ewen_cluney.txt
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nekoewen.bsky.social
ewen_cluney.txt
@nekoewen.bsky.social
650 followers 670 following 2.9K 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
I got an advent calendar from Ikea, and when I opened the first one this morning I realized it was significantly higher quality that I'd assumed.
December 1, 2025 at 7:08 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Not quite as retro as a manual typewriter, but I got a Fiio Echo Mini audio player, which has a cassette theme and also there's a 3D printable case shaped like a cassette case.
November 30, 2025 at 9:27 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Tired: Die Hard is a Christmas movie
Wired: Eyes Wide Shut is a Christmas movie
November 26, 2025 at 7:04 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
So basically, calling a place California is like a 16th Century version of calling a place like Westeros or Tatooine.
November 26, 2025 at 4:22 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I started reading Rachel Wagner's Cowboy Apocalypse, which is nothing to do with DeadLands, and is in fact a nonfiction book that explores the intersection of apocalypticism and America's cowboy mythos. It's fascinating and disturbing.
November 25, 2025 at 1:52 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I'm going to have to find a Jewish sensitivity reader for M-Force: Messiah, because in critiquing how superhero blockbusters are cowardly about political themes, I wrote Momentus (my Magneto expy) being really blatant about his experiences with the Holocaust and after.
The center of attention had shifted to a newcomer. Of all people, it was Captain Eagle. Richter was shouting in his face. “You’re not one of us! You got your powers out of a syringe!” The Eagle shoved at Richter. “You shut your goddamn mouth! I was fighting the Nazis when your grandpa was in diapers!” Xero’s jaw hung open. What the hell was this? An invisible force pulled Captain Eagle away from Richter and held him in mid-air. Momentus glowered. “Dear Captain, I know all about patriotic American heroes. After Hitler’s defeat, there were more camps, and much handwringing about whether to let more Jews in.” “Are you always this ungrateful?” Captain Eagle sneered. Momentus was just starting to use his powers to squeeze Captain Eagle when Messiah shouted, “Stop!” Captain Eagle dropped to his feet, and the tension in the room went down only slightly. The super-formula powers made the Eagle exceptionally strong and durable, but Momentus could still kill him with a thought.
November 23, 2025 at 12:50 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Among the things I like about Hades II:
• Nic Cage Narcissus
• Siren Rock Band
• Cat who fishes for you
• Hypno-Toad
November 20, 2025 at 5:35 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Once again, Killfile in Xeroverse is first and foremost an expression of the idea that dealing with Deadpool in person would just be the worst.
“What’s going on in there?” It was Gazer, from the other side of the door. Xero opened the door and motioned to Killfile, who had his hands behind his back. Gazer reached for his visor. “Cade, get the hell out,” he snarled. Killfile sheathed his knife. “Ugh, fine.” As he was leaving, he booped Gazer’s nose. “Who pissed in your Cheerios?” Gazer folded his arms. “You did, Cade. You always do. It’s why you don’t have any friends.” Once Killfile was gone, Gazer turned back to Xero. “Sorry you had to… You know.” “I’ve dealt with him before,” said Xero, “but thanks. Any idea what’s wrong with him?” Gazer tapped his temple. “My theory is his brain is as full of scars as the rest of him.”
November 18, 2025 at 6:20 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I finished reading the complete works of Fletcher Hanks, and I made a list of my favorite lines. I realized that his work is the first time I've come across a "so bad it's good" thing in comics, like a graphic novel by Ed Wood or Tommy Wiseau.
• Turn loose our death rays and kill them all! • You shall die by your own evil creation! • You are now in the power of Stardust! • The planes immediately curl into distorted and useless wrecks. • The air is so pure, and so full of vitamins, you will live to great age! • He’s making artificial creatures out of chemicals! • You are partners! Partners in death! • He’s surely produced a violent chemical! The madman is clever! • That’s “Slant-Eye” and his gang! All tough babies! • I must save that gold! • He is planning to invade and conquer the jungle with hypnotized reptiles! • I’ll develop a powerful sixth column to combat their underhand work! • Before long, he has selected a great army of red-blooded boys who would like to do something for their country. • You shall become one of them, and eat mud and fire for the rest of your days! • Gravity is being destroyed! • Grucko! • Some fiend is planning to wreck the civilized planets! • I shall destroy all the civilized planets! • We’ll ram it hard! • We must end democracy and civilization forever! • I shall transform you into one man!
November 15, 2025 at 4:33 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Well if you put it like that, yeah. Grucko.
A single panel from a Fantomah comic. In a canyon, a hairless humanoid creature with pale green skin, tusks, large black eyes, and red shorts, raises a clawed hand to wave and says "GRUCKO!"
November 14, 2025 at 12:01 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I like how there's a playable Jiangshi character in Vampire Survivors, and if you unlock him with a code, the code is "hophophophophophophophophophophophophop".
November 12, 2025 at 10:32 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I really want someone to create a recipe for the "royal sauce" from Kamen Rider Zeztz.
November 11, 2025 at 3:42 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Taking a break from Hades to play the new Balatro-themed DLC for Vampire Survivors, even though by the end of each run my poor Nintendo Switch gets into "seconds per frame" territory.
November 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Getting back into writing M-Force: Messiah, which comments on the treatment of politics in superhero blockbusters and also has room for dumb nonsense like this.
Tom stood by the hatch as one more person joined them. A slender woman wearing a white domino mask, her ancestral sword in a scabbard at her side. Bluejay held up her hand like she was in class. “Who’s she?” The Eagle motioned to the newcomer. “This is Saber. She’s got my back. I would advise not getting killed by her. Her sword traps the souls of its victims.” Saber didn’t talk much, and he liked that about her. She gave him a nod and took a seat. “Hi Saber!” said Bluejay. “I’m Bluejay! Nice to meet you!” Saber eyed her. “Kann ich sie töten?” (Can I kill her?) “Not yet,” said the Eagle. “And speak English.” “Woah,” said Bluejay. “You’re doing the thing where you can understand a foreign language but reply in English? I thought they only did that in movies!” She turned to Saber. “Korosu yori tanoshii koto ga dekiru deshou?” (We could do something more fun than killing, right?) “Does she have an off switch?” asked the Eagle. “Ain’t found it yet,” said Killshot.
November 10, 2025 at 3:20 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I realized that there's a certain parallel between Fletcher Hanks' comics and Chick Tracts. Both are formulaic, and often involve an evildoer/sinner facing sadistic divine vengeance.
Stardust, a massive figure wearing pale blue spandex with a yellow belt with several red studs on it, points at De Structo, a mobster type who he has transformed to just be a head with little legs. The vengeful Stardust is saying, "I'LL PUNISH YOU ACCORDING TO YOUR CRIME, DE STRUCTO!" A panel from a Chick Tract, with a demon in hell menacing a balding man in a suit. The demon holds his labels and grins as he says, "I tricked you! And now you're mind... FOREVER! Haw Haw Haw"
November 7, 2025 at 4:32 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
*taps sign*
November 7, 2025 at 3:47 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I still find it amusing that Beelzebub originated with Hebrews calling a Phillistine god "Baʿal zəvuv," or "Lord of the Flies," basically saying, "More like the Lord of Poop, amirite?" That evolved into Beelzebub, who in Christian demonology is one of the most powerful demons in hell.
November 6, 2025 at 11:43 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Since the Xeroverse is going to have "Beelzebub" as a primal force of late-stage capitalist greed, I got a figure of the Helluva Boss version of Beelzebub, even though the butterfly fox demon party girl is rather different from the Beelzebub that'll be in my novels.
November 6, 2025 at 11:39 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Every exploitation Frankenstein B-movie wishes it had the sex appeal of Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein. Or for that matter Jacob Elordi as the Creature.

Also I had no idea that Victor had a younger brother named William Frankenstein even in the original novel.
November 6, 2025 at 2:04 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Since I'm planning to include Stardust the Super Wizard in the final Xeroverse book, I got the collection of the complete works of Fletcher Hanks, appropriately titled Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All. There's nothing quite like it, though Dick Tracy is probably the closest.
A copy of Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All, a 350+ page glossy paperback book collecting the complete works of Fletcher Hanks. The cover shows Fantomah in both her beautiful woman and skull-faced horror forms, while the thick spine has Stardust the Super Wizard flying through space in his tubular spacial.
November 5, 2025 at 4:29 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
Now available on WeirdLittleKeebs.com, I built a Corne split keyboard with a tented case and even keycaps made from Cookiecad's very pretty Witches Blue PLA filament.

www.etsy.com/listing/4399...
#mechanialkeyboard #crkbd
November 5, 2025 at 1:15 AM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I finished a custom Sofle keyboard for an Etsy customer. This one has orange Asimov keycaps from Keyreative.

#mechanicalkeyboard #sofle
weirdlittlekeebs.com
A Sofle--a 58-key split keyboard--with a rotary encoder knob and small OLED display on each half. It has a 3D printed orange case and translucent keycaps with pixelated legends. Next to it are the box the keycaps came in, a cleaning cloth, a keycap pulling tool, and a TRRS cable.
November 3, 2025 at 11:15 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
"Remember when The Onion was funny?"
--The least original guy in the universe

"I do in fact remember October 31st at 2pm."
--Me
A Twitter post from The Onion: "ICE Agent, 7-Year-Old Both Wearing Same ‘Military Commando’ Halloween Costume"
October 31, 2025 at 10:40 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I made a list of the things I tend to yell at inanimate objects (when no people are around) and the overarching theme is tech abruptly having problems for no discernible reason and not giving the user anything to go on. Like, my iPhone will just kinda forget how to internet at times.
• Why are you like this?! • Stop being terrible! • Stop being awful! • What are you DOING?! • DON’T BE F***ING STUPID! • Not that hard! • Still not that hard! • STILL not that hard! • When did this become a problem?!
October 30, 2025 at 5:07 PM
nekoewen.bsky.social
I really like how the M-Force: Messiah Truthful Trailer is turning out, though a lot of it won't make any sense without having read the novel first.
EVD: Starring! • [Messiah] Somehow, the M-Force returned. • [Professor M in a hospital bed] Professor M-edical Leave • [Momentus] Malcolm M • [Captain Eagle, with a headline about Chris Johnson’s $90 million salary for the movie] Captain Moneybags • [Xero] A Good Kid • [Marina; to the tune of “American Woman”] ♪Atlantean woman, she gonna mess your mind!♪ • [Venus; to the tune of “American Woman”] ♪A plant-ean woman, she gonna grow some vines!♪ • [Mongrel reading a book] ♪You’re a smart one, Mister Grinch! ♪ • [Gazer cooking eggs] The Champion of Breakfasts! • [Talon] Sir Not Appearing in This Film • [Phase] Miss Not Appearing in This Film • [Z Squad] Those guys! • [Null] Whatsisface! No really, what’s the deal with his face? • [Janet] THE DARK ANG—! [Gazer holds the dead Janet] Never mind!
October 30, 2025 at 3:34 PM