'My friend got a tattoo for his stolen moped': 25+ Tattoo artists and enthusiasts share the wildest things they've seen in tattoo parlors

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 2, 2024 3:00 PM EST

Not everyone can handle getting tatted. Getting tattooed is a deeply personal experience. You're changing your own skin to represent a cool drawing or shape that means a lot to you. 

Not everyone gets a tat for themselves, though. Some folks find themselves at a tattoo studio ready to get inked for their girlfriend or boyfriend, or due to peer pressure from a friend group. 

Other people really want tattoos, but they can't handle the pain. People will tell you, "My tattoo didn't hurt," while others will tell you their life flashed before their eyes due to the pain. You don't know how the experience will affect you until you actually start getting one! And by that point, you've already paid, had a stencil laid out, and had the artist clean their area and dip into the ink. As they begin the tattoo, anxieties are high. It's your last chance to back out, and that makes some people jumpy. It can be intense! 

When I was getting a tattoo one time, the artist started drawing and the pain was bad. I closed my eyes and did some deep breathing, and then I opened my eyes and thought, "They're probably halfway done with the design by now." Nope! Just a few seconds had passed, and they'd drawn a single line. You really do have to grit your teeth and bear it in order to get through the session. The pain is totally worth it for the awesome results! 

Below, you'll find some great stories from tattoo artists and their clients, sharing their most memorable experiences. Then, take a peek into the lives of escape room employees and the guests who are driving them crazy. 

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  • However, for the people below, that wasn't quite the case. A bunch of tattoo artists and tattoo parlor vets shared their wildest tales. Turns out a lot of people want to get a massive tattoo for their first tat, only to realize how intense it can be, and then decide to back out. 

  • 01
    'My uncle has a tattoo that says "mic" because he was getting his girlfriend's name (Michelle) but then he realized that Michelle is also his mom's name' nowT
    via benjamin lehman on Unsplash
  • 02
    Tattoo artists of Reddit, has anyone ever changed their minds about getting a tattoo half way through? Or what was a person's worst reaction?
    via u/Zef_Apollo
  • 03
    ✪ [deleted] My stepdad has half a skull on his upper arm because they ran out of time and had to finish it the next day, but the guy that was doing it got arrested. He thinks this is hilarious enough that it's worth keeping the unfinished skull just so he can explain it.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 04
    Bermuda_Jim This happened when I was an apprentice. Some woman came in and wanted "heart is everthing" in the disney font. The tattoo was huge and on her entire side. She had it printed out, and my artist had stenciled it and I had prepped the station. Well he was tattooing her and I realized that "everthing" was spelled incorrectly (he hadn't gotten to it yet). So I frantically told
    via u/Bermuda_Jim
  • 05
    him that he needed to go smoke a cigarette with me. After a great deal of nagging, he went out to smoke with me and was pretty I off about it. I told him about the incorrect spelling and he basically in and talked to this woman about it, and even after explaining that it was spelled incorrectly, she insisted that was how it had to be. bricks. We went
    via u/Bermuda_Jim
  • 06
    HamstersandwichXo I tattooed a new school Cross with a fish nailed to it. with a few banners that read "Fish Jesus Died For Our Fins" on my friend. it was HUGE, took up almost his whole upper arm. He loved the drawing. He loved the line work. but went home and showed his mom and called me that same night asking how hard it would be to cover up. he was really upset his mom didnt like it... dumbass. I informed him it
    via u/HamstersandwichXo
  • 07
    was done that day, and would be virtually impossible to cover up without blacking out his whole arm or lazering it off. Keep in mind its REALLY well done (for my 5th ever tattoo) and i asked him a BUNCH of times if he was sure he wanted it.
    via u/HamstersandwichXo
  • 08
    MactheDog My Grandpa wears a half finished tattoo on his forearm. He was in the Army Air Corps and stationed in England during World War II, he and his friends got drunk and decided to get tattoos. He was the last to go and decided on a shield and scroll that said Mother with flowers behind it. Halfway through the outline there was an air raid and the power went off, the guy finished the outline with candle light and a single needle that he stuck manually.
    via u/MactheDog
  • 09
    My Grandpa said the outline hurt so bad and took so long to do that he never went back. 50 years later when I was a kid he had a greenish shield on his arm and it was smudged and illegible. Still cooler than any tattoo I'll ever get.
    via u/MactheDog
  • 10
    timeddilation My friend got a tattoo for his stolen moped he loved so much with "Gone but not forgotten" written in a banner. While the artist was finishing, I look over and said, "Isn't 'forgotten' spelled with two Ts?" The artist spelled "forgoten"
    via u/
  • 11
    JVonDron • 8 years as a Tattoo Artist Only once has someone left on me and never came back. I was tattooing a stomach rocker on a Navy kid on a Saturday. "Outcast" or something in some stylized letters. It was a really cool design, stencil went on great, he was kinda sweatin at the start, but settled down as we got goin. Well, as settled as you can be during a stomach tattoo. About halfway through the outline when his phone rang, says it's important, so
    via u/JVonDron
  • 12
    we take 5 and I go out to smoke. He comes out without his shirt on (it's January in Chicago) and says he's gotta go. He got called back to base, someone got into trouble so they canceled leave for everyone. He had 1 hour to report back and he's 90 minutes away. So I cleaned him up, wrapped him up, told him if he didn't wash it hard tonight, the stencil might still suffice for Sunday. I kept the drawing, and if he couldn't
    via u/JVonDron
  • 13
    make it the next day we would just have to line up a new stencil carefully. He paid for half the final cost and I never saw or heard from him again. Somewhere, there's a kid with OUTC probably cleanin heads or something.
    via u/JVonDron
  • 14
    imagirlimagirl As I was getting my last tattoo, this girl came in and wanted an ice cream cone with a cow's leg sticking out of the side. The artists started cracking up, so she started to cause a scene, saying that she was going to blacklist them if they didn't do it. So this guy starts tattooing it onto her leg, and halfway through, she starts to cry, saying that she didn't think the cow's leg was sticking up enough. She let
    via u/imagirlimagirl
  • 15
    the guy continue for like two minutes, and then decided that she had had enough. She then threw a of twenties at the cashier, and ran out. They artist was laughing so much that he didn't even care about being stiffed for some of the cost.
    via u/imagirlimagirl
  • 16
    12-> 5 RossLH After being under the needle for almost two hours, the artist finished my tattoo, looks up at me and says "All done! What do you think?"
    via u/RossLH
  • 17
    I took one look at it and, with a perfectly straight face, replied "Not really my style....can you take it back off?" Figured she'd get that I was just being a (really she did a good job, I still love that piece), but she was mortified. I immediately told her I was joking and it was exactly what I wanted and we both got a good laugh out of it, but her face was pale for a couple seconds there. She knows to not take me seriously now.
    via u/RossLH
  • 18
    LadyMegatron I'm not a tattoo artist but this happened in the chair next to me while I was getting my back tattoo. The man had arrived at about the same time as me. after a bit, mine was halfway finished, and I looked over and he was still fiddling around with the picture he wanted, which was a dragon I think. So the 2nd half of my back is almost done and I hear him scream. Not
    via u/LadyMegatron
  • 19
    just an, "ouch!" scream, a full on top of the lungs screech. This went on for maybe 5 more minutes. He finally got up, threw some money on the chair and said, "I can't do this." As he was saying this I caught a glimpse of what it looked like so far. It was like a 10 inch long squiggly line on his bicep. I felt kind of embarrassed for him.
    via u/LadyMegatron
  • 20
    When I was getting one of my tattoos done a girl came into the studio with her boyfriend to get a tramp stamp. As soon as the tattooist started she began shrieking and yelling "Stop! Stop!"
    via r/AskReddit
  • 21
    This continued for about 40 minutes where every time the needle would touch skin the girl would be telling him to stop about 3 seconds later. The tattooist was getting understandably frustrated and the boyfriend was getting increasingly mortified. They finished the outline (A tribal tramp stamp with a love heart in the middle) and managed about 5 minutes of shading (half the love heart was red) when the girl said "Stop!" one more time.
    via r/AskReddit
  • 22
    She looked in the mirror, and started saying "You know what? I think that looks good. I think I'm happy to leave it there." Everyone in the studio was staring at her with sort of "Are you serious?" expression because the tattoo looked ridiculous. It was a design in the first place but with only a tiny bit of random shading it looked absurd.
    via r/AskReddit
  • 23
    She refused to change her mind to get tattooed any more and ended up walking out of an extremely prestigious studio with a half finished on her back. The boyfriend slunk out behind her, and every single person in there wore a look of disapproval. So lame.
    via r/AskReddit
  • 24
    Kaizmuth I got a large piece back in 2004 on my upper left arm/shoulder. It took 3 sittings because my arm would just stop taking ink after a couple hours. During the final sitting with the majority of the shading being done, I was sitting in the chair reading a book for the last 2 hours of it. I hit that perfect zen zone where I was just used to the pain, and totally focused on the book. I barely even felt him doing anything. It was beautiful.
    via u/Kaizmuth
  • 25
    I'm a tall skinny guy, not even remotely 'macho'. There was this huge 6'8" yoked out body builder guy who was watching the last 20 minutes or so of my tattoo. He was talking about how tough he was, and how he could endure any pain. Turns out he had an appointment with my artist immediately after mine. When I was done, I hung around for a bit because I was curious to see what he was getting. This monster sits down, flexes a few times to psych himself up, and the artist starts. After about 2
    via u/Kaizmuth
  • 26
    minutes, I genuinely thought the musclebound giant was going to cry. He was literally whimpering and squirming every time the needle touched his skin. He only sat for about 20 minutes, and was borderline on tears the entire time. After realizing I sat for just over 7 hours total over three sessions, reading a book for 90% of it, I walked out of there feeling like a boss.
    via u/Kaizmuth
  • 27
    crankerpants I have a medium sized tattoo on my side, over my ribs. When I got a little fussy from the pain, my tattoo artist told me, "I've had guys quit from the pain, but never a girl. Don't be the first one." , but I Maybe it was sucked it up after that.
    via u/crankerpants
  • 28
    geishagirlshuffle My husband decided to get my name tattooed across his chest and as he only took a certain amount of money with him (this was before the days of being able to pay by card) he could only afford 3 letters. He had every intention of going back to get the last 3 letters tattooed, but to this day, years later - he still has only the first 3 letters of my name on his chest!
    via u/geishagirlshuffle
  • 29
    EDIT: my name is Montsy. And it's not a sore point because he calls me Mon anyway...so we just have a giggle about the circumstance.
    via u/geishagirlshuffle
  • 30
    + [deleted] An old roommate dated this guy that tattooed her name over his heart without even asking her. She was like "Eh..I.. uh-" and then broke up with him. Apparently the guy had a kid with his next girlfriend and tried to persuade the woman to name their kid the name of the tattoo. Two birds one stone, I guess. Needless to say, it didn't go over well.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 31
    enobale I was hanging out at my buddies tattoo shop and this woman (around 60 years old) was getting a portrait tattoo of this guy on a camel. At her side was a briefcase, and inside was a photo of the guy taped to the briefcase, a small stuffed animal camel, a photo of Prince (the artist) and several other bizarre items. The artists is a pro when it comes to portraits (over 20 years of experience) but the photo was grainy and from the 70's. The artist was doing an outstanding job recreating
    via u/enobale
  • 32
    the features of the man. I remember the woman asking for a glass of water and the artist asked if I could grab it for her, when I gave her the water she said I had beautiful hair and eyes. She asked to take a picture of me and the artist and we both said it was fine. I imagine after session she would put that that photo in the briefcase along with Prince. Halfway through the session she started crying and
    via u/enobale
  • 33
    sobbing, saying, "This is a mistake!". She got up to take a break and suddenly left the building. I asked the artist what was wrong and he said that basically the picture of the guy was like a God to her, and she kept saying it didn't look like him (even though it looked like the photo). Luckily the woman came back the following day and finished the tattoo. She was very happy to see the end results. TLDR: Crazy lady takes off during the tattoo. Came back the next day
    via u/enobale
  • 34
    elynnism I am not a tattoo artist but when I went in to get my side tattoo done, I was understandably nervous. Everyone had told me it would hurt like and the only other tattoo I had was near my ankle. My artist, Cheese, had me on my side and was talking to me the entire five hour session. It wasn't even that bad of pain to be honest. However, this was a story he told me that I always remember:
    via u/elynnism
  • 35
    Some guy comes in with his buddies, acting all tough. He's a super short guy but really buff. His friends dare him to get a tattoo and after a showing of how manly he is, he makes an appointment. The dude is acting like a from the way Cheese described him. Anyway this guy shows up to his appointment alone a couple weeks later and says he wants a big dragon tattoo. Cheese is like, OK, let me get my pen out. Spends nearly two hours just drawing this bamfy dragon on this guy's side, from shoulder t
    via u/elynnism
  • 36
    knee I think he said. The guy sits down and Cheese is all, you okay man, nervous? And doesn't mean anything by it, he is just generally concerned. Guy gets all huffy and is all, man I'm fine. Cheese says, well, let me just tattoo a line on you and you let me know if it's okay to keep going. His answer is just an all right, sure sure. Cheese does one line and the guy practically cries. Says he wants a break to go smoke before they really start. Cheese says okay. Then sits and waits.
    via u/elynnism
  • 37
    Fifteen, twenty minutes go by and Cheese goes outside to see where this guy is and he notes his truck is gone. Guy just up and left. So now some is running around with a little line tattooed onto him. I hope he is a redditor. And I hope he knows that when I'm in pain of any kind I think of his punk and I push through it. ……..
    via u/elynnism
  • 38
    evilitems I've had plenty of people change their mind halfway through a tattoo. Its usually because they are in pain, not so much about the tattoo design. Typically, I talk them through letting me get to a stopping point and then schedule an additional session(s) to complete the piece. Usually they realize the original tattoo design is what they want, it just hurts more than they realized. Nothing wrong with that.
    via u/evilitems
  • 39
    Never had a bad reaction to a tattoo I did. I have, however, ended a few tattoo sessions and refused to finish or reschedule with the client. Those reactions were not so great.
    via u/evilitems
  • 40
    Vikaroo I used to have a friend that is a tattoo artist. A guy wanted, and paid for, a full set of demon style wings on his back - it would have been a full back piece. The guy backed out after the top of one wing was barely outlined, it was about 6" worth of black outlining. He said it was too painful and just left.
    via u/Vikaroo
  • 41
    ellalikesdogs My dad has a small dot on his wrist from when he was at university. Story goes his mates convinced him to get a rolling stones tongue on his wrist after going to the pub and just as the guy had started he passed out. Now my four brothers and I have the same small black dot on each of our left wrists.
    via u/ellalikesdogs
  • 42
    samsaBEAR I'm laying on the table in pure agony as a bearded fellow rips apart my calf for four hours yet the girl across from me gets two lines done and quits. Felt so bad for the artist who had booked a couple of hours with her.
    via u/samsaBEAR
  • 43
    daats_end I have a story of regret from when I got my first tattoo. Not my regret mind you, but regret none the less. The artist was about half way done with me when this line backer of a woman comes in. As Doug (my artist) was busy, his partner, Brian, went to talk to her. She asked if they did touch up work, Brian said sure, and she took off her scarf. On her neck (like over her jugular), in bold, black letters was "Bug Man". It
    via u/daats_end
  • 44
    would seem that despite her best efforts to make it work, Bug Man was simply not the man for her. She asks if he can put a dot above each crest in the u and change Man to Mamma, thus, in her mind, making Biig Mama. Brian just stares at her for a minute and asks, "What the is a Büg Mamma?" "It's not Büg Mamma," she said, "just big mamma with two i's." He tried
    via u/daats_end
  • 45
    explaining the concept of an umlaut to her but it was clearly lost on her. She started getting loud and Brian's final reply was, "I don't clean up other peoples garbage." She left, presumably to make one final, desperate plea of love to Bug Man.
    via u/daats_end
  • 46
    hamburgs This isn't the worst reaction I've seen, but it might be my most hilarious reaction to getting a tattoo. I have most of my right arm tattooed. Now, there is a section right near my armpit that hurt like when he was doing it. The girl I was seeing at the time was holding my hand, but it just wasn't doing it. So I decided to sing Never Gonna Give You Up at the top of my lungs. It helped, but I succeeded in making everybody in the shop feel slightly awkward. I didn't give a
    via u/hamburgs
  • 47
    ♥ [deleted] my uncle has a tattoo that says "mic" because he was getting his girlfriend's name (michelle) but then he realized that michelle is also his mom's name
    via u/[deleted]

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