Barcodes is more of a Caldari thing, IMO. It's not distinct enough and doesn't fit the traditional style of the minmatar tattoo culture. I consider naming tattoos (and voluvals, for that matter) to be instead something like coats-of-arms: Most tribes and clans have their own distinct image (if not several), which you learn either through regular involvement with that person/their kin or through looking through public records (there are books of tattoo designs described in the Ray of Matar story). And as it's a future setting, I bet many naming tattoos are made with a special nanotech ink that can be programmed and scanned easily, revealing tribe/clan/family/name and probably basic health information too.
As for the special quality of facial tattoos, it's primarily just when it's a voluval when it has that special meaning. The face is normally reserved for naming tattoos, as said in the previous chronicle as well as the Ray of Matar story ("[Karin Midular] already knew the gist of the tattooing tradition; that part of the face was reserved for the clan tattoo and the shoulders for rank tattoos."). It does just say part of the face is reserved for the clan tattoo though, so maybe other extraordinary tattoos could also fit there. A voluval on the face however prevents you from putting the normal naming tattoo on your face (as it's forbidden to place a tattoo over a voluval). To me that essentially means that a voluval on the face replaces the naming tattoo for that minmatar, meaning the destiny for that individual minmatar is considered above and beyond any tribal/personal identity.
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Topic: Character Ink (Read 3832 times)