Letter Bee

Accursed Tropes: The Last Airbender (Isekai; Fanfic Cliches infiltrating Canon, Lewascan gave me Permission)

This RP is still open, but after the first round, backstories will have to be longer.

Noble Arms: The ASEAN War - Thread Three, the Darkest Hour

4/3/25 - Potential Big Three Revamp

The Big Three

The Seven Virtues - "Humanity can be more than it is now. Make it so." The Seven Virtues claim to be ascended Humans, Arms Masters who had transcended their mortal form and become something more. Now they seek to guide Humanity to a similar 'Ascension' by controlling the ‘reincarnation’ of the Noble Arms held by Arms Masters who had died in the line of duty, or very rarely, creating new ones which had not been held by an Arms Master before. However, the Seven Virtues grant power on two conditions: One, that you give up one of your worldly attachments, one that has harmed your life, and two, that you vow not to kill a sapient being, ever.

Mechanical Effects: Your Potential Stat (see below) is raised to A for the purpose of gaining powers that provide non-fatal, or in some cases, even non-violent options for resolving problems, but capped at D for powers that are fatal in nature. Healing and defensive abilities ignore your NA's Persistence Stat (see below) and have functionally unlimited stamina. Violating the vow of no-killing removes these benefits but not your Noble Arm.

The Paragons of Science - "Humanity is the only concept worth worshipping." The Paragons of Science are a cabal of scientists who have mixed together actual scientific principles with the Occult to decipher part of what makes Noble Arms 'tick', enough to manufacture Artificial Noble Arms which can compete with the best of existing ones. However, they give these Artificial Arms only to those who can 1.) pay through the nose for them, or 2.) people who are willing to renounce the “Throne and altar” to promote a future where Humanity rules over all of nature and worships only itself.

Mechanical Effects: You can also circumvent cosmetic restrictions on Noble Arms, making them look like modern or (more commonly) futuristic sci-fi weapons, as the Paragons frown on using modern guns as templates. In exchange, you sign a contract with the Paragons that amounts to, 'you cannot make them or their ideals look bad, even though you disagree with them', and if you violate it, your Noble Arm's Power Stat (see below) is lowered to C-Rank; you can circumvent this by having the Power Stat be C by default - They can't do anything about that if it is.

The Downward Descent - "Freedom from Morality." The Downward Descent does not claim to be Human, but rather something more; the darkness of people's thoughts and inner desires made manifest, whispering the fulfillment of their darkest wishes. The Downward Descent wants nothing more than Humanity to descend to a level lower than animals, to pull civilization down into ruins so that people would give up on being something more than what they were, to regard their hopes and dreams and aspirations as only so many lies and self-deception. And in exchange for indulging their wishes, the entities of the Downward Descent can give Noble Arms to anyone, not just the unpowered but also those who already have a Noble Arm; they are the only source of a Second Noble Arm, ever.

And all it takes is for you to renounce not just your soul but actively endorse the very things you find most abominable in your heart and mind.

Mechanical Effects: Spoilers below.

The Antagonism Requirement

The one spark of conscience remaining in the Downward Descent compels you to unite others against you; this does not necessarily mean being a monstrous villain, although the leadership themselves are those. Being a jerkface who makes everyone dislike you even as they work with you, making them ignore or get over how much they hate each other, also works to allow you to keep your second Noble Arm. Of course, if everyone is a jerkface to each other, this fails; same for if you get booted off the team and have to do solo adventures from now on. Thus, the mechanical effects are: You have to Roleplay your best and keep a balance, or lose your second Noble Arm or more.

Noble Arms Lore Thread (Letter Bee Version)

4/3/25 - Potential Big Three Revamp

The Big Three

The Seven Virtues - "Humanity can be more than it is now. Make it so." The Seven Virtues claim to be ascended Humans, Arms Masters who had transcended their mortal form and become something more. Now they seek to guide Humanity to a similar 'Ascension' by controlling the ‘reincarnation’ of the Noble Arms held by Arms Masters who had died in the line of duty, or very rarely, creating new ones which had not been held by an Arms Master before. However, the Seven Virtues grant power on two conditions: One, that you give up one of your worldly attachments, one that has harmed your life, and two, that you vow not to kill a sapient being, ever.

Mechanical Effects: Your Potential Stat (see below) is raised to A for the purpose of gaining powers that provide non-fatal, or in some cases, even non-violent options for resolving problems, but capped at D for powers that are fatal in nature. Healing and defensive abilities ignore your NA's Persistence Stat (see below) and have functionally unlimited stamina. Violating the vow of no-killing removes these benefits but not your Noble Arm.

The Paragons of Science - "Humanity is the only concept worth worshipping." The Paragons of Science are a cabal of scientists who have mixed together actual scientific principles with the Occult to decipher part of what makes Noble Arms 'tick', enough to manufacture Artificial Noble Arms which can compete with the best of existing ones. However, they give these Artificial Arms only to those who can 1.) pay through the nose for them, or 2.) people who are willing to renounce the “Throne and altar” to promote a future where Humanity rules over all of nature and worships only itself.

Mechanical Effects: You can also circumvent cosmetic restrictions on Noble Arms, making them look like modern or (more commonly) futuristic sci-fi weapons, as the Paragons frown on using modern guns as templates. In exchange, you sign a contract with the Paragons that amounts to, 'you cannot make them or their ideals look bad, even though you disagree with them', and if you violate it, your Noble Arm's Power Stat (see below) is lowered to C-Rank; you can circumvent this by having the Power Stat be C by default - They can't do anything about that if it is.

The Downward Descent - "Freedom from Morality." The Downward Descent does not claim to be Human, but rather something more; the darkness of people's thoughts and inner desires made manifest, whispering the fulfillment of their darkest wishes. The Downward Descent wants nothing more than Humanity to descend to a level lower than animals, to pull civilization down into ruins so that people would give up on being something more than what they were, to regard their hopes and dreams and aspirations as only so many lies and self-deception. And in exchange for indulging their wishes, the entities of the Downward Descent can give Noble Arms to anyone, not just the unpowered but also those who already have a Noble Arm; they are the only source of a Second Noble Arm, ever.

And all it takes is for you to renounce not just your soul but actively endorse the very things you find most abominable in your heart and mind.

Mechanical Effects: Spoilers below.

The Antagonism Requirement

The one spark of conscience remaining in the Downward Descent compels you to unite others against you; this does not necessarily mean being a monstrous villain, although the leadership themselves are those. Being a jerkface who makes everyone dislike you even as they work with you, making them ignore or get over how much they hate each other, also works to allow you to keep your second Noble Arm. Of course, if everyone is a jerkface to each other, this fails; same for if you get booted off the team and have to do solo adventures from now on. Thus, the mechanical effects are: You have to Roleplay your best and keep a balance, or lose your second Noble Arm or more.

Noble Arms - The ASEAN War, Second Thread

For the record, my Discord hasn’t been hacked to my knowledge. I’d hoped to finish prior obligations and then return to this, but prior obligations have proven to take longer than expected. I guess I can work on these simultaneously.

@QJT

Thanks; sorry for the mistake.

Wait, your Discord account was sending friend requests to people you have not talked with for years earlier today. But you are implying you have not accessed it during that time?

I Am Thou: A Persona/SMT Inspired Story

@Bacon, thank you; this is fair.

I Am Thou: A Persona/SMT Inspired Story

Are we waiting for @Meri, @Bacon?

Noble Arms: The ASEAN War - Thread Three, the Darkest Hour

Intermission Four - Darkest Hour

La Trinidad de Manila Academy - 12/1/2022, 8:24, UTC+8

Far Eastern University In Real Life; the location and structures are used for La Trinidad de Manila in this timeline for convinience

As Henri, Nil, and Callie talked, Myron Makraig continued to worry about Noel, not helped by the fact that Tonka and Oskar had just suddenly vanished. This was bad; he was on the verge of calling up old terrorist contacts in order to break out the First Lieutenant who had believed in him when no one else would. But that meant putting himself in their debt, which can harm his friends later on - Friends who would not forgive him for the measures he took.

This time, he cannot blame them if they abandoned him; only himself. But what else can he do? Let the First Lieutenant - A mere 18 year old - suffer underneath a depraved avatar who took joy in torture? Noel Alonso deserved better; he cannot just let him spend another day in that deep dungeon like so many others have already.

"I can save him, if you'd accept a freebie," a voice suddenly said from behind him. It was a tall, beardless, blond man wearing a tank top, trousers, and work boots that showed off his lean, toned arms; Myron recognized him as Diligence. "In exchange, well... I notice Nico Makri is indisposed, right? Pass him a 'get well soon' card for me, and tell him I haven't given up on his' becoming the real Humilitas."

It was all Myron can do not to scowl at him...

@Chiro@Nimbus

Refugee Camp North of Manila - 12/3/2022, 11:00, UTC+8 (Three Days Later)

The Philippine Government of National Salvation's forces were spread thin and were not well-equipped for the sudden strike by the Corriente Family's private army. This was the second time Crown Prince Shinyahito was caught unawares by various political clans' intrigues against each other and the PGNS.

But as Cristina took her sister away into her Imaginary Space for a 'private settlement' of their issues, the boy can think clearer now about how to save the camp from this assault without excess collateral damage.

"Nil!" his tone hardened into one of command, "Stay with me! Do not fire unless we are attacked; do you get me?! If you fire at random, we'll end up harming innocent people! So don't fire until I give the say-so!"

Then he turned towards Mikey and Archer, saying, "You two! Arms Masters can use ordinary guns too, so go find some and fire!"

And as if to set an example, the Crown Prince drew a Beretta Nano he had concealed in his jacket and fired at two of the machete-wielding infiltrators who were chasing a mother and child. One was brought down, the other remained. As he saw that Nil had a clear shot, he told her, "Okay, you can fire at him and only him until he is hit, got it?"

From her new vantage point, Mikey could see that the battle outside was not going as well as it should; the Corriente Family's thugs had put machine guns and armor plates onto four Toyota Pickup Trucks that had broken through the camp fence and offloading squads of well-armed militia, while motorcycle-riding gunmen - sixteen of them on Chinese-made vehicles, rode around shooting at anything and everything. Philippine Government of National Salvation forces were rallying, with Military Police and Regular Army and Police units organizing themselves into a cordon around the camp while others swept the area for infiltrators.

What can she do right now?

@Gerlando@Digmata@ctrlsaltdel@Archazen

Accursed Tropes: The Last Airbender (Isekai; Fanfic Cliches infiltrating Canon, Lewascan gave me Permission)

@Sanity43217, I love your OC's backstory, especially his bad life back on Earth. Approval Two.

Accursed Tropes: The Last Airbender (Isekai; Fanfic Cliches infiltrating Canon, Lewascan gave me Permission)

The IC is live!

Accursed Tropes: The Last Airbender (Isekai; Fanfic Cliches infiltrating Canon, Lewascan gave me Permission)

Prologue - Falling Stars from a Foreign Sky - Credits to my Co-GM, @Lewascan2, for the contents of the post.

Unknown Location - Unknown Time

---

You died.

“Please, accept my deepest apologies.” The boyish voice was accompanied by a deep bow. “But my time is short and my measures truly desperate.”

Perhaps that was a rather underwhelming way to describe your present situation, but there wasn’t really a way to beat around the bush here. Of course, by its nature, death was something most humans feared, for good reason even. Be it uncertainty about what was to come or the worry about their death being painful, most people did not anticipate the day it came. And for you, sadly, that death was most likely one of the latter.

“As the one who should be a keeper of the Balance, I have committed an unforgivable sin upon you, taking you away from your well-deserved rests, from the afterlives you were promised to.” Still bowing, the being that had evidently pulled you here was shockingly young in appearance, a boy dressed as a monk, bald… and with a rather distinctive set of blue, arrow-shaped tattoos standing out against the skin of his forehead and hands. “But… if you can find it in yourselves to let me explain… Please, I need your help.”

You died.

”You all probably recognize me, eheh…” A sheepish smile crossed the boy’s face, as he straightened up. “I’m Avatar Aang, and it’s exactly because you already know who I am that I really need your help.”

You probably had a lot more to live for, but in the end, reality was harsh. Your time on the mortal coil was now over, and as awareness of your body faded… a brand new one came to be. It was almost a strange proprioception-like phenomenon, an alien awareness of your own existence as a soul cast from their body. You were a shapeless light in the dark, a single shooting star in a sky filled with many like you.

”The Balance of my world is in danger. I’m…” He frowned. “I’m still trying to fully understand what happened, but what you need to know is that someone replaced me. You all know how the events of my world should have gone, how I should have fulfilled my destiny as the Avatar, but in my world -in my dimension- something went wrong.”

You were being pulled. Inevitably. Inexorably. To what destination? You couldn’t rightly say, but perhaps you could make an educated guess or two. Bereft of a body, however, you were left with little more than your thoughts, with time to reflect, perhaps regret, perhaps not. Yet, you could sense that your destination was arriving swiftly. And then…

”While I was frozen in the ice of the Southern Water Tribes, I was hidden, but as it turns out, I was also vulnerable. Unconscious and still yet to really come into my potential as the Avatar, I was subjected to a spiritual attack. I tried to fight back, but it was useless. My attacker managed to boot me out of my own body, reduce me to a drifting spirit that they then locked outside my world entirely in this strange prison.”

Then it wasn’t.

”Thankfully, Raava was able to awaken and help me, and we managed to eventually break free… mostly.” He rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling. “Well, more like we managed to poke some holes in the thing, big enough to reach through. But when I looked back at my world…” He shook his head, frowning. “...it was muddled to my sight. Yet, I was able to sense a great disturbance in the Balance, a warp so great that it threatens to disturb even neighboring worlds.”

Lost in a sea of souls, you could only bear witness as something broke through the flow like breaching the surface of a rushing current. A shining presence, a pair of warm comforting hands, glowing gold, white and blue, as they swept through the spiritual currents with shockingly sure and delicate motions, with a care befitting a parent handling their newborn.

Aang gestured outside the cage. “I don’t really fully understand it, but this prison was made for me with a sort of… hardened crystallization of concepts, of these things called ‘tropes’, ‘memes’ and ‘narrative energies’. They gave my attacker strength I could not oppose at the time, strength I can’t even really oppose now, considering how strong the shield around my world is, a shield also made of the same material that crafted my prison.”

As those hands pass through, you feel them scooping you up, along with a cluster of other souls, rising up now, breaking free of the spiritual waves. The world dissolves then, from an ocean to a near blinding kaleidoscope of chaos, a cacophony of sensation and incomprehensible sights that the hands soon move to shield you from.

”I need your help, because even though I’ve broken my prison enough to reach outside it, it’s still keeping me from leaving and going back to my world to stop this… Imposter.” He gestures to you all, a smile on his lips. “I chose you because you all understand my world, which means you might know what needs to be done to save it. With Raava’s help, I was able to dip into the cycle of reincarnation itself, to find souls with a will to live and make a better world. You. If you are willing, I can help you live again. With the ability to influence the flow of souls, I can act around the shield blocking me and send you all in through the reincarnation cycle.”

And then you arrive to what you can only really describe as a bubble of broken reality, a sphere of shattered shards that shine with a prismatic, kaleidoscopic light. It is as if you are being pulled into the core of a shattered planet, a small nebula of orbiting chunks.

Aang bows deeply again. “Please, save my world and help to restore Balance. As the Avatar, my duty is to uphold the peace of the world, between humans and spirits alike, but trapped here like this, I can do nothing alone.” He swallows thickly. “Because of that… my only choice is to ask you for help, to ask you to be reborn into a world that may not even be exactly what you expect, to face some malevolent force that was even able to completely remove the Avatar as a threat. I can’t even truly tell you who they are or what they want, only that it can’t be anything good.”

And as you pass through that shattered, prismatic orbit’s outer layer, you find yourself becoming more aware, more tangible, more stable. Your sense of your body becomes clearer, echoes of sensation and control returning, even as the hands drawing you inward gently retreat, allowing you and the rest of the souls to spread out, to grow and expand in full.

Aang sighs deeply, but as he straightens up, his expression firms. “But don’t think I won’t aid you in this task…” He reaches to the side, and one of the broken shards of his prison floats over to his hand. “These shards contain strange powers… powers the Imposter exploited to trap me… but maybe, I can turn them into your advantages, allowing you to turn a portion of the Imposter’s power back on him.”

And what you find awaiting you there is a single human figure, floating there in the center of this shattered sphere with a strangely familiar alien creature of white and blue looming behind him, before it dives back and is absorbed into his body.

Turning several shards over under his gaze, he frowns. “Three… Two or three. That’s as many of these ‘cheats’ as I can grant each of you, as many as your souls can handle safely.” Nodding, he smiled now, looking a bit more confident. “With this power, I can give you all a chance, and better still, I can at least exert a bit of control over where you will be born.” Glancing outside the cage, he sighed. “From what I understand, you all probably-”

"Eh, just put me in the Fire Nation, I guess."

In the present, the stunned silence of the group of gathered souls was broken by a feminine one amongst them, a bold soul that stepped forward radiating impatience and unease.

Startled, Aang chuckled. "Ah, hold on a moment, are you sure you don't want to-?"

"Yeah, it's fine." The woman dismissed whatever he was going to say.

Aang blinked. "...Well, if that's what you prefer." He cleared his throat. "Then I appreciate the enthusiasm. But before I send you off, there's also the matter of the shards I could grant yo-"

"Meh."

"Uh-"

"Just whatever is probably fine."

"Are you su-"

"Yeah yeah, just give me whatever feels 'helpful' and toss me down already. I'm getting the willies being a disembodied soul."

"Are you-"

"On with it already!"

Giving a bit of a startled noise, Aang -looking a bit hesitant- still complied, the white and blue glow of Raava’s power beginning to rise from his skin again, as his brow pinched in concentration.

At a wave of his hand, a trio of shards shot out from the orbit around them, flicking into the bold soul’s chest with a flash, and as they did, a golden glow enveloped her. A crackle of kaleidoscopic energies sizzed whatever passed for air in the crystal-filled void, before the woman’s soul compacted into an orb of light and rocketed out of the prison in a flash.

There was a long silence for a moment, as Aang lowered his hands and sighed, the glow of Raava’s powers disappearing... And then, the Avatar’s brow twitched. He blinked, a look of something like comprehension and a wince passing over his visage, before he awkwardly cleared his throat and sheepishly grinned back at the rest of the group.*

"Oops."

“Okay, like… You know I’m really hyped to meet you and all, Avatar Aang, but… Oops? Oops?” came the voice of another woman amongst the disembodied souls. “I sure don’t like the sound of oops anywhere near my immortal soul!”

Wincing again, Aang gave a nervous chuckle. “Sorry sorry! I just realized I may have handed out something to that girl that I…” His cheek twitched. “...probably shouldn’t have. And um…” Clearing his throat, one finger pulled at the collar of his robes anxiously. “W-well, that was my first time trying this whole ‘reincarnating someone else’ thing out, so it’s understandable that there were some issues…?” Grimacing, he shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, that’s no excuse.” He bowed deeply again. “Now that I understand fully how this works, I swear that nothing like that will happen with the rest of you.”

“Eh…?” The other girl uttered. “And what exactly happened?”

“Well…” Aang straightened up. “Before she interrupted, I was going to tell you that you could choose what sorts of ‘cheats’ I grant you to help you out… within reason, of course.” Leaning against his glider staff that had... somehow taken a spiritual form with him, he added, “Of course, there are many of these shards that your souls simply wouldn’t be able to handle carrying even if I only gave you one of them, and there are others that contain powers…” He grimaced, before a hint of steel glinted in his eyes. “-that I would never willingly inflict on my world, no matter how much they might serve a greater good.” He shook his head. “Some prices simply shouldn’t be paid, like for example… ‘tropes’ that disturb free will.”

“Well shoot,” another soul snapped their fingers with a chuckle, “and here I was looking forward to getting myself that infamous harem that every other isekai fanfic features.” At Aang’s long, unamused stare, they raised their hands in surrender. “Joking. Joking.”

“As I was saying,” Aang continued, “If you can tell me what ‘cheats’ you want, I can probably find one of these ‘tropes’ that can give it to you. Just about any power really, be it local or even ones that might originate from other worlds. That will be your gift and asset, to let you survive whatever might lay ahead of you and defeat the Imposter.”

“Hoh?” the second girl from before said, her soul radiating glee and anticipation. “Yeah… I might be able to come up with a few ideas.”

Aang nodded. “On top of that, the other piece of good news I can give you is that I can provide you some time to prepare before the Imposter becomes an immediate problem.” He smiled, panning his gaze over the group of souls. “Since I can tap into the flow of reincarnation a bit, I can roughly control not just where your souls will end up but when. Not too far back, but… up to about sixteen to eighteen years before my stolen body breaks out of the ice. That’s as much time as I can give you. Beyond that, if you have reason to be born later, I would recommend trying not to give yourself a shorter grace period than twelve years to grow up. Please keep in mind, you’re going to be truly reborn as a native of this world in a brand new body, not transported with your old body. You’ll need time to train, to ready yourselves for what could be coming.”

Aang paused then, allowing that statement to sink in, as he shuffled through a few more of the drifting shards around them, a small collection of them gathering beside him in apparent preparation, before he spoke again. “Having heard all that then… will you help me? Please, know that I will respect whatever decision you make, and if you wish to simply move on, I can return you back to where I found you and let you pass on as you should have. But if not… If you are willing to help me…” He bows one final time. “Then you will have my deepest gratitude.”

Of course, recalling all this, you know precisely what choice you made.

One by one, you all made the only real choice, didn’t you?

You chose to be reborn. You chose to be empowered.

You chose to enter a world threatened by a looming darkness, returned to consciousness as a squalling newborn, and yet… As you did, as you breathed the air of this new world and perhaps almost imagined you felt the distant buzz of alien potential hovering over it… In the quiet of your own mind, perhaps you truly understand this for the second chance it is… unfettered by even the observation of your patron.

Yes, this is a world in need of saving, a world you were literally born to save, but now that you have been… Well, the Avatar -bleeding heart that he was- never laid down any way to truly enforce that mission, did he? Indeed, he would not truly infringe on your free will, lest he be a hypocrite, even for the greater good.

Instead, out of both desperation and his own optimism, he chose to trust you.

The only question remaining now is… was he right to?

---

GM Notes

It’s the first round, everyone, and the story begins now. To help keep things as smooth as possible, as we advance through what can perhaps be described as a collective background posting setup, we’ve got a few guidelines that should help keep things relatively contained until the timeline has advanced to the year AG 99, otherwise know as “canon start”, the point in time at which shit will really start hitting the fan.

• As you can see, the opening post involved meeting Aang and the reincarnation process. However, don't expect Aang to make any further appearances beyond round one, even to respond to questions. You're assumed to have asked any questions you need to about the process/situation offscreen, before being quickly sent on your way.
• After being reborn, the main goal of the first round is to establish your "starting line" and should involve describing your PC's family/living situation, along with actions (if any) that they can muster enough agency to take that might cause butterflies. GMs may be open to collaborating on or otherwise being consulted for some NPC actions if you’d like immediate (very short-term) results. Your post should not explore events roaming further than a handful of months (a year at most) past your PC's birth.
• Reactions from the world to your PC's births and potential actions will largely occur in the second round, as the GMs shape the general direction of the timeline your PCs are living in.
• After considering the matter, it was decided that players will rather broadly be allowed control over almost all NPCs except where some have been specifically excluded. Major/most Villains, National Leaders and otherwise notable NPCs that GMs have taken to personally controlling in totality (like Ozai or the Dai Li) will be excluded from player control. However, unnamed NPCs are generally freely available for players to manipulate and flesh out within reason. GMs should always be consulted and give permission for cases of influencing the actions of a large organization or nation unless the player has received specific free control over them. As for named NPCs and established characters of canon, as long as they have not been specifically excluded, players are free to control them as they wish.
  
  This was decided upon as a manifestation of the ever-infamous “Fanon/Improper/Flanderized Characterization” trope, as this trope-warped world can thus cause known characters to exhibit wildly different personalities or motives depending on who is writing them. In other words, any canon character you meet? Their actions and personality may very well swing according to whoever is in the driver’s seat at any given time. GMs may set “boundaries” for certain characters to operate in, but within those bounds, they are free to be flexible. And if GMs grant a player exclusive control over a given canon character, they are thus considered to be the sole person allowed to control them aside from the GMs or other people they in turn grant the go-ahead to. So, if you have NPCs you want to have exclusive control of, don’t hesitate to ask about it.
  
  It should be noted, of course, that if a player drops or is otherwise too busy to assume control of a notable NPC they control, the GMs will either assume control themselves or give the NPC to another player that wants to claim them.