Introduction!

Hello!! My name is Mariam Bin Safwan, though I go usually by Jash or Void. My birthday is February 1st and I was born on 2000 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. I am half Emirati and half Honduran, but I speak neither Arabic or Spanish despite growing up with my mom in Abu Dhabi.

I love to draw, paint, write and I'm learning a bit of 3d animation and 3d modeling! I aspire to be a comic book creator and game designer because stories are very important to me. Growing up, I watched disney films-- Films based off fairytales and fell in love with the movements and change. Then, I grew up with video games like Kingdom Hearts and Harvest Moon! The comics most important to me are Homestuck and The Fantastic Four. I admire the setting, development and wonders of stories-- There can be so much depth displayed in minimal ways, or extravagant, colorful actions. I have a lot of story ideas, currently three projects I'm actively working on. My biggest project is my comic, Monsters Crowd, Creatures Call! I currently really love the game Overwatch, it has a lot of story to it that's shown through animation and comics despite it being a first person shooter.

Languages have had a role in my life, especially growing up biracial when people expect you to speak the languages your parents speak. I am currently trying to learn Spanish and Arabic, though! I've been making progress (especially with Spanish; I speak spanglish at home sometimes.) It's sometimes stressful with expectations being put on me since a young age, but I still find beauty in the languages of my parents, as well as feeling a connection with both cultures. Being able to study language is dire for the human race, without communication we'd have nothing. Communication is essential for discussion, trade, culture and living. Studying language can also connect someone with culture, how the words are used and how they are said is interesting to think about.

I've always felt excluded from language barriers. My fathers side speaks mostly arabic, my mother's side speaks mostly spanish. Both my grandmothers can't speak english, this has prevented me from speaking to them. My older sisters can speak both languages, and I've always felt left out of the family since I can only speak english-- But that's even more reason for me to press forward and learn both languages. I love my cultures, I love the languages and I love learning more about myself and language.