Hi Mr Gaiman!

What’s your opinion on people saying someone is only a real fan of something if they consumed all of the available media of that thing? (e.g. “you aren’t a real fan of sandman if you only watched the netflix series”)

I feel like more and more people do this to sort of gate keep otherwise amazing fandoms and personally i think it’s quite sad to see.

As I posted on a more or less dead site a couple of years ago:

Mess Castle

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My cartoon for this weekend’s @guardian books

A brief moment of rationality from the bird place.

I do a lot of explaining to my kid. They can absorb way more than you think.

unsolicited parenting advice of the day tell your kids what to expect! If your two year old is anxious about when dad is going to get home from work, teach him to recognize what patterns indicate that dad is coming home soon! After lunch we will do an activity and then clean and THEN dad will get home. Listen when the calendar day starts with an S dad does not have to go to work!!

and if something goes wrong and today does NOT go according to the plan your little guy expects, tell him!! Hey, dad has to go to work after all today, but he will be home after lunch! Today dad has to get groceries after work, so he’ll be home later than normal. But he will return with more bananas! Focus on the positives too, give them things they can understand. Don’t just say “not today,” they understand the concept of grocery stores and unexpected trips. Just tell them the problem. You’d hate being in the dark about everything that happens to you also. Let them control their situation, even if it’s just their own emotions and expectations.

or even! Teach them to read an analogue clock! Let me tell you, church nursery in the 1.5-3.5 age group got so much less stressful and anxious for EVERYONE when I taught my kids how to read the clock. They don’t have to ask me anymore how much time is left and fish for answers I can’t give them. They know that their guardians will come for them when the long stripe on the clock touches the 2, and that if they aren’t there then then they’re LATE and they get to hold this over their parents head. Because they know their parents can be late. And they LOVE knowing when this has occurred. There is so much less anxiety.

anyway explain stuff to your kids, they want to know. This has been an unsolicited parenting advice PSA

My latest @guardian books cartoon.

Art by Lora Zombie

I was a pretty basic goth TBH

Apertures Chapter 16 (the last chapter!)

I have one of those Buy Me a Coffee things now so if you don't want to get a paid subscription to my Substack but think I'm cool and want to shoot me a buck, you can do that.