What my tattoo means to me.

I've always wanted a tattoo, when I turned 18 I vowed to get at least one during my lifetime. But figuring out what to get was a problem for me, as my mind was ever changing and half the tattoo ideas I had I couldn't even tell you what they were anymore.

As of May 3rd, 2016 though, I had decided. Though it was a small idea at first, the minute I heard Ruki sing "You can't take my soul away from me" live in person, I knew that's what I wanted. I had different ideas with it at first, just the lyric, or a pen writing it out (As I like to consider myself a writer still).

But I thought of the idea I had for another tattoo and thought "why not combine the two?" 

My tattoo, with lyrics from Vortex by the GazettE+ the Sampaguita flower.

My dad is from the Philippines, and that's always been an important factor growing up as a child. My parents would always tell us stories of how they met, and the place where my dad grew up. Being part Filipino has always been apart of my identity, and how I was raised. I wanted to have something that honored that, but I was short on ideas since my sister already has the national anthem in my dad's native tongue and my brother has the star.

That's where I came up with the idea for the Sampaguita flower, which is also the national flower of the Philippines and considered "The Philippine Jasmine".

Since I've been wanting both tattoos for a while, I thought about it and thought they went well together. So when I went to see my artist, we both played with ideas on what the design should look like and ultimately we went with this look which I love. It's still healing, so when it fully heals I'll post a picture for sure.

No one will be able to take away this identity from me, it's part of who I am and I feel like this tattoo represents how I feel as not only a Sixth Gun, but a person of Filipino descent.

But even if I grow distant from the GazettE and I'm no longer a fan, even though I'll always know the lyrics were from VORTEX, it also has it's meaning outside of the GazettE which is what makes it so special to me knowing that it'll grow with me in that sense.

Not only that, I'll always remember the connections I made within the Sixth Gun fandom. In the 12 years I've been a fan, I've made and lost friends, but I have made connections that I never thought I would before. I stepped out of my comfort zone tons of times just for this band, conquered my fear of flying and much more.

They've done so much for me as a person, and I'm glad that I get to represent them in this special way.