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TATT HURTS
I’m a tattoo addict – the most and least painful place to get an inking may surprise you
A TATTOO addict who has more than 200 inkings has revealed to The US Sun the most painful places you can go under the needle.
Soren Lorenson, who goes by "Neon Demon" on social media, got his first tattoo 10 years ago and his obsession with extreme body art and body modifications quickly snowballed from there.
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The 28-year-old pizza restaurant worker, from Tampa, Florida, got his first tattoo around his belly button just weeks after turning 18.
"The reason I got it there was because a friend told me it was the most painful area one could get a tattoo," Soren explained to The US Sun, "and my prime focus was to go ahead and cover the worst spot right out the gate."
Soren waited a year before adding any more artwork to his anatomical canvas, but when he eventually made the decision to return to the chair for a second time, from that point onward he started "getting tattooed like crazy."
The sci-fi enthusiast said he started going to the same tattoo parlor every other week for several months, adding artworks based on some of his favorite movies and comics, including Star Wars and Marvel's X-Men.
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CLOSE TO THE BONE
In the decade since, Soren now has more than 200 tattoos - so many in fact he's actually lost count of precisely how many he has.
His face is almost entirely covered by crosses, doodles and letters, and he even recently had the whites of his eyes blacked out with ink, a procedure he insisted was "painless."
The most painful tattoos he's had, Soren said, were the inkings on his stomach, ribs, and the "blackwork" he got done along his jawline, directly on the bone.
"Any boney parts are a little more jarring due to the vibrating and intense sensation in comparison to other areas," he said.
In total, Soren estimates that he's spent upwards of 200 hours in the chair, with his longest single sitting standing at six hours.
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If he had to choose a favorite tattoo, Soren says: "I'd have to say the cute lil' kitty cat linework design I gave myself in college because I adore cats and have befriended many."
FINDING SOLACE
While Soren is comfortable and happy with the way he looks, not all members of the Lorenson family support his life choices.
Soren grew up in a religious household and was home-school throughout much of his childhood. He told The US Sun that growing up he had very limited interactions with anyone outside of his family or church.
When he hit 17, Soren started rebelling against his parent's strict rule and ended up falling in with a bad crowd.
"[I] ended up drinking heavily and smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day," he said. "These were both ill-advised habits I kept up for the better part of 7 years.
"I say this because I only started tattooing my face once I had just started to break free of that sort of toxic lifestyle."
Embracing his passion for tattoos, and also finding solace in fitness, Soren says he is now able to "feel comfortable inside my body for the first time."
"I would say that the process of getting tattooed and becoming comfortable with looking different, all the while learning more about nutrition has definitely had a positive influence on my mental health," Soren added.
FAMILY FEUD
Soren's pursuit of feeling comfortable in his own skin has come at the expense of a number of relationships with his family and with romantic interests.
While his parents and nine younger siblings "still love me for the most part", Soren said his mom and dad have told him they'll never understand him or the choices he's made. They've also asked him to seek help from God.
His grandparents and wider family, however, including his cousins and aunts and uncles, no longer speak with him.
"I see my grandparents once a year maybe but they are very disapproving," Soren said.
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"The whole family is very close and there has always been much talk about me between all of them regarding - in their opinion - the mistakes I have made - tattoos - and how much they're all worried about me [and] how I'm going nowhere in life.
"[But] I choose to not say anything to challenge anyone who disapproves of tattoos or modifications. I see no point in arguing or being angry for the way they feel about my own life or my own personal decisions I have made that affect no one but myself.
"I choose to just be open and transparent about the way I feel and who I am as a person. You can't please everyone, as they say."
TURNING HEADS
When it comes to reactions to his tattoos from strangers, Soren insists it's a "mixed bag". Some are fascinated while others go out of their way to make disparaging remarks towards him, he says.
"People are always curious; as soon as I walk into an area or environment all heads will turn and people will nudge their friends and point, or I will hear the word tattoo whispered multiple times," he said.
"Honestly, these are all natural reactions and I would act the same if I was in their position."
Face-to-face interested strangers are typically respectful, Soren says, always brimming with questions about whether his tattoos hurt when he got them or if he is wearing contact lenses to darken his eyes.
The more unabashed, and rude, strangers tend to ask Soren "what is wrong with me? or what made me do that to myself?" he says.
"The first few years after I tattooed my face this kind of social roadblock took some getting used to, and I must admit emotionally I felt quite strange," he confessed.
"These days though I'm more desensitized to it I usually don't mind answering questions or having an intellectual conversation on the subject with a stranger as long as they treat me with respect."
For those who don't, Soren either keeps his answer shot or chooses to walk away.
While he says he's learned to deal with hurtful comments, some remarks do still get to him from time to time.
"The general sentiment that I keep running into is that some people see me and instantly view me as less of a person or even a bad person," Soren said.
"The worst feedback I get is on the internet where people's true feelings are more apparent. Psychologically I get villainized sometimes because inwardly they think 'wow what would make him do that to himself? He must be crazy. He makes bad decisions. He looks scary.'
"I think unconsciously people come to these conclusions and see me as someone quite different than who I really am."
NO STOPPING NOW
Determined not to be perturbed by the pejorative opinions of others, Soren said he still plans to continue tattooing his body to his heart's content, hoping to cover himself from head-to-toe, leaving only his genitals untouched.
Next on his agenda is tattooing his upper arms and the tops of his shoulders with a "bone-teeth focused design" followed by an inking on his scalp.
"I love the feeling and process of getting tattooed - it's something I'm really in love with.
"I honestly could never run out of room because you can always add more layers on top of old ink! I also have OCD, so lots of plans on the backburner to edit the heck out of my old tats once I'm finished with more pressing areas."
Soren provided old pictures of himself to The US Sun, showing younger versions of himself before he got his first tattoo.
When asked if he recognized the person in the photos, Soren says he does but admitted they stir a "strange feeling" within him.
"It's almost like as if it was a dream or an alternate life," he reflected. "When I look in the mirror now I see myself and I don't feel strange to perceive my reflection. In fact, I am comfortable now with my outer image, whereas before I had many insecurities and various things I disliked about my body.
"Thinking back on memories of my teen and childhood self staring back at me from the mirror. I recall a connection to the person I was then but admittedly much different than who I am now and not quite the same at all.
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"I suppose I have evolved to some extent and isn't that just the process of life and the flow of time?" he asked.
"We are all products of our own experiences and decisions. I think that humans are intended to adapt to their surroundings just as all living creatures do."
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