Sophia Tan

Writer

United States

Recent grad with a BA in English Language & Literature from Pace University NYC. Learning new perspectives, evolving my skills and passions, and sharing revelations that resonate with others is what I hope to do in every pursuit.

Portfolio

PROFILES

InkedMag
09/06/2023
The King of DIY - InkedMag

From warping old electronics in his bedroom to DJing in front of thousands, Habstrakt has built himself from the ground up

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
02/15/2023
Life in Full Color

All it takes is one lone wolf's vibrant vision to inject color into the lives of millions. For California-raised Remi Wolf, that vision comes in the form of funky pop sounds, an infinite wardrobe of flashy attire, and bizarre lyrics that'll make your head spin.

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
02/22/2023
Hundred Round Kado

When all you've ever known is the struggle for survival, an ordinary life is no longer an option. Born in a Miami federal prison and raised in a volatile environment that drove him to incarceration as a youth, the Boston-based rapper Hundred Round Kado grew up in a universe of obstacles.

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
12/07/2022
DOOMED

It's hard to keep doing the things we loved to do as kids. Whether it was choreographing a dance routine for our family's dinner parties, crocheting weird animal figurines or writing spicy fanfiction, at some point people told us to get our head out of the clouds and join the "real" world.

InkedMag
06/09/2023
Coming Out Schwinging

Viral content creator Hope Schwing found a job she loves, and she is going to ride it out as long as she can.

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
05/09/2023
Rayna Vallandingham Is Transforming the Look of Martial Arts

From hiding under benches at her first martial arts class to becoming a 13-time World Champion in Taekwondo, Rayna Vallandingham knows a thing or two about rising to the challenge. Early on, her parents deemed her a shy kid, and thrust her into nearly every sport possible in an effort to get her involved.

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
02/16/2023
Embracing Taboo

In an era of heavy media saturation, it's hard to call anything taboo. We're desensitized to and even expect to witness shocking behavior everyday, in our lives and online. But how comfortable are we facing the taboos within ourselves? Everybody has sides they choose to hide on a daily basis for fear of being outcasted.

InkedMag
03/06/2023
FirstNameChris Gets His First Tattoo

TikTok creator, Chris Punsalan, shares his journey of becoming a caretaker as well as the meaning behind his very first tattoo

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
03/16/2023
No Matter Where He Goes, Hunxho's Always Home

When you reach a certain point of success, forgetting where you came from can be as easy as losing touch with an old friend. Deep down, the truth is that no matter how far you stray from the place you were born and raised, it will always be embedded into your DNA.

NEWS CONTENT

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
04/12/2023
Anime Day at Inked NYC Was One For the Books

This past Saturday, Inked NYC was the place to be for ink-wielding weebs. For Anime Day, the shop's first event celebrating anime tattoos, artists flew in from all across the country, and fans lined up at the chance to be tattooed by some of the world's best tattooers specializing in anime ink.

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
03/28/2023
Female Tattoo Artists Don't Seek Approval, They Make Their Own Lane

Making it in a creative industry is hard enough, but having to prove yourself 10 times over to gain recognition as a woman is the icing on top of the rigged cake. Since the modern landscape of tattooing materialized over 200 years ago, women have bore the brunt of resistance, belittlement and misogyny in the industry.

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
02/23/2023
Black Tattoo Artists On Tattooing Dark Skin

Not enough tattoo artists showcase work on Black skin. A quick scroll through the "#tattoo" hashtag on Instagram will deliver almost entirely tattoos done on white skin. Though tattooing has evolved from acts of adornment and status symbolization in ancient Egypt, Polynesia and a number of other African cultures, the modern industry within the United States was historically dominated by white tattoo artists.

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
01/03/2023
La Ultima Flor Provides a Safe Space in Tattooing

Even the most tattooed person on the planet still holds some trepidation when walking into a new shop. It's even more daunting as a woman, someone who identifies as BIPOC or a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Tattoo shops have long held hard and intimidating exteriors, in tandem with being historically dominated by men.

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
09/30/2022
The Future of Tattoos in the Workplace Is Brighter Than Ever

"The times are changing." Each year we hear this phrase in accordance with tattoos becoming more acceptable in the workplace. Given that it's 2022, one would hope we were already in a world where offices are dominated by full sleeves, face tattoos, multi-colored hair and piercings in every part of the body without anybody batting an eye.

SOME THOUGHTS ON SOUNDS
04/01/2021
Music During the COVID Era: An Escape and Catharsis All in One

With this past year’s pandemic affecting everyone in different ways, many of us who’ve been stuck at home have turned to our beloved forms of entertainment to bring us some semblance of solace and/or serotonin. It is not unthinkable to say that quarantine has made us all face the ugliest parts of ourselves that we can’t hide from when subjected to intense solitude. Knowing this, one can’t help but wonder if the types of media we’ve been consuming lately is a direct reflection of those...

SOME THOUGHTS ON SOUNDS
11/25/2020
How clipping. Captures the Horror of 2020 on 'Visions of Bodies Being Burned'

If there's one way I'd describe clipping.'s music, it'd be the soundtrack to a spiral into insanity - the last thing you hear before you're about to crack. The group falls under the umbrella of experimental hip hop, but this doesn't even begin to describe all that they bring to the table.

SOME THOUGHTS ON SOUNDS
05/26/2021
The Otherworldly Elegance of Caroline Polachek

A mystical, piercing figure in the art pop (known for its avant-garde yet distinctly pop qualities) landscape, Caroline Polachek is making a name for herself amidst contemporaries in the ever-evolving genre.

LISTS

InkedMag
01/30/2023
Dizzying Glitch Tattoos

No one likes glitches in real life, but glitchy tattoos are a different story

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
02/23/2023
Gorillaz Tattoos

The virtual band we all know and love is done making us wait. Gorillaz are back with their newest addition to their musical universe, an album titled "Cracker Island" coming out on February 24. In 2020 the band released the vibrantly eclectic project known as "Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez."

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
12/20/2022
Chainsaw Man Tattoos

You know that feeling when a show, movie or book is hyped up to a point where it feels impossible to live up to? Well, the new "Chainsaw Man" anime is one of those rare occurrences where it actually does.

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
08/08/2022
25 Adorable Animal Crossing Tattoos

Ahhh, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the sweet, euphoric paradise in which your only responsibilities consist of selling fruit, weeds and bugs to eccentric twin raccoons to build your dream island, and your only concern is avoiding the ugly villagers that inhabit it.

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
08/03/2022
16 Tattoos of Classic Hip-Hop Album Covers

When a remarkable album is released into the universe, there are many different factors that come together to contribute to its positive reception and long-lasting impact. These days, a lot of hype around a project has to do with its rollout-artists tend to get creative in teasing a series of singles, concept art and videos to build anticipation.

Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models
07/27/2022
20 'Attack on Titan' Tattoos

Raise your hand if you're devastated about the storytelling masterpiece "Attack on Titan" coming to an end. After nearly a decade, Hajime Isayama's grotesquely barbaric titans will frolic, flail and mutilate the human race no longer. All that'll be left are the memories of crushing deaths and triumphant victories (but at what cost?).

CBR
10/25/2021
Avatar: The Last Airbender - 10 Things You Never Noticed In The First Episode

Nearly two decades after its release, Avatar: The Last Airbender still stands as being one of the most profound and philosophical children's shows in all of television history. This is thanks to endless reasons - from its immersive and fantastical world-building, to its powerful storytelling based on real-life historical events, endearing character arcs, and so much more.

CBR
10/04/2021
Attack On Titan: 10 Times Levi Helped Eren

Ever since their paths crossed, Attack On Titan's Levi Ackerman and Eren Jaeger have forged a pretty rocky relationship. It's one complicated by a ceaseless mistrust and resentment, yet held together by mutual respect and understanding that they must keep each other alive at all costs.

ALBUM REVIEWS

SOME THOUGHTS ON SOUNDS
09/17/2022
The Resilience of CAPRISONGS

When your heart breaks, everything in your view becomes distorted; life's most meaningful passions start to feel purely absurd, and the gravitational pull to boundless isolation becomes ever so enticing. Tahliah Debrett Barnett, better known as FKA twigs, knows this feeling well. On her last album, the otherworldly MAGDALENE, she explored the deepest crevices of...

SOME THOUGHTS ON SOUNDS
05/23/2020
The New Abnormal - The Strokes: Album REVIEW

What a gift it is to have the return of The Strokes in 2020!!! Especially after such a long wait since their last full LP in 2013, causing fans to speculate if they were to ever release a new album...

SOME THOUGHTS ON SOUNDS
03/18/2020
The Slow Rush - Tame Impala: Album REVIEW

It's here... after five impatient years of waiting, the newest LP from psychedelic rock/pop legend Tame Impala has finally come into fruition. It feels pretty crazy to have witnessed the evolution of Kevin Parker's projects from the very beginning; from Innerspeaker's rowdy, rugged guitars, to Lonerism's lush and kaleidoscopic palette, to Currents' blaring synths and...

SOME THOUGHTS ON SOUNDS
10/13/2019
All My Heroes Are Cornballs - JPEGMAFIA: Album REVIEW

The following post contains two reviews: one written by yours truly, and one by my wonderful friend Rem, whom my admiration for goes all the way back to the days of the app Cymbal. Both devoted fans of Peggy, we decided to share some of our thoughts on his latest record.

SOME THOUGHTS ON SOUNDS
06/24/2019
Father of the Bride - Vampire Weekend: Album REVIEW

Alright, so, where do I even start with Vampire Weekend? It's literally been six years since the band's last album, Modern Vampires of the City, and needless to say, this new release has been one of my most anticipated albums for the past couple years since the initial announcement that it was in the works...

SOME THOUGHTS ON SOUNDS
04/30/2019
Hi This Is Flume - Flume: Mixtape Review

He's baaack! And he's got some new stuff up his sleeve. Australian electronic producer Flume, or Harley Streten, has popped back into the spotlight with his new release, Hi This Is Flume, after releasing full-length album Skin in 2016. After Skin, he released a few side projects including EPs Skin Companion and Skin Companion II,...

SHORT ESSAYS

Personal Essay
04/21/2021
An Apartment Worth a Thousand Words

Written in a Creative Nonfiction course for an assignment called "Writing the World." I wrote about what it was like to visit my grandfather's apartment in Zhuhai, China for the first time in 2019.

Short Story
04/21/2021
Two Red Dots

A personal short story where I recount what it felt like to have a manic episode on the subway late at night, and what in my surroundings brought me relief as I came down. This piece received Honorable Mention at my university's annual writing awards for the nonfiction category in 2021.

LITERARY ANALYSES

Poet Analysis
04/21/2021
The Internal Strife of Alexander Blok

Written for a Studies in Poetry course that focused on international poets. This is an analysis of Russian lyrical poet Alexander Blok, using three of his poems and a bit of biography to draw larger conclusions about his internal conflicts and outlook on life as a whole.

Character Analysis
05/12/2020
Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Smith as Mirrors of Each Other

Written for a Modernism course in which we spent ample time reading and discussing the famous piece of Modernist literature, Mrs. Dalloway (1925) by Virginia Woolf. I compare two central characters of the novel that seem to be uncorrelated, but actually draw more similarities than differences to one another.

POEMS

Depth Cues
11/28/2020
All the Way From Up Here

Published in Depth Cues film zine in November 2020. Each issue calls for a theme in which all works of art of writing featured must draw from a specific scene in a film that elicits said theme. I wrote this poem based on a scene from Her (2013) for Issue No. 2, "Comfort".

Poem
04/21/2021
Panic Attack

Poem written from personal experience.