Common misconceptions about tattoos

[yakalskovich]

Yesterday, I learned a few things about tattoos:

• It's not a good idea to get one while drunk. Very inadvisable. The alcohol thins the blood, and you bleed profusely; while sober, you bleed very little.


• It takes quite a while to get one done. A dragon that extends down the back and is even done in colour would take many hours, and would have to be done in several sessions. By no means would it be the product of one drunken night.


• Nobody who has a tattoo themselves would consequently make someone else drunk and drag them to be tattooed as they'd know about the blood. If at all, they'd have to use other substances to space the recipient out.


• A fresh tattoo is deep black; it turns blue as the ink settles under the skin. It needs care, must washed often and the skin must not be stretched too strongly as to make it settle evenly. A tattoo fades through its owner's lifetime and gets a paler and paler shade of indigo.

Why I know that? Because I got one myself, of course:



The symbol is a so-called heyiya-if from Ursula LeGuin's "Always Coming Home", one of my favourite Science Fiction books ever. I wanted to have a heyiya-if on my right shoulder for ages - but I lent out the book. Now I have the book again, I took it with me to the Tollwood festival when I went yesterday with the Brits, and had it done there - by an interesting British bloke called Mark Lee.

This is it:




And to prove that it's actually on me:

Comments

[woelfle.livejournal.com]

Wow, that looks cool. All symmetric and stuff. Though, yes, OUCH too!

and thanks for metaquoting me. :-)

[marchenland.livejournal.com]

Very nice!

[madame-mercredi.livejournal.com]

Very nice. I've been teasing Paul that I will get a Wraeththu symbol tattoo while at D*C. Hee hee -- it's making him nervous.

[vikytickytembo.livejournal.com]

OMG neeeedles in the skiiiiiin!

But it looks so cool!

Shut up voices in my head shut up!

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

That is just beautiful!