I checked the custom mechanical keyboard market a few years ago to find my "dream" keyboard, but there were nothing that really stood out at the time. Now, however, the market is much larger, but the prices are horrible! Am not really ready to dive down that money-swallowing swamp hole just yet. The alphabet being the biggest issue, since Norway is one of the few countries who uses the letters "Æ", "Ø", and "Å". For a full custom, I don't want the typical "nordic" (Scandinavian) layout.
Being both a casual gamer and amateur typist, the ideal would be 2 keyboards (
at least I got the desk space for it), with the brand offerings being something like a MX Red TKL plus MX Blue full-size. At work I use a cheap AF rubberdome Cherry KC 1000. The noise - or lack thereof - doesn't matter at my current work, but I bought it when I did some reeducation a few years back, and needed something I could type on in a silent classroom. Damn shame I didn't bring an IBM Model M (don't own one, but I know of it) one day, just to annoy everyone. xD
For actual pens, I was able to help out my mother last year. I didn't even know she had a fountain pen of such sentimental value to her. It was something given to her by her parents when she started studying, she told me, so the thing is older than I am. But the ink cartridge had dried up, and she was so sad when the replacement she had ordered was the wrong kind, and it was the only one even close in design that she could find online.
Was a really lucky coincidence she told me that day, because she had thrown the old cartridge in the trash since the letters on it was almost illegible (at least she couldn't make anything off of it), with the bin being emptied the next day. With her birthday coming up, I dug through the trash without her knowing it on the off chance that maybe I could read anything off the old cartridge. I found it (and fortunately I found it quickly...) and held it under a magnifying glass and a lot of light and managed to read a few letters and numbers.
Turned out to be an old Pelikan cartridge. And typical of the Germans, that cartridge was still being made, albeit with very slight design differences. So I took a chance and ordered a few different colours and cartridge lengths directly from the manufacturer. They didn't arrive in time for her birthday, but they were the right kind and fit her old pen perfectly. And she was so happy she could still use that pen.
Mothers just deserve the best.