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wing-ed-thing · 3 years ago

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Advantageous (Madara x Reader) Part II

Synopsis: You were no Senji and most definitely not an Uchiha. Yet, you made yourself too big of a player to be disposed of.

Word Count: 2.3k

Tags/Warnings: Royalty!Reader, Fem!Reader

Part I Part II Part III

Notes: I’ve really been doing a lot of word building in the stories I’ve been writing as of late. I’m really proud of that!

Hashirama took in a large, silent breath.

“Tell me, friend.” He looked into Madara’s blank, stoic eyes. “What happened during negotiations?” He leaned back against his office desk, one hand petting his chin and the other supporting his elbow. That was about as kindly as Hashirama could ask why Madara sabotaged such an important discussion. Hashirama had never been one to lose his temper quickly, but he couldn’t deny the frustration mounting within him. Madara stood tall as usual with his bulky arms crossed.

“Kaminari is a land of crooks and thieves. You know this, Hashirama.” Madara gritted his teeth. He gripped at the sleeve of his armor, putting pressure on his bicep as he had done earlier in the day. Hashirama resisted the urge to sigh. It seemed that allying with the Uchiha would be the least of Hashirama’s great feats. A generational war had ended in the Land of Fire, but that did not mean that dialogues between clans were any easier.

“We need their help and you know it.” A silence sat between the two. Madara glanced downward and away, a low grumble rumbling in his chest.

“I would not go as far to say a thing such as that,” he huffed. Hashirama let his shoulders fall before glancing back at Madara.

Kaminari, a jurisdiction of the Land of Lightning, was located to the south of the mainland. The large island had held a powerful position among the Great Lands for as long as Hashirama could remember. Your family name had ruled for generations, bankrolled by the central continent. But the ocean and funding aside, Kaminari had the opportunity to advance at alarming rates due simply to its proximity to the Land of Waves, the Land of Lightning, and the Land of Fire. Hashirama pictured your face in his mind. Konohagakure could not afford to make itself your enemy, even if a deal couldn’t be made for the village’s economic or political gain.

“Is a sanctuary of peace for all peoples not something that we have been yearning for?” There was no stopping a bull, but Hashirama hoped that perhaps bringing up the end goal would help to redirect his headstrong friend. Madara had always been severe and stubborn. Hashirama had always been friendlier and idealistic. They were both aware of this.

“You ask such an easy question fully knowing the answer.” Madara frowned even deeper. “Why must we sacrifice our pride in order to gain what will come eventually?”

Hashirama tried to hide his exhaustion. He pursed his lips and nodded, knowing that they would not get any further that night. He stood up straight, pushing a bit off of his desk as he did so. Hashirama reached back and absentmindedly gathered a few of his things.

“I feel that it is best to take the night to think things over. Perhaps the dawn will bring fresh ideas.” His chest tightened. On top of keeping you happy, Hashirama would also have to balance keeping Madara on his side. Not to mention the various opinions of those in his own clan. Tobirama’s ever-present scowl also came to his mind. Hashirama moved toward the door with Madara trailing not too far behind. Silence followed the two down the hall until they reached the outdoors.

The air could only be described as muggy, the heat almost tangible. Various insects swarmed around the lamps that lit the street. Madara glanced up, watching as the silhouette of a thin-legged bug slammed erratically up against the inside of the paper lantern. It flew helplessly inside the trap before falling down the bottom, wings burned.

“I intend to visit our guest in the morning.” Hashirama turned to face Madara whose focus was elsewhere. “Perhaps it is best if I try to placate her.” Hashirama hid his hesitation. The last thing he needed was Madara thinking that the Senju were trying to cut the Uchiha from negotiations. Madara hummed and nodded a few times.

“Perhaps you are right.” He gave his friend a nod before departing. Hashirama said nothing more as they went their separate ways.

Madara walked down the dimly lit streets of the new village. For its relative infancy, construction had gone a lot smoother than expected. Between the Senju, the Uchiha, and the others that came to settle, infrastructure had probably been the only thing in the whole process that went smoothly. Even Madara had an improved home, but even now, Madara couldn’t help but associate it with a certain stiffness. Much had changed, after all. Despite leading his clan to relocate in the first place, Madara found himself turning and walking in the opposite direction of where he called home.

He had too much to think about.

His thoughts turned to Hashirama’s words. His friend had been right, the two of them had long awaited the founding of the village. What used to be a simple pipe dream shared among boys, had become a reality shared among men. A miracle. Madara thought back bitterly to when you had arrived that morning. You had come with a flashiness that mother had never seen nor enjoyed, only to be showered with flattery and niceties with the intention of gaining your favor. He couldn’t say that he liked Hashirama’s approach to things. He couldn’t even say that he agreed with many Senju philosophies.

You were, no doubt, very beautiful. That he noticed the moment he saw you, but your beauty was no reason to grant you anything you wished. Madara had hoped that Hashirama wouldn’t be intimidated by your charm or Kaminari’s political power. Perhaps he would have to express that in clearer terms to Hashirama before he offered you a visit.

Madara had traversed most of the village by the time he pulled himself out of his thoughts. He gave a quick glance around, part of him wondering if he should finally head home, when he noticed your temporary lodging in the distance. The estate that you were currently lodged in, was once an old Senju estate. What used to be a small, modest house, on a patch of equally modest land had been renovated into an elegant dwelling with a lavish garden. A figure moved among the carefully planted flowers and shrubbery. The glint of a sword shone in the lamplight.

Madara, who still donned his armor, moved forward. A sensation of concern overcame his repressed thoughts, split between your followers finding you dead and blaming the Leaf, and another war breaking out before the village could truly settle. Any figures who opposed the peace between the Senju and the Uchiha would have everything to gain from your assasination, after all. Whether the clans would begin warring again or fury came down upon the nation from the Land of Lightning, Madara quickly decided that he had too much at stake to stand idly by. A pompous brat or not, you were far too important to be taken out of the game, and if anyone were to do it, it would be Madara himself. In due time, of course.

He drew his own, short sword as he crept up to the estate. The large house wrapped around three sides of the garden which could be enjoyed from the large engawa. Madara stood stiff against an outside wall, attempting to peer in at the figure with the sword. He could hear movement and soft swiping. Activating his sharingan, he went to scan the terrain from around the corner.

“What business do you have creeping around my quarters? Reveal yourself, Uchiha.”

Your voice came from the garden. Madara lingered around the corner, skeptical and slightly confused. He still gripped the hilt of his sword in both hands. He didn’t remember seeing you (he was sure he could have spotted your over-ornamental hair from anywhere) but as he carefully stepped into the courtyard, he found no assassin at all.

You stood in the middle of the arrangement of plants, significantly less decorated than you had been that morning. Instead of layers of flowing silk robes, you wore a simple, black, sleeveless shirt and loose pants that extended to your exposed ankles. Your hair had been pinned back and a long sword sat in your hand. Even without your make up and decoration, Madara couldn’t help but admire the curve of your face. He hardly recognized you as you were.

You glanced at Madara’s sword with an extended eyebrow.

“This is a very weak attempt at homicide if that is what this is.” You frowned.

Madara found himself at a loss. He made no attempts to move, not while you were still armed. The situation should have been simple; you had a weapon; he had a weapon. But your status threw a factor into the equation that Madara couldn’t comprehend.

Before Madara had to make any sort of decision, you sheathed your sword and went to place it on the engawa. Madara scowled as you turned your back on him. He was, after all, still armed. And while he had no intention of attacking you, the gesture was still very much insulting. Reluctantly, he returned his weapon to its place.

“Clearly there was a misunderstanding,” he gritted, not wanting to explain his reasoning for approaching your residence so late in the night. Madara glanced away and his arms coiled into their usual crossed position across his broad chest. His sharingan quickly extinguished.

“A misunderstanding?” You repeated, glancing at him out of the corner of your eye. Madara wandered the slightest bit farther into the garden, scoping out his surroundings. “I would hope so. You would have been a poor choice to send to me if the Leaf thinks that they can persuade me into new negotiations so soon. I was expecting Hashirama Senju.” You faced him fully, unafraid to stare him in his dark eyes. “Unless you are here to apologize.” Madara scoffed.

“Apologize? Conceited woman, there is nothing for me to apologize for.”

You placed your hands on your hips and took a step towards him in challenge.

“First you accuse my people of thievery and now you come to a woman’s quarters in the middle of the night to insult her yet again? Pointing swords, no less. My patience most certainly has a limit, I hope you do know.” You leaned forward at the slightest degree to punctuate your words.

Madara hadn’t known what he expected. Despite forewarning from Hashirama, Madara was still not convinced that keeping you pacified was such a priority. He took pride in what was built and Madara wasn’t about to take impudent talk from you, no matter how powerful you were. He tilted a shoulder downward to accent his disgust.

“I am here due to your reckless action.” He scrunched his nose up. “Doing forms outside a political guest’s quarters in a foreign land in the depths of the night,” he muttered with a shake of his head. Madara did not hesitate to meet your glare again. “A lesser warrior may have stuck you down on the spot thinking you an assassin.” He gestured to you pointedly with two fingers as he took another step forward.

“Is that not what you almost did?” At this point, the distance between the two of you had significantly dwindled. You jabbed him in the chest, mouth in a snarl. “A lesser warrior indeed. Let me make this significantly clear, there will never be a time where I need you to come to my rescue. Is that comprehensible to you, you brute?” Madara swiftly snatched your wrist and held it at an uncomfortable angle. Red flashed across his irises once again.

“You dare to touch me again and I’ll show you a brute.” He spoke in a low tone.

You studied his face, looking for the slightest movements and locked in a stalemate. Madara had a slender face that you had never noticed before. In fact, now that you took the time to look at him, you couldn’t help but see his complexion as almost boyish. You studied the pattern that swirled around in his sharingan before you noticed a familiar expression.

Oh.

You had seen the same look in many men before: an almost awkward look split between weakness and fascination. Perhaps you may have expected such a thing to happen with Hashirama Senju, but Madara Uchiha had not been in the cards. You blinked up at him a few times, having read him within a split second of examining his face. Predicted or not, you could surely use this to your advantage. You wondered if he knew how easy he was to read behind that tough exterior of his.

But before you could make any calculated moves, one of the thin doors slid open. By the time your servant stepped onto the engawa, Madara had let go of you. A tray holding a single drink in her hands, your servant froze upon seeing you with your guest in such proximity. She let out a small squeak and a fast apology before turning to go back inside, but you called back to her. You turned your back on Madara once again as you thanked your servant softly for the drink. She knelt, handing it down to you from the tray, looking briefly towards Madara as she did so. He scowled and she exited quickly.

“Are we done here? I would like to turn in.”

You faced Madara and brought your drink up to your lips. He said nothing as he left. You watched with mischievous eyes over the rim of your cup as Madara disappeared back into the darkness.

As you prepared to sleep, you considered two things. Madara Uchiha seemed to be the type to enjoy a challenge. But for his rumored intelligence and prowess, you easily reckoned that he would not be able to recognize a game, even if he was a player. You could give him the first. You were prepared to bet the fate of your people on the second.

Thank you to all who liked, reblogged, followed and otherwise supported. Your support means so much and is greatly appreciated.

#Madara Uchiha x reader #madara x reader #madara uchiha #naruto #naruto x reader #naruto x you #naruto x y/n #x you #x reader #reader insert #naruto reader insert #uchiha #madara

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theonyxpath · 6 years ago

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Pirates of Pugmire art by Pat Loboyko

Pirates of Pugmire, which as of my writing this, has 16 days to go and is just under 75% funded! Thank you to everyone who has back, shared, and commented so far, and I’m so excited to help bring all the new pirate rules to the Realms of Pugmire, including ship battles, bird and lizard characters, new callings, firearms, and treasure! We’d really like to get this traditionally printed and in stores, so if you would, too, or just to see manuscript previews, head over to the Kickstarter at http://kck.st/2EoRkyp, yar! But who is writing this, you ask? (We’re going to pretend like you asked. And by “we” I mean “I.”) It is I, Dixie Cochran! Yes, that’s right, I’ve taken over the blog this week while Rich and the rest of the gang who attended UK Games Expo are on their way back from England (or in Matthew’s case, back to elsewhere in England). I’m sure Rich will provide a full account when he returns next week, but until then, here’s a report from Matthew, along with some photographs he kindly sent along.

“The team of Rich, Eddy, Matt, Matthew, Klara, John, Steffie, and Chris had a fantastic time at the UK Games Expo this year, where we ran a demo table, ran over a dozen games at the Hilton, and sold product from Leisure Games to great effect! It was Onyx Path’s first time having a booth at a British convention, and the sheer number of people who thanked us for coming or showed a keen interest in our games (Pugmire, Scion, and Prince’s Gambit were standouts) was staggering.”

L to R: Matt McElroy, Rich Thomas, Chris Allen, Klara Herbøl, Steffie de Vaan, Eddy Webb, and John Burke play Prince’s Gambit! The Sabbat wins!

“We organized our very first Chronicles of Darkness tournament at the Expo, with players from each game of Vampire (run by Klara Herbøl), Werewolf (run by Chris Allen), Promethean (run by John Burke), Changeling (ran by Steffie de Vaan), and Geist (ran by Chris Handley) went on to participate in an Antarctic session of the Contagion Chronicle (run by Matthew Dawkins)! The final winner was Michael, who played his changeling from Steffie’s game, and won a prestige copy of Demon: The Descent. The tournament concept was so good we’ll aim to do something similar next year.”

Matthew and the players of the final game of the Chronicles of Darkness tournament, Stephen, Chris, Sophie, Michael, and Andrew! Congratulations, Michael!

“All in all, we had a superb time. It was great to meet freelancers who haven’t made it out to Gen Con before, the business meetings we held were fruitful, and everyone had a lot of fun. Here’s to the next one!”

The Onyx Path crew at UKGE: Matthew, Klara, Eddy, John, Steffie, Chris, Matt, and Rich! No wonder it’s been so quiet around the office this week. Wait, I work from home…

Eddy welcomes folks to the Onyx Path booth at UKGE! Look how excited he is! “You’re all good dogs!” he seems to say

Dixie again! Isn’t it just like Matthew to interrupt me on my very first blog entry here? I feel like I’m sensing a pattern. For real, though, it looks like everyone had a great time at UKGE, and I hope it’s a convention to which we return in the future! (See how I said “we” there? Maybe I’ll come next year! Who knows? I got so much done while they were gone, though…) For those of you who aren’t as familiar with me, let me actually provide a bit of my history with the company. In 2015 or so, I was chatting with Rose Bailey, just catching up, and I mentioned that though I’d gone to school intending to pursue a career in copy editing, I was having trouble finding a way into the field (at the time, I was mostly focused on fiction and comic books). She subsequently tried me out on the Demon Translation Guide and from there I moved on to supplements and eventually cores. I’d been playing White Wolf/Onyx Path games since about 1999, but for some reason hadn’t considered the RPG industry as a career path until it fell into my lap. Now, several million words edited later (I’ve lost count, but it has to be over three million at this point), I ended up stepping into a version of Rose’s former position when she left to focus on her personal projects. I’m the in-house developer for Chronicles of Darkness and Exalted, so I make sure those lines are doing what they need to, and I still edit quite a bit of our books myself, though I outsource a lot of the smaller supplements and a few core books to other editors, depending on my current workload. In addition, as many/most of you know, I’m one of the three hosts of the Onyx Pathcast, along with Eddy and Matthew, which I enjoy immensely.

It’s been a really great 16 months or so working for Onyx Path, and I look forward to doing even more in the future! Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like to hear about or anyone you’d like to hear from on an upcoming Pathcast episode!

The classic Shén pantheon from Scion: Hero!

Anyway, if I seem to be stalling before I get to the actual Monday Meeting notes, it’s because we didn’t actually have a true meeting this week, what with half the staff still traveling. I have updates and teasers, as usual, but as to what we talked about in the meeting? There wasn’t a lot. (Mostly I asked Mike to give me art, which he did! Thanks, Mike!)

Now that UKGE is past, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at PAXU, though of course bits of our team here and there will be at other conventions throughout the summer. Say hi if you see one of us!

To reiterate a couple of teasers from Rich from last week, we’ll be announcing a new developer for Scarred Lands and the projects they are overseeing once everyone gets back. Plus, on the Scarred Lands Community Content site, the Slarecian Vault, the beginning of July marks the start of a phenomenal linked adventure series you will not want to miss! Also, June 13th we’ll be starting a little treat for everyone that leads into the aforementioned July event. (Psst, it’s one we get a lot of questions about.)

The modern Shén pantheon from Scion: Hero!

One last tease before we get on to blurbs and updates, for something else that is coming soon…oh? What’s this?

Oh, sorry, that just fell out of my email, but hopefully it will help people create

Many Worlds, One Path!

(Did I do that right?)

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Our Pirates of Pugmire Kickstarter is nearly 75% funded, so swing over to our ship and check it out!

Pirates of Pugmire is a chronicle sourcebook for both Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau. It’s usable in either game, or as part of a joint experience. Some highlights include: * Two new species for players to enjoy: lizards and birds * Six new callings, including two for dogs and two for cats * Rules for building, sailing, and sinking ships * A trove of new allies, enemies, and treasures * Information on Waterdog Port and Port Matthew * “Going on the Account,” a chronicle of three new adventures, taking characters from 1st through 6th level

You can also hear Eddy discuss the writing and design of Pirates of Pugmire on the Onyx Pathcast on your favorite podcatcher, or here on : https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/)

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Onyx Pathcast art by Michael Gaydos

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast is an update straight from UK Games Expo!: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

Beanduck Productions’ crew has been playing Exalted! They’re on session 13 of Full Party, but the rest of the sessions are on YouTube if you want to catch up! There are hours of Exalted goodness there.

Garblag Games is still playing Scion! They’re on episode 9!

The ever-wonderful Saving Throw Show is also playing Scion! (So much Godly goodness!)

Twin Cities by Night just released Chapter 1 of their new Chronicles of Darkness game!

Occultists Anonymous’ Mage: The Awakening chronicle delves into magic-crafting territories with the following episodes:

Episode 17: We Got Our Scryes on You – The cabal establishes surveillance on the Predator Kings alpha and begins to track him. https://youtu.be/GP3500xZ41s

Episode 18: Preparing For War – With a scrying spell established, the cabal creates support spells and curses the alpha every way they can think of. https://youtu.be/-8uetChnfEM

Meanwhile, Red Moon Roleplaying has just concluded their Scarred Lands actual play run by Matthew, over on www.redmoonroleplaying.com! Stay tuned to their channels, as soon they’ll be participating in a V5 Chicago by Night chronicle!

It would be remiss of us not to link you again to the fantastic Pirates of Pugmire story Travis Legge ran for us, both parts of which are available on our channel! Here’s episode one: https://youtu.be/fU9y3tl77GM

Darker Days Radio interviewed a bunch of Onyx Pathers and Matt Timm from Modiphius at the UK Games Expo, the recording of which is here: http://podcast.darker-days.org/e/109-darker-days-radio-live-at-ukge/

And Roll the Role recently concluded an excellent Trinity actual play that can still be viewed on their Twitch channel here! https://twitch.tv/rolltherole/profile?desktop-redirect=offline_channel

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

ELECTRONIC GAMING

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can now order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’re releasing print versions of both Origin and Hero for Scion Second Edition on DriveThruRPG and in stores!

CONVENTIONS!

Gen Con: August 1st – 4th Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd We’ll also be back at PAX Unplugged later this year!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB, COMPILED FOR THE FIRST TIME BY DIXIE COCHRAN (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon) Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Second Draft?

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Development?

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

DR:E Threat Guide (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Manuscript Approval

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Editing

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Scion Ready-Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Blood Sea: The Crimson Abyss (Scarred Lands)

Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Indexing

Trinity Aeon

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

Scion Ready-Made Characters – Art is in.

Dark Eras 2

M20 Book of the Fallen – Drew’s finals in

VtR Spilled Blood

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

Trinity Continuum Aberrant – Sketches

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars

They Came From Beneath the Sea

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

In Layout

V5: Chicago

Trinity Core

CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel

Proofing

WtF Shunned by the Moon

Signs of Sorcery – At WW for approval

DR: E

Scion Jumpstart

Aeon Aexpansion

C20 Cup of Dreams

Ex 3 Monthlies – At WW for approval

At Press

Dragon Blooded – Deluxe Printing

Dragon-Blooded Cloth Map – at press

Dragon-Blooded Wallpapers – Going out to backers

Dragon-Blooded Screen – Printing

The Realm – Gathering errata

Trinity Core Screen – Printing

TC Aeon Screen – Printing

Tales of Excellent Cats

C20 Player’s Guide – Gathering Errata

Adventures for Curious Cats

Geist 2e – Gathering Errata

Book of Oblivion – Out to backers

Trinity: In Media Res

Scion: Hero – Wednesday

Scion Origin – Wednesday

Today’s This Month’s Reason to Celebrate!

It’s Pride Month! This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, so let’s remember Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Brenda Howard, and all the other activists throughout the years who made Pride possible. Happy Pride to all our LGBTQI+ fans and freelancers, and I hope any celebrations you attend are amazing!

#Onyx Path Publishing

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blumguldbrandsen21-blog · 6 years ago

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Those women having writing skills can start blogging as they are expert at it and it has a wide market (e-market). They can start blogging with any topic they want. The more visitors are there, the huge revenue one can generate from their blog. Zero investment and classy return. If you are having interest in writing, this is the perfect work to do. Contact someone who is already doing this work or search online, where to find work and what the whole process is. However, it takes some time searching clients in starting but after that it’s a piece of pie you just need to eat and enjoy. Fitness has been the crucial priority of this generation. Women can start Yoga and Zumba classes which are trending. The client base is huge, so collect as much as you can. The more facilities in your center larger is the amount of clients. It can be one of the best business ideas of women now a days.

Starting your own small business can very exciting and scary, but the risk is worth the reward. For women with children this can seem daunting because of all of the responsibilities of family and social stigmas of working mothers. Many women do not know where to start when thinking about their own home based business, which is why having 3 practical small business ideas for women, is necessary. Anything can be a business, but you shouldn't just do anything. You should do what matters to you, what you care about. The 3 small business ideas for women can be broken down into continuing your career, finding a new career, and how to discover how to start a business and business ideas using the internet.

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Airports aren't really known for their "fun" factor especially during holiday travel. As Matt and I prepare for the 14 hour trek home for Christmas I'm already mentally preparing myself for the minefield that is the holiday flight to JFK. However, it turns out there are a few ways to make people smile in airports: upgrade them to business class, a sale at duty free, tell them the plane will be arriving early, and a flash mob! Terminal 1 played host to an energetic group of Fly Dubai air hostesses, Duty Free staff, passerbyers, and a few crazy kids who joined forces to bring us our very own flash mob in the Dubai (DXB) Airport. If you are looking for some fun and to put a smile on your face I highly recommend the below five minutes! The other great observation is the mix of people not only participating but watching the mob. Heck, if this happened at Christmas I might be willing to miss my flight - who am I kidding I would have joined in!

It's always someone else's fault isn't it. How can we stand by and allow this to go on? They wrote the names of the dead children on their plastic shrouds. Israel claimed that missiles had been fired by Hizbollah gunmen from the south Lebanese town of Qana as if that justified this massacre. That culture has crept into adult public life, so now we have our politicians routinely refusing to take responsibility for their actions. This is just another example. Please also read Babykaos' beautifully written item 'Baby's Black Balloon'. Far too late Dr Rice. THE 19-day-old war in the Middle East has reached a turning point, with Israel's deadliest attack yet killing 54 people in southern Lebanon and the United States declaring it is time for a ceasefire.

Images of dead children - 37 children, police said - being dragged from the building in Qana, southern Lebanon provoked international condemnation and shattered the ceasefire talks. Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, vowed the offensive in Lebanon would continue. In Singapore last week we had plenty of excellent food, fresh ingredients cooked in open kitchens where we could see it all. Of all the horrific photos coming out of Lebanon/Israel/Gaza this is the one that disturbed me the most. I draw no distinction between nationalities. Whether these schoolgirls were Israeli or Palestinian or anything else I would be appalled. To teach such hatred, such disregard for human life, to children is a despicable, disgusting, irresponsible, inhuman act.

These shells are going to kill or maim other people, quite possibly other children. Teaching children to gloat over that is a crime against humanity. I'm naive I know, but I believe that all countries and people have the right to defend themselves. However, in the current climate pre-emptive strikes and defending yourself is the right of a very small select club. Non-members are terrorists if they dare to even think about it. I hope all members in Haifa are safe. Well I hope that too, but Haifa only? No thought for Forum members from Lebanon. Not surprisingly, given the way the news is managed and presented in the Land Of The Free, the poster is American. No thought for the people in Lebanon so here are photos from today's Gulf News.

They're people too, just like the rest of us. Oh COME ON it's illegal! One day after promising to return them, the management of Skycom, a call centre in Dubai Internet City, is continuing to illegally hold its employees’ passports. In a meeting between the staff and the management on Saturday, the company agreed to return all the passports it was holding but employees told 7DAYS yesterday that Skycom has failed to do so. Rashad Akbar, global operations manager of Skycom, told 7DAYS yesterday that he would only return passports of workers who were leaving the company. “We will send them back and return their passports at the airport,” he said, refusing to comment on the rest of his employees.

I simply don't understand. Holding employees' passports is illegal under UAE law. Why is no action being taken against this company? And others who also routinely break the law? What is the point of passing laws if you're not going to enforce them. Each time I come into Dubai Airport I swear the hike from the aircraft to the taxi stand takes almost as long as the flight. Is there another airport with such huge distances to walk? Eventually I do come to the end of it all and then into the e-gate machine. What a great time-saving invention that is, full marks for that. On to the taxi stand and, for the second consecutive time, a female taxi driver.

Smart & clean in her uniform, polite, drove all the way down Sheikh Zayed Road to Dubai Marina below the speed limit and correctly using the indicators. I'll repeat that - below the speed limit and correctly using the indicators. A male taxi driver who overtook us seemed to find a female driver a novelty. He glanced into our cab as he screamed passed, dropped back then pulled alongside gabbling at his three European passengers while pointing at our driveress. Stayed alongside for about a kilometre, eventually got bored so did the big macho number and hit the accelerator hard. Singapore daytime was 31C and 'orribly 'umid - Dubai was the same at 3am. I actually found the humidity there much more oppressive, but I sure didn't miss the dust that swamped us as we drove through 'New Dubai'. I agree with Gulf News!

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theseaeaglelives · 5 years ago

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Round 2

THE SEA EAGLE

MAKING RUGBY LEAGUE GREAT AGAIN!!!

Round 2

Manly Sea Eagles 9

Defeated

Sydney Roosters 8

Played at the Roosters traditional home ground (i.e. Leichhardt Oval) the fact that this game was played with no crowd in attendance did not seem to impact on either of the respective playing groups who dished up a high standard rugby league offering. Let’s face it, both the Roosters and Manly are not big crowd pullers at the best of times and the with no crowd in attendance it was pretty much business as usual.

After a tight opening to the game, Manly opened the scoring via Tommy Turbo who was set up deftly by an inside Cherry-Baby offload. What a player Turbo is! Generally renowned for his attacking prowess it was his defence that came to the fore in this fixture. Three try saving tackles, including an absolute miracle on Rooster, Luke Keary when he looked certain to score, only serves to highlight what a talent young Tommy is.

Perhaps summed up best by Fox Sports expert Braith Anasta “He’s just so important to the Manly Sea Eagles, if he’s on the field, they can win the comp, if he’s off the field they can’t. There’s not many players who have that effect on a side”.

But…. correction Bwaith. Bob Fulton, Wally Lewis, Cliff Lyons, Bret Kenny, Andrew Johns, Jonathan Thurston, Arthur Beetson, John O’Neill , to name a few, were also similar type players.

Despite heroic Manly defence, the Roosters hit back just prior to half time and the score was locked up 6-6 at the break.

The second half was even more dour then the first and with five minutes remaining scores were still locked at 8 all. The Roosters had the first chance to break the dead-lock when a Keary field goal attempt hit the posts. Then it was Manly’s turn and thankfully the ever-reliable Cherry Baby was up to the task, icing his attempt and ensuring Manly a well-deserved win. Again showing why he deserves the big bucks he is on.

Next week, if there is still an NRL comp (which is becoming less likely by the day) Manly are scheduled to take on the Gold Coast based Warriors. Full marks to the Warriors for relocating and allowing the NRL to continue, however unless the entire competition is relocated to some remote North QLD outpost with urgency, season 2020 looks a shot duck.

No NRL – It’s a Catastrophe

Not surprisingly after years of poor management and an inflated salary cap, the NRL is broke and if games are suspended or the season cancelled it will not end well. This has prompted new NRL Chairman Peter V’landys’ to plea for government funding to save the code.

Again, and not surprising this has sent the twitter world into a feeding frenzy in some instances praising V’landys for his forthright actions but in the main suggesting that he should be nailed on a cross next to poor old Izzy Folau.

On one hand, yes it could be argued that in these desperate times government funding would be better suited elsewhere an example being saving lives by propping up the ailing and over-burdened health system. However, on the other hand, imagine a world with out rugby league. Forget the game itself and let’s focus on the socio-economic impact. Without the NRL, upwards of 500 testosterone fuelled young men, many already delinquents, would be free to roam the streets inflicting all sorts of carnage. No one would be off limits to their pillage and no co-ed, spouse, uber driver or even small poodle cross would be safe.

In addition, from an economic standpoint the state government would in all likelihood be forced to immediately suspend work on all new stadiums and redirect said funds towards the construction of a new max-security correctional facility to house the expected flood of potential inmates.

It has been reported that that the most recent gaol to be constructed in the state, that being the Clarence Correction Centre cost approx. $800m (or about the same as a new stadium) to build. Whilst the Grafton facility has a capacity of 1,700 and on face value would exceed the current crop of NRL players in circulation, let’s not forget the lower grades and those coming up through the junior ranks.

A quick reckoning of the exponential nature of the pool of potential inmates would mean that a 1,700-prisoner capacity would quickly fill up and in all likelihood would still not be enough to cater for the full extent of likely incarceration. Its also worth noting that the proposed $800m does not take into account the extra policing required and the collateral damage which is in all would to be inflicted on both property and the community.

On this basis alone, the plea by the NRL chairman should be strongly considered, and that the $200m to keep the code afloat is but a small price to avoid a rugby league inspired humanitarian crisis, ensure crime rates remain low and that public (and dog) safety is upheld.

In all seriousness though (and this is generally not within the current charter of the Sea Eagle), the suggestion by the NRL that suspending or cancelling the season will, without government funding cause its financial ruin is a bit of a stretch. In fact, the solution as far as the Sea Eagle is concerned is quite simple.

If the NRL is unable to go ahead Clubs simply renegotiate player payments as per the CBA currently in place. If the players aren’t willing to cop this the Clubs simply go into Voluntary Administration and then renegotiate player payments regardless. The reality is that it’s a buyers’ market and there aren’t many other options for the NRL players, no Super League, French Rugby, Japanese Rugby, Boxing etc to lever off, and it’s not as though many of them have professions to fall back on either.

Thus, if every player was paid the minimum (still a comfortable earn at circa $120K pa for doing nothing) player payments under the salary cap would be reduced to about $3.5m per Club (as opposed to current $10m). On this basis alone the NRL would have sufficient reserves to see out the year, even before cuts were made to clubs Coaching/Admin salaries and no doubt NRL Head Office. They could then reset next year, when hopefully the situation improves.

Finally, it’s amazing how quickly things change. It was only a matter of weeks ago that the NRL launched its new Tina Turner promo campaign championing the social and moral stances so important to the NRL. Fast forward two weeks and has become much clearer what the NRL really stands for, that being $$$$$. Not that there is anything wrong with that but as far as the Sea Eagle is concerned the only advice for the NRL (and other like-minded organisations) is to park the virtue signalling and just play footy!!

Corona Virus

In due deference to what is a fine beer beverage (Corona) and formerly not a bad Toyota motor car, and in light of the fact that it appears that Mexico (where Corona beer is from) has decided to take on the threat of the dreaded Covid-19 rugby League style , that is no self isolation, no action , and simply letting the herd be infected and the strongest survive, the Sea Eagle recommends that this virus be referred to as El presidente Donald J trump referred to it, simply as the “China Virus”.

Let's face it , if it be true that this thing started in China, then surely that is where the blame should lay. Why is there so little commentary from anyone about this? If any private enterprise had created such an outcome through bad hygiene and food handling practices , where would they and the individuals behind it be standing today ?

Like the dreaded dark force influenza (DFI), this particular affliction, takes out successful and unsuccessful with impunity.

It was therefore with some hilarity that Tigers and ex Raiders centre Joey Leilua decided this week to launch into the attack by commenting about his supposed refusal to take a pay cut.

Joey Leilua calls out NRL money management declaring ‘I better not be taking a cut’ -March 19, 2020 9:57am Source: FOX SPORTS

The Fox Sports outlet reported that Joey Leilua was adamant he wouldn’t be sacrificing any money as the NRL considers pay cuts as a possible way of ensuring its financial survival through the “China Virus” (as described by President Trump) pandemic.

Fronting the media on Wednesday, Mr Leilua instead placed the blame on the NRL who he said should have been better prepared financially to deal with the situation. “I better not be taking a cut,” he said. 'My missus won't be happy”. “We’ve got mortgages to pay and bills to pay.” Leilua believes the NRL should foot the bill and if they can’t, he says it is a lesson for not being well-prepared. “I’m not all for that if we have to get a pay cut … I’m sure there is some money in there, in the revenue we’ve got,” he said. “They (the NRL) should be saving money for if something like this happens.

“I thought they were handling their money better, but if they say we’re going to last three months, we’re in trouble.”

Sea Eagle Comment: Firstly Mr Leilua is yet again engaging in misguided and ill-informed commentary. He is not employed by the NRL . He's employed by the West Tigers . It is they and only they that have to pay him .

Secondly, as said above, it is China that he should be looking too for compensation. The NRL has been guilty of many things over the years but this is not one of them.

Thirdly, based on his defensive effort in the absolute towelling that the Knights gave the West Tigers over round two, most of which was down the Leilua defensive corridor, it is clear that Mr Leilua believes defence is the thing that runs around the Oval. In any event, on that performance he should have to pay to enter the ground, which is fortunate because at the present time, as no fans allowed in, entry for a player who is so obviously hopeless, is therefore free.

Fourthly, see Sea Eagle comments above generally about how dire the NRL position presently is vis a vis the filthy lucre (or lack of it). He is at real risk of having a force majeure rammed up the proverbial with no lube or accompanying prophylactic, for nada, nothing, nil in terms of player payment.

Mr Leilua should be thankful that the NRL is doing everything it can to keep the game running and should be equally thankful that there is someone with some actual true ability as a manager (i.e. Mr Peter V’Landys) in control. It is notable that both rugby union and AFL have each capitulated to the onslaught and it is doubtful for how much longer the NRL can continue , but at least the NRL is trying.

Imagine the debacle if the previous clown who was NRL Chairman - Peter Beattie (personal opinion ) had his hands on the tiller.

Meanwhile Mr Leilua needs to take a deep hard look at himself in the room of mirrors . The fans may like rugby League but they can live without it. And if this China Virus (as described by President Trump) pandemic goes down as bad as it appears to be going, they will quite easily get over the fact that they won't be able to watch NRL week in week out. In short, they couldn't give a flying F83*7ck whether Joey Leilua got paid or not.

He would be best reading carefully (and duly considering) the words of Peter V’Landys NRL Chairman "I came out here as a four-year-old migrant on a boat, stayed in school in Wollongong and I was very isolated. I didn’t know anyone. The only way I was able to be part of the community and be part of Australia was to play rugby league. That is the sole reason I am on this commission. I want to repay the debt. Without rugby league I could be …..."

THE SEA EAGLE

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bigyack-com · 5 years ago

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When a Disappointment Helped Lead to a Nobel Prize

When Michael Kremer looked at the data for a study underway in Kenya in the 1990s, he was taken aback.Mr. Kremer, a professor at Harvard, expected that the data would show how much better children in western Kenya did in school when they had textbooks. But the preliminary answer was: not at all.“I was totally shocked by the result,” he said in a recent interview. “Even people who were skeptical that more resources was the way to improve education thought textbooks would help.”Yet instead of amounting to utter failure, the field experiment helped him earn him a share of this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, along with the M.I.T. economists Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, for pioneering the use of field experiments to study which policies best improve the lives of the poor. The Nobel committee noted that “their new experiment-based approach has transformed development economics, which is now a flourishing field of research.”The unexpected result of that particular experiment, conducted with Paul Glewwe, now an economist at the University of Minnesota, and Sylvie Moulin, then at the World Bank, prompted Mr. Kremer to think harder about the schooling system in Kenya. He said he began to realize that one problem was an excessive focus on top students, and he went on to design and test other measures that would help a broader range of people. The field experiments conducted by Mr. Kremer, Mr. Banerjee and Ms. Duflo — which they sometimes work on together — resemble the drug trials that pharmaceutical companies use to test new medicines. The economists’ experiments typically compare participants in anti-poverty programs with peers without access to the programs. The researchers choose program participants by lottery, or the arbitrary order in which a program is offered to people.For example, in the study on textbooks, a nonprofit rolled out a free textbooks program gradually over several years. Some lucky schools received textbooks one to four years before others. To assess the benefits of textbooks, the researchers compared the test scores of students in the lucky schools with those of peers in the schools still in line to get textbooks. Using field experiments to study poverty this way has attracted both praise, as evidenced by the Nobel award, and criticism on technical and broader grounds. Angus Deaton, himself a Nobel laureate, has cautioned that field experiments should be designed carefully to shed light on why a method worked and where else it might work. Otherwise, he has said, such experiments might not advance knowledge much.I can attest to the new Nobel winners’ role in reshaping the field of development economics. They certainly influenced me. All three were my teachers when I was in graduate school at Harvard starting in 1999. In those days the field was small enough that they taught a combined class for Harvard and M.I.T. students, and Mr. Kremer and Mr. Banerjee were among my advisers.I have run randomized experiments in India, Uganda and elsewhere on topics such as how to improve child nutrition, protect forests, and reduce gender discrimination. Some of the interventions I have tested had beneficial effects, and others did not.Learning early that a program has limited benefits is useful for the organization running it and the donors funding it. They can redirect their time and money elsewhere, or try to change the program to make it more effective.But Mr. Kremer’s Kenya textbook study illustrates another value of discovering that a program falls short of its promise. This type of so-called null result, where the impacts of an intervention are indistinguishable from zero, can lead us to think differently and more creatively.When Mr. Kremer and his colleagues looked at their data in more detail, they saw that textbooks did help the students whose test scores were very strong before the experiment began. That finding got the researchers thinking harder about what features of the Kenyan education system led to this pattern, he said.The deep problem with the schooling system, Mr. Kremer believed, was that it was geared toward the top students. He speculated that this might have been a vestige of the colonial era, when access to education was mostly limited to children from relatively privileged families. Today, education is available to children from a much wider range of family backgrounds, but the curriculum has not been adapted enough, he said.An obvious change would be to rewrite the textbooks so they are at the right level for the average student. However, because of the big variations in student preparation, that redesigned textbook would still be too hard for some people and too easy for others.What was needed was instruction tailored to the needs of students at different levels. While Mr. Kremer was puzzling over his results on textbooks, Mr. Banerjee and Ms. Duflo began a field experiment in India to evaluate a program aimed at helping struggling students catch up. In Indian schools, as in Kenya, such students were often left to flounder. The researchers collaborated with an Indian nonprofit that placed extra teachers in schools to help the weaker students master basic literacy and numeracy skills.Ms. Duflo said, in an interview, that it was largely a coincidence that her first foray was so thematically aligned with Mr. Kremer’s results. She and Mr. Banerjee were keen to collaborate with the nonprofit, Pratham, which happened to be pursuing remedial instruction.But Mr. Kremer’s surprising results deeply influenced her, she said. She remembers him puzzling over them when he taught her as a graduate student at M.I.T. “The fact that he didn’t find what he expected — it’s not so important that it was a null result as much as that it was unexpected — it made me much more interested in randomized trials than I would have been if I thought it was just a way of confirming intuitions you already have,” Ms. Duflo said.Mr. Banerjee and Ms. Duflo found that the remedial instruction in India had large benefits for the weaker students, and further studies also showed that remedial education seemed to work while adding other resources did not.Ms. Duflo and Mr. Kremer then worked together, along with Pascaline Dupas, now at Stanford University, on another educational program in Kenya directed toward the entire spectrum of students. They studied what happens when you place students into classes based on their academic preparation.With less variance in students’ level, teachers could aim their instruction more precisely. The researchers found that the program increased student achievement for the entire range of students. The negative finding about textbooks was important in the development of Mr. Kremer’s career. “I’m happier when I find that something works,” he said. “But I’m not in despair if I don’t — the key thing is listen and learn from it.”Seema Jayachandran is an economics professor at Northwestern University. Follow her on Twitter: @seema_econ Source link Read the full article

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