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affablebrian.bsky.social
rat-man
@affablebrian.bsky.social
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fuck terfs
I didn't turn tax on for shipping charges in BackerKit because it's normally on by default but it got turned off with the stupid beta program I had to use and now I'm losing £3 on every parcel I ship to the EU yaaaaaaaay (at least it's only 60 packages......)
November 23, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by rat-man
Thank you so much to everyone who made @thoughtbubbleuk.bsky.social amazing again this year! Currently putting togehter a wee shop update so that my new books are available online - that includes GREB anthology and a new goblin zine, plus physical copies of I Am An Island!
November 18, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by rat-man
strong contender for the greatest line in fantasy film
January 5, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Reposted by rat-man
[at my second rodeo] listen up you ignorant sack of shit
September 26, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Why is it 14°C in November???? I wish labour would shut up about fucking over immigrants and trans people long enough to, idk, stop the new gas lines and off shore oil wells they keep approving
November 6, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Eugh the layered effects in Illustrator are such a nightmare to manage. The tiny adobe UI combined with nonsensically organised effects and the pathetically basic language used to describe each parameter... this programme feels like its trapped in 2009. And yet it's vomiting AI on me at every turn.
November 5, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by rat-man
I always think it's super important to point out to people at conventions that the vast, vast majority of artists selling there have other jobs or a safety net or something else going on.

I'm able to do this because of my day job, I think I actually might be financially better off if I didn't.
Many full time creatives have “invisible safety nets” like bread-winning partners, trust funds, external support, etc. No shame on anyone, but it creates a false vision of success. The cost of going to cons alone on top of hoping to eat as a freelancer are untenable, IMO.
When people hear that I'm returning to part time work they often ask "are things not going well with your art?"

The problem really is things are going well, but the world is so unstable that I long for some consistency and income that I don't have to pay quarterly taxes on
November 2, 2025 at 11:07 PM
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oh this is a REALLY GOOD cis opinion though. I had no idea where this was going for the first half but it's really good. Thank you op-op
October 13, 2025 at 5:56 PM
HMRC charged me a late fee for not paying my taxes in advance this year (after not notifying me that I would have to do this!! but okay fine my bad). Then I paid my taxes and the late fee and thought I was squared up. BUT NO! They applied one final late fee of 0.59p, AFTER I had paid everything off-
October 8, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Nothing redeems a lacklustre ending to a game/movie/book than rewriting it to be better with a friend who also didn't like the ending
October 6, 2025 at 7:30 PM
My biggest pet peeve in VA is when multiple voiced characters say someone's name differently, especially within the same scene. What's worse is when the same VA says their own name differently repeatedly throughout the (game/audiobook/media/etc).
September 29, 2025 at 4:44 PM
WHY A JURY CITATION NOW there are 6m people in this country can't someone else go administer justice this is my 5th timeeee being called up
September 22, 2025 at 2:07 PM
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Oof I don't think it's feasible for me to make calendars this year, considering I can't really send stuff to the US or EU at the moment - anyway this was from February 2024
September 20, 2025 at 6:46 PM
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working on a thing! toadrefs.carrd.co
please let me know if you find anything wonky.
Toadlett's refs
a list of reference websites
toadrefs.carrd.co
September 20, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Inter Alia was fantastic and Rosamund Pike continues to deliver stunning intensity in her roles. I wanted to listen to her for two hours and I got to and it was GREAT
September 18, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Royal Mail are raising the cost of untracked and economy shipping options AGAIN, this time on the 6th of October. This has gotta be the 4th price change THIS YEAR alone, and we still have 5 months to go. I wish these stupid fucking private companies would stop trying to wring blood out of us.
September 18, 2025 at 12:05 PM
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My wonderful friend Cara had her bike stolen a little while ago! She's running a raffle to raise money for repairs after managing to get it back. Please share this Bluesky post!

🍭 Enter raffle: raffall.com/396362/enter...
🍬 Share original post, enter to win freebies: www.instagram.com/p/DORWiYqDBzs
September 6, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Reposted by rat-man
Morning
September 2, 2025 at 12:45 PM
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I want to explain a few things and then it might be clearer why UK trans people are upset.
In 2001 I married my wife, Sylvia.
In 2005 I started medical transition. (1/13)
August 29, 2025 at 11:56 AM
google docs autocorrected "folks" to "dolls", brb updating my generic gender neutral lexicon
August 26, 2025 at 9:27 AM
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A point of clarification, bc someone asked me to define “cringe”, and thought that it meant “something bad that the creator isn’t aware is bad,” or just general hackery:
July 22, 2024 at 3:55 PM
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Includes the Finnish postal service Posti. Independent Finnish artists I follow say this is a blow to their businesses.

If you live outside the US, please support independent creators in your region.

If you live in the US, don't take out your frustration on sellers. You know who is to blame.
August 24, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Reposted by rat-man
one of the great tragedies of making a book is that the time you are most excited about it (when you are in the middle of making the damn thing) is, necessarily, the time when no one else is reading it
August 23, 2025 at 4:33 PM
ukasdfhuiasdhf I would love a post preview option. Like, write the post, check it works, then post it
August 22, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by rat-man
So, on 29th August, the US is ending de minimis treatment for parcels under $800 value globally. It's already done this for China; now it's going to come in for everyone. If you post parcels to America, this is going to affect you, in one of several ways.
August 21, 2025 at 3:57 PM