#tatau

All my life i'd planned to get tualima, malu and other AFAB tatau... but now I feel like my family might understand me less if I'm trying to live comfortably and dress like my dad/uncles, cutting my hair etc but having those tatau.

Fa'afetai lava for sharing, I know other fa'afine & fa'atama, but not anyone who has tatau. Thank you for reading! Manuia le aso :)

Hey uso/suga/aiga! Honored that you would reach out to me on this matter! This is extremely new territory for our people, completely spearheaded by us youngsters and without a blueprint, and the best way to serve "the movement" is to discuss in a public forum. That said, we all have different backgrounds and experiences and what's best for you may differ on what's best for me.

Let's talk about the tattoo itself first:

For malu/tatau, this is a multi-layered question. As you probably know, malu/pe'a was originally reserved for the nobility and was closed to the rest of us. There are dwindling numbers of conservatives who still gatekeep this practice. However, due to colonialism, our traditional practices are gradually fading, and there are now more ethnic Samoans in diaspora than are living in the home islands. Thus, the younger generations abroad have been dismissing this old way of thinking.

I am an American from Texas. A traditional malu done on the legs and via traditional methods using au is completely unavailable to me, as there are no tufuga (trad tattoo masters) here and I have no ability to set the merits required of me to earn one, since we are not living in a traditional village. This is the same case with most Samoan girls living abroad; not only are we not nobles, but we just dont have access to our culture as we should. Thus, in order to show our pride in our culture and in order to identify ourselves as Samoans, many of us get the malu on other parts of the body, specifically hands. This is a bypass to the "old ways:" it's not considered a "real" malu, but is a thoughtful way to represent ourselves. I imagine many elders would find it cute and honorable, like my own.

Here are some lovely examples on Pinterest:

Now, the trans/fa'atama part:

As you also know, us Samoans have specific roles for each gender. We are also fortunate to have our third gender, fa'afafine (transwomen), which actually makes the idea of a trans guy not too far removed from reality for our elders, if we give them time and show them that we can still perform our duties as expected. I am likely older than you and have the experience of being a mother and an aunt. I am also a sister and a daughter. Being any one of these things carry cultural significance that is not compatible with calling yourself "Tama" (man) in the traditional sense. For example, our men do all the cooking in our culture. Can I make an umu or slaughter a pig for pua'avilivili (luau)? No, I have no freaking idea how. Can I raise children and do chores as a woman does? Yes I can. I was not raised to do anything else culturally. This late in my life (mid 30s, I came out in my very late 20s) it's disingenuous for me to switch over and wouldn't make sense, since I have fulfilled my role as a fafine/woman well since birth.

The cool thing about Samoan culture is that aside from those things, nobody really cares what you dress or look like. In fact, many Samoan women are androgynous and dress as tomboys. Your gender is whatever capability you have to have children. So, since I am already a mother, to Samoans, I will always be a woman. In my personal and professional life though, I am he/him and others are not allowed to call me a female. This is my preference and this is why I identify as gender fluid in the West. Anyone looking at me knows I'm genderqueer or lbgtq. What I want a Samoan to know is that even though I'm Trans or queer, I am a mother in our culture. That's why I have a malu on my hand.

I suppose getting a tattoo depends on who you are or want to be in the context of OUR culture. Consider your "Samoan gender" in a vacuum, completely unrelated to western/palagi ideology. Are you a daughter? Do you fulfill female roles and are comfortable with it? Or are you interested and welcome to hanging out with dad and uncles and learning, literally fa'atama, the way of the man? This can determine which tattoo you get.

I hope this helps you and anyone else reading it. Please feel free to message me if you would like to discuss your situation in private.

Malo lava ❤️

Descendants of the First Seafarers

Some of the ancestors of the native peoples of Madagascar, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Pacific Islands (Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia) came from an ancient seaborne migration out of Taiwan and the Philippines (2200 BCE - 1250 CE). Cultural traditions still shared among these far-flung peoples today include tātau (tattoos), jade carving, stilt houses, and the cultivation of taro, pork, rice, coconuts, and yams.

Sliiiide.

    Scraaaaape.

    Sliiiiiiiiiide.

    You tremble behind the decrepit, old wooden table, that you know won't hold for long. When was this backup getting here?! You had taken a mission outside the City, to clear out a small village. The company was planning to rebuild the village, and set it up for orphaned children, so they had their own little rooms. You thought the idea was sweet and adorable, so you volunteered to help. Your entire crew was to kill the monsters roaming round, and get ready for the construction teams. The plan failed, however, when your crew was jumped by the Monsters, and now you were finding pieces of them... Well... Everywhere. So, you snuck into the nearest house to hide, but the thing was persistent, and followed you.

    You carefully step towards an open pantry, watching the Monster behind you shuffle around, with it's head swiveling back and forth on a rotted, spindly neck. You hold in a whimper and step closer to the closet, but you freeze as soon as you do.

    CRRREEEEAK-

    Damn it. Damn it all.

    You straighten, summoning your sword. The Monsters head sickly snaps on your direction with a loud popping noise.

    Ugh, disgusting.

    You did the one thing that was truly stupid, yet incredibly brave. You leap onto the table, brandishing your sword at the Monster, and slicing at it. It screeches and raises a claw, swiping down. You jump in time, and watch as the table gets destroyed below you, the monster was in a perfect position. Grabbing onto the chandelier that you had seen above the table beforehand, you slice it free and yell a battle cry as metal and your sword smash into it's skull. You grimace as the skull barely imitates the sound of bone cracking, and instead made an unfortunate sucking noise. You wrinkle your nose as you tug your weapon free, and look down. Your armor had thankfully saved you from being to hurt by the metal chandelier, and you wonder how the hell it had stayed in the rotted ceiling this entire time anyway. You didn't have time to ponder when you hear a loud gunshot, followed by two, three more.

    Backup!

    You breathe in relief and dart out the door of the house, when you get smashed to the ground by something powerful. A hand around your throat pinned you to the ground, and you grab at it, gasping for air. You feel cool metal against your temple. You manage to growl out,

    "Not... In-infected..!"

    The hand lessons it's grip and pulls away, and you sit up quickly, gasping for air. You blink up at the man before you, and immediately scramble to your feet and salute him with your left hand.

    "C-commander Dream, sir!"

    The (literally) flaming pheonix eyes you, and raises an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth twitch.

    "Glad to see your safe, cadet, and not infected, but that's the wrong hand for a salute."

    You flush red and quickly correct yourself.

    "S-sorry, Commander."

    Dream huffs softly, running a hand through his hair.

    "Don't worry about it, kid, and you don't need to be so formal. Especially out in the battlefield."

    You look around to find multiple monsters scattered about, oozing black blood from the holes in their heads and chest.

    " Is this..."

    "All of them? Yes."

    You relax, and peer up at the much taller Commander.

    "Did you come alone, sir- I-I mean, Dream..?"

    He nods, "I came as soon as I heard what the plans were. Look, I know this was something that was supposed to be done for good, but this place is full of scent markers from the Poachers. From the smell of it, marked a few hours before your team and you had arrived."

    Your stomach drops.

    "This was a trap. They knew what we were doing! How-"

    Dream waves a hand at you.

    " Don't. Do not tell anyone I indulged this information to you, either, but you're a smart kid, you'll figure it out."

    Your voice softens, " How would you know I won't babble..? "

    "I don't. "

    His sharp answer made you peer up at his face again, and you suddenly feel very small at the sharp scowl on his face.

    "If you do, I'll make sure those were your last words."

    You fidget, and nod. His scowl softens and he turns away.

    "Let's get you home. There's not much left of your team to take along, but if you wish to mourn them, I'll keep watch for more monsters."

    You look down at the ground. You knew a couple of these cadets from school, and you feel the tears welling in your eyes. Suddenly, you feel warmth coat you, and look up to see a fiery colored wing wrapped around you. Dream peers down at you with a look of understanding, and anger, you understood in return.

    You managed to return home the next day, thanks to Dream. Collapsing into your bed, you already planned your speech out for your team's funerals, but you had one more thing on your mind, and you couldn't even question it to anyone. Anger coursed through you at what Dream had told you about the Poachers. There was only one conclusion to that little issue.

Ichigo in ramen shop while Orihime doing laundry at home. Rukia call this Moral Harassment.

So Yumichika got a Quincy cap

Recycle is best i guess..

Love these panels for no reason.

And Akon..

And this man

Maybe it just by coincidence he looks like Tensa Zangetsu AND Kenshi Yonezu. I just want to call him HawkBoy.

And somehow a Funeral goes with Festival