So there's a number of fountain pen ink brands that give their inks fanciful names; sometimes this is thematic, sometimes this is fluffing up what would be an otherwise ordinary color, sometimes it's trying to describe an ink that is more complex than just having a single color (eg, it contains shimmer, which is basically ink glitter).
But there's this curious pattern I've observed where there's exactly one (1) ink with kind of a hardcore name rather than a cottagecore name.
- Pilot makes their Iroshizuku line of inks which are normally given Japanese names that reference nature, the seasons, and so on. Plants, flowers. They make a green called 'firefly glow.' And then there's fuyu-syogun, (as they transliterate it) normally translated as 'old man winter' but written with the kanji for 'shogun'; I don't know enough Japanese to understand what is going on there.
- Diamine inks range from purely descriptive names to occasional cutesy things like summer-themed inks named things like 'grey skies no more' or 'sand between your toes.' And then there's the shade of red they call 'writer's blood'.
- Ferris Wheel Press makes expensive ink with cutesy names like 'Blushing Mushroom', 'Lady Rose', etc. And then there's 'Poison Envy', which is in fact a purple ink with a greenish shimmer in it.
- Noodler's are known for their inexpensive and well-liked black ink, and they tend to brand their inks with folksy Americana names like 'Southwest Sunset' or 'Baystate Blue'. And then there's 'Heart of Darkness'.
- Finally: Jacques Herbin. French company. Inks are named in French with fancy color names like 'violette pense' or 'vert atlantide'. And then there's a shade of black named 'shogun.' What is it with ink companies and shoguns?
