#and also enjoy fearless eddie's version

[riddle-me-ri]

Hiii!! I hope you're doing well and having a lovely day!

I was wondering, if you had the time could you possibly make a headcanon or just a short drabble of what the different rogues (and maybe Joker, if you're up to it) reacting to the reader giving them a bizarre question like "What's your favorite color of the alphabet, yes or no?"

I love your work, btw! ❤️❤️

A/N: Thanks so much! I'm glad you love my work. And I'm sorry...uh...this...this is pure crack, but it was fun coming up with different bizarre questions for the Rogues to answer. And sorry, I skipped Joker, I can't really write for him unless he's bouncing off another Rogue (i.e. Eddie cause their feud is my favorite) But I was able to do four rogues, and each has their own short little drabble. Albeit they're more dialogue than anything. Also, there's no particular version of the rogues, just my own generic personification of them. Anyways hope you enjoy it!

What's Your Favorite Time on the Alphabet? w/ Batman Rogues

Edward Nygma/The Riddler: 

"Hey, Eddie!" 

"What is it?" Edward was reading the newspaper, about to do his daily crossword. 

"Do you think words have feelings?" 

"Words..wait what?" He looked up from the paper to look at you from across the dining room table. 

“Do you think words have feelings? Like yeah they convey feelings to us, when we say them and how we say them, but like…”

Ed dropped everything on the table and immediately almost instinctually put his hands to his temples. “No…words aren’t sentient beings, they don’t contain a conscious. Words are a unit of language.” 

“Like..currency?”

“I mean they cost a breath..wait what…no! No..? Are you trying to give me a headache?” 

You pursed your lips and shrugged. “I was just curious, you seemed into it for a minute.”

“I will stab you with this pen.” He clicked the pen top for emphasis. 

“You’re so smart, Eddie, love you!” You swing up from your chair and plant a kiss on his cheek. 

“Fine..maybe just a poke, then.”

Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow:

Jonathan was in his basement laboratory. Of course, where else would he be, and that’s probably the last place you should be. However, you were fearless…clearly. 

You knocked. “Johnny, when you have a minute can you come out? I’ve got something I want to ask.”

Jonathan groaned along with the door as he opened it. “What could possibly be the matter?” 

You walked right on into his lab and took a seat on one of the barstools near a chemistry set. John just rolled his eyes as he shut the door. 

“What’s your favorite color of the alphabet?” 

Jonathan almost dropped the beaker of acid he was trying to pour into a canister. 

“What kind of a foolish question is that? The alphabet doesn’t have a color…”

“So it’s like plain white? Black?” 

“What…no, it can be whatever color you want! Where did this come from?” 

“Just answer the question, don’t question the question!”

“I will respond how I please,” he turned around to face you, but not before putting the beaker down. “Where did this come from?” 

“My brain.”

“That’s concerning…”

“Hey!” 

“As long as the alphabet is accurate it can be any color it wants.”

“But you’re favorite color…”

“The alphabet consists of letters and whatever colors it consists of is up to the creator reciting them on paper.”

“But-”

“-Out!” 

“Your favorite color…”

“This is a nightmare…” Jonathan grabbed you by your shoulders and began dragging you out the door. When you try to rush back in, he slammed the door in your face and locked it. 

“I will let you in, when the nightmare’s over.” He told you through the door. 

Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin: 

Oswald was enjoying a drink at one of his tables at the Iceberg Lounge. The club was just about to open for the night. 

“Ozzie!” You ran up to him and took a seat next to him. 

“What’s all this for?” He asked.

“What’s the best color at noon, yes or no?”

Oz choked on his drink. You had to pat him on the back to help him get situated. 

“The hell? What kind of question is that?”

“My question, what’s your answer?” 

“I-I don’t have the slightest clue, w-what made you think of that? Have you been hanging out with Eddie or Jervis again?” 

“Nope. I was just curious, since everything’s a construct anyway…” 

Oswald rubbed his hand against his face up and down. He immediately began pouring another drink into his glass. 

“Hey, you didn’t answer my question!”

“I don’t have time for foolish questions, I’ve got a club to open!” 

“Ugh, fine…the answer was titian but be that way…” You crossed your arms and sunk in your chair.

Oswald blinked at you in complete confused awe. He went back to the table and shucked the whole bottle of champagne from the bucket and tucked it under his arm. 

Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter:

“Jervis!” 

“Yes, my dear?” 

“What time is the color wheel if the pointer is at the complimentaries of purple?” 

“Hmm…” Jervis stroked his chin in deep thought, and tapped his foot. “Well that depends, which complimentaries…green or yellow?”

You open your mouth to respond before you close it again. Now you had to ponder your own question. “...yellow…”

“I would surmise that would be dusk! Or perhaps midday! Yellow is bountiful during those times, its a must!” 

You shrugged, satisfied with his answer. “That’s brilliant! Thanks Jervy!” 

“Don’t mention it, my dear. It was rather fun!”

#riddler x reader #edward nygma x reader #jonathan crane x reader #scarecrow x reader #penguin x reader #oswald cobblepot x reader #mad hatter x reader #jervis tetch x reader #ri writes #i have no idea how to tag this rip #crack #crack post #i know how to tag it now #im so sorry

[andvys]

IM A LITTLE LATE BUT. STEDDIE SWIFTIES!?!?? IM IN

debut, steve adores taylor country era. he plays that album a lot while driving and even imitate (or… try to) the country accent. his favorites are should’ve said no and our song. eddie… well it’s not much his taste but! he enjoys picture to burn (you know, the homophobic version)

fearless, steve’s kinda a fearless girly, not his favorite album but has a special place in his heart. him and eddie absolutely SCREAM you belong with me. eddie really likes the melodies and lyrics but still not what he prefers.

speak now, I DONT WHY but something tells me eddie really really likes speak now. the whole magic and dragons and long live (one of his absolute favorites songs ever) along with haunted and better than revenge. steve just cries a lot while listening to dear john and back to december.

red, steve harrington + this album = a really happy steve with fuzzy socks and a big cup of coffee. top 1. he adores it, brings him some comfort like autumn and pumpkins and hot chocolate. i sense this is the album eddie started listening to taylor with. of course, one christmas eddie gifted steve a red scarf with a red cd and of course, steve cried.

1989 is eddies guilty pleasure, and he totally knows how to do that style intro in his guitar. a little too much pop and his friends would make fun of him for listening to it, but the doesn’t care. taylor swift invented pop for him. steve is out of the woods and new romantics coded.

reputation, EDDIE’S FAVORITE ALBUM OF COURSEE. he spends a lot of time listening to it and could speak for hours about it, about how it’s not about seeking revenge but about fighting against that reputation and try to find yourself without listening to what others have to say about it. and how you, sometimes, find yourself in others too. i feel like if they went to the eras tour, eddie would absolutely go as reputation, yk something with snakes and black and glitter. steve loves to hear him go, proud of the swiftie he made. and he (kinda) hates kanye so…

lover, slow songs and heart crushing lyrics. this is steve’s shit. HE IS THE ARCHER CODED. adores cornelia street and afterglow. eddie (secretly) listens to lover a lot, but don’t say that to anyone ok? he has a reputation to keep.

folklore THIS IS HARDCORE SHIT. and steve’s favorite of course, he just relates to this album a lot. eddie really likes my tears ricochet and this is me trying ☹️ poor baby.

evermore, more hardcore shit. steve and eddie listened together this album for the first time and went???? what the actual fuck taylor swift who gave the right to??? while crying. tolerate it and ivy just hits different.

midnights, more pop and that means more eddie munson love. vigilante shit and karma stan forever. this albums feels personal to steve, maroon, you’re on your own kid, question, labyrinth HE CAN GO ON AND ON.

NOW I BELIEVE

Steve’s top 3:

red - folklore - midnights

Eddie’s top 3:

reputation - speak now - 1989

HELLO

EDDIE AND STEVE SCREAMING YOU BELONG WITH ME???? YES. ABSOLUTELY YES

Eddie would fucking love better than revenge and Steve crying to back to December? so true.

Eddie loving Style and playing it? helloooooo?? yes yes yes

AND OFC REPUTATION IS EDDIES FAVE! YES YES YES ALSO YES TO HIS ERAS TOUR OUTFIT (YES TO ANYTHING YOU SAY AT THIS POINT)

Steve being the archer coded please @taintedcigs we got Steve on our team

you're saying my tears ricochet and this is me trying being Eddie's faves? stop these are my absolute faves too (my tears ricochet is my #1)

Eddie and Steve would cry to tolerate it, totally yes yes. AND to champagne problems too of course!

I AGREE WITH ANYTHING YOU SAY ANON YOU'RE A WISE ONE

#andy’s asks

[fuckyeahvanhalen86-95]

Hot on the heels of our celebration of David Lee Roth’s birthday comes another reason to party, and that’s Sammy Hagar’s birthday, with the Red Rocker turning 75. So here at Goldmine HQ, we figured we’d have long-time Goldmine writer and two-time Van Halen book author Martin Popoff whip up a reverse top 20 ranking of the tequila king’s best songs conjured with Eddie, Alex and Mikey. Enjoy! —Pat Prince

Yes indeed, so as a pool for our picks we have four studio albums and a few extras. Common lore has it that Van Halen with Diamond Dave is the real deal but there are armies of fans who would argue to the death otherwise, that Sammy took the band to the next level. Helping you decide for yourself is the following list, which you then can put up against the Diamond Dave one from a few days previous. Compare, contrast, rinse, lather, repeat.—Martin Popoff

20. “AMSTERDAM”

The lyrics are kind of phoned-in, but “Amsterdam” is a great, later example of funky Van Halen chemistry, recorded exquisitely, with Alex mathematical and elliptical and Eddie matching him for creative fearlessness. What’s more, it’s got a nice, uplifting wall-of-sound chorus. As well, this is a prime example of a Van Halen song that is written short but you throw your hands up in the air like you just don’t care because you want to hear these wizards jam.

19. “CROSSING OVER”

This epic and atmospheric Japanese bonus track was also used as the B-side to the “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” single. Eddie wrote it in response to a friend who committed suicide, but after the death of manager Ed Leffler it was reworked with both versions Frankensteined together, including both electronic and acoustic drums. To my mind, this is the most experimental song the band did with vocals during the Sammy Hagar era, and I qualify it like that because there are a handful of songs as weird with Dave singing. Psychedelic, sombre, Zeppelin-esque and extremely rhythmic.

18. “RIGHT NOW”

I feel there’s a sense of duty putting “Right Now” onto this list somewhere, but to be fair to myself, I’ve noticed lately that there are a lot of fans that don’t like this song. So call this a sort of compromise including it but low in ranking, because I’m ambivalent as well (I kinda feel the same way about it as Aerosmith’s “Living on the Edge”). Still, “Right Now” was a massive song for the band and the video is woven into the fabric of American pop culture, although, granted, these things fade. Personally, I think it’s a well-written song and it’s pretty brave and I love the way it sits on this otherwise relentless third record of the Sammy era. But my favorite part is not the socially conscious lyrics or the vocal or the piano, but the interplay between bass and drums.

17. “RUNAROUND”

When I listen to “Runaround,” I marvel at how strong and driving the beat is, then following up with the thought that as heavy and as groovy as Van Halen usually is, “driving” isn’t a term that I would use for too many of their songs. I love the tempo as well and the extra Bonham-esque pound out of Alex at the chorus. All told, the song contributes toward making For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge my favorite album of the Red Rocker era, through the song’s placement so close to the core heavy rock mission of the record.

16. “IN ‘N’ OUT”

There’s a bluesy structure to this one, but with Eddie’s abstract, chromatic, glancing chords it’s far enough away that you barely notice. I love how the beat falls away for the first part of the verses and then picks up with the band collapsing into a joyous swing. Later Eddie makes amusing howling noises on the guitar as well as providing a bit of wah-wah while Alex throws in some non-obvious bass drum and cymbal accents. A massive groove is achieved, part “Poundcake” and part funky like “Amsterdam” and ““Dirty Movies.””

15. “THE DREAM IS OVER”

Here’s a serious For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge track like “Right Now,” only this one is uptempo and pulverizing of beat. Eddie’s unremarkable poppy picked intro riff converts to aggressive but spare licks once Sammy starts singing, and then the song gets even more intense for the elaborate pre-chorus. The guys hold back on the emotionally fraught actual chorus all the way to the mid-way mark, at which time we learn that indeed the dream is over and it’s time to dream another dream. We are left in a sombre mood after this successful dark heavy rocker, another song that helps make the band’s 1991 album the most ambitious and substantive since the 1978 debut.

14. “A.F.U. (NATURALLY WIRED)”

It stands for “all fired up,” and that’s how the band sound on this pure heavy metal rocker, arguably the heaviest song on the OU812 album along with trashy shuffle “Source of Infection” and “Sucker in a 3 Piece,” which almost made my top 20. But I love the fluid Allan Holdsworth-type riff, and the way it drops out for the verse, only to explode again after Sammy’s ruminative musings. There’s some nutty jamming later on and Alex’s bass drum work is a thing of beauty.

13. “TAKE ME BACK (DEJA VU)”

So here’s a Sammy-era Van Halen ballad that I can sidle up to, given the fact that it’s based on acoustic guitar rather than maudlin, hammy keyboard chords. In fact there’s a “Going to California” vibe to this, from the complicated extra acoustic lickery and trickery to the heavy, anthemic and yet still melodic chorus. It’s also allowed to breathe and take its time, so there are a few unexpected and rewarding chord changes as we move through the song. Sort of a campfire thing, which is unusual for Van Halen, outside of maybe “Happy Trails.”

12. “AFTERSHOCK”

You know, so here’s the thing. I don’t always particularly buy Sammy when he’s acting all serious about saving the world, but I do definitely buy Sammy when he’s writing a serious, hurtin’ love song, because he went through hell to get to what has now been a happy place for a long time, fortunately. Plus put on top of that the turmoil that the band was going through in the mid-‘90s with the power struggles between Sam and Ed and then Ray Danniels management on top of that. Add it all up and this dark hard rocker is fully believable, adding gravitas to the Balance album where the more striving “The Seventh Seal” falls flat.

11. “DON’T TELL ME (WHAT LOVE CAN DO)”

Book-ending “Aftershock” and all the emotions wrapped up in that one, “Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do)” is even more intense, with Van Halen hitting us right between the eyes with a simple, stomping structure and not much of a riff but then killing us dead with their torrid chemistry, dressing it up for the thoughtful chorus and with Eddie firing off explosive licks all over the place. This is the song that had Van Halen fans wondering if the phenomenon of Seattle grunge had finally had some effect on the band.

10. “SUMMER NIGHTS”

Here’s a swaggering Sunset strip hair metal kind of thing from Sam’s and the band’s first album together, the Mick Jones-produced 5150, which hit No. 1 on the charts and is currently certified at six times platinum in the States. It’s probably the song from the record that one could imagine David Lee Roth singing the most, given its beach vibe. You gotta love Eddie’s couple of riffs, fully happy at the intro but then a little more snarling when Sam sings. Then there’s a charming but goofball jam and we’re back into the fun in the sun chorus, over and out.

9. “FEELIN’”

Pushing seven minutes, “Feelin’” is a sort of melancholic heavy ballad, with the guys uncommonly introspective and perhaps telegraphing the end of the collaboration, with the brothers shortly thereafter putting up a wall between themselves and Sammy, with Mikey soon to be placed on Sam’s side of the divide as well. The fast “Sweet Home Alabama” jam seems a little forced but soon that is over as we collapse into the emotive original premise along with an intensification toward apocalyptic musical passages sent Zeppelin-esque by “Kashmir” keyboard washes.

8. “UP FOR BREAKFAST”

Yeah, yeah, weird choice here, but I gotta go with my heart because, in fact, after years of listening to every Van Halen song too many times, over the last decade or so, it’s the two late-period greatest hits album bonus tracks “Up for Breakfast” and “It’s About Time” (both from The Best of Both Worlds; there’s also “Learning to See”) that I’ve played the most and enjoyed the most. To be sure, the lyric of this one is typical Sammy silly, but I just marvel at the carnal, crazy brown sound of the thing, augmented by that crushing low-frequency synthesizer pulse. What’s more, I think this is the most powerful the band was ever recorded, molten, indicative of the insane amount of chemistry that has had Sammy swearing up and down for years now that Van Halen is the best band that ever walked the earth.

7. ““5150””

Yes, like ““Dirty Movies”” this one arrives with Van Halen already helpfully putting on double quote marks. What’s interesting is that you expect an instrumental with a title like that but ““5150”” is not only a vocals song but the most interesting and ambitious on the album, with different tempos, sophisticated chord changes and just a general uncommon emotional tone, almost metaphysical and pondering and yet always joyous. It’s a welcome change of pace inside of a record with a fair dose of adolescent stupidity.

6. “JUDGEMENT DAY”

Is this the most kick-ass Van Halen song of the Sammy era? I certainly think so, and I seem to recall one or two other folks that I’ve done various audio and video shows on Van Halen saying as much as well (in other words, the idea is ossifying as part of Van Halen lore). It’s certainly quite the statement coming in as track two after “Poundcake,” which in turn follows upon a couple somewhat fluffy records in 5150 and OU812. But yes, up-tempo and loaded for bear, “Judgment Day” is both deadly serious at the riff end of things and, for that matter, when it comes to Sammy in both the lyric and vocal department.

5. “POUNDCAKE”

Pretty cool that Van Halen and their label and management pushed “Poundcake” as a single, because it’s pretty uncompromising and indeed challenging of texture, making it potentially hard to sort out across radio waves. It also starts weird, with Eddie famously on power drill, before the band kicks in with an impressive reclining panorama of heaviness. The song admirably finds new higher gears as it progresses and what emerges is a muscular and yet still creatively challenging Van Halen anthem, something dearly needed for the sake of the band’s reputation at this juncture.

4. “IT’S ABOUT TIME”

I stated my case for this song back at the “Up for Breakfast” entry, and then it’s only natural that the less casual song of the two has got to vault higher up the list. Again, like its mischievous brother track, the magic isn’t in the writing; it’s in the delivery. Or if some of it is in the writing, then the idea is that Eddie knows that what he’s doing at the verses is unremarkable, so he’d better step it up at the chorus, which is positively heavenly. And then because it’s Van Halen, he steps it up elsewhere as well and then sprinkles guitar pixie dust throughout just to show who’s boss.

3. “HUMANS BEING”

The guys went through all sorts of hell cobbling this song together, “Humans Being” being the last thing Sammy ever recorded for the band, up into October of 1996. It was not intended for an album, rather for the Twister soundtrack record, a suggestion to the boys for some extra work (and substantial pay) from manager Ray Danniels. Eddie was walking with a cane, Alex was in a neck brace and Sammy’s new wife Kari was pregnant, with the two living now in Hawaii. On top of all this there were squabbles over the lyrics, the title and where to record. In the end, a killer, dark, heavy track emerged, with “Humans Being” representing the band’s late-period brown sound at its most seismic.

2. “MINE ALL MINE”

Since the day I heard this record back in 1988, “Mine All Mine” was the top-to-tails winner on the record, as far as I was concerned. I love the way it’s written heavy but essentially is framed upon wall-of-sound double bass drumming and sort of slanted and enchanted keyboards/synthesizers. So it’s a heavy metal song with a synth pop arrangement, I suppose. But the chords are dark and Sammy is getting all metaphysical on us, which is a welcome change from “Good Enough,” “Get Up,” “Inside” and “Best of Both Worlds.” I also love the cruising yet contemplative chorus and Eddie’s dogs-howling guitar solo. Really, it’s just the complete package but at the heart of it, there’s a modern rock creativity there that reminds me of “One Foot Out the Door” and “I’ll Wait.”

1. “WHY CAN’T THIS BE LOVE”

Yeah, well isn’t this a trip? The deft reader will note the conspicuous absence of any of the smash hit ballads from the Sammy era anywhere on my list. But then again, “Why Can’t This Be Love” (dimly, with no question mark) is sort of one of those, and here it is at the No. 1 slot, my pick for the greatest song ever from the Sammy Hagar Van Halen albums. Why I love it so much begins with the groove, but then extends to the funky synthesizer sound and yes, even the chorus which is pure hammy pedestrian pop (but I surrender, to quote Joe Lynn Turner quoting Russ Ballard). What puts it over the top is the sophisticated, non-obvious, passionate and yet ponderous chord structure at the verses. As with “Jump” from the previous record, I was thrilled to bits enjoying this song with the masses. The added dimension is that “Why Can’t This Be Love” represented a communal celebration of Sammy as an important addition to this iconic American institution of a band.

#van halen #eddie van halen #michael anthony #sammy hagar #alex van halen #2022 #post van halen #top 20 list #goldmine magazine #Martin Popoff #Pat Prince #lists

[loserdiaz]

Red ( Buck's Version )

"These are moments of newfound hope, extreme joy, intense passion, wishful thinking, and in some cases, the unthinkable letdown. And in my mind, every one of these memories looks the same to me. I see all of these moments in bright, burning red." —Taylor Swift.

+bonus

Fearless ( Eddie's Version )

“To me, “fearless” is not the absence of fear. It’s not being completely unafraid. To me, fearless is having fears. fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death. Fearless is falling madly in love again, even though you’ve been hurt before. Fearless is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again… even though every time you’ve tried before, you’ve lost. Love is fearless.” —Taylor Swift.

#this is celebration for red taylor's version #i'm so excited omg #enjoy red buck's version lmao #and also enjoy fearless eddie's version #taylor swift #911onabc #911 on fox #tv: 9 1 1 #evan buckley #evan buck buckley #911 buck #eddie diaz #edmundo diaz #edmundo ‘eddie’ diaz #buck and eddie #911 edit #my edits #oliver stark #evan buckley edit #eddie diaz edit #red tv #fearless tv

[theonyxpath]

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 5th, at 2pm EST, we start the Kickstarter campaign for Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition! This is significant, at least to me, because Mummy: The Curse was the first Chronicles of Darkness (still New World of Darkness, then) new line we Kickstarted. We had a blast doing that back in the wild and woolly days that seem pretty long ago, and it is so amazing to be able to now present to everyone the 2nd Edition.

In fact, Mummy: The Curse was already being worked on before Onyx Path was formed, during the time that Eddy and I were creating more TTRPG projects for CCP after the success of Vampire 20th. So we’ve got a long association with the line and the concepts presented within it.

Certainly, a lot has changed with Onyx Path, the way we do Kickstarters, and with how the 2nd Editions have tightened up all of the CofD game lines. Both the systems and the setting have benefited from the years of play and thought that came after their initial releases.

M20 Book of the Fallen art by Sam Denmark

So, is this your Mummy? A fair question if your a fan of 1st Edition, and also if you weren’t sold on Mummy: The Curse the first time around. Here are a whole collection of answers to that very question by Impish Ian Watson and Matthew “The Gentleman Gamer” Dawkins, the game’s developer:

– There was a pre-Egyptian culture that spanned a large part of the world (just how big isn’t mentioned, but I think of it like Alexander the Great’s territory, or perhaps the Roman Empire). It was the first such empire in human history. It had no name, and thus is called the Nameless Empire. The center of the Empire, its Rome, was the City of Irem. – Irem was run by a collection of sorcerer-priests who wanted to turn themselves into gods of the underworld, and so they chose a number of servants to convert into Arisen in order to serve them. The gods need Sekhem, their particular flavour of spiritual juice, and they need you to provide it — mostly by retrieving Iremite artifacts and bringing them back to the underworld. – Mummies could have come from anywhere in the Empire, and their cults may have moved them from place-to-place for security or to follow an Iremite artifact. The Arisen quickly adapt to new cultures and languages when they wake up, so it’s possible to be “from” practically anywhere, even if the origin of their undead state is Irem. – Mummies are sort of anti-vampires: where vampires spend most of their time awake with shorter periods of torpor, mummies spend most of their time dead with brief periods of wakefulness. Where vampires start off weak and get stronger over time, mummies wake up at the peak of their power and slowly dwindle as their period of activity comes to an end. – If you’ve seen the Brendan Frasier Mummy movies, it’s something like that: you wake up, practically a corpse, running on instinct, but immensely powerful. As time goes on, your memory returns, life returns to your body until you appear human, and your power dwindles. – You typically wake up for one of three reasons: your cult wakes you up for a specific purpose (say, to choose a new leader from a list of candidates), because you sense the Sekhem in a nearby artifact, or because a Sothic Turn has passed since your creation. A Sothic Turn is a 1,461-year period of the star Sothis (Sirius). In the former two cases, you typically “die” again as soon as your task is finished. In the latter case, you may be up and active for years at a time. – Interestingly, you experience your periods of activity non-linearly. You might wake up in 2012, and then later wake up in 910 BCE, lamenting the lack of effective modern transport or communications.

– If you enjoyed the immortals from World of Darkness: Immortals, you’ll be happy to find yourself reunited with Blood Bathers, Body Thieves, Eternals, and more, in Mummy 2e, as they act both as antagonists and as potential allies and cultists. – There are essentially three tiers to your character’s creation, allowing for a lot of character variety: your guild, your decree, and your Judge (being like an alien deific entity). – In this edition, we provide tools for your journey and trials through Duat, the Land of the Dead, so the game doesn’t end when you sleep. You can even bring others with you on your journey. – Sekhem Sorcerers are presented in this book, expanding on how they appeared in Dark Eras Companion. Again, they might act as antagonists or followers, depending on the group of sorcerers. – Mummies are not bound to a set appearance or body, and are able to plant their “pillars” in cultists, only to take over their body as their own one receives harm. Therefore, your mummy can theoretically demonstrate any ethnic, cultural, and biological background. – I’d describe Mummy as the Chronicles of Darkness game best-suited to Dark Eras play, due to its non-linear setup. Even if you don’t want to use the characters or splats presented in a given era from Dark Eras, Dark Eras Companion, or Dark Eras 2, each book presents a host of settings and events with which your mummies can interact.

There you have it, from some fellas that know the material!

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Ready Made Characters art by Aaron Riley

A couple more notes about the Mummy: The Curse 2e Kickstarter itself: First, like most of our KSs, this is just a reminder that if you want to see for yourself how 2nd Edition has come together, backers will be getting sneak previews of the completed text all throughout the KS campaign. So you’ll be able to judge if it’s working for you before we hit the end – unlike during the 1st Edition Mummy KS.

Second, another reminder that the Mummy 2nd KS is going to be run on our Onyx Path Kickstarter account, not the RichT account that 1st Edition was run on. So keep an eye out for that, and see you at the Kickstarter!

Now, onto a different topic for a second. Last weekend, a whole bunch of Onyx Path creators descended onto Game Hole Con in Madison, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, their fearless leader, Mighty Matt McElroy was laid low by a bug right before the con – yet Monica Valentinelli, Bill Bodden, Crystal Mazur, Travis Legge, and a bunch of other folks, helped out and pitched in to cover booth time and demo-games.

A huge thank you to all you folks for coming to the aid of Matt and Onyx Path!

They Came From Beneath the Sea! art by Brian LeBlanc

They had six games of Realms of Pugmire games, as well as six Scarred Lands games, scheduled at the con, and also a bunch of pick-up games were also played. In fact, some of the adventures that were played there were actually play-tests of projects that are soon to show up on both game lines’ respective community content sites.

To be fair, non-stealth play-tests were also played. Specifically for Legendlore, our next upcoming 5e fantasy game, and all reports sound like the players had a fantastic time. Sounds like everybody really loved the main idea of playing yourself transported to the world of the Realm, and that’s just what we want to hear!

The Legendlore players also had tons of questions about the world and the rules, which we really appreciated hearing. Not only is that a great sign when folks want to hear more, but just scanning through the questions it seemed to me that most were actually already answered in the full text of the book (which the play-testers didn’t have). Which is a gratifying nod for developer Steffie de Vaan and her team, and how they set up the info in the book.

You never know if you’re not only playing a great game session, but also helping one of our creators, when you sit down to play one of our games at a con. You never know when you’ll be one of the folks giving early feedback so we can create our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

The Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition Kickstarter arises tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov 5th, at 2pm Eastern US time. Be there to witness the majesty and terror of this new version of Mummy: The Curse!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features the return of Meghan Fitzgerald in a no-holds-barred, drag-out, steel-cage match interview with one of our busiest writer/developers!

It’s a Mummy: The Curse themed week!

To start, we have an interview with Matthew Dawkins by the Story Told Podcast, where you’re likely to discover lots of revelations relating to Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/website/mummy-2nd-edition-with-matthew-dawkins

Excitingly, we also have the first episode of Red Moon Roleplaying‘s actual play of Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition right here! Please check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJiyP2UzLSc

As ever, we have a ton of excellent content on our Twitch channel, including games of Changeling, Aberrant, Scarred Lands, Vampire, Pugmire, and more! Please give us a look and a follow over on www.twitch.tv/theonyxpath

It really helps us to have subscribers on our Twitch channel, and you can do so for free and catch premieres as they go up if you have an Amazon Prime account. Just type Twitch Amazon Prime into Google and you’ll be shown how to subscribe for free.

Do you follow us on YouTube? Well, if you haven’t subscribed to us on Twitch, do not despair, as a couple of weeks after each episode on Twitch we transfer the videos over to YouTube right here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzN5jRB35OvnC-6gxnRY4gQ We already have episodes of Aberrant and Changeling up, with more to come!

Meanwhile, our fans keep creating excellent content, not limited to:

We’re not going to forget the ever-popular Occultists Anonymous Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition series, which continues right here:

Episode 56: Bad To The Bone Songbird has called Celestial Fire to burn the body of Supay, just as Atratus felt like she was making in-roads with the Judge! Wyrd the Seer has slowed down Supay, but is it enough? https://youtu.be/inPtPBPaNCA

Episode 57: Now & Again Atratus takes a dive into dark uncharted waters, metaphorically and metaphysically speaking. Songbird contemplates terrible things, while Wyrd stands guard… https://youtu.be/RBurUUf1kj4

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

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 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 latest 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

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

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

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find most of Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, the W20 Art of Werewolf: The Apocalypse PDF and physical book PoD versions will go live on DTRPG!

In addition, for the first time, we will be activating a PoD version of a Community Content book! In this case, it is Pugmire‘s Canis Minor project: Morty Corgi’s Scroll of Mysteries!

Conventions!

PAX Unplugged: December 6th – 8th, in Philadelphia, PA. 2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th, in Milwaukee, WI.

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (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)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

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

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Redlines

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

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

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

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Second Draft

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

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

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

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

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

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

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

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

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

Editing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

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

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Post-Editing Development

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

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

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

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

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

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle – Sent out contracts.

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars – Contracted.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Chicago Folio – Finals rolling in.

Mummy 2 (KS) – Ready to roll.

City of the Towered Tombs – Contracted.

Let the Streets Run Red – Figuring out probable page count.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Awaiting artnotes.

Scion Mythical Denizens – Contracted.

Deviant

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad

Vigil Watch

In Layout

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Knocking through chapters.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

VtR Spilled Blood

Pirates of Pugmire

Proofing

Memento Mori

Dark Eras 2 – Adding my comments to first dev pass.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

Trinity RMCs

Geist 2e Screen – At WW for final approval.

At Press

Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.

V5: Chicago – Printing.

Aeon Aexpansion – PoD proofs ordered.

W20 Art Book – On sale Wednesday on DTRPG.com.

W20 Auspice Gift Cards deck – PoD proofs ordered.

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Getting print files ready.

DR:E – Getting print files ready.

DRE Screen – Getting print files prepped.

C20 Cup of Dreams – Proof PoD ordered.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties – errata gathering.

M20 Book of the Fallen – Backer PDF going out this week.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Yesterday was the birthday of Jeremy Brett, born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, and he would have been 86 years old this year. And while I am no expert on the character, like my friend Eddy Webb is, Brett was, in my opinion, the greatest portrayer of Sherlock Holmes ever. From his bio: “Brett was obsessed with bringing more passion to the role of Holmes. He introduced Holmes’ rather eccentric hand gestures and short violent laughter. He would hurl himself on the ground just to look for a footprint, he would leap over the furniture or jump onto the parapet of a bridge with no regard for his personal safety.” I can’t to this day read the stories without hearing his voice as the voice of Holmes.

#Onyx Path Publishing

[christinaepilzauthor-blog]

Prince Bernard of Lippe-Beisterfeld: A German Prince in the RAF

by Linda Fetterly Root

A replica of the Beech 17S flown by Prince Bernard of the Netherlands in WWII; Courtesy of Mike Freer, Touchdown Aviation, with Robert Lamblough in the cockpit

When I discovered the post I had planned to display on my birthday was too similar to one I had published here two years ago, I frantically searched for another event occurring on the 24th of April which readers might find equally interesting.

In desperation, I researched the date on several sites including www. OnThisDay, and found an intriguing snippet there: on April 24, 1941, Prince Bernard of the Netherlands became a pilot in the RAF.  I had never heard of the gentleman and would have glossed had it not juggled a personal memory. My  Cleveland-born cousin Guy Patterson had joined the RCAF as a glider pilot in April, 1940. In my family, everything about Guy became a legend.  He had been a musician in the 30's, a bassist in the George Duffy Orchestra, who expatriated a few weeks after his heiress wife, my godmother Helen Cooper Patterson, died of tuberculosis. Their tragic romance had a very Eddie Duchin Story tone to it. Although I knew what had prompted my kinsman to renounce his citizenship and risk his life, I wondered what might have precipitated such a move on the part of a European royal. I searched further and discovered Prince Bernard was German by birth, and in his youth had been a National Socialist. I was hooked.

Ian Fleming, by Andrew Lycett

The more I read, the more I became convinced I had uncovered the material for a blockbuster historical novel. I did not discover until much later that a British spymaster and author named Ian Fleming had beat me to it. The Early Life of Bernard (Bernhard) Lippe

Prince Bernard (Bernhard) of Lippe-Biesterfeld was born in Jena, Germany, in 1911. He was the elder son of the brother of Leopold, Prince of Lippe, an independent German principality until the disasters of WWI. Bernard's parent's marriage was morganatic, that is a royal marriage between people of divergent social classes, which did not effect Bernard's legitimacy but did limit him from the succession unless there were no other Lippes left. At birth, he was given the title of Count, but he was not considered a prince. That deficit was remedied in 1916, when Leopold elevated Bernard and his mother to royal status. The figure at the right is his Coat of Arms. The family principality and its related revenues were lost at the end of World War I, but the Lippes were far from destitute. Prince Bernard's branch established a base in East Brandenburg in what now is modern Poland, where Bernard was home schooled until age twelve, possibly due to his fragile health. According to an obituary published in the Telegraph in 2004, his nurse was Chinese and English, and English became his first language Thereafter, he attended gymnasiums in Switzerland and Berlin before advancing to the University of Lausanne in Switzerland to study law in 1929. At some point, he studied in Munich and later transferred to The Humboldt University Unter den Linden in Berlin. At this time, his life took a turn that continued to vex him whenever his character came under scrutiny. The Political Metamorphosis of Bernard Lippe While Bernard was a law student at Humboldt, he joined the Nazi Party and was a member of its paramilitary wing, the S.A., commonly known as the Brownshirts. He also was on the rolls of the Reiter-SS. Although he had not yet resigned his membership, he ceased his participation in the movement when he graduated and went to work for I.G. Farben in Paris in 1934. His membership in Nazi organizations during his years as a student has been one of several sources of controversy, especially since he denied them when his participation was well documented. He later excused them as necessary if he wished to earn a law degree, although he conceded that space to garage his car was a compelling perk of membership. There is some evidence he harbored a growing concern about Hitler's seizure of power well before he resigned his membership in the Nazi party. Apparently by 1935-36, his apprehensions had grown to a point where he considered leaving Europe. Acquaintances described the youthful Bernard Lippe as a nationalist but not a racist. Although he had met Hitler on at least two occasions, he was never considered a protégé. One story has Hitler referring to him an an idiot. Bernard had not spoken out publicly against Hitler at the time he formally resigned from the party in 1937, and he signed the letter 'Heil Hitler.' When asked about it later, he confessed to being an pragmatist, not a Nazi. How Bernhard Lippe Became Bernard of the Netherlands In 1936 while attending the Olympics, Bernard met Princess Juliana of the Netherlands. After serious vetting by Queen Wilhelmina, he and Juliana became engaged. Not all Dutch were enthusiastic about the match, but there was a paucity of suitable Protestant royals on the horizon, and the forceful queen had her way. She is quoted as stating: "This is the marriage of my daughter to the man she loves...not the marriage of the Netherlands to Germany."

Following the engagement, Bernard became a Dutch citizen and changed the spelling of his names to the Dutch versions. He avoided speaking German on public occasions. Living in the Netherlands, he was comfortable going public with his criticism of Adolf Hitler. Once married to Princess Juliana, he adopted the attitudes of a royalist Dutchman, and severed all connections with members of his family who were Nazis. Insofar as his politics were concerned, it appeared Queen Wilhelmina had chosen well.

WWII and the Birth of James Bond: The British Connection There were other causes of concern beyond Bernard's political past, not the least of which was the bridegroom's tendency toward acts of derring-do. Some analysts speculate that he translated his survival of poor health in childhood as a victory over death. Whatever the case may be, Prince Bernard enjoyed living on the edge of the abyss. He raced, collected and demolished expensive high-powered race cars. Ferraris were his favorites. He crashed two airplanes. In one of his misadventures, he broke his back and fractured ribs. He had at least two extramarital affairs yielding daughters, risky business when your mother-in-law is the queen. He showed no fear in confronting Hitler's advancing army. When Hitler's forces invaded the Netherlands, Bernard organized the Palace Guard into a fighting force to shoot at German airplanes with machine guns. He was critical of the queen when she elected to flee to England. He preferred to stay and fight. But, when Hitler's forces overran the country and German victory seemed inevitable, he escorted his family to England but returned to lead the resistance. When the overwhelmed Dutch defenders surrendered, he escaped to England with a remnant of his men.

During the Blitz, Bernard escorted Princess Juliana and their daughters to safety in Canada, but he returned to England to resume the fight. He learned to fly a variety of fighters and bombers and sought a commission with the RAF. At first the English did not trust him quite enough for that, but trained pilots were scarce and eventually they relented. During his days with the RAF, the Prince flew thousands of air miles of missions into occupied Europe under the alias Wing Commander Gibbs. Among his many medals are English campaign ribbons for service in France and Germany. He was an advisor on the Allied War Council, and the military head of the Royal Dutch Army in exile. However, not all of his wartime exploits were in the air. When Prince Bernard expressed a desire to aid the intelligence efforts, the request met with the same reluctance he had experienced earlier. Flying was one thing, but trusting a former member of the S.A. with military secrets was quite another. However, Sir Winston Churchill was reluctant to let a man of such obvious talent and connections go to waste so he ordered him assessed by his famous spymaster, Ian Fleming. Fleming was impressed and cleared him for work at the highest levels of planning of the Allied Offensive. There are rumors that the suave Fleming and fearless Bernard were combined to give life to the spy James Bond. In an article that appeared at the MI6 Community site [1], Gustav Graves recalled an incident from Andrew Lycett's biography Ian Fleming, describing a caper of Bernard's during a dinner with Fleming at the Lincoln Inn. A German bomb exploded, destroying a 200 year old staircase leading to the entrance of the hotel. Bernard descended with great panache to the lowest point and loudly thanked Fleming for 'a most enjoyable evening,' as if the incident was an everyday occurrence. Fleming does not report how Bernard made it down to the demolished lobby. Gingerly, I presume. Lycett also notes that according to Fleming, Prince Bernard's cocktail of choice was a martini made with 'Wodka' rather than gin, an unusual cocktail made to His Highness's exacting specifications. Bernard served on the Allied War Council and personally led the Dutch forces during the Allied Offensive in the Netherlands. He was present at the negotiations for the Armistice and the surrender of Germany. Throughout the proceedings, he spoke English and Dutch, but not a word of German. He was highly decorated by governments throughout the world, was friendly with Harry S. Truman and a colleague of the usually distant Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, as seen in the photo below.

In spite of post war scandals regarding his financial dealings and a reluctance of some to overlook the affiliations of his youth, he remains a popular hero in the Netherlands and a larger-than-life character of flamboyance and charm to the rest of us--the quintessential sophisticated man of action who took his vodka martinis straight up, always shaken, not stirred, a deviation from the customary martini of which Ian Fleming took note and used. How much else of Commander Bond is borrowed from the Prince is a matter of conjecture?

Prince Bernard followed Princess Juliana in death by mere months in 2004 [2]. There is no question that he suffered from an advanced cancer, nor is there any doubt his remaining days were shorten by Princess Juliana's death. I am delighted to have made his acquaintance.

Queen Juliana and Prince Bernard Sculpture by Kees Verkade

Author's Note

There is much more to Prince Bernard Lippe-Biesterfeld's story after WWII. However, this chapter is the one most appropriate to the timeline and subject matter of the English Historical Fiction Author's blog. As stated above, both he and Juliana died in 2004. Referring to Juliana as a Princess in this post and not as a queen is not an error. The times mentioned are before she succeeded her mother or after she abdicated in favor of her daughter Queen Beatrix.

References

[1] MI6 Community: The Largely Unknown 'Ian Fleming- Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands' Connection.

[2] BBC Obituary of Prince Bernard, December 2004 ~~~~~~~~~~

Linda Fetterly Root is a retired major crimes prosecutor and a historical novelist writing of events in 16th and 17th century Scotland, France and England. She lives in the Morongo Basin area of the California desert with two wooly malamutes, a flock of chickens and assorted wild things. Her books are on Amazon.

Hat Tip To: English Historical Fiction Authors