AWAY FROM cities and crowds, filmmaker and tattoo fanatic Lily Lu has built a sanctuary in the German countryside for herself and her family in order to live "on the edge of society". Covered in tattoos and piercings from head to toe, the former tattoo artist says she only has "one tattoo". "Most of the symbols on me, they represent something," Lily Lu said. Six years ago, Lily Lu embarked on another journey of self-exploration - she decided to start her transitioning. She said: "It becomes a very fascinating journey because you learn so much about yourself." People online have always commented on Lily Lu's unique appearance, accusing her of being a bad parent because of the way she looked. But to Lily Lu, these comments are a mere reflection of those who are afraid of being themselves. "The more I tried to understand the normal world, the less I understood it," Lily Lu added. "Like it's all about you have a good job, you make good money, you have a fancy car, you have a big house," Lily Lu added. "I may look like I'm playing a character when I go out in the world, but we all do. Everybody plays a character in the game of society. But most people just want to be a good game, so they try to dress like this and behave like this. But I'm not sure if they're happier."
Follow Lily Lu: @lily_lu_filmz
Photo courtesy of Janine Küffer: @janinekufferphotography
Follow Lily Lu: @lily_lu_filmz
Photo courtesy of Janine Küffer: @janinekufferphotography
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FunTranscript
00:00 I like to be the piece of shit on the side of society.
00:03 I like that people hate on me.
00:05 The more I try to understand the normal world,
00:07 the less I understand it.
00:09 I want to let go of how I look, just be who I am.
00:12 Six years ago, I started with hormones
00:14 and I started living as a girl.
00:17 I like to wear hot pants a lot.
00:18 I have one tattoo.
00:19 No one can tell me what to do on my body,
00:22 so why not scribble the shit out of it?
00:24 I'm Lily Lu, I'm a YouTuber, filmmaker, retired tattooist.
00:29 I'm also very known in the adult industry.
00:31 I got a lot of awards for it.
00:33 I'm a daddy and I really enjoy life.
00:37 We are located in the south of Germany on a little mountain
00:41 and we are just surrounded by nature.
00:43 Silent 25 is kind of my modern temple
00:45 of my art, my philosophy.
00:48 I try to create a place as must push you
00:51 out of your comfort zone as possible.
00:53 The next bigger cities are very far away.
00:56 There's no train station.
00:57 We have very bad internet.
00:59 We are very disconnected from the world,
01:01 as disconnected as you can be these days, I would say.
01:05 So here are my clothes.
01:07 Many, many hot pants.
01:08 Hot pants is my thing.
01:10 But now it's winter, it becomes a little bit colder,
01:12 so you wear a little bit more stuff.
01:14 Pink is my color.
01:15 I also really like to wear skirts.
01:18 I like more the cute, cute stuff.
01:22 I have one tattoo.
01:24 I love to embrace life
01:25 and I love to scribble it everywhere.
01:27 Like that's all over silent, everywhere you can read it.
01:30 Love is life, life is love, life, life, life, life.
01:33 It's very hard to calculate
01:35 when you have this amount of ink on your body.
01:38 It's a big part of your journey.
01:40 There was certain steps in my life,
01:42 certain rituals of my life,
01:43 where I wanted to have it marked on my outside skin.
01:46 Most of the symbols on me, they represent something.
01:49 Like there's hundreds of monks in Asia was tattooing on me.
01:53 I was go through a lot of different things
01:55 and ancient tribe rituals, modern rituals,
01:59 to just create my own tattoo or a marking on my body
02:02 will represent something bad
02:04 is sometimes more meaningful to me
02:07 than it represents something good
02:08 because it holds me back to ever make this mistake again.
02:11 So I embrace this a lot more
02:14 than I do about like having a happy, good, positive tattoo.
02:18 It's a reminder to myself, that's why I'm here, you know?
02:21 And sometimes we all have dark times in life.
02:23 It's just a collection of memories, a collection of my life.
02:27 I wanna let go of who I look.
02:29 I wanna let go of my face, of everything.
02:31 Just be who I am.
02:34 I'm not much a going for shopping person.
02:37 I'm more like a punk.
02:38 I like secondhand.
02:39 I like making the stuff myself.
02:42 I maybe look like I'm wearing a character
02:45 when I go out in the world, but we all do.
02:47 Everybody plays a character in the game of society,
02:51 but most people just, they wanna be a good gamer, you know?
02:54 So they try to dress like this, behave like this,
02:58 but I'm not sure if they're more happy.
03:00 Like it's all about, you have a good job,
03:02 you make good money, you have a fancy car,
03:04 you have a big house, but at the end of the day,
03:07 most of them not happy.
03:08 They use drugs, they use alcohol, cigarettes, television,
03:12 so much things to distract them
03:14 from their true what they wanna be.
03:16 I also have a lot of dresses.
03:18 Probably nothing a real guy wanna wear anymore.
03:22 Six years ago, I started with hormones
03:25 and the serious part of my transition.
03:28 You really have to let go from your idea of being a man.
03:32 Start getting a hormone balance
03:34 and you start feeling different,
03:37 and then you start reflecting it more to the outside.
03:40 And that has become a very beautiful experience for me.
03:44 My wife know me as the person I am, you know?
03:47 It's that easy because it's only that complicated
03:50 when you hold so much on that person
03:53 is the outside skin, you know?
03:54 Lily wrote me in Facebook and liked a picture from me,
03:58 and then we got in contact.
04:00 And from there on, we are now seven years together.
04:03 I would say in the beginning,
04:05 I for sure also struggled sometimes.
04:09 Now the good thing is that Lily have a personality
04:13 because most people don't have a personality.
04:18 Our relationship is kind of based on friendship.
04:21 - Friendship is a lot of benefits.
04:23 - It's a lot of benefits, yeah.
04:25 - We're not having a classical monogamous relationship.
04:28 We're very open.
04:29 There's a lot of other peoples involved in our sex life,
04:32 but in our conditions and still on a nice level
04:36 that we both are happy with it and we both enjoy this,
04:39 and it brings us together and not rips us apart.
04:42 Gender is something deeply rooted in society as well.
04:45 Society teach you a real man makes this,
04:47 a real man is this,
04:49 and you try to have this picture
04:51 of who you are as a real man.
04:53 And at some point, I wanted to become a little bit more free
04:56 from this gender thing.
04:57 I was thinking I have to break my male ego.
05:00 What breaks you more as a man than living as a woman?
05:03 It's that simple, you know?
05:05 And it's very hard to sometimes explain this to people,
05:08 but it's part of progression in my mind.
05:11 I wanted to be free in my mind from this gender thing.
05:14 - Mark transformed to Lily over a long, long period of time.
05:19 So the transition was already happening.
05:22 And I support my partner no matter what,
05:27 even so I have my struggles with it or not.
05:30 I think this is what love should be.
05:34 - Surprisingly, children are the best persons in society
05:38 because they're the less influenced the younger they are.
05:41 I go to my child and explain,
05:42 "Oh, I will live now as a woman and this and that."
05:44 And she take my hand and say, "Don't worry, Papa.
05:48 I don't care if you wear a skirt or pants.
05:50 You're always my Papa."
05:52 That easy.
05:53 - How do you feel about people
05:55 who judge your parenting style?
05:57 - Most people who knows my daughter,
05:58 they're very jealous about her life and how she grows up.
06:01 I try to push her to be creative and to be productive.
06:04 Our day-to-day life is probably the most
06:07 unnormal as it can be.
06:09 Lily and me live one and a half year in the tent.
06:13 - What do you like about sleeping in a tent?
06:15 Not a lot, but nothing?
06:17 - I love her and she knows it.
06:20 And I support her no matter what.
06:21 And that's what parenting is in my life.
06:24 - No matter how we look,
06:28 no matter if it's the person behind the camera
06:32 or if it's me as fully tattooed or with dreadlocks,
06:36 people judge.
06:37 - I really don't care what people think
06:39 because you will not end up living like this
06:41 and look like this when you really care about people
06:43 because then the normal life is better for you probably.
06:46 I'm very aware that people see me
06:48 and they have a lot of judgments,
06:50 but under the line I know most of their judgments are wrong.
06:53 Every bad comment is made because it's a reaction
06:56 that this person get triggered by something.
06:59 There are no hate comments for me.
07:01 It's just a sad person leaving a statement that he's sad.
07:05 - It makes absolutely no difference who we are,
07:08 this is just the truth about life.
07:12 I couldn't care less about anyone telling me anything.
07:16 - I don't give a (beep) about people, pretty simple.
07:19 - I look like this 20 years.
07:21 And these days they like this, it's tolerated, it's cool.
07:25 But 20 years ago, people crossed the street
07:28 when they see me and I liked it.
07:30 I like that people avoid me.
07:32 I like that people hate on me.
07:34 I like to be the piece of (beep) on the side of society.
07:38 The goal for every day is be happy.
07:40 I think you need to find happiness
07:42 within yourself for yourself,
07:43 because when you're not happy,
07:45 you will not be happy with the family.
07:47 Peace out.
07:49 - I don't.
07:50 (upbeat music)
07:52 (upbeat music)
07:55 (upbeat music)
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