growltiger

Haha you went there
So aside from the fact that you just insulted about 80% of LST's membership with that post, you should probably learn a little about the style you're bashing before you make such sweeping generalizations.
It's fine if you don't like traditional tattooing and it's fine to feel like every tattoo needs to be a custom masterpiece, but I cannot emphasize how dumb it makes you look when you come to a forum with no sense of who it is you're interacting with and why people here like what they like. There are hundreds of pages describing the history and innovation behind traditional tattooing, it might have been a good idea to read through the forum a bit before posting.
Also, just fyi, there are handfuls of traditional tattooers who can draw circles around portrait artists and vice versa. Style and skill have little to do with each other.

Got my rose morph today... am super happy with it

Thank you @cltattooing :D I'm very pleased with them. I must get round to posting a photo of it all healed. And my leg & foot. It's been an exciting couple of months, tattoo-wise!

I noticed on IG that you got some more peonies done! Congrats, they're beautiful :)

I finally bought the Charnos Armery tights for covering my arms at work with short sleeved shirts. I'm pretty psyched about how they fit. The other type of arm sleeves I tried (I think it was tat2x sleeves) didn't work for me, they would fall down and bunch up at the top. These sleeves are great because it goes around your back, all one piece so it can't slip down. It makes it possible for me to wear this short sleeve shirt to work without having to put another shirt on underneath or cardigan on top. The sleeves don't quite come all the way to my wrists, good thing my tattoos don't either... Here's a before & after:
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My lovely man took me out for dinner tonight for my birthday. Amazing food and wine, and great company. After 17 years together, we never struggle for conversation, he still makes me laugh and is my best friend.
Sorry for the sappy post, but I feel so incredibly lucky, I would be lost without him.

Sounds silly, but use a paperclip/safety pin/bit of thread to turn a normal bra into a racer back. It saves you buying one if you wouldn't normally wear one or as a stop gap until you find one.

Give it a little bit of time before doing anything. You posted recently that it hadn't peeled yet, and often when a tattoo hasn't totally healed the lines don't have the crispness that they will once the tattoo is properly settled in.
This is maybe a tougher pill to swallow, but sometimes, even if there are bits that aren't perfect on the tattoo, that's okay because you're talking about something handmade on skin. It inevitably will have flaws and imperfections and that those are beautiful in their own way.

I wonder if sometimes people want to assign meaning to their tattoos as it validates them choosing to be tattooed, if that makes any sense. Maybe being able to say it's a tribute to who/whatever makes it more acceptable to have a tattoo than just getting one because they want one. I've noticed that I've been asked "why" a lot (after "did it hurt", always an odd question!), as if a "sensible" reason is expected.
Maybe that ties in with @scubarons point. I wonder if some people need an excuse to get the first tattoo, as maybe they see it as a big deal. Maybe it becomes easier to just get them once you've broken that barrier.

I wonder if sometimes people want to assign meaning to their tattoos as it validates them choosing to be tattooed, if that makes any sense. Maybe being able to say it's a tribute to who/whatever makes it more acceptable to have a tattoo than just getting one because they want one. I've noticed that I've been asked "why" a lot (after "did it hurt", always an odd question!), as if a "sensible" reason is expected.
Maybe that ties in with @scubarons point. I wonder if some people need an excuse to get the first tattoo, as maybe they see it as a big deal. Maybe it becomes easier to just get them once you've broken that barrier.

I wonder if sometimes people want to assign meaning to their tattoos as it validates them choosing to be tattooed, if that makes any sense. Maybe being able to say it's a tribute to who/whatever makes it more acceptable to have a tattoo than just getting one because they want one. I've noticed that I've been asked "why" a lot (after "did it hurt", always an odd question!), as if a "sensible" reason is expected.
Maybe that ties in with @scubarons point. I wonder if some people need an excuse to get the first tattoo, as maybe they see it as a big deal. Maybe it becomes easier to just get them once you've broken that barrier.

I wonder if sometimes people want to assign meaning to their tattoos as it validates them choosing to be tattooed, if that makes any sense. Maybe being able to say it's a tribute to who/whatever makes it more acceptable to have a tattoo than just getting one because they want one. I've noticed that I've been asked "why" a lot (after "did it hurt", always an odd question!), as if a "sensible" reason is expected.
Maybe that ties in with @scubarons point. I wonder if some people need an excuse to get the first tattoo, as maybe they see it as a big deal. Maybe it becomes easier to just get them once you've broken that barrier.

Wrong. Good manners are about not putting people in the position of having to say, "How rude!" I agree that good -- or not bad -- intentions count for something, but not everything. A wise person thinks about what he/she says before they say it. I'm sure you don't say every damn thing that pops into your head.
IT'S NOT JUST TATTOOS!!! It's rude to ask someone how much they paid for their new car too -- but that's not a great example because everyone has a vague idea of how much cars cost. It's more like walking into a person's house, looking a painting on the wall, and saying, "Nice art. How much you pay for it?" Because it's rude. (Close friends and family might be the exception to the rule, but I try to be polite to them too.)
Now can we please stop talking about this and get back to tattoos? I'll even let you have the last word.

Money is a sensitive topic. ALL Americans don't feel the same way about anything... But for many, talk of money or how much we spent on things can make us uncomfortable. If if doesn't make you uncomfortable that's great for you, but just know if you are planning to ask others they may answer politely but still feel uncomfortable without you realizing it. If it's your close friends and family that's usually fine. Although I wouldn't want my mom asking me because she hates tattoos.
When my husband and I bought our house, the first time we met our neighbor across the street, the first thing he asked was, "What'd you pay for it?" We answered because it's information you can find publicly on zillow.com anyway, yet we walked away from the conversation thinking that guy was rude. How about a "hello and welcome to the neighborhood" for crying out loud?!!!!
I don't like talking about how much I paid for my tattoos either because it's a personal thing. To some people I spent too much. Clearly it was worth it to me. If they are really curious or want to know because they are saving up for their own tattoo I'm happy to tell them the artist's general hourly rate. I guess it really just depends on who's asking and why! Nothing is black and white.
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My accidental half sleeve by Rodrigo Souto, Black Garden, London, UK :D

Photo nicked from his instagram (Instagram), the blue peony is healed, the pink are fresh.

My toddler dropped a hardback book on my three day old foot tattoo (This moose belongs to me, Oliver Jeffers. A whimsical tale of a boy,his moose, and whether we ever truly own anything.)
My toddler now knows how to say "Oh shit shit shit".

It's always helpful when sleezebags wear their sleezebaggery on their sleeves.

I agree you come across as a troll here. Also you sound like the creepy dude at the bar.
googling your username explains a lot and makes any further discussion pointless.

@TrixieFaux - thank you for the reminder that stares are not always hostile. I find this so tough, because it's hard to know if people are admiring or being creeps. I usually say that I never get comments or stares about my tattoos because we live in a very tattooed neighbourhood (that's also really gay, so I am pretty uninteresting to most, haha), but for some reason this past week I have been getting constant comments. Earlier, when I was walking the dog, a man stopped me to say, "you have beautiful legs" (I am wearing a dress that's short-ish so you can see a lot of my thigh tattoos). And like, I had no idea if he was saying it in an admiring or sleazy way... I mean that is kind of a weird thing to say to a stranger, even if you mean well! I don't want to be ungenerous when folks say stuff like that, but when it's ambiguous I also tend to opt for protecting myself and not engaging, which is kind of a shame if people mean well.
(That said, why is it that many of the comments I've gotten recently have been of the ambiguous nature above, and not like, "I love your tattoos", but instead commenting on the body part itself? I guess the comments sound ambiguous because they probably ARE, like these dudes are admiring my tattoos while assessing my body at the same time. I dunno.)
Of course, he could have been talking to my dog, who does indeed have a sweet set of gams.

Grabbing and touching without consent are not cool. I'm an unattractive male and it's happened to me plenty. I've been sitting at dinner with my wife and felt my shirt sleeve being pulled up by a stranger so they could appease their curiosity
...and I don't think we should be telling girls that if a man invades their space and ownership of their own body they should find it charming or flattering. No one else should have control over what they see of you, least of all men over women given the track record and the culture we've created.

I think you'll find it has EVERYTHING to do with him being a creep.
I can't be arsed to critique the rest of your post. Musn't engage with creeps on the internet (unless they are extremely attractive, then they cease to be a creep and instead become charming. Hmmm.... Can you post a face shot so that I can decide?)

I think you'll find it has EVERYTHING to do with him being a creep.
I can't be arsed to critique the rest of your post. Musn't engage with creeps on the internet (unless they are extremely attractive, then they cease to be a creep and instead become charming. Hmmm.... Can you post a face shot so that I can decide?)

You are completely wrong that tattoo grabbing only happens to women, some drunk guy tried to lick my arm the other day at the bar I work. When I told him in no uncertain terms to fuck off he said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world 'I just wanted to find out if the ink has a flavour!'
As @growltiger says it's probly not worth arguing about some of your other assumptions. I think you've read too many of those pick up artist books my friend...

I hate to jump on the bandwagon, but are you seriously for real? Touching of strangers no matter what gender you and they are is totally inappropriate. Having tattoos is not a valid excuse for this un-acceptable behaviour.

I think you'll find it has EVERYTHING to do with him being a creep.
I can't be arsed to critique the rest of your post. Musn't engage with creeps on the internet (unless they are extremely attractive, then they cease to be a creep and instead become charming. Hmmm.... Can you post a face shot so that I can decide?)