(photos above: body modifications. As for the boot—read to the end and you’ll find out why that’s there)
Well, I started out yesterday with the post on folks who hang by their flesh. Today, we’re going to talk about something no one’s comfortable with; body modification. Technically, I see it kind of like this; tiers.
Playful innocence: This is when you want to enhance your looks or fit in with the crowd by getting perhaps ear piercings, a single tattoo, breast implants. These are all modifications considered to be the norm and might actually make you seem to fit in more. This is saying "I want to be one of the flock."
Personal test: This is when you feel that the usual way people do things just doesn’t express how “different” you are. You might consider piercings in other places such as bellybutton, eyebrow, genitalia, multiple tattoos but not yet grotesque but as distracting to the viewer as that nose piercing they can't stop staring at. This is saying “I’m different than the flock, I’m not what you expected."
Deviant: This is when you wish to become anything other than what you are and prefer to repel others and intimidate. You modify parts such as shaving teeth to points, pointing ears, putting implants under the skin to create shapes, have whiskers inserted in your flesh to be cat-like, tattooing over all the body to hide all hints of humanity. This is saying “screw the flock!”
What kinds of modifications are possible? Well, look at the photos above. Piercings and Tattooing all over have become almost passé. Jeez, when a mom like me has a tattoo, the trend is not so exciting. It’s moved on now to becoming mythical things like elves, vampires, cats, lizards, you name it!
I remember being in a mining town in Arizona where folks like to hide from the world. There was a fair crowd of “deviant” ones and I worked hard not to stare at them (which is damned hard cause it always makes me want to giggle) I came around a corner and ran into a big guy with horns attached to his skull—TO THE SKULL! Yeah, I gave him his safe space. That was his intent when putting those into his flesh. I did, however, go back to my hotel room and wrote down notes of how I felt upon running into him when not expecting it. We don’t often run into demons and full body apparitions in our daily life, but running into someone that severely modified can give you the same reaction. That is their goal and it admittedly works. Sometimes, it’s hard to discern the human underneath. So, I enjoy coming across such oddities. I like to test the waters with things that scare me—I’m into horror, did I ever mention that???
Ya’all know my sense of humor enough by now to know that I just find it a hoot to see these modifications and think that some day a poor kid is going to have to call the dude with the Klingon forehead (above) “daddy.” Just imaging his courtship with his future mate is pretty hilarious, especially trying to get her in the mood. Girls, would you wanna look up at this face when he’s doing you? I don’t even want to know what he his expression looks like when he finds his climax… What about cat-face? I can’t help it. I would just giggle. It’s like a guy who’s a clown for birthday parties but opts to just wear the makeup all the time. Seriously, he’s got to be sick of hearing people call him a “pussy.” And the dude with the ankle modification? As someone who ruptured her Achilles tendon and had to have surgery to sew it back together again…I can only shake my head. If he wanted to make his life cumbersome, he should wear the freakin’ boot I had to wear afterwards (photo above). I called it my “Frankenboot” and it scared plenty of kids and was just as awkward. The really cool thing? Some day when he wants to get a real job or have a family, he could just remove it!
So, as long as there’s a few deviants out there, I’m going to seek them out and try not to laugh in front of them, I know that wasn’t their intention, but it does remind me of little kids playing dressups in a painful grownup way. It should be badass, but it just makes me chuckle.