I just finished a full sleeve, and I've had a habit of taking pictures of my tattoos as I go. They get larger and more absurd as we go, so strap in.
This is a little out of order, as it's #1 and #3. The small stars-and-bars is the flag of Washington, DC, my home city. Lots of young people in DC get this tattoo, albeit in varying placements, sometimes with the traditional red color. Personally, my brother got one on his forearm, and I wanted to be able to hide mine from my parents (I got it just after I turned 18) so I opted for the bicep. This photo is from 2012, I think. Shortly after #3, the bigger part, healed. Will come back to #3.
#2 is the Strong Badia flag from Homestar Runner. Much like the first, this was an impulse get. I found the nearest tattoo shop that seemed nice, asked for a tattoo and got it. While I've never regretted the subject matter of a tattoo, I do slightly regret this one if only for the lack of real artistry in it. It's basically a carbon copy of the source material, with very slight changes. Not the best linework either. This photo was taken just after it was finished at the shop.
#3 was the first tattoo I really planned out, though I didn't anticipate the shop experience. I was still in college at Columbia College Chicago and I'd started getting into the introductory classes on game development. Through this I began to think of the experiences that really shaped my need to create virtual worlds, and I kept comi\ng back to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. In particular, the expansion pack Shivering Isles really defined what an RPG experience should be for me, so I got the entrance to Shivering Isles added to my arm. It also had the benefit of consuming the DC flag, somewhat fitting for the entrance to the Realm of Madness.
Continuing the Bethesda motif, I got Liberty Prime during my second QA contract at Bethesda (though I didn't work on a Fallout game until my third and final one). I'd been working on Elder Scrolls Online with a small group of coworkers, where the four of us were assigned to test the instanced dungeons in the game. It was a ton of fun, and still high on the thrill of being at the company I dreamed of working for and having the money to do it, I slapped Liberty Prime on my underarm. Many people called Fallout 3 "Oblivion with Guns" when it came out, which was basically everything I wanted. That, and it taking place in my hometown kind of sealed it for me.
#5 is from the game Spelunky. This one has a bit more of an extended story to it. I got this tattoo during my senior year of college (2015) and Spelunky launched on Xbox Live Arcade in 2012. I think I was home for the summer (first contract at Bethesda) and I discovered the game while browsing the menus. It had co-op, so we all tried it for awhile and got really into it. We discovered the secrets without really looking up anything and had a great time.
After three years of playing the game on and off with and without them, I finally beat the game on the optional 'Hard' route, generally considered the true ending. I commemorated that with the tattoo, and the five characters represent myself and my best friends, as they're the avatars we use in-game.
#6, and the final one, is the largest tattoo I have. It was completed over a single seven-hour session and I don't think I've ever been in more pain in my life. It was half-celebration, half-coping mechanism.
The celebration is the character, Rubick from Dota 2. Having invested near 1500 hours in the game (paltry by competitive standards, but a hell of a milestone for someone with a habit of jumping between games), I felt I owed it to myself to get one of the heroes tattooed on me. Rubick was the choice mostly because I like his design the most, and find him to be the most satisfying hero of his role to play when I have a good game on him.
The coping mechanism is the car. On December 20, my grandfather passed away aged 97. He was the kindest, most thoughtful man I've ever met. He started with nothing on a farm in Alabama and amassed reasonable wealth on a government pension for 40 years in the foreign service. He was still working as the editor of a local magazine up until a week before his death. His dedication, his love for his family and fellow human, and his hearty laugh are things I miss dearly, and if I can be half the man he was when I die then I'll consider mine a life well-lived.
Anyway, he had a scale model of an old red porsche in his house. It was beat up by the time he died, but as a kid I remember being absolutely fascinated by it. My mother asked me if I wanted anything from his house, and I asked for it. As the tattoo itch rolled around, I couldn't think of a person more worthy of commemorating than my grandfather.
This ended up being a much longer post than expected, but my usual response to 'what do your tattoos mean' is 'I like video games' so it's nice for the chance to explain at length.