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Oisín McGann

@oisinmcgann.bsky.social

7K followers 2.3K following 11K posts

Over 30 years in commercial art and more than 20 as a published author – mostly children's and young adult. No hope of ever getting a proper job. Lifelong nerd who's concerned about climate change. No AI data scraping. He/Him. http://oisinmcgann.com/

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · Nov 9

I've had a lot of new followers joining this weeks, so short introduction: I'm an Irish writer and illustrator who's been working since the 90's and has published 47 books for different reading levels in a range of genres, including 14 novels. I also work in a range of different illustration styles.

The cover of the third book I did with Jason Byrne, the comedian. It's in a rough-lined cartoon style, the figures rendered in black and white. The title is 'The Accidental Adventures of Onion O'Brien: The Secret Scientist'. It's a sky-blue cover framed with white flashes, where Onion, a ten-year-old white boy with a black patch over his left eye in square-framed glasses, sits in a threatening, high-tech chair. In front of him, an old man in a suit with a scarred face is pointing at his own head.

The artwork for the cover of an anthology of climate change-themed short stories and cartoons that is also a writing resource. The style is realistic, digitally painted. Two teenagers are the main focus of montage; a dark-haired, brown-skinned girl with a notebook and a white boy with blond hair with a camera. Below them is a BMW SUV. In the bottom corners, a young fox on the left and a black girl with spiked hair and yellow and red water pistol on the right. In the background, looming over them, are the ruined stones walls of an old building. Right at the back, a boy is jumping off some collapsing wooden boards.

The cover artwork for the SFF anthology, Fight Like a Girl Volume 2. It's a simple, cartoon-style, brown-skinned, fantasy warrior woman holding a wicked-looking sword against a blue background. Around her, in the style of a game menu, are various tools and weapons.

The cover artwork for my book, The First Fire of Halloween, digitally painted. An athletic human figure with the head of a goat stands over a wide bonfire in a field. Behind him, on either side, are the weird golden eyes of a goat, with their slot-shaped pupils. The background is grassy ground and a dark, cloudy sky.

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KJ Charles @kjcharleswriter.com · 2h

These are the utterly heaven-sent people who publish the historical A-Zs of London, so if you write London-set historicals, you want to follow!

London Topographical Society @londontopsoc.bsky.social · 22h

We have just joined BlueSky! Since our foundation in 1880, we have reproduced an unrivalled selection of historic maps, plans and views of London. We also publish books and monographs containing original research. See more of what we have to offer at: londontopsoc.org

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 2h

I don’t agree, but I’ll go along with it for the sake of online harmony.

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 2h

No idea.

Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 2h

No idea. I don’t use it.

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Mark Kielty @kieltface.bsky.social · 13h

Who's looking forward to #Octocon2026 ?

#Fantasy #Scifi #Fandom #Cosplay #Comics #ReadingCommunity #WritingCommunity #Octocon

Octocon @octocon.bsky.social · 13h

We are delighted to announce that #Octocon2026 will be taking place in Cork City with special guests @cemurphy.bsky.social and @aptshadow.bsky.social.

Find out more at
https://2025.octocon.com/announcing-octocon-2026/

#Octocon #Fantasy #SciFi #Fandom #ReadingCommunity #SciFiConvention #CorkCity

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Octocon @octocon.bsky.social · 13h

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Ricardo Levins Morales Art Studio @rlmartstudio.bsky.social · 18h

This week in 1988: 1,000+ ACT UP demonstrators shut down the FDA headquarters, demanding (and eventually winning) action on developing HIV/AIDS treatments. ACT UP's militant and creative actions always included powerful visual artwork, and paved the way for movements in the decades to come.

A photograph from the 1988 ACT UP demonstration outside the FDA. Many people are participating in a die-in on the front steps, holding mock tombstones with messages like "RIP - killed by the FDA" and "Dead from lack of drugs." A line of police officers (some with classic 80s mustaches) wearing riot helmets stands between them and the building; one cop wearing white gloves is walking through the demonstrators. Affixed to the 2nd story windows of the building is a series of posters and a large blank banner reading Silence = Death.

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Colin Smith @colinsmith.bsky.social · 16h

1975: Harlan Ellison visits Michael Moorcock in London. The Englishman sits Ellison in front of the TV when Dr Who comes on & insists Ellison “be quiet & just watch”. By the late 1970s,Ellison is such a fan of Dr Who that he’s taunting US scifi fans with declarations of its superiority over US fare.

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 18h

Peter Thiel describing ‘Watchmen‘ as if it’s Bible fan fiction. How is it that these tech bros read sci-fi and always come away with the totally wrong message?

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 22h

thiel, man, what the fuck are you talking about

He describes the plot of Watchmen, a 1986 graphic novel involving superheroes grappling with moral questions about humanity against the backdrop of impending nuclear war:

The antihero Ozymandias, the antichrist-type figure, is sort of an early-modern person. He believes this will be a timeless and eternal solution – eternal world peace. Moore is sort of a late-modern. In early modernity, you have ideal solutions, ‘perfect’ solutions to calculus. In late modernity, things are sort of probabilistic. And at some point, he asks Dr Manhattan whether the world government is going to last. And he says that ‘nothing lasts forever.’ So you embrace the antichrist and it still doesn’t work.

Thiel later finds biblical meaning in the manga One Piece, discussing how he believes it represents a future where an antichrist-like one-world government has repressed science. He believes that the hero, Monkey D Luffy, represents a Christlike figure.

In One Piece, you are set in a fantasy world, again sort of an alternate earth, but it’s 800 years into the reign of this one-world state. Which, as the story unfolds, gradually gets darker and darker. You sort of realize, in my interpretation, who runs the world and it’s something like the antichrist. There’s Luffy, a pirate who wears a red straw hat, sort of like Christ’s crown of thorns. And then towards the end of the story, transforms into a figure who resembles Christ in Revelation.

Thiel, along with a researcher and writer at Thiel Capital, explored these ideas at greater length in an essay for the religious journal First Things earlier this month.

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 17h

That’s not how consent works.

Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 19h

bitch what

Onedrive settings. A toggle for using AI to detect and identify faces is set to on. The caption says, you can only turn off this setting 3 times per year.

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 14h

This explains a LOT.

Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 15h

A reminder that I have "Arkham" embedded in my name.

(not that there's anything wrong with that...)

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Abeeha Tariq @abeehatariqart.bsky.social · 17h

some thoughts

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Marguerite @marguerites.bsky.social · 15h

How exciting on so many fronts, but @cemurphy.bsky.social and @aptshadow.bsky.social as guests?! How wonderful!

See you all in Cork next October, I hope.

2025.octocon.com/announcing-o...

Announcing - Octocon 2026 - Octocon 2025

Octocon is delighted to announce our 2026 venue and guests of honour! Clayton Hotel Cork City and Online Saturday 3rd October - Sunday 4th October, 2026

2025.octocon.com

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Gareth Kavanagh @omegar24.bsky.social · 15h

In a big change for Octocon, in 2026 the event will be in cork.

I am looking forward to this, I think it is a nice venue.

2025.octocon.com/announcing-o...

Announcing - Octocon 2026 - Octocon 2025

Octocon is delighted to announce our 2026 venue and guests of honour! Clayton Hotel Cork City and Online Saturday 3rd October - Sunday 4th October, 2026

2025.octocon.com

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Reposted by Oisín McGann

Quantum Of Silliness @quantumofsilliness.bsky.social · 15h

Michelle Yeoh checking Pierce Brosnan for autism

Promo shot for TOMORROW NEVER DIES showing Michelle groping Pierce’s upper thigh area

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amanda moore 🐢 @noturtlesoup17.bsky.social · 17h

The inflatables have made it to Broadview.

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PJ Holden @pauljholden.com · 15h

SO I'm trying out a thing, basically a url redirect so I can try and track how successful qr codes I do are I don't store anything identifying, and then it pushes you on to the patreon. I want to try it! www.pauljholden.com/patreon.php?via=bsky&campaign=test_link

Welcome Welcome! | PJ Holden

Get more from PJ Holden on Patreon

www.pauljholden.com

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 15h

The subject of an excellent film too, all the more relevant now.

The poster for the film, Good Night and Good Luck, featuring a black and white photo of David Strathairn’s face, with an old boxy microphone. The other stars listed are Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr and Frank Langella.

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Humor For Resistance @funnysnarkyjoke.bsky.social · 17h

The Wikipedia article on fascism now includes Trumpism. That tracks.

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Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 15h

On Friday, October 10th, Chance the Rapper performed in Chicago’s Huntington Bank Pavilion with this all-caps message on a screen behind the stage.

Posted on "X" by the editor of Migrant Insider.

Pablo Manríquez
@PabloReports
CHICAGO — Last night, Windy City native
@chancetherapper had a concert at Huntington Bank Pavilion.

In ALL CAPS, message on a giant screen behind the stage
"FUCK ICE"

in foreground, we see concertgoers standing up, several of them making 🤘🏼 gestures.

11:15 AM • Oct 11, 2025 • 131.5K Views

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 20h

I was in the toilet in a services place the other day, when a guy took a work phone call while pissing into a urinal. It was not even an earpiece, he was holding the phone. The person on the other end must have heard everything. I used the hand-dryer while they were talking. Civilization is doomed.

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 15h

Also, heavily influenced by what he *wants* to read into this.

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onion person @junlper.beer · 17h

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 16h

Yes they are.

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Micah @rincewind.run · 17h

if we'd treated their obvious baldfaced lies and deflections more like this over the past eight years maybe we wouldn't be in this situation

shocking how easy it is when you actually see it done

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 18h

STEPHANOPOULOS: I didn't insinuate anything. I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50k as was heard on an audio tape recorded by the FBI in September 2024. You did not answer the question. Thank you for your time.

VANCE: No, George, I sai--

STEPHANOPOULOS: We'll be right back

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