Oh she looks so cute

That's because Mimi is cute!

mimi is there AND she's square

Hip, some might say.

I've had the same multi-color pack of Pilot Varsity fountain pens for at least over ten years because the idea of a disposable fountain pen was way too intriguing for whatever reason.

I should probably look for those other pens because I've never even wanted to throw any of these away despite that being the whole point.
And despite more than one of them leaving my entire hand covered in ink any time I use them

The Pilot Varisty does its job, but that hesitation you have about throwing them away is part of why I think you should try a pen meant to be reused!
Thankfully, I haven't had a Varsity leak on me, but mine aren't 10+ years old either! Quite impressive.

One of my first fountain pens was the Pilot Metropolitan (it's got more heft due to having a metal body if that's your thing). But as stated above, the Pilot Prera and Pilot Explorer are great. The downside being that they're certainly more expensive than the humble Varsity.

Oh! Pilot Kakuno is a cheaper fountain pen that uses the same steel nib as the others, but it has a triangular grip to reinforce how to properly hold a pen. But the nib has a face on it.

That's if you want to stick with Pilot, of course. Plenty of other great puns at or below the $30 range.

And, if you do end up looking into other pens, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I need to remember all of these pens, I had no idea there were quite that many options. Even one with a face! :O

Sadly my experience has mostly just been with those varsity ones so far so I'm sure there's a lot of pens that would impress me. But aside from those I did used to have a bunch of non-fountain nib based things to use with india ink because I got weirdly into that stuff.

Any fountain pen is better than that though, so many black ink splatters all over the room any time the metal got caught on a surface. I started putting the ink into fancy markers instead but it's not quite as satisfying and somehow one started growing mold. Who knew life could thrive on felt soaked in black ink?

how did I manage to post that as it's own comment D:

Ah, like a dip pen? Yeah, those can catch if you're not careful. There's always glass dip pens if you want to use India ink in dip form. Just don't drop it!
Actually, Pilot and Sailor recently came out with their own dip pens here in the West. Haven't used either myself though, but I'd expect the nibs to be less flexible (and thus, less likely to catch and splatter the ink). More like their fountain pen nibs.

I know some fineliners use a plastic nib rather than a felt one, but I'm really not familiar with that side of things, especially the refillable markers. Using those Pigma Microns and whatnot just don't quite do it for me. Usually. I pick them up every once in a blue moon.

You mention life and ink, but I had mold grow in my blue ink! I believe I had purchased it back in high school when I was knew to fountain pens, so I'm sure I did something wrong there by leaving it open or cross contaminating it too many times.

And, ha! Done the same thing myself before. Can just forget to hit the reply button at times.