Hey everyone!

Just want to leave a little reminder for members to keep using spoiler tags! Particularly with end of series spoiler content (and also in the case of this thread, regarding the art-book 3 comment!) As always, this is to keep members and guests from unwittingly seeing uncovered spoilers which will...well, spoil them! This goes for other plot points, as well.

We also have designated threads where end of series and Royai spoilers can be discussed freely in the Spoiler Zone such as Thread for Royai Fans who had finished reading/watching FMA Manga/FMA:Brotherhood and Thread for Royai fans who read Arakawa comment in FMA manga artbook III.

But, again, if you do mention such spoilers here in this thread as it's part of your argument/explanation, please make sure to cover with spoiler tags; and if the spoilers concern the end of the series, please also leave an end of series content warning before it.

Thank you!

Oh, no, he's born and raised American - he just has Scottish ancestry. On his mother's side, I believe, because she was wearing a tartan sash for the wedding.


Sorry about forgetting to use the spoiler blackout - I'm not entirely used to it, and I'm not really sure what constitutes a spoiler and what doesn't. Obviously if I were speaking about the end of the series, that would be a spoiler, but my remark that got blacked out was in reference to Roy chastising Riza after she nearly went suicide-by-Lust because she thought he was dead. Since that happens comparitively early in the story, I didn't know it still counted as a spoiler.

<I sent you a PM! And I'll try and get back to you on this point soon --it's a good one! ETA: Yes, points in the story such as this do count as spoilers. While it is indeed an 'early' spoiler, there are those (members and guests) who have only just started to watch anime 1/brotherhood or read the manga so they may be spoiled of events to come, whether they happen earlier or later in the story. I hope this helps! If anyone is a little puzzled when it comes to spoilers, don't be afraid to ask. >

Ling and Lan Fan? I actually ship it, and I remember hoping for more shippy moments since they encountered Bradley because that was when I started getting interested in their characters. They weren't as prominent or as obvious, and I could still interpret their relationship with a higher degree of ambiguity than with Roy and Riza.

@LadyNorbert - Aww, they look so wonderful! That's a pretty awesome sounding wedding!

I guess there's always room for some mild Alternative Character Interpretation Hello, fellow troper. Haha, although I don't really have my own account on there.

@FirstMoon - Actually, I was thinking less FST and more AMV for one of the songs, and the other one should have fit perfectly if Riza died instead when her throat was cut open, with Roy being forced to open the gate and failing since it fits with the song's Orpheus/Eurydice theme.

If you don't mind I'll talk a bit about it now The first song is Engines by Gary Go. I was thinking of making the theme fit with the trains (and maybe cars) of Amestris interspersed with Royai ahaha. It's a little cheesy at points maybe but when you hear the song it's quite lovely.



Although tbh I have no idea how to make an AMV, so it'll be a rotting idea.

The other one, Eurydice by Sleepthief ft. Jody Quine, has interesting lyrics, I mean the whole death theme from Orpheus and Eurydice isn't necessarily required, but it certainly makes the words more powerful. Two stanzas because it's kind of bullseye, for me anyway haha.



@Turdaewen - Aww, that's unfortunate. I'm actually part of the Hetalia fandom, but I'm part of a smaller community that doesn't completely focus on the pairings much and are pretty diverse in terms of preference in pairings, and are careful not to offend, to say the least. Although they can be a pretty... shocking group some times. They have tendencies.

But I do agree that the fandom has a whole kind of has a… questionable and controversial image to say the least.

@ FMA Obsessed - That was wonderful!! I loved it! So well put and well thought out. A perfect end to Royai Day.

FMAObsessed: I love your thoughts on Royai. I feel like I've learned a little bit more about it and I just love how you put that all together and how well thought out everything was. It was perfect

For the LingFan thing, I kind of don't understand why Ling and Lan Fan are considered more canon than Royai in that thing (sorry, I don't know what it is or anything about it). Because in all honesty, I don't think Arakawa intended for them to be canon at all, since Ling's whole theme is "friendship" and such. I mean, they're cute and I'll support them, but I don't think anything beyond friendship is intended for them. I think there's a lot more evidence for Royai rather than Lingfan, so I'm a tad confused.

About TVTropes : I have a case of love and hate with this website. I love it because it's pretty entertaining to read what has in common with what in various shows/manga/games/etc we like. However, the fact that this website can be pretty biaised pisses me off. When it comes to pairings, I've seen entries being deleted and falacious stuff put instead ... Also, this website can make you lose precious hours lol, but well... everyone knows that while going there .

But seeing people against Royai (Did some fans really quit after reading Arakawa's comment ?) is a bit surprising... considering how loved they are (I mean, I know pairings, some that I even consider similar to Royai... who are loved by half of a fandom and loathed/ignored by the other... but Royai always seemed to be accepted by a major part of FMA's fandom).

Now about Ling/LanFan : I understand why this entry on TVTropes surprised you. My opinion is that the couple is very similar to Royai (and I like them as well)... but it's also less of a focus than Royai. So, yeah, I don't understand this entry either... Royai (WARNING! Series ending spoilers!)didn't get "resolved" (just like Roy's goal, this is something for us to imagine I guess) in the end, but not only LanFan/Ling got the same treatment, but they also never got as much scenes as Royai (which makes them having romantic feelings for each other more debatable than Royai I guess *but IMO, I thought it was pretty obvious there was more than pure friendship between LF and Ling*).

<Hi! Please make sure that, even if you're remarking about the end of FMA in the most general terms, you use spoiler tags. Better safe than sorry! ~Board Staff>

EDIT : Okay. I hesitated actually for this bit... I should have used spoiler tags then.

Thank you to everyone who read my Royai analysis. I have been wantig to write one for awhile, but had trouble figuring where I wanted to go with it. There was stuff I even forgot to add like the chess piece. Maybe I will write another one. I guess being an english major and writing essays comes in handy. But now I am wondering how I can improve it.

@ Aria Pierrot: Very nice inputs. My favorite is Chibi Riza with Roy in his hand. n__n And your drawing is very cute. And I wish I could do that, the color is not mine.
@ Schnabeltier, I like your drawings, but my favorite were the doodles. So cute! And the last is very loving. ♥
@ Michiyo: thanks for the pics of Chocolate queen, I love her art. And your picture is so cute.
@ HawkseyeM1910: I love your picture. I love to see them close together. And Riza's great. I love the pictures showing the tattoo. If I could do one, would be exactly like that.
@ 4DE: That's a classic image of Royai, Good job.
@ StormGoddess: I love that fanart ... Your friend is a big Royai ... I love it.
@ XUltimate_Shieldx King and Queen is the most adorable I've seen. Simply beautiful.
@ RoyxRizaFan: I like a nice compilation with royai moments.
@ Dark-Winds, @ xUltimate_Shieldx That rich cake. Royai see that every fan should have in your life at least a cake over to Roy and Riza. (Except me, I have no figures of them TwT. I'm beautiful. Send me a slice of Mexico. XD
@ Panana His drawing is amazing. I love it. River of blood going through, but together, the tree symbolizes growth.
@ Lizzard_2010: I loved your drawing, the 2 with Hayate. It's almost like his son, Riza's mom is strict.
@ Radicaldreamer: Excellent contribution, very cute. As the name of the artist?
@ Ignacio: OO I wish I could do that even if I have time. I am very cute.
@ RedAsATomato: Very nice picture, looks demonstrate confidence.

By the way, thanks everyone for their comments on my contributions. That cute!
The writing fanfics and everything, I'll read and comment later. And my reasons for loving the Royai, the expose on another occasion, I have to think that's what I say, not because I do not know what to say, but because there is much to say.

I'm really excited, ladies (and gents if there are any), because I just completed my first-ever fanvid on YouTube! (I took a break from the next chapter of Three Generals.) Of course it's RoyAi. When I first heard the song in this vid, I thought of our favorite pairing immediately, and I finally took the time to make this video today. I hope you like it!

Edited: *sigh* Never mind. I got read the riot act for using fan art without permission (never mind that 99% of all the OTHER fan vids on YouTube do the same thing), so I pulled the video. Oh well, at least I have it on my hard drive. I guess I could email it if anyone wants it.

Thank you very much, yadi ina! I'm glad you liked the pics (and my fanart) that I posted!

@FMAobsessed Ack! I totally forgot to leave a comment on your amazing Royai analysis even though I read it many times! xD As it has been said already, it is simply awesome and brilliantly insightful. You've gotten me thinking of some things that I hadn't even thought about before. I loved reading it --and it's brilliantly written!

@LadyNorbert Aaaaaw...It's such a shame that you've had to delete it! I would love to see it if you wouldn't mind sending it my way! (And the photo you posted is beautiful!)

@jacksparrow589 I'm really glad that I could help out!

@LadyNorbert: I feel I must comment on the awesomeness that is your husband's mustache. Beautiful picture, by the way. I would defintely love to see that video. It's a shame you had to take it down, especially since there's many others who have fan art, as well.

yadi ina:Thank you very much for the compliment

I know there's a separate forum for the movie, but I felt I could make a remark about it here since it involves Roy and Riza. Has anyone seen the video of Roy teaching Riza and Winry about some geography on the FMA movie website?
I don't know what he's exactly telling them because I can only understand some things. But I thought they all looked ridiculously cute in it. xD <"Teach Us, Instructor, Roy!" vid caps/translations/summary posted in the FMA MiloStar movie forum on our board. Please check it out! C: ~Board Staff>

*giggle* I just read your comment about his mustache out loud to said husband, whose response was essentially this: He's so cute, and he has no idea how cute he is.

To anyone who wants the vid (thanks, guys), just PM me your email address and I'll send it along.

Meanwhile, trying to finish chapter 19! But I keep getting sidetracked by TV Tropes!

Royai Day is already over, but ohhh well...

Here it is angerulegna's AU fanfic De la simetría de los mundos ("On worlds' parallels") first chapter translation. Couldn't post it till now, because I just got the author's permission (and time enough) to do so. I have to warn you: it has spoilers up to manga's 101th chapter and Brotherhood's 59th episode (but you won't recognize them if you didn't know them beforehand). Hope you like it.

Dakkun39. Like I said, this artist mostly does Xenogears/Saga and Okami fanarts... but from time to time, he makes others (Final Fantasy, Ghost in the Shell... and other series I'm maybe not familiar with... they're in the Memo *I think he should create a "Others" category*). This Royai pic is the first and only FMA fanart I've seen from him (there is still an unfinished drawing in the Memo... maybe it was a preliminary drawing he wasn't satisfied with, go see for yourself if you're interested)... for now (I would be in heaven if he made more of them in the future).

@Kaori Ayanami That sounds like a pretty awesome story so far! It has an interesting concept. Thank you for translating it and sharing it with us! And don't worry about Royai day being over --we can share Royai goodness in this thread any time.

@LadyNorbert *Sends you email address*

a little off topic, but my friend just found this beautiful royai image



I was wondering if anyone knew what it was from or had a better resolution of it?

<3

^ Hi gretchen8642, welcome back, and welcome to the Royai thread!

I think that pic was posted by Telramko during our Royai Day celebration period (on June 12) on this Royai thread here. ^^
Although, she doesn't know where it's from, and basically everyone here is looking for more info on that pic also.

--

@Kaori Ayanami - Thank you for translating that fic! You did nice job!

Everyone, I'm still catching up on Royai Day pics and fics... (so much to do for keeping this place running ^^) but they all seem amazing, and I'm looking forward to reading all the fics and then adding my belated comments for Royai Day pics and fics later. ^^

I've found 2 better quality pics of that awesome Royai card:



It's from this FMA "Gum Cards" set.

Also, I made some icons, feel free to use them.

Wow!! Thank you so much for the better quality pictures, Michiyo-! You're the master when it comes to finding these awesome things. xP And those icons are marvellous! It's one of the best official pictures of Roy and Riza I've ever seen!

*hugs Michiyo-!!* Thank you so much for the info!!
And, those avatars are lovely!! Thank you for making them and sharing them with us. ^^

I agree, it's one of the most Royaiish official card/FMA march I've ever seen!

So, you can get this card when you buy this chewing gum for only 105 Japanese Yen (tax included)?!
Wow, if I were in Japan, I would buy up tons of them just to collect the cards!!

Hey, gretchen8642, you seem suspiciously familiar...

Eee, icon versions of that beautiful art! Thanks for that, Michiyo

Also, my apologies to anyone who wanted me to send them the Royai vid I had to take down - it exceeded my email's maximum allowable file size for an attachment. But I'm going to remake the vid using the same song with Brotherhood screencaps (about which I don't think anyone can criticize me), and when that's ready I'll post it here. It'll probably not be anytime before next week, though, and that's at the earliest.

*goes back to 3Gen, because that bloody chapter needs to be finished*

@Tombow Wow! I want to go to Japan to get that gum, too, to get all the cards!

@LadyNorbert I'm looking forward to seeing your amv! And I'm looking forward to the next chapter of The Game of Three Generals!

Which gets me thinking that it may be a good time to shamelessly plug the board's FMA festival! If anyone has any Royai/Roy/Riza-related contributions to make for this year's FMA Fan Fun Festival, whether it be fanarts, fanfics, AMVs/MMVs, singing, cooking and craft works, feel free to take part! It's a celebration for our love for FMA, so obviously, Royai --as do Roy and Riza themselves -- come into the equation. I mean, I personally think that they help make FMA awesome because they're amazing characters. xP You can get more info on the festival activities in the FMA Fan Fun Festival thread. Obviously, the festival isn't restricted to Royai, but I thought I'd give it a mention just in case people would like to share their love of FMA, as a fan, through their favourite couple/characters! There are also other cool FMA activities to check out, too!

This Royai card was so awesome it inspired me a bit (please, excuse the mistakes... because I'm sure I did a lot of them * is feeling quite unsatisfied with her drawing skills lately*).
Click to view attachment
And Havoc is angsting about his legs. Doesn't have anything to do with Royai but I wanted to draw him.

@RadicalDreamer Heeeey! That's absolutely amazing! I love the way you draw Roy and Riza --you have an incredible style; I love it!

Okay, Michiyo, you're amazing. Now just let me know when they come out with a wall poster of it XP

And awesome art, RadicalDreamer! Love it!

Michiyo-, you're amazing! Thank you!

Radical Dreamer--Nonsense! Those are wonderful drawings!

gretchen8642--Welcome back!

Wow, I love that 'Royai gumcard', it looks beautiful.

*Ahem*... I have a question for all you wonderful Royai fans (I will try to word this right, english isn't my native language, so bear with me) - recently, me and my friend got into a pretty big argument (just for fun of course) about which pairing is better- Royai or IchiRuki (Ichigo and Rukia from Bleach - and yes, I know it's a sad thing to get into a 'argument' about, haha). Now, there wouldn't be a problem in her prefering IchiRuki, if it wasn't because she said Royai is a shallow pairing with 'zero evidence ' (she has read the manga, so I pretty much went 'what, you can't be serious?!' when she said that). Basically she thinks IchiRuki is a million times deeper, unless I can convince her otherwise. So, my question for you is; why is Royai the better relationship, and what makes it - in your opinion - better than IchiRuki?

Okay, I know this is completely silly, and if it's against the rules to mention any other pairings here, I'm sorry but...just answer the question if you can.

QUOTE (Sakuyahanabi @ Jun 23 2011, 04:50 AM)

*Ahem*... I have a question for all you wonderful Royai fans (I will try to word this right, english isn't my native language, so bear with me) - recently, me and my friend got into a pretty big argument (just for fun of course) about which pairing is better- Royai or IchiRuki (Ichigo and Rukia from Bleach - and yes, I know it's a sad thing to get into a 'argument' about, haha). Now, there wouldn't be a problem in her prefering IchiRuki, if it wasn't because she said Royai is a shallow pairing with 'zero evidence ' (she has read the manga, so I pretty much went 'what, you can't be serious?!' when she said that). Basically she thinks IchiRuki is a million times deeper, unless I can convince her otherwise. So, my question for you is; why is Royai the better relationship, and what makes it - in your opinion - better than IchiRuki?

Okay, I know this is completely silly, and if it's against the rules to mention any other pairings here, I'm sorry but...just answer the question if you can.

Welcome to Royai thread, Sakuyahanabi! ^^

Actually, we CAN mention other pairings on this thread. That is not against our rules.
But, we don't allow bashing or bad-mouthing of other pairings or shippers of such pairings, from FMA or from other fandom, and for that reason, we generally try to avoid "Royai is better/superior/deeper/whatnot than couple A (or B or C...)" type discussions here. (Also, generally, we try to avoid doing this type of "hearsay Fandom debate" on our board...without giving a chance to hear/read the whole original statement/ or having the representative who can speak for "the other side" because, from our experiences we think such Fandom debate could get one-sided. ) Instead...

You're very welcome to find out why we like Royai, and what makes Royai a "deep" relationship in our opinion. I highly recommend taking a peek at "My Thoughts and Reflection on Royai" posted by FMAobsessed. I think it's a beautiful statement representing the way many Royai fans here feel about this couple (and more ^^) as well as checking out many other wonderful statements posted on this subject by many of awesome posters on this thread. Or, hopefully, some others can shed light on this and share their opinions also.

Okay, thanks for informing me, Tombow, I will take a look around; this thread has good 1506 pages, so I'm sure many, many people have stated and reflected on their reasons for why they love this pairing so much.

Btw, does anyone know about this fanfic... I read it on fanfiction.net a while ago, but now I can't find it. I can't remember the name, and maybe I'm wrong, but I think it was a part of an trilogy, and like an aftermath of the manga ending. The first part was about (Warning! Series Final Spoiler!! --->) Ed and Winry's wedding, but also focus on many other characters, like Roy and Riza (with many cute moment between them). It's a great story, and everyone is so in-character, but I only got to read the first few chapters... I would love to read it again.

Welcome to the Royai thread, Sakuyahanabi! By the sounds of it, you're talking about LadyNorbert's brilliantly awesome Elemental Chess Trilogy. (Warning --> Contains end of series spoilers) Just to be sure, is this the story you started reading? xP That's the first in her trilogy. This is the only trilogy I can think of fitting that description!

Either way, people should read it if they get the chance. I've said it before and I'll say it again: It's awesome.

^ Yes, that's the one! Thank you so much! *Starts reading*

oh my god. i was just gonna look around for the one last time and get some Royai sweetness before going to bed and then I saw that post. I've been a shipper for quite some years now and never have I felt the want to have my say in the matter so irresistable to the point i am actually posting before, the irony of it being that no fight had even begun here but I was compelled to make my first post about a ship. The problem here is, I am a BIG, BIG, BIG fan of both Royai and Ichiruki. Pairings like Royai are just so hard to find and I was feeling happy to discover pairings just as heartwarming and loveable as Royai. So do imagine my sadness when somebody even thought of comparing them at all. I just couldn't believe my eyes.

Ok. Having relieved my emotional stress I must, for the sake of upholding standard community etiquette and showing respect to fellow Royai fanatics ( ), do the customary introduction that the honored seniors of this discussion board must have noticed to be missing by now.

Hello everyone, I'm new here and I <3 x10^100000000000 Royai.
よろしくお願いします!!!!!!!
ロイアイがジャスティス！！！！！！

Oh wow, I'm sorry! Haha, well, I guess you can compare them in that sense that they're both 'battle couples' or partners of some sort, and both from shonen series, but other than that, their relationships are very different. In all honestly, I like both pairings, but love Royai a little more so.

@Sakuyahanabi:
I don't think the relationship between Ichigo and Rukia can really be compared to Royai. I do love both pairings though.

To me, Royai is much more deep, they share a history together and their lives are entwined by a dream they share together. Their relationship is one between adults, and the way they show compassion for each other is different. From that moment at her fathers grave and he shared his goal with her and when she entrusted her back to him, and then eventually he to her, their fate together was pretty much sealed. Some other "evidence" of their relationship is when Riza broke down and was going to let Lust kill her when she thought Roy was dead. Not to mention after Roy "lost it" from fighting Envy (and was being scolded by Scar and Ed) he told her "I can't lose you too" when she threatened her own life.

Rukia and Ichigo, have a younger relationship, seeing as they tease and yell at each other and that's their way of showing compassion for one another. A relationship between Ichigo and Rukia may seem to be more apparent, but then again, even as a Ichigo/Rukia shipper, I still have to admit that a relationship between Ichigo and Orihime can come across as being apparent too (even though I really, really dislike it).

When I say relationship, I don't necessarily mean it's romantic, but a close bond that the two characters share only with each other.

I really am surprised your friend thinks there is "zero evidence" even after reading the manga. I guess that's what makes it Royai though, it's subtle but it's definitely there, you just have to read between the lines! :]
(Warning! Major Royai spoiler!)Not to mention, Royai has been confirmed as being canon by Arakawa in Artbook 3. .

I love both pairings, but given the length of the shows, the story lines, and character interactions in both, they can't really be compared. Though, I wanted to point out some little things that could be considered as "evidence."
FMA is already done and over with and certain things have been confirmed.
Bleach is on-going, and seeing as they just started a new arc, I don't think it's going to end anytime soon, so we may never know or not know for a long time about certain things being confirmed.

Thank you for answering my question, HawkseyeM1910!


I think you're right in everything you said, especially with this. ^

You're right about it being hard to compare them, especially because of that fact. IchiRuki does have a 'younger relationship' - Ichigo is still a young teenager (well, okay, he recently turned seventeen), and Rukia a teenager in, well...shinigami years. Roy and Riza are two grown adults, who have been through many hardships together, so their relationship are likely more 'deep' or 'mature' (Its the same thing when comparing EdWin and Royai...I love both pairings, but they really can't be compared, mainly beacuse of the age difference. We don't know how Ed and Winry's relationship is going to change when they're in their late twenties and more mature, we only know how they acted around each other when they where young teens, and just discovering their feelings.) I'm not sure if Ichigo and Rukia share any romantic feelings for each other (it's simply too vauge to tell yet) but whatever their feelings are, is something they still have to figure out. I feel like Roy and Riza already 'knows', they're older, wiser about life and love, and that's the difference.

So yeah, in many ways, I guess it was unfair to compare these pairings, but oh well. What's done is done.

@Sakuyahanabi: No problem. ^.^
I agree with you saying Ichigo and Rukia have yet to figure out their feelings if there are any, while Roy and Riza already have.

And it wasn't "unfair" to compare them, besides its fun to look at interactions between other characters. No harm done!

I didn't say this in my other post but welcome to the board too! <3

Sakuyahanabi and tunawonder --Welcome!

Every so often, we get into comparing moods here on the Royai thread, so, as you can tell, it's definitely not forbidden to mention any other pairing. Just as long as you try to stay on-topic. If, however, you were to start going on about IchiRuki without mentioning Royai at all, that would be different. As you, haven't, well, it's absolutely fine.

Although, I really don't know anything about IchiRuki, so I can't contribute to the conversation. ^^; I can say that I know that their "relationship" (such as it is) isn't as long-standing as Royai, but that's about it. Do carry on, though, if there's more to say! I just thought I'd pop in and say hi.

@HawkseyeM1910 - I like your analysis very much! I think it's spot-on!

And, jacksparrow589 has a good point about not going off-topic. ^^ Yes, we can bring up other couples, and that's quite fine, as long as not going "trash talk" on such couples, and not going off-topic.

Also, welcome to our board, and welcome to Royai thread, tunawonder! Glad to have you with us!

Hello fellow Royai shippers. I've just read through a lot of pages here, and I love all the analysis on Royai; it makes me love the couple even more. <3

I've heard it's okay to talk about other couples here (as long as you don't go completely off-topic from Royai) so, I have just have one question I've wanted to ask on this board for a long time now; why, oh why is the EdxWinry thread not even half as popular as the Royai thread? I see all this great discussion about Royai, even essay-long post about the greatness of this pairing (it's all true btw, they truly are great) but next to nothing like that is in the EdWin thread. Both pairings are my OTP's-over-all-others, so that just makes me sad. xD EdWin may not be Royai, but are they truly not worth discussing? (Ok, now I'm just worried I got off-topic after all, but I really want to know! I'm losing faith as a EdWin shipper, lol. And no one would answer if I posted this in the EdWin thread, I think).

@Sakuyahanabi I'm sorry I can't participate in your discussion concerning Royai and IchiRuki --I've never watched/read Bleach in my life!

@Hikarioneza One of the reasons could be that perhaps Royai, because of it's subtlety etc, is more open to interpretation than Edwin; therefore, it could be that it's something that can be delved into quite deeply and explored, hence provoking more discussion. There are so many people on this thread that can explain the amazing-ness of Royai so much better than I can, but I can add that little thought of mine...

Looking at at it from a slightly different perspective, arguably, at least part of the reason may be that we seem to generally have more Royai shippers here as it stands now-- enthusiastic and active ones at that; in other words, many of the members that frequent this thread keep it thriving by asking questions for discussion. It could even be that this discussion may potentially be what persuades guests (who are Royai fans) to join up and join the discussions themselves. But as I said, this may be a 'smaller' reason as to why this thread is more active --but I think it's at least partly a contributing factor to this thread's activity.

Come to think of it, we do have an Edwin or Royai? Thread which also may help shed some light on why Royai seems to be more popular. xP

As much as I love Royai, I'd love to have more discussion on the EdWin thread, considering that I actually love that couple more than Royai.

@Sakuyahanabi:
You can also show your friend this to prove your point about Royai. It list crucial points of the chapters about Roy and Riza's bond. *It doesn't list everything because the person wrote it before the manga finished. *Also, you may want to read the comments because some people added other crucial points. :]
http://royai.livejournal.com/348112.html (Warning!! Spoiler-filled with Royai moments)

@Hikarioneza: I agree with what's been said about why Royai may seem to be more popular. I don't necessarily think it is, maybe on this board, but there are plenty of other sites where Edwin was more popular and even Roy/Ed. I read someone else who said this, but I completely agree with, that Edwin may seem to be less popular than Royai because since it's the main couple, you know it's going to work out, but Roy/Riza is up to the reader's interpretation if it's more than just a superior/subordinate relationship or not.
*Personally, I love both. Actually, I love all the canon couples :]

My sister and I were talking about this and we couldn't really decide, so I'll ask you guys. If Riza were the superior and Roy were the subordinate, how different would their dynamic be? Would it essentially be the same?

Allow me to expound on it, if by some whim, she was promoted ahead of Roy instead after the war [but keeping most of their essential back story], would he try to enlist her aid / convince her to take him as subordinate?

I think it's pretty much the same and this is probably a rather over-used question with a predictable outcome but I wonder what everyone else thinks?

If I'm not making any sense at all, forgive me, I'm very sleepy and I probably fell asleep after posting this. Coherent thoughts, what is that.

EDIT: @HawkseyeM1910 - I just had to come back for that link! It's definitely an interesting read and it's a really helpful guide. I've been meaning to find all the ~moments myself glad someone beat me to it.

i CANT imagine that :/ the story of them is already perfect, because riza is following him, he's not following her u know, the idea of riza protecting roy is awesome, roy protecting riza is too common in anime, woman never does that to a man in anime (at least in most animes) so i think it wouldnt make any sense to the story between them

Schnabeltier--I think my brain broke trying to imagine that. Really, it's hard, but I think that, if that were the only change, everything would pretty much stay the same. That'd be pretty cool to see, actually, I think.

@HawkseyeM1910 - Thanks for the link! A whole list with most of the Royai moments shown in the manga, huh? Awesome.

Sakuyahanabi, welcome aboard - and oh my goodness, I'm so flattered! Geez, gang, I feel like a mini-celebrity or something.

Speaking of the trilogy, what I actually ran over here to tell you all is that it's DONE. I just posted the final chapters of The Game of Three Generals! I can't tell you how accomplished I feel, although I also feel a little sad that it's over. Except, as I announce at the very end, it's not quite over; later this summer I'm going to do a prequel about our beloved Royai and Hughes during their time in the war. However, I want to finish my novel first!

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know, since everyone here is so nice about my work, and to thank you all again for all the support. I'm gonna get some sleep soon...after I put the trilogy on TV Tropes.

@LadyNorbert: I finished your trilogy, it was lovely! I would have commented on it there but I cant remember my FF password.

I don't know if anyone's watched this AMV before, but I stumbled across it and I'm in love with it: :,)
http://youtu.be/TZimLcfuOxc (EDIT: contains spoilers)

@LadyNorbert Wow! A prequel? Awesome. I can't wait!

@HawkseyeM1910 That's a pretty awesome AMV. Thank you for sharing it!

@Schnabeltier I think that if most of their essential background story remained intact, I'd have say that their relationship would probably be the same as it is normally. Every time I imagine it that way, however, there is some sort of block; Roy being the lieutenant and Riza the Colonel is kind of hard for me to imagine.

LadyNorbert Heh, you're welcome ^^ I've read it all now, and I can't say how much I love it (and how much I love the fact that you are planning on making a prequel)

@LadyNorbert With all of this talk about your amazing fanfiction, I had to go check it out for myself. I must say, I haven't even finished the first story yet, and it's the single most amazingly written FMA fic I've ever read. I can tell you really know how to write And you've done a great job capturing the characters! I'm almost done reading the first story, and I'm so excited to read the others! I just had to tell you that