Ballpoint pens require pressure to melt the ink paste to apply it to the page. For those with arthritis, this can be a problem. Fountain pens apply liquid ink t

Ballpoint pens require pressure to melt the ink paste to apply it to the page. For those with arthritis, this can be a problem. Fountain pens apply liquid ink to the page through capillary action, meaning the nib merely needs to touch the paper for ink to be left there. Advantage: fountain pen. In order to apply the pressure, the writing angle of a ballpoint pen to paper must also be much higher. This is less ergonomic in general. Advantage: fountain pen. If you are pressing a fountain pen into the page, you are using it incorrectly. It's meant to glide across the page. Because it glides, and you can use it at a more ergonomic angle, without pressing, you can relax your hand. This means you can write for longer. Advantage: fountain pen. Fountain pens are not disposable, you refill them with ink, and if you use a converter, or an integral filling system (vacuum, lever and sac, piston, eye-dropper) you are not discarding any kind of plastic pieces to clutter the environment. Advantage: fountain pen. With the same fountain pen, you gain the use of hundreds of different inks across the entire spectrum. Inks that sheen, inks that shade, inks with shimmer, perfumed inks, even invisible inks! Advantage: fountain pen. Ballpoint advantages: cheap, useful for carbon forms, work for super-cheap paper, and yes, they work in zero-G when pressurized. Roller ball and gel pens are superior to ballpoints. But fountain pens have them beat, especially for people with RSI or arthritis issues. As for nib sweet spots, Lamy Safari's can write from most rotations just fine, and their grip will help you orient the nib properly. You probably also haven't used quick-drying inks. They often don't require any sort of blotting, though that depends on paper "sizing" (the coating on the paper).