nikotine

Hello, my dears. I'm Niko, but I often go by the diminutive form of Kolya. Very nice to meet you.

I just graduated from college with a Bachelor's in English and am still struggling a little bit settling into a job. I spend most of my time job hunting, writing, editing, and volunteering.

I suppose if I had to describe myself, I would say I fit mostly into the gothic-romantic subculture. I enjoy reading anything and everything I can get my hands on, creating my own stationary, night-time gardening, throwing fancy dress dinner parties, frequenting industrial nightclubs, and fiction writing.

I very much look forward to getting to know this site better, and sending out lots of fun little things to all you lovely people. Thanks for reading.

Music: Bowie, Placebo, New Order, Bauhaus, Siouxsie, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen, Joy Division, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Psychedelic Furs, Pulp, The Jam, Nick Cave, NIN, The Smiths, X Japan, Dir en Grey, Malice Mizer, Moi dix Mois

Movies: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Velvet Goldmine, Shawshank Redemption, Ghost World, Beetlejuice, The Cement Garden, My Own Private Idaho, Labyrinth, Stand By Me, Shortbus, V for Vendetta, Trainspotting, The Sandlot, Lo, Killer Klowns from Outer Space

Authors: Zadie Smith, Natsuo Kirino, Toni Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Koji Suzuki, Koushun Takami, Neil Gaiman, Iris Chang, William S. Burroughs, Haruki Murakami

Television: Lost, Doctor Who, Fresh Prince, Archer, Bob's Burgers, Rocko's Modern Life, Ren and Stimpy, Angry Beavers, The Nanny, Futurama

Colors: Black, brown, crimson, forest green, silver

Scents: Vanilla, coconut, mango, lavender, citrus

Handwritten letters

Stationary/writing paper

Gothic paraphenilia

Coffee

Tea (I will love you forever if you send me new flavors)

Candy/chocolate

Articles/newspaper clippings

Photos

Postcards

Old books/new books

Feminist literature

Music

Scented things/candles

Recipes

Lip balms/salves

Makeup (dark)

Tarot cards

Ghost/scary stories

Silver rings (I collect them)

Anything Ravenclaw related from Harry Potter

Anything glam/glitter rock

Anything related to my favorite bands listed

LGBTQ things

Religious propaganda

Anything hateful, bigoted, racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, classist, fatphobic, etc. etc.

Sports related things

Cultural appropriation in any manner

I usually rate as soon as I receive a swap and try to give the benefit of the doubt. If you haven't been rated yet, it is because I haven't received anything. I'll always send a message before rating a 1 or a 3 so if anything went wrong, it can be resolved.

Please also send me a message if you haven't received anything from me. I make sure to send everything out on time, but the postal service is run by humans after all. I will be happy to resend anything if it gets lost. :)

It saddens me that I have to add this section, and I hope not to come off as bitchy, but please (please!) do not send me things related to Roma, Native American, African or any other marginalized or oppressed (by white people) culture if you are ignorant of it. There is absolutely no shame in not knowing about a culture, but please don't send me something, for example, that is a stereotype of Romani people under the label "g--sy" (which is a racial slur) or knockoffs of Native American art made by non-Native American people. It is insulting, disrespectful and will not leave us on good standing. I don't say this to scare anyone or to be mean, it's just a matter of respect and basic decency which I believe all people and cultures are owed. Thank you for reading, and if you have any questions on this, I will be happy to answer them.

Here is a picture of a cat in a dinosaur costume to make this section less negative.