ATE UP YOUR PERSONALITY.

meme     :      @cxrleonis.

“dangerous thing t’do when i still have about five hours in this place.”     he says it with a smile,     loving,     but there’s something else simmering in his eyes while he looks at her,     elbows on the bar;     something still overwhelmingly affectionate,     but in a much more amorous way.     he also doesn’t bother to inject subtlety into the way he blatantly looks her up and down,     either.    after a brief moment of lingering,     he straightens up,     runs a hand through his hair and then smooths it back down.    “thank you for this. really needed it.”    he waves the already half-empty cup from it’s hidden place underneath the bar,     takes one more drink before putting it back.    

meme     :      @cxrleonis.

“that’s what they all say,    huh?”     a grin.     genuine,     because he knows that she is,    too.    a hand through his hair,    still snow wet from his time spent shoveling her sidewalk.    it’s become a thing.   he trades manual labor for some snacks and everyone wins.     teddy,    because it makes him feel useful;    cory,    because actually hiring someone would cost a ridiculous amount;    and ben,    because he doesn’t want to do it.    a flick of his finger to adjust his glasses on his face.     and then he straightens,     lets his forearms pull from the countertop.     he shrugs on his jacket,     wraps his scarf around his neck.

ted is definitely the type of person that has meaning attached to every. single. thing. that he inks permanently on his body. even if the meaning is kind of shitty, he probably won’t ever get a tattoo just because it “looks cool.” so.

most of his first tattoos were in traditional style, his more recent ones have deviated from that. these are not in chronological order

swallow: got it when he left home. sailors usually get it when going to sea, and get another when coming home. he plans to get another, but he doesn't know what his metaphorical "coming home" would be. shoulder

@cxrleonis: he'd probably get the second swallow when he and jackie get married

anchor: pretty literal meaning here. keep himself grounded, etc.

dagger: he has two. first one (arm) in one meaning when he first gets it tattooed, experiencing loss or betrayal, but it grows into it’s second meaning of protection and bravery which prompts him to get the second one (chest) 

butterfly: transformation. fresh start.

owl: reminder to himself to always be "searching for knowledge" yes he's that pretentious and yes i try very hard to ignore it

flowers: growth and enlightenment

olive branches: extending peace to himself. he was suuuper angry and the drugs didn't help but this was him getting clean and making the decision to try and better himself.

smaller olive branches: in the same vein, but also him coming into loving himself/his body, hence the placement

snake: symbolize health and healing. one he got also after getting clean.

pocket watch: he knows his life/existence is fleeting, a reminder that he clock is ticking and he needs to make sure he's living to honor that

octopus: symbol of intelligence ... yes he knows he's smart, yes he’s proud of it.

compass: direction, guidance, safe journey. he’s not catholic anymore, but this is his equivalent of having a cross.

card king: leadership. he spent a lot of time being really susceptible to peer pressure and not really thinking for himself because he was young and “lost” so to speak. this is him trying to take that back.

candle: even though he doesn’t consider himself religious, he does still feel very spiritual. this is a testament to that spirituality, also his equivalent of having a cross or something along those lines

stairway: again, a journey. tattoo is usually called mystery stairs, so for him it means adventuring into the unknown.

number 8: life path number. having read up on numerology a bit, he thought it might help him feel more connected to himself, find his path.

lightbulb: enlightenment and brightness. a lot of his life when he first left home just felt like him stumbling around in a fog, and once he felt that started to lift, he got this.

shark: fearlessness. more of an aspiration.

hops: craft beer man. will be the first to talk about some obscure ipa. disgusting. the closest to meaningless any of his tattoos have gotten.

peach: femininity and softness ---- he has a feminine side, and realizes as he grows into himself that he is actually quite a soft person that had to grow a live in a hard exterior to make it this far.

hot air balloon: freedom.

dumb heart: he gets his heart broken a lot. and often. for being an intellectual, he's also a hopeless romantic and falls very quickly and intensely

fence: also freedom. broken chains, escaping. he does feel like he fought to be able to live the way he does now.

noose: got this one at a bad time. he regrets it, honestly. meaning is self explanatory.

placement ref (yes these are bad don’t judge me)

pics used if ur into that