I had actually been toying with ideas for another Babymetal tattoo for some time by this point, and one image in particular came across my feed that I felt really captured the raw intensity of the band's lead singer, Su-metal, where she's seen screaming into her mic. Literally the first thought I had upon seeing the image for the first time was that it would make for a really awesome tattoo. A little over a year later, I decided upon that image for my next tattoo, and I had the perfect spot for it picked out, on my right arm just below my shoulder.
Euphoria Tattoos had just moved to a new location again, and I also decided this would be a great way to help break in the new place. So I went to my usual artist, Alain, and he was able to get the job done in only about an hour and a half. It wasn't painful in the least, and in fact, sitting in the chair felt almost calmly therapeutic in a sense. But I was more than happy with the end result, and felt that he did another phenomenal job really capturing the image from the reference picture.
Then I decided to share the picture of my tattoo online for the Babymetal fandom to see.
To say that I was baffled by the response would be an understatement. I was thoroughly attacked by people claiming that the tattoo was bad, that it looked amateurish, and that they hoped I hadn't actually spent money on it, among other gross and disheartening comments that really killed the vibe. And I could sit here and write a full rant about this experience alone, but I've decided instead not to focus too much on the negatives. It's just such a shame that I now have to associate my new tattoo's story with this unfortunate experience.
Upon reflection, however, perhaps it's fitting that my new Babymetal tattoo was met with such a WTF reaction. After all, the band themselves are always chasing after such a response. And personally speaking, I've lived through quite a number of fandom meltdowns in response to various song releases and other band activities over the years, despite coming from a fanbase for a band that stands firmly against precisely that sort of behavior. So it's not like I haven't ever seen this side of the fandom before. I just haven't experienced it targeted at me, and I was completely taken off guard by the reaction.
But most people have actually had a much warmer response to the tattoo. I've been told by multiple people that my tattoo was indeed sick, and in some instances even beautiful. Whenever I show off the reference photo, most have agreed that the picture was captured accurately, and they have proceeded to share in my absolutely dumbfoundedness when I've told them about the backlash it's received online. So it hasn't all been bad, even though the negativity can certainly weigh down on you if you let it. But like I said though, I'm personally very happy with how it turned out, and I can't wait to show it off at my next Babymetal concert.
Thank you for reading about my latest tattoo, and if you'd like to read more tattoo stories, consider picking up my book Down the Fox Hole.
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