Elemental Chess Trilogy: Difference between revisions

'''Because this is a [[Continuation]] fanfic, this description contains unmarked spoilers for the FMA canon.'''

 

 

The first story, ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6813723/1/Flowers_of_Antimony Flowers of Antimony]'', [[Continuation Fic|begins about three years after the Promised Day]]. Al is returning to Amestris for Ed and Winry's wedding, and Ling Yao decides to follow and essentially crash the party. Due to his new status as Emperor of Xing, Fuhrer Grumman schedules a welcoming parade and all sorts of nonsense for the inadvertently political event. [[Chandler's Law]] is then invoked when Central is attacked by unknown invaders. ''Flowers'' was the only installment of the series intended to be read as a stand alone story.

* [[Bearer of Bad News]]: Repeatedly in ''Three Generals''. Armstrong weeps as he tells Roy and Riza that {{spoiler|Grumman's office has blown up with him in it}}. Later, Havoc, Rebecca, and Ed have to be the ones to tell Riza that {{spoiler|Roy's been arrested for blowing it up}}. And Ed has to be the one to tell everybody that {{spoiler|he's been convicted of the crime and sentenced to death}}.

* [[Beauty Is Never Tarnished]]: Averted hard, especially with Riza; not only does she still have the scar on her throat from the Promised Day, but {{spoiler|after she's recovered from her kidnapping in ''Brilliancy'', she's bruised, bloodied, filthy, and has a twisted knee.}}

** Ling Yao does not take kindly to anybody threatening his people, his friends, or his little sister.

** Major Armstrong has a huge problem with men who would "endanger a kind and gracious woman to further [their] own political agenda!"

* [[Call Back]]: Several to the canon, with varying degrees of subtlety.

** Before setting out for the Promised Day in the canon, Roy gives his subordinates [[Try Not to Die|an order not to die]]. This order gets mentioned in each part of the trilogy.

** When Riza is missing in ''Brilliancy'', a fevered Roy remarks that he's not surprised that he's sick, because he's been out in the rain ever since she was kidnapped. (For the Flame Alchemist, that's his way of saying he feels helpless.)

* [[Canine Companion]]: Riza's dog Black Hayate is this to both her and, after their marriage, Roy. He becomes something of a living [[Memento MacGuffin]] in ''Brilliancy''; Roy won't allow the dog out of his sight the entire time Riza is missing because, as Havoc points out, he's the closest thing they have to a child {{spoiler|at first}}.

* [[The Cavalry]]: Ed, Roy and Riza, assisted by Jerso and Zampano, come to the aid of their friends in ''Flowers of Antimony.'' {{spoiler|Those same friends return the favor at Roy's execution in ''Three Generals''.}}

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: Winry has a throwaway line about possibly carrying her wrench as '[[Old New Borrowed and Blue|something old]]' in ''Flowers of Antimony,'' which later becomes mildly important. Roy's fever in ''Flowers of Antimony'' becomes a plot point in ''Brilliancy''. The glass factory established early in ''Brilliancy'' takes on significance in ''Three Generals''.

** ''Three Generals'' may also qualify, as it has a [[Shogi]] theme going on with its title and chapter names. Shogi is Japanese chess. If nothing else, the chess motif shows up in the message that Ed sends to the allies after {{spoiler|Roy's conviction, which consists of just one word: '''Checkmate.'''}}

* [[Clear My Name]]: Roy in ''Three Generals'', when he's [[Wrongly Accused]] of {{spoiler|murdering Fuhrer Grumman}}.

* [[Dead Guy, Junior]]: Averted hard in ''Three Generals,'' when Roy explains to Grumman why he and Riza have decided not to name their baby after Maes Hughes or anybody else.

** Played straight in the same story by Ling and Lan Fan, however, who named their first son Fu, after Lan Fan's grandfather.

** In ''Three Generals,'' {{spoiler|Riza has to promise that she will not succumb to this when Roy is sentenced to death, mostly for the sake of their unborn child.}}

* [[The Dragon]]: {{spoiler|General Piper}} in ''Three Generals''.

* [[Drama-Preserving Handicap]]: Arguably, Roy's fever in ''Brilliancy''.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: {{spoiler|Riza's pregnancy}} was first written into the story to prevent this from happening to her when {{spoiler|the time of Roy's execution passes.}}

* [[Element Number Five]]: Quintessence, the fifth element of [[Real Life]] alchemy, makes a brief appearance in the title and content of the last chapter of ''Flowers''.

* [[Equivalent Exchange]]: Naturally, given the fandom. The trope is invoked by name in ''Flowers of Antimony'', when Sig points out to Ed that everywhere he goes, he leaves part of himself with the people he befriends and takes part of them with him when he leaves.

* [[Exact Words]]: In ''Three Generals'', {{spoiler|Roy persuades Acheron to promise that he won't do anything to hurt Riza or their yet-unborn child. Acheron consents, and specifically says that no harm will come to them by his orders. When Piper later threatens to have her killed, he points out that Roy never asked ''him'' to promise.}}

* [[A Father to His Men]]: Paul Douglas's observations in ''Brilliancy'' show that Mustang is still this, as he was in the canon, even though he's leading a completely different group now. It's also shown that Riza is [[A Mother to Her Men]], despite not being the actual commanding officer.

** Also in the same story, Roy and Breda comb the five newspapers of Amestris in search of articles that might clue them in to their enemy's movements.

* [[Flash Back]]: ''Brilliancy'' has several of these; the revolving point of view allows different characters to remember different incidents. Not a case of [[Viewers Are Goldfish]], however, because while all of the flashbacks are connected to events from the canon, they usually showcase non-canonical details.

* [[Hero Worshipper]]: Paul Douglas, who grew up hearing about Roy Mustang and "his merry band of brigands" and specifically requested to serve under him in Ishval. {{spoiler|This is easier to understand once it's revealed that Paul is a relative of Maes Hughes, Roy's deceased best friend.}}

* [[Hidden Agenda Villain]]: Acheron

* [[Hope Bringer]]: Part of the reason the men send for Roy Mustang when Central City is attacked during ''Flowers'' is because they figure that having the Flame Alchemist in their midst will boost the morale of the Amestrian defenses. (It does.)

* [[Hundred-Percent Adoration Rating]]: Piper notes, in ''Three Generals'', that Riza holds this status with the people in Central City because they pity her situation.

* [[The Man Behind the Man]]: What Acheron is hoping to become in ''Three Generals.''

* [[Meaningful Name]]: [[Big Bad]] Acheron shares his name with the Acheron river in Greece. In ancient mythology, Acheron was one of the five rivers of Hades, and was known as the 'river of pain.'

* [[Memento MacGuffin]]: Riza's silver earrings; as he explains to Winry in ''Brilliancy'', they were a gift from Roy when they were teenagers.

* [[Miscarriage of Justice]]: The circumstances leading up to {{spoiler|Roy's execution}} in ''Three Generals''.

* [[Out of the Inferno]]: In ''Brilliancy'', {{spoiler|Roy enters the building where he's been told he'll find Riza's dead body. Several minutes later, it explodes, and the rest of the company think he's committed suicide. As they're preparing to leave, Roy and Riza both show up in this fashion.}}

* [[Papa Wolf]]: ''Three Generals'' makes Grumman something of a Grandpa Wolf.

** [[Played With]] in ''Three Generals,'' when Fuery shyly asks Riza for "permission to hug."

* [[Pimped-Out Dress]]: While it never gets described, Winry's wedding dress is implied to be this if Ed's [[Jaw Drop|reaction]] is anything to go by. Lan Fan's wedding dress plays it straight.

* [[Playing Drunk]]: Fuhrer Grumman, at Ed's bachelor party.

* [[Post Climax Confrontation]]: Sort of. In ''Three Generals'', {{spoiler|after the allies stop Roy's execution and reunite Riza with her husband and grandfather, the reader learns that while this was going on, Scar was off killing Acheron}}. Since it was happening at the same time as the climax, it's technically ''not'' a [[Post Climax Confrontation]] - but the chapter in which it takes place comes after the chapter containing the climax.

* [[The Power of Friendship]]/[[The Power of Love]]: The driving motivation of all of the good guys, in one way or another.

* [[Sequel Hook]]: The end of ''Brilliancy''.

* [[Settle for Sibling|Settle For Best Friend]]: Rebecca accuses Havoc of having done this in ''Three Generals''.

** In ''Three Generals'', two characters are located in hotel room 611. This is a reference to June 11th, known in the FMA fandom as "Royai Day."

* {{spoiler|[[Shot At Dawn]]: Roy is sentenced to death by firing squad for the supposed murder of Fuhrer Grumman. It's even mentioned that these things normally happen at dawn. However, the execution in the story takes place at 3:00.}}

* [[Squad Nickname]]: The former members of Roy's unit refer to themselves as Team Mustang. Later, when they're reunited to form Riza's personal security detail, they call themselves "all the queen's men."

* [[Stuff Blowing Up]]: The building explosion in ''Brilliancy''; {{spoiler|Grumman's office}} in ''Three Generals.''

* [[Suddenly-Suitable Suitor]]: See above

* [[Switching POV]]: No character controls the narrative for more than one chapter at a time.

* [[Unbroken Vigil]]: When Roy falls ill in ''Brilliancy'', one of the allies (usually Winry) is appointed to hold one at all times.

* [[Undying Loyalty]]: As in the canon.

* [[Unwitting Pawn]]: In ''Three Generals'', {{spoiler|General Hakuro}} is actually innocent. He has no idea what he's helping the bad guys achieve.

* [[Verbal Tic]]: Acheron has a weird accent. When the allies meet him for the first time, Falman notes that he pronounces Roy's name as ''Arroy Moostangy.''