SeaHeart

One of my very first tattoos was the word "Storyteller" on my wrist.  It was a deeply empowering thing for me to print upon my skin, in ink, exactly who and what I was, and a reminder for those dark nights of the soul (EVERY WRITER HAS THEM), that we never lose who we really are.  Out of all of my tattoos, this is still one of my favorites, even though it's one of my smallest, and one of my first.

Since the very beginning, though, it was the start of a much larger piece.  Every inch of my body has metaphors and meanings going on in my tattoos and my tattoo plans.  My right arm is, simply, my Storyteller arm (makes sense, right?  My right hand holds the pen).  This is the arm that has the half fairy tale tattoo sleeve on it.  I wanted the lower half sleeve to also reflect stories, but to go back to the root of them.  Not necessarily specific stories, but why and how they're written.  It's, arguably, one of the parts of my body I see the most--a perfect place for constant reminders of some of the most important parts of my life.

So, in my original plans for my forearm, I knew that I wanted a quill--the tip of it connecting, or almost connecting to the curlicue on the "Storyteller" tattoo, as if it just "wrote" that word upon my skin.  I wanted a very specific quill.  I'm Pagan, and I believe that, somehow and some way, all of my stories come from the Goddess.  I've built my entire life on loving Her and listening to all of the stories in my heart.  I'm also a lesbian, and that "colors" (HAH, A PUN) everything I do.  Maddie and I have been talking about both getting quill tattoos forever...so this past Yule, she presented me with my favorite tattoo parlor's gift certificate (ONE OF THE BEST GIFTS YOU CAN EVER GET MISS SARAH), and, yesterday, it HAPPENED.  <3

So I give you my Goddess of Writing quill tattoo.  The picture was taken a few minutes after the tattoo was finished, so IT'S STILL A LITTLE MESSY, and it's hard to see the rainbow She makes, because my arm is all GAH WHY DO YOU DO THESE THINGS TO US PRECIOUS (ie, enflamed).  She covers my entire forearm--the beginning of my bottom sleeve.

THERE IS A LOT OF SYMBOLISM GOING ON.  LET ME 'SPLAIN.  NO, IS TOO MUCH.  LET ME SUM UP:  the rainbow for lesbian stories, the peacock feather as a symbol of the Goddess, the repeating hearts as adoration of Her and love in general.  The dancing and playful posture of the Goddess as joy in the craft of writing.

My sister and I are both covered in tattoos, and are very, very close. The first tattoos that we ever got were matching Legend of Zelda heart containers from the Legend of Zelda series of video games (that link also has the story of why they're so important to us/what makes them special~). We'd always meant to add the magic meter, and some representation of sisterhood from the games, too. Recently, we thought it might be a grand idea if we added Tatl and Tael--the fairies from the N64 game, Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, our (arguably) favorite game in the franchise. Tatl is the older sister who goes off on a quest with Link to rescue her baby brother, Tael--which is awesome and fitting as all get out. So, last night, my sister paid for the completion of our matching sister tattoos--the sweetest gesture on the planet~

This is mine, on the right shoulder--Tatl is yellow, Tael is red/black~ :)


This is what my sister's looks like--along with the completion of her back piece~ (Which is a character from one of my very first stories, Tanian the dragon. ;;;-;;;)

We are home
We are where we shall be for forever...
Trust in me,
For you know I won't run away
From today!
This is all that I need
And all that I need to say is...
Don't you know how you've changed me?
Strange how I finally see...
I found home,
You're my home,
Stay with me.

~ from "Transformation" -- Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the Musical

~*~

Friday evening, I had another session for my fairy tale sleeve. These are the roses in my Beauty panel, from the fairy tale of "Beauty and the Beast." Done in a stained glass styling, each of the petals is three different colors of red, alternating. These pictures were taken when it was just finished, so it's nice and angry looking, but the coloration is still delineated. I have no words to convey how amazing this is in person...I'm so completely enamored with this piece, the sheer beauty of it. The mirror has the word "home" in a very wispy styling, so it seems misty (I asked for it to be a "hint" of the word, and in the healing tattoo, it totally is--I need to get a better picture of this--it's just so freakin' happy~ Also, we ran out of time, but the mirror and ring will both be golden, eventually), paying homage to the song Belle sings in the Disney musical. It simply means that home is the most important thing, and that home is far from a place. It is a person. :) <33333333333333

This tattoo is taking forever because we budget into our expenses a very short appointment every two months. The day it's finished? I think I'll die of joy~

Both of these images are from Cat's camera~


( A larger one and a close-up here~ )

My life in the past few weeks, in lovely little digestible noms~

<3 I got my Star Girl added to my fairy tale sleeve, FINALLY!



( Her heart was filled with stars )

<3 We picked poppies from a wild field~



<3 I'm working endlessly on editing Twixt. I have this totally unrealistic goal of being finished with edits by my birthday, July 6th. XDDDD Um. We'll see what happens.

<3 We're planning our first annual Midsummer extravaganza, which we're endlessly excited about and covered in glitter for.

<3 All of our fur babies are finally healthy~ I gave baths to Pan and Poesy last night, and told Link he was far too clean and dainty to get one. XD To which I'm sure he agreed. My two little wild muppets are always tangled in something, and their taller and more more esteemed brother is fretting on the sidelines while they chase frogs and find more ways to store grass clippings in their coats. XD

Poesy--practically CLEAN, compared to what usually happens on such outings. XD


<3 We finally have our vegetable garden rotatilled! I'm going to be consecrating the ground on Thursday (the full moon) and planting on Saturday~ My excitement knows no bounds~ <3

<3 I'm surrounded by people who love me and believe in me and my stories and never, ever, ever let me give up. That's pretty incredible, and something I am endlessly and forever grateful for. <3333333

Friday night, Jenn and I got matching crescent moon tattoos for our six year anniversary~ There were multiple reasons behind the tattoo. The most obvious is that we never would have met if it weren't for Sailor Moon...we were both in love with the show, growing up, and found each other on fan sites and web sites online when I was just a wee babe of fifteen. :) The other reason (probably more major, but we've continuously made jokes that we're going to invite Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailor Moon, to our wedding all our lives XD) is that Jenn is a Starseed and I am a Witch, and together we fit perfectly like two pieces of a puzzle. :) <3333333333

Within the arms of the crescent moon we got each other's constellation. I now have Pisces over my heart, and Jenn has Cancer~ <33333333



( One more of mine, and a few of Jenn's~ )

So! This starts with a picture, and goes from there~ XD



( Inked )