Fountain pen talk?

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AgBQ-00
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8:26p, 8/4/26
AG
getting my first fountain pen. real danger of this becoming a huge rabbit hole for me.
I decided to start with a TWSBI Eco with a fine nib. Anyone here use a fountain pen? What's your favorite. and what is your favorite that isn't crazy expensive?
God loves you so much He'll meet you where you are. He also loves you too much to allow to stay where you are.

We sing Hallelujah! The Lamb has overcome!
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EclipseAg
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12:29p, 8/7/26
AG
Oh, man ... back in the day EVERYONE at my work had a Montblanc.

I had the desktop inkwell. Looked like this.



Loved the pen but it was messy.

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AgBQ-00
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In reply to EclipseAg • 12:44p, 8/7/26
AG
If I've seen it correctly Montblanc used to be at least somewhat affordable. Maybe I'll find one for a steal some time. would love to see how they write
God loves you so much He'll meet you where you are. He also loves you too much to allow to stay where you are.

We sing Hallelujah! The Lamb has overcome!
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jr15aggie
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In reply to AgBQ-00 • 2:49p, 8/7/26
AG
AgBQ-00 said:
real danger of this becoming a huge rabbit hole for me.


Trying to not sound like a d***, I'm geniunely curious... how do pens become a hobby or a passion?

Are you getting into calligraphy or is it just one of those things where, when you need to write something down, unsheathing a fountain pin is just more fun than clicking the back of an office depot ballpoint?
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AgBQ-00
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In reply to jr15aggie • 2:57p, 8/7/26
AG
I'm a bit of an odd one. I shave with a gillette fatboy safety razor that was a gift to my dad when he shipped off to the navy in the 60's. Every now and again I break out my grandad's straight razor to shave with. I use some cooking and baking stuff that my other grandad used. I have tools that I use that my dad and I rebuilt a mustang with. I like having connection to items I use as it reminds me of the people whenever they are in my hand. The everyday mundane things that people use are intimate. And I like things that last and are well made. I think we lost something as a society when so much of our stuff became disposable and made to be replaced. My hope is that someday when I'm gone someone will use some of my stuff and be able to have that little connection. A fountain pen is something unique that will never not have a use. And there are a lot of cool ones out there.

ETA: The amount of inks and other paraphernalia is mind blowing as well. I am also looking to improve my penmanship. I am tired of chicken scratch borderline legible handwriting. So that is part of the fun as well.
God loves you so much He'll meet you where you are. He also loves you too much to allow to stay where you are.

We sing Hallelujah! The Lamb has overcome!
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jr15aggie
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In reply to AgBQ-00 • 3:51p, 8/7/26
AG
That's great! I get the physical connection aspect. I'm guessing you also take joy in slowing down with these things as well. I think most / a lot of men find peace in taking their time and doing things with a purpose.
We need breaks from the hectic 'I need it now' pace of life.
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CrackerJackAg
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In reply to jr15aggie • 4:01p, 8/7/26
AG
jr15aggie said:
AgBQ-00 said:
real danger of this becoming a huge rabbit hole for me.


Trying to not sound like a d***, I'm geniunely curious... how do pens become a hobby or a passion?

Are you getting into calligraphy or is it just one of those things where, when you need to write something down, unsheathing a fountain pin is just more fun than clicking the back of an office depot ballpoint?


Some ****s just hard to explain man

I have a weird thing for pencils.

I literally keep all of my books by hand because I love really nice pencils.

I love sharpening them with really nice sharpeners and blades. I like the way they smell. I love the little ribbons.

I do woodworking as a hobby and I think I just kind of like Wood and precision tools

I feel like a pencil with an incredible tip at the right angle is a precision tool.

Black wing has been my go to for quite a while

I buy those things in the giant case for like $700 or something stupid because that's the most economical way to buy it.

I chop them in half and make a little stubby pencils and I tend to keep one shoved into the band of my ballcap on most days. My grandfather used to do this.

I also have a bunch of pencils that people have made by hand out of different types of wood

Got a bunch from Korea one time that were really cool

I wish I could tell you why I like pencils but I just do.

I'm just glad it's pencils and not something weird that I couldn't admit to.
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92Ag95
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In reply to CrackerJackAg • 4:05p, 8/7/26
AG
CrackerJackAg said:
jr15aggie said:
AgBQ-00 said:
real danger of this becoming a huge rabbit hole for me.


Trying to not sound like a d***, I'm geniunely curious... how do pens become a hobby or a passion?

Are you getting into calligraphy or is it just one of those things where, when you need to write something down, unsheathing a fountain pin is just more fun than clicking the back of an office depot ballpoint?


Some ****s just hard to explain man

I have a weird thing for pencils.

I literally keep all of my books by hand because I love really nice pencils.

I love sharpening them with really nice sharpeners and blades. I like the way they smell. I love the little ribbons.

I do woodworking as a hobby and I think I just kind of like Wood and precision tools

I feel like a pencil with an incredible tip at the right angle is a precision tool.

Black wing has been my go to for quite a while

I buy those things in the giant case for like $700 or something stupid

I also have a bunch of pencils that people have made by hand out of different types of wood

Got a bunch from Korea one time that were really cool

I wish I could tell you why I like pencils but I just do and I don't know why.

I'm just glad it's pencils and not something weird that I couldn't admit to.



"I once saw him kill 3 men in a bar....with a pencil."
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CrackerJackAg
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In reply to 92Ag95 • 4:07p, 8/7/26
AG
92Ag95 said:
CrackerJackAg said:
jr15aggie said:
AgBQ-00 said:
real danger of this becoming a huge rabbit hole for me.


Trying to not sound like a d***, I'm geniunely curious... how do pens become a hobby or a passion?

Are you getting into calligraphy or is it just one of those things where, when you need to write something down, unsheathing a fountain pin is just more fun than clicking the back of an office depot ballpoint?


Some ****s just hard to explain man

I have a weird thing for pencils.

I literally keep all of my books by hand because I love really nice pencils.

I love sharpening them with really nice sharpeners and blades. I like the way they smell. I love the little ribbons.

I do woodworking as a hobby and I think I just kind of like Wood and precision tools

I feel like a pencil with an incredible tip at the right angle is a precision tool.

Black wing has been my go to for quite a while

I buy those things in the giant case for like $700 or something stupid

I also have a bunch of pencils that people have made by hand out of different types of wood

Got a bunch from Korea one time that were really cool

I wish I could tell you why I like pencils but I just do and I don't know why.

I'm just glad it's pencils and not something weird that I couldn't admit to.



"I once saw him kill 3 men in a bar....with a pencil."


A ****ing pencil!!
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jr15aggie
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In reply to CrackerJackAg • 4:11p, 8/7/26
AG
CrackerJackAg said:
jr15aggie said:
AgBQ-00 said:
real danger of this becoming a huge rabbit hole for me.


Trying to not sound like a d***, I'm geniunely curious... how do pens become a hobby or a passion?

Are you getting into calligraphy or is it just one of those things where, when you need to write something down, unsheathing a fountain pin is just more fun than clicking the back of an office depot ballpoint?


Some ****s just hard to explain man



Bingo!

I love to mow my lawn and I can't use words to explain why.
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Eliminatus
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5:05p, 8/7/26
AG
I started a discussion a few years ago about it

https://texags.com/forums/30/topics/3176618/1
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CrackerJackAg
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In reply to jr15aggie • 5:13p, 8/7/26
AG
jr15aggie said:
CrackerJackAg said:
jr15aggie said:
AgBQ-00 said:
real danger of this becoming a huge rabbit hole for me.


Trying to not sound like a d***, I'm geniunely curious... how do pens become a hobby or a passion?

Are you getting into calligraphy or is it just one of those things where, when you need to write something down, unsheathing a fountain pin is just more fun than clicking the back of an office depot ballpoint?


Some ****s just hard to explain man



Bingo!

I love to mow my lawn and I can't use words to explain why.


Mowing your yard is just like painting a big surface. It's awesome.

I never mow my own yard anymore, but if I did, I'd probably still enjoy it.
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CrackerJackAg
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In reply to Eliminatus • 5:13p, 8/7/26
AG
Eliminatus said:
I started a discussion a few years ago about it

https://texags.com/forums/30/topics/3176618/1


Yeah, been there. I just love anything proper.
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AgBQ-00
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In reply to Eliminatus • 5:14p, 8/7/26
AG
I'm very much looking forward to my pen getting here. should be Monday.
God loves you so much He'll meet you where you are. He also loves you too much to allow to stay where you are.

We sing Hallelujah! The Lamb has overcome!
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Eliminatus
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In reply to AgBQ-00 • 5:25p, 8/7/26
AG
AgBQ-00 said:
I'm very much looking forward to my pen getting here. should be Monday.


I adore the Ecos. Absolute best bang for the buck. They are still my daily drivers. And I have owned much more expensive ones by now. Including a Visconti. It was aight.

Two of the Ecos are my dailies actually. An EF and a custom stub grind when the mood strikes me. Have had them for years. I just got in a liter of Pelikan 4001 yesterday. Impulse buy. Not my most favorite ink but up there and it was like $45 soooo, why not said my stupid brain. Never mind I already had enough ink for like seven lifetimes but whatever.


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AgBQ-00
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In reply to Eliminatus • 5:30p, 8/7/26
AG
I ordered a jar of twsbi black ink with my pen. I've also got a bottle of waterman mysterious blue because I typically perfer a dark blue ink
God loves you so much He'll meet you where you are. He also loves you too much to allow to stay where you are.

We sing Hallelujah! The Lamb has overcome!
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92_Ag
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9:17p, 8/7/26
AG
I love my collection of fountain pens and inks, many of which will be heirlooms for my kids. They can definitely be a rabbit hole.

I even have a couple custom nibs from John Mottishaw including a Nakaya Neo standard Sumiko (ascending dragon) before nibs.com went bankrupt and was bought by someone else. I don't even think they are a licensed Nakaya dealer anymore.

It may take you some time to figure out your sweet spot (flex, size, angle, scratchiness, grip, etc.) but they become very personal as you get farther into them.

Montblanc (of which I have several) used to offer writing evaluations and suggest nibs for you, and that's not a bad place to start but there's such variation across all manufacturers it will take you a while if you're serious about it.

Find forums and ask questions. (FPN used to be a go-to but it seems rather dead now, replaced by some Reddit groups)

Goulet Pens isn't a bad resource. I've bought some travel and casual writers from them as well as ink and paper.

Which reminds me, paper makes a huge difference so don't overlook that. There are plenty of notebooks, notepads, loose paper options for fountain pens/ink.

Best wishes on your new adventure!
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eric76
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In reply to AgBQ-00 • 5:00a, 8/8/26
AG
AgBQ-00 said:
getting my first fountain pen. real danger of this becoming a huge rabbit hole for me.
I decided to start with a TWSBI Eco with a fine nib. Anyone here use a fountain pen? What's your favorite. and what is your favorite that isn't crazy expensive?

When I was in elementary school, cartridge pens were the by far the most commonly used. We went through ink pretty quickly on them.

The bad thing was that they could really leak. I have no idea how many times I went home with an ink stain several inches across around my shirt pocket.

My dad had a fountain pen and a bottle of India ink. He never would let me use it.
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AgBQ-00
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2:29p, 8/8/26
AG
it came today! yay!
God loves you so much He'll meet you where you are. He also loves you too much to allow to stay where you are.

We sing Hallelujah! The Lamb has overcome!
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Icecream_Ag
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1:42p, 8/9/26
S
I have some cheap Amazon pens that I use at work that write pretty smooth and look expensive but cost like $20. One day I may splurge on a good pen, but for now I'll stick with my cheap pens
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AgBQ-00
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1:45p, 8/9/26
AG
getting back in the habit of writing in cursive is going to be a major labor of love for me. I've got practice books and instruction manual on the way!
God loves you so much He'll meet you where you are. He also loves you too much to allow to stay where you are.

We sing Hallelujah! The Lamb has overcome!
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91AggieLawyer
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In reply to jr15aggie • 5:08p, 8/9/26
AG
jr15aggie said:
AgBQ-00 said:
real danger of this becoming a huge rabbit hole for me.


Trying to not sound like a d***, I'm geniunely curious... how do pens become a hobby or a passion?

Are you getting into calligraphy or is it just one of those things where, when you need to write something down, unsheathing a fountain pin is just more fun than clicking the back of an office depot ballpoint?


Hobby, not so much, but I can only speak for my dad and me. He had thousands of pens. He grew up in depression era rural Texas and a pencil was something to take care of as they didn't have many of those. When he got out of high school, started working and dealing in some way with banks (if nothing else, making check deposits), he encountered pens. Maybe not the first time, but the first time with some regularity. He soon started working in some job other than manual labor and encountered them again. Became mildly fascinated with them and started a collection. I noticed his collection after 20 years, and that's a while to build up a small collection. Just imaging 50+ years!

Some of that rubbed off on me, although I don't go in for the more expensive or esoteric pens. I have low 4 figures, including hundreds of your Bics, etc. My tray next to my keyboard here has about a dozen ranging from Cross and Parkers to Uniball to JellyRoll pen! I just pay far more attention to pens than the next guy -- kind of like someone who pays far more attention to cars or sports.
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AggieGunslinger
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In reply to AgBQ-00 • 8:27a, 8/10/26
AG
AgBQ-00 said:
getting back in the habit of writing in cursive is going to be a major labor of love for me. I've got practice books and instruction manual on the way!


You will have the added benefit of being able to write so anyone born in the last twenty years cant read what you wrote. We hired a kid who graduated from Bama two years ago, he cant read a lick of cursive. Takes him forever to figure out old deeds.
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AgCMT
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4:05p, 8/10/26
AG
I was going through some of my dad's stuff after he had passed away several years ago and found a unique looking pen. After going down a rabit hole, I was able to figure out that it is a Pelikan Souveran M800.

It is dried up and needs some love but I'm not sure where to even start.

Also, any suggestions on how to get this pen back up and running would be appreciated. I had thrown it in a box on my desk about 10 years ago and forgot all about it until this thread.

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AgBQ-00
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In reply to AgCMT • 4:49p, 8/10/26
AG
Wow! I hope you can get it up and running again. I don't know the first thing about repairing them yet, but I would be very interested in hearing how you do it and seeing the results.
God loves you so much He'll meet you where you are. He also loves you too much to allow to stay where you are.

We sing Hallelujah! The Lamb has overcome!
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Eliminatus
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In reply to AgCMT • 5:19p, 8/10/26
AG
AgCMT said:
I was going through some of my dad's stuff after he had passed away several years ago and found a unique looking pen. After going down a rabit hole, I was able to figure out that it is a Pelikan Souveran M800.

It is dried up and needs some love but I'm not sure where to even start.

Also, any suggestions on how to get this pen back up and running would be appreciated. I had thrown it in a box on my desk about 10 years ago and forgot all about it until this thread.



YouTube will be your friend here. Not sure on that model but typically just a flush and possibly some lube afterwards is enough for most pens.
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Eliminatus
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In reply to AgBQ-00 • 5:24p, 8/10/26
AG
AgBQ-00 said:
getting back in the habit of writing in cursive is going to be a major labor of love for me. I've got practice books and instruction manual on the way!


How's the new toys coming along? Liking the Eco so far? For a long while the Pilot Metropolitan or Lamy Safari was seen as the go to starter fountain pen but pretty sure the Eco has way overtaken it by now. Not to say the others are bad. I have several of each of those and they are great but I genuinely love the feel and writing smoothness of the TWSBIs more. Kinda weird as they are just steel nibs but they are doing something right over there in their manufacturing process.
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AgBQ-00
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6:07p, 8/10/26
AG
I'm really enjoying it. I'm going through the Spencerian handwriting books. This would have been the ones my grandparents learned from. I always loved their handwriting and if I can get close to that it would be awesome.
In addition to my Eco I also have a Waterman Expert.
I'm using the eco for journaling and the expert to do my exercises in the workbook. the eco bleeds through the workbook page and the expert doesn't.

God loves you so much He'll meet you where you are. He also loves you too much to allow to stay where you are.

We sing Hallelujah! The Lamb has overcome!
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Maximus_Meridius
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In reply to Eliminatus • 8:11p, 8/10/26
AG
The big knock on TWSBI for a while was that they kept suffering from cracks in the feed area. I've got an ECO that's been solid for me.

I love my fountain pens. I got started when my grandmother gave me a 3 piece sterling silver pen and pencil set that belonged to my great-grandfather. It's easily one of my most prized possessions (and is a wonderful writer), and I think it's going to be pretty cool to hand it down to my oldest (the younger boy gets his Sheaffer Imperial VI). I have rocked a Lamy Safari for about 15 years, and got a Pilot 823 a few years ago to mark a career milestone. They just make writing more fun for me.

I also have a thing for drafting pencils and lead holders. I'm hopeless.
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AgBQ-00
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In reply to AgCMT • 9:27a, 8/11/26
AG


Maybe a place to start?
God loves you so much He'll meet you where you are. He also loves you too much to allow to stay where you are.

We sing Hallelujah! The Lamb has overcome!
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Drundel
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11:24a, 8/11/26
AG
I don't know why, but they were popular in the 90's with the sparkle/glitter pens and then I really liked the Parker Vector and even had one in maroon. I think I was given a couple of nicer ones for both high school and college graduation, but didn't use them much and now as little as we write, I just use a Zebra Gel Pens.

I'm a lefty and hate certain pens.

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atmtws
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11:38a, 8/11/26
AG
Turning your own pens on a lathe FTW. I've been doing it off and on for 25 years. Finally moved back into a place with room to setup shop again and will soon start turning some for Christmas gifts. If anyone has any antlers they don't want, feel free to send them to me.
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Drundel
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1:22p, 8/11/26
AG
Found mine. Let me try to attach pictures if they will attach.


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AgBQ-00
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In reply to AggieGunslinger • 1:27p, 8/11/26
AG
It is really kind of sad that we are losing that as a society
God loves you so much He'll meet you where you are. He also loves you too much to allow to stay where you are.

We sing Hallelujah! The Lamb has overcome!
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AgCMT
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In reply to AgBQ-00 • 4:55p, 8/11/26
AG
Thanks for that. It sent me down a rabbit hole on YouTube.

I need to buy some ink and a tool to disassemble, and I should be good to go. After soaking it in cold water for a bit, it actually pumped out some ink.

Pelikan M800
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