#row.txt

my mind is currently fixating on royai kid unhealthily.....i always thought the concept was really cute but unrealistic (which adds to the appeal) and i like mom!Riza. a lot. Roy's there too ig. ive written a LITTLE about royai kid but here's my first time being inspired enough to actually draw out my ideas/concepts

behold my vision. probably not original by any means but i like when the kid is like a mini version of the parent whose personality they take after. if they have a daughter, she'd be like Roy with a touch of Riza. if they had a son, he'd be like Riza with a touch of Roy, and so on, and i tried to convey that visually. i usually dont write them with multiple kids at once but if i had to they would definitely cap at two, with the daughter usually being the oldest ^^

what if he straight up did not want a daughter. maybe he wanted a son instead, and his wife passed away before they could try for another child. it would partially explain why he showed more favor to Roy during his apprenticeship; Roy was the son he never had.

sexism aside, that can even be simplified to Berthold wanting a child who can perform alchemy. we don't know if Riza never showed an interest in it, or just wasnt able to grasp it, but she definitely isn't an alchemist in canon. (however. fanon secret alchemist Riza, i love u) it also explains his favoritism towards Roy as the prodigy child alchemist he also never had.

hell it could be a combination of both. Riza just wasnt good enough for him :(

on some darker notes, what if he didn't like Riza because, in however many ways, she reminded him of his late wife?

we dont get much information about Mrs Hawkeye, only the fact that she "died a long time ago", said by teenaged Riza in front of her father's grave. i emphasize teenaged because it means that, somewhere in her early childhood was when her mother died, and it's unclear if she remembers her mother, or even knew her at all.

we know that Berthold has been researching flame alchemy for decades, possibly before Riza was born, possibly before he even got married. whether or not that was a happy marriage is up for debate, but it clearly it was....substantial enough to produce Riza. maybe with his wife present, Berthold wasnt so deep into his research. maybe for a short period of time, he was actually a loving husband and father.

but then his wife did die. all he had left was his daughter. instead of the logical thing and, ya know, being appreciative of the only family he had left, he buries himself in his work as a result of his grief. distancing from his very young daughter, neglecting her in the process. why would he do this? because she reminds him too much of his wife.

Riza probably gets her blonde hair from him, sure, but her Big Beautiful Brown Eyes had to come from somewhere else, that being her mom. maybe even some parts her personality, outside of her reclusiveness, are just like her mom, like her sense of humor. he didnt cherish the fact that some parts of his wife were left behind in their daughter. the memories were too painful.

this would be even more emphasized if Mrs Hawkeye died tragically, like in an accident that could've been prevented, or even in childbirth (honestly Riza being "responsible" for her mother's passing would make this even more messed up.....Berthold blaming her for losing his wife, Riza never getting to meet her mother at all....)