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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Queer nonbinary cartoonist! Author of As the Crow Flies & Stage Dreams. OTHER EVER AFTERS is now out from Random House Graphic! They/them. Rep’d by
@jenlinnan
Columbus, OHlinktr.ee/melgillmanJoined October 2012
229 Following
22.9K Followers

Mel Gillman’s Tweets

Mel Gillman
@melgillman
"Trans people are too expensive" says the man who regularly uses huge amounts of taxpayer money to play golf and not live with his wife.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
That Catwalk documentary on Netflix is a GIFT TO HUMANITY
A screenshot from Netflix where a cat show judge holds a ridiculously fluffy orange cat and says “I have goosebumps”
The same judge saying “32 years of judging, this is one of the finest cats I’ve ever judged”
A closeup on the cat’s INCREDIBLY stupid and adorable smooshy face.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Since I’ve started using a cane, I’ve noticed a lot of actors & cartoonists who don’t use them aren’t sure how to depict characters with them! Here’s a simple cheat sheet to help:
A 2 panel comic labeled Tips for characters with canes! Panel 1: canes are held on the side of your stronger leg! Panel 2: Canes step forward with the weaker leg! The tip stays parallel with the weaker foot
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Oh my god some old man on the street here in nyc was just like “HEY! YOU A DYKE OR A FAG?” and I feel like he has no idea how complimentary that question is to me specifically
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Now that *both* Sherlock Holmes and Herlock Sholmès (the version written by Maurice LeBlanc to avoid a copyright dispute in 1908) are public domain, 2023 is their year. The sexual tension between them must be off the charts
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Did you know: if you can’t afford a book, you can request that your public library buys a copy instead. And the library probably will! And the author still gets paid for it!!
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
I peeled a weird-shaped garlic bulb tonight that turned out to be just *one gigantic clove* after I eat it I will become even more powerful
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
*pops open coffin lid* Good eeeeeevening: I drew a quick little comic essay today about a topic near and dear to my heart -- horror for kids! Or, "why some kids like to read books that scare them, and why you should let them"
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
no one asked but I'm telling you anyway
Pink and purple colored pencil text that reads "Reviewing spring flowers I like to eat on walks"
An illustration of some eastern redbud flowers, and a person shoving a handful of them in their mouth messily. Text reads: "Shoving a handful of pink flowers in your maw = immaculate goblin energy. Sweet and cucumber-y"
An illustration of a saucer magnolia bloom, and a person about to eat one whole while making aggressive eye contact with a person in the distance. Text reads: "Extreme power move to eat one of these. No one will mess with you. Gingery."
An illustration of some sweet violets, and a person on all fours, eating them directly from the grass. Text reads: "Grazing. Become ungulate. Sweet, violet."
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Stumbled on photos of the dead-man’s-toes/dead-man’s-fingers fungus species today, and am now obliged to show as many people as possible:
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
God, public libraries are such a blessing for book research Me: I need this weird out of print book from 1947 Library: No problem, here’s a copy you can check out 5 miles away. Me: no I’m busy YOU drive it to the branch by my house Library: okay Me: FOR FREE Library: okay
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
This shouldn't need saying: labeling all LGBTQ media as "mature content" has real, devastating effects on LGBTQ kids' access to information.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
This is only a minor plot point in “The Shape of Water”, but at least one a week I still sit and think about the queer illustrator character, tasked with manufacturing images of the ideal American family life, who was never allowed to access it himself. Just, damn.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Amazing that cats even put up with us tbh
A simple drawing of a cat on a counter, yelling MYAO MYAO MYAOOO. Caption reads: the cat was yelling for no reason.
So I hit record.
Then lip-synced it back at him.
A silent panel of the same cat, looking aghast.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Reminder: don’t buy from Amazon this week if you can at all avoid it, and especially don’t order anything on Prime Day (7/16). Support Amazon workers fighting for better wages and treatment!
Quote Tweet
Meredith McClaren
@IniquitousFish
There is going to be a transnational strike by Amazon workers the second week of July (particularly Prime Day). Please support them and avoid buying from Amazon during that week. transnational-strike.info/2018/05/17/cal
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Hi! Artist here. I don't make better art under fascist regimes in much the same way I don't make better art when I'm literally on fire.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
I’ve never written an rpg in my life, but I had a dream last night where I wrote AND playtested one, haha. There are bugs to be ironed out, but it has potential so here it is:
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
HEY! It’s almost spring, and you know what that means?? Your backyard/neighborhood park is probably growing an invasive, delicious onion species, field garlic! This stuff is abundant, free, and easy to ID if you know what to look for. Forage responsibly but get u FREE ONIONS 🧅
Eat this invasive! If you live in the eastern US or the west coast, good news! You’re probably surrounded by FREE ONION. Look for: big, tall tufts of thin, blue-ish “grass”. Hollow inside. Distinctive garlic/onion smell.
You can just chop off the above-ground leaves, but even better: dig up the whole clump! This helps control its spread. The whole plant is edible! Wash the dirt off then use like garlic or scallions! Soup, salads, sammiches, seasoning, and more!
A hand with blue nail polish and dirty fingers, holding a big clump of field garlic, freshly pulled out of the ground.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
100% serious: if policy makers are actually concerned about this, one of their first steps should be instituting universal basic income. I know a lot of people in their 20s-30s right now who want to be parents, but genuinely can’t /afford it/.
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BBC Science News
@BBCScienceNews
Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born bbc.in/3gXT8PC
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Hey, we all know to avoid Tapas (the webcomic platform, not the delicious finger foods) by now, right? They’re going after young creators again with a new “incubator program”, so just as an FYI, let’s examine some information from their call for submissions.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
*spins wheel* okay let’s find out what adult straight white men with anime icons are mad about today
A crudely drawn pinwheel with 5 options: “women did a thing”, “sjwrs???”, “kid cartoon not made for me!!!! >:0”, “no str8 white male rep ANYWHERE, EVER”, “cartoon girl is wearing shorts”
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
I can’t believe this still needs to be said but JUST IN CASE some tweet is telling you otherwise: reading library books doesn’t hurt your favorite author. Library sales are a huge, important market for authors! AND LIBRARIES ARE AWESOME. Read MORE library books, not less 💪📕✨
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Dying over all these straight/cis people yelling “but queerness doesn’t actually effect characters’ stories!!” Y’all would be amazed to learn just how much being straight & cis has effected your life without you even noticing
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Replying to
@melgillman
Addendum: lots of great notes in the comments, and of course there are real-world cane users who might use theirs differently for a variety of reasons! I directed the post to non-cane-users specifically because most of them don’t know this is a standard usage for many people.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
A man's aggressively trying to get me to take my headphones off and listen to him and I'm like: have you not been on the internet all week
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
One of those creepy “Amazon employee” boys replied to me, and I’m weirdly fascinated with their use of stock photos as a simulation of Normal Human Being-ness.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Big announcement: for the past month, I've been secretly organizing a QUARANTINE RECIPE COMIC ZINE! It's got 27 pages of full-color recipe comics by 21 different cartoonists, and all proceeds are being split evenly between all the artists. Check it out! gumroad.com/l/beupZ
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
me whenever I get a package in the mail and then can add a new cardboard box to the pile of cardboard boxes in my living room
Screengrabs of Bilbo Baggins looking at the One Ring and saying “after all...why not? Why shouldn’t I keep it?”
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Something that I think is actually fairly common, but I don’t hear people talking about much: if you’re making a large, time-consuming comic, by the time you’re nearing the end, you’ll be pretty convinced the whole thing is terrible and drawing it was a giant mistake.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
If you’re cis, for every JKR tweet you write today please also go buy/request at the library a book by a trans or nonbinary author.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Going to the gym 2016: Gonna get fit & lose weight! Going to the gym 2017: I must be strong to defend my friends when fascists come for them
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Gonna add onto this that, being nonbinary, "queer" is the only word in the current lexicon I can use for myself that doesn't feel like it fully or semi- misgenders me.
Quote Tweet
don't be die of old potato
@sophienotemily
nobody asked me but I'm gonna talk anyway: I like "queer" because it's an inclusive word. radfems hate it for the same reason. I don't like acronyms because they always leave someone out unless you extend it to like 15 letters and it's hard to do that in casual conversation.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Today, I spotted a neo-n@zi sticker about 9 feet up on a lightpole while out on a bike ride. I stopped and tried to shimmy up the pole to see if I could get it, but I was just too short. BUT, a random tall stranger saw me struggling, then climbed up and ripped it down himself.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
YA KNOW, if you really wanted to discuss modern-day censorship in comics, you cooooould talk about all the ongoing efforts to remove LGBTQ books from school and public libraries?
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
A teeny tiny comics trick: does your street scene feel a little off, or a little too empty? Did you draw any trash on the ground? INCREASE THE TRASH
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Just listened to that 99% Invisible episode about how universal basic income experiments were killed off in the US in the 70s because of fear that financial independence would make it easier for women to leave their husbands. I am ready to leave this planet
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
In honor of Coming Out Day let's remember coming out isn't something everyone can do, and not jump to conclusions about people's identities.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Me usually: books are wonderful, a joy Me when I have to move: books are a curse and a sin before God, if Johannes Gutenberg were alive today I would kick him in the shins
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
I drew a tiny comic about an invasive plant I’ve been foraging this week! If this grows near you, you can eat it too, and help curb its spread a little. (With the same reasonable caution you would exercise with any foraging, obvs)
Eat this invasive! If you live in the eastern half of the US, autumn olive may be ripening near you right now! How to ID: metallic silver undersides of leaves; lots of small red berries with white speckles.
This is a bad invasive species that produces a LOT of fruit. Luckily, the fruit is edible and tasty! And every berry you eat is one less seed a bird will spread.
Stuff to make: muffins, ketchup, wine, fruit leather, jam, or just eat them raw!
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Not doing a very good job convincing strangers to try serviceberries this year
A pink and purple marker drawing of some serviceberries, with text above reading "Things people have said to me while I'm picking serviceberries"
A two panel marker comic where a young child in a pink hat approaches Mel while they're picking berries. The boy asks "What are those?" Mel replies "Serviceberries!" The boy retorts "NO!! they're BLUEBERRIES."
Another two panel comic where a stranger approaches Mel while they're picking berries. This time, an older woman in a visor asks "Those things are edible?" Mel says "Yes!" The woman replies "Well, they look poisonous."
This time, a truck slows down near Mel, picking berries, so the driver can lean out the window and ask "HEY! What berries are those?" Mel replies "Serviceberries!" The driver shouts "CERVIX-BERRIES!?" then drives off, laughing.
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Mel Gillman
@melgillman
Call/email/leave a message for your reps today and tell them to impeach.
Quote Tweet
Ilhan Omar
@IlhanMN
I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment. Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate. We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.
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