza can forage for food and he'll cook it.

Not a lot to go on admittedly, but I firmly believe that Roy is the domestic goddess, Riza is the one who lives on instant noodles and Starbucks.

Right right I do not think Roy would expect her to be the perfect housewife catering to his needs after they both worked all day. I’d kill him myself with my bare teeth if he did. More so that IF they fail at living together, it’s gonna be about them spending 24/7 together and going mad from that. They are not exactly in the healthiest relationship and not above frequent bickering. Going home is a good break from that loool.

Riza is actually canonically-ish good at cooking (from the video games). She specifically got good at cooking after failing to impress Roy when she was young and wanting to improve. But I agree that if she is just cooking for herself, she doesn’t care nor put in much effort.

Honestly they are also mutually the others favourite person they would tolerate being around each other for 24/7, and it would work out great. The love and obsession is deep after all, and they mutually insane and perfect for each other. They can watch each others back best while spooning :^)

[raisingmybanner]

some big bang asks for u friend mwah

Share your crunchiest bit(s) of dialogue, include zero context.

Most fun thing about the event?

What would your story smell like? Taste like? Sound like?

AH THANK YOU!! mwah <33

Dialogue snippet:

“Look,” Riza said, regretting the words even as they came out of her mouth. If she gave Rebecca an inch, the woman would take six miles and then somehow make it Riza’s fault that she still hadn’t gotten where she was trying to go. “I can go out on Friday, but I just can’t commit to a … what was the word you used?”

“A rager,” Rebecca said promptly. Her tone was much improved already, almost chipper, which Riza could only take as a bad sign.

“Do people even say that anymore?” Riza asked, half kidding and half genuine. She never had known what was cool, and that was a diagnosis that was only worsening with age.

“Who cares,” Rebecca said dismissively, already breezing along in her plans. “I’ve got people lined up, Riza! It’s going to be a great time.”

“What people?” 

“Meet at Haversham’s at 9!”

“PM?” Riza groaned. “What people?”

“Yes, PM,” Rebecca chided. “You’re thirty, not eighty.”

“I feel eighty. What people?”

“Don’t we all. See you Friday. Love you!”

“Love you,” Riza sighed, punching the end call button with a little too much force.

The most fun thing about the event was getting to chat with everybody about one of my favorite ships everrr. I love being part of a little community like this and hearing everyone else's ideas! Writing can be such a lonely process sometimes, so having the virtual company was so lovely.

Oo I answered this one already but I'll give a couple more. It smells like dust and air conditioning, tastes like that bit of sand that somehow got into your mouth??? HOW DOES SAND GET EVERYWHERE, and sounds like an old-fashioned ink pen scratching across paper. <3

[the-blue-eyed-firebender]

Fanfiction Masterlist.

(Updated 7/15/24)

I started writing again in March, and I now find myself the mother author of nine fanfics. I figure it's time I make one of these. I'll pin this post to the top of my Tumblr and update as more works are added.

So here's a masterlist of my children stories, favorites first in no particular order.

It's all Royai and Zutara Trash so if you're not into that, move along.

The Counteroffer

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 2.7K

On the eve of Mustang’s inauguration as Fuhrer, Riza Hawkeye submits her resignation.

My very first Royai fanfic, and my first attempt at creative writing in literal years.

(light angst with a happy ending)

Hourglass

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 1.6K

Riza Hawkeye never intended on living past age thirty-two. It wasn’t that she wanted to die. She simply did not expect to live.

Written for Royai Week 2024, Day 5: Gift

(angst with a happy ending)

The Art of Living On

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 3.9K

She has never done this. Has avoided it at all costs. Because she is unfit, she tells herself. Her hands are made for firearms and filing office paperwork, not soothing fussy babies. Her edges are too sharp, too jagged to provide comfort to anyone. She is scarred and bloodied and barely knows the love of a mother herself.

But the baby wails, pleading.

Written for Royai Week 2024, Day 2: Appreciate

(domestic fluff, light angst with a happy ending)

Uncle Zuko

Katara x Zuko

Rating: T

Word count: 2.6K

Of all the things his hands have held - from dragon eggs and ancient texts to the element of Fire itself - this is by far the most precious, the most powerful: a new generation, one born into a world without war.

Zuko is forced to hold Sokka's baby, and feelings happen. I published this story years ago on FFN under a different title. This is the updated/revised version. I haven't written much of them lately, but Zuko & Katara are, and will always remain, my otp.

(domestic fluff)

Strong Whiskey and Slanted Light

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: G

Word count: 908

His team is alive. The Elric brothers have their bodies back. Havoc can walk again. And from her place in the driver’s seat, Riza Hawkeye - alive and breathing - glances sharply in his direction, brows raised in a rare moment of removing her attention from the road ahead. He doesn’t miss the way she winces at the sudden movement of her still-healing neck. “Sir?”

“It’s just a question, Lieutenant. I’m curious.”

Written for Royai Week 2024, Day 1: Curiosity

(light angst, mutual pining)

As You Were

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 2.4K

Maybe it’s the fact that she’s dropped his honorific.

Maybe it’s the fact that they are somehow both alive. Maybe it’s the fact that he can see her, when he’d believed with such certainty that he never would again. He can see her and she is beautiful, and for once he doesn’t understand why he ever chose to banish that thought from his mind when it is so clearly the truth.

(angst)

The Flame Alchemist's Daughter

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 6.4K

The ink is a burden. The knowledge is a curse.

Disclaimer: I wrote this before I fully understood the mechanics of Mustang's flame alchemy (I literally finished the series in March 2024; I'm new here, so my bad). I realized later that some of the implications here would not make sense in canon. That said, I still love this story. I'm proud of it and it's freaking fanfiction so who cares.

(angst)

Checkmate

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 1.6K

In the wake of his election victory, Roy Mustang makes a very important visit to Fuhrer President Grumman.

Prequel to "The Counteroffer."

(fluff, light angst)

Four

Riza Hawkeye x Roy Mustang

Rating: T

Word count: 2.2K

Each time he has laid eyes on Riza Hawkeye’s tattoo, the course of Roy Mustang’s life has been permanently altered.

(angst with a happy ending)

[courtmartialme]

friend i know it's Riza time but you typed out the words "alpha Olivier" and now i think i hauve covid... anyway do you think Riza's annoyed about being an omega for the most part or does she enjoy it?

ALPHA OLIVIER... ofc it's the obvious choice, and my preferred one since i want her doing things to riza <3 but tbf if i cared more about the politics of it i would make her beta or maybe even omega because someone with her personality and who got to achieve this much power be a non alpha would be something fun to explore i think!! but i only care about riza's harem so i leave it up to someone else........!

and yes riza hates being an omega :] when she had her first heat she barely knew anything about it because it's a taboo topic she wouldn't hear much about at school, and of course berthold never bothered to talk to her about it so it was a scary experience for her. it's very frustrating for riza who was always independent to be an omega, struggling with an outdated idea that omega are submissive and built to serve... as someone who already has issues with bodily autonomy it is really frustrating. so she starts taking suppressants when she joins the military and presents as a beta for years. very few people know shes actually an omega...! of course suppressants aren't perfect and prone to failing if you abuse them ... ! riza has a strong shame complex about it and a lot to unlearn emotionally physically sexually etc because she's insanely repressed _(:3 」∠)_

[qs63]

Roy's lack of self-preservation

This took me a long time to write. Sorry about that. My health took a hit this past month (Don't worry, I'm alright).

Here is a bit of a deconstruction of Roy's character, the way he sees himself, and how that translates into a complete lack of self-preservation.

Roy's fatalism

For someone who is supposedly an idealist Roy sure has a fatalist view of life.

In the OVA "Yet another man's battlefield", Roy tells Hughes that he wants to defend his country and doesn't care if he dies doing so. To which Hughes replies that he doesn't want to die for the sake of anything (ironic, I know). Two years later, when Riza asks Roy not to die, he responds that he can't guarantee he won't die like a piece of trash on the sideway.

You could argue that Roy is being realistic, but I disagree. Roy is after all an idealist by his own admission, and this fatalistic POV is a complete contradiction to the naive way in which he regards his role as a soldier — as a protector rather than as a murderer, which Kimblee later calls out during Ishval. Not to mention that this is unusually pessimistic coming from a young person. See the way Hughes, Heathcliff, and even Riza talk about their own goals in the military. None of them is constantly reaffirming their own mortality.

Perhaps, this comes from Roy's Alchemist nature— from the deep ingrained belief of equivalent exchange. Perhaps, it comes from the characters' unknown past. Whatever the reason, there's no denying that to Roy his own life is something he is willing to trade off for the greater good. By this I doesn't mean he is suicidal. He is not. What I mean is that for Roy everything else comes before his own survival, and this is something that reflects in much more than just his speech.

Roy's reckless fighting style

We all remember Riza sweeping in to Roy's rescue when he's about to fight Scar under the rain. This is not an accident or him just being forgetful. Roy is actually arrogant to the point of recklessness when it comes to his own abilities. He's the sort of person that stages an intricate plan to rescue one soldier from execution, and then marches himself right into the wolf's mouth because he is THAT confident he can deal with any repercussions.

Which… he is not, but he has good reasons to believe he is.

It is easy to overlook because the main characters are alchemists, but Alchemy is very rare and powerful in the world of FMA. It is the sole reason Amestris is a superpower despite being such a small country. In the manga (not so much in Brotherhood), we are constantly reminded that normal people don't understand Alchemy, and the State Alchemists are dehumanized, often compared to human weapons, monsters, and/or gods.

Roy's alchemy, in particular, is extremely dangerous. Even among the Homunculi, there are few individuals that can stand up to the might of Roy's full power. This is why he believes himself invincible. Ishval taught Roy the strength of Flame alchemy, and the horrors it can cause in the wrong hands. As its wielder this makes Roy powerful and dangerous.

A monster among humans.

As such in Roy's mind he's an invincible monster whose life is unimportant when compared to his goals and the life of those he's sworn to protect. This is why for Roy facing actual monsters (the Homunculi) is such a humbling and humanizing experience. This is why he tells Riza:

Now you see why Roy marches forward recklessly and without hesitation. It's a combination of his lack of self-worth, and the knowledge that he wields a power few people can match.

But Roy's lack of self-preservation goes even beyond his speech and fighting style.

Roy's lifestyle

This mentality that he is a monster whose only purpose is to serve others permeates Roy's lifestyle. The idea that Riza is the stern one that takes her job too seriously and that Roy is the frivolous one that prefers to enjoy life is hilariously ironic. The narrative shows us almost the opposite story.

We see Riza out doing groceries on her day off. We see her shopping clothes with Rebecca. We see her taking Hayate out for walks. We see her having a shower after work and putting on comfy clothes at home. We see her having a life outside of the military, even if adjacent to it.

In the meantime, Roy is always in the office. He sleeps in the break room. He cleans himself in the public restroom. He eats in the mess hall. Badly so at times as we get a comment about his weight from Armstrong. When he goes out on dates or to drink, we are shown he's actually gathering intel. The one time we see him in his apartment he's sleeping on the goddamn couch still in his crumpled uniform.

There are no comfy Pjs in his home. No long showers. No pets to keep him company. No days off with his friends.

And this all makes sense, because monsters that only exist to protect others don't need comfort.

They need to make themselves useful.

When Riza tells Roy to think more of himself. When Riza tells Ed that Roy will pay the price alone and make sure his subordinates escape punishment. When Arakawa jokes that Riza needs to remind Roy how to take care of himself. It is because Roy has never bothered to keep himself alive beyond what's needed to fulfill his duties, and Riza knows it.

Roy is a barely functional human disaster with zero sense of self-preservation. The only reason he's alive is because he's had people like Hughes (vs Heathcliff), Riza (so many times), and even the Elrics (vs gluttony) sweep in and save his ass every time he's about to kick the bucket.

--

I have some theories and headcanons about why Roy might have ended up being this way. I will maybe post them on a later date.

Thanks for reading! ^ ^

[applepie-enthusiast]

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood ft. KNY characters

If you know FMAB growing up, I salute you. If you are going to watch it now, I also salute you. Anyway, let's proceed. In response to this poll

In their sincerest hopes to see their dearly beloved deceased mother again, Tanjirou and Nezuko aimed to do what was considered as "Taboo" in Alchemy, that is "Human Transmutation."

Being kids, they believed they could resurrect Kie, who had fallen ill and died because of an outbreak. (Imagine all their siblings too but chose to revive Kie first)

However, they experienced "rebound" and because of that, Nezuko's entire body was taken, while Tanjirou lost his left leg, and cried out in extreme pain and anguish. But, determined to get even Nezuko's soul back, he sacrificed his right arm so he could attach her soul to an armour.

I somehow want Kanao to be their childhood friend aka Winry.

Shinobu as Pinako is funny, but just imagine if Shinobu took the responsibility to take care of Kanao after their older sister Kanae, who was a doctor, was sent to battle and died there.

Tanjirou lowkey being so guilty about what happened to Nezuko that he was so afraid to ask her if she is mad at him. [THAT EPISODE BROKE ME. Just Kanao smashing Nezuko's armored head with a wrench and telling her to run after Tanjirou is peak drama and comedy]

I'm conflicted if I should continued as intended that Tanjurou is their dad in this au as well. Because I just can't see him having the same face as the main antagonist aka "Father". But it's also a big fucking no for "Father" to be Muzan. Yoriichi as Father is TERRIFYING tho.

Obanai as Roy Mustang please it's so funny. But he did give Tanjirou a drive and a motivation to get their bodies back.

Mitsuri as Riza Hawkeye. She hides all her trauma with her personality but Mitsuri being a sniper in the Battle of Ishbal would just be peak 👌 angst.

Rengoku Kyojurou as Maes Hughes. He often comically and enthusiastically tells Obanai to find a wife and marry already (aka marry Mitsuri) and Kyojurou is proud of his little brother Senjurou. He tells everyone about him, and dots on him. He's very kind and warm towards anyone and everyone he meets.

Everything was okay until he found out too quickly, about what was happening in the country. He was too smart for his own good. He was attacked first by Lust aka Daki, but escaped.

DOUMA as Envy would make so much sense. His playful personality when he impersonates a colleague of Rengoku, but Rengoku quickly realizes it isn't them. Rengoku was hastily trying to contact Obanai to tell him of what he found out, but unfortunately this creature finds him. Rengoku whispered that he has to go home and he can't die here, and was about to attack the creature, but Douma had transformed to mimic his mother, Ruka, who Douma had seen from the lone pic that fell from Rengoku's wallet in his haste to contact Obanai. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. THE THREE GUNSHOTS.

Obanai sighing when he received a phone call, but quickly felt something was off because Rengoku rarely pauses and stay silent that long. "Kyojuro?" He asks.

Rengoku's bloody hand reaching out to the phone because he heard his best friend, but Douma had already placed it back to cut the call.

"Humans are so stupid, falling for such a trick." He mocks and insults him, laughing as he left.

Rengoku, bleeding out, whispering, "Sorry, Senjurou, I can't go home tonight as promised.

JUST TINY SENJUROU (younger than canon), CLUTCHING ON THEIR DAD'S PANTS, innocently asking, "Why are they burying big brother...? How can he go to work if they bury him?" Everyone was devastated

Obanai silent throughout.

After the funeral, JUST OBANAI SAYING, "Ah, It's about to rain".

Mitsuri looking up at the sky. "Eh? It's not raining..." Then she quickly realizes what Obanai meant when he started crying.

"No, it's raining, alright." Obanai adds, and Mitsuri bows her head, and in a sad voice, seconds him.

"Ah.. yes, it's raining... Let's go inside, it'll be cold here soon..."

WHO WILL BE NINA???? AND ALEXANDER???

Daki as LUST as mentioned above. Gyutaro as GLUTTONY. It just goes along well with how those two are close with Douma aka ENVY.

AKAZA as WRATH. he's a king of a nation that already has everything decided for it. Except his bride, Koyuki, who he chose himself.

AKAZA AS KING BRADLEY (and how his hand shookt in anger during rengoku's funeral) he has this twisted view that the weak will inevitably die in the hands of the strong.

KOKUSHIBOU AS PRIDE. Him parading as a tiny child (of course he poses as a human, the son of the king. But he is INDEED DEADLIER, STRONGER than Wrath.) is just so funny. Except he won't be as energetic as Selim Bradley, probably just always curious and "idolizes" the Fullmetal Alchemist aka Tanjirou. THE FIRST SIN THAT FATHER LETS GO OF.

MUICHIROU AS LING YAO. He visits this foreign country looking for a philosopher's stone. He is the representative of their clan because his older brother can't fight like him (added this info). In order to save his clan, he wants to gain information about immortality. He came to the country with his two vassals, Zenitsu (LAN FAN but they're just buddies) and Jigoro (OLD MAN FU), who came from a family that had been serving his for centuries. They're very loyal to him. Muichirou often stresses them out though. HAHAHAHA

Just imagine Mui and co. mooching off food from Tanjirou and Nezuko HAHAHAHAHA

"i cAn'T uNdErsTanD tHiS CouNtRy'S lAnGuagE" whenever he placed the siblings or himself in trouble HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

Mui collapsing on the side of the road and forgetting his entry pass and being sent to jail is PEAK COMEDY

HIM HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A KING WITH AKAZA THOUGH. While holding an injured zenitsu over his shoulders. OH MY GOD.

Zenitsu sacrificing his hand for them to escape is just wow. If Jigoro is Old Man Fu, he would die. Ouch. (I initially thought of genya as lan fan and sanemi as old man fu but I had plans for sanemi)

So that means Muichirou will be GREED.

INOSUKE WILL BE MEI LING.

Giyuu will be Izumi, Tanjirou and Nezuko's sensei. As seen with his Kimetsu Academy counterpart, his training would be HELL. I'd like to say he is married to Sabito (HE'S ALIVE, SABITO WILL BE SIG). They were living well before Giyuu's sister inexplicably died, and he tried to revive her with alchemy. He had seen the Truth as well.

Sloth will just be GYOMEI TO GIVE A THRILL WITH THE FIGHT. But instead of the sloth in fmab, imagine if Gyomei isn't really evil, but was forced to do what he has to, or else the children he was caring for would die (or something)

Tengen???????? (OR ANY OF HIS WIVES AS Olivier Mira Armstrong???? I JUST THINK TENGEN'S INITIAL PERSONALITY TOWARDS TANJIROU AND CO WOULD BE LMAO)

UROKODAKI AS MARCO.

I CAN'T THINK WHO WILL BE SCAR. SANEMI CAME TO MIND I'M SO SORRY.

When Mui and Tanjirou got sucked in Gluttony's stomach and lmao at tanjirou finding Nezuko's armor hand and going, "TIME FOR MY TELEPATHIC POWERS TO AWAKEN, KAMADO TELEPATHY OHHHHH NEZUKO HEAR ME!!!" and Muichirou deadpan going, "have fun with that"

They would eat BOOT SOUP

Fast forward to all the dramas

Obanai going lowkey insane with finding out who killed Rengoku. He finds Douma and Douma congratulates him on finally finding Rengoku's killer.

Obanai scoffing, "I doubt Kyojurou was killed by someone dumb like you."

Douma going all laughter, saying, "Stupid? What's stupid is people who would fall for this!!!" Then he transforms into Ruka or Senjurou.

Oh the way Obanai's look changed and Mitsuri instantly knew hell would start.

Mitsuri pointing a gun to Obanai's head on the onslaught of happenings and Obanai raising his hand, "What's this about, Lieutenant?"

Mitsuri smiling knowingly, "You tell me. The colonel calls me ~Mitsuri~ when we're alone."

Obanai widens his eyes and instantly reveals himself as Envy and says, "You had a thing going on?!"

Mitsuri smiling, shooting him, "I lied. Thanks for falling for it."

She tried to kill him but is soon overpowered.

Douma laughs, exclaiming, "I will rip you to shreds and show you to your precious colonel!"

But then Obanai arrives.

Obanai going, "what are you planning on doing with my irreplaceable subordinate?" to douma is peak 👌👌👌 when the latter started targeting mitsuri (their other counterpart where douma is a con artist but disappeared after meeting mitsuri and/or obanai is so funny)

Anyway just their heartfelt moment of "If you die, I'll follow"

FAST FORWARD MORE

Obanai going, "I'm surprised you can see in this darkness, fullmetal" because his one eye is already canonically almost blind BUT HIM GOING FORCEFULLY COMPLETELY BLIND HURTS ME.

I'm so obsessed with them. But that's all for now.

[rizaposting]

hi kim i adore you and i hope you’re well!!! i’ve determined to ask everyone: if you had to add a third person into royai, who are you picking, and why?

WHEEHEE thank you Julianna <3 This is a really fun one.

First of all, I'm generally a royai + anyone when the focus of the throuple/group is on giving Riza 30000 kisses and making her [redacted] [redacted] [redacted]. Team Mustang Riza Harem is super fun and I will get around to it eventuallyyyyyy but I need them all showering her with so much affection she explodes. It's what she deserves.

IF we're keeping it to three, I think Roy/Riza/Rebecca is cute, for the reasons above. Two of Riza's oldest and closest friends doting on her. I don't imagine Roy and Rebecca are involved with each other but they are friends who give each other shit and are united over loving their gf.

Now.......... If you'll let me get self-indulgent......... I'm insane over Royai + Feiga, an oc from my and @phoenixfangs's ongoing RP. Feiga was a Drachman assassin with a bounty on Royai's head, but it turns out they weren't an easy mark (much to Riza's interventions, including getting a blind shot in Feiga's shoulder after she herself was shot pushing Roy out of the way, and later on biting the shit out of Feiga's hand like a rabid dog when she was unarmed during a showdown). Riza ends up showing Feiga mercy and kindness because she sees a lot of herself in Feiga, or what she could have become if she hadn't had people caring for her, and this kindness makes Feiga lesbian explode. As a threesome, Roy and Feiga would fight and bicker and compete to see who could make Riza get the most flustered and Riza would be in the middle purring soooooooo hard.

[old-skyguy]

Thoughts on episode 54 because I am very normal about the character development of this show.

Spoilers for FMA Brotherhood. Up to episode 54, at least.

The parallels between Mustang and Scar.

The fact Scar had his whole family, his nation, his culture, taken away from him and he chose violence and retribution and destruction over trying to help what remained of his community.

The fact Mustang had his friend taken away, had to watch this man who cared so deeply get killed and see the aftermath for his family. How it must've felt to slowly realize that he did that same thing to scar and so many other innocent people to further fuel a corrupt web of lies that benefits no one but the ones weaving it. The guilt. The anger. How he wanted so badly to take it out on something, on someone, just like Scar did.

Except Scar had been changed too. Riza sees this. Riza has had to live with this guilt for a fucking *while* and I mean they all have to an extent, but none of the other military understand the gravity of the situation like she does. They can all tune it out, believe that they're doing this for their country or for the greater good, but she doesn't have that luxury . Her tattoo directly resulted in the sheer power used as violence against so many innocent people.

You know who ELSE has a tattoo that represents the hard work of a family member in the name of innovation that ultimately became a weapon never meant to be wielded?

SCAR. SCAR DOES.

He resorted to blind carnage as well. He killed off good men, people with families, with deeper aspects to them besides their part in the war, and ultimately many, many innocent people, whose deaths impacted the lives of those around them and devastated them as much as his own family's. And you know what??

He was RIGHT to be angry at the government.

He was RIGHT to be angry at the military.

That doesn't mean he had the right to blindly kill anyone in uniform. It's an absolutely brilliant juxtaposition between two extreme sides of the same coin. Such a poignant commentary on military vs terrorist ideals and how they're both just inherently wrong and dehumanizing to the very people they stand for, but both refusing to take responsibility for their wrongdoings.

Until Scar realizes how his idea of revenge affected other people, innocent people just like him, just like his family, just like the life of the child that sparked the fucking war. And he steps back. Slowly, he becomes more willing to work together, more aware of what is actually behind this, more patient with the people he once swore revenge on. Because with military, even in real life, there's always like sever and a ton degrees of separation between the people who control the narrative and control the war from the conference rooms and the people who are ordered to pull the trigger. That doesn't mean he isn't allowed to be angry at the ones behind the gun, it's just that he should be more worried about the people behind the battlefield. God, this show's politics and depictions of war are so realistic and just dead on. I could talk about it for hours.

Mustang almost went down that same path of misdirected retribution. He was so close it was literally UNDER HIS FOOT. But seeing how this affected Scar, how it affected Hughes and his fellow soldiers and Al and Ed and how it affected RIZA. Seeing how she was willing to kill herself just so *his own* destructive powers could die with her.

How Envy was just a byproduct. He was always depicted as this scary, blood-shedding, horrific creature of carnage, which *is* what he's supposed to represent, but I feel like in the moment he realized just how small Envy really was, he feels for a brief moment what it was like for Scar to learn that. It was pointless to take all his anger out on the person who was created specifically to BE a weapon - just a weapon - and nothing more. Who was created to act as a blind, uncaring soldier in a war that they don't even really have the ability to comprehend. That he should save his anger for the system that created him, the system that blinded him to the truth and never let him learn empathy. Never let him be a person Just like the dehumanization of war.

It doesn't help anyone to withhold mercy from the one who executed another's will. It would be just like Scar killing soldiers, it does NOTHING about the real issue and so he'll save it for the real man behind the slaughter.

And Jesus envy as a deconstruction of that system. Brilliant. I love it. Being so confused by the mindset of the people on the opposing side and rather than confronting the fact that maybe he was on the wrong side this whole time and confronting his humanity (philosopher's stone) and trying to remedy himself like Scar and all the other State Alchemists that fought the Ishvalan War he kills himself (also with the philosopher's stone) out of fear and a warped sense of honor and loyalty to a cause he doesn't even grasp.

That could've been Riza. That would've been her if Mustang decided to go through with killing Envy himself. If he chose selfish retribution over those affected by tragedy and government corruption. But it wasn't.

He chose to focus on the bigger picture of who's at fault instead of blindly killing out of rage.

And that is the ideal leader.

Because a tyrannical, angry leader stuck in the past is a horrible leader. It's just as bad as a cold blooded murderer, and eventually, they'll become the very thing that broke them.

He would've perpetuated the cycle.

He came **so close** to perpetuating the cycle that it's honestly terrifying.

But he didn't.

The character growth showcased here is *masterful.*

I could go on but I'd just repeat myself, I'm like a dog chasing it's tail.

Inject it into my ***veins***.