Sean Mannion

@unclesean

Indie filmmaker, indie podcaster, 1/2 of 4MileCircus. Finishing my first novel soon? My Feature: Meme My Podcast: The Celluloid Mirror My Novel: Kaleidoscope Find it all at

426 Folgt610 Follower1.603 Posts

Patreon YouTube YouTube Bluesky

gamer

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir unclesean.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Sean Mannion@unclesean· 21d

From Kaleidoscope. Green Dogs are basically corndogs but made with cricket protein and wrapped in seaweed. #WritingPrompt

Soo-Young ducked into a bodega on 4th Avenue. It was small and painfully bright with clean white walls broken only by the built-in vending systems. One wall had the top third of it empty and Moneyline Business News was projected on it. Soo-Young shook her head as Angela Beltran talked about how much of a benefit the ConUtil and TexUtil merger was going to be. Soo-Young knew this was just going to mean they can squash any competition and their price gouging was just going to get much much worse.
Soo-Young touched her temple wincing in pain as her eye flashed. It was acting up again. She needed to call Silas. It was still sporadic but it would ramp up over the next day or two. She bought a frozen Cricket Burger Green Dog from the vending systems. Not as good as getting it at a Cricket Burger but the nearest one was four subway stops away.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· 21d

#WIPSnips “grand” from the book within the book in Kaleidoscope. A novelization of the third film in the Red Nun Blue Nun film series. #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WriteSky

"Screaming? For months?" Gol%@ leaned into Reginald.
"I just didn't know what else to do." Reginald shrugged.
"It must have made it very difficult for him to sleep."Gol%@ said.
"Oh, nearly impossible." Reginald responded, gleeful.
"You're all kind of terrible, aren't you?" Salad Fucker interrupted. Blue reached over and patted him on the hand.
"You have intercourse with Salad Bars." Red retorted.
"I fail to see how that's relevant." Salad Fucker pouted.
"I just like to bring it up."
"And now you're on a grand adventure!" Gol%@ said returning to Reginald.
"Well, I'm helping them anyway. This one" Reginald gestured at Blue. "Seems to have some complicated plan for ..."
"No, no, I don't want to know." Gol%@ waved his hands. "I'm just transporting. I don't know anything about the cargo. Never want to."
Reginald nodded. "Well, we appreciate your assistance."
The wet clicking sound approached again and a moment later &* was standing beside Salad Fucker. "Well, now that dinner is concluded, shall we proceed to the first activity of our the
evening?"

Sean Mannion@unclesean· 22d

#WIPSnips no “pry” but I’ve got “yanked” #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

"I'll pass. Can I have my bag back, please?"
Clyde looked down at Akachi's bag, still over his shoulder. He shrugged and held the bag out for her. She grabbed the free shoulder strap and yanked it to take the bag. It stayed firmly in Clyde's grip. "Go on then. Take it." Clyde said with a mocking smile.
Akachi yanked on the bag harder. Clyde released it and the force of her pull sent her reeling back into the door. She fell to the floor. Clyde grabbed her arm. She again noticed the strength of his grip as she tries to pull her arm away but couldn't break his grip.
"I lost it in a card game. I think the new one is better, don't you?" Clyde asked referring to his hand.
Akachi grabbed Clyde's wrist with her free hand. He chuckled at her attempt to free herself. She activated the taser implant built into her hand and the shock forced Clyde's hand to release her. He reeled back deeper into the closet and slammed into a rack of cleaning supplies. Akachi scrambled up off the floor and took off.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· 24d

#WIPSnips no “divine” but there’s some nuns (sort of) and a reference to Gods here. #WriteSky #WritingPrompts #WritingCommunity

Sean Mannion@unclesean· 26d

Sean Mannion@unclesean· 29d

Battle Beyond the Stars

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jul 13

#WIPSnips “almost” #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Dana sat quietly watching Sanjay and drinking through the set. He caught a glimpse of her during "The Pain in Our Love" and gestured towards her giving her a wink.
As her waitress, "Sakura" the name tag said, took away one of Dana's glasses and set down a new drink she noticed the young woman had distinct scars on her arms that stood out in the black light. She had got a whole lot of implants, Dana thought. With that kind of scarring she had to be almost more machine than person. As Sakura walked away Dana shivered a little at the thought. She couldn't imagine doing that. Just the thought of things embedded in her skin or muscle conjured up graphic surgical images in her mind and made her wretch a little. She didn't think ill of those who have implants, but she couldn't even handle the idea of getting a holo tattoo implant.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jul 12

#WIPSnips “extra” #writesky #writingcommunity #writingprompts

A very tired looking girl with a stained apron with a Wednesday Tech Hospitality badge that said "Sheri" on it joined them and laid out their order. Scarlett had gotten a green tea and a jalapeño and cheese knish. Dana had gotten the sweet potato and cream cheese knish and an extra large mocha with a pile of whipped cream on it and two shots of whiskey. Next to her badge Dana noticed a blue and yellow flag pin. She stared at it for a second. She'd thought the Polish flag was red and white.
"What country is the flag for?" She asked Sheri.
Sheri looked at her and then looked down at the pin.
"Ukraine." She said with barely covered contempt. "You're in a Ukrainian bakery. Obviously." She turned away from them to deal with other customers.
Dana was embarrassed and stared at her pile of whipped cream.
"Maybe you need to hang out with those entry level kids more. They'll slow you down. Clearly some brain cells are dying. Did you think knishes were Polish again?"
"You know when you get the wrong definition or name of something stuck in your head and can't seem to shake it?"
"I get it." Scarlett laughed.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jul 12

#SundaySnips a tasty drink #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

Dana lay naked face down the bed. The sheets were twisted around her leg. Her hair was a sweaty matted mess. Her back was wet with sweat. The whiskey bottle lay empty on the floor. She raised her head.
"Fuuuuuck ...." Dana groaned.
"Would you like me to order you some breakfast?" Beth asked standing by Dana's feet sticking off the edge of the bed.
"Yeah, that's good. Like the ... "
"The fakon egg and cheez sandwich from the corner deli?"
Dana lifted herself up nodding. "Coffee."
"Coffee is waiting for you in the kitchen."
Dana struggled with the sheet wrapped around her thigh. She couldn't quite get herself untwisted and stood up from the bed.
It slid down but not off. She fumbled with the sheet some more and then looked up at Beth. "Wait, fuck. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck what time is it?"
"The time is 11:34AM"
"I missed the interview ..."
"You did miss your 10:15AM appointment at Wilson Home. Would you like me to reschedule?”

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jul 9

#WIPSnips “keep” #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Curtis Parsons' suitcase wobbled as he dragged it behind himself. He glanced back at the two members of ConUtil Security following behind him. One gripped the handle of his stunstick.
Curtis was a clean cut corporate man with his hair trimmed very short and his face clean shaven. He was wearing the light blue suit his ex-girlfriend Tanika had gotten him. She said the color contrasted nicely with his dark skin. At thirty six his mother would have wanted him to have been married to that girl years ago, but it just never worked out with her or most women. He'd been too focused on work. He missed one too many important events for the sake of moving up at ConUtil. It seemed like even more of a mistake now.
Curtis stepped out into the night air and descended the stairs of the ConUtil Compound building. His suitcase banged against the stairs as he went down. It was just a little too heavy and he was just a little too tired to bother with lifting it for each step. Everything he was allowed to keep after being terminated was stuffed into this single bag.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jul 8

#WIPSnips “humid” #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

"No." Annabelle said as they exited the building. The heat and humidity were much worse outside. Annabelle pulled the wedgie her shorts had been giving her out of her ass. Mitch had gotten to see enough.
"Well, you'll love it here. Really. Greatest city in the world."
"Where's your car?" Annabelle asked looking towards the parking garage.
"Oh, I gotta call a ride, one sec." Mitch said pulling a visor from his pocket. He put it on and manipulates some options in the air in front of him then put the visor away again.
Annabelle looked around. "So, you guys don't have your own ride?"
"No one in New York has a car."
Annabelle rolled her eyes and looked around the brightly lit city block around the Maglev station. There was an enormous Cricket Burger across the street. She hadn't had a Maximum Cricketeer since the one in her town closed down when she was a kid. She took a step towards it and stopped. There were probably a thousand Cricket Burgers in the city. She could wait a few more hours or a day or two. It was probably not even as good as she remembered.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jul 7

#WIPSnips “quarter” Akachi meets a man at a Halloween party in Kaleidoscope. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Andrew and Phillipe were the only two people she served with who would speak with her. Retrieving two bickering E-2s out of a faulty airlock before it depressurized on them had won her two lifelong friends.
Akachi glanced around the room. Some of the costumes were amazing. Some were very very cheap. She stopped at the man in the very poorly made pirate costume next to her. His vitiligo made the lower right quarter of his face very pale. Another small patch of pale skin peeked up over the cheap costume eyepatch on his left eye. The patches were rounded like clouds.
The pirate looked over her costume. "Are you a car mechanic or a shuttle mechanic?" He asked.
"I do it all." Akachi responded.
The pirate smiled. "I'm Zed."
Akachi liked his broad smile. He'd blacked out one of his teeth for the costume but it had started to wear off.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jul 5

#WIPSnips “bench” #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

The old subway car rattled and wheezed as it rolled down the tracks. The floor was scratched and stained and the walls and windows were covered in graffiti. In the middle of the floor was a large gross mess of something not exactly identifiable. It was sickly yellow and very wet looking. A bubble on the top looked like it was about to burst and make the mess fly all over anyone nearby.
Soo-Young sat alone on a bench in the subway car barely two feet from the sickly yellow mess on the floor. She didn't look at it. She just looked forward intently.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jul 4

#WIPSnips “round” Dana interviewed for a job by an AI Assistant. Not a thing that could ever really happen, right? Right?!? RIGHT!?!?!?! #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

"I couldn't. Not really."
"It says you had privacy mode on. That seems suspicious."
"I just didn't want a creepy guy I was working with to track me home."
"I see."
The Mr. Baxter just sat there waiting like there should have been more of an explanation from Dana.
"I wasn't part of the protest. I had been at work all afternoon."
"We at Wilson Home feel it's important to provide opportunities to people with all kinds of backgrounds and certainly we don't feel that just because someone has a riot charge that that makes them ineligible for work."
"Great. So, you'll recommend me for the next round of the process?"
"Oh, no. We understand that people are put in circumstances that they may feel pressured to participate in violent actions against corporations, but considering that the NYPD by AngloTech is taking actions today to apprehend more of the agitators who make peaceful demonstrations turn into violent confrontations, it doesn't seem like now is the time to move forward with your application."

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jul 3

#WIPSnips “out” - Beth watches a tense exchange between the stars of the Red Nun Blue Nun franchise about Xenotology. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Lea's mouth twisted and she straightened. "Enough jokes."
"Sorry. "
"You may not like it but Xenotology saved my life. Saved my life." Lea deflated a little and leaned onto the cane. She shook her head and headed for the door without another word.
"I'm sorry. I'm just ..."
Lea left. The door slammed behind her.
"Shit." Kira said. She leaned forward and rubbed her eyes.
Beth watched this moment of tension between the two women. Not the first time Lea had gotten upset about how Kira teased her about Xenotology, but one of the very few times Lea had called her out on it. In an instant Beth reviewed the available information on Lea and Xenotology. Xenotology was largely a cult focused on aliens with a cosmology that was largely mixing Celtic and Norse mythology with the Cthulhu mythos of author H.P. Lovecraft. It focused it's recruiting on rich or famous people with histories of substance abuse and multiple failed attempts at rehab. People like Lea who had almost died in a car crash before joining Xenotology. According to various sources Lea's involvement had lead to a substantial improvement in her life and career. Kira by contrast had no religious or spiritual belief system on record.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jul 2

#WIPSnips “knock” #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Annabelle shrugged. Akachi was cool but Annabelle didn't need anyone. Even errand boy Mitch she could do without. She had Clyde's cash. She had already gotten access to his accounts in the first few days she was in New York. "Yeah, well, I wish we could help."
"I'm sorry for the delay." Beth interrupted.
Annabelle turned and tried to hide her surprise. Clyde didn't have a Beth. He had some knock off version that's hologram was some pre-historic pornstar he loved because of an equally pre-historic "ballad."
"Did it work?" Akachi asked.
"I believe it will. We'll find out soon."
A tone drew Akachi's attention to the touch screen again.
Her access to the Moon City Citizenship Database was approved.
"Thank you." Akachi said turning back to Beth. Beth had disappeared while their attention was on the screen.
Mitch entered the room with a couple of Cricket Burger bags. Annabelle didn't look at him. "Took you long enough."
"Sorry, there were fucking cops everywhere. I was dodging them. "

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jul 1

#WIPSnips Don’t have “scarf” or scarves because Kaleidoscope takes place mostly during an October-November heatwave. Don’t have it in its usage referring to eating either, but I do have eating. So … vibes-ish. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Akachi settled in at the screen showing the MetHealth servers. She pulled up the records for a short list of people including Sakura and adjusted their policy restrictions. She backdated the changes and applied the appropriate executive digital signature. She switched to another server in their systems where she inserted her decoy code. It started to wipe out the late payments debt of hundreds of customers.
On the screen searching for Curtis a pop up read "Match Found." Akachi turned to the screen taking the last bite of the Cricketeer burger. She should have sprung for the Deluxe meal. The melty cheese product and tenderness of the Turkey bacon really complimented the crunch of the cricket protein patty. The grilled onion bites gave her heartburn, though. She looked around. She'd left her Hefeweizen and the fries in the kitchen.
She turned back to the screen and looked at the match for Curtis. It showed Curtis bloodied and stumbling from an apartment complex in Brooklyn. The timestamp was 10:33AM November 15th. It was footage from that morning, Akachi realized. She did a search on the complex and found that it had been raided by the NYPD. That was Akilah's building. She wondered if he'd been staying with her.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 30

✨ quote post! introduce yourself! ✨ name: Sean Mannion pronouns: He/Him fav fantasy creature: competent leaders fav book last year: Sleeping Giants fav book so far this year: The Once and Future King curr fav movie: I Saw the TV Glow curr fav show: Deep Space Nine season: Early Fall and a gif/meme!

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 30

#WIPSnips I don’t have “tournament” but I do have a description of a future music/fighting competition show. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Serena had only caught a few of the match ups on the show in the past. She was never very clear on the rules and she never enjoyed watching what little she had, but this appearance would raise more money for Martian Relief so she bit the bullet and signed up. She pushed another button on the makeup chair and the screen switched from the rundown to the rules of Ultimate Rockdown.
Each episode featured three lower level opening matches and one title competition match. The lower level matches were often between existing performers who had new work to sell. The opening matches were three rounds maximum. Each round the performers had to perform one of their songs while physically fighting the other performer. If either of them stopped performing for more than fifteen seconds they lost the round. If they managed to knock out the other performer they won.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 29

Question for the #WritingCommunity that I’m having difficulty phrasing the search to research myself. I’m considering formatting my book, Kaleidoscope, more like a graphic novel or a text book (see image). Anyone know of an existing book like that I can look at? (Cont’d) #WriteSky #graphicnovel

Image of a styled page for a fake science article about butterflies from a fake science journal. “Sample” is watermarked repeatedly on the page.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 29

#WIPSnips “water” #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

"I'll run some searches through the nano cam archives from the last few days. See if I can find anything recent."
Soo-Young nodded at this. "I'm on my way to Silas now. He'll probably hit up his usual contacts."
"I'm working on his friend's coverage. Might be a couple days and she'll be able to have all that garbage replaced." The train lurched and came to a jarring stop. Soo-Young stood up from her seat. "I'll check in again soon."
Gulliver disappeared from Soo-Young's vision, the call was over. She leaned down and reaches into the wet looking mess on the floor. It disappeared as she picked a tiny holo projector up off the floor.
Soo-Young exited the car into the dirty old subway station. Half the lights were dead and the other half were flickering. The tile was covered in water stains and filth. An MTA worker stood next to a mop and a bucket with no water in it. He nodded at Soo-Young as she passed him on her way to the broken down escalator.
As Soo-Young exited the all but abandoned subway station into the streets of Manhattan she was assaulted with auditory and visual advertising everywhere. The buildings around the subway station advertised vacancies and upgraded air filtration to minimize viral loads.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 25

#WIPSnips no “pyramid” or references to 3D shapes and the one instance of triangle didn’t work really but … pyramids are monuments and so is a statue I guess? So, I’ve got this reference to the Grant statue in Brooklyn. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 24

#WIPSnips “Finale” Kaleidoscope snip from the POV of 2077’s biggest pop star in the makeup chair before guest hosting a music/martial arts competition show. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

The XtraCaff was a Caramel Swirl and not the Double Chocolate she'd asked for. Serena glanced at her assistant Kayden lecturing the Ultimate Rockdown makeup artist about the way she was going to handle Serena's makeup and decided to just enjoy the Caramel Swirl. Kayden was great at making sure things got done but Serena didn't need him tearing into a Production Assistant over a coffee drink again. She didn't need to see someone cry before eight in the morning.
Serena looked at herself in the mirror of her dressing room. She had finished last night's concert much later than she'd intended knowing she had this in the morning. She was sitting low in the chair. Her face looked puffy. Her short hair was a mess, not that that mattered much, they'd be putting it under a cap for the wig. She looked tired. She felt tired. They had an hour and a half to get her camera ready for shooting her Guest Judge segment for the Ultimate Rockdown finale.
"We can't have this girl." Kayden said practically standing on top of Serena all of a sudden.
"We can't have who?"
"This. This! This girl. She doesn't know how to treat a star like you." Kayden gestured at the makeup artist who Serena was sure was at least fifty.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 23

#WIPSnips don’t have “penalty” but I do have punishment in this transcript of a speech by a leader of the lunar rebellion at the public execution of the deposed military dictatorship. From my WIP Kaleidoscope. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Doctor Sarah Judge, 00:33:05:12 - But we have seen again and again through history that a lack of accountability does not lead to lasting peace. This. What we have had to do today is not vengeance for the years of violence. It is not punishment for the order to disengage the airlocks in these Botanical Gardens we stand in resulting in the deaths of 357 of our fellow citizens. Citizens' whose only crime was standing in protest of military occupation and a desire for independence.
Doctor Sarah Judge, 00:34:05:12 - This about about holding those in power accountable. Saying that they cannot slaughter citizens and oppress a people and retire to a cozy house arrest or a short minimum security prison sentence. This moment is not necessarily even about the actions of Administrator Hagar over his six years oppressing our citizens. It is about the next Hagar who thinks he can do the same. It is about standing and saying that as a community, we will not tolerate tyranny. This accountability needed to be immediate. It needed to be public. It could not have been something we tried to hide from.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 22

#WIPSnips “draw”ing #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 20

#WIPSnips “lounge” … but I don’t have lounge so I went with “relaxed” … not quite the same but I just like this future talk show behind the scenes scene. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

As the simulated studio dissolved around Kira and Lea they relaxed. The 3D scans of the actors for the interviews were enhanced and their appearance in the feeds were closer to idealized avatars. Beth noted that both actors looked a little older and more tired than the public saw them in the interviews.
Lea's right arm was heavily scarred, the result of an on set incident during production of Red Nun Blue 5. A cane lay on the floor beside her chair. She picked it up as she stood.
"What the fuck was that?" Kira asked.
"I think that may have been the weirdest interview, yet."
"How much more of this shit do we have?"
"Only a couple of weeks away from release. It's only getting more intense until then."
"I meant these movies in general." Kira asked rubbing her eyes.
"I'm contracted through a fifteenth film."
"Tenth. "
"At least you've got those turn of the century costume
dramas between these."

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 19

#WIPSnips “group” #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

"Why drive yourself? We're busy people in New York." Mitch said trying very very hard to seem like an impressive cosmopolitan man. Annabelle didn't react to him. Mitch shut up for a moment and she was thankful.
A small group of men in New York Knicks jerseys walked past them. They were all very very drunk and one of them was cramming a Maximum Cricketeer into his mouth. Several of them looked over Annabelle on their way in. One made a comment that she should join them and the other guys laughed. They kept going. Annabelle didn't pay much attention to what they said. She could smell the Cricketeer,
"How long until the car gets here?"
Mitch puts on his visor again. "Says two minutes but it's usually more like six when they say that."
"Enough time to grab a bite?" Annabelle asked pointing to the Cricket Burger.
"Probably not."
"Is there anywhere near the office with food?"
"Didn't eat on the train?"
"No, it's overpriced."
"Yeah, totally. Ah, we got a Bamboo Penthouse on the corner and a twenty four hour Breakfast Hole Doughnut Shop."

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 18

#WIPSnips "resume" #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

"How did the interview this morning go?"
Dana shook her head. "Wasn't even a person. Wasn't even their own AI system. It was a Mister Baxter that decided because I had gotten this random rioting charge and the NYPD is cracking down right now--literally today--it wasn't the right time for them to deign to hire a hardened criminal."
"Shit. Have you gotten responses on anything else?"
"Not really. I have my résumé out to a lot of companies. I think I'm going to be stuck for a few months. Holidays. This crackdown."
"I can loan you a little money, if you need it."
"I'll be okay. I have some saved up and the unemployment checks start coming soon." She didn't want to tell Scarlett she was doing Sim Chat X again. Scarlett was never openly judgmental about Dana being on it, and Dana wasn't embarrassed about using it, but it just was not a topic she felt like talking about. She opted to just change the subject. "Have you heard anything about these crackdowns? I didn't look it up on my way here. Not sure how much made it into the newsfeeds."
"Not really. I think I saw there were some arrests around instigators of violence at that protest last month? I wasn't paying a lot of attention to it." Scarlett shrugged. "Do you have Thanksgiving plans?"

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 17

#WIPSnips “platform” #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

The old subway train lurched to a stop and Akachi got up from her seat and stood in front of the scratched up doors. One door opened while the other just slid a quarter inch and then back to the closed position repeatedly. She slipped through the door and onto the elevated platform barely lit in places by flickering lights, but the ambient light of the city kept it from being too dark.
Akachi descended the stairs surrounded by a handful of other commuters from the various corporate compounds. They didn't have important enough jobs to live close to work. Instead Akachi and these others from AngloTech to Wednesday Tech, Conutil and others lived in less well maintained buildings out on the edges of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens.

Sean Mannion@unclesean· Jun 16

#WIPSnips Don’t have “oak” in Kaleidoscope but I do have tree #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts