This is my Tattoo of Destiny from the Sandman comic books series by Niel Gaiman (which I absolutely love), although Destiny is not new to the Sandman series. Michael Spades of Dermagraphic Studios in Texarkana, Texas did the ink.
I got this tattoo for several reasons, a couple of unexpected ones.
A friend once upon a time told me that I reminded her of Destiny from the Sandman. At that point I had never heard of the comic. She showed me a picture of Destiny and I fell in love before I knew anything about him. The idea of being chained to a book caught my attention, because I always had an affinity for academia, literature, and knowledge. Turns out that the Sandman is an exploration into a number of different intellectual fields. I thought that was a perfect reflection of who I am.
Another reason why I got the tattoo was as an exploration of the idea of Destiny and fate. Although I don’t buy into those ideas, it is hinted in the comic book that each of the Endless (entities in the Sandman that represent human psychological embodiments) manifest the opposite of their embodiment, thus being chained represents the idea of freedom. In a way it tells the story of a psychological battle, or a play of opposites, much as represented in Chinese Taoism. This was the clincher.
Destiny in the series is blind, but somehow he is still able to acquire knowledge from the book, referred to as the Cosmic Log or Book of Destiny. It contains all the past, present, and future events of every human. These were some other cool ideas that drew me into the character.
Overall, I am super happy I had the tattoo done, and the art and detail turned out really good. The placement is on my forearm.