always considered getting angel wings tattooed on my shoulder blades, but the thought just became cliché and tedious the more I thought about it... and the more gothy-goths I saw with it already done. So, one random night, sitting around with a good friend, who had done some cuttings before, I asked her to carve me a set of wings. At first she was pretty much against the idea, worried about blood loss, or not being able to duplicate the pattern I had sketched onto the back of my notebook, but I eventually persuaded her into it. I'm good like that. ­Grin-

We gathered some pretty rough tools: a

brand new x-acto knife, paper towels, and a bottle of vinegar, and went to work. I took my shirt off and stretched out on my bed on my stomach, taking a few deep breaths. Trying to find a comfortable angle, she sat next to me and rested her elbow in the crack of my butt, and started carving. I thought the whole idea of having someone's arm in my arse pretty amusing, but the first line brought me straight back to reality. She started with a pretty deep cut, a slightly curved line just above my shoulder blade for the top of the right wing, I took a big chunk of my mattress in my mouth and took another deep breath. The rest of it wasn't that bad. Every once in a while she would catch the skin just right, or have to re-cut a line that wasn't deep enough and I would cringe or whimper... the worst part of having an amateur do a cutting for you is the little mistakes. She kept accidentally pulling the blade back the way it came from, and hooking my skin on it. That may not sound so bad, but you try letting someone poke a sharp object in a fresh cut, it doesn't feel that great, but overall the skin went numb, and it was quite an enjoyable experience. A little stinging, but it wasn't all that bad. I actually started to enjoy the stinging sensation and the blood was sticky and oozing onto my skin. ...until she got to the other wing. I had completely forgotten that there was an untouched portion of my skin that had to go through the same 45-minute ordeal. I thought everything was all right the first time, but I couldn't go with just ONE wing, I knew I had to finish this. The right side of my back was beginning to throb and I could feel the blood trickling down my side. For a moment I had experienced a feeling of euphoria when she said she was done (meaning with the right wing). I had survived it, without crying or giving up, and I was really proud of myself. Remembering that feeling, and not willing to give up now, I told her it was all right to do the other side.
I managed to squirm a little bit towards the edge of the bed, and was half hanging off of it half-way through the second wing. I think the blood rush to my head caused my ears to ring, and I asked for a little break. I stood up to see if she had done everything the way I wanted her to in the mirror, and the blood just rushed down my back. It soaked into the top of my pants and just kept coming. It was beautiful; I was completely recharged with enthusiasm for this whole ordeal.

I stretched back out on my bed, and let  her pick up where she left off.

The second wing seemed to take forever, and it seemed to hurt so much worse than the first. When I think back now, I guess it was probably because I was thinking about the pain, so it was more psychological than anything. I could hear the skin making ripping noises inside my head, and the blade stung the whole time. Finally, we were finished. Both wings were done and I was free to go. I got up and felt the blood pour down my back again. She soaked a couple paper towels in vinegar and scrubbed it over the fresh cuts. WOW, that was a rush. Talk about a completely indescribable feeling. Then she took a clean paper towel and laid it over the wings, and there they were, a little bloody set of wings on a paper towel. I loved it. Didn't keep it long though, considering that when I woke up the next morning I had a little bloody set of wings stained on the back of my shirt, but hey, I definitely earned these wings... and I'm up for a little elaboration on them soon I hope. ­Grin-