Owen McManus

Owen McManus

@owainia.bsky.social

Artist on Neon Noodles (and others). Writer of short stories in Cossmass Infinities, Kaleidotrope (and others TBA). Gamedev on some goofy little things you've never played. (He / him)

349 Followers 1,593 Following 64 Posts Joined Sep 2023
2 days ago

“Fiction”

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1 week ago

don't get me wrong - the business practices of most AI companies and the grifters who use them are repugnant. A net negative for the world.
but you can also use the same tools to scour massive amounts of cancer research... weirdly that sort of work doesn't seem to require a city block worth of power

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1 week ago

No, but it's not even entirely on moral grounds.
I just think that AI is a bad primary tool for art. It's like painting your walls with a screwdriver. Not inherently a bad tool, but it's actively counterproductive for painting walls. A better screwdriver won't help either. Just not what it's for.

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1 week ago

I played trumpet for the queen of England. I am not a musician.

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2 weeks ago
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3 weeks ago

Legends of the Fall.
Not one bit of the melodramatic bullshit they attempt in that movie is earned. Decades later I remain pissed that I watched all of that movie in a theater and didn't just leave.

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3 weeks ago

where Deckard is very clearly a Muppet but dorks spend decades debating if he is actually a Muppet because it was never explicitly stated in the script

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1 month ago

yeah! I have this shit on a VCD. It's terrible! High Five!

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1 month ago

If you are considering stories for nomination, especially for the Aurora Awards, give Birds, Vibrant and Wild a shot. It's a pretty quick read too!

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1 month ago

weird. seems fine to me. Now we just need our womens team to wake up. Oh. looks like they did this morning. cool.

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1 month ago

Never. I bring it up every chance I get. Which is strangely often.

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1 month ago

but now I really want to know what this toad / yoshi beef is all about... will they kiss?

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1 month ago

A year ago today I wrote this.

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1 month ago

I think they were prop planes, but yeah. still planes

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2 months ago
“Birds, Vibrant and Wild” by Owen McManus

want a palate cleanser? I can promise you that all my stories only use organically sourced words. I have no interest in outsourcing the fun part of writing.
kaleidotrope.net/archives/win...
This one got a nice review in Locus, too!

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2 months ago
Preview
These Stories Teach Us How to Fight - Uncanny Magazine Chicago, October 2025. I need you to know we tried. I bought whistles and saline eyewash for my friends, students. The theatre bought 150 whistles. They were gone in days. A neighbor 3D-printed hundre...

My latest essay for @uncannymagazine.bsky.social is live!!

My editor: "I've never published a more important essay." 🥹

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2 months ago

bought a brand new bike to replace my old the rickety one. I was so excited about the new bike that I bunny hopped the old one over a curb taking it to storage. The front wheel fell off and I face planted into the street. Mild concussion, scrapes everywhere, and I still have scars on my knuckles.

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2 months ago

become the good Spider-Man you want to see in the world

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2 months ago

Vaccines are one of the coolest things that humanity ever created. Right up there with agriculture.
Providing immune systems with a training dummy has dramatically extended and improved life for the past couple hundred years.
Amazing.
Imagine just saying 'Nah, Imma give tuberculosis a title shot"

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2 months ago
Preview
a close up of a man 's face with a necklace around his neck Alt: a close up of a man's face with a necklace around his neck
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3 months ago

That's why my favorite film version has always been the 1951 Alistair Sim version. Quickly paced, but surprisingly faithful. And Mervyn Johns puts on an absolute acting clinic.

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4 months ago
“Birds, Vibrant and Wild” by Owen McManus

My story Birds, Vibrant and Wild in Kaleidotrope, is both very different from me and the most 'me' thing I have ever written.
kaleidotrope.net/archives/win...

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4 months ago

the Irix FSN? do it!

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5 months ago

- copy and paste direct into Unity -
Thanks!

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6 months ago

As a decades long 3D artist who used Maya for many years, I would say that Blender is not only viable, but preferred. ZBrush still has the edge for sculpting, but not by much.

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6 months ago

I’ll end this with something I’ve said before. Art has value. It’s an essential service. What we do, is one of the most important jobs on this fucking planet. Do not undervalue it or yourself. Ever. Fight for it. Trust me, you will never regret that. 5/5

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6 months ago

I know several spec-fic authors who have started to get them too. yep, super creepy.

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6 months ago

I'm shocked to my core

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6 months ago

Wait, did you actually find a lazy gamedev? I've heard of those

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6 months ago
Video thumbnail

this is fine
#godot #gamedev #indiedev

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