application;

[crosshaired]

PLAYER INFO.
✖ Handle: Lucy.
✖ Contact: ilovelucille89@gmail.com OR lucylovespluto.
✖ Are You Over 16: Yep!
✖ Other Characters Played in Consignment: n/a

CHARACTER INFO.
✖ Character Name: Hawkeye, Riza.
✖ Canon: Fullmetal Alchemist (manga); just post the final battle in Chapter 108 but before Dr. Marcoh offers to heal Roy.
✖ Character Appearance: Like so.
✖ Character Age: Canonically never stated but estimated to be in her late 20s; I'm going to go with "28".
✖ Pick A Number: 392, 4.

✖ Canon Setting:

Fullmetal Alchemist is set in a slightly-less-than-modern world. There are phonebooths and telephones and cameras and trains and that sort of thing, but no cellphones or televisions or planes. The phones are also admittedly a bit old fashioned. One thing that is quite advanced in the world Riza is from? Alchemy. Alchemy would easily seem like magic to characters from other worlds, but in the world Amestris (Riza's country) exists in, alchemy is considered a science, and the laws are well known. Equivalent exchange; to get something, you must give something. Despite this requirement (and it can be gotten around but USUALLY BY EVIL METHODS) alchemy can preform truly magical things; it can create fire seemingly from nothing (in truth a spark is needed, and then COMPLICATED ALCHEMICAL THINGS can happen to make it bigger), it can heal, it can change coal into gold (though that is quite illegal).

Riza is not herself an alchemist, but they are by no means unusual in her world; her own father was an alchemist, as is her commanding officer. Riza is a member of the military of Amestris, you see; Amestris was founded to be a militaristic country (it's a long story which I will spare you, but it's important to know that bit) and the army utilizes alchemists within it. While Riza comes from just after the series resolution of the main issue, it should be noted that basically her country was secretly run by pretty bad people (who had created the country) and also they had a crazy plan to sacrifice the entire country in an alchemical circle because the main bad guy needed to trade a LOT to get what he wanted.

So. That's definitely a thing that would effect her, yes. But anyway, that's the bare bones basics of the world she comes from, and the parts that most specifically affect her; Riza's technological know how will be limited to that of her world, which is what I stated above. She is also used to "magic users" such as alchemists, although flat-out magic will probably be more than a little odd to her. She's actually a member of the military, and was actually working within the system to push Roy Mustang - her superior officer and the person she is most loyal to - to the very top of the military so he could change the world from there (which is surprisingly idealistic of them both). Having grown up in a militaristic country that consumed its neighbors just 'cause (...to fill out the alchemical circle of a country) and having lived through at least one war personally, Riza at least will be able to handle (or appear to handle) constant warfare missions.

✖ Character History: Here you go!

✖ Character Personality:

Riza Hawkeye's strongest traits are the ones that her peers and acquaintances most strongly connect to her. She is dedicated, serious, loyal, and courteous in general (though she is also admittedly something of a deadpan snarker particularly with her oldest friends and Colonel Mustang, which occasionally pushes courtesy a little to the side). She is more than those things as well, different facets shown to different people in different situations, but those who know her would likely describe her as the above (though Mustang has gone on record as saying Riza has a "gentle heart", which probably doesn't make any sense to anyone who doesn't know Riza well enough to confirm that).

Her focus is almost without question. While some of the other members of Colonel Mustang's inner circle are more prone to goofing off, Riza tends to hold herself steady and focuses on the job at hand. She certainly isn't above dry remarks or deadpan humor (in fact, it's fairly normal for her to come up with something along those lines on the side of things) but she does so as she works or goes about her business, and seems to regard any suggestions she do anything against orders with cool disinterest. Unless, of course, she's being stubborn about something ("I'm proud of my pigheadedness, sir") because she doesn't want to follow the order; one could say she's made an art out of insubordination. This usually crops up if the Colonel tries to order Riza to do something she doesn't want to do, which usually has to do with leaving him on his own or silly orders she just completely disregards. Riza seems to understand very well what orders she must follow and what orders she can just refuse to follow, although notably she generally only disregards orders from Mustang over the course of the series (up to the whole DEBACLE that is the start of the final battle/when they finally make their move against the corrupt ministration) and that is because they are good enough friends and comrades that she understands the limits of things he says and they trust one another to keep one another in check.

Which brings us to her loyalty. Riza's driving motivations throughout the series are, of course, to change Amestris by propelling Roy to the top, but the reason she began this little crusade started long before the first chapter. Riza's father left his research on flame alchemy tattooed to her back, and after hearing Roy's dream for the future, Riza decided to entrust that to him. After, she was devastated to find he'd used it in the Ishval war - where she followed him, joining up as a sniper, and lived through something that would prove to be pivotal in their quest to change things - and at that time he told her he would entrust his back to her. This did not simply mean relying on Riza to protect his back, although throughout the series it becomes abundantly clear that Mustang realizes the first lieutenant is always prepared to back him (or anyone else in their circle) up and protect him, and can trust that so long as she is at his back no one will shoot him...

...except for her. Because the second meaning of "protecting his back" is her standing order to take Mustang out if he starts going down the slippery slope instead of walking on the straight and narrow to the top. This is a charge that Riza very much takes seriously, and while she watches Mustang's back in order to keep it safe, she is also always prepared to, well, shoot him if he steps off the proper path. When Mustang finally catches up with Hughes' killer, he sort of loses it and is about to murder Envy. While Riza admits Envy needs to die, she and the others present say that it would completely ruin the colonel, and she informs him point blank that if he finishes the act she'll finish him - and then erase herself and the remnants of the research on flame alchemy from the world. Which is enough to pull Roy back from the brink, but the fact remains that she's entirely willing to take Mustang down if he goes too far, and he knows it, and that is part of why he needs her around. Riza also tells Roy with her eyes that she will straight up murder him if he opens a gate even when the enemy slits her throat to try to get him to open a gate. ...She also informs him that reinforcements are coming (they have very information-packed eye signals, which, well. that's what happens when you work with someone for so long and trust them that much) and Roy actually refuses to open a gate because he knows exactly what she means. Of course, he's forced to open it anyway because PLOT but he refused based on their understanding that Riza would murder him if he opened a gate to save her. Friend...ship?

However strange that loyalty might be, it is unshakable and unquestionable. The upper ranks of the Amestris military never try to turn Hawkeye at any point. Rather, when they decide they need to lessen Roy's power, they split up all of his subordinates, apparently deciding they simply cannot turn said subordinates (which was true! Roy has good taste in subordinates, they are all stubborn as hell in their own ways). Riza herself was placed directly under the thumb of Fuhrer Bradley, as a sort of hostage against Mustang's good behavior, just as all the others were but perhaps a bit more of an immediate concern. Despite being placed in such a position, however, Riza uses her role as the Fuhrer's aide to observe the man and to get information, which she then finds a way to pass on to Colonel Mustang even while they are being closely watched. Riza is not the sort of person to allow a hostage situation to get the better of her; instead she kept working and attempting to support her comrades even from her position, just as all the other chess pieces in Mustang's repertoire did.

While her interactions with the colonel and some of the inner circle display a straight-forward and blunt tone that occasionally skirts or lacks courtesy, Riza is actually quite courteous and serious in general, always seeming to observe niceties of rank and so on (although admittedly her loyalty chain is Roy > Inner Circle and so on and so forth instead of Fuhrer > Roy). She greets Alphonse properly in her first on-screen meeting with the Elric brothers, for example, while Roy and Edward argue in the foreground. Riza also always uses titles or a respectful "Sir" or "Ma'am" with those ranked above her in the military; at one point she tricks Envy into giving himself away by suggesting she and Mustang are on a first-name basis when alone, which...is actually completely untrue, so she was just bluffing the hell out of the homunculus. She only uses first names with people on even or lower rank (and even then tends to use their military ranking, if they have one) or outside of the military; she calls both Elric brothers and Winry by name, for example. Some of her older friends also win first-name basis. It's likely that this trend will continue in Consignment, whenever she finds it possible to continue it. At the very least she's unlikely to start referring to Mustang or anyone else who comes from her world as anything but her usual terms of address without a hell of a lot of time to adapt (...and maybe not even then, who knows).

Despite all of this, there is a certain idealism to Riza. Most people would consider those who are realistic to not be capable of great amounts of idealism, particularly when they have been through the things Riza has lived through, but this is simply not so. She very much believed in propelling Roy to the top of the military and changing things from the top. As Roy once put it, she believed that if she took care of who she could take care of, and all the others in Roy's group did as well, and they eventually got to the top...they would be caring for the entire country. That this plan was forged in the fires of the Ishval war is probably a bit startling, because rather than breaking Riza (or Roy, more pointedly) the war caused Riza and her compatriots to decide to change the way things were rather to resign themselves to it or grow bitter from it. Riza does acknowledge that she bears a heavy sin for her part in the war, but she does not allow this to hold her back from anything she has to do, nor does she seem to dwell on it overmuch. She is actually the person who finally recounts the Ishval war to Edward, even, without holding anything back.

Still, deciding to simply change the world by fighting to the top within the system step by step is a display of a certain amount of idealism that people might not expect from her, but the truth is that Riza very rarely actually gives in and gives up during the series. In fact, there is only one time she completely breaks down, and it isn't the time when her throat is fucking cut; instead it's when she thinks that Lust killed Mustang and she just sort of loses it. The only other time she comes close to being that upset is when she puts a gun to Mustang's head as he's about to murder Envy, and when she tells him that she'd pretty much shoot herself after she shot him (...and she is actually being 100% serious about it).

Her idealism is not the only departure from the "cold sniper" trope. Rather, Riza can actually be a very gentle and warm person (while also being very serious and cold and strict in turn). She's never going to be a particularly demonstrative person, true, but she isn't completely frozen or entirely serious and straight-laced or anything of the sort. There are layers and dimensions to her, just as with any other person. Riza actually is a fairly kind person, in her way. For example, Fuery once found a Shiba Inu puppy out in the rain and brought him inside. Hawkeye informed him he would have to find a home for the puppy, and Fuery spends the entire mini-chapter trying to place him with everyone, worried the lieutenant would kick the puppy out to the rain otherwise (which she never actually said she would do if he failed, but). At the end of the day, when he hadn't found an owner, Riza volunteered for the job. While she was strict enough to inform Fuery he had to take responsibility for the puppy he rescued by finding him a home, she also had never intended to allow the puppy to remain without care, although she never made this explicitly clear during the course of the day, being herself. Riza is also shown to be almost kind to Edward, Alphonse, and Winry; she's honest and blunt with them when they ask her questions, telling them the truth pretty much always, but she also seems to be genuinely interested in the kids and how they're doing. She even openly admires them for certain things.

And again, despite her idealism Hawkeye actually has been through much and acknowledges her past, her present, and the future sins she will have to commit to reach her goals. At no point in the series does she seem to blame anyone else for her problems. While she does shout at Mustang for using the flame alchemy in the war, this is because she trusted him to use it well and was betrayed when she thought he hadn't. She says that she was the one who chose to join the military and put her arms through the sleeves of her uniform. Riza says that she was the one who chose to follow orders and take lives. Even after they discover that the homunculi were pulling the strings, that the country had never been their own, Riza refuses to push the blame of Ishval or any of her actions off onto the homunculi. "I don’t even have the right to complain about the weight of it anymore. I've taken the lives of many people in the past and I am the one who chose this path." This is very much par for the course with Riza; she is not the sort of person to run from her actions, even if she regrets them or feels pain from them. Rather, she accepts them as part of her and moves forward. She very much acknowledges that she has killed many people and that "orders" were not a good enough reason to absolve her of any blame for doing so. While in CDC, any deaths she is responsible for will be her fault and on her hands rather than the hands of the CDC in general. She is to blame for any actions she takes, even if she will readily agree that the CDC's actions are inexcusable (well, that is to say she would readily agree with anyone from her world, but will keep tight-lipped on her opinions with anyone she doesn't know or trust, so).

Riza also knows how to relax. While she's strict, she seems capable of keeping a cool head in most situations (the exceptions are very rare) and deals with oddities cropping up (such as oh a suit of armor that is also a serial killer who has a weird crush on her?) with professional ease. She also seems capable of relaxing on her down time, though. While Riza isn't exactly a social butterfly by anyone's standards she does seem to enjoy the company of certain people, and can often be found in her downtime in the manga playing with Black Hayate (the puppy she adopted) or just spending time alone in a completely casual manner. She does seem to do things like clean her guns in her spare time, but the fact of the matter is that Riza is actually fairly happy without a hopping social life, and doesn't require one of those to relax and take a breather.

So, to sum up: Riza Hawkeye is stoic and not-so-stoic in turn, calm and professional while dancing around the line of insubordination with dry humor and blunt declarations; she's strict and demanding but gentle and sympathetic in turn, and holds herself accountable for her actions and owns up to those actions, acknowledging all her faults and weaknesses and moving on despite those.

✖ Character Powers: Riza Hawkeye has no magical or alchemical abilities despite her canon, but she is an excellent soldier. She got her start in the military as a sniper, and was good enough that the soldiers would mention having "the hawk's eyes" on them. She's flat out deadly with any sort of firearm in her hands, and rarely can be found in the series without one, two, or a lot of them. Riza is pretty much famous for her aim and skill with firearms in the military; she's known for never missing her mark in the manga (that said some of the faster characters do leave her without a chance to get a proper lock on to shoot). Without her firearms she seems to be decently skilled in hand-to-hand combat, though it is by no means her specialty or preferred mode of fighting (and like everyone in her series who can get that close is skilled enough to knock her down so...); she leg-sweeps her commanding officer to get him out of the range of fire once or twice and fights anyone who gets within her range, but generally if she's doing things right people don't get within range. Aside from her combat skills, Riza is very organized and efficient in other areas of her work; she's responsible for a lot of the paperwork getting done (...since she makes sure Roy and the others actually do it) and is skilled in tactics and covert operations, which Roy assigns her several times in the manga. Riza's also very intelligent; at one point she has a conversation with Roy entirely in improvised code to give him a single important message, since they were at the time forced apart and always being watched, and she never seems to let her commanding officer down when he gives her some task or another, no matter the cost.

CHARACTER SAMPLES.
✖ First Person POV: Here you go!

✖ Third Person POV: They had been approached while they were heading towards the medic's tent. Technically they could have waited where they'd sat after the battle, Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye, but the Colonel didn't much care to sit around, and while they couldn't do a damn thing about his eyes, Riza's voice had pretty much gone and her throat was bandaged only haphazardly and now that the fight was over having her direct him to the medic set-up seemed like a good idea. She could get looked at, there. The woman who approached with a quick "Colonel! First Lieutenant!" had a foreign look to her, somehow - not Amestrian, but with a strange shape to her eyes, maybe, that made it seem as though she couldn't be from the east, either. Initially the Colonel had brushed her off; We're a little busy, madam, which was true but it was with a wry, bitter tone and Riza knew as well as anyone he'd never be Fuhrer without his sight.

The woman had followed them into the clinic, and had spoken while Riza winced as her throat was bandaged again, had spoken as Roy waved off the doctors with sheer annoyance as he let the woman talk, though he didn't seem to quite believe it. Riza didn't say she's trying to set us up because it was obvious and Roy had to see it because he was as sharp as Riza, if not sharper; the stranger was fighting for a "yes", and it took hours to get around to what she needed that "yes" for, when Roy completely talked around the pitfalls of "wouldn't you like" this or that, as though he'd agree to sign himself away to some whimsy. Once or twice she switches to Riza, but Riza doesn't bother to talk, allowing the Colonel to reply for her as she sips at water, each swallow painful but also a blessed relief. Once the woman says "We could fix your neck, you know" and Riza doesn't respond to that, either, though her hand tightens around the plastic cup when the recruiter moves on to "what if you could see again?" with Roy. She feels him text next to her where they sit on one of the clinic beds, but that doesn't get him to say yes, either. The Colonel is good at talking, at not being pinned down, and Riza would back him against one hundred recruiters. The stranger has her work cut out for her.

Finally, the stranger has to admit exactly what she wants to get them to even consider it. And the "what" was this: planets, being destroyed. A business. Riza wonders in a hazy way what sort of profit that has to bring - but no, they must take things from those planets, turn those planets into supplies and money somehow, though she can't picture it just now, still dizzy from the blood loss and having gone far too long without sleep. But as long as the Colonel is up and talking to the strange woman, she forces herself to pay attention, to stay up. She pinches her leg once or twice, catches herself drifting off.

"...And of course, if you sign on this planet will be spared." The recruiter finishes her latest sell, and that's the one she should have started with - though she couldn't have, because it'd taken this long and several show-and-tell technology points for either the Colonel or the First Lieutenant to believe the stranger.

There's the catch. Riza thinks, setting down her glass of tepid water. Or is that the hook?

She doesn't bother to look at the recruiter for more than a second. Instead she looks at the Colonel. He can't look back at her properly, but he half turns to where she sits, still beside him, and Riza can already read the question. Will you follow me into the dark, Lieutenant?

Riza's fingers on Roy's elbow, a silent Of course, Sir. She believes what this woman says, and knows he must do the same. And if their entire planet is being held in the balance...well, there isn't really any question, is there? Say no and there's nothing left to save. Say yes...and you have a shot, however slim, to find a way. And of course she'd help to take that shot. Of course.

He straightens, and if there's relief in his face, only Riza catches it and she'll never say. "Fine. Of course, the other things you promised...?" His eyesight. If they're going to do this, whatever it is, that will be important...

"In due time. Now that you've said yes, we just need to hear it from you. Miss Hawkeye, if you would...?" The woman's gaze shifts, for the first time in a while.

As though it hasn't already been decided. His is the back she's meant to be protecting. "Yes," it's still a rasp, still sore, but Riza's voice is firm as she agrees. She knows what she agrees to, and she will never pretend that she does not. Facing her own mistakes, even as she makes them, has become something of a talent. But no matter; into hell they went once more. Sooner or later they'd have to make a plan to get back out, but first...information. They'd need it. A lot of it. Until then...

Play the part, Lieutenant.

CHARACTER ITEMS.
✖ Pick a Team: Green.
✖ Mission Freebie: One of her FN Model 1910 pistols, preferably the one with a stainless steel finish, on the assumption it also comes with ammo.
✖ Personal Item or Weapon: Her Karabiner 98k. It is a rifle.

✖ Character Inventory:

• These clothes (...which she will wash of blood at the first opportunity) along with bandages around her neck.
• She's also wearing her pistol holsters over her shoulders, with...no pistols... :| Thanks, CDC.
• Her military dog tags.
• The above mentioned Karabiner 98k rifle.