My Tattoos
I realized I've never shared my tattoos here. I have three, all on my right arm. My goal has always been to get that arm covered with different tattoos, but since they're a bit of a financial investment, I haven't quite achieved that yet. I do have some ideas for tattoos I want to get in the future, but I'll cover that later in this post. For now, here are the ones I have so far!
The Intellectual Yeti from Hidden Folks
This was my first tattoo. I will say, first of all, that none of my tattoos look this crisp anymore. These photos were all taken right after I got them, while I was still in the studio. They've blurred and faded since then, as all tattoos do.
There's an indie game called Hidden Folks that I was quite obsessed with for a while. Before I was diagnosed with bipolar, I was dealing with a lot of turmoil in my head, and Hidden Folks was one of the few things that truly calmed it. I could spend hours in the little hand-drawn world of the game, looking at all the details. The sound effects, all of which were done by one guy's voice, were charming too. It's really a labor of love by human hands (and voice!), and I highly recommend it.
There are all kinds of unique characters you can find in the game, and my favorite was the Intellectual Yeti, who would pop out of her cavern wearing a top hat. I had a few ideas for what I wanted my first tattoo to be, but I ultimately chose this one because it meant the most to me at the time, to have something representing finding peace and calm within chaos. I think it's adorable, and I love looking at it.
This tattoo was done by the wonderful Nick Moran.
Traditional-Style Grim Reaper
I knew I wanted a grim reaper, but I wasn't sure what I wanted it to look like. I went back to Nick because my experience with my first tattoo had been great, and I wanted to get one in his usual style, which is traditional American. He had a sheet of different grim reapers he had come up with, this one being his most recent. I loved the expression on this reaper's face and the details of the gravestones. It stood out to me, so I went for it!
As a fan of horror and anything macabre, I knew I would end up getting a dark, Halloween-adjacent tattoo. I might actually get more in that theme in the future, but for now, I'm quite happy with my grim reaper, who I named Robert (after Robert Smith of The Cure).
Crumbling Statue Inspired by Gris
My third tattoo is yet another video-game-themed one. Gris is one of those games that I just connected with on a deep level. Watercolor has always been my art medium of choice, and I couldn't get enough of the gorgeous watercolor-inspired art within the game. I'm a huge fan of its soundtrack and how the music is woven into the gameplay. I still listen to it on my own all the time -- my favorite song is "Komorebi."
Throughout the game you see this broken statue, a fixture in the girl's life. I loved the imagery and thought it would make a beautiful tattoo. In the official art, she's holding the girl in her hand, but I decided to have a flower drawn there instead to represent holding on to the things that make you happy when you feel like you're crumbling, or holding on to nature in a dying world.
This is the tattoo I get the most compliments on. It was done by the amazing Lavender Bugatti, who's a master of linework.
Future Tattoos
I have a few ideas spinning around in my head, but there are two I know I want for sure:
The Reduvia dagger from Elden Ring - If you've been following my blog, it should come as no surprise that Elden Ring is one of my favorite games. My dog, Ranni, is named after a character from it. It's the first thing Danny and I bonded over, so it means a lot to me personally.
The Reduvia is my favorite weapon in the whole game, and I've had the most fun doing playthroughs with it. I also just think it's super cool-looking and would make a great tattoo, simple as that!
A running fawn. I used to run regularly. Unfortunately, I can't anymore because I blew out my knee, but it used to be my go-to way to move my body and decompress. I was running on one of my usual trails one day when I looked to my right at the field beside it and saw a fawn running practically alongside me. It wasn't that far away and was keeping pace with me.
I had a moment of intense awe and exhilaration. I felt like everything was okay, that I was going to be okay. Of course, the deer eventually sped up and disappeared, but that experience has stayed with me. I want to get a tattoo commemorating it so I'll never forget my little running buddy who made me feel like all was well in the world, even for just a fleeting moment.