(no subject)

[shadowsage05.livejournal.com]

So I let the Dark One front yesterday. She's been wanting to, and after reading the advice you guys gave me, I let her. It was a bit after noon, and she'd been there all day, wanting to. I could feel her emotions, and I tried not to be scared and let her front.

We went on a walk. I was supposed to go to the store anyway, but we walked a long time. Over an hour maybe. All through the neighborhood, even places I don't think I've ever been. She was exploring, I think. We walked and walked and walked.

On the way back we passed a garage/mechanic thing. There was some man walking out of it, his arms covered in tattoos. She actually stopped him and asked about it. About getting a tattoo. Asked a total stranger. She wants the body to have a tattoo, I think.

When we got home, she wanted to go online but by that time I was like almost panicking, because this whole thing was strange and scary and I wasn't the one in control. I think she felt it because she let me go back to fronting again.

Later, Ruby started talking to me. She hasn't been very talkative lately, but she was this time. Apparently she was there for the tattoo thing because she kept asking me about being poked with needles by strange people. She's afraid of tattoos and needles and I think the Dark One finds that amusing or something.

The whole thing was very strange. Still sorta trying to wrap my mind around it all

Comments

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Well hey, good for you! *smiles* See, not such a terrible thing, and as time goes by, you will get more used to letting her take the helm for a while - you may even find that you like it, that it's nice to sometimes be the 'passenger'.

Tattoos don't involve "getting poked with needles" - they're done with an electric needle these days, which goes very fast and only penetrates the top layers of the skin. It's a buzzy, tingly, 'electric' kind of feeling, not at all like getting a shot or being stuck with something. I have three, fairly large - one on each upper arm, and one in the pubic region - and I did not find them very painful to get, nor did they take long to heal. I'm told it hurts more where the skin is thinner, like over the wrist-bones.

If your Dark One wants a tattoo but the rest of you don't, what about temporary tattoos, either transfers or drawn on, or henna designs? Permanent body modifications really need to be agreed-upon by everyone who lives in the body.

Anyway, congratulations on a successful first outing!

[saturniakitty.livejournal.com]

Tattoos actually hurt a LOT less than you'd think, or at least in my expirience. We recently got a tattoo that represents the whole system, and myself and Shi have are own personal tats planned for when we have the money.

[doltaghey.livejournal.com]

That sounds like it went well. First-times for us tend to be a bit more panicky than that, usually. It definitely gets easier though, with time and "practise". Mostly it;s about establishing trust with eachother. You don't worry so much about giving up control, when you're confident that the others won't abuse their opportunity.

As for tattoos; something permanent like that needs to be agreed by everybody, but if you can come to an agreement, don't let fear of pain put you off. It's a bit uncomfortable, yes, but it's not painful, and is nothing like being poked with needles. The only reason we have only 2 tats is the cost. They're not cheap.

[ex-kiota.livejournal.com]

Sounds like it went kind of well, actually... and she could sense when you wanted to front and let you back. Like elenbarthi suggested, maybe try temporary tattoos?

[kao-no-san.livejournal.com]

We have encountered a few times when members first wake up again after a long time, or split and create a new member that they want to front, and cause a few scary moments. Sometimes even older mambers showing a new element to themselves when interaction with amemeber of another system. Nyx scared me a bit when she started to become involved with Dive, a member of our girlfriend's system. She turned out to be another pain-inducer.

There are certain ones in my system that want tats. The Twins want Kanji in the wrists, Lumina picked 'Create' and Nyx picked 'Destroy', which really does suit them well. Silvaren is the one who want the blue flame on the inner arm, to represent our soul (and inadvertantly, the entire systems love of the singer Morrissey) Orin wants the wings on the upper back, and Jesse wanted the Ankh with wings and gemini symbol on the lower back. It's taken some convincing of Jessica, she's a bit frightened of any type of pain, but Nyx and Blood promised to hide her from it. With a total of seven in the system it was actually easier to agree on it than I thought it would be. Of course cost issue may cause a problem with the back peices, the wrists won't be that much since they are small.

[iamshadow.livejournal.com]

Congrats on being courageous and taking the plunge.

The temporary tattoos is a good idea. I found I liked having a supply of felt tips as well. I'd draw a design I liked out on paper, then use the felt tips to draw it on me. It'd last a day or so (until I scrubbed it off in the shower) and I could really get the feeling for what it was like having different deigns different places on my body. I haven't (as yet) decided on a design I like, but it's probably something I'd like to do at some point.

I have friends that have tats already, and I know one friend who's had a weight problem for most of her life, who's using her tat as an incentive. She knows the design she wants, she knows where she wants it, she's just got her goal weight, and she's inching ever closer. Her tat is going to be her reward when the time comes.