I'm getting a tattoo in memory of Ryan Davis

OR... You come up with a sob story about how your partner Ryan died on duty saving orphans from a terrorist, rapist, murderer alien. And that you will never be able to be emotional attached to any one agian.

She will be all over you.

fuck no.

that's kind of creepy man

What about BALLER TIME tattooed across my ass cheeks?

Think real hard about it. I think people should get tattoos, but think real damn hard about it. Ryan's a great guy, and I was broken up as all can be when I found out he died, but... this will be with you forever.

Get a tattoo of Ryan's face on your face. It will be the ultimate tribute.

No. Especially not for a first tattoo.

If you already got tats, then it's better but still kind of awkward.

Nah man.

I can't quite articulate why, but i'm voting no on this.

People get elvis tatted on their chest, why not Ryan in binary? 99.9% of people will have no idea what it says anyway

Every tattoo has it's own meaning, don't let people tell you differently. My first tat was a tribute to The Rev from A7X. I know some people aren't fond of them, I know some people might not know who he is. It's his deathbat with his hair, actually.

Fact of the matter is, I've been playing drums for years now, and him, Mike Portnoy, tons of others dedicated me to continue to play drum, in hopes I could achieve their greatness. It was my choice. Some people loved it, some people didn't like it. My parents thought it was fair since I was dedicated enough.

My next tatoo is going to be Deadpool as Captain America in 8 bit form, on the top of my left arm, with the phrase "Underdog" in 8 bit as well. Some people may find them completely stupid, however if you like them, what does it matter?

The final tattoo for awhile I had in mind was to get my family to put their signature on a piece of paper, and get it tattooed on my upper back.
Bottom line is, some people may find all of those ridiculous. Some people may call you ridiculous. Tattoos may be forever. However, as someone else said. If you live your life by other judgements, your life will be very limited. Go for what you want. However, be aware of some consequences with them. If you go for a really professional job, and have it tattooed on your neck or lower arm, or fists or something of the sort where it's very visible, you might be turned away. As said though, do what YOU want to do. Just be aware of what you're doing.

Should you get the tattoo? No.

Should you listen to me? Probably not.

It's your body. In the end the choice is yours, as I'm sure you know. Just make sure you think about the long view. Will you be happy to have this imprinted on your body five, ten, twenty years from now?

I can hear his fantastic laugh right now.

DO IT. YOU COULD DIE TOMORROW. I didnt think much about one of the tats I got (literally like a drunken 7 or 8 minutes) and I dont TERRIBLY regret it. Besides, you're doing it for a better reason than MOST people get tattoos for.

Here's my advice. Wait five years and see if you want to do it then.

I always liked Ryan's tattoo because it was a clever take on the classic "mom" tattoo in a heart. It didn't really require a lot of explanation or inquiry. I could see it being awkward explaining to someone why your tattoo says "Ryan," but if you really want to, go for it. Definitely think it over.

If he shaped your life that much (and you've tried drawing the design on yourself to see how it looks and decided you like it after a few days of that, just because I think that's always good advice for tattoos) I say go for it. Even if you're somewhere completely different in your life down the road, it doesn't hurt to have some token of where you came from. If right now is a good place, remembering it and how you got there isn't a bad thing.

Personally I'm more affronted by the thought of the people recommending you to keep the 'MOM' design, not knowing what kind of relationship you have with your mother and whether or not it was the sort of influence you'd want to memorialize like that. I'd rather the potentially awkward future explanation about how someone named Ryan was a huge positive influence on me as a person and in life than something that was easier to explain but more difficult to live with, myself.

I'm really proud of this thread not outright endorsing this behavior.

We all are upset about Ryan, but as everyone else above me basically said in their own unique way; you'll likely regret this decision. But, it is your body and there are dozens of worse reasons to get a tattoo (like five month anniversaries or beating Dark Souls). Up to you, duder...

Can't help to think what Ryan would have said if informed of a duder he never met getting his name needled onto his body...

No this is stupid. Even his close personal friends probably won't get a tattoo to "remember" him. His whole life is on the internet, anytime you want to remember him come to Giant Bomb and look at the archived videos!

95% of tattoos are dumb, so it's not like you are going to be in an exclusive club if you end up regretting it. You'll be better off than most people, like that dude at work that thought it would've been a good idea years ago to get a Method Man logo tattooed on his chest (there's totally a dude at my work that has a Method Man logo tattooed on his chest, by the way). I also know a girl that has a teddy bear on her shoulder, and it looks like the shape of cock-and-balls from 10 feet away.

I would wait a year and see if you feel the same. I remember being 15 and planning out the tattoos I wanted when I turned 18 (mom wouldn't allow it until I moved out), and by the time I was 18, all my ideas were dumb. That's when I knew never to get any for the rest of my life.

I came into this thread expecting a joke, I'm sad to see that it's not. You shouldn't do this my friend.

Ok guys I'll bite the bullet and say it...................

YOLO

I believe it was Ryan that once said, "Tattoo are by design meant to be regrettable." or something like that.

Internet is hard; it's easy to get sucked into the cult of personalities (I guess that's a phrase people use?), and identify people as your friends, but at the end of the day, despite what you may think, it's probably not healthy to associate so closely. Buying a T-shirt of a favorite website is weird enough for me as it is; scarring my body (albeit in response to a death of a great man) is another thing entirely.

Maybe in the future, when video game journalists have become the new sports athletes in terms of identifiability, maybe then it won't be weird. Right now, though, it totally is.

With laser removal, tattoos are not forever. If you want it, get it.

To answer the question, "what will you think in x years?" we need to remember that it is impossible to know what one will think about anything in the future. Will you still think it's cool? Probably not for the same reasons you originally got it.

To those saying that Ryan would hate it: Ryan is dead. It really doesn't matter what he may think. If someone wants to honor him in a way she/he sees fit, cool. Ryan was awesome, but we shouldn't be constructing a philosophy based of the bits of his thought we were privy to and limit our decisions like he was some great prophet. He had a huge impact on this persons life and a tattoo is an excellent and more permanent representation of this impact. Even now after Ryan's death.

Also, if people ask you what it is, how awesome would it be if you responded, "it's the name of a dead guy." "Who?" "Doesn't matter. He's dead." Simple, elegant, and mysterious.

I'm not in the business of telling people what to do with their bodies, but you already know the risks. Tattoos can be amazing. But a lot aren't. If it is something you want, get it. Sleep on it for a few more weeks or months. Talk to artists. And remember that a tattoo is only as permanent as your life.

Words. Taken... taken from my mouth.

To this point, if you're so sure it's a good idea wouldn't you have done it already and not asked a bunch of randoms on a forum? And I get that he affected your life, but I once had a pretty dire bone disease (no joke) and I didn't get the name of my doctor who cured me tattooed on my leg. I mean did he travel through time and make it so your dad punched Biff and kissed you mum and then he became a successful novelist and you got a shiny new black Toyota? Or did he give you some really good advice about how to be a writer? Both are cool, and I get why you'd look up to him... but imagine explaining this to someone who actually knew him. 'I got a tattoo sort of like what your friend had who I met once a few years ago'.

tl;dr - This is moving into the weird cult of personality, celebrity worshiping arena... none of this is meant to cause offence, but you did ask. Buy his shirt and support his family instead... (I assume) that's something he'd actually want.

How about getting the binary tattoo as a tribute to Ryan but have it say something other then Ryan. Maybe something a little closer to home?

I really wouldn't do that but its not my life, so do with it what you wish, I think maybe getting the binary to say Mom instead would be better as it would be a homage to Ryan and his tattoo and also if someone asks about it you can tell them it's binary for mom.

I think a better idea would be to get 0100001001100001011101000110110101100001011011100010000001000010011000010111010001101101011000010110111000100000010000100110000101110100011011010110000101101110 as a full upper arm tattoo.

I'm not going to say don't do it because, frankly, I like the idea. But I think you should think long and hard about it.

Shitty tattoo but do what you want.

I'd say go for it, it's subtle enough to not be something crazy like a portrait of him on your back but it's a cool design and tribute. I'm a fan of tattoos so I'll usually lean towards go for it but only if everything about it clicks for you.

I think you should take this all the way and tattoo Ryan's face over your own.

You didn't even know him personally. I wouldn't.

Also, if you ever decide to 'laser it off', that excess ink actually stays in your body and pools to your lymph nodes, so that's kind of unsettling.

I know I got my arm band in the same place Ryan had his tattoo. But that was more of a coincidental thing that happened years ago. But getting something in his memory is a neat idea, man. So all the power to you.

Today I learned Ryan's tattoo said "Mom"...

Honestly, do what you want. Don't dismiss the idea that you might love the results or you might regret the results.

I'd also like to point out that I have a batman and a lord of the rings tattoo. Both of them mean quite a bit to me along with just how nerdy and lame they are. Tattoos mean different things to different people. Maybe you'll regret it and maybe you won't. But if it's a part of your life right now that's important you can always look back on that in the future.

I think this is a terrible idea and you shouldn't do it. I wouldn't even get a tattoo if I knew the guy enough to call him a best friend, but that's just me.

@roborobb: Another duder already had the same idea a few days after the announcement. Think really hard about if that's the only way you can/should express your feelings in this case.

Well, you say that...but you don't have a penis tattooed on your left ass cheek.

I wouldn't do it. You didn't really even know him which will just make it weird when you have to explain to people what it's about.

I know an idiot that has a checkerboard pattern completely covering his whole forearm. People ask him why he has it and he says, "I always liked playing games. And this tattoo symbolizes it. It also is a reminder not to take myself too seriously." What he happened to forget is that everyone else won't take him seriously either. Unless you're Maori or Yakuza, I think it's best just to avoid tattoos.

This actually isn't as bad as I was expecting. I was hoping to see you planning on getting a giant Ryan Davis face on your back or something.

My advice would be to get the style of tattoo as a nod to Ryan, but make it say something more...permanent to your life. A loved ones name or something that has and will always mean something to you. I'm not sure you want to be in your 40's explaining the dudes name on your arm.

I'm a big tattoo hater personally, but I do like and appreciate the tattoo idea you came up with.

I'm more sad for you now than i was about Ryan dying...and i was pretty heart broken about his passing. I think you might be doing this to get attention. Trust me getting a tattoo just to have your photo on the front page of a video game site for a week isn't worth it. You don't know Ryan Davis. shaking his hand once doesn't justify branding his name on your body. Sorry. I know this isn't what you probably was hoping to hear.

He would think you're an idiot.

So go on, then.

Obviously I'm all for tattoos, since I have some a few on pretty apparent in yo face places on my body. But I think Ryan would find this a tad bit silly and stupid. But hey, if it makes you happy! gogo.