Inox

My name is Jay, I'm 23 and living in a rainy little town in British Columbia. I'm transgendered (androgyne, so you can use whatever pronouns you like), straightedge, and a huge geek. I've been writing letters for about 2 years now, and am addicted to all things paper. Books, old letters and diaries, old maps, stationery, you name it. I keep my journal in tengwar, the elvish alphabet from The Lord of the Rings. I'm always open to new penpals, so if you think we'd click, PM me for my address!

I'm an avid reader, mostly fantasy and some sci-fi. My all-time favourite author is J.R.R. Tolkien, which should surprise nobody. I read a lot of fairytale retellings, especially Beauty and the Beast, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I own a lot of these books, but any recommendations would be highly appreciated, just in case I find something new!

My other favourite genre at the moment is harder to define, I call it "tangible fiction" or "fictional nonfiction." I like faux how-to guides, like The Zombie Survival Guide or the Superhero's Handbook. I also include things like the Griffin and Sabine series and Barbara Hodgson's work, that blurs the line between fiction and reality.

And while it may seem unrelated, I love superhero comics. I see them much the same way as fairy tales, in that you can take the same characters and basic storylines and retell them endlessly. Marvel's Ultimate and 1602 universes are good examples. My favourite teams are the X-Men and Fantastic Four.

While I don't get to listen to it as much lately as I'd like, I have a decently sized CD collection. I don't care much for digital downloads, I like having something physical to own. I love symphonic metal, bands like Nightwish, Epica, Within Temptation, Sonata Arctica. I go to plays and musicals a lot, and while I don't always buy a CD (and they're not always available), I always enjoy the music. I do have a CD from Wicked, which is my favourite show so far.

My biggest crafting obsession is bookbinding. So far I only know the coptic stitch, but one of these days I'm planning to learn other methods. I make journals and sometimes mini books with postage stamp covers. I sporadically do collage and art journalling, and I'm always hunting for interesting ephemera for that in thrift stores.

• Dark blue, indigo, and grey are my favourite colours, green and purple are nice too. Really, anything except pink!
• Birds, especially bluejays!
• Botanical illustrations
• Anything to do with the stars, especially Orion
• Anything to do with the ocean
• Intricate patterns like brocade or celtic knots
• Art Nouveau and Deco
• Marbled paper
• Pomegranates
• Tengwar and other invented alphabets
• Illustrations by Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielsen, and Edmund Dulac

• Letter sets in any of the themes above, or anything you think I'd like, really. As long as it's not terribly girly and pink, I probably will.
• Postcards, naked and stamped or in an envelope. It's really hard to find any around here at all, I usually have to go to Vancouver.
• Handmade books, even simple or small ones. I love seeing other people's work!
• Bookmarks. Help save my books from being dog-eared!
• Ephemera, like old maps, transport tickets, book pages...
• Old black and white photos
• Airmail envelopes! I collect them.
• Airmail labels from other countries.
• Foreign coins.
• Aces of Spades. I collect those too, and the card has personal significance.
• Washi tape
• Onion skin paper

I don't collect stamps, but I love getting mail with interesting commemorative stamps. It's probably the easiest and cheapest way to make my day!

If you've got me as a partner in a postcard swap and you're stuck for what to write, I like hearing about your favourite books, the city you live in, your collections, or your favourite quote.

• Pink
• Kawaii
• Religious things
• Apple scented things (I'm not allergic, but there was this incident with a middle school bully and a bottle of apple perfume...)

Other than that, just use some common sense and put your heart into it, and I'll probably love it.