PopsBdog

In the meantime, there is LST. :)

...and there you go. It had better be a very nice blue bird, and you're golden.

I might have helped open a can of worms when I explained that my husband asked me to get a tattoo.
There is a big difference between your partner making you get a tattoo, and asking you to get one, and there is admittedly a lot of gray area between making and asking. This is quite a delicate subject. I want to be very clear that in my case my husband asked once, with great respect, and made it clear that he would accept "no" if that was my answer. When I finally made the decision to get a tattoo, it was my decision, independently and freely made.
I commented on this issue in another forum on another site (not LST) a while back, and said something like this:
The notion that “it’s my body, and I can do what I want with it,” absolutely has to be the fundamental basis for these types of decisions. However, in a committed relationship, there is an aspect of sharing that I think makes it is more complicated, nuanced, and a delicate than that. In a sense, when you are married or in a committed relationship, your bodies become sort of shared property, although each individual still has absolute sovereignty over their body.
If you truly have a sharing and giving relationship, with open communication, it is not unreasonable for your partner to ask (not force) you to to do something to bring him/her pleasure, whether it be to cook a particular meal, wear a certain article of clothing, get a tattoo, or whatever. However, the key consideration is that your partner can’t expect that you must comply simply because that is what they want.
The the other half of the equation is that in a loving, sharing and giving relationship, I believe that you owe it to your partner to at least consider these requests. In a loving relationship, one should be willing to at least consider stepping out of their comfort zone to please their partner. Maybe after giving it consideration, the you will decide that you are not comfortable with the request and will decline. That’s ok, as long as you gave it fair and serious consideration. Then your partner needs to accept and respect your decision.
I think that this cuts both ways, too. For example, say you want to get a tattoo of a skull with a knife plunged into the top, and blood gushing out of it, in the middle of your chest. Maybe there is something very personally meaningful and symbolic about that image to you. But lets say that your partner finds that image very violent and extremely disturbing. Now, it is still is certainly your right to get that tattoo if you want. After all, it is your body, right? But do you really want to get a tattoo that will make your partner wince every time he/she looks at you for the rest of your life? Is that really how you want your relationship to be?
Remember, you made a commitment to each other, and sometimes that means giving up a little something of yourself for the greater good of the couple. The key is that when you decide to give up a little something of yourself, you must make those decisions - freely, openly, and with out coercion, or intimidation.

Get a room, you nerds

My wife and I always discuss and agree before spending decent amounts of money, usually anything over a C note. She had been blowing me off on my requests for tattoo money for a long time, a year or two. She thought I was just wanting to get the two really bad tattoos I had covered up and that would be the end of it, and it has been about two years since I had those covered.
Finally we had a long talk about it and I explained that I've been into tattoos since I was a little kid in the 70's looking at the Outlaw Biker magazines in the bookstores. I got some really bad punk rock tats when I was a teenager and, in some amazing moment of clarity, realized just how bad they were. I had no idea how to go about getting good tattoos, every penny I had went to booze and drugs, and I didn't want to end up looking like GG Allin so I stopped with the tattoos.
then I got older, had kids, sobered up, got a good job and took care of my kids and family and now that the kids are mostly grown (19 and 15) I wanna spend some cash and get some really nice tattoos from really good tattooers. And now I know how to find them and, because of this site, I know even more about what makes a good tattoo that will last. this is important as I'm entering my mid 40 and I can already tell that the skin is changing a bit from when I was younger.
After that talk it is all good. Now when we are planning trips or vacations she doesn't get as frustrated when I start mentioning all the awesome tattooers in the area and asking if we can set aside 1K and drop me off for a day while they go do something.

I am very attracted to tattoos - they catch my eye first and immediately - and if they're good tattoos my brain melts a little and my heart starts racing and this is all before I've even made contact...so you can imagine...I don't talk to a lot of tattooed people...(hahaha cackle...it's only partly true! Can be super awkward...)
In any event - I would LOVE it if tattoos were something I could share with a partner. I love them. I love looking at them. (Don't know about you guys but I definitely look at my own tattoos a lot...is that a weird thing to admit??)
I've never dated anyone with any kind of tattoos at all. I've dated guys who have given me shit about the tattoos (obvs they don't last long) and guys who were clearly into the fact that I had tattoos but they did not have them themselves, which was fine but incomplete for me.
Tattoos aren't a must, but are something I would like to share with a partner in the future for sure.
My parents set me up with a lot of conservative types (when I am visiting them in OK) who are decidedly NOT into tattoos, are definitely the type who think they are trashy etc. I tend to stay covered at home regardless because of the negative attention I receive - though there are certainly more tattoos in Oklahoma than when I left 8 years ago - but still get a lot of negative looks, creepy comments etc when they are showing.
So what I'm waiting for is the big reveal - on a date with some guy who seems maybe like not my type blah blah blah we get along, there a few more dates and then BOOM there is a moment of discovery where both of our heavily tattooed bodies are revealed!!! (Not necessarily THAT moment...I'm just saying....). Haha so basically I get myself through all these obligatory parent-lead dates by pretending the man I'm speaking to has an incredible Filip Leu (Or whoever - insert your fav artist here) body suit underneath whatever he's wearing.
Hmm. I'm going to write that movie...

I've been with my partner for 17 years. He has no tattoos and no desire to get any. He really likes my tattoos and is very supportive of me with getting more, so I'm pretty lucky in that regard as I've only started to get serious about tattooing my body last year. I would love it if he decided to get tattoos and we would embark on this journey together but I respect his decision. I did manage to drag him along to the Rites of Passage tattoo festival last weekend and he was pretty amazed at what he saw, so all in all I think I'm pretty fortunate that he has taken it so well! None of my girlfriends (or even male friends) are interested in tattoos so I do feel like I'm very alone and would love to have someone I could share this with. One of the main reasons I joined this forum really.

It's funny coming back to this thread now that I'm single, since my previous posts from a while ago I was in a relationship. He still does not have any tattoos, but all I know is I definitely want someone that has a major interest in it.
I guess it's safe to say it's a fetish of mine, since it's a big part of my life...
So the next one to come along it may have to be a requirement :)
Just feels like a waste of time trying to explain this whole culture to a newbie....I think it's a big part of understanding a person on a fundamental level to begin with, and if you gotta explain it's a little draining...

This made me smile :)

My wife & mother of our two children has no tattoos nor the desire to get tattooed & has no interest in seeing or hearing about when I add to my collection. She basically doesn't give a f*ck, nor gives a f*ck what other peoples reactions are.
I met her heavily tattooed, & now suited, she just sees it as a normal progression in something I've dedicated the best part of my life to.
We go further than just skin deep.

I was plainskinned when I first met my now wife, but we didn't start dating for a few years after that. She had one small and simple tattoo on her ribs, now has three, all simple outlines, which she loves. I've now got half squidpants (did we agree squidshorts was a thing?), one side of my ribs and both upper arms nearly filled. I feel really lucky to have someone in my life who appreciates them. We have always been supportive of each other's desire for more tattoos, as well as the divergent styles they often take.
Today she was talking about a coherent upper arm (thanks @HaydenRose , best term IMO since squidpants) and I would love to go through that process with her. Hopefully one day she will be helping me cream my backpiece! Forget painting a house together, this is the stuff memories are made of 

Ha ha not only am I tattooed but I lift weights. I deadlifted his bodyweight not long ago. Yeah buddy, you keep wrinkling your nose at me. Let's just see how that goes...

I really don't understand it either. I guess some guys think tattoos make women seem too macho or manly. I guess their brain sees it like muscles. Good on a guy but not a woman. I think it's daft.
Oh well. More tattooed women for me!

Like this?

Paul Jeffries' back done by Eddy Deutsche.

you got any black flag bars @Brock Varty ??? ;)
I'm a sucker for the bars!!! (again, y'all can thank "punk rock Chris"!!)

If girls have tattoos and are a little trashy...it only makes it hotter.

yeah... but in my mind, men without tattoos just aren't as *hot* as men with!!! They don't even have to be good tattoos (although good is better!!)
I just don't find plainskin men as sexy. (blame it on my very first boyfriend "punk rock Chris" LOL!!)

so you are saying neck to ankle coverage would be acceptable? :)

Your girlfriend can lift all the weights she wants. I can deadlift 165lbs and squat almost my bodyweight and can bench half my bodyweight (I'm female, 48 years old and about 130lbs) and you can hardly see a muscle anywhere on me.

sorry kiddo, but you're in la familia.

Well, I didn't think my hubby was ever going to get any and now he is as into it as I am! I got him to come with me on my 3rd tattoo. Then, he and his old college buddy came with me for my 4th. Our friend and I booked back to back appointments. We were both encouraging @DJDeepFried to get one that day, too. He considered it and brought a reference pic "just in case". He ended up getting his first tattoo that day. It's a small one on his upper right arm. His next tattoo after that was a 1/2 sleeve on his other arm by Kim Saigh. He has plans for more... Yeah! If there is a shred of interest, I think being around it and seeing you get them could rub off on him. My mom says I was a bad influence on dh. I think I was an outstanding influence on him. :D

Maybe some of you can give me some pointers on getting some ink on my man then. hehe
Not that I mind at all. If anything it's really fun when people meet him expecting some punk rocker that's covered, and they get a normal balanced individual.
It would just be a bonus. :)

My wife was quite supportive of my decision to get a tattoo last year. The tattoo I got since then, and the ones I have planned for the future - not so much. I'm not entirely surprised; we'd been married for 13 years and I hadn't made more than a passing reference to wanting a tattoo; and now that I've started collecting it is a big change.
At least she hadn't been. Major tattoo relationship news - she had been dead set against the idea of her ever getting one of her own. Then a couple weeks ago she started collecting ideas on pinterest. Fast forward to today and I find myself on the phone with the Pearl Harbor Gift Shop starting to plan out us both going in to get tattoos, mine by Tim and hers by Lissa.
Very exciting times - and proof that anyone can change their mind about tattoos!

I'm personally grateful for the built-in filter that my tattoos provide; I have enough now that the guys who don't like 'em mostly don't bother to approach me. Narrowing the dating pool a little isn't necessarily a bad thing--a whole category of "not good for me" I don't have to worry about!
My current boyfriend has no tattoos but has seen me through about half of my collection, and has been pretty supportive of it.

Ok Ill play .... mine is fairly interesting. My wife (of 10 years) has absolutely no tattoos, but she is the reason I have any idea what a nice tattoo looks like!
As I said in another thread, I come from a small town. The only tattooers within 100 miles were shitty scratchers, so that was all I knew. I was always attracted to the idea of tattoos, and as a kid I would draw on my arms and stuff, but man, when I saw these shitty tattoos on my friends I just couldnt hang. When I moved to Austin, I met a couple of tattooers but they did black and grey stuff that I wasnt into, so I got a little kanji thing on my back and that was it for a while.
Then I met my wife. She was good friends (grew up) with the Deep Ellum crowd in Dallas including some of the guys in punk bands and a couple of the dudes from Elm Street. Man, Holy Shit! These guys (and girls) were getting the most badass traditional tattoos ... totally covered. I couldnt believe how awesome this stuff looked. I mean, I had seen the flash sheets but no one in my hometown ever picked the cool stuff. And if they did, it was rendered very poorly. So, I asked those guys who I should see in Austin, and of course I have plenty of options. And then I started forming my own opinions and getting tattooed, slowly.
So yeah. My completely untattooed wife, in a round about way, taught me about good tattoos!