Week 135: Family & a Tattoo

Week 135: July 27th-August 2nd, 2025

After seeing The Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer and all the hype at San Diego Comic Con last week, I made plans with my boyfriend for us to go see the movie toward the tail end of its opening weekend.

The poster for First Steps

We got our tickets for AMC Mission Valley instead of our usual UltraStar Cinemas because even though it is more expensive, we wanted to be able to pick our seats. It turned out to be good that we got our seats beforehand because there were a ton of people when we showed up. If we hadn't pre-selected our seats, we might've gotten unlucky with "bad seats." Thankfully, movie theatres are designed so there aren't really any truly "bad" seats, but I personally prefer a very centered seat slightly above the middle rows, which is what we reserved. Closer to the screen hurts my neck.

It was fun to see a pretty packed theatre, complete with people still in their cosplay costumes after the last day of Comic-Con. We even sat next to a group of women in ballgowns that billowed around them as they got up and down during the previews. I overheard them talking about the convention, but I couldn't tell what the gowns were costumes for because it was dark in the theatre. I think they might have been princesses, either Disney or Nintendo, but not sure which.

Anyways, to avoid spoilers and to avoid sounding too obnoxious as a long time Marvel fan, I will keep my review of First Steps brief. Overall: I really enjoyed it. The movie didn't feel like it was taking itself too seriously, and the cast was incredible. Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn truly were able to portray real familial connection on screen. Mainly, I absolutely LOVED the set design, especially the mid-century conversation pits and bold colors. This NYT article and this Marvel article both are quite interesting pieces about the set.

I do look forward to the next phase of the Marvel Universe, though my heart still longs for that feeling we all had in the theatre when Avengers: Endgame came out. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Phase 1 (2008-2012), Phase 2 (2013-2015) and Phase 3 (2016-2019) of the MCU. There is such joy in seeing ridiculous fight scenes, over-the-top explosions, and far-fetched ideas come to life on the big screen. I felt like First Steps was missing some of that crazy action that I love, but they made up for it by putting family values first. I guess it is also nice to see a family dinner once in a while instead of a bunch of guys getting their heads smashed in.

In the spirit of family, and because scheduling finally worked out, this week I also got a tattoo I've been wanting for a long time.

For context, on the back of my right arm, I have a dagger designed by one of my favorite artists, K45ink (here is their Instagram, and this is their website.). For a while now, I've wanted to balance the dagger on my right arm out with something nicer and softer on my left arm. My assortment of tattoos is already pretty random (like my personal favorite: a spoon behind my right ear). I already have a massive back piece with roses to cover my surgery scar (done by @morbidink), so more flowers couldn't hurt, right?

Many of you probably have seen family bouquet tattoos before, but what I like about them is that they're all unique. Depending on the birth months of your family members, the bouquets will all be different, especially if done by different tattoo artists.

My family bouquet tattoo includes lily of the valley (May), rose (June), larkspur (July) and primrose (February). I wasn't too picky about the design, but I knew it had to at least have those flowers be recognizable.

The scheduling of this tattoo appointment proved harder than expected, because I was originally set to get this done on July 12th. After at least three reschedules, and even one attempt to push my final appointment time by 3 hours, I finally locked a date and time in with @janice.tats. I originally found her Instagram page because she did a tattoo on one of my friends from college and he posted it on his Instagram story. I really loved her work, and feel more comfortable with a woman tattoo artist, so I reached out to her through Instagram.

Even though scheduling the appointment was a bit of a nightmare and I was so close to just asking for my deposit back and finding someone else, Janice finally kept our appointment as scheduled.

After some back and forth with minor design changes like making the larkspur more noticeable, this is the final design Janice sent me before my appointment.

I love that Janice uses Procreate to sketch designs for tattoos.

Janice works out of Cast and Brand Tattoo on El Cajon Blvd. The shop seemed small on the outside, but was actually massive inside. I sat in the lobby and filled out the consent form with Janice's adorable Kuromi pen and clipboard. I immediately knew I liked her just from that pen, and all frustration with the scheduling over the past few months melted away.

There was a middle section between the lobby area and Janice's room where a bunch of real tough-looking guys were either getting tattooed or doing the tattooing. They were listening to some punk music and gave me a small nod as we passed through the shop. Then, when I stepped inside of Janice's little area in the back, I was greeted with a much more light and friendly vibe. There were shelves full of cute collectibles and more Kuromi merch. I noticed there were very cutesy touches, like a pink side table and an Animal Crossing-themed apron hanging on the wall.

Janice and I chatted as we agreed on the final design and placement. Instead of using true black ink, she suggested we use a dark grey for a softer look, which I liked. After about an hour and 45 minutes, the tattoo was finished! My arm was a bit sore and numb from it falling asleep being in one position for a while, but thankfully I have regained all feeling.

My fresh family bouquet tattoo!

I have SecondSkin currently over the tattoo, and that should last about 5 days and help the healing process go faster. I really love how it turned out, and while I'm usually not a sappy or sentimental person, it really means a lot to me to have a bit of family with me permanently now. I'm looking forward to when its fully healed.

Bonus: I've gotten into beading recently, and I spent at least 8 hours sorting tiny seed beads while in work meetings this week. I also made a cute flower bracelet!

Who knows what hobby I will get fixated on next? See you next week.