Moe Lane's Blog, page 69

There are a distinct lack of fun things going on this month.

It’s starting to get noticeable. Even popular entertainment feels a little strained. What diversions have the rest of you got?

Fermi Resolution stuff added to Patreon (all tiers, including free!)

As part of my encouragement of interest in the Fermi Resolution Worldbook (preorder store here), I’ve made the following items available to all my members on Patreon (including those in free tiers):

HuddlesThe Mages’ AllianceMilken Forts

Let me also remind you that free memberships are, well, free – and that I’m giving out one-month free memberships, too. Not opt-out! Go ahead and raid those archives.

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03/17/2025 Snippet, LE BETE.

Getting to the messed-up bits.

…

Deacon Dietrich Vorn was almost everything that German witch-hunters looked for in their recruits: grim, indifferent to other people’s gore, ready to focus all their energies into fanaticism, and single-minded in their intellects. Alas, Vorn also had a taste for swiving whores, then blaming them for his sins. He had even more of a taste for never letting his superiors find out about either, which is why he arrived so quickly when Joseph had him discreetly summoned.

“You are fitting in with your new masters, I am sure.” It would have taken very little for Joseph to sound engaging, but he did not bother. Vorn was at best a resentful minion, suitable only for squeezing for information. “Tell me what you know, Vorn.” If Vorn resented not being called ‘Citizen’ — well, he did, then.

“I am, Citizen Représentant.” Shockingly, the usual servile sneer was absent from Vorn’s tone. Instead, he sounded pleased with the world. This alarmed even as hardened an intriguer as Joseph; after all, he had first-hand unfortunate knowledge of what made the man smile. “They have not shown me much of the new System, but what I have already seen of the equipment is amazing. So simple and obvious, when you see how the System was done. It will change everything.”

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Yes, it’s Saint Patrick’s Day.

No, I still don’t don’t like this holiday. By now I’m comfortable in my loathing in it. It feels warm and fuzzy.

03/17/2025 Snippet, PICKMAN’S MODELS.

This… might actually work. Huzzah!

…

Buckley didn’t have any good ideas, either. “It’s too hard to dig, that close to whatever they have there,” he told Tobias. “No way to focus, we just go to one side and around.”

Tobias stared at him. “That doesn’t make any sense, Corporal.”

“And us being able to dig through lunar rock does, Boss?”

“Yes.”

“How come?”

“You can do it.”

“And we can’t do this, so it makes just as much sense as that.”

That brightened Tobias’s mood, just a little. “Good point! Thank you.”

Buckley waited a moment, then barked laughter. “All right, that was easier than I thought. We going in through the front door?”

“Unless you have a better idea, Corporal. No other doors. You can’t dig our way in, and the air ducts are too small for enough people to burst through. We just can’t leave these bastards behind to go after the Euros. We need a way in, and this is the only one.”

Pickman stirred at that. “Excuse me, Corporal, Commander? That might not be true.” He pulled out the ‘notebook’ that they had found earlier. “I think I saw something in here that might actually be of service.”

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‘The Work of the Weavers.’

Okay, maybe one traditional traditional song.

The Work of the Weavers, The Clancy Brothers And Tommy Makem

#commissionearned

If you backed my Backerkit, please make sure that your credit card has gone through.

Most people’s have, but there were a few that didn’t process. I’ll be sending out surveys this week, so better to check that off now.

If you didn’t back the Fermi Resolution Worldbook on Backerkit, the pre-order store is open. It’s your best bet to get signed copies of my post-apocalyptic fantasy series without running into me at a convention!

Movie of the Week: The Nice Guys.

In a weird sort of way, THE NICE GUYS is one of the best TTRPG movies I’ve ever seen. Sure, there’s nothing supernatural, no superpowers or ultratech: but the comedy is pure tabletop, with a body count to match. This is a GUMSHOE game where the GM and players aren’t that invested in right and wrong, but just want to explore one of our more tiring cultural eras. Lots of fun, it’s a shame it didn’t make enough bank for a sequel.

Tweet of the Day, This Is What Money Being Left On The Table Looks Like edition.

These would sell. These would absolutely sell. And the Lovecraft stories are public domain! It could be done. It could be done.

#tintin #cthulhu pic.twitter.com/KswQQIB4l3

— CthulhuandCoffee (@Cthulhu_Coffee) February 13, 2025

03/16/2025 Snippet, LE BETE.

It’s maybe not a bad title.

…

Berthier did arrive first. He did have two full demi-brigades with him, fully-manned and with enough ammunition and gear. They were also well-trained… or at least properly trained. If Joseph believed in miracles, he would have considered this nothing short of Divine intervention. Since he did not, Joseph instead worried about what would go wrong. Generally things did, in war. The trick was to make fewer mistakes than the enemy.

Speaking of mistakes, Berthier had more witch-hunters along, and they had immediately swept Kraemer and his ilk into their circle with a happy cry. In Joseph’s experience, that meant they soon would all be screaming at each other over some recondite Protestant nonsense. Or perhaps German nonsense. The two were often hard to tell apart.

He even brought it up with Berthier, over an only mildly fussy dinner meeting. “How are you finding our brave Germanic volunteers, Citizen General? I myself find their enthusiasm marvelous, but also impetuous. A certain amount of firm reproof and reminder of Revolutionary virtues seems prudent.”

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