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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Julia Banim

'Strangers villanize me for my 200 tattoos - but I'm not a bad person'

A tattoo enthusiast who has spent more than (£38,400) $50,000 on his "demonic" body art has opened up about the sort of reactions he gets due to his unusual appearance.

Soren Lorenson - best known to his social media followers as Neon Demon - has more than 200 tattoos, with his most striking modification perhaps being the black ink that fills in the whites of his eyes.

Although Soren, of Tampa, Florida, is perfectly comfortable within his own unique skin, feeling that his body art has had a very positive effect on his mental health, not everyone is quite so keen.

Speaking with The Sun, the 28-year-old pizza restaurant worker explained that he gets a "mixed bag" of reactions, and not all are kind. While some will express fascination with his creative appearance, others will, unfortunately, make hurtful remarks. believing him to be "scary".

Soren has more than 200 tattoos, and has no intention of stopping anytime soon (333neondemon/Instagram)
Soren says his body art has proven beneficial for his mental health (333neondemon/Instagram)

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Some will even go as far as to approach Soren directly, asking him outright what is wrong with him or why he would choose to do such a thing to himself.

Although this sort of reaction certainly took some getting used to at first, Soren now says he's become somewhat "desensitised" to this sort of uncalled-for feedback.

Soren explained: "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".

Soren says he's became "desensitised" when it comes to hurtful comments (333neondemon/Instagram)
He believes that some people jump to the wrong conclusions about him because of his "scary" appearance (333neondemon/Instagram)

He continued: "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.

"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.'"

However, despite having to deal with some rather harsh judgemental attitudes, Soren has no intention whatsoever of giving up his tattoo habit anytime soon.

Going forward, he plans to ink a "bone-teeth focused design" on his arms and shoulders, followed by another masterpiece on his scalp.

Do you have a body art-related story to share? We pay for stories. Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com

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