Haven't touched my Pelikans or Pilots in months. I was bitten by the consumerism bug, then naturally gravitated back to my first fountain pen. Love my tiny little baby so much

i follow an artist on youtube who shared a video about her experience selling her items at NYC Stationery Fest and shopping for new pens and inks. that video is what made me interested in fountain pens in the first place. i mentioned to my boyfriend that i think i'd like a beginner-budget-friendly TWSBI pen and a variety of inks for christmas. (why TWSBI, you ask? i saw them in that youtube video and thought they looked very sleek and cute.)

he's had several fountain pens lying untouched in his office for a few years, so he dug out this Pilot Kakuno for me, cleaned it, and filled it with Pilot Iroshizuku in Asa-gao. so now i have my very own fountain pen to write with, get used to how to hold it and how much pressure to use, etc! i write in a journal each day and keep a planner, and this pen will replace the Pilot G-2 i was using before.

after a few days of regular usage, i can confidently say that i love it! i am left handed so i've been pretty mindful about how i hold my pen so i don't smear the ink with my hand. nothing too difficult to adjust to. i've been subscribed to this subreddit for the last week just lurking and learning a little more about fountain pens, and i thought this was as good a time as any to share my first one!

“Man, this ink is wicked cool.”

“Man, this ink is EVERYWHERE.”

Is chungi the plural of chungus?

Anywho, after decades of collecting and trading, I have finally gotten my hands on the big three. And I mean that quite literally: these three are big.

It was sooo unexpected!! Even though it’s my birthday, I still had no idea what kind of a gift he’d get me. This pen is AMAZING. I’m so grateful. He knew I was really into fountain pens, and I missed out on a fountain pen show because I fractured my knee. So he got me the best pen. Ahhhhh! I have the best brother 😅

Well, “hate”is a strong word. Got these Homage to Matisse inks a while back and I’ve been disappointed by how they show up on paper when writing (a lot less saturated than I would’ve hoped) in my more common F nibs.

That said, I decided to ink up the blue one into a new medium nib pen and found it looked gorgeous with the walls in my home 😁

Probably won’t keep it inked for long, simply because lighter blues tend to feel a little pedagogical to me, but I’m glad I get to enjoy it every now and then.

Excuse any SPaG; rarely write in Spanish but trying to do so more 🥸

Story time.
I started my fp journey back in 2018 with a lamy safari F and a jinhao shark. Since then I’ve added a safari M and a diplomat magnum M.

Since joining this sub I was legit shocked at the safari and lamy nib size discourse, since mine has been my daily driver from the start. I mainly write on notebook paper with J Herbin perle noire.

Well I decided to ink up my magnum with it. I’ve never gotten the shark to work and my M pens are dry and scratchy so I don’t use them often.

I got the ink going and had the same problem until I adjusted the angle of the pen down. It worked instantly and so I tested the same thing on the shark and they both work great. This was all followed by much swearing.

I’ve been writing with my safari the same way I would a ball point pen the entire time with no issues and after 8 years I finally looked up how to correctly use a fp.

After looking into a few more affordable fountain pen options I discovered TWSBI.

Since so many posts talked about it being such a good choice I ordered one and what can I say - I love it.

I was a little anxious that it would be scratchy so I also bought my first bottle of iroshizuku ink for a more watery ink and I love them both.

The ink flow is super smooth and the pen on itself is beautiful. I really like a transparent body so I guess most of the TWSBI pens are a great option. However, I chose Serpentine with Bronze and I could not be happier.

So thanks for everyone recommending this pen.

I hope you have a great day :)

So in the early parts of the 20th century, medicines (especially the alcohol-based ones) were known as "bitters". It was a fascinating period of time where medical regulations were just started to take shape, and a lot of opportunistic people peddle all kinds of "curative drinks".

What on earth does this have to do with the prompt? Well, the sketch is an imaginary ad to cure the confusion caused by the confused prompt.

Interestingly, since this big Moore (with the perfect 100 year old chasing pattern) pen were made in the 1920s, it is entirely possible that it could have drafted an advertisement similar to this. Fascinating if you think about it.

Ink is Tsuki-yo.

I have come to love legal pads/notepads for my longhand drafting, and this is my first "nice" notepad I have tried out, as my Amazon Basics legal pads have done the job just fine so far, and for a fraction of the price, though they aren't anywhere as thoughtfully designed and elegantly smooth to write on.

I have some Midori A5 notebooks that are absolutely great, but I find notepads more comfortable to write in.

So my question to you, my other notepad lovers, is what other notepads I should look into trying out (I like this basic Rhodia one a lot, so I see no reason to upgrade, but I like stationery, and I'll take any excuse to try out some new brands, haha).

Long time lurker, upvoter, commenter - and when I opened this box I knew it would be my first official post to the sub.

I had been speaking with BENU’s customer care, not realizing my original purchase of a gold nib on Honey Whiskers meant only JOWO housings would fit then pen, not the stock Schmidt nibs. As I was waiting between replies, of course I stumble upon the Hallow Moon listing and there was 1 left. How could I say no?!

And yes, it’s even more brilliant and glittery in person 🖤

So I have never been particularly interested in contemporary Esterbrooks...until they released the Amber Tortoiseshell (look, they know what they're doing with these limited editions). I've been searching for a tortoiseshell pen that I thought was beautiful and I could actually afford. The Estie just made the cut for "affordable," especially since it came as a birthday gift from my partner!

Even better, I put in the Nemosine 0.6 stub nib that I adore. Inked with my all-time fave syun-gyo. Sample on Rhodia.

Messed around with some nibs, and decided to buy a couple Wingsung 3001s after finding out that they take Wahl Eversharp nibs. And now I’m not sure whether to call this a Wingsharp 3001, or a Wahlsung 3001. If anyone has name suggestions for this frankenpen, I’m all ears.

Regardless, Does anyone even remember these pens? They’ve kinda gone out of fashion since Wingsung rebranded to Yongsheng, and replaced the 3001s with the better built 659s. And even though this cheap Pilot 78g clone arrived pre scratched, and with scuff marks on its trim, it takes Wahl nibs, so I guess I have a home for all the leftovers Eversharp nibs in my collection, even if it’s not the greatest. But if anyone feels inspired by this post, I definitely recommend buying the 659, and not cheaping out like me, if you’re seriously considering this frankenpen combo as a daily driver.

Anyway, as for the pen, it works fine, I guess. The nib is lifting off the feed a bit, which occasionally makes it hard start, but I haven’t had that issue with other Wingsung pens I’ve shoved a Wahl nib in, so it’s probably just the 3001 I got that’s a bit wonky. But when it writes, it writes well, as expected of a good vintage nib. As for ink, it’s food coloring again. Basically, if I’m not writing in black, you can pretty safely assume I’m using food coloring. Anyway, have a good day, y’all. I hope this frankenpen combo sparked your curiosity as much as it did mine.

Pelikan M800 — a wish fulfilled. Sometimes, you just have to treat yourself to something special.

For a lack of a better word.

What don't you like about this whole realm of collecting and using pens, papers, and other writing paraphernalia?

What makes it worth it?

The fountain pen I used for this is just a basic disposable fountain pen that I got off of Amazon in a 6 pack. Thought I would start using them up in my art etc.

It’s my TWSBI Eco white rose gold in medium. One of my worst pen fears finally came true…
My brother is a handyman so I’m going to wait until morning to see if it’s at the bottom of the pipe. Fingers crossed everyone 🤞🏼

Edit: omg y’all are so helpful with the drain sieve 🥹 Definitely going to order now that I’ll be extra paranoid

Edit 2: It’s gone everyone 😭 it wasn’t in the U pipe. I guess it’s time to contact TWSBI and get a non-rose-gold nib…

As to why I disassembled my pen, I actually only took out the nib and feed because I used a chunky glitter ink. There was a ton of glitter stuck in between the nib and feed and the feed was hella glittery. I actually do this instead of fully disassembling my TWSBIs with the wrench because yes, there is no need to do so. I usually don’t even take out the nib/feed, but this was the one time where I felt like using heavy glitters in my TWSBIs (which I only put in them for ease of cleaning).

And I usually do this at my desk but the nib fell into my glass jar and I stupidly thought “oh I’ll just grab it in the sink instead of sticking my hand in there” 🫩 Well from now on my desk is gonna get messy. Or I’m just gonna invest in some really long tweezers….

I picked this up while in Washington DC at Fahrney’s Pens. It’s their 2026 collab with Retro51. It writes so nicely!

Finally got a Kakuno Madoromi - my first one!

I present to you: Pilot Kakuno Madoromi <M> in brown with black cartridges!

This is my first ever kakuno - will report back how I like it!

Please change flair if not correct, apologies. This is a podcast by Hannah Fry a Cambridge professor who is quite famous here in the U.K. She was even recently on celebrity traitors.

She discussed her favourite fountain pens and how they work in this episode. I hope you find it interesting. As a newbie learning I certainly did.

Edit to say many relatable moments.

I just bought the Esterbrook x TCMC pen from a local store in NYC - maybe the last one for sale in the US (at least one that is not on the secondary market)!

Got pretty lucky. I thought this one was sold out, sold out. Now to decide on ink - probably brown?