iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I’m pretty sure it was an Osborne 1, but I was too young to use it. The first one I remember was an IBM XT.

The Osborne 1 personal computer was “portable” and had floppy disk drives and a tiny lil screen.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Ah. Probably you’ve got a stub, but not at 1.1mm. (The VP nib is really small, and it can’t get to 1.1mm.)

Two nibs, tip to tip. The left side nib is a TWSBI Eco 1.1 nib. The nib on the right is a Pilot Vanishing Point medium nib.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Found this awesome Wine Cat fountain pen from Opus88 at the #dcpenshow today. Should have bought it! 🤦🏼‍♂️

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

The Atlanta Fountain Pen Show has an exclusive ink from Franklin-Christoph this year, and it’s a pretty sort of wine-rose color. Here’s a quick swatch in my pen show notebook: Anyone else going to be at the show this weekend??

This is a smear of reddish, wine-ish ink in on a notebook page.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

I’m so mad at Walgreens right now. Just let me fill a prescription, please?

Walgreens’ “pharmacy” has kept me on hold for over an hour. This ain’t my local Walgreens. I can’t call them directly. I have to call the general line, convince a phone-tree-chatbot that I WANT TO TALK TO A PHARMACIST, and then sit on hold forever, and then give information to someone before they’ll xfer me to the dispensing pharmacy.

All I want to do is fill an RX, and this is my second day of trying to do that. I got through yesterday, only for the actual pharmacy to hang up on me.

This is stupid.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

I can’t edit the previous one, and the text is too long to put in a post, so here’s the pic again with a copy of the text in the alt. Does that help?

LEONARDO®
OFFICINA ITALIANA
To our valued customers and supporters,
Earlier this week, a "Use and Maintenance" page was published on leonardopen.com. The page includes a few Al-generated images that we as a company did not approve.
This was a mistake on our end. Please accept our sincere apology. We are learning from this experience to improve our web publishing approval process.
At Leonardo Officina Italiana, we believe in the power of human creativity. Moving forward, we are committed to supporting and showcasing the work of creatives and artists, and we do not support the use of Al to generate creative content. We stand by the skill, passion, and unique perspective that only a human creator can provide.
Thank you for your continued support and for allowing us to improve and serve you better in the future.
Sincerely,
Leonardo Officina Italiana

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Leonardo didn’t actually do it. They had a 3rd party who was handling some things on their website and :

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Just the pens I took to work with me yesterday. I usually post these over on IG. (I don’t post as many pictures here because I never know what to put in the alt text. 🥴)

Four fountain pens and a gel pen sitting on a desk mat.

From top to bottom:
A Tactile Turn All Star. It’s the seasonal design right now and you can get the clip engraved with a player’s name (or most anything else).

A Snifty erasable fountain pens it uses an ink that is erasable like a Pilot FriXion, and has the same sort of nub on the end. Works shockingly well.

A Stilform fountain pen. This has a magnetic cap, and two flat sides to keep it from rolling away.

A Visconti Mythos Persephone with a broad nib. Another good magnetic cap, and I really like the way this one feels.

Lastly, the new Benu Tessera. Dang this is a good pen. I love the colors, the nib, and the feel.

A written list of the pens and inks used in the other post.

The Color Traveller is a little disappointing (I’ve liked all of their other inks), the Stilform is pretty nice (but way too expensive), and The Wet Pen’s Penn Cove Mussel is excellent.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

I added “draw something” as a points redemption on Twitch, and people have been very kind about my silly drawings. 😆

A pencil sketch of my friend’s dog being proud of her house. She is mostly ears. Snoots are hard to draw.

A pencil sketch of a pineapple holding a koala. It was requested. Could have been worse, honestly.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

I love mine, too. There’s just something so satisfying about how it feels, and it’s the brain child of a couple of my favorite people.

The Schon DSGN x Custom Nib Studio Sashiko fountain pen. A black pen made from Ultem plastic by a 3-person shop in Philadelphia, and ideated by Gena (they/them) of Custom Nib Studio.

Each one is unique, both in placement and shape of the stitch-patterned “X”s.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Alright fountain pen folks! Who’s going to be at the DC Pen Fountain Pen Supershow this weekend? I’ll be there all weekend, shooting a live video tour on Friday afternoon and giving a seminar about bags on Saturday. Otherwise, bopping around or helping my friend Gena Salorino at their table. 😀

A picture of myself. A guy with a beard wearing glasses and a grey hat.

Come say hi if you see me at the show!

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

That’s a special one! It’s a one-off pen that Good Made Better brought to the Chicago Pen Show, and I couldn’t resist it. Dan called it the Goldfinch.

A green fountain pen from Good Made Better with orange, black, and synthetic pearl bands at the bottom. It’s ebonite, and he does a hand-texturing job on the pen that makes it sort of look like wood.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

👏🏼 Let people enjoy things. We don’t need to bring other people down for the things they enjoy.

A web comic of one person pinching another person’s lips together and advising them to “shh” and let people enjoy things.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

This is the modern version of the Big Red. I really like it, but the price tag is WAY too high (unless you get it on a fire-sale price like I did years back).

A man’s hand holding a shiny, orange pen with silver hardware and black finials.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Filling up a fountain pen with a converter from the Twitch stream today. The ink is Diamine Forever Butterscotch, and that awesome thing holding the ink is from Pengineer3D.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Filling up a vac-filler fountain pen with Diamine Forever Smoky Mauve today on stream.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Here are a couple of mine! They’re great pens. Lots of good stores out there that aren’t run by bigots. I have a discount affiliate code at Atlas Stationers (inkdependence) if you want. Also check out Vanness and Smruti Pens.

A pair of Benu pens.One is painted with an octopus.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

We’re going to ATEEZ in Atlanta this summer, and I’m real excited! It’s our third ATEEZ concert, and they’re always amazing. Can’t wait!

Photo of myself at an ATEEZ concert standing by the deserted men’s room holding a sign saying “Bros 4 Mingi.” Mingi is a manner of the kpop group, and my bias. That dude is awesome.

My wife’s Lightiny light stick at the ATEEZ concert in DC last August. We had good seats!

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Someone should come and get this beautiful pen case (and all of the jade things inside) at the Atlanta Fountain Pen Show. The price is incredible, and I want it, it I don’t have any place to keep it. Save me.

A beautiful glass and hardwood pen display case filled with jade desk sets. It’s an awesome deal.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Suga is truly one of us. We love BTS in this house. We even had a custom purple ink made called “Borahae.” 💜

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Found this Nock case in a drawer and it’s one of my favorites from them for casual carry. Two pens well-protected on one side and a multipurpose pocket on the other that fits cards, lil notepads, postits, or more pens! And I love this Schon pen. It’s just so good.

A NockCo pen case filled with goodness including a Schon DSGN fountain pen, a Diplomat Excellence A, a Pilot Juice, and a green highlighter. There’s a Tactile Turn Nautilus ballpoint laying across the open case.

The Schon DSGN Faceted Ti Shell fountain pen with a matching Monoc nib!

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

What’re you carrying around on St Patrick’s Day? ☘️

Left to right:
Esterbrook Model J in Lotus Green fountain pen
TWSBI 580 ALR in Sunset Yellow fountain pen
TWSBI Go in clear fountain pen
Tactile Turn Sprout gel pen
Zebra Clickart marker
Zebra Delguard mechanical pencil

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Okay planner and fountain pen feeds: Unite! What kind of theme should I go for in decorating my March William Hannah pages? I just realized it’s March. 😅

A nearly blank pair of planner pages that really need some decoration.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

It did! We brought in 3 stray cats recently, and this was a pair of them going to the vet for their vax boosters. All are doing well, and only one of them thinks he wants to go back outside sometimes. 😅

This is Stripes the cat, and he likes being indoors, but also yearns for the open spaces and multiple food bowls of the wild.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

That's our dog Scraggles wishing she were outside to say hi to some other dog that was walking by. :-D

A little black dog looks wistfully out of the window while sitting on a green chair.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

I really, really like this nib. Cursive italic on one side, and a brush-like broad architect on the reverse. 🤯

The Schon DSGN Monoc fountain pen nib in cursive italic is just one of the best nibs ever made.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Not as relaxing, but still Sunday with a fountain pen!

My Ranga Abhimanyu Grand pen in a dark, swirly pattern.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

I dunno, but my guess is blues? Here’s my collection visualized by fpc.ink:

This is a pretty piece of data representing my ink collection’s colors. It’s basically lots of bands of color.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

I dunno. Mine looks like it’ll have decent contrast. The top bit was written with a glass dip pen, and I think it was actually a little too wet for this ink.

Diamine Lemon & Lime on a colodex card. I drew a blender in there, too.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

These are quite good for fountain pen ink

Zebra JustFit Mojiniline highlighters over fountain pen inks. No smearing.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

These are the best I’ve found for using over fountain pen inks. You’ll still get some movement with sheeny inks or slick papers, but they’re very good. Also the Staedtler Text Surfer highlighters aver very good.

These are Monami Essential Twin highlighters.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 16/09/2024

We showing off our favorite Preppys? I’m in! Check out this cow!

It’s a white fountain pen with black blotches that looks like a cow.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 11/07/2024

Our dog Scraggles. Lounging majestically on the hot patio next to our un-mowed lawn. 😆 I gotta do some yard work.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 10/06/2024

Some of my crabs and a shramp!

Three painted plastic crabs and a shrimp, all offering me some pens in their upraised appendages.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 03/06/2024

Whew. I actually had Jupiter Vortex and not the other. This ink is bonkers. This is some bad copy paper, and it soaked right through. Gotta keep this ink on the good stuff.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 31/05/2024

Is the problem that you don’t have more Ecos inked? 😆

A handful of TWSBI Eco pens. Most of them filled with shimmery inks!

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 27/03/2024

What I took to the office today. The Tactile Turn Icefall is only for sale on their website until tomorrow, so get one if you want one! The TWSBI & Monteverde have fun inks in them and made nice titles. The pencil was something I put in a pocket at the last minute, and didn’t end up using.

3 pens and a pencil on top of an orange pen case from Rickshaw Bagworks.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 13/03/2024

These are the fountain pens I brought to work yesterday. A new Nahavalur Nautilus, the TWSBI 580 ALR Black, and a Waldmann Xtra Vienna with custom engraving of our three cats. They made my meetings and class prep much more pleasant.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 11/02/2024

I resisted the Plotter for a long time, but this one was gifted to me by a friend, and it’s gorgeous. And the paper is fountain pen friendly, too? This Horse Hair finish is beautiful.

A green Plotter binder with a horse hair finish.

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Mike @inkdependence.bsky.social · 07/01/2024

It’s so nice to find this fountain pen community on Bluesky! I’m new here, but I like it already. What’re you using, enjoying, or waiting-for-in-the-mail today?

A pair of silver-grey fountain pens from Diplomat and Waterman.

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