Hi!! Truthfully, whilst writing my previous ask I was aware of its vagueness, but I proceeded regardless. That was thoughtless of me and I apologise for it. From now on, I'll try dissecting my generic questions into smaller ones and ask a few each time, in no particular order, though I'll be treating most of the characters as couples (for the first unknown # of asks I'll ask about royai -together and separately- afterwards probably edwin etc) because I find it more convenient. So, why do you *1*
think Arakawa has chosen to make Riza the bearer of the flame alchemy tattoo and have her not know any alchemy (unless I’m forgetting something)? On that subject, how would you describe and judge Riza’s relationship with her father? What do you make of him giving her the tattoo but not the actual knowledge? Regarding Roy’s relationship with Madame Christmas and his worldviews, how and when do you think he decided to join the army? Was it his ‘own’ decision, perhaps influenced by someone, or *2*
do you think Madame Christmas raised him with that in mind/ influenced him heavily? The scene where they blow up the bar and she says “I’m expecting even greater things from you now” has always made me wonder. Did she raise him to do great things? I think I’m not expressing myself quite accurately here. Another question that helps is, did she always ‘use’ her girls as informants, was she always active in the field of / interested in politics, and consequently influenced Roy, or did she move *3*
into that business because of Roy? I promised internally to not ask more than three questions each time, but look at this… I’m sorry if it’s inconvenient to answer all of these at once, you can answer whenever, truly. As a very busy person myself, I completely understand. If my questions don’t make a lot of sense, please tell me and I’ll try to rephrase. Thank you very very much for doing this!!! *end*
Hello hello hello, @madarini! [happy waves] I apologize so much for taking this long to talk about such amazing topics! I might be busy [high fives you for fellow busyness], but it’s a shame it’s taken me this long to respond. I’ve been sitting on this a while ITCHING to talk, but somehow didn’t find the mental energy to write until now. I hope we can continue to have awesome FMA/B conversations, now that my butt’s on tumblr again. :D
You asked multiple questions globbed together. I’m going to spread them out and make one post per question (otherwise this post will be terrifyingly long, even by my standards). XD You’re always free to separate asks by question topic even if it means sending more asks!
Alright and now. [happily dances] Time to chat awesome topics.
Why Arakawa chose Riza to bear the Flame Alchemy tattoo but not be an alchemist herself.
Storywise, primarily, I’d say that Riza has the Flame Alchemy tattoo as a launching point for Roy and Riza’s lives being intertwined. They’re connected with each other and function together because of how they’re set up. Riza having the alchemical knowledge on her, and Roy knowing alchemy, is what pairs them together and moves their narrative forward. It wouldn’t work the same way if Riza didn’t have Flame Alchemy on her back or if she were an independent alchemist.
We know Berthold Hawkeye didn’t speak much to his daughter. Riza admits in Vol. 15 of the manga she was afraid of her father. In To The Promised Day, Riza says he “locked himself in his laboratory, and barely conversed with me,” and “I always thought that my father - who secluded himself in his laboratory - had no interest in me and our family and probably did not like me.” But Berthold did presumably speak to his apprentice, Roy Mustang, to the point Roy was respectful enough he “would do anything for him” (Vol. 15 Ch. 60) - even if just the respected manner of course.
Since Roy was with Berthold but Berthold was not with his daughter, there’s implied distance between Roy and Riza in their teenaged / early adult years. It’s not that they didn’t respect each other or know each other at all. It’s just that they wouldn’t have been close enough to launch off the Royai we know now. Riza doesn’t just call Roy “Mr. Mustang” at her father’s funeral, implying a more formal relationship, but when she reunites with him three years later, her question is, “Do you remember me?” You don’t ask that to someone you’re connected closely with. They weren’t close back during Mustang’s apprenticeship year(s).
Though not close, they had respect and concern for each other. Their respect for one another’s perspectives started with Riza appreciating Roy’s dreams to help the nation as a soldier. She trusted his ideals enough to share her tattoo’s secrets. Roy gave his phone number in case she needed help living as an independent sixteen year old. He cared enough to help her out if needed. It’s more than possible his comment he’d work in the military for life influenced Riza’s choice to join, too.
But. This early in the story? Their lives very well could have split off to different paths from there…….
…..if not for that tattoo rearing its ugly head in Ishval.
Roy and Riza wouldn’t have met if Roy hadn’t wanted to learn alchemy (and Flame Alchemy at that) from Master Hawkeye. But moreso: Roy and Riza wouldn’t necessarily have connected as people without the common experience of Flame Alchemy. It’s the tattoo and Flame Alchemy that gets them connected down the road.
Ishval is when Roy and Riza really feel for each other and connect. They shared with each other their ideals of the military and Flame Alchemy together when they were young. That’s why Roy learned Flame Alchemy - this sharing. Now, in Ishval, since Flame Alchemy’s use has turned to tragedy, they understand each other’s emotions; they share the same burden of sin and regret. Riza throughout the series feels responsible for her role sharing Flame Alchemy to the military. Roy, of course, has used this very Flame Alchemy to kill thousands of innocent lives.
These two started as idealistic young adults sharing Flame Alchemy for hoped good. Both now reap the consequences of how they handled Flame Alchemy - Riza with Roy, Roy with the military, and the compounding pain of Riza entering the military, too. Because of Ishval, they understand each other’s guilt moreso than even other soldiers can understand one another’s guilt. Their idealistic dreams… have become a nightmare.
And it’s this new framework that they have to suffer through for the rest of their lives. Now that Roy and Riza are both suffering from their actions, they feel they have to fix it. Hawkeye approaches Mustang after the war with a philosophy that is much darker than her sixteen year old self believed:
Riza Hawkeye: We soldiers should be the only ones with blood on our hands. No one else should have to go through what we did in Ishval. If the world can be expressed through equivalent exchange, as the alchemists claim… then for future generations to be happy… as payment, we must carry corpses on our back across a river of blood.
We must carry corpses on our back across a river of blood.
On our BACK.
And Mustang understands this completely. They’re in the same position, these two. And thus Riza becomes his bodyguard and adjutant, and they develop into the closely-connected-Royai we know them as.
Flame Alchemy is the grounding point by which they grow to understand each other. And it’s because of Flame Alchemy, their actions, and the horrors of Ishval that they put everything else aside to pursue a dream of a better future. Young Roy and Riza had a naive dream that went to hell. Now they’re in a dream together to fix their wrongs. They’re together in their goal to try to get Roy to leadership so that they can take responsibility for their sins.
We wouldn’t have had this SAME sort of mutual connection if not for Riza’s tattoo. It’s a very intimate way of Mustang and Hawkeye sharing their guilt in Ishval. Of course these two would understand each other simply from being soldiers in Ishval together. But how much more it is that they share the combined guilt of being young hopeful adults, thinking the military would protect the country, hoping alchemy and Flame Alchemy would be used to good… and making choices that landed them here.
They’re entirely entwined together.
None of this would have worked near as well if Hawkeye didn’t have the tattoo, or if Hawkeye were an independent alchemist herself.
But it’s because they were both involved in this sharing of Flame Alchemy that their pain, their individual character arcs, and their deep relationship works so well. Roy and Riza could not be more attached together to the same goal and struggles.
Hawkeye carrying the Flame Alchemy tattoo has another important reason: it’s to show Roy’s reliance on Riza, and on the Hawkeye family as a whole. Just because Riza is Roy’s subordinate in the military doesn’t mean she’s secondary. Riza’s the reason Roy is where he is. Only because Riza first believed in Roy could he become the Flame Alchemist at all. I think it’s an important narrative balancing act: Mustang’s drastically needed Hawkeye and the Hawkeye family to get anywhere in his life.
As I’ve pointed out elsewhere: Roy owes it all to the Hawkeye-Grumman family. The three arguably most important people in his life who help him move FORWARD… are Riza’s grandfather, Riza’s father, and Riza herself. He’d be nowhere without the Hawkeyes. I think that’s great: the tritagonist isn’t here by his own power and abilities alone, some badass independent ambitious boy; he owes SIGNIFICANT amounts to the woman beside him.
Arakawa’s doing this to balance Riza and Roy equally. They complete each other everywhere, even in this alchemical respect: Riza with the information of Flame Alchemy, Roy with the skills of being an alchemist. Riza’s the one who decides if Roy is worthy of the Flame Alchemy tattoo’s information. Riza’s also the one, in “Beyond the Inferno,” who decides if Roy’s life is worth sparing. Roy needs Hawkeye. Without her, he wouldn’t have been a State Alchemist. Without her, he would have died several times over. Riza meanwhile has her own support from Roy - learning how to grow beyond the tattoo burdening her back, learning never to give up in dark times. Arakawa giving Riza the tattoo is one narrative part of this balancing act that makes Royai so interdependent and effective.
Last: I think there’s something refreshing about one of the most powerful and talented characters in this story not being an alchemist. Alchemy is badass, sure. But we see someone central like Riza be just as badass without alchemy - which I think is an important message, too.
