Made me chuckle, thanks.

Also, I stopped at one as I enjoyed the process and thought it could get addictive.

As I said in my original post, I just don't get it, and you're precisely right, I do not understand, anymore than someone who has never mountainbiked would understand why I've kept doing it for 26+ years, in spite of breaking and severely scraping up my body scores of times, with considerable accompanying pain, I might add. But, I get a physical payoff from that in that I have a low resting heart rate, and am in quite good physical condition for my age; no prescription meds, etc.

I totally get the in memory of sentiment. That could possibly be the one reason I would ever endure the process. Our children, though they may separate from us, never leave us.

The yakuza of Japan apparently get full-body tattoos, or so the story is. But they are a whole breed unto themselves. Their tats evidently are all chosen with a great deal of significance behind them, at least to them.

@Condor5 I know, indoctrination of cultural identity and values. The part about identity I really do value as a resistance against so many years of suppression. Yakuza, Maori, Papua, and so many more ancient cultural entities, tribes, and people, that "civilization" has tried to wipe out as they colonized their lands.

You are more adventurous than I.

You are absolutely correct, it has been a tradition for thousands of years, and across all societies, it seems.

I’m glad I have one, it hurt like hell to get, wrong needle was used, entire tatt with a liner needle, my body went into shock after the first line, got the sweats and vomited. Then put on some Muddy Waters, sat back down and said do it. Was done I’m my kitchen by an ex gf while she was visiting me from the UK, she braught her kit over... It represents allot in my life but this post is long enough, save that for another time. It’s a phenoex on my arm.

@ArdentAtheist see, that first line of yours, about going into shock, etc.; that's how I would envision the entire process going for me.

@Condor5 My system is sensitive like that, still I’m concidering another, but at an actual parlor. Concidering the atomic A ... If you don’t want it bad enough to endure the pain you don’t want it bad enough to have it be permanent... when you find something you truly want and you have real reasons for wanting the pain won’t matter. Follow you chi

I had the pattern from my parents' wedding bands tattooed around my left ankle. There are five sets of comets and stars, and the tail of each comet points to the tip of a star, but they don't touch. To me, it's a visual representation of how we are shackled to our past, our family history. I had it put on my nondominant side to represent that it does not have total power over me. And the stars and comets don't touch because there should always be space to sneak out, to escape your past. And five repeats because we were a family of five. No pics because (another long story) I'm not happy with it, either how it was first done or with the bleed over the years.