When I was around 22, I conjured the idea of a tattoo that's about my love for Gaming. I had an artist ink the Max Payne 2 cover art (yep...) on my back at like 18 and while I don't regret it, I wouldn't do it again, lol. But this time, I was supposed to contain my personal Gaming milestones, as in, Games that changed "the Game" for me, if you will. While I loved the idea, I abandoned it because tats are extremely expensive where I live and I didn't have enough money by far.

A little later, around 28, I remembered the idea. Still a student, money was tight, but I enjoyed the idea very much. This time, though, a different thought crept in: "What if I don't like Gaming as much anymore in ten years? Won't I hate the tat then?" And so, once again, I saved the vision in the back of my head and moved on.

Fast forward to my 35th birthday. Having spent my 29th to 35th year as an active streamer, building a career in Gaming and — while actually *playing* less than I used to — still loving Gaming, its concept, the memories and my identity within the space, I decided to start saving up for something BIG.

My tattoo was gonna be a 3/4 sleeve (meaning, fully covering an arm down to just a few cm above the wrist), with my all time childhood hero Sonic the Hedgehog on my shoulder, then some milestone characters across the arm, all filled up with hints towards my favorite consoles, my stream that changed my life, and maybe a small music thing. After a while, I found the perfect artist: A friend had done her small tat with him, and upon checking out his style, I knew he was perfect. His sketch-style blackwork was impeccably done and after a first consultation with him (an absolute sweetheart: patient, nice, hyped about my idea), I knew he was the one.

So yesterday, it happened: First out of probably five sittings done!

So far, it's only Mega Man X with outlines, inlines and an example of shading in the foot while Sonic is only outlined. I can only take around 3h of sustained pain for a sitting, so we stopped after outlining Sonic. Next sitting is in December and while I absolutely hate the pain (taking it without moving, wincing, making sounds or faces ... but it's not easy, how do people *like* this stuff??), I can't wait for the final result. Final work will contain Sonic, Mega Man X, a RE zombie, Solid Snake and Sans!

So here's the status! :) Do you like it?