polliwog

The skin on my thigh's a bit smoother and firmer where it's tattooed. I scar easily, so I figured some of the firmness was just due to a light, even layer of scar tissue. For what it's worth, part of the tattoo goes over some old stretch marks and it's settled in fine there. I do notice that my tattooed skin has slightly less sensitivity than my non-tattooed skin.

Yes!!

A fox called Pudding. The photos are stunning.

And then there's learning to let go of the worry that you look stupid or that you don't know enough. I've been reassured a few times that tattooers are used to handling nervous newbies -- and everyone I've met so far has been nicer than I'd ever imagined as a pinky. This seems to be a profession that attracts people with an aversion to pretension, so it's better to have some humility than to try to impress. @HettyKet, it all worked out in the best way possible. I'm jealous of that arm.

Oh, I'll already be at Smith St. to see Mario Desa so I thought it might be fun to get something else on the same day, if I can manage it. I probably won't be able to fit in a trip to another shop. But there are many places I would like to be tattooed at in New York! And thank you for the suggestions. For those of you who live close to New York and the Bay area, it must be difficult to prioritize. (Not to slight the many talented folks in New England.)

@smiling.politely congratulations on surviving the divide. I was in that situation as well for 2 years and it was really, really difficult. Going to New York in a couple weeks for a folk bird and hopefully a small tattoo from someone at Smith St., though I've been so indecisive that I may have missed out on that.

If we're sharing tattoo dreams, I had one recently where I got lots of tiny, awful tattoos all over my hands. I felt pretty emotionally funky after my first tattoo but it hasn't been an issue since. I've never had any really long sessions, though.

Terrible news. I hope you're back on your feet soon.

Currently on a Sarah Waters tear. If you're up for a Victorian-styled page-turner with super-hot sex scenes, these are really enjoyable.

I think this (in addition to other posts I've read on here) is also proof that the kids of LSTers have the greatest tattoo ideas, and all questions about "what tattoo should I get" on this forum should be answered by people age 5 and under.

(Re: the above, isn't this poster in her late teens, though? Late teens = peak years for Knowing Some Shit.) Maybe look at script/letting tattoos a bit more and wait a bit longer to get this tattoo? You have a lot of time to get tattooed!

That's super beautiful. My thigh swelled a lot too, but it healed really fast - good luck!

AWWW. Also a turkey is the best tattoo idea ever.

I've never described someone's legs as "inspiring" before but yours are. Nice moggy too.

If I start on a sleeve within the next couple of years, I probably will have to budget for it in a pretty dedicated, week-by-week way, unless my line of work completely changes. If I don't have at least some savings put aside specifically for the purpose of getting tattooed, I feel too guilty to go ahead with it. Thanks for the neuroses, family.

@bongsau's post is so nerdy, I love it. Only 4 tattoos in but I find it hard to keep track of time spent actually being tattooed, since sometimes it can be really stop-and-start. Like, do you turn off the mental stopwatch every time you pause to talk about something? I find it really easy to lose track of time in a shop, anyway. You just surrender to the fact that you're on someone else's time.

Shunga, because I can wear a scarf all the time when I'm at work, etc. (Which reminds me of "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.") Having a sartorial trademark sounds preferable to having a shitty tattoo I can never get rid of, even though I'm not really a penis-on-the-neck sort of person.

Me, too. I saw the notification arrive in my inbox and thought, crap, did I do something wrong?!

Just got mine today. The Shige pages make my heart hurt. Is there any chance of this exhibit traveling?

Ha, no, it's just a stupid question I had after reading an aftercare post on her website. I'll have a couple fresh leg wounds in October though.

For those of you who use/recommend Dr. Bronners for washing tattoos ( @Valerie Vargas ?), do you recommend the unscented type only? I have the tea tree liquid variety and was wondering if this would be OK for de-gunking a lower leg tattoo.

You don't really want to be attracting the kind of person that falls for this. If anyone does. I'm guessing that plenty of people on here, myself included, developed an interest in tattoos partly because of seeing them on cool people when we were young and impressionable (however you want to define cool) - but when the motivation for getting them is that transparent, it tends not to work. Take @Pleadco's advice... -Sincerely, a girl

How is babby formed?

That's pretty steep, but I might still go on the Sunday. I've never been to a convention before and figured it might be worth it if I could pick up a print from someone. Didn't plan well enough to allow for getting tattooed; I just hope Mr. Coleman is back next year.

Also, if you're thinking of getting something Star Wars themed one day, I hope you've checked out this thread. Tattooers designed these; they look better than some vaguely tattooable picture you could find through Google and it takes the pressure off of you to find the perfect image, though you could bring in printed references. Hope this helps.