Tattoos and Body Modifications

[MermaidLychee]

I have a pair of honeybees on my hipbones, specifically placed so they weren't visible unless I wanted them to be. They have a deep meaning to me, and they'll be hidden when tailed. :P

As for piercings, I have two on each lobe, a cartilage, my belly button and my 'girls'. My bellybutton would probably stay in for mermaiding just for aesthetic purposes. all the others, I suppose it depends what I'm doing. I'm looking into octopus and starfish cuffs for my cartilage, but otherwise, it's ring free for ease of swimming. Salt water is great for piercings, it solved both my belly button, cartilage and the issues with my 'girls'. TMI both my belly button and cartilage were keloiding and having issues, but then I went swimming in the ocean, and the very next day, they'd drained and were liquid free. My 'girls' were simply irritated and bothered by my work (lots of lifting and arm movement while trying to find which bra worked best, as well as sweating sue to three layers of clothes on, etc). An ocean swim and I haven't felt them since. I suppose that this isn't the most sanitary way to clean them (the ocean is dark and full of terrors!) but I live in particularly clean water, so your milage may very.

[Anahita]

I have a tatt, and a nose piercing in addition to the standard fare of pierced ears.

My tattoo is kind of funny, just because everyone forgets I have it (it's not particularly small, but where it's situated and the fact that it was kind of done on a whim just to help a friend out when he wanted to become a tattoo artist kind of makes everyone forget about it - myself included sometimes!)

The nose piercing is another thing that, while not forgotten by people no one actually actively notices. I guess because I'm "ethnic" it just sort of fits the bill and it really fits my face like I should have been born with it. As long as it's a stud, even the HUGE glittering diamond I usually wear, no one pays any heed. When it's an "ethnic" one, then people kind of pay attention, but that's usually because it's so dangly.

I'm hoping to mount one of the black or gold pearls I've collected on a nose screw and use it for my mermaid outfits. I'm just a little concerned for when it comes to chlorinated water.

[Merman Dan]

I started getting a "birthday tattoo" each year when I turned 45. I started with a weedy seadragon as a symbol of fatherhood. The next year I added a giant pacific octopus as a symbol of motherhood. Last year I started a sargassum seaweed sleeve, loaded with lots of critters, as a symbol of children. I'm four sessions in, on my sleeve, with maybe two or three to go. This year I will add a two-headed dragon moray eel, an amphisbaena, in between the seadragon and octopus as a symbol of marriage.

[Aziara]

I really want to get a wedding ring tattoo... now just to convince my husband. It's just in my head that 'marriage=forever' and 'tattoo=forever', so I figure 'marriage=tattoo'. Sort of a concrete statement of how serious I am about the relationship.

[Mermaid Oshun]

I personally dislike tattoos but I did have my belly button pierced.

[Mermaid Varshana]

I have 1 tattoo, and it's huge.

[Mermaid Veruliya]

I love tattoos. I've talked to a watercolor tattoo (realism) specialist in Richmond about getting her to do mermaid scales on my inner ankle, to represent probably the one thing that's ever been constant in my life, but considering she's booked up and charges over 100 an hour, it's definitely in the back of my mind. I also wanted something on my right ribs just for aesthetic reasons, maybe a white ink feather, not the top of my priority.. And I want the same watercolor realist artist to do two light pink peonies on the inside of my left forearm, with a more personal meaning.

I always loved angel wing tattoos, but I don't have any connection to angels or anything like that, so I would never get such a big tattoo with now meaning. I also wanted to get something symmetrical on the back my neck or inbetween my shoulder blades, but I don't think I ever will, because I really like the way my naked back looks and there's nothing I want to cover up.

[Merman Dan]

I always loved angel wing tattoos, but I don't have any connection to angels or anything like that, so I would never get such a big tattoo with now meaning.

You could always go with flying fish "wings"/fins. In my undersea game there was once a half-nereid who sprouted wings that resembled purple sea fans.

[Mermaid Veruliya]

That's a good idea! But I still don't find it aesthetically pleasing. I really like the look of my bare back and i don't want to cover it

[Merman Dan]

If I ever had something put on my back, I would want something like the drawing Tony DiTerlizzi posted on Facebook, a few weeks ago:

[Mermaid Veruliya]

That's sick!

[fawkes]

I have a ton of tattoos.
It usually doesn't get pointed out, but when it does, I just tell kids that "I got them from the pirates. After all I'm mermaid, we hang all the time!"
They seem to like this answer.


They seem to point out tail stitching visibility more than the tats though. Grrrr *brainstorms on how to cover up stitching on fluke*

...e6000 and paint. surely this will work.

[Merman Dan]

Grrrr *brainstorms on how to cover up stitching on fluke*

Tell them it's a scar from a fisherman's net/boat propeller/megalodon?

[indigo mermaid]

When I want to cover my body art, I use Dermablend. It's waterproof. To get it off, I use olive oil in the shower and scrub. It takes several layers to fully cover tats so start early. It drys several shades darker and is best to apply with a sponge. There's a little bit of transfer on clothing that happens, but it doesn't rub it off.

[Rogue Siren]

I personally don't like piercings but tattoos are fine. XD

In fact I have ideas for two (don't have any tattoos or piercings atm). And oddly enough, they work for the tail design I came up with. Don't have any designs for them yet, just basic ideas. I would like an ouroboros around my upper right arm and then another tattoo spelling out Loki/Mischeif over my left ribs.

[SeaGlass Siren]

and here is mine!!

[bitterfish]

This is an old photo of it(the day after I got it!) but here's my only tattoo. It's on my shoulder, so the only time people see it is when I'm swimming!

[Oceana]

I have a medium sized patch of scales on my hip that is not visible unless I am in undergarments, so it doesn't affect my job at all. It would have been larger and more visible, but the career path I have chosen doesn't allow for them very much when you're starting out.

[Mermaidmechanic]

I'm stoked to be getting my giant benu bird on my back finished soon. Being in the coast guard is a great profession for those of us who like ink. Sea going services are very lenient with rules since tattoos have been closely tied in with sailor tradition.

[Miyu]

My mertender will be doing some tattoo work on a fellow mer very soon, so we ordered plenty of needles... Which means I finally get another tattoo! WOOHOO!

Of course, I wanted it to be mer-related, and I especially wanted to incorporate some of the qualities I attribute to mermaids... To sort of help me take on those qualities myself.
I decided on scales (not original, I know), but they're going to have a twist. I should be getting it in the next couple of weeks (basically after my sniffles go away so I don't run the risk of infection). I'm trying to give it plenty of time to heal up before the local meet-up in March :P