What kind of tattoos/piercings do you have? I need a confidence boost in getting a septum piercing!
This isn't my first rodeo. I have a helix ring, my second set of lobe studs, and my nipples pierced (tmi? oops).
But this would be my first facial piercing. I love the look of this septum piercing. Being flip-up-able for easy hiding is a bonus.
However, like most people who get face piercings, I've faced a lot of backlash from people in my life. My mother, who is absolutely amazing, hates them. However, it's her personal belief that it isn't her place to say no (how did I get so lucky?). I really value her opinion and she's warned me that quite a bit of the family will be put off.
As well, some of my friends think they're weird or gross. A lot of guys have told me they hate them. That I won't find a relationship because no one likes them.
Usually I stand up so well to peer pressure but I have to admit, I'm cracking a bit. I'm in my second year of university, so I know this is the best time to get it - plenty of time to enjoy it in case a future job requires me to remove it. What do you guys think?
Yay stories! In order of application: 1. My first tattoo. I got this with female friend M at a local shop we'll call TM. Probably cost about $80. Is an impossible four-bar or pascal's square. Was winter when I was 19. 2. My most typical white girl tattoo. Got with boyfriend A at shop which no longer exists in this state, First World (or something like that). Was my 20th birthday present to me. Probably around $100? 3. One of the ones randos notice the most. The short story is that when I was 20, I got engaged. We decided it would be an awesome idea to get matching tattoo bands. Had to canvas like, 8 shops before we would find one that would do it. This shop was in MD, not sure what the name was. Actually, think it may have been shut down due to code violations since. The fiancé had found this particular shop and when asking if they did ring tattoos, he was told "oh yeah absolutely, we can do detailed patterns" - by an employee who it turned out was an apprentice and didn't really know what he was talking about. Most shops won't do ring tattoos due to fear of them falling out and the ones I'd found that would, would only do a simple black band. Anyway, the apprentice basically fucked one of the skilled tattoo artists there into delivering 2 detailed ring tattoos - and for a really low price (the apprentice had also severely underquoted). I think the pair ran around $200. The joke is that most shops refuse to do ring tattoos because "they don't last," but I've had this one for going on 7 years now and it hasn't show any substantial fading or falling out at all. Too bad, because I wouldn't mind it. Spring when I was 20. 4. and 9. 4. is the Mandelbrot set - AKA the orange and red fractal. I got it with my tax return in March/April-ish of 2013. I had broken up with my long-term boyfriend (we'd lived together) and I was determined to get this tattoo on my own, to prove something to myself. I planned to go back to First World, but it turned out they'd closed shop and moved to FL, so I simply remembered another nearby tattoo shop that had always "looked cool," called them, and had an appointment set up ASAP. I was so nervous beforehand I kept having to use the bathroom even though I didn't have anything left in me. Also, this is a stupid strategy for choosing tattoo shops. Turned out the guy was a notorious racist and Satanist (tried to invite me to a Satanist - rite, I guess?) who also was shit at tattooing. He wouldn't even bring the color up to the line. I had to get this one retouched at a well-known shop about a year later. During this visit I also got him to pierce my eyebrow (so that's another one). Originally, the tat was so bad that when I went to get it touched up the artist thought I had gotten it by an amateur with a tat gun at a house party. 5. If I had to name one, this would be my "fan favorite" tattoo. It gains the most comments (I think) and compliments. It is also one of my favorites. I got this at TM with friend M again, in the fall of 2013. I drew this myself. (Most of my tattoos I have drawn myself with the exception of the script and the ring.) 6. A reference to one of my favorite articles, Life as a NonViolent Psychopath I got this at TM in the early months of 2015. This is the only tattoo that made me involuntarily flinch at one point. This tattoo has been discussed in more detail in a similar Hubski thread from a long time ago, which I'll link to if I can find it. Found it here 7 & 8. Got these at TM in early October 2015 accompanied by my sister. This set is, I feel, among the most personal of my tattoos, so I sometimes feel self-conscious about how it is so visible. However, the location is perfect and where I believe it should go. It's just - sometimes, you can see people reading them. That being said, and to address your septum ring "however"s: your body modifications are about you, and your body. It's actually no one's business what my wrist tattoos say. The person who would see them and judge me for them, instead of asking me about them or not forming an opinion, is a person I do not want to have in my life because they don't share the same values as I do (that tattoos do not impact the quality of a person or their work) and would rather write me off for my tattoos than learn anything about them, what they mean to me, or who I am as a person and why I got them. That being said, I got these right before my mom's birthday and when we went out to celebrate I wore long sleeves and hid them from her - both because I didn't want to ruin her birthday or make it about me, and because I didn't want to deal with her reaction. I still haven't told her about them or shown them to her. I know she knows they're there (thanks, siblings) but I have absolutely 0 interest in hearing her opinion on them or talking to her about them (as I know it will be negative and judgmental). I won't hide them from her forever, and have gradually become more casual about them in front of her over time, but I have no desire to even open up the topic of them as a discussion topic. I don't want her opinion, so I've done what I can to make it so that she can't/won't give me it. Clearly I feel really strongly about these tattoos, but I also, again very strongly, feel that your body is your own, that no one else has the right to try to tell you what's right/wrong to do with it (in terms of minor body mods), and that family members who feel they can pass judgment on you because of them are way overstepping their bounds. Also fwiw it's really easy to hide a septum, like you said just flip it up. 9. This is my sibling elbow macaroni tattoo, both my siblings and I have them and got them at TM at the same time, Christmas of this year. Before this neither of my siblings had any tattoos, so I corrupted them! :) ____ As for your septum and other people's opinions: 1. No matter what you do or how you look or live, there will probably be someone out there who will find something about it weird or gross. Their opinion isn't what matters. 2. Anyone who would not want to be with you because you got a septum piercing is a person you do not want to date anyway. That is a person who would care more about one small part of your appearance than everything underneath it, which is to say - everything you actually are, your thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions. Moreover, you clearly think septum are cool! Why worry about people who don't? It can be hard to always be confident in this mindset but I do think it's best to consider "people who wouldn't date me because I changed my appearance like [x]" to be a set of people who are doing you the favor of sorting themselves out of your potential dating pool and saving you time. I have heard that "most guys hate bangs" and would not date a girl with bangs. If I want bangs, I'm going to get them, and if you don't want to date me because I have them, well that's kind of your hang up, isn't it? Listen. I have more non-tattoo body mods than discussed here. Like your nipple piercings, some of them in some ways impact my actual sexy bits. I like what I've done to my body and they make my life not only better, but easier from a health standpoint. If I met someone who was turned off by my mods, well guess what? a) I can't undo them and b) I wouldn't want to. If someone else doesn't like them, that is their problem, not mine, and I will go happily along until I find someone who loves both my body, and what I've done to it. Do what makes you happy and what makes you feel like you. In the long run if you decide you don't want it, you can take it out and no one will ever even know you had a septum piercing. And in the intermediate, it's very easy to flip up and hide from authority - I think you have nothing to worry about. End story time. EDIT: Also, the people who are telling you not to get it because you'll be less/unattractive to any/most potential dating partners are complete assholes who are prioritizing their personal standards of attraction over how getting a septum piercing would make you feel about yourself. There are a zillion guys who will date girls with septum rings and half of them probably find the piercing makes girls even more attractive or etc. Anyone who tells you you should not change or modify such minor details about your body because "men will not be attracted to you" is an asshole who thinks that it is more important for you to be considered conventionally sexually attractive by a faceless, nameless population of most/all men, than for you to express yourself and your ownership of your body. You didn't ask them what "most men" would think. You only asked them (assuming you did) what they thought. And to respond by giving their opinion this faceless, nameless backing of "nearly all men" is complete and utter bullshit, an attempted power move. The people who tell you not to do something because you will be less sexually attractive are showing that they think your sexual attractiveness is more important than anything else. Fuck. Them.
Hooray! Thanks for the story - I love hearing the back story about tats. For what it's worth, your white girl tattoo is awesome! And your ring was such a journey, sometimes those are the best ones! Which ones hurt the most? (I imagine the finger one) Thank you so much for reassurance. That's the kind of thing I've been trying to articulate but couldn't explain! I suppose it's that struggle of being young and transitioning from that "I want to fit in and have everyone like me" frame of mind to "I think this is cool and it suits me." It's weird how little we hear that individuality is okay from other people. A lot of the people I've talked to seem to have their image of how everyone should look according to their own standards. You've inspired me! I'll for sure be getting my septum done. I'll be waiting until September (I have a fairly strict office internship this summer), but perhaps I'll post a follow-up if I remember!
what kind of ridiculousness is that!? Bangs are not even that uncommon, it's like saying most guys would not date someone that wears a watch... I mean, the same applies for tattoos in my mind but tattoos and piercings are at least a little controversial in some people's minds. Didn't think bangs fit in the same category... Ps: agree with the fan favorite, that anglerfish is awesome. Reminds me of ZeFrank... Where did that guy go :( "most guys hate bangs" and would not date a girl with bangs.
It's stupid, arbitrary, and anyone who actually would refuse to date another person based solely on a hair style such as bangs is probably both sad and shallow. Then again, I have no interest in dating anyone if they share either my dad's or my brother's name. That would be weird.
i got my helix and my conch pierced a long time ago. the conch fell out before it could heal all the way though because i'm a rough sleeper :( my parents are pretty anti tattoos so i had planned to get one on my hip when i finish grad school (so soon!) but i'm thinking of changing the location. it's the arabic word for cat in arabic calligraphy to look like a cat :3
Does one of these count? I'd post the scar but it's pretty underwhelming. Edit* Once I've been accepted into a Grad program I'm getting a tattoo. My little brothers and I are all going to get the same Finnish word, kinda plain script. I'm getting mine on my calf. The word is Sisu, which my Grandpa always describes as 'Continuing in the face of unreasonable adversity, against the advice of authority, and succeeding anyway.'
Implantable Cardioverter/Defibrillator. Mine is implanted just over my left pectoral muscle and has two conductive leads (much like the ones kleinbl00 designed) that run to the heart to monitor rhythm and if necessary, deliver corrective electrical impulses to a heart that is misfiring. I'm on my second one. The first one I got when I was 14, was supposed to last until I was 18, and lasted until 19, almost 20. The one I have now is supposed to last well into my 30's which is weird to think about. I've only ever gotten one corrective shock but it saved my life. To answer the inevitable followup question, it hurts. It feels like getting kicked in the chest by a large ungulate. I especially like the tattoo thing because historically my family has been 100% against tattoos, piercings, basically any modification to 'The body Gawd gave you.'
My design work was for a company called InControl. I did a 2-quarter co-op with them, then went back to school. They asked me back (unprecedented in my school) but I needed to take statics, so passed. Three months later they were purchased by Guidant and 80% of their staff was laid off. I heard Guidant wanted their cardioverter technology. Six years after that, Guidant was purchased by Boston Scientific, thereby launching BSci into implantable cardio devices (previously, they had done stents, shunts and the like). It's probable that the device in your chest isn't just "much like" the ones I helped design, it's a direct descendant. You may very well have my labors inside your body.
I've heard some doozies. Friend of my mom has a birds nest of wire all through her pericardium because of some inept surgeon decades ago. That, combined with the video of the toothpaste-consistency, vibrant green goop that came out of an infected incision has given me a profound respect for good surgeons and post-op wound care.
Haha thanks for the enthusiasm, it sounds so simple! And yes, being able to hide the piercing is a huge draw for me, especially around those harsh family members I see once a year. I love that shoulder piece! If you don't mind me asking, what is that first one of?
I was a millimeter away from having THIS tattoo'd on my right shoulder, with the word "IMAGINE" underneath it. I thought better of it. Thankfully. The only tattoo I've ever seen that I would be interested in having is one that my friend Tim has. It's an exclamation point on his wrist. He wears his watch upside down and the ! is there to remind him that he is running out of time. A sort of carpe diem on his wrist. a My wife has some gaelic, tribal looking thing on her shoulder. I know she regrets it. I'm not particularly fond of it. It's a very rare moment when I see a tattoo and think, wow that is lovely. That said, it does exist and it's normally not a "bargain tattoo" but rather some high art. There are certain things you should never bargain shop for and a tattoo is one of them. Kids -- if you're going to get a tattoo, do it right. Pay a lot of money for a very talented artist to do it. Forever is a long time. EDIT: Don't let mk weasel his way out of his agreement to get the Hubwheel tatttood on us when we get to 100k users. If you want to see this happen, invite your friends to Hubski :)
I have a lot and this picture is kind of hilarious.
Very tame here. I had two earrings in one ear, and a tongue post for a couple of months in the 90's. I took my earrings out as a witness in a trial for a few days (don't ask), and one closed right up and disappeared. I could probably force a post through my other one. Now I want to try it. The tongue post was a blast. My friend was getting one, and I decided it would be a fun experience. I distinctly recall a tiny bit of euphoria getting it done. No pain, just a bit of a rush, probably adrenaline. I took it out because it was difficult to manipulate food that went behind my molars. I've long designed to only make reversible changes. Not as an expression of a philosophy, but maybe because I like to be able to be unnoticeable at times. I really enjoyed dying my hair, which I did quite a bit, and likely still would if there wasn't social effort involved. There is one tattoo that I could have gotten, and I wouldn't have had any regrets about it to this day. It's more or less chance that I don't have it, but the moment passed.
The adrenaline. It's amazing. I can imagine that would make food difficult! I've thought about a labret, but I've heard bad thing about how they can affect your gums/teeth health, something that is really important to me. I agree with reversible changes. I've never permanently dyed my hair, and I love the aspect of piercings being able to heal up.