[Scorched] - Anniversary Event Idea

[onlygirlshavewings]

Who: Roy Mustang
What: goes blind, but unlike in the canon, doesn't regain his sight.
So what: Everything happens like in canon, up until they use the Philosopher's stone to give back Roy's sight. The stone is instead completely used up on Havoc (who he wanted to use it on anyway), but unlike Edward, he has no desire to give up his alchemy to get his sight back just yet.

Canon-point Roy was taken from: Chapter 102, after Wrath removes the swords, but before decomposition starts. He hasn't been pulled through yet.

Character Name: Roy Mustang
Will you be using an alternate journal? Oh god no, it's too hard to come up with Usernames XD
If so, what's the name? N/A
Future Concept: Nothing changed for him canon-wise until after Chapter 108, page 65 (Riza's visit from Rebecca).

[Influencing events from Anatole]: There were two big events/situations from Anatole that played a large role in a)reminding him why he was shooting for what he wanted; and b)pushing him to take action the way he did.

-First and foremost was Riza's three day disappearance, as well as seeing just how many people were impacted by it. He was selfish when Hughes died, seeing it as "someone killed my best friend", so this was an eye-opener as to just how many lives one life can have an impact upon.

-Second was his interactions with people from different walks of life and different races/nationalities. He's never been one to tolerate prejudice of any sort, but seeing and interacting with so many others where there is no real dominant defining culture is part of the reason he was so adamant about establishing peace treaties with the neighboring nations -nobody should ever have to feel like they're unwelcome or unwanted just because they aren't from the same place.

[The actual changes]:
When Dr. Knox came to check up on him and found him blinded, he brought in Dr. Marcoh who was still in possession of a Philosopher's Stone and intended to trade that for Roy's cooperation in reforming the Ishbal policy. The original plan was to use it to restore his eyesight and although Roy accepted the stone for Ishbal's reform, due to events in Anatole (Riza's disappearance during the BlackWater event specifically), he didn't quite agree to their terms.

The military occupancy would be revoked, the refugees would be permitted to reenter their Holy Land, the subjugation of Ishbal would come to an end. This was agreed upon. What was not, however, was who would be the one overseeing that change. Roy would do it from the sidelines, but he wanted someone else in charge -someone he trusted, someone who was familiar with the Eastern region, someone the people liked, and someone who could help out in the event that any sort of supplies were required to restore the lands. That someone was Jean Havoc. The problem was that Havoc had been paralyzed during the encounter with Lust what seemed like forever ago, so the logical solution was to use the Stone to repair the damage to Havoc's spine, bring him out of retirement (he really wasn't suited for that anyway), and reinstate him. It took the entirety of the Stone to do it, so there was nothing left for him to use to regain his vision.

As for himself, he chose not to let on what had happened to him and kept it as quiet as he could -there was no need to tell everyone he was blind. His dream to become Fuhrer had to change, though, because there was no way he could hold that position and protect the country if he couldn't see where any dangers were coming from. To that end, he explained the situation to Fuhrer Grumman and they came up with the best logical conclusion: Riza Hawkeye for Fuhrer.

Grumman had backed Roy's ambitions while Roy had been stationed under his command at Eastern, and genuinely liked the boy to the point where he would hint at wanting Roy to marry his granddaughter because it was only fitting for the Fuhrer to have a wife. Sure, it may have been said behind Riza's back -if she even knew of her relationship to the old man- but Roy had always played it off as teasing. Now, he came right back to that and turned it around when it was presented to Grumman. And why not? She was capable, she was smart, she had a no-nonsense attitude and would get the job done, people liked her, and the best part: she was neither him nor Major General Armstrong. Neither of them would sit well with the people due to the fact that Olivier had blatantly attacked Central during the Bradley regime and Roy, while he had allies and a major cover up for his actions during the coup on Central, had too many skeletons in his closet to really lead effectively without having "scandals" pop up here and there. If Riza were to succeed her grandfather as the next Fuhrer, Roy would stay on as an advisor of sorts because the Gate had taken his sight, not his mind, and because he was bound and determined to never leave her side (marriage was not a factor in this equation).

In the end, Riza was the one who took over as Fuhrer when Grumman retired, leaving the country in her hands. Grumman stayed on at the Presidential Palace as an official advisor until Roy learned to be self-sufficient despite the loss of his sight, then became an unofficial one when Roy was able to take over the duties as her aide and official advisor. In addition to his position at her side, he still retains his State Alchemist title though his abilities have changed drastically, and with the help of others, is slowly relearning the limits and boundaries of what he can do with those abilities. Roy is no longer an active part of the military, relegated instead to the sidelines.

Acting as her aide and working through Havoc, Ishbal has been returned to its people (it's still a work-in-progress with rebuilding), and although it's slow going, they're working on ways to establish trade routes with Xing and peace treaties with the neighboring countries. He is essentially living out his own dreams vicariously through Riza (and Havoc in part) because while he could possibly still achieve them on his own over a much longer period of time, he can't do it without someone to act as his eyes, and the position he'd need in order to undertake such a task is no longer accessible to him.

It's been about ten years since the end of his series (which technically happened a few chapters after his original entry into Anatole anyway) so he's about 39/40, but he really doesn't look his age.

Changes to abilities: HE CAN'T SEE :D Also, Roy no longer uses his Flame Alchemy. It's become a secret that he'll take to his grave because of the potential for misuse. His basic alchemical skills have improved, although he's still learning to regulate himself without the use of his sight, and he's able to use the clapping gesture now instead of a physical array (this is also part of his reason for why he chose to give up Flame Alchemy: clapping then snapping took too long). He can't read basic text (obviously), so things have to either be read to him or in a form of braille. He's gotten to be a little more open with Riza because she was the one who helped him get re-accustomed after the loss of his sight, but with others, he tries to play it off that he's perfectly fine. His temper has a tendency to flare if there's something he thinks he should be able to do but can't or has difficulty with and he's prone to taking out his frustration on the object in question.

...and he never did take Grumman's advice to marry Riza.