fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2751 ]

[ SECRET POST #2751 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2751 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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I don't...I'm just sort of amazed people get them. I mean, I've been in several fandoms over the years, and while some of it bordered on obsessive, my interest has always sort of waned after months or years. No matter how much I love a fandom now, I'd never put it permanently on my skin. Whatever floats your boat, but I'm sort of glad I didn't get Pokémon tattoo at 19 or so.

I'm looking at getting one of Bubo sitting on a stack of books. It's meaning full to me in a way that is not just fandom, but of the memories associated with my Grandmother, who is amazing and really into owls and really ill.

In that context, I can get it - if it transcends the original meaning. But, I honestly wonder how some of those people will feel about their fandom tattoos in 20 years time.

I'd say "Why would anyone get a tattoo if it didn't mean a lot to them?" but I watched a marathon of Tattoo Nightmares today so I know people are morons.

Ahahahahahahahahahhaa. Yes.

Oh wow, thanks for pointing me to this show. I've been looking for something to take up my cringey watching spot after Kitchen Nightmares.

I've been in some of my fandoms for nearly thirty years and don't see it ending anytime soon. Fandoms aren't always something you leave or regret.

How will people feel about any tattoo in 20 years time? After all, they're permanently changing their body, regardless of the subject matter.

But, at the end of the day, it's their tattoo to regret or cherish.

Well, I've been in fandom for nearly 20 years and I still feel the same about everything I ever loved. BUT I've never gotten a tattoo. Mostly because I couldn't decide and I'm a huge sissy when it comes to pain.

To me it's the permanent nature of it. I already completely overhauled my life several times over, and every now and then I just get this strange urge to reinvent myself.

I understand that some things are constant in your life, but with me, there haven't been so many, except for my parents and I don't really feel the urge to tattoo their faces on me.

I'm more of a piercing girl than a tattoo girl, I guess.

(no subject)

toshi_hakari - 2014-07-16 11:55 (UTC) - Expand

Exactly why I haven't gotten one. I'm 21 and I've been completely in love with pokemon for over 10 years now, and I'd say it's been a sufficient part of my life to have earned tattoo space on my body if anything else has. If I did get it it'd be somewhere really subtle, like the side of my heel, where most people wouldn't notice it and it could be easily hidden.
But what if I wound up disliking pokemon? What if I 'grew out' of it? I'd be so embarrassed every time I saw it or someone else noticed it. No. Not a chance. I'm happy with pokemon charms and toys and even stickers on my car, all stuff to demonstrate my love that I can take off or put away if I like. Never something permanent on my own skin, thank you!

This. This is exactly why the "but it's meaningful!" argument seems so stupid to me. Sure, it may be meaningful to you RIGHT NOW, but what about in ten years? Twenty? Thirty?

There are plenty of ways to do "meaningful" things that don't involve permanently altering your body in a way that is difficult, expensive and painful to undo.

You'd still have a tattoo of something that was really meaningful to you when you were younger, even if it wasn't as important when you got older. I don't see why "growing out of it" should mean you'd suddenly hate your tattoo if it's still well-done and looks attractive. I think I'd look at a HP tattoo and feel nostalgic for my teenaged years and everything that series meant to me back then.

A lot of people grow out of liking tattoos in general. I know several people who got (non-fandom) tattoos when they were younger, and now that they're older and have higher-level jobs and families and kids, they wish they'd never gotten them. It's not about liking the design, it's about not liking the concept of having something permanently inked on their skin.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2014-07-16 02:50 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2014-07-16 04:34 (UTC) - Expand

On one hand, I agree with you. Fandoms come and fandoms go. HOWEVER: You can also look at it as even if you don't stay in that fandom forever, if it was important to you at the time, a tattoo would serve as a nice reminder of something that had an impact on your life.

So I can see arguments both for and against.

This. Mine tattoo will always remind me of an important time in my life and the friends I made during that time.

I've been in a particular fandom for over ten years, which canonically has a character with a tattoo. Who I've cosplayed. And if it didn't mean I'd have to go to the trouble of covering up a huge tattoo on my back anytime I cosplayed some other character who doesn't wear much above the waist, I would get that tattoo - because ten years later, I'm still absolutely enamored with the game and the world and the characters, and it played a significant role in the trajectory my real life took, in that it introduced me to my fiancee and several very good friends who are now like family to me.

If that's not as good a reason as anyone has for getting a tattoo, I dunno what is.

Same here. Maybe it's because I'm on the older side of things now, but I know from experience that no matter how much I adore a fandom, eventually that interest will fade. Maybe not disappear completely, but it won't be to the same degree as it was when I first got into it. That's just the way life goes, and honestly this is why I feel tattoos of any sort are a foolish idea. You're banking on loving the whatever-it-is for your entire life when chances are that you won't.

I was thinking about this while reading through the comments from people who've loved their fandoms for 10+ years. Age probably plays a role. If I think about the stuff I was into when I was 12, I was still into the stuff I really loved by my 20s. But 30s? Not so much. I mildly like it and it's nice sometimes for a nostalgic trip. But I think if I had a tattoo of it every time I'd look at it or someone would mention it I'd feel really stupid about it.

The only tattoos I feel that are acceptable are those to remember loved ones that have passed away or something, like an experience or milestone, that you're proud about that's solely about you. Example, Olympians who get the rings tattoo. Your children is a bit of a grey area because they could grow up to be little assholes that you still love, but don't like that much.

ayrt

Yeah, to give an example, when I was a teenager I was really, REALLY into Sailor Moon. Owned all the DVDs and manga and every piece of merchandise I could get my hands on, cosplayed as Sailor Moon for Halloween and cons, you name it.

Nearly 20 years later, I still like Sailor Moon. I still got excited when Crystal was announced, even stayed up all night to watch the first ep as soon as it went up, but I'm not into it with the same intensity that I was as a teenager. It's a nice nostalgia trip that I'm enjoying, but that's about it. It's not a huge part of my life the same way it was when I was younger. And if I'd gotten a Sailor Moon-related tattoo, I would definitely be regretting it now because the level of my love for it has gone way down.

That reminds me of the sailor moon chest tats. No thanks.

I have been in online Fandom for somewhere around 12 to 13 years now, and besides a bit of an aversion to the prospective pain involved, getting a fandom tattoo does not seem wise because I move fandoms on a rate of between one to three years. Where will I be in 3, 5 10 years time? Who is to say I still think well of my current fandoms by then?

I feel like a lot of the people who think fandom tattoos are a good idea are younger and haven't had much experience in growing out of fandoms. When I was 18 or so and still a newcomer to the world of fandom, I would've thought it was a great idea. However, I'm in my 30s now and have been through so many fandoms I've lost track.

Sure, some fandoms do last for years - I have one I've been in to some degree for more than 15 years now. Hell, my dad has been a Star Wars fan for decades, but his interest has also waxed and waned over that time. I think it's rather unrealistic to expect that you're going to maintain the same level of involvement in a fandom because people do grow and their interests do change, no matter how sure you may be right now that you're going to love this particular fandom until the day you die.

It's not hard to see why people are so quick to say "You'll regret it" about fandom tattoos, really. A tattoo isn't a decision you can easily change your mind about - once you have it, you have it, and if you want it removed you have to shell out a lot of cash and go through more pain. So why take that risk in the first place?

I'm in my 30s and thinking of a few fandom related tattoos that I want, and not all of them are current fandoms. I wanted to wait until after I had kids to get a tat so my body wouldn't be stretching out and shrinking down and making it look awful, and now that I'm done, I'm looking more hardcore into it.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2014-07-16 19:04 (UTC) - Expand

A lot of people who get tattoos don't think that far ahead. That's why celebrity tattoos and spouse tattoos are a thing.

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