What Getting a Tattoo Felt like

It started in the summer of 2018. I was reading what would become one of my favorite series of all time: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Around the third part of that series, it was revealed that the main characters, the Joestar bloodline, had a star-shaped birthmark on the back of their left shoulders. After I saw that, I knew almost right away that if I was ever going to get a tattoo, it would be that.

Fast forward to December 2021, I decided that now would be the right time to get it and I wanted to write the experience down and describe the sense as best I could.

After choosing the size of the star; the right shade of purple; and the placement of it on my back, I sat down in the chair with three pieces of gum in my mouth, getting ready for the pain I was to bear to wear this tattoo. I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be while I waited there for the ink to be sunk into my skin. Once the pen started puncturing my body, I was relieved that it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. It felt like the sensation of a needle used for blood work, only the needle went a quarter of the way deep and stayed right at the skin. The pen lingered, forming the idea that rested in my head for 3 years and, stroke after stroke, it eventually became a reality. I got to imagine that a 1000-page book being punctured deep into the fourth chapter would be feeling the same way I did.

After little over an hour, once it was finished, my artist put the wrap over the tattoo and gave me instructions for its aftercare. I am happy to admit that there was not any pain in the area when I was heading back to my car. While I was heading back home, I couldn’t help myself; I was already thinking of what my next tattoo was going to be.

-Cage