JoeJoesDojo

The angel tattoo on Sakura’s back was the first piece they ever got. The tattoo is a fallen angel bound at the hands. The metal pieces on his shoulders those are what bind his wings. Sakura loves the angle’s emo hair. Sakura got this while in the Marines during Comm School in 29 Palms.

Sakura was raised in a very Christian household, but values had never aligned with the church on a lot of big issues. From the time they were young, until they became an adult. Sakura used to have terrifying nightmares of being sent to hell. They wouid wake up screaming at least once or twice a week. No one in their family really asked them why. After being on their own as an adult for a bit. Sakura said fuck it I want to fall and did. This tattoo may have come from a dark place. As Sakura has gotten older they find it more and more beautiful.

Sakura’ said would like to  have it touched up soon. Maybe next year.

The Wolf Sigil tattoo. Sakura got this tattoo while stationed in MCAS Miramar. Sakura and their brothers wanted to get “wolfpack” tattoos with our friends after one of the hangover movies came out. Sakura chose this design because of the video game character Cloud from Final Fantasy 7 who wore it on his armor in the movie Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children. Sakura always identified with Cloud who dealt with schizophrenic like symptoms, hallucinations, false memories, and not knowing who he was. That really resonated with them even before they were diagnosed as Schizoaffective Bipolar. They remember having this desire to find themselves, and overcome their battles. At the time Sakura drank heavily every night, and was losing time. They would  black out and couldn’t remember where they were becoming periodically catatonic. Sakura could not get a good night sleep to save their life. This tattoo came during that time which was shortly before they decided they wanted to kill themselves. It gave them the courage to call their Gunnery Sgt and tell him something was wrong. Sakura was sent to mental health where they started their journey to getting better.

The “You Cant Die Yet” tattoo is made to look like self mutilation wounds that are closed with stitches. On top of each stitch is the initials of one of their family members, and on the last stitch are Sakura’s initials. Down the center are the words “You can’t die yet”. Sakura got this after getting out of the hospital for suicidal ideation. Sakura thinks the meaning speaks for itself. Made more of an effort to connect with their family because they needed their support. Sakura said as they get older sometimes they wish they could change the initials to people who are more family, than their actual family. At the time this tattoo was exactly what they needed it to be. Sakura wouldn’t go through with changing them, although they might add one or two more if possible.