Okay. To start this off, this fanfic is not a story from anyone's point of view, it's just my attempt to clear up all of the crap concerning Roy Mustang's gloves.
First of all, I keep on finding fics set after the "Promised Day" (manga/Brotherhood), where Mustang can suddenly create fire by snapping without gloves on. Either that, or he just somehow makes flames without his gloves.
Although I know that he saw the gate, his gloves are NOT the things that produce the alchemy, the transmutation circles on them are the things that do it. The gloves are made from "ignition cloth", which creates sparks when rubbed against itself vigorously. It does not produce flames, but the sparks can ignite things that are flammable. Without his gloves, he cannot produce flames.
The transmutation circles are not the things that produce flames, nor do they ignite anything. All they do is rearrange the oxygen (flammable) and hydrogen (flammable) in the air, to create a highly flammable path for the spark to ignite. Having seen the gate, he would no longer need the transmutation circle, but he would still need his gloves. However, if he didn't exactly want the circles there, he would just wear plain ignition gloves.
Now, onto the matter of wetness. According to the manga, Roy can't make flames if his gloves are wet. What many people seem to think is that it makes him completely helpless, but the water is actually only affecting his gloves. When wet, the gloves can't create sparks. However, if he happens to have another sort of object to create sparks (lighter, flint and steel, etc.), he can still create flames, due to the fact that the transmutation circles have not been damaged. For example, the scene where he incinerates Lust using Havoc's busted lighter and a transmutation circle carved into his hand.
To summarize this entire hunk of information, Roy's gloves are the only things affected by water. His alchemy has nothing to do with flames, but only creating a flammable path for the fire. If he has any way to create sparks, he is not helpless. I can only hope that people will read this and correct any future fanfictions.
