Welcome to the Marilyn Darling Show, where I do what I do best: hang out with you, unink a bunch of pens, and make a glorious mess because I’m good at it. In this live chatty session, I unink my usual black-and-pink lineup (they’ve been working overtime) and talk through what I’m swapping in for the week—plus the real-life stuff in between, like being “stuffed like a baked potato” after dinner and trying not to spend pen money while I’m paying down my credit card for a truly ridiculous, very expensive pen. I also walk you through how I choose inks and pens for the week—decision paralysis included. We talk Diamine Inkvent colors, shimmer inks, crusty “barnacles” on a nib (gross), and why some inks behave weird (and why you should not put gum arabic in your pens unless you really know what you’re doing). I ink up several pens with sparkly options like Myrrh the Merrier and Raise a Glass, geek out about the upcoming Pelikan Ink of the Year (I’m losing my mind over that gold), and share my biggest fountain pen truth: if I can’t take a pen apart to clean and maintain it, I don’t want it.