Stijn Perrij (22) from Loon op Zand has been fanatically playing the Wii, a Nintendo games console, with his three best friends since he was five. Both the love for games and the close friendship have continued to exist. To honor this, they got a ‘Wii tattoo’ together.
The group of friends consists of the brothers Stijn and Lars Perrij and the Tilburg brothers Jelle and Elco de Kok. Their parents are friends and brought the boys together early. “We have been very close since childhood,” says Stijn. According to him, this is because they are about the same age and share the same hobby. “I don’t really know where that hobby comes from. Our parents are not into games at all.”
Boys used to visit each other every weekend with their parents. Then they often played Mario Kart or Mario Bros on the Wii. “When we got older, we didn’t see each other for a long time because of school and work, but now we spend a lot of time together again. Every Thursday and Saturday it’s games night. Then we play board games or play the Wii or Nintendo Switch. We also go to amusement parks and on holiday together. Then everyone brings a games bag.”
”We used to argue about who could be which player. Now fun comes first.”
The friendship has changed a bit over the years. The group has expanded somewhat and the boys have become more mature. “We used to be very competitive and would sometimes argue about who was the best and who should be player 1. Nowadays, fun comes first and everyone is a bit more relaxed.”
The friends also now have more of their own opinions and way of life. “It used to be: if one person does something, the other will do it too. And if someone didn’t feel like meeting up, we would bully each other into coming anyway. Now, for example, I live by the motto ‘live to live’, while Lars is very structured and responsible. He thinks carefully about choices and saving money, does not drink alcohol and goes to bed at 10 p.m. But we respect each other’s choices.”
“In the worst case scenario, we never speak to each other again, then the tattoo is a reminder of our fun childhood.”
Stijn had wanted a tattoo for a while, but he didn’t know what he would want. Until a friend said: ‘Why don’t you have one with Jelle, Lars and Elco?’. “Two out of the three were so inclined, especially if it became something meaningful. But the last one really had to be persuaded.”
Together they chose the cursor hand of the Wii, with four blocks underneath. Stijn was often player four, so the fourth block was colored in for him. Each player has its own player number indicated.
When people see the tattoo, they sometimes say that it is daring to get a tattoo together with others. “I don’t worry about that. These are really my best buddies. I won’t just lose them. And in the worst case scenario, we won’t speak to each other again, but then the tattoo is still a reminder of our fun youth.”
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