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Rachael Dunlop

@rachaeldunlop.com
1.9K followers 1.1K following 3.3K posts

Writer of #FlashFiction, #ShortStories and a never-finished novel. Spaniel-wrangler. Curmudgeon. Forest dweller. #MDANT She/her/cis rachaeldunlop.com

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 1h
Oh yes, that’s true. They did still use both presenters on the floor for a lot of the links but it does feel a bit crowded at the judging desk with two, I agree.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 10h
Are all the people complaining about there being three presenters on #Strictly #SCD forgetting the Bruce + Tess + Claudia years?
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 01/10/2026
Kneecapped. Good grief
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 30/09/2026
We’re thinking of doing some European train travel next year - might have to pick your brains as we’ve not done it before.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 30/09/2026
The Labour government’s record on trans rights is appalling and we have to fight that alongside supporting any their policies that will bring positive change. Politics is no longer binary.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 30/09/2026
I don’t want to hope, because… you know. But also, have a teeny tiny glimmer of something resembling hope.
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richard mortimer @richardmortimer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The Sound of Arran No9 with Antony Gormley
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 30/09/2026
We probably had to have Starmer to get Burnham. If he delivers on any one of these ambitions, we’ll be better as a nation.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 30/09/2026
Hard stare at one of the pangrams in today’s spelling bee. For all the benign words it blocks, it accepts this one? Sheesh.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 29/09/2026
They did it before with Jamie Laing. Maybe the BBC don’t tell them they’ll be invited back until closer to the time. Everyone gets to practice from mid-summer when the cast is announced.
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Ariadne Griffin @ariadnereviews.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
to whoever at the BBC made the decision to timestamp all the dances on Iplayer, I love you and I hope your cereal always remains crunchy.
the first episode of Strictly on BBC Iplayer, the time bar has been segmented into the different dances - at the moment the cursor is hovering over Bethany and Nancy's routine at 1 hour in.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 29/09/2026
Pretty sure Claudia also did that.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 26/09/2026
Well, shoot
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Steve Doherty @stevedoherty.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A joy forever. Even when you know what’s coming. Maybe *because* you know what’s coming.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 23/09/2026
Ooff. #Ludwig referred to a missing person as a ‘persona non grata’. Disappointing.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 23/09/2026
What a fantastic story. Thank you for sharing.
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Joanie @creaturesrule.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
He’s amazing! Credit where credit’s due. davidzinn.bsky.social
davidzinn.bsky.social
David Zinn (@davidzinn.bsky.social)
Habitual doodler and street artist, wrangling ephemerality and finding uplift underfoot.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 23/09/2026
Yes, remember what your MP’s job is - to represent your views to the PM / government / Parliament. It‘s literally how our democracy works.
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Brian Bilston @brianbilston.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Autumn poem just dropped.
[The poem has been written in the shape of a deciduous tree with letters (or ‘leaves’) missing from the text]:
 
  comm   n pr  ble    whe    writin    p   ems
in the shape of decid o   s trees
is t  at once t   ere ar   ives
the fir   t sti   rings of    he new aut   mn breeze,  
  he       oems will begi    to shake    hemselves ge   tly  
  ntil their letters loos   n like leaves,
an they d start to float down
then
 
[The missing letters from the tree have landed on the last line to form the phrase]

turntomushuponthegroun

[The final ‘d’ is floating down to complete the phrase.]
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 22/09/2026
Loving watching Nigella Lawson absolutely shovelling hunks of cake in her face. What a woman.
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SmokeLong Quarterly @smokelong.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
PSA. Our website has been hacked. Please don't click on any of the ads in the posts. We did not add them. We're waking up our webmaster right now.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 19/09/2026
When I had shoulder surgery I had someone pop all my painkillers into a bowl for me!
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Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 19/09/2026
The RNLI is the closest you will ever get to actual Batman. When rescue is visibly, viscerally, obviously impossible; when the water is a smothering, thundering black wall and the wind is screaming straight from Hell; when you are absolutely going to die: someone’s hand pulls you out and you don’t.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 18/09/2026
I’m enjoying the choice of photo here
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 18/09/2026
And with modesty: ‘Of Laurel and Hardy’.
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Kathy Hoyle @kathyhoyle.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
writershq.co.uk/whq-event/fl... Join us for our annual halloween open mic night at @writershq.bsky.social ! 🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️ 🎃 Sign up below! 👇
writershq.co.uk
Flash Face Off Live: Halloween Special - Writers' HQ
A night of Halloween storytelling, where YOU are the entertainment! Bring your sea shanties, monstrous myths, seafaring superstitions, ghostly legends and All Hallows' Tales.
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Sanjeev Kohli @govindajeggy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
It was Phil Oakey’s sister Carrie who invented the interactive entertainment system where people sing to a backing track. She called it the Singalonga3000
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 17/09/2026
Orange squash is so meh these days it was extra delightful to discover this one is the perfect balance of chemicals and nostalgia.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 17/09/2026
The orange version tastes just like the squash of my childhood. Also highly recommended.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 16/09/2026
I mistyped drainpipe for downpipe. Sorry to add to the brain bother.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 16/09/2026
No, no, it’s absolutely a word. Commmon both sides of the Atlantic. The Spelling Bee seems to depend on what the setter knows, and there are some odd gaps in their knowledge.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 16/09/2026
Yes, someone else has just pointed that out. Americans call them downpipes too. It’s very annoying!
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 16/09/2026
Just had a look at American guttering websites (as you do). Nope, they call them drainpipes too.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 16/09/2026
Has anyone ever reported a missing word to the Spelling Bee had found it subsequently accepted? I mean, I can’t believe this hasn’t been reported MANY times. It has several perfectly common meanings.
Screenshot of Spelling Bee puzzle rejecting the word PIPPED
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Flash 500 Writing Competitions @flash500.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Love writing flash fiction? Are you looking for an open-themed competition with good prize money? flash500.com/flash-fiction/ Entries close 30 September Prizes: £300/£200/£100 #flashfiction #writers #writingcommunity
static.klipy.com
Fiction
ALT: Fiction
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 15/09/2026
Marvellous customer service today. Email goes thus: ‘We are sorry you have a problem with your item. You have told us the problem is [QUOTES MY EMAIL BACK TO ME]. Please let us know if we can be of further help. My response: Is the ‘help’ in the room with us now?
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 15/09/2026
My last tick bite did produce quite a big circle that grew over a few days but then subsided again. Alarming but all was well.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 14/09/2026
They can if it is for THEIR good not the common good. If it’s controlled it can be monetised. At the moment they aren’t making any money out of it. If you have to register, buy traceable tokens etc to use these AI products then it’s kerrching.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 14/09/2026
That’s impressive. I remember when it was just one step and a dream
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 14/09/2026
They can if it is for THEIR good not the common good. If it’s controlled it can be monetised. At the moment they aren’t making any money out of it. If you have to register, buy traceable tokens etc to use these AI products then it’s kerrching.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 13/09/2026
We watch quite a few things on HBO Max. A lot of the shows that would be on Sky Atlantic will now be on HBO instead as that deal comes to an end.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 13/09/2026
Feeling conflicted. Don’t want to waste money stocking the El Nino emergency cupboard if we’re all going to be killed by the AI in a few years.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 12/09/2026
I’ve pencilled it in the diary. Also, what a fantastic idea. 👏👏👏
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 12/09/2026
What a list! If I read them all before Christmas can I have buns too?
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 12/09/2026
Fantastic
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 12/09/2026
(My house then, not my house now)
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 12/09/2026
You probably walked past my house on the way to that gig.
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 11/09/2026
We all have that older relative who strikes fear in our hearts every time they start a sentence with: ‘I saw this thing on Facebook…’
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MꙬse Allain @mooseallain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
A man in a face covering talks to another man who is looking disappointedly at a small box he is holding. Man 1 “What's that?”. Man 2 “Baklava. I misread the WhatsApp”
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Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A detail missing from The Times story… the woman who took the photo shared it to a Facebook group called ‘South east patriots’.
Facebook post showing the photo of three white women on a train with a group of black-clad, masked men being shared to a group called ‘South east patriots’
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