Mandy J Watson
@mandyjwatson.bsky.social
Tech-culture journalist. Copy editor. Game dev. Hire me!
World expert in South African comics (#sacomics) published after 2000.
Words: https://brainwavez.org/
Tiny games: https://mandyjwatson.itch.io/
Masked up in Cape Town, South Africa.
World expert in South African comics (#sacomics) published after 2000.
Words: https://brainwavez.org/
Tiny games: https://mandyjwatson.itch.io/
Masked up in Cape Town, South Africa.
Pinned
The Mischievous Thievery Of Jessica The Cat by Mandy J Watson
Jessica the cat has been stealing people's things! A GGJ2021 narrative-puzzle prototype that's now a full game! Play in your browser
mandyjwatson.itch.io
To get the anxiety inducing first post out of the way:
something of mine you can read: https://www.brainwavez.org/screen/film/features/2019/20191128001-01.html
something I made for you to play (dev is ongoing - more to come):
https://mandyjwatson.itch.io/the-mischievous-thievery-of-jessica-the-cat
something of mine you can read: https://www.brainwavez.org/screen/film/features/2019/20191128001-01.html
something I made for you to play (dev is ongoing - more to come):
https://mandyjwatson.itch.io/the-mischievous-thievery-of-jessica-the-cat
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Ramadan is imminent so I'd like to share one of my favourite memories. Amble back with me to 2001; I am 19 and I have aspirations of becoming a good, professional stand-up comedian. Once a month I meet with actual real pro comedians who try to turn wannabes into the real deal. 🧵
February 17, 2026 at 11:35 AM
Ramadan is imminent so I'd like to share one of my favourite memories. Amble back with me to 2001; I am 19 and I have aspirations of becoming a good, professional stand-up comedian. Once a month I meet with actual real pro comedians who try to turn wannabes into the real deal. 🧵
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
I shouldn't need to say it, burt remember don't look directly at the sun.
A pinhole projector is the easiest way to safely see it
A pinhole projector is the easiest way to safely see it
Reminder that the solar eclipse is today:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_e...
If you're in Cape Town it:
starts at 14:01:05,
hits its max at 14:43:47, and
finishes at 15:24:21.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_e...
If you're in Cape Town it:
starts at 14:01:05,
hits its max at 14:43:47, and
finishes at 15:24:21.
Solar eclipse of February 17, 2026 - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
February 17, 2026 at 11:37 AM
I shouldn't need to say it, burt remember don't look directly at the sun.
A pinhole projector is the easiest way to safely see it
A pinhole projector is the easiest way to safely see it
I have mine set to "Warn" and what is amazing is how many I encounter Every. Single. Day, which means someone is manually going flag, flag, flag, flag, flag, flag thousands of times a day.
It's been observed by people paying closer attention that 100% of instances of this label on this site have been applied manually by a person with admin power and not as an automated response to a context trigger. BBS forum mod tantrum filter button. See if it's set to Hide or not in your settings.
If you want to see posts from cool people on here, go to @moderation.bsky.app and turn off this label
February 17, 2026 at 11:41 AM
I have mine set to "Warn" and what is amazing is how many I encounter Every. Single. Day, which means someone is manually going flag, flag, flag, flag, flag, flag thousands of times a day.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
It's been observed by people paying closer attention that 100% of instances of this label on this site have been applied manually by a person with admin power and not as an automated response to a context trigger. BBS forum mod tantrum filter button. See if it's set to Hide or not in your settings.
If you want to see posts from cool people on here, go to @moderation.bsky.app and turn off this label
February 16, 2026 at 11:39 PM
It's been observed by people paying closer attention that 100% of instances of this label on this site have been applied manually by a person with admin power and not as an automated response to a context trigger. BBS forum mod tantrum filter button. See if it's set to Hide or not in your settings.
What they are not saying in this post is that the games are free on itch for the next few days:
itch.io/s/180333/laz...
itch.io/s/180333/laz...
February 17, 2026 at 11:38 AM
What they are not saying in this post is that the games are free on itch for the next few days:
itch.io/s/180333/laz...
itch.io/s/180333/laz...
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
This week has been kinda insane, but I really needed to share this absolutely amazing #watercolour rendition of Todd from my #webcomic, #Revenants! I commissioned @dwuff.com for a cover for the print run of Book 2, and it's absolutely beautiful in person 🤩
#furry #art #furryart #sfw
#furry #art #furryart #sfw
February 17, 2026 at 10:02 AM
This week has been kinda insane, but I really needed to share this absolutely amazing #watercolour rendition of Todd from my #webcomic, #Revenants! I commissioned @dwuff.com for a cover for the print run of Book 2, and it's absolutely beautiful in person 🤩
#furry #art #furryart #sfw
#furry #art #furryart #sfw
Reminder that the solar eclipse is today:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_e...
If you're in Cape Town it:
starts at 14:01:05,
hits its max at 14:43:47, and
finishes at 15:24:21.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_e...
If you're in Cape Town it:
starts at 14:01:05,
hits its max at 14:43:47, and
finishes at 15:24:21.
Solar eclipse of February 17, 2026 - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
February 17, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Reminder that the solar eclipse is today:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_e...
If you're in Cape Town it:
starts at 14:01:05,
hits its max at 14:43:47, and
finishes at 15:24:21.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_e...
If you're in Cape Town it:
starts at 14:01:05,
hits its max at 14:43:47, and
finishes at 15:24:21.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
This is your regular reminder that in the year 2000, Paul Rudd, with frosted tips, appeared in the Hong Kong film GEN-Y COPS as a bad guy (kinda). In the movie, he does martial arts, fights a robot, and, most shocking of all, does an entire scene in Cantonese.
February 12, 2026 at 10:47 PM
This is your regular reminder that in the year 2000, Paul Rudd, with frosted tips, appeared in the Hong Kong film GEN-Y COPS as a bad guy (kinda). In the movie, he does martial arts, fights a robot, and, most shocking of all, does an entire scene in Cantonese.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
In a homage to the origins of Stickman Flash games, each frame of our new game mode was hand drawn by our supremely talented animator @thebeardlyben.art at 24 frames per second
February 10, 2026 at 4:20 PM
In a homage to the origins of Stickman Flash games, each frame of our new game mode was hand drawn by our supremely talented animator @thebeardlyben.art at 24 frames per second
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Cadence is out now!
Make music by solving circuits. It took 13 years to figure how to do this well!
Beyond the puzzles:
🐈⬛ Pet Ren, the cat!
📜 Enjoy Ren's life philosophy (all text is skippable)
🎹 Use the sandbox to make music
🧮 Or explore turing complete contraptions
Make music by solving circuits. It took 13 years to figure how to do this well!
Beyond the puzzles:
🐈⬛ Pet Ren, the cat!
📜 Enjoy Ren's life philosophy (all text is skippable)
🎹 Use the sandbox to make music
🧮 Or explore turing complete contraptions
February 12, 2026 at 9:06 AM
Cadence is out now!
Make music by solving circuits. It took 13 years to figure how to do this well!
Beyond the puzzles:
🐈⬛ Pet Ren, the cat!
📜 Enjoy Ren's life philosophy (all text is skippable)
🎹 Use the sandbox to make music
🧮 Or explore turing complete contraptions
Make music by solving circuits. It took 13 years to figure how to do this well!
Beyond the puzzles:
🐈⬛ Pet Ren, the cat!
📜 Enjoy Ren's life philosophy (all text is skippable)
🎹 Use the sandbox to make music
🧮 Or explore turing complete contraptions
#SONA2026 If they want to improve the economy and create jobs they should make it easier for people to start and run small businesses, make it easier for people to do business and move money internationally via the Internet, and fix the damn post office.
February 12, 2026 at 5:55 PM
#SONA2026 If they want to improve the economy and create jobs they should make it easier for people to start and run small businesses, make it easier for people to do business and move money internationally via the Internet, and fix the damn post office.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Ahead of #SONA2026, we did the homework. ✍️
We followed up on 6 promises South African president Cyril Ramaphosa made in his 2025 state of the nation address.
So… has he delivered? africacheck.info/sona_2025_pr...
We followed up on 6 promises South African president Cyril Ramaphosa made in his 2025 state of the nation address.
So… has he delivered? africacheck.info/sona_2025_pr...
Ramaphosa’s 2025 Sona promises: how has he fared?
In his first SONA as leader of the coalition government of national unity, Ramaphosa made several commitments. We checked six of them.
africacheck.info
February 10, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Ahead of #SONA2026, we did the homework. ✍️
We followed up on 6 promises South African president Cyril Ramaphosa made in his 2025 state of the nation address.
So… has he delivered? africacheck.info/sona_2025_pr...
We followed up on 6 promises South African president Cyril Ramaphosa made in his 2025 state of the nation address.
So… has he delivered? africacheck.info/sona_2025_pr...
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Calling on other UK immigrants and pro immigration citizens, today is the last day (til 11.59pm) to fill in the public consultation on the proposed changes to Earned Settlement, most notably moving the timeline from 5 years to 10 years www.gov.uk/government/c...
Earned settlement
The government is consulting on how the current settlement system should be reformed and how those reforms should be implemented.
www.gov.uk
February 12, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Calling on other UK immigrants and pro immigration citizens, today is the last day (til 11.59pm) to fill in the public consultation on the proposed changes to Earned Settlement, most notably moving the timeline from 5 years to 10 years www.gov.uk/government/c...
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick
February 11, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
I wrote a tribute for BYTE Magazine's amazing cover artist, Robert Tinney, who died Feb 1st
Tinney painted 80 vivid and surreal covers illustrating various concepts in early personal computing from 1978-1990, usually airbrushed with gouache. May he RIP ❤️
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026...
Tinney painted 80 vivid and surreal covers illustrating various concepts in early personal computing from 1978-1990, usually airbrushed with gouache. May he RIP ❤️
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026...
February 11, 2026 at 10:04 PM
I wrote a tribute for BYTE Magazine's amazing cover artist, Robert Tinney, who died Feb 1st
Tinney painted 80 vivid and surreal covers illustrating various concepts in early personal computing from 1978-1990, usually airbrushed with gouache. May he RIP ❤️
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026...
Tinney painted 80 vivid and surreal covers illustrating various concepts in early personal computing from 1978-1990, usually airbrushed with gouache. May he RIP ❤️
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026...
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
James Van Der Beek, star of Dawson’s Creek, dies aged 48
James Van Der Beek, star of Dawson’s Creek, dies aged 48
Actor who also starred in Varsity Blues and Rules of Attraction revealed in 2024 he had been diagnosed with cancer
James Van Der Beek, the actor best known for playing the lead in hit 90s teen drama Dawson’s Creek, has died.
“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace,” reads a statement shared on Van Der Beek’s official Instagram page on Wednesday. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 7:46 PM
James Van Der Beek, star of Dawson’s Creek, dies aged 48
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
"Palestinian witnesses have reported that some prisoners were alive at the time they were taken for organ extraction. In one batch of bodies, the organs removed were those commonly transplanted: heart, liver, lungs... Here, the surgeon acts as—is—a soldier."
I'm honestly speechless.
I'm honestly speechless.
![Examining the bodies returned to their people after the most recent so-called ceasefire, Palestinian doctors noted that, in some bodies “the rib cage and ribs were clipped with a sharp saw—a medical saw, a bone saw—and the sternum, along with the central part of the ribs, [were] lifted to allow for the removal of the heart and lungs without damage to the organ being taken.” Organ procurement, with few exceptions like skin and cornea, requires that the body be either alive—via brain death—or just-dead—via circulatory death. It is plausible that some Palestinian prisoners’ torture led to brain death. It is also possible their torturers felt no need to wait. Palestinian witnesses have reported that some prisoners were alive at the time they were taken for organ extraction. In one batch of bodies, the organs removed were those commonly transplanted: heart, liver, lungs. The transplant surgeon waits for a person to die; the soldier can’t. The settler surgeon wields his mastery over the body to serve the state. Here, the surgeon acts as—is—a soldier.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tgw3d4hvw3x5ijrxax7lg26u/bafkreiesvmsm3hrmrwxi7d7wvuaxc7u7oovqonpx2tdpxdnjhlgxh7lhni@jpeg)
February 11, 2026 at 5:45 PM
"Palestinian witnesses have reported that some prisoners were alive at the time they were taken for organ extraction. In one batch of bodies, the organs removed were those commonly transplanted: heart, liver, lungs... Here, the surgeon acts as—is—a soldier."
I'm honestly speechless.
I'm honestly speechless.
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
A posted an update of my Global Game Jam game Fencing Practice last night to fix a few small things and add one extra unique interaction just because I could.
Blog post with details:
mandyjwatson.itch.io/fencing-prac...
#IndieDev #Bitsy #IndieGames
Blog post with details:
mandyjwatson.itch.io/fencing-prac...
#IndieDev #Bitsy #IndieGames
February 11, 2026 at 10:51 AM
A posted an update of my Global Game Jam game Fencing Practice last night to fix a few small things and add one extra unique interaction just because I could.
Blog post with details:
mandyjwatson.itch.io/fencing-prac...
#IndieDev #Bitsy #IndieGames
Blog post with details:
mandyjwatson.itch.io/fencing-prac...
#IndieDev #Bitsy #IndieGames
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
#WomenInScience2026 #WomenInSTEM #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience #womeninscience #zines
etsy.me/4kt7F81
#WomenInScience2026 #WomenInSTEM #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience #womeninscience #zines
etsy.me/4kt7F81
February 11, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
#WomenInScience2026 #WomenInSTEM #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience #womeninscience #zines
etsy.me/4kt7F81
#WomenInScience2026 #WomenInSTEM #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience #womeninscience #zines
etsy.me/4kt7F81
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Here's a part of the definition of milk from Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary: '2. Emulsion made by contusion of seeds.
Pistachoes, so they be good and not musty, joined with almonds in almond milk, or made into a milk of themselves, like unto almond milk, are an excellent nourisher.'
Pistachoes, so they be good and not musty, joined with almonds in almond milk, or made into a milk of themselves, like unto almond milk, are an excellent nourisher.'
February 11, 2026 at 1:52 PM
Here's a part of the definition of milk from Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary: '2. Emulsion made by contusion of seeds.
Pistachoes, so they be good and not musty, joined with almonds in almond milk, or made into a milk of themselves, like unto almond milk, are an excellent nourisher.'
Pistachoes, so they be good and not musty, joined with almonds in almond milk, or made into a milk of themselves, like unto almond milk, are an excellent nourisher.'
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
The meaning of words is to be decided not by their use, usefulness, or history, but by their commercial benefit to the most powerful lobby groups. I have a recipe for almond milk in a cookbook from 1226. It has been used as a term in English for hundreds of years.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Oatly banned from using word ‘milk’ to market plant-based products in UK
Supreme court makes ruling after Swedish firm’s long-running battle with trade association Dairy UK
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:52 PM
The meaning of words is to be decided not by their use, usefulness, or history, but by their commercial benefit to the most powerful lobby groups. I have a recipe for almond milk in a cookbook from 1226. It has been used as a term in English for hundreds of years.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
Some dinosaurs had hooves!
"E. annectens preserves the oldest hoof renderings for any tetrapod, the first record of hooves in a reptile, the first instance of a hooved tetrapod capable of bipedal locomotion, and the first hooved tetrapod with disparate fore and hindfoot posture"
"E. annectens preserves the oldest hoof renderings for any tetrapod, the first record of hooves in a reptile, the first instance of a hooved tetrapod capable of bipedal locomotion, and the first hooved tetrapod with disparate fore and hindfoot posture"
Two new Edmontosaurus skeletons with preserved skin just got published by Paul Sereno and collegues. They had a fleshy scaly crest over their back and hoofed feet!
I was lucky enough to see the specimens last summer. The publication is open access:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
I was lucky enough to see the specimens last summer. The publication is open access:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 24, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Some dinosaurs had hooves!
"E. annectens preserves the oldest hoof renderings for any tetrapod, the first record of hooves in a reptile, the first instance of a hooved tetrapod capable of bipedal locomotion, and the first hooved tetrapod with disparate fore and hindfoot posture"
"E. annectens preserves the oldest hoof renderings for any tetrapod, the first record of hooves in a reptile, the first instance of a hooved tetrapod capable of bipedal locomotion, and the first hooved tetrapod with disparate fore and hindfoot posture"
Reposted by Mandy J Watson
It is International Day of Women in Science! For this ocassion, a thread on influential women that illustrate prehistoric life🧵
Marta Szubert. Creator of one of the first to-scale feathered dinosar models (1997). If you've been to Poland or Slovakia, you've probably seen her models on display.
Marta Szubert. Creator of one of the first to-scale feathered dinosar models (1997). If you've been to Poland or Slovakia, you've probably seen her models on display.
February 11, 2026 at 2:42 AM
It is International Day of Women in Science! For this ocassion, a thread on influential women that illustrate prehistoric life🧵
Marta Szubert. Creator of one of the first to-scale feathered dinosar models (1997). If you've been to Poland or Slovakia, you've probably seen her models on display.
Marta Szubert. Creator of one of the first to-scale feathered dinosar models (1997). If you've been to Poland or Slovakia, you've probably seen her models on display.
A posted an update of my Global Game Jam game Fencing Practice last night to fix a few small things and add one extra unique interaction just because I could.
Blog post with details:
mandyjwatson.itch.io/fencing-prac...
#IndieDev #Bitsy #IndieGames
Blog post with details:
mandyjwatson.itch.io/fencing-prac...
#IndieDev #Bitsy #IndieGames
February 11, 2026 at 10:51 AM
A posted an update of my Global Game Jam game Fencing Practice last night to fix a few small things and add one extra unique interaction just because I could.
Blog post with details:
mandyjwatson.itch.io/fencing-prac...
#IndieDev #Bitsy #IndieGames
Blog post with details:
mandyjwatson.itch.io/fencing-prac...
#IndieDev #Bitsy #IndieGames