New pen day. I unboxed the Mayfair Royal Eowyn in Pastel Rapids this morning, and the body might be the most unusual one I own.

I have an Eowyn tattoo, in fact, so this one was a must for me. “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman.” She rides to the Pelennor Fields disguised as a man because everyone in her life has told her where a shieldmaiden belongs, and then she stands over Théoden and takes down the Witch-king of Angmar, the one enemy prophecy said no man could kill. The line only works because of the loophole. Tolkien gave her a way through the thing built to stop her, and her story has always resonated for me as woman living in an often man-driven world.

It is so flowy and regal feeling, and is reverse threaded on the body to account for the threaded cap. Nothing else on my shelf reads like this. Pens shaped for fantasy usually feel like it in the hand. This one doesn’t. It balances well and sits where my hand wants it, which I didn’t expect from a body with this much going on.

My one honest note is grip, and it’s a me problem, not a pen problem. I hold my pens too close to the nib, so my nails catch at a funny spot. Working on that. Grip a little further back and I don’t think you’ll notice.

Pastel Rapids is better in person than any photo of it, mine included. The shifts are softer and the depth doesn’t come through on a screen. Worth knowing if you’re deciding from product images. The nib is a JoWo EF, and it does what a good JoWo does. Smooth from the first stroke. No tuning, no complaints.

I inked it with Sailor Date Gokoro. The color shift plays off the pastel so well, and that’s the pairing I’d point you to.

Mayfair releases these in small limited edition batches and they sell out. If a colorway speaks to you, grab it while it’s live! No FOMO for you!

The Decimo is Pilot's slimmer take on the Vanishing Point. It's a capless, retractable fountain pen with a real gold nib. Click it open like a ballpoint and you're writing. Mine is this soft lilac pearl finish, and it's genuinely pretty in the hand.

The nib is the reason to buy this pen. It's not a true flex nib, and I wouldn't pretend it is. It's just a really lovely, pleasant give. A light softness that makes everyday writing feel a little special. That's the "bounce" I keep coming back to.

Honesty time: it feathers a bit for me. I've got Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-kai in it, so that could be the ink as much as the pen, but it's there, so I'm telling you. And the shape won't suit everyone. The Decimo is slim, and even with my small hands it gets a little uncomfortable after a long writing session. The clip placement is the other thing. Because it's a capless design, the clip sits right where your fingers want to go, and it's obtrusive. Larger hands will feel both of these more than I do.

So who's it for? Someone who wants to splurge a little on a gold nib but doesn't want to spend multiple hundreds. If that's you, and you don't mind a slim pen, the Decimo delivers a gold-nib writing experience that punches above what you paid.