Sign in

The Author, Séamas O'Reilly

@seamas.bsky.social
34K followers 2.3K following 3.1K posts

Author, very professional. Rep: Harriet Poland at CAA. Buy my debut novel PRESTIGE DRAMA at geni.us/Prestige_Drama. Get my extremely good memoir at www.mammybook.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Nick Pettigrew @nick-pettigrew.bsky.social · 44m
In a script you'd get this back with a red line through it asking you to tone it down.
2282
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Colin Harvey @cjharvey1.bsky.social · 2h
Anyone in public life who does not understand what the Garvaghy Road means to every strand of the nationalist/republican community in the North does not deserve to be taken seriously.
05913
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 10h
Those arguing for mass-adoption of AI art always seem intent on proving the wrong thing; that AI tech will change beyond all recognition. They seem less inclined to prove their argument's much wilder claim; that human nature, and all previous modes of taste, emotion and investment, will change too.
254853
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 10h
It's easy - and correct! - to focus on just how ghoulish and profane this view of human creativity is. But even if you're the most cynical capitalist on earth, the evidence that people would enjoy entirely dehumanised content, at anything like a scale that would justify this hype, is extremely thin!
371661
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 10h
We've had the ability to watch, say, Counterstrike marathons, Street Fighter tournaments, or chess matches between computers since the 90s. Spectacles which, by their very definition, would be at a "higher standard" than human play. And nobody wants it. It's entirely meaningless. It has no appeal.
191210191
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 10h
Every time a discourse kicks off over whether AI music, literature or art will be "as good as" the real thing, I'm always amazed more people don't cite that **there already are** creative pursuits where human-free spectacles have been available for decades, and nobody has ever wanted to watch them.
361433270
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
The formatting of this Beckett quote does still represent resilience and determination, just of a very different sort.
A neon light art piece of Samuel Beckett's famous quote "I can't go on. I'll go on" but spaced - it would seem inadvertently- so that it reads "I can't goon. I'll goon".
9768041544
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
If Anthropic would like to give me $12.6 billion in order to receive $4.6 billion back, I'd like to make it known that I have a gap in my schedule that could work well for both of us.
512225
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
It led to a minor diplomatic when Bill visited Yorkshire and was denied snakebite by a barman who mistakenly believed it to be illegal. (It *is* illegal to serve in Scotland - both parts must be poured separately and the customer charged with mixing them). www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/7107410...
thenorthernecho.co.uk
Good morning Mr President
BAR staff were ready to admonish a cheeky customer for banging on the door ten minutes before opening time yesterday lunchtime.
2132
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Looked into the drinking habits of US presidents recently (mostly because I find it odd, and oddly unmentioned, that Obama remains this century's only only non-teetotal US president). Anyway, from that I learned that Bill Clinton drinks only rarely, and that the only drink he enjoys is... snakebite.
8273
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
John Allison @badmachinery.com · 28/09/2026
The same glass I had to do some research on the origins of "snakebite and black" for this comic, and find out when it emerged. Wikipedia said it was popularised in the 1980s but like power-ups in video games, every time I thought I'd found the earliest instance, I then found an earlier one.
badmachinery.com
The same glass
I had to do some research on the origins of "snakebite and black" for this comic, and find out when it emerged. Wikipedia said it was popularised in the 1980s but like power-ups in video games, every time I thought I'd found the earliest instance, I then found an earlier one.
5869
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Circ @tinyicecat.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This news is important because all the fucks out there actively attempting to wreck the world want you to think that the work is hopeless and just mitigating the worst case scenario. It's not. Fucking keep going.
2675234435
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
8 years after Repeal, those seeking abortion in Ireland are still subject to an unnecessary 3 day waiting period, an unworkable 12 week cut off, and a lack of providers throughout the country. If that doesn't sound very much like Repeal to you, join the march in Dublin this Saturday!
4218105
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
8 years after Repeal, those seeking abortion in Ireland are still subject to an unnecessary 3 day waiting period, an unworkable 12 week cut off, and a lack of providers throughout the country. If that doesn't sound very much like Repeal to you, join the march in Dublin this Saturday!
4218105
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Samantha Asumadu @samanthaasumadu.substack.com · 22/09/2026
'New analysis on UK media: British media is not delivering the news to its readers. They are delivering an agenda. The seven days after Channel 4 filmed James Orr are a damning indictment of the British press. Orr is a Cambridge associate professor.' via @newscord.org
5469221
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Rob Friedman @pitchingninja.com · 22/09/2026
Jason Benetti gets absolutely roasted by his own production crew with the camera cut after his Austro-Turkish War reference. 🤣
6776208
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Paul F. Tompkins @pftompkins.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It’s very simple and it’s been said over and over but I guess it needs saying continuously: if you deem one group too small to have equal rights you are enabling fascism, not fighting it. The people saying Dems are GREAT on trans rights are not paying attention and/or saying stuff like this.
Nichole Hiltz
The Democrats defend the Kennedy Center but not trans people.
A building.

@treewarrior.bsky....
maybe because defending everything about a super small minority of the population is not worth losing to fascists
349160714116
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Dirk Maggs @dirkmaggs.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Dave Gibbons making this point about Lichtenstein made me very happy.
A copy of Roy Lichtenstein’s “pop art” comic book panel painting where the text and sound effects make it clear that the work was not original nor created by Lichtenstein.
1128472
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
ukjarry.bsky.social @ukjarry.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Have you seen the original artist Russ Heath's comic strip reply to Lichtenstein:
435397
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Stella Sacco @antlervel.vet · 20/09/2026
The other day I used an otherwise empty women’s restroom at the movie theater and as I sat down a male employee opened the door very loudly and yelled “BATHROOM CHECK”. He was just trying to clean. But for the first time in many years I panicked and got scared. It should not be like this.
161992101
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Stella Sacco @antlervel.vet · 20/09/2026
Too many have forgotten that the civil rights movement was fought over, among other things, bathrooms and locker rooms
112413300
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Stella Sacco @antlervel.vet · 20/09/2026
The liberal notion of acquiescing to reduced-to-removed rights by fascists so everybody else can I guess defeat fascism with the power of the ballot betrays their perception of us: that our identities and sexes and genders and lives and loves are a choice and that we have been humored long enough
32190234
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Stella Sacco @antlervel.vet · 20/09/2026
I would simply like to live my quiet little life as a trans woman and buy fruit and sing and walk my dog and wave to my neighbors and watch movies and use restrooms without being the subject of a culture “war” where both political parties agree I’m a disgusting freak who doesn’t deserve civil rights
4562181079
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 20/07/2023
Philip K. Dick chiming in with one of the more quietly hostile dedications I've ever read.
1034727
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 03/04/2024
Philip K Ass
1125031
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
therealWokeKong @donkeykonga.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
163937958
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
eliko thalia @museinrevolt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
just learned this today
6868353711
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 17/09/2026
As someone in Northern Ireland, it's been sitting uncomfortably the amount of lefties saying Britain has never gone fascist before when most of you have no clue what they did here. Give it different names if you want.
211056200
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I would love to ask a prominent BBC journalist to give me an example of an illegitimate concern. Is seems to me that it has become a question not of fact, logic, or ethics but of volume. If a big enough proportion of a village was anxious about Bigfoot or Chemtrails, BBC would cover it in a way...
791709564
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Una Mullally @unamullally.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The Irish musicians, Beoga, who play alongside Ed Sheeran, have withdrawn from Sheeran’s tour. This is the statement they published on Instagram:
142104032158
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Cethan Leahy @cethanleahy.com · 15/09/2026
Pretty funny that Ed Sheeran seemingly only hired Irish people and yet didn't see this coming.
544952664
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
John Rain🥇 @johnrain.co.uk · 15/09/2026
Ed Sheeran's tour bus.
76148962905
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
🔴 The £72million pound question - how worried are you about big money in British politics? Democracy for Sale is running a survey to find out what the public thinks about money in politics - and what we should do about it Please take it!! And share widely!! thx! 😀 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
How concerned are you about UK political funding? – A Democracy for Sale survey
We're Democracy for Sale, a newsletter covering dark money and influence in UK politics. We're trying to better understand our readers' and the wider public's opinions and concerns about political fun...
17432302
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Occasionally, I'm reminded of my all time favourite piece of internet: this Reddit post from 12 years ago in which a guy claims he ruined dinner with his girlfriend's parents by refusing to admit he knew what a potato was.
TIFU by enraging the parents of my girlfriend by pretending not to know what a potato is.
Let me tell you that I have made a bad mistake this evening.

My girlfriend (who let me tell you is only my 2nd girlfriend of all time) said I am "invited to dinner" with her and her parents. I was very aghast, nervous, and bashful to be invited to such a situation. But I knew it must be done.

I met them nicely, I should tell you, and it started off in a good way. The idea slapped my mind that I should do a comic bit, to make a good impression and become known to them as a person who is amusing.

When I saw that baked potatoes were served I got the idea that it would be very good if I pretended I did not know what potatoes was. That would be funny.

Well let me tell you: backfired on my face. I'll tell you how.So first when the potato became on my plate, I acted very interesting. I showed an expression on my face so as to seem that I was confused, astounded but in a restrained way, curious, and interested. They did notice, and seemed confused, but did not remark. So I asked "This looks very interesting. What is this?"

They stared at me and the mother said "It's a baked potato." And I was saying "Oh, interesting, a baked....what is it again?"

And she was like "A potato."

And I was like "A 'potato', oh interesting. Never heard of a potato, looks pretty good."

And then they didn't see I was clowning, but thought I really did not know what is a potato. So I knew I would be very shamed, humiliated, depressed, and disgusted if I admitted to making a bad joke, so what I did was to act as if it was not a joke but I committed to the act of pretending I didn't know what a potato is.

They asked me, VERY incredulous, did I really not know what a potato is? That I never heard of a potato. I went with it and told them, yes, I did not ever even hear of a potato. Not only had I never eaten a potato I had never heard the word potato.This went on for a bit and my girlfriend was acting very confused and embarrassed by my "fucked up antics", and then the more insistent I was about not knowing what a potato is was when them parents starting thinking I DID know what a potato was.

Well let me tell you I had to commit 100% at this point. When I would not admit to knowing what a potato was, the father especially began to get annoyed. At one point he said something like "Enough is enough. You're fucking with us. Admit it." And I said "Sir, before today I never heard of a potato. I still don't know what a potato is, other than some kind of food. I don't know what to tell you."

Well let me tell you he got very annoyed. I decided to take a bite of the potato, and when I did I made a high pitched noise and said "Taste's very strange!"

That is when the father started yelling at me, and the mother kept saying "What are you doing?" and my girlfriend went to some other room.Finally the father said I should "Get the fuck out of his house" and I said it was irrational to treat me like this just because I never heard of a potato before. Well let me tell you he didn't take that kindly.

Now in text messages I have been telling my girlfriend I really don't know what a potato is. The only way I can ever get out of this is for them to buy that I don't know what a potato is.

I wish I never started it but I can't go back. I think she will break up with me anyway.
2540389
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 27/10/2024
Sitting in stunned, jealous awe cos my eight year old nephew just earnestly referred to the famine as a "potato outage".
251291222
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Have seen this Nature piece about the effects of X's algorithm mentioned again and it bears repeating; exposure to a right wing algorithm makes you - measurably and predictably - more right wing, even after you stop using it. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
The political effects of X’s feed algorithm - Nature
Among users initially on a chronological feed, 7 weeks of exposure to X’s algorithmic feed in 2023 shifted political attitudes and account-following behaviour in a more conservative direction compared...
4239361777
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Dara O'Reilly @daraor.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This absolutely is not how "any money laundering business" works. In the main, businesses that are used for money laundering are legitimate public-facing businesses that just have a lot more cash going through the till than you might expect. Restaurants, barbers, pubs etc.
86811
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Matt Bors @mattbors.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
It was exactly ten years ago today, on my 33rd birthday, that I posted this comic online.
484297717660
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
@ratlimit @ratlimit.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I think this was ultimately the right move.
The passengers (excluding the hijackers) and crew on board Flight 93 were nominated for the Congressional Gold Medal on September 19, 2001.
04489396
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
"I am for the dignity and safety and equal rights of trans people everywhere. Fuck you. The end." "I do not believe you care about this issue. You are lying. In fact you're a straight up weirdo for fixating on kids' genitals so much. That is odd behavior. Let kids run around with their friends."
welcometohellworld.com
I do not believe you care about this
You are lying
81869456
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Chuckling at the almost touching pointlessness of gifting Donald Trump a Michael Longley poem. Like playing Bach to a waffle iron.
12572119
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Patrick @prayforpatrick.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
have a few nice framed pieces for sale now as well. all framed locally here in Donegal and the stag & Connolly prints can also be sent to the UK if anyone wants. the Larkin piece is too heavy for that so Ireland only for that. Stag €120 Connolly €150 Larkin €180 DM me if you’re interested
21712
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Joel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
If, like me, you’ve always wondered exactly which issue of Viz David is enjoying here, it turns out it’s Issue 40, from February 1990.
1320730
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
daryl "crimetime after primetime" b 🏳️‍⚧️ @hypercubexl.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
GDT's reddit AMA spitting fire www.reddit.com/r/movies/com...
reddit comment: 

Hello! Did you intend the ending of Pan’s labyrinth to be real or in Ofelia’s mind?

Guillermo Del Toro's reply: 

My interpretation, and it's exclusively mine, is that it's real.

Because there's two things. One is what people call “The Shining Question.” The Shining Question is, Who opens the door for Jack to get out of the fridge? And Ofelia is in an attic with a guard outside her door, and she draws the door with the magic chalk, and she shows up in the labyrinth. So, the only way she could have gone into the labyrinth is the magic chalk. And the flower is real at the end. The flower that blooms in the dead tree. And the reason I think it’s real is because—and this is why I'm in favor of the human factor in art—I think that art does transform the world. You know?

Think about it for a second. One of the goals, with all this movement, is to make you believe that art is vulgar. That art is nothing special, and anybody can do art. That is like me telling you that I'm faster at running than Usain Bolt but I “run” in my motorcycle. Well, that's not the same. That’s not the same at all.

Art is important, and they want you to believe it isn't. It's part of the idea of control. The goal is not to have artificial intelligence. The goal is to foster natural stupidity. The goal is to foster you not looking for answers, and to trust yourself entirely to an engine. Look at the way we are dipping our toes into these things. We are starting to ask the machine, Is this true? For now, there's a correlation between reality and what the answers of the machine are. For now. But soon, we won't even investigate further. We will be told it's true. And if the machine is in the hands of somebody who should not be trusted, then your reality has been completely and utterly fucked. Because your intelligence ends at the question. You don't seek the answer. It's given to you.Q: You recently mentioned that AI creates 'semi-compelling screensavers' and that you'd 'rather die' than use it. As a filmmaker who relies heavily on practical effects and creature design, what do you think is the biggest thing lost when a computer generates an image instead of a human hand?

GDT:

The three quarters of the process that gave you the chance to think of the idea that people don't think about without that process. Meaning, AI can get you to the middle really fast, but there's a dialectic with the process that gets you to that top 10%. I'll give you an example with the Pale Man.

We sculpted it as an old man, with a face. And then I said, Let's take out the face. This happened because I saw a photo of a manta ray and the poster for Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm. That combination, which happened at two different times during a week or a month, are not permutations that are chemically part of an equation. They are alchemy. And then I said, Take out the face, and then I said, Let's put the eyes on the hands. This triangulation happens because I spent a month or two months living with the idea of this creature. And it's not linear.

AI is like a super-fast engine that makes semi-sentient permutations of things that are already done. Creation is things that have never been done. Coming to exist.

And the second thing is the loss of the apprenticeship that one has as an artist. You're never a master; you're always an apprentice. This is a kinship I have with, for example, Chris Nolan. When he showed me The Odyssey, there’s a scene when Matt Damon is floating in the stormy ocean and I asked him—because we were talking about practical effects, and how great it is and that we both always use a maquette or a model—and I asked him, How did you do it? He said, “We put him in a storm in the ocean.”

And you're gonna find that 30% of a great image occurs accidentally. You know, either a drop of water hits the lens, or the camera shakes. I remember when in 1993, '94, Jim…
2845381906
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
J. Michael Mull @jmichaelmull.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
even now, she's still teaching us
screen on car radio reading:
Dolly Parton
Love is Like A Butt
(it should be Butterfly but the last part couldn't fit on the screen)
95144972732
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
You Can See Everything (dir: Lance Oppenheim, 2026)
A mockup of the texts between Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani, with Balwani replaced by Nathan Fielder, who is replying to her excruciatingly over-wrought love text with the word "Again".
0605
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
pretty sure he meant the other thing, grok, but very cool that those are your two things
Tweet exchange in which a photo of Anne Hathaway is posted by @TheRoyalSerf, to which user @VvSchweetz24 replies "@grok...do your thing.

@Grok replies: Anne Hathaway isn't Jewish; she was raised Catholic but left the church. She married Adam Shulman (who is Jewish) in 2012 and celebrates Jewish holidays with their kids. SHe's played Jewish roles, like in "Armageddon Time."
322241604869
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
UK Prime Minister, Some Say Sinister @joemuggs.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Aright today's the day. It's @theartsdesk.bsky.social's birthday and your last chance to get the founders' subscription rate in perpetuity. A little story: in 2009 the papers were gutting their arts coverage, thanks to advertising collapsing post the 2008 crash. Following yet another announcement
09.09.09

the day the arts got their own paper

TheArtsDesk
296
Reposted by The Author, Séamas O'Reilly
Gavan Reilly @gavreilly.com · 08/09/2026
620060