Tattoo #5: Complete. Finally.

 
So, boylets and girllings (or bothlings and neitherlets), the day has finally arrived - my tattoo is finished. Mother fucking finally. 

And do excuse me for being so profane, lol.

My appointment was actually for last Saturday originally, but on my way into Liverpool I got a call from the lovely Angie, my artist, who told me that we'd have to reschedule because of issues with some of the tattooing machines (there was an electrical problem) and they were also running low on ink, so we decided on 12 PM today. Funny, because last week I'd had a feeling about my appointment and was half expecting a phone call anyway (I went and watched The Lovely Bones instead. Good movie).

Anyway, so I rocked into Livo today and went and had Macca's because A) One needs to eat prior to being tattooed because it reduces the risk of passing out, and B) It's kind of a ritual now, lol. I got that done and popped three Nurofen Pluses, which I never usually do before a sitting what with the risk of bleeding more (some painkillers do that), but I had the memory of my last sitting in my head and was determined to get it done today. The other thing is, and it's really a topic for next time, I think, I might or might not be developing quite the thing for these pills...I'm a codeine fan from way back, but these are something else. They take away my regular body aches and leave me almost chipper, lol.

Moving on.

So I showed up a little early because it was hot outside and I didn't want to be all gross and sweaty. I chatted to Angie a bit and to her sister, Sue, who is the piercer there at Raven. They're both awesome. And then fairly soon it was my turn at bat, really. We had a brief talk about where to go next and I decided to let Ange do her thang, really - she's a good artist with whom I'm comfortable, and while she's only been inking for four years, she's great at it and has some cool ideas.

We pretty much got right into it and, yeah, it was painful, but I dealt with it fine. I don't think that the Nurofen actually played too big a part in the whole thing and it didn't make me bleed any more than I usually do, I think, so it all went really well; I could talk and breathe just fine for the most part, though having said that, there were a couple of bit on the ribs nearest the stomach that really sucked arse. Fortunately there wasn't a whole lot to be done in that area. For which I was and am truly grateful. The whole thing took almost three hours and I was happy that it was over then because it was going to be a struggle if we went on any longer (the skin can actually only take so much, so after that you run the risk of the skin not being able to take any more ink which leaves the finished piece looking patchy and gross). 

Best of all? Angie only charged me $200 because, well, I'm awesome. Nah, lol, it's because - I think - I'm there so often and this was a really big job for us both. It was very cool of her to cut the price, but truthfully, I'd have been happy to pay whatever the full cost was. She goes well, does our Ange. Also we got to talking about a sleeve I'm thinking about doing: A luck themed half sleeve on my left arm, since the right one is taken already...It's going to be something else, I'll tell you what - four aces up on the shoulder, a '40s pin-up Lady Luck. Yum.