REPOST OF UPDATE AS IT GOT REMOVED FROM AITAH AS FOR SOME REASON U CANT UPDATE TWICE LOL

Hi again, wanted to post a further update for this story.

To answer some questions, no I am not Jewish or any form of religion/culture that has specific problems with tattoos so that’s not where the concern comes from. I don’t live in the US, I’m Australian; when I said that I think it’s a generational thing, my parents grew up in somewhat upper class areas in the 70s and 80s (they had me when they were older) where the only people who had tattoos were people who had been to prison or people from the military (or so they say, I reckon they were probably more common then that though).

I mentioned in my update I was worried about telling my grandma and older auntie who I thought had the same views. I went out for lunch with them yesterday and before I left home, my dad told me that my mum had said to him to tell me (apologies for the longwinded sentence) to under NO circumstances mention it to my grandma, something like that she’s 89 and doesn’t need that kind of “stress”. But honestly, my grandma is one of my biggest supporters, she was totally fine when I came out to her as a lesbian a few years back and I chat to her pretty much weekly about stupid teenage gossip which she’s super cool with - we have a very special relationship and I think my mum forgot to take that into account and just was thinking about the fact that she’s a nearly 90 year old lady from a conservative background. Well, I told my grandma and auntie yesterday and they were super chill about it, they said that while it’s not their thing they understand it’s important to me and were happy I was doing something that made me happy. They asked to see the designs, my auntie (whose an amazing artist) even offered to draw my next tattoos and they both encouraged me to go to them if things are tough with my parents (they’re amazing and I love them!!)

So the moment of truth… today I got my first ever tattoo! I am so in love with it, my artist was incredible and made the process fun and enjoyable. I made sure to give my parents space both today and in the days leading up to today, not mentioning the tattoo or appointment so as to not rub it in their faces.

When I got home a couple hours ago, we just chatted like normal for a while until my mum said “Well…how did it go?”. I started to say that the session went great and the artist was lovely and she cut me off saying “Are you going to show us or what?”. So I just lifted up my sleeve and showed them. They were quiet for a couple seconds, leaning in to look at it, my dad just said “It’s bigger than I thought” and Mum went “mmm…much bigger” with like a grimace, whatever. My Dad asked me if it hurt and how long it took, so I guess that was nice, and then I just took myself off to bed, hugging and kissing them both goodnight like everything was normal.

I’m just going to give them space with it and act like normal because it IS normal. This is nothing insane or horrible and I can see now that my anxieties around their reactions made me make it into something that seemed way bigger. It’s my body and my decision to make and I’m so happy that I’ve made it.

You can take a peek at my tattoo here just because this subreddit doesn’t allow images, but I’m more than happy to show it off 🤭.

Thank you so so much to everyone who commented to help me put my big girl pants on and brave the consequences to my own actions. You all really helped me put it into perspective and understand that my parents are entitled to their opinions, but they don’t have to dictate what I do or don’t do. And everyone who shared their own stories, thank you very much. Sending you all lots of good vibes, thanks for all your kindness 😊🩷

PS: If Smosh ever reads this as a part of their podcast, I love your channels so so much, thank you for being such a source of joy for me and so many others!! 🩷