NY Ink continued Thursday night on TLC, channel 52 in Queens, with "Paying Dues," which featured a couple of celebrity tattoos, Billy trying to step up, and Megan surprising Jessica.
The shop
Billy lost everything when the economy crashed before meeting Ami. He had a family to support, so he worked as hard as he had to to get where he wanted to be. Megan suggested Billy talk to Lee since he booked appointments about getting work in. Lee told Billy that he and Ami had to approve his tattoos. Ami agreed that Billy hadn't "paid his dues," but Billy was determined. They gave him a chance with a big tattoo, which Ami told him he'd draw and color multiple times first. Tommy helped him sketch it out, and Ami didn't like that Billy wasn't putting in all the work. After Ami took over his tattoo, he told Billy he had the same thing happen to him when he was an apprentice. Ami said he was doing it to help him.
The shop looked up photos of Tila posing nude, and Megan revealed she's done that before. The others looked up her photos, and Jessica said she couldn't do that because she wanted her daughter to see her as classy. Megan talked to Jessica about that conversation because she didn't want her to look at her as "not classy." Jessica just meant that she felt that way about herself. Being a mother, Jessica is more modest.
Megan decided to take a pole-dancing class and invited Robear to join her. She also wanted Jessica to join them and told her she was taking her kickboxing. Once they got there, Jessica was shocked and argued she was a mother. Since they were there, she did join Megan and Robear. Jessica felt uncomfortable but decided to make it work. She admitted she had fun.
The tattoos
Tila Tequila had Ami tattoo a dragon and Arabic writing on her back. She called the language "sacred" and the saying is, "We're all born to die, then life goes on." Her parents are both dragons in Chinese astrology and the dragon represented her parents raising them. The tattoo symbolized her struggles.
Amelia had Megan tattoo a rainbow bird on her thigh. It was partly about her dealing with her adoption. Her mother told her a story about God painting all the birds pretty colors and one was left that ended up with all the colors of the rainbow.
Mark, also an apprentice, came in for a tattoo from Billy. He wanted an anvil with a wing and "C.T.D." for "chasing the dream" for tattooing. The anvil was about beating himself up about tattoos. When he got to the point he was happy with, he'd get the other wing. Mark loved it, and Ami called it "pretty decent."
Maria had Old English lettering saying "edible" from Tim. Edible was part of her competitive eating name. Tim had her judge a contest in the shop, and everyone stood around as Tommy began eating hot dogs. He didn't even make it through one, and they ended up having a food fight.
Marky Ramone of The Ramones had Chris touch up a tattoo for Marion, whom he's been married to for 27 years. They went to where their fans were. He called it a thrill and honor seeing kids liking their music.
Tommy had his friend, BJ Betts, come in and tattoo "Family" across the lower part of his knuckles. Tommy had been missing his family since he didn't get to see them since he was busy working. Even though the tattoo hurt, it was worth it.
Billy's tattoo, Wendi, came in for three birds on her ribs. Megan noticed some redness in the tattoo and wondered if it was Wendi's skin or the way he was tattooing. Ami said he was making rookie mistakes and not putting enough color into the skin, which was why it was getting irritated. Ami stepped in to finish it, which annoyed Billy and he stormed out.
NY Ink continues Thursdays on TLC, channel 52 in Queens. What was your favorite tattoo from "Paying Dues"?
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