Geeks and Ink 1st Session

Jeanna Dickerson

My first tattoo is the chapter picture of “The Cave” from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This image was basically the turning point in the series where we know things are about to get a lot darker, and I think it’s just beautiful!

My second is of some little Soot Sprites from many of the Miyazaki movies! My best friend and I got them together! I got the first one done at Lucky Devil in Shelby Township. The second one in Washington State.

Shelby Taylor

Medium Totoro under a leaf with slight ombre color.

We all get older, we all move on, but that doesn’t mean we must leave behind the brilliance of our childhood selves. Its also a matching tattoo to my college roommate. We got them at the end of my senior year. This tattoo was hand drawn and designed by myself, based on the movie’s design and Miyazaki’s sketches.

Stephi Muringer

The majestic dragon has fascinated me since as long as I can remember, right along with its mundane counterpart: dinosaurs. However, this is not a simple dragon icon, but one that symbolizes the empire of Tamriel in the Elder Scrolls games. These games captured an essence of adventuring and fantasy in a way that would go on to influence other well received titles.I wanted to inscribe in my skin the feeling of the love of adventure, commemorate my own adventure to Japan, and to mark myself as a full blown nerd.

An unexpected element of being tattooed was that it hurt less than the worst days of battling my chronic pain – fibromyalgia. It had a strange validating element to my level of pain endurance: I could withstand pain worse than being tattooed on a weekly (sometimes daily)  basis. My tattoo transformed in its symbolic value.

The color was designed more to set it apart from other people’s rendition of the tattoo. It is a common one after all. I really love how the final product reflected the magic I felt this piece of art imbued me with.  Now I have a dragon that watches my back, and reminds me that I can battle through my pain.

I am glad I found the artist that could breathe to life all that I expected, and then some more. Kelly Clausson of Eternal Ink (Clawson) is the artist of my first tattoo, and future artist of other tattoos I hope to have.

Colin Wilson aka Fugitive Color (from the Rogue’s Gallery)

I got this tattoo a few days after Carrie Fisher’s passing, on New Year’s Eve 2016. Most of my introduction to geek culture at an early age was from my mother, who brought me to my favorite long-standing sci-fi franchises, Alien and Star Wars. These films featured strong women in lead roles, women I equated to my own mother during my youth, and who shaped a lot about my perceptions of what science fiction was and could be. I was deeply wounded by Carrie fishers passing, partially because of my deep abiding love of the Star Wars universe, and partially because of this connection I felt between her and my own outspoken, strong-willed, sci-fi enabling mom. It’s a memorial tribute to a woman who changed a lot about the culture I love, and shaped who I am today. RIP General Organa.

Kristina Crofut aka KMC Cosplay
I got all of my geek tattoos because I love these series and had take-aways from them I wanted to keep with me always. I put them in places I can cover for work and uncover outside of work.

My first geek tattoos were the ones done by John Brown at Exquisite Body Art in Trenton, MI. He is really relaxed and easy to work with. This is why I got four tattoos from him in a 3 month span.

My upperback piece is the Funtomhive Logo. I wanted something from Black Butler and something Cat related. I am the cat lady after all….so the cat with the crown was ideal for me. I love it beyond BB. This is a piece even if I fall out of love with BB (which I doubt) I will always love for my regal cat.

The Kamisama Kiss logo nods to my love of Reverse Harems (of which I cosplay a lot) and also my fixation on fox yokai. Foxes and cats are my favorite animals. I liked the look of the logo and the story it represents. Also another tattoo that if I ever stop loving Kamisama Kiss (which I highly doubt) I will still love foxes always have. 😉

My forearm tattoos are the brands/seals from Hell Girl and Fate Stay Night. In the case of Hell Girl the brand is a sign you have entered a covenant with the Hell Girl and sought vengeance at the cost of your soul.

The command seal from Fate Stay Night represents the bond formed between Archer and Rin the Servant/Master relationship in their accord to win the grail war and secure the grail so they can have their wish granted.

Ai Enma the Hell Girl in the Twilight Realm tattoo. Jay Wheeler did this tattoo and I absolutely love it. He did a lot of research and worked with me on getting my vision exactly as I wanted it. She is on my left shin and her brand on my left forearm. She is cursed to work for hell constantly collection souls, those condemned by others and those who have sold their soul to condemn these people. I have loved Hell Girl for over 10 plus years. The story has always resonated with me because I have a very vengeful nature and she reminds me of the price of vengeance. The Hell Girl tattoos are part of my visual reminders to rise above the anger that creates a desire for vengeance. For in vengeance there is always a price to be paid.

My last tattoo is of Archer the servant from Fate Stay Night: Unlimited Bladeworks. This tattoo was done by Tony Cosgrove at Phantasma in Romulus, MI. I loved working with Tony absolute gem and one hell of a guy! He put Archer into his reality marble and gave me the perfect visual of him. Archer is on my right shin and his command seal on my right forearm he is summoned by Tohsaka Rin (who I cosplay) and is her servant in The Grail War. Together their goal is to defeat the other master/servant pairs in magical battles that will end with one pair getting the grail and having their ultimate wish granted. Why does Archer speak to me? He is the embodiment of being a slave to duty. Very much an anti-hero he does the right thing but not without grousing about it. His backstory on how he became an epic hero is tragic but he still fights. He keeps coming back to fight and help others no matter how tired he may be. He is sarcastic, broody, cocky, and tortured…. All traits I see in myself. But ultimately I got this set of tattoos because of the slave to duty reference. No matter how often I want to give up I challenge myself to rise, to try and keep fighting for what I believe in…even if I lose sight of what I believe in I will keep fighting to find it again. Archer helps me with that.

So both of my forearm and shin tattoos tie together in a Master/Servant sense, Ai is the master wear her brand and you are hers because of vengeful choices you have made. Archer is the servant, wear his command seal and you bear the weight of Mastering an epic hero.

Hey folks, got an awesome geek tattoo that you want to share on MIGeekScene? Click on this sentence to find out how.