Readers share their true stories of terrible tattoos.

When my husband and I were dating, I got a tattoo. About a year after we were married, I was ready for my next one and he'd finally come around to the idea of getting his own. I knew I wanted a sunflower on my lower back, standard for my generation.

He wasn't sure but felt like he wanted an alien. He lives and breathes conspiracy theories, and alien cover-ups have always interested him.

We went to the shop and looked around until he found the perfect little green man for his upper arm.

The flash was just of an alien head, no arms or body, just the head. The artist, however, had another idea. He convinced my husband to add a body and arms, which isn't that bad. The bad part, which was a last minute decision, was the telepathy waves.

Did you just turn your head sideways and say, "Telepathy waves?" Well, everyone knows aliens communicate telepathically, right? At the time, it didn't sound like such a bad idea. I think the adult beverages at the restaurant probably helped his case on this one.

The thing is that the waves look more like smoke, making the alien look like his head is on fire. It's necessary for us to explain to people who see it why the smoke isn't smoke but, rather, telepathy waves. This, as you can imagine, has grown tiresome. I wish the alien could communicate with viewers telepathically and explain it to them.

Got a terrible tattoo tale you'd like to share? Send it our way.