Around the age of 13, I somehow managed to poke myself with a ball-point pen, probably one of those cheap Bic ones, on my hand near the base of my thumb. Some 30 years later, there’s apparently still a faint blue mark under my skin there.
When I was about that age, my brother and I were playing around, tossing a pencil back and forth. Until bro threw it, and it hit my forehead point first. So I have a blue dot in the middle of my forehead
I have 2. The larger one on my right shoulder is a rose wrapped around a cross with a banner “In God I Trust”. It was a way to mark my faith. The design was something in the tattoo shop that caught my eye.
The smaller one on my left shoulder is the Kanji character that means “Atama”. It’s all black. I had to draw it for the artist, and they got it about 95% correct, just goofed up on a single small stroke going the wrong direction. (The sixth stroke in the below image.) But it’s barely noticeable and I think they did a pretty good job.
The tattoos were kind of a spur of the moment thing. I’d given a lot of thought about what kind of tattoos I’d get if I ever got them, and one day I was heading home from Seattle and I had just got off the ferry, and as I walked past a tattoo parlor next to the dock I decided to step in and get them, just right then. 25 years later I still don’t regret it.
I was recently in the hospital for a week, and one surprising thing was how it was a conversation starter. I did not expect that, but it really should not be too much of a surprise.
I’m thinking about adding a line at the bottom. I have a picture of mine in the OP. At the bottom I’m thinking of adding the line: God, Country, Corps
Like @Atamasama it’d be a way to express my faith and allegiances.
Apparently I started “watching” this thread back in October, but never posted to it! 
I have two: a G-clef on my right ankle, and a wolf on the upper part of my left arm.
The G-clef was first, done at a local tattoo place in 1994 (the year I turned 23). Piano lessons started at 7, voice lessons started at 16, and – as the song goes – I’ve got the music in me. Frankly I’ve never loved the design/color (what you see above is actually v2), but I’m mostly happy with it and at this point there’s no real way to improve it.
The wolf was done at a tattoo convention in 1999. Wolves are my spirit animal; I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember. I didn’t go to the convention planning to get a tattoo, but I’d been toying with the idea of some kind of wolf design for a while and when I saw this in someone’s book I loved it. And I loved this tattoo for a very long time, but I’m actually now in the process of having it removed (laser treatments started 9 months ago). The artwork on the wolf itself is gorgeous, and the subject matter is still near to my heart, but the tribal elements are super dated and having that tattoo in that location just isn’t “me” anymore. The decision to have it removed wasn’t an easy one, and the process is quite expensive and quite painful and will take quite a long time, but I’m glad I’m doing it.
When I decided to have the wolf tat removed, I asked the place to also lighten the background on the G-clef – from a distance it kinda looks like a big blue smudge. After a handful of treatments, though, a bit of the top of the clef has started to blur (even though the tech has always been very careful about blocking off the parts that I don’t want removed) and the color isn’t lightening evenly (because apparently it wasn’t applied evenly). So, I’ve stopped that treatment and am only continuing with removal of the wolf. Less pain every 6-8 weeks FTW. 
Every now and then I think about getting a new one. Maybe something for my mom (who died in 2015), or something whenever my 14-year-old dog dies. I always get stuck on the “where,” though, so #3 might never happen.
I had bariatric surgery a little over a year ago and was a type 2 diabetic before that, both of which mean frequent checkups: I’m a middle-aged professional woman, and whenever someone goes to take my blood pressure on the wolf arm it’s fun to watch their reaction. 
What about simply filling in the clef with black ink? I’d think that would make it stand out better against the blue.
That was my immediate thought, so it was nice to see this post. The current line work is boring, unsteady, and yeah confusing. A simple scheme of very black on blue could be much better. (Do a test fill with a Sharpie.)
It could be quite striking, actually.
My grandfather had tattoos. I remember he had his intials tattooed on his forearm, i don’t recall the others. When i was young, he always told me, “Never get a tattoo.”
So I was never inclined to get a tattoo. My brother gave me one any way. When i was about 6, he jabbed me in the forearm with a pencil. When it healed, it left a small blue dot, which i have to this day.
If I ever decide to revisit it, I’ll keep this idea in mind! But after having it tattooed twice and doing several laser treatments, I think I’m done messing with this ankle for the foreseeable future. 
My great aunt had a number tattooed on her arm, from Auschwitz. Every time I saw it it made me want to never ever get a tattoo.
Years ago I was in San Francisco and did some window shopping one afternoon near Fisherman’s Wharf. There was a shop there that sold fur coats. I thought that was a bit odd – was there really a market for these items at that place and time? - and just stood there looking into the shop, thinking about it. The proprietor invited me to come in and I told him I couldn’t afford to buy anything and didn’t want to waste his time (which was true - I was a broke-ass college student at the time, there for a school-related conference) but he told me to come in anyway and we talked for a bit.
He had one of those tattoos on his arm, too. I think that’s affected my feelings about tattoos too.
I was a social work intern for a high end retirement and continued care facility for elderly Jewish folks. Tattoos had to be covered up.
Wanna know what’s worse than having dementia? Being a Holocaust survivor and having dementia.
My college physics teacher had one of those tattoos too.
Sobering.
So I just got my first tattoo.
I just turned 50 last summer. I’d been mulling over getting one for several years, and I thought, why not? My parents have both passed away, my Jewish faith is not as strong as it used to be (those facts are not unrelated), and my wife already has several. So I got in touch with the tattooist who did her latest art - who’s also a fantasy artist I know from the local geek circuit - and we got to work designing.
I’ve been a fantasy nerd for all my life and a D&D player for 40 years, so I decided to start out with a dragon tattoo - an occidental dragon, of course. I first thought I’d do something small, because, you know, pain, but then I realized that I wouldn’t ever make a second dragon tattoo, so I might as well make a more substantial one. Long story short, and 90 very painful minutes later, here’s my new tattoo:
Nice! 
I have a friend who will never get a tattoo for the same reason. She wrote this poem.
Nice work! Take good care of it.
My best friend wanted a tattoo to celebrate a significant milestone in their life. They didn’t really know how to go about it, and were kind of scared but still really wanted one. So I told them I’d get one too, and I reached out to a friend who is heavily tattooed and asked for an artist recommendation in my friend’s town. My friend and I both had a good idea of what we each wanted, the artist brought them to life, and it was a fantastic first experience.
My friend went back to that artist recently for their second piece, in memorial to a deceased family member.
I got a second one last year from a different artist, primary due to geography. I wanted a scaled down reproduction of my kid’s artwork. I chose this particular artist based off the artwork on some local band merchandise (and a review of her work on Instagram, to make sure she wasn’t terrible). I’m very pleased with the result and would return to her.
I want more but I’m out of ideas. I have vague subject matter that might form the basis of a tattoo, but nothing more elaborate than that for the moment.
I had dithered for years over getting a tattoo. I had occasional ideas for one, but none of them still sounded like a good idea after after a few months.
Then my sister got a tattoo of three fish on her arm to represent our mother, herself and me. We all three are Pisces (hence the fish). I’ve never been a huge fan of zodiac sign tattoos as I’ve seen more bad ones than good, but I had to admit she and the tattoo artist came up with a beautiful design.
Our mother loved it and within a few days got the same tattoo on her upper back. Now the pressure was on… I was the last fish without the matching tattoo. It took me a couple of years to settle on where to get it. It’s not a small tattoo but I wanted to be able to cover it easily for work if needed. I finally settled on the outside of my lower leg, and love it.
Picture of my sister’s tattoo as I don’t have a good photo of mine.