Moe Lane's Blog, page 78
April 13, 2025
A new video about the Fermi Resolution Worldbook preorder store!
A very short video, mostly there to keep things up to date. The Fermi Resolution Worldbook is on preorder here, and we will be moving along to the next step this week. Very fun!
The Fermi Resolution Worldbook: Now on pre-order! (Link in replies) pic.twitter.com/zVImEcMxF2
— Ogiel (Moe Lane) (@Ogiel23) April 14, 2025
My mini-review of A MINECRAFT MOVIE.
Short version: Į̵̨̛̛̩̣͙̯̘̩̺̹̣̀͛̽̃̋̓͛̓͑͜͠Ɉ̶̨͚͕͙̖̯͓̠̺͈̱̌̓̓͒̅̄̽͌̋͘̕͜͝ͅ ̷̧̘͍͇̹̗͔̺̬̗̩̣̈́̏͑͋́̑͛͂͒̆̂͝i̷͙̳͔̯͈̤̝̖̪̼̺̓̀̑̌͆̎́̒̔͗̈͜͠͝ͅƨ̷̨̦̮̰͍̩̺͙̻̫̥͛̐̈̽̅̐̿̎̂͆̍͜͝ ̸̢̧̪̟̗̝͈̙̖͎̤̩͂̏̒̓͛̎͋̇̊͒͑̏̽͜n̷̢̞̤͈̬̫̰̖̮̗͍͛̌͊̂͗͐̍̒̂̅̽̾̕ͅơ̶̡̫̼̞̭̳̹͈̖̠̰̓̔̑̅́̋̃̄̈́̋̃͝ͅͅɈ̷̡̢̛̲̫͚̞̝̦̗̦̗̲̔̑̀͌̔͐̾͂̆̚̚ ̵̨̧̗̬̥͕̖̭̲͕̟̱͖̍̋̓̈́͂̃̑̏͘͘̕͝ʇ̷̨̟͔͖̩͎̦͚̭̘̳̖̎͆̃̽́̉̔̉̓̇̓͠ͅȏ̸̡̟̦̦͉̮̺̗̘̘͇͐̍͒̈́͒̉̽̄̐͛͒͆ͅɿ̷̢̮͍̯̙͇̪̩͍̩̜̠̥̒̀́͐̑̃́̈́̾̈̈́͊̑ ̵̡̢̡̢͕̯̜̥̠͇͔̹̾͗̎͊̾͌̿̊͛̈́̍͘γ̷̡̡̨̡͎̜̫̩͙̗̰̝̔̓̑̓̆̀̄̾̈́̚͠ͅǫ̷̨̛̻̳̙̱̺̗̲̭̫̖̂͌͋̒̍̾̽͂͑̈́̄̕υ̸̨̧̨͇̭̻̖̪̣͚͕͎̤͊̈͋̾̀̋̽̄͒̈̚̕͘.̵̡̧̤̲̠͓̜̗̜͚̘̳͛̔͑̒̆̆͊̀̂̊͐̚̚
Slightly longer version: The cHIldrEn wiLl be pleAsed
Patreon Microfiction: Forbidden Fruit.
We actually don’t use ‘Forbidden Fruit’ all that much in folklore, but when we do… boy, howdy. It’s almost always a really bad idea to chow down on one. Even the Apples of Youth can have side effects.
Patreon!
April 12, 2025
The final SINNERS trailer.
Oh, SINNERS is gonna be fun. Out on the 18th!
Book of the Week: All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries.
I haven’t actually read Martha Wells’s All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries yet. Every body keeps telling me to read it, though, so this is to remind me. I do that, from time to time. I’m not sure if that stategy actually works, though.
#commissionearned
Looks like I’ll be getting the Fermi Resolution Worldbook file for review Monday!
At that point, I get to go through the Fermi Resolution Worldbook, find all the typos that have been patiently hiding from us for the last twelve iterations or so, correct them, fix whatever I messed up in the process, and then start the process of getting the book on DriveThruRPG. There’s going to be extra material in the book, everything has been generally cleaned up, and I think that we were able to squeeze some extra art-like objects into the book. We also made it a proper size (the original size was a mistake on my part), at the expense of a little page-count. I may be needing to lock orders, and start the process soon!
A June release is still on track, in other words. Time to hit the pre-order store!
The Consolidation Wars, Part 5.
Almost done with this one.
…
Empire Averted
The Consolidation Wars did not end in Africa. Instead, they simply petered out, after two decades’ worth of economic sabotage, proxy rebellions, mercenary campaigns, and terrorist actions. About the only thing that wasn’t tried by the other nascent Great Powers was the wholesale invasion of the African mainland, and the only reason why that did not happen was because of the African Development Community (ADC).
The ADC had come under the control of Botswana after the collapse of South Africa in 2079, and the conquest of the Seychelles and Mauritius by the new Kingdom of Madagascar (later incorporated into the New Empire) a year later. The country had a functioning economy and effective government, and it also had the one thing the rest of Southern Africa lacked: a working space program. It was barely capable of placing kinetic energy weapons platforms in orbit — but the ADC did manage to set up a KEW network that covered most of Africa.
This network was used to keep the other Great Powers at bay. Greater China had long meddled in the continent, and North Africa and Egypt were already under the direct control of West Europe and the New Empire, respectively. The latter were tacitly left alone, but the former had too many enclaves and special districts and — most importantly — control over strategic resources to be ignored. Unfortunately, Greater China was unwilling to simply give up those puppets.
The fighting that followed was some of the most vicious of the Consolidation Wars. The threat of KEW attacks was enough to prevent Chinese troops being sent to bolster its client states’ military forces, but at first Greater China sent everything else. Fortunately for the ADC, Greater China was also more engrossed in conquering eastern Asia than in propping up African despots, which meant that the Great Power never quite supplied its clients with what they’d need to hold off the ADC, and its clients. Theoretically, Greater China could have wiped out the ADC in a day — if it was ready to lose a certain number of its core cities in the process. Greater China never came even close to making that trade.
The conflict instead became a grinding series of conflicts, which always seemed to end with ADC-supported forces winning the local battle. The ADC did not directly conquer anyone, instead always creating a local political entity that was nominally independent (and ready to join the ADC). Still, any territory that came under The ADC’s administration had the infamous Okoa simba, kuua chawa (“Save the lion, kill the lice”) policy ruthlessly applied to it. Captured warlords, kleptocrats, bandits, and particularly agents of foreign Great Powers were rounded up, given a reasonably fair trial, then promptly shot. Guerrilla activity was promptly stamped out; it was widely rumored that the ADC’s KEW network needed to be live-fired every month, and that the government considered rebel strongholds perfect targets.
In Africa, the Consolidation Wars are generally considered to have ended in 2098 with the signing of the African Protective Trade Pact. This alliance of sovereign states shared a common currency, economy, military, and ever-increasing network of orbiting KEW platforms. Eventually, the other Great Powers even conceded that the APTP was one of their number.
Patreon!
April 11, 2025
‘Call Me.’
Call Me, Blondie
#commissionearned
Check out my Patreon! (Free one-month memberships!)
Pretty much what it says on the tin. I have a Patreon, which gives you access to microfiction, short stories, gaming material, and a monthly serial. One buck will do it for you. I also have free one-month memberships available! Truly, this is a steal.
Patreon!
