Writing is not just the technical act of your fingers on the keyboard. Writing is living.
You need to face what you're running from
Some things are more important than safety.
Love ans desire aren't the same
Talking won't change it. But sometimes it was what she wanted most, to tell someone; often, though, she just wanted to escape those horrid feelings, to escape herself, so there was no pain, no fear, no ugliness.
It wasn't the tattoo that had changed her, had given her repossession of her body. It was her actions, her choices. It was finding the path when it looked like there weren't any paths to be found.