#this is very disjointed but hopefully i get my points across lmao

[chryseis]

hi!! im still thinking about your royai week secret kid fic, it was a great take on their characters and just lovely writing :) do you have any particular headcanons about future royai? do you envision them getting together/married, or maintaining their superior/subordinate relationship essentially forever, or something in between? is the tone of your vision bittersweet, tragic, surprisingly gentle and happy? thanks in advance!

Thanks for enjoying that fic <3! It was so fun to write--and difficult too, because it's a bit outside of my idea of their future, but I like to think that they were able to find some happiness together sometime after it takes place. But how do you tell your child that you've killed other children? How do you live with the fact that your priorities will always lie with your spouse before them? I do have some ideas for writing something about them being not-so-great parents, because I do think that they would maybe not be the best at raising children, no matter how hard they tried.

My actual headcanons, however, are quite a bit different. I've read lots of amazing fic, but these are my own opinions--I don't think they should get married--or at least, not for a very long time. To me, this is about more than frat laws--they are committing treason through most of the story, why would they care about breaking one more law, or keeping one more secret? I think it's more to do with their conscience. Is their love more important than their goals for the government? Is it more important than restoring Ishval? It can't be. Riza would quite literally kill Roy and then herself if she thought he was wavering on his commitment to reparation and restoration, and while Roy couldn't wouldn't kill Riza, I do think abandoning her values would be the one thing that would make him love her a little less. I have a lot of thoughts on their resentment on both sides that I would love to fully explore at some point.

My main headcanon is that they have been in an emotional relationship since the war, and that it turns into a physical relationship some time after the Promised Day. I'm sure that there are people in their close circles who are aware of their relationship, but I'm not sure I see them getting married, and I don't really see them ever having children. But at the same time I do want want happiness and hope for them!! My feelings are as complicated as they are!

I like to explore Riza and Roy in different ways, but I suppose I prefer a dignified and sad ending for them. I think they should be involved in the restoration of Ishval--equivalent exchange, right? But would Ishval even want to accept their help? Should they be allowed to ever enter Isvhal again? I'm not sure. I like the idea of their relationship never being exposed outside of their inner circle. I like the idea of them being held accountable for their crimes in whatever way that might look like. Whatever happens, I would want them to face it together--the joy, the fear, the love, the loss. They are such complicated characters in canon, and I can't imagine anything afterwards would be straight forwarded or easy for them.