Ciaran McGrath

@cerandor

Writer of stuff, player of games, enjoyer of life. Living with cancer, trying to be a better person one day at a time.

686 Following1,155 Followers1,143 Posts

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Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· 3d

7.13km. Very stop start but happy with the distance.

A selfie of a tired and sweaty runner with grey stubble, standing on a path with his back to the setting sun. He has the semi-rueful smile of someone who finally forced himself into his running gear and wishes he’d done so a week earlier.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· 7d

We have our own version of that in Ireland, and, as is traditional, a heretical sect in Northern Ireland.

A cartoon of Northern Ireland’s Mr Tayto, a man in a red suit with an oversized potato for a head.

Someone dressed as the Irish Mr Tayto, handing out Tayto crisps (and potatoes). The Irish Mr Tayto also wears a red suit, albeit with a black hat, but his entire body is a potato. Whether than makes him more or less terrifying an apparition than his Northern nemesis is left to the viewer’s imagination.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· 18d

Days like this.

A view of an urban park, with trees, grassy areas, benches, flower beds, and tarmac footpaths. People are sprawled all over, enjoying the sun. Against a blue sky streaked with clouds, a seagull flashes past, in search of discarded (or not so discarded) sandwiches.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· 23d

Did the swim yesterday. Run this morning. Good Ulster porridge for breakfast. None of your soft southern savouries.

A dirt track leads off a tarmac road, through grassy wastegrounds down towards a beach. The sea is just a narrow sliver between the grey sand strand and the clouds pouring over the horizon.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· 24d

Even if it’s not as warm as it has been, there are still times you need to throw yourself in the tide.

A stone and sand beach stretches off to the right. Beyond it the sea rolls in on gentle waves. Beyond that, the Mourne Mountains are wreathed in low cloud, against a grey sky. In the forground, a light grey towel has been folded up on the stones, awaiting duty.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Jul 19

Same. I did get this nice photo out of it though.

Moonset over the Mournes: a view of the Mourne Mountains silhouetted by an evening sky, with the crescent moon visible above them. In the foreground are a stony beach and some fields.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Jul 11

Coolest place in Dublin today was probably tucked under the Cusack Stand. Unfortunately had to watch Down lose to available of it.

A view from the lower tier of a large stadium, its seats filled with a scattering of people. On the pitch beyond, two GAA teams are competing, albeit at a distance that makes the entire exercise seem futile.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Jul 10

If we’re allowing cartoon villains:

David Xanatos from Disney’s Gargoyles. Looking very natty in a business suit.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Jun 23

If a black cat crossing your path means bad luck, what does a cargo freighter count for?

A cargo freighter seen from above, steaming towards a setting sun. And if the phone hadn’t decided to act the maggot suddenly, I might have got a shot showing it emerging from under the bridge I was standing on.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Jun 12

That was one of the first Pratchett quotes that kickstarted my brain. But if I have a personal quote, it’s probably one of those regarding Victor Tugelbend’s approach to laziness:

A section of text from Terry Pratchett’s “Moving Pictures,” which reads:
In a sense which his tutors couldn't quite define, much to their annoyance, Victor Tugelbend was also the laziest person in the history of the world.
Not simply, ordinarily lazy. Ordinary laziness was merely the absence of effort. Victor had passed through there a long time ago, had gone straight through commonplace idleness and out on the far side. He put more effort into avoiding work than most people put into hard labour.
He had never wanted to be a wizard. He'd never wanted much, except perhaps to be left alone and not woken up until midday. When he'd been small, people had said things…

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Jun 5

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· May 29

A touch of the Golden Hour.

A view across the sea to the Mountains of Mourne, lost in mist and silhouette on the horizon. The foreground is divided between a garden catching the last light of the day and a grassy slop bathed in shadow. The sky is all wisps of sunlight and smoky clouds, and the photographer is perhaps fonder of words than he should be.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· May 26

There’s a man who knows how to gird his loins.

A descriptive six-panel comic explaining “How to Gird Up Your Loins.” In it, a solidly built gentleman ties his ankle-length robe around his waist, freeing himself up to raise havoc with a slingshot.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· May 7

Weird timeline synchronicity.

Two posts with photos on BlueSky, one of a train travelling through space, the other of an effigy of a basking shark in a garden hedge. Posing and coloration create a weird resonance between the two images.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· May 7

Sounds like the way Sam Keith drew him.

The cover of Marvel Conics Presents: Wolverine #101. Drawn by Sam Keith, it shows a heavily stylised Wolverine and Nightcrawler perched like terrifying murder frogs in the branches of a tree.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· May 1

Flat tyre somewhere west of Newry, an hour wrestling with the spare tyre, but made it home in time for sunset.

A view across some darkening fields, outshone by the sky above, where tattered wisps of cloud have been cast in pink and orange by the setting sun.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Apr 29

On the Royal Canal. No jingle jangling in evidence at this hour.

On the Royal Canal under a BlueSky (ahem), with the red and white striped chimneys of Poolbeg visible in the distance. Two joggers are running away from the photographer on the towpath, and a building in the middle distance has been adventurously graffitied with an Irish tricolour.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Apr 12

All this positivity on the timeline reminds me that I really need to crack this open sometime soon.

A bottle of 2017 Hungarian Tokaji. You can’t see the top, but it’s not open. Yet.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Apr 1

Saw the moon, saw Artemis launch. All in all, a good evening.

A small telescope stands on a tripod in a driveway, beside a car. It’s pointed at the moon, a glowing yellowish disc rising above a nearby house. The whole setup suggests that it was quickly assembled by someone who was watching the moon rise as he made a long drive home and decided to take a closer look as soon as he arrived. Somehow.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Mar 30

Fair. They can’t be more than five miles from each other.

A map of New Hampshire, showing both Derry and Londonderry, presumably settled by people from Ulster who headed to the New World with the intention of taking everything with them.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Mar 20

Wandering through Copenhagen Airport, feeling like I’ve slipped into a liminal space. Occasional glimpses of things that may be people, at a distance or dimly through frosted glass.

An empty corridor in an airport. Signs overhead point to gates with implausibly high numbers.

A corridor in an airport. Its left side is a glass wall granting a view of another corridor below. Both are devoid of life, save a few questionably living potted trees.

A curving corridor in an airport. Off in the distance, it opens onto another place, but no details of what lies ahead can be perceived.

A low-angle view of a moving walkway. It has no occupants. Its end cannot be clearly perceived. The long the eye looks at it, the more it resembles a collection of lines converging at a dark, distant vanishing point.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Mar 12

Was coincidentally listening to the podcast (it’s great) when this hunk of wisdom was delivered. @inkle.co

A hand holds a book entitled:
THE GAME NARRATIVE KALEIDO SCOPE
100+ ESSAYS ON THE CRAFT OF GAME WRITING
Collated by Jon Ingold
The book’s cover is a colourful kaleidoscope on a black background.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Mar 7

Took less than a minute.

A screenshot of the youraislopbores.me app. It’s showing the “human” tab, with a request to “Draw a happy goblin” and a hand-drawn image in response, of a big-eared goblin wearing a top hat and wielding a sword, with a broad smile.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Feb 5

I live on my own and have 20+ mugs. Admittedly, most of them only see use when friends come over. This is my daily driver:

A black mug with the crest of West Bromwich Albion football club in grayscale, sitting on a slate coaster amid the detritus of a messy work desk.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Jan 22

Share a photograph of mountains that you’ve taken.

A shot of Santiago in Chile, taken from the top of a skyscraper, showing a vista of buildings with the snow-capped Andes in the distance below a clear blue sky.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Jan 11

What’s your #ChildhoodCinema? The old Downpatrick cinema on Market Street. First film I saw there might have been Return of the Jedi, the last was probably Dead Poets Society.

The front of a cinema in faded colours, with the word GRAND in unlit neon and a “for sale” sign in one window.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Dec 25

Merry Christmas to all! 🎄

A view over a beach to a distant headland. The tide is out and the wet sand reflects the light of the early morning sun, shining through the clouds.

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Dec 17

Enjoying Chieftain on draught while I still can…

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Dec 10

Looking forward to spending some time playing Runequest: Warlords by the good folks at Volmi/Virtuos, in conjunction with @chaosium.bsky.social and Slitherine. I was lucky enough to play a small part in the initial development, and it looks like it’s turned out really well!

A screenshot of the credits from Runequest: Warlords. The text reads:
SPECIAL THANKS!
President and Creative Director @ Chaosium Inc.—Jeff Richard
Narrative Designer, Writer @ Virtuos—Ciaran McGrath
Game Designer @ Virtuosv—Gavin Crosbie
Game Designer @ Virtuos—Hugo Cerruti
Storyboard Artist—Serhii Sudenko

Ciaran McGrath@cerandor· Nov 24

A movie that takes place where you’re from.