NationStates Jolt Archive

So I've looked around and I haven't been able to find a good gallery for body art on NationStates. I'm wondering what the lot of you have, be it tattoos, piercings, or something else. Personally I'm not into the whole piercing scene, and my tattoos are pretty reserved compared to some but I'm a big fan of my all-black style, nonetheless.

http://209.85.48.8/237/117/upload/p698921.jpg
I got this on my left arm after my two cousins, Rob and Bill as seen in the picture, died in a car accident on Valentine's day. They were 17 and 21 and it hit me pretty hard. I did it as a memorial.

http://209.85.48.8/237/117/upload/p699022.jpg
This is going to be my next tattoo as soon as I get the money for it (give me a month or two). It is a gothic-styled phoenix and it will have the words "Not Everyone Lives" from the quote "Death is more eternal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives." above it. I'm planning on getting it in the middle of my upper back.

Anyhow, feel free to post pictures of yourself, work you've had done, or work you've possibly done for others. Answer the poll as well, but please no flaming or insults. Especially with tattoos, you may not like it, but I guarentee it either means something to the person or comes with a kick-ass story behind it.

I have a fair few tats err 12 times I beemn under the needle, I have had my tounge, eyebrow, ears and nose pireced a total of 15 times, although I have no piceings in at the mo.

I have a fair few tats err 12 times I beemn under the needle, I have had my tounge, eyebrow, ears and nose pireced a total of 15 times, although I have no piceings in at the mo.

Haha holy shit. Any pics?

I have no tatoos, but my brother has some really beautiful traditional Asian ones. He originally designed his own, but when he started getting the traditional ones while in Europe he had his old ones covered. Shame, I really liked a couple of them. But he wanted the styles to match.

Haha holy shit. Any pics?Geez, haven't seen you in forever.

I only have one tatoo. It's on my left upper arm. I plan on having it redone and to have my Bald Eagle carrying the American Flag.

Geez, haven't seen you in forever.

I typically avoid General lol, but then again I'm typically asleep at 7:30 am...so...

I don't think I'd ever get one, but they're fine on others. (Until they start to sag, that is.)

I intend to get four lines of script written in a runic alphabet across my back, between my shoulders, in increasingly indented lines, so that the first line's last word is above the last line's first word.

EDIT: Also, probably only the girl I end up marrying will know what the script translates to.

I wouldn't get one, if only because it would look odd when I'm 80.

I've got a cousin in England who's covered in tattoos, though. Eyes and sinews and weird things.

You can also have temporary body art. (See video here (http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/news/culture.html), "Performance art in the streets of Kinshasa".)

My tattoo :

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b24/cabrawest/Tattoosmall.jpg

Designed by myself.

I also have my ears and nose pierced (ears 3 in each). I'm thinking of maybe getting another tattoo at some point, but not right now.

I wouldn't get one, if only because it would look odd when I'm 80.

The way I figure it...when I'm 80 I'm going to have all sorts of body problems when I take my shirt off. Liver spots, sagging in general, body hair, moles, etc. What's one more thing gonna hurt?

The way I figure it...when I'm 80 I'm going to have all sorts of body problems when I take my shirt off. Liver spots, sagging in general, body hair, moles, etc. What's one more thing gonna hurt?
Yep, pretty much everything looks odd when your 80.

Haha holy shit. Any pics?


Naaa not online.

I intend to get four lines of script written in a runic alphabet across my back, between my shoulders, in increasingly indented lines, so that the first line's last word is above the last line's first word.

EDIT: Also, probably only the girl I end up marrying will know what the script translates to.

Heheh yeah or any one that can read runes.

Heheh yeah or any one that can read runes.

Not made up SPECIAL RUNES! HOOYAH!

Edit: well, yeah, which is why I'll probably end up writing my own runic alphabet. Also, it's on my back and I'm not the beach-bum type, so not many people will end up seeing it anyway. :D

Not made up SPECIAL RUNES! HOOYAH!

Edit: well, yeah, which is why I'll probably end up writing my own runic alphabet. Also, it's on my back and I'm not the beach-bum type, so not many people will end up seeing it anyway. :D

Ohhhh then in that case, no not with special made up runes, no not a chance!:p

Yep, pretty much everything looks odd when your 80.

Fair point...

Incidentally, do you know where tattoos come from? The word, at least. They were important in pre-Christian Polynesian societies, as marks of identity. (I read some articles about it while doing research last year...).

Ohhhh then in that case, no not with special made up runes, no not a chance!:p

Now I have to make up a realistic and interesting looking runic alphabet. Dammit. It's ok, the one I was working with was fake anyway and didn't have any phonetic runes, so it was more of a pretty code than runic.

Now I have to get a degree in runeolgy. Shit.

Fair point...

Incidentally, do you know where tattoos come from? The word, at least. They were important in pre-Christian Polynesian societies, as marks of identity. (I read some articles about it while doing research last year...).

Ya...a good number of cultures place them in far higher regard than "art" as well, attaching a good deal of spirituality to them.

I don't have any tattoos or any body piercings, I hate both of them.

Why other people want to devalue and degrade themselves like that is beyond me.

Now I have to make up a realistic and interesting looking runic alphabet. Dammit. It's ok, the one I was working with was fake anyway and didn't have any phonetic runes, so it was more of a pretty code than runic.

Now I have to get a degree in runeolgy. Shit.

Heheh calm down man, I'm only playin':D

Haha holy shit. Any pics?


Okay then here ya go, just for you though okay, nobody else is alowed to look.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lee_douglas/360484265/

I don't have any tattoos or any body piercings, I hate both of them.

Why other people want to devalue and degrade themselves like that is beyond me.

What's devalueing or degrading about that? :confused:

Heheh calm down man, I'm only playin':D

Nah I know, I think it would be neat to design my own tattoo/runic alphabet anyway. :D

I don't have any tattoos or any body piercings, I hate both of them.

Why other people want to devalue and degrade themselves like that is beyond me.

How exactly is it devauleing or degradeing? Surly to be degraded one must feel degraded? If I don't feel it then surly I have not been it?

Tell me, what about cloths that make a statement, or makeup, or jewrly then, do you see these in the same light?

I don't have any tattoos or any body piercings, I hate both of them.

Why other people want to devalue and degrade themselves like that is beyond me.

Ah...finally an opposing viewpoint. As someone said, why is it degrading exactly? Do you not get a haircut to look how you want to? Shave your face/legs depending on your gender? Would you not wear makeup at times if you were a woman? Any of these things are just adapting your body to how you like it, no different than getting a tattoo or piercing.

Sure I may not like some of the more extreme versions of body art, but then again, it's not my body to be judging. I make myself appear how I want to...no different than you do.

What's devalueing or degrading about that?

The commercialisation of humans, the extension of a cosumerist culture that through art and visibility, imposes itself upon people.

I have seen for myself a new method of corporate advertising last year, it shocked me I'll have to admit, that there was this man walking down the street with his top off (naked from the waist up) with a short term spray paint tattoo on his torso, some advert for a company of some sort.

Even the human body has now been declared open season for the advertising 'industry'.

As to more personal tattoos, like any form of youth culture/'subculture', it is all about companies selling clothes/music/other things to young people and these young people buying into all of it to look 'rebellious' and 'countercultural', whereas in fact all these youths, be they emos/goths,punks/whatever else are just as braindead and as conformist as the next consumer. Suckers for our decadent free market times.

I just don't see why these petty bourgeois youths don't just admit their social impotency instead of playing with their image.

Funny, I consider my piercings and the tats I'm going to get an upgrade and an increase in value.

Living for yourself is a wonderful trait. It means that I don't have to care about the fact that some people are going to dislike either my tattooes and piercings, or me for having them.

Funny, I consider my piercings and the tats I'm going to get an upgrade and an increase in value.

Agreed. I already wear the typical preppy attire which makes me similar to enough people. Why would I want to look exactly like every other human? Body art opens a door to individuality that clothing, haircuts, or something similar could not possibly achieve.

I have wavy red hair, two-and-a-half feet long, pulled back into a severe ponytail at the base of my neck, I wear skate shoes, jeans, and geeky shirts, as well as the occasional hoodie. I have glasses with half-frames, I have a lip ring, and I always wear my silver class ring. I think I look fairly distinctive. I want tattooes because I like the idea of having art on my body - especially if it has significance to me.

The commercialisation of humans, the extension of a cosumerist culture that through art and visibility, imposes itself upon people.

I have seen for myself a new method of corporate advertising last year, it shocked me I'll have to admit, that there was this man walking down the street with his top off (naked from the waist up) with a short term spray paint tattoo on his torso, some advert for a company of some sort.

Even the human body has now been declared open season for the advertising 'industry'.

As to more personal tattoos, like any form of youth culture/'subculture', it is all about companies selling clothes/music/other things to young people and these young people buying into all of it to look 'rebellious' and 'countercultural', whereas in fact all these youths, be they emos/goths,punks/whatever else are just as braindead and as conformist as the next consumer. Suckers for our decadent free market times.

I just don't see why these petty bourgeois youths don't just admit their social impotency instead of playing with their image.


Okay but how is that degradeing, or devauleing. As I say for a person to be degraded, that person has to feel degraded.

Okay but how is that degradeing, or devauleing. As I say for a person to be degraded, that person has to feel degraded.

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

Eleanor Roosevelt.

Agreed. If I get my tattoo (one day!) it's because it means something to me, and that's all that matters.

The commercialisation of humans, the extension of a cosumerist culture that through art and visibility, imposes itself upon people.

I have seen for myself a new method of corporate advertising last year, it shocked me I'll have to admit, that there was this man walking down the street with his top off (naked from the waist up) with a short term spray paint tattoo on his torso, some advert for a company of some sort.

Even the human body has now been declared open season for the advertising 'industry'.

As to more personal tattoos, like any form of youth culture/'subculture', it is all about companies selling clothes/music/other things to young people and these young people buying into all of it to look 'rebellious' and 'countercultural', whereas in fact all these youths, be they emos/goths,punks/whatever else are just as braindead and as conformist as the next consumer. Suckers for our decadent free market times.

I just don't see why these petty bourgeois youths don't just admit their social impotency instead of playing with their image.

So lets see...I got my tattoo because my cousin's died in a terrible car wreck and I wanted to pay them tribute. Now before you insult my form of tribute, I want to ask who you are to do so. Also, I would really like to know how getting a tattoo for my cousins is a display of my "social impotency" or an "extension of a consumerist culture."

I just don't see why these petty bourgeois youths don't just admit their social impotency instead of playing with their image.

I play with my image precisely because I realize that I'm socially impotent. I'm not concerned about making a difference, except with my vote. My tattooes I'm going to be getting are personally significant, not socially or culturally significant. What do I care if you don't understand why I have a Pisces symbol entwined with the symbol of Aries on my neck behind my left ear?

I play with my image precisely because I realize that I'm socially impotent. I'm not concerned about making a difference, except with my vote. My tattooes I'm going to be getting are personally significant, not socially or culturally significant. What do I care if you don't understand why I have a Pisces symbol entwined with the symbol of Aries on my neck behind my left ear?

Heh yeah and as to the youth he mentions, shit I'm almost 40!

Heh yeah and as to the youth he mentions, shit I'm almost 40!

I'm turning twenty-one in March, so I'm specifically the target of the rant. I'd presume that the poster is Christian and upper-middle class to wealthy. If not Christian, upper class to wealthy.

However, I'm upper-middle class, myself. I just empathize a lot more with the 'bourgeois'.

Classist bastard.

The commercialisation of humans, the extension of a cosumerist culture that through art and visibility, imposes itself upon people.

I have seen for myself a new method of corporate advertising last year, it shocked me I'll have to admit, that there was this man walking down the street with his top off (naked from the waist up) with a short term spray paint tattoo on his torso, some advert for a company of some sort.

Even the human body has now been declared open season for the advertising 'industry'.

As to more personal tattoos, like any form of youth culture/'subculture', it is all about companies selling clothes/music/other things to young people and these young people buying into all of it to look 'rebellious' and 'countercultural', whereas in fact all these youths, be they emos/goths,punks/whatever else are just as braindead and as conformist as the next consumer. Suckers for our decadent free market times.

I just don't see why these petty bourgeois youths don't just admit their social impotency instead of playing with their image.

Ok, I don't fit any of the criteria listed.
I don't advertise anything.
I didn't buy the design of my tattoo, I came up with it myself.
I asked a friend to tattoo me.
I don't intend to look rebellious. Far from it.
I got my tattoo when I was 30, not in my youth.

I got it because it has enormous personal meaning.
I got it because I love the design.
I got it because I wanted it. Simple. No other reason involved.
No, if you'd please explain to me again how it degrades me to alter my body in a way I wanted to....

I'm turning twenty-one in March, so I'm specifically the target of the rant. I'd presume that the poster is Christian and upper-middle class to wealthy. If not Christian, upper class to wealthy.

However, I'm upper-middle class, myself. I just empathize a lot more with the 'bourgeois'.

Classist bastard.


Now hold on a tiny sec there. Your not anti Bastard are you? My good wife was born out of wedlock, you Bastardist bastard!:D

I'm turning twenty-one in March, so I'm specifically the target of the rant. I'd presume that the poster is Christian and upper-middle class to wealthy. If not Christian, upper class to wealthy.

However, I'm upper-middle class, myself. I just empathize a lot more with the 'bourgeois'.

Classist bastard.

Aye. I'm 19 and upper-middle class as well. Honestly, for someone he called a punk/goth/etc. and someone interested in "counterculture" and "rebellion," I must look rather weird with my hollister jeans, abercrombie & fitch button up, and american eagle jeans. I'm not a conformist or non-conformist. I like the clothes I wear. If I didn't...I wouldn't wear them. Apparently I'm the preppy rebel...lol...nothing like random stereotypes.

Now hold on a tiny sec there. Your not anti Bastard are you? My good wife was born out of wedlock, you Bastardist bastard!:D

That's something she should have thought of before she was born! :O

Aye. I'm 19 and upper-middle class as well. Honestly, for someone he called a punk/goth/etc. and someone interested in "counterculture" and "rebellion," I must look rather weird with my hollister jeans, abercrombie & fitch button up, and american eagle jeans. I'm not a conformist or non-conformist. I like the clothes I wear. If I didn't...I wouldn't wear them. Apparently I'm the preppy rebel...lol...nothing like random stereotypes.

You're the stealth anarchist. Newest model.

You're the stealth anarchist. Newest model.

lol...at least it's a cool-sounding title

Funny how we're still waiting for jesusslavesyou's response as well...

How painful is it to get a tattoo in the small of your back tho? Thats the only reason im not getting one, i want the prettyness (want a small red dragon, with wings extended and tail curled round the feet) but not the pain.

How painful is it to get a tattoo in the small of your back tho? Thats the only reason im not getting one, i want the prettyness (want a small red dragon, with wings extended and tail curled round the feet) but not the pain.

I don't like the potential pain of tattooes, as well. I'm not certain how it would affect the durability and duration of the tattoo, but I'm most likely going to be getting topical Novacaine applied when I get mine. I hear that it's a somewhat common procedure, and I'm obviously not one of those tattoo purists who say things akin to 'If you don't feel it, what's the point'.

Mine honestly didn't hurt at all. I mean...I noticed it...but there was no pain. Lower back shouldn't be too bad, depending on how "boney" your lower back is.

A new day, a new page, a new bump

Fair point...

Incidentally, do you know where tattoos come from? The word, at least. They were important in pre-Christian Polynesian societies, as marks of identity. (I read some articles about it while doing research last year...).Most cultures (I am tempted to say all, but I have no documentation of that) have tattooed at some point in their history, and I would say it is a safe bet to say all have had some form of body art.

The commercialisation of humans, the extension of a cosumerist culture that through art and visibility, imposes itself upon people.

I have seen for myself a new method of corporate advertising last year, it shocked me I'll have to admit, that there was this man walking down the street with his top off (naked from the waist up) with a short term spray paint tattoo on his torso, some advert for a company of some sort.

Even the human body has now been declared open season for the advertising 'industry'.

As to more personal tattoos, like any form of youth culture/'subculture', it is all about companies selling clothes/music/other things to young people and these young people buying into all of it to look 'rebellious' and 'countercultural', whereas in fact all these youths, be they emos/goths,punks/whatever else are just as braindead and as conformist as the next consumer. Suckers for our decadent free market times.

I just don't see why these petty bourgeois youths don't just admit their social impotency instead of playing with their image.
...right. Mine don't advertise anything. Actually, you couldn't tell I have them unless I take my shirt off. They have nothing to do with clothing, music, or really, anything except my personal tastes. It isn't rebellion, as I have nothing to really rebel against (parents don't care, friends don't care...actually, the only people who might care are those I choose not to associate with...not because they don't like tattoos, but because I choose not to be around people who hold my personal decisions in body decoration against me)
So, and I say this with great confidence, "Swing and a miss"

Aye. I'm 19 and upper-middle class as well. Honestly, for someone he called a punk/goth/etc. and someone interested in "counterculture" and "rebellion," I must look rather weird with my hollister jeans, abercrombie & fitch button up, and american eagle jeans. I'm not a conformist or non-conformist. I like the clothes I wear. If I didn't...I wouldn't wear them. Apparently I'm the preppy rebel...lol...nothing like random stereotypes.
ha...try a 20 year old UMC boy walking around with piercings, tattoos, ferrari shoes, a blue mohawk, Express collard shirt, leather coat, and camo pants.
My sister told me I was one of the few people who would even attempt to wear that many contradictions. I told her there were no contradictions...they were all things I like.


as for piercings and tattoos, here we go:
Back tattoo and nape piercing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/zbronto/P9220058.jpg
shoulder tattoo (taken right when it was done, so its a bit bloody and shiny and bright)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/zbronto/P4260029.jpg

I also have my eyebrow pierced and my ears guaged to 10.

personaly i wouldn't get a tattoo, i don't really like them and would prefer beautifull clothes or something over tattoos.
that being said i really don't care what people do to their own body as long as it doesn't have any direct impact on me.

I only have one tatoo. It's on my left upper arm. I plan on having it redone and to have my Bald Eagle carrying the American Flag.
That's like Nike employees getting tattooed with the swoosh.

I have 2 right now, one on my back and a new one on my upper arm. The one on my back is relatively small, but the one on my arm is a large buddhist deity. Love them both and cannot wait until I get the next one.

Any pics?

Ya, at first I considered a Liger, but I eventually went with the star of David.

@ new callixtra: that artist has the same name as a comedy writer/producer at the bbc. i got all confused for a minute. it's not the same guy though, as far as i can tell anyway.