Me.

me.

⠀⠀ヽ(⑅ᐢ-ᐢ)/⠀⠀⠀♪⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀🧠⠀⠀⠀⠀˚

　⤷　　　⌅　　　✪ ﹒　🍈ᵎ　　˚ . ⁺

guys i actually beg of you to not let palestine become an unpleasant flashback, a transient tumblr trend, a hasbeen subject that just faded away. as an arab—and specifically iraqi—girl, i know what it feels like to have family displaced all over the world as a result of western imperialism. i know what it feels like to not be able to step foot into your homeland because it’s no longer safe. as an american iraqi, raised in the us and insulated from my roots, it wasn’t until last summer that i was able to visit iraq for the first time, and even then my family was worried for my safety—in my own blood country. although nothing like what palestinians are experiencing right now, it might be the tiniest semblance of what it feels like to watch your country disintegrate in front of you.

and this is a universal arab experience. i volunteer weekly at a refugee center that serves middle eastern refugees, and every day i see the longing in their eyes when they speak of where they hail from. it’s safe to say that we will be getting a wave of palestinian refugees very soon: just another generation of arabs who can’t inhabit their own country.

arab culture is so rich, so profound, so beautiful. i am tired of being told by the world—through literal genocide—that it doesn’t mean anything. please never let this be forgotten. free palestine. free palestine. free palestine.

newjeans ‘ditto’ mv (2022) dir. shin wooseok

all about lily chou chou (2001) dir. shunji iwai

love & pop (1998) dir. hideaki anno

linda linda linda (2005) dir. nobuhiro yamashita

swing girls (2004) dir. shinobu yaguchi

Ageism in fandom is so weird.

You start out young, you know? I was 12 when I wandered into online fandom spaces with Sailor Moon, and I've never looked back. Fanfic? I discovered that with Jonny Quest, and I still fondly remember Suze Howe's JQ fanfic archives (and lying about my age to access the lemon section).

And at some point, you realize that the people creating these spaces are adults. With like, jobs and disposable income and shit. That the writers you look up to, the artists you admire, are so good because they've been practicing for years. And it's a little weird, because you're used to school where everyone you interact with is arround your age, so you've just been assuming that everyone in fandom is around your age too.

This is where you have a choice:

You can open your eyes to a much wider world, realize that your hobbies can last through many life stages, and rejoice! Learn and grow from those who have been around longer than you, and take your place nurturing those who are just finding their way into fandom. Create and contribute to the culture that you've been enjoying.

You can close your eyes. Because ew, people get old and the way they interact with fandoms matures and maybe they make you feel small, feel immature, and you don't like that so you lash out. The thing is, though? You will get older, too. Maybe you'll grow up and grow away from fandom, maybe you won't. But you will have made it a little less fun for everyone.

And no matter what you choose, the way you handle the realization that people are in fandoms their whole lives? Well. That says more about you than it ever will about anyone else.

NO LITERALLY

Being a girl who gets over nothing is so exhausting because why am I lying in bed remembering something embarrassing I did in the summer of 2014