aspen

Hello! I'm Aspen, you can call me Pen if you like :)

They/Them Early 30s Glasgow, Scotland

TL;DR: I like arts & crafts, electronics, game development, web design, all the 90s japanese toy crazes, cute stuff & my dog

I live in Glasgow with my chihuahua, Little Dipper. He's more popular than I am (weegeehuahua on ig), I don't really like social media and I'm bad at remembering to check my messages so I spend most of my internet time doing silly little web design things for my personal sites or getting lost in rabbitholes. I love the small web movement (add me on neocities, my username is penzpage, please show me your blog/website!) and I really love playing with old/simple tech. I'm making a Gameboy game right now, so I'm teaching myself how to use trackers to make chiptunes on the hardware itself!

One of the things I enjoy doing for fun is refurbishing old electronics like ipods and kindles and obsolete games consoles that are broken and would otherwise be thrown away. I have a LOT of strange electronic parts lying around my flat because of that, but it's really fun and I've learned a lot over the last few years just playing around with broken things- the worst that can happen is they stay broken! I also enjoy making new things with raspberry pis/arduinos etc. and I have a 3D printer as well to help with that. This is very much not my area of expertise, but I love it all the same.

My attention span is pretty bad! (diagnosed ADHD, trying my best) so I like using slower communication methods like snail mail so that there's less chance of me getting overwhelmed by notifications in my day to day life. I also studied at art college so I do, occasionally, dabble in some arts & crafts >:)

I actually studied animation, so my degree was in design, but I love trying new things so I've picked up a ton of hobbies over the years. I like needle felting, scrapbooking/junk journaling/collage, woodworking, sculpting and ceramics, as well as the obligatory 2D illustration stuff that comes with my work. I also like embroidery and sewing, and one of these days I'll get my sewing machine up and running and finally start on that quilt...

I have huge collections of pokemon and digimon cards, though I've fallen out of actually playing TCGs over the last few years, I used to be pretty active. Now I just really like looking at the pretty pictures. x)

Pokemon is one of my lifelong obsessions, even if the special interest part of it is hibernating right now- I still haven't played Scarlet/Violet even though I'd never missed a new game release since R/B/Y!! Slowly trying to get back into it, I started with a Fuecoco recently so I'll update if I actually manage to play through it.

I also really like Tamagotchis and other virtual pets! I'm running a Punirunes and a Tamagotchi Uni right now.

Currently I'm really into collecting cute postage stamps, especially ones like the japan post Posukuma ones and other yuru-chara! I don't mind if they're posted or on or off paper, I just like collecting them and looking at them so if there are any interesting stamps from your country or your travels that you have lying around, let's trade x)

I'd also like to start collecting fruit stickers! I think it's just such a cute idea.

Pressed pennies! I have a small but growing collection, and there's some Glasgow/Edinburgh/Scotland specific ones that I can get easily for people who'd like to swap.

Pixel art! Digitally, and with fuse beads! I've been creating original pixel art for years for school and work, but I've only recently started using perler beads etc. to make them physically. It's a lot of fun! I usually create the designs in aseprite or resprite and then manually copy them over to my pegboards by hand. :)

Please do not send me:

Anything relating to the military, the monarchy, weaponry, war memorabilia, the UK, the union in general, party politics etc.

I have no interest in these things, and while I don't really mind sending things on from my country that feature them as they're very common motifs in a lot of tourist merch and souvenirs, I don't want to discuss or receive anything relating to them and I have a lot of strong opinions that are probably better left unsaid :)

I want absolutely nothing to do with anything related to Harry Potter or JK herself. Please do not talk to me about it, and I'm not willing to send anything HP related or take part in anything that promotes her work.

I lived in Edinburgh for 20 years, I passed the places the books were written in countless times. I grew up with the series and I was a fan. But I cannot condone her actions and I don't want to be reminded of her anymore. I won't shame you for still enjoying the series (though I encourage you to branch out and try other YA and magical school series, there are much better writers out there) but her politics have actively harmed me in my day to day life, I'm still unable to get proper healthcare because of her, and I don't want to be reminded of it or support her in any way. I hope you can understand where I'm coming from and will consider the feelings of your LGBT+ friends and family when engaging in media consumption and fandom.

I love hearing about other people's day to day life and what makes them excited, so in general if you need to write me a letter and you're struggling for topics that you think would interest me, or you can't think of any hobbies/interests that you have right now, I genuinely do just want to hear about the boring stuff!

Like, do you get your groceries from the supermarket, or do you visit multiple smaller specialist shops? When the weather is bad outside (too hot? too cold?) how do you spend your time indoors? How do you travel to work or school? What kind of pets do you have? Do you like to cook? What does your neighbourhood look like compared to the rest of your town/city? Do your family and friends have any particular holidays that you like to celebrate together? I've traveled enough to know that these are actually the sorts of things that give you a good snapshot of someone else's world without being too personal or prying, so don't be afraid to be boring or feel like you're stating the obvious :)