notebooks
- B6/A6 size is best – i don’t like anything larger than A5
- white, off-white, or cream colored paper only. i respect recycled paper but i cannot fucking see
- dotted/grid > blank/lined, but of course blank is good for drawing and lined for journals. i think dotted/grid is the most versatile though.
- 5mm grids are the best.
- if it’s smaller, i’d like it to be VERY SMALL like small enough that you can’t possibly fit a line of words on a row of squares.
- my least favorite are the 3~4.something mm grids, because they’re a sucky in-between.
- ~~I DO NOT LIKE THIN PAPER i do not like you tomoe river S.~~
- update 2/12/26: i’m okay now with tomoe river S.
- not a huge fan of hardcover notebooks, HATE spiral notebooks. softcover or paperback is best!
- i don’t like when the inner pages already have decorations in them. LET ME DO IT MYSELF,
- i don’t like vertical notepads, even though they’re supposed to be good for me…
- OPEN FLAT. if you don’t open flat you might as well not exist.
pens
- thinner nib always preferred!
- dark/desaturated colors preferred for longform writing, which is my usual writing
- ❌ brush pens → i’m left-handed and don’t write with “proper form”, so i find calligraphy difficult
- ❌ tripod grip
highlighters
- pastel colors, no neon please
- nothing too light that requires a billion strokes to be seen. my goodness…
pencils
- i’m a mechanical pencil girly
- B > H
- i have trouble with thick croquis-types
stickers
- i prefer small stickers to big ones. i don’t have many surfaces on which i’d like to stick big stickers, and when i do i’m extremely choosy about it!
- i generally always like flowers, cute animals, day to day items like fruits and stationery and books, etc.
- i do not like stickers that have puns
- i do not like stickers that are just a slightly well-dressed thin girl
- nothing too in the realm of “kawaii”, or white scrapbook mom.
- ❌ EMBOSSED, please god
- ❌ stickers i have to cut myself
washi
- nothing too in the realm of “kawaii”, or white scrapbook mom.
- normal size, nothing too narrow or wide
- tearable with fingers. what are we doing otherwise.
- i actually don’t know how to describe the kinds of washis i like. best not to attempt
see also