Fanfic / A Is A

People are alike all over...

What happens when a small change enacts massive consequences? When ordered to use the Stargate in conjunction with the Quantum Mirror, SG-1 realizes that there's more to the multiverse than the occasional alternate self. Discovering magic, witnessing advanced tech, and facing new and dangerous conspiracies, SG-1 does the only sensible thing.

They invite their new contacts to team up with them.

A Is A is a crossover series written by Flyboy 254, that follows the burgeoning Multiversal Task Force as it explores the multiverse, contends with the threats present in their own members homes, and seeks to prevent further catastrophes from occuring. Currently numbering at seventy-three stories, the series has tackled everything from culture shock, prejudice, ends vs means, and dozens of other ideals. In the middle of it all, a single question hangs over everything.

Where is Kane?

The story can roughly be divided into several "seasons":

• Season 1 (1 - 27) focuses on SG-1's initial forays into the multiverse, meeting the new members of the MVTF and taking their first tentative steps into these new universes.
• Season 2 (28 - 56) highlights the initial growing pains and struggles of the group, combined with several realizations that none of the threats faced by the MVTF will have any easy answers.
• Season 3 (57 - ) primarily follows team MV-4 and their allies into U-1923 to answer larger multiversal threats, along with several smaller stories following the issues in other MV-affiliated bodies.

A is A is a currently ongoing Massive Multiplayer Crossover, and takes a heavy dose of Stargate SG-1 and its tendency to subvert, avert, and play with situations and couples it with Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist, The Legend of Korra, Battlefield 2142, Command & Conquer, Overwatch, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, Sailor Moon, Pumpkin Scissors and Disney Villains Victorious.

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Tropes used in this story:

• Adaptation Expansion: Several stories expand on settings and characters who received little, if any, characterization in their original works.
  • Mustang Squad get further exploration, primarily their histories and previous actions before the plot of Fullmetal Alchemist
  • The First Multiversal Reconnaissance Team, and by extension their entire home universe, are given a much more expansive look at the social, political, and military facets of the Cold War.
  • Dead Six are given actual personalities beyond the flat characterization they received in Command & Conquer: Renegade.
• Ancient Astronauts: Discussed by Fareeha and Daniel, with Fareeha mentioning that she's sick of it being used to explain Egypt's ancient achievements and that being in a universe where the idea is true is somewhat grating. Daniel then points out that to him, Fareeha's Egypt building one of the world's earliest nations without any alien assistance is something to be impressed by.
• And the Adventure Continues: Several universes join after their original series ended, leaving characters to pick up where they should've left off.
  • MV-2, led by Gen. Mustang, now have to contend with the rebuilding of Ishval, the search for the remaining members of Father's conspiracy, and questions about Amestris' future.
  • MV-3, Team Korra, now face a world where the economy of the United Republic is showing cracks and the world around them continues to change.
• Arc Words: "A is A".
• Bad Future: The Tiberian universe is facing this, having only just defeated Kane for the first time, then find out from Team Rainbow of what's going to happen to their world up to Tiberium Wars.
• Bar Brawl:
  • The end of Shared Hardship, Common Enemy features a massive celebratory brawl in the Fairy Tail guild hall after the MVTF defeats Acnologia.
  • During Detour of Conflict, Korra and Sean Devlin nearly fight against each other before a lecherous Nazi refocuses their attention. At which point Team Avatar and Sean clear out the brothel of Nazis.
• Body Horror: Maidens Loss gives a twofer. At first, the most extreme cases of Tiberium poisoning get the most attention, with examples like Tib crystals growing out of eyes or from the points where legs were amputated. Things get worse when Usagi tries to heal them.
  • Remnants shows the failed results of several attempts at creating chimerae out of humans and coyotes. Emphasis on "failed".
• Boxing Lessons for Superman: After Darkness, Gen. Hammond orders the entire MVTF to learn how to properly utilize firearms. Even if they lose their powers, they won't necessarily be left totally defenseless.
  • The more mundane version is shown during the story Recruitment, as the members of Dead Six have the Senshi train in mundane hand-to-hand techniques.
• Break the Badass: Natsu finds out that not everyone heals from being burned by dragon fire.
• Break the Cutie: Fluttershy realizes that the MVTF's often violent and brutal actions are too much for her to bear, and she chooses to leave her friends on MV-7.
• Break the Haughty: Alice Malvin suffers this in Good Works when she kills for the first time.
  • 1st Platoon face this in Second Chance! A School Festival! They think that the Senshi are children facing overblown monsters. They are swiftly disabused of this notion by the end.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the stories Gridlocked and One Night in Orlando, thanks to the presence of the Muppets, there are multiple incidents of fourth wall destruction. Which often leaves those characters not familiar with the Muppet media either incredibly confused or existentially terrified.
• Brick Joke: In Gridlocked, the platoon shoot a woman that had magically disguised herself as Fox Xanatos, but had no idea who she really was. Several stories later, during a brief cut to Team Rainbow's analysts, one of them jumps up and shouts out the identity of the individual.
• Brought Down to Normal: Detour of Conflict and A Far Cry both take magic away from teams who use it as their primary combat ability.
• Cast Herd: Due to the sheer number of teams, each story will typically focus on one or two teams, and even then on the viewpoints of several characters in those teams.
• The Cameo: As per Muppets tradition, Gwyneth Paltrow appears as Miss Piggy's assistant in Gridlocked.
  • Further cameos appear in the story One Night in Orlando, including Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ryan Reynolds, Sigourney Weaver, and a fourth-wall breaker by Steve Martin.
• Canon Welding: Several mentions by Team Rainbow characters have confirmed the existence of Ded_Sec and the Santa Blanca cartel. It also firmly attaches Rainbow Six Siege to the canon of the Jack Ryan novels.
• The Captain: Capt. Campbell, platoon commander of 1st Platoon, is a relatively straight example of this trope. Capt. Parker averts it entirely.
• Combat Pragmatist: The military teams of the MVTF are consummate combat pragmatists, though this often leads to headbutting with the more idealistic teams.
• Corrupt Politician: Sen. Kinsey, with a healthy dose of Sleazy Politician as well.
• Crapsack World: Several have cropped up over the course of the stories.
  • 1st Platoon's home in the Cold War, fleshed out more than the original game. The governments of Europe are in exile in Africa with as much of their populations as they could get off the mainland. The majority of food for the EU is insect meat, soy, and lentils, and nearly all civilians contribute in some way to the war economy. It's implied that the PAC situation is even worse.
  • In Gridlocked, the MVTF finds themselves in a composite world of several Disney series where the Villains won or something bad happened to the Heroes early on.
• Deconstructor Fleet: Several stories have taken ideas common to each universe and turned them upside down.
  • Parker's FPS protagonist attitude have alienated several members of the MVTF, and though capable in combat he constantly offends those he needs to work alongside.
  • Fairy Tail's system of guilds allows for incredible freedom for the mages of Fiore, but it also means a true crisis can result in no effective response.
  • Despite being the saviors of their Earth several times over, post-9/11 SG-1's lack of concern for what happens on their home planet becomes slightly galling.
  • Even with their relative power, Gen. Hammond will not let the Sailor Senshi go on standard missions with other MV teams until they at least finish high school.
  • Last Stand of the Owl House is a storywide one for the concept of Fix Fic. 1st Platoon spend the entire story thinking that simply knowing how Owl House ends and how the characters think, they can save the Boiling Isles with minimal pain. They don't.
• Ensign Newbie: Alice Malvin to almost all the MVTF
• Evil Is Not Well-Lit
  • The PAC military committee prefers to keep their faces in shadow when holding a meeting with lesser-ranked individuals.
  • Lampshaded in Oh, Spirits!, when the leader of an as-yet unnamed group rises to leave a meeting and slams their foot into the leg of a table.
  "Argh! Can we please get some new lights in here!"
• Fate Worse than Death: Campbell states that if his platoon can't shape up regarding Mei, that not only will they be removed from the MVTF, but they'll be sent to the Greek front. This alone is enough to convince most of the platoon to shape up.
• Fictional Political Party: Now that Amestris is no longer under the rule of Father via King Bradley, mentions are made of two main political groups in the parliament. The People's Coalition Party, led by PM Kennedy, and the Amestrian National Unity Front, led by MP Hatch. There also is a growing street-level movement calling themselves "Bradleyists", though in Al's eyes they share too much in common with another political movement he's seen in the multiverse.
• Four Lines, All Waiting: Every universe part of the MVTF is dealing with its own issues, many entirely separate from the MVTF's search for Nod and Kane.
• Friend to All Children: Parker, to the surprise of many in the MVTF.
• Freudian Excuse: Parker His homophobia is rooted in how his family reacted to a cousin coming out of the closet. Their reactions coupled with his lack of understanding have left him convinced that homosexuality is unnatural.
• Good-Guy Bar: The Cheyenne Diner becomes one for teams staying at the SGC.
• Good Is Not Nice: Several teams exemplify this to varying degrees.
  • MV-4, the First Multiversal Reconnaissance Team, have been fighting a war of survival against the Pan-Asian Coalition for years by the time they join the MVTF. This is exemplified whenever they go up against criminals, as Campbell notes that the EU gave their soldiers orders to eliminate local crime bosses to stop extortion and profiteering among their populations.
  • MV-5, Dead Six, have no qualms about utilizing assassinations and sabotage if it means a better outcome overall for others.
• Government Conspiracy: These start to pile up across the multiverse between Stargate, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Pumpkin Scissors.
• Heteronormative Crusader: Nick "Havoc" Parker. He claims he doesn't hate Korra and Asami, but he certainly doesn't show them much in the way of kindness.
  • The rest of Dead Six as well. While they don't show Parker's aggressive homophobia, they do react with notable anger at seeing the shift in gender norms in Numbani in Eyes of a Child
• Human Shield
  • Reality sees the Goa'uld Bastet trying to use Asami as one. Unfortunately for her, Korra realizes her gold jewelry isn't as well-refined as her weapons
  • The Philia Signal sees a traitor working with ZFT take Walter Bishop hostage. Sgt. Weber chooses to Shoot the Hostage in order to make a headshot on the traitor to make sure they don't lose the scientist.
• Important Haircut: When Kunzite first realizes what the MVTF is capable of, he simply ties his hair in a ponytail. Once he decides to abandon Beryl, he takes his own sword and slices it short.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: "Havoc" Parker at the end of Reality has a moment after Korra dresses him down.
  Parker: Well what do you think?
  Airman: I just serve the food sir.
• Leg Focus: Lampshaded during By the Light of the Moon.
  O'Neill: So what can we tell about them?
  Korra: Aside from the fact that they have pretty sweet legs?
  *O'Neill nearly chokes on breakfast*
• Masquerade: Several
  • The SGC is trying to keep the existence of aliens and the multiverse secret from the wider world, as well as the multiverse secret from the likes of the Russian SG program.
  • Amestris, under Fuhrer Grumman, believes that any proof of Father's actions must be concealed to prevent the nation from fracturing under the weight of the truth.
  • Canterlot High has to keep the truth about the multiverse from reaching the local school board.
  • Section III has to pretend that it doesn't know the truth about Lionel Taylor being part of the Silver Wheel conspiracy.
• Meaningful Funeral: The death of Martis represents the first death of a member of the MVTF, and is given due gravitas by all the teams. Each one presents a meaningful award or token on the coffin, giving all due respect to their fallen comrade.
• Medium Blending: Observed during the travels through the multiverse. The teams take on the appearance of the local dimension; going to Fairy Tail's dimension gives an anime-esque appearance, while traveling to the Cold War or Overwatch's dimension makes a person look like a 3-D rendered character.
• Musical Episode: While "Gridlocked" isn't always musical, there are times where Sci-Twilight and 1st Platoon(along with the Muppets) break into song, to the confusion of those around them.
  • One Night in Orlando ups the musical quotient for the story, naturally since it does focus on the Muppets.
• Mutually Fictional: Downplayed. Tom Clancy's novels exist in SG-1's world, which Jack uses to his advantage when they end up in the Clancyverse. Then it turns out that the fiction of every other universe in the MVTF exists in the Clancyverse.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero
  • Thanks to the MVTF basically breaking into the early Tiberium universe, Kane is able to piece together how to take the Brotherhood of Nod into the multiverse.
  • Looking for clues on the motives of the Omnic Crisis, the MVTF determines that pertinent information fell into the hands of Junkrat... whom Asami had killed during their first foray into the Overwatch universe.
  • Last Stand of the Owl House The MVTF's attempts to avert the Day of Unity disaster in Owl House instead resulted in the majority of demons and witches slaughtered single-handedly by Emperor Belos, most named adult characters dead, and the Collector released anyway despite preventing that being the MVTF's main goal.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Kinsey trying to sabotage the SGC's efforts by forcing them to use the Quantum Mirror is what kickstarts the entire series.
• Nom de Guerre: Most of the Nicknames/Unit Names for the MVTF Teams fall under the Meaningful Name version of this:
  • MV-1: PURE MAGIC - Comes from how heavily prevalent magic is in their home universe.
  • MV-2: UNTAMED - Likely comes from the fight against Father's conspiracy, as well as Mustang's own name.
  • MV-3: PRAY TO US - Korra's nigh divinity, at least from SGC's perspective.
  • MV-4: EUROPA - The Platoon's attachment with their ancestral homelands, now lost to the expanding icecaps.
  • MV-5: CAN’T KILL US - A nod (ha) to their "Dead Six" moniker.
  • MV-6: GUARDIAN ANGELS - Referencing what the US military refers to the action of taking overwatch as.
  • MV-7: MAGNIFICENT - A reference to the The Magnificent Seven (1960).
  • MV-8: LOVE AND JUSTICE - Virtues championed by the Senshi.
  • MV-9: VERSCHWÖRUNGSTÄTER - German compound word the roughly translates to "Conspiracy Criminal/Offender". Considering their "domestic" issues, this is apt.
  • You Are Number 6 version for the designations given to discovered universes by SGC.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Gridlocked shows troopers Van der Burgh and Vogt inflict one of these on three Yakuza collecting protection money from the Lucky Cat Cafe in San Fransokyo. Seeing the brutality of the fight, combined with the pain inflicted on the then-captured criminals, shocks Twilight Sparkle as she witnesses it.
• Not Me This Time: When dealing with a world where Thomas Whitmore is President of the United States, the MVTF think they're prepared when several large objects start appearing over major cities. Except it turns out not to be aliens attacking, but Columbia.
• Oh, Crap, There Are Fanfics of Us!: Tracer gets the bright idea to grab a bunch of fanfics from Rainbow's universe and leave them out for the other teams to find.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted with Havoc and Havoc. The second is referred to as Parker for the sake of differentiating.
• The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: The PAC military committee is shown as this when Gen. Vladomirovic is summoned before them. His narration notes that this is more to intimidate anyone summoned before them than for any security reasons.
• Outside-Context Problem: Both weaponized by and against the MVTF.
  • Reality shows the Jaffa and Goa'uld being caught totally flatfooted by bending, with one Jaffa desperate to believe that it must be the same "magic" that the Goa'uld use.
  • Operation: HIGHER EDUCATION throws this in the face of Team Rainbow, though Six swiftly pivots to put their new connection to the MVTF to good use as an outside-context problem to their advantage.
  • Darkness drops Team Rainbow in against the inhabitants of Philadelphia, the local monsters and hunters both unprepared for the team's blitz through the city.
  • The Philia Signal drops this hard on the MVTF, since no one expects a group like ZFT to exist anywhere near U-1923. This leaves 1st Platoon and the small Overwatch detachment totally lost when trying to respond.
• Police Are Useless: Lampshaded during Light of the Moon. No one believes that the Japanese government can just ignore what happens when the Sailor Scouts are involved.
  • Eventually subverted, since the more violent actions of several MV teams has resulted in the kind of evidence the Senshi typically don't leave behind. This has turned into the MVTF fearful that their operations will be hindered by the Tokyo authorities.
• Politically Incorrect Hero
  • Parker, as mentioned above.
  • 1st Platoon, all racist against anyone that's a member nation of the Pan-Asian Coalition. Which doesn't come up until Mei joins as part of the Overwatch team.
• Prima Donna Director: Dailies has Overwatch and Team Korra defending Hal-Fred Glitchbot from a threatened assassination. They quickly realize that for all the Omnic's technical skill as a director, he's also an insufferable ass who blithely comments that humans should just get over the Omnic Crisis. Fortunately, the president of Goldshire Pictures isn't so intimidated by Glitchbot, and because of the director's attitude states the director's next project will be filming a documentary.
• Put on a Bus: Since they're graduating high school and going off to college, Sunset's friends can no longer take part in MV operations.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Harry lays a hard one down on Sen. Kinsey during Darkness.
  Harry: "You expected an easy war, a simple victory. Go in, kill the terrorists, get out. The problem is that you don’t know who they are, do you? The men in Afghanistan all look alike but speak seven languages. Some will support the United States, others will support the Taliban. Some will fight because they know that men with uniforms and guns are their enemies. You aren’t fighting terror, you’re unleashing a monster."
• Roger Rabbit Effect: Used, appropriately enough, in the story Gridlocked, where several universes(including the Trope Namer) have been slammed together. The teams note that when they visit, they individually "revert" to their home universe's appearances(Live action, animated, 3D, etc...). This does result in some confusing imagery when a brawl breaks out in the Happiness Hotel involving the CGI 1st Platoon, several Animated and Real-Life gangsters, the Anime-style Pumpkin Scissors squad, and the Muppets all in the middle.
• Rousing Speech: Campbell gives one in Shared Hardship, Common Enemy to psych both Fairy Tail and the MVTF up for the coming fight with Acnologia.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After being contacted by Nod, Kunzite is slowly convinced to abandon Beryl's failing efforts and join the Brotherhood.
• Shipper on Deck: After Hekapoo meets Campbell, all of 1st Platoon start ribbing their captain by giving them the pair name "Campoo"
• Slap-on-the-Wrist Nuke: Averted: No one wants to fire the ion cannon during the final assault on the Temple of Nod.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: A constant struggle between the teams to try and solve their problems.
• Stranger in a Familiar Land: Has been cropping up in U-1923 thanks to the merging of the universes.
  • Luz Noceda, having been in the demon realm during the merging of universes, comes back to see Pres. Martinez in the White House and excitedly asks what removed the president she remembers from office. When her mother tells her that Martinez was president when she left, Luz nearly falls into a breakdown.
  • Walter Bishop can remember the reality he lived in before the merging, which everyone ignores due to his mental instability. When MV-4's Lance Corporal Scholz mentions that cartoon and 3-D rendered characters exist alongside "real" (live-action) humans, Walter snaps too immediately.
• Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: Not yet, but Carter, Sunset, and Sci-Twi are already taking the first steps toward it.
• Those Wacky Nazis: Detour of Conflict takes place in an alternate universe where MV-2 and 3 have to survive in Nazi-occupied Paris. While much of the early story involves humiliating and degrading the occupiers, the second half takes a decidedly darker tone. As state in the notes for chapter 27:
  "The worst part about writing Nazis: No matter how cartoonishly evil you write them, you always know they were worse in real life."
• The Watcher: Several stories showed the MVTF noticing figures in suits watching them in the course of their operations. It turns out there were two separate watchers. One was Rod Serling, keeping an eye on the MVTF before revealing himself. The other were the Observers, who are revealed to be not only part of ZFT, but were observing the MVTF before they even arrived in U-1923.
• Wham Episode: Apotheosis.
  Kane: The arrival of this Multiversal Task Force is proof to me that ascension is possible and inspired me to again pick up my own work. Thanks to you, SG-1, I have found my way again.
• United Europe: A necessary creation due to the ice age in MV-4's world. It's mentioned that while the member nations of the EU are still considered their own polities, real power is held in the greater structure of the European Union.
• Urban Fantasy: U-616, specifically in how Monica Weiss realizes she needs to think about the way the universe works in order to give Team Rainbow a chance to rescue Korra's team.
• What the Hell, Hero?: SG-1 does this to themselves in File Keeping #2. Drugging Natsu to keep him docile during the hearing makes everyone uncomfortable.
• Welcomed to the Masquerade: Occurs to the newest members of Team Rainbow during Project Creep, where the eight new candidates and one new lawyer are exposed to Minako's senshi abilities, Lucy's spirits, and McCree's cybernetic arm.
• Word of God: Weaponized by Team Rainbow. Recognizing that the majority of the MVTF exists as fictional properties in their universe, they begin to analyze any and all works to give the other teams a potential edge against future threats.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Averted in By the Light of the Moon twice. Once on the Sailor Scouts, the second time on Zoisite. Guess who gets the better end of the deal.
  • Also in Gridlocked, where Campbell only gives Thailog just enough time to wake up and realize he's not alone before capping him
• Xanatos Gambit: Being played, appropriately enough, by the Trope Namer himself. As MV-4 and their allies keep moving across the country taking out various villains in power, there are highlights that he is playing a larger game.
• Your Magic's No Good Here: Played with. Magic is able to function across the multiverse, but it's effects can vary. In Apotheosis Mako winds up on the receiving end of this when he tries to firebend away a stream from a Nod flamethrower. He firebends the flames easily, but can't bend the napalm.
  • Certain universes don't even allow for magic. During the story Detour of Conflict, Team Korra, Alphonse, and May Chang realize their abilities no longer function. It happens again to the Mane Seven in A Far Cry.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Gray and Asami discuss this in Bending Break, since Team Rainbow's ''intelligence" shows that in the manga, he does eventually get together with Juvia. Asami notes even if their lives no longer follow the plot of the manga, there's no reason to necessarily avoid a relationship with her.
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Features heavily in Detour of Conflict.
• Zeppelins from Another World: This is how the MVTF determines that the World War II in "Detour of Conflict" isn't the past of any of the member Earths: the Nazis of that world make much heavier use of Zeppelins.

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