what do you think about Tattoos?
 

How does every feel about Tattoos?


IF you ever get a tattoo, What would you get and why?!

If you already have a Tattoo (can you post picture?), what was the reason (if any) for you getting it? what was the story behind it?

I'm not tryin' to hate on people who do have them, but I think they're pretty ugly. Especially when you get older. >.>

I'm really not into tattoos at all. Or piercings for that matter. I don't really find them attractive and tattoos in particular are a tad too permanent for my tastes. (Yes, I know they're not technically permanent, but it's a pain in the ass to remove them anyhow.)

LOOOOOOOOOOL IT'S A TRIBAL CHARACTER =( IT MEANS COURAGE.

I see the premise behind tattoos if you were in the military of some sort. But the barbed wire? Asian characters? Tramp stamps (AKA: Butterfly above the butt-crack)? Seems so pointless and stupid. Some idiot at Sonic had her NAME tattooed in cursive across her neck (along the left side).

Why? I mean really. Even if it's hidden, you're going to carry it all your days. Want a tattoo to help you remember a lost sibling or brother? Fine. But a belt of ammo tattooed around your bicep is just fucking corny.

I've considered getting the Dragon Force(The game not the band) symbol tatooed on the back of my hand. Tatoos are fine, just don't get a Tatoo you you might regret later. Like say the name of your girlfriend/wife, no matter how sure you are a relationship will last forever this is a bad idea. One of my friends is finding that out the hard way as he's getting divorced.

Or, say, a video game.

Yeah, I really don't get the appeal of tatoos. I mean, I like art, but the human body just doesn't seem like a great canvas, so to speak. Tatoos look pretty ugly even on young people, but imagine some girl with a trampstamp living into her 80s.

Most people wouldn't even have any idea that the Dragon Force symbol is from a video game. A friend of mine got it tatooed on his shoulder and everyone at his work liked it without having any idea what it was.

Also it's not too likely that you're going to wake up one day and decide you hate a game that you've always liked. But in regards to people, you never know what's going to happen down the road so getting someone's name tatooed on you is the stupidest thing possible.

You never know what's going to happen down the road.

Exactly.

I don't like tattoos nor piercings. A piercing or two in the ear might be okay, but that's where I'd draw the line. Tattoos are generally ugly and since they're in a way permanent I'd never get one. It's not like a tattoo nor a piercing would make you look that much better than you already do (unless you're maybe deeply into em).

And as you said, you never know what's going to happen down the road.

Hey! ring another one up for the no tattoos & piercings crowd! I used to have my ears pierced but I took 'em out after my teenage years ended.

Tattoos though, I never did get any, and thank god because I can only imagine what kind of dork-ass Idea for a tattoo I would have gotten back then. I'd rather keep my body as it is now, but I don't necessarily think tattoos and piercings are all that bad in most cases. Some people just overdo/screw it up though, and that I have a hard time with.

Not my thing. Tattoos can be tasteful but most of what I see is just plain stupid and besides markings like that make you easily identifiable.

I have one on my arm. Its Protoman!

Tattoos are cool as long as they are not what defines you. Mine is of course a reminder of my dangerous & tortured youth.

You sure do have a fun habit of fagging up every thread you ever post in.

I'm impartial to tattoos. I don't know what kind of person I'll be in 20 years, so I don't know how much I'll regret having one. If I ever get one, it would probably something personal, but small and concealable.

You're not getting it. A relationship between a man and woman is a transitory and fleeting thing. A relationship between a man and a tactical rpg circa 1998? Now that will never be rocked.

Shining Force 3 for life.

Really? Do you have a pic? Not calling you out or anything, it just seems kinda random. Or, you know, it would be if this wasn't a gaming board.

My cousin just got a tattoo on his back of his family crest. Something like that wouldn't be *too* bad, since your heritage would definetly be permanent anyway. At least it's not gaudy.

I don't plan on getting a tattoo, it's just not me. Piercings I can kinda understand; you can take them out whenever you want. But a permanent mark on my body... I just don't know.

What about *you* Mr. Topic-Starting SpaceMonk? Do you have a tattoo?

I don't mind tattoos on other people, but I'd have to be absolutely certain about getting one myself rather than doing it for the hell of it or because it might look cool for a while. On a slightly related note I don't mind piercings either, the exception being one guy I was introduced to who had so many piercings in his lips he looked as if his mouth had been stapled shut. How on earth does the man eat, drink and kiss?

One of my friends always thought about putting an R on his right hand, and an L on his left hand.

I myself would never get one.

Good idea. I forget too, sometimes.

First off, I want to point out that every bloody post Nall has made is quality. At least all of them that I've read. Getting my nod for best new member if this keeps up.

Anyway, I'm going to pop in for the well and proper inked up. The problem here is multi-tiered. On the really surfacey bits, there's the obvious: A video game tattoo is on par with a band logo, or a girlfriend's name, or a Buffy the Vampire Slayer tat. I don't care how much you self-identify with it, it's going to be something you take shit over. And there's good reason. For 95% of people, in ten years that's not going to have any meaning to you, and people will constantly be asking you what the fuck an Angelus is. You're going to want it gone. Now, sure, for 5% of people they self-identify with whatever otakukin style tribalism their entire lives, but 95%? Let's be fair, people, you're probably in that group if you're even halfway sane.

Now, we touch on a huge issue with tattooing (modern, I'm not going to go into the history or the historical stigma. If anyone wants this sort of stuff, I have three published papers on it, just drop me a line.) and the issue is this, a large number of tattoos people get are poorly thought out and purely decorative. Now, this in and of itself isn't bad. In his book, Wrapping in Images, Alfred Gell talks about how decorative tattoos have this tremendous tradition (and they do. The Japanese pioneered tattooing as a purely decorative art, and it has a tradition steeped in cultural significance.) and are still a valid form of expression. And as much as I personally disagree with tramp stamps and barbed wire jock tats, there is a point to be made there. Tattoos have been used as a way of marking pure aesthetics forever. It draws a certain form of attention, and it still does. Why do you think those chicks with the tramp stamps generally go home with someone at the end of the night? It's creating an image conducive to the goals they desire.

But we don't need to deal purely with aesthetics. Neo-tribalism is the source of the modern revival of tattooing, and let's not stray too far away from that. Self-identification can be a huge portion of tattooing, from gang signs to memorial tattoos, it's a way to mark yourself and identify with something. A tribe, a group, a family line. Permanence brought through pain, there's enough metaphor in that image to keep academics hopping for years.

I have a clear preference for tattooing that goes into symbolism and beyond aesthetics, but I love aesthetics in my symbolism, if you follow. And that's what tattooing is, at its heart, symbolism. Now, whether that symbol is just that you're a juvenile prat and want a picture of Link on your chest because, hey, you want to save the Princess Zelda too (Princess Zelda here usually played but a marginally pretty, slightly overweight girl who keeps falling for other guys who use her) that's up to you, but ink is all about symbolism.

Body modification is at its most base level, an external expression of internal issues. Now, this can be incredibly cathartic; a way to deal with loss, or to mark a strong shift in your life, or simply to record some event that is cherished. But let us all remember, some times our internal monologue isn't something we need to express externally. Sometimes it's a conversation about Baldur's Fucking Gate, and we don't need that to be permanently blared on our forearms, now do we? Take your time, think it through. If it can't wait a year to be done, it's probably impulsive and a bad idea. Tattoos will represent you for the rest of your natural life. Don't let that message be "hey, I'm a massive berke and I should be smacked upside the head by everyone I meet for the next twenty years."

And yes, I carry ink. A fair bit of it, and there will be much more of it come February.

Oh come on, the Megaman games aren't that bad!

Thanks Den, I appreciate that. :)

It's obvious through your post that you put a lot of thought into getting your tattoos. You're the type of person who *should* get them, taking the time to actually pick out what is important or appropriate enough to have displayed forever, not some meaningless symbol you get grafted on overnight during Spring Break. I wouldn't think to tell someone how to express themselves, that's how good art is born, but there's a fine line between putting something trivial (or in some cases, blatantly perverted) and making a statement about *you*.

I believe that there is the capacity for beauty in tattoo culture. I believe that some people probably shouldn't have a picture of a mermaid with huge tits inked on their arms unless they're a sailor named popeye, but I appreciate seeing a well constructed tattoo.

I really dig Maori tattoos, which seem to be indicative of ancient warrior status but seldom see them. I'd like to get a tattoo of a blazing phoenix bird rising from its ashes and spreading its wings on my entire back but I have quite a few moles and I am not sure it would be do-able. It would also cost about 4500 bucks.

San Diego Tattoo Artist Fip Buchanan - FipTattoos.com

This is who I'd like to get the tattoo from if at possible. His style incorporates an eastern vibe that I really love.

I just got one, actually. Originally I was going to get a simple plus-sign. I would've been sort of a family crest, as suggested by my cousin. So I checked the place out, thought about it over night, and my idea evovled into the astrological symbol for Uranus, which also features the plus-sign (or the "cross of matter") with some additions. My dad, who's big into astrology, says that Uranus is huge in my chart, and when I looked it up, I really identified with it, so I figured it would work. I really like how it came out. It basically looks like this. It's centered on my upper back.

I am not really into the whole tattoo thing. Actually, its ok if it is on other people, unless its my girlfriend, otherwise sure... just not on me.