Throwback Thursday, Fandom Edition: When I Grow Up

I turned 40 yesterday (that's as many as four tens!), so I wrote a message to my 16-year-old fangirl self, who was deep in an obsession with the X-Men but very worried that she'd have to give up all fannish activities when she finished high school and started college. I'm so glad that I didn't. So, so glad.

I could also have told her, "you don't actually hate Charles Xavier as much as you think you do," but I'm pretty sure that other people did try to tell me that, and I didn't listen.