I got my tongue pierced 15 months ago. Was on a road trip to my friends home town in Oklahoma and she convinced me to get a "souvenir." LOL
Got it at a place called "Just Another Hole" in Broken Arrow, OK
My first piercing so I was kinda nervous lol but it wasn't bad at all. All I felt was the needle going through my tongue, which was kind of a weird feeling but didn't hurt at all.
I really want a tattoo too though. I'm still working on the design but basically it's two dragons making a circle with kanji in the middle or something like that.
Is your tattoo supposed to be a phoenix? That's kinda what it looks like to me.