This was a fantastic chapter! You really build up the tension in a masterful way. I wondered from the start if Roy was going to be framed for this and it's making me nervous that he hasn't already / no one has brought up the possibility

That ending :D

I really love how you build the emotional tension. The tone of this fic is amazing

This chapter was magnificent, the action was described beautifully

I love grumpy Roy and ed eager to help

This was a lovely domestic interlude

This plot is so well done and so intriguing

Casefic! I'm very excited

*sign* Night terrors. I knew as soon as Kimberly mentioned night shadows that you mean't night terrors. A terrifying thing. My grandfather had those before he passed, he had been in ww2 and had PTSD from it. My grandmother said he would take his shotgun off the wall in the middle of the night and shoot holes through the floor saying there were people in the basement trying to kill him. He would think he was still in ww2. It's really quite terrifying, what trauma can do to someone, not being able to trust your own mind. PTSD is real, and its killed lots of people.

Well, I shed multiple tears over this fic, at different chapters. I had a bad feeling at the start, but it was more of a someone will try to blame this on Roy kind of thing, not a he was doing it. I'm pretty sure I went through the whole five stages of denial throughout the fic as we went on because /no way/. No. This is not how it's mean't to go.

Then got to the Kimberly confrontation and I felt true grief. Because, just- fuck. I figured maybe Roy just wasn't aware of what he was doing, he mentioned taking sleeping pills early on so maybe the pills fucked with his head even more and he thought (like my grandpa) that he was back in Ishbal? Which is even more tragic, because good god oh molly. It would kill him to find out.

And it turns out it's way worse than I thought. Poor Roy. Poor everyone. Poor Ed, because this has got to be detrimental to him if he's going to blame himself. Just what he needs, more self hatred to pile on his back.

I just feel so distraught of it going so wrong, of Roy not telling someone after the first building. Maybe he could have gotten help- or at least someone could have stayed with him when he started getting twitchy- just, anything. Anything but what it lead up to. FUCK. now I'm crying at 3am.

And tbh, I don't even know how I feel of your 'twist' of the ending, because how is that better? He's away from his friends- his career he threw away- just where is he going to go? That Woon guy? I hope so. I hope if nothing else he's trying to get help, but I still don't see any hope in that ending.

Also I wonder how the rest of the gang are going to take down the homunculus now. Roy took down two of them, and did a detrimental blow to Pride when he went through the gate with him, plus he took out a lot of the immortal army. What are they gonna do now? Without their future futhr? *signs*

As you can see, you've left a big impact on my psyche with this fic and I won't forget about it anytime soon. Bravo.

So I've read this twice now and even knowing how it turns out the reveal still left me distraught and the ending chilled. This is such a good story, and honestly the most believable thing I've ever read in regards to Mustang dealing with the psychological trauma of what he did in Ishval. I'm so glad I found this story. Thank you for sharing it.

I'm super late to the fandom, but holy heck, this story... the sense of growing dread and the awful reveal confirming the reader's worst fears! And then the tragic end, only to have that sense of closure torn away in the last lines with a mix of hope and horror. It's absolutely haunting. Just... wow.

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fantastic thrill! This is the kinda shit that makes me lose my sleep! I did entertain the thought of Roy being the arsonist at the beginning, but I was like "nah, it can't be lol". And then things just started getting more and more confusing, and I was just completely stumped. The angst, though. It was perfect. It fell in place with the plot perfectly and was totally in character. Everyone was in character. Loved the way you described the people, like Havoc just being a clueless doof half the time. But then we had that encounter with Kimbley, and EVERYTHING. CHANGED. Oh man, he got it from word one! He started listing all the state alchemists from Ishbal and I was like, "could it be?" But at the same time, "NO WAY IT CAN'T BE" and I was in denial and hoping. Then... Ed's phone call came along, and it was like "OH NOOOOOO". Chapter 14, though... I was reading every word carefully to see if there was any hidden meaning in them, and there was. Yay! I always love it when words make me think. It was amazing, the clues were embedded JUST THERE, and now looking back, everything fit in so perfectly! A masterpiece, it really is! I was so sad when Roy "died", even though it seemed inevitable, and then THAT ENDING. that last plot twist! There were so many possibilities from that one paragraph. Amazing, amazing journey. Also, loved that Riza sort of suspected from the start, and Roy sort of suspected that she sort of suspected... loved that portrayal of their relationship. The ending feeling was... I was sort of disturbed by what Roy had become, you know? He's just about as mad as Kimbley now... it left an unsettling feeling, but in the greatest of ways!

Great story! I really enjoyed it despite suspecting the eventual outcome from fairly early on. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I won't say too much here, except that you write beautifully and that your characterization was very well done. Thanks for taking the time to create this!

I'm not sure I can write a coherent and smart review after reading the story in one sitting. I was so captured by it that I couldn't let go of it even just for a couple of minutes. I loved how you portrayed Roy's relationship with his team, and especially Riza and Hughes. The dark thoughts of his were written soo good. From beginning of chapter 12 you had me dreading the possibile aftermath. Then Ed dropped /that/ and it struck me, that yeah, it actually makes sense. But I still didn't give too much though too it. Until next chapter that is... the last chapter had me in tears. Been a while since I cried over a fanfic. But the end... that sent me into hysterical laughter of disbelief. I love it! Congratulations on this super amazing story. It's certainly one of my all time ever favorites.