Application


Basics:

1. Name: Raechel
2. Age: 23
3. Gender: Female
4. Location: Tallahassee, FL
5. Who invited you to join, if anyone: Discovered via another mod community

Mods:

6. Tattoos? I have eight total. My first three, done when I first became legal, are most unfortunate: two stars (one behind my ear, another on my shoulder), and a butterfly (on my stomach). The latter two are scheduled to be covered up. Otherwise, I have a cat on my back (a tribute to my own cat), the beginnings of a cherry blossom tree on my right arm, "Dangerous Thoughts" in modern Greek on my forearm (this is the title of the poem seen here: http://greece.poetryinternational.org/cwolk/view/17945), a Piranha Plant from Super Mario Brothers on one side of my chest, and Boo from the same game on the other side.

7. Piercings? Seven. 5/8-inch lobes, septum, double lip, and clavicles.

8. Brandings? None yet, but I find myself increasingly intrigued. I'm considering getting the Golden Harvest logo branded on my upper left arm, but that isn't something I can get done in this town.

9. Scarification? None.

10. What is your biggest health risk surrounding your mods? I scar very easily, and I have had a lot of problems with scar tissue which has developed long after the piercing seems healed. I recently discovered emu oil, however, and it has worked wonders. I did have a terrible infection in my now-retired inverse navel piercing a few years ago, and in retrospect, I should have more closely examined the shop at which it was pierced.

11. Which mod do you find most visually pleasing? So many. I love stretched lobes, vertical labrets, and septums. I also think nipple piercings on women (particularly with barbells) are incredibly sexy.

12. What mods do you find the least visually pleasing? I can't think of any that truly repulse me, to be honest. I think labret piercings look strange on men with beards or quasi-beards, though. I'm not a big fan of eyebrow rings, but I sported one for years. :)

13. Why do you find mods attractive as a whole? The wonderful thing about body modification is that it can hold any degree of meaning. For some, modification is traditional ritual; for others, obtaining a mod may provide sexual satisfaction, stress relief, or even desired pain. Mods create a shock factor in certain environments, and a sense of community in others. Sometimes people get modded together to symbolize a special relationship, and other times people get modded because it's trendy. I guess I love mods because no matter how popular or, contrarily, unusual a mod is, it says something about the modded individual. I suppose that's why I like to talk to modded individuals-- to know why, if for any reason in particular, they've chosen a particular mod.

14. How do you respond to: "Does that hurt?" It annoys me, but mostly because my mods aren't anything exceptional. I can guarantee there are two hundred lip rings on my college campus, and I KNOW I'm not the first pierced person to walk into the coffee shop, so why am I continually asked? When someone asks if it hurt, I tell them, "of course, but only for awhile." I'm a bit more tolerant of my grandparents asking since they don't often see modded individuals.

15. Is your family mod friendly? Very. They all seem to think I put myself through excrutiating pain, and they ask a lot of questions, but they only criticize me in jest. I think my dad was a bit worried when I started getting visible tattoos, but he's cery supportive, as are my grandparents. I suppose they've given up on me.

16. Friends? None of my friends are very critical of my mods. Some were shocked by my Nintendo tattoos, which I don't quite understand since I've been gaming since I was old enough to press A and B.

17. Workplace? Both of my my recent jobs have been mod-friendly. I worked for the state of Florida at a university for two years, and though my office was full of people my dad and grandparents' ages, they just got a laugh out of my ever-changing piercings and new tattoos. I'm currently a graduate student and teaching assistant, and it certainly isn't a problem for my department. I'm fortunate in that I plan to be a literature professor, and English departments I've found, are overwhelmingly open-minded at the schools at which I am interested in teaching.

Pictures:


My facial piercings.


The beginnings of my cherry blossom half sleeve.


Boo and a fresh Tygon clavicle piercing.


Piranha and the other clavicle.

Are you on IAM? I just got a BME membership, but I haven't yet checked out the IAM thing yet. I plan to, though!

Where do you get your mods done? All current piercings were done by Katie at Piercings by Bink in Tallahassee. All tattoos shown done by Mike at Advanced Tattoo, also in Tallahassee.