who only by moving can balance

Further to my previous, I now own:

• a TWSBI Diamond 580ALR in Prussian Blue, with a 1.1 mm stub nib
  
• 80ml of Diamine Eau de Nil
  
• 80ml of Diamine Blue/Black
  
• 60ml of TroubleMaker Starry Night Blue (shown off to gorgeous effect in this r/fountainpens post)
  
• ... and a replacement Pilot Penmanship FP60

I went for the stub nib on the grounds that A already owned a Diamond 580-compatible EF nib, so I had might as well get something as different as possible, on the grounds that I could always swap it out. (A had not realised that the nib units swap out on the Diamonds -- he got his second-hand at a bargain price -- and is Very Pleased at the concept of ceding the EF to me entirely if I stick a B in my next fountain-pen-fandom order, which is... definitely going to happen, sigh).

I have finally, today, got (more-or-less) to grips with the stub nib, and it is now writing reliably. Sorting out handwritings I also like is a work in progress, but I am starting to get some amount of sense of how to do things, e.g. this ink wishlist as a blatant excuse to continue with writing practice:



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So, er, let's see, what is the state of this hobby? "Cheaper than perfume per millilitre" is perhaps damning with faint praise; I am trying to actually think seriously, in the grip of Special Interest NRE, about how much I'm likely to want to use water-based and water-soluble inks (As A Geologist I have historically preferred waterproof inks, but for reasons those aren't generally fountain-pen friendly, because stuff that won't dissolve in water likes clogging up the workings), but for right now I am an extremely happy autistic who is spending hours every day reading fountain pen blogs. I am taking it upon myself to Explain Fountain Pens to A, frequently and with vigour, because his Special Interest was long enough ago now that the scene has in fact moved on some.

And, you know, practical considerations aside, I am having immense fun. There are! so many! shiny blues!