Bodie A. Ashton
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manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Bodie A. Ashton
@manwithoutatan.bsky.social
3.9K followers 1K following 2.5K posts
historian | pet shop boys fanatic | australian in germany | very bisexual | constantly podcasting | "oh, dr. bodie!" per jordan gray | they/them | latest book: “the pet shop boys and the political”
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manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before.

Happy 1. Advent everyone.
A Christmas wreath sits in a golden dish. It has four thick red candles, one of which is lit. In front of it is a glass coffee carafe and a white porcelain cup, which is full of black coffee (Seven Seeds Rwandan Mushonyi through the Aeropress, with notes of apple strudel and maple, for those playing at home).
November 30, 2025 at 8:41 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
One (1) historian and their loyal Boy.
A person lies on a white couch, wearing a black t-shirt and clear-framed glasses. They have cherry cola hair. Lying on their shoulder is a tuxedo cat with his paws curled up.
November 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Passion
Love
Sex
Money
Violence
Religion
Injustice
Death
The pope stands soulfully before a microphone, surely belting out a banger
November 23, 2025 at 1:22 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Marvellous couple of days in beautiful Bamberg for BritCult! Congratulation to @susannegruss.bsky.social and all the organising team for a really great conference, and for reminding me that it was high time I (re)visited Oberfranken!
A half-timbered building juts out from a stone bridge and a tower over a river. With sun shining on a river, a view of houses along that river.
November 22, 2025 at 3:45 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Hey, please accept the very very best wishes from this internet stranger and their cat. I can’t picture what this experience is like for you and wouldn’t presume to, but I hope you are surrounded by comfort and support. 💜
A tuxedo cat, Cap, states down at the camera from inside a cupboard. He has wide green eyes and enormous ears and he looks startled and extremely handsome.
November 21, 2025 at 8:15 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Happy birthday, dad. 💜
Two men are on a yacht on clear blue seas and with an almost clear sky above. The one on the right is slightly out of frame; the one on the left holds the tiller, and is wearing a white spray jacket and sunglasses.
November 19, 2025 at 10:25 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Saw it recently on a trip to Australia. Well done Vicky 💜
On a book table, the cover of a book picturing a beached Messerschmitt Bf-109. The title reads “Eagle Days: Life and Death for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain.” The author is Victoria Taylor.
November 16, 2025 at 11:09 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
O R B
A grey and white cat, Bucky, sits on a white couch and a crocheted blanket, ready to pounce. Her eyes are the size of dinner plates.
November 9, 2025 at 11:09 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
“I couldn't have anticipated [backlash]”, says a man who built an Auschwitz-themed Halloween float for a kids’ Halloween parade. I think this tells us an awful lot about more than we might like, to be honest.

(Reposted screenshot with alt text.)
Galen S. Shelly, who identified himself as the head designer of the float, told Harrisburg news outlet PennLive on Saturday that he had made a mistake but had "no ill intent. Senior said the approved design of the float did not contain the gate. Shelly told PennLive he added it later, after another part of the design fell through. "I wanted to illustrate the idea none of us get out of this life alive," Shelly told PennLive. "I never intended anything to be like this. I couldn't have anticipated it. I made a mistake and I ask everyone's forgiveness."
November 2, 2025 at 9:32 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
And now I know how Johnny Marr felt.
On a stage with lots of blue backlight, a man wearing dark denim jacket and jeans plays a guitar. On a stage, a man wearing dark denim jacket and jeans plays a guitar.
November 2, 2025 at 9:03 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
The world is nonsense so Cap and Bucky are here to brighten your lives.
A black and white cat, Cap, lies upside-down on a crocheted blanket. He has wide eyes and a pink nose. A grey and white cat, Bucky, stands among bags of coffee. She is looking to her left, with big orb eyes.
October 30, 2025 at 10:07 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Let me add to this both Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci in “Conspiracy” (2001).
A man wearing an SS uniform and a black leather coat is smiling tightly. He wears a hat with the very distinctive skull and crossbones of the Totenkopf, which is not at all to be mistaken for the Jolly Roger. A man wearing an SS uniform stands in the snow. He wears a hat with the very distinctive skull and crossbones of the Totenkopf, which is STILL not at all to be mistaken for the Jolly Roger.
October 22, 2025 at 4:42 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
I don’t know what it says about me that an hour-long dissection of a plane crash might brighten my mood but here we are.

Bucky agrees.
A grey and white cat, Bucky, sits on the lap of a person wearing a green jumper. Bucky has wide, green eyes.
October 20, 2025 at 5:22 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Look why not. @lgmsam.bsky.social says it gives “Murder, She Wrote” vibes. I’m just thrilled the shirt involves cats.

(Though I feel like I get my hair from my Nanna; I feel like a fluffy puppy.)
A person sits on an off-white armchair. They have big-framed transparent glasses. They’re wearing a collared pale yellow top with embroidered cats, and a dark floral skirt.
October 11, 2025 at 2:03 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
It freaking wimdy today.
A person is walking down a street. They are wearing transparent glasses, a colourful crocheted scarf, and a magenta all-weather jacket. It is clearly quite windy because their hair is being blown towards Berlin.
October 4, 2025 at 3:56 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
They’re back.
An extremely tired person sits on a blue train seat. Their hair is messy and they need a shave. They’re wearing a jumper with brown, red, pink, and green stripes.
October 1, 2025 at 2:41 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Twitter user Thomas Violence says “I’m one of the dozens of people worldwide that live in a country that’s not America.” Arguably it’s the best tweet that was ever twote.
September 26, 2025 at 11:55 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
The world is hard. I’m an orphan, which feels frighteningly Victorian. I don’t know what my future looks like, my heart breaks and then mends a little and then breaks again and again. I’m so exhausted. I don’t have anywhere that is home any more.

So anyway it was time to get my ears pierced.
A very tired person is sitting looking at the camera. Their dyed hair is going shockingly grey at the temples and they are wearing glasses, a dark neckerchief with raspberries, a pink striped shirt over denim floral overalls, and a green jacket. There are flowers out of focus behind them. They have a small stud in their visible earlobe.
September 25, 2025 at 1:08 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
My sincerest and deepest thanks to everyone who took time today to honour my father Malcolm. The world will never turn quite as it should without him. I miss him achingly, and your support—all of you—has been felt, even if I don't have the words or the capacity to express my gratitude right now. 💜
On grass in front of a building, a young man runs with a German shepherd dog on a leash. The man is wearing a black waistcoat and trousers over a white shirt and red tie, and he is wearing a yellow exhibitor number, demonstrating that he is running the dog at a show. He is smiling as he looks towards his dog, and he is in mid stride. He is the best man I have ever had the privilege of knowing and everything is much dimmer without his light.
September 17, 2025 at 8:36 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Extremely cool that pretty much the moment I'm even vaguely by myself I dissolve into tears. This is a very normal and healthy thing, I am sure.

I have no idea how I'm going to write this eulogy, let alone give it. I've written too many by now.

Anyway, here are my parents as I never knew them.
Two very young people stand just outside a brick carport, in front of a green bush. On the left is a woman in a short pale sundress; on the right, with his arm around her, is a taller young man wearing a white shirt and white slacks. They are both smiling happily.
September 15, 2025 at 11:57 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Dad status: style council.
A young, fair-haired man stands in front of a wall of rocks and dry sandy grasses. He is wearing aviator sunglasses, a light denim overshirt, and an off-white turtleneck. He's probably just walked off the sound stage for "The Professionals."
September 10, 2025 at 2:11 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
My father didn’t make it to Father’s Day this year, and it will always be a bitter irony to me that it follows on the heels of his passing. But: happy Father’s Day, Dad. I miss you now and always.
A blank and white photo of a boy with fair hair, wearing a suit, smiling at the camera. A bride and groom dance in front of a white table with orange decorations. A man wearing a mustard jumper and jeans crouches next to a fluffy white Samoyed, in front of the Australian bush.
September 7, 2025 at 6:11 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
The best man I have ever known.

Goodbye, dad. Fair winds. I love you.
On the deck of a sailing boat stands a man with fair hair and a beard and moustache. He is wearing sunglasses and a blue singlet. He is smiling.
September 4, 2025 at 11:21 AM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Hullo from here
A person looks at the camera through large square glasses. They have mauve hair and a blue waistcoat and a pale pink shirt with botanicals and mushrooms. They look tired and a bit sad.
August 22, 2025 at 10:26 PM
manwithoutatan.bsky.social
Hello hi I know my timeline hasn’t been puppies and roses recently. But I just wanted to share this photo from my parents’ wedding, 53 years ago, because it makes me smile nearly as much as dad is here.
A black and white photo of a man and a woman at their wedding. The man is wearing a double-breasted coat and a bow tie and is beaming from ear to ear. The woman is in a white partly lace dress with a matching shawl, and is clearly very happy.
August 22, 2025 at 8:35 AM