Several new inks and two new pens over the last few days! The Pilot Metro I've had for a couple of weeks now, but had been using the stock black cartridge that came with it while the Diamine Emerald got lost in the mail for a few days. While waiting for the Emerald, I got impatient and bought a three-pack of Diamine Green/Black, Writer's Blood, and Midnight.

I also wanted to try a Japanese fine nib, so I ordered the Pilot Lightive. I'd been getting really curious about Chinese pens as well, and at $11 USD, the HongDian 525 seemed like a great experiment.

First, the inks. All four of them are beautiful, but after seeing the Emerald, the Green/Black seems a little lifeless. Green/Black is still a lovely color and fits in very well with the rest of the trio, but the Emerald is exactly what I was looking for in a green for right now. It's an added bonus that it matches the color of that Retro Pop so well! The Midnight and Writer's Blood are also stellar inks. I can see why the Writer's Blood is such a popular color.

The Pilot Lightive is a wonderful pen to write with. I can definitely see the difference between the German fine of the Lamy Safari and the Japanese fine of the Pilot. For as fine as it is, there is very little feedback and it just glides over the paper. I've been using it quite a bit over the last few days!

The HongDian just arrived about twenty minutes ago, but I'm quite pleased with it so far. It has the same width as the Pilot despite it being sold as an extra-fine. It has a lot of feedback, but it's not what I'd call scratchy. It just lets you know that the paper has some tooth. It's a heavy pen, weighing in more than the Metro, which is a physically larger pen. It also needs a bit heavier hand to get the ink flowing. My other pens just need the weight of the pen, but the HongDian needs the slightest bit of pressure at the start of a line.

I'm excited to keep writing with all of my new toys!