spookysproul

I would like to expand on this and say it's "social media" in general. Millions of people who have never set foot inside a tattoo shop, have only seen their cousin's "ink" that his friend did for him in his living room, and don't actually see the artwork beyond the social capitol of the tattoo suddenly have all of this emphasis on how cool they would be if they got any tattoo, regardless of content or quality. So you end up with people like my coworker, who has an entire sleeve (shoulder to knuckles) of the space needle and skulls that appear to have been done with a shader exclusively, and very poorly as well. I believe he got it done at a shop in the mall (of all places) and it looks very much like the quality of tattoo you'd get from a shop in the mall (of all places). However, he's very happy with it. From what I've gathered his only tattoos are that arm, his other hand, his other forearm, and his neck. Usually when someone is peacocking that heavily they're not all that concerned with the overall quality of any of it.

My mom was a vet for years before she was an RN, and she did the same thing. Her dogs all had butterflies, though.

I'll second this. And I'll add yet another echo of "If the shop doesn't have the flash, you shouldn't be getting tattooed there." @Synesthesia I personally don't see any qualm with you bringing in a print-out just in case, especially if you're going to a shop that would most likely have it anyways.

Well, since you asked, here are a few of my recent concoctions! I'm still getting the hang of watercolors, but I'm pretty happy with my progress.

My wife and I have my (now our) family motto in the theban alphabet on our knuckles, I have the first half and she the second. Other than that, I've had 4 "bro tats" and 4 matching falling-outs with the other folks. All are either covered or have plans to be so. Just make sure you've known the folks for more than a few months!

I'm really jealous of your appointments. Be sure and post pictures!

Well, I didn't expect to see this today.

I'd like to second the sentiment on avoiding skimping on the piece. I've got some tattoos I paid through the nose for, but I'm much happier that I did that than went for a cheapo. Also, keep in mind that you won't be paying that all at once. You'll most likely have to wait to get your first session, then wait again for your second session, then again for your third, etc.

I have a shark quoting Babe ("that'll do, pig") on the inside of my ankle, and a spiral from the opening credits of Dark City on my right palm. I'm very fond of entertainment tattoos (movies, music, or books), just - as mentioned before - avoid anything so bold as the logo of whatever you're getting.

I suppose I don't see the harm in it when using it as an accent to a visible tattoo ("Look, his eyes glow under black light" etc.) but it just seems so sketchy to me.

I like to tip 20% at least, but move that higher if at all possible. I like to let people who are putting things permanently into my body know that I appreciate what they do. A kind of investment in the future, I suppose.

I'm just over a week and my scabs just finished coming off today, but the skin is still pretty "fresh" where the scabs were. A friend of mine says his took just over 3 weeks to fully heal. As for the knee ditch, over all it wasn't THAT bad. Mine both felt like the back of my calf until it got right in that crease in the center, and that's where it started getting a little too "vibrant" for my liking.

Legitimately 16 hours? Kudos to you, if so. How awful do you feel at the end of that?

Welcome aboard! You have some great tattooers down there that I'm certainly jealous of not having ready access to.

I'll second this motion. I've never really thought about it and they've always just gone away.

When I first went home after moving out, I was nervous about showing my mom my first visible tattoo (my first tattoo was inside my lip) - a zombie pin-up girl on my forearm (by Kahlil Rintye of Tattoo City, then of Mom's Body Shop). I decided on wearing short sleeves and to not bring it up and hope she wouldn't smack me silly. She just looked at it and said "Well, at least you can't see her nipples."

I frequently have un- or barely-tattooed coworkers discussing my "ink" or "tats" with me. Those terms, or variations thereof, make my skin crawl. I think because it implies a familiarity - a "tight bros from way back when," if you will - that they very clearly don't have. Maybe I thought to much about it. That being said, I enjoy saying "zaps." I think I'm using it in a tongue-in-cheek manner, but I imagine that doesn't make it any less obnoxious.

I do enjoy ass, but have I been missing out on payment opportunities?

I definitely wish I hadn't gotten tattooed as rapidly as I did for a period of about three years. I had a good relationship with a few good artists and that made it hard to stay away, but I really wish I'd fleshed a few of these ideas out a bit more before committing to them; there's a few good tattoos that had the potential to be REALLY good. I'm about 60% to 70% covered, which seemed really cool a couple years ago but I wish I'd been a bit pickier.

Are the tattoos in the game as bad as in real life? I don't know what it is, but professional athletes seem to get exclusively tattooed by the worst tattooers available.

What sort of upbringing do you suppose leads to someone craving attention so desperately?

I've met multiple artists - Henry Lewis is the first to come to mind - who referred to doing filler tattoos as just that. He seemed really excited about some of the ideas my friend was bringing to him.

Re: "Witchy witchy tattoos" - As a practitioner of witchcraft - and not a tumblr The Craft enthusiast - I gotta say that the "witchy" internet tattoo trend of recent has been most vexing and very "cultural appropriation", although not nearly as much as "white girl wearing a war bonnet" tattoo people seem so fond of. Regardless of my e-opinion, you have a splendid tattoo. How old is it? edit - in re-reading of my post, I was in no way trying to attack you or say you were perpetrating that in any way; your comment just reminded me of my feelings.

I'm putting my palm at #4 in my top 5 painful spots; worse than my stomach, but not as bad as my "flanks", knee-ditches, or toes.

What if a shop did that, as a sort of expansion of the "pick flash out of a hat" idea? Except you would get a fortune cookie with the flash inside. That would be fun to watch.