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nekoewen.bsky.social
ewen_cluney.txt
@nekoewen.bsky.social
660 followers 670 following 3K posts
TTRPGs, writing, Japanese language, anime, mechanical keyboards, steno, 3D printing, movies, pasta, cats. Ewen is pronounced like Aaron. he/him
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nekoewen.bsky.social
ewen_cluney.txt @nekoewen.bsky.social · Nov 17
The first book of my #isekai series Memes of the Prophets is available on Amazon, DriveThruFiction, and Lulu. It mixes commentary on Big Ideas, fantasy worldbuilding, and comedy into a strange tale of a catgirl trying to find her way in an Earth-obsessed world.

www.amazon.com/Memes-Prophe...
nekoewen.bsky.social
System of a Down lyrics that won’t leave me alone:

WAKE UP!
Banana! Terracotta pie!
Around the world!
All research on successful drug policy shows that treatment should be increased and law enforcement decreased while abolishing mandatory minimum sentences!!!
WHYYYYYY? And we light up the skyyyy!
January 8, 2026 at 4:59 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Wrote about 2,700 words of M-Force: Messiah today, mostly a scene of Xero finally getting internet access and checking in and then him having a casual conversation with Messiah, and I really like how it turned out.
A message from Sparky read, “dude, what the heck is going on with that island?” Another said, “I guess you’re busy there and probably don’t have Wi-Fi, but I wanna hear all about it.” This phone was secure, so he could afford to send sensitive stuff over it. He replied to her, “Things are bonkers. Two people are dead and Captain Eagle is here and acting really weird. I’ll tell you everything when I’m back.” He saw the three pulsating dots almost immediately, followed by a series of rapid-fire messages: omfg wtf stay safe please let us know if we can help jesus fuck i gotta go. you stay safe. ❤️ The weight of everything didn’t lessen, but her texts made him feel a little better. He wasn’t alone in the world, and there were people who cared about him. “No,” Messiah was saying, “Solaria being your favorite makes a lot of sense to me, in a good way. Have you ever met her?” Xero shook his head. “I hope I can, but I don’t wanna force it, you know?” “In college I was a huge fan of Russel Roberts. I jumped at the chance to see him give a lecture, and during the Q&A I made a complete fool of myself.” Russel Roberts (a.k.a. Doctor Incredible) was the leader of the Quintessential Quartet. He had the power to create incredibly strong force fields—he’d once contained an out-of-control Rager with them—but he was also one of the greatest living scientists. “Were you there for the science lecture, or to see Doctor Incredible?” Messiah chuckled. “Oh, definitely both. I was double-majoring in business and chemistry—the chemistry originally because it helps with my powers—and he was sharing some really interesting findings about the molecular structure of tirolium. So of course I started my question by saying, ‘First I want to say I’m a huge fan of your superheroics’ and then proceeded to trip over my words and then trip over a microphone cord.” Xero laughed and covered his face. He could just imagine how that went. “Oh no.”
January 8, 2026 at 3:20 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
While at the Wendy's drive thru I asked myself why I've been feeling shitty, and while the fast food probably isn't helping, I realized that the dumpster fire state of the world is definitely a big part of it.
January 8, 2026 at 2:09 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Being apathetic about lunch I put some frozen fried green beans and I sort of improvised a dipping sauce from sour cream with a little sriracha, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and honey, and it turned out amazing.
January 7, 2026 at 8:41 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Trying to think of more fictional meta-media stuff to put in the Xeroverse novels and I just remembered that DVD extras are a thing.

Also I like how Rocket was badmouthing the Chitauri in a brief deleted scene in Endgame: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeVg...
Deleted Scenes: Suckiest Army In The Galaxy || Avengers: Endgame Special Features
YouTube video by GleePotter8468
www.youtube.com
January 7, 2026 at 6:37 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Elon musk, realizing that Tony was just humoring him in Iron Man 2, announces that he's going to build a far superior Cybersuit so he can be Rocket Man. Ten years later, people occasionally bring it up to make fun of him.
January 7, 2026 at 3:19 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I can tell that my superhero deconstruction novels come from a place of affectionate critique rather than mere disdain by how I unironically got excited watching the new Avengers: Doomsday trailer.
January 6, 2026 at 10:29 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Microslop CSO* Sloptya Nadella

*Chief Slop Officer
January 6, 2026 at 4:20 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Working on an essay analyzing the Matrix trilogy, particularly in light of how they deconstruct the concept of messiahs, and I'm increasingly of the opinion that there are a LOT of things in the films that are brilliant but could've been explained better.
January 6, 2026 at 3:14 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Zola: Our workers are exhausted, they've not much left.
Red Skull: Then use up what they have left.
Zola: Sure, if you want manufacturing defects on the amazing weaponry I designed for you.
Red Skull: What was that?
Zola: Nothing, sir. I'll get right on it.
January 5, 2026 at 6:11 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Pretty happy with this bit from the beginning of Xeroverse Book 4, where my John Oliver/Cody Johnston type comedy news host is doing a show when the Maw's alien army invades. It gets even wilder when the Maw's herald, Syren, shows up in the studio asking to address the world.
2. Harbinger David set down his glass of water and cleared his throat. The show was going well so far, and they had a good crowd in the studio audience. “Moving on,” he announced. “Our main story tonight concerns W.A.T.C.H.E.R., the more secretive sibling of G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N., much like how Andrew Wilson lurks behind his brothers Owen and Luke Wilson. Both make you wonder, what exactly are trying to hide, Andy?” He got an okay laugh, which made sense since it was an okay joke. He never forgot about the old days, when his jokes would be met with hostile silence. With Today Weekly he’d cultivated an audience that appreciated what he was trying to do, which was an incredibly valuable thing for a comedian. “Specifically, we’re going to talk about the recent bombshell revelation about the so-called ‘Z Squad.’ They’re—” David felt it. The building trembled. A message popped up on the teleprompter. “Oh, fuck.” The shaking continued and intensified, and the audience stirred. David stood up and addressed them directly. “Okay, listen up everyone. Let me first say, welcome to Empire City!” He spread his arms wide for added effect. They laughed. Good. “It looks like this one is an alien invasion. We’ve been through them before. Don and Erika there in the orange vests are going to lead us down to the shelter. Please remain calm and follow them.”
January 5, 2026 at 5:26 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I wonder what other billionaires in the MCU think of Tony Stark. He (1) shut down Stark Industries' arms manufacturing and (2) became a superhero. People probably argue over which benefited the world more, but he kind of makes every other rich guy look bad by comparison.
January 5, 2026 at 3:45 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Reading about messiah motifs in fiction, and Verhoeven intended RoboCop as an "American Jesus," hence he dies and is resurrected, walks on water (sorta), and gets pierced by a spear.
January 4, 2026 at 3:08 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Thinking about how The Matrix trilogy was trying to subvert/deconstruct the entire concept of messiahs/saviors by revealing that the One is a manufactured mechanism of control (not unlike Paul Atreides).
January 3, 2026 at 10:06 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I found another superhero-related novel I'm looking forward to reading: What They Did to Princess Paragon by Robert Rodi is about what happens when an up-and-coming comic writer is trying to revamp a classic character and makes her lesbian, to the chagrin of some truly obsessive fans.
January 2, 2026 at 4:44 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Superhero research led me to start on Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, historical fiction about two Jewish cousins who make comics during the Golden Age. Most of the novels I've read for this project have been fun but trashy, whereas this feels like real literature.
January 2, 2026 at 2:51 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
2025 had to get one last piece of awfulness in, since my dad was hospitalized last night. It looks like he's gonna be okay (he's going to be getting a pacemaker), but we did not need this.
January 1, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by ewen_cluney.txt
kartoonistkelly.bsky.social
Outlook for the new year ...
December 31, 2025 at 11:20 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I can’t speak for all indie TTRPG designers, but for me it’s always been “I hope this helps you get where you want to go.” I have no idea why someone felt the need to invent an insulting motive.
legendaryvermin.bsky.social VISCOUNTESS VERMIN @legendaryvermin.bsky.social · 9d
I regret to inform you that basically all games have incentive structures.

Generally, if an object of play doesn't have incentive structures, it's a toy.
A clip of a blue sky post that reads: Isn’t it a little sad that the dominant way of thinking in indie rpgs is “my friends are all too dumb and incompetent to replicate the experience I want them to have, I need rules to nudge them like children to the golden path”
December 31, 2025 at 11:18 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Trump Administration Announces New Initiative to Harm Americans
December 31, 2025 at 5:06 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Lot going on here.
December 31, 2025 at 2:21 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Browsing for something to watch on my Apple TV and realizing that I kinda hate how most tech these days is constantly trying to put a finger on the scale. Apple's tvOS is plastered with Apple TV+ stuff, and yet it's mild compared to Roku and especially FireTV.
December 31, 2025 at 1:52 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
In Xeroverse Book 2, Xero finds out that the in-universe equivalent of Joe Rogan went on an unhinged rant about him, and I'm kinda glad Rogan has never heard of me.

To make it especially unsubtle, I have Joe Average do his show in an SUV, and he always wears sunglasses to hide his empty eye sockets
Xero was trying to not think about that damn podcast. It was hard, because The Joe Average Show was the most popular podcast in the world by a comfortable margin, and yesterday’s episode had featured Joe ranting to Roland Carr about Xero. He’d never paid too much attention to the show before, because he had better things to do than watch two guys talk in an SUV for four hours at a time. He told himself that he wasn’t doing this superhero for fame, that he didn’t care too much about what people thought about him, but here he was steaming about it. He didn’t think he’d care so much if the criticisms were more legitimate, but Joe just seemed to dislike his “vibes.” Joe had an image of Xero as a self-hating yet narcissistic woke wannabe, someone who apologized for being a superhero, but his evidence for that was to point and say things like, “I mean just look at that suit!” Carr had been a guest on the show several times, and he just kind of sat there awkwardly while Joe ranted. Maybe it was too much to ask for Paladin to stand up for a novice colleague, but that irritated him too. But the part that really pissed Xero off was when Joe went after him for visiting Corn Master’s widow. As far as Joe was concerned, all he should’ve said to Helen Masters was, “Oh, I’m sorry your husband was a scumbag who got what he deserved.” Xero kept running through arguments in his head, but he wasn’t sure he could explain to the guy that a person who commits a crime is still human. He could accept that sometimes a supervillain was so far gone that killing them was genuinely the best option, but Corn Master robbing a bank to pay for a vacation for his family wasn’t that. The episode had caused a downturn in his burgeoning online popularity, and a deluge of hate comments. He was trying to keep himself from opening the Sigil app, but he was an addict and kept wading into stuff that did nothing but get him mad.
December 30, 2025 at 5:24 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
All this obsessing over superhero stuff and somehow I forgot about Boots Riley's I'm a Virgo, which features a 13-foot-tall guy, a speedster fry cook, and a mentally unstable billionaire in a power suit.
December 28, 2025 at 4:18 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Wish I was feeling as good about literally anything else in my life as I am about how my writing is going.
December 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM