Why Royai Is Objectively Canon

Why Royai is Objectively Canon

I love this topic so much and had to enthusiastically yak about it. I’m also nervous making this post… but you know what? Life’s too short to not talk Royai. I said about a week ago that I’d write a post demonstrating why canon material presents romantic Royai as objectively canon. Haha, I don’t believe this is Royai shippers perceiving skewed information for what we want! ^.^

For my perspective, I’m someone who tends not to be drawn to romantic ships, canon or fanon. I rarely ship and I’m almost never gungho about ships. I’m aroace and I find the greatest celebrations in familial platonic and familial relationships. Those are the things I emphasize and look into in my own fictional fixations. I’m slightly cynical by nature that authors intend a close relationship to be implicitly, implied romantic unless there’s obvious sign posts demonstrating that. I’m more likely to argue something implicit isn’t romantic rather than argue it is, honestly. Even if I find myself shipping something (and I do hardcore ship Royai), I keep a strong distinction between what’s canon and what’s fanon, and I don’t care if my ships become canon or not. It doesn’t mean I’m without my bias, but hopefully this gives everyone an angle on what my biases or not are.

Regardless, I firmly believe that Hiromu Arakawa - and in fact every iteration of the FMA franchise - intends Royai to be perceived as romantic interest. It’s written subtly at times, but it’s written intentionally.

Some points I make below will be more objective, undeniable, concrete proofs than others. For each section I’m writing, I’m (generally) putting the strongest, most concrete evidence on top, alongside asterisks to say that this is a VERY important point. But my list also includes minor moments that on their own wouldn’t “prove” Royai. However, in the context of everything else, they provide a gestalt understanding of how Royai interact and are intentionally written/drawn throughout the franchise and especially the manga/FMAB.

I could honestly write essays over EVERY bullet point on this list, but I’ll restrain myself. Yes, this long post is me actually restraining myself. XD

A BRIEF STARTING ESSAY SUMMARIZING KEY POINTS

Grumman, who’s rather keen in sensing motivation, suggests Roy marry his granddaughter, Riza. Roy’s foster mother Chris suggests that Roy should “play with Elizabeth” when he’s feeling blue. When Roy says another man takes Elizabeth-chan away from him, Vanessa asks if this means Roy’s now romantically available - indicating that Riza is where Roy’s romantic interests lie. In fact, both Roy and Riza demonstrate occasional moments of jealousy when someone shows romantic interest in the other. Roy gets disproportionately defensive when Barry hits on Riza. Riza, meanwhile, tries to sabotage one of Roy’s dates by overloading him with paperwork. When she fails to prevent the date, she goes to the shooting range to noticeably vent, catching both Falman and Fuery’s attention for her abnormal behavior.

Royai tend to use formal language to one another, Riza almost exclusively addressing Mustang as「 大佐 」 (colonel). Roy makes sure to put in「 中尉 」 (lieutenant) lots amidst various second-person pronouns. However, when both are emotionally vulnerable and speaking from their heart about each other, like when Riza thinks she might have to shoot Roy, they drop formalities. Roy then never calls her “lieutenant,” instead exclusively uses a term that can be endearing and affectionate, 「 君 」, and uses this word when he says, “I can’t afford to lose you.” Riza, even more tellingly, calls Mustang 「あなた」- something she never calls him in formal situations - an affectionate term wives use to call their husbands. 

The body language and facial expressions Royai give each other is notably different from how they interact with family and close friends. Mustang isn’t someone who engages in much physical contact, be it with his aunt or his best friend Hughes. He sometimes appears irritated if Hughes hops in for an arm around the shoulder. Riza in turn doesn’t reach out for notable physical contact with Rebecca or other friends. But the look of affection Roy gives when Riza is injured in his arms and he realizes she’s safe… is a look he gives no one else. He cradles her and embraces her so tightly that Mei has to remind him Riza’s still injured. When Mustang loses his eyesight, he doesn’t just grab Riza’s hand to get some navigation guidance… but manages to sling his arm around her shoulder. And while it makes sense for Hawkeye to hold onto him in the final fight to keep him oriented, there is a certain level of intimacy to not just holding him by the shoulder, but putting her hand on his chest, too.

Royai demonstrate extreme closeness for one another and preference for the other above all else. Romance doesn’t have to be your closest relationship, but the fact that Royai are so emotionally close only adds support to the rest of my points. Riza would be devastated at the thought of losing Mustang, so much she starts crying and gives up on life in “Death of the Undying,” and then in “Beyond the Inferno” says she’d kill herself alongside Mustang. Roy, in turn, has traumatic flashbacks imagining that Hawkeye might get killed by Gluttony, and is so frantic about her health in “Lost Light” that he is oblivious to an enemy almost attacking and killing him from the back. Mustang even admits to Bradley that he almost risked his physical health and the entire country’s safety… because he wanted to do human transmutation to save Hawkeye’s life. He would risk all that for one special woman.

Multiple characters beyond Chris Mustang, Grumman, and Vanessa indicate that they know Royai is close. Envy immediately believes Riza when she suggests she and Mustang are intimate. The gold-toothed alchemist and Bradley both know that Riza is the specific way to get to Roy’s heart. And throughout the story, Royai is written as a parallel point to Edwin. Riza tells Winry that she sticks with the military in support of one man, which helps give Winry the resolution to support the own man she loves. Riza understands Ed’s desire to protect Winry - a woman Riza knows Ed loves - because Riza, too, has someone dear she needs to protect. Everything from in-story parallels to official art often put Edwin and Royai as counters to each other.

An oft-quoted interview with Hiromu Arakawa published in the thing manga art book has the writer answering a question of why Royai aren’t married. If they weren’t romantically inclined, Arakawa would have said that. Instead, she explained that the thing preventing them from joining in matrimony was military anti-fraternization regulations. 

Other material outside of what Arakawa wrote herself or was placed in FMAB depict romantic Royai as well. 4Koma Theatre (which Arakawa also drew panels for in Chronicle) contains jokes where Mustang shows attraction to Hawkeye. The 2003 anime ends with Mustang reaching out to Hawkeye’s hair and calling her beautiful, and the two of them sharing smiles in the marketplace that show emotions they’ve given no one else. The 2003 character song “Rainy Day No Thanks” contains extremely flirtatious lines from both - it’s in fact a love song. Hawkeye calls Mustang’s actions “cute” and says she wants to hold him close, while Mustang says Riza is “a sexy lady to escort with a kiss.” Art from Daughter of the Dusk and Conqueror of Shamballa show Riza with her hand on Roy’s arm, much as you would see couples walk down the street. Mustang, sparkling and grinning in flirtation, calls Hawkeye so beautiful she takes words away in Prince of the Dawn, and is rather keen to hold onto a sexy photograph of her in a stunning dress in (I believe) Daughter of the Dusk. Maes Hughes seems rather interested in the idea of Roy and Riza pairing up for a team event in Dream Carnival, and teases them to the point of suggesting he could see them making out - which gets Riza abashed. 

All this material combined presents what I believe is a clear case to canon Royai romantic affections, regardless of whether or not you wish to ship it! (and no worries, we can all ship what we please!)

Now, this isn’t about the idea that romance is inherently “closer.” Roy and Riza are clearly close. Familial and platonic bonds can be just as close as romance, though. But the proof that this is coded as implicit romance is clear throughout the franchise, and clearly intended by the creator of the characters herself. So many of these things I mentioned would never be the case if not intended to be romantically coded. Vanessa asking if Riza’s departure means Roy’s now romantically available; Hawkeye sabotaging a date; Riza calling Mustang an affectionate term that’s not familial or platonic in nature; Arakawa herself saying Royai would get married if not for work regulations. Roy and Riza might never be able to act upon romantic interests in one another, but their affections are nevertheless underlyingly romantic. 

And now… the list I have. It’s not even anywhere close to comprehensive. But it should more than enough get the point across.

Czytaj dalej

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Basil - BPD headcanons

This is a self indulgent post (maybe a vent?) but I’ve seen that other people headcanon Basil with bpd so I decided to make a more in depth post about it.

Major spoilers btw

Affective (Emotional) Instability

Basil tends to flip between emotions quite quickly. During the final fight, he switches between being gentle and being upset/angry. He first talks calmly to Sunny, then switches to being mad at him for moving away, then trying to be calm again as he tries to take on Sunny’s pain, then of course he ends up fighting Sunny and getting mad at him for trying to stop him. He struggles to keep his anger in and ends up having bursts of anger directed at Sunny, ultimately leading to him badly injuring Sunny.

It’s also implied that Basil had suicidal thoughts since he was about 12 or even before then as he is the one who comes up with the idea to frame Mari’s murder as a suicide by tying the skipping rope into a noose, which again suggests even at a young age he has had difficulty controlling his emotions.

Also, if you assume the Hooligans tell the truth, when Basil goes to the hangout spot, he spontaneously starts screaming and crying for no reason.

Disturbed Patterns of Thinking

Unlike Sunny who chooses to repress the incident, Basil holds onto the guilt. Basil grasps onto the belief that Sunny wasn’t the one who killed Mari, that Something overcame him and that’s what killed Mari and scribbled out the pictures from the photo album, therefore removing the burden of guilt from Sunny. He also sees his Something, even though the reality is nothing is there. But he sees it and feels it’s presence. And the Something is what made him fight Sunny and cut him in the eye. He believes that he is removing Something from Sunny, when in actuality he was just hurting Sunny.

Impulsive Behaviour

It’s not really shown what sort of impulsive things Basil does, but I assume that he probably does or has self harmed considering he knew about suicide from a young age. Also, on the final day, it’s safe to assume his desire to commit suicide was somewhat impulsive. He hadn’t attempted suicide before then (that we know of), but the shock of seeing Sunny again and stress of him leaving likely caused Basil to go over the edge. (And ofc depending on your choices, he may end up actually killing himself. He likely bottled up his pain and stress to the point that it caused him to end his life.)

Unstable Relationships

After the incident, Basil seemed reluctant to study with Aubrey, perhaps out of a fear that she would abandon him like Sunny did. And sadly that fear came to pass when Aubrey mistakenly believed that Basil scribbled out the faces in the photo album. Also, on “two days remaining”, Basil goes back to the hangout spot, likely because he can’t let go of what everyone has. He desperately wants things to go back to normal, when everyone was together.

Basil also refers to the friendships he had with everyone in the past tense, showing he feels as though everyone had left him and they were no longer friends, though Kel assured him of their friendship.

The biggest example of this though is that Basil keeps telling Sunny not to leave him. He feels immense distress and pain whenever Sunny tries to leave this room, probably not helped by the fact he was left alone to deal with Mari’s death alone and also because he didn’t know Sunny was moving until Kel mentioning it casually. This likely isn’t helped by Sunny’s repressed emotions, which may have come across as abandonment to Basil. Going back to the battle, Basil flicks between a desire to save Sunny and rage at Sunny trying to leave him again.

Basil cares deeply about Sunny, so after the incident, having Sunny suddenly hide away caused Basil a great deal of anxiety. Seeing him again 4 years later and learning he would soon be gone again would have only increased that anxiety, which is why Basil gets paranoid about Sunny trying to leave and so repeatedly asks Sunny not to go.

———

Anyways, hopefully this wasn’t insanely inaccurate. My knowledge of bpd is still fairly limited, but I plan to research it more…for no particular reason. Please let me know if you have any thoughts!

We all know this is what kept Victor motivated when he was in prison