The Fullmetal Fan Club!

Awesome Royai Fanfics on A03 that you should DEFINITELY READ!!!

- "We Will Build Our Own Forever" by Angel_Bazethiel
     This is actually a trilogy of one-shots building up to Roy and Riza getting married, and not only is it adorable, but it also addresses Roy's moral reservations about allowing himself to be with the woman he loves in a really interesting way. Came for the cute shippy stuff, stayed for the surprisingly thought provoking philosophical convo between Roy and Grumman

- "Learning As We Go" by MegTheMighty
      I don't normally read high school AUs, but what the heck, it's Royai, I'd read just about anything with them in it. This one is really cute, Roy and Riza are both science teachers, with the other adult characters also being on the staff and Ed, Al, Winry, Ling, etc. are their students. The nice thing about high school AUs in this case is that you don't have to worry about all the angst/PTSD/"we're literally war criminals do we really deserve to be happy" stuff and just focus on their adorable chemistry. Seeing them interact with the students is a ton of fun too, and there's some cute EdWin and LingFan stuff in addition to the Royai. Also Armstrong is the drama teacher.  Do I really need to say anything else?

- "Mr and Mrs" by waddiwasiwitch
     This was actually the first Royai fic I read, and OOOH it's a good one! This one has them undercover as a married couple in Xing, and it has all the pining and unresolved sexual tension you could possibly want. All of the interactions feel super authentic and in character too.

- "Starlight, Star Bright" by RainFlame
      This one isn't exactly a Royai fic (it has Royai in it though) but it's so well written that I just had to give it a shout out. The premise is that Edward is basically dying due to giving up some of his life span to heal his injuries in part 4 of Brotherhood, and the story focuses a lot on Roy's attempts to save him and realizing how much of a son Ed has become to him and just...this fic is beautiful. It made me tear up multiple times. It's so heart wrenching and believable, and I jumped for joy every time it updated (it just wrapped last week!)

- "The First Family" by eskalations
      This one was literally so cute that I read it twice. It's a perfect lil five chapter slice of life about Roy, Riza and their adorable five year old Elizabeth! It's so adorable to see Roy freaking out during Riza's pregnancy and struggling to host a sleepover, but the conflict in this one still feels really well thought out and genuine (Elizabeth's Ishvalan teacher discriminating against her because of who her parents are was a bit too real).

- "Delicate" by Lantur
*deep breath*
OH MY GOSH. OH MY FREAKING GOSH. I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO SHUT UP ABOUT THIS FIC FOR THE PAST WEEK. IT IS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I HAVE EVER READ. NOT JUST FANFICS. THINGS. THIS IS THE REASON I EVEN DID THIS CHAPTER IN THE FIRST PLACE. EXCUSE ME WHILE I WRITE A WHOLE PARAGRAPH.

      So Delicate is a character study of Riza, so basically her point of view through her childhood, Ishval, Brotherhood and I'm not sure how far after...the fic isn't finished yet and it's currently at the beginning of the Ishval reconstruction efforts. This story brought to light nuances in Roy and Riza's relationship, as well as Riza herself, that I had never even thought of previously. So many scenes in FMAB have gained entire new layers of meaning thanks to this fic. The exploration of how grief and trauma have impacted both Roy and Riza's lives is heart wrenching, the dialogue feels so believable, and the slow burn is BEAUTIFULLY written. Additionally, it points out some rather interesting parallels between Royai and other relationships in the series, and fleshes out Riza's relationships with characters we don't get to see much in the show, such as Rebecca and Grumman.

Delicate made me love Royai even more than I did previously, which I didn't even think was possible. It's more than just a fanfic, it's a poignant, thought-provoking story in its own right, and you should all definitely read it!